Aspiration, Lack of aspiration and Devoicing of consonants in Group C

Aspiration, Lack of aspiration and Devoicing of consonants in Group C

Let´s do some revision of some allophonic variations... What´s aspiration? What sounds are affected? How is it represented in allophonic transcription? Provide examples. What´s lack of aspiration? What examples can you provide? How do you trascribe this variation allophonically?

What about Devoicing of consonants in group C? What sounds are affected by this variation? How is this feature transcribed allophonically? Provide examples.

Let´s do some practice! You are going to hear part of a podcast about dating apps. Listen carefully and identify examples of these allophonic variations.

(until minute 2ˈ23")

Let´s listen again together with the transcript. See if you can add more examples.

Neil: Hello. And welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil. Dan: And I'm Dan. Neil: Now then, Dan. What do you think of dating apps - you know, apps on your phone that help you find a romantic partner? Dan: I can't say I've ever used them myself. How about you? Neil: Neither have I, but I've got friends who have, very successfully. Lots of weddings. Dan: Great! Neil: Now, research shows that fewer than 5% of people who have used dating apps, actually go out on a date with someone they met through them. We’ll find out the reasons for this shortly, but first, a question. Even though dating apps are not used as much as we might think, they are still big business, but do you know how big? Around the world last year how much was spent on them? Was it: a) less than half a billion dollars b) between half a billion and a billion dollars, or c) over a billion dollars? Any ideas, Dan? Dan: Well, this is purely a guess, but let’s say over a billion dollars. Neil: Well, we’ll have the answer at the end of the programme. Elizabeth Tinnemans is a researcher who studied the use of a particular dating app. She spoke on the BBC's You and Yours radio programme on Radio 4. Her study confirmed that comparatively few people who used the app used it to arrange to meet up with someone. She talked about people’s motives for using the app. Motives is a word which means ‘reasons’ - so what were those motives? Elizabeth Tinnnemans: We found from all the people that we surveyed that only slightly more than half of them actually met up with someone. So it doesn't look like a lot of people are using it to meet up but it makes sense because we also looked at why they were using a dating app and the most popular and most common motives were using it out of curiosity and using it to pass time or entertainment. So they're not actively using these dating apps to meet people like swiping with friends is something that happens fairly often, especially among millennials.

What examples could you identify? Let´s check!

Aspiration: partner - can't - people - particular - comparatively - talked - popular - common - pass - time - entertainment - Unaspiration: still - spent - studied - spoke - especially Devoicing Group C: question - between - purely - programme

Now, transcribe two examples of each allophone. If necessary, work with a dictionary. Make sure you follow the conventions for allophonic transcription.

LET´S CHECK!

UNASPIRATION [ˈstɪl] [ˈspent] [ˈstʌdɪd] [ˈstʌdɪ] [ˈspəʊk] [ɪˈspeʃəli]

ASPIRATION [ˈpʰɑ:tnə] [ˈkʰɑ:nt] [ˈpʰi:pl] [pəˈtʰɪkjələ] [kəmˈpʰærətɪvli] [ˈtʰɔ:kt] [ˈpʰɒpjələ] [ˈkʰɒmən] [ˈpʰɑ:s] [ˈtʰaɪm] [entəˈtʰeɪnmənt]

DEVOICING GROUP C [ˈkw̥estʃn] [bɪˈtw̥i:n] [ˈpj̥ʊəli] [ˈpr̥əʊɡræm]

Now practise reading aloud these words. Make sure you produce the different allophonic variations.

Aspiration: partner - can't - people - particular - comparatively - talked - popular - common - pass - time - entertainment - Unaspiration: still - spent - studied - spoke - especially Devoicing Group C: question - between - purely - programme

WELL DONE!