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MA in English Language

L63G - The Pronunciation and Spelling of English

Credits:

3

Duration:

39 hours (lectures 26 hours, tutorials 13 hours)

Evaluation:

• 1 Short Research Paper (5,000 words).
• 1 Final Examination (2 hours)

Rationale

The relationship of spelling to pronunciation is often considered by users of English to be irrational and inconsistent. In spite of this, however, the spelling conventions of English remain generally quite consistent across the varieties of English worldwide. The effect is that persons whose spoken English may be mutually intelligible only with some effort on the part of the interlocutors, can communicate with each other quite easily in writing. The interface between the pronunciation inclusive of regional and social class accent, and spelling on the other requires study, as do the range of intervening factors such as etymology and morphology. There is need for persons involved professionally with English to have a scientific understanding of the principles underpinning phonological systems across dialects of English, the spelling system of English, and the factors which affect the relationship between pronunciation and orthography.

Aims

At the end of the course, the student should be able to (i) identify with reference to specific phonological features the accents of English across the world, (ii) use knowledge of English phonology and English orthographic conventions to demonstrate the details of the relationship between the two, (iii) use dictionaries and related works, inclusive of pronunciation guides, to identify the various other sources of influence on the spelling of English, notably etymology and morphology.

Content

The course will:

1. Working from both actual spoken language data as well as data derived from written sources; examine the phonological features of the major accents of English.
2. Based on actual spelling usage within texts written in English within international corpora of English, have students identify and explore the principles underpinning the spelling conventions of English, with specific reference to the influence of
   1. phonology,
   2. morpho-phonemics
   3. morphology,
   4. the lexicon, in particular the etymological background of specific English lexical items and the spelling conventions of lending languages such as Greek, Latin and French.

Reading List

• Aitchison, J. 1994 (2nd edition), Words in the Mind, Blackwell, Oxford.
• Allsopp, R. 1996 The Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Carney, E. 1999, English Spelling, Routledge, London.
• Cook, V. 2004, The English Writing System, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Greenbaum, S. (ed.) (1996) Comparing English Worldwide: The International Corpus of English. Oxford: Clarendon.
• Giegerich, H. 1992 English Phonology Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Harris, R. 1996 Signs of Writing, Routledge, London.
• Jenkins, J. (2000) The Phonology of English as an International Language: New Models, New Norms, New Goals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Neef, M, R. Sproat & A. Neijt (eds.) 2002, The Relation of Writing to Spoken Language, Max Neiemey Verlag, Gmbh.
• Peyawary, A. (1999) The Core Vocabulary of International English: A corpus approach. Bergen: HIT Centre.
• Roach, P. 2001 3rd Edition English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Shockey, L. 2002 The Sound Patterns of Spoken English Blackwell, Oxford.
• Wells, J. 1982 Accents of English Vols. 1-3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.