European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies ISSN: 2559 - 7194 ISSN-L:2501 - 7194 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/lit Volume 1 │ Issue 2 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1065552 PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATIONS OF ENGLISH SPEECH SOUNDS A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS Justine Bakuuroi Department of English, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana Abstract: This study takes a close look at the link between English sounds as realized in normal speech. Sounds are discrete entities that carry in them abstractions which is the import of phonology in every language. The physical properties of sounds which are realized in speech production undoubtedly have an interrelation with this discrete nature of sounds. The researcher adopted a purely analytical approach in viewing this topic, with little reliance on literature. It may be described as a purely scientific study as the researcher uses practical examples and correlates to drum home the interconnection between abstract sounds and their physical properties. The study notes that a letter of the English alphabet, for instance y , has different production realisations as both a vowel and a consonant based on the articulatory nuances a phonetic analyst associates with it. And secondly, the study finds that English speech sound may or may not have the same physiological identification with its phonetic symbol. Keywords: English sounds, discrete, entities, phonology, articulatory, realisations, phonetics, interrelation 1. Introduction In English, speech sounds are classified as either consonants or vowels. There are twenty six (26) letters of the English alphabet and out of the twenty six (26) twenty one (21) of them are consonants whilst five (5) are vowels. There are however, twenty four (24) different individual consonants speech sounds in most English accents and twenty (20) vowel speech sounds. We call these speech sounds phonemes and each phoneme, or speech sound, has a Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved 1 Justine Bakuuro PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATIONS OF ENGLISH SPEECH SOUNDS - A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS symbolic representation. All these phonetic symbols (symbolic representations) make up the International Phonetic ‚lphabet I.P.‚ . English speech sounds are ‚‛C s or letters. The speech sounds in English, and all other languages, have relations with their own physiological renditions. This write-up closely examines the nature of this relation between English speech sounds and their physiological correlations. For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/lit/index.php/EJLLL/article/view/11 European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies - Volume 1 │ Issue 2 │ 2017 2