English Phonetics
and Phonology
A practical course
Fourth edition

PETER ROACH
Emeritus Professor o f Phonetics
University o f Reading

11 CAMBRIDGE
U NIVERSITY PRESS

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© Cambridge University Press 2009
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
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no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1983
Fourth edition 2009
5th printing 2012
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books Group
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data
Roach, Peter (Peter John)
English phonetics and phonology: a practical course / Peter Roach. - 4th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-521-71740-3 (pbk.) - ISBN 978-0-521-88882-0
1. English language - Phonetics. 2. English language - Phonology. 3. English language - Study
and teaching - Foreign speakers. I. Title.
PE1133.R55 2009
421.5-dc22

2008052020

ISBN 978-0-521-71740-3 Paperback with Audio CDs (2)
ISBN 978-0-521-88882-0 Hardback with Audio CDs (2)
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Contents

ix

Preface to the fo u rth edition

x

List o f symbols

xii

Chart o f the International Phonetic A lphabet
1 Introduction

1

1.1

How th e course is organised

i

1.2

The English Phonetics and Phonology w ebsite

1.3

Phonemes and other aspects o f pronunciation

1.4

Accents and dialects

3

2 The production o f speech sounds

8

2.1

Articulators above th e larynx

2.2

Vowel and consonant

10

2.3

English short vowels

13

8

3 Long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs
3.1

English long vowel
...

...

who has done pioneering work in this area. Shockey (2003) shows the great variation
between formal and informal styles of speech.
N ote fo r teachers

In talking about differences in pronunciation between younger and older speakers, we
should consider what I would like to call the Pronunciation Teaching Paradox: this is that
the books and other teaching materials, syllabuses and examination standards are usually
produced by middle-aged or old teachers, while the people who are taught are usually
young. The model accent for pronunciation practice is almost always that of middle-aged
English people. It would in theory be possible to teach young foreign learners of English
to speak like young native speakers of English, and many students from other countries
who have a period of study in a British university or language school manage to acquire
something of the accent of young people in the area, but in my own experience it is likely

168

English Phonetics and Phonology

that when they get back home they risk being given a lower mark by their (middle-aged)
examiners in an oral examination than students producing a more traditional accent. I
regret this, but I can’t change it.
The comment about Audio Unit 18 at the end of Chapter 18 applies also to Audio
Unit 20 (CD 2 ). At first hearing it seems very difficult, but when worked on step by step
it is far from impossible. If there is time, students should now be encouraged to go back
to some of the more difficult Audio Units dealing with connected speech (say from Audio
Unit 12 onwards, missing out Audio Unit 15) they will probably discover a lot of things
they did not notice before.
W ritte n exercise

Phonological differences between accents are of various types. For each of the following
sets of phonetic data, based on non-BBC accents, say what you can conclude about the
phonology of that accent.
sing’ sir)
‘sung5 SA13
‘singing5 sir)in
2 ‘day5 d e :
‘buy5 b a i
‘go5 g o :
‘now5 n a u
‘own5 o : n
3 ‘mother5 niAva
‘think 5 f i g k
‘lip5 lip
‘help5 e w p
4 ‘mother5 rriAdar
‘car5 k a : r
‘area5 e:rial
‘idea5 a i d i a l
‘India5 in d i a l
5 ‘cat5 k a t
‘cart5 k a : r t
‘calm5 k a : m
1

‘finger5 fir)g o
‘running5 rAnin
‘ring5 rir)
‘you5 ju:
‘me5 m i:
‘more5 mo:
‘fur5 f s :
‘eight5 e : t
‘father5 fa:va
‘breath5 b r e f
‘pill5 piw
‘hill5 iw
‘father5 f a : d a r
‘cart5 k a : r t
‘aerial5 e : r i a l
‘ideal5 a i d i a l
‘Norma5 no:mal
‘plaster5 p l a : s t a r
‘grass5 g r a : s
‘gas5 g a s