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Japanese EFL & English Phonological Processes

SOME ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES

OF INTEREST TO JAPANESE EFL TEACHERS

Phonology and Phonological Processes

Phonology is the scientific discipline which studies the phonic (speech sounds) aspect of natural languages. Phonology is a distinct field of study from that covered by phonetics which is characterized by the physiological and acoustical analysis of speech sounds. It also differs from the historical study of sounds such as was formulated by XIXth century linguists.

The Japanese have difficulty in pronouncing the English /r/, a trilled (mostly in British English) or rolled (mostly in American English) consonant, or a strong uvular "r". The former is apical, the latter uvular; the former belongs to the vibrant class of consonants, the latter to the constrictive class. Phonetically, physical analysis distinguishes between these two sounds as physical entities. Yet, both sounds are linguistically equivalent: however pronounced, the "r" is likely to be understood as an "r" sound. Thus, linguistic analysis differs markedly from physical analysis. As a result of this clear taxonomical dichotomy, phonology grew to study linguistically the phonic aspect of natural languages.

The purpose of phonology is to analyze the phonic aspect of language with a focus on the characteristics which distinguish between or among variants of sounds. For example, to, too, and two have linguistic forms (the signifieds) which have distinct significations. Such distinctions have a direct effect on communication. Yet, the three words are phonetically equivalent; they are pronounced identically--as too (unstressed with a long vowel sound).

In the course of phonological analysis, three major phenomena are encountered, viz.: combinatorial variants, neutralization, and tones (intonation). Yet, there are other phonological processes. This short paper briefly defines, describes, and illustrates the processes of neutralization, weakening and str...

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Japanese EFL & English Phonological Processes. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:19, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691140.html