ENGLISH PHONOLOGY

SUMMARY

PAPER

ARRANGED BY

Name: Rusni Anda

Student Stem Number: 0304182090
Name of the Lecturer: Sir Yani Lubis, S.Ag, M.Hum
Subject: English Phonology

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING

STA TE ISLA MIC U N IVER SITY OF N OR TH SU MA TERA

2020
 PREFACE

First of all, give thanks for God’s love and grace for us.

Thanks to God for helping me and give me chance to finish this

assignment timely. And I would like to say thank you to Sir Yani Lubis, S.Ag,
M.Hum as the lecturer that always teaches us and gives much knowledge
about how to practice English well especially in English Phonology section.

This assignment is one of English task that contains of paper discussion

of English Vowel. I realized this assignment is far from perfect. But I hope it
can be useful for us. Critics and Suggestions are needed here to make this
assignment be better.

Hopefully we are, as student in English Department can work more

professional by using English as the second language in every activity we do.
Thank you.

Medan, 25 April 2020

Rusni Anda

NIM: 0304182090

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

PREFACE ...................................................................................................i

TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................ii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY..................................................................1

1.2 THE PROBLEM OF STUDY..................................................................2

1.3 OBJECTIVE STUDY..............................................................................2

CHAPTER 2: DISCUSSION

2.1 DEFINITION OF PHONOLOGY.............................................................3

2.2 ENGLISH VOWEL.................................................................................4

2.3 ENGLISH CONSONANT.......................................................................6

2.4 ALLOPHONE.........................................................................................7

2.5 MINIMAL PAIRS OF VOWEL................................................................9

CHAPTER 3: CLOSING

3.1 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................12

3.2 SUGGESTION.......................................................................................13

REFERENCES.............................................................................................14

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of Study

This paper is arranged to introductory on English phonology of the

sort taught in the first year of The English Language. The students on
such courses can struggle with phonetics and phonology; it is sometimes
difficult to see past the new symbols and terminology, and the apparent
assumption that we can immediately become consciously aware of
movements of the vocal organs which we have been making almost
automatically for the last eighteen or more years. This paper attempts to
show us why we need to know about phonetics and phonology, if we are
interested in language and our knowledge of it, as well as introducing the
main units and concepts we require to describe speech sounds accurately.
This paper consist of summary of English vowel and its benefit. English
consonant and its benefit, allophone and its benefit, and minimal pairs of
vowel and its benefits.

1.2. The Problem of Study

There is the major problem that the writer wants to discuss in this
paper. The writer divided the problem into some questions, they are as
follows:

1) What is the summary of first topic?

2) What is the summary of second topic?

3) What is the summary of third topic?

4) What is the summary of fourth topic?

5) What is the summary of fifth topic?

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1.3. Objective Study

1) To know the summary of first topic.

2) To know the summary of second topic.

3) To know the summary of third topic.

4) To know the summary of foutrh topic.

5) To know the summary of fifth topic

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 CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

2.1. DEFINITION OF PHONOLOGY ACCORDING TO EXPERTS

1. Yule (2002:54)
The definition of phonology is the study of the systems, patterns
and use of sounds that occur in the language in this world.
2. Kusuma (1990:7)
Phonology deals with the phonomes and sequences of
phonemes.
3. Ken lodge ‘Fundemental concepts in phonology’ (2009)
Phonology is about differences of meaning signaled by sound.
4. Ulrike Gut
Phonology is concerned with how these speech sounds from
pattern in particular language.
5. Jacqueline Bauman-Waengler
Phonology is the study of the sound system of language and
includes the rules that govern its spoken form.
6. Geoffrey S. Nathan
Phonology is the study of the organization and structure of the
sounds of language. Like most areas of grammar, it deals both
with universal and language-specific principles.
7. “Eric Raimy and Charles E. Cairns”
Phonology is supposed to be concerned with a much finer grain
of representations and include more detailed phonetic
information than segment-based approaches allow.
8. “Francis Katamba”
Phonology is the branch of linguistics which investigates the way
in which sounds are used systematically in different languages to
form words and utterances.

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 9. Paul Skandera and Peter Burleigh
Phonology deals with the speakers’ knowledge of the sound
system of a language. It is therefore exclusively concerned with
language or competence.
10. Abigail C. Cohn and cecile Fougeron
Phonology is defined as “the science of vocal sounds (=
PHONETICS)” and phonetics as “the department of linguistic
science which treats of the sounds of speech; phonology.

2.2 ENGLISH VOWEL

a. Definition

Vowel is a speech sound produced by human speech organs

without obstacle other speech organs. 1 Discussing vowel, we will consider
the articulation of vowels is found in English. In articulatory terms, vowels
are sounds articulated with no obstruction of the air stream, that is, with
open articulation. There is lack of central closure of the air stream, though
the tongue may come into contact with the teeth on the sides. 2
According to Jones (1975 : 23), a vowel (in normal speech) is
defined as a voiced sounds in forming which the air issues in continuous
stream through the pharynx and mouth, there being no obstruction and no
narrowing such as would cause audible friction.

b. Classification
 Front Vowel
In articulation, front of vowel consist of six phoneme: /i/, /ɪ/,
/e/, /ɛ/, /æ/ and /ɑ/. The manner of articulation of these vowels are voiced
such as consonant and the place of articulation also like consonants that
is based on the location of the tongue within the mouth.

1
Roach Peter. (2009).English Phonetics and Phonology fourth edition,
Cambridge University Press.
2
Brinton J Laurel. (2000). The Structure Of Modern English A Linguistic
Introduction, John Benjamins North America.

4
  Central Vowel
In articulation, central vowel consist of four /ə/, /Ʌ/, /ɚ/ and
/ɝ/. There is really only one central vowel in English, but we have different
signs for stressed and unstressed sounds.
 Back Vowel
In articulation of back vowel consist of four /u/, /ʋ/, /o/, and
/ɔ/. Back vowels in English are rounded. The basic problem with this is
that they are not all rounded to the same degree. The place of articulation
for back vowels, like front vowels and consonants, is based on the location
of the tongue within the mouth. Because the tongue does not touch any
thing, this makes finding the location much harder.

c. The Benefits
We know that the key of having success communication is we
can understand each other so that by learning vowel sounds for being able
communicate as well as we can and can be understood not only by
Indonesian people but only by native speaker. Try to imagine if we are not
good enough in vowels so it’s so hard to for native to understand because
English vowel is one of the important unit in English that should be
learned. Besides that, we can also improve our ability in speaking and
pronouncing words. There are some rules that really need to be learned in
order have good skill in English.
Vowels have a lot of things to do with how we understand a
language. In English particularly, a language that is not fully phonetic,
focusing on them is especially important to learn. Once we are confident
with our vowel use, we will also be much less shy in speaking.

Moreover, by learning vowel we can know how actually vowel

produced, namely we mention whether it is open or close, half-close or
half-open, front or back or central, long or short, whether the tongue is
tense or lax while the vowel is being pronounced, and whether lips are

5
spread, neutral, open rounded, or close rounded. All English vowels are
voiced. So, for every vowel, we must state that it is voiced.

2.3. ENGLISH CONSONANT

a. Definition

Consonants are sounds made with a lot of constriction in the

mouth, so that the air coming up from the lungs gets squashed. Fromkin et
al. (2011, p. 560) stated, “consonant is speech sound produced with some
constriction of the air stream”. Consonant in English pronunciation is
included in segmental phonemes (Low, 2015, p. 63).
Consonant is a basic speech sound in which the breath is at
least partly obstructed and which can be combined with a vowel to form a
syllable and a speech sound made by completely or partly stopping the
flow of air through the mouth or nose.3

According to McCully (2009: 215), “consonant is a phoneme

whose articulation ‘involves some audible obstruction in the oral cavity”.
Consonants are classified according to how they are produced. The
articulatory description for each consonant includes three pieces of
information, the voicing, the place of articulation, and the manner of
articulation.4

b. Classification

Low (2015, p. 66) mentioned there are 24 consonants in British

English sound system in which there are fifteen voiced consonants (/b/,
/d/, /ʤ/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /r/, /w/, and /j/) and nine
voiceless consonants (/p/, /t/, /ʧ/, /k/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, and /h/).

3
Oxford Dictionary Retrieved from
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/consonant_1?q=consonant
4
https://essentialsoflinguistics.pressbooks.com/chapter/2-7-classifying-consonants/
5
Ambalegin,Tomi Arianto ‘Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature
and Language Teaching’ Vol.2, No. 2, pp: 111-125, December 2018.

6
 c. The Benefits
If we want to learn to speak a language, we need to study its
phonology, the system of sounds that create meaningful expressions.
Actually language’s phonological systems consist of vowels, consonants,
intonation or tones and possibly some other features. Therefore, if we
study vowels to learn their place and manner of articulation, we will be
able to speak our target language better.
Moreover, by learning consonat we can know how actually
consonant produced, namely we mention whether voiced and voiceless.
Not only that by learning that we can get to know words right the first time,
and speak with good pronunciation from day one.

Not only that, To describe a consonant in articulatorry terms, we

needed to know the airstream mechanism involved; the state of the glottis,
determining whether the sound is voiced or voiceless; the position of the
velum, which either allows or stops airflow through the nose, making the
consonant nasal or oral; the manner of articulation, namely stop, affricate,
fricative or approximant; whether airflow is central or lateral; and finally,
the place of articulation, and consequently the identity and position of the
active and passive articulators.

2.4. ALLOPHONE

a. Definition

Allophone is one of the basic building blocks of language is

phonemes. They are the smallest sound units capable of conveying a
distinct meaning, such as the s in "sing" and the r of "ring." Allophones are
a kind of phoneme that changes its sound based on how a word is spelled.
Think of the letter t and what kind of sound it makes in the word "tar"
compared with "stuff." It's pronounced with a more forceful, clipped sound
in the first example than it is in the second. Linguists use special

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punctuation to designate phonemes. The sound of an l, for instance, is
written as "/l/."6

Merriam Webster dictionary stated, Allophone is one of two or more

variants of the same phoneme the aspirated \p\ of pin and the
unaspirated \p\ of spin are allophones of the phoneme \p\. 7

While Cambridge Dictionary stated, Allophone is one of the ways in

which a particular phoneme (= speech sound) can be pronounced. 8

b. Examples

There are some of examples of allophone, namely:

 The s in "sing" and the r of "ring."
 The aspirated \p\ of pin and the unaspirated \p\ of spin.

 The t sounds in the words “hit,” “tip,” and “little”.

 The relatively short (a) of mat and the relatively long (a) of mad.

 The aspirated t of top, the unaspirated t of stop.

 The tt (pronounced as a flap) of batter.

c. The Benefits

The allophone may be a strange concept to the average

English speaker, due to the fact that the average person is not aware of
the full set of one allophone or another that he is using at one time or
another.
Complementary allophones are instances where a specific
allophone must be selected to avoid confusion or make the speaker

6
By Richard Nordquist’s article
https://www.thoughtco.com/allophone-word-sounds-1689078
7
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allophone
8
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/allophone

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sound native. In this case, each allophone must be used in a specific
phonetic context.
After learning about allophone we can know what actually
allophone means, how it could be remembered and what actually the
example of it. So that the more we can master English phonology
subject the most understanding we get, so there is no doubt of learning
anything, keep learning is the key.

2.5. MINIMAL PAIRS OF VOWEL

a. Definition

In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a

particular language, spoken or signed, that differ in only one phonological
element, such as a phoneme, tone me or chromate, 9 and have distinct
meanings. They are used to demonstrate that two phones are two
separate phonemes in the language. Many philologists in the middle part
of the 20th century had a strong interest in developing techniques for
discovering the phonemes of unknown languages, and in some cases,
they set up writing systems for the languages. The major work of Kenneth
Pike on the subject is Phonemics: a technique for reducing languages to
writing.10The minimal pair was an essential tool in the discovery process
and was found by substitution or commutation tests. 11

Minimal pairs serve as tools to establish that two (or more)

sounds are contrastive. A difference in sound means a difference in

9
Jones, Daniel (1944) 'Chronemes and Tonemes', Acta Linguistica, IV,
Copenhagen, pp. 1–10.
10
Pike, Kenneth (1947) Phonemics, University of Michigan Press
11
Swadesh, M. (1934) 'The Phonemic Principle', Language vol. 10, pp. 117–29

9
meaning, notes Harriet Joseph Ottenheimer, and thus a minimal pair is
"the clearest and easiest way to identify phonemes in a language".12

Minimal pairs serve as tools to establish that two (or more)

sounds are contrastive. A difference in sound means a difference in
meaning, notes Harriet Joseph Ottenheimer, and thus a minimal pair is
"the clearest and easiest way to identify phonemes in a language".13

The minimal pair was an essential tool in the discovery process,

arrived at by substitution or commutation tests. Modern phonology is much
less interested in such issues, and the minimal pair is consequently
considered to be of little theoretical importance. 14
Formic, Rodman, &Hayms who state, “Minimal pair is two words
with different meanings that are identical except for one sound segment
that occurs in the same place in the string”.It is also supported by Basri
explains, “A minimal pair is a pair of words which differs in only one
segment”.15

b. Examples

For example, bit and pit, or cat and cap. Determination of word
minimal pairs does not require us to identify in what way one phoneme is
crucially distinguished from another. Next is fan-van, bet-bat, and site-
side. Such pairs have been used frequently in tests of English as a second
language to determine non-native speakers’ ability to understand the
contrast in meaning resulting from the minimal sound contrast. Thus, a

12
Crystal, David 1995. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language.
Cambridge. P. 25
13
Crystal, David 1995. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language.
Cambridge. P. 25
14
Elisabeth Couper-Kuhlen, An Introduction to English Prosody, Arnold, London, 1986, p.
86.
15
Basri, H. (2005). A Course Book for English Phonology I.Palu: Tadulako University:
Unpublished Book. Pp. 39

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minimal set based on the vowel phonemes of English would include
feat,fit,fat,fate fought, foot and one based on consonants could have
big,pig,rig,fig,dig,wig.

Consider again the pair pin and bin. Each term in this pair is
suspiciously similar to its counterpart, and indeed, the /_ɪn/ part of each
term is identical. The syllables differ minimally, in that the initial
consonants /b/ and /p/ are contrastive. A linguist would call such a pair a
minimal pair, and the construction of minimal pairs – the sort of thing
we’ve been doing for the past few pages – is an important discovery
procedure in establishing the phonology of a language.

As an example for English vowels, the pair "let" + "lit" can be

used to demonstrate that the phones [ɛ] (in let) and [ɪ] (in lit) actually
represent distinct phonemes /ɛ/ and /ɪ/. An example for English
consonants is the minimal pair of "pat" + "bat". The following table shows
other pairs demonstrating the existence of various distinct phonemes in
English. All of the possible minimal pairs for any language may be set out
in the same way.

The other examples are /i:/ : sheep /∫i:p/ , /I/ : ship /∫Ip/ , /e/ : bed
/ /bed/ , /æ /:bad /bæd , e. /a:/ :father /fa:ð ә/ , / ‫ כ‬: /:saw /s‫ס‬/ , :/‫כ‬/: /lock /l
‫ס‬k/ , /υ/: pull/pυl/ , /u:/ : spoon /spu:n/ , /ә/ : about /ә’baut/, /Λ/:above
/ә’bΛv/.
c. The benfits

After learning minimal pairs of vowel we can distinguish location

of the same letter and it can also conclude when two different form are
identical in every way except for one sound segment that occurs in the
same place in the string.

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 Besides that after learning this we should be able to identify
minimal pairs and tell distinctive features.

CHAPTER III

CLOSING

3.1. Conclusion

Language is a means of communication in everyday life. It is used

as a bridge of communication among people. People are able to share
ideas, opinions, interests and many other things through language. One of
most spoken language in this global world is English. For many years,
English has been used globally by non-native speakers as an international
language. Pennington (1996 : 12) argues that English has two functions in
what may be called ‘un-English’ contexts covering a very wide territory,
and is used in a variety of domains such social, cultural, educational,
media-related, administrative and literary. It is used primarily for
international communication’.

It is really important to learn about English, so that we can

communicate with others, especially foreigners, without any obstacles.

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While actually In the process of learning English, many learners are still
confused to pronounce English sounds correctly, especially the English
vowels. Therefore, the pronunciation produced is still often incorrect and
this might affect the meaning. It was οccurred because sοme errοr
sοurces that affect the learners. It can be concluded that the reason why
the learners are still difficult to pronounce English consonant is because
they still involve their Indonesian phonetic sound system rules during
learning English. So the explanation above is important to learn especially
all of that are related to Phonology.

3.2. Suggestion

.In learning about English phonology, of course we have to study

about Allophone. So from this paper we hope, we can improve our
knowledge about English phonology itself to improve also our
pronunciation. I am as the writer of this simple paper just want to say
Happy Reading for all of you. I consider this paper is not great enough and
for that I still accept all of your comment, suggestion, advices, and others.

13
 REFERENCES

A. Abugharsa Samah. (2018). English Vowels and Phonological

Rules. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324574497.
Ambalegin,Tomi Arianto ‘Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics,
Literature and Language Teaching’ Vol.2, No. 2, pp: 111-125, December
2018.
Astutik Dwi. (2017). An Analysis of Students’ Ability in Pronouncing
Vowel. (IAIN) Salatiga.
Basri, H. (2005). A Course Book for English Phonology I.Palu:
Tadulako University: Unpublished Book. Pp. 39
Brinton J Laurel. (2000). The Structure Of Modern English A
Linguistic Introduction, John Benjamins North America.
Burleigh, Peter. "A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology:
Twelve Lessons with an Integrated Course in Phonetic Transcription."
Paul Skandera, durchgesehene edition, Print Replica, Kindle Edition,
Narr Francke Attempto Verlag; 3, January 18, 2016.
Crystal, David 1995. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English
language. Cambridge. P. 25
Elisabeth Couper-Kuhlen, An Introduction to English Prosody,
Arnold, London, 1986, p. 86.
Jones, Daniel (1944) 'Chronemes and Tonemes', Acta Linguistica,
IV, Copenhagen, pp. 1–10.
Pike, Kenneth (1947) Phonemics, University of Michigan Press.
Oxford Dictionary Retrieved from
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/consonant_1
?q=consonant
Richard Nordquist’s article
https://www.thoughtco.com/allophone-word-sounds-1689078

14
 Roach Peter. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology fourth
edition, Cambridge University Press.
Swadesh, M. (1934) 'The Phonemic Principle', Language vol. 10, pp.
117–29
https://essentialsoflinguistics.pressbooks.com/chapter/2-7-
classifying-consonants/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allophone
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/allophone

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