Eighth Edition

ˈeɪtθ ɪˋdɪʃn̩

ˈɡɪmsənz Gimson’s prəˈnʌnsiˈeɪʃn ̩

Pronunciation of English əv ˋɪŋɡlɪʃ Alan Cruttenden

ˈalən ˋkrʌtn̩dən

Symbols regularly used in the description of General British VOWELS iː eat, keen, field, settee ɪ example, sit, built, symbol, village i copy, happy, charity, prairie e end, bet, said, bread ɛː aerial, dare, hair, bare a access, pat, bang, plait ʌ ugly, mud, cousin, front ɑː calm, card, heart, laugh ɒ offer, cod, watch, sausage ɔː awkward, cord, cause, water ʊ bull, cushion, could, woman uː soon, goose, prove, two ɜː earth, serve, church, bird ə about, bitter, doctor, famous eɪ ape, bait, cake, break aɪ ice, bite, type, die ɔɪ oyster, boil, choice, joy əʊ open, boat, know, toe aʊ owl, bout, ground, how ɪə eerie, fierce, material, nuclear ʊə cruel, during, gradual, pure

CONSONANTS p pit, wiper, supper, stop b bit, obey, rabbit, robe t ton, beauty, button, doubt d done, body, sudden, load k cot, skate, pocket, back ɡ got, grim, again, rogue ʧ chin, achieve, butcher, watch ʤ gin, magic, adjective, badge f fast, profit, laugh, dwarf v vast, cover, love, serve θ think, Catholic, earth, tooth ð than, other, feather, breathe s science, assist, receive, bus z zinc, prison, quiz, news ʃ ship, sure, censure, finish ʒ gigolo, azure, regime, pleasure h hit, who, behave, perhaps m morning, simple, hammer, comb n now, gnat, annoy, sign ŋ ankle, singer, income, tongue l leave, polish, million, signal r red, write, rhythm, arrive w weed, wheel, suede, away j yeast, beyond, lawyer, view

Gimson’s Pronunciation of English

Since it was first published in 1962, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English has been the essential reference book for anyone studying or teaching the pronunciation of English. This eighth edition has been brought fully up to date, describing what is now termed General British (GB) as the accent of principal consideration and relinquishing the outdated expression ‘RP’, and the accompanying transcription has been updated in line with recent changes in pronunciation. This latest edition also includes completely rewritten chapters on the history of the language and the emergence of a standard, alongside an explanation for the change from RP to GB. A further bonus to this important text is its extensive and attractive new companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/cruttenden), which now includes moment-bymoment commentaries on videos showing the articulation of all GB consonants and vowels in spoken phrases, as well as cross-referencing between the book and these videos. The companion website also includes new recordings of Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English, and features links to recordings of recent and current GB with comments and transcriptions. Comprehensive yet accessible, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English remains the indispensable reference book for anyone with an interest in English phonetics. Alan Cruttenden is Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, University of Manchester, and Fellow of the Phonetics Laboratory, University of Oxford.

‘Under Alan Cruttenden’s excellent stewardship, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English continues to be the ultimate authority on the subject of English phonetics; no student or teacher of this subject can do without it. Cruttenden’s rejection of the term “Received Pronunciation” in favour of “General British” is, in my opinion, timely and his transcriptional revisions to certain vowel symbols reflective of current trends in General British pronunciation. The commentaries on articulation added to the MRI videos on the companion website are particularly elucidating. I will definitely be referring my students to this informative material.’ Jane Setter, University of Reading, UK ‘This well-respected volume continues to be an invaluable authority on the pronunciation of English, and the on-going efforts by Alan Cruttenden to keep it updated are exceptionally welcome. This latest update will ensure this volume continues to be an essential resource for anyone teaching or researching the pronunciation of English, especially with the continued development of on-line resources to accompany the book.’ David Deterding, University of Brunei, Darussalam ‘There are books which you need to read, possibly from the library, and books which you need to own. Together with a pronouncing dictionary of English, this excellent update of Gimson’s classic description of the pronunciation of English, now completely rewritten by Alan Cruttenden, should be on the bookshelf of every serious student or teacher of English.’ Daniel Hirst, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, France, and Tongji University, China ‘Unique and unrivalled, of Cruttenden’s four successive brilliant re-workings and updatings upon the famous Gimson foundation, this is the most remarkable yet, not least for its groundbreaking new audio-visual companion website.’ Jack Windsor Lewis, formerly of the University of Leeds, UK

Gimson’s Pronunciation of English

Eighth Edition

Alan Cruttenden

Eighth edition published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 Alan Cruttenden The right of Alan Cruttenden to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published as An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English by Edward Arnold 1962 Seventh edition published by Hodder Education 2008 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Cruttenden, Alan, 1936– Gimson’s pronunciation of English / Alan Cruttenden. – Eighth Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. English language–Phonetics. 2. English language–Pronunciation. I. Gimson, A. C. Introduction to the pronunciation of English. II. Title. III. Title: Pronunciation of English. PE1135.C78 2014 421′.58–dc23 2013026284 ISBN: 978-0-415-72174-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-4441-8309-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-78496-9 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong IPA Chart, http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/ipachart.html, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License. Copyright © 2005 International Phonetic Association.

Contents



Foreword to the First Edition (1962) Foreword to the Eighth Edition (2014) List of figures List of tables List of text boxes List of phonetic symbols and signs and abbreviations

xiv xvi xviii xx xxi xxiii

Part I

Language and speech

1

1

3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6



2

Introduction 1.1 Language and linguistics 1.1.1 Phonetics as part of linguistics 1.1.2 Phonetics, phonology and phonemics 1.1.3 Pronunciation and spelling 1.2 Change and variation 1.3 Learning 1.3.1 Functional load, phonetic cues and redundancy 1.3.2 Acquiring English as an L1 1.3.3 Acquiring English as an additional language The production of speech: the physiological aspect 2.1 The speech chain 2.2 The speech mechanism 2.2.1 Sources of energy—the lungs 2.2.2 The larynx and the vocal cords 2.2.3 The resonating cavities 2.2.3.1 The pharynx 2.2.3.2 The mouth

8 8 8 9 9 12 12 14

vi

Contents

3

The sounds of speech: the acoustic and auditory aspects 3.1 Sound quality 3.2 The acoustic spectrum 3.2.1 Fundamental frequency: pitch 3.2.2 Intensity: loudness 3.2.3 Duration: length 3.2.4 ‘Stress’ 3.3 Hearing





18 18 20 22 23 24 24 25

4 The description and classification of speech sounds 4.1 Phonetic description 4.2 Vowel and consonant 4.3 Consonants 4.3.1 Egressive pulmonic consonants 4.3.2 Voicing 4.3.3 Place of articulation 4.3.4 Manner of articulation 4.3.5 Obstruents and sonorants 4.3.6 Fortis and lenis 4.3.7 Classification of consonants 4.3.8 Ingressive pulmonic consonants 4.3.9 Egressive glottalic consonants 4.3.10 Ingressive glottalic consonants 4.3.11 Ingressive velaric consonants 4.4 Vowels 4.4.1 Difficulties of description 4.4.2 Cardinal Vowels 4.4.3 Nasality 4.4.4 Relatively pure vowels vs gliding vowels 4.4.5 Articulatory classification of vowels

27 27 27 28 29 29 29 30 31 31 32 32 32 32 34 34 35 36 38 38 39

5

41 41 42 43 44 44 45 47 47



Sounds in language 5.1 Speech sounds and linguistic units 5.2 The linguistic hierarchy 5.3 Phonemes 5.3.1 Diversity of phonemic solutions 5.3.2 Distinctive features 5.3.3 Allophones 5.3.4 Neutralisation 5.3.5 Phonemic systems

Contents



5.4 Transcription 5.5 Syllables 5.5.1 The sonority hierarchy 5.5.2 Syllable constituency 5.5.3 Syllable boundaries 5.6 Vowel and consonant 5.7 Prosodic features 5.8 Paralinguistic and extralinguistic features

vii

49 50 50 51 52 53 54 54

Part II

the sounds of English

57

6

59 59 59 60 60 60 61 61 61 62 62 62 63 63 64 65 65 66 68 69 69 70





The historical background 6.1 Evidence for phonetic reconstruction and change 6.1.1 Latin and Runic as base 6.1.2 Intervening values 6.1.3 Rhymes and metre 6.1.4 Direct evidence 6.2 Sound change 6.2.1 Phonemic change 6.2.2 Contextual change 6.2.3 Lexical change 6.2.4 Foreign imports 6.2.5 Accentual change 6.2.6 The influence of spelling 6.3 Old English (OE) 6.3.1 Classical Old English sound system 6.4 Middle English (ME) 6.4.1 Late Middle English sound system 6.5 Early Modern English (eModE) 6.5.1 Early Modern English sound system 6.6 Towards current General British (GB) 6.6.1 Direct evidence 6.6.2 Changes since Shakespeare 6.7 Overview of changes from OE to current General British (GB) 6.7.1 Categorical change, gradual change and variation 6.7.2 Vowel changes 6.7.3 Consonantal changes

71 71 72 73

viii

7



8

Contents

Standard and regional accents 7.1 The emergence of a standard 7.2 Early uses of ‘received’ and ‘received pronunciation’ 7.3 Daniel Jones, the BBC, RP and GB 7.4 ‘Modern RP’ 7.5 Other names for RP 7.6 General British (GB) 7.7 Conspicuous General British (CGB) 7.8 Regional General British (RGB) 7.9 GB and foreign learners 7.10 Recent changes in GB 7.10.1 Changes almost complete 7.10.2 Changes well established 7.10.3 Recent trends 7.11 Systems and standards other than GB and their influence on RGB 7.12 Comparing systems of pronunciation 7.12.1 General American (GA) 7.12.2 Standard Scottish English (SSE) 7.12.3 London English, Estuary English (EE) and Multicultural London English (MLE) 7.12.4 General Northern English (GNE) 7.12.5 Australian English (ANE) 7.12.6 Caribbean English



The 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4



8.5 8.6 8.7



8.8 8.9

English vowels The distinctive vowels Vowel glides with preceding /j,w/ Glides to [ə] Vowel length 8.4.1 Phonetic relationships 8.4.2 Morphophonemic alternations Transcriptions of English vowels Acoustics of GB vowels Learning of vowels 8.7.1 Acquisition of vowels by native learners 8.7.2 Advice to foreign learners Descriptions of the vowels (Relatively) pure vowels 8.9.1 /i/ 8.9.2 /ɪ/

74 74 76 77 78 78 80 81 81 82 83 83 83 85 85 86 87 88 89 91 92 93 96 96 98 100 100 100 102 103 104 109 109 109 110 111 111 113

Contents



8.10



8.11 8.12



8.9.3 /e/ 8.9.4 /ɛ/ 8.9.5 /a/ 8.9.6 /ʌ/ 8.9.7 /ɑ/ 8.9.8 /ɒ/ 8.9.9 /ɔ/ 8.9.10 /ʊ/ 8.9.11 /u/ 8.9.12 /ɜ/ 8.9.13 /ə/ Diphthongal vowel glides 8.10.1 /eɪ/ 8.10.2 /aɪ/ 8.10.3 /ɔɪ/ 8.10.4 /əʊ/ 8.10.5 /aʊ/ Diphthongs + [ə] Centring diphthongs 8.12.1 /ɪə/ 8.12.2 /ʊə/ Vowels in syllables without primary accent The frequency of occurrence of GB vowels

ix

116 118 119 121 123 126 128 130 132 135 137 140 140 142 144 146 148 150 153 153 155 157 158



8.13 8.14

9

The English consonants 9.1 The distinctive consonants

161 161

Class A: Obstruents 9.2 Plosives 9.2.1 The phonetic features of English plosives 9.2.2 Acoustic features of English plosives 9.2.3 Acquisition of plosives by native learners 9.2.4 The release stage of English plosives 9.2.5 Bilabial plosives /p,b/ 9.2.6 Alveolar plosives /t,d/ 9.2.7 Velar plosives /k,ɡ/ 9.2.8 Glottal plosive [ʔ] 9.3 Affricates 9.3.1 Palato-alveolar affricates /ʧ,ʤ/ 9.4 Fricatives 9.4.1 Acoustic features of English fricatives 9.4.2 Acquisition of fricatives by native learners

162 162 163 167 169 169 173 175 179 182 186 188 192 194 195





x







Contents

9.4.3 Labiodental fricatives /f,v/ 9.4.4 Dental fricatives /θ,ð/ 9.4.5 Alveolar fricatives /s,z/ 9.4.6 Palato-alveolar fricatives /ʃ,ʒ/ 9.4.7 Glottal fricative /h/ 9.5 Voiced and voiceless as phonological categories

196 198 200 203 206 208

Class B: Sonorants 9.6 Nasals 9.6.1 Bilabial nasal /m/ 9.6.2 Alveolar nasal /n/ 9.6.3 Velar nasal /ŋ/ 9.7 Oral approximants 9.7.1 Lateral approximant /l/ 9.7.2 Post-alveolar approximant /r/ 9.7.3 Palatal and labial-velar approximants (or semi-vowels) 9.7.4 Unrounded palatal approximant /j/ 9.7.5 Rounded labial-velar approximant /w/ 9.8 The frequency of occurrence of GB consonants

209 209 211 213 215 217 217 222 228 229 232 235

Part III

Words and connected speech

239

10 Words 10.1 Accent 10.2 Accent and prominence 10.3 Word accentual patterns 10.3.1 Roots 10.3.2 Suffixes 10.3.3 Prefixes 10.3.4 Secondary accent 10.3.5 Compounds 10.4 Word accentual instability 10.5 Distinctive word accentual patterns 10.6 Acquisition of word accent by native learners 10.7 Word accent—advice to foreign learners 10.8 Elision and epenthesis 10.9 Variability in the phonemic structure of words 10.10 Phonotactics 10.10.1 Word-initial phoneme sequences 10.10.2 Word-final phoneme sequences

241 241 242 244 244 246 248 248 248 252 253 255 255 256 258 259 260 261

Contents

xi

10.10.3 Word-medial syllable division 10.10.4 Inflexional suffix formation 10.10.5 Acquisition of phonotactics by native learners 10.10.6 Phonotactics—advice to foreign learners 10.11 Consonant harmony in the word structure of native learners

263 265 267 267

11 Connected speech 11.1 Accent 11.2 Prominence, accent and rhythm 11.3 Weak forms 11.4 Acquisition of rhythm and weak forms by native learners 11.5 Rhythm and weak forms—advice to foreign learners 11.6 Intonation 11.6.1 The forms of intonation 11.6.1.1 Intonational phrases 11.6.1.2 Primary accents 11.6.1.3 Types of nuclear tone 11.6.1.4 Secondary accents 11.6.1.5 The pitch of unaccented syllables 11.6.2 The functions of intonation 11.6.2.1 Intonational phrasing 11.6.2.2 Primary accents and new information 11.6.2.3 Primary accents on function words 11.6.2.4 Focusing adverbs 11.6.2.5 Some special accentings 11.6.2.6 The meanings of tones 11.6.2.7 The use of secondary accents 11.6.3 Regional variation in intonation 11.6.4 Pitch range 11.6.5 Intonation and punctuation 11.6.6 Acquisition of intonation by native learners 11.6.7 Intonation—advice to foreign learners 11.7 Hesitations 11.8 Voice quality

270 270 271 273 276 276 277 277 277 278 278 281 282 284 284 286 288 288 290 291 298 298 299 300 300 301 302 302

12 Words in connected speech 12.1 Citation forms and connected speech 12.2 Neutralisation of weak forms 12.3 Variation in the accentual pattern of words 12.4 Phonetic variations within words and at boundaries

305 305 305 307 308



268

xii

Contents







12.4.1 Allophonic variations 12.4.2 Phonemic variations 12.4.3 Voiced/voiceless variations 12.4.4 Nasality and labialisation 12.4.5 Variations of place 12.4.6 Elision 12.4.7 Liaison 12.4.8 Juncture 12.5 Stylistic variation 12.6 Frequency of occurrence of monosyllabic and polysyllabic words 12.7 Advice to foreign learners

308 310 310 311 312 313 315 318 319 320 321

Part IV

Language teaching and learning

323

13 Teaching and learning the pronunciation of English as an additional language 13.1 The place of pronunciation 13.2 Models and targets 13.2.1 Native speaker targets 13.2.2 GB and Regional GBs 13.2.3 Amalgam English and International English 13.3 GB and Regional GBs: priorities and tolerances 13.3.1 Consonants 13.3.1.1 Plosives 13.3.1.2 Fricatives 13.3.1.3 Affricates 13.3.1.4 Approximants 13.3.1.5 Nasals 13.3.1.6 Consonant clusters 13.3.2 Vowels 13.3.3 Accent and rhythm 13.3.4 Sounds in connected speech 13.3.5 Intonation 13.4 Amalgam English: priorities and tolerances 13.4.1 Consonants 13.4.1.1 Plosives 13.4.1.2 Fricatives 13.4.1.3 Affricates

325 325 326 326 326 327 328 328 328 329 329 329 329 330 330 333 334 334 335 336 336 336 337

Contents







13.5







13.6



13.7 13.8



13.4.1.4 Approximants 13.4.1.5 Nasals 13.4.1.6 Consonant clusters 13.4.2 Vowels 13.4.3 Accentuation, intonation and connected speech 13.4.4 Summary: Amalgam English International English: priorities and tolerances 13.5.1 Consonants 13.5.1.1 Plosives 13.5.1.2 Fricatives 13.5.1.3 Affricates 13.5.1.4 Approximants 13.5.1.5 Nasals 13.5.1.6 Consonant clusters 13.5.2 Vowels 13.5.3 Accentuation, intonation and connected speech 13.5.4 Summary: International English Teaching methods 13.6.1 Consonants 13.6.2 Vowels 13.6.3 Accentuation 13.6.4 Intonation Pronouncing dictionaries Assessment 13.8.1 Comprehension 13.8.2 Production

Selective glossary References Index

xiii

337 337 337 338 340 340 341 341 341 342 342 342 343 343 343 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 349 350 350 351 353 358 374

‘There are books which you need to read, possibly from the library, and books which you need to own. Together with a pronouncing dictionary of English, this excellent update of Gimson’s classic description of the pronunciation of English, now completely rewritten by Alan Cruttenden, should be on the bookshelf of every serious student or teacher of English.’ Daniel Hirst, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, France, and Tongji University, China ‘Unique and unrivalled, of Cruttenden’s four successive brilliant re-workings and updatings upon the famous Gimson foundation, this is the most remarkable yet, not least for its groundbreaking new audio-visual companion website.’ Jack Windsor Lewis, formerly of the University of Leeds, UK Since it was first published in 1962, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English has been the essential reference book for anyone studying or teaching the pronunciation of English. This eighth edition has been brought fully up to date, describing what is now termed General British (GB) as the accent of principal consideration and relinquishing the outdated expression ‘RP’, and the accompanying transcription has been updated in line with recent changes in pronunciation. This latest edition also includes completely rewritten chapters on the history of the language and the emergence of a standard, alongside an explanation for the change from RP to GB. A further bonus to this important text is its extensive and attractive new companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/cruttenden), which now includes moment-bymoment commentaries on videos showing the articulation of all GB consonants and vowels in spoken phrases, as well as cross-referencing between the book and these videos. The companion website also includes new recordings of Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English, and features links to recordings of recent and current GB with comments and transcriptions. Comprehensive yet accessible, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English remains the indispensable reference book for anyone with an interest in English phonetics. Alan Cruttenden is Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, University of Manchester, and Fellow of the Phonetics Laboratory, University of Oxford. EnGLisH LAnGUAGE AnD LinGUisTiCs

The accompanying website can be found at www.routledge.com/cw/cruttenden

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ISBN 978-1-4441-8309-2

9 781444 183092

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