INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH

PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY 1

For BA students of English

By Assoc. Prof. TRAN VAN PHUOC, Ph.D.
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE
UNIVERSITY
HUE - 2022

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 UNIT DESCRIPTION
(30 periods)
1.OBJECTIVES
- Grasping basic knowledge of English phonetics and phonology,
- Understanding completely the phonetic structure of English.
- Describing main phonetic features of English segmental and suprasegmental
phonemes.
2.CONTENTS
1.Phonetics and Phonology
2 Fields of Phonetics
3 Phoneme
4 Segmental Phonemes:
4.1 ENGLISH VOWELS
4.2 ENGLISH CONSONANTS
4.3 Phonological changes
5 Suprasegmental Phonemes:
5.1 ENGLISH STRESS
5.2 ENGLISH INTONATION
5.3 ENGLISH SYLLABLE STRUCTURE
3.EVALUATION
-Attendance: 10%
-Check-ups 1, 2, 3: 30%
-End-of-unit test: 60%
4.REFERENCES
OBLIGATORY TEXTBOOKS
1.Tran Van Phuoc (2020) An Introduction to English Linguistics 1, HUFL, Hue
University
2.Tran Van Phuoc (2020) An Introduction to English Phonetics & Phonology,
HUFL, Hue University
5.Tran Van Phuoc & Nguyen Thanh Binh (2014). English Phonetics and
Phonology, HU Publishing House.
OPTIONAL TEXTBOOKS
A.INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LINGUISTICS 1
1.Brinton, L.J. (2000). The Structure of Modern English – A Linguistic
Introduction. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Amsterdam/Philadelphia.
2.Jeffries, L. (2006). Discovering Language – The Structure of Modern English.
Palgrave Macmillan.
3.Gramley, S. and Patzold, K.M. (1992/2004). A Survey of Modern English. 2nd ed.
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
B.ENGLISH PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY
1.Davenport, M. and Hannahs, S.J. (2005). Introducing Phonetics and Phonology.
2nd ed. Hodder Arnold.
2.McMahon, A.(2002). An Introduction to English Phonology, Edinburgh
University Press.
3.Ogden, R. (2009). An Introduction to English Phonetics, Edinburgh University
Press.
4.Roach, P. (2000). English Phonetics and Phonology – A Practical Course. 4th
ed. CUP.
 ENGLISH
PHONETICS - PHONOLOGY

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 CONTENT
-Idea: PRAGMATICS
-Meaning: SEMANTICS
LANGUAGE
USE
in a SOCIETY
PRAGMATICS LANGUAGE STRUCTURE
DISCOURSE
ANALYSIS FORM GRAMMAR
SOCIO-
LINGUISTICS -Sentence/Clause:
-Phrase: SYNTAX
-Wordclass:
-Word: MORPHOLOGY
-Morpheme:
-Phoneme/Sound: PHONETICS
-Letters/Scripts: GRAPHICS
-Multimodes: visual-audio…
Branches of Micro Linguistics

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 1.Introduction: Phonetics and Phonology

1.1.Phonetics is the objective study of speech sounds in language on the

basis of describing and analysing the range of sounds humans use in
their languages.
More specifically, articulatory phonetics identifies precisely which
speech organs and muscles are involved in producing the different
sounds of the world’s languages.
Those sounds are then transmitted from the speaker to the
hearer, and acoustic and auditory phonetics focus on the physics of
speech as it travels through the air in the form of
sound waves, and the effect those waves have on a hearer’s ears and
brain.
Phonetics focuses on segmental phonemes: vowels, consonants; and
suprasegmental phonemes: stress, intonation.

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 1.2 Phonology is the language-specific selection and organisation of
sounds to signal meanings, focuses chiefly phonetic distinctive
features that distinguish one speech sound from another one in the
system of language sounds.
Phonologists are interested in the sound patterns of particular
languages, and in what speakers and hearers need to know, and
children need to learn, to be speakers of those languages.

1.3 The relationship between phonetics and phonology is a complex

one, but we might initially approach phonology as narrowed-down
phonetics.

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1.4.Fields of Phonetics
Phonetics is the study of speech sounds in general. It has three
subdivisions:
1.Articulatory Phonetics studies the articulation/production of
speech sounds through articulators/organs of speech; the study of
how sounds are made or the mechanics of their production by
human beings.
2.Acoustic Phonetics studies the transmission of speech sounds; the
study of the physical properties of the speech waves which
constitute speech sound.
3.Auditory Phonetics studies the perception of speech sounds; the
study of how sounds are heard or the mechanics of their perception.

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 1.5 ARTICULATORY PHONETICS & The Articulators

11 The Articulators/ Organs of Speech

 2.Unit of Phonetics and Phonology:
Speech Sound: Phoneme - Phone - Allophone

2.1.Speech sounds are the movements of the air through human

articulators (organs of speech). The air moves through
* the nasal cavity (the nose), nasal sounds /m, n, …/ appear;
* the oral cavity (the mouth), oral sounds /p, b, f, v, t, d, …/ appear;
* the two lips, bi-labial sounds /p, b, m,…/ appear…

2.2.Unit of Phonetics and Phonology: Phoneme, phone, and

allophone:
* A phonetic unit or segment is called a phone.

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* A phoneme is a more abstract unit. It is defined as the smallest unit
of language existing as such a speech - sound which is capable of
distinguishing one word from another or one grammatical form of a
word from another form of the same word.

* An allophone can be defined as a predictable phonetic variant of a

phoneme. An actually pronounced speech sound is always a
variant ( allophone) of a phoneme. Different allophones of one and
the same phonemes are speech sounds which have one or more
articulatory features and, therefore, acoustic features in common
and at the same time differ from each other in some (usually slight)
degree because of the influence of their position, of the neighboring
speech sounds and of other purely phonetic factors upon them.

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* An allophone is a variant of a phoneme. The allophones of a
phoneme form a set of sounds that
(a) do not change the meaning of a word,
(b) are all very similar to one another, and
(c) occur in phonetic contexts different from one another
and
(d) have non -distinctive differences.

* In other words,
+ Phoneme is the minimal meaningless unit of language. It contains
a bundle of phonetic distinctive features,
e.g. / i: / [vocalic] [front] [long] [unrounded] [close] [high];
/ k / [consonantal] [velar] [stop/plosive] [voiceless]

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2.3.Speech sounds, Phonemes and Letters:
* 1 phoneme = 1 sound = 1 letter : /m/ = [m] = m ----> me
* 1 phoneme > 1 sound :/t/ = [t] + [ ] ----> chair, watch
* 1 phoneme > 1 letter :
/m/ = m + b ----> climb
//=t+h ----> bath
//=n+g ----> sing
/ i: / = ee, ea, ey, ei ----> see, sea, key, receive

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2.4.Phoneme and Types of Transcription in IPA:
* Phoneme is transcribed in a system of symbols consisting of letters
and diacritics called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
developed by the International Phonetic Association (IPA) in 1888.
IPA is a system of symbols for representing the pronunciation (AE,
BE, AusE,…) of words in any language according to the principles
of the International Phonetic Association.
* Phonemic transcription (or linguistically broad transcription) is used
to show only the distinctive sounds of a language. It is based on the
principle “ one symbol per phoneme”. For example: /t/, /p /, /k/
*Allophonic transcription (also phonetic / linguistically narrow
transcription) uses allophonic symbols for various sounds, including
symbols to show in detail how a particular sound is pronounced.
This transcription is based on the principle “one symbol per
allophone”. For example: /t/ = [t] (stopped), [t’] (time, tail, tale),
[t ͦ ] (too, tool)…

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 2.5a INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABETS (IPA)
VOWELS (2005)

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 2.5b INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABETS (IPA)
CONSONANTS

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2.6.The classification of phonemes:
2.6.1.Segmental phonemes (consonants, vowels) based on
-phonetically distinctive features, articulation, height, length,
quality
2.6.2.Suprasegmental phonemes (stress, intonation) based on
-loudness (height, length, voice quality),
-loudness, tempo, timbre, melody

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 3.SEGMENTAL PHONEMES:
VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

VOWELS CONSONANTS
 Are produced with relatively  Are produced with a narrow or
little obstruction in the vocal complete closure in the vocal
tract tract
 Are more sonorous  Are less sonorous
 Are voiced (the vocal cords are  Are either voiceless or voiced
vibrated)
 Are syllabic  Are generally not syllabic
 Are classified on the basis of  Are classified on the basis of
*Position of the tongue *Places of articulation
*Length of the tongue *Manner of articulation
*Height of the tongue *Voice
20 *Shape of the lips *Aspiration
 3.1 ENGLISH VOWELS

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 3.1.1.VOWELS: pure vowels

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 3.1.1.VOWELS: pure vowels

A vowel is a sound in the production of which the air passage through the
mouth is free. All vowels are voiced sounds. Vowels can be classified into
pure vowels and diphthongs.

In the production of the English sounds the tongue may move forward or
backward or it may be raised or lowered. Pure vowels sounds may be
classified according to the following principles:

(1) According to which part of the tongue is raised (i.e. according to whether
the back, the front or the middle of the tongue is raised towards the roof
of the mouth), vowels can be front, central and back : /i:, i,  , æ/ ə, з: /ə:
^ , a/ u:, u, ɔ:, (ɔi) (o/ əu), ɒ, a:/
(2) According to the height to which the part of the tongue is raised, vowels
can be close (or high)/ mid-close/ mid-open /, open (or low): /i:, u:/, i, u, /  ,
ə, з: /ə:, ^, ɔ:, (ɔi) (o/ əu)/ æ, ɒ /a, a:/

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(3) According to the lip position, vowels can be rounded or
unrounded (spread):
/u:, u, ɔ:, (ɔi) (o/ əu), ɒ, a:// i:, i,  , æ, // a, ^, ə, з: /ə:, ^ /

(4) According to the length, vowels may be long or short: / i:, i/ u:,
u/ ɔ:, ɒ /a:, a/

(5) According to the tenseness or laxness: e.g.: peat / pit -

cooed / could

(6) According to the influence of neighboring sounds: nasalization,

e.g. /œ (ã)/ man, /õ/ among

(7) According to the influence of regional accents: e.g.: not, hot

/o/ (BE) /a:/(AE)

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 3.1.2.VOWELS: diphthongs

 A diphthong is a combination of two vowels pronounced within

one syllable.

 The first element of a diphthong is called the nucleus, the second

element is called the glide. The nucleus is a strong, clear and
distinct vowel sound. The glide is weak in the articulation of a
diphthong. The organs of speech start from the position necessary
for the first vowels and glide in the direction of the second vowels .
The first element in all the diphthongs is stressed and is stronger
than the second.
e.g. /ai/ /au/ /iə/ /uə/

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 Diphthongs can be classified into
a- retracting ( ending in /u /, e.g. now, town, go, show),
b- fronting (ending in / i /, e.g. eye, why, say, day, boy,
destroy), and
c- centering (ending in / ə /, e.g. hear, near).

Diphthongs can also be classified into

a- closing ( ending in either / i / or / u /, e.g. life, like, say,
waiter, phone, know ) or
b- centering (ending in / ə /,e.g. here, near, hair, sure).

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 3.2 ENGLISH CONSONANTS

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 3.2.1.CONSONANTS

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 3.2.2.Consonants
A consonant is a sound in the production of which an obstruction is
formed in the mouth by the active articulators/ organs of speech.
English consonants can be classified into types according to the
following criteria:
(1) According to the articulators /places of articulation:
• mouth (orals): / p, b, w, ð,  , f, v , t, d, ɾ (butter), s, z, r, l , t , ʤ ,
 , ʒ , j , k, g, h, ? /
* lips (bi-labials): /p, b, m /w/
* teeth (dentals/ inter-dentals): /ð,  /
* lips-teeth (labio-dentals): /f, v/
* alveolar ridge (alveolars): / t, d, ɾ (butter), n, s, z, r, l /
* palate-alveolar (palato-avelolars): / t , ʤ,  , ʒ, j /
* soft palate/ velum (velars): /k, g,  /
* glottis (glottals): /h, / ? /
* noses (nasals): /m, n,  /
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(2) According to the manner of articulation:
* stops (plosives): / p, b, t, d, k, g, ? /
* fricatives: / f, v , ð, , s, z,  , ʒ, h /
* affricates: /t, ʤ, /
* laterals:/l/
* glides (approximants):/w, j, r /
* flap/tap: / ɾ (butter)/
* noses (nasals): /m, n,  /
(3) According to the state of vibration of the vocal cords – whether
vibrating (voiced) or not (voiceless):
* voiceless: / p, t, k, f, , s, , t, ?, h, ɾ,
* voiced: / b, d, g, v, ð, z, ʒ, ʤ, ….....m, n, , w, j, r, l /

(4) According to the position of the soft palate - whether raised

(oral) or lowered (nasal):
* orals: /p, b, w, ð,  , f, v , t, d, ɾ (butter), s, z, r, l , t , ʤ,  , ʒ , j,
k, g, h, ? /
* nasals: /m, n,  /
(5) According to the influence of neighboring sounds:
* assimilated: /n --> k/, /z --> ts/, /z --> /
* rounded: /t--> t°u:/, /k--> k°u:l/, /p--> p°ɔ:t/
* aspirated: /p--> p’auə/, /t--> t’aim/, /k--> k’æt/
* syllabic: /æpəl/, /teibəl/, /bɒtəl/, /ɔ:dənəri/

(6) According to the influence of regional accent:

* letter /letə/ (BE) /leɾə/ (AE)
* girl /gз:l/ (BE) /gз:rl/ (AE)

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 4.PHONOLOGICAL CHANGES

4.1.Assimilation: Two adjacent consonants within a word or at word

boundaries often influence each other in such a way that the
articulation of one sound becomes similar to or even identical with
the articulation of the other one.
4.1.1.Degrees of Assimilation:
4.1.1.1. Complete Assimilation: For example, horse shoe /ho:s u:/
/'ho: u:/.
4.1.1.2.Intermediate Assimilation: Examples of intermediate
assimilation are gooseberry /'guzbri/, where / s/ in goose /gu:s/ is
replaced by /z/ under the influence of /b/ in berry;
con gress /'koŋ gres/, where / n / is replaced by /ŋ/ under the influence
of /g /. than+k  than+ thank, thin+g
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4.1.1.3.Partial Assimilation: For example, in the assimilation of the
alveolar variants of the consonants /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /s/,/z/ to the dental
consonant // and// the main phonemic features of the former are
retained, but the point of articulation is changed, and they are
replaced by the dental variants of the same phonemes under the
influence of the following // and// . Another example is the
assimilation of the sound /v/ in fivepence /faiv pns/---> /faifpns/.

4.2.Accommodation
In accommodation the accommodated sound does not change its
main phonemic features and is pronounced as a variant of the
same phoneme slightly modified under the influence of a
neighbouring sound. In modern English there are 4 main types of
accommodation:

4.2.1.Nasalization: a vowel becomes nasalized when it stands before,

after or between nasal consonants. For example:
at, attack  an, mad, man

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4.2.2. Rounding: An unrounded variant of a consonant phoneme
is replaced by its rounded variant under the influence of a
following rounded vowel phoneme, as at the beginning of the
following words:
Unrounded variants of Rounded variants of
consonant consonant
/ti:/ tea /tu:/ too
/les/ less /lu:s/ loose
/ku:l/ cool

4.2.3. Aspiration: a consonant /p, t, k/ becomes aspirated when it

stands before a vowel except rounded vowels. For example:
hat, stop, sky ---> t’ime, p’eople, c’an

4.2.4.Syllabication: some clusters of consonants become syllabic

when they are prounced as a syllable with a vowel inserted
between them.For example:
/pl, bl, tl, dn/ ---> a pple, ta ble, li ttle, gar den

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4.3.Elision/ Deletion
 The nature of elision may be stated quite simply : under certain
circumstances sounds disappear : one might express this in more
technical language by saying that in certain circumstances a phoneme
may be realized as zero, or have zero realization. As with assimilation,
elision is typical of rapid, casual speech. We will look at some examples
of elision:
girl know knowledge knife climb climber medicine garden
ordinary interest
4.3.1.Loss of weak vowel after p,t, k. In words like potato, tomato, canary,
perhaps, today, the vowel in the first syllable may disappear; the
aspiration of the initial plosive takes up the whole of the middle portion of
the syllable, resulting in these pronunciations : /p'teitəu/, /t'ma:təu/ t’dei/
p’haps

4.3.2.Avoidance of complex consonant clusters. E.g.

acts ---> /æks/, looked back /luk bæk/
4.3.3.Loss of final v in "of" before consonants. E.g.
lot of them /lot ə ðm/

4.3.4.Contractions of grammatical words. E.g.

Had---> 'd; Is ----> 's
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4.4.Weakening:
In English speech, there are certain words which have two forms of
pronunciation:
a- strong, or full, form and : N, Adj, V, Adv, (Pro, Aux, Modal, Pre,
Conj,…)
b- weak, or reduced form. Pro, Aux, Modal, Pre, Conj, …
As an example, the word can can be pronounced as /kæn/ (strong
form) or /kən/, /kn/ (weak forms). The words which can have both
strong forms and weak forms belong to a category which might be
called grammatical words. It is important to remember that there
are certain contexts where only the strong form is acceptable, and
others where the weak form is the normal pronunciation.
There are three degrees of the reduction of strong forms:
4.4.1.The reduction of the length of a vowel without changing its quality
Strong form Weak forms with qualitative reduction

You [ju:] [ju]

He [hi: ] [hi]
Your [jo:] [jo]
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4.4.2.The second degree of reduction consists in changing
the quality of a vowel
Strong forms Weak forms with qualitative reduction
For [fɔ:] [fə]
Her [hз:] [hə]

4.4.3.The third degree involves the omission of a vowel or

consonant
Strong form Weak forms
Am [æm] [m]
Of [əv] [v]
Can [kæn] [kn] [kη]

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4.5.Linking and Intrusion/Insertion of /r/
 In natural communication, we sometimes link words together.
4.5.1.The normal linking is:
Ex.: What time is it? (It’s half past twelve.)

4.5.2.The most familiar case is the use of linking r.

Examples are:
a- here / hiə/ but here are / hiər /
four /fɔ: / four eggs / fɔ: r
egz /
b- formula A / fɔ:mjulə ’r ei /
c- media event / mi:diə r i’vent /
a year ago
Sometimes we should be careful when we link words together.
For example,
ICE-CREAM / I SCREAM /ais kri:m/
/ maitrein / can be my train or might rain.
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 5.1.SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONEMES: STRESS/
ACCENT

5.1.What is stress?
 Stress is defined as the prominence given to certain
syllable(s) in a word, or to certain words by the use of
greater breath force.

5.2.What are distinctive phonetic features of stress?

 The prominence can be produced by four main factors :
(a) loudness
(b) length
(c) pitch and
(d) quality.
 Generally, these four factors work together in combination,
though syllables may sometimes be made prominent by
means of only one or two of them.

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5.3.What are the levels of stress?
a. tonic strong (or primary) indicated by the sign (') put before the
stressed syllable,
b. non-tonic strong (or secondary) indicated by (, ), and
c. unstressed.
Ex: representation /,re pri zen 'tei n /. ba’na na ‘One-’eyed General

5.4.Why is stressed used? What are the functions of stress?

a. logical prominence:

b. word-class distinction: ‘import (n) – im’port (v)

‘pre sent (n), pre ‘sent (v) ---- sepa’rate (adj) ‘separate (v)

c. new information distinction:

‘I love you. – I ‘love you. – I love ‘you.

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5.5.What are the rules of stress?
5.5.1.Word-stress:
5.5.1.1.One-syllable word: no stress
5.5.1.2.Two syllable word:
 If the final syllable contains a short vowel and one (or no) final
consonant, the first syllable is stressed, e.g. enter, open, envy,
equal.
 If the second syllable of the verb contains a long vowel or
diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, that second
syllable is stressed, e.g. apply, arrive, attract, assist.
 A final syllable is also unstressed if it contains /au/ (e.g. follow,
borrow).
 Exceptions: honest, perfect

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5.5.1.3.Three-syllable word:
* If the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more
than one consonant, that syllable will be unstressed, and stress
will be placed on the preceding syllable, e.g. en’counter,
de’termine.
* If the final syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, or ends
with more than one consonant, that final syllable will be stressed,
e.g. enter’tain, resu’rrect.
* If the syllable preceding this final syllable contains a long vowel or
diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, that middle
syllable will be stressed, e.g. mi’mosa, po’tato, dis’aster,
sy’nopsys.
* If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the middle syllable
contains a short vowel and ends with not more one consonant,
both final and middle syllables are unstressed and the first
syllable is stressed, e.g. ‘quantity, ‘cinema, ‘emperor, ‘custody.

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5.5.1.4. Words with Affixes:
* The affix itself receives the primary stress
(e.g. semi- + circle --> semicircle, person + -ality -->
personality).
* The word is stressed just as if the affix is not there
(e.g. pleasant--> unpleasant, market --> marketing).
* The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to
a different
syllable
(e.g. 'magnet --> mag'netic)
* Suffixes carrying the primary stress themselves:
-ain (e.g. entertain, ascertain),
-ee (e.g. refugee, evacuee),
-eer (e.g. mountaineer, volunteer),
-ese (e.g. Portuguese, journalese),
-ette (e.g. cigarette, launderette),
-esque, -ique (e.g. picturesque, unique):
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* Suffixes that influence stress on the stem: When the following
suffixes are added to a word, the primary stress is shifted to the
last syllable of the stem.
-eous, e.g. ad'vantage --> advan'tageous
-graphy, e.g. 'photo --> pho'tography
-ial, e.g. 'proverb --> pro'verbial
-ic, e.g. 'climate --> cli'matic
-ion, e.g. 'perfect --> per'fection
-ious, e.g. 'injure --> in'jurious
-ity, e.g. 'tranquil --> tran'quility
-ive, e.g. 'reflex --> re'flexive
5.5.1.5. Compound Words:
*If the first part of the compound is (in a broad sense) adjectival,
the stress goes on the second element, with a secondary stress
on the first. Ex: loud speaker /’laud 'spi: k /bad -
tempered /‘bæd’tempd/, second - class / ‘sekn 'kla:s/
*If, however, the first element is (in a broad sense) a noun, the
stress goes on the first element. Ex: ‘typewriter, ‘car-ferry,
‘sunrise, ‘suitcase, ‘tea – cup
 6.INTONATION

6.1.What is Intonation?
* When speaking, people generally raise and lower the pitch of their
voice, forming pitch patterns. They also give some syllables in their
utterances a greater degree of loudness and change their speech
rhythm. They can use special coloring of their voice (timbre or
voice quality) to show their emotions and attitudes. These
phenomena are called intonation.
6.2.What are distinctive phonetic features of intonation?
* Intonation can, thus, be said to be the combination of
a. speech melody,
b. sentence stress,
c. tempo (rhythm and pausation), and
d. timbre (voice quality, or special colouring of the voice to
46 show the feelings, attitudes and emotions).
 6.3.Why is intonation used? (Functions of Intonation)
6.3.1. Emotional/Attitudinal function
 Intonation is used to express a wide range of attitudinal
meanings - excitement, boredom, surprise, friendliness,
reserve, and many hundreds more. Ex: Really! Really?
6.3.2. Information structure/Discourse function
 Intonation conveys a great deal about what is new and what is
already known in the meaning of an utterance - what is
referred to as the “information structure” of utterance. If
someone says I saw a BLUE car, with maximum intonational
prominence on blue, this pronunciation means that s/he saw a
blue car not a red or yellow car and it is an answer to the
question Which car did you see?
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 6.3.3.Textual function
 Intonation is not only used to mark the structure of sentences; it is also an
important element in the construction of larger stretches of discourse.
Prosodic coherence is well illustrated in the way paragraphs of
information are given distinctive melodic shape in radio news reading. As
the newsreader moves from one item of news to the next, the pitch level
jumps up, then gradually descends, until by the end of the item the voice
reaches a relatively low level.
6.3.4.Grammatical function
They distinguish this sentence from another sentence in terms of
grammatical structure:
affirmative --->interrogative --> exclamatory structure.
Ex: I am a teacher. I am a teacher.
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 6.3.5.WHAT ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STRESS
AND INTONATION?

STRESS INTONATION
1.in words, phrases, …. 1.in sentences,….
2.used to express logical emphasis 2.used to express emotions, attitudes,
3.to differentiate word classes: noun, 3.to differentiate sentence structures:
verb,… affirmative-interrogative (grammatical
4.to make contrastive information function)
4.to signal to the listener what is to be
taken as “new” information and what is
already “given” (discourse/ informative
function)
5.to help to identify people as
belonging to different social groups and
occupations (indexical function)
6.Intonation is not only used to mark
the structure of sentences; it is also an
important element in the construction
of larger stretches of discourse (textual
49 function).
 1. Fall \Yes \No
1.1.If some one is asked a question and replies \Yes or \No, it will be
understood that the question is now answered and that there is nothing
more to be said. The Fall could be said to give an impression of finality.
Ex: Are you a student?
No. I’m a teacher.
1.2.The fall is used in simple statements of fact, special questions,
commands, exclamations, offers or suggestions to do something.
Ex: What’s your name?
How beautiful she is!
The weather is fine.
1.3.The fall-fall is used in tag questions leading a sure answer.
Ex: You are a teacher, aren’t you? (You’re surely a teacher, I believe so!)
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 2. Rise /Yes /No
2.1.This tone conveys an impression that something more is to follow;
Ex: A: (wishing to attract B's attention) Excuse me.
B: /Yes
(B's reply is perhaps equivalent to what do you want?).
2.2.Someone may ask a question that implies readiness to present some
new information; e.g.
Ex: A: Do you know what the longest balloon flight was?
If B replies /No he is inviting A to tell him while a response of
\No could be taken to mean that he does not know and is not
expecting to be told.
2.3.The Rise is used in confirmation questions, requests, greetings,
Ex: Are you married?
Hi!
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 3. Fall-Rise \/YES \/ NO
3.1.The fall-rise is used a lot in English and has some rather special
functions. It can be used for "limited agreement" and "response with
reservations“ e.g.
Ex: A: I 've heard that it's a good school.
B : \/Yes
B's reply would be taken to mean that he would not
completely
agree with what A said, and A would probably expect B to go on to
explain why he was reluctant to agree.

3.2.The fall-rise expresses politeness, apology, concern, uncertainty,

disagreement.
Ex: Excuse me!
52 Really?
 3.3.The fall-rise is used in tag questions which lead to unsure answers.
Ex. You are a teacher, aren’t you? (Perhaps, you’re a doctor!)

4. Rise-fall /\Yes /\No

4.1.It is used to convey rather strong feelings of approval, disapproval or
surprise; attitudes both pleasant and unpleasant, ranging from irony to
sarcasm, from being pleasantly impressed to admiration.
Ex: A : You wouldn't do an awful thing like that, would you?
B. /\No

4.2.The rise - fall is used to correct wrong information and give correct
information.
Ex: I was born not in 1954 but 1955.

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 4.3.It is used to list the things.
Ex: I bought many books, magazines, newspapers and dictionaries.

4.4.It is also used to express a choice among many alternatives.

Ex: Do you prefer living in the country or living in the city?

4.5. It is used to make ideas more emphatic, to express incomplete parts of

the sentence (when the speaker is going to say something else), to
present a series of special questions in a questionnaires, in complex
and compound utterances,
Ex: - Once upon a time, there were two cats living in the same family.
- If the weather is fine, I will visit you.
- Do you think she is beautiful, she is kind, and she is fair?

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 5. Level -Yes -No
5.1.This tone is used in a rather restricted context in English : it almost always
coveys (on single-syllable utterances) a feeling of saying something
routine, uninteresting or boring.

5.2.A teacher calling the names of pupils from a register will often do so using
a level tone on each name, and the pupils would be likely to respond with
yes when their name was called.

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 7.THE SYLLABLE

7.1. The syllable may be defined as one or more speech sounds forming a
word or part of a word, containing one vowel sound, with or without a
consonant or consonants, and uttered at a single effort. Ex: man, mor-ning,

7.2. Syllable Formation

The internal structure of a syllable
SYLLABLE

ONSET (O) RHYME (R)

NUCLEUS (N) CODA (C)

spr i ng

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7.3 In English, the Syllable can be formed by:
a-by any vowel (V), e.g. or, are, I.
b-by one vowel preceded by one consonant (CV), e.g. core, car.
c-by one vowel followed by one consonant (VC), e.g. ought, art.
d-by one vowel sound both preceded and followed by one
consonant (CVC), e.g. hit, man.
e-by a word-final syllabic lateral /l/ or nasal /m, n/ immediately
preceded by a consonant, e.g./pl/ in people /dn/ in garden.

7.4 The Syllable can be classified into:

a. Open syllable ends in a vowel, e.g. he, writer.
b. Closed syllable ends in a consonant, e.g. it, man.

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