English Phonetics and Phonology

Prévia do material em texto

DESCRIPTION
Phonetic and phonological aspects of the English language.
PURPOSE
Knowing the main principles of English Phonetics and Phonology and their application to the language
study is very important for its good oral communication and teaching.
GOALS
SECTION 1
To recognize the concepts of phone, phoneme, and grapheme
SECTION 2
To identify principles of linguistic variation
SECTION 3
To describe functions and classifications of the International Phonetic Alphabet
WARM-UP
In this unit we present a brief discussion on important concepts in the fields of Phonetics and Phonology
for a better understanding of the English oral and written discourses.
Firstly, we discuss two concepts that can sometimes cause a lot of trouble in language teaching:
phoneme and grapheme (letter). Knowing about their similarities and differences is important for several
reasons but particularly because it may lessen difficulties in written production in first or second language
(L1 and L2).
Secondly, we present a discussion about matters in spoken and written languages regarding the various
forms of expressions that materialize linguistic variation, discussing the heterogeneous character of
languages. Then we bring up how the awareness of this subject can be particularly significant in
teaching/learning first language writing or studying a second one.
Finally, in section 3, we discuss the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), showing how it represents the
speech sounds of any language, allowing accuracy in phonetic/phonological description, including
linguistic variation whether in an L1 or L2.
SECTION 1
 To recognize the concepts of phone, phoneme, and grapheme
PHONETICS X PHONOLOGY
Let us begin our discussion by defining two concepts that we wish to deepen:
WHAT IS PHONETICS AND WHAT IS PHONOLOGY?
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
Despite being intrinsically complementary, Phonetics and Phonology are distinct areas of linguistic
investigation. Phonetics has a more descriptive nature and is the area in Linguistics that presents the
methods for description, classification, and transcription of sounds of human speech, that is, of any
language. Phonology, in turn, has a more explanatory and interpretative nature and is traditionally
understood as the area that studies phonemes: the functional sounds of speech from the point of view of
the language system. Phonology studies the sounds that are in opposition in a particular language: their
functions in the system.
Phonetical and phonological studies, respectively, focus on the descriptive material of the sounds of
human speech and on the cognitively internalized linguistic-phonological knowledge.
Phonetics is dedicated to the description of the phones: the actual speech sounds that speakers
produce, and listeners hear, resulting from the performance of a complex articulatory/phonatory
apparatus.

Phonology is dedicated to the description of phonemes: the mental representations of a specific speech
sound, our phonological knowledge, that emerge cognitively despite the possible various actual phonetic
realizations related to a same phoneme.
For the production and perception of natural languages, people access a set of Articulatory mechanisms
that are ultimately responsible for the formation of the phones, the units of sounds, devoid of meanings,
that are the concrete material of any linguistic system. Thus, Phonetics investigates and describes the
smallest information produced and perceived throughout the current production of a natural language.
Phonetics is responsible for observing aspects related to the way such information is transmitted
from physical properties (Acoustic Phonetics), the way they are perceived (Auditory Phonetics), and
the way they are produced (articulatory Phonetics).
What we call complex articulatory/phonatory apparatus is a set of human body parts responsible for
producing the different speech sounds. Since the release of the airstream from the lungs, as it goes
through the larynx to mouth or nostrils, distinct parts of the body act, and different processes take place.
The picture below shows the body parts activated in speech sound formation:
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
 Speech sound formation.
From the interaction of the parts of the complex articulatory/phonatory apparatus, a limited number of
segments is formed. These segments are the minimal units of speech, objects of study in Phonetics.
These segments are consonants or vowels.
In the production of consonant and vowel sounds, we see the interaction of factors that together make up
what we can call the segmental identity of the sound, which we have technically identified as the phone.
Consonants and vowels may be differentiated by the way they are produced, concerning the airstream
flow.
Consonants present some constriction during the airstream release, and they are formed from the
interaction of three aspects:
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
Different ways airstream flows from the lungs out of the oral or nasal cavities.
POINT OF ARTICULATION
Different Articulatory locations in the course of sound production.
VOICING
The role played by the vocal folds (glottis) in the production of voiceless or voiced sounds.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
Vowels are formed with no constriction during the airstream release. They are voiced sounds by nature
and formed from the interaction of the three following processes:
VOWEL HEIGHT
The greater or lesser verticality of the tongue height.
VOWEL LOCATION
The greater or lesser horizontality of a certain section of the tongue.
LIP ROUNDING
The roundness of the lips that can be more or less rounded at the time of production.
Manner and point of articulation, voicing, lip rounding, vowel height and vowel location are the most
commonly used features in structuralist phonetic descriptions in general. In this perspective, a segment
can be transcribed from the identification of its set of features. For example, the sound [p] can be
identified as the plosive, bilabial, voiceless consonant, and the sound [i] as the high, front, unrounded
vowel.
 COMMENT
The charts of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), to be presented in Section 3, describe the list of
consonants and vowels so far discovered in at least one of the known human languages. In this
representation, consonants are described and organized based on the interaction of the voicing, manner,
and point of articulation features, while vowels are described and organized based on the height,
location, and lip rounding ones.
PHONEMES
The first phonological concept we need to highlight is the phoneme. Not every phone is present or has
the function of a phoneme in a language. Phones only have the role of phonemes in a language when
they have a contrastive function, which means that they cause changes in lexical meaning.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
If Phonetics is concentrated in the description of speech sounds, Phonology, on the other hand, is
interested in the internal relations shared by the phonemes of a same linguistic system. In opposition to
the more concrete nature of the phone, the notion of phoneme points to its role and function of
determining differences in meanings between words within a same linguistic system. The phoneme
becomes the smallest phonological unit of the language. But, being constituted by the distinctive features
that simultaneously define it, not only the phonemes themselves, but mainly the properties that constitute
them, would be the primitives of the phonological studies of any language.
Phonemes are therefore opposing sounds within the same linguistic system, so that the change of one
phoneme to another implies a change in the meaning of words, as we see in the minimal pairs think/sink
and sin/sing presented as follows:
MINIMAL PAIRS
Pair of words that differ on a single phoneme.
/ΘIŊK/ - /SIŊK/
javascript:void(0)
/SIN/ - /SIŊ/
We see that the phonemes /θ/ e /s/ as well as/n/ and /ŋ/ establish meaning relations between lexical
items, due to differences between the features that constitute them. In both the first and the second pair
of phonemes, the only difference regarding the sounds is related to the point of articulation, with the
other features being preserved with no differences. Such phones function as elements that guarantee the
word distinction in English and are therefore classified as phonemes.
The identification of minimal pairs results from a minimal pair test. Whether a phone has phonemic status
in a language or not, the minimal pair test must be carried out.
BUT, WAIT – WHAT IS THE MINIMAL PAIR TEST?
Basically, we replace one phone by another in the same phonetic context and see if different lexical items
are then identified. Minimal pairs are the structural evidence that identifies the distinctive elements
of a given language, that is, its phonemes.
Phonology deals with the relationship between realization and perception of segments and shows how
information is cognitively stored. In this sense, phonemes are cognitively stored as distinctive units of
words and, although we pronounce a phoneme with slightly different phonetic characteristics in certain
contexts, we do not fail to identify it as a same abstract unit.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
 LEARN MORE
Although the surrounding phonetic context may influence the Articulatory characteristics of the segments,
such differences are not necessarily important to make lexical distinctions, since the phoneme, the
cognitive phonological knowledge, will always be the same. In English, for example, in the initial phonetic
context, as in <pin>, the phoneme /p/ is aspirated, which no longer occurs in the non-initial phonetic
context, as in <spin>, in which it is pronounced in its full form. Still, in the end of a syllable, as in
<stamp>, /p/ may not even be pronounced, articulated, which does not mean that it will not be cognitively
accessed, which is evidenced by its graphic representation in the written language, for example.
GRAPHEMES AND PHONOLOGICAL
KNOWLEDGE
It is important to observe the role of phonological knowledge in the development of writing in an L1 or
L2. Spelling register does not always reflect spoken language, and the mistaken association between
phonemes and letters may create important difficulties for those beginning to delve into the writing world
both in the first or the second language. For educational purposes, it is worth observing that spelling
mistakes may be strongly motivated and explainable, if we take L1/L2 phonological knowledge
interference into account.
THE NATURE OF THE GRAPHEME DIFFERS FROM THAT OF
THE PHONEME AND THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO
BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN IT COMES TO
TEACHING AND TO L1/L2 LITERACY DEVELOPMENT.
If phonemes are the sounds that differentiate words in a language, graphemes can be defined as
the graphic signs used for the representation of the sound system of a language in the writing.
Phonemes and graphemes are distinct linguistic realities: the former stands for the psychological reality
of the minimal units of a language and the latter stands for the graphic representation of the sounds or, at
least, for an attempt of this representation, since writing will not always be able to reflect the abstract and
cognitively stored sound.
The writing process can be affected at different levels due to the greater or lesser degree of impact of
phonological knowledge of the oral L1 or L2. Both writing in L1 and L2 can be hindered, for example, by
the differences between the number of phonemes in a word and the number of letters that make up its
orthographic representation. It is important for the professional who comes to work with learners of a
written language to understand these issues, because some degree of phonological knowledge may
always make writing development even harder.
A good example on this issue is the differentiation between the phonological knowledge regarding the
words <strength> and <length> and their orthographic representations. The following tables deal with this
point. In the top line, we have the orthographic representation of the word and its number of letters. In the
next line, we have the possibilities of phonetic representation of these words in English, and in the last
line, the phonological representation, which cognitively encompasses all the possibilities of varied uses of
these words by the speakers of that language:
Orthographic representation <strength> (7 letters)
Phonetic representation [st ̠ɹ͡ɛ̠ŋkθ], [st ̠ɹ͡ɛ̠nθ̪] (7 or 6 phonemes)
Phonological representation /stɹɛŋkθ/
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
Orthographic representation <length> (6 letters)
Phonetic representation [lɛŋθ], [lɛnθ],[lɛŋkθ], [lɛntθ] (4 or 5 phonemes)
Phonological representation /leŋθ/
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
The examples show the difference in distribution of letters and phonemes as a possible difficulty factor
for the learning of writing due to linguistic transfer. Also, it is worth noticing that for both words more
than one form of pronunciation is found, which points to cases of linguistic variation, i.e., the possibility
that different individuals, organized under different social circumstances, produce such words in different
ways. This fact illustrates how the teaching-learning writing process may be even more complex.
Sounds and graphemes do not always match in a systematic way. One sound can be represented by
different letters, the same spelling may refer to different sounds or there may be ‘’silent’’ letters that are
not pronounced at all. As we will see in section 3, a separate spelling system, a phonetic alphabet in
which each symbol corresponds to one and only one phoneme, is necessary to universally describe the
pronunciation of words of any language in a precise manner.
Let’s review the main points concerning Phonetics and Phonology:
CHECKING LEARNING
1. CONSONANTS PRESENT SOME SORT OF CONSTRICTION DURING THE
AIRSTREAM RELEASE AND ARE FORMED FROM THE INTERACTION OF THREE
ASPECTS:
A) Point of articulation, lip rounding and voicing.
B) Manner of articulation, voicing and lip rounding.
C) Height, manner of articulation, point of articulation.
D) Manner of articulation, point of articulation and voicing.
E) Tongue articulation, lip rounding and vocal vibration.
2. SPELLING REGISTER DOES NOT ALWAYS REFLECT SPOKEN LANGUAGE
AND THE MISTAKEN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PHONEMES AND LETTERS MAY
CREATE IMPORTANT DIFFICULTIES FOR THOSE BEGINNING TO DELVE INTO
THE WRITING WORLD BOTH IN THE FIRST OR THE SECOND LANGUAGE. 
 
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, IT IS WORTH OBSERVING THAT SPELLING
MISTAKES MAY BE STRONGLY MOTIVATED AND EXPLAINABLE BY THE
STUDENTS:
A) Strong written skills.
B) Phonological knowledge.
C) Effective reading strategies.
D) Communicative competence.
E) Vocabulary.
GABARITO
1. Consonants present some sort of constriction during the airstream release and are formed
from the interaction of three aspects:
The alternative "D " is correct.
 
Consonants are formed from the interaction of manner of articulation, point of articulation and voicing.
While vowels are formed by the interaction of vowel height, vowel location, and lip rounding.
2. Spelling register does not always reflect spoken language and the mistaken association
between phonemes and letters may create important difficulties for those beginning to delve into
the writing world both in the first or the second language. 
 
For educational purposes, it is worth observing that spelling mistakes may be strongly motivated
and explainable by the students:
The alternative "B " is correct.
 
Phonological knowledge regarding the spoken L1 may affect writing in both the first or second language.
SECTION 2
 To identify principles of linguistic variation
LINGUISTIC VARIATION
In the early1960’s, William Labov conducted a major investigation into English spoken on the island of
Marthaʼs Vineyard in Massachusetts, United States. Later, Labov develops a study of the same nature,
with the dialect spoken in New York City. In both studies, the researcher had a single and important
objective: to show the crucial role of social factors in explaining linguistic variation. This is where
Variationist Sociolinguistics emerges as an area of investigation and research in Linguistics.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
The author realizes that the variation in linguistic uses of similar functions and meanings was in fact
highly controlled and organized by factors associated to the social profiles of speakers and by internal
linguistic factors. Nowadays, studies on linguistic variation are extended to the different contexts of
language use, whether spoken or written, seeking to identify factors implicit in the options of one or
another way of saying/writing something.
BASED ON LABOV'S STUDIES, THE IDEA THAT LINGUISTIC
VARIATION IS RANDOM AND NOT SYSTEMIC IS
OVERCOME.
The idea that language variation would be ordered becomes a counterpoint to the thought that language
is structurally organized in spite of its speakers and its diverse uses. Linguistic variation comes to be
understood as a non-random object that could be well explained by the existing correlation between
linguistic and nonlinguistic social factors.
Sociolinguistic variationist practice shows that the supposed linguistic homogeneity, predicted by
Saussure's structuralist perspective, could be questioned by the idea of systematized heterogeneity: a
fact verifiable in any natural language which shows that variation is controlled and strongly
conditioned by factors inherent to the language and by external social ones. There is therefore a
probabilistic dimension in language variation: a tendency for certain uses to occur in certain
communicative contexts thanks to the action of this set of factors.
Phonological linguistic variation is thus important for the description of languages. The following
examples show at least more than one way of saying the same word in English. In each case there may
be a set of internal and external factors controlling each choice:
 
Image: Frank-Henri Jullien/Indogermanisches Jahrbuch/CC BY-SA 4.0
 Ferdinand de Saussure.
BODY
[ˈbɑːdi] ~ [ˈbɑːɾi]
HOLD ON
hol[d] on ~ hol[Ø] on
SATURDAY
[ˈsætədeɪ] ~ [ˈˈsætɚdeɪ] ~ [sæɾəɾeɪ]
The different ways of pronouncing the words <body>, <hold on> and <saturday> can be explained by
internal factors linked to the linguistic context in which they are used in interaction with external social
factors, such as the region where the language is spoken, the social group, the register etc. In the end of
the day, what we observe is that a single phoneme may be realized differently according to these intrinsic
and extrinsic factors with no cognitive jeopardy.
 SUMMING-UP
In other words, a phoneme can be realized as different phones. The English /p/ sound can be produced
as the aspirated [ph], in its full form with no aspiration [p] or without audible release [p']. In all of the cases
the sound is interpreted as a unique phoneme: the English /p/ sound.
ALLOPHONES
The phones that are realizations of the same phoneme are called allophones. Thus [p], [ph] and [p'] are
allophones of the phoneme /p/ in English. The distribution of the allophones of a phoneme in speech is
usually complementary. This means that each allophone occurs exclusively in one specific phonetic
context. This is the case for the phoneme /p/ allophones in English. The complementary distribution of /p/
allophones can be described by phonological rules:
aspirated [ph] occurs when it is the only consonant at the beginning of a stressed syllable, as in the
word picture.
[p'] occurs before other plosives, as in the word captain, or at the end of an utterance.
[p] occurs in other positions, as in the word spin.
In English, the regular verbs in the simple past end in “ed”, but they will be differently pronounced
depending on the linguistic context surrounding it. There are three different ways to pronounce the /ed/
ending of regular verbs: [id], [t] or [d]. The different pronunciation depends on the preceding sound, the
one at the end of the infinitive form of the main verb. If the preceding sound is /t/ or //d/ the /ed/ phoneme
will be /id/. If the preceding sound is a voiced sound, it will be pronounced /d/ and if it is a voiceless
sound it will be pronounced /t/.
The following chart illustrates that:
/ID/ /D/ /T/
needed lived shopped
hated tried picked
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
The English -ed endings may be considered to be a case of allophony in this language, however it is also
considered a case of allomorphy, but that is not of our interest in this class. The same holds true
regarding the plural forms in English. If English -ed endings for phonological reasons change into /id/, /d/
and /t/, something similar occurs with the plural /S/ which changes into /z/, /s/ or /ez/ depending on the
preceding sound.
The following table shows the variation of allophones in English. Note that for each group of phonemes or
phonemic units it presents the contexts in which both forms are distributed in the actual use of the
language.
ALLOMORPHY
Allomorphy is a morphological phenomenom in which the morpheme, an abstract form/meaning
entity, emerges in the language being represented by at least two different morphs or allomorphs.
The English -ed ending is morphologically represented by three allomorphs that are, at the same
time allophones.
ALLOPHONIC VARIATION OF SOME CONSONANTS
javascript:void(0)
 
Source: Textbooks in English Language and Linguistics (TELL).
 COMENT
It is worth mentioning that the table aims at demonstrating the linguistic variation of consonants
associated to the linguistic context in which these sounds are produced. Thus, only internal factors of the
language are being observed and not possible social factors that may be also related to such distribution.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
VARIATION FACTORS
Linguistic variation phenomena can also be observed in Phonology, for example, in phonological
reduction, which is very common in any language and sometimes represented in written discourse. The
following chart presents some examples of phonological reductions in English that may be possible
cases of future linguistic change, especially due to their current incorporation to (informal) written
language:
ain’t ~ am/is/are /have/has + not. She ain’t got to do anything about it.
gonna ~ going to Are they gonna visit her?
wanna ~ want to We wanna play soccer.
sorta ~ sort of What sorta person is that?
lemme ~ let me Lemme show you this.
gimme ~ give me Gimme the book!
doncha ~ don’t you You do have a car, doncha?
dunno ~ I don’t know If they are gonna get married: dunno!
shoulda ~ should have They shoulda stayed quiet.
lotta ~ lot of ~ lots of We still have a lotta do.
gotta ~ (have) got to/a We gotta go.
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
When the sounds [t] and [d] occur as the only consonant at the beginning of an unstressed syllable and
have either a vowel or a sonorant consonant preceding them, they are realized as an alveolar tap /ɾ/, a
sound produced by briefly tapping the alveolar ridge with the tongue. This is an allophonic rule
concerning the phonemes /t/ and /d/ that is present in American English and is referred to as flapping or
tapping and observed in words such as letter and writing. In comparison to the way these words are
pronounced in british English, it is observed that it is a case of linguistic variation related to geographical
differences.
Respectively, these words will be pronounced:
/ˈLƐɾɚ/ ~ /ˈLƐTɚ/
/ˈRAIɾIŊ/ ~ /ˈRAITIŊ/
In fact, the scientific treatment allows the identification of at least threegroups of factors that are
associated with three types of linguistic variations:
SOCIAL FACTORS – DIASTRATIC VARIATION
Diastratic variations are phenomena with no specific linguistic constraints, but of social orientation. The
distribution of specific uses in subgroups of macro social groups is identified. It is possible to locate and
explain, for example, differences in usage and choice of linguistic forms with same meaning in the
speeches of people of different sex/gender, children and the elderly, people with different degrees of
education and so on.
REGIONAL FACTORS – DIATOPIC VARIATION
Diatopic variations, in turn, are those in which we find differences in linguistic usage related to regional
groups that are part of a larger group. It is possible to find differences in use among speakers that are
explainable due to the location in which these people live.
STYLISTIC/REGISTER FACTORS – DIAPHASIC VARIATION
The grouping of diaphasic variations reflects how the use of language is sensitive to the context of
communication, to the register, to the interlocutors. These factors lead us to unconsciously choose formal
or informal language register. Social, historical and cultural characteristics of these groups are thus
reflected in the language, which emerges as a mirror of their larger social context but that also functions
as an identity factor at the individual level.
The following chart is a sample of data related to language variation controlled by social factors
constrained by register:
gonna ~ going to
wanna ~ want to
sorta ~ sort of
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
If linguistic heterogeneity is controlled by specific conditioning factors, these same factors can help
explain the reasons that lead a particular competing form to be implemented in the system as the only
possibility of use, which implies linguistic change.
Such groupings are identified in any natural language, and variation phenomena happen at any level of
language usage:
PHONOLOGICAL LEVEL
Pronunciation
SEMANTIC / LEXICAL LEVEL
Words
MORPHOSYNTACTIC LEVEL
Sentences
DISCURSIVE-PRAGMATIC LEVEL
How the speech in general is constructed
AT ALL LEVELS, THESE PHENOMENA WILL BE SUBJECT
TO PRESSURE FROM BOTH LINGUISTIC AND SOCIAL
FACTORS AND CAN BE OBSERVED IN THE SPOKEN AND
WRITTEN MODALITIES.
LINGUISTIC VARIATION AND LINGUISTIC
CHANGE
It should be noted that linguistic variation does not necessarily mean ongoing linguistic change. The
dynamism of the language is reflected in variation and change, but it does not mean that any variation
phenomenon necessarily points to ongoing process of linguistic change. The variable pronunciation of
the English -ing gerund form – [ɪŋ] ~ [ɪŋg] – exemplifies this. Although it´s been a phenomenon of
variation for years in that language, it does not seem to be a case of linguistic change in progress. The
possible pronunciations of the word <going> in which the final [ɡ] sound may be deleted exemplifies so:
[ˈ OƱ Ŋ], [ˈ Ɔ Ŋ] ~ [ˈ OƱ Ŋ ], [ˈ Ɔ Ŋ ]
Linguistic change, however, is predicted as a result of some type of variation phenomenon that precedes
it. In this sense, the linguistic and extralinguistic factors involved in the variation process may show
possible triggers for the implementation of change.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
Linguistic diversity provides for dialectal diversity, the coexistence of variants, such as the standard
language, popular and regional speech etc. The judgment of values regarding linguistic usage is
independent of their linguistic nature. These are socially-oriented judgments generally associated with
the role of power that the standard language plays and that is reflected in the social stratification of a
given society.
 ATTENTION
The possibility that a particular linguistic form, object to social prejudice in other times, may gradually
become the cultured pattern of new times is just another evidence of the lack of superiority among
linguistic forms, idiolects, dialects, in short, among languages.
ORALITY AND LITERACY
Sociolinguistics is a field of theoretical and practical reflections that greatly contribute to educational
thinking with respect to linguistic reality and diversity for the teaching of L1 writing or of additional
languages. In this sense all the issues concerning linguistic diversity turn to be mandatory for the
educational ground.
DESPITE ALL THE TRADITION REGARDING WRITTEN
LANGUAGE, THE WRITTEN MODALITY IS IN NO WAY
SUPERIOR TO THE SPOKEN ONE NOR THERE ARE
SUPERIOR ORAL OR WRITTEN WAYS TO EXPRESS
OURSELVES. LANGUAGE IS EXPRESSION AND SOCIAL
REPRESENTATION, AND IN THIS EXTEND IT SHOULD BE
TREATED ACCORDINGLY AT SCHOOL.
The variation depicts linguistic usage adapted to specific communicative contexts and to specific
individuals. The idea that there are better languages, better cultures, more advanced peoples etc. has
long been overcome although it persists in mistaken conservative thoughts, which in general do not
contemplate the fact of diversity, including linguistic diversity. Just as there are no better cultures, no
better dialects, no better languages, there are no better modalities and the school is in charge of
providing such awareness to its students.
Educational sociolinguistics highlights the need to rethink the teaching of grammar in schools. The notion
of "linguistic error" mirrors the tendency to use the standard norm as the ideal form of the language,
disregarding the fact of language variation and change. Mistaken educational approaches emerge in the
school context, neglecting the sociolinguistically oriented view that the language is diverse, and that each
linguistic community has its own system, legitimate in itself, and in the social functions it plays for the
lives of its users.
The linguistic correction at school can point to the mistaken understanding of what would be the unique
and ideal way of using the language, whether in written or oral modalities. Such an attitude shows the
lack of recognition of popular variants, for example, as legitimate ways of using the language. Such an
attitude also reflects wrong positions and thoughts about what and how students need to learn about
language.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
There is a consensus that the teaching of grammar should allow the student to develop sociolinguistic
skills that form him/her as a polyglot in his/her L1 or L2. The speaker of a language should be able to
know how to linguistically behave in the different social spaces in which the language is predicted to be
used in one way or another. Educational sociolinguistics points to the understanding of the notions of
linguistic adequacy and acceptability as more appropriate to the teaching of L1s and L2s than the
notion of error that is based on the parameters of traditional grammar.
The student's ability to perceive and be able to use the most conventionally envisaged forms of linguistic
use in specific contexts and genres is thus developed. Such skills are objects to be considered in
teaching both for the development of written and oral linguistic practices. We refer hereby to such written
and oral linguistic practices as orality and literacy.
Orality and Literacy practices are seen as complementary areas of social and cultural practices:
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
SUCH PRACTICES COME IN VARIOUS TEXTUAL FORMS
AND GENRES AND CAN BE CARRIED OUT IN DIFFERENT
REGISTERS AND IN A VARIETY OF COMMUNICATIVE
CONTEXTS.
Oral and written linguistic practices are on a range with multiple possibilities of textual productions that
can prototypically represent the formal register of written texts or the informal register of conversation,
which means that, at the end of the day, written texts may have characteristics of the oral ones and vice
versa.
The existence of a range of oral and written texts and genres requires that educational practices be
devoted to the teaching of such linguistic skills. Forthis purpose, it will be up to the school to work on the
student's development in the use of language in different oral and written communicative situations in L1
and L2 classes.
Diastratic, Diatopic and Diaphasic variations, Allophones, Linguistic Variation, Linguistic Change,
Linguistic Diversity... Check out the explanations with Professor Roberto de Freitas Junior:
CHECKING LEARNING
1. EDUCATIONAL SOCIOLINGUISTICS HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED TO RETHINK THE
TEACHING OF GRAMMAR IN SCHOOLS. REGARDING EDUCATIONAL
SOCIOLINGUISTICS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SAY THAT:
A) Written language is culturally superior than the spoken.
B) Effective approaches neglect the view that language is diverse.
C) Language teaching should disregard linguistic variation and change.
D) The notion of "linguistic error" mirrors the idea of an ideal perfect language.
E) Linguistic prejudice focuses only on second language issues.
2. THE FOLLOWING CHART IS A SAMPLE OF DATA THAT EXEMPLIFY
LANGUAGE VARIATION THAT MAY BE CONSTRAINED BY:
DUNNO ~ I DON’T KNOW
SHOULDA ~ SHOULD HAVE
LOTTA ~ LOT OF ~ LOTS OF
GOTTA ~ (HAVE) GOT TO/A
� ATENÇÃO! PARA VISUALIZAÇÃO COMPLETA DA TABELA UTILIZE A
ROLAGEM HORIZONTAL
A) The linguistic context.
B) The sociolinguistic context.
C) Language impairment.
D) Educational problems.
E) The economic context.
GABARITO
1. Educational sociolinguistics highlights the need to rethink the teaching of grammar in schools.
Regarding educational sociolinguistics, it is important to say that:
The alternative "D " is correct.
 
Educational sociolinguistics highlights the idea that there is no ideal and perfect language, since
language variation is the rule.
2. The following chart is a sample of data that exemplify language variation that may be
constrained by:
dunno ~ I don’t know
shoulda ~ should have
lotta ~ lot of ~ lots of
gotta ~ (have) got to/a
� Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
The alternative "A " is correct.
 
The data reflect how the use of language is sensitive to the context of communication, to the register, to
the interlocutors. These factors lead us to unconsciously choose formal or informal language register.
SECTION 3
 To describe functions and classifications of the International Phonetic Alphabet
CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS AND
VOWELS
In this section, we will study the classification and transcription of English consonants and vowels, and
also learn how to read the charts for the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Speech sounds are basically divided into vowels and consonants, and, as we studied in section 1, they
can be specified by the description of the:
AIRSTREAM MECHANISM
VOCAL FOLD ACTION
POSITION OF THE VELUM
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
Vowels are classified according to three characteristics that also defines the description and
classification of a combination of these three factors:
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
The following table describes types of vowels with examples and how they are produced:
TYPE OF
VOWEL
EXAMPLES PRODUCTION
High [i] in bee The tongue is close to the roof of the mouth.
Low [a] in car
Considerable gap between the tongue and the roof
of the mouth.
Mid [e] in bed
Articulated with the tongue in mid position between
high and low.
TYPE OF
VOWEL
EXAMPLES PRODUCTION
Front [i]
The front of the tongue is raised towards the hard
palate.
Back [u] in moon The back of the tongue is raised towards the velum.
Central [3] in her Produced with a raised centre part of the tongue.
Rounded /
unrounded
[u] 
[i]
The lips are either rounded or unrounded.
 Atenção! Para visualização completa da tabela utilize a rolagem horizontal
The description and classification of a vowel is thus a combination of these three factors: vowel height,
vowel location, and lip rounding. The IPA transcription symbols for vowels are the following:
 
Image: Nohat Grendelkhan/GNU Free Documentation License/CC A-S Alike 3.0 Unported
 IPA transcription symbols for vowels.
It is a quadrilateral vowel chart that illustrates the shape of the oral cavity. The vertical axis represents the
vertical position of the tongue and lower jaw. The horizontal axis represents the part of the tongue that is
active during articulation.
ACTIVITY
TRY TO FIND THE VOWEL [I] , AS IN BEAT, ON THE
CHART AND DESCRIBE IT:
 
Image: Nohat Grendelkhan/GNU Free Documentation License/CC A-S Alike 3.0 Unported
ANSWER
javascript:void(0)
The chart shows that the vowel [i] is produced with the tongue in a high position and with the front of the
tongue raised in the front of the mouth.
This example illustrates that:
1
Vowel height is a concept related to the verticality of the tongue height.
2
Vowel location is a factor related to the horizontality of a certain section of the tongue.
3
Voicing is a factor related to the role played by the vocal folds vibration in the production of voiceless or
voiced sounds.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
 Mouth position for phonemes illustration, used as guideline for animation studies.
As we also studied in the previous section, consonants are usually characterized by three other
features: voicing, manner, and place of articulation. Voicing describes the Articulatory process in
which the vocal folds vibrate, producing voiced or voiceless sounds. Manner of articulation is the
configuration and interaction of the articulators in making a speech sound, and point of articulation is
the place of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract.
Thus, the [t] sound, for example, is described as the voiceless, alveolar, plosive phoneme and the [d]
sound is described as the voiced, alveolar, plosive phoneme. It is important to observe that the only
difference between these two sounds – [t] and [d] – relies on the voicing trace, indicating that vocal cords
vibrate in the production of the latter sound.
As for the manner of articulation feature, the configuration and interaction of the articulators in the
production of a speech sound, a consonant may be produced by several different ways and thus will be
classified accordingly. Thus, the sounds of the consonants may be:
PLOSIVE
FRICATIVE
AFFRICATE
TRILL
TAP
LATERAL
APPROXIMANT
NASAL
The manner of articulation features together with the voicing and point of articulation ones will determine
the final description of these phones. The following table describes all the different manners of
articulation that underlie consonant types with examples and how they are produced:
MANNERS OF ARTICULATION
 
Source: Textbooks in English Language and LinguisticsT (TELL)
Consonants are also characterized by their point of articulation. As for the point of articulation, the place
of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract, a consonant may be produced in several
different places and by different articulators. Due to this classification, a consonant may be a bilabial,
labiodental, interdental, alveolar, postalveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar, uvular, pharyngeal, glottal
or labiovelar sounds. Once again, the point of articulation feature together with the voicing and manner
of articulation ones will determine the segmental identity of these phones.
The following table describes all the different points of articulation that underlie consonant types with
examples and how they are produced:
PLACES OF ARTICULATION
 
Source: Textbooks in English Language and Linguistics (TELL)
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) presents written representations of phones, i.e., transcription
symbols for all distinctive speech sounds occurring in any language of the world. Phonetic transcription
guarantees that a certain linguistic expression in a certain language be produced the way it is actually
used in real life situations by native people of that language, which does not happen when it comes to
regular writing, as we sawin section 1.
The association of written and oral modalities, as we discussed, is not perfect in any language. We do
not write exactly what we say. This makes the need of a pattern that would allow the reading of words
and expressions of any language possible.
For example, the English sentence ‘A tiger and a mouse were walking in a field’ will probably be
produced differently according to the speaker´s social profile and communicative constraints in which the
sentence is performed. Such information which may be of extreme importance under some
circumstances will not be captured by the regular written representation.
In 1886, the International Phonetic Association was founded in Paris and distributed the first phonetic
alphabet. The original symbols should be as simple as possible for language learners in Western Europe
and thus most of them were taken from the Roman alphabet. In the past centuries, the IPA has
undergone several revisions (the last one was completed in 2005) as we seen in the following chart:
THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (2005)
 
Source: Textbooks in English Language and Linguistics (TELL)
 ATTENTION
The IPA chart can be read in the following way: each row represents a different manner of articulation
and each column refers to a different place of articulation. When two symbols appear in one cell, the one
on the left is the voiceless consonant and the one on the right is the voiced counterpart. Empty cells hold
possible combinations of place and manner of articulation, that haven't been so far identified in any
language.
PHONETIC AND PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION
The IPA provides possible transcriptions of sounds, words and utterances from any language in the
world. If one is interested in Articulatory details of an utterance or specific sound, s/he will need to carry
out a phonetic transcription. Phonetic transcriptions do not refer to speakers' mental representations
but to actual realizations and are therefore carried out for real speech.
Besides the IPA symbols for the phonemes, a really descriptive phonetic transcription includes diacritics
to indicate specific phonetic realizations. Diacritics are fine phonetic details and prosodic features that
may arise during the emergence of a certain phoneme (like the aspiration in [ph] that is represented by
the diacritic(h)).
The following chart is the IPA diacritics one. And it should be used in a fine-grained description of speech
combined with the official IPA phoneme chart:
 
Source: Textbooks in English Language and Linguistics(TELL)
Phonemic transcriptions describe the presumed underlying representations of sounds, the speaker's
cognitive knowledge about the Phonology of a language. It represents the linguistically relevant
information about articulation and is the kind of transcription we find in dictionaries. Phonemic
transcriptions can also be made for real speech.
There are several differences between phonetic and phonemic transcriptions. For example, in phonemic
transcriptions it may be more difficult to determine word boundaries. Still only a narrow phonetic
transcription of a certain word or utterance will include phonetic details such as the voicing of each
segment or even allow to distinguish the exact place of articulation of sounds.
A possible phonetic and phonemic transcriptions of the utterance “A tiger and a mouse were walking in a
field” are illustrated below. Note that the convention is to use:
 
Image:
Square brackets ([ ]) to refer to phones, the actual sounds, or to make a phonetic transcription.
 
Image: k
Slashes (/ /) to refer to phonemes, the mental representation of the sound, or make a phonemic
transcription.
 COMMENT
A simple analysis on the differences in the transcriptions above points to the different interest of
Phonetics and Phonology. For example, while in the first phonetic transcription for the sentence “A tiger
and a mouse were walking in a field” the register of diacritics is observed, the same does not happen for
the phonological transcription that actually aims at making sure to keep phonemic representation despite
possible allophones associated to certain sounds.
 
Image: Shutterstock.com
LANGUAGE TEACHERS AND LANGUAGE STUDENTS MAY
BE DIRECTLY BENEFITED BY BEING ABLE TO INTERPRET
OR EVEN PRODUCE PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL
TRANSCRIPTIONS.
The possibility of comparing, for example, our own oral productions in a L2 to what might have been the
current production to a native speaker allows the identification of problem areas in phonological
acquisition. Nowadays, due to the lingua franca status of the English in our world, the importance of
minimizing language transfer issues in the L2 production is definitely not the same it used to be in the
past. However, it is still important for the L2 speaker to make sure to use proper pronunciation and
intonation at least aiming to prevent miscommunication problems.
The management of phonetic and phonological transcription may contribute to the learning process with
focus on what is actually important for successful worldwide communication. The general knowledge
about the ways sounds are materialized in use and how they are cognitively represented as linguistic
knowledge is particularly important for those interested in language learning.
Let’s understand a little bit more about transcription of vowels and consonants sounds:
CHECKING LEARNING
1. THE FOLLOWING CHART REFERS TO:
 
IMAGE: NOHAT GRENDELKHAN/GNU FREE DOCUMENTATION LICENSE/CC A-S
ALIKE 3.0 UNPORTED
A) The IPA transcription symbols for allophones.
B) The IPA transcription symbols for diacritics.
C) The IPA transcription symbols for vowels.
D) The IPA transcription symbols for consonants.
E) The IPA transcription symbols for linguistic variation.
2. PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTIONS DESCRIBE:
A) The presumed underlying cognitive representation about letters.
B) The presumed underlying cognitive representations of sounds.
C) The speaker's knowledge about phonetics.
D) The speaker's knowledge about phonology.
E) The speaker’s knowledge about writing.
GABARITO
1. The following chart refers to:
 
Image: Nohat Grendelkhan/GNU Free Documentation License/CC A-S Alike 3.0 Unported
The alternative "C " is correct.
 
The chart refers to the IPA transcription symbols for vowels, considering the tongue and the lower jaw.
2. Phonemic transcriptions describe:
The alternative "B " is correct.
 
Phonemic transcriptions refer to mental representation, they describe the presumed underlying cognitive
representation about sounds. If one is interested in articulatory details of an utterance or specific sound,
s/he will need to carry out a phonetic transcription. Phonetic transcriptions, on the other hand, refers to
actual realizations and are therefore carried out for real speech.
CONCLUSION
FINAL ISSUES
We have presented the main points related to Phonetics and Phonology as general areas of linguistic
studies. We initially discussed the concepts of phoneme and grapheme (letter), and the problems related
to possible mismatches between written representation and oral productions in the written production in
the first or second language (L1 and L2) that could be possible challenges for language learning. In
Section 2, we discussed sociolinguistics and linguistic variation. We brought up a discussion on how
these issues are important, when it comes to L1/L2 teaching/learning processes both for the teaching of
oral and written modalities.
When dealing with the aspects inherent to the variation and change of languages, the sociolinguistic
approach shows one of the several characteristics of natural languages, both in oral and in written form:
linguistic variation. When dealing with the linguistic and social aspects involved in the process of
interactional language construction, the educational sociolinguistic approach reflects the ideological and
social behavior of a linguistic community, revealing importantaspects about its internal management.
A great contribution of sociolinguistics is the role it plays in the construction of an educational practice
suitable for language teaching. Studies focused on the language/society interface dispel prejudices about
the nature and function of language, contributing with more consistent principles for its teaching.
Finally, we have presented the International Phonetic Alphabet, the IPA, showing how it represents the
speech sounds of any language, allowing for a more accurate phonetic/phonological description which
may contribute to the learning process of any language aiming at successful worldwide communication.
AVALIAÇÃO DO TEMA:
REFERENCES
BORTONI-RICARDO, S. M. Manual de sociolinguística. São Paulo: Contexto, 2014.
BRASIL. Orientações Curriculares para o Ensino Médio: linguagens, códigos e suas tecnologias.
Brasília: SEB/MEC, 2006.
BRASIL. Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais: terceiro e quarto ciclos do ensino fundamental: língua
portuguesa. Brasília: MEC/SEF, 1998.
GUT, U. Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology. In: Textbooks in English Language and
Linguistics (TELL). Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften: Frankfurt am Main, 2009.
MARCUSCHI, L. A. Da fala para a escrita: atividades de retextualização. 10. ed., São Paulo: Cortez,
2010.
MOLLICA, M. C.; BRAGA, M. L. (Orgs.) Introdução à sociolinguística: o tratamento da variação. São
Paulo: Contexto, 2003.
CONTENT AUTHOR
Roberto de Freitas Junior
 CURRÍCULO LATTES
javascript:void(0);