Introduction to English Linguistics

Distribution of allophones

Before looking at sequences of speech sounds and how they are arranged in words and utterances, it pays off to have another look at how the allophones of a phoneme are distributed, specifically what variants can occur in what kinds of surroundings (have a look at the previous summary if you need a refresher on those two terms).

Analyzing slightly larger units of speech allows us explain some of the variation in how an individual phoneme is realized. If one allophone of a phoneme can always be found in a certain place and never in another, this is described as complementary distribution:

Complementary distribution is the mutually exclusive relationship between two phonetically similar segments. It exists when one segment occurs in an environment where the other segment never occurs.

from the SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms

An example to illustrate this is the phoneme /p/ with its realization as [pʰ] - the little h indicated that the sound is aspirated - and [p], which is unaspirated. Both sounds are allophones of the phoneme /p/ and they occur in complementary distribution, meaning one always occurs where the other doesn’t and vice versa. The aspirated version occurs when /p/ is the syllable onset and followed by a stressed vowel (as in the word pin), while the unaspirated version occurs in all other situations (e.g. in spin or top). It is important to note that while the two sounds are actually phonetically slightly different, exchanging one for the other (e.g. aspirating the /p/ in top) would not have any effect on the meaning of the word. If that seems strange to you, consider again that other languages are different in that respect and that in them these two variants of /p/ may not be allophones but distinct phonemes. Finally, another source of phonetic difference in how a phoneme is realized is free variation. Free variants are the result of individual or dialectal differences, such as vowel quality in different varieties of British and American English.

Syllables

If phones are the smallest units of measurement in speech production, syllables are what follows them. Essentially a syllable is a vowel with optional consonants clustered around it. The vowel forms the so-called nucleus of the syllable, while any consonants coming after the vowel are referred to as the coda. Depending on whether the nucleus is followed by a coda or not, we describe the syllable as either closed or open.

The example below shows how syllable structure can be accurately described:

word: map (phonetically [mæp])

syllable structure: CVC

The word map has one syllable. It consists of the consonant [m], followed by the vowel [æ] and ends with the consonant [p] - therefore it has the syllable structure CVC. This is an example for a closed syllable (the vowel nucleus is followed by a consonant coda).

By contrast, the following example is an open syllable and does not have a coda:

you (phonetically [yu])

CV

Remember that the letter y may represent a consonant (as in this example) or a vowel, as in happy. Don’t be fooled by the strange spelling conventions of English!

Consonant Clusters

Several consonants can stack at the beginning or end of a syllable, forming a so-called consonant cluster. The following example demonstrates this:

nests

CVCCC

In English, a maximum of three consonants can stack at the beginning of a syllable, while a maximum of four consonants can succeed the nucleus, leading to this phonotactic description of syllable structure:

(CCC)V(CCCC)

Here are a few more examples for better illustration:

splice

CCCVC

monosyllabic (one syllable), closed

easy

VCV

disyllabic (two syllables), open

axe

VCC

monosyllabic (one syllable), closed

ex-pla-na-tion

VCC CCV CV CVC

polysyllabic (four syllables), syllables are closed-open-open-closed

Stress

Stress is a means of emphasizing syllables (or, in some cases, words) in spoken language. In contrast to French (as one example) where words are generally stressed on the last syllable, English does not have a fixed word stress, as these examples show:

‘asymmetrical

ab‘duction

emplo‘yee

Stress also serves an important grammatical function in English, as it is capable of indicating word class. For example, the word survey can be either a verb or a noun:

(1) We want to surVEY all viewers of Channel 5 in order to learn more about their tastes.

(2) This SURvey indicates that the students are extremely bored.

In the first sentence survey is a verb and stressed on the second syllable, whereas in the second sentence it is a noun and stressed on the first syllable. Generally function words such as and, to and of (which are often monosyllabic) are unstressed in English.

Have a look at the following sentence and think about how shifting word stress affects the meaning.

(3) JOHN doesn’t like pie.
= John doesn’t like pie, Mary does

(4) John DOESN’T like pie.
= Someone assumed that he likes pie, but he actually doesn’t

(5) John doesn’t LIKE pie.
= He doesn’t just like it, he loves it!

(6) John doesn’t like PIE.
= He doesn’t like pie, but he’s crazy about donuts.

Key Terms

• complementary distribution - free variation
• aspiration
• syllables
  • nucleus - coda
  • closed- open
• consonant clusters
• syllable stress, word stress