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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN IS^l BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library PE 1137.J7609 Outline of English phonetics ... 3 1924 027 389 505 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027389505 AN OUTLINE OF ENGLISH PHONETICS DANIEL JOJNES. M. A. READKR IM PHONKflOS IN THE UNIVEWSITY OP LONDON WITH 131 ILLUSTRATIONS NEW-YORK STECHERT & G. E. Co. 19?;?, yi 1.U A.^¥U/4 p'ii-'^^-- -'.y.' PIUNTED IN AUSTRIA * PREFACE OBJECT OF THE BOOK It is now generally recognized that no adult foreigner is likely to acquire a really good pronunciation of the English language unless he makes a scientific study of the English speech-sounds and their distribution in con- nected speech. The present book has been prepared -with a view to giving the foreigner all the information of this nature that he is likely to require for learning "educated Southern English" as described in § 24. The greater part of the book is devoted to a discussion of the mistakes which are commonly made by foreigners in the pronunciation of English, and methods are indicated for coiTCcting these errors. These methods are all based on personal experience; many of them are of my own devising, and none have been included without personal knowledge of their utility in practical teaching.* HOW TO USE THE BOOK It is not, of course, suggested that this or any other book can form a substitute for oral training. The idea thatcorrect pronunciationcanbelearned by theory alone is even more absurd than the idea that it can be learned by imitation alone. Bare instances may be found ofpersons possessing extra- ordinary powers of imitation, who are able to learnthe correct pronunciation of any foreign language simply by imitation. But it is certain thatno foreigner could ever hope to pronounce such sounds as thevowels in theEnglish words up or bird from written descriptions only. Imitation is necessarily a most important part of training in the pronunciation of a foreign language, and it may be remarked in passing, that in this connexion the advantage ofa naturally good ear cannot beoverestimated. The importanie ofphonetics lies in the fact that it helps the student to imitate better than he could withoot the aid of phonetics. In the words of H. E. Palmer*, "without a phonetic training the bad pronouncer will never become a good prononncer, and with a phonetic training he probably will"; to which we might add that with phonetic training the naturally good pronouncer will probably become a perfect pronouncer It is hoped then that by combining the study of this book with careful observation and imitation ofthe pronunciation ofEnglishspeakers, foreigners may find the task of learning the pronunciation of the English language appreciably lightened. Practice of sounds by the methods indicated in this book should of ' Students must not be surprised to find that ftome of these methods are not quite what might be expected on theoretical grounds. Thus with most foreigner* it turns out in practice that the best way of teachingthe diphthong ou is to make the student practise a diphthong of the type eeu (with the front vowel oe, althong o is defined as a back vowel, see §§ 463, 454). ' What is Phonetics?, p. 10 (published by the International Phonetic Asso- ciation). IV Prepack course be supplemented by ear-training exercises (such as those given in Appendix 0) and by continual reading of phonetic texts (such as thosei in myPhoneticBeadings in English orthe other books mentioned in AppendixE (i) and (ii)). EXPERIMENTAL METHODS For the benefit of those who are accustomed to instrumental methods or who wish to study these methods, a certain amount of information regard- ing experimental phonetics has been in^uded. The part of the book dealing with this branch of the subject may be entirely omitted by students who do not desire to take up experimental work, or have no opportunity ofdoing so. All paragraphs which may be so omitted are marked with an asterisk *. Experimental phonetics is a highly interesting study in itself) but it must not be regarded as an indispensable study for those who wish to learn to pronoutice a foreign language correctly. Some experiments may be of use in this connection in the case of the students who have by nature a special difficulty in hearing the difierences between similar sounds. In most cases, however, the experiments should be regarded merely as corroborat—ive of the results obtainable by the ordinary methods of—practical phonetics that is, by direct observations made by a trained ear and as a means of helping to fix them in the student's memory. Experiments which go further than this can hardly b6 considered as of practical value to language students. INTONATION It is satisfactoiy to find that the subject of intonation, to which considerable space is devoted in this book, is receiving more and more atten- tion at the present time. Teachers are now beginningto realize that a study of intonation is often required to give the final touches to a good pronunciation, and that students who by nature have but little aptitude for learning vowels and consonants may sometimes compensate to some extent for their defective sounds by acquiring a good intonation. It is however desirable to warn students against starting this subject too. soon. It should not be begun until considerable facility in the use of the vowels and consonants has been attained. Some teachers have cast doubt on the utility of intonation curves in practical teaching. I can assure them from experience that most learners find such curves a considerable help. I have even known a foreigner acquire a perfectly accurate intonation ofa passage ofEnglish bythis means, without ever having heard the words read aloud. The chapter on intonation in this book was unfortunately in prmt be- fore the appeai-ance of the excellent article on the subject by Coleman'; his discoveries have suggested to me various ways in which this chapter might be improved. I therefore strongly recommend all readers of this book to supplement their perusal of the chapter on intonation bya careful study of Coleman's article. ' H. 0. GotEMAN, Intonation and EmpkoAis, in Miscellanea Phonetica (pu- bhahed by the International Phonetic ABSOciation).