In Part Two of this series on Diacritics, Phil Thompson and Eric Armstrong discuss the intricacies of diacritic symbols and what they mean when applied to vowel and consonant symbols of the IPA. The guys follow along with the list of diacritic marks on the Wikipedia page for the International Phonetic Alphabet. The episode begins at laminal diacritic, which Wikipedia classifies as part of the “articulation diacritics”, and continue on to discuss “co-articulation diacritics” and “suprasegmentals”...
Apr 26, 2014•1 hr 19 min
Though Phil and Eric had intended to cover all the diacritical marks in the IPA in this podcast, they just couldn’t do it. In fact, Eric’s recorder stopped recording after 45 minutes, though they kept talking for 15 more minutes... so this is merely an introduction to diacritics, not an exhaustive review of all of them. For reference, the boys work their way through the symbols following the order that the wikipedia article on the International Phonetic Alphabet’s section on diacritics takes, so...
Apr 08, 2014•50 min
In this episode, Phil and Eric tackle two of the “centering diphthongs” (aka the r-colored diphthongs in rhotic accents), square and start. Much of the episode is spent tackling the very subtle possibilities of vowel quality where these lexical sets might be realized, and the fun that one can have tweaking those possibilities—smoothing, breaking, more or less rhoticity, more open vs. more close nuclei or codas. FUN!...
Mar 29, 2014•56 min
This week we delve deeper into the topic of weaken vowels that behave similarly to schwa /ə/, namely the weakened forms of the /i/ and /u/ vowels [usually realized as somewhere in the range of [i̽] or [ɨ], [ʊ] or perhaps [ɵ], sometimes known—controversially—as “schwee” and “schwoo.” We even chat about weakened diphthongs and what that might mean for speakers (“schwoe” and “schwhy,” anyone?). Phil and Eric also chat for quite some time about Geoff Lindsay’s blog post on the topic of “Schwee”....
May 04, 2013•51 min
We’re tackling strings of consonants in this episode! Phil and Eric talk about clusters of consonants and how they “work” for us. Eric refers to J.C. Catford’s book A Practical Introduction to Phonetics quite a bit!...
Apr 26, 2013•1 hr 10 min
Phil and Eric managed to do an episode on the Lexical Set choice this week, in spite of Phil’s never-ending cold and Eric’s dogs (who wanted to go out when they were in, and in when they were out...) Phil talks a bit about the history of the set, we talk about its representation in the IPA and we tackle odd variations, including the classic New York choice - nurse (near) merger....
Apr 14, 2013•35 min
We tackle the consonants that don’t conveniently fit within the Pulmonic Consonant chart of the IPA — the Non-pulmonics and the so-called “Other Symbols” area. Many of these consonants are a review of things we’ve covered elsewhere in the podcast series, but it’s always nice to tidy things up, to pick up the leftovers....
Apr 05, 2013•1 hr 2 min
Phil and Eric tackle the mouth lexical set, and compare it, briefly to the price set. We reference Robbie Burns’ To a Mouse , and talk about how it evolved through the Great Vowel Shift from an /u/ vowel, to its present location, in the range of /æʊ/—/aʊ/—/ɑʊ/. Eric touches on Canadian Raising, and the two glossonomians explore the range of articulations, modulating the initial component of the “vector”, and then the final component....
Mar 19, 2013•31 min
Eric and Phil tackle the entire Pulmonic Chart of the IPA, focusing on the Non-English sounds. We move quickly, and don’t focus on what languages you might here these consonants. Instead we focus on how to make them and points to remember when teaching them. If you do want to know what language you want to hear a certain consonant in, please refer to Wikipedia. The best method is to search for the consonant that you’re interested in, for example, the voiceless velar fricative /x/, which would ta...
Mar 01, 2013•1 hr 3 min
After a YEAR on hiatus, Phil and Eric return to Glossonomia with an episode about the lexical set price. We cover the history of the /aɪ/ sound, how it evolved from the /i/ sound we hear in fleece words today. We also dig deep into concepts such as smoothing, Canadian Raising, price allophony, and other variations of the set, such as we hear in the South of the United States, in Scotland or Ireland....
Feb 19, 2013•58 min
Hosts Phil Thompson and Eric Armstrong work their way across the Pulmonic Consonant Chart, focusing in on the Fricative row. Though they do cover English fricatives [θ ð f v s z ʃ ʒ], they go into much greater depth on the non-English sounds [ɸ β ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ ]. (note that they follow the IPA chart on the wikipedia page , which sort of blends the very back fricatives with the approximants.)...
Apr 11, 2012•1 hr 46 min
Today, Phil and Eric finish off our four part trifecta on R, with a deep discussion of linking r, instrusive r, triphthongs and other R-ful tidbits to delight and enthral you....
Apr 03, 2012•1 hr 33 min
In this Episode, Phil and Eric talk about the consonant sounds known as Affricates. The sounds, which begin with a stop and release into a fricative, are important in English, as there are two affricates we use on a regular basis: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/. Phil and Eric also discuss non-English affricates, the difference between an affricate and a stop-affricate pair (as in the difference between ratchet and rat-shit, which exemplify both)....
Mar 27, 2012•57 min
In this episode, Phil and Eric start to unpack the overstuffed suitcase known as rhotic vowels, or r-colored vowels. They cover things like what a rhotic vowel is, the possible use of syllabic consonant R [ɹ̩] rather than using vowel r’s, the difference between rhotic-schwa (aka “schwar,” “r-colored schwa,” or even “flying-schwa”) and rhotic-turned-epsilon (aka “rhotic-3” or “flying-3”). That’s ɚ or ɝ. There is also discussion of the possibility of other rhotic vowels, such as ɑ˞ or ɔ˞. Phil and...
Mar 17, 2012•1 hr 15 min
After our overview episode last week, Phil and Eric look in greater detail at the full range of R consonant variation. We follow the Rhotic Consonants page on wikipedia as a means of tracking the various possible articulations. You can follow along, too! We cover: • Trills • Alveolar [r] • Uvular [ʀ] • Retroflex [ɽ] • Taps and flaps • Alveolar tap [ɾ] • Alveolar lateral flap [ɺ] • Retroflex flap [ɽ] • Labiodental flap (perceived as non-rhotic) [ⱱ] • Alveolar approximant [ɹ] • Molar approximant (...
Nov 20, 2011•1 hr 32 min
We’ve been moaning about this one, and now we have to face it: we’re tackling the category of sounds that have an R quality, and this episode gets Phil and Eric talking about vowel and consonant R, similarities to semi-vowels, trills, taps, fricatives, approximants, and even the lowered third formant associated with the acoustic qualities of R-ish-ness. We talk about the history of the letter shape, rhotic and non-rhotic accents, and much more. We’ve also added a Facebook group ! Won’t you come ...
Nov 13, 2011•59 min
We’re going to get your goat with this episode: Phil and Eric tackle the lexical set goat, that mirrors the set in last episode, face. They discuss the sound of the diphthong and monophthong versions and the history of both the phone and even the letter shape....
Nov 02, 2011•1 hr 26 min
Phil and Eric face the music on this one: they tackle the ticklishly intriguing face lexical set, and discuss diphthongs, monophthongs and other phthings, er, things related to the set! And Eric manages to avoid making his lame joke about dip-thongs (something about small European bathing suits...) In the course of things, they discuss the chart on wikipedia that lays out the sound changes of the Great Vowel Change. Follow along with the chart while listening! They also discuss the breve (which ...
Oct 24, 2011•1 hr 40 min
Dark and Light (or is it “clear”?) /l/ forms the core of this episode, where Phil and Eric tackle all the elements of the “el” sounds in English and the world’s languages.
Oct 07, 2011•1 hr 19 min
In our silver anniversary episode, Phil and Eric talk about the lexical set dress, and all the various vowels that are associated with it. That includes [e] or is it [ɛ]? The guys try to uncover the history behind the choice to use [e], and advocate pretty hard for their preference, [ɛ]. Show Notes: We referred to these as we chatted, but wandered all over the place, so we probably don’t get to most of them... DRESS Open-mid front unrounded vowel Notice that it isn’t mid. We don’t have a symbol ...
Aug 25, 2011•1 hr 21 min
Recorded at the 2011 VASTA Conference in Chicago IL at Roosevelt University , Phil and Eric take the show to their audience. It’s a “show about the show” where we talk about the magic behind the curtain, topic choices, and we take questions from our studio audience. Though we don’t spend much time on the sounds of speech, we do have a great time taking “calls” from our friends. In the second half we spend quite a lot of time on the subject of GenAm, Standard speech and Neutral speech, whatever t...
Aug 14, 2011•56 min
Glossonnnnnnommmmmia is comin’ through the nose this week: we’re talking about Nasals, both consonants and vowels – nasalized vowels, that is. Hosts Phil Thompson and Eric Armstrong discuss not only English’s 3 nasal consonants, but all the nasals the human mouth can utter. [note: Phil’s recording starts to sound echoey in the second half. That’s my fault for not editing it well. Sorry! Hope it isn’t too annoying!] Show Notes Velo-Pharyngeal Port - lifting and lowering the soft palate - ban vs. ...
Jul 30, 2011•1 hr 43 min
In their third and final episode on lot, cloth and thought, co-hosts Eric Armstrong and Phil Thompson not only think about, but actually talk about the thought lexical set. What it is, how to identify it, and its relationship to cloth, lot, and, tangentially, palm. Show Notes At the end of the show, Phil and Eric talk through the following sentence in their own accents (such as they are), with Phil’s cloth – thought, merger and Eric’s Canadian cloth–lot–palm merger. LOT CLOTH THOUGHT The officer...
Jun 13, 2011•1 hr 6 min
Hosts Eric Armstrong and Phil Thompson focus on lot-cloth mergers in this unusually short episode. [Recorded in March but not published until May, this (hopefully) marks the end of a long hiaitus!] Often we have either lot-cloth separate from thought, or we have cloth-thought separate from lot. Phil outlines some history of back vowels, and the spelling (usually with A’s and O’s). Short /o/—in spelling, lot words like “clock, chop, hot” the vowel is short and checked by the short voiceless stop....
May 01, 2011•35 min
Great Scott! Hosts Phil & Eric think awfully hard on the sounds of the lexical sets lot, cloth, thought. A set up for the trifecta (tetrafecta?) of our next few shows, in this episode we talk through the sounds typically associated with these lexical sets, particularly in “standard” accents like Received Pronunciation, so-called General American, Canadian, and the tendency for cloth to merge with either lot or thought. Typical Sounds encountered in these lexical sets range from a type a ɑ sc...
Mar 06, 2011•1 hr 19 min
In thish show, Phil and Eric talk their way around the shounds of "sh" and "zh", [ʃ] and [ʒ], post-alveolar fricatives. This pair of consonants provide ample room for discussion of how the sounds are made, compared to similar sounds in the mouth. Show Notes: - compared to /s/ and /z/, the airflow of /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ goes through a wider aperture - /ʃ/is very broad spectrum, which makes it an effective "shusher" - these sounds include a lip-rounding component - /ʒ/ Phil u...
Jan 28, 2011•1 hr 25 min
In this Episode, hosts Phil and Eric dig down deep into the sound of the palm lexical set. After a LOOOONG Hiatus, we're back, and exploring the sound of the ɑː vowel.
Jan 17, 2011•1 hr 2 min
Phil and Eric are in fine form in this third (but, not final, alas...) part of their trilogy on the three lexical sets known as trap, bath & palm. We set out to do three things: correct an error regarding bath "prime," discuss features of trap, most notably the feature called "Asc Tensing" (sounds like something Richard Simmons would have you do for a firmer butt), and to dig deeper into the palm set. Alas, we don't get to the third objective, though we did try. Show Note...
Nov 01, 2010•59 min
We're back at it, back in the bath lexical set, exploring the realm of trap, bath and palm. Hosts Phil Thompson and Eric Armstrong continue on from Episode 15 with more on these lexical sets. Show Notes: • a quick review of what a Lexical Set is • how to recognize words in the bath lexical set From J.C.Wells' Accents of English: 7. BATH Typical Spellings: (a)aff, ath (voiceless), ass, aft, asp, ast, ask, augh; (b) ance, ant, anch, CVCand, ample; (c) alf, alv, an’t + many unpredictable, e.g. tran...
Oct 16, 2010•34 min
We're starting Season Two off with a bang! After a season away (i.e. summer), we're diving into the vowels found in the three lexical sets known as trap, bath & palm. The vowels associated with these sets, frequently /æ/, /a/ and /ɑ/, are explored fairly briefly... ok briefly FOR US... and we set ourselves up to dig deeper in Episode 16. Show Notes: Lexical Sets are: categories of words that tend to share the same vowel quality. …and we can go into greater detail than that, of course. Phonet...
Oct 02, 2010•36 min
