Understanding the Basics of Phonology
The continuous stream of sound that we consider "speech" consists of individual sound units or segments called phonemes. Phonemes are the distinctive sounds speakers hear when they blend and segment words. For example, the word "bit" contains three phonemes when spoken: /b/ /I/ /t/. Letters and/or letter pairs represent sounds in a systematic way and can be matched to the appropriate sound sequence. However, the phoneme is an abstraction.
We typically describe consonant phonemes by the "articulators" involved in making the sound. During the speech process, an active articulator (typically the tongue) touches a passive articulator (usually the top of the oral cavity in different places). Feel the difference when saying the /l/, /t/, /k/ sounds. In addition, we describe the manner of articulation and how airflow is affected. Do the articulators stop airflow as in the sound /b/, create friction as in the /f/ sound, use a combination of the two as in the /ch/ sound? Finally, we ask whether the vocal cords vibrate or not when the sound is produced causing a voiced/unvoiced consonant sound.
By contrast, vowels in English are all voiced and do not involve articulators or air stops. Vowels are produced with a continuous stream of air through the oral cavity. Therefore, they are categorized by the placement of the tongue: height, front/back, and tense/lax. Feel the difference when saying the following words in sequence:
beet bit bait bet bat bite but bot ball boat book boot
The charts below use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), an established, consistent set of symbols that represent sounds in all the world's known languages, to show how consonant and vowel sounds are articulated.
We typically describe consonant phonemes by the "articulators" involved in making the sound. During the speech process, an active articulator (typically the tongue) touches a passive articulator (usually the top of the oral cavity in different places). Feel the difference when saying the /l/, /t/, /k/ sounds. In addition, we describe the manner of articulation and how airflow is affected. Do the articulators stop airflow as in the sound /b/, create friction as in the /f/ sound, use a combination of the two as in the /ch/ sound? Finally, we ask whether the vocal cords vibrate or not when the sound is produced causing a voiced/unvoiced consonant sound.
By contrast, vowels in English are all voiced and do not involve articulators or air stops. Vowels are produced with a continuous stream of air through the oral cavity. Therefore, they are categorized by the placement of the tongue: height, front/back, and tense/lax. Feel the difference when saying the following words in sequence:
beet bit bait bet bat bite but bot ball boat book boot
The charts below use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), an established, consistent set of symbols that represent sounds in all the world's known languages, to show how consonant and vowel sounds are articulated.
The following link will access an interactive chart IPA that will allow you to hear each sound.
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Basic Phonological Rules
Phonological rules describe predictable sound changes. They describe patterns or types of sound changes. They are prescriptive in nature as they describe "what happens" rather than tell "what must happen." This list is not comprehensive.
Assimilation: the ways in which a sound becomes more similar to surrounding sounds to ease articulation
Example: The prefix in- meaning 'not' in English sometimes appears as in- and sometimes as im-. Im- is used
when the root word begins with a bilabial sound as in impractical or impossible.
Deletion: a process through which sounds come to be omitted from words. Typically unstressed syllables get shortened or deleted.
Example: 'labora'tory to labratory
Insertion: when sounds are added to words
Example: length often pronounced with an inserted /k/ sound
Metathesis: the process of sounds reversing their order
Example: aks for ask
Assimilation: the ways in which a sound becomes more similar to surrounding sounds to ease articulation
Example: The prefix in- meaning 'not' in English sometimes appears as in- and sometimes as im-. Im- is used
when the root word begins with a bilabial sound as in impractical or impossible.
Deletion: a process through which sounds come to be omitted from words. Typically unstressed syllables get shortened or deleted.
Example: 'labora'tory to labratory
Insertion: when sounds are added to words
Example: length often pronounced with an inserted /k/ sound
Metathesis: the process of sounds reversing their order
Example: aks for ask