1. Phonetics and Phonology
LO: to understand key concepts surrounding how meaning is created through sound
Starter: Some quick definitions
Phonology is the study of abstract sound system in language
Phonetics is the study of how the signs are combined to make meaning

2. How is a person raised in the North expected to pronounce this word?
How could you explain the difference in writing? What problems might you meet?
How is a person raised in the South expected to pronounce this word?

3. The International Phonetic Alphabet
In order to help us write down precisely how words sound, allowing for variations in pronunciation due to social and regional differences. There are 44 different sounds in English – almost twice as many as there are letters!
The IPA is also international – there are symbols for pretty much every sound in every human language, including phonetic language such as Chinese and language with ‘clicks’ such as some African tribal languages.
Not only is there the ‘bath’ problem, but consider these:
He does not know where the does live.
The naughty child doubled over with laughter.
My brother and I had a row over whose turn it was to row.
‘does’ and ‘row’ above are called heterophones: although they are spelt the same, the words sound (phone) differently (hetero).
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings e.g. whether and weather.

4. /mIs gIlkrIst/ Using the IPA
At A Level, you will only need to able to use an IPA chart as complex as the one on the handout or in your textbook.
Each individual sound is called a phoneme and can be grouped together to form a word.
e.g. /k/ + /æ/ + /t/ = cat
We can add phonemes to change the word
e.g. /k/ + /æ/ + /t/ + /s/ = cats
Have a go at transcribing your name using the IPA.
Remember to indicate that it is phonetic by putting slashes at the beginning and end of your transcription.
/mIs gIlkrIst/

5. Some complications – assimilation, elision and the ‘r’
However, you’ve probably noticed that when we speak, we often don’t pronounce words perfectly.
A phrase like ‘hot potato’ will probably sound more like ‘hop potato’, or ‘ten cooks’ will sound more like ‘teng cooks’.
This is because, while our mouth makes one sound, it is usually getting ready to make the next, so the sound that is produced is different to what it would be if the word stood alone.
This is called assimilation.

6. Some complications – assimilation, elision and the ‘r’
An additional problem is elision, when we miss off individual sounds to make it easier to say the next word.
This usually happens with /t/ and /d/ sounds.
e.g. The stopped clock ground to its final halt during the war.
The stopp’ clock groun’ to its final hal’ during the war.

7. Some complications – assimilation, elision and the ‘r’
Finally, we often add an /r/ sound to help us link sounds together.
For instance, in RP (received pronunciation), the word ‘soar’ does not have an /r/ sound: /sɔ꞉/
However, in the phrase ‘soar away’, we join the two vowel sounds with /r/: /sɔ꞉r əweI/
This is known as a ‘linking r’.
Sometimes, we add ‘r’ in the middle of a word such as ‘sawing’ where there isn’t one: /sɔ꞉rIŋ/
This is known as an ‘intrusive r’

8. Sounds in detail
Air coming up from the lungs passes up into the trachea and to the larynx (the voice box).
In the larynx, the vocal folds (or cords) are strung across the air stream, and are generally open to allow breathing. If they are kept gently open, the air blowing past produces phonation or voice.
There is a continual process of opening and closing of the vocal folds: it happens so fast that generally we don’t hear it: the speed dictates the pitch of the voice. Men’s vocal folds generally slower than women, so their voices are generally lower.
The gap between the vocal folds is known as the glottis. If the glottis is open, there is little resistance so the sounds are soft, voiceless sounds such as /s/, /f/, /θ/.
If the glottis is closed, tension builds and the glottis eventually opens: this creates the glottal stop, associated with Estuary English where a glottal stop replaces the ‘tt’ in ‘letter’.

9. This diagram shows some of the articulators – lips, teeth, tongue, the roof of the mouth. By manipulating these, we make different sounds.
Sounds in detail

10. Exploring consonants in more detail
Look at the handout and practise saying the sounds.
Pay careful attention to what your mouth is doing – can you feel the different articulators moving?

11. So what?
This is a perfectly reasonable question! Learning about phonetics is important for helping us understand how the sounds of the words chosen by the text producer impact on meaning.
One way this is achieved is through sound iconicity – that there is a relationship between sound and meaning.
This will already be familiar to you through your work at English Language/Literature GCSE: alliteration, consonance, assonance, sibilance.
Additionally, lexical onomatopoeia (when the sound of the word reflects the meaning)...
...and nonlexical onomatopoeia (non-words which still signify meaning through sounds) have similar effects (see Edwin Morgan’s The Loch Ness Monster’s Song).

12. Putting this in context
In Basque, the language of a region between Spain and France, the word tximeleta (chee-may-LAY-tah) refers to a creature. Which do you think it is?
Fox
Bull
Butterfly
Snail
Tortoise
Why did you make that choice?
The answer is ‘butterfly’ – can you explain why?

13. Kiki and Bouba
Which of these two shapes do you think should be called kiki, and which should be called bouba?
Using what we have already learnt about sound iconicity, explain your answer.
This effect, that sounds are not always arbitrary, was first observed by German-American psychologist Wolfgang Köhler in 1929.

14. Children’s Names
Deborah Cameron, a prominent feminist linguist at the University of Oxford, has applied the ideas of sound iconicity to names.
She found that girls’ names are generally more ‘vowelly’ than boys’ names, which are more ‘consonanty’, and girls’ names generally have more syllables than boys’ names.
However, there is more detail here: girls’ names tend to have more labial and alveolar sounds, while boys’ names have more fricative or plosive sounds.
When in comes to vowels, girls’ names have vowels which are produced higher and further towards the front of the mouth (/I/ and /I˸/ while the sounds of boys’ names are lower and further back, such as /æ/ and /ɔ/.
It’s worth bearing this in mind when you consider diminutives: why might a man called ‘Tom’ reject his childhood nickname ‘Tommy’? And why might a woman choose to be known as ‘Cath’ rather than ‘Cathy’?
Interestingly, names such as Megan and Erin were first used by educated mothers who wanted to clearly demarcate gender by avoid the ‘frilly’ associations of ‘y’, ‘ie’ or ‘a’ endings, but wanted to avoid the ‘tough’ associations of plosives.

15. Plenary Write down: One thing that challenged you from today’s lesson
One thing that surprised you from today’s lesson
One thing that particularly interested you from today’s lesson
One thing you are going to go away and research further!

16. Homework (due next lesson)
Find an advertisement that makes particularly good use of sound iconicity and/or the manipulation of sounds for effect.
With detailed reference to the types of sounds that are used, write a short analysis ( words) of how the advertisement achieves its desired effect.
Additionally: read these two articles in preparation for next lesson:
Naomi Wolf: fry-strong-female-voice
Deborah Cameron: response-to-naomi-wolf/