Definitions of Basic Phonetics-related CONCEPTS!!

a)Content Words

In any language, there are two kinds/types of words. One category consists of those words which add to the meaning of the sentence but do not constitute the basic meaning of the sentence. This means that if they are excluded from the sentence, it (the sentence) would still be meaningful. Their basic role is to help create a sound syntactical structure. Such words are called ‘grammar’ words. These also go by the name of ‘functional’ words. Pronouns, conjunctions, articles, prepositions, helping (auxiliary) verbs are examples of functional words.

The other category comprises of words essential to a meaningful sentence. This means that they carry the meaning of the sentence and without them, the sentence would be rendered incomplete, incomprehensible, and meaningless. These words are called ‘lexical’ or ‘content’ words. Nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are all examples of content words.

Let us take the example of the sentence: Harriet had been married for twenty years.
Harriet (noun), married (main verb), twenty (numeral adjective), years (noun) are content words.
While had (helping verb), been (helping verb), and for (preposition) are grammatical words.
Therefore, content words are all the words that are NOT grammatical words.
Let us look at another example: John ate a tasty sandwich.
John (noun), ate (main verb), tasty (adjective), and sandwich (noun) are content words while a (article) is a grammar/ functional word.

Content words are normally stressed in a sentence. This means that when producing these words, the sounds must louder, higher, and more prominent. Consequently, there is always a single transcription for these words. This is called strong forms. Grammar words, on the other hand, do not have this characteristic. Since they are normally unstressed or pronounced with a lower, shorter sound, they tend to have two transcriptions: strong and weak forms. The weak forms are a modification of the strong form transcriptions that normally substitute vowel phonemes with schwa sound and (sometimes) dropped consonants. Let’s look at an example: I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. ‘And’ is a grammar word with two transcriptions: /ænd/ (strong form) and /ən/ (weak form). The short vowel phoneme is replaced with schwa and /d/ is dropped.

In conclusion, content words (or lexical words) carry the basic meaning of the sentence. If they were to be excluded from a sentence, it would be meaningless and incomprehensible. Adjectives, nouns, adverbs, and main verbs all fall under the category of content words. They are normally stressed in a sentence; they are pronounced louder, longer (in terms of length of production of the phoneme), and higher. They have a single transcription which is the strong form.

b)Nucleus

The word ‘nucleus’ has a different yet slightly similar meaning in multiple disciplines. While studying biology, we refer to the nucleus as the organelle established at the center of eukaryotic cells which contains the cell’s genetic material. However, the concept is different when studying languages.

When studying phonetics and phonology, there is an important concept called syllables. To define this concept in a brief yet comprehensible manner is quite difficult. However, many scholars describe ‘syllable’ as a bridge between phoneme (basic unit of sound) and word. A better way to recognize a syllable would be to locate the vowel phoneme(s) in a word. One syllable will have a single vowel phoneme. This vowel phoneme is termed as the nucleus. Therefore, the central constituent of a syllable, which is almost always a vowel phoneme, is called the nucleus (or sometimes referred to as the peak) of the syllable.

Furthermore, a syllable consists of three components: onset, nucleus, and coda. The onset is described as the consonant phoneme(s) that comes before the central vowel phoneme (nucleus). Coda is the consonant phoneme(s) that are located after the nucleus. Let us look at an example: cat /kæt/. There is a single vowel phoneme /æ/ which we can conclude is the nucleus. /k/ is the onset and /t/ is the coda. Another example: light /laɪt/. The diphthong /aɪ/ is the nucleus. This is because it is the only vowel phoneme present in the word. /l/ is the consonant phoneme that comes before the nucleus so it is the onset while /t/ is the consonant phoneme that comes after the nucleus so it is the coda.

Not every syllable will have a coda and an onset. However, every syllable will have a nucleus as it is the crucial component of a syllable. No syllable can be formed without a vowel phoneme. Look at the word: eat /i:t/. There is a single vowel phoneme (in this case it is a long vowel phoneme) which is the nucleus. /t/ is a consonant phoneme and it appears after the vowel phoneme hence it is the coda. Another example is baby: /beɪ-bi/. The hyphen (-) indicates the number of syllables. In this word, there are two. In the first syllable, we have an onset (/b/) and nucleus (/eɪ/). In the second syllable, onset and nucleus are present. The onset is /b/ and nucleus is /i/. Conclusively, every syllable must have a vowel phoneme (nucleus) without which it would cease to be a syllable. Also, every syllable does not need a coda or onset.

In conclusion, the term ‘nucleus’ in phonetics and phonology refers to the central vowel phoneme in a syllable. It is the essential foundation of a syllable. Without a vowel phoneme, there would be no syllable. A single vowel phoneme with no consonant phonemes would still be considered a syllable. The consonant phoneme that comes before the nucleus is called onset and the consonant phoneme that comes after it is called coda.

c)Stress

In the study of phonology, the word ‘stress’ has a specific meaning. Stress refers to the comparative emphasis laid on a certain (and single) syllable while producing a word. English is a stressed language. This means that when producing the syllables of a word, one syllable (the stressed syllable) will be produced louder, longer and higher (in pitch) while the other syllables will be shorter in terms of length of production as well as lower in pitch and volume. Also, more facial muscles will be involved when producing a stressed syllable as compared to an unstressed one. Hence, one syllable will be stressed and all the other syllables in the word will be unstressed. The apostrophe ˈ is used to depict stress in the phonetic transcription of words.

Let’s look at the word: banana. The phonetic transcription of the word is /bə- nɑː- nə/ (the syllables are shown by using hyphens.) There are three syllables but only one is stressed. It is the second syllable /bəˈnɑːnə/. The ˈ comes before the stressed syllable. This means that when we produce the /na:/ sound has to be longer, louder, and higher in pitch/.

Another example is jam/dʒæm/. It has a single syllable. Therefore, the entire word is stressed. Mono-syllabic words are those words that only have one syllable. Such words are always stressed and the apostrophe is at the beginning. An important point to remember that stress is normally employed on vowel phonemes. Therefore, the nucleus of the syllable is the part of the syllable which is being stressed. In the previous examples, the long vowel phoneme /a:/ (in banana) and short vowel phoneme /æ/ (in jam) are the stressed parts of the syllables in their respective words.

Rules

Some phoneticians who studied the language and pronunciation of natives have devised several rules that can be utilized to help language learners pronounce the stress correctly. It is important to pronounce stress correctly in words, otherwise it might be difficult for others to understand what you are saying. The rules are mentioned below:

i.)A syllable that contains the schwa sound /ə/ will always be unstressed. For example abode /əˈbəʊd/. We see that the stress is on the second syllable, the one that does not contain the schwa sound. Other examples include: abortion– /əˈbɔː(r)ʃ(ə)n/ and about–/əˈbaʊt/.

ii.)A syllable comprising of a long vowel phoneme will primarily be stressed. For example: beauty– /ˈbjuːti/. There are two syllables in this word. The first syllable is stressed as it contains a long vowel phoneme /uː/ and the second syllable remains unstressed. Other examples include moonlight–/ˈmuːnˌlaɪt/ and meeting– /ˈmiːtɪŋ/. The syllables with the long vowel phoneme is stressed.

iii.)If there is a syllable containing a diphthong and a syllable short vowel phoneme, the diphthong will be stressed. For example: boyish–/ˈbɔɪɪʃ/. There are two syllables, one contains a diphthong/ɔɪ/ and the other has a short vowel phoneme /ɪ/. Therefore, the first syllable is stressed. Other examples include earring /ˈɪə-rɪŋ/ and liaison /liˈeɪz(ə)n/. In this particular example, there are three syllables. One syllable has a diphthong /eɪ/, another one has a short vowel phoneme /ɪ/, and the final one contains the schwa sound /ə/. By applying the rules, we know that the second syllable (the one with the diphthong) will be stressed.

iv.)Syllables that end with ‘ou’ diphthong–/aʊ/ will be unstressed. For example handout–/ˈhændaʊt/. This is an extension of rule number three. Although the second syllable contains a diphthong, the diphthong is /aʊ/ and will remain unstressed. Therefore, the stress is on the first syllable. However, there are exceptions to this rule as the word impound– /ɪmˈpaʊnd/ has the stress on the diphthong /aʊ/.

v.)Bi-syllabic words containing only short vowel phonemes will have the stress on the first syllable. For example: simple–/ˈsɪm-p(ə)l/ and lentil–/ˈlentɪl/.

vi.)Bi-syllabic verbs usually have the stress on the second syllable. For example: decide–/dɪˈsaɪd/ and portray–/pɔː(r)ˈtreɪ/.

vii.)Words ending in -tion, -sion, -cian, and –ic typically have the stress on the second to last syllable. For example: discussion–/dɪˈskʌʃ(ə)n/, politician–/pɒləˈtɪʃ(ə)n/ and revelation–/ˌrevəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/.

viii.)Tri-syllabic or more words ending in –y have the stress on the third last syllable. Examples include: Chemistry–/ˈke-mɪ-stri/, Geography–/dʒiːˈɒɡrəfi/.

Stress is one of the most important and perhaps most complicated aspects of pronunciation. It is necessary to place stress correctly as incorrect stresses can result in different words and make your speech incomprehensible to others. The stress is always on a single syllable in a word and particularly on the vowel phoneme. The stressed syllable will be louder, longer, higher in pitch and more facial muscles will be employed to produce it. Every syllable that is not the stressed syllable will be unstressed. Rules have been given to pronounce the stress correctly.

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