1 LM-1230 Oral Communication I Pronunciation Booklet
Table of Contents Pronunciation Using Phonetic Transcriptions in Language Courses…..………………………… What is Linguistics?.........................………………………………………………… The Phonetic Alphabet…...…………………………………………………………… Classification of Vowels…………….………………………………………………… Unstressed Vowels…………………………….……………………………………… Suggestions for the Student..…………………………………………………………. Pronouncing the Vowels of American English………………………………….. /i/…………………………….....………………………………………………………… / /……………………………... ɪ ..………………………………………...……………… Lesson Review /i/ and / /……………………………………………………………… ɪ /e /…………………………….....……………………………………………………… ɪ . / / ɛ …………………………….....……………………………………………………….. /æ/…………………………….....………………………………………………………. /a/…………………………….....……………………………………………………….. Contrast and Review of /e /, / /, /æ/, and /a/……………………………………….. ɪ ɛ /u/…………………………….....……………………………………………………….. / / ʊ …………………………….....……………………………………………………….. / / ʌ …………………………….....……………………………………………………….. /o / ʊ …………………………….....……………………………………………………… / / ɔ …………………………….....……………………………………………………….. Contrast and Review of /a/, / /, /o /, and / /……………………………………….. ʌ ʊ ɔ /ə/…………………………….....……………………………………………………….. / / ɝ ……………………………..…………………………………………………………. / / ɚ …………………………….....………………………………………………………. /a / ʊ …………………………….....……………………………………………………… /a /ɪ …………………………….....……………………………………………………… / / ɔɪ …………………………….....………………………………………………………. 1 3 7 15 22 32 37 41 43 46 49 53 57 61 66 68 71 78 82 86 90 92 96 98 103 107 111
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What Is Linguistics? Linguistics is the study of language. Knowledge of linguistics, however, is different from knowledge of a language. Just as a person is able to drive a car without understanding the inner workings of the engine, so, too, can a speaker use a language without any conscious knowledge of its internal structure. Conversely, a linguist can know and understand the internal structure of a language without actually speaking it. A linguist, then, is not an individual who speaks more than one language, more accurately called "polyglot" or "bilingual" or "multilingual." Rather, a linguist is concerned with language as a human phenomenon. Linguists study grammar, the social and psychological aspects of language use, and the relationships among languages, both historical and present-day. The field of linguistics, like any complex field, includes several major divisions. FORMAL LINGUISTICS Formal linguistics is the study of the structures and processes of language, that is, how language works and is organized. Formal linguists study the structures of different languages, and by identifying and studying the elements common among them, seek to discover the most efficient way to describe language in general. There are three main schools of thought in formal linguistics: (1) The "traditional," or "prescriptive," approach to grammar is probably familiar to most of us. It is what we are usually taught in school. "A noun is a person, place, or thing" is a typical definition in a traditional grammar. Such grammars typically prescribe rules of correct or preferred usage. (2) "Structural linguistics," a principally American phenomenon of the mid-20th century, is typified by the work of Leonard Bloomfield, who drew on ideas of the behaviorist school of psychology. Structuralists are primarily concerned with phonology, morphology, and syntax (described below). They focus on the physical features of utterances with little regard for meaning or lexicon (Crystal, 1980). They divide words into form classes distinguished according to grammatical features. For example, a noun is defined in terms of its position in a sentence and its inflections, such as the "-s" for plural. (3) The "generative/transformational" approach to the study of grammar was introduced by Noam Chomsky in 1957 in his seminal work, "Syntactic Structures." Here he traced a relationship between the "deep structure" of sentences (what is in the mind) and their "surface structure" (what is spoken or written). For example, the surface structure of the sentence, "The postman was bitten by the dog," was derived from the deep structure, "The dog bit the postman," through the application of a passive transformation. From transformational/generative grammar arose the theory of Universal Grammar. This 3
widely accepted theory starts from the perception that all languages share certain linguistic features (universals). The goal of this theory is to explain the uniformity of language acquisition among humans despite ostensible differences in their native languages. Since Chomsky's original proposals in 1957, numerous elaborations and alternative theories have been proposed. Formal linguistics includes five principal areas of study: "Phonetics" is the study of the sounds of language and their physical properties. Phonetics describes how speech sounds are produced by the vocal apparatus (the lungs, vocal cords, tongue, teeth, etc.) and provides a framework for their classification. "Phonology" involves analyzing how sounds function in a given language or dialect. For example, /p/ has two possible sounds in English depending on its position in a word. If you place a sheet of paper near your mouth and pronounce the words "pin" and "spin," the paper will vibrate after the /p/ in the first word but not after the same sound in the second word. This puff of air occurs when /p/ is in the initial position of a word in English. Phonologists examine such phonetic shifts to construct theories about linguistic sounds in one language that can be used in comparing linguistic systems. The analysis of sounds in different languages can be very useful for foreign language teachers. "Morphology" is the study of the structure of words. Morphologists study minimal units of meaning, called "morphemes," and investigate the possible combinations of these units in a language to form words. For example, the word "imperfections" is composed of four morphemes: "im" + "perfect" + "ion" + "s." The root, "perfect," is transformed from an adjective into a noun by the addition of "ion," made negative with "im," and pluralized by "s." "Syntax" is the study of the structure of sentences. Syntacticians describe how words combine into phrases and clauses and how these combine to form sentences. For example, "I found a coin yesterday" is embedded as a relative clause in the sentence, "The coin that I found yesterday is quite valuable." Syntacticians describe the rules for converting the first sentence into the second. "Semantics" is the study of meaning in language. The goal of semantic study is to explain how sequences of language are matched with their proper meanings and placed in certain environments by speakers of the language. The importance of meaning is revealed in the following well known example from Chomsky (1957): "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." Though grammatical, this sentence is largely meaningless in ordinary usage. APPLIED LINGUISTICS The findings of linguistics, like the findings of any other theoretical study, can be applied to the solution of practical problems, as well as to innovations in everyday areas 4
involving language. This is the mandate of applied linguistics. Applied linguists draw from theories of language acquisition to develop first and second language teaching methodologies and to implement successful literacy programs; they may draw from theories of sociolinguistics to develop special teaching strategies for speakers of nonstandard English. Applied linguists may also engage in language planning by developing alphabets and grammars for unwritten languages and by writing dictionaries. They are sometimes asked to be expert witnesses in legal cases involving language. Computer corporations employ applied linguists to examine speech synthesis and speech recognition by automated machines. In short, applied linguists apply the theories and tools of formal linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics in a wide variety of socially useful ways. Phonology Phonology deals with the linguistic pattering of sounds in human language. Linguists distinguish two areas of phenology: segmental phonology and suprasegmenta! phonology. Segmental phonology roughly refers to “what you say.” It is concerned with the fundamental building blocks of sound structure: phonemes and distinctive features. A phoneme is an abstract phonological unit. In English, phonemes are distinctive structural elements, i.e. two words that differ in only one phoneme have different meanings. Compare sun and pun which differ only in the initial phoneme (/s/ vs. /p/). Word pairs of this kind are referred to as minimal pairs. “Abstract” in this context means that the pronunciation of the phoneme is not fully specified, i.e. a phoneme can be pronounced in different ways depending on its environment. The actual realization of a phoneme in a given environment is called phone, a set of phones that realize the same phoneme is referred to as its allophone. Compare e.g the /p/ sounds in pull and temper. The /p/ in pull is aspirated, meaning that the production of this sound is accompanied by a “puff of air” (the emission of air), whereas in the production of the /p/ in temper there is no such aspiration. The aspirated and the non-aspirated /p/ are thus allophones of the same phoneme. Distinctive features refer to units that are smaller still than phonemes. Relevant features are e.g. [+/- consonant], which distinguishes formally between vowels ([-consonant]) and consonants ([+consonant]), and [+/-voice], distinguishing between voiced and voiceless sounds. Evidence for these features is both internal and external. Internal evidence relates e.g. to the adequacy with which phonological phenomena can be described. External evidence is based on linguistic behavior. Consider speech errors. Speech errors are unintentional departures from what the speaker meant to say. Some types of speech errors are sensitive to distinctive phonological features. Imagine a speech error such as "glear plue sky” when your intention was to say "dear blue sky. This is an example of an exchange of features. The initial sound of the first word was intended to be voiceless (/k/ in dear), whereas the initial sound of the second word (/b/ in blue) was to be voiced, in the erroneous utterance, these features are exchanged. 5
Suprasegmenta! Phonology on the other hand roughly refers to “how you say what you say.” It involves phenomena such as the structure of syllables, stress, and tone. A syllable is an important structural unit in phonology, with a word being organized in syllables. A syllable consists of an optional onset (the initial consonant} and an obligatory rhyme. The rhyme itself consists of a (obligatory) nucleus (also called peak), which is normally a vowel, and a (optional) coda, the final consonant in a syllable. Stress is the phonological correlate of a combination of loudness, pitch, and vowel length. In each word, at least one syllable must be stressed- i.e. must be most prominent / more prominent than other syllables. In the English word computer for example, the syllable /-pu-/ is the most prominent one. Tone is the phonological correlate of pitch. Tone, i.e. pitch variation, can serve different purposes across languages. On the one hand, in a language such as English (or German, Dutch), pitch variation can be. used to express the intention of the speaker. In general, the constituent carrying important information will be marked by a pitch accent, whereas known information is deaccented. A pitch accent is a local feature of a pitch contour which signals that the relevant syllable is prominent in the utterance. This is related to the term intonation. In languages such as English, FO is the strongest correlate of how the listener perceives the speaker's intonation. The term intonation refers to the occurrence of recurring pitch patterns, to the prominence (and nonprominence) of syllables, to how and to what extent the syllables are made prominent, and to phonological phrasing. Intonation conveys sentence-level pragmatic meanings in a linguistically structured way. Pitch concerns the varying height of the pitch of the voice, i.e. it refers to what the listener hears as high or low tonal properties, to rising and falling voice patterns. It is the prosodic feature most centrally involved in intonation. The major goal of phonological research in general is to establish a general framework for the phonological structure of language. Phonological research is based on (i) language specific observations, i.e. the phonological patterns of isolated languages, such as the phonology of English, the phonology of German, the phonology of Vietnamese, and on (ii) comparative phonological studies, dealing with questions such as What are the sounds in the languages of the world?. Are there any sounds within the human sound inventory that occur in all known languages? and What are the differences between the languages?. Adapted from: ERIC Digest (2017) What Is Linguistics?. Retrieved from: https://www.ericdigests.org/1992-1/what.htm 6
The Phonetic Alphabet1 I. Learning to Pronounce English The fundamental method by which a student learns to pronounce English is by imitating the pronunciation of English-speaking persons under conditions that approach as nearly as possible those of normal communication. During this course, you will have many opportunities to imitate the speech of your instructor and others; do so as accurately and as often as you can. The strange sounds and rhythms may seem a little funny at first, but you must try to forget that, and imitate without reservations. You have probably been amused at the peculiarities in the speech of an American pronouncing, or attempting to pronounce, your own language; now you must try to reproduce those same peculiarities in English. Your success will depend largely on the sharpness of your ear and your ability as an imitator. Sometimes imitation does fail, however. The instructor may pronounce a word or sentence many times for you, and you still may be unable to say it exactly as he or she does. This may be because you are hearing and reproducing well only a few of the most important sounds that make up the word. It will be of benefit to you then if the instructor can write out the word for you, sound by sound, using symbols that are always pronounced in the same way. One of the most typical features of English is the manner in which its unimportant, unstressed vowels are pronounced. Your attention may not be called to these at all when you hear a word spoken, but you can see them as clearly as the stressed vowels in a phonetic transcription. The eye is more analytical than the ear. We can see separately all the symbols that make up a written word, but we can hardly hear individually all the sounds that compose it as it is normally spoken. Most people learn most things better through the eye than through the ear. Even in learning to pronounce, where you must depend primarily on hearing, there is every advantage in being able to have your eye aid your ear. Something learned in two different ways is probably four times as well learned. The ordinary spelling of an English word sometimes has so little apparent relation to its sound that the spelling is not useful as a guide to pronunciation. There will be times when you may wish to write down the pronunciation of a new word, so as to be able to recall it later. Unfortunately, we cannot remember a mere sound clearly for very long; but a phonetic transcription will make recall easier. When no English-speaking person is present to pronounce a word for you, your only recourse may be to try to reconstruct the sound of the word from the symbols in a dictionary. Practice in reading symbols will help you learn to make accurate reconstructions. There will be times too when, to succeed in making an English sound perfectly, you will need to know exactly what to do with your tongue, lips, and other organs of speech. For instance, in order to make the t-sound in English, the tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth somewhat farther back than is the case with many other languages. Merely hearing the t and trying to imitate it, you might never guess this fact. 1 Adapted from: Prator, C. & Wallace, B. (1985). Manual of American EnglishPronunciation. New York: Harcourt Brace. 7
In other words, though you must rely chiefly on your ear and imitation to acquire a good accent, a knowledge of the number and identity of English sounds, the symbols used to represent them in phonetic writing, the way in which they are produced, and a few of the laws that govern their behavior will be of great advantage to you and will increase your chances of success. This text is designed to give you such information and to aid you in learning to apply it. The text is not a course in English pronunciation, but merely a useful aid in such a course. The science of phonetics may be considered the grammar of pronunciation; a knowledge of phonetics can help you to pronounce no less, and no more, than a knowledge of grammar can help you to speak and write. II. Why a Phonetic Alphabet? The first step in your work with phonetics will be to familiarize yourself with a set of symbols by means of which the important sounds of English—all those that serve to distinguish one word from another word2—may be represented. There will be a symbol for every such sound, and no more than one symbol for any given sound. The set of symbols used in this manual is an adaptation of the widely known SmithTrager system. This adaptation is better suited to our purposes than are systems of diacritical markings such as those employed in most well- known English dictionaries. Use of the latter may involve learning up to thirty different vowel symbols, with each sound represented by several different symbols. You will find various versions of the Smith-Trager system used in much technical writing on English pronunciation as well as in many bilingual dictionaries intended for students of foreign languages. (Note: This remasterization uses IPA instead of the Smith-Trager system since it is the alphabet used during the major.) III. Table of Symbols In the table that follows are included approximate French, German, Japanese, and Spanish equivalents for most of the American English sounds. These equivalents are not scientifically accurate in most cases, and are given only because they may make it easier at first for you to identify the various sounds. A written accent marks the stressed vowel of words of more than one syllable: reason /ˈriː.zən/. When there are two or more stressed syllables, the most important is marked /ˈ /, and that with secondary stress /ˌ /: preposition /ˌprep.əˈzɪʃ. ən/. 2 'Recognition of the difference between bed and bead, when the words are spoken, depends on ability to distinguish between the vowel sounds in the two words. There must, therefore, be separate symbols to represent these two sounds. The r in the word water is pronounced in different ways in various parts of the United States and Great Britain, but variety of pronunciation does not mean variety of meaning. For our purposes, one symbol will suffice to represent the various r sounds. An alphabet based on this principle is properly called a phonemic alphabet, and phonemic symbolization has been used in this text except that deviations have sometimes been made for pedagogical purposes. As mentioned in the Introduction, we consistently refer to the transcription as phonetic because students are more accustomed to this term and because several pedagogical devices employed in the manual are phonetic in character. However, because the approach is basically phonemic, we have followed the practice of using slant lines (/) to enclose all transcriptions, even those which are obviously phonetic: for example, /:/ for vowel length and /h / for aspiration. 8
The Phonetic Alphabet Approximate Equivalent in… Symbol English Examples CONSONANTS French German Japanese Spanish 1. /b/ boat /boʊt/ bébé baden ban también 2. /d/ dark /dɑrk/ doigt dumm dan un dedo 3. /f/ far /fɑr/ fait Feind furui fino 4. /g/ gold /goʊld/ garder gut gakkō golpe 5. /h/ home /hoʊm/ (none) haben hachi gente 6. /k/ cold kodak /koʊld/ /ˈkoʊˌdæk/ car kaufen kin vaca 7. /!/ Iet /lɛt/ laisser lange (none) lado 8. /m/ man /mæn/ même morgen uma mano 9. /n/ next /nɛkst/ non nein nani nombre 10. /o/ ring sink /rɪŋ/ /sɪŋk/ (none) singen ginkō naranja 11. /p/ part /pɑrt/ peu Papier pera pelo 12. /r/ rest /rɛst/ (none) (none) (none) (none) 13. /s/ send city /sɛnd/ /ˈsɪti/ sou Haus suru sino 14. /ʃ/ ship /ʃɪp/ chez schön shuppatsu (none) 15. /t/ ten /tɛn/ temps Tür to tener 16. /θ/ think /θɪŋk/ (none) (none) (none) cita (as pronounced in Madrid) 17, /ð/ that /ðæt/ (none) (none) (none) dedo 18. /v/ very /ˈvɛri/ vain November (none) (none) 19. /w/ went /wɛnt/ oui (none) waru huevo 20. /j/ you /ju/ hier jung yuku hierro 21. /z/ zoo rose knows /zu/ /roʊz/ /noʊz/ chose dieser zashiki desde 22. /ʒ/ pleasure vision /ˈplɛʒɚ/ /ˈvɪʒən/ je (none) (none) (none) 23. /hw / when /hwɛn/ (none) (none) (none) (none) 24. /tʃ/ children /ˈʧɪldrən/ Tcheque Putsch cha mucho 25. /dʒ/ jury edge age /ˈʤʊri/ /ɛʤ/ /eɪʤ/ djinn (none) jama yo (when pronounced with emphasis) 9
The Phonetic Alphabet Approximate Equivalent in… Symbol English Examples French German Japanese Spanish SIMPLE VOWELS 1. /a/ far /fɑr/ âme Vater ā malo hot /hɑt/ 2. /æ/ am /æm/ mal (none) (none) (none) 3. /ɛ/ get /gɛt/ lève Bett empitsu el bread /brɛd/ said /sɛd/ 4. /ɪ/ in /ɪn/ (none) sitzen (none) (none) become /bɪˈkʌm/ 5. /i/ see /si/ fini sieht ie sí receive /rəˈsiv/ 6. /ɔ/ for /fɔr/ note wollen oru orden all /ɔl/ ought /ɔt/ 7. /ʊ/ put /pʊt/ (none) dunkel putto (none) could /kʊd/ good /gʊd/ 8. /u/ rule /rul/ fou Stube kū mula too /tu/ 9. /ə/ 3 ago /əˈgoʊ/ me Knabe (none) (none) reason /ˈrizən/ 3 The student who has a good ear will probably note that the vowel of but /bət/ is not quite the same as that of bird /bɝd/, where the /ə/ sound is given a special “coloring” by the /r/ that follows it. Some works on English pronunciation employ as many as four separate symbols to represent variants of the /ə/ sound: /bʌt/ in a stressed syllable, [əgoʊ] in an unstressed syllable, /bɝd/ stressed and followed by r. and [farðɚ/ unstressed and followed by r. This manual has been modified to address the four variants. 10
The Phonetic Alphabet Approximate Equivalent in… Symbol English Examples French German Japanese Spanish DIPHTHONGS4 1. /eɪ/ late /leɪt/ thé Leben eigo peine raise /reɪz/ 3. /oʊ/ go /goʊ/ dôme Boot hirou bou coat /koʊt/ 5. /aɪ/ I /aɪ/ aïe mein ai hay cry /kraɪ/ 6. /aʊ/ now /naʊ/ (none) Haupt au pausa house /haʊs/ 7. /ɔɪ/ boy /bɔɪ/ (none) heute oi sois noise /nɔɪz/ DIPHTHONGS BEFORE /l/ OR /r/5 1. /iə/ feel /fiəl/ vie (as pronounced in the Midi) (none) (none) (none) we’re /wiɚr/ 2. /iə/ hill /hɪəl/ (none) (none) (none) (none) hear /hiɚr/ 3. /eə/ well /wɛəl/ plaie (as pronounced in the Midi) (none) (none) (none) there /ðɛɚr/ 4. /æə/ shall /ʃæəl/ (none) (none) (none) (none) 4 The diphthongization of /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ may not be as noticeable as that of /aɪ/, /aʊ/, and /ɔɪ/, but for the sake of simplicity in description and practicality in teaching they are so symbolized. 5 We have found that a diphthongal symbolization of the front vowels before /l/ and /r/ is a definite aid in combatting the tendency of students to pronounce such sounds with a pure vowel and with the tongue held unnaturally high. We have not used the glide /j/ in the transcription of the /iə/ and /ca/ diphthongs because it would give the appearance of two syllables in a word such as feel: /fiəl/. 11
VARIOUS PHONETIC MARKINGS6 1. ʔ Indicates a glottal stop: oh. oh /o?o/, as in “Oh, oh! Look what I did.” 2. h Means that the preceding consonant sound is aspirated: time /thaɪm/. 3. : Means that the preceding sound is lengthened: the /i/ of bead /bi:d/ is longer than the /i/ of beat /bit/. 4. ̩ Means that the consonant under which it is placed is pronounced as a syllabic: didn't / didn̩ t/, little /lɪtl̩/. IV. How Words Are Transcribed Note that the phonetic symbols should be printed rather than written cursively, so that they may more easily be read. In order that words spelled out in the traditional manner may not be confused with these transcriptions, the latter should always be printed between slant lines: fish is pronounced as /fɪʃ/. In transcribing a word in phonetic symbols, the guiding principle to be kept in mind is that the transcription must represent all the distinctive sounds heard when the word is pronounced, and only those sounds. Do not be misled by the traditional spelling. Silent letters—those not heard in the pronunciation of the word—are not transcribed: for example, the e in bone /boʊn/, and the gh in eight /eɪt/. Doubled consonants usually do not mean that the consonant is pronounced twice, so they are replaced in transcriptions by single consonants: matter /ˈmæt̬ɚ/. Two words may be spelled differently, as are sun and son, but pronounced and transcribed alike: /sʌn/. On the other hand, if a word has two or more different pronunciations when used in different ways, as has bow, these must be represented by different transcriptions: /baʊ/, “to bend one’s head”; and /boʊ/, “instrument used for shooting arrows.” As has been pointed out, the transcription used in this book provides a symbol for each distinctive English sound. A great many of these symbols— /b/, /d/, /f/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /r/, /t/, /v/, /w/, /t/, /v/, /w/, and /z/—are exactly like the normal printed letters of the alphabet; as symbols they always represent the same basic sound that they usually represent as letters. These are, of course, very easy to remember. Certain other symbols are also just like normal letters; but the symbol always has the same basic sound, whereas the corresponding letter is commonly pronounced in more than one way: /g/ always like the g in good /gʊd/, never like the g in George /dʒɔrdʒ/; /s/ always like the s in said /sɛd/, never like the s in rise /raɪz/; 6 These phonetic markings appear as pedagogical devices in certain sections of the manual but are not a part of the basic system of symbolization. 12
/h/ always pronounced as in home /hoʊm/, never silent as in hour /aʊr/; For some other sounds, the traditional letters cannot serve as symbols, and it is necessary to provide new symbols. Since these may be strange to you, to learn them well will require some effort. Most vowel symbols fall in this class. The eleven vowel sounds of English cannot be represented accurately and simply by the five letters normally used in spelling vowels. Lesson 2 will help you to associate the vowel symbols with the sounds they represent. The new consonant symbol /ŋ/ is necessary because the spelling ng is confusing. In words spelled with ng the g is usually silent, as in ring /rɪŋ/; we could not represent ring in symbols as /rɪng/ since no phonetic symbol is silent and the /n/ symbol must always have the same sound. In the same way we need /ʃ/, which usually represents the letters sh, because the sh sound cannot be made by simply pronouncing /s/ and then /h/. The symbol /ʒ/, as in vision /ˈvɪʒən/, is a rather rare English sound, spelled with letters that are ordinarily pronounced in quite a different way in other words. The /θ/ and /ð/ symbols are needed because the two distinctive sounds they represent arc normally both written in the same way, with the letters th: thigh /θaɪ/, thy /ðaɪ/. Not all the letters that represent consonants in English spelling are needed as phonetic symbols. Thus, the letter c is usually pronounced like an s or a k: city /ˈsɪti//, cool /kul/. Therefore c is not used as a symbol in transcriptions. For similar reasons, the letters j, q, and x are not used as symbols. To represent j we have /dʒ/, which is also used in transcribing the “soft” sound of g: just /ʤʌst/, age /eɪʤ/. The combination qu is transcribed as /kw/: quick /kwɪk/. Usually x is transcribed as /ks/ or /gzl: fix /fɪks/, exact /ɪgˈzækt/. 13
I. Exercises A. Go through the phonetic-alphabet table (Section III) several times, pronouncing the sound represented by each symbol. B. Pronounce these sounds and cite an English word in which each of them is heard. 1. /m/ 7. /hw/ 13. /j/ 19. /eɪ/ 25. /θ/ 31. /ɚ/ 2. /æ/ 8. /ʊ/ 14. /a/ 20./tʃ/ 26. /v/ 32. /b/ 3. /ɛ/ 9. /dʒ/ 15. /ʒ/ 21. /s/ 27. /f/ 33. /w/ 4. /i/ 10. /g/ 16. /oʊ/ 22./z/ 28. /aɪ/ 34. /t/ 5. /ʃ/ 11. /u/ 17. /ɔ/ 23. /ɛə/ 29. /aʊ/ 35. /n/ 6. /ɪ/ 12. /ə/ 18. /ŋ/ 24. /ɔɪ/ 30. /ð/ 36. /l/ C. Pronounce these combinations of sounds. 1. /pa/ 6. /tʃoʊ/ 11. /is/ 16. /wɔ/ 21. /ðu/ 26. /awʒ/ 2. /hwi/ 7. /raʊ/ 12. /uk/ 17. /ɛn/ 22./ðɔɪ/ 27. /ɪd/ 3. /gæ/ 8. /dʒæ/ 13. /ʃɛ/ 18. /aɪm/ 23. /iɚ/ 28. /æəl/ 4. /av/ 9. /ɪŋ/ 14. /ðeɪ/ 19. /jə/ 24. /ɚk/ 29. /ðæ/ 5. /loʊ/ 10. /əb/ 15. /fɛ/ 20. /eɪz/ 25. /hɔ/ 30. /ʊt/ D. Pronounce these very common words and write them as they are usually spelled in English. 1. /tɝn/ 6. /sɪŋ/ 11. /traɪ/ 16. /hu/ 21. /ˈmætɚ/ 2. /sɪks/ 7. /ʤʌst/ 12. /kɔz/ 17. /wɪʧ/ 22. /ˈreɪzɪz/ 3. /læst/ 8. /θri/ 13. /tɑp/ 18. /smɔl/ 23. /ˈrizən/ 4. /kʊd/ 9. /taʊn/ 14. /ðɛm/ 19. /ðoʊ/ 24. /ˈplɛʒɚ/ 5. /bɔɪz/ 10. /gɑd/ 15. /hɪɚ/ 20. /jʌŋ/ 25. /ˈmʌni/ E. Your teacher will pronounce for you the English examples listed in the phoneticalphabet table. Transcribe each example phonetically without looking at the table. 1. ɪnðəˈmɔrnɪŋ 6. ɪnəˈmɪnət 11. tuðəˈmuvi 2. ənˈɪŋglɪʃklæs 7. wikænæsk 12. ɪnðiˌæftɚˈnun 3. wiɚglæd 8. ætðəˈdrʌgˌstɔr 13. framðəˈθiətɚ 4. tuðəˈtiʧɚ 9. tuðəˈkɑnsɝt 14. ɪnðəˈwɪntɚ 5. hizəˈstudənt 10. wiɚˈhæpi 15. nɛkstwik 14
Classification of Vowels I. The Five Fundamental Vowels The fundamental vowel sounds, those that occur in many languages, are /i/, /eɪ/, /a/, /oʊ/, and /u/. It is worth noting that in symbolizing these sounds the five vowel letters of the ordinary roman alphabet are used—sometimes alone, as in /a/, or in combination with /ɪ/ and /ʊ/, as in /eɪ/ and /oʊ/. We have used the symbols /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ to represent diphthongization, an upward movement of the tongue in the production of the vowel sound. The /ɪ/ indicates that the tongue moves upward toward the front of the mouth; the /ʊ/ indicates that the tongue moves upward toward the back of the mouth. This upward movement in the making of these vowel sounds is a characteristic that distinguishes English vowels from the so-called pure vowels of many other languages. The relationship of these five vowel sounds to one another may be shown by means of a vowel chart (Figure 1). Figure 1. The five fundamental vowels7 The vowel pronounced farthest to the front of the mouth is /i/. Pronounce that sound; then pronounce /eɪ/. In moving from /i/ to /eɪ/, note that there are two important changes in the position of the organs of speech: the jaw is lowered, and the spot where the tongue approaches the roof of the mouth most closely is shifted away from the front 7 The vowel charts that appear here have been adapted, with permission of the publisher, from John S. Kenyon, American Pronunciation, 10th ed. (Ann Arbor. George Wahr Publishing Company, 1958). i eɪ u Front Back (see) (too) (day) jaw closes oʊ (go) a (far) 15
teeth toward the throat. If you pronounce /eɪ/, then /a/, you will feel the same two types of change occur again. From /a/ to /oʊ/, the movement from front to back continues, but the jaw begins to rise, or close, again; and these two movements also mark the shift from /oʊ/ to /u/. Now pronounce several times the entire series /i-eɪ-a-oʊ-u/, and try to feel the regular progression in the organs of speech: from front to back as you move from left to right on the chart; and with jaw lower, then higher again, as you move from top to bottom, then back to the top, of the chart. Note also that the lips are widely spread for /i/, that the amount of spreading decreases with /eɪ/ and /a/, and that the lips are rounded for /oʊ/ and /u/. Figure 2 may help you to understand how different positions of the tongue correspond to different parts of the vowel chart.8 Figure 2. Tongue position for /i/, /a/, and /u/ II. The Eleven Vowels of American English Students of English are usually well acquainted with the five fundamental vowel sounds and find them quite easy to pronounce and identify. Familiarity with them may help you to master the six other vowels in the language, those that are represented by symbols unlike those of the ordinary roman alphabet: /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɔ/, /ʊ/, and /ə/. The symbol /ɪ/ represents a sound intermediate between /i/ and /eɪ/. In other words, /ɪ/ is pronounced farther back than /i/, but farther forward than /eɪ/; it is pronounced with the jaw and tongue lower than for /i/, but higher than for /ey/. This relationship should be 8 The face diagrams in this text, which are based on x-ray films, have been adapted, with his permission, from those done by Peter Ladefoged. See, for example, Peter Ladefoged, "Some Possibilities in Speech Synthesis," Language and Speech, Vol. 7. Part 4 (October-December, 1964). 205-214. 16
obvious to you if you will repeat three or four times the series /i-ɪ-ey/. Between /eɪ/ and /a/ there are two intermediate vowels: first /ɛ/, then, farther back and lower, /æ/. Between /a/ and /oʊ/ is /ɔ/, and between /oʊ/ and /u/ is /ʊ/. This leaves only the position of /ə/ (and its variant /ɚ/) to be determined. The vowel /ə/ is the sound English-speaking persons produce when their speech organs are relaxed and in a neutral position. It is the sound they make when they do not quite know what they are going to say and are looking for the right words: “It’s not that. Uh-h-h… How shall I say it? Uh-h-h…” For reasons that will be explained in the next lesson, /ə/ is also the most frequently heard of all the English vowels; you will need to recognize and make it about as often as all the other vowels except /ɪ/ combined. It is the typical vowel that, more than any other sound, distinguishes English from many other languages. Since it is neither a front nor a back vowel, neither as close as /i/ nor as open as /a/, it is placed in a central position on the vowel chart. In the combination /ɝ/, as in bird /bɝrd/, the stressed /ə/, or /ʌ/, begins in the usual position, but then immediately moves toward the back of the mouth as it blends into the complex /r/ sound that follows. Lesson 10 describes the formation of /r/ in detail. The chart, with each of the eleven vowels of American English in its place, would appear as in Figure 3. Figure 3. The vowels of American English i eɪ u Front Back (beat) (boot) (bait) jaw closes oʊ (go) a (pot) ɪ ɛ æ ə ʊ ɔ (bit) (bet) (bat) (but) (put) (bought) 17
When a student of English mispronounces the vowel in a word, what he or she usually does is to substitute for the correct sound another sound very close to it. In other words, if you mispronounce the /ɪ/ of bit, you will probably say beat /bit/. Usually /ɔ/ is confused with either /a/ or /oʊ/, the sounds that appear on either side of it in the diagram; /æ/ is confused with /ɛ/ and /a/; /ɛ/ with /eɪ/ and /æ/, and so on and so on. Because of the position of the speech organs when it is made. /ə/ may easily be mistaken for any of the other ten vowel sounds. Notice that a word containing the sound appears in parentheses beside each symbol on the diagram. The only difference between the pronunciation of boot and but is the difference between /u/ and /ə/. That is to say, the very meaning of the word depends on the quality of the vowel. If you wish to understand and be understood in English, you must be able to distinguish and make the distinction among the vowel sounds with great accuracy. There are three vowel sounds in English that are not included in the vowel chart in Figure 3, since their high degree of diphthongization puts them in a separate class from other vowel sounds. These are the diphthongs /aɪ/, /aʊ/, and /ɔɪ/, that appear in the words buy, bough, and boy. Most students seem to have little or no difficulty in learning to pronounce them. Pronounce the diphthong /aɪ/, noticing how much the jaw moves. Pronounce /aʊ/ and /ɔɪ/. Notice how the jaw moves from an open position to a more closed position during the pronunciation of these diphthongs. III. Exercises A. Pronounce the ten vowel sounds around the edge of the vowel chart (Figure 3) several times in order, beginning first with /i/, then with /u/, and note carefully how the speech organs move in regular progression as you pass from one symbol to another. B. Learn to draw the vowel chart and to locate the eleven symbols on it. C. 1. Phoneticians speak of “front vowels,” “central vowels,” and “back vowels.” Judging by the arrangement of the vowels on the chart, which vowels would fall into each of the three groups? 2. We sometimes call /ɔ/ “open o” and /oʊ/ “close o.” Can you explain why? Which is more open, /oʊ/ or /ɔ/? /ɛ/ or /æ/? 3. Suppose that a fellow student pronounces it as /it/ instead of /ɪt/. In order to help him produce the correct sound, what would you tell him to do with his jaw, his tongue, and his lips? What would you tell him to do in order to change /gud/ to /gʊd/? /gɔt/ to / gat/? D. Make a vowel chart and number the symbols on it around the edge of the chart from 1 to 10: /i/ 1, /ɪ/ 2, /eɪ/ 3, and so on. Number the symbol /ə/ 11. Your teacher will pronounce several different vowel sounds; see if you can identify each by giving the number of the symbol that represents it. If you fail to identify a vowel 18
correctly, note on the diagram the location of the sound you thought you heard with relation to the sound the teacher actually pronounced. E. Pronounce these very common words, and write them as they are usually spelled in English. 1. /læf/ 9. /ʧeɪnʤ/ 17. /wɛr/ 25. /kʌm/ 2. /haʊs/ 10. /ðɪs/ 18. /θɪŋ/ 26. /pliz/ 3. /jɪr/ 11. /ʃoʊz/ 19. /ʤɔɪ/ 27. /ˈkʌlɚ/ 4. /sɔ/ 12. /wʌns/ 20. /lɑrʤ/ 28. /ˈɝli/ 5. /rɑk/ 13. /lɛŋθ/ 21. /pʊt/ 29 /ˈwɪmən/ 6. /seɪm/ 14. /lʊk/ 22. /eɪt/ 30. /ˈbjutəfəl/ 7. /wik/ 15. /lʌk/ 23. /θroʊ/ 31. /ˈkʌmpəni/ 8. /laɪk/ 16. /muv/ 24. /klɑk/ 32. /ˈʌðɚ/ F. Can you say these phrases? 1. hizˈfɪnɪʃt 5. ðeɪkʌmændgoʊ 9. ʃizhɝ 2. aɪvdʌnɪt 6. hikænˈænsɚ 10. wiʃʊdtraɪɪt 3. wikænswɪm 7. hɑrdtugɛt 11. ðeɪitændrʌn 4. ɪzɪtˈizi 8. ɪˈnʌftuit 12. ˈigɚpliz G. 1. Listen while your teacher pronounces the following groups of words. They are all among the five hundred most frequently used in the English language, so you are probably already familiar with their pronunciation. In each group, four words have the same vowel sound, and one has a different vowel sound. Draw a line under the word that does not belong with the group, and write the symbol that represents the sound the other four have in common. a. piece, sleep, each, bread, she b. sit, if, first, him, quick c. plain, death, they, great, name d. learn, friend, left, head, next e. add, back, have, warm, laugh f. rock, got, stop, cod, law g. talk, thought, draw, off, both h. close, though, lost, road, most i. book, full, put, food, should j. wood, blue, two, move, do k. does, foot, up, son, run l. serve, bird, work, north, bum 2. Pronounce the groups of words above, making a clear distinction between the one word that has a different vowel sound and the other four words. 19
H. Divide a sheet of paper into 15 columns, and. write one of the following symbols at the top of each column: /i/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /a/, /ɔ/, /oʊ/, /ʊ/, /u/, /ə/, /ɚ/, /aɪ/, /aʊ/, /ɔɪ/. Classify the following words under the symbol that represents their vowel sound. If necessary, your instructor will pronounce the words for you. Or ask a friend who is a native speaker of English to pronounce them for you. Exercises H and I could well be carried out with the students divided into small groups for discussion and drill among themselves. 1. with 26. wish 51. friend 76. front 2. ten 27. say 52. warm 77. crowd 3. strong 28. so 53. done 78. laugh 4. watch 29. those 54. great 79. God 5. south 30. high 55. bone 80. boy 6. late 31. rain 56. win 81. who 7. bring 32. month 57. book 82. they 8. good 33. mean 58. law 83. miss 9. gold 34. school 59. act 84. move 10. up 35. best 60. five 85. foil 11. box 36. would 61. heart 86. wild 12. seem 37. voice 62. seize 87. kept 13. wide 38. since 63. mouth 88. this 14. off 39. glad 64. raise 89. her 15. arm 40. said 65. cost 90. car 16. fall 41. out 66. fence 91. com 17. stand 42. love 67. some 92. stop 18. bridge 43. put 68. foot 93. please 19. through 44. point 69. lip 94. talk 20. down 45. were 70. soon 95. cap 21. light 46. come 71. have 96. church 22. street 47. not 72. touch 97. most 23. dead 48. true 73. could 98. girl 24. work 49. pass 74. she 99. bread 25. look 50. war 75. wing 100. give I. Pronounce each of the columns of words you made in doing Exercise H, in order to be sure that all the words you classified together have the same vowel sound. J. The following represent short conversations between two people. Practice 20
reading them with another student, making them sound as natural as you can. 1. a. ˈhaʊɚjə b. faɪn, θæŋks 2. a. ɑrjuˈrɛdi b. jæ, lɛtsgoʊ 3. a. wɛrɑrjuˈgoʊɪŋ b. tuəˈmuvi, dujuwɑntukʌm a. jɛs, aɪdlaɪktu 4. a. həˈloʊ, ɪzˈmɛriðɛr b. noʊ, ʃiˈɪzəntæthoʊmnaʊ a. meɪaɪteɪkəˈmɛsəʤ b. noʊ, θæŋks aɪlkɔlbækˈleɪtɚ 21
Unstressed Vowels I. The Importance of Stress We put stress on a syllable when we pronounce it with such emphasis as to give it more importance than the surrounding syllables and make it stand out among them: for example, the com- of comfortable /ˈkʌmfɚtəbᵊl/, or the -ter- of determine /dɪˈtɝmən/. Stress is sometimes called accent. A long word frequently has two stressed syllables, one of which is usually more prominent than the other. An example is economical. We say that the most important syllable bears the primary accent, and the next most important bears the secondary accent.9 In the case of economical, the primary accent falls on -nom- and the secondary on e-. These two syllables would be marked /'/ and /ˌ/ respectively: /ˌiːkəˈnɑːmɪkəl/. Strong stresses are one of the distinguishing features of the English language; the important syllables in English are more prominent, the unimportant syllables less prominent than in most other languages. Stress, then, is the key to the pronunciation of an English word, and the location of the accent should always be learned with the word. If you stress the wrong syllable, it may be quite impossible for anyone listening to understand what you are trying to say. Stress does even more than give character and rhythm to a word; it also determines to some extent the value of all its vowels—whether an a is to be pronounced as /eɪ/ or /ə/, for example. II. The Pronunciation of Unstressed Vowels The vowel in a stressed syllabic may be pronounced as any of the vowels or diphthongs we have listed in the Phonetic Alphabet (see Lesson 1, pp. 5-6): for example, /i/, /ɪ/, /æ/, /ə/, /iə/, and so on. The vowel of an unstressed syllable almost always has, one of three sounds: either /ə/, /ɪ/, or, less frequently, /ʊ/. No feature of English is simpler or more fundamental than this: UNSTRESSED VOWELS ARE USUALLY PRONOUNCED /ə/, /ɪ/, OR (FOR SOME SPEAKERS) /ʊ/.10 This principle may be illustrated graphically on the vowel chart (Figure 4). 9 The authors of this manual accept the analysis, supported by Smith-Trager and other phoneticians, that there are actually four distinctive degrees of stress in English. For the sake of simplicity and pedagogical practicality, however, we use only the two symbols. ft and ft, rather than Smith-Trager’s four symbols: /7 for primary stress, /7 for secondary, ft for tertiary, and /7 for weak. Our /7, when it coincides with the peak of an intonation pattern (usually the last high note of the pattern), corresponds to Smith-Trager’s ft. Elsewhere our ft corresponds to their ft. Our /'/ is the equivalent of their ft. We leave weak stresses unmarked. 10 /ʊ/ is more or less equivalent to the Smith-Trager ‘'barred i” sound, symbolized as /i/. 22
Figure 4. Pronunciation of unstressed vowels11 As was noted in Lesson 2, /ə/ is the most neutral vowel, the one English speakers produce automatically when their speech organs are relaxed, and, therefore, the one that is easiest for them to make. Native speakers of English are apparently willing, in a stressed syllable, to make the effort necessary to produce any of the vowel or diphthong sounds, but they do not feel that an unstressed syllable is important enough to justify rounding the lips, or raising or lowering the jaw. So, however they may spell the vowel sound in an unaccented syllable when they write it, when they pronounce it they give it the “lazy” sound of /ə/, or of nearby /ɪ/ or /ʊ/. As there are more unstressed than stressed syllables in English, /ə/, /ɪ/, and /ʊ/ are among the most frequently heard vowel sounds. Notice the way in which the unaccented vowels in the following polysyllables— words of more than one syllable—are pronounced: apparently apportionment congregation Episcopalian insuperable /əˈpɛrəntli/ /əˈpɔrʃənmənt/ /ˌkɑŋgrəˈgeɪʃən/ /ɪˌpɪskəˈpeɪliən/ /ɪnˈsuː.pɚ.ə.bəl/ If a syllable bears a primary or secondary accent, its vowel may be pronounced in many different ways; but only three different vowels are found in the unstressed syllables above. 11 Notice than when the schwa is stressed the symbol /ʌ/ rather than /ə/ is used. UNSTRESSED VOWELS STRESSED VOWELS 23
Persons who learn English as a second language often make the mistake of pronouncing unstressed vowels the way they are spelled. In your anxiety to make yourself understood, you will probably be tempted to say /æˈpɛrɛntli/ and /iˌpɪskoʊˈpeɪliən/. Actually there will be less danger of your being misunderstood, and your English will sound much more natural if you will obscure the unstressed vowels, pronounce them /ə/, /ɪ/, or /ʊ/, and make no attempt to identify them as a, e, or o. Unless you consult a pronouncing dictionary or a competent English-speaking person, there is no sure way of knowing whether the unaccented vowels of an unfamiliar word should be /ə/, /ɪ/, or /ʊ/. Frequently it makes no difference; /əˌpɪskəˈpeɪliən/ is just as natural as /ɪˌpɪskəˈpeɪliʊn/ III. Where the Stress Falls Unfortunately, there are no infallible rules for determining which syllable of a word should be stressed. 12 Many times you will need to turn to a dictionary unless you hear the word spoken by someone familiar with it. Certain observations, however, should be of help. 1. The great majority (at least three out of four) of two-syllable words are accented on the first syllable: never /ˈnɛvɚ/, breakfast /ˈbrɛkfəst/, Monday /ˈmʌndi/. The largest group of exceptions to this generalization is made up of words that begin with a prefix. Most of these are accented on the second syllable: display /dɪˈspleɪ/, exceed /ɪkˈsid/, device /dɪˈvaɪs/, belief /bɪˈlif/, intent /ɪnˈtɛnt/. 2. Compound expressions: a. Compound nouns ordinarily have a primary accent on the first component and a secondary accent on the second: bird's-nest /bɝdznɛst/, drugstore /ˈdrʌgˌstɔr/, thoroughfare /ˈθɝoʊˌfɛr/, weatherman /ˈwɛðɚˌmæn/. b. In compound verbs the reverse is true: there is usually a secondary accent on the first component and a primary on the second: understand /ˌʌndɚˈstænd/, overlook /ˈoʊvɚˌlʊk/, outrun /aʊˈtrʌn/. c. In the intensive-reflexive pronouns the stronger accent also falls on the last syllable: myself /ˌmaɪˈsɛlf/, yourself /jɚˈsɛlf/. d. Numbers ending in -teen may receive primary stress on either syllable, but 12 In recent years, the “generative phonologists” influenced by Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle have succeeded in demonstrating that English stress is much more predictable than it has traditionally been thought to be. Few if any of the rules they have formulated, however, are without numerous exceptions. Most of them seem too abstract and complex to be of much practical use, and many of these rules apply only to words of Greek and Latin origin. 24
it is best for a student learning English as a second language to put it on the last syllable, so as to distinguish clearly between thirty /ˈθɝt̬i/ and thirteen /ˈθɝˈtin/, forty /ˈfɔrt̬i/ and fourteen /ˈfɔrˈtin/. 3. A large group of words, which may be used either as nouns or verbs without change in their spelling, have a difference in stress to indicate die difference in usage. In such cases, the noun has primary accent on the first syllable, the verb on the last (compare 2-a and 2-b above). The nouns in this group of words sometimes have secondary accent on the last syllabic: increase /ˈɪnˌkris/, overflow /ˈoʊvɚˌfloʊ/. Sometimes—as in the case of concert and object—the meaning of the noun has little if any relationship to the meaning of the corresponding verb. Noun Verb /ˈkɑːn.flɪkt/ /ˈkɑːn.test/ /ˈkɑːn.trækt/ /ˈkɑːn.træst/ /ˈkɑːn.vɝːt/ /ˈdez.ɚt/ /ˈɪn.klaɪn/ /ˈɪn.kriːs/ /ˈɪn.sɝːt/ /ˈɪn.sʌlt/ /ˈɑːb.dʒɪkt/ /ˈoʊ.vɚ.floʊ/ /ˈpɝː.mɪt/ /ˈprɛz.ənt/ /ˈprɑː.ɡrɛs/ /ˈprɑː.dʒɛkt/ /ˈproʊ.tɛst/ /ˈrɛb.əl/ /ˈrɛk.ɚd/ /ˈsɝː.veɪ/ /ˈsʌs.pɛkt/ conflict contest contract contrast convert desert incline increase insert insult object overflow permit present progress project protest rebel record survey suspect /kənˈflɪkt/ /kənˈtest/ /kənˈtrækt/ /kənˈtræst/ /kənˈvɝːt/ /dɪˈzɝːt/ /ɪnˈklaɪn/ /ɪnˈkriːs/ /ɪnˈsɝːt/ /ɪnˈsʌlt/ /əbˈdʒɛkt/ /ˌoʊ.vɚˈfloʊ/ /pɚˈmɪt/ /prɪˈzɛnt/ /prəˈɡrɛs/ /prəˈdʒɛkt/ /proʊˈtɛst/ /rɪˈbɛl/ /rɪˈkɔːrd/ /sɚˈveɪ/ /səˈspɛkt/ 25
4. Helpful generalizations can also be made about the large number of polysyllabic English words that end in -ate. Some of these—such as duplicate and associate—may be used as adjectives, nouns, or verbs; others—such as consulate (noun), educate (verb), and appropriate (adjective or verb)— are used in only one or two of these three ways. In the case of all words of this group, however, use as an adjective or a noun is indicated by leaving the vowel of the ending unstressed and pronouncing it as /ɪ/ or /ə/. / must go to the consulate /ˈkɑnsələt/. Use as a verb is indicated by giving the ending secondary stress and pronouncing its vowel as /eɪ/. He’ll duplicate /ˈduː.plə.keɪt/ the letter. Further examples are: Adjective or Noun Verb /ˈæd.və.kət/ /ˈæɡ.rə.ɡət/ /ˈɔl·tɚ·nət/ /ˈæn.ə.mət/ /əˈproʊ.pri.ət/ /əˈprɑːk.sə.mət/ /dɪˈlɪb.ɚ.ət/ /ˈdɛs.əl.ət/ /iˈlæb.ɚ.ət/ /ˈɛs.tə.mət/ /ˈɡrædʒ.u.ət/ /ˈɪn.t̬ə.mət/ /ˈmɑː.dɚ.ət/ /priːˈsɪp.ə.t̬ət/ /ˈsɛp.ɚ.ət/ advocate aggregate alternate animate appropriate approximate deliberate desolate elaborate estimate graduate intimate moderate precipitate separate /ˈæd.və.keɪt/ /ˈæɡ.rə.ɡeɪt/ /ˈɔl·tɚˌneɪt/ /ˈæn·əˌmeɪt/ /əˈproʊ.pri.eɪt/ /əˈprɑːk.sə.meɪt/ /dɪˈlɪb.ə.reɪt/ /ˈdɛz.əl.eɪt/ /iˈlæb.ə.reɪt/ /ˈes.tə.meɪt/ /ˈɡrædʒ.u.eɪt/ /ˈɪn.t̬ə.meɪt/ /ˈmɑː.də.reɪt/ /prɪˈsɪp.ə.teɪt/ /ˈsɛp.ə.reɪt/ 5. In general, when a suffix is added to a word, the new form is stressed on the same syllable as was the basic word: abandon /əˈbændən/, abandonment /əˈbændənmənt/; happy /ˈhæpi/, happiness /ˈhæpinəs/; reason /ˈrizən/, reasonable /ˈrizənəbəl/. Words ending -tion -sion, -ic. -ical, -ity, and –graphy, however, almost always have primary stress on the syllable preceding the ending. The addition of one of these “troublesome endings” may, therefore, result in a shift of accent: contribute /kənˈtrɪbjut/, contribution /ˌkɑntrəˈbjuʃən/; biology /baɪˈɑləʤi/, biological /ˌbaɪəˈlɑʤɪkəl/; public /ˈpʌblɪk/, publicity /pəˈblɪsəti/; photograph /ˈfoʊtəˌgræf/, photography /fəˈtɑgrəfi/. 26
IV. Exercises A. Your instructor will pronounce for you the following polysyllables. First decide which syllable is stressed in each case; then write down the symbols that represent all the vowel sounds in each word, and mark each stressed vowel. Example: the instructor will pronounce about as /əˈbaʊt/; the student writes: I. ə--aʊ 1. about 8.even 15.measure 22.something 2. after 9.exit 16.mistake 23.sometime 3. another 10.family 17.mother 24.story 4. between 11.general 18.often 25.thousand 5. body 12.hundred 19.receive 26.together 6. color 13.letter 20.remember 27.visit 7. correct 14.many 21.service 28.without B. Arrange in separate lists the vowels that you heard in stressed syllables and those that you found in unstressed syllables. Are your results in agreement with Section II of this lesson? Can you explain the apparent violation of the rule found in sometime? C. In order to increase your ability to recognize and place stresses, read this drill after your instructor, and then alone. Watch carefully the pronunciation of unstressed vowels. Note that words with a similar pattern of stresses are grouped together; each group should be repeated rhythmically. a. '1-2 b. 1-'2 c. '1-2-3 d. 1-'2-3 1. bury 1. around 1. vigilance 1. distinguish 2. judgment 2. occur 2. readiness 2. abandon 3. dollar 3. submit 3. mineral 3. eraser 4. minus 4. disease 4. emphasis 4. delicious 5. nation 5. deceive 5. similar 5. paternal e. ˌ1-2-'3 f. '1-2-3-4 g. 1-'2-3-4 1. overlook 1. memorable 1. mechanical 2. evermore 2. personally 2. immediate 3. premature 3. accuracy 3. absurdity 4. magazine 4. amicably 4. catastrophe 27
5. guarantee 5. delicacy 5. additional h. ˌ1-2-'3-4 i. ˌ1-2-'3-4-5 j. 1-ˌ2-3-'4-5 1. corporation 1. mathematical 1. communication 2. education 2. zoological 2. eradication 3. sentimental 3. nationality 3. pronunciation 4. scientific 4. anniversary 4. deliberation 5. economic 5. indeterminate 5. appropriation D. Pronounce these very common words, and write them as they are usually spelled in English. 1. /ʃɪp/ 7. /pleɪs/ 13. /vɔɪs/ 19. /ˈsɛp.ə.reɪt/ 2. /θæŋk/ 8. /sɛz/ 14. /naʊ/ 20. /ˈlæŋgwəʤ/ 3. /oʊn/ 9. /brɔt/ 15. /fild/ 21. /ˈneɪʃən/ 4. /drɑp/ 10. /ʧɑrʤ/ 16. /lɝnd/ 22. /ˈpɪkʧɚ/ 5. /sun/ 11. /waɪ/ 17. /krɔst/ 23. /ɪˈnʌf/ 6. /ist/ 12. /gʊd/ 18. /ˈwɑntɪd/ 24. /ˈsɛvrəl/ E. Can you read these phrases? 1. təðəlɛft 2. gɪvɪttəmi 3. mænənˈwʊmən 4. ɑnətrɪp 5. ɪfwiədnoʊn 6. fɚðəˈpoʊstmən 7. ɪnəkɑr 8. raɪtəˈlɛtɚ 9. ɪnðəˈkʌntri 10. ætðəˈkɔrnɚ 11. æskəˈkwɛsʧən 12. blækændblu 28
F. Pronounce these families of words, paying particular attention to the location of the stresses and to the vowels in unstressed syllables. (See Section III—5 of this lesson.) 1. abominate /əˈbɑː.mə.neɪt/, abominable, abominableness, abomination 2. contribute /kənˈtrɪbjut/, contributor, contribution, contributive 3. abolish /əˈbɑlɪʃ/, abolition, abolishable, abolitionist 4. electric /ɪˈlɛktrɪk/, electrical, electricity, electrify 5. apology /əˈpɑləʤi/, apologetic, apologize 6. attain /əˈteɪn/, attainable, attainability, attainment 7. material /məˈtɪriəl/, materialist, materialistic, materialize 8. philosophy /fəˈlɑsəfi/, philosopher, philosophical, philosophize 9. method /ˈmɛθəd/, methodical, Methodist 10.negotiate /nəˈgoʊʃiˌeɪt/, negotiable, negotiation, negotiator, negotiability 11.telegraph /ˈtɛləˌgræf/, telegraphic, telegraphy 12.liquid /ˈlɪkwɪd/, liquidity, liquidate, liquidation G. Mark the primary accent on all words of more than one syllable (see Section III- 2, and 3 of this lesson); then pronounce the following sentences several times. 1. Would you object if I gave her the present myself? 2. I don’t understand why the class should protest or rebel. 3. No one suspected that the airplane had set a new record. 4. They will need a permit to make a bedroom of this storehouse. 5. He has progressed sixty miles in sixteen hours. 6. The conflict is over, and the crewmen have a new contract. 7. What progress have they made with their survey? 8. There’s no contenting rebels. 9. The newspaper is conducting a contest to increase its circulation. 10.How was his conduct at the concert? 11.They protested an increase of only fifteen dollars an hour. 12.So far no suspects have been found. 13.You will convert no one by insults. 14.Will you yourself conduct the project? 29
15.The crowd overflowed into the hallway. 16.I’m inclined to insert a protest here. 17.The desert is full of contrasts. 18.The overflow rushed down the incline. H. Pronounce the word in parentheses so as to give it the meaning indicated by the context of each sentence. (See Section III-4 of this lesson.) 1. (alternate) I was elected an ____________________ representative to the college assembly. I____________________ with another professor in my department when he cannot attend. 2. (estimate) The garage gave me an____________________ of the cost of repairing my car. They____________________ it will cost at least $300. 3. (graduate) They____________________ next month. Most of them will continue their education as ____________________ students. 4. (separate) We need to ____________________ the good apples from the bad ones. Let’s put them in____________________ baskets. 5. (precipitate) Let’s have no ____________________ actions. We don’t want to ____________________ a crisis. 6. (intimate) I am not really an ____________________ friend of hers. I wish she wouldn’t____________________ that I am. 7. (deliberate) This pressure is____________________. They don’t want to give us time to ____________________. 8. (appropriate) The Congress should not ____________________ so much money. It’s not____________________ at this time. 9. (delegate) She makes a good____________________. She knows how to ____________________ authority. 10. (elaborate) I won’t____________________ the plan further. It’s already ____________________ enough. 30
11. We are (fortunate) to have a Mexican (consulate) here. 12. Schools should (educate) students rather than (indoctrinate) them. I. Read aloud several pages of English that are of particular interest to you, concentrating your attention on the pronunciation of the unstressed vowels of words of more than one syllable. 31
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You have probably discovered that there is a big difference between the way words are spelled in English and the way they are pronounced. English spelling patterns are inconsistent and are not always a reliable guide to pronunciation. For example, in the following words, the letter a is used to represent five different sounds. hate father have any saw Pretty confusing, right? That's why we need a set of symbols in which each sound is represented by a different symbol. In this book, you will see symbols used. These are the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which is used all over the world. It consists of a set of symbols in which one symbol represents one sound. D O N 'T PANIC! It is not necessary to learn all the symbols at once. Each sound will be introduced and explained one at a time. You will learn the symbols easily as you progress through the book. A pronunciation key to the different vowels and diphthongs of American English with their IPA symbols is presented below. Refer to it as needed. To help you understand the exact pronunciation of the phonetic symbols and key words, the Key to Pronouncing the Vowels of American English is included in the audio program. You will hear each phonetic symbol introduced and pronounced once. Each English key word will be said once. Key to Pronouncing i^^/owels of African Engj^s|1 INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET SYMBOL ENGLISH KEY WORDS SECTION 1 [i] [I] [e i] [e ] [ « ] [a] m e , te a , b e e it, p in a te , g a m e , th e y e g g , h e a d , p e t a t, fa t, h a p p y h o t, fa th e r SECTION 2 [u ] y o u , t o o , r u le [u ] p u t, c o o k [ a ] u p , b u t, c o m e [o u ] b o a t , n o , o h [0 ] a ll, b o s s , c a u g h t SECTION 3 [3 ] s o d a , u p o n u rn , fir s t, s e r v e [3-1 fa th e r , a ft e r [a u ] o u t, c o w , h o u s e [a i] m y , p ie , I [o i] o il, b o y , n o is e 3 37
Definitions As you progress through English Pronunciation Made Simple, you will frequently see the terms articulators, vowels, and diphthongs. We will now define these terms for you. Articulators: The articulators are the different parts of the mouth area that we use when speaking, such as the lips, tongue, teeth, and jaw. Upper teeth Lips Lower teeth Tongue Soft palate Gum ridge Vocal cords Vowel: A vowel is a speech sound produced with vibrating vocal cords and a continuous unrestricted flow of air coming from the mouth. The most well-known vowels in English are: A E I O U The various vowel sounds are affected by the changing shape and position of your articulators. The different vowels are created by: 1. The position of your tongue in the mouth. For example, the tongue is high in the mouth for the vowel [i] as in "see," but is low the mouth for the vowel [a] as in "hot.” 2. The shape of your lips. For example, the lips are very rounded for the vowel [u] as in "new," but are spread for [i] as in "see." 3. The size of your jaw opening. For example, the jaw is open much wider for [a] as in "hot” than it is for the diphthong [ei] as in “pay." Diphthong: A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds. It begins as one vowel and ends as another. During the production of a diphthong, your articulators glide from the position of the first vowel to the position of the second. For example, when pronouncing [ei] as in "vein,” your articulators glide from the vowel [e] to the vowel [i]. In English, the most common diphthongs are [au], [ei], [ai], [oi], and [ou]. 4 Parti: Vowels 38
You can see in the pictures how the jaw moves from a closed position to an open one during pronunciation of the vowel sequence [i], [i], [ei], [e], [as], [a]. Becoming familiar with this progression and understanding the relationship of one vowel to another will help you with your pronunciation of the vowels. ® The phonetic symbol [i] represents a sound between [i] and [ei]. It is pronounced with the jaw and tongue raised more than for [ei], but not as much as for [i]. • The symbol [as] represents a sound between [e] and [a], [as] is pronounced with the jaw open more than for [e] but not as much as for [a]. Refer to these pictures whenever you have difficulty pronouncing any of the vowels. Repeat the sequence [i], [i], [ei], [e], [se], [a] several times. Notice the progressive dropping of your tongue and jaw as you pronounce each sound. Lesson 1 5 39
Once again you can see how the jaw moves from a closed position to an open one during the pronunciation of a vowel sequence. Practice pronouncing the series several times. Place your hand under your chin and feel your jaw drop with the pronunciation of each vowel. Refer to these pictures whenever you are confused about the pronunciation of any of the vowels. Repeat the sequence [u], [u], [a ], [o u ], [o], [a] several times. You'll be able to see and feel your jaw lower as you pronounce the vowels in the series. TRY IT NOW! IT REALLY WORKS! 6 Part 1: Vowels 40
[ij as in me, tea, and bee and [I] as in it and pin Lips: Tense and in a "smile" position Jaw: Almost completely raised Tongue: High, near the roof of the mouth Possible Pronunciation Problems Pronunciation problems occur because of confusing English spelling patterns and the similarity of [i] and [i] (the sound to be described next). e x a mpl e s If you say [i] instead of [i]: sheep will sound like ship. eat will sound like it. Remember to feel tension in your lips, tongue, and jaw. [i] is a long sound; be sure to prolong it. Sm ile w hen you say [i]; we guarantee it's easy to say [i]! " P m c t K k f 'M 1 ■ V ' . ’/ .V / .V » ! • 5 ^ : 1 •V *ss’ £ . ' C ***, l ' • • * ■'( EXERCISE A Listen and repeat. [i] At the Beginning o f Words eat each eager eel even either east equal easy eagle [i] In the Middle o f Words [i] At the End of Words mean seal please he fee she need leave police be tree agree keep reach key knee deep scene tea free [i] Spelled e ee ea ie or ie he see east niece we feel lean brief me deed team piece scene heel cheap belief these need peach either 41
« ' ! «••• # $ { { : $ ; • $ :??/> ;;VvVaSJ • V;::::; ;• ‘^ V 7? . # $ $ ’•£d if*;':.: I patterns for [i] consist of the i police people - . • '••••* * /and eo. • >;:/V: \ ••••::.: J ft #• ’•. ••, 1 •'■ ,'* '• V :':•■• :.: ; V ' . :'••'•.•’• ]'If". ’■.V ’• ■ • : ; ■ *V' v i :•$• • • ••. • • . * ..•*; ' '*••••: • •?• •••' • ••• - ■ ‘ i I •*; • v . : . : ........ .. t * * - : vEXERCISE B __ClListen and repeat.The vowel [i] is prolonged before consonants. (Consonants are all the sounds that are not vowels.) The dots are there to remind you to lengthen the [i]. EXERCISE C fee fee . . . d see see . ... d pea pea . .. s bee bee . . . s tea tea . . . m aListen and repeat.The boldfaced words in the following sentences all include the vowel [i]. 1. See you at three. 2. See what I mean? 3. See you next week. 4. See you this evening. 5. Pleased to meet you. 6. Steve eats cream cheese. 7. Lee has a reason for leaving. 8. She received her teaching degree. 9. A friend in need is a friend indeed. 10. They reached a peace agreement. CHECK YOURSELF ® Listen and repeat. Circle the word in each group that does NOT contain the vowel [i]. (For answers, see Appendix II, page 271.) EXAMPLE keep lean ( & ) piece 1. bead great leave tea 2. eight piece believe niece 3. scene women these even 4. need been sleep thirteen 5. police thief machine vision 6. pretty wheat sweet cream 7. people bread deal east 8. tin teen steam receive 9. leave live leaf lease 10. steep Steve easy still 8 Parti: Vowels 42
EXERCISE A Cla Read aloud the paragraph about the Beatles. All the boldfaced words should be pronounced with the vowel [i]. The Beatles What is a Beatle? Maybe you think of a real creature who creeps and leaps about. But most people recall four English teens called the Beatles, who appeared as a rock group in the nineteen sixties. Leaving bebop behind, the Beatles created a unique beat that appealed to everyone. Seen on American TV, they were greeted by screams and cheers. “Please Please Me” and “She Loves You" were among their many pieces. They even received an award from the queen of England. The team broke up as they reached their peak, but each member continued his own career. The world grieved the loss of their leader, John Lennon, who died in December 1980. Although only briefly on the scene, the Beatles created meaningful music that will be here for an eternity. EXERCISE B LAJ Think of five things you need to do. Be sure your response contains many [i] words. When you complete your responses, choose any classmate and ask the question,"What do you really need?" EXAMPLES I really need to feed my parakeet. I really need a new key. mm Lips: Relaxed and slightly parted Jaw: Slightly lower than for [i] Tongue: High, but lower than for [i] Possible Pronunciation Problems The vowel [i] may be difficult for you to recognize and say. Some learners substitute the more familiar [ i ] sound. This can result in miscoramunication. EXAMPLES If you say [i] instead of [i]: hit will sound like heat. itch will sound like each. As you practice the exercises, remember not to “smile” and tense your lips as you would for [i]. [i] is a short, quick sound; your lips should barely move as you say it! Lesson 2 9< '.r - ? 43
p r® EXERCISE A EXERCISE B Listen and repeat. [i] At the Beginning of Words [i] In the Middle of Words is if it pin lift give ill itch into miss simple winter ink inch issue listen timid minute instant little The vowel [i] does not occur at the end of words in English. [i] Spelled y ui ♦ i gym build sin syrup quick lips symbol quilt with system guilty gift rhythm guitar differ . s . - The most common spelling pattern for [i] is the letter 7 followed by a final consonant win this hit trip begin : ' . , v* - - ?? u/ : v - : V •.Vo.f.;v / •' • Less frequent spelling patterns for [i] consist of the letters o,c, i/, and ee. women pretty busy been s. v. ; f. V. ;V ■■■ :■ * t ■■■ ' Vi •/.*.; p V . ; * v * : *•• • •: •V-V.V{‘ : .Y-v.? \ *Si £C£V--Y ' S3Listen and repeat. The boldfaced words in the following sentences all contain the vowel [i], 1. This is it. 2. What is this? 3. This is my sister. 4. This is Miss Smith. 5. This is big business. 6. I will sit in a m inute. 7. Give the list to Lynn. 8. My little sister is timid. 9. Is the building finished? 10. Did you give him his gift? 1 0 Parti: Vowels 44
CHECK YOURSELF m Listen to the words. Circle the number of the word with the vowel [i], (For answers, see Appendix II, page 271.) e x a mp l e You hear You circle 1. 1 2 2. 1 2 3. 1 2 4. 1 2 5. 1 2 6. 1 2 7. 1 2 8. 1 2 9. 1 2 10. 1 2 mitt meat meat ® 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 EXERCISE A □ Read aloud the paragraph about the Olympics. All the boldfaced words contain the vowel [i]. EXERCISE B The Winter Olympics Since 1924, the Winter Olympics have been an international event. Now these activities are seen by millions on television. Men and women from distant cities and countries participate in this competition. They all wish to be winners. They ski downhill amidst pretty scenery. Figure skaters spin to victory. Skill will make the difference. Some will finish with a silver medal, some with a gold. But all will win our hearts and infinite respect. Work with a partner. Complete each of the following sentences with a phrase or word that rhymes with the boldfaced [i] words.Think of as many responses as you can for each rhyme. Read the sentences aloud. EXAMPLE My sister J ill________ _______________________________________ (ran up a hill/took a pill/felt very ill /has a cat named Bill/fell off the windowsill) 1. My friend Tim ___________________________________________________ 2. He will s it _________________________________________________ 3. The boy liked to grin 4. What do you think _ 5. We went on a ship _ Lesson 2 11 45
LESSON REVIEW: v . \ : '•••.' ’ v • •: - • ' . V . : • Remember to "smile" and feel the tension in your lips when you repeat the words with [i] and to RELAX your muscles as you pronounce the words containing [i]. EXERCISE Listen and repeat. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. [i] [i] least list seat sit heat hit feet fit leave live Heat it now. Hit it now. Change the wheel. Change the will. Did you feel it? Did you fill it? The meal was big. The mill was big. He will leave. He will live. M til 0] Please sit in the seat. til C*] He did a good deed. Dl W Phil doesn't feel well. [i] [i] W Lynn ate lean meat. til M Potato chips are cheap. CHECK YOURSELF 1 [ggj Listen. Circle the word that you hear. (For answers to Check Yourself 1-3, see Appendix II, pages 271-272.) EXAM PLE meat (mitt) 1. field filled 2. bean bin 3. neat knit 4. deal dill 5. beat bit 12 Part 1: Vowels 46
CHECK YOURSELF 2 CHECK YOURSELF 3 6. team Tim 7. sleep slip 8. green grin 9. heel hill 10. week wick Listen. Circle the word that is used to complete each sentence. EXAMPLE 1. They cleaned the (ship/sheep). 2. Will he (leave/live)? 3. The boy was (beaten/bitten). 4. His clothes are (neat/knit). 5. She has plump (cheeks/chicks). 6. I like low (heels/hills). 7. The children will (sleep/slip). 8. I heard every (beat/bit). 9. They stored the (beans/bins). 10. Everyone talks about the (heat/hit). □ After checking your answers, read each of the sentences aloud twice. Use the first word the first time you read and the second word the second time. Listen and circle all the words pronounced with [i]. Underline all the words with [i]. Jim: Hi,(fina!)Do you have a minute? Tina: Yes, Jim. What is it? Jim: My sister is in the city on business. We will eat dinner out tonight. Can you recommend a place to eat? Una: There is a fine seafood place on Fifth Street. The fish is fresh, and the shrimp is great. But it isn't cheap! Jim: That's OK. It will be "feast today, famine tomorrow"! I'll just have to eat beans the rest of the week! Now practice reading the dialogue aloud with a partner. Remember to "smile" and tense your lips for [i] and to relax them when pronouncing the £ r] words. Lesson 2 1 3 47
More PrdfticemB EXERCISE A 1J J The words in the following box occur in the poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." Read the words aloud. [i] - ____ ra hiS:f;f m e^- field v;;: live livers V ■:;A,;=.v ' be, ;; yield v? with V$ing^.';> w e.^ meat w ill / silvery: see..^;. eat hills - dishes '^U l'feed '■ each EXERCISE B Read the poem aloud. Be sure to pronounce all the boldfaced [i] and [i] words from the box correctly. T he P assio n ate S h ep h erd to H is Love Christopher Marlowe Come live w ith m e and be my love, And w e w ill all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dale and field, And all the craggy mountains yield. There w ill w e sit upon the rocks And see the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers to whose falls M elodious birds sing m adrigals. Thy silver dishes for thy m eat As precious as the gods do eat, Shall on an ivory table be Prepared each day for you and me. ex er c ise c These phrases are often used in introductions. Read them, paying attention to the [i] and [i] words.Then work with two other students. Practice using the phrases to introduce each other. , this is .' XJi •/--? (Name) 0R (Name) .n i) — --------------; (Name)..7 ^ ' : ?., , T'd likfi v o n to m p p t '/ Viiiice to m eet you. : • (Name) ” (Name) Rem em ber to keep practicing! We guarantee it’s easy to say [i] and [ij! 1 4 Parti: Vowels 48