English 454/554

Spring 2011

Phonetic Symbols for Old English through Modern English Consonants

bilabial m me p b1 spy by

nasal stop

labiodental

fricative

f v fie vie

dental

alveolar n knee t d sty die θ ð s z thigh thy sue zoo

affricate

palatoalveolar palatal

ʃ ʒ shy measure tʃ dʒ

velar ŋ sing k g sky guy

ҫ

x

ɣ

glottal

ʔ uh-uh h hi

etch edge

lateral liquid non-lateral liquid

l lie r2 rye

glide or ʍ3 w j semivowel yield Aspiration = h (in English only voiceless stops (in some positions) are aspirated.

ʍ w wheeled wield

Vowels Front High Tense Lax Mid Tense

i

Central

u ʊ

ɪ e

Lax

ə

o

ʌ

ɛ

Low

Back

y

æ ij beat ɪ bit ej bait ɛ bet æ bat

aj bite

ɔ ɑɒ uw boot ʊ put ow boat

ə about ʌ butt aw bout

ɔ bought4, more

ɑ5 cot, bought ɒ6 bother

ɔj boy

The syllabic sound in words like bird is represented by [r Length = :

Nasalization =

̃

̩] or [ɚ].7

Round Vowels u, ʊ, o, ɔ, ɒ, y

1

Consonants are in the order voiceless-voiced at each place of articulation where there is a contrast. All nasals, liquids and the palatal glide are voiced. Historically the palatal fricative and all glottal phones found in any stage of English are voiceless.

In IPA the English r-sound is actually represented with ɹ, with r representing a trill. But when the r sound doesn’t contrast with a trill, as in English, the r symbol is used in many books including your textbook. 2 3

This is a voiceless labiovelar glide, found in contrast with its voiced counterpart [w] only in some dialects of English (not, for example, in mine. But if these two words contrast for you or if which and witch contrast, then you probably have this phone. 4

Some dialects have ɔ in words like these. Others, like mine, have [ɔ] only in restricted environments, before [r] and as the first

part of the diphthong in boy. 5

The textbook uses [a] for this vowel. We will after this and in the diphthongs.

6

For many British English dialects; many other dialects (like mine and probably yours) don’t have it at all.

7

r-less dialects use [ə] instead.