HINTS
for
PRONUNCIATION
*/a/ vowel sound is
between /ʌ/ and /ɑː/. |
*/ɑː/ before /æ/,
/ʌ/ and /a/. |
*/aɪ/ = Start with
/a/ and glide to /ɪ/. |
*/ɔː/ before /ɒ/. |
*/d/, /b/, /g/ are
voiced (unaspirated) sounds. |
*/dʒ/ = Stop the air
stream with /d/, then release it into /ʒ/. |
*/dʒ/ = voiced
palato-alveolar affricate. |
*/ɜː/ before /ə/. |
*/eə/ = Start with
/e/ and glide to /ə/. |
*/eə/ is often
reduced to /eː/. |
*/əʊ/= Start with
/ə/ and glide to /ʊ/. |
*/iː/ before /ɪ/ and
/e/. |
*/j/ = voiced
palatal semi-vowel. |
*/j/ is close to
/ɪ/. |
*/r/ = The Tip of
the Tongue moves back over the Palate. |
*/r/, /w/, and /y/
sounds link vowels to vowels in rhythm groups. |
*/t/, /p/, /k/ are
voiceless (aspirated) sounds. |
*/tʃ/ = Stop the air
stream with /t/, then release it into /ʃ/. |
*/tʃ/ = voiceless
palato-alveolar affricate. |
*/tʃ/, /dʒ/ =
Pressure and Release = Affricates = more Fricative. |
*/tʃ/, /dʒ/ sounds
happen almost at the same time, ‘NO GLIDING’ |
*/uː/ before /ʊ/. |
*/ʊə/ is often
reduced to /ɔː/. |
*/w/ is a very short
duration of /ʊ/. |
*/w/ is close to
/ʊ/. |
*70 per cent of
English words take suffixes that do not shift stress. |
*A diph-thong is a
double vowel sound. |
*A diph-thong is one
syllable. |
*A syllable is a
beat in a word. |
*About 70 per cent
of English suffixes do not change syllable stress. |
*About 70 percent of
English words are one-syllable words. |
*About 75 percent of
the 2-syllable verbs have second-syllable stress. |
*Accent = pronunciation,
intonation, liaison, assimilation... |
*Adjectives and
adverbs are stressed. |
*Affirmative and
negative commands have rising/falling intonation. |
*Affirmative and
negative statements have rising/falling intonation. |
*Affirmative and
negative wh-questions have rising/falling intonation. |
*Affirmative and
negative yes/no questions have rising intonation. |
*All stop consonants
at the end of words are short and quiet. |
*Almost 84 percent
of English words are phonetically regular. |
*Alveolars = /t/,
/d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/. |
*American speakers
usually pronounce all the syllables in long words. |
*Amerikan, Irish and
Scottish speakers usually use sounded /r/. |
*Assimilation = /ɪm
bed/ |
*Assimilation =
Changing sounds. |
*Bilabial, Dental,
Alveolar, Palato-Alveolar, Palatal, Velar, Glottal. |
*Bilabials = /p/,
/b/, /m/, /w/. |
*Blend consonant to
consonant in rhythm groups, ‘one consonant’. |
*Blend same
consonant sounds together ‘like one long consonant’. |
*Both Lips = /p/,
/b/, /m/, /w/. |
*Casual, rapid
pronunciation /nd+z/ = /nz/ = /frenz, senz, spenz.../ |
*Casual, rapid
pronunciation /sk+s/ = /sː/ = /desː, ɑːsː .../ |
*Centring
Diph-thongs = /ɪə/, /ʊə/, /eə/. |
*Classroom and bus
driver are compound nouns. |
*Compound nouns have
stress on the first part. |
*Conjunctions are
not stressed. |
*Connected Speech =
Careful Speech (Formal-BBC), Rapid Speech. |
*Demonstrative
pronouns are stressed. |
*Dentals = /θ/, /ð/. |
*Diph-thongs combine
two vowel sounds. |
*Don’t give
syllables equal stress in English. |
*Don’t link words
between rhythm groups. |
*Duration (length)
of the Vowel = short, long. |
*Elision = /neks
steɪʃn/ |
*Elision = Losing or
disappearing sounds. |
*Elision = Omission
of /t/ and /d/. |
*Elision is the
omission of sounds or syllables in speech. |
*Endings help you find
the correct word stress. |
*English Back
Vowels: /uː/, /ɔː/, /ɒ/. |
*English Central
Vowels = /ɪ/, /ʌ/, /ə/, /ɜː/, /ɑː/, /ʊ/. |
*English Front
Vowels = /iː/, /e/, /æ/. |
*English High
Monoph-thongs / Vowels = /iː/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /uː/. |
*English is a
stress-timed language. |
*English is called a
stress timed language. |
*English is
considered to be a stress timed language. |
*English learners
pronounce the ‘t’ letter, like /d/ for –ty words. |
*English long vowels
are tense sounds. |
*English long vowels
equal Turkish short vowels in duration / length. |
*English Low
Monoph-thongs / Vowels = /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑː/, /ɒ/. |
*English Mid
Monoph-thongs / Vowels = /e/, /ə/, /ɜː/, /ɔː/. |
*English short
vowels are lax sounds. |
*English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Dutch... |
*English, German, Danish, Swedish, Portuguese... are stress-timed. |
*First, Secondary
Stress and then ‘Primary Stress’ in British English. |
*Focus on the
tonic/stressed syllables and words in English. |
*Function words are
reduced or weakened. ‘asked them’
/ɑsːk təm/ |
*Function words are
reduced or weakened. ‘date of birth’ /deɪtə bɜːθ/ |
*Function words have
only one syllable. |
*Glides = /w/, /j/. |
*Helping (auxiliary)
verbs are not stressed. |
*Helping verbs are
not stressed. ‘Would, Can...’ are helping verbs. |
*High, long, loud
syllables in English have tense vowel sounds. |
*Horizontal Tongue
Position = Front, Central, Back. |
*I send you some
flowers. /aɪ ˈsen dʒə səm ˌflaʊəz/ |
*I sent you some
flowers. /aɪ ˈsen tʃə səm ˌflaʊəz/ |
*If a preposition is
at the end of a question, it is strong and stressed. |
*If your intonation
is flat, you may sound rude and unfriendly. |
*In American English
‘z’ is pronounced /ziː/. |
*In British English
‘z’ is pronounced /zed/. |
*In British English,
the main stress comes after the secondary stress. |
*In British English,
the main stress second, the secondary stress first. |
*In compound nouns,
the first part has stress. |
*In Diph-thongs, the
first sound is longer and more stressed. |
*In English, some
words and syllables are strong and others are weak. |
*In fast speech ‘do
you’ is pronounced /dʒə/. |
*In four-syllable
verbs ending in –ate, stress the second syllable. |
*In long sentences,
syllables and words are in rhythm groups. |
*In most verbs
ending in two consonant, stress the last syllable. |
*In phrasal verbs,
the second part has stress. |
*In RP, the letter
‘r’ is not pronounced unless it is followed by a vowel. |
*In short answers
‘have, has, can, are, does... are strong and stressed. |
*In three-syllable
verbs ending in –ate, stress the first syllable. |
*In three-syllable
words ending in –y, stress the first syllable. |
*In Turkish we have
the sound /w/. /wur/ |
*In Turkish, every
syllable has more or less equal emphasis. |
*In two-word proper
nouns, the second part has stress. |
*In verbs ending in
–ish, the syllable before –ish has stress. |
*In words ending in
-ive, the syllable before –ive has stress. |
*Intonation = The
ways of saying things / the way you say it. |
*Intrusion = Adding
or extra sounds. |
*Intrusive /j/ =
/ɪ/, /iː/. |
*Intrusive /j/ =
‘she (y) is’. |
*Intrusive /r/ = /ə/,
/ɔː/. |
*Intrusive /r/ =
‘America (r) and Asia. |
*Intrusive /w/ =
/ʊ/, /uː/. |
*Intrusive /w/ = ‘go
(w) off’. |
*Intrusive Sounds =
/r/, /w/, and /j/. |
*It is important to
learn the phonemic symbols. |
*It is important to
use intonation to sound polite and friendly. |
*Jaw is fairly
closed = /iː/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /uː/. |
*Jaw is neutral =
/e/, /ə/, /ɜː/, /ɔː/. |
*Jaw is open = /æ/,
/ʌ/, /ɑː/, /ɒ/. |
*Juncture = ‘ice
cream’/ ‘I scream’. |
*Juncture = Linking
or joining sounds. |
*Labio-Dentals =
/f/, /v/. |
*Labio-velar = A
speech sound made using the lips and soft palate. |
*Labio-velar sound =
/w/ in what, where, which... |
*Learners whose first language is syllable-timed have some
problems. |
*Lexical
words=Content words / Grammatical words=Function words. |
*Liaison = Linking
or joining sounds. |
*Liaison = Linking
or joining together of words in rhythm groups. |
*Link words in the
same rhythm groups in long sentences. |
*Linking /r/ = ‘your
English’, ‘you(r) name’, ‘far away’. |
*Linking consonants
to vowels makes the speech fluent... |
*Linking means to
‘pronounce two words together’. |
*Linking vowel to
vowel, use the sounds /r/, /w/, and /y/. |
*Lip Position =
Spread, Neutral, Rounded. |
*Liquids = /l/, /r/. |
*Lower Lip - Upper
Teeth = /f/, /v/. |
*Manner of
Articulation = How the Sound is Produced. |
*Many native
speakers do not use /ʊə/ diph-thong, use /ɔː/ instead. |
*Many students have
some problems with /ə/ sound. |
*Many unstressed
vowel sounds tend to become the schwa. |
*Most –ed endings
are sounds, not syllables. |
*Most low, short,
quiet syllables in English have /ə/ or /ɪ/. |
*Most –s endings are
sounds, not syllables. |
*Most unstressed
syllables, words in sentences have the /ə/ or /ɪ/. |
*Most words in
English take suffixes that do not shift stress.( %70 ) |
*Multiple interrogative
sentences have rising/falling intonation. |
*Nasals = /m/, /n/,
/ŋ/. |
*Nearly % 30 of the
sounds you make when you speak English are /ə/. |
*Nearly 16 percent
of English words are phonetically ir-regular. |
*Nearly 90 percent
of the 2-syllable nouns have first-syllable stress. |
*Negative words are
stressed. |
*Nouns and verbs are
stressed. |
*Numbers ending with
–ty have stress on the first syllable. |
*Numbers with –teen
have the /t/ sound. |
*Numbers with –ty
have the /t/ sound like /d/. (flap /t/) |
*Palatal = /j/. |
*Palato-Alveolars =
/ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/. |
*People from
Australia and Wales use rising intonation for statements. |
*People from Ireland
use /t/ or /d/ for ‘th’. |
*Phrasal verbs are
difficult to understand because of linking. |
*Place of Articulation
= Where the Sound is Produced. |
*Post-Alveolar = A
little behind the alveolar position = /r/. |
*Prepositions,
articles, and pronouns are not stressed. |
*Pronounce /θ/ and
/ð/ correctly means ‘Real English’. |
*Pronounce
unstressed vowel sounds like /ə/ or /ɪ/. |
*Pronunciation of –s
and –ed endings is very important. |
*Put a very short
/ɪ/ in place of /j/. |
*Put a very short
/ʊ/ in place of /w/. |
*Put the main stress
on the last word of compound adverbs. |
*Put the primary
stress on the first noun in compound nouns. |
*Question tags
(certanity) have falling intonation. |
*Question tags
(uncertanity) have rising intonation. |
*Rapid, casual
speech /kt+s/ = /ks/ = /fæks, æks.../ |
*Rapid, casual
speech /lɪsː, tesː, əkˈseps.../ |
*Regular stresses
make rhythm in English. |
*Rhotic Accent = The
letter ‘r’ in the spelling is always pronounced. |
*Rising/Falling
intonation is in statements, commands, wh-questions. |
*Sentence stress is
an important factor in fluency. |
*Sentence stress,
rhythm groups and linking make the speech faster... |
*Seven lax (short)
vowels, Five tense (long) vowels in English. |
*Some English
dialects are characterized by a syllable-timed rhythm. |
*Standard British
English speakers often use silent /r/. |
*Stress and unstress
make rhythm in English sentences. |
*Stress both words
in adjective-noun phrases, ‘HARD WORK’. |
*Stress in
Diph-thongs = Stress the first sound /element. |
*Stress in
Diph-thongs = Unstress the second sound / element. |
*Stress the syllable
before ‘–ion’ ending in English. |
*Stress the syllable
-before words ending in ‘–ial, -ical, -ity’. |
*Stress the syllable
-before words ending in ‘–ion, -ic, -ics’. |
*Stress timed =
Having a regular rhythm of primary stresses. |
*Stress timing =
English words and sentences take shorter to say. |
*Stress timing
versus syllable timing means Real English. |
*Stressed syllables
are longer and clearer than unstressed ones. |
*Strong = Unvoiced
consonants / Weak = Voiced consonants. |
*Syllabification =
Syllabication = The division of words into syllables. |
*Syllable timed =
Having a regular rhythm of syllables. |
*Syllable timing =
Turkish words and sentences take longer to say. |
*The /ɒ/ and /ɪ/
sounds combine to form the diphthong /ɔɪ/. |
*The /æ/ and /ɪ/
sounds combine to form the diphthong /aɪ/. |
*The /æ/ and /ʊ/
sounds combine to form the diphthong /aʊ/. |
*The /ɔɪ/, /aɪ/ and
/aʊ/ diph-thongs are wide sounds. |
*The /eɪ/ and /oʊ/
diph-thongs are tense sounds. |
*The /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
are short sounds. |
*The /w/ is a short
form of the sound /uː/. |
*The ‘-est’ ending
is pronounced /-ɪst/ in the superlative forms. |
*The –ate suffix is
unstressed in English. ‘DEmonstrate, INdicate...’ |
*The auxiliary verb
is at the end of a sentence is stressed. |
*The central vowel
/ə/ is a special sound in English. |
*The diphthong /əʊ/
has two sounds. First say /ə/ long,then add /ʊ/. |
*The double
consonant sound /tʃ/ is always short. |
*The final –es is
pronounced /ɪz/. |
*The final spelling
‘r’ of a word may be pronounced or not. |
*The letter ‘e’ at
the end of a word is not pronounced. (magic ‘e’) |
*The letter ‘r’ is
not sounded as the following sound is a consonant. |
*The letters ‘ch’
are often pronounced /tʃ/. |
*The letters ‘ge’
and ‘gi’ are often pronounced /dʒ/. |
*The letters ‘ng’
can be pronounced /ŋ/,/ŋg/ or /ndʒ/. |
*The lips are neither
spread nor rounded for central vowels. |
*The number of
stresses is very important in an English sentence. |
*The pronunciation
of the –ed adjective endings /t/, /d/, /ɪd/. |
*The pronunciation
of the –s and –es verb endings /s/, /z/, /ɪz/. |
*The reduced =
unstressed syllable usually takes the schwa sound. |
*The schwa = shwa
/ə/ is in weak or unstressed syllables. |
*The schwa = shwa
/ə/ is the most frequent vowel sound in English. |
*The schwa = shwa
/ə/ sound is the most common vowel in English. |
*The smallest or
weakest English vowel sound is /ə/ schwa = shwa. |
*The sound /ɑː/ is
spelt with the letters ‘ar’. |
*The sound /æ/ is
spelt with the letter ‘a’. |
*The sound /ð/ is
voiced. (Vocal cords are moving) |
*The sound /ʃ/ is
often spelt ‘sh’. |
*The sound /ɜː/ is a
long schwa = shwa. |
*The sound /ɜː/ is
spelt with the letters ‘er’. |
*The sound /ɜː/ is
spelt with the letters ‘ir’. |
*The sound /ɜː/ is
spelt with the letters ‘ur’. |
*The sound /əʊ/ is
spelt with the letter ‘o’. |
*The sound /ʌ/ is
usually spelt with the letter ‘u’. |
*The sound /w/ is
sometimes spelt with the letter ‘u’. |
*The sound /θ/ is
voiceless. (Vocal cords are not moving) |
*The sound of the –d
and –ed verb endings /t/, /d/, /ɪd/. |
*The sound of the –s
and –es plural endings /s/, /z/, /ɪz/. |
*The sound schwa /ə/
can be represented by any vowel. |
*The stressed
syllable (vowel) = the accented syllable (vowel). |
*The stressed words
are long, loud and high. |
*The tonic syllable
= The stressed syllable. |
*The two same
consonants are ‘not pronounced two times’. |
*The unstressed
syllables are low, short, and quiet. |
*The voiced /ð/
occurs in function words and family relation ones. |
*The voiceless /θ/
occurs in content words. |
*The vowel sound in
the final syllable is often /ə/. |
*The vowel sounds
are before /b/, /d/, and /g/ long, at the end. |
*The vowel sounds
are before /p/, /t/, and /k/ short, at the end. |
*The vowel sounds in
bus / ago are similar. The first one is ‘stressed’. |
*There are about
fifty function words (unstress, weak) in English. |
*There are eight
diph-thongs in English. |
*There are many
standards and varieties of English. |
*There are very
short pauses between rhythm groups. |
*This, that, these,
and those are stressed. |
*Thought groups are
meaningful groups of words. |
*Thousands of words
in English end in –ion. |
*Three diph-thongs
gliding to /ə/ = /ɪə/, /ʊə/, /eə/. |
*Three diph-thongs
gliding to /ɪ/ = /eɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aɪ/. |
*Throat = /h/. |
*To make /n/ and
/ŋ/, the air comes out through your nose. |
*To sound polite and
friendly, intonation goes up or down, not flat. |
*Tongue - Gum Ridge
= /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/. |
*Tongue - Hard
Palate = /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /r/, /j/. |
*Tongue - Soft
Palate = /k/, /g/, /ŋ/. |
*Tongue - Teeth =
/θ/, /ð/. |
*Turkish is a
syllable-timed language. |
*Turkish is called a
syllable timed language. |
*Turkish learners
tend to give English syllables equal stress. |
*Turkish learners
tend to speak English with a syllable-timed rhythm. |
*Turkish students
have problems with the /θ/, /ð/, /w/ sounds. |
*Turkish words are
often stressed on the final or penultimate syllable. |
*Turkish, French, Italian, Spanish, Finnish... are syllable-timed. |
*Two diph-thongs
gliding to /ʊ/ = /əʊ/, /aʊ/. |
*Unstressed
syllables often contain the schwa vowel sound. |
*Unstressed
syllables often have the weak schwa vowel sound /ə/. |
*Use clear
consonants ‘cu(tt)ing, co(nn)ect...’ |
*Velars = /k/, /g/,
/ŋ/. |
*Vertical Tongue
Position = High, Mid, Low. |
*Vowel Reduction =
/ɪ/, /ə/, /ʊ/. |
*Vowel Reduction =
Changing sounds. |
*We nearly always
pronounce the letters ‘ch’ as /tʃ/. |
*West Indian English
is a syllable-timed language.
(French, Turkish...) |
*When a word ends in
/d/, the next word begins with /y/ = /dʒ/. |
*When a word ends in
/t/, the next word begins with /y/ =
/tʃ/. |
*When two vowels go
walking, the first one does the talking. |
*When we speak fast,
we use contractions and weak forms. |
*When you make /ŋ/,
your tongue is further back in your mouth. |
*Wh-question words
(what, which, how...) are stressed. |
*With back vowels,
the lips are more or less rounded. |
*With central
vowels, the lips are in a neutral position. |
*With front vowels,
the lips are spread. |
*Words ending in /t/
or /d/, ‘-ed’ endings are pronounced /ɪd/. |
*Words ending in
–er, -or, -ly doesn’t change the stressed syllable. |
*Words ending in
–ion have the stressed syllable ‘before –ion’. |
*Words ending in
noisy consonants, ‘-s’ endings are pronounced /ɪz/. |
*Words ending in
voiced sounds, ‘-ed’ endings are pronounced /d/. |
*Words ending in
voiced sounds, ‘-s’ endings are pronounced /z/. |
*Words ending in
voiceless sounds, ‘-ed’ endings are pronounced /t/. |
*Words ending in
voiceless sounds, ‘-s’ endings are pronounced /s/. |
*Working on
sound/spelling relationships is very important. |
*Working on syllabification
and word stress makes the speech fluent... |
*You pronounce the
letter ‘t’, like /t/ or like /d/. |