P AR T ONE Words

[]. So comfort /'kmft/ in narrow transcription is [khfth,khf];

some verses /sm 'v:sz/ is [s 'v:sz8]. Similarly /n/ before /f, v/ also
becomes labiodental; the articulation is fronted; inform, in verse /n'f:m/,
/n 'v:s/ in narrow transcription are ['f:m], [ 'v:s]. In these cases,
the fronting and backing are transcribed by a special phonetic symbol.
In other cases, the fronting and backing are indicated by diacritics. /n/
in like manner becomes dental before /, /; fronting (in this case, towards
dental articulation) is transcribed by the diacritic [9]. Tenth, in there /tn/, /
n '/ in narrow transcription are [thn9], [n9 ']. The consonants /k, /
are fronted from a true velar position in the direction of the palatal position
when followed immediately by front vowels, e.g. key, geese /ki:/, /i:s/ are thus
transcribed narrowly as [khi:], [i:s]. On the other hand, they are backed from
a true velar position when followed immediately by back open vowels, e.g. car,
guard /k:/, /:d/; in narrow transcription they become [kh:], [:d8].
Rounding, or labialization, of consonants occurs immediately before
rounded vowels and /w/. The diacritic to show this is [w]. For example, soon,
twin /u:n/, /twn/ are, in narrow transcription, [swu:n], [tww
8n].
Fronting, backing and rounding are more or less automatic in English,
and so it is usually not felt necessary to indicate them. They are included here
simply to alert you to their existence in case it should ever be necessary to
include them in a narrow transcription.
*

Summary of allophones for each consonant

Plosives
/p/
[ph]
[p]
[p]
[p]

voiceless bilabial
aspirated (but with weaker aspiration in unstressed syllables)
unaspirated after /s/ in a syllable-initial cluster
glottal reinforcement in syllable-final position before a consonant
or silence
unreleased in syllable-final position before a consonant; optional
before silence

/pa/ [phai]; /spa/ [spa]; /m{p/ [m{ph]; /m{ps/ [m{ps]; /m{p p/

[m{p ph]
/b/
[b]
[b
8]
[b]

voiced bilabial
voiced initially and between voiced segments
devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence
unreleased in syllable-final position before a consonant

/ba/ [ba]; /bebi/ [bebi]; /n{b/ [n{b8]; /{bsnt/ [{b8snth]

/t/
[th]
66

voiceless alveolar
aspirated (but with weaker aspiration in unstressed syllables)

CH AP T ER 4 Allophones
[t]
[t, ]
[t6]
[t]
[t9]
[t]

unaspirated after /s/ in a syllable-initial cluster

glottal reinforcement or glottal replacement in syllable-final position before a consonant or silence
voiced flap as an alternative between vowels
unreleased in syllable-final position before a consonant
dental before dental consonants
retracted before /r/

/ta/ [thai]; /sta/ [sta]; /ft/ [fth]; /ftp:/ [fph:], [ftph:];

/bt/ [bt6]; /et/
[et9]; /tra/ [t>a]
/d/
[d]
[d
8]
[d]
[d9]
[d]

voiced alveolar
voiced initially and between voiced segments
devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence
unreleased in syllable-final position before a consonant
dental before dental consonants
retracted before /r/

/da/ [da]; /m{d/ [m{d8]; /mdnat/ [mdnath]; /wd/ [wd9]; /dra/

[d>a]
/k/
[kh]
[k]
[k]
[k]
[k]
[k]

voiceless velar
aspirated (but with weaker aspiration in unstressed syllables)
unaspirated after /s/ in a syllable-initial cluster
glottal reinforcement in syllable-final position before a consonant
or silence
unreleased in syllable-final position before a consonant
advanced before front close vowels
retracted before back open vowels

/kand/ [khand8]; /ska/ [ska]; /b{k/ [b{kh]; /b{kbn/ [b{kbn];

/ki:p/
[khi:ph]; /k:/ [kh:]
/g/
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]

voiced velar
voiced initially and between voiced segments
devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence
unreleased in syllable-final position before a consonant
advanced before front close vowels
retracted before back open vowels

/a/ [a]; /n{/ [n{]; /r{ b{/ [r{b{]; /i:s/ [i:s]; /:d/ [:d
8]
Nasals
/m/
[]
[m]
67

voiced bilabial
labiodental before /f, v/
elsewhere

P AR T ONE Words
/kmft/ [khfth]
/n/
[n9]
[]
[]
[n]

voiced alveolar
dental before dental consonants
labiodental before /f, v/
post-alveolar before /r, s, , t, d, j/
elsewhere

/tn/ [thn9]; /kn':s/ [kh':s]; /lnt/ [lt]

/N/
voiced velar
(limited distribution before /k, g/ or in syllable-final position only)
Fricatives
/f/
/v/
[v8]
[v]

voiceless labiodental
voiced labiodental
devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence
elsewhere

/h{v t .../ [h{v

8 th ...]
/T/

voiceless dental

/D/
[
8]
[]

voiced dental
devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence
elsewhere

/w {ks/ [w8 {ks]

/s/

voiceless alveolar

/z/

voiced alveolar

[z8]
[z]

devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence

elsewhere

/z t .../ [z8 th ...]

/S/

voiceless palato-alveolar/post-alveolar

/Z/
voiced palato-alveolar/post-alveolar
[]
devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence
[]
elsewhere
/m'r:/ [m':]
/h/
[]

voiceless glottal
voiced between voiced segments

/b'hand/ [b'and]
(limited distribution syllable-initial position only)
Affricates
/tS/
voiceless palato-alveolar/post-alveolar
68

CH AP T ER 4 Allophones
[t]
[t]

glottal reinforcement in syllable-final position before a consonant

or silence
elsewhere

/m{t/ [m{t]
/dZ/
[d]
[d]

voiced palato-alveolar/post-alveolar
devoiced before a voiceless consonant or silence
elsewhere

/hd/ [hd]
Approximants
/l/
[]
[9]
[l8]
[l]

voiced alveolar lateral

velarized (dark) before a consonant except /j/ or before silence
dental before /, /
devoiced after aspirated /p, k/
elsewhere

/bl/ [b]; /bld/ [bd]; /bljn/ [bljn]; /wl/ [w9]; /ple/ [pl8e]
/r/
[]
[>]
[8]
[]

voiced post-alveolar
tap after /, /
fricative after /d/
devoiced after aspirated /p, t, k/
elsewhere

/ri:/ [i:]; /dra/ [d>a]; /pre/ [p8e]; /rd/ [d]

(limited distribution syllable-initial position only)
/j/
[]
[]
[j]

voiced palatal
devoiced after aspirated /p, t, k/
for /hj.../
elsewhere

/tju:n/ [tju:n]; /hju:d/ [u:d

7]
(limited distribution syllable-initial position only)
/w/
[w
8]
([]
[w]

voiced labial-velar
devoiced after aspirated /p, t, k/
for /hw../)
elsewhere

/kwi:n/ [kw
8 i:n]; (/hwal/ [a])
(limited distribution syllable-initial position only)

Vowels
There are three processes that affect the articulation of all the vowels of English:
nasalization, clipping and breaking; and two other processes that affect the
articulation of just the long vowels: smoothing and diphthongization.
69