CURSO : ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY I
SIGLA : LET 1725
CRÉDITOS : 10
MÓDULOS : 02
REQUISITOS : --
CARÁCTER : MINIMUM
I DESCRIPTION
This is theoretical course with a strong practical component. Great importance is placed on providing
students with a theoretical basis that allows them to understand, internalize and describe the
phonophonologiacl system of English as it manifests itseld in a number of varieties. Emphasis is placen on the
descriptions of GA and RP.
II OBJECTIVES
General
1. To apply general phonetic theory to the description, classification and production of English speech. Due
attention is to be placed upon phonetic processes pertaining to the RP, GA and other varieties.
Specific
1. To apply phonetic principles to the description of English segments.
2. To achieve discrimination between segments
3. To reproduce segmental and suprasegmental features of English.
4. To produce spoken English in the chosen variety with a level of near native proficiency.
III CONTENTS
1. The linguistic sciences. Linguistics and Phonetics; their scopes and means. Language and speech.
Levels of linguistic analysis.
2. Phonetics. The areas of phonetics. The reaches of the phonetic science: speech science, speech
pathology, speech synthesis.
3. The speech chain: the speaker, the medium, the hearer. How they relate to one another in the process
of spoken communication.
4. Articulatory phonetics. The speech mechanism. The so-called organs of speech and their specific role
in the production of English segments.
5. The English segmental features: principles of description and classification. Manner, place, force of
articulation.
6. The transmission of speech. Acoustic phonetics. Some acoustic details of English segments.
7. Auditory Phonetics. Speech perception theories. Linguistic interference in foreign language learning.
8. An act of oral communication in English: segmental, prosodic and paralinguistic features involved.
Inventory of English segments.
9. The English vocoids: details of classification. Pure vowels and diphthongs. Inventory, frequency of
occurrence. Strong and weak forms in vowels. Allophonic variants. The RP vowels and diphthongs.
The GA vowels and diphthongs
10. The English pure vowels in detail: front, central, back vowels; close, half-close, half-open, open
vowels. The phonology of English vowels: allophonic variants. The phonological environment and its
impact on vowels
11. The English diphthongs: details of classification. Frequency of occurrence. The RP diphthongs. The
GA diphthongs. Divergence and similarities in both systems.
12. The English contoids in general. Details of classification. Allophonic variants. The English contoids in
connected speech.
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PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE
FACULTAD DE LETRAS / Enero 2008
13. The English contoids. The plosives. Stages of articulation. Allophonic variants. The English fricatives.
14. The English affricates. Details of description and classification.
15. The English nasals. Nasalization. Syllabification. The English Laterals. Allophonic variants.
16. The English semivowels. Phonetic and phonological status.
17. Features of connected speech and their influence on vowels and consonants. Features of simplification:
elision, gradation, assimilation.
IV METHODOLOGY
This is a course with a strong practical bias. Theory and practice are to go hand in hand. The methodology to
be used consists mainly of:
- Lectures in which student-teacher interaction is encouraged.
- Weekly Lab sessions.
- Transcription exercises.
- Phonetic and phonological drills and tests.
- Selected readings on specific matters.
- Group discussion and analysis of current phonetic theory, especially that of an applied nature.
V EVALUATION
- Tests and controls.
- Mid-term exam.
- Term work.
- Final written and oral exam.
VI BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abercrombie, D. Elements of General Phonetics. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University
Press, 1966.
Catford, J.C. A Practical Introduction to Phonetics. Oxford: Clarendon,
1988.
Clark, J. & Yallop, C. (2nd. ed.). An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford.
Blackwell, 1995.
Crystal, D. Introduction to Language Pathology. London. Edward Arnold,
1980.
Fry, D.B. The Physics of Speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1979.
Giegerich, H.J. English Phonology. An introduction.Cambridge. Cambridge
University Press, 1992.
Gimson, A.C. An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. London:
Arnold, 1962. (1st. ed., 1980 4th edn.).
I.P.A. Handbook of the International Phonetic Association.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jensen, J.T. English Phonology. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia. John Benjamins
Publishing Co., 1993.
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FACULTAD DE LETRAS / Enero 2008
Jones, D. The Pronunciation of English. (4th edn, 1956). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1909.
Katamba, F. An Introduction to Phonology. London: Longman, 1980.
Ladefoged. P. A Course in Phonetics. New York: Hartcourt Brace Jovanovic,
Inc., 1993.
Lass, R. Phonology. An introduction to basic concepts. Cambridge.
Cambridge University Press, 1984.
Laver, J. Principles of Phonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1994.
Lewis, J. (ed.) Studies in General and English Phonetics. Essays in Honour
of Professor J.D. O'Connor. London: Routledge, 1995.
McCarthy, M. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1991. Chapters 4 and 5.
Lieberman, P. y Sheila E. Blumstein Speech Physiology, Speech Perception, and Acoustic
Phonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
McMahon, A. Lexical Phonology and the History of English. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Roach, P. English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000. (3rd. ed.)
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