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Outline of English phonetics ...
3 1924 027 389 505
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AN
OUTLINE
OF ENGLISH PHONETICS
DANIEL
JOJNES. M. A.
READKR IM PHONKflOS IN THE UNIVEWSITY
OP LONDON
WITH 131 ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW-YORK
STECHERT &
G. E. Co.
19?;?, yi
1.U
A.^¥U/4
p'ii-'^^--
-'.y.' PIUNTED IN AUSTRIA
*
PREFACE
OBJECT OF THE BOOK
It is now generally recognized that no adult foreigner is likely to ac-
quire a really good pronunciation of the English language unless he makes
a scientific study of the English speech-sounds and their distribution in con-
nected speech. The present book has been prepared -with a view to giving
the foreigner all the information of this nature that he is likely to require
for learning "educated Southern English" as described in § 24.
The greater part of the book is devoted to a discussion of the mistakes
which are commonly made by foreigners in the pronunciation of English,
and methods are indicated for coiTCcting these errors. These methods are all
based on personal experience; many of them are of my own devising, and
none have been included without personal knowledge of their utility in
practical teaching.*
HOW TO USE THE BOOK
It is not, of course, suggested that this or any other book can form a
substitute for oral training. The idea thatcorrect pronunciationcanbelearned
by theory alone is even more absurd than the idea that it can be learned
by imitation alone. Bare instances may be found ofpersons possessing extra-
ordinary powers of imitation, who are able to learnthe correct pronunciation
of any foreign language simply by imitation. But it is certain thatno for-
eigner could ever hope to pronounce such sounds as thevowels in theEnglish
words up or bird from written descriptions only. Imitation is necessarily a
most important part of training in the pronunciation of a foreign language,
and it may be remarked in passing, that in this connexion the advantage
ofa naturally good ear cannot beoverestimated. The importanie ofphonetics
lies in the fact that it helps the student to imitate better than he could
withoot the aid of phonetics. In the words of H. E. Palmer*, "without a
phonetic training the bad pronouncer will never become a good prononncer,
and with a phonetic training he probably will"; to which we might add that
with phonetic training the naturally good pronouncer will probably become
a perfect pronouncer
It is hoped then that by combining the study of this book with careful
observation and imitation ofthe pronunciation ofEnglishspeakers, foreigners
may find the task of learning the pronunciation of the English language
appreciably lightened.
Practice of sounds by the methods indicated in this book should of
' Students must not be surprised to find that ftome of these methods are
not quite what might be expected on theoretical grounds. Thus with most fo-
reigner* it turns out in practice that the best way of teachingthe diphthong ou
is to make the student practise a diphthong of the type eeu (with the front
vowel oe, althong o is defined as a back vowel, see §§ 463, 454).
' What is Phonetics?, p. 10 (published by the International Phonetic Asso-
ciation).
IV Prepack
course be supplemented by ear-training exercises (such as those given in
Appendix 0) and by continual reading of phonetic texts (such as thosei in
myPhoneticBeadings in English orthe other books mentioned in AppendixE
(i) and (ii)).
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
For the benefit of those who are accustomed to instrumental methods
or who wish to study these methods, a certain amount of information regard-
ing experimental phonetics has been in^uded. The part of the book dealing
with this branch of the subject may be entirely omitted by students who
do not desire to take up experimental work, or have no opportunity ofdoing
so. All paragraphs which may be so omitted are marked with an asterisk *.
Experimental phonetics is a highly interesting study in itself) but it must
not be regarded as an indispensable study for those who wish to learn to
pronoutice a foreign language correctly. Some experiments may be of use
in this connection in the case of the students who have by nature a special
difficulty in hearing the difierences between similar sounds. In most cases,
however, the experiments should be regarded merely as corroborat—ive of the
results obtainable by the ordinary methods of—practical phonetics that is,
by direct observations made by a trained ear and as a means of helping
to fix them in the student's memory. Experiments which go further than
this can hardly b6 considered as of practical value to language students.
INTONATION
It is satisfactoiy to find that the subject of intonation, to which con-
siderable space is devoted in this book, is receiving more and more atten-
tion at the present time. Teachers are now beginningto realize that a study
of intonation is often required to give the final touches to a good pronun-
ciation, and that students who by nature have but little aptitude for learn-
ing vowels and consonants may sometimes compensate to some extent for
their defective sounds by acquiring a good intonation.
It is however desirable to warn students against starting this subject
too. soon. It should not be begun until considerable facility in the use of
the vowels and consonants has been attained.
Some teachers have cast doubt on the utility of intonation curves in
practical teaching. I can assure them from experience that most learners
find such curves a considerable help. I have even known a foreigner acquire
a perfectly accurate intonation ofa passage ofEnglish bythis means, without
ever having heard the words read aloud.
The chapter on intonation in this book was unfortunately in prmt be-
fore the appeai-ance of the excellent article on the subject by Coleman';
his discoveries have suggested to me various ways in which this chapter
might be improved. I therefore strongly recommend all readers of this book
to supplement their perusal of the chapter on intonation bya careful study
of Coleman's article.
' H. 0. GotEMAN, Intonation and EmpkoAis, in Miscellanea Phonetica (pu-
bhahed by the International Phonetic ABSOciation).
