This course offers an introduction to the study of English sound system, covering the articulatory and phonological aspects of English segments and prosody. Students will be introduced to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), an essential tool for the description and transcription of speech sounds. While this course focuses on the sound system of Southern British English, other varieties of English will also be discussed.

 

The nature of speech; vowels and consonants; English accents and sound change; phonemes and allophones; broad and narrow transcription, syllable structure, connected speech processes, prosody (stress, rhythm, intonation, voice quality, etc.), applications of phonetics

 

On completing the course, students should be able to:

1) describe the sound system of Southern British English using appropriate terms in phonetics and phonology;

2) describe and compare major English accents around the world

3) appreciate the diverse applications of phonetics such as speech technology, accent studies, sociophonetics, analysing learners' pronunciation problems, and forensic phonetics.

 

A two-hour lecture and a one-hour workshop every week

 

100% coursework consisting of:

1. Workshop exercises and participation (10%)
2. Two short written assignments (40%)
3. Two in-class quizzes (50%)

 

Recommended texts:

• Ashby, P. (2005). Speech sounds. 2^nd Edition. Routledge.
• Cruttenden, A. (2014). Gimson's pronunciation of English. 8th Edition. Routledge.
• Roach, P. (2009). English phonetics and phonology: a practical course. 4^th Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Additional readings will also be recommended throughout the course.