Phonology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Phonology - Assignment ExampleA consonant whitethorn be delimitate to be an interruption of the effusion of vocal ponderous, arising from the application of the variety meat of deliverance to each other (Walker 2008 6). In order to identify consonant sound, one should understand a vowel. The words of Trofimov et al (2002 22) are probative in this sense when they define vowel and consonant as follows A vowel (in normal speech) is delimit as a voiced sound in which the pipeline passes in a continuous stream through the pharynx and mouth, there being no obstruction and no narrowing such as would produce audible friction. They further write, All other sounds expect the previously stated (in normal speech) are c tot tout ensembleyed consonants. Therefore, one butt infer that in the production of consonant sounds, there may be an obstruction in the melody passage causing for an audible friction. Consonants therefore include (i) all sounds which are not voiced (eg p, s, ?), (ii) al l sounds in which the air has an impeded passage through the mouth (b, l, rolled r), (iii) all sounds in which air does not pass through the mouth (eg m), (iv) all sounds in which there is audible friction (eg f, v, s, z). (iv) may be regarded as a particular case of (ii) (Trofimov et al 2002 22). To describe the consonant sound, the following pieces of teaching will be really helpful a) the air stream mechanism, b) the state of the glottis, c) the position of the soft palate, d) the articulating organs or points of articulation, and e) the personal manner of articulation or the stricture gnarly (McMahon 2002 30). Various studies select identified that all English sounds are produced with a pulmonic egressive air stream mechanism, that is, the air stream expelled from the lungs is modified to physical body speech sounds. The sounds produced with the glottis open are voiceless and those produced with the glottis closed are voiced. According to the position of the soft palate th e sounds may be nasal or oral. Place of articulation is defined in terms of the articulators involved in the speech gesture (Manell 2002). The points or places of articulations can be identified by referring to a speech gesture in terms of an active articulator and a passive articulator. b. monophthong Vowels in English language have been divided into two categories, namely, monophthongs and diphthongs. Monophthongs are also called as pure vowels. Bloomer et al writes, ...there are 20 vowel sounds in RP English. Twelve of these are monophthongs, that is, pure vowels and eight are diphthongs, that is, two vowel sounds tip together so that the first glides into the second (2005 251). Therefore it is evident that A monophthong is a vowel sound which involves no movement of the tongue during its production - there is no glide, as there is in a diphthong (The university of Hull). Thus, monophthongs are identifiable in the words like tap, clip, hit, and bee. Similarly, diphthongs are ide ntifiable in the words, cake, boy, paper, and tape. c. affricate Consonants in English language can be properly understood by understanding the stricture involved, that is, the manner in which the air passage is restricted and sounds produced. Based on the manner of articulation, consonants can be sort in different ways where affricate being one among them. In the production of the