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INTRODUCTION

1.0. Introduction

GlobaliZatiOn has embraced all aspects of human life in 21" century so

much so that, like it or loathe it; the phenomenon is here for a long

time to come. Along with globalization has come the rapid erasure of

borders, melting away of boundaries, whittling away of identities and most

importantly the gradual replacement of the tower of Babel with a single

almighty language - English. Any individual who perceives English as

expendable or not worth learning because of the ideological baggage it

carries is committing themselves to a lifetime of self delusion and

condemnation.

In the world we inhabit, acquiring English is something difficult to avoid.

English is now essential for participation in a range of activities, linguistic,

commenial, sodal, political etc. The global village uses English now more

than ever and English is u~ed by the information highway to convey all the

latest findings and developments in a wide variety of domains, in particular

the scientific and technological. In industrial, financial, and diplomatic

arenas, English is making rapid inroads.

Interestingly, the spread of English is no longer solely in the hands of the

educators or ideologues who perceive themselves as the engineers of

language learning. Instead, with globalization, the English language is

making inroads into the consdou<;ness of non native speakers in a manner

which is securely cut off from the influence of language authorities.

Information technology is introducing new avenues for the English

language to take as it continues to colonize the hearts and minds of millions

of non native speakers. The increasing use of English among non native
speakers, many of whom are drawn from the erstwhile colonies of Africa

and Asia, makes the present study all the more significant and interesting.

Having discus~ed the indispensability of the English language in particular

it is appropriate to begin with the title "A phonetic study of segmental

features and word accent of English spoken by African students in

Hyderabad" with a general discussion of language and language related
ISsues.

1.1. Language and Communication

Language is an instrument used by human beings in social communication.

It is a creation of our social needs and plays a great part in our daily life;

though we rarely observe it, taking it rather for granted. Humans are the
only ones with productive communication system that gives them the ability

to represent reality. As }annedy, Poletto and Weldon (1991) says,

"Language fills every part of our lives; it gil>es words to our tllOughts,
voice to our ideas and expression to our feelings. It is a rich and varied
human ability -- one we call use without although, that children seem
to acquire automatically, and that linguists have discovered to be
complex yet describable"

it is certainly obvious that human's language ability is rich and varied

in nature.

Language is a generative system. Knowing the linguistic rules allows

language user to understand and create infinite number of sentences.
Language is so complex that, any attempt to define it poses problems.

Everyone knows what language is, but a very few will be able to
scientifically define it satisfactorily. However, the common points that

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emerge from various definition~ of language given by lingllists are a)

language is a highly complex system of sounds and b) its main function is

to enable the members of a social group to communicate with one another

freely and satisfactorily. However, many linguists have given definitions of

'language' .

•:. Edward Sapir (1921) mentions what he calls 'a serviceable definition' of

language:

"Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of

communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system

of voluntarily produced symbols. These symbols are, in the first

instance, auditory and they are produced by the so-called "organs

of speech" .

•:. According to Lahey (1978), "Language has been defined as code

whereby the ideas about the world are represented through

conventional system of arbitrary signals for communication."

.:. According to Chomsky(1957), "Language is a set of (finite or infinite)

sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of
elements."

The concept of communication is extremely diverse and broad in scope.

Mainly, it is the sharing of understanding between two or more persons. Or,

as Keith Davis puts it, "it is a process of passing information and
understanding form one person to another". (as ciled in Rai 2001:2)

The signals used for human communication are generally of two different
types - spoken or written. "One of the chief characteristics of the human

beings is his ability to communicate to his fellow human beings complicated

messages concerning every aspect of his activity "(Gimson 1980 :1)

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 The medium of speech is more important than the medium of writing

because, firstly, speech comes first in the history of mankind. Secondly, it is

used more often than the medium of writing because it is an easier and

faster medium of communication. Lastly, written English is often

inadequate and a misleading representation of the spoken language of

today.

o The communicative role of spoken language becomes evident when one

considers its nature and mode of production. It has been rightly emphasized

that language is essentially 'speech' - a meaningful sequence of sound

pattern that has significance for both speaker and hearer.

1.2. English as an International Language

English has emerged as one of the most important world languages. It IS

said that English is a key which opens doors to scientific and technological

development. An increase in the knowledge of English can contribute

directly to greater understanding among the nations. The rapidly growing

interest in English cuts across political and ideological lines because of the

convenience of a linguafranca -the English language. It is learnt and used by

educated people throughout the common wealth. It is also learnt as a

foreign language by people in countries all over the globe.

1.3. The Spread of English

Second language speakers of English today outnumber the first language

speakers three to one. Post-colonial global English is not tied to one place,

culture or people. The linguistic code has undergone a remarkable

metamorphosis so much so that we now operate a number of distinct

varieties of English across the globe, called world Englishes. The whole

movement aims to promote the creative and critical use of the language

while at the same time preserving the local flavor and idiom.
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A prominent model of the spread of English has been that of Kachru's

(1996:356) which is reproduced below.

The "Expanding Circle"

China 1,088,200,000
Egypt 50,273,000
Indonesid 175,904.000
Israel 4,5 J 2,000
Jdpd.n 122,620,000
Korea 42,593.000
Nepal 18,004,000
Saudi Aritbia 12,972,000
Taiwiln 19.813.000
USSR 285.796,000
Zimbabwe 8,878,000

Tht!' "Outer Circle"

Banglddcsh 107,756.000
(~hana B,754,OOO
Indiol 810,806.000
Kt'.nya 22,919,000
M,dllysid 16,965,000
Nigeri'l 112,258,000
Pdkistan 109.434,000
Philippines 58,723,000
Singapore 2,641,000
Sri Lmka 16,606,000
Tanzania 23,9%,000
Zambia 7,384,000

The "Inner Circle"

USA 245,800,000
UK 57.006,000
C.lnildoil 25.880.000
Australia 16.470,000
New Z('dliUld 3,366,000

The most influential model of the spread of English has undoubtedly been

that of Braj Kachru (1992:356). He divides World Englishes into three

concentric circles, the Inner circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle.

The three circles represent the types of spread, the patterns of acquisition,

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and the functional allocation of English in diverse cultural contexts, as the

language traveled from Britain.

1.3.1. The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle includes the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and

New Zealand. In these regions people speak English as a first language.

People who happen to be born in the Inner Circle of course enjoy a privilege

since they learn, for free, to speak this global language with a native accent.

Their language gives them a certain global reach and an ad vantage in many

walks of life, whereas those who happen to be born into the Outer and

Expanding Circles have to put years of time and effort into attaining some

mastery of the language.

1.3.2. TI,e Outer Circle

In countries outside the Inner Circle, English has different societal function~,

and it is therefore practical to place these countries in two different circles:

the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle. In the Outer Circle we mostly

find people who live in former British colonies, such a Kenya and Tanzania

in Africa, and India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Singapore in Asia. In these

countries, English is an official language and widely used in administration,

education and the media. India is a striking example of the spread and

importance of English in the Outer Circle. In this country of more than a

billion inhabitants and more than 1600 major languages, English has held its

position and is widely used in government, in administration, the law

courts, secondary and higher education, the armed forces, media, commerce

and tourism.

1.3.3. The Expanding Circle

The Expanding Circle encompasses large parts of the world where English is

learned as a foreign language because it is found useful, or indeed

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indispensable, for international contacts in such areas as industry, business,

politics, diplomacy, education, research, technology, sports, entertainment

and tourism. Today there are hundreds of millions of people who, though

not living in an English-speaking country, have acquired a good working

knowledge of English. This circle now seems to be ever-expanding,

strengthening the claims of English as the international language of today.

1. 4. A brief outline of Africa

As the present study is concerned with analyzing the speech patterns of

African students of English, it will be appropriate to discuss Africa as a

linguistic entity and situate English in the African scheme of things.

Africa is considered today to be perhaps the most multilingual region in the

world, with more languages spoken per capita than anywhere else. It is

estimated that 1,000 to 1,140 languages are spoken in Africa (Voege/ill alJd

Voegclill 1964).
It is estimated that there are approximately five thousand languages in the

world, at least half of which are found in Africa. Africa is thus the most

multilingual continent and no brief summary could possibly do full justice

to the variety of languages found there or to the numerous influences to

which English has been exposed.

It is possible, however, to divide the continent into six main areas, each of

which has a continuum of Englishes:

1.4.1. Central Africa

1.4.2. East Africa
1.4.3. North Africa
1.4A. South Africa
1 A.5. Southern Africa
1.4.6. West Africa

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1.4.1. Cetltral Africa

"The population of Central African Republic in 2003 was estimated by the

United Nations at 3,865,000, which placed it 123rd in population among the

193 nations in the world" (Central Africatl Republic Population. htnd.) None of

the three countries which together form 'central Africa' had English as a

colonial language. The 34 million people of the Central African Republic,

Zaire and the Congo still employ French as their official language but

Engli~h i~ taught as the second foreign language in all schools. The English

of this region resembles that of West Africa, especially countries such as

Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, where French i~ an official language.

1.4.2. East Africa

East Africa includes nine countries (Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia,

Djibouti, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania). The totaf population in

2010 was 327 million although only a minority can speak English. (Afro

News, 20 www.ajroi.comlartiC/c).

1.4.3. North Africa

The countries described under this heading are Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria,

Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad and the disputed territory

of Western Sahara. The population of the area was 195 million in 2007

(www.maps.unomaha.edulpeterson). English is most widely used in Egypt and

taught as a second European language in all francophone territories and as

the first foreign bnguage in Libya.

1.4.4. South Africa

South Africa had a population in mid-2010 of 49.99-million

(www.southafrica.infolaboutlJacts). English is one of the two official languages

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of the country and the varieties of English used match the social, racial and

political divisions in the country. Mother-tongue English, in its standard

and nonstandard forms, reflects the British origins of most speakers;

Afrikaans Engiish is the variety used by people whose mother tongue is

Afrikaans. The English of the black community reflects individual mother

tongues and the influence of Afrikaans. The English of the Indian

community is similar to Indian English in other parts of the world but has

absorbed a number of elements from Afrikaans. The variety of English

described is the prestige form of mother-tongue English (SAE South African

English).
1.4.5. Southern Africa

It includes nine countries, namely Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho,

Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland, which

together have an estimated population of over 40 million.

1.4.6. West Africa

West Africa comprises fourteen countries, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau,

Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria,

Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, and has a population

approaching 140 million. English is an official language in Gambia, Sierra

Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon and is the most widely-taught

second language of the other eight countries.

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1.5. The Status of English in Anglophone Countries: Tanzania, Kenya,
Uganda, Namibia and Nigeria

In the glorious days of colonization that European powers delighted in,

Africa were carved into various zones, several countries falling prey to a
major European power in that zone. Much of East, West and Central Africa

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 '.

was colonized by Britain. As result these colonies of Britain began using

English as the official language of communication and came to be known as
Anglo phone countries as opposed to Francophone countries which had
French as official language. These countries are starting are discussed below
starting with Tanzania.

1.5.1. Tanzania

The name Tanzania derives from the names of the two states Tanganyika
and Zanzibar that united in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika
and Zanzibar, which later in the same year was renamed the United
Republic of Tanzania.

Tanzania on the globe

Tanzanians see themselves as having two "official" languages, English and

Swahili. English serves the purpose of providing Tanzanians with the ability

to participate in the global economy and culture. The first language typically

learned by a Tanzanian is that of his or her tribe, with Swahili and English

learned thereafter.

English is the language of secondary education, universities, technology and

higher courts. In the seventies Tanzanian university students used to speak

English with each other, whereas now they almost exclusively use Swahili

outside the classroom. Even in secondary school and university classes,

where officially only English should be used, it is now quite common to use

a mix of Swahili and English.

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1.5.2. Kenya

Kenya is a country in East Africa. It has the Indian Ocean to its east. Kenya

was a British colony, but became independent on December 12,1963. Many

different languages are spoken in Kenya. English is the official language and

many people speak Kiswahili. Kiswahili is the National Language. All

school going Kenyans are required to learn English. English is the language

of instruction in the schools and institutions of higher learning.

\.

Kenya on the globe

1.5.3. Namibia

Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990

following the Namibian War of Independence.

Namibia on the globe

English became the sole official language of Namibia. Some other languages

have received semi-official recognition by being allowed as medium of

instruction in primary schools. Among the younger generation, the most

widely understood language is English. Both Afrikaans and English are

used primarily as a second language reserved for public communication, but

small first language groups exist throughout the country. While the official

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language is English, most of the white population speaks either German or

Afrikaan~.

1.5.4. Uganda
.
Uganda gained independence from Britain in 1962. The official languages

are English and Swahili, although multiple other languages are spoken in

the country.

Uganda on the globe

1.5.5. Nigeria
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the eighth most populous
country in the world, and the most populous country in the world in which
the majority of the population is black. It is listed among the "Next. Eleven"
economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The official
language of Nigeria, English, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and
linguistic tInity of the country. The choice of English as the official language
was partially related to the fact that a part of the Nigerian population spoke
English as a result of British colonization that ended in 1960. Even though
most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages, English,
being the official language, is widely used for education, business
transactions and for official purposes.

Nigeria on the globe

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1.6. Models for Analysis

The study of the phonology of a language demands a close examination of

.
the 'form' and 'function' of the phonological elements that operate in that

language. In other words, it involves a description of the 'general phonetic

nature' of these elements and the function they perform in the phonological

structure of that language.

There are various theories of phonological analysis, each presenting a

different model or approach to phonological analysis. Three of the

important schools of phonological analysis are:

.:. Phonemic Analysis

.:. Prosodic Analysis

.:. Generative phonology

1.6.1. Phonemic Analysis

In terms of the phoneme theory and by means of phonemic analysis,

languages can be shown to organize in selection they make of the available

sound differences in human speech into a limited number of current

distinctive units.

The phonemic analysis, which has come into being as a result of the search

for adequate and efficient broad transcriptions, centers round the phoneme

concept and till today the majority of linguists base their phonological

analysis and derive their principles of phonology from the theory of the

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•
phonemes, (Robins, 1972:121). Starting with J.RFirth, who first specifically

formulated the idea of prosodic analysis in 1948, several distinguished

linguists like RH.Robins, John Lyons and S.R Anderson have been at pains

to impress the methodological superiority of prosodic analysis over

phonemic analysis.

The phonemicist sets up one over-all inventory of phonological units, i.e.

phonemes, for the language he sets out to describe. In other words, the

primary aim of the phonemic analysis is to set up the overall inventory of

the phonemes (which are defined as the minimal distinctive sound units) of

the language it describes. The aim is "to describe language utterances, on the

phonological levels as a uni-dimensional sequence of discrete units, every

one of which is in opposition with every other of the inventory in at least

one pair of distinct utterances of the language". Lyons (1972:276). In other

words, the phonemic analysis gathers all the phonic material that is

regarded as relevant to individual segments, except for pitch, stress, and

length, which he treats as belonging to units higher than segments, i.e.

suprasegmental.

1.6.2. Prosodic Analysis

The prosodist, on the other hand, describes his data in tem1S of two

fundamentally different kinds of elements, 'phonematic unit' and

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'prosodies'. Phonematic units, in most general terms, constitute the

consonant and vowel elements of a phonological structure; but a greater

part of the phonetic material is described as prosodies, whose domain of

relevance extends beyond the individual segments over structure of any

length up to sentences.

Lyons proposed to divide prosodies into two different kinds of phonological

units (Lyons,1972.275-276) prosodic and suprasegmmtal. According to him,

the first category would comprise stress, pitch and length; the second would

include 'long components' such as retroflexion, palatalization, velarization,

nasalization, glottalization, aspiration, assimilation (e.g. vowel harmony in

Turkish, syllable initiality, syllable finality etc,) . Lyons, however, admits

that neither the prosodic approach nor the phonemic one is 'completely

satisfactory as a general theory of phonological structure' (Lyons 1972:275-

276). He adds that some languages are better described by the one than the

other.

1.6.3. Generative Phonology

The approach of generative phonology has been developed and applied to

English by Chomsky and Halle in the Sound Pattern of English, (1968). As

against minimally distinctive phonological oppositions, generative

phonology uses distinctive features as the basic building blocks of sequences

of discrete segments. Distinctive features, in oth('r words, are the minimal

elements of which phonetic, lexical and phonological transcriptions are

composed by combination and concatenation". (Chomsky and Hale, 1968:64)

Secondly, generative phonology is based on the concept of underlying

phonological representations and a set of rules that convert them into their
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phonetic representations. These representations correspond to the levels of

'systematic phonemics' and' systematic phonetics' .

1.7. Criteria of Phonemic Analysis

The phoneme has been established by means of six criteria set out by

Hockett (1942:3-21) which are: similarity, non-intersection, contrastive and

complementary distribution, completeness, pattern congruity and economy.

1.7.1. Similarity

'If "a" and "b" are members of one phoneme, they share one or more

features'. For example, in English, [ I 1 and [ t 1 share the features of

alveolarity, lateralness and voice.

1.7.2. Non-intersection

This refers to the belief that a particular phoneme cannot go to phoneme A

in one context and phoneme B in another, i.e. no intersection is permitted.

1.7.3. Contrastive and Complementary Distribution

Phonologists have tried to establish the phonemes of a language by

examining the distribution of the sounds. "If two sounds which are

phonemically similar OCCur in the same phonetiC environment, and if a

substitution of one sound for the other results in a difference in meaning,

then these sounds are assigned to different phonemes" (Hymes. 1975:60)

Two such words, which differ only in one segment in the same

environment, arc called a minimal pair. Two sounds are in complementary

distribution if their OCcurrence is conditioned, i.e., one occurs only when the

other does not occur.

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1.7.4. Completeness

This means that no sound of a language can be left out. All sounds of a

language must go to one or the other phoneme of the language. Otherwise,

the analysis is incomplete.

1.7.5. Pattern Congruity

There is a pattern in the organization of the sounds in a language.

1.7.6. Economy

When two equally good descriptions are possible, the one that gives fewer

inventory of phonemes is economical and to be preferred over the other.

1.B. Tools for phonetic description

1.S.1. Segmental features

A speech utterance can be described, in part, as a sequence of individual

speech sounds. Speech sounds, also called segments or phones, are sounds

used in languages.

Speech sounds are generally divided into two types, consonants and vowels.

Consonants are sounds in which a significant constriction is made

somewhere in the vocal tract - a narrowing that interferes with the flow of

air out of the mouth - so that there is at least some reduction in the energy of

the sound. Vowels are sounds in which no such constriction is made; the air

flows out of the mouth relatively freely and the sound is relatively loud and

strong. All the languages have consonants and vowels.

1.S.2. Suprasegmental features

In addition to the individual consonants and vowels, there are properties of

utterances that span more than one segment. usually referred to as

suprasegmentals, or prosody. Suprasegmental means 'above the segment'.

\7
These properties include variations in loudness, duration and pitch, as well

as variation in the degree of energy or effort put into the articulation of each

sound. These generally function to make some elements more prominent

than others. In the words of David crystal "prosodic features may be defined

as vocal effects constituted by variations along the parameters of pitch,

loudness, duration and silence." (Crystal, David, Prosodic Systems and

Intonation in Englis/!, Cambridge, 1969, p.12S.)

1.8.2.1. Accent

In day-to-day speech, 'accent' means 'emphasis'. "Accent is used in a non-

technical sense to refer to a particular (more often dialectal or 'foreign')

mode of pronunciation." (Allen, W.S., Accent and Rhythm (Cambridge, 1973,

p.86.!

"If we can trace the origin of a person by his pronunciation, that person is

said to be speaking that language with that 'accent"." (Abercrombie, D.,

Studies in phonetics and Linguistics, London, 1965, pp.11-12).

But we use the term' accent' in a different sense here: The syllable which is

relatively more prominent than its neighbors in a word may be said to be

accented. Gimson says: "The syllable or syllables of a word which stand out

from the remainder are said to be accented, to receive the accent." (Gimson,

A.c., An Introduction to the pronunciation of English (London, 1976), p.222.)

While uttering English words which consist of more than one syllable, all

the syllables are not given the same prominence. For example, the word

'captain' has two syllables - a weak one, and a strong one in that order. The

word 'delight' has two syllables. The first syllable is a weak syllable and the

second syllable is a strong one.

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1.S.3. Prominence

Stress refers to the prominence that certain syIlables carry which makes

them stand out from the rest of the syllables in a word or sentence. A

syllable is said· to be stressed if it is uttered with greater muscular effort

which makes it more prominent, when compared to the unstressed

syIlable(s). Stress may be defined as the degree of force with which a syIlable

is pronounced.

There are some languages in which each syllable receives equal prominence.

in English, some syllables are stressed, i.e., they are produced with more

force, while others are unstressed and they are weak syllables. The rhythm

in English is said to be stress timed, i.e. stressed syllables tend to occur at

regular intervals of time. According to Roach (2000), four factors make the

stressed syllable prominent. They are stress, loudness, pitch, quality and

quantity.

1.B.3.1. Stress

'Stress' should not be confused with 'accent'. As pointed out earlier, stress is

one of the factors that decides accent. Jones differentiates stress from accent

by saying that accent is an effect perceived objectively by the hearer. "It is

thus quite a different thing form stress, which is a subjective activity on the

part of the speaker." (Jones, D., The Phoneme: Its Nature and Use (Cambridge,

1952), p.134.)

That is why McCarthy too makes it very clear tnat "stress is not the same

thing as prominence. It is an important element contributing to

prominence." (Me Carthy, A.D., English Pronunciation (Cambridge, 1956),

p.1S6.)

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·O'Connor says: "Stress is the name given to the stronger muscular effort,

both respiratory and articulatory, which we can feel in connection with

some syllables as opposed to others in English." (O'Connor, J.D , Phonetics

,Great Britain, 1973), p. 194.)

In the words of Wells "stress can be seen phonetically as the consequence of

additional respiratory and articulatory muscular effort on certain syllables,

with an auditory correlate of increased loudness". (Wells, I.e., Accents of

English, I (Cambridge, 1982), p. 87.)

According to Abercrombie "a syllable produced by a reinforced chest-pulse is

called a stressed syllable". (Abercrombie, Elements of General Phonetics

(Edinburgh, 1980) p.35.

Daniel Jones holds that "stress may be described as the degree of force with

which a sound or syllable is uttered ". (Daniel lones, An Outline of English

Phonetics (Cambridge, 1960), p.24)

Gimson defines stress as follows: "A sound or syllable which is stressed is

one upon which there is expended in the articulation relatively great breath

effort and muscular energy". (Gimson, A. e., An Introduction to the

Pronunciation of English (London, 1976). P. 222.)

1.8.3.2. Pitch

The pitch of the voice is determined by the frequency of vibration of the

vocal cords. The more rapidly the vocal cords vibrate, the higher will be the

pitch of the syllable. If one syllable in a word or sentence is uttered with a

high pitch, as compared to the others which are produced with a low pitch,

the syllable with the high pitch is more prominent or salient to the listener.

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Pitch is the product of the frequency of vibrations of the vocal cords, and our

perception of pitch directly depends upon that frequency. The higher the

fundamental glottal frequency, the higher will be our impression of pitch.

Fluctuations in 'pitch occur in the sentences of all languages. No language

uses a pure monotone. Every sentence, every word, every ~1'llable, is given

some pitch when it is spoken. Even sound in isolation i~ produced by

vibrations whose frequencies constitute its pitch. There is no pitch less

sentences.

In English, changes in pitch are normally accompanied by change of

meaning. Whenever it is found that a sentence can be pronounced in two,

three, four or more ways, the different pitch sequences probably imply a

changed relation of the speaker to the sentence, or of the sentence to its

environment. That is why wrong pitch patterns often lead to semantic

confusion and those who speak English as a second language must pay

special attention toward acquiring the appropriate pitch patterns, the

intonation, of the language. Intonation patterns arc used a) to indicate the

information focus in the sentence. b) to distinguish different types of

sentences. c) to indicate the speakers attitude.

As Abercrombie says, "pitch fluctuation in its linguistic function, may

conveniently be called 'speech melody"'. He further says, "Tone is speech

melody when it is property of the sentences." (David Abercrombie, Elements of

General phoneti~s, Edinburgh Uni7,ersity Press, p. 105)

1.8.3.3. Quality

According to Gimson, the actual sequence of phonemes in a word too may

contribute to the listener perceiving some sOlmds and syllables being more

prominent than the others in a word. In a sequence of phonemes uttered

with equal stress and with no pitch prominence on any part of the sequence,
21
 we may notice the following features. The prominence in respect of the

inherent quality is in the order given below.

a) Vowels are heard more prominent than consonants.

b) Open vowels like /a:/ will be heard as more prominent than close

vowels (example /u:/)

c) Among consonants, the nasals, the lateral and the frictionless

continuant /m,n,I),I,r/ are heard as more prominent than others. (The

reason is this: when these sounds are articulated, the air escapes

freely and continuously and these sounds are vowel-like in their

articulation)

d) The fricatives will be rendered more prominent than the plosives and

affricates.

1.8.3.4. Quantity

If a polysyllabic word is uttered without making any stress and pitch

variations, the listener may notice that the long vowels and diphthongs are

realized as more prominent than the short vowels.

Any or all the above mentioned factors-stress, pitch, quality and quantity

playa part in rendering a syllable prominent.

1.9. Some Rules for Accentual patterns of English

- "One need not form the impression that word -accent in English is mostly

irregular. We have some simple rules for accentual patterns in English

polysyllabic words". (Bansal, R.K. and Harrison, I.B., Spoken Englisll for India

(Bombay, 1980), p.SO)

Rule 1: Words with weak prefixes receive the accent on the root of the

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 word and not on the prefix. For example: a'cross, be'cauqe

Rule 2: The inflectional suffixes --ed, -es, and -ing do not affect the
location of the accent. For example: 'relate, re'lat~ 'happen,
'happening.

Rule 3: The derivational suffixes -age, -ance, --en, --er, --ess, -ful, --
hood, -ice, --ish, --ive, --less, --Iy, --ment, --ness, --or, --ship, --ter,
--use and --zen do not usually affect the accent.

For example: 'cover 'coverage; 'fever 'feverish;

'bitter 'bitterness

Rule 4: Words ending -ion receive the primary accent on the last but one
syllable. For example: exami'nation

Rule 5: Words ending in --ic, --ical, -ically, --ious, --ial, --and -ially
have the primary accent on the syllable preceding the suffix.
For example: sympa'thetk, e'lectricaL me'morhl etc.,

Rule 6: words ending in --ity receive the accent on the third syllable from
the end. For example: ca'paci.!y.
Rule 7: Word ending in -ian are accented on the syllable preceding the
suffix. For example: li'brarian
Rule 8: In words ending in - ate, the primary accent is placed two
syllables before the suffix, that is, on the third syllable from the
end. For example: 'cultivate
In disyllabic words ending in '-ate', the primary accent is placed
on the second syllable if the word is a verb and, on the first
syllable if the word is a verb and, on the first syllable if the word
is a non-verb. For example: re'late (verb), 'Private (non-verb)
Rule 9: The suffixes -aire, -eer, -ental, -ential, -esque, -ique
receive the primary accent on their first syllable (first syllable of

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 the suffix). For example: -aire - ,millio'naire. ca'reer.
funda'mental
Rule 10: Accent in Noun Compounds:

A corripound word refers to a word made of two separable words.

Generally in compound words, the primary accent is placed on one element

and usually it is the first element that receives the primary accent. We may
list some examples: 'crossword, 'earthquake, 'schoolbus.

In some compound words the primary accent is placed on the second

element. Some examples may be given: her'self, my'self

We find certain compound words in which both elements receive the accent,
but the second clement takes the primary accent. Some examples are given
below: ,after-'noon, ,post-'graduate

1.10. A briefreview of the earlier studies

Josef Schmied (The hand book of world Englishes, Wiley-B1ackweJl2009,

East African Englishes, p.192) in his article he described the phonology of

East African English. And he made some generalizations and tendencies for
consonants and vowels. They are as follows.

1. The merger of / r / and / I / is wide spread.

2. Intrusive or deleted nasals, especially / n / before plosives, are common.

3. English fricatives are generally difficult but particular deviation~ often

restricted to certain ethnic groups.

4. Length differences in vowels are leveled and not contrasted phonemically.

Short vowels are usually longer and more peripheral than in RP especially

/ 1/ tends towards / i-I, / U I towards / u' /, /:> / towards / o' / and / A / and

/ a: / towards I a /.
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5. The central vowels I A I, I 3: I and I a I as in but, bird, and a, are avoided
and tend toward half-open or open position la I and I c I.

6. Diphthongs tend to have only marginal status and to be monophthongized. In

the diphthongs I CI I and I au I, the second elements
almost coincide with the I c· I and I a: I

7. All the centering diphthongs I I:l, ca, U:J I tend to be pronounced as

opening diphthongs or monophthongs I la, ca, ua I.

B. Consonant clusters are major phonetic problems.

9. Final consonants are dropped when there are two or more in a sequence.

Eg. [ neks 1for 'next'

10. If plosives are preceded by fricatives, they are dropped in word-final

position; if they are produced by other plosives or occur in non-final

position, they are split by vowels inserted, between the consonants,

11. The most noticeable feature of the speech flow in African Englishes is

the tendency toward a stress-timed rather than a syllable-time rhythm.

1.11. Significance of the Study

Teachers often complain of their inability to make out what the students are

saying just as the students find it hard to understand lectures. This is

understandable considering that most African languages, much like Indian

languages, are syllable timed whereas English is stress timed. It is rightly

suspected that the speech patterns of Africans differ widely [rom the native

speaker patterns and establishing the areas of difference from an analysis of

their speech will greatly contribute to an understanding of how and where

they have gone wrong, the identification serving to remedy hitherto

uncorrected flaws or unintended errors. Also, the speech patterns tell us a

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lot about the meaning that is embedded in the utterances. Analysis of

suprasegmental features and word accent will lead us to a proper

understanding of what needs to be done to aid better comprehension to the

listeners.

1.12. Importance of Word-Accent in English

O'Connor has correctly pointed out that in English accent is a significant

factor since it is an essential part of the phonological structure of the word;

words become unrecognizable if the accent is wrongly placed. (O'Col1nor,

J.D.,Phonetics (Great Britain,1973),p.194)

That is why English words consisting of two or more syllables are marked

with appropriate accent in an English dictionary. So word-accent must be

properly placed if reliable communication is to take place.

Accent has linguistic importance in English. The function of a number of

disyllabic words changes with a change in the accentual pattern. In other

words the accentual pattern depends on whether the word is used as a

noun, or a verb or an adjective. If these disyllabic words are used as

adjectives or nouns, the accent is placed on the first syllable and if the words

function as verbs, they receive the accent on the second syllable. We are

giving some examples as follows.

'absent (adjective) ab'sent (verb)

'produce (noun) pro'duce (verb)
'record (noun) re'cord(verb)
It may be noted that not all disyllabic words which are used as nouns and

verbs follow such a shift in the accented syllable. We may give some

examples: words like' limit', 'mis take, and 're Inllrk' receive the accent un the

same syllable whether they are used as nouns or as verbs.

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"English has stress-timed rhytlun." (Abercrombie, D., Elements of Gelleral

Phonetics (Edinburgh, 1967), p.97) In other words in English speech, stressed

syllables occur at regular intervals of time. That is, stressed syllables are

isochronous and this isochronous nature of the stressed syllables gives

English its characteristic rhythm. So, accent plays an important role in

giving English its unique rhythm. In the words of Corrine Adams, "accent is

fundamental to the phenomenon of speech rhythm in English." (Corrille

Adams, Ellglish Speech Rhythm and the Foreign Learner (The Hague, 1979 p.v)

1.13. Need for the study

hl India, following a program of rapid liberalization and industrialization in

the early nineties and later, the government of India signed MoUs

(Memorandum of Understanding) with several African countries whom

they wooed with aid, scholarships in education, loans, and mutual treaties

in business. Of concern to this study is the momentous decision of Indian

government to invi te students form African countries to pursue higher

education in universities in India. The arrival of Africans from several

Anglo-phone COl.mtries in particular and Africa in general meant that

teachers of English and other subjects had to make extra effort to

understand the English used by foreigners and adjust their own to meet the

needs of learners.

This study was occasioned by the desperate necessity to alleviate the

miscommunication and misunderstanding that often result from wrongly

pronounced words and incorrectly stressed sentences by African students.

Several African students face problems of the linguistic kind and are viewed

as ignorant, rude and stupid since they appear unable to use words using

the right tone or rhythm. This is cause for concern for teachers who teach

them, colleagues who interact with them and peers who try hard to

27
understand them. This study was undertaken with the specific aim of

recording and analyzing those features of spoken language that were seen as

problem areas for African~. The study was carried out in the hope that the

results will allow for a better understanding of what may be done to make

the teaching-learning process meaningful and productive.

1.14. Summary

This chapter presented an introduction to the study with particular

emphasis on language and communication, the spread of English, a brief out

line of Africa, different models employed for analysis, tools for phonemic

description, a brief review of earlier studies, the significance of the study

and the need of the study.

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