Understanding Phonetics: Clipping, Plosives, and Gradation
Pre-Fortis Clipping
Pre-fortis clipping: This refers to how vowels are lengthened or shortened based on whether they are followed by voiced or voiceless sounds. It’s known that “short” vowels can be longer than “long” ones when followed by voiceless phonemes /p, t, k, f, θ, s, ʃ, tʃ/, a shortening process called pre-fortis clipping. For example, in “bead” vs. “beat,” the vowel /i:/ is longer in “beat” because /t/ is a voiceless phoneme.
Rhythmic Clipping
Rhythmic Clipping: This is the reduction or shortening of a full syllable when followed by one or more reduced syllables due to rhythmic factors. For example, the duration of the vowel in “lead” differs when it occurs in a foot without unstressed syllables compared to when it’s followed by unstressed syllables, as in “leader” (or “leadership”). Measurements show the vowel duration in the latter is less than 50% of the former.
Consonant Articulation
Plosives
Plosive: A consonant segment articulated with a complete closure in the vocal tract, held until air pressure builds up, followed by a sudden release. When the articulators separate, a slight explosion sound is produced: /p, t, k, b, d, g/. The term oclusiva is preferred in Spanish over plosiva.
Fricatives
Fricative: A segment articulated with a constriction in the vocal tract, producing friction: /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h/
Affricates
Affricate: A segment articulated with a complete closure followed by a slow separation, producing friction: /tʃ, dʒ/ + [tr, dr]. Affricate = plosive + fricative
Approximants
Approximant: A segment articulated with a narrowing in the mouth, but not enough to cause turbulence: /l, r, j, w/.
Nasals
Nasal: A segment articulated with a complete closure in the mouth while the soft palate is lowered, allowing air through the nasal cavity: /m, n, ŋ/
Gradation: Strong and Weak Forms
GRADIATION: This is the qualitative and/or quantitative change in a function word when unstressed (weak forms) compared to its sound pattern when stressed (strong forms). Content words (adjectives, adverbs, verbs, and nouns) do not undergo gradation.
About 40 function or structure words in English have two phonological realizations: “strong forms” and “weak forms.” This includes auxiliary and modal verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, etc.
Weak forms help give English its rhythm and are more common in speech. They involve reductions in sound length, vowel obscuration towards /ə, ɪ, ʊ/, and vowel or consonant elision.
Using weak forms enhances fluency, improves understanding, avoids sounding foreign, and enhances comprehension by native speakers. Here are some general rules:
- /h/ is never dropped at the beginning of a sentence or after a pause. E.g., “Had he known, he wouldn’t have done it.”
- /i:/ is reduced to /ɪ/, /u:/ to /ʊ/, and other vowels to /ə/, or the vowel may be elided. E.g., “that” /ðæt/
Elision: Omission of Phonemes
ELISION: This is the omission of phonemes in words or phrases, common in rapid, informal speech. Sounds are elided to ease articulation, maintain speech flow, and sound smoother. Both vowels and consonants may be dropped within words or at word boundaries. Main elision types:
– The middle consonant phoneme in a string of three running consonants. The consonants most often removed are /t/ or /d/. Example: depends
– Regular past tenses and past participles may also lose final /t/ or /d/ morphemes. Example: He helped me /hi helpt mi/ → /hi help mi/
– Initial /t/ and /d/ in digraphs /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ may be lost when preceded by /n/.
Example: lounge /laʊn(d)ʒ/
– /h/ in unaccented pronouns, determiners, and auxiliaries. Example: Is he okay today?
– /d/ in the word “and.” Example: Fish and Chips
– /ə/ before syllabic consonants /l, m, n, ŋ, r/ Example: little /lɪtəl/
Phonetics and its Applications
Interest in recording and describing pronunciation has a long history. Recording dialect pronunciations was important in developing modern phonetic transcription. The detail included in transcriptions contributed to phonological theory. Recording unwritten languages, like indigenous languages of the Americas, was combined with creating practical orthographies and promoting literacy.
Language teaching has contributed to and profited from phonetics and phonology. Many works on English phonetics and phonology have been written for foreign learners. English spelling not directly reflecting pronunciation has led to pronouncing dictionaries and pronunciation guides for native speakers and learners. General-purpose English dictionaries include transcriptions or pronunciation guides, not standard for languages with consistent spelling.
Speech therapy (logopedia, logoterapia, foniatría) involves activities and exercises to alleviate or cure language or speech defects (e.g., stuttering) or help someone regain speech after speech loss (e.g., aphasia after a stroke).
Audiology (audiología) is the study of hearing and hearing disorders, particularly the nature of hearing loss and the treatment of people suffering from hearing disorders.