The Phoneme

Our speech is made up of different units. These units are called phonemes and the complete set of them is called phonetic system. A phoneme is the smallest unit capable of producing a change in meaning.

The phonetic value of "ed" suffixes

The "ed" suffix can occur in regular verbs and adjectives. Verbs in past simple or with its past participle are formed with "d" or "ed" added to its base. This ending is pronounced in one of three ways:

1. If the "ed" is preceded by a voiceless sound like /p-k-f-θ-s-ʃ-tʃ/ it is pronounced /t/.
2. If the "ed" is preceded by a voiced sound like /b-g-v-ð-l-m-n-ŋ-z-ʒ-dʒ/ a vowel, diphthong or triphthong, then the "ed" is pronounced /d/.
3. If the "ed" is preceded by the sound of /t/ or /d/ it is pronounced /ɪd/.

The production of speech sounds. Articulators above the larynx

We have a large set of muscles that can produce changes in the shape of the vocal tract. The muscles in the chest produce the air flow that is needed for almost all speech sounds; the muscles in the larynx produce different modifications in the flow of air from the chest to the mouth. After passing through the larynx, the air goes through the vocal tract which ends at the mouth and nostrils.

There are seven articulators above the larynx, which are:

• The pharynx: It is a tube that begins above the larynx and whose top is divided in two parts. One part is the back of the mouth and the other is the way through the nasal cavity.
• The soft palate: It allows the air to pass through the nose or through the mouth. The sounds /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/ are made by making use of this articulator. They are called velar sounds.
• The hard palate: It is a curved surface in the upper part of the mouth.
• The alveolar ridge: It is a surface covered with little ridges situated between the teeth and the hard palate. There are sounds called alveolar which are made by the tongue touching this place, which are /t-d-n/.
• The tongue: It is the most important articulator because it can be moved to many different places. We divide the tongue into: tip, blade, front, center, back and root.
• The teeth: They are located immediately behind the lips. Sounds produced with the tongue touching the teeth are called "dental": /θ-ð/
• The lips: They are very important in speech. They can be pressed together as for /p-b/ or brought into contact with the teeth as for /f-v/ or rounded for vowels like /uː/. Sounds made with the lips pressed together are called "bilabial", and those with the lower lip making contact with the upper teeth are called "labio-dental".

Vowels and consonants.

The most common distinction between vowels and consonants is made from the way they are produced- Therefore, we can say that vowels are produced in such a way that there is no obstruction of the air coming from the lungs as it passes through the vocal tract. Consonants, on the other hand, are produced with the air undergoing different sorts of obstruction in his way through the vocal tract.

Manner and place of articulation

Consonants can be classified according to the place and manner of articulation. The place of articulation refers to where the organs meet to produce the different consonants. Under this criterion, the groups are:

• Bilabial: The upper and lower lip are pressed together. For example /p-b-m/
• Labio-dental: The lower lip touches the upper teeth. For example /f-v/
• Dental: The tongue is put between the teeth. For example /ð-θ/
• Alveolar: The tongue touches the alveolar ridge. For example /t-d-s-z-n-l/
• Palato-alveolar: The tip and blade of the tongue are put against the part where the alveolar ridge ends and the hard palate begins. For example /ʃ-ʒ-tʃ-dʒ/
• Velar: The back of the tongue touches the soft palate. For example /k-g-ŋ/
• Glottal: This sound is produced in the glottis which is the opening between the vocal cords. For example /h/

On the other hand, the manner of articulation is the way in which the stream of air is obstructed:

• Plosive: It is made with two movements. The first one is the closure part in which one or two articulators are moved together so that air cannot escape through the mouth. In the second movement, the air is allowed to escape, and such movement is called release. When the air is released we hear a noise called plosion.  For example /p-t-k-b-d-g/
• Fricative: It is a sound in which the articulator is brought near the point of articulation and as there is no obstruction the air passes but with friction. For example /s-z- ʃ-ʒ/
• Affricative: It is a combination of a plosive + a fricative. For example /tʃ-dʒ/
• Nasal: It is a sound with no obstruction in the mouth because as the velum is lowered the air escapes through the nose. For example /m-m-ŋ/
• Lateral: The blade of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge so the air escapes through the sides of the tongue. For example /l/
• Approximant: The articulators are near each other, but when the air passes through them there is no friction. For example /j-w-l-r/

Writing systems; weakness of English orthography

We can find inconsistencies between English sounds and English spelling, even though it is stated that a writing system should contain one graphic symbol for each phoneme in the language. This is why English has weaknesses in its orthography.

However, although no writing system is perfect, some languages do a better job in that specific area. Spanish, for example, has a very direct correlation between sounds and graphic symbols.

The reason why English has not a clear correlation between sounds and spelling is because the written its form has not changed, but the pronunciation has been changing over the time.

If we break down the onset part we will learn concepts like

• Zero onset (if the first syllable begins with a vowel)  /ɔːðə/ /aʊə/
• Initial consonants (if the first syllable begins with a consonant)
• Pre-initial (when a word begins with /s/)  /spi:k/
• Post-initial (when a word begins with a consonant plus any sound of the set /l-r-w-j/ )  /pleɪ/

As well as for the breakdown of the onset part, we can do the same with the coda part.

• Zero coda (there is no final consonant at the end of the us word: know /nəʊ/)
• Final consonant (when there is a final consonant: stop /stɒp/)
• Pre-final (the final consonant is preceded by another consonant: post /pəʊst/)
• Post-final (It happens when there is a three-consonant cluster and any word of the set  /s-z-t-d-θ/ is preceded by two consonants; pre-final and final consonant: helped /helpt/; seventh /sevənθ/)