Course Name: English Phonetics EN109
Semester: Autumn 2016
Credits: 2
Instructor: 歐雷威
Location and time: 3304, Thursdays 10:10 – 12:00
Office hrs: Wed 13:30 – 16:30, R130 (or by appointment, vijunas@nknu.edu.tw)
Description: In this course, the students will become acquainted with English phonetics. Throughout the semester, the students will analyze the sound system of the English language, laying the main stress on General American and British English (BBC English), which are the most widespread and the most widely taught varieties of the English today. The students will also be trained in phonetic trans- cription, and a number of phonetic transcription systems employed in English will be introduced and analyzed in this course. By the end of this course, the students will be expected to have developed a thorough understanding of the sound systems of both American and British English, their similarities and main differences, and to be able to transcribe basic English words with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) without the assistance of secondary materials. In addition, the students will expected to be able to convert KK transcriptions into IPA.
Evaluation: Tests, home assignments and classwork (50%), midterm examination (0%), final examina- tion (50%). Late assignment submissions result in grade reduction by 10 points, and failure to submit an assignment will result in the grade “0” (“zero”) for each missed task. Missed tests or the final examination without a legitimate reason (and without having received a written consent from the instructor) will equally result in the grade “0” (“zero”). Grades are not negotiable in any way, and no substitute tasks for missed or not submitted work can be requested or be assigned under any circum- stances.
Attendance: class attendance is the students’ responsibility. NO credit or points will be given for good attendance whatsoever, since attendance does not necessarily equal learning. However, failure to submit homework in a timely fashion due to student’s absence without a legitimate reason will affect the final grade negatively, and the instructor can in no way be held responsible for work that is submitted late, or is not submitted at all.
Textbook: English Phonetics and Phonology (Peter Roach. Second edition [or more recent]).
|
Day
|
Contents
|
Notes
|
|
09.15
I
|
Introductory remarks. What is phonetics, and why study it? The place of phonetics in the study of pronunciation. Accents of English. Which accent to teach? The English language in Asia.
|
pp. 1-5
|
|
22
II
|
The production of speech sounds. The organs of speech. Sound waves and formants. The perception of sound.
|
pp. 8-10, 26-30
|
|
29
III
|
The English consonants. Places of articulation. Manners of articulation. Voicing. Transcription. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Plosives.
|
pp. 30-34 (top)
|
|
10.06
IV
|
The rest of the English consonants: fricatives, resonants, affricates. Test.
|
pp. 47-52, 56-63
Test on weeks I-II
|
|
13
V
|
The English vowels. Classification of vowels. American vs. British vowels. Monophthongs. Rhotic vowels. Vowel length.
|
pp. 10-15, 18-19
|
|
20
VI
|
Diphthongs. Differences between British and American English. Closing and centring diphthongs. Comparison of IPA and KK transcription systems. Test on consonants.
|
pp. 20-22
test on consonants!
|
|
27
VII
|
Phonology. Comparison and interaction with phonetics. Phoneme. Allophone. Distribution. Phonetic vs. phonemic transcription. Some phonological rules for English consonants.
|
pp. 36-43 (top)
|
|
11.03
VIII
|
Phonological rules continued. Test on vowels.
|
HW1
Test on vowels!
|
|
10
IX
|
Transcription practice. Singing (The drunken sailor). Phonetic scrabble.
|
|
|
17
X
|
Midterm week
|
|
|
24
XI
|
The syllable. The structure of the syllable. Nucleus, onset, coda. The notion of "rhyme". Minimum syllable. Syllabic and non-syllabic sounds. Problems in syllabification.
|
pp. 67-73, 78-82
|
|
12.01
XII
|
The stress. The marking of stress. Stressed and unstressed syllables. Levels of stress. Ladefoged's ideas regarding the levels of stress.
|
pp. 85-91
|
|
08
XIII
|
Test: the structure of the syllable. Simple syllabification. Transcription (British/American Eng.). Finding hidden words (American English).
|
Test
|
|
15
XIV
|
Complex word stress. Phonetic scrabble.
|
pp. 95-101
|
|
22
XV
|
Weak forms. Weak syllables. Singing (The cutty wren)
|
pp. 102-109, 75-78
|
|
29
XVI
|
Aspects of connected speech: assimilation, elision, anaptyxis, etc. Transcription. Phonetic scrabble.
|
pp. 120-130
|
|
01.05
XVII
|
Review.
|
|
|
12
XVIII
|
Final examination.
|
|