ApracticalcourseThirdedition
PETERROACH
ProfessorofPhoneticsUniversityofReading
publishedbythepresssyndicateoftheuniversityofcambridgeThePittBuilding,TrumpingtonStreet,Cambridge,UnitedKingdomcambridgeuniversitypress
TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB22RU,UK40West20thStreet,NewYork,NY10011±4211,USA
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#CambridgeUniversityPress1983,1991,2000
Thebookisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.Firstpublished1983Thirdedition2000Fourthprinting2002
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,CambridgeTypesetinTimes11/14pt.System3b2[ce]
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibraryISBN0521786134paperback
ISBN0521797985setoftwocassettesISBN0521797993setoftwoaudioCDs
Contents
PrefaceListChartofsymbolstothethirdeditionix
viiHowtoofustheethisInternationalbookPhoneticxiiAlphabet1Introduction
1
2The2.12.2Articulatorsproductionofspeechsounds8
2.3VowelEnglishandabovethelarynxshortconsonantvowels
3Long3.1vowels,diphthongsandtriphthongs3.2Longandshortvowels3.3DiphthongsTriphthongs4Voicing4.1and27
4.2Theconsonants4.3Respirationlarynx
andvoicing4.4Plosives
4.5EnglishFortisandplosiveslenis5The5.1phoneme385.2Thephoneme
5.3SymbolsPhonology
andtranscriptionxi
19
iii
Contents
6Fricativesandaffricates48
6.1Productionoffricativesandaffricates6.2ThefricativesofEnglish6.3Theaffricates6.4Fortisconsonants7Nasalsandotherconsonants7.1Nasals
7.2Theconsonantl7.3Theconsonantr
7.4Theconsonantsjandw8Thesyllable70
8.1Thenatureofthesyllable
8.2ThestructureoftheEnglishsyllable8.3Syllabledivision8.4Practicalconclusions9Strongandweaksyllables819.1Strongandweak
9.2The@vowel(``schwa'')
9.3Closefrontandclosebackvowels9.4Syllabicconsonants10Stressinsimplewords93
10.1Thenatureofstress10.2Levelsofstress
10.3Placementofstresswithintheword11Complexwordstress
11.1Complexwords11.2Suf®xes11.3Pre®xes
11.4Compoundwords11.5Variablestress11.6Word-classpairs12Weakforms
iv
58
104
112
13Problems13.1inphonemicanalysis
121
13.2Affricates
13.3The13.4SyllabicEnglishvowelsystem13.5Clustersconsonants
ofs13.6Schwaplusplosives13.7Distinctive(@)
Conclusionfeatures14Aspects14.1Rhythmofconnectedspeech
134
14.214.3Assimilation14.4ElisionLinking15Intonation15.11156
15.2Form15.3Toneandandtonefunctioninintonation15.4ComplexSomefunctionstoneslanguages
andofEnglishpitchheighttones
16Intonation16.12162
16.2The16.3Thetone-unit
Pitchstructurepossibilitiesoftheintone-unit
thesimpletone-unit17Intonation17.1317.2Fall±riseandrise±fall171
tonesfollowedbya17.3High17.4ProblemsandlowtailAutosegmentalinanalysingheads
treatmenttheofformintonationofintonation18Functions18.1Theattitudinalofintonationfunction1ofintonation183
19Functions19.119.2Theofintonation2193
Theaccentualgrammaticalfunctionfunctionofintonationofintonation
Contents
v
Contents
19.3Thediscoursefunctionofintonation19.4Conclusions
20Furtherareasofstudyinphoneticsandphonology204
20.1Laboratoryphonetics20.2Thestudyofvariety
Recordedexercises214Unit2:Englishshortvowels215
Unit3:Longvowels.Diphthongsandtriphthongs216Unit4:Plosives218Unit5:Revision221Unit6:Fricativesandaffricates223Unit7:Furtherconsonants225Unit8:Consonantclusters227Unit9:Weaksyllables229Unit10:Wordstress232Unit11:Complexwordstress234Unit12:Weakforms236Unit13:Revision238Unit14:Elisions239Unit15:Tones240Unit16:Thetone-unit241Unit17:Intonation243
Unit18:Intonation:extractsfromconversation244Unit19:Transcriptionofconnectedspeech245Unit20:Furtherpracticeonconnectedspeech247Answerstowrittenexercises248Answerstorecordedexercises260RecommendationsforgeneralreadingBibliography273Index280
270
vi
1Introduction
Youprobablywanttoknowwhatthepurposeofthiscourseis,andwhatyoucanexpecttolearnfromit.AnimportantpurposeofthecourseistoexplainhowEnglishispronouncedintheaccentnormallychosenasthestandardforpeoplelearningtheEnglishspokeninEngland.Ifthiswastheonlythingthecoursedid,amoresuitabletitlewouldhavebeen``EnglishPronunciation''.However,atthecomparativelyadvancedlevelatwhichthiscourseisaimeditisusualtopresentthisinformationinthecontextofageneraltheoryaboutspeechsoundsandhowtheyareusedinlanguage;thistheoreticalcontextiscalledphoneticsandphonology.Whyisitnecessarytolearnthistheoreticalbackground?Thesamequestionarisesinconnectionwithgrammar:atlowerlevelsofstudyoneisconcernedsimplywithsettingouthowtoformgrammaticalsen-tences,butpeoplewhoaregoingtoworkwiththelanguageatanadvancedlevelasteachersorresearchersneedthedeeperunderstand-ingprovidedbythestudyofgrammaticaltheoryandrelatedareasoflinguistics.ThetheoreticalmaterialinthepresentcourseisnecessaryforanyonewhoneedstounderstandtheprinciplesregulatingtheuseofsoundsinspokenEnglish.
Thenatureofphoneticsandphonologywillbeexplainedasthecourseprogresses,butoneortwobasicideasneedtobeintroducedatthisintroductorystage.Inanylanguagewecanidentifyasmallnumberofregularlyusedsounds(vowelsandconsonants)thatwecallphonemes;forexample,thevowelsinthewords`pin'and`pen'aredifferentphonemes,andsoaretheconsonantsatthebeginningofthewords`pet'and`bet'.BecauseofthenotoriouslyconfusingnatureofEnglishspelling,itisparticularlyimportanttolearntothinkofEnglishpronunciationintermsofphonemesratherthanlettersofthealphabet;onemustbeaware,forexample,thatthe
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EnglishPhoneticsandPhonology
word`enough'beginswiththesamevowelphonemeasthatatthebeginningof`inept'andendswiththesameconsonantas`stuff'.Weoftenusespecialsymbolstorepresentspeechsounds;usingthesymbolschosenforthiscourse,theword`enough'wouldbewritten(transcribed)asInöf.Alistofthesymbolsisgivenonp.ix,andtheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet(IPA)onwhichthesymbolsarebasedisreproducedonp.xi.
The®rstpartofthecourseismainlyconcernedwithidentifyinganddescribingthephonemesofEnglish.Chapters2and3dealwithvowelsandChapter4withsomeconsonants.AfterthispreliminarycontactwiththepracticalbusinessofhowsomeEnglishsoundsarepronounced,Chapter5looksatthephonemeandattheuseofsymbolsinatheoreticalway,whilethecorrespondingAudioUnitrevisesthematerialofChapters2±4.AfterthephonemesofEnglishhavebeenintroduced,therestofthecoursegoesontolookatlargerunitsofspeechsuchasthesyllableandataspectsofspeechsuchasstress(whichcouldberoughlydescribedastherelativestrengthofasyllable)andintonation(theuseofthepitchofthevoicetoconveymeaning).Itwouldbeamistaketothinkthatphonemesarestudied®rstbecausetheyarethemostimportantaspectofspeech;thereasonissimplythat,inmyexperience,courseswhichbeginwithmatterssuchasstressandintonationanddealwithphonemeslaterarefoundmoreconfusingbythestudentswhousethem.Youwillhavetolearnanumberoftechnicalterms;youwill®ndthatwhentheyareintroducedinordertobede®nedorexplained,theyareprintedinboldtype.ThishasalreadybeendoneinthisIntroductioninthecaseof,forexample,phoneme,phoneticsandphonology.Anotherconven-tiontorememberisthatwhenwordsusedasexamplesaregiveninspellingform,theyareenclosedinsinglequotes(seeforexample`pin',`pen',etc.).Doublequotemarksareusedwherequotemarkswouldnormallybeused;see,forexample,``EnglishPronunciation''above.
Languageshavedifferentaccents:theyarepronounceddifferentlybypeoplefromdifferentgeographicalplaces,fromdifferentsocialclasses,ofdifferentagesanddifferenteducationalbackgrounds.Theword``accent''isoftenconfusedwithdialect.Weusetheword``dialect''torefertoavarietyofalanguagewhichisdifferentfromothersnotjustinpronunciationbutalsoinsuchmattersasvocabu-2
Introduction
lary,grammarandwordorder.Differencesofaccent,ontheotherhand,arepronunciationdifferencesonly.
TheaccentthatweconcentrateonanduseasourmodelistheonethatismostoftenrecommendedforforeignlearnersstudyingBritishEnglish.Ithasforalongtimebeenidenti®edbythenameReceivedPronunciation(usuallyabbreviatedtoitsinitials,RP),butthisnameisold-fashionedandmisleading.SinceitismostfamiliarastheaccentusedbymostannouncersandnewsreadersonBBCandBritishindependenttelevisionbroadcastingchannels,apreferablenameisBBCpronunciation.ThisshouldnotbetakentomeanthattheBBCitselfimposesan``of®cial''accent±individualbroadcastersallhavetheirownpersonalcharacteristics,andanincreasingnumberofbroadcasterswithScottish,WelshandIrishaccentsareemployed.However,theaccentdescribedhereistypicalofbroadcasterswithanEnglishaccent,andthereisausefuldegreeofconsistencyinthebroadcastspeechofthesespeakers.
ThiscourseisnotwrittenforpeoplewhowishtostudyAmericanpronunciation.ThepronunciationofEnglishinNorthAmericaisdifferentfrommostaccentsfoundinBritain.Thereareexceptionstothis±youcan®ndaccentsinpartsofBritainthatsoundAmerican,andaccentsinNorthAmericathatsoundEnglish.Butthepronun-ciationthatyouarelikelytohearfrommostAmericansdoessoundnoticeablydifferentfromBBCpronunciation.
IntalkingaboutaccentsofEnglish,theforeignershouldbecarefulaboutthedifferencebetweenEnglandandBritain;therearemanydifferentaccentsinEngland,buttherangebecomesverymuchwideriftheaccentsofScotland,WalesandNorthernIreland(ScotlandandWalesareincludedinBritain,andtogetherwithNorthernIrelandformtheUnitedKingdom)aretakenintoaccount.WithintheaccentsofEngland,thedistinctionthatismostfrequentlymadebythemajorityofEnglishpeopleisbetweenNorthernandSouthern.Thisisaveryroughdivision,andtherecanbeendlessargumentoverwheretheboundarieslie,butmostpeopleonhearingapronunciationtypicalofsomeonefromLancashire,Yorkshireorothercountiesfurthernorthwouldidentifyitas``Northern''.ThiscoursedealsalmostentirelywithBBCpronunciation.Thereis,ofcourse,noimplicationthatotheraccentsareinferiororlesspleasant-sounding;thereasonissimplythatBBCistheaccentthathasalwaysbeen
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EnglishPhoneticsandPhonology
chosenbyBritishteacherstoteachtoforeignlearners,andistheaccentthathasbeenmostfullydescribedandhasbeenusedasthebasisfortextbooksandpronouncingdictionaries.
AtermwhichiswidelyfoundnowadaysisEstuaryEnglish,andmanylearnersofEnglishhavebeengiventheimpressionthatthisisanewaccentofEnglish.Inrealitythereisnosuchaccent,andthetermshouldbeusedwithcare.TheideaoriginatesfromthesociolinguisticobservationthatsomepeopleinpubliclifewhowouldpreviouslyhavebeenexpectedtospeakwithaBBC(orRP)accentnow®nditacceptabletospeakwithsomecharacteristicsoftheaccentsoftheLondonarea(theestuaryreferredtoistheThamesestuary),suchasglottalstops,whichwouldinearliertimeshavecausedcommentordisapproval.
IfyouareanativespeakerofEnglishandyouraccentisdifferentfromBBCyoushouldtry,asyouworkthroughthecourse,tonotewhatyourmaindifferencesareforpurposesofcomparison.Iamnot,ofcourse,suggestingthatyoushouldtrytochangeyourpronunciation!IfyouarealearnerofEnglishyouarerecommendedtoconcentrateonBBCinitially,thoughwhenyouhaveworkedthroughthecourseandbecomefamiliarwiththisyouwillprobably®nditaninterestingexercisetolistenanalyticallytootheraccentsofEnglish,toseeifyoucanidentifythewaysinwhichtheydifferfromBBCandeventolearntopronouncesomeexamplesofdifferentaccentsyourself.
Notesonproblemsandfurtherreading
TherecommendationtousethenameBBCpronunciationratherthanRPisnewtothiseditionofthebook,andisnotuniversallyaccepted.ItisusedintheDanielJonesEnglishPronouncingDictionary(15thedition;editedandrevisedbyP.RoachandJ.Hartman,1997),inTrudgill(1999)andinLadefoged(2000);fordiscussion,seetheIntroductionstotheLongmanPronunciationDictionary(Wells,2000;pp.xiii,andthe15thEditionoftheDanielJonesEnglishPronouncingDictionary(p.v).IntheoriginalEnglishPronouncingDictionaryof1917,bytheway,thetermusedwasPublicSchoolPronunciation(PSP).WhereotherwritershaveusedthetermRPindiscussionofstandardaccents,Ihaveleftthetermunchanged.OtherwritershavesuggestedthenameGB(GeneralBritish)asatermpreferabletoRP;
4
Introduction
Idonotfeelthisissatisfactory,sincetheaccentbeingdescribedbelongstoEngland,andcitizensofotherpartsofBritainareunderstandablyreluctanttoacceptthatthisaccentisthestandardforcountriessuchasScotlandandWales.TheBBChasanexcellentPronunciationUnit,butmostpeoplearenotawarethatithasnopowertopersuadebroadcasterstouseparticularpronunciations:BBCbroadcastersonlyuseitonanoptionalbasis,andtheCorpora-tionobligesthePronunciationUnittochargeafeefortheiradvice.Ifeelthatifwehadacompletelyfreechoiceofmodelaccentitwouldbepossibleto®ndmoresuitableones:ScottishandIrishaccents,forexample,haveamuchmorestraightforwardrelationshipbetweenspellingandsoundsthandoesBBC,andhavesimplervowelsystems,andwouldthereforebeeasierformostforeignlearnerstoacquire.However,themajorityofEnglishteacherswouldbereluc-tanttolearntospeakintheclassroomwithadifferentaccent,soitseemsthisisnotapracticalpossibility.
ForintroductoryreadingonthechoiceofEnglishaccent,seeO'Connor(1980:5±6);Brown(1990:12±13);Cruttenden(1994:Chapter7).ForadiscussionofthestatusofRP,seeAbercrombie(1965).ForthosewhowanttoknowmoreaboutBritishaccents,asimpleintroductionisHughesandTrudgill(1996);moreadvancedworksareTrudgill(1999)andFoulkesandDocherty(1999).Un-doubtedlythemajorworkonaccentsofEnglishisWells(1982),whichisaveryvaluablesourceofinformation(seeespeciallypp.117±18and279±301onRP).
Muchofwhathasbeenwrittenonthesubjectof``EstuaryEnglish''hasbeeninminororephemeralpublications.AvaluablecollectionofsuchworkshasbeenmadeavailablebyJ.C.Wellsontheinternet.Seehttp://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary
AproblemareathathasreceivedalotofattentionisthechoiceofsymbolsforrepresentingEnglishphonemes.Inthepast,manydifferentconventionshavebeenproposedandstudentshaveoftenbeenconfusedby®ndingthatthesymbolsusedinonebookaredifferentfromtheonestheyhavelearnedinanother.ThesymbolsusedinthisbookareinmostrespectsthosedevisedbyA.C.GimsonforhisIntroductiontothePronunciationofEnglish(thelatestversionofwhichistherevisionbyCruttenden;seeCruttenden,1994).Thesesymbolsarenowusedinalmostallmodernworkson
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EnglishPhoneticsandPhonology
EnglishpronunciationpublishedinBritain,andcanthereforebelookedonasadefactostandard.Althoughgoodargumentscanbemadeforsomealternativesymbols,theadvantagesofhavingacommonsetofsymbolsforpronunciationteachingmaterialsandpronunciationentriesindictionariesaresogreatthatitwouldbeveryregrettabletogobacktotheconfusingdiversityofearlieryears.ThesubjectofsymbolisationisreturnedtoinSection5.2ofChapter5.
Notesforteachers
Pronunciationteachinghasnotalwaysbeenpopularwithteachersandlanguage-teachingtheorists,andinthe1970sand1980sitwasfashionabletotreatitasaratheroutdatedactivity.Itwasclaimed,forexample,thatitattemptedtomakelearnerstrytosoundlikenativespeakersofReceivedPronunciation,thatitdiscouragedthemthroughdif®cultandrepetitiveexercisesandthatitfailedtogiveimportancetocommunication.AgoodexampleofthisattitudeistobefoundinBrownandYule(1983:26±7).Thecriticismwasmisguided,Ibelieve,anditisencouragingtoseethatinrecentyearstherehasbeenasigni®cantgrowthofinterestinpronunciationteachingandmanynewpublicationsonthesubject.Nopronuncia-tioncoursethatIknowhaseversaidthatlearnersmusttrytospeakwithaperfectRPaccent.Toclaimthismixesupmodelswithgoals:themodelchosenisBBC(RP),butthegoalisnormallytodevelopthelearner'spronunciationsuf®cientlytopermiteffectivecommuni-cationwithnativespeakers.
Pronunciationexercisescanbedif®cult,ofcourse,butifweeliminateeverythingdif®cultfromlanguageteaching,wemayendupdoingverylittlebeyondgettingstudentstoplaylittlecommunicationgames.Itis,incidentally,quiteincorrecttosuggestthattheclassicworksonpronunciationandphoneticsteachingconcentratedonmechanicallyperfectingvowelsandconsonants:Jones(1956,®rstpublished1909),forexample,writes```Good'speechmaybede®nedasawayofspeakingwhichisclearlyintelligibletoallordinarypeople.`Bad'speechisawayoftalkingwhichisdif®cultformostpeopletounderstand...Apersonmayspeakwithsoundsverydifferentfromthoseofhishearersandyetbeclearlyintelligibletoallofthem,asforinstancewhenaScotsmanoranAmericanaddresses
6
Introduction
anEnglishaudiencewithcleararticulation.Theirspeechcannotbedescribedasotherthan`good'''(pp.4±5).
MuchhasbeenwrittenrecentlyaboutInternationalEnglish,withaviewtode®ningwhatisusedincommonbythemillionsofpeoplearoundtheworldwhouseEnglishasaforeignlanguage(Crystal,1997;Jenkins,2000).Thisisadifferentgoalfromthatofthisbook,whichisdescribingaspeci®caccent.ThediscussionofthesubjectinCruttenden(1994:Chapter13)isrecommendedasasurveyofthemainissues,andtheconceptdiscussedthereofMinimumGeneralIntelligibilityisausefulcontributiontotheInternationalEnglishdebate.
Therearemanydifferentandwell-triedmethodsofteachingandtestingpronunciation,someofwhichareusedinthisbook.Idonotfeelthatitissuitableinthisbooktogointoadetailedanalysisofclassroommethods,butthereareseveralexcellenttreatmentsofthesubject;see,forexample,Kenworthy(1987);DaltonandSeidlhofer(1994);Celce-Murciaetal.(1996).Atamoreadvancedlevel,IoupandWeinberger(1987)isacollectionofpapersonInterlanguagePhonologythatisrelevanttothestudyoflearners'problems.
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