An Introduction to English Phonology

by McMahon, April

• ISBN13: 9780195218916
• ISBN10: 0195218914
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is a short, lively, and accessible introduction to the sounds of modern English. Its emphasis on variation, with examples from British, American, New Zealand, and Singaporean English, make it suitable for both native and non-native speakers. McMahon focuses on the vowels and consonants, but also discusses syllables, stress, and the phonology of words and phrases. She introduces new tools and terminology gradually, and discusses the motivation for key concepts.

Table of Contents

To colleagues	ix
Sounds, spellings and symbols	1	(11)
Phonetics and phonology	1	(3)
Variation	4	(1)
The International Phonetic Alphabet	5	(7)
Recommendations for reading	11	(1)
The phoneme: the same but different	12	(11)
Variation and when to ignore it	12	(1)
Conditioned variation in written language	13	(1)
The phoneme	14	(3)
Some further examples	17	(2)
The reality of the phoneme	19	(4)
Exercises	21	(1)
Recommendations for reading	22	(1)
Describing English consonants	23	(13)
What's inside a phonetic symbol?	23	(1)
Consonant classification	23	(1)
The anatomy of a consonant	24	(12)
Exercises	34	(1)
Recommendations for reading	35	(1)
Defining distributions: consonant allophones	36	(16)
Phonemes revisited	36	(1)
Making generalisations	36	(2)
Making statements more precise	38	(2)
A more economical feature system	40	(6)
Natural classes	46	(1)
A warning note on phonological rules	47	(5)
Exercises	50	(1)
Recommendations for reading	51	(1)
Criteria for contrast: the phoneme system	52	(15)
Minimal pairs and beyond	52	(1)
Phonetic similarity and defective distributions	53	(3)
Free variation	56	(2)
Neutralisation	58	(2)
Phonology and morphology	60	(2)
Rules and constraints	62	(1)
The phoneme system	63	(4)
Exercises	65	(1)
Recommendations for reading	66	(1)
Describing vowels	67	(12)
Vowels versus consonants	67	(2)
The anatomy of a vowel	69	(5)
Vowel classification	74	(5)
Exercises	77	(1)
Recommendations for reading	78	(1)
Vowel phonemes	79	(13)
The same but different again	79	(1)
Establishing vowel contrasts	79	(6)
Vowel features and allophonic rules	85	(2)
Phonetic similarity and defective distribution	87	(1)
Free variation, neutralisation and morphophonemics	88	(4)
Exercises	91	(1)
Recommendations for reading	91	(1)
Variation between accents	92	(12)
The importance of accent	92	(2)
Systemic differences	94	(5)
Realisational differences	99	(2)
Distributional differences	101	(3)
Exercises	102	(1)
Recommendations for reading	103	(1)
Syllables	104	(13)
Phonology above the segment	104	(1)
The syllable	104	(1)
Constituents of the syllable	105	(1)
The grammar of syllables: patterns of acceptability	106	(3)
Justifying the constituents	109	(8)
Exercises	115	(1)
Recommendations for reading	116	(1)
The word and above	117	(16)
Phonological units above the syllable	117	(1)
Stress	118	(6)
The foot	124	(4)
Segmental phonology of the phrase and word	128	(5)
Exercises	131	(1)
Recommendations for reading	132	(1)
Discussion of the exercises	133	(10)
References	143	(2)
Index	145