fonetica lb. engleza

Ministerul Educaţiei şi Cercetării Proiectul pentru Învăţământul Rural

LIMBA ŞI LITERATURA ENGLEZĂ

English pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary

Mariana NEAGU

2006

© 2006

Ministerul Educaţiei şi Cercetării Proiectul pentru Învăţământul Rural Nici o parte a acestei lucrări nu poate fi reprodusă fără acordul scris al Ministerului Educaţiei şi Cercetării

Acknowledgements I am grateful to Anca Cehan and Dean Hufstetler for their helpful comments and constructive suggestions on the entire manuscript. Their generous help meant a lot to me. I would also like to acknowledge the considerate help of my students, Andreea Ali, Andreea Cruceanu, Vica Horinceanu and Codruţ Mirică who offered feedback, support and cheerful encouragement at various stages in the complex process of writing this coursebook. Finally, I owe a special debt to my family and close friends for their forbearance, for supporting my efforts on the project and for giving the time I needed to complete it.

ISBN 10 973-0-04573-9; ISBN 13 978-973-0-04573-4.

Table of contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Unit 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.5.1 1.5.2

Unit 2 2.1. 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.2. 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4

Unit 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6

Introduction

iv

The Sounds of English Unit objectives Phonetics and phonology The connection of phonetics and phonology with nonlinguistic and linguistic sciences The importance of phonetic studies Phonetic symbols and types of transcription Types of standard pronunciation Received Pronunciation General American Summary Key concepts Further reading Answers to SAQs

1 2 2 3 5 6 9 9 10 11 11 12 12

Differences between British English and American English Unit objectives Pronunciation differences The vowel system The consonant system Differences in spelling Phonetic spelling tendencies The omission of superfluous letters Lexical differences in main subject areas People and their immediate environment Human interaction and communication Social institutions Natural environment Summary Key concepts Further reading SAA No. 1 Answers to SAQs

14 14 14 16 18 19 19 21 22 22 23 24 24 25 25 25 25

Pronunciation and Spelling Unit objectives The spelling of consonants Vowel markers Keeping a spelling constant Silent letters Homographs and homophones Pronunciation and etymology

27 28 28 29 30 33 34 35

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Unit 4 4.1 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.3 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.4 4.4.1 4.4.2

Unit 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.7.1 5.7.2 5.7.3 5.8 5.9 5.10

Unit 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 ii

Summary Key concepts Further reading SAA No. 2 Answers to SAQs

36 37 37 37 38

Aspects of Connected Speech Unit objectives Linking /r/ and intrusive /r/ Assimilation Regressive assimilation Progressive assimilation Reciprocal assimilation Obligatory and non-obligatory assimilation Elision Vowel elision Consonant elision Strong and weak forms of function words Uses of weak forms Uses of strong forms Summary Key concepts Further reading SAA No. 3 Answers to SAQs

40 41 41 42 42 43 44 45 46 46 47 48 48 50 52 52 52 53 53

Syllables and Stress in English Unit objectives The nature of the syllable The structure of the English syllable Types of syllable The nature of stress Primary and secondary stress Stress and vowels Predicting stress in derivatives Strong suffixes Weak suffixes Prefixes Stress in compounds Rhythm and its influence on word stress Stress shift and semantic implications Summary Key concepts Further reading SAA No. 4 Answers to SAQs

55 56 56 57 58 59 61 62 63 64 65 66 66 67 68 70 70 71 71 72

English as an Intonation Language Unit objectives Definition and components of intonation The tone unit as a basic unit of intonation Tone-patterns in English Functions of intonation

74 75 75 77 78 81

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Table of contents

6.5 6.5.1 6.5.2 6.5.3 6.6

Intonation and sentence types Declaratives Imperatives and exclamations Questions Contrastive analysis of intonation in English and Romanian Summary Key concepts Further reading Answers to SAQs

82 83 83 84 87 88 88 89 89

Bibliography

91

Appendix 1. List of symbols used

93

Appendix 2. Glossary

95

Appendix 3. Practice sets

127

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Introduction

INTRODUCTION

The present course is primarily meant for Romanian teachers of English engaged in open and distance education. In this course we discuss the most important issues from the fields of phonetics, phonology, orthography and lexis, focusing on difficulties encountered in the articulation and perception of English sounds and in the acquisition of pronunciation and spelling rules. Phonetics is the study and description of speech sounds and of the elements of pronunciation at large, since pronunciation is a complex of sounds (vowels and consonants), syllables, word accent and intonation. Phonology studies the way in which phonetic elements function in a language, the way in which phonemes are organized in a given language, i.e. their combinatorial possibilities. The phoneme is the minimal unit in the sound system of a language. Orthography is very closely connected with phonetics, which in its turn is connected with lexicology, grammar and stylistics. Because of the notoriously confusing nature of English spelling, it is particularly important to think of English pronunciation in terms of phonemes rather than letters of the alphabet.

Why is this course important? Theoretically, the general theory about speech sounds and how they are used in language, i.e. phonetics and phonology, is needed by people who are going to work with English at an advanced level (teachers included) and who need a deeper understanding of the principles regulating the use of sounds in spoken English. Ideally, the teacher and the learner of a foreign language should be able to recognize and to produce the sounds of the studied language just like a native speaker. More specifically, phonetics is important because it formulates the rules of pronunciation for separate sounds and sound combinations. Thus, through the system of reading rules, phonetics helps to pronounce correctly singular and plural forms of nouns, the past tense and past participle forms of English regular verbs (see sections 1.2 and 4.2.2). Secondly, through its intonation component, phonetics can serve to single out the logical predicate of a sentence to show that an affirmative sentence is a question, etc. Thirdly, through the right placement of stress we can distinguish certain nouns from verbs (e.g. ‘object - ob’ject), homonymous words and word groups (e.g. ‘blackbird - black ‘bird).

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Introduction

Course objectives At the end of this course you will be able to: -

recognize and produce the sounds of English just like a native speaker be aware of and explain the phonetic and phonological phenomena that occur in connected speech use stress and intonation patters correctly in English understand the complex relationship between pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary.

How is this course book organized? The first unit of the course is concerned with defining phonetics and phonology, explaining the connection of phonetics with other branches of science, introducing the symbols used for teaching the pronunciation of English and identifying the main types of English standard pronunciation. As an important purpose of this course is to explain how English is pronounced in the accents normally chosen as the standards for people learning English, unit 2 is devoted to discriminating British English from American English in terms of pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. Unit 3 looks more closely at the connection between pronunciation and spelling in English and shows that, because of the etymological nature of English orthography, learners of English have to cope with the discrepancy between spelling and present-day pronunciation. Although English spelling is not a reliable indicator of pronunciation, the chapter presents some pronunciation patterns and markers that can still be found. Unit 4 deals with speech sounds as they occur in normal, connected speech, i.e. sounds that are not isolated, fixed and unchangeable, but units that undergo modifications and affect one another. This unit explains phonetic phenomena that occur in casual speech: linking and intrusive /r/, assimilation, elision, etc. As it is practically impossible to speak English fluently unless the phenomenon of function word reduction is properly understood and applied, the unit ends with the use of the strong and weak forms of function (grammatical) words (articles, auxiliaries, modals, pronouns, conjunctions and prepositions). Unit 5 focuses on larger units of speech such as the syllable and on aspects of speech such as stress. While Romanian is a syllable-timed language (a language which has each syllable pronounced with roughly the same duration), English is a stressedtimed language (a language which has the stressed syllables occurring at regular intervals). This unit also highlights the connection between phonology and lexicology in section 5.4 (stress and conversion), in section 5.7 (stress and derivation) and section 5.8 (stress and compounding). Proiectul pentru Învăţământul Rural

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Introduction

Unit 6 discusses English as an intonation language by considering tone patterns in English, functions of intonation and the link between intonation and sentence types. The final goal of the unit is to make Romanian learners of English avoid transferring intonation patterns from the mother tongue in the foreign language. Each of the units presented above ends with a summary of the main issues discussed in the chapter, a list of key concepts meant as a check list for revising the main notions before going on, and a brief section called ‘further reading’. Each new technical term that is introduced in the course is printed in bold type and followed by an asterisk (*), meaning that the term will be explained in the glossary at the end of the book. The course book closes with three appendices containing a list of symbols used (Appendix 1), a complete glossary of technical terms (Appendix 2) and four practice sets (Appendix 3). The practice sets in Appendix 3 are based on exercises taken from Malcolm Mann and Steve Taylore-Knowles. 2003. Skills for First Certificate. Listening and Speaking. Oxford: Macmillan. The tasks included in this last section are correlated with the units in this course and adapted to its specific objectives. Each practice set is allotted a four-hour session of Assisted Activities.

The assignments Every chapter contains reflection points (Think first!) and exercises of two types: SAQs (self-assessed questions) and SAAs (send-away assignments). The former type, SAQs, signalled by a question mark, is based on the information you have just read and consists in questions that break down the texts in order to clarify and consolidate certain teaching points. You will find suggested answers to SAQs at the end of each unit. The latter type, SAAs, signalled by an envelope, generally involves knowledge of the whole chapter and is placed at its end. There are four assignments of this type (in units 2, 3, 4 and 5) that have to be sent to the tutor, following the instructions given in each particular case. Their assessment will take into account knowledge of the information contained in the chapter and correct use of the English language. At the end of the course, your final grade will include the following: • attendance of and contribution to face-to-face meetings with the tutor and to assisted activities, solving of SAQs and SAAs: 40%; • final examination – 60%.

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The sound of the language

UNIT 1 THE SOUNDS OF THE LANGUAGE

Unit outline Unit objectives

2

1.1

Phonetics and phonology

2

1.2

The connection of phonetics and phonology with nonlinguistic and linguistic sciences

3

1.3

The importance of phonetic studies

5

1.4

Phonetic symbols and types of transcription

6

Types of standard pronunciation Received Pronunciation General American

9 9 10

Summary Key concepts Further reading Answers to SAQs

11 11 12 12

1.5 1.5.1 1.5.2

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Unit objectives

1.1.

After you have completed the study of this unit you should be able to: • define phonetics • explain the connection of phonetics with other branches of science • point out the importance of phonetics for a teacher of a foreign language • recognize the symbols used for teaching the pronunciation of English • identify the main type of English standard pronunciation.

Phonetics and phonology • Definition of phonetics Phonetics is the science which studies the sounds used in speech and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription*. (Crystal D., 1992: 259). Speech sounds* can be analysed from several points of view: a. acoustic b. articulatory c. auditory d. functional. • Types of phonetics a. The acoustic aspect falls under the scope of what is commonly called acoustic phonetics* which studies the physical (acoustic) properties of speech sounds as transmitted between the mouth and the ear. b. The articulatory aspect of speech sound is analysed by the branch called articulatory phonetics which deals with speech sounds from the point of view of their production, i.e. what organs are used to produce them and what precise movements they perform in order to articulate them. c. Auditory phonetics* studies speech sounds from the point of view of their perception, i.e. the perceptual response to speech sounds as mediated by the ear, the auditory nerve and the brain. d. Functional phonetics or phonology investigates the functional aspect of sounds, accent*, syllable and intonation. • Definition of phonology While phonetics studies speech sounds as sounds, in all their complexity and diversity, independent of their role in language, phonology studies speech sounds, as these are categorised by speakers of a given language; its study unit is called phoneme. The actually pronounced speech sounds are called variants or allophones* of phonemes. In standard British English, there are 44 different categories of speech sounds called phonemes. Phonemes are said to differ from each other in terms of certain distinctive features* such as voice, nasality, etc. Phonologists study both phonemes (vowels* and

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consonants*) and prosody* (stress and intonation) as subsystems of a spoken language. • Branches of phonology The study of speech into distinctive units or phonemes is called segmental* phonology, whereas the analysis of prosodic and paralinguistic features in connected utterances of speech is called non-segmental/suprasegmental phonology*. SAQ 1 In the spaces provided, mention which branch of phonetics is concerned with the following: a. the perception of the sounds and their interpretation in the receiver …. ………………………………………….. b. the physical (acoustic) properties of speech sounds …. …………………………………………… c. the functional aspects of sounds ….. …………………………………………… d. the activity involved in the production of speech sounds … …………………………………………….. Check your answers against those given in the Answer Key.

1.2 The connection of phonetics and phonology with nonlinguistic and linguistic sciences • The connection with grammar Phonetics is connected with non-linguistic sciences such as anatomy, acoustics and physiology. For example, sounds can be described with reference to anatomical places of articulation (dental*, palatal*), to their physical structure (the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the sound waves) and are articulated by our organs of speech. Phonetics is connected with grammar because, through the system or reading rules, it helps to pronounce the singular and plural forms of nouns correctly, the singular third form of verbs, the past tense forms and past participles of English regular verbs. The study of the phonological, i.e. sound structure of morphemes is called morphophonology*. In many languages, English included, there are phonological rules which can only be described with reference to morphological structure. Thus, the morpheme ‘s’ can be pronounced /iz/ (e.g. peaches, judges), /z/ (e.g. apples, rides) or /s/ (e.g. maps, lacks) depending on the final consonant* of the base form of the verb to which it is attached.

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Think first! Give some examples of the phonetic variation morphemes undergo in combination with one another (e.g. hoof - hooves, half - halves).

In the next paragraph you will find more examples of this kind. One of the most important phonetic phenomena - sound interchange - is another manifestation of the connection of phonetics with grammar. For instance, this connection can be noticed in the category of NUMBER. Thus, the interchange / f-v /, /s-z /, /θ −ð/ helps to distinguish singular and plural forms of such nouns as: calf-calves, house - houses, mouth - mouths, etc. Vowel interchange helps to discriminate the singular and the plural of nouns of foreign origin: basis - bases / ‘beisis - beisi:z / and also of irregular nouns such as man - men /mæn - men/. Vowel interchange is connected with the TENSE forms of irregular verbs, for instance: sing - sang - sung. • Lexicology, semantics, stylistics and pragmatics Phonetics is also connected with lexicology and semantics. Homographs* can be differentiated only due to pronunciation because they are identical in spelling: bow /bəu/ - bow /bau/ lead /li:d / - lead /led/ row /rəu/ - row /rau/ tear /teə/ - tear /tiə/ wind /wind / - wind /waind/ Phonetics is connected with stylistics through repetition of words, phrases and sounds, lying at the basis of rhyme, alliteration*, etc. The connection with the other linguistic branches (i.e. semantics, pragmatics) is obvious due the role played by accent, stress and intonation in the act of communication. For example, the position of word accent in units higher than a word may have far - reaching semantic consequences. If we consider compounds such as blackbird, yellow-hammer, blue-stocking, cheap-jack (in which the stress falls on the first syllable) and phrases containing apparently the same words blackbird, yellowhammer, bluestocking, cheapjack (in which the stress falls on the second syllable) we notice that the difference in stress engenders differences in meaning.

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SAQ 2 Which non-linguistic and linguistic sciences are connected with phonetics? Fill in the blanks with the corresponding term. 1. Since speech sounds are articulated by our organs of speech, phonetics is connected with...................... 2. Since the sounds are transmitted in the form of sound waves, phonetics is connected with …………………... 3. Since some sounds can be described with reference to anatomical places of articulation, phonetics is connected with …………………..… 4. The connection between phonetics and ……………………… can be proved by the different pronunciations of the grammatical morphemes -s and –ed. 5. Homography is a study area common to both phonetics and ……………………….. 6. The close interrelationship between phonetics and ….………………….….. can be seen in commands and requests that are distinguished by means of intonation patterns. 7. When phrases coincide with compounds, the semantic difference is made by means of stress, an issue studied by ……………………….. phonetics or phonology. The answer is given at the end of this unit.

1.3

The importance of phonetic studies Think First! Before reading the next section, think of the importance of phonetics for the foreign language teacher and write down your ideas in the space provided below. Your answer should not be longer than two paragraphs.

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The connection of phonetics with linguistic sciences (grammar, lexicology, stylistics, semantics and pragmatics) points to its importance from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. Theoretically, a complete understanding and description of a language is not possible without a description of its sound structure and system. For instance, the loss of inflections in English is a grammatical phenomenon which has phonetic causes, i.e. the strong dynamic stress on the first syllable of words resulted in the reduction, weakening and loss of the final unstressed syllable. Practically, knowledge of phonetics is indispensable in the study and teaching of foreign languages. The teacher and the learner of a foreign language should ideally be able to recognize and produce the sounds of the studied language just like a native speaker.

1.4 Phonetic symbols and types of transcription • The International Phonetic Alphabet To describe the sounds of English (or of any other language) one cannot depend on the spelling of the words. The most accurate method of representing sounds is through the International Phonetic Alphabet* (IPA) developed by the International Phonetic Association in 1888; this can be used to symbolize the sounds found in all languages. The symbols are based on the Roman alphabet, with further symbols created by inverting or reversing Roman letters or taken from the Greek alphabet. The main characters are supplemented when necessary by diacritics. The International Phonetic Alphabet is less used in North America than elsewhere, but it is widely used as a pronunciation aid for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language), especially by British publishers and increasingly in British dictionaries of English. • The broad/phonemic/phonological transcription When the sounds of a language are represented without going into any details about variations, the method of broad/phonemic/phonological transcription is used. For example, in English, the /t/ phoneme is represented by this symbol in all situations, regardless of the fact that the phoneme is realized by various allophones, e.g. being aspirated* in a stressed initial position (time) and unaspirated* after –s (stay), and ignoring also the fact that it may not always have alveolar* articulation. A broad phonemic transcription is generally felt to be simplest to use, but knowledge of the allophonic systems of the language is needed if such a transcription is to be read aloud, with approximate accuracy.

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• The narrow/allophonic/phonetic transcription Variations may be represented by what is known as narrow//phonetic/allophonic i.e. a transcription which mirrors all that is known about a sound in a given environment. The large number of diacritics makes it possible to mark minute shades of sound. Conventionally, the narrow transcription* is given between square brackets, while the broad transcription* uses slashes (slant lines). Think first! Look at the table below and consider the difference in number between the phonemes of English and those of Romanian. Which sounds do you think are found in English but not in Romanian? Language

Consonants

Vowels

Total

English Romanian

24 22

20 7

44 29

You can find such instances if you read the next section. • The English phonemic system According to traditional phonological theories, the minimal unit in the sound system* of a language is the phoneme. Each language operates with a relatively small number of phonemes (Japanese has about 20 phonemes, Romanian has 29 and English has 44); no two languages have the same phonemic system. The English phonemic system contains 24 consonants* and 20 vowels, while Romanian has 22 consonants and 7 vowels. The symbols used for teaching the pronunciation of English are the following:

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Symbols Examples Symbols for vowels and diphthongs

Symbols for consonants

8

[i:] [i] [e] [æ] [A:] []

Pete pit pet pat part pot

[pi:t] [pit] [pet] [pæt] [pA:t] [pt]

[:] [u] [u:] [Λ] [ə:] [ə] [ei] [ai] [i] [Au] [əu] [iə] [εə] [uə]

port put pool pun perm parade pain pine point pouch poach peer pair poor

[p:t] [put] [pu:l] [pΛn] [pə:m] [pə’reid] [pein] [pain] [pint] [pautS] [pəutS] [piə] [pεə] [puə]

[p] [b] [t] [d] [k] [g] [f] [v] [s] [z] [Θ] [ð] [S] [Z] [tS] [dZ-] [m] [n] [η] [l] [r] [w] [j]

appear bubble attend hiding conquer begin offer cover] assist razor ether mother nation measure cheese joke summer any finger palace caress queen yes

[ə’piə] [bΛbl] [ə’tend] [haidiη] [‘knkə] [bi’gin] [fə] [kΛvə] [ə’sist] [reizə] [i:θə] [mΛðə] [neiSn] [meZə] [tSi:z] [dZəuk] [sΛmə] [eni] [fiηgə] [pælis] [kə’res] [kwi:n] [jes]

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The sound of the language

SAQ 3 What terms correspond to the following definitions? Write your answers in the spaces provided below. 1. A systematic method of representing in a rather general way (normally using the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet) how spoken language sounds. ………………………………….. 2. A system of written symbols designed to enable the speech sounds* of any language to be consistently represented. ……………………………………… 3. A method which gives a much more accurate indication of actual speech sounds but requires more symbols and diacritics. ………………………………………. The answer is given at the end of this unit.

1.5 Types of standard pronunciation 1.5.1 Received Pronunciation* (RP) • Definition RP is the name for the accent generally associated with educated British English and used as the pronunciation model for teaching it to foreign learners. • Origin Received Pronunciation originates from the prestige accent of the Court, well established in England by the 17th century. During the First World War, Daniel Jones (1917) called it PSP (Public School Pronunciation) because it was most usually heard in everyday speech in the families of Southern English persons who had been educated at the great public boarding-schools. • Who uses RP? RP is the pronunciation used by national announcers and presenters on the BBC since its founding in the 1920s because it was the form of pronunciation most likely to be nationally understood and to attract least regional criticism – hence the association of RP with the phrase BBC English*.

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• Is RP still popular on radio and television? However in the 1970s-1980s there has been a move towards modified regional accent among announcers and presenters and towards distinct (but generally modified) regional accents among presenters on popular radio channels and meteorologists and sports commentators on television. In spite of the regionally marked forms of accent that can be heard on some channels, RP remains the reference norm that is used for the descriptions of other varieties of English. • Why are there differences in pronunciation? Differences in pronunciation result from various factors such geographical origin, one’s age and sex, social class, educational background, occupation and personality. In addition, Roach (1994: 190) mentions situation factors such as the social relationship between speaker and hearer, whether one is speaking publicly or privately and the purposes for which one is using language. • RP and EFL teaching RP is the accent that foreign learners of English are expected to learn for the sake of convenience and simplicity; learners of English need to be aware of the fact that this style/accent/variety is far from being the only one they can meet. In practice, EFL teachers should do their best to expose their pupils to other varieties. Actually, in EFL teaching RP competes more and more with GA (General American*).

1.5.2 General American (GA) • Definition An accent of English used in the United States that lacks the especially marked regional characteristics of the north-east (New England, New York State) and the south-east (the ‘Southern States’). As a concept, GA corresponds to the layman’s perception of an American accent without marked regional characteristics. It is sometimes referred to as “Network English” being the variety most acceptable on the television networks covering the whole United States. (Wells, 1981: 471).

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The sound of the language

Summary This unit has introduced some major issues meant to underline the idea that an understanding of the principles of phonetics is a necessary basis for the study of other branches of linguistics, in the sense that many language phenomena can be explained only in terms of phonetics. Therefore, phonetics is equally necessary in the theoretical and practical study of language. The difference between phonemes and allophones or in other words, between phonology and phonetics is so important that we also note this difference in transcription: phonetic (or narrow transcription) for which we use square brackets and phonological (phonemic, broad transcription) for which we use slashes. Phonemic variants or allophones are very important for language learning and language teaching because they are pronounced in actual speech and though their mispronunciation does not influence the meaning of the words, their misuse makes a person’ s speech sound “foreign”. Because spelling is not a faithful representation of language, it is useful to have a set of special symbols whose values are generally agreed upon. This is the function of the phonetic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. English is the national language in many countries, including the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zeeland, and South Africa. There are great differences in the pronunciation of English in these countries and even within the same country one may hear different pronunciations. From this variety of pronunciations, for practical purposes, it has been necessary to choose those which are best suited for learning and using English, i.e. Received Pronunciation and General American.

Key concepts The following key concepts have been introduced in this unit. Use this list and others found at the end of each chapter as a checklist to make sure that you are familiar with each before going on. • • • • • • • • • • • •

acoustic phonetics allophone articulatory phonetics auditory phonetics broad transcription functional phonetics or phonology General American morphophonology narrow transcription phoneme phonemic system Received Pronunciation

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• • •

segmental phonology suprasegmental phonology the International Phonetic Alphabet

Further reading 1. Finch, Geoffrey. 2000. Linguistic Terms and Concepts. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 33-77. 2. Roach, Peter. 1994. English Phonetics and Phonology. A Practical Course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-47.

Answers to SAQs If your answer to SAQ 1 is not comparable to the one suggested below, please reread section 1.1. SAQ 1 a. b. c. d.

auditory phonetics acoustic phonetics functional acoustics or phonology articulatory phonetics

If your answer to SAQ 2 is not comparable to the one suggested below, please reread section 1.2. SAQ 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

physiology physics anatomy grammar lexicology pragmatics functional phonetics or phonology

If your answer to SAQ 3 is not comparable to the one suggested below, please reread section 1.4. SAQ 3 1. broad transcription 2. the International Phonetic Alphabet 3. narrow transcription

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Differences between British and American English

UNIT 2 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

Unit outline Unit objectives

14

2.1.1 2.1.2

Pronunciation differences The vowel system The consonant system

14 14 16

2.2.1 2.2.2

Differences in spelling Phonetic spelling tendencies The omission of superfluous letters in American English

18 19 19

2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4

Lexical differences in main subject areas People and their immediate environment Human interaction and communication Social institutions Natural environment

21 22 22 23 24

Summary Key concepts Further reading SAA No. 1 Answers to SAQs

24 25 25 25 25

2.1

2.2

2.3

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Differences between British and American English

Unit objectives

After you have completed the study of this unit you should be able to: • discriminate British English from American English in terms of pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary • avoid a potential source of confusion caused by some lexical items in the two varieties of English • try to develop a consistent way of speaking and writing in English English in the USA differs considerably from British English. Pronunciation is the most striking difference but there are also a number of differences in vocabulary and grammar as well as slight differences in spelling. Think First! Before continuing to read this unit, think of which variety of English you tend to pronounce. Note down some of the distinguishing features you are aware of and compare them with the information given in the section below.

2.1 Pronunciation differences 2.1.1 The vowel system • American drawl Some Americans are noted for their drawl, i.e. a lengthening of stressed vowels; this is especially characteristic of Southern pronunciation. In contrast with the drawled nature of the way many Americans speak is the so-called ‘clipped’ diction of British English. This is accounted for by the greater tension and lesser degree of lengthening in stressed vowels. The American drawl has to do with a less effortful way of producing sounds and is an aspect of informality of American English (Kovecses, 2000: 241)

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Differences between British and American English

• American nasality Vowels are often nasalized* in American English (the American nasality or nasal twang*) especially by speakers from the Middle West. The nasal quality of American vowels is explained by the longer duration* of the nasalized portion of a vowel following a nasal consonant Many British people pronounce /A:/ in some words where Americans pronounce /æ /, when this vowel is followed by fricatives* such as /f/, /θ/, /s/; therefore, the pronunciation with /æ/ before the fricatives /f, s, θ/ and before the nasals* /m/, /n/ is typical of American English: British English /A:/+ /f/, /θ/, /s/ /A:/+ /n/, /m/

American Examples English /æ/ + /f /, /θ /, /s/ laugh, after, bath, math, ask, /æ/+/n/, /m/ chance, example

The vowel // is pronounced without lip-rounding and sounds like /A:/ in American English: stop, body, common, novel, problem: British English //|

American English /Λ/

Examples Tom, dollar, lot, hot, box, rock, dog, frog, crop, body, conflict, novel

The Americans have a tendency to pronounce /ə/ instead of /i/ in unstressed syllables: British English /i/

American Examples English /ə/ minute, started, greatest

• The reduction of diphthongs* to simple vowels In British English, words like home, no, are pronounced with the diphthong /əu/ while in American English the diphthong* is reduced to /ə/, especially in unstressed final position (in very casual or informal speech): potato, tomato, fellow, window, piano, mellow, etc. This points to the well known American tendency towards simplification. The same tendency can be noticed in the reduction of /ai/ to /a:/ and of /ei/ to /æ/. Similarly, the semi-vowel /j/ is dropped into /u/ when preceded by /t/ or /d/, a characteristic which shows that the Americans pronounce the words almost the same way as they are written:

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Differences between British and American English

British English

American English

Examples

/əu/

/ə/

potato, tomato, fellow

/ai/

/A:/

fire, buyer, tired, five

/ei/

date, fate, great

/t/, /d/ or /n/ +/j/+/u/

/t/, /d/ or /n/ +/u/

student, tulip, during, numerous

SAQ 1 Group the following words according to the vowel sound they contain in American English: class, aunt, dollar, glass, greatness, fast, pass, castle, window, due, nuclear, Tom, nude, got, interest, bottle, piano, tigress, mellow, dance, rock, frog, tune. 1. /æ/: class, glass, … 2. /Λ/: dollar, … 3. /ə/ in unstressed syllable: greatness, … 4. /ə/ in unstressed final position: window, … 5. /u/: due, … Check your answers against those given at the end of this unit.

2.1.2 The consonant system • The flap* In British English /t/ remains unvoiced* between two vowels or between a vowel and a voiced* consonant but in American English intervocalic* /t/ is very close to /d/. This type of sound is called ‘the flap’ because the tongue flaps against the alveolar ridge. In many areas of the United States, where it can be heard, the flap* makes words such as matter and madder, writer and rider, latter and ladder, whiter and wider sound nearly or exactly the same: British English Intervocalic unvoiced /t/|

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American English Intervocalic voiced /t/, resembling /d/

Examples writer, latter, whiter

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Differences between British and American English

• Post-nasal /t/ A well known distinguishing feature of American pronunciation is complete disappearance or voicing of /t/ in post-nasal position that is after a nasal consonant. Cases in point are winter, pronounced as winner, enter as enner and intercity as innercity, in which the voiceless consonant /t/ is pronounced as voiced /d/. Further, /t/ and /d/ may be dropped altogether in casual speech after nasals: twenty /’tweni/, candidate, /’kænə,deit/, understand /;Λnər’stænd/ • Rhotacity In standard British English /r/ is only pronounced before a vowel. In American English /r/ is pronounced in all positions in a word and it changes the quality* of a vowel that comes after it. So, words like turn and offer sound very different in British and American speech. Consequently, American English is considered to be a rhotic* accent of English, one in which /r/ is pronounced in post-vocalic (e.g. bird) and final position (e.g. car). Pronouncing /r/ is the norm in the Northern, Midland, and Western dialect region, that is, the greatest part of the country. Exceptions to this are New England and New York, which although geographically belonging to the North, do not pronounce the /r/ in a post-vocalic position and at the end of words. • Word stress Word stress tends to fall on the first syllable in American English: princess, address, research, entire, museum, resource: British English second syllable is stressed

American English first syllable is stressed

Examples princess, address, research, entire, museum, resource

Most of the disyllabic verbs ending in -ate have the stress on the first syllable: dictate, frustrate, migrate, vibrate. As for the borrowings, they keep their original stress in American English: barrage, bouquet, chalet, café, gourmet, pâté, ballet. In words that have three syllables, Americans emphasize the ending: secretary, dictionary, laboratory, conservatory, inflammatory.

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Differences between British and American English

SAQ 2 What British - American differences do you know relative to: 1. consonants 2. word stress Write your answers in the space provided below. Compare them with the suggested answer given at the end of the unit.

2.2 Differences in spelling Think first ! Before moving on to differences in spelling, look at the way some words are spelt in the two standards of English: British English

American English

1. labour

1. labor

2. centre

2. center

3. hospitalised

3. hospitalized

Can you give other examples?

You will find further examples as you read sections 2.2.1.and 2.2.2. American spelling, in the majority of cases is simpler and consistently shorter than British spelling. The process of simplification in spelling started with the spelling reforms at the end of the eighteenth century, when ‘big names’ including Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster and Mark Twain attempted at changing the complicated system of English.

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Differences between British and American English

2.2.1 Phonetic spelling tendencies • The change from -re to -er American spelling closely follows the sequence in which the sounds are actually pronounced, namely it tends to have what is called ‘phonetic spelling’. For example, when we pronounce words like theatre (BE) theater (AmE) and centre (BE) - center (AmE) the sequence of the final sounds is /tə(r)/. Notice that in the British spelling the sequence of the actual sounds, /ə+r/, is reversed, yielding -re in writing. • The shift from -ce to -se Another best known case of change related to the phonetic spelling reforms proposed by Webster in 1788, and subsequently preserved in American spelling is the shift from -ce to -se, as in defense, pretense, offense. • The change from –ise to -ize Both the ending -ise and -ize are pronounced with a /z/ sound. As the letter z is a more conventional representation of the sound /z/ than the letter /s/, American English favours the spelling -ize as in analyze.

2.2.2 The omission of ‘superfluous’ letters in American English A ‘faithful’ orthographic representation of the pronunciation of words implies the omission of letters that are believed to be superfluous, e.g. silent* letters. • The shift from -ll to -l, and from -mme to -m Words that normally have -ll in British English are spelled with -l in American English: counsel(l), wol(l)en. Similarly, -mme in British English turns into -m in American English: program(me), kilogram(me). • The shift from –our to -or In British English words ending in -our end in -or in American English, e.g. colour /color. • The shift from -AmE, -oe to -e British English seems to have retained both -ae and -oe spellings in addition to the -e spellings in words like mediaeval, foetus, paediatrician, oesophagus, manoeuvre, anaemia, amoeba. American English seems to prefer the simplified -e spellings in these cases. Thus, in American English, the usual spellings of these words are medieval, fetus, pediatrician, esophagus, maneuver, anemia and ameba.

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Differences between British and American English

SAQ 3 How do you spell these words in American English? 1.

behaviour ....................

2.

humour ....................

3.

honour ....................

4.

metre ....................

5.

criticise ....................

6.

organise ....................

7.

industrialise ....................

8.

defence ....................

9.

offence ....................

10.

licence ....................

11.

mediaeval ....................

12.

enquiry ....................

13.

gipsy ....................

14.

traveller ....................

15.

marvellous ....................

16.

woollen ....................

17.

kidnapped ....................

18.

focussed .................... Check your answers against those given at the end of this

unit.

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Differences between British and American English

Think first! Can you avoid some of the most common confusions arising between British and American speakers? Try the following quiz. 1. Where would you take (a) an American visitor (b) a British visitor who said they wanted to wash up - the kitchen or the bathroom?

2. Would (a) an American (b) a Brit be expected to get something hot or something cold if they asked for some potato chips? 3. Which would surprise you more - an American or a British man telling you that he wanted to go and change his pants? 4. You have just come into an unknown office block. If (a) an American (b) a Brit says that the office you need is on the second floor, how many flights of stairs do you need to climb? 5. If (a) an American (b) a Brit asks for a bill, is he or she more likely to be in a bank or a cafe? Check your answers against the information given in section 2.3.1.

2.3 Lexical differences in main subject areas The main causes of the vocabulary differences between British and American English are related to social and cultural developments, technology and linguistic processes. The range of lexical differences can be suggested by the large number of lexical entries marked as Americanisms in Webster’s New World Dictionary, i.e. 11,000 items, out of which 4,000 items belong to ordinary vocabulary. Concerning the subject areas which provide most of the lexical differences, Kovecses (2000: 148) mentions the central theme of ’people and their immediate environment’; slightly removed from this central theme we have the theme ‘human interaction and communication’; next we can set up the theme ‘social institutions’ and finally, the theme of ‘natural environment’.

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Differences between British and American English

2.3.1 People and their immediate environment This theme includes the subcategories household and building, clothing, food and shopping: British

American

ground floor lift tap flat (rented) cupboard flat (owned) dustbin

first floor elevator faucet apartment closet condominium trashcan

Clothes

dinner jacket trousers underpants waistcoat

tuxedo pants shorts vest

Food

tin sweets chips jam biscuit

can candy French fries jelly cookie

Shopping

bill queue shop assistant

check line sales clerk

Building and household

2.3.2 Human interaction and communication This subject area involves such subcategories as travel and accommodation, personal communication (telephone and post) and transportation (car, train, road). Accommodation and travel

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luggage left luggage office receptionist to book timetable toilet(s) return ticket single ticket

baggage baggage room desk clerk to make reservations schedule restroom round trip ticket one way ticket

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Differences between British and American English

Telephone and post office

Road, traffic and transportation

post code ring up postman parcel

zip code call up mailman package

car park pavement motorway roundabout taxi/cab traffic lights high street underground coach tram sledge

parking lot sidewalk freeway traffic circle cab/taxi stop lights main street subway bus street car sled

2.3.3 Social institutions This theme contains such subcategories as school and education, business and banking, as well as media and entertainment. School and education

Business and finance

Entertainment

lecturer senior lecturer reader professor hall of residence mark postgraduate secondary school university maths

instructor assistant professor associate professor (full) professor dormitory grade graduate high school college/university math

current account deposit account shares note

checking account savings account stocks bill

booking office film/movie cinema interval

ticket office movie movie theater intermission

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Differences between British and American English

2.3.4 Natural environment The subcategories of plants and animals can be viewed as parts of this theme: Plants and animals

maize insect ladybird cock Alsatian

corn bug ladybug rooster German shepherd

SAQ 4 Change the following into British English. 1. Pass me the cookies. ……………………………. 2. One-way or round trip? ……………………………. 3. It’s in the closet. …………………………….. 4. He left the faucet on. …………………………….. 5. Open the drapes. …………………………….. 6. We’re leaving in the fall. ……………………………… 7. We’ve run out of gas ………………………………. 8. I hate waiting in line. …………………………… Check your answer against the suggested answer given at the end of the unit.

Summary Speakers of American English have developed a form of communication that requires less attention and effort. This is reflected by the casual nature of their way of speaking, generally characterized by nasalizing and drawing out certain vowels. In contrast with this, the British way of speaking has a so called ‘clipped’ nature. Unlike British English, American English discloses a tendency towards simplification proved by (1) the reduction of certain diphthongs* to simple vowels and (2) the elimination of some unnecessary letters in spelling. American spelling differs from British spelling in that the former usually tries to correspond more closely to pronunciation (showing a

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Differences between British and American English

tendency towards phonetic spelling) while the latter preserves its etymological spelling. British and American vocabularies also reveal differences related to general themes such as (1) people and their immediate environment (2) human interaction and communication (3) social institutions and (4) natural environment.

Key concepts • • • • • •

American drawl American nasality flap phonetic spelling postnasal /t/ rhotacity

Further reading 1. Iarovici, Edith. 1994. Engleza Americană. Bucureşti: Editura Teora, pp.99-111 2. Kovecses, Zoltan. 2000. American English. An Introduction. Ontario: Broad View Press, pp.139-155, 240-247 3. Neagu Mariana. 2001. Variety and Style in English. Buzău: Alpha, pp. 123-148. SAA No. 1 Which variety of English is taught and preferred by Romanian teachers and students? Try to find out why that particular variety is preferred and point out its characteristics, using the information in Unit 2 and in the books recommended under Further reading. Write a 250 word essay and send it to your tutor. The maximum score for this assignment is 20 points: - 10 points for providing solid arguments - 5 points for language accuracy - 3 points for identifying the variety features correctly - 2 points for organizing ideas in paragraphs.

Answers to SAQs If your answers to SAQ 1 and SAQ 2 are not comparable to the ones suggested below, please reread section 2.1. SAQ 1 1. /A:/ in British English (BE) is turned into /æ/ in American English (AmE), when this vowel is followed by fricatives such as /s/: Proiectul pentru Învăţământul Rural

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Differences between British and American English

class, glass, fast, pass, castle. The same change, that is /A:/ in BrE becomes /æ/ in AmE when it is followed by the nasals /n/, /m/ followed by other consonants: aunt, dance 2. // in BrE is pronounced without lip-rounding and sounds like /Λ/ in AmE: Tom, dollar, got, bottle, rock, frog 3. /i/ in unstressed syllables in BrE is replaced by /ə/ in AmE: greatness, tigress, interest 4. /əu/ in unstressed final position in British English is replaced by /ə/ in American English: window, piano, mellow 5. /ju/ in BrE is reduced to /u/| in AmE when preceded by /t/ or /d/: tune, due. The same reduction, that of /ju/ to /u/, occurs when /ju/ is preceded by /n/: nuclear, nude SAQ 2 • Intervocalic* /t/ in British English sounds like /d/ in American English: writer, latter, whiter • /r/ is pronounced in all positions in a word in American English, while in standard British English /r/ is only pronounced before a vowel: offer, turn, etc. • word stress tends to fall on the first syllable in American English and on the second syllable in British English: princess, address, research, entire, museum, resource. • disyllabic verbs ending in –ate have the stress on the first syllable in American English: dictate, frustrate, migrate, vibrate. In words that have three syllables, Americans emphasize the ending: secretary, dictionary, laboratory, conservatory, inflammatory If your answer to SAQ 3 is not comparable to the one suggested below, please reread section 2.2. SAQ 3 behavior, humor, honor, meter, criticize, organize, industrialize, defense, offense, license, medieval, inquiry, gypsy, traveler, marvelous, woolen, kidnaped, focused If your answer to SAQ 4 is not comparable to the one suggested below, please reread section 2.3. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

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SAQ 4 Pass me the cakes Single or return (trip)? It’s in the cupboard He left the tap on. Open the curtains! We’re leaving in autumn. We’ve run out of petrol I hate standing in a queue.

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Pronunciation and spelling

UNIT 3 PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING

Unit outline

Unit objectives

28

3.1

The spelling of consonants

28

3.2

Vowel markers

29

3.3

Keeping a spelling constant

30

3.4

Silent letters

33

3.5

Homographs and homophones

34

3.6

Pronunciation and etymology

35

Summary Key concepts Further reading SAA No. 2 Answers to SAQs

36 37 37 37 38

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Pronunciation and spelling

Unit objectives

After you have completed the study of this unit you should be able to: • discriminate words or parts of words that are spelled exactly the same way but which are pronounced entirely differently. • acquire the markers, pronunciation patterns and spelling rules provided in the unit Ideally, the spelling system should closely reflect pronunciation, as is the case in Romanian, but not in English, which nevertheless presents many regularities between sound and written symbol. The problem in English is twofold – each sound is represented by more than one letter or by sequences of letters, and any letters represents more than one sound, or it may not represent any sound at all. Think first! What group of letters corresponds to the /S/ sound? Think of words such as ship, passion, ration, Asian, conscious, Confucian, issue, machine and luxury. ………….. Check your answer against the information given in section 3.1.

3.1 The spelling of consonants • Consonants with a single spelling Most consonants, at least some of the time, may have a singleletter 'alphabetic' spelling: ; /k/ has a choice of or . But there is often 'divergence', where one speech-sound has several different spellings and spelling may stand for different speech-sounds. • Consonants with multiple letter spelling In spite of the available single-letter spelling , the consonant at the beginning of foot has more complex spellings in physics, enough, offer. The in easy represents /z/, the in quick represents /w/ and the in of represents /v/. The consonant at the beginning of yet, yellow can also be found as part of the vowel spelt in cue, cute, pure. The most divergent consonant is /k/, which has different spellings in cool, chemistry, sack, accolade, chukker, key, quay, quite, and as part of the /ks/ in axe. Six consonants, that is /Θ, ð S, Z, tS, η / do not have a single-letter-spelling of their own and require at least two letters, such as , or . These are the consonants found in the middle of the following words: method, bother, wishing, measure, patches and the consonant represented by in singer when no actual /gl is pronounced.

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Pronunciation and spelling

The main cause responsible for the departure of English spelling from the phonemic principle* is that conservative principles in orthography cannot keep pace with the phonetic changes in the language. SAQ 1 Identify the graphs corresponding to /f/, /k/, /s/, /z/, /S/ in the following words. The first has been done for you as an example: 1.saphhire: phh: /f/ 2. back …………………………… 3. acclaim …………………………… 4. biscuit …………………………… 5. school …………………………… 6. dress …………………………… 7. scene …………………………… 8. racing …………………………… 9. cousin …………………………… 10. dissolve …………………………… 11. dessert …………………………… 12. mission …………………………… 13. option …………………………… 14. ancient …………………………… 15. conscious …………………………… 16. ocean …………………………… Fill in the blanks with your answers and then check them with the suggested answers given at the end of this unit.

3.2 Vowel markers Five pairs of vowels can have single-letter spellings: in scrap, scraping, in met, meter, in pip, piper, in cop, coping, in rub, ruby. There is also in cryptic, cry, which duplicates the spellings. The examples given in each pair represent a 'short' and a 'long' vowel or diphthong. For this letter-sharing to work, 'markers' are needed in some contexts to tell you which value the letter has. • Final silent -e To get the long value of in a single-syllable word, you have to add a marker , as in scrape. The in bathe, breathe, loathe, wreathe not only marks the vowel as long but also marks the last consonant as 'voiced' rather than the 'voiceless'* one in bath, breath, loath, wreath. Other examples are lathe, lithe, swathe. Mouth and smooth used as verbs lack this marking. The marker in browse, copse, lapse, please, tease, tense is used to prevent confusion with the plural forms brows, cops, laps, pleas, teas, tens. It marks the browse group as single units and as such is called 'lexical '. Proiectul pentru Învăţământul Rural

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Pronunciation and spelling

• The double consonant rule To get the short value before a suffix beginning with a vowel like , you double a final consonant letter, as in scrapping. Therefore, the double consonant rule says that a final consonant in a stressed syllable must be doubled to preserve the short pronunciation of the vowel when followed by a syllable beginning with a vowel. Note, for example, the difference in length between // and /əu/ in the pair hopping - hoping. • The y to i rule This rule states that final y preceded by a consonant becomes i before a suffix (e.g. –ed, -s) not beginning with –i (e.g. -ing): try – tried, tries but try – trying

hurry – hurries, hurried but hurry – hurrying

SAQ 2 Can you give examples of a single vowel letter which can be used with two values, i.e. short and long, as in scrap - scrape, scrapping - scraping? Write your answers in the space provided below.

Contrast them with the suggested answer given at the end of unit 3.

3.3

Keeping a spelling constant Think first! Do you believe it would be a good idea if English spelling represented pronunciation more closely? Before you read the section below, think of possible disadvantages if English spelling were 100% phonemic.

Check your answer against the information given in this section.

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Pronunciation and spelling

• The morphological principle English spelling is based not only on the etymological principle* but also on the morphological principle, according to which spelling has to preserve unchanged the graphic form of every meaningful part of the word (morpheme) even its actual pronunciation changes, which happens when the given morpheme is combined with some other morphemes. Well-known examples are the grammatical (bound) morphemes -s and -ed. For instance, the three homonymic morphemes representing (1) the third person singular present tense -(e)s, (2) the possessive case of nouns ’s and (3) the plural of nouns -(e)s may have three pronunciations, each depending on the phonetic environment: a. /z/ when preceded by a vowel or a voiced consonant: stays, kills. b. /s/ after a voiceless* consonant: takes. c. /iz/ after consonants such as /s, z, S, Z, tS, dZ/: sneezes, washes, watch, etc. The verbal ending -ed sounds quite different in wished, begged, and wanted. If you think that they would be better spelt phonetically as * , '’ , you are losing the advantage of a constant spelling for the regular past-tense ending. Therefore, -ed is pronounced: • /d/ after vowels and voiced consonants: opened • /t/ after voiceless* consonants: worked • /id/ after /t/, /d/: wanted, divided SAQ 3 What do you think of Mark Twain’s plans for the improvement of English spelling? Try to remake the etymological spelling of the words in italics and then rewrite the text. For example, in Year 1 that useless letter “c” would be dropped to be replased either by “k” or “s”, and likewise, “x” would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which “c” would be retained would be the “ch” formation, which will be dealt with later. …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Year 2 might reform “w” spelling, so that “which” and “one” would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish “y” replasing it with “i” and iear 4 might fiks the “g/j” anomali wonse and for all. …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Proiectul pentru Învăţământul Rural

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Pronunciation and spelling

…………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez “c”, “y” and “x” – bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez – tu riplais “ch”, “sh”, and “th” rispektivli. …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… . Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld. …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Compare your answer with the one given at the end of this unit • Phonemic variation in derivatives The morphological principle is also of great help in the case of derivatives. For example, one may think it awkward to have Is/ spelt differently in sent and cent. That may be, but the spelling of both /k/ in electric and Is/ in electricity keeps the spelling of that unit constant. Another good example of this principle is provided by the long and short pronunciations of single vowel letters seen in word pairs such as: atrocious - atrocity female - feminine omen - omenous austere - austerity grateful - gratitude reside – residual chaste - chastity legal - legislate sole - solitude crime - criminal mine - mineral supreme - supremacy In these pairs the basic long vowel is shortened when it comes three syllables from the end of the word. 32

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Pronunciation and spelling

3.4 Silent letters • Silent g, w, h and k Keeping a constant spelling may involve the use of so-called 'silent' letters. The does not represent /g/ in sign, but it does in derived forms resignation, signal, signature, signify. Similarly we have malign and malignant. Changing to ", " would spoil the visual link. Should we keep the of two because twenty, twin, between are remotely related? Should shepherd be re-spelt as * , a regularized spelling when used as a name? On the other hand the of gnarled, gnat, gnash, gnaw, gnome and the of knee, knife, knight, knock, know, knuckle are quite empty letters. They are the debris of history and are never pronounced in any derived word (except for acknowledge). It would be no loss to change to ", '"