Phonetics, phonology and prosodics: how speech sounds and effects are…

The idea

This strand covers the sound system of spoken English. Phonetics deals with how individual speech sounds are produced: place and manner of articulation for consonants, tongue and lip position for vowels, and voicing. Phonology concerns how sounds pattern in a language, including phonemes, assimilation, elision and insertion. Prosodics covers suprasegmental features like pitch, stress, tempo, volume and pauses, which carry meaning beyond individual sounds; intonation is a prosodic feature, not a phonological one. In written exams you analyse pre-transcribed data, so identify features in the transcript provided rather than producing your own transcription; transcription is relevant to the NEA Language Investigation.

For example: Falling intonation on a tag question invites agreement, while a pause before a key word can build suspense or signal hesitation.

What earns the marks

• Uses accurate phonetic terminology for place and manner of articulation, voicing and vowel description.
• Identifies phonological processes such as assimilation, elision and insertion in connected speech.
• Analyses prosodic features including pitch, stress, tempo, volume and pausing, and explains their communicative effect.
• Works accurately from pre-transcribed data provided in the exam, identifying features rather than producing a full transcription.
• Links sound-level choices to meaning, identity, audience or context rather than describing them in isolation.
• Distinguishes between phonetic description of articulation, phonological patterning and prosodic effect, including placing intonation under prosodics.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Confusing phonetics with phonology.

  Put it right by treating phonetics as articulation of sounds and phonology as how sounds pattern and function in a language.

• Describing accent features as errors.

  Put it right by analysing them neutrally as systematic, rule-governed variation.

• Ignoring prosody and analysing only words.

  Put it right by commenting on pitch, stress, tempo and pausing alongside segmental features.

• Assuming you must transcribe speech in the written exam.

  Put it right by working from the pre-transcribed data supplied, and reserving transcription for the NEA Language Investigation.

• Classifying intonation as phonology.

  Put it right by treating intonation as a prosodic/suprasegmental feature.

Exam tips

• Work from the pre-transcribed data provided, and quote only the short stretch you will analyse.
• Name the feature, give the example, then explain its effect in context in that order.
• Use IPA symbols accurately where they help, but always explain the point in words as well.