24 نوفمبر, 2009 Pronunciation Techniques
Pronunciation Techniques
Learning Pronunciation Rules
Teaching Oral English – Emphasis on Pronunciation Techniques for teaching oral English to secondary students and adult learners. ( Rules ).
Learning pronunciation rules :-
Every person begins studying a foreign language with learning pronunciation rules, which are important to pronounce the word correctly. The main aim of learning a foreign language is to be able to communicate with people, but bad pronunciation can cause misunderstanding. That is why it is evident: rules of pronunciation are important for every learner. Indeed, you may know grammar well, have a good extensive vocabulary, but if you have horrible pronunciation, it is very difficult to make someone understand you. Moreover, if people cannot understand what you say, they will have no interest to talk to you.
There are 26 letters in English but there are 52 sounds of English. To pronounce the words correctly, we have to hear them correctly. What you do not hear, you can not say. ( The correct reception produces correct production ).
The main aim of learning a foreign language is to be able to communicate with people but bad pronunciation causes misunderstanding. So, learning the rules of pronunciation is very important for every learner.
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet but in American English these letters can make up to 52 different sounds. English spelling rules are complicated and the sound of a vowel or consonant depends on its location in a word and the letters that surround it. By learning how to pronounce these sounds the student can effectively improve his/her English.
There are many rules of pronunciation techniques. Here are some of them :-
Rule 1 :-
The regular past participles are formed by the addition of ed or d . There are about 150 irregular verbs in all and these verbs do not have the addition ed or d . This addition of ed or d is pronounced / d , t or id / .
Unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs (about 150 in all) do not have past forms which can be predicted.
The -ed ending is not pronounced as an extra syllable.
Firstly, if the final sound of the verb’s present tense is pronounced / t or d/
the addition is pronounced / Id /
Examples :-
Hated / heit Id /
Handed / h_nd Id /
Secondly, if the final sound of the verb’s present tense is pronounced / p , k , f ,, s , ƒ or tƒ / the addition is pronounced / t /.
Examples :-
Hoped / h_pt /
Walked /w _:kt /
Passed / p _ st /
Washed / w _ ƒt /
Watched / w _ tƒt /
Thirdly, if the final sound of the verb’s present tense is pronounced / b , , h , l , m , n , r , v , w , z , z , zd / or a vowel, the addition is pronounced / d /.
Examples :-
Robbed / r_bd /
Enlaged / inl_: dzd /
Pulled / p _ld /
Mined / m __ nd /
Moved / m _vd /
Borrowed / b_r_d /
Quizzed / k __zd /
Agreed / _gr_d /
Verbs which end in the following sounds have their past endings pronounced / d /: / b / rubbed; / g / tugged; / dz / managed; / l / filled; / m / dimmed; / n / listened; vowel + / r / stirred; / v / loved; / z / seized.
The -ed in verbs that end with the / f / and / p / sounds also seem to get pronounced as / t /.
1- / t / for verbs ending with / p /, / f /, / sh /, / ch /, / k /, and / s /.
2- / Id / for vor verbs ending with / t / and / d /.
3- / d / for all the rest.
Some sounds have voice (+voice) and some others haven’t (-voice).
voice + voice
b p
v f
z s
g k
d t
If a verb ends in a +voice sound -ed will be pronounced / d /(+voice)
If a verb ends in a -voice sound -ed will be pronounced / t /(-voice)
1) If the base word ends in an unvoiced sound, then -ed= / t /.
2) If the base word ends in a voiced sound, then -ed= / d /
3) If the base word ends in the letter t or d, then -ed=/ Id /.
Rule 2 :-
Plurals are formed by the addition of s or es at the end of the singular.
There are exceptions for this rule but they are very few, such as :-
tooth teeth
foot feet
man men
woman women
child children
There are some words which have the plural as the same as the singular, such as :-
sheep sheep
oryx oryx
fish fish or fishes
Regular plurals are formed by the addition of s or es at the end of the singular. This addition of s is pronounced / s , z or iz / .
1- First of all , if the final sound of the noun’s singular is / p , t , k , f , / the addition is pronounced / s /.
Examples :-
cups / k ^ps /
roots / r u:ts /
cakes / keIks /
roofs / ru:fs /
paths / pa:s /
2- Secondly, if the final sound of the noun’s singular is / s , z , ƒ, z , tƒ , dz / the addition is pronounced / iz /.
Examples :-
buses / b^s iz /
quizzes / kw iz iz /
dishes / di ƒ iz /
pages / peiz iz /
watches / w – tƒ iz /
bridges / bri dz iz /
3- Thirdly, if the final sound of the noun’s singular is / b , d , h , l , m , n , r , v , w , ð / or it sounds a vowel , the addition is pronounced / z /.
Examples :-
clubs / kl^bz /
hands /hands /
balls / b _:lz /
rooms / r_mz /
nouns / na_nz /
cars / ka:rz /
waves / weivz /
windows / wind__z /
clothes / kl__ thz /
seas / s i:z /
rows / r __z /
Rule 3 :- Phonetic Transcription
For students who have mastered the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) phonetic transcriptions can help improve their understanding of the importance of connected speech when speaking English. Dictionaries give single word phonetic transcriptions which can greatly improve students pronunciation skills. However, when speaking to native speakers, students are often surprised at how the phonetic transcriptions seem to not always match pronunciation used in connected speech. This is in great part due to the fact that English is a time stressed language, as opposed to a syllabic language.
1- If necessary quickly review the IPA, ask students to transcribe various words written on the board.
2- Lead a short discussion about the difference in pronunciation between various words spoken by themselves and in phrases.
3- Examine worksheet of text transcribed in IPA
4- Ask students to note differences between what the single word pronunciation should be and the manner in which it has been transcribed.
5- Discuss the various changes, by giving aural examples as well as written descriptions on the board.
6- Have students break up into small groups of 3-4.
7- Give groups text to be transcribed into the IPA – stress that they should practice speaking each phrase before they begin the transcription process.
8- Have groups compare their work with the transcribed text handout.
9- Discuss differences and problematic areas as a class.
Some words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation, for example:
1- I like to read / ri:d /.
2- I have read / red / that book.
Some words have different spelling but the same pronunciation, for example:
1- I have read / red / that book.
2- My favourite colour is red / red /.
There is also a tendency to focus on production as the main problem affecting the learners. Most researches however, shows clearly that the problem is more likely to be reception – what you don’t hear, you can’t say. Moreover, if the “English” sound is not clearly received, the brain of the learner converts it into the closest sound in their own language . Thus the dental English fricative /ð/ in “those” ,becomes converted by Spanish speakers into the denatlised Spanish /d/ , producing “dose” as this is what the speaker hears. Given this reality , it would seem logical to place a heavy emphasis on listening (reception) as a way into releasing appropriate pronunciation (production
The teacher gives some simple examples,
IPA Phonetic Transcription Example Text
Frustration is a burst hot-water bottle, or loathing every moment of a holiday you’re paying a fortune for. It’s using the wrong side of the Sellotape, forgetting what you were going to say, or locking yourself out. Frustration is other people parking in front of your garage, or a stranger reading a riveting letter on the bus and turning over before you get to the bottom of the page.
Text To Transcribe
The weather today will be warm for the time of year and fine on the whole. There will be showers here and there though some places will miss out completely. The good spell should hold over the next two days but there may be fog over low ground in the early mornings. That is the end of the general forecast.
Rule 4 :- VOWELS
1- a + consonant(s):
1- Consonant(s) with the exception of w followed by a and 1 or 2 Consonant(s) with the exception of r , l and y for the first consonant , a is pronounced / æ /.
Examples :-
a- Ash : the word “Ash” pronounce /æ∫/ in British English & American English.
b- Active : the word “Active” pronounce /’æktґv/ in British English & American English.
c- Damage the word “Damage” pronounce /’dæmeґdґ/ in British English & American English.
d- Ladder the word “Ladder” pronounce /’lædґ/ in British English & American English.
2- w +a + consonant(s):
2-Consonant(s) followed by w and a and Consonant(s) with the exception of r is pronounced /α:/.
Examples :-
a-WaSh the word “Wash” pronounce /w∫/ in British English &. /wα:∫/ in American English.
b-Watch : we can’t pronounce /wtt∫/ or /wα:tt∫/ as it noted before so it change to /wt∫/ /wα:t∫/.
c-Wand the word “Wand” pronounce /wnd/ in British English & /wα:nd / in American English.
3- a + i + r :
3-Consonant(s) followed by a + i + r = /eə/ $ /er/.
Examples :-
1-Airport the word “airport” pronounce /eəpэ:t/ in British English & /erpэ:rt/ in American English.
4- u + r + consonant(s):
4- Consonant(s) followed by u + r + Consonant(s) = /3:/ $ /3:r/
Examples :-
a- Accursed the word “accursed” pronounce /ґk’3:st/ in British English & American English.
b- Blurb the word “blurb” pronounce /bl3:b/ in British English & /bl3:rb/ in American English.
c- Concur the word “concur” pronounce /kґn’k3:, kґn’k3:/ in British English & /kґn’k3:r/ in American English.
5- g + vowel + consonant(s):
5- Vowel(s) followed by g + word (except e , h ) = / g /
Examples :-
a- Gun the word “gun” pronounce /gΛn/ in British English & American English.
6- Vowel(s) + r :
6- Vowel (s)(it’s necessary to at least have one vowel) + r + vowel (s) =/–/ $ / r / (if r is in first then =/ r / ) (if Consonant(s) + r + vowel (s) = / r / ).
Examples :-
a- Rest the word “rest” pronounce /rest/ in British English & American English.
b- Cart the word “cart” pronounce /kα:t/ in British English & /kα:rt/ in American English.
c- Bring the word “bring” pronounce /brґng/ in British English & American English.
Rule 5 :- (pronunciation problems ) :-
We have to use our knowledge of our students and our ears in order to be aware of their pronunciation problems, it is also useful to have some prior knowledge of what elements of English phonetics and phonology are likely to cause problems. This is one area of language learning where few people would question the use of contrastive analysis. For instance, Arabic speakers have difficulty distinguishing between / p / and / b / . Having known some of the main areas of contrast between native language and Arabic language and what difficulties students have, it then remains for the teacher to build this information into some meaningful classroom exercises.
Exercise should be simple, accessible , fun and combine reception and production. Some students (usually adults) do feel embarrassed to pull ridiculous faces when practising vowel sounds (this may be personal or cultural or both) but in general, students enjoy the pronunciation work. Where possible, exercises should be communicative in that they should (and do generate differences of opinion and disagreement about what was said/heard.
Exercise 1 :-
After having taught or exposed the students to long and short vowels through listening and oral work, the teacher can check recognition, retention and ability to discriminate in the following way.
1- The teacher writes a variety of words containing the target sounds (long and short vowels) on the board. For example,
port pit pat pert pet pot putt put part peat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The only difference in sound here is that of the vowel – familiar to anyone who has done minimal pair work. As in these examples, the word should begin and end with the same consonant. 1, 4, 9, and 10, are long vowels and the rest are short.
The teacher then models each word and individual repetition follows. The vowel sound can be isolated and the procedure repeated until the teacher is reasonably sure that there are no major problems. Then the teacher tells the students that they are going to hear one of the words and must write the number which corresponds to the word they hear. What the students have written is then checked and compared.
This automatically leads into a discussion of what they heard and what sounds they are confusing. If a student heard 2 when the teacher said 10, they are confusing the short vowel / I / with the long vowel / i: / . The teacher gives feedback and the sounds may then be modeled again and practised.
Exercise 2 :-
Two or three words are then presented together and the procedure repeated. The teacher then tells the class they are going to hear six words and that the numbers correspond to an important telephone number. The teacher delivers the words and asks , “What’s my number?”. Again there will be differences in what was heard. This allows a focus on which sounds are not being discriminated effectively by which students and where their problems lie. Later discussion may revolve around what strategies students may employ to improve their discrimination skills – songs, minimal pair games with friends, movies, radio, etc.
Learners are then invited to model the telephone number. This usually generates much discussion and disagreement along the lines of – “You said …… “, “No I did’nt “, “Say it again” and so on and is usually very lively. The teacher is, of course, the final arbiter of what was really said. The important thing is that the learners are thinking actively about their pronunciation and how to repair it if necessary. They also begin to hear themselves (often for the first time) and this is of immeasurable importance in the retention of sounds.
Exercise 3 :-
This exercise is for a multi-lingual class, but is equally effective with monolingual groups. It is more communicative in nature than Exercise A as it involves giving and carrying out instructions.
Having identified some problem areas for the class, the teacher makes a list of instructions containing these. For example:-
1- Write the letter “P” above the sheep.
(Arabic speakers often write ” B”).
2- Draw a pear next to the mouse. (Arabic speakers often draw a bear).
3- Write the words ship and sheep.
4- Write the words three and tree.
After presentation and practice of the problem areas, each student is given a piece of paper with an instruction containing such sounds. The papers are given so that a student will hear an instruction containing a sound which they have a problem hearing. The instruction is then whispered in the ear of the receiving student and they carry out what they hear. They sit down and read their instruction to the next student. This continues until all the instructions have been carried out and there is something resembling a picture on the board. No comments should be made as the work is in process.
There will be reactions from laughter to dismay as the students see how their instructions were carried out. The teacher needs to focus the students on what went wrong. Was the problem production or reception? What did student 1 say and what did student 2 hear ? The dilemma pushes the students to correct themselves and hear what they are saying. The discussions are often very animated and again the teacher must arbitrate. The learners also see the real-life consequences of not producing or not hearing appropriate English sounds as well as getting personal and class feedback on their problem areas. As in the first exercise, discussion can take place on strategies for pronunciation.
Conclusions :-
1- The exercise allows clear practice in production and reception and gives concise feedback to individual learners as to where their problems lie in these areas and how to repair them. Often these are very simple physical questions such as not rounding the lips as in / u: / in fool , which the teacher can help them focus on.
2- This, in turn, allows discussion on learning strategies for
3- pronunciation which can be drawn up it the classroom. It is a communicative exercise as it involves disagreement, repair and ( hopefully) agreement among other things.
4- Many language learners feel self conscious and negative about their pronunciation . To effectively deal with this question in the class and enable learners to see an improvement, is invariably a great psychological boost.
5-These activities can be used with learners from many different cultural and language backgrounds. They are both very useful and fun.
6- The teachers are often not the best judges of the accuracy of their students’ pronunciation . They are accustomed to it and usually very tolerant when in general, native speakers are not. Such exercises help the teachers to be more aware of real problems learners have in their oral production and to help to correct them.
7- Such activities should be an integral part of any language teaching programme as they make pronunciation an active element of the learning process and focus learners on the language they are producing.
Rule 6 :- Pronunciation – Minimal Pairs
Minimal pairs are pairs of words that have one phonological element that is different.
Example:
In the above case, the vowel sound of both words is the different phonological element.
Practicing minimal pairs can help students localize the often minute differences in pronunciation between one word and another. It also helps students practice the finer elements of common muted vowel sounds which are common to English vowel production. The following lesson provides a lesson outline with a handout minimal pairs sheet.
Aim: To improve recognition and pronunciation skills of single words.
Minimal Pairs
lit – light read – red sing – sang
bed – bad saw – sought boot – boat
soot – suit but – boot why – way
know – now wreath – wreathe leak – lick
look – luck sock – suck vest – vast
cod – card dug – dog thirst – first
fair – fear pay – bay read – lead
need – mead zoo – sue near – ne’er
catch – cash azure – assure jet – chet
liege – lease whistle – thistle beige – bays
fur – fear care – chur noon – nun
Exercise A :
After having taught or exposed the students to long and short vowels through listening and oral work, the teacher can check recognition, retention and ability to discriminate in the following way. This could also be used simply for teaching.
cod – card dug – dog thirst – first
fair – fear pay – bay read – lead
need – mead zoo – sue near – ne’er
Rule 7 :- prefixes and the suffixes
The correct use of syllable stress will greatly enhance the student’s English pronunciation.
The stress of the voice. There is a great difference between stressed and non-stressed words. The fact that only principle words such as proper nouns, principle verbs, adjectives and adverbs receive the “stress”. ( The principle verbs are stressed, auxiliary verbs are not). Basically, stress words are considered CONTENT WORDS such as
1- Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter
2- (most) principle verbs e.g. visit, construct
3- Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting
4- Adverbs e.g. often, carefully
Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as:
1- Determiners e.g. the, a, some, a few
2- Auxiliary verbs e.g. don’t, am, can, were
3- Prepositions e.g. before, next to, opposite
4- Conjunctions e.g. but, while, as
5- Pronouns e.g. they, she, us.
Students often focus on pronouncing each word correctly and therefore tend to pronounce in an unnatural manner. By focusing on the stress – timed factor in English – students soon begin sounding much more “authentic” as the cadence of the language begins to ring true.
These two sentences show the importance of the stressed and non-stressed words because they are different in the length ( number of words ) but each sentence seems to be approximately the same length in “stress – time”.
a- The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.
b- He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn’t have to do any homework.
It’s good to know that the prefixes and the suffixes are the most important thing that can change or even make the stress! the words that are base word and doesn’t have any prefix or suffix, doesn’t have any stress too, like: Stop, Count, pot … the words that have only base word and suffix(es) (base word + Suffix(es)) have stress on the first syllable like: later, common, Credit. the words that have prefix(es) and base word (Prefix(es) + base word) or prefix(es) and base word and suffix(es) (Prefix(es) + base word + Suffix(es)) have stress on the syllable between the prefix(es) and base word so if the word has one prefix so it has stress on the second syllables and the word that has two prefixes, has stress on the third syllables and … . ( ‘ The apostrophe symbol) is used to show word stress. Usually, it is placed before the stressed syllable in a word
Rules of Word Stress in English
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a “secondary” stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to “feel” the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.
1 Stress on first syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy
2 Stress on last syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.
3- Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
rule example
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic
Words ending in-sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion
For a few words, native English speakers don’t always “agree” on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
rule example
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical
5 Compound words (words with two parts)
rule example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part to underSTAND, to overFLOW
About the stress it’s good to know that the prefixes and the suffixes are the most important thing that can change or even make the stress! the words that are base word and doesn’t have any prefix or suffix, doesn’t have any stress too, like: Stop, Count, pot … the words that have only base word and suffix(es) (base word + Suffix(es)) have stress on the first syllable like: later, common, Credit. the words that have prefix(es) and base word (Prefix(es) + base word) or prefix(es) and base word and suffix(es) (Prefix(es) + base word + Suffix(es)) have stress on the syllable between the prefix(es) and base word so if the word has one prefix so it has stress on the second syllables and the word that has two prefixes, has stress on the third syllables and … . of course there is so many things else that i can’t write cause you should read the rules first. the pronunciation rules has over 100 rules that is helpful for the guys that wants to pronounce the new words better and having problem in writing.
Vowels Consonants
IPA words IPA words
cup, luck
bad, lab
arm, father
did, lady
cat, black
find, if
met, bed
give, flag
away, cinema
how, hello
turn, learn
yes, yellow
hit, sitting
cat, back
see, heat
leg, little
hot, rock
man, lemon
call, four
no, ten
put, could
sing, finger
blue, food
pet, map
five, eye
red, try
now, out
sun, miss
go, home
she, crash
where, air
tea, getting
say, eight
check, church
near, here
think, both
boy, join
this, mother
pure, tourist
voice, five
Consonants
IPA words
think, both
this, mother
voice, five
wet, window
zoo, lazy
pleasure, vision
just, large
VII:- Pronunciation – IPA Symbol Card Game
insect I car α
tree i cat æ
Rule 8 :- Identified problem areas,
Having identified some problem areas for the class, the teacher makes a list of instructions containing these.
examples :-
1-Draw a pear next to the mouse. (Arabic speakers often draw a bear)
2- Write the letter “P” above the sheep. (Arabic speakers often write ” B
After presentation and practice of the problem areas, each student is given a piece of paper with an instruction containing such sounds. The papers are given so that a student will hear an instruction containing a sound which they have a problem hearing. The instruction is then whispered in the ear of the receiving student and they carry out what they hear. They sit down and read their instruction to the next student. This continues until all the instructions have been carried out and there is something resembling a picture on the board. No comments should be made as the work is in.
The teacher needs to focus the students on what went wrong. Was the problem production or reception?
Rule 9 :- Homophones:-
Homophones are words that have exactly the same sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and (usually) spelling. The word homophone is made from two combining forms:
1- homo- (from the Greek word “homos”, meaning “same”
2- phone (from the Greek word “phone”, meaning “voice” or “sound”
For example, the following two words have the same sound, but different meanings and spelling:
1- hour
2- our
In the next example, the two words have the same sound and spelling, but different meanings:
1- bear (the animal)
2- bear (to carry)
Usually homophones are in groups of two (our, hour), but very occasionally they can be in groups of three (to, too, two) or even four. If we take our “bear” example, we can add another word to the group”
1- bare (naked)
2- bear (the animal)
3- bear (to tolerate)
* “Our bear cannot bear to be bare at any hour.”
The following list of 70 groups of homophones contains only the most common homophones, using relatively well-known words. These are headwords only. No inflections (such as third person singular “s” or noun plurals) are included.
air heir
aisle isle
ante- anti-
eye I
bare bear bear
be bee
brake break
buy by
cell sell
cent scent
cereal serial
coarse course
complement compliment
dam damn
dear deer
die dye
fair fare
fir fur
flour flower
for four
hair hare
heal heel
hear here
him hymn
hole whole
hour our
idle idol
in inn
knight night
knot not
know no
made maid
mail male
meat meet
morning mourning
none nun
oar or
one won
pair pear
peace piece
plain plane
poor pour
pray prey
principal principle
profit prophet
real reel
right write
root route
sail sale
sea see
seam seem
sight site
sew so sow
shore sure
sole soul
some sum
son sun
stair stare
stationary stationery
steal steel
suite sweet
tail tale
their there
to too two
toe tow
waist waste
wait weight
way weigh
weak week
wear where
NB: In a few cases, a third homophone, although possible, has not been included for simplicity. Different varieties and accents of English may produce variations in some of these pronunciations. The homophones listed here are based on British English.
Rule 10 :- Linking in English
When we say a sentence in English, we join or “link” words to each other. Because of this linking, the words in a sentence do not always sound the same as when we say them individually. Linking is very important in English. If you recognize and use linking, two things will happen:
1. you will understand other people more easily
2. other people will understand you more easily
There are basically two types of linking:
a- consonant + vowel
We link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a vowel sound.
b- vowel + vowel
We link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel sound.
a- Linking Vowel to Vowel
When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link the words with a sort of W or Y sound.
If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound:
oo
o We write it like this: too often who is so I do all
We say it like this: tooWoften whoWis soWI doWall
If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound:
oo
We write it like this: Kay is I am the end she asked
We say it like this: KayYis IYam theYend sheYasked
b- Linking Consonant to Vowel
When a word ends in a consonant sound, we often move the consonant sound to the beginning of the next word if it starts with a vowel sound.
For example, in the phrase “turn off”:
We write it like this: turn off
We say it like this: tur noff
Remember that it’s the sound that matters. In the next example, “have” ends with:
1- the letter “e” (vowel)
2- the sound “v” (consonant)
So we link “have” to the next word “a” which begins with a vowel sound:
We write it like this: Can I have a bit of egg?
We say it like this: Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?
Understanding Vowels & Consonants for Linking
To understand linking, it is important to know the difference between vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Here is a table of English vowels and consonants:
vowels a e i o u
consonants b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z
The table shows the letters that are vowels and consonants. But the important thing in linking is the sound, not the letter. Often the letter and the sound are the same, but not always.
For example, the word “pay” ends with:
• the consonant letter “y”
• the vowel sound “a”
Here are some more examples:
though know
ends with the letter h w
ends with the sound o o
uniform honest
begins with the letter u h
begins with the sound y o
Rule 11 :-
It is important to understand that it is what we say that matters, not what we write. It is the sound that matters, not the letter used in writing a word. So we use a long “thee” before a vowel sound, not necessarily before a vowel. Look at these cases:
vowel sound we write we say
A the apple thee apple
E the egg thee egg
I the ice-cream thee ice-cream
O the orange thee orange
U the ugli fruit thee ugli fruit
we write with we say with
the house consonant (h) thuh house consonant sound
the hour consonant (h) thee our vowel sound
the university vowel (u) thuh youniversity consonant sound
the umbrella vowel (u) thee umbrella vowel sound
Emphatic the [thee]
When we wish to place emphasis on a particular word, we can use “emphatic the” [thee], whether or not the word begins with a consonant or vowel sound. For example:
A: I saw the [thuh] President yesterday.
B: What! The [thee] President of the United States?
A: Yes, exactly.
Rule 12 :- When to Say “a” or “an”
The indefinite article is a or an. But how do we know when to say a and when to say an?
The rule is really very simple. It depends on the sound at the start of the following word. (It does not depend on the way we write the following word, it depends on the way we say it.)
A + consonant sound :-
If the following word starts with a consonant sound, then we say a.
a cat
a game of golf
a human emotion
a Peruvian
a very fat woman
AN + vowel sound
If the following word starts with a vowel sound, then we say an.
an apple
an extremely easy job
an interesting film
an old man
an umbrella
The importance of sound
Normally, we pronounce consonant letters with a consonant sound, and vowel letters with a vowel sound. But there are some exceptions. The rule about a or an is still the same. You just need to think about the sound, not the writing. Look at these examples:
consonant letter with vowel sound :-
vowel letter with consonant sound
a European country you-ro-pe-an an honest man on-est
a one-day conference won-day an hour our
a university you-ni-ver-si-ty an FBI agent eff-bee-eye
Rule 13 :- Pronunciation Glossary
These are some of the words used to talk about pronunciation. You will find them in the instructions for your Pronunciation Power program.
Air flow
The flow or passage of air out of the mouth.
Aspiration
A small “explosion” of air when you make a sound.
Auditory
Hearing (not seeing).
Clusters (blended sounds)
Two or more sounds put together to make a single sound.
Curl
A position of the tongue where the tongue is shaped in a curve, not flat.
Flatten
A position of the tongue where the tongue is flat not round.
Glide / Slide
Move the tongue as you say the sound.
Hard palate
Hard part of the roof of the mouth.
Intonation
Change in pitch of a sentence, up and down.
Lengthen sound
Make the duration of the sound longer.
Lips spread
Lips are open slightly and pulled back.
Lower
Bottom of mouth.
Pitch
Amount of height or depth of a sound.
Pressed lips
Top and bottom lips touching.
Protruded lips
Rounded lips, pushed out.
Roof
Top part of your mouth, inside.
Round lips
Make a circle with lips.
Shorten sound
Make the duration of the sound shorter.
Soft palate
Soft part of the roof of the mouth.
Tap
Touch quickly.
Tooth ridge
The hard area directly behind your top front teeth.
Top of mouth / Roof of mouth
Area of tooth ridge, hard palate and soft palate.
Unvoiced (voiceless)
The vocal cords do not vibrate.
Upper
Top of mouth.
Visual
Seeing (not hearing).
Voiced
The sound is made by vibrating the vocal cords (voice box). To test whether you are making the sound voiced, put your fingers on your voice box. With a voiced sound you should feel a vibration. All vowels are voiced.
Rule 14 :- Pronunciation Tips
These English pronunciation tips will help you get the most out of your Pronunciation Power program.
Tip 1
Do not confuse pronunciation of words with their spelling! For example, “threw” and “through”, although spelled differently, are pronounced the same. Also, identical letters or letter clusters in words do not always produce the same sound. For example, the “ough” in “though” and “through” represents a different sound in each word. Learn to practise what you hear, not what you see.
Tip 2
Imagine a sound in your mind before you say it. Try to visualize the positioning of your mouth and face. Think about how you are going to make the sound.
Tip 3
Listen to and try to imitate the Pronunciation Power instructor. In addition to listening for specific sounds, pay attention to pauses, the intonation of the instructor’s voice and patterns of emphasis. This can be just as important as the pronunciation of sounds.
Tip 4
The English language has many different dialects, and words can be pronounced differently. It is important, however, that you pronounce words clearly to ensure effective communication.
Tip 5
Finally, the Pronunciation Power program is a tool to help you. But you must practise what you are learning! Remember that you are teaching your mouth a new way to move. You are building muscles that you do not use in your own language. It is like going to the gym and exercising your body. Use the progr
Rule 15 :-
1: /l/ and /n/
1 law, nor
2 lay, nay
3 line, nine
4 let, net
5 light, night
2: /l/ and /n/
1 The laboratory technician forgot to turn off the light last night.
2 Lily locked her belongings in a locker near the language laboratory last night.
3 Nearly nine accidents happened in May last year.
3: /t/ and /d/
1 lent, lend
2 wrote, road
3 bent, bend
4 fate, fade
5 bit, bid
4- / t / and / d /
1 He had hoped to be successful in his career, but fate decided otherwise. His hopes faded.
2 The paintings are a bit too expensive; there is not any bid for them.
3 Juliet couldn’t bend her mind to her English studies even though she has a bent for English
5: /k/ and /g/
1 coat, goat
2 ankle, angle
3 back, bag
4 duck, dug
5 pluck, plug
6: /k/ and /g/
1 Please put the plug in the outlet. I’m going to pluck the duck which has dug a hole in the garden.
2 Put the heavy bag on your back.
3 Professor Kelogg twisted his ankle carelessly while he was suggesting his students look at the affair from a different angle.
7: /ɪ/ and /iː/
Pronounce the following pairs of words, paying particular attention to the vowels.
1 sheep, ship
2 sleep, slip
3 eat, it
4 feat, fit
5 seat, sit
8: /ɪ/ and /iː/
Read aloud the following extracts, paying particular attention to the words with the vowel /ɪ/ and /iː/.
1 You need to proof-read your report carefully before you submit it. Please read it again.
2 Mr. Green was grinning from ear to ear when he knew that his six pretty little sisters living in the city were going to visit him.
3 Sit on this seat and see if these slippers fit your feet.
9: /e/ and /æ/
Pronounce the following pairs of words, paying particular attention to the consonants /e/ and /æ/.
1 pen, pan
2 men, man
3 lend, land
4 send, sand
5 said, sad
10: /e/ and /æ/
Read aloud the following extracts, paying particular attention to the words with the vowel with /e/ and /æ/.
1 Jack said that he was very sad because he had broken his radio set.
2 Send that man who landed on the sand a bag of sand.
3 The man who is cooking with a pan is not one of the men who have bought the pens.
11: /ɔː/ and /ɒ/
Pronounce the following pairs of words, paying particular attention to the consonants /ɔː/ and /ɒ/.
1 port, pot
2 sport, spot
3 short, shot
4 court, cot
5 cork, cock
12: /ɔː/ and /ɒ/
1 John has bought a lot of sausages because he has sausages as breakfast almost every morning.
2 Doctor Wong, who is pointing to the clock on the wall, is Uncle Tom’s daughter.
3 George is drawing four saws, four swords, four walls and four doors on the board.
13: /uː/ and /ʊ/
Pronounce the following pairs of words, paying particular attention to the vowels.
1 Luke, look
2 food, foot
3 hoot, hood
4 fool, full
5 pool, pull
14: /uː/ and /ʊ/
Read aloud the following extracts, paying particular attention to the words with the vowel /uː/ and /ʊ/.
1 Look! Luke is pulling a fool out of the pool in the wood.
2 June said to Sue, “You should bring along with you some food and wear proper shoes when visiting the zoo next Tuesday with Ruth.”
3 Who took away the cookery book?
15: The schwa /ə/
Pronounce the following pairs of words, paying particular attention to the unstressed /ə/.
(1) Two-syllable words with weak first syllable and stress on the second syllable:
1 about, again
2 obtain, oppose
3 suppose, suggest
4 forget, forbid
5 perhaps, percent
6 surprise, survey
(2) Two-syllable words with weak second syllable and stress on the first syllable:
1 Alan, necklace
2 melon, purpose
3 hundred, open
4 circus, Autumn
5 major, minor
6 eastern, mother
7 eastern, mother
8 nature, creature
(3) Three-syllable words with weak second syllable and stress on the first syllable:
1 roundabout
2 customer
3 standardise
4 wonderland
5 yesterday
Rule 16 :- Tongue-Twisters
A tongue-twister is a sequence of words that is difficult to pronounce quickly and correctly. Even native English speakers find the tongue-twisters on this page difficult to say quickly. Try them yourself. Try to say them as fast as possible, but correctly!
1- A proper copper coffee pot.
2- Around the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.
3- Long legged ladies last longer.
4- Mixed biscuits, mixed biscuits.
5- A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits and a biscuit mixer!
* Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled pepper?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where’s the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?
* Pink lorry, yellow lorry.
* Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather.
* She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore.
* The sixth sick Sheik’s sixth sheep is sick.
[Sometimes described as the hardest tongue-twister in the English language.]
* Swan swam over the pond,
Swim swan swim!
Swan swam back again -
Well swum swan!
* Three grey geese in green fields grazing.
* We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
More TONGUE WISTERST :-
1-This thing.
2-sixth.
3-his thumb.
4-Pass the salt.
5-Is this it ?
6-fifths.
7-They are both healthy and wealthy.
8-Three other authors were there.
9-The lengths they go to for a breather.
10-My brother hurt his thumb on the lathe and uttered an
oath.
11-Throw three of the thickest thongs to father .
12- The thief gathered all the other leather clothes.
13-They both bathe in the warmth of a Turkish bath for their
health every three months.
14-Stop Bob sobbing.
15-Bill and Ben, The flowerpot men .
16-Ben swopped a pen for a ball with Pall.
17-Pease push the blue button for a buffet supper.
18-Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
a beck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked .
19-If peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where is the peck of pickled peppers peter Piper picked.
20-Betty bought a bit of butter but the bit of butter Betty bought was bitter, so Betty bought a better bit of butter.
21- Tighten your robe with a rope .
22-How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck
could chuck wood .
Rule 17 :- VOWELS
* A-
a
e
i + any consonant + e
o
u
1- a e = same name late came
2- e any e = sete complete delete
3- i consonant e = time mine line like
4- o e = bone more dome note
5- u e = use pure dune cure
b- Notice :-
care car
complet complete
site sit
note not
use us
b- Take care :-
have live but put
Rule 18 :-
B -
main plain rain ai
may play day ay
law saw draw aw
cow now how ow
ou loud out about
al all small call
ee see teeth green
sea tea team sea
wa was water wash
wo wonder
oo foot root tooth
oi join point
new flew sew grew
Rule 19 :-
1- c + ( i , e , y ) = / s/ : ci , ce , cy = / s /
circle , rice , cycle
2- g + ( i , e , y ) = /z / : gy , ge , gi = / z/
garage , region , Egypt
3- th :
then that this a- /ð/ the
thank thin b- /ɵ/ theme
4- sh : / ƒ / wash
sheep shop
5- ch : / tƒ / catch watch
cheap check
6- ph : / f / geography
phone
7- gh :
light fight eight through / – / night a-
b- enough laugh rough / f /
Two letters : class hotter sell beginning = one letter
8- tion = / ei ƒn / nation station a
Rule 20 :-
Pronouncing some letters when they come together
1- ing wing , sing , playing.
2- alk talk , walk , chalk .
3- ould could , should , would .
4- kn knife , know = n
5- wr write , wrong = r
6- gh night , right , light .
cough , enough = f .
7- er water , driver , better .
8- ir first , third , bird .
9- ur turn , burn .
10- able table , enable .
11- ve have , live , drive = v
12- ause cause , pause , clause
13- tion nation , action , mention .
14- sion television , vision .
15- ture picture , puncture .
16- all tall , small , football .
Rule 21 :-
( The letter E e)
1- Pronouns : he , she , we , me
“2- The word ” be
3- It comes after the letter (v ) at the end of the
words :
cave , live , have , drive
3- It comes at the end of the syllable ( able ):
table possible usable
4- It comes after the letters ( c & g ) to change their pronunciation ce , ge page , nice
5- It comes after a consonant to change the pronunciation of the previous vowel same , like
5- It comes after letters s , sh ,ch , x , z , o when we add (s) watches , boxes , buses
6- It comes at the end of the verbs in the past simple and P.P. before d.
7- It comes at the end of the adjectives ( comparison ) before r & st.
8- It comes at the end of the verbs to form nouns before r.
Rule 22 :-
C -
Notice : When y comes at the end of the words but not proceeded with a vowel :
1- One syllable : my cry dry by
2- More than one syllable : biology
university city country
References :-