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Unit 6: Consonants and Its Phonetic Transcription

• So in an analysis which contains no ŋ phoneme, we would transcribe ‘raincoat’ phonemically Notes
as rewnk • t and ‘sing’, ‘singer’, ‘singing’ as swnl, swnl , swnlwnl. The phonetic realisation of
the n phoneme as a velar nasal will be accounted for by a general rule that we will call
e
e
Rule 1:
(i) Rule 1: n is realised as ŋ when it occurs in an environment in which it precedes either k or l.
Let us now look at BBC pronunciation. The crucial difference between ‘singer’ swŋ and
‘finger’ fwŋl is that ‘finger’ is a single, indivisible morpheme whereas ‘singer’ is composed
e
of two morphemes ‘sing’ and ‘- er’. When ŋ occurs without a following k or l it is always
e
immediately before a morpheme boundary. Consequently, the sound ŋ and the sequence
ŋl are in complementary distribution. But within the morpheme there is no contrast between
the sequence ŋl and the sequence nl, which makes it possible to say that ŋ is also in
complementary distribution with the sequence nl.
After establishing these “background facts”, we can go on to state the argument as follows:
(a) English has only m, n as nasal phonemes.
(b) The sound ŋ is an allophone of the phoneme n.
(c) The words ‘finger’, ‘sing’, ‘singer’, ‘singing’ should be represented phonemically as
fwnl , swnl, swnl , swnlwnl.
e
e
(d) Rule 1 (above) applies to all these phonemic representations to give these phonetic
forms: fwŋl , swŋl, swŋl , swŋlwŋl
e
e
(e) A further rule (Rule 2) must now be introduced:
(ii) Rule 1: n is realised as ŋ when it occurs in an environment in which it precedes either k or l.
Rule 2: l is deleted when it occurs after ŋ and before a morpheme boundary.
It should be clear that Rule 2 will not apply to ‘finger’ because theŋ is not immediately
followed by a morpheme boundary. However, the rule does apply to all the others, hence
the final phonetic forms: fwŋl , swŋ, swŋ , swŋwŋ.
e
e
(f) Finally, it is necessary to remember the exception we have seen in the case of
comparatives and superlatives.
• The argument against treating ŋ as a phoneme may not appeal to you very much. The important
point, however, is that if one is prepared to use the kind of complexity and abstractness illustrated
above, one can produce quite far-reaching changes in the phonemic analysis of a language.
• The other consonants – 1, r, w, j – do not, I think, need further explanation, except to mention
that the question of whether j, w are consonants or vowels is examined on distributional grounds
in O’Connor and Trim (1953).
6.6 Key-Words

1. The pharynx : The pharynx is the part of the neck and throat situated immediately posterior
to (behind) the mouth and nasal cavity, and cranial, or superior, to the
esophagus, larynx, and trachea. The pharynx’s muscles can modify the
pharyngeal cavity to a great extent. These modification affects the quality of
sound produced.
2. The lips : The lips play an important part in the production of sounds like/p/ and /b/
which are produced by attaching both the lips and releasing it abruptly to let
pass the stream of air behind it. When both the lips are attached and the air is
blown out from nose, it leads to the production of consonant sound /m/.
Though, vowel sounds do not need any articulators but their quality depends
upon the movement of lips.

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