Assignment

Submitted to: Sir Moazzam Ali

Submitted by: Sidra Zafar
07010602-002
Arooj Fatima
07010602-018
BS English
Summer Semester
Topic: Contrastive analysis of aspiration
in Urdu and English Phonemes (A
selection of limited consonants, i.e.
Plosives and Affricates)

Course: Phonetics and Phonology

University of Gujrat

Declaration
research is
is a
consistency.

It is hereby declared that this

the result of our laborious efforts and
product out of sheer toil and

Signature:
___________________

Sidr
a Zafar (group leader)

Signature:
______

_____________

Supervisor

Sr. no.
Page nos.

List of Contents

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Urdu plosives and affricates

(i)
(ii)

9.

Literature review

6.

8.

Introduction

7.

Chart of English consonants

7
7
8
9

Methodology
(i)

Selection of plosives and affricates

3
(ii) Places of articulation dissected
4
(iii) Point of divergence-aspiration
5
(iv) Disparities within Urdu
6
(v) Differences within English
6
(a)
Allophones
6
Problems of Urdu speakers who opt for ESL
Hindrances for English speakers learning Urdu
Discussions
Conclusion

10

References

Urdu aspirated and non-aspirated Consonants

Place of Articulation
Manner
of
Articulati
on
Plosives Aspirat
ed

Affricate
s

Nonaspirat
ed
Aspirat
ed
Nonaspirat
ed

Bilabia Dental
l

Retrof
ex

PlatoVelar
alveola
r

/ph/,
/bh/
/p/,
/b/

/th/,
/dh/

/h/,
/h/

/kh/,
/gh/

/t/,
/d/

//,
//

/k/,
/g/
/h/,
/h/

//,
//

Table # 1

Table # 2
Source: Google Image Search

Introduction:
We, being the students of language, are aware of the fact that
alphabets of any language are different from speech sounds
(phonemes) of that language. Here, we take pains to present a
contrastive analysis of selected Urdu and English phonemes. The
sole purpose of this effort is to highlight the feature of aspiration
in the two languages under examination, the differences due to
aspiration and consequently the resulting problems of the second
language learners who opt to learn these languages. Aspiration is
the noise or a puff of air that is released from oral cavity when a
constriction is removed. This air is allowed to escape relatively
freely. A key point to be remembered is that aspiration is a feature
which is found in the articulation of (some) consonants and that
the purpose of aspiration varies across languages. I would later on
pinpoint that aspiration is a point of great diversion with specific
reference to Urdu and English speech sounds.

Literature Review:
There are many disparities between Urdu and English, (aspiration
is one of them which is to be dealt extensively in the present
research) even then they share some converging points such as
they have a number of consonants which have similar manner
and place of articulation.
According to Crystal, aspiration is a term in phonetics for the
audible breath which may accompany a sounds articulation, as
when certain types of plosive consonant are released. (2003: 37)
Hence aspiration is the phenomenon that is to be encountered
only in the articulation of consonants and it is a puff of air that is
physical in nature and can be felt when speakers hand is placed
right in front of the mouth when such aspirated consonants are to
be articulated.
Aspiration is said to be such a noise that is made when a
consonantal constriction is released and air is passed out freely
out of the oral cavity. Urdu has a four way phonemic contrast
between voiced and voiceless stops, aspirated and unaspirated

stops. In contrast, when English phonemes /p/, /t/ and /k/ occur in
the beginning of a syllable have aspiration in most of the accents.
Aspiration results when the vocal folds are widely parted at the
time of articulatory release.
Urdu scholars have reached to no full and final chart of speech
sounds so I was unable to get that from any source. Hence I
selected to present a contrast between plosives and affricates
due to the fact that Urdu has aspiration evident in both the types
(although Urdu scholars did not demarcate such a distribution as
that of English). Both these languages have a broad
categorisation of speech sounds, that is, vowels and consonants.
Consonants are those speech sounds that are articulated with full,
partial or some obstruction to the fow of air through the vocal
tract.
Plosives are those consonants which are produced by the
formation of a complete stoppage of the air stream. (Roach,
2009) Sounds /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/ and /g/ are all produced by some
form of stopping of the air stream (although the stoppage is a
brief one) and letting the air go out abruptly. (Yule, 2010) The
obstruction or stoppage results in a build-up of compressed air
inside the chamber which is formed by the closure of an
articulator. When the closure is released, there is a small
explosion that causes a sharp noise. Plosives are alternately
termed as stops.
Affricate is that type of consonant which is formed by the
combination of a plosive and a fricative with same place of
articulation. There are namely two consonants which fall under
the category of affricates, which are, // and //. The two
phrases why choose /wai u:z/ and white shoes /wait u:z/ are
said to show the difference between the t affricate (in the first
example) and separate t and (in the second). (Roach, 2009)

Methodology:
We have taken our intuition as the key factor to answer the
intriguing questions of Urdu plosives and affricates (both

aspirated and non-aspirated) and to show how they are quite

different from their English counter parts, how their places of
articulation differ and why the differentiation broadens when
aspiration comes into play. English possessing a well-established
sound system has an extensive written material available on
different sources. We have read thoroughly, searched and read
between the lines from different online book resources to carve
out the phenomenon of aspiration in English phonemes. There are
a number of cases of allophonic variations in English, among
them aspiration is one.

(i)

Selection of plosives and affricates

I selected plosives and affricates as a data for analysis and the

results and conclusion that I would drive would be solely based on
my intuition (in case of Urdu) and on my searched information
and critical understanding (in case of English). The reason behind
choosing these two manners of articulation was that aspiration
can be witnessed in them. The lists of Urdu and English plosives
and affricates are mentioned as under.
Urdu has sixteen plosives and four affricates.
Plosives include:
/p/, /b/
Bilabial (non-aspirated)
/ph/, /bh/ Bilabial (aspirated)
/t/, /d/
Dental ( non-aspirated)
/th/, /dh/
Dental (aspirated)
//, //
Retrofex (non-aspirated)
/h/, /h/
Retrofex (aspirated)
/k/, /g/
Velar (non-aspirated)
/kh/, /gh/
Velar (aspirated)
Affricates are:
//, //
Plato-alveolar (non-aspirated)
/h/, /h/ Plato-alveolar (aspirated)

All the above mentioned phonemes are different in their own

right. They cannot be said to be variants of a single phoneme (as
in case of English where /p/ and/ph/ are similar in nature.
English has six plosives and two affricates.
Plosives include:
/p/, /b/ Bilabial
/t/, /d/ Alveolar
/k/, /g/ Velar
Aspiration is to be felt in these plosives:
/p/, /t/, /k/ (non-aspirated when followed by initial /s/)
/ph/, /th/, /kh/ (aspirated when in the initial position of a
syllable)
Affricates are:
//, // Plato-alveolar
Among them, /p/, /t/ and /k/ are aspirated when occur at the
beginning of a syllable so that the words like pea / phi /, tea /thi/
and key /khi/, the silent period while the compressed air is
prevented from escaping by the articulatory closure is followed by
a sound similar to h before the voicing of the vowel begins.

(ii) Places of articulation dissected:

It can be seen from the above lists that Urdu and English selected
consonants mostly have similar places of articulation except
retrofex and dental. It becomes essential to define these places
of articulation in brief detail.
(a)
Bilabials- As evident from the name itself that these
are the sounds which are produced with a closure taking
place at the lips, that is they involves both the lips in their
production. For instance, /p/, /b/, /ph/ and /bh/ in Urdu and /p/,
/ph/ and /b/ in English are bilabials (according to the selected
data).

(b)
Dentals- A dental sound is one in which there is
approximation or contact between the teeth and some other
articulator. The articulation may be of several different sorts.
The tip of the tongue may be pressed against the inner
surface of the top teeth. (Roach, 2009) Urdu has four dental
plosives in the articulation of which the tip of the tongue is
pressed slightly against the inner side of upper top teeth.
Those four dentals are /t/, /d/, /th/ and /dh/.

(c)
Alveolars- In the articulation of alveolars, the
constriction in the air passage takes place when the tongue
touches the alveolar ridge. English sounds /t/ and /d/ are
alveolars.
(d)
Retroflex- A retrofex articulation is one in which the
tip of the tongue is curled upward and backward. (Roach,
2009) Retrofexion covers three possibilities of adjustment of
the tip and blade of the tongue. The tip may be only slightly
curled, or pointing vertically, or may be curled right over so
that the underside is forming the maximum constriction.
Urdu has four retrofex consonants which are //, //, / h/
and /h/.
(e)
Plato-alveolars- These sounds are produced with the
blade (or tip) of the tongue used just behind the alveolar
ridge. Urdu has four plato-alveolars, which are //, //,
/h/, /h/ where as English has two that are //, //.

(f)
Velars- At the back of the mouth roof, beyond the hard
palate, there is a soft area, which is called the soft palate, or

the velum. Sounds produced with the back of the tongue

against the velum are called velars. (Yule, 2010) Urdu has
four velars, which are /k/, /g/, /kh/, /gh/ whereas English has
two /k/ and /g/.

(iii) Point of divergence - aspiration:

Urdu and English greatly vary in the matter of aspiration. It is
evident from the selection of above mentioned consonants that
aspiration is surely a point of divergence in the articulation of
phonemes of the two languages. Firstly, the number of plosives
and affricates vary, secondly, aspiration in Urdu results in the
formation of a new phoneme where as in English it is merely a
variant of the same phoneme from which it results. Furthermore,
Urdu has more variety in its plosives section because it is evident
that it comprises of sixteen different phonemes which have four
different places of articulation.
Languages vary not only in the types of sounds used but in their
phonemic patterning too. There is an important principle in
phonology: every language has its unique configuration of
phonemes and allophones. Hence no two languages can be
entirely identical in all respects, even the dialects of the same
language carry variation. That is the reason why an aspirated [p h]
an non-aspirated [p] do not contrast in English, but they do in
Urdu: /pal/ meaning moment and /phal/ meaning fruit.

(iv) Disparities within Urdu- Aspiration and (h)

As seen earlier that the replacement of a phoneme with its
aspirated counter-part leads to the change in meaning of that
word in Urdu language. This results in the formation of minimal
pairs. Some examples of such minimal pairs are listed below.

/tal/ musical measure and /thal/ plater

/dal/ pour and /dhal/ shield
/kal/ famine and /khal/ hide of an animal
/gol/ round /ghol/ dissolve

(Note: the phonetic transcription is in Roman alphabets for

simplification)
Here, a point should be clarified that [h] in Urdu does not
necessarily mean that it has to be an aspirated phoneme every
time it is used. For instance, /h/ does not represent aspiration in
the following items /tashih/ correction, /mazhab/ religion
/mashur/ famous. In other occasions, when /h/ occurs after
consonants which may be aspirated, it may be realised as
aspiration: /sbhi:/ all and /nibha:na/ to carry through.
(v)

Differences within English

The key point to note here is that aspiration in English only results
when phonemes are placed in syllables. The position of /p/, /t/ and
/k/ differ in a word, and so do the aspiration and non-aspiration
vary. How these phonemes characteristics shift is an interesting
process and a difficult thing to remember too. Allophones,
aspiration and non-aspiration and voicing and devoicing will be
tackled briefy.

(a)

Allophones- There are many cases of allophonic

variation, but aspiration (as is related to my topic) would
be dealt exclusively over here. Aspiration is that audible
breath which accompanies a sounds articulation when
certain type of plosive consonants is released. The [t]
sound in the word tar is normally pronounced with a
stronger puff of air than is present in the [t] sound in the
word star. If you put the back of your hand in front of your
mouth as you say tar, then star, you should be able to feel
some physical evidence of aspiration (the puff of air)
accompanying the [t] sound at the beginning of tar (but
not in star). This aspirated version is represented more
precisely as [t]. (Yule, 2010) These are two variants of the
same phoneme. Substituting allophones does not result in
different meanings in English, rather it would lead in

different pronunciation (rather an odd one) of the same

word.

Problems of Urdu speakers who opt for ESL

Aspiration in English is not a distinctive feature because its
presence or absence is predictable for an English speaker.
Aspiration of voiceless stops illustrates the asymmetry of the
phonological systems of different languages. Aspiration in Urdu
and English play very different roles in the two spheres. Urdu
speakers being unaware of aspirated quality of /p/, /t/ and /k/
when they come in the initial position of a syllable articulated it in
non-aspirated way when they learn and produce English words.
That is the reason why an Urdu speaker would pronounce /pin/
and /ki:/ with non-aspirated /p/ and /k/.

Hindrances for English speakers who want to learn

Urdu
It is evident from the so far discussion that Urdu plosives and
affricates are loaded with wide variety of sounds (having variant
places of articulation, aspiration and non-aspiration) in
comparison to English. In English, only some plosives have
aspirated variety whereas Urdu has an entirely different case, it
has aspiration not only in plosives but in affricates too which
complicates the problem of English learners of Urdu. Firstly, they
encounter the retrofex plosives which they find difficult to
articulate and try to pronounce them as alveolars /t/ and /d/ as
this utterance of Urdu:
Kuttay ki duum would be pronounced as /khte khi dhm/ by an
English learner of Urdu language. The problem becomes even
more severe when it comes to a whole range of aspirated plosives
and affricates which are not found in English. Then example such
as:
Tumhari aankhain would be articulated as /tmha:ri a:nkn/
because the English learner of Urdu finds it difficult to make a

contrast between what s/he has always considered to be variants

is a different phoneme in Urdu.

Discussion:
So far it is clear that aspiration is a phenomenon in phonetics that
is evident in the phonological patterns of both Urdu and English.
The result out of this aspiration is of different nature in the two
languages under discussion. In Urdu, it results in the formation of
a new phoneme whereas in English it forms a variant of the same
phoneme and aspiration is not as widely observed in English as it
is found in Urdu. It is said that same phones may occur in two
languages but pattern differently because the phonologies are
different so is the case here.
The breathy quality of aspiration is more distinguished and vivid
in Urdu as compared to English because Urdu has an extensive
list of aspirated speech sounds, up to ten which is a huge sum to
understand and learn for a new learner of this language. This is
the reason why English is much easy to learn because it has
limited speech sounds (forty four in total) whereas Urdu has
twenty plosives and affricates alone.
It was also seen that a learner who opts to learn a target
language for some purpose when faces difficulty in articulation of
a different phoneme, (from his/her mother tongue) s/he tries to fit
in the manner and place of articulation according to the nearest
similar sound found in his/her native language. For instance,
English speakers fail to pronounce dental /t/ and /d/ of Urdu;
hence they articulate alveolar /t/ and /d/ of English.
Main aim of this study was to highlight the fact that no two
languages have identical phonology and phonemic patterns even
though some phonemes are same in nature. The initial point of
motivation was the line which I encountered while reading a page
in an e-book which stated that It is not necessarily only plosives
that are aspirated, both unaspirated and aspirated affricates are
found in Hindi/Urdu. This was the foundational step towards this
study.

Conclusion:
Aspiration- the breathy quality is evident in the articulation of
some consonants of both Urdu and English. The difference in the
aspiration of the consonants of both languages lies in the fact that
aspirated phoneme of Urdu is different from the non-aspirated
phoneme of the same kind, that is, both are separated phonemes
forming different words in Urdu language. Whereas there is a
different story of aspiration in English in which aspiration is
merely witnessed in plosives /p/, /t/ and /d/ only when they are
placed in the initial position in a syllable, and that aspirated and
non-aspirated variant of same phoneme does not change
meaning of the word, rather a different pronunciation results.

References:
Bhatia Tej, K. & Ashok K. (2000) Colloquial Urdu: the complete course
for beginner. Routledge.
Cardona, G.
Routledge.

&

Dhanesh

J.

(2007)

The

Indo-Aryan

Languages.

Clark, John E., Collin Y. & Janet F. (2007) An Introduction to Phonetics

and Phonology. Wiley Blackwell.
Crystal, D. (2003) A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics. WileyBlackewell.
Fromline, V. Robert R. & Nina H. ( 2010) An Introduction to Language.
Cengage Learning.
Kachru, B. Yamuna K. S. N. Srindhav (2008) Language in South Asia.
Cambridge University Press.
Knapp, John J. Michael J. S. Frederick R. (1970) University Perspectives.
Manchester University Press.
Laver, J. (1994) Principles of Phonetics. Cambridge University Press.
Millward, C. M. & Mary H. (2011) A Biography of the English Language.
Cengage Learning.
Roach, P. (2009) Glossary of English Phonetics and Phonology (A little
encyclopaedia of phonetics.
Schneider, Edgar W. (2004) A handbook of varieties of English
Phonology. (vol. 1) (edited) Walter de Gruyter.

 Yule, G. (2010) The Study of Language. (4th edition) Cambridge

University Press.