English and German Diction for Singers: A Comparative Approach

360 Pages·2016·5.424 MB·English

by  Amanda Johnston

English and German Diction for Singers

English and German
Diction for Singers

A Comparative Approach

Second Edition

Amanda Johnston

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
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Copyright © 2016 by Amanda Johnston

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Johnston, Amanda, 1971-
Title: English and German diction for singers : a comparative approach /
Amanda Johnston.
Description: Second edition. | Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield,
[2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016018359 (print) | LCCN 2016018532 (ebook) | ISBN
9781442260887 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442260894 (pbk. : alk.
paper) | ISBN 9781442260900 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Singing--Diction. | English language--Pronunciation. | German
language--Pronunciation.
Classification: LCC MT883 .J64 2016 (print) | LCC MT883 (ebook) | DDC
783/.043--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018359

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America
To my students, who continue to challenge and inspire me

Contents

Musical Examples xiii
Foreword xv
Preface xix

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter 1: Elementary Concepts 3
1.1 Phonetics and the International Phonetic Alphabet 3
1.2 Vowel classification 4
1.3 Consonant classification 5
1.4 Organs of speech 7
1.5 Points of articulation 8
Chapter 2: Proficiency in English IPA 9
2.1 Vowels 9
2.2 Diphthongs 13
2.3 Triphthongs 16
2.4 Consonants 16
Chapter 3: Proficiency in German IPA 25
3.1 Vowels 25
3.2 Diphthongs 29
3.3 Consonants 30

PART II: ENGLISH 37
Chapter 4: Introduction to English Diction for Singers 39
4.1 Challenges of singing in English 39
vii
viii Contents

4.2 Dialect and accent: General American English (GA) 41
and Received Pronunciation (RP)
4.3 Challenges of singing musical theatre repertoire 43
Chapter 5: English Phonemes 45
Chapter 6: The Structure of English 53
6.1 Syllabification: sung vs. spoken 53
6.2 Word stress and “unstress” 55
6.3 Glottal attacks or onsets 58
6.4 Silent letters 61
6.5 Homophones 62
6.6 Contractions 64
Chapter 7: Characteristic English Phonemes 65
7.1 Use of [ɑ] and [æ], but absence of [a] 65
7.2 Importance of the schwa [ə] 65
7.3 Use of Y 67
7.4 Allophones of R: [ɾ][ɹ][r] 68
Chapter 8: Vowels 73
8.1 Monophthongs 73
8.2 Diphthongs 87
8.3 Triphthongs 93
Chapter 9: Glides and Approximants 95
9.1 Use of [w] and [ʍ] 95
9.2 Use of [j] 97
9.3 Use of retroflex R: [ɹ] 99
Chapter 10: Consonants 103
10.1 Efficiency in production 103
10.2 Voiced vs. voiceless 104
10.3 Double consonants 108
10.4 Individual consonants 108
10.5 Consonant blends 125
Chapter 11: Advanced Concepts in Diction 127
Contents ix

11.1 Treatment of monosyllabic incidental words 127
11.2 Strong and weak forms of incidental words 129
11.3 Implosion/explosion 131
11.4 Unstressed syllables: use of [ɪ] in prefixes 134
11.5 Grammatical ending: -ed 135
Chapter 12: Common Pitfalls 137
12.1 Improper word stress 137
12.2 Influence of spoken regionalisms 138
12.3 Influence of mother tongue 139
12.4 Common mispronunciations 140
12.5 Influence of speech habits 141

PART III: GERMAN 145
Chapter 13: Introduction to German Diction for Singers 147
13.1 Hochdeutsch and Bühnendeutsch 147
13.2 Reference books 148
13.3 Neue Rechtschreibung 148
13.4 Orthographic features: Umlaut and Eszett (ß) 149
Chapter 14: German Phonemes 151
Chapter 15: The Structure of German 155
15.1 Root system and word structure 155
15.2 Grammatical and inflectional endings 157
15.3 Prefixes and suffixes 159
15.4 Compound words 166
15.5 Word origin and loan words 168
15.6 Glottal attacks or onsets 169
Chapter 16: Characteristic German Phonemes 171
16.1 The ich-laut [ç], ach-laut [χ], and Curly-tail J [ʝ] 171
16.2 Use of R: [ɾ] vs. [ɐ] 177
16.3 The German schwa: vocalic chameleon 182
Chapter 17: Vowels 185