Lesson five

• English pronunciation and word stress• Presentation techniques - discussion

English pronunciation

• Individual speech sounds• Sounds and spelling• Word stress• Prosody

Individual speech sounds

• Vowels• Consonants

Places of articulation

Vowels in English

Front Back

/i/ beat her

/ bit above

/e/ bet mood

/ bat put

/ but saw

got

father

Difficult distinctions /e/ vs //e/ /bed badmerry marrybeg bagmess masshead had

Diphthongs

Diphthongs

// late / / scout // light / / boat // boy / / hear / / tire / / hair / / tower / / poor // day

Diphthongs as complete words

• Eye //• Ear //

Difficult distinctions // vs /// /climb limbkind kindlepint hintfinal finishlilac lilyvital vivid

// vs //

// //allow belowcouch coachfoul foalgown ownbrow grow

// vs //

// //now noloud loadtown tonerow (=gräla) row (=ro)

English consonants

Bi-labial

Labio- dental

Labio- velar

Dental

Alveolar

Post- alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Stop/Plosives p b t d k g

Affricate

Nasal m n

Fricative f v s z (x) h Approximant w j

Lateral approximant

l

English consonants/p/ pit // thin/b/ bit // then/t/ tin /s/ sap/d/ din /z/ zap/k/ cut // she/g/ gut // measure// cheap /x/ loch, Chanukah // jeep /h/ ham/m/ map /w/ we/n/ nap // run // bang /j/ yes/f/ fat /l/ left/v/ vat

Difficult distinctions - /s/ vs /z/

/z/ /s/prize pricecause courseThursday thirstypeas piece

// vs //

// //chop shopcheat sheetchew shoe

// vs /j/

// /j/Jew youjet yetjuice use (noun)

/w/ vs /v/

/w/ /v/west vestwheel vealwine vine

Individual sounds exerciseThere are 26 letters in the English alphabet but there are44 sounds in the English language. This means that thenumber of sounds in a word is not always the same asthe number of letters.

The word 'CAT' has three letters and three sounds but theword 'CATCH' has five letters but still only three sounds.If we write these words using phonemic symbols, we cansee exactly how many sounds they have.

CAT is written /k æ t/CATCH is written /k æ ʧ/

In 'CATCH' the three letters TCH are one sound represented by one phonemicsymbol /ʧ/

Exercise 2

/e/ and / Any friend is better than Ben. Fanny is marrying Adam, as a matter of fact. Merry Annie won’t marry any man, said Marianne. and Luke stood rooted by the food, but he took a good look at the pool, too.

Exercise 2

/ and Don’t put too much butter in the pudding. and / The collar was a beautiful blue colour, but the long gloves made Wanda wonder.

Exercise 2

/|o/ and // Don’t mow the low grass – let it grow. The count was astounded by the loud sound of an owl in town. Howard rose and bowed slowly, showing his social know-how. //, /g/ and /nd/ With this ring on your finger you are in no danger.

Exercise 2/|o/ and Don’t throw it through the hole so soon – you’ll blow the booze to the moon. // and // Charlie is a charming chap. She shared her champagne with him. She chose mutton chops for lunch and was short-changed at the checkout counter.

Exercise 2// and /j/ In January young general Johnson from Yarmouth went to jail in Germany. Jonathan jumped from his yacht. Yesterday Jean had judo and Jack yoga.

/z/ and /s/ In the Zoo we saw zebras grazing on the plains in the dazzling sunshine.•

Spelling-Pronunciation Exercise The following words can be pronounced differently with different meanings. What are the pronunciations and their respective meanings

1. bass2. bow3. does4. lead5. moped6. dove7. sow8. suit9. wind10. tear

Word stress noun-verb

suspect suspect rebel rebel contract contract permit permit export export

Word stress

advertiser advertisementanalyze analysisambiguous ambiguitycontribution contributoryhorizon horizontalobligation obligatory

Model answer

advertize advertisment(BrE)advertisment (AmE)advertisment(AmE)

/dvtsmnt (BrE)/dvtsmnt (AmE)