THE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS IN
RIHANNA’S SONGS ENTITLED “WORK”AND “MAN
DOWN”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DIAN OKTAVIA
Student Number: 124214024
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2017
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THE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS IN
RIHANNA’S SONGS ENTITLED “WORK”AND “MAN
DOWN”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DIAN OKTAVIA
Student Number: 124214024
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2017
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Just because you took longer
than others, (it) doesn’t mean
you failed. Remember that.
(quoted from Google)
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For
Mom
Nathan & Eva
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The completion of this study would not be done without the support of
others. Accordingly, my first gratitude is addressed to my Jesus Christ the
Almighty for the unconditional love, blessings, and mercy in my life.
I am deeply indebted to my favourite thesis advisor, Anna Fitriati, S.Pd.,
M.Hum especially for her understanding of my obstacles in writing this thesis, her
supportive guidance, and her huge encouragement when I am not sure to be able
to finish this thesis. I deeply thanks to co-advisor, Adventina Putranti, M. Hum
whose constructive criticism and advice perfect this work.
My tremendous thanks go to Sanata Dharma University for giving me the
scholarship during my study. I also would like to thank all the lecturers and staff
in English Letters Department, especially Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S.,
M.Hum. who always encourages me when I am down and Arina Isti'anah, S.Pd.,
M.Hum. who has inspired me to take phonology as my thesis approach.
My everlasting thanks are expressed to Mom, my brothers, Dityo and his
family whose love, generosity, and sacrifice truly encourage me. I convey my
immense thanks to Elnathan and Evangeline to whom this thesis dedicated for all
their happiness and spirit which truly motivate me to finish my thesis.
Finally, it is my fortune to appreciate my good friends; Alexandra
Fenetta, Agatha Ayu Lisa, Julyan Adhitama, and Christopher Tjia who give me all
enormous help and support in completing this study. I also thank to Natalia
Dessensia and Maria Novenia for their kindness to lend me their laptop.
Dian Oktavia
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................ ii
APPROVAL PAGE ...................................................................................... iii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................. iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................ v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI
KARYA ILMIAH ............................................................................................. vi
MOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................. vii
DEDICATION PAGE ................................................................................... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. x
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................ xiii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... xiv
ABSTRAK ....................................................................................................... xv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study ................................................................ 1
B. Problem Formulation ...................................................................... 4
C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................... 4
D. Definition of Terms ........................................................................ 5
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............................................ 6
A. Review of Related Studies ............................................................. 6
B. Review of Related Theories ........................................................... 10
1. Theory of Phonology .................................................................. 10
2. Theory of English Consonants ................................................... 11
a. Place of Articulation .............................................................. 11
i. Bilabial ............................................................................. 11
ii. Labiodental ...................................................................... 12
iii. Dental .............................................................................. 12
iv. Alveolar ........................................................................... 12
v. Retroflex .......................................................................... 12
vi. Palato-Alveolar ................................................................ 12
vii. Palatal .............................................................................. 13
viii. Velar ................................................................................ 13
ix. Glottal .............................................................................. 13
b. Manner of Articulation .......................................................... 13
i. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds .......................................... 13
ii. Oral and Nasal Stops ....................................................... 14
iii. Fricatives ......................................................................... 14
iv. Affricates ......................................................................... 14
v. Approximants ................................................................... 15
c. Consonantal Features ............................................................. 15
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i. Labials .................................................................................. 16
ii. Coronals ............................................................................. 16
iii. Anteriors ............................................................................ 16
iv. Sibilants ............................................................................. 16
3. Theory of Jamaican Creole Phonology ....................................... 16
a. Jamaican Consonants ............................................................. 17
b. Jamaican Phonological Rules ................................................ 17
i. Labialization ....................................................................... 18
ii. Palatalization ...................................................................... 18
iii. Obstruent Neutralization ................................................... 18
iv. Obstruent Weakening ........................................................ 18
4. Theory of Phonological Process ................................................. 19
a. Assimilation ........................................................................... 19
b. Dissimilation .......................................................................... 19
c. Segment Deletion ................................................................... 20
d. Insertion ................................................................................. 20
5. Theory of Standard English ......................................................... 20
6. Theory of Jamaican Creole Language ......................................... 20
C. Review of Related Backgrounds .................................................... 21
D. Theoretical Framework .................................................................. 21
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................ 23
A. Object of the Study ......................................................................... 23
B. Approach of the Study .................................................................... 24
C. Method of the Study ....................................................................... 25
1. Data Collection ........................................................................... 25
2. Data Analysis .............................................................................. 26
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ................. 27
A. Rihanna’s Pronunciation of English Consonants in the Songs
Entitled “Work” and “Man Down” .................................................. 27
1. The Distribution of English Consonant Pronunciation ............... 27
a. Rihanna’s Pronunciation of English Consonants in “Work” .. 28
b. Rihanna’s Pronunciation of English Consonants
in “Man Down” ........................................................................ 30
2. Phonological Processes ................................................................. 32
a. Consonant Deletions .............................................................. 32
i. /n/-deletion ......................................................................... 32
ii. /v/-deletion ......................................................................... 33
iii. /t/-deletion .......................................................................... 34
iv. /d/-deletion ......................................................................... 35
b. Consonant Changes ................................................................. 35
i. Affrication .......................................................................... 36
ii. Alveolarization .................................................................. 37
1). Velar Alveolarization .................................................. 37
2). /ð/-alveolarization ........................................................ 38
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3). /θ/-alveolarization ........................................................ 39
iii. Glotalling ........................................................................... 40
b. Consonant Insertion ................................................................ 41
i. Palatalization ....................................................................... 41
B. Factors Affecting Rihanna’s Pronunciation ...................................... 42
1. Phonological Aspect ................................................................... 42
2. Social Background ...................................................................... 45
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .................................................................... 47
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 49
APPENDICES ............................................................................................... 51
Appendix 1: The List of The Different Pronunciation of
English Consonants in “Work” ...................................... 51
Appendix 2: The List of The Different Pronunciation of
English Consonants in “Man Down” ............................. 52
Appendix 3: The Lyrics of “Work” ...................................................... 53
Appendix 4: The Lyrics of “Man Down” ............................................. 56
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 English Consonants ...................................................................... 15
Table 2.2 Jamaican Consonants ................................................................... 17
Table 4.1 The Summary of Rihanna’s Pronunciation in “Work”
and “Man Down ........................................................................... 28
Table 4.2 The Summary of the Different Pronunciation of
English Consonants in “Work” ..................................................... 29
Table 4.3 The Summary of the Different Pronunciation of
English Consonants in “Man Down” ............................................ 30
Table 4.4 The Phonological Process of /n/-deletion .................................... 33
Table 4.5 The Phonological Process of /v/-deletion .................................... 33
Table 4.6 The Phonological Process of /t/-deletion ..................................... 34
Table 4.7 The Phonological Process of /d/-deletion .................................... 35
Table 4.8 The Phonological Process of Affrication ..................................... 36
Table 4.9 The Phonological Process of Velar Alveolarization .................... 38
Table 4.10 The Phonological Process of /ð/-alveolarization .......................... 38
Table 4.11 The Phonological Process of /θ/-alveolarization .......................... 39
Table 4.12 The Phonological Process of Glottaling ...................................... 40
Table 4.13 The Phonological Process of Palatalization .................................. 41
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ABSTRACT
OKTAVIA, DIAN. The Pronunciation of English Consonants in Rihanna’s
Songs Entitled “Work” and “Man Down”. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2017.
Pronunciation is an essential thing in any spoken language. However, no
person pronounces word exactly the same. Thus, standard pronunciation is
sometimes needed in order to avoid misunderstanding. English is one of the
languages which has a standard pronunciation because it is spoken by billion
people around the world. This study analyzes the pronunciation of a famous
singer, Rihanna, in her songs entitled “Work” and “Man Down”.
This study focuses on two problems. The first problem concerns with the
way Rihanna pronounces English consonants in her songs, specifically entitled
“Work” and “Man Down”. The second problem concerns about the possible
factors affecting the pronunciation.
In order to make the analysis focus only on English consonants, the writer
employs a purposive sampling method in collecting the data because the sounds
which are not included as English consonants will be discharged. For the analysis,
the study employs phonological and sociolinguistic approaches. The phonological
approach contributes a lot in answering the first problem formulation. The
sociolingustic approach is applied alongside with the phonological approach to
reveal the possible factors influencing Rihanna’s pronunciation.
For the result, this study comes up with some findings. Most of the
English consonants found in the data are pronounced the same as those in the
standard pronunciation rule which is the Received Pronunciation (RP). However,
some English consonants are pronounced different from the RP. There are some
sound changes which occur through some phonological processes. They are
deletion, affrication, alveolarization, palatalization, and glottaling.
Moreover, by observing the environment of the sound change, the writer
found that there is consonant cluster simplification. Some sounds are changed in
order to make the words easy to be pronounced, such as the deletion of /t/ and /d/
in final position of consonant clusters. The absence of sound /ð/ and /θ/ in
Jamaican Creole also affects Rihanna’s pronunciation. In addition, the other
factors affecting Rihanna’s pronunciation come from Rihanna’s social
background and Rihanna’s music genre. Rihanna is a Caribbean descendant and
reggae music are really influencing her career music. Thus, Jamaican Creole also
affects her pronunciation. It is proven by the finding of palatalization, one of
Jamaican Creole’s characteristics, in the analysis.
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ABSTRAK
OKTAVIA, DIAN. The Pronunciation of English Consonants in Rihanna’s
Songs Entitled “Work” and “Man Down”. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2017.
Pengucapan merupakan satu hal yang mendasar dalam bahasa lisan. Akan
tetapi, tidak ada satu orang pun yang mengucapkan sebuah kata dengan sama
persis. Oleh karena itu, standar pengucapan terkadang dibutuhkan untuk
menghindari terjadinya kesalahpahaman. Bahasa Inggris merupakan salah satu
bahasa yang memiliki standar pengucapan karena Bahasa Inggris diucapkan oleh
milliaran orang di seluruh dunia. Studi ini menganalisis pengucapan seorang
penyanyi terkenal, Rihanna, dalam lagu-lagunya berjudul “Work” dan “Man
Down”.
Studi ini terfokus pada dua rumusan masalah. Masalah yang pertama
membahas cara Rihanna mengucapkan konsonan Bahasa Inggris dalam lagu-
lagunya, terutama yang berjudul “Work” dan “Man Down”. Masalah yang kedua
membahas faktor-faktor apa saja yang mungkin mempengaruhi pengucapan
tersebut.
Untuk membuat analisis hanya terfokus pada konsonan Bahasa Inggris,
penulis menggunakan teknik purposive sampling dalam mengumpulkan data
dikarenakan bunyi-bunyi yang tidak termasuk dalam konsonan Bahasa Inggris
tidak akan digunakan. Pada tahap analisis, studi ini menggunakan pendekatan
fonologi dan sosiolinguistik. Pendekatan fonologi berperan banyak dalam
menjawab rumusan masalah yang pertama. Pendekatan sosiolinguistik diterapkan
bersama dengan pendekataan fonologi untuk mengungkapkan faktor-faktor yang
mungkin mempengaruhi pengucapan dari Rihanna.
Hasilnya, studi ini mendapatkan beberapa temuan. Kebanyakan dari
konsonan Bahasa Inggris yang terdapat pada data diucapkan sesuai dengan aturan
standar pengucapan, Received Pronunciation (RP). Akan tetapi, beberapa
konsonan Bahasa Inggris diucapkan berbeda dari RP. Terdapat beberapa
perubahan bunyi yang terjadi melalui beberapa proses fonologis. Proses
perubahan bunyi tersebut seperti penghapusan, affricatization, alveolarization,
palatalization, dan glottaling.
Selain itu, dengan melakukan observasi pada keadaan sekitar perbuahan
bunyi, penulis menemukan adanya penyederhanaan pada konsonan rangkap.
Beberapa bunyi berubah agar kata-kata tersebut menjadi lebih mudah diucapkan,
misalnya penghapusan bunti /t/ dan /d/ di posisi akhir dari konsonan rangkap.
Ketiadaan bunyi /ð/ and /θ/ dalam Bahasa Kreol Jamaika juga mempengaruhi
pengucapan Rihanna. Rihanna merupakan seorang keturunan Karibia and aliran
musik reggae. Maka dari itu, Bahasa Kreol Jamaika juga sangat mempengaruhi
pengucapannya. Hal ini dibuktikan dengan penemuan adanya proses
palatalization, salah satu karakteristik Bahasa Kreol Jamaika.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
An important thing that a human being has as a tool to interact with each
other is language. As a normal human being in any nations, spoken language
comes first rather than written language. “Speech is the only universal medium of
linguistic communication among all normal human beings (ie excluding the deaf
and dumb, some congenital idiots, etc)” (Robins, 1996:77). Thus, spoken
language is really essential as a medium of communication between people.
When people can speak in a certain language, they are considered as
having the ability to produce sounds which imply certain meanings. In
consequent, they also have the capacity to understand the sounds produced by the
others. In this case, they share the same knowledge of a particular language. One
of language knowledge, specifically in spoken language, is the knowledge of
sound patterns. Every language has their own sound patterns in order to
distinguish one to another, including English.
English is considered as an international language. Stevenson affirms
that “English is the only language used in international air traffic control and is
virtually the only language of a whole range of other activities from scientific
research to pop music” (1994:87). In other words, English is used in any aspects
around the world. Therefore, English is spoken by both native and non-native
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English speakers as an official or a second language. Since it is used globally, the
standard pronunciation is formed in order to avoid misunderstanding.
According to Jones in Mencken, “no two persons pronounce exactly
alike. The differences may arise from a variety of causes, such as locality, early
influences, social surroundings, individual peculiarities, and the like”(2006:319).
Hence, there is a possibility that someone can pronounce English words different
from the standard one due to some factors. This phenomenon commonly happens
in a person that uses English as a second language. Eventually, in some cases,
people who use English as an official language frequently pronounce English
words not appropriate with Standard English. Even a public figure such as a
famous singer Rihanna in some occasions does not follow the standard rule of
English pronunciation.
Robin Rihanna Fenty, or known as Rihanna, is one of the famous singers
in American music industry. She is actually a Barbadian who starts her career in
the United States as a singer. She was born and grown up in Barbados, the
Caribbean Islands. Her father is a Black Barbadian and her mother is a Black
Guyanese. Her music career is mostly influenced by Jamaican singers and Reggae
music. Thus, Rihanna is really identical with the things related to the Caribbean.
In January 2016, she released a new single entitled “Work”. Taj Rani of
Billboard (2016) mainly states her successful song although many people criticize
her pronunciation and describe it as “gibberish”. Many people, especially
American, do not understand what words Rihanna actually pronounces. Based on
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this phenomenon, the pronunciation of English words produced by a famous
singer, Rihanna, is a challenging topic for this study.
In this study, two Rihanna’s songs entitled “Work” and “Man Down” are
taken as the object. The songs use English and have similar music genre. Since the
objects are songs, the study examines mainly about the sounds of the words,
especially whether the singer pronounces English words properly or not based on
the Standard English pronunciation.
According to Fromkin et al, there are two types of sounds in any
languages (2011:195). They are consonants and vowels. However, this study only
focuses on consonants. The reason is if a speaker pronounces the consonant of a
word incorrectly, it will change the meaning of the word and make a
misunderstanding on the hearer. Actually, it might also happen to the vowels. Yet,
the different pronunciation of the vowels frequently does not affect the meaning
of the words. Thus, this study only examine consonants.
There is a primary reason to conduct this study. In Sanata Dharma
University, many analyses concern with English pronunciation produced by those
who use English as a foreign language. Yet, this study analyzes pronunciation
produced by a person who uses English as her first language. It would very
interesting because not all native speakers pronounce English words exactly
appropriate with standard English. There must be some possible factors why this
phenomenon happens, such as society, profession, or anything else.
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Additionally, this study will give the readers some knowledge about
which English pronunciations are appropriate with the standard one. It also
enriches the reader’s knowledge what things may influence someone in
pronouncing the words.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to limit the scope and objectives of this study, two study
questions are formulated as follows:
1. How does Rihanna pronounce English consonants in her songs entitled
“Work” and “Man Down”?
2. What are the possible factors affecting the pronunciation?
C. Objectives of the Study
Based on the problem formulation, this study aims to achieve two goals.
Firstly, the writer would like to examine the way Rihanna pronouncing English
consonants in her songs; whether the pronunciation is appropriate with the
Standard English. In conducting this study, two songs are exclusively taken from
different album. They are “Work” from the album named ANTI and “Man Down”
from the album named Loud. The phonological processes due to the different
pronunciation would also be analyzed. The result of this analysis is contributive in
discussing the second formulated problem.
Secondly, this study is intended to investigate some possible factors
which influence the pronunciation. By exploring the sound pattern and its
environment, the phonologically factor which influences the different
pronunciation are found. Furthermore, the result of the first analysis will be
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related to sociological aspects, such as Rihanna’s life background and the
influence of her music genre, in order to solve the second problem. Shortly, the
writer would like to highlight that certain circumstances have an essential role in
the way Rihanna pronounces English words.
D. Definition of Terms
There are three terminologies used in this study. Therefore, the
definition of these terms will be explained first in order to prevent
misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
The first term is pronunciation. Pronunciation is the terminology
frequently used in this research. According to Chomsky in Trask, “pronunciation
is the manner in which speech sounds, especially connected sequences, are
articulated by individual speakers or by speakers generally” (1982:291).
The second term is English consonants. According to Fromkin et al,
“English consonants are sounds in English produced with some restriction the
vocal tract that impedes the flow of air from the lungs” (2011:195). There are 24
sounds included as English consonants. They are [p], [b], [m], [f], [v], [ð], [θ], [t],
[d], [n], [s], [z], [l], [r], [ʃ], [ʒ], [tʃ], [dʒ], [j], [k], [g], [ŋ] , [h] and [ʔ].
The last term is song. Myers and Simms state that song is “a short lyric
verse accompanied by music. Ususally, the lyric is simple, direct, and
conventional so as not to compete with the music” (1989:286). It means that song
is created by combining simple lyric with music.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
The main purpose of this part is to review several studies related to this
study. There are two previous studies and two papers taken from certain journals.
These studies conduct to the discussion about pronunciation, phonological
processes, and Creole languages. Most of the related studies applied
phonological approach. Therefore, these studies support the writer in developing
ideas of the topic study which mostly about the pronunciation.
The first study dealing with English mispronunciation is conducted by
Rahardjosidhi (2016). Rahardjosidhi‟s study mainly discusses English
mispronunciations done by the students of SMA Santa Maria Yogyakarta. He
examines how the students, Indonesian native speakers, mispronounce consonant
sounds of English words. His study focuses on English final alveolar-alveolar
and velar-alveolar consonant clusters mispronounced by the students.
In conducting his study, some students contributes to his research as the
participants. Then, he presents and analyses clearly what sort of alveolar-alveolar
and velar alveolar consonant clusters are mispronounced by the participant and
how the mispronunciation pattern is. Moreover, the findings of analysis also
include how intralingual and language interfference contribute to the
mispronunciation. The result of Rahardjosidhi‟s study is that English speakers, in
this case those who speak English as a second language, have some difficulties in
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pronouncing English words correctly. The difficulties come from language
interfference.
In spite of the similar topic about the pronunciation of English
consonants and its factors, this study has a larger scope than Rahardjosidhi‟s.
Unlike Rahardjosidhi‟s study which only concerns in alveolar-alveolar and velar-
alveolar consonant clusters mispronunciation, this study deals with pronunciation
in any English consonant sounds in general. Furthermore, this study has a
different object of analysis. While Rahardjosidhi explores the pronunciation of
the students of SMA Santa Maria Yogyakarta who are foreign language speakers,
the writer examines pronunciation done by a native speaker. Another difference
is also found in data collection method. Rahardjosidhi collects the data by
recording the participant‟s pronunciation. On the other hand, the writer gathers
the data by listening the songs.
The second study is done by Ismartono (2009). Ismartono also applies
the similar approach with Rahardjosidhi‟s in conducting her analysis. The study
particularly aims to discover phonological characteristics of Black English
through the phonological processes occurred in songs. Due to the analysis focuses
on Black English, Ismartono takes specifically Black singer‟s songs as the object
of the study. Thus, in intending the analysis, she examines 50 Cent‟s songs in
album Curtis. In collecting the data, she only focuses on Black English words
such as nigga, tryin’, and gimme.
By writing down the phonetic transcription of 50 Cent‟s pronunciation
and comparing it with Standard American English pronunciation, she finds out
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several sound changes. In findings of discussion, several types of phonological
rule are applied in order to present the phonological processes due to the sound
changes occurred in the songs. As a result, there are eight phonological
characteristics of Black English in the songs. One of the example is that velar
consonant will be alveolarized if it occurs in the final position of the word.
The methodology and approach applied by Ismartono contribute to this
study. This study uses the similar theoretical grounds on different object. While
Ismartono‟s object is taken from Black singer‟s songs, this research examines
songs from Caribbean singer. In addition, the findings of analysis in this study are
also different from Ismartono‟s findings. This study does not only focus on
phonological process due to sound changes, but also the external factors which
affect the changing.
The next study uses not only phonological approach but also
sociolinguistic approach. It is taken from journal written by Karli and Larsen
(2014). One of the objectives of their study is to compare Caribbean Creole
English (CCE) and Standard American English. The comparison is based on
phonological, lexical, and syntactical characteristics. Karli and Larsen employ the
students of Roosevelt High School Washington D.C. as the object of their
observation. The students specifically are native English speakers who grew up in
Caribbean. There are three types of CCE students. Those are Guyanese,
Trinidadians, and Jamaicans.
By interviewing the CCE students, Karli and Larsen observe three
important things. They are how the students pronounce English words, what sort
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of vocabulary they use, and how they arrange words into a sentence. In findings of
analysis, there are certain patterns how the CCE students pronounce English
words such as the word “home”, in SAE /hom/, is pronounced as /om/. Another
objective of Larsen‟s study is to investigate why CCE students have serious
academic issue than other students. By applying sociolinguistic approach, Karli
and Larsen find out that such Creole language is not legitimized in American
school. Thus, it becomes serious challenge for the CCE students. This finding is
appropriate with Nero‟s statement that Creole language is considered as “not the
right kind” because Creole English has a history of being spoken by slaves (in
Larsen, 2016:13).
The contribution of Karli and Larsen‟s study in this study lies on the
findings and discussion. The findings in Larsen‟s support the writer in doing the
analysis. The examples are the findings of phonological characteristics of CCE
and the negative perspective of CCE among native English speakers. Those
findings help the writer to answer the problem in this study. This study deals with
CCE due to the fact that the object used CCE, especially Jamaican Creole. Despite
the fact that this research has the similar topic with Larsen‟s, the methodology and
object of the study are different.
The last is another study about Creole language taken from Journal of
the International Phonetic Association: Illustration of IPA published by University
of the West Indies. One of the journals written by Harry (2006) mainly concerns
about Jamaican Creole. In his research, Harry describes clearly the various
Jamaican Creole based on phonological aspects. He explains phonological
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characteristics of Jamaican Creole, such as palatalization, labialization, obstruent
neutralization, and obstruent weakening.
The explanations contribute to this study‟s discussion. For example, the
writer uses the characteristics of Jamaican Creole phonology in Harry‟s to identify
the phonological characteristics which appears in Rihanna‟s pronunciation.
Whereas the main topic and discussion of this study is almost the same, Harry‟s
discussion about Jamaican Creole is more complex than this research. The writer
only concerns on general Jamaican Creole pronunciation while Harry‟s discusses
about sociolinguistic variation of Jamaican Creole such as acrolectal, mesolectal,
and basilectal varieties.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Phonology
One of linguistic studies, particularly about spoken language, is
phonology. Phonology is the study of how speech sounds form patterns. The basic
units in phonology are phonemes, allophones, and phones. Phonemes are defined
as abstract mental representations of the phonological units of language, while
phones are the pronunciation of a phoneme. Allophones are a group of phones as
the realization of the same phoneme. To distinguish them, linguists use slashes
/…/ to indicate phonemes and […] square brackets to present phones and
allophones (Fromkin, 2011:234).
In phonology, individual phonemes which are called segmental
phonemes consist of consonants and vowels. It is a part of segmental phonology.
Another thing in phonology is suprasegmental phonology, which is related to
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suprasegmental phonemes. Stress, intonation, rhythm, and tone are kinds of
suprasegmental phonemes.
2. Theory of English Consonants
This study is primarily concerned with pronunciation and the errors.
Therefore, it is necessary to mainly review on segmental phonemes. Segmental
phonemes are divided into two types which are consonants and vowels. In this
part, only English consonants are discussed because the main focus of this study
only on English consonants.
According to Ladefoged, consonants are produced with some obstruction
of the airstream in the vocal tract (1993:5). Thus, consonants are characterized as
a group of sounds which is produced by constraining the airflow in the vocal tract.
There are 24 English consonants, which are classified into two groups based on
their place of articulation and manner of articulation.
a. Place of Articulation
Firstly, the consonants are classified based on their place of articulation.
Place of articulation refers to the where in the vocal tract the speech sounds are
produced. Ladefoged classifies consonants based on the place of articulation
specifically as follows:
i) Bilabial
Bilabial sounds are articulated by bringing both lips together
(Ladefoged, 1993:6). [p], [b], [m] are included as bilabial sounds.
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ii) Labiodental
Labiodental sounds, [f] and [v], are produced by raising the lower lip up
to the upper front teeth (Ladefoged, 1993:6).
iii) Dental
[ð] and [θ] are classified as dental sounds made with the tongue tip and
upper front teeth. According to Ladefoged, there is a difference between
American English and British English in producing the sounds [ð] and [θ]. Most
speakers of American English produce both sounds by inserting the tip of the
tongue between the upper and lower teeth, while most speakers of British English
produce the sounds by putting the tip of the tongue close behind the upper teeth.
In order to distinguish it, American English uses a term, interdental, to classify [ð]
and [θ] (Ladefoged, 1993:6).
iv) Alveolar
Alveolar sounds, [t], [d], [n], [s], [z], [l], [r], are pronounced by moving
the tip of the tongue up towards the alveolar ridge (Ladefoged, 1993:6).
v) Retroflex
Retroflex are produced by raising the tongue tip up to the back of the
alveolar ridge. [r] is included as this sound (Ladefoged, 1993:7).
vi) Palato-Alveolar
Palato-alveolar sounds are produced by raising tongue blade up to the
back of alveolar ridge. The sounds included as palato-alveolars are [ʃ] [ʒ] [tʃ] [dʒ]
(Ladefoged, 1993:7).
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vii) Palatal
By raising the front part of the tongue to the hard palate, the sounds [j]
are produced (Ladefoged, 1993:7).
viii) Velar
To pronounce velar sounds, the back of the tongue is raised to the soft
palate or velum. The velar sounds are [k], [g], and [ŋ] (Ladefoged, 1993:7).
ix) Glottal
In addition, according to Fromkin, there are two sounds called as glottal
sounds, [h] and [ʔ] (Fromkin). [h] is produced from the airflow through the open
glottis, while [ʔ] occurs when the air is stopped completely at the glottis by tightly
closed vocal cords. Consequently, [ʔ] is called as glottal stop (Fromkin,
2011:197).
b. Manner of Articulation
Secondly, in distinguishing consonants, linguists also categorize them
based on their manner of articulation. The manner of articulation refers to the
variation of airstream flows. According to Ladefoged, “The articulators may close
off the oral tract in a short or long period; they may narrow the space
considerably; or they may simply modify the shape of the tract by approaching
each other” (Ladefoged, 1993:8).
i) Voiced and Voiceless Sounds
In this part, the vocal cords have a big role in distingushing sounds.
Voiced consonants occur when the vocal cords are vibrating, while voiceless
sounds are produced when the vocal cords are apart. By knowing this manner of
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articulation, the sounds from the same place of articulation such as labiodentals [f]
and [v] can be distinguished. Sound [f] is classified as voiceless sound, while [v]
is voiced sound (Ladefoged, 1993:2).
ii) Oral and Nasal Stops
When the soft palate is blocking the air from escaping through the nasal
tract, the oral sounds are produced. The sounds [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g] are
included as oral stops (Ladefoged, 1993:8). Unlike, oral stops, nasal sounds are
produced when the air is stopped in the oral cavity but the soft palate is not in its
raised position, then air escapes can go out through the nose. This manner of
articulation is appropriate to distinguish alveolars [z] and [n]. Both sounds are
voiced alveolar sounds. However, [z] is identified as an oral sound and [n] is a
nasal sound (Ladefoged, 1993:8).
iii) Fricatives
When friction occurs because the airstream is partially obstructed, the
sounds are called fricatives. The sounds consist of [f], [v], [ð], [θ], [ʃ], [ʒ],[s], [z],
[h] (Ladefoged, 1993:10).
iv) Affricates
Affricate sounds consist of [dʒ] and [tʃ]. Ladefoged (1993:11) explains
that “an affricate is simply a sequence of a stop followed by a homorganic
fricative.” Thus, the sounds are produced by a stop closure followed immediately
by a gradual release of the closure that produces an affect characteristic of a
fricative.
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v) Approximants
Approximant sounds are produced when an articulator is close to another,
but without the vocal tract being narrowed. According to Ladefoged, there are two
kinds of approximants; lateral and central (1993:10). [l] is a lateral sound, while
[r], [j], and [w] are included as cenral aproximants.
The simplification of English consonants classification above can be
drawn as the table below:
Table 2.1 English Consonants
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Palato-
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop (oral)
Voiceless [p] [t] [k] [Ɂ]*
Voiced [b] [d] [g]
Nasal
(voiced)
[m] [n] [ŋ]
Fricative
Voiceless [f] [ɵ] [s] [ʃ] [h]
Voiced [v] [ð] [z] [ʒ]
Affricative
Voiceless [tʃ]
Voiced [dʒ]
Approximant
Central [w] [r] [j] [w]
Lateral [l]
(Source: Ladefoged, 1993: 37) *glottal stop symbol from Victoria Fromkin
c. Consonantal Class Features
Consonantal is a subclass of a major class feature of consonants.
According to Fromkin, there are four categorizations of consonantal. They are
labials, coronals, anteriors, and sibilants. What consonants which belong to these
consonantal class features are discussed as follows:
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i) Labials
Labial sounds are produced with the involvement of the lips (Fromkin,
2011: 211). Bilabials [p], [b], [m] and labiodentals [f], [v] are included as labials.
ii) Coronals
Coronal sounds are produced by raising the blade of the tongue (Fromkin,
2011: 211). The consonants included as coronals are the interdentals [ɵ], [ð]; the
alveolar [t], [d], [n], [s], [z]; the palatals [ʃ], [ʒ]; the affricates [tʃ], [dʒ]; the liquids
[l], [r].
iii) Anteriors
Anteriors are sounds produced by the front part of the tongue (Fromkin,
2011: 211). They are the labials [p], [b], [m], [f], [v]; the interdentals [ɵ], [ð] and
the alveolars [t], [d], [n], [s], [z].
iv) Sibilants
Sibilants are a group of conconants which produce a hissing sound due to
the friction made by sibilants (Fromkin, 2011: 211). Those consonants are [s], [z],
[ʃ], [ʒ], [tʃ], [dʒ].
3. Theory of Jamaican Creole Phonology
Before analyzing the cause of the different pronunciation produced by
Rihanna, it is necessary to know the characteristics of Jamaican English Creole
sounds.
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a. Jamaican Consonants
According to Devonish and Harry (2004:456), Jamaican Creole has 21
consonants. The classification of Jamaican Creole phonology is as shown on the
table 2.2:
Table 2.2 Jamaican Consonants
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal Labial-
velar
Nasal [m] [n] [ŋ]
Plosive
Voiceless [p] [t] [k]
Voiced [b] [d] [g]
Affricate
Voiceless [tʃ]
Voiced [dʒ]
Fricative
Voiceless [f] [s] [ʃ] [h]
Voiced [v] [z] [ʒ]
Approximant [ɹ] [j] [w]
Lateral-
approximant
[l]
(Source: Harry, 2004:456)
From the table 2.3, interdental sounds [ð] and [θ] do not exist in
Jamaican Creole phonology as they exist in English sound features. Furthermore,
there is no glottal stop sound [ʔ] in Jamaican sound features. The absent of three
sounds [ð], [θ], [ʔ] makes Jamaican Creole differ from English.
b. Jamaican Phonological Rules
Similar to English, Jamaican Creole Phonology also has some rules. This
kind of rules become the characteristics of the language. In this part, there are four
phonological rules which are provided based on Devonish and Harry (2004).
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i) Labialization
In Jamaican Creole, the obstruent sounds (stops, affricate, and fricative)
are labialized when they occur before a sequence of back vowel followed by a
non-back vowel. The illustration below is the example of labialization taken from
Devonish and Harry (2004: 458):
/buai/ [bwuai] [b
wai] „boy‟
/gu + an/ [gwuan] [g
wan] „go on‟
ii) Palatalization
Like labialization, obstruent are palatalized before a sequence of non-
low front vowel and back vowel (Harry, 2004:458). One of the example as
follows:
/giaad/ [gjia:d] [g
ja:d] „guard‟
iii) Obstruent Neutralization
The contrast between velar and alveolar stops is neutralized before a
syllabic lateral (Harry, 2004:459). The data below are the example of obstruent
neutralization:
[bakl] „bottle‟
[takl] „tackle‟
[aigl] „idle‟
iv) Obstruent Weakening
Devonish and Harry assert that voiced stops [b], [d], [g] are implosively
articulated as[ɓ], [ɗ], [ɠ] (Harry, 2004:459). Implosive articulation means that the
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airstream is controlled by moving the glottis downward to push the air from the
lungs. For instance:
/biit/ [ɓi:t] „beat‟
/dag/ [ɗag] „dog‟
/guud/ [ɠu:d] „good‟
[ɓ], [ɗ], [ɠ] symbolyze the implosive voiced stop sounds [b], [d], [g].
4. Theory of Phonological Process
A phonological process refers to a dynamic system in which units
change as they come into contact with other units in the system (Wolfram and
Johnson, 1974:88). There is a certain phonological rule applied in each
phonological process. The function of the phonological rules in a grammar is to
provide the phonetic information necessary for the pronunciation of utterances
(Fromkin, 2011:244).
a. Assimilation
Assimilation is a rule that makes neighboring segments more similar by
copying or spreading a phonetic property from one segment to the other (Fromkin,
2011:246). For example, the word sandwich. It should be pronounced as
/sænwɪdʒ/. However, the alveolar nasal /n/ assimilates to bilabial /w/ by changing
the alveolar into bilabial /m/. Thus, it is pronounced as/sæmwɪdʒ/.
b. Dissimilation
Dissimilation is a rule in which a segment becomes less similar to
another segment. For example, the words fifth come to be pronounced as if they
were spelled fift (Fromkin, 2011:248).
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c. Segment Deletion
Phonological rules may delete entire phonemic segments. In
phonological process, units which occur in same context are lost in others
(Fromkin, 2011:250).
d. Insertion
Phonological rule may also insert consonants or vowels, which are called
epenthesis. It occurs less frequently than segment deletion (Fromkin, 2011:250).
5. Theory of Standard English
Standard language is made by a certain nation with the aim that it can be
used in formal matters. Standard English is also made by a particular English-
speaking country. It is a form of English language which is accepted nationally
(Thorne, 1997). Because of English is used in many countries around the world,
nowadays, there are many Standard English. One of them is Received
Pronunciation (RP).
Received Pronunciation is developed in British Isles, which nowadays is
used in many countries around the world. It is also used in many formal aspects
such as the language used in the government, education, economy, and
technology. Thus, it is also used as a basic in this study.
6. Theory of Jamaican Creole Language
Wardaugh (1992, 59-60) asserts that “a Creole defined as a pidgin that
has become the first language of a new generation of speakers. A creole has native
speakers.” It means that Creole language is actually a language developed from a
combination of different languages and obtained as native language by children.
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Most of Creole language can be found in the Caribbean area due to the history of
slavery conquered by European. Hancock lists 35 of 127 Creole languages are
English-based (in Wardaugh, 1992:63).
One of Caribbean Creole is Jamaican Creole. Jamaican Creole is
English-based Creole with West African influences spoken in Jamaica. Wardaugh
(1992:66) states that “The sounds of a pidgin or creole are likely to be fewer and
less complicated in their possible arrangements than those of the corresponding
standard language.” It can be said that Jamaican Creole consists of fewer sounds
than English. As a result, it is really possible that Jamaican Creole has a little
different from the standard one.
C. Review of Related Backgrounds
Robin Rihanna Fenty, or known as Rihanna, is one of famous singers in
American music industry. She was born and grown up in Barbados, Caribbean
Islands. Her father is an Afro-Barbados and Irish descent, while her mother is
anassi Afro-Guyanese.
Rihanna is grown up with reggae music. Since she was a child, she
idolizes Jamaican singers, such as Bob Marley. Jamaican singers are identical in
reggae music. As a result, Rihanna‟s career in music cannot be separated from
reggae music.
D. Theoretical Framework
All of the theories explained above are very essential in answering the
formulated problems of this study. Firstly, the theory of phonology becomes
fundamental stand of the whole study. As stated above, phonology is the study of
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human sound patterns. Therefore, it is very crucial to determine what and how
sounds are produced. Secondly, the theory of English phonology is employed to
understand English sound features. Furthermore, the aim of using English
phonology is to point out mispronunciations. Thirdly, the theory of Jamaican
Creole phonology provides phonological features of Jamaican language,
especially segmental sound features. It later would be used alongside English
phonology to find out sound features used by Rihanna.
Fourthly, considering that the mispronunciations cause sounds change,
the theory of phonological processes is the proper guideline in identifying the
changing of sounds. It is then used alongside the preceding theory, Jamaican
Creole language, in order to find out the cause of mispronunciations. Lastly, the
theory of Jamaican Creole Language contributes to highlight that a certain
circumstance may influence the way people pronounce English words.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The objects of the study are two songs popularized by Rihanna. The
songs are specifically taken from different albums. The first song entitled “Work”,
released on 27 January 2016, is taken from album ANTI. The music of the song is
a combination of dancehall and reggae. The second song is entitled “Man Down”
taken from album LOUD. This song, released on 3 May 2011, uses reggae music.
The genres of both songs are identical with Caribbean Island, especially Jamaica.
Both songs were nominated in several famous music awards in some
countries. One of the examples is American Music Awards. Although they are
having good reputation, several criticisms come to them. The criticisms come
from her pronunciation which is not clear for some Americans. For this reason,
this study would like to analyze the sounds of English words produced by
Rihanna. Thus, Rihanna’s pronunciations are taken as the object of the study.
The linguistic elements of this study are, exactly, phonemes. The
specific objects of this study are English segmental phonemes which consist of
English consonants and vowels. The data are listed in the form of words.
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B. Approach of The Study
Two linguistic approaches are applied as groundwork in this study. The
first one is phonological approach. According to Fromkin (2003: 273),
“Phonology refers either to the representation of the sounds and sound patterns in
a speaker’s mental grammar or the study of the sound patterns in a language or in
human language in general.” In other words, phonology deals with human sound
patterns. It is used since this study focuses on Rihanna’s pronunciation of English
words. As stated above, phonological approach deals with human sound patterns.
The data of this study are sounds produced by Rihanna. Therefore, phonological
approach is appropriate to analyze something related to sounds, in this case the
pronunciation and the process of sound changes.
The second one is sociolinguistic approach. Holmes (1992:6) defines
that “sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and society
by identifying the social functions of language and the way it is used to convey
social meaning”. It means that sociolinguistics deals with the use of language in
social context. Since it relates language and society, it can be said that there is a
relation between speaker’s social background and the language usage, in this case
the pronunciation. Consequently, sociolinguistics is the suitable one used in this
study to examine whether or not Rihanna’s social background contributes to her
pronunciation.
Based on the explanations above, phonological approach is contributive
in answering the first problem formulation which is how Rihanna pronounces
English words, especially in producing English consonants. On the other hand,
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sociolinguistic approach, complemented by phonological approach, is the strategic
approach to find out possible factors affecting the pronunciation.
C. Method of the Study
1. Data Collection
In gathering the data, the writer uses purposive sampling study, a
technique which requires selecting certain units based on a specific purpose
(Teddlie and Yu, 2003:80). Therefore, the taken data is used for a certain purpose.
In this case, the purpose is to analyze pronunciations. Since the study only
requires some English words which consist of English consonants in the songs, a
sample study is the most suitable method for collecting the data.
There are several steps done in order to collect the data of the study. The
first is searching the lyrics of the song entitled “Work” and “Man Down” on the
website www.azlyrics.com. Next, they are written down in a piece of paper. The
second is writing down phonetic transcriptions of each word of the song lyrics
which is appropriate to Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Standard Received
Pronunciation is chosen as the comparison with Rihanna’s pronunciation. The
third is listening to the songs. In listening to the songs, headset is the best device
used to know the pronunciations precisely. The fourth is writing down the
phonetics transcriptions of Rihanna’s pronunciation. The last is putting both
phonetic transcriptions into several tables.
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2. Data Analysis
In order to point out whether Rihanna’s pronunciation is similar to the
RP, both phonetic transcriptions are compared. As stated before, Longman
Pronunciation Dictionary is used to compare them. Moreover, the study also aids
the phonological processes to enlighten how the sound changes because of the
different pronunciation with the RP. The phonological processes also help the
writer in identifying the environment of sounds which are pronounced differently.
In addition, the writer provides the theory of Jamaican Creole and the
discussion about Rihanna’s social background as one of the possible factors which
affects the pronunciation. In order to connect the pronunciation and the influences,
the writer tries to find out the phonological characteristics of Jamaican Creole
through the phonological processes. After that, the findings of the phonological
processes are related to Rihanna’s social background in order to find out that her
social background may affect her pronunciation.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A. Rihanna’s Pronunciation of English Consonants in the Songs Entitled
“Work and “Man Down”
In this section, the writer would like to present and discuss the data
collection of Rihanna’s pronunciation of English consonants in the songs entitled
“Work” and “Man Down”. After analyzing the data, most of English words in
both songs are pronounced exactly appropriate with the Received Pronunciation
(RP). On the other hand, there are some words pronounced differently from the
RP. There are some English consonants and vowels which are pronounced not
appropriately. However, as mentioned in the previous chapter, this analysis only
focuses on the English consonants.
Additionally, after finding the different pronunciations, the writer
considers that there are several sounds changed. For instance, a sound changes
into another sound, some sounds become silent, and the others are added a new
sound. Thus, in this section, the phonological processes will also be discussed.
The distribution of the data and the phonological processes are presented as
follows:
1. The Distribution of English Consonant Pronunciations
The first discussion focuses on the occurrence and the number of English
consonants pronounced by Rihanna in her songs “Work” and “Man Down”. The
discussion of the data distribution is divided into two parts. The first one discusses
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the data taken from the song “Work” and the second one focuses on the data of
the pronunciation of English consonants in the song “Man Down”. Based on the
data, most of the words are pronounced exactly similar to RP. Nevertheless, some
words are pronounced different from RP. The summary of the Rihanna’s
pronunciation in both songs is covered in the table 4.1 as follows:
Table 4.1 The Summary of Rihanna's Pronunciation
of English Consonants in “Work” and "Man Down"
The Title of Songs Same with RP Different from RP Total
"Work" 98 21 119
"Man Down" 122 22 144
Total 220 43 263
From the table 4.1, there are two hundred and sixty-three English words
which consist of English consonants in both songs “Work” and “Man Down”; a
hundred and nineteen words are in “Work” and a hundred and forty-four words
are in “Man Down”. Two hundred and twenty words are pronounced similar to
RP, while forty-three words are pronounced diversely. The details of the analysis
in each song are presented as follows:
a. Rihanna’s Pronunciation of English Consonants in “Work”
The data, as seen in the table 4.1, shows that from a hundred and nineteen
words consisting of English consonants in the song “Work”, ninety-eight of them
are pronounced as in RP. However, twenty-one of them are pronounced
differently. The summary of the English consonants pronounced differently in
“Work” is presented in the table 4.2:
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Table 4.2 The Summary of the Different Pronunciation
of English Consonants in “Work”
Initial Medial Final Total
[t] 0 0 10 10
[d] 0 0 2 2
[θ] 0 2 1 3
[ð] 3 1 0 4
[ŋ] 0 0 4 4
Total 3 3 17 23
Based on the table 4.2, from the twenty-one words, there are twenty-
three English consonants which are pronounced different from RP. The writer
discovered there are two words which each word consisting of two consonants
pronounced differently. The writer also categorized English consonants which are
pronounced differently into three groups. They are in the initial, medial, or final
position of the words.
The sounds which are in the very beginning position of the words belong
to the initial one. In contrast, the sounds belonging to the final position are those
which is placed in the end of the words. Furthermore, the sounds which do not
belong to the initial or final are categorized as the medial. The example is in the
word something [sʌmθɪŋ]. Two consonants [θ] and [ŋ] are pronounced as [t] and
[n]. The other words only consist of one, for example in the word the [ðe]. The
consonant [ð] is changed into [d].
From the two examples, it can be observed that [θ] is in the medial
position of the word, [ŋ] is in the final position, and [ð] is in the initial position of
the word. Based on the data, three consonants pronounced differently are in the
initial position, three consonants are in the medial position, and eighteen
consonants are in the final position.
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It also can be seen in the two examples mentioned before that there are
various consonants which are pronounced differently. There are five sorts of
consonants classified based on their place and manner of articulation. They are
alveolar voiceless stop [t], alveolar voiced stop [d], interdental voiceless fricative
[θ], interdental voiced fricative [ð], and velar nasal [ŋ].
The sound [t] pronounced differently ten times and its position is in the
final position of the words. The pronunciation of [d] is twice in the final position.
The pronunciation of [θ] is three times in the medial and once in the final. The
pronunciation of [ð] is once in the medial and three times in the initial. The
pronunciation of [ŋ] is four times in the final position.
b. Rihanna’s Pronunciation of English Consonants in “Man Down”
As being discussed previously, there are a hundred and forty-four English
words in this song which consist of English consonants. Twenty-two of them are
pronounced different from RP and the others are pronounced exactly the same as
in RP. The summary of the English Consonants pronounced differently in “Man
Down” is presented as in the table 4.3:
Table 4.3 The Summary of The English Consonant Different
Pronounciation in “Man Down”
Initial Medial Final total
[t] 0 0 9 9
[d] 0 0 4 4
[θ] 1 0 0 1
[ð] 3 0 0 3
[ŋ] 0 0 4 4
[n] 0 0 1 1
[v] 0 0 1 1
total 4 0 19 23
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From twenty-two words, the writer found twenty-three English
consonants pronounced not the same with RP. There are two words which each
word consisting of two consonants pronounced differently. The example is in the
word thinking [θɪŋkɪŋ]; [θ] and [ŋ] are pronounced as [t] and [n]. Otherwise, the
others consist of one English consonant with different pronunciation.
Nineteen consonants pronounced in a different way are in the final
position. In addition, there are four consonants in the initial position and there is
none in the medial position with different pronunciation. Similar to the data
analysis in the song “Work”, in “Man Down, the English consonants pronounced
differently are also varied. Different from the previous discussion, there are seven
variation of consonants found in this song.
Five of them are similar to the data analysis in “Work”. They are [t], [d],
[θ], [ð], and [ŋ]. The next two consonants are nasal stop [n] and labiodental
fricative [v]. The English consonants frequently pronounced not the same as in RP
are [t] which is in the final position of the words. [t] is pronounced differently
nine times. Occurring in the same position, in the final of the words, [ŋ] and [d]
are pronounced differently four times.
The next consonant pronounced in another way is [ð] which its position
is in the initial words. It is diversely pronounced three times. The other
consonants found in this song such as, [θ], [n], and [v], are pronounced differently
once. The position of [θ] is in the initial, while [n] and [v] are in the final position
of the words.
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2. Phonological Processes
After finding the fact that Rihanna pronounces some English consonants
in a different way, there are some phonological processes follow the changing
sounds. There are three main sorts of phonological processes; consonant deletions,
consonant changes, and consonant insertions. The details of the analysis are
presented as follows:
a. Consonant Deletions
By observing and analyzing the data, the writer considers some
consonants are deleted in some certain conditions. In other word, a phoneme is
not pronounced in a certain environment. Based on the sorts of the consonants,
there are five classificationsof consonant deletions. The consonant deletions found
in this study are /n/-deletion, /v/-deletion, and the final consonant cluster deletion;
/t/-deletion, /d/-deletion. Each of the deletion processes is described as follows:
i) /n/-deletion
The first process of deletions is /n/-deletion. The data presents that there
is only one word experiencing this phonological process. The word is one found
in the song entitled “Work”. The process how the alveolar nasal stop sound [n] is
eliminated is presented in the table 4.4:
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Table 4.4 The Phonological Process of /n/-deletion
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
One
Underlying Form [wʌn mi:] [wʌn mi:]
n-deletion - [wʌ mi:]
Surface
Representation [wʌn mi:] [wʌ mi:]
Table 4.4 shows that the phoneme /n/ occurs after a vowel and in the
final position of a word. Yet, it is deleted because in the song lyrics the word one
is followed by me which has an initial sound [m]. Thus, [n] is deleted when it is in
the final of a word and preceding the bilabial nasal stop sound [m].As the result,
the surface representation becomes /wʌ/.
The rule is:
/n/ → [ø] / V _____ [+bilabial nasal]
ii) /v/-deletion
The second process of deletions is /v/-deletion which is more or less
similar to the process of /n/-deletion. From the data, there is only one process of
/v/-deletion. It is in the word give found in the song entitled “Man Down”.
Nowadays, this phenomenon commonly happens in some variaties of English
language. The description on how the labiodental voiced fricative sound [v] is
deleted shows in the table 4.5:
Table 4.5 The Phonological Process of /v/-deletion
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Give Underlying Form [gɪv mi:] [gɪv mi:]
v-deletion - [gɪmi:]
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Surface
Representation [gɪv mi:] [gɪmi:]
The phoneme /v/ happens in the final position of a word and follows a
vowel. The words give should be pronounced as [gɪv]. However, in the lyrics give
is followed by the word me. Thus, [v] in give is eliminated when it precedes the
bilabial nasal sound [m] such as in me. As the result, the pronunciation of give me
becomes [gɪmi:] without sounding [v].
The rule is:
/v/ → [ø] / V _____ [+bilabial nasal]
iii) /t/-deletion
The third deletion process is the final consonant cluster deletion; /t/-
deletion. The alveolar voiceless oral stop sound [t] is deleted when its position is
in the final position and preceded by another consonant. In other words, it can be
said that [t] is deleted if it is as the final consonant cluster. From the data, [t] is
deleted under four circumstances. Firstly, when its position is after the velar
voiceless stop sound [k] such as in act and expect. Secondly, when the alveolar
sounds [s], [n], and [l] are preceding [t], such as in the words just, didn’t, and
dealt. The process is described as in the table 4.6:
Table 4.6 The Phonological Process of /t/-deletion
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Dealt
Underlying Form [delt] [delt]
t-deletion - [del]
Surface
Representation [delt] [del]
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Based on the process presented in the table 4.6, the word dealt in RP
should be pronounced as /delt/. On the other hand, Rihanna pronounces it as /del/.
Thus, the words deal experiences t-deletion rule. The rule is:
/t/ →[ø] / C _____#
iv) /d/-deletion
The last consonant deletion is another final consonant cluster deletion;
/d/-deletion. Almost similar with the previous discussion about /t/-deletion, the
alveolar voiced oral stop sound [d] is also deleted when its position is in the end
of the word. It happens when /d/ is preceded by the alveolar nasal sound [n]. For
example, in the words and, mind, behind, and happened. The process is presented
as in the table 4.7:
Table 4.7 The Phonological Process of /d/-deletion
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Mind
Underlying Form [maɪnd] [maɪnd]
d-deletion - [maɪn]
Surface
Representation [maɪnd] [maɪn]
Table 4.7 shows the first circumstance which is the sound [d] in the final
position and preceded by the sound [n].
Thus, the rule is:
/d/ → [ø] / [+alveolar nasal] _____#
b. Consonant Changes
Not only consonant deletions, but the process of consonant changes are
also found in the data. There are three kinds of consonant changes. They are
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affrication, alveolarization, and glottalization. The more detail of these processes
are presented as follows:
i) Affrication
The first consonant change discussed in this part is the changing of the
alveolar voiceless oral stop sound [t] becomes a palatal voiceless affricative sound
[t ]. In phonology, this kind of the sound change is called as affrication. Trask
states that “affrication is a phonological process in which a plosive acquires a
fricative release” (2008:14). In this case, it can simply be said that affrication
occurs when plosive consonants [p, t, k] are replaced by an affricate consonant.
An example of affrication found in the data is in the word neglect. The process is
described in the table 4.8:
Table 4.8 The Phonological Process of Affrication
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Neglect You
Underlying Form [nɪglekt ju:] [nɪglekt ju:]
Affrication - [nɪglekt ʃu:]
Surface
Representation [nɪglekt ju:] [nɪglekt ʃu:]
Based on the table 4.8, [t] is pronounced as [t ] when its position is in the
end of the word and preceding another word which has the palatal glide sound [j]
as the initial sound. In the lyrics, the word neglect is followed by the word you.
Therefore, neglect which should be pronounced as [nɪglekt] after being followed
by [j] changes into [t ]. Therefore, neglect you is pronounced as [nɪglekt u:]. The
rule of this process is:
/t/ # /j/ [t ] / ______ V
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The other words experiencing exactly the same process of affrication are don’t
you, that you’ve, and what you.
Furthermore, the same process of affrication under a different
circumstance happens in the word with you. If the consonant replaced by [t ] in
the previous discussion is the sound [t], the consonant replaced in the word with
you is the interdental voiceless fricative sound [θ]. For this case, affrication
happens when the sound [θ] becomes [t ] if its position is in the final a word and
preceding the initial sound of another word; [j]. Therefore, the rule is:
/θ/# /j/ [t ] / ______ V
ii) Alveolarization
Another consonant change is the changing some sounds into the alveolar
sounds such as [n], [t], and [d]. The changing process is called as alveolarization.
Alveolarization is a phonological process occurring when a non-alveolar sound
becomes an alveolar sound. There are three types of alveolarization discussed in
this analysis. They are velar alveolarization, /ð/-alveolarization, and /θ/-
alveolarization. The three processes are explained as follows:
1) Velar Alveolarization
The first alveolarization happens is the velar nasal sound [ŋ]. Therefore,
it is called as velar alveolarization. The data analysis shows that the velar
alvolarization happens in 8 words. 4 words found in “Work” are hurting, trying,
something, and nothing. 4 other words are thinking, living, facing, and playing
found in “Man Down”. An example of the phonological process is presented in
table 4.9:
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Table 4.9 The Phonological Process of Velar Alveolarization
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Living
Underlying Form [lɪvɪŋ] [lɪvɪŋ]
/ŋ/-alveolarization - [lɪvɪn]
Surface
Representation [lɪvɪŋ] [lɪvɪn]
According to RP, living should be pronounced as [lɪvɪŋ]. Based on the
table 4.9, the position of the velar nasal sound [ŋ] is in the end of a word and
preceded by the vowel [ɪ]. However, [ŋ] is replaced by the alveolar nasal sound
[n]. As a result, it is pronunced as [lɪvɪn]. After observing the data, the words
having an ending sound [ŋ] experience this kind of phonological process. Thus, it
can be said that [ŋ] becomes [n] when its position is preceded by a vowel [ɪ] and
in the final of a word. As a result, the rule is: /ŋ/ [n] / V______ #
2) /ð/-alveolarization
Another sound which is alveolarized is the interdental voiced fricative
sound [ð]. The sound [ð] is changed into the alveolar voiced oral stop sound [d].
A number of words found in Rihanna’s pronunciation experience these processes.
They are bother, that, the, and them. Table 4.10 is provided in order to describe
the process.
Table 4.10 The Phonological Process of /ð/-alveolarization
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Them
Underlying Form [ðem] [ðem]
/ð/-alveolarization - [dem]
Surface
Representation [ðem] [dem]
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From the table 4.10, the initial phoneme /ð/ is alveolarized into /d/ in
some certain conditions. Firstly, /ð/ is changed into /d/ when it occurs in the
beginning of a word. Therefore, the rule is:
/ð/ [d] / # ______
Secondly, the /ð/-alveolarization also happens when the sound [ð] is in
the middle of a word. /ð/ in both conditions is always followed by a vowel. The
rule is:
/ð/ [d] / V______V
Additionally, the sound /ð/ also experiences the process of
defricativization. Defricativization means the changing process of fricative into
non-fricative, in this case oral stop.
3) /θ/-alveolarization
The last type of alveolarization found in this study is /θ/-alveolarization.
It is the changing process of the sound /θ/ becomes /t/. There are three words of
the data experiencing this phonological process. They are something, nothing’s,
and thinking.. The example of the process is presented as follows:
Table 4.11 The Phonological Process of /θ/-alveolarization
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Something
Underlying Form [sʌmθɪŋ] [sʌmθɪŋ]
/θ/-lveolarization - [sʌmtɪŋ]
/ŋ/-alveolarization - [sʌmtɪn]
Surface
Representation [sʌmθɪŋ] [sʌmtɪn]
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Based on the table 4.11, the interdental voiceless fricative sound [θ] is
changed into the alveolar voiceless oral stop sound [t]. Yet, the sound /θ/ also
experiences defricativization process. The changing sound due to the process of
alveolarization is almost similar to the previous discussion on the /ð/-
alveolarization. It also happens in some conditions. The first condition is if the
sound [θ] is in the beginning of a word, for example in the word thinking.
Consequently, the rule is:
/θ/ [t] / # ______
The second one is if it occurs in the middle of a word such as in the word
something represented in table 4.11. The sound [θ] is followed by a vowel in the
first and second condition. Therefore, the rule is:
/θ/ [t] / V_____V
iii) Glottaling
The next phonological process found in Rihanna’s pronunciation is called
glottaling. According to Trask, glottaling is the replacement of an oral plosive by
a glottal stop (2008:160). From the data, the glottaling process is found in three
words, which are get, had, work, dirt and it. The process is presented as follows:
Table 4.12 The Phonological Process of Glottaling
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Get
Underlying Form [get] [get]
Glottaling - [geʔ]
Surface
Representation [get] [geʔ]
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It can be explained that the alveolar voiceless stop sound [t] is changed
into the glottal stop sound [ʔ]. This process also happens in the word had. The
alveolar voiced stop sound [d] is changed into [ʔ] if the position of the sound [d]
is in the end of a word. The last, [ʔ] also replaced oral plosive stop [k] as in the
word work. Thus, the rule is:
/t/ [ʔ] / ______ #
or
/d/ [ʔ] / ______ #
or
/k/ [ʔ] / ______ #
c. Consonant Insertion
There is also a phonological process of consonant insertion. Insertion or
epenthesis occurs when there is a phoneme is inserted into a word in a position in
which no segment was previously present (Trask, 2008: 132). One kind of
consonant insertion occur in this song is called as palatalization which is
discussed as follows:
i) Palatalization
According to Trask, palatalization is a phonological process in which a
non-palatal segment is converted into palatal or palato-alveolar. Based on the
data, there is only one word experiencing palatalization. It is the word care found
in the song “Work”. The example of this process is discussed in the table 4.13:
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Table 4.13 The Phonological Process of Palatalization
English
Word
Phonological
Process
Received
Pronunciation
Rihanna's
Pronunciation
Care
Underlying Form [keə] [keə]
Vowel Change - [ka:]
/j/-insertion - [kja:]
Surface
Representation [keə] [kja:]
The word care which in RP should be pronounced as [keə] is changed
into [kja:]. In this word, two phonological rules are applied. They are vowel
change and insertion. However, the focus in this part is only the consonant
insertion which is [j]. From the process shown in table 4.13, it can be said that the
palatal sound [j] is inserted between /k/ and /a:/. As the result, the rule is:
/ø/ [j] / [k] ______V
B. Factors Affecting Rihanna’s Pronunciation of English Consonants
1. Phonological Aspect
The first factor affecting Rihanna’s pronunciation comes from
phonological aspect. The standard pronunciation which is RP mostly affects
Rihanna’s pronunciation. It is proven by the large number of words pronounced
by Rihanna which follows the rule of RP. On the other hand, there are also some
factors influencing Rihanna in pronouncing some words by not following RP’s
rule.
As being discussed previously, the pronunciation of the sound [θ] is
changed into [t]. The reason why [θ] is easily replaced by [t] rather than other
consonants is actually because both sounds have close place and manner of
articulation. [θ] and [t] are voiceless sound. [θ] is an interdental sound while [t] is
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an alveolar sound. The place of articulation of interdental and alveolar sound are
close. They also have the same major class feature consonant which is coronal.
It also happens in the sound [ð] which is changed into [d]. Both sounds
have close place and come from similar manner of articulation. [ð] and [d] are
voiced sound. [ð]is an interdental sound while [d] is an alveolar sound which their
place of articulation is close. They are also categorized as the same major class
feature consonant which is coronal. The changing sound of interdental fricatives
/θ/and /ð/, are recognized through the absence of English consonants in Jamaican
Creole. As mentioned in the previous chapter, there is no interdental fricatives in
Jamaican Creole phonology. Therefore, it is easier to be pronounced if the
interdental sounds are changed.
Furthermore, the sound [t] and [d] are deleted in a certain condition.
Based on the observation, the voiceless alveolar oral stop [t] is deleted when it is
in the final position of consonant cluster and followed by voiced sounds. For
example, in the lyrics, the word wasn’t are followed by the word right. Wasn’t
consists of three consonant cluster alveolar-alveolar-alveolar [znt] while the first
sound in the word right is voiced [r]. It also happens in the words act, text, just,
dealt, can’t, went, front, and expect.
The words dealt, can’t, went, and front consist of final alveolar-alveolar
consonant cluster while the words act, text, just, and expect consist of velar-
alveolar consonant cluster. In addition, the data shows that these words are
followed by the words which their first sound is voiced sounds such as like, me,
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get, with, even, of, and shot. Since there is an alveolar or velar sound preceeds [t]
and a voiced sound, [t] is deleted in order to make the pronunciation more simple.
The voiced alveolar oral stop [d] also experiences the phonological
process of deletion. It can be seen in the words and, mind, happened, and behind
that consist of two consonant clusters which are alveolar-alveolar [nd]. These
words are followed by the words which have consonant as their initial sounds
such as bars, to, and my. Almost similar to the explanation about /t/-deletion
previously, in order to simplify the pronunciation, [d] is deleted because there are
an alveolar sound and another consonant surround it.
Deletion process frequently happens in Rihanna’s pronunciation. There
are three consonants, [n], [v], and [t] which are eliminated. As described in the
previous subchapter, the ending sound of the words one, give, and let are deleted
if the initial sound of the next words is [m] in the word me. Additionally, these
deletion processes happen several times in some accent, especially in non-
standard English pronunciation, in order to make an easy pronunciation.
Assimilation process also happens in Rihanna’s pronunciation. For
example, in the lyrics, the ending sound of the word that, [t], is followed by the
initial sound of the word you, [j]. [t] is changed by [t ] rather than other
consonants because [t ] has close place of articulation with [j]. [t ] and [j] are
palatal sounds. However, [t] does not totally change into the sound which has the
same place articulation. The changing sound still has the same feature with [t]. [t]
and [t ] are voiceless sounds. Moreover, both comes from the same major classes
of consonant which is coronals.
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Another thing influencing Rihanna’s pronunciation phonologically is the
changing sound of the velar nasal [ŋ] into the alveolar nasal [n]. Based on the
data, all the ending sound [ŋ] in the words having such as hurting, something,
trying, nothing, thinking, facing, playing, and living, are replaced by [n]. As seen
in the data, [ŋ] is in the position after a vowel [ɪ]. There is a reason why the
alveolar nasal stop [n] replacing [ŋ] rather than another nasal or velar sound. It is
due to the influence of the vowel [ɪ]. According to Ladefoged, [ɪ] has features of
vowel, based on the position and height of the tongue, which are front and high.
Thus, it is easier to change [ŋ] into [n] because the tongue position while
producing the sound [n] is in the front and high.
2. Social Background
The second factor affecting the pronunciation is Rihanna’s social
background. The role of society conveys the influence on Rihanna in acquiring
the language used in her songs. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Rihanna’s
father is an Afro-Barbados and Irish descendant, while her mother is Afro-
Guyanese. It means that Rihanna has a mixture of Afro-Caribbean descendant.
She was born and grown up in Caribbean Islands. Thus, it can be said that
Caribbean language affects her language usage, in this case her pronunciation.
The majority language which is developed in Caribbean Islands is a
creole. Some European languages are used as a creole-based because, historically,
European people colonized the Caribbean Islands. Thus, the language used in
Caribbean is mostly affected by the language used by European colonies, such as
English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch. The examples of the countries which
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have English-based creole are Jamaica, Guyana, and Barbados (Wardaugh 1992:
64).
Due to the fact that Rihanna’s childhood is in Barbados, the language
used in a daily conversation is Barbadian Creole. On the other hand, in this
research, the writer discovers that Rihanna also uses Jamaican Creole in “Work”
and “Man Down”. As explained in the previous chapter about her music genre and
career life, she is really influenced by Jamaican singer and music. Therefore, there
is a possibility that she uses Jamaican Creole in those two songs. It is proven by
the finding of some phonological characteristics of Jamaican Creole in Rihanna’s
pronunciation. The first one is the absence of the interdental sounds [θ] and [ð].
The second one is phonological phenomenon of palatalization.
Furthermore, by relating the results of analysis in part A and Rihanna’s
life background, it also proves that Rihanna’s pronunciation is influenced by more
than one accent. For example, there is glottaling phenomenon which several times
happens in non-standard British accent.
Moreover, the pronunciation of Rihanna is also influenced by her
profession as a singer. As a singer, she always relates her life to music. Any music
genre is mostly informal. Thus, the use of non-standard English is also common in
any music genre, in this case reggae and dancehall music. It also proven by the
findings of non-standard English characteristics in Rihanna’s pronunciation. For
instance, the loss of final consonant cluster and the deletion process of the ending
sound which followed by bilabial nasal sound like in the words let me, give me,
and one me.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
The study achieves to answer the two problems of the study. Firstly,
answering how Rihanna pronounces English consonants in the song entitled
“Work” and “Man Down”, the writer determines that, from 263 words, 220
English words are pronounced exactly appropriate with RP. However, 43 of them
are not pronounced appropriately. Form these 43 English words, the study
concerns on English consonants. The English consonants which are pronounced
differently are categorizes into three groups. The categorization is based on the
English consonants’ position. They are initial, medial, and final position.
The analysis results there are some phonological processes happen due to
the different pronunciation. Deletion processes frequently occur in Rihanna’s
pronunciation. The sounds [t], [d], [n], and [v] are deleted when it occurs in the
final position of consonant clusters. The sounds [t] and [θ] also experience
affrication process which changes it into the sound [t͡ ʃ] when they occur in the
final position of words and followed by the sound [j].
The sounds [ð] and [θ] are also changed into [d] and [t] due to the
absence of the sounds in Jamaican Creole phonology. Consequently, the velar
sound [ŋ] is changed into [n]. There are the process of palatalization and
glottaling. In the glotaling process, the sounds [t], [d], and [k] are changed into a
glottal stop [ʔ] when they occur in the final position of words. The palatalization
process happens when palatal sound [j] is inserted between [k] and a vowel.
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Secondly, answering what possible factors influencing Rihanna’s
pronunciation, the writer finds that the factors come from phonological and
sociolinguistic aspects. The environment of how the sounds are produced affects
how the sounds are changed. In addition, the social background of Rihanna such
as the Afro-Caribbean descendant and Jamaican music genre contributes to her
pronunciation. In a conclusion, people could not pronounce exactly the same as
the standard language because many factors affects them.
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Stevenson, Robert. Global Communication in the Twenty-First Century. New
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1. The List of The Different Pronunciation of English Consonants
in “Work”
English Words RP Rihanna’s pronunciation
Dirt [dɜ:t] [dɜ:ʔ] Work [wɜ:k] [wɜ:ʔ] Care [keə] [kjɑ:]
Hurting [hɜ:tɪŋ] [hʌtɪn]
Trying [trɑɪjɪŋ] [trɑɪjɪn]
Something [sʌmθɪŋ] [sʌmtɪn]
Nothing [nʌθɪŋ] [nʌtɪn]
Bother [bɒ:ðə] [bɑdɑh]
That [ðæt] [dæt]
The [ðe] [de]
With you [wɪθ ju:] [wɪt͡ʃu:]
Don’t you [dəʊnt ju:] [dəʊntʃu:]
That you’ve [ðæt ju:v] [dæt͡ʃu:v]
Neglect you [nɪglekt ju:] [nɪglekcu:]
Act [ækt] [æk]
Text [tekst] [teks]
Just [dʒəst] [dʒəs]
Dealt [delt] [del]
And [ænd] [æn]
Had [hæd] [hæʔ]
Get [get] [geʔ]
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Appendix 2. The List of The Different Pronunciation of English Consonants
in “Man Down”
English Words RP Rihanna’s pronunciation
Didn’t [dɪdnt] [dɪdn]
Wasn’t [wʌznt] [wʌzn]
Can’t [kɑ:nt] [kæn]
Went [went] [wen]
Front [frʌnt] [frʌn]
Just [dʒəst] [dʒəs]
Expect [ɪkspekt] [ɪkspek]
And [ænd] [æn]
Mind [mɑɪnd] [mɑɪn]
Behind [bɪhɑɪnd] [bəhɑɪn]
Happened [hæpənd] [hʌpən]
It [ɪt] [ɪʔ] Get [get] [geʔ]
Thinking [θɪŋkɪŋ] [tɪŋkɪn]
Facing [feɪsɪŋ] [feɪsɪn]
Playing [pleɪjɪŋ] [pleɪjɪn]
Living [lɪvɪŋ] [lɪvɪn]
That [ðæt] [dæt]
The [ðe] [de]
Them [ðem] [dem]
One [wʌn] [wʌ] What you [wɒt ju:] [wɒt͡ʃu:]
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Appendix 3. The Lyrics of “Work”
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He say me have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He see me do me
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you all gon'?
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn
Me no care if him
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
[Verse 1 - Rihanna:]
Dry!... Me a desert him
No time to have you lurking
Him ah go act like he don't like it
You know I dealt with you the nicest
Nobody touch me, you the righteous
Nobody text me in a crisis
I believed all of your dreams, adoration
You took my heart and my keys and my patience
You took my heart on my sleeve for decoration
You mistaken my love I brought for you for foundation
All that I wanted from you was to give me
Something that I never had
Something that you've never seen
Something that you've never been!
Mmmmm!
But I wake up and act like nothing's wrong
Just get ready fi...
[Chorus - Rihanna:]
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He say me have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He see me do me
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Ner ner ner ner ner ner!
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When you all gon' learn, learn, learn, learn, learn!
Before the tables turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn!
[Verse 2 - Rihanna:]
Beg you something please
Baby don't you leave
Don't leave me stuck here in the streets, uh huh
If I get another chance to
I will never, no never neglect you
I mean who am I to hold your past against you?
I just hope that it gets to you
I hope that you see this through
I hope that you see this true
What can I say?
Please recognize I'm tryin', babe!
I have to
[Chorus - Rihanna:]
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He say me have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He see me do me
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you all gon'
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn
Me no care if him
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
[Verse 3 - Drake:]
Yeah, okay
You need to get done, done, done, done at work, come over
We just need to slow the motion
Don't give that away to no one
Long distance, I need you
When I see potential I just gotta see it through
If you had a twin, I would still choose you
I don't wanna rush into it, if it's too soon
But I know you need to get done, done, done, done
If you come over
Sorry if I'm way less friendly
I got niggas tryna end me, oh
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I spilled all my emotions tonight, I'm sorry
Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'
How many more shots until you're rollin'?
We just need a face to face
You could pick the time and the place
You spent some time away
Now you need to forward and give me all the...
[Chorus - Rihanna & Drake:]
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He say me have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He see me do me
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you all gon'
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn
Me no care if him
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
[Outro - Rihanna:]
Mmmmm, mmmmm
Mmmmm, mmmmm
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Mmmmm, mmmmm
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Appendix 4. The Lyrics of “Man Down”
I didn't mean to end his life
I know it wasn't right
I can't even sleep at night
Can't get it off my mind
I need to get out of sight
Before I end up behind bars
What started out as a simple altercation
Turned into a real sticky situation
Me just thinking on the time that I'm facing
Makes me wanna cry
Cause I didn't mean to hurt him
Could've been somebody's son
And I took his heart when
I pulled out that gun
Rum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum
Man Down
Rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum
Man Down
Oh, mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
In front of a big ol' crowd
Oh, why? Oh, why?
Oh, mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
It's a 22
I Call her Peggy Sue
When she fits right down in my shoes
What you expect me to do
If you're playing me for a fool
I will lose my cool
And reach for my fire arm
I didn't mean to lay him down
But it's too late to turn back now
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Don't know what I was thinking
Now he's no longer living
So I'm ‘bout to leave town (yeah)
Cause I didn't mean to hurt him
Could've been somebody's son
And I took his heart when
I pulled out that gun
Rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum
Man Down
Rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum
Man Down
Oh, mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
In front of a big ol' crowd
Oh, why? Oh, why?
Oh, mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
And I never thought I'd do it
Never thought I'd do it
Never thought I'd do it
Oh, gosh
Whatever happened to me
Ever happened to me
Ever happened to me
Why did I pull the trigger
Pull the trigger, pull the trigger – boom
And end a nigga, end a nigga life so soon
When me pull the trigger, pull the trigger, pull it 'pon you
Somebody tell me what I'm gonna, what I'm gonna do
Rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum
Me say one man down (oh, let me say)
Rum, pum, pum, pum rum, pum, pum, pum, rum, pum, pum, pum
When we went downtown
Cause now I am a criminal criminal criminal
Oh, lord have mercy now I am a criminal
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Man Down
Tell the judge please gimme minimal
Run out a town none a them can see me now
Oh, mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
In front of a big ol' crowd
Oh, why? Oh, why?
Oh, mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
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