Task 1: individual activity

Daniela Murillo
 2. Based on the first document “The phoneme: the same but different” by
McMahon, A, develop questions one and two from page 21
1. A learner of English as a second language has the following pronunciations (note that
[ʃ] is the symbol for the first sound in ship, and [ð] for the first sound in the)

hat [dat] dog [dɒg] head [hεd]

leather[lεðə] leader [li:ðə] sing [ʃIŋ]
sat [sat] loss [lɒs] fish [fIʃ]
miss [mIʃ] push [pus]

 How might you explain these non-native pronunciations?

The English learner is not distinguishing the correct English sounds and is getting
confused with minimal pairs. As in that (dat) instead of (ðæt), push (pus) instead of
(puʃ) and so on

 How do you think this learner would pronounce the bold-faced consonants in
Daddy, either, loathe;ship,pass,dish,usher?
Daddy: dædi
Either: iðer
Loathe: ləƱð
Ship: ʃɪp
Pass: pæs
Dish: dɪʃ
Usher: Ʌʃər

2.Do the following sounds contrast in English? Find minimal pairs to support your
hypothesis, ideally for initial, medial and final position in the word. Where minimal
pairs for all positions do not seem to be available, write a short statement of where the
sound in question can and cannot be found.

[m n ŋ p b t d k g l r]
These sounds contrast because they have minimal phonetic difference

Minimal pair- [b] [p]:

Initial Medial Final
Bed Rabbit Cub
Pie Rapid Cop
Minimal pair- [k] [g]:
Curly Anchor Back
Girly Anger Bag
Minimal pair- [t] [d]:
Two Alter Hat
Do Alder Had
Minimal pair- [l] [r]:
Law Belly Deal
Raw Berry Dear

 3. From the second document, “Natural Language Processing &

Applications Phones and Phonemes” please answer questions 1 and 2 from
page 10.

1.How many phonemes are there in (a) Keith (b) coughs? What are they in the IPA? In
each case try to demonstrate the correctness of your answer by finding words differing
by only one of the phonemes you have identified.
Keith: Keɪθ
Faith: feɪθ
Coughs: Kaf
Cods: Kads

2.You are NOT expected to know the IPA symbols; the table given in the Appendix will
be provided if and when necessary. However it is useful to have some practice in using
them. Study the following phonetic transcription of a verse of Lewis Carroll’s poem
The Walrus and the Carpenter. The transcription corresponds to my ‘careful’
pronunciation. Write down the normal English spelling. If your pronunciation differs
from mine, write down an amended transcription in the IPA.
  English spelling of the poem verse.

The time has come, the Walrus said,

To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax
Of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings.

-We differ in the following pronunciation:

Said: sed
Talk: tak

 4. Based on text: “Meaning” chapter 8, pages 50 to 51, in ‘Linguistics Made

Easy’ by J.Aitchison answer the two following questions

4.1 In chapter 8, we can see some classical phenomena related to ambiguous sentences;
please consult in other references and explain what amphibology is, give one
example.
Amphibology: Is classified as a vice of diction and is defined as what lends itself to
more than one interpretation, that is, something that becomes ambiguous in its meaning.
(Muñoz D. 2019)
Example: I bought a computer and a cell phone. You tell me whenever you want and I
lend it to you. ----The computer or the cell phone?
4.2 In semantics to identify the meaning of a word, linguists created the notion of
‘semantic field’ please, explain what is it? (hint: in your answer the concept of
‘structure’ is important).
The semantic field: Is a group of words that share one or more features in their
meaning.
Example:

 5. Here is a scenario of a pronunciation lesson gone wrong. The teacher

repeatedly demonstrates a pair of similar sounds (e.g., “rrrr” and “llll”).
However, the students still fail to perceive the difference between the two.
The thing is that students have difficulty distinguishing between pairs of
sounds when these are taught in isolation. Pronunciation lessons are
infinitely more effective when students are taught to distinguish between
words (e.g., light/right), instead of just individual sounds. Design a mini
lesson that presents the [l] and [ɹ] sounds within the context of minimal
pairs. (Option, you can select any other minimal pairs to design the mini
lesson). (Adapted from Gordon T. 2012).
We choose the following minimal pairs: p-b
In the mini lesson we would explain how to produce these pair of sound individually
and then show minimal pairs to teach the students how to distinguish on from another:

- p/ Called: Voiceless bilabials stop. We use both lips to block the mouth, we
don’t use the vocal chords to produce the sound, we stop the air flow and the
release it. Words like: pair, pull, plateç

- b/ Called: the voice bilabials stop, we use both the lips to block the mouth an we
use the vocal chord to produce sound. We built up air pressure by stopping air
flow and the release it. Word like: bend, bill, built.

Minimal pairs to distinguish the difference between the sound:

Beer: (p ɪ r)
Peer: (b ɪ r)