• Oswald Steve

• Oswald Steve

This proseminar is an inquiry into the phonological system of the English language (and its sounds). Throughout the semester, we will therefore be concerned with the specific sounds of the English system and the way these sounds are organised in English in order to produce acceptable phonetic sequences.

Three particular areas of interest will be examined in this study:

• phonetic analysis: a significant part of the proseminar will be devoted to the study of English sounds, ranging from insights into their production (how they are articulated in the vocal tract, from the lungs to the lips) to considerations about their possible combinations
• phonological analysis: part of the proseminar will consider typical linguistic phenomena of English (plural formation, past tense formation, assimilation, etc.) from a phonological perspective to make explicit different constraints pertaining to the English language
• IPA transcriptions: the third, more practical, dimension of the proseminar will consist in learning how to transcribe the English language in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

As we explore these three areas, different varieties of English will be comparatively examined, with a focus on General American vs. British English differences, and insights on pronunciation and the relationship between spelling and spoken English will be provided.

Evaluation

Written evaluation, consisting in an exam taking place during the last session of the semester.

At the end of the proseminar, students should:

• be able to know and explain basic phenomena pertaining to the English phonological and phonetic system
• be able to perform IPA phonetic and phonemic transcriptions in British English and American English

General reference:

• Collins, B., & Mees, I. M. (2013). Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students. Routledge.

Other bibliographical references will be given on Moodle during the semester.