4.

The systemic organization of linguistic sounds

Within a given language, sounds constitute a system, a

grouping of sounds=elements organized by mutually
distinctive relations (contrasts, oppositions) that obtain
between them, i.e. by what minimally sets them apart.

phoneme /l/

clear allophone dark allophone

[l] []

L1eave the hall2 and hel3p L4ee do the tabl5e, will6 you, pl7ease, Bill8?
/`li:v `h:l nd `help `li: `du: `tebl `wl j `pli:z `bl/

# = boundary, _# = at the end, #_ = at the beginning

1. _ #
E: /l/ [] 2. _ C
3. C _ #

In English, /l/ becomes dark [] when it appears

1. at the end of the word (= word-finally, = at the
word final boundary) feel, cruel, Bill, oil, owl, call
2. before a consonant (= when it is followed by a
consonant) cold, build, film, solve, illness
 3. word-finally after a consonant (= when it has
syllabic function, = when it is syllabic) a.pple,
mi.ddle, li.ttle, spe.cial, un.cle

E: /l/ [l] elsewhere

In English, /l/ remains clear [l] in all the remaining
contexts, i.e. before a vowel and /j/ - let, live, Bill eats

Phoneme is a sound-type (i.e. a mental representation,

a psychological impression, an abstract derivative) of
related allophones: as it changes the meaning of a word,
it appears in minimal-pair contrasts with other
phonemes.

Allophone is a sound-token (i.e. a contextual variant, a

distributional example/instance/occurrence, a sound in
context) of a related phoneme: as it does not change
the meaning of a word, it appears in complementary
distribution contrasts with other allophones of the same
phoneme.

As linguistic sounds can appear at two different levels

of systemic organization (type/token, phonemic/
allophonic, mental/concrete, general/specific, phono-
logical/phonetic), there may be two different ways of
representation, or transcription.
A phonemic/broad (abstract, general, dictionary-like)
transcription represents sound segments as sound-types
(phonemes) independent of any contextual, or distribu-
tional, considerations (no phonetic details marked;
given in /help/.

L1eave the hall2 and hel3p L4ee do the tabl5e, will6 you, pl7ease, Bill8?
/`li:v `h:l nd `help `li: `du: `tebl `wl j `pli:z `bl/

An allophonic/narrow (phonetic, concrete, specialist)

transcription represents sound segments as contextual
variants (= allophones) in all their details; given in
[hep].

L1eave the hall2 and hel3p L4ee do the tabl5e, will6 you, pl7ease, Bill8?
[`li:v `h:l nd `hep `li: `du: `teb `wl j `pli:z `b]

/tebl/ > [`tHeb]

5. The systemic (phonemic) organization of the
English plosives and other obstruents

5.1 Plosives /pb td kg/

There are three stages in the articulation of plosives:

(i) closure (when the organs of speech get closed),
(ii) compression (when the air pressure is built up
behind the closure), and
(iii) release (when the organs of speech get apart, and
the air stream can escape).

In Polish, plosives must necessarily undergo all the

three stages of articulation:
(i) organs of speech get together to be closed tightly,
(ii) the air stream gets compressed behind the closure,
(iii) organs of speech get separated suddenly with
plosion (explosion).

footoball, fakot, toka, tnn, dontn know

In English, plosives may have no 3 rd stage (Stage 1,

closure + Stage 2, compression + Stage 3, no plosion).
The third stage (release) may be blocked. So, there are
two different kinds of release in English plosives (= two
different ways of articulating plosives). Plosives are
released either audibly (with plosion, as in Polish)
when we can hear plosion or inaudibly (without
plosion) when their final stage (= release) is blocked
and we do not hear plosion.
fakt tkliwy, dbay; lekki/leki

Conclusion: All the three stages must necessarily be

present in Polish (= all the Polish plosives have to
explode at all times and in all contexts), but in English
there may be no 3rd stage.

5.1.1 Plosives: Audible (Plosive) Release >-----<

/pb td k g/

(1) strong aspiration

E: /p t k/ [pH tH kH] / #`__V
In English, /voiceless plosives/ become [strongly aspirated]
when they appear at the beginning of the syllable in front of an
accented vowel.

Aspiration = an extra puff of energy imposed on a consonant,

so that the (ex)plosion is stronger: pot, pork, port, a.ttack,
a.ttempt, king, key

(2) weak aspiration

E: /p t k/ [ph th kh] / __V and __#
In English, /voiceless plosives/ become [weakly aspirated]
when they appear in front of an unaccented vowel and at the
end of the word/syllable.

`pHa.pher /`pe.p/; My name is KHirkh.

My name is `KHir kH`Eagle. My name is KHirk oBond.
My name is KHirkn Norton.
(3) deaspiration
E: /p t k/ [p t k] / s__V
In English, /voiceless plosives/ become [unaspirated] when
they appear after /s/ in front of an accented vowel.

tHop/stop, tHart/start, cHope/scope, pHart/spart, pHark/spark

(4) /lrwj/ complete devoicing

E: /l r w j/ [lo ro wo jo] / `ptk__V
In English, /l r w j/ become [completely devoiced] when they
are preceded with accented /p t k/.

`pla.ma - `pl.ease, pluck tlen - at `last klata - `clock, `clean

`pra.nie - `pr.ay tran - `try kran - `cream, `cry
`pu.co - pop ` w.ater tok - `twice, `twins koda - `quarter, `quite
`pia.na - `pi.ano tiara - `tube kiosk - `cute, `cube

In Polish, we pronounce /lrwj/ as fully-voiced sounds even

after accented /ptk/.

(5) /lrwj/ partial devoicing

E: /l r w j/ [l r w j] / ptk__
In English, /l r w j/ become [partially devoiced] when they are
preceded with unaccented /p t k/.

`li.ttl e, `ca.ttle, `ke.ttle,

5.1.2 Plosives: Inaudible Release >-----?(no plosion!)

(1) nasal release

E: /p b t d k g/ [pn bn tn dn kn gn] / __NasC
In English, /plosives/ become [nasally released] when they are
followed by a nasal consonant.

wytkn, tn, zagniedzi si, gnat, knot

cotton /`ktn/ - phonemic transcription, as used in dictionaries,
[`k.tnn] allophonic transcription, as used for marking
details, button, it/that means, get new, dont know

(2) lateral release

E: /p b t d k g/ [pl bl tl dl kl gl] / __LatC
In English, /plosives/ become [laterally released] when they
are followed by a lateral consonant.

wykluczy; clock, click, clear, please, little

(3) inaudible release

E: /p b t d k g/ [po bo to do ko go] / __PlosC/AffC
In English, /plosives/ become [inaudibly released] when they
are followed by an affricate / / or another plosive /pb td
kg/.

blocked /`blkt/, [`blkot]

that jazz/jam/church, chick, chicken
5.2 Obstruents: Voicing

Voicing is a term used to characterize sounds as either

voiceless or voiced. In this sense, voicing refers to the process
of articulation in which the vocal cords vibrate. When one
places the fingers on the so-called Adams apple, one can feel
a vibration when one pronounces a voiced sound, and no
vibration when one pronounces a voiceless sound. In the case
of the English obstruents, this involves the three specific
situations:

i. a voiced sound is one in which the vocal cords vibrate,

ii. a voiceless sound is one in which they do not, and

iii. a partially devoiced sound is one in which they vibrate

only either at the beginning of the sound or at its end.

For Polish learners of English, it is important to realize that

i. Polish voiced obstruents (e.g., /b d g/) are typically

completely devoiced at the end of the word (zb /zomp/,
brud /brut/, Bug /buk/), whereas the English voiced
obstruents can at most be only partially devoiced.

>> no complete devoicing of voiced obstruents at the

word-final position in English!!!

ii. in English voiceless obstruents (e.g., /p t k/) can never be

voiced, not even between two voiced sounds (which is
quite typical in Polish); that is why plosives is
 /`plsvz/, not /`plzvz/, and this boy is /`s `b/, not
/`z `b/.

>> no voicing of voiceless obstruents in English!!!

(1) partial devoicing

E: /b d g v z / [b d g v z ] / __#
In English, /voiced obstruents/ become [partially devoiced ]
and lose their voicing in the final stage of their articulation
when they appear at the end of the word (before a pause).

(2) partial devoicing

E: /b d g v z / [b d g v z ] / #__
In English, /voiced obstruents/ become [partially devoiced ]
and lose their voicing in the initial stage of their articulation
when they appear at the beginning of the word (after a pause).

(3) full voicing

E: /b d g v z / [b d g v z ] /
v+__v+
In English, /voiced obstruents/ remain fully voiced when they
appear in the intervocalic position, i.e. in-between two voiced
sounds.

Examples (voicing):

Note: the base = the infinitive form of the verb, or the singular
form of the noun

(i) regular past ending -(e)d (also regular past participle)

 /t/ - when the base ends with a voiceless sound
E: -(e)d /d/ - when the base ends with a voiced sound
/d/ - when the base ends with /t/ or /d/

stopped, walked, played, declared, painted, loaded

(ii) regular plural ending (e)s (also the 3rd sg present tense
and the Saxon genetive)

/s/ - when the base ends with a voiceless sound

E: -(e)s /z/ - when the base ends with a voiced sound
/z/ - when the base ends with affricate/fricative

cats, dogs, glasses / sits, goes, matches / Jacks, Johns sister,

Russ
Terms (spelling and pronunciation)
articulation, pronunciation, transcription, (un)accented, accent,
consonants, vowels, syllables, closure, narrowing, plosives, affricates,
fricatives, nasals, laterals, flaps, taps, approximants, bilabial, labio-
dental, dental, post-dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, palate-alveolar,
palatal, velar, glottal, release, phoneme/phonemic, allophone/
allophonic, system/systemic, (de)voicing, voiced, voiceless,
obstruents, sonorants, phonetics/phonetic, phonology/phonological,
aspiration, fully, partially, audible, inaudible

/km`pli:t `kl/ /`plsvz/ /`ne.zlz/ /`frkts/ /`pa:l/ /`ltrl/

/`frktvz/

voiceless /`vs.ls/

voiced /`vst/

sound /`sand/

/,ba`lebl/ /,leb`den.tl/ /`den.tl/ /,lv`l/ /`p.l.tl/ /`vi:l/ /`gl.tl/

Test Topics
1. Stress in English and Polish: mechanism and consequences
2. Polish consonants: places and manners of articulation
3. English consonants (with special emphasis on obstruents >
plosives): places and manners of articulation, types of release
(plosives), aspiration (plosives), voicing
4. English vowels (basics!): back vowels, front vowels, schwa
5. Legato speech
6. Phonetic definitions
7. The systemic organization of sounds: phonemes/types,
allophones/variants, contexts, distribution
8. Transcription: phonemic versus allophonic