ENGL 202
Prof. G. Steinberg
Sound and Sense

Ease of Articulation

Think about what you have learned about sound changes.  Sounds in words usually change for the sake of ease of articulation.  So, what can sound changes such as assimilation, dissimilation, intrusion, and ellipsis teach us about ease or difficulty of articulation?  How might a poet use ease or difficulty of articulation in a poem to convey meaning?

Also, think about language acquisition.  The sounds an infant can produce must be easier to articulate than the sounds that an infant can't produce.  What can we learn from an infant's babbling or reduplication about ease or difficulty of articulation?

Assimilation teaches us that sounds that share features are easier to say right together.  It's easier to say imput than it is to say input, because m shares more features with p than n does.  So, combinations of sounds in a poetic line that share common features are probably going to be easier and quicker to say than combinations of sounds that do not share common features.

Dissimilation teaches us that sounds that are too close to each other may not be all that easy to say together (and will change features in order to dissimilate from one another).  Try to say /stemn/.  The /mn/ combination is very difficult, despite the fact that m and n share two features (voiced and nasal).  In a sense, they share too many features too close together.  They become, as a result, difficult to say.  Something similar happens with two of the very same consonant back to back.  So, while combinations of sounds that share features are easy to articulate (see above under "Assimilation"), combinations of sounds that share too many features too closely together are often difficult to articulate.  This seems particularly true of the nasals and the so-called sibilants (i.e., s, z, the palatal fricatives, and the palatal affricates).

Intrusion teaches us that consonant clusters are often difficult to say (such that we have a tendency to put extra sounds, especially vowel sounds, into the midst of consonant clusters to make them easier to say).  But some consonant clusters aren't as difficult to say as others.  Think about what consonant clusters are common in English at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of words (mp, pl, pr, ps, pt, py, mb, bl, br, by, nt, tr, ts, nd, dr, kl, kr, ks, kt, ky, kw, gl, gr, gz, fl, fr, ft, fy, θr, sp, st, sk, sky, spl, spr, spy, str, sw, sy, nz, etc.).  Many of these easily articulated clusters involve the s or z sound.  These clusters also tend to contain more voiceless sounds than voiced.  Many involve stops, but rarely more than one stop.  So, as you read a line of poetry, pay attention to what consonants are clustered in the line.  But pay attention not just to the clusters within a single word but clusters formed between words as well -- e.g., not only the ftl combination in the word "softly" (/saftli/) but also the nds cluster that is created when we put together the words "sound and sense" (/saυndęndsεns/).

Ellipsis also teaches us that consonant clusters are often difficult to say (such that we sometimes simply ignore part of the cluster for ease of articulation).  Think about the word sounds.  When we say that word, do we really say the ndz cluster at the end of the word?  Don't we often leave out the d and just say saυnz?  So, think carefully about which consonant clusters in English are easy and which are difficult to articulate.  We're just as likely to say "sound an' sense" (/saυndęnsεns/) as we are to say "sound and sense" (/saυndęndsεns/) or to say "sof'ly" (/safli/) rather than "softly" (/saftli/).

Babbling teaches us that CV syllables (that is, syllables that consist of a single consonant and then a single vowel) are the most basic and easiest syllable pattern to produce -- since that's the syllable pattern that infants produce first.  So, a phrase that contains primarily CV syllables should be easier to articulate than a phrase with VC, CVC, CCV, CCVC, and other syllable combinations.

Reduplication shows us that saying the same syllable twice (as in "mama," "dada," and "bye-bye") is easier to articulate than producing two different syllables.  So, alliteration (that is, the repetition of an initial consonant sound, as in "Monday morning") and assonance (that is, the repetition of a vowel sound, as in "slow moan") are easier to articulate than combinations of totally different sounds.  But a combination of two of the same sound back-to-back (e.g., "slick cans") is difficult to articulate (cf. "cool cans" or "tin cans"), as is excessive alliteration or assonance (repeating the same consonant or vowel sound again and again and again and again and again).

Phonetic Intensives

There are certain sounds and sound combinations that seem to be associated with certain images or ideas.  These sounds and sound combinations are known as phonetic intensives.  Look at the list of words below, for example:

  1. flame, flare, flash, flicker
  2. glare, gleam, glint, glow, glisten
  3. slippery, slick, slide, slime, slop, slobber, slushy
  4. staunch, stalwart, stout, sturdy, stable, steady, stocky, stern, strong, stubborn, steel
  5. inch, imp, thin, slim, little, bit, chip, sliver, snip, wink, kid, glimmer, flicker, miniature
  6. moan, groan, woe, toll
  7. doom, gloom, moody
  8. flare, glare, stare, blare
  9. spatter, scatter, shatter, chatter, rattle, clatter, batter
  10. ripple, bubble, twinkle, sparkle, rumble, jingle

What do the words in each group have in common in terms of sound?  What do they have in common in terms of meaning?

Mel Brooks, a famous comedian, once said that the k sound is the funniest sound in the English language.  Edgar Allan Poe chose "nevermore" as the word that his raven would say in "The Raven," because he thought that the -ore sound was the most despairing in the English language (as in mourn, forlorn, tore, and deplore).

Certain sounds are associated with certain images or ideas.

Qualities of Sounds

Certain sounds are just easier to say than others.  Vowels are easier to say than consonants.  Tense vowels are generally held longer than lax vowels (and therefore seem fuller, longer, and more melodious).  The stops can be harsher than other consonants (since you have to stop the flow of air completely to say them), even though they often seem to make consonant clusters easier to say.  Generally, the weaker a consonant, the easier it is to say (so that nasals, liquids, and semivowels are generally very quick and easy to articulate), but voiceless sounds are usually perceived as easier to say and softer than voiced sounds (which are actually weaker than their voiceless counterparts).  Also, weaker sounds in combination, such as rapid alternation between the r, l, w, and y sounds, can be difficult.

Tongue Twisters

So, why are tongue twisters hard to say?  Based on what you have learned in class about sound, can you say why the following tongue twisters are difficult to articulate?

  1. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
  2. Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
  3. Sally sells seashells by the seashore.
  4. Sheena leads, Sheila needs.
  5. Clowns grow glowing crowns.
  6. How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
  7. Send toast to ten tense stout saints' ten tall tents.
  8. Stupid superstition!
  9. He threw three free throws.
  10. Willy's real rear wheel.
  11. Plymouth sleuths thwart Luther's slithering.
  12. Preshrunk silk shirts.
  13. She had shoulder surgery.

Below is "Upon Julia's Voice" by Robert Herrick (1591-1674).  Transcribe the poem into the International Phonetic Alphabet.  What patterns of sound do you see in the poem?  Why are some lines easy to read aloud and others not so easy?  How is Herrick using sound to reflect the meaning in the poem?


Upon Julia's Voice



So smooth, so sweet, so silvery is thy voice


As, could they hear, the Damned would make no noise,


But listen to thee (walking in thy chamber)


Melting melodious words to Lutes of Amber.


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