Professional Documents
Culture Documents
“Good Fences
make good “What did he say!?
neighbors.” Good wrenches
make good
laborers?”
“Hey, dude. I know
a good Accent
Reduction Course.”
on
ten steps 9
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
Read Aloud 11
Vowel Inventory 15
Consonant Inventory 16
DICTATION PRACTICE 20
CONSONANTS 20
VOWELS 20
AFFIX 21
PLURAL 21
SYLLABLES 21
CAPITAL & APOSTROPHE 22
47 SPELLING RULES 22
47 SPELLING RULES 22
CONSONANT RULES: 22
VOWEL RULES 23
VOWEL RULES: 23
AFFIX RULES 23
AFFIX RULES: 23
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: PLURAL RULES 23
: PLURAL RULES 23
SYLLABICATION RULES 24
SYLLABICATION RULES: 24
CAPITAL LETTER 24
CAPITAL LETTER & APOSTROPHE RULES 24
Arabic 25
Czech 25
Croatia 25
Farsi 26
French 26
German 26
Ghana 26
Hong Kong 27
Hmong 27
Hungarian 27
India 27
Italy 28
Japanese 28
Korean 28
Nigeria 29
Norway 29
Polish 29
Portuguese 29
Russian 29
Sierra Leone 29
Singapore 30
South Africa 30
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Spanish 30
Tagalog 30
Thai 31
Turkish 31
Vietnamese 31
CONSONANTS 32
/p/ 32
/b/ 33
/t/ 35
/d/ 37
/k/ 38
/g 40
/T/ 41
/D/ 42
/s 44
/z/ 46
/S/ 47
/Z/ 49
/h/ 50
/y 52
/w 54
/÷/ 55
/f / 57
/v/ 58
/m/ 60
/ n/ 62
/l/ 63
Î/ 64
/T/ 65
/D 67
/ r 68
/à 70
/?/ 72
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/Q/ 73
/ t/ /n/ /d/ /l/ 74
/ t9/ /d/ 75
VOWELS 76
iy 76
/I/ 77
/ey/ 78
EI 83
{ 92
/a/ 97
/uw/ 98
/U/ 100
/ow 101
/O/ 103
/ay 104
/aw/ 105
/Oy/ 107
/@/ 108
/@r/ 109
/ö/ 110
STRESS 111
28. ONE SYLLABLE 112
TWO SYLLABLE (STRESS ON FIRST SYLLABLE) 112
TWO SYLLABLE ( STRESS ON SECOND SYLLABLE 113
COMPOUND NOUNS 113
COMPOUND VERBS 114
PRONOUNS 114
NUMBERS 114
NOUN VERB PAIRS 115
POLYSYLLABIC WORDS 115
PHRASAL VERBS 116
ADDED SUFFIX 116
SPECIAL ENDINGS 117
Sentence Stress 117
CONTENT WORDS 118
FUNCTION WORDS 118
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LINKING 144
Linking and /y/ glides 144
Linking and /w/glides 144
Glottal stop linking--/?/ 145
Linking and /r/ insertion 145
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DELETION 147
Deletion in Medial Position 148
Deletion in Final Position 148
Deletion and Syncope 149
Deletion of initial syllable 150
Deletion of noninitial /r/ 150
Deletion of Final /v/ 151
Deletion of initial /h/ 151
Deletion and /D/ 151
Assimilation 152
Progressive Assimilation 152
Regressive Assimilation 153
Palatalization Assimilation 154
EPENTHESIS 154
Epenthesis 154
Dissimilation 155
[end] 166
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
REDUCE YOUR ACCENT! Wah Wah” like a baby. Then blind fold
(in ten steps) him and say these words:
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
• Vowels
• The easy ones
• The hard ones
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
Step Eight: Speak with Confidence practice the exercises in the next chapter,
Step Ten. And remember, give yourself
How do you feel if you are called on to some encouragement, you have come a
speak publicly, even before a small long way to accent improvement!
group? Do • Progress Test
your hands sweat? Do you feel
butterflies in your stomach? Does your Step Ten: Practice—Read Aloud
mind suddenly go • Practice the following words in this
blank? book and in the accompanying CD
and Speech Recognition
• Speak Confidently • Read short passages of books and
magazines to feel comfortable with
Step Nine: Test Your Progress your voice in English.
Now it’s time to see how far we have Step One: Test Your Pronunciation
come. Take the following tests again. Do
not check the answers in the back
beforehand. Compare your results from The chart below covers all of the
the first test. I am sure that if you have consonants and vowels in English. For
followed the preceding chapters you will really a really accurate description of the
find dramatic improvement. If you still words, a special alphabet called the
need to improve some area, go back and International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is
practice those units. Also continue to used.
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
45. e ae
46. bet bat
47. met mat
48. set sat
49. Ben ban
50. Ken can
51. den Dan
52. bed bad
53. head had
54. said sad
55. leg lag
A B
56. h f
57. hall fall
58. honey funny
59. heat feet
60. hold fold
61. hollow follow
62. hear fear
63. hit fit
64. hill fill
65. hell fell
66. hat fat
A B
67. ae a
68. cat cot
69. hat hot
70. pat pot
71. rat rot
72. cap cop
73. map mop
74. mass moss
75. math moth
76. band bond
77. lack lock
A B
78. s th
79. sink think
80. sank thank
81. sing thing
82. some thumb
83. sick thick
84. sin thin
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[ @r ] 10. That person went early [ T ] 11. She has thin youthful teeth.
to church.
[D ] 12. This father can bathe.
[ OI ] 11. The boy found oil in the
oyster. [ s ] 13. See the thirsty mice.
[ O ] 12. You ought to draw the [ z ] 14. Zen is not lazy jazz.
ball.
[ S ] 15. Shout to the ocean a wish.
[ ow ] 13. Do you own your old
toe? [Z ] 16. The gendarme had the
usual cortege.
[u ] 14. She threw the shampoo in
the zoo. [tS ] 17. Choose a mixture each.
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
A B C D
1 STOPS VS AFFRICATES SIWI TEAR CHAIR TEASE CHEESE
2 FRICATIVES VS AFFRICATES SIWI SORE CHORE SUM CHUM
STOPS VS FRICATIVES
3 AFFRICATES SFWF RAT RASH OUT OUCH
VOICED VS VOICELESS ALVEOLAR
4 STOPS SIWI /D/VS/T/ DEER TEAR DIE TIE
VOICED VS VOICELESS
5 AFFRICATES SIWI JEER CHEER JOKE CHOKE
VOICELESS VELARS VS
6 ALVEOLARS SIWI:/K/VS/T/ CAR TAR CORE TORE
7 FINAL CONSONANT INCLUSION TEA TEAM TIE TIDE
8 FINAL CONSONANT INCLUSION HIGH HIDE SEE SEAT
9 FINAL CONSONANT INCLUSION BUY BIKE SEW SOAP
1
0 INITIAL GLOTTAL INCLUSION: /H/ A HAY E HE
11 INITIAL FRICATIVE INCLUSION: /F/ ARM FARM EEL FEEL
1
2 INITIAL VELAR INCLUSION: /K/ R CAR ART CART
1
3 INIT CONSONANT INCLUSION 'SH' SHOWER HOUR SHARE AIR
1
4 INIT CONSONANT INCLUSION /S/ SEAL EEL SELL L
1
5 FRICATIVE CONTRASTS SORT FORT SHORT SORE FOUR
1
6 INITIAL ALVEOLAR INCLUSION /T/ IN TIN EYE TIE
1
7 INITIAL CONSONANT INCLUSION US BUS APE TAPE
1 GLOTTAL FRIC VS
8 ALVEOLARSTOPSIWI/H/VS/T/ HOP TOP HALL TALL
1 GLOTTAL VS LABIO-DENTAL
9 FRICATIVESIWI:/H/VS/F/ HAT FAT HIT FIT
2 GLOTTAL VS PALATO-ALVEOLAR
0 FRICATIVESIWI HALL SHAWL HEAD SHED
2 GLOTTAL VS ALVEOLAR
1 FRICATIVESIWI:/H/VS/S/ SAUCE HORSE SOUP HOOP
2 LIQUID VS FRICATIVE SIWI/L/VS/S/ LINE SIGN LOW SEW
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
2
2
3 LIQUIDS VS GLIDES SIWI/R/VS/W/ ONE RUN WIG RIG
2 FRICATIVES VS GLIDES
4 SIWI/F/VS/W/ FEEL WHEEL FIG WIG
2 FRICATIVES VS GLIDES
5 SIWI/V/VS/W/ VEST WEST VEIL WHALE
2 PALATO-ALVEOLAR FRICATIVE VS
6 AFFRICATESSFWF MASH MATCH DISH DITCH
2 PALATO-ALVEOLAR FRICATIVE VS
7 AFFRICATESSIWI SHOPS CHOPS SHOES CHOOSE
2 LIQUIDS VS ALVEOLARS
8 SIWI:/L/VS/D/ LOTS DOTS LOG DOG
2
9 NASALS VS LIQUIDS SIWI/N/VS/L/ KNEAD LEAD NIP LIP
3 LABIO-DENTAL FRICATIVES VS
0 STOPSSIWI:/F/VS/D/ FILE DIAL FISH DISH
3 ALVEOLAR VS PALATO-ALVEOLAR
1 FRICATIVESSIWI SUIT SHOOT SOCK SHOCK
3 ALVEOLAR VS LABIO-DENTAL
2 FRICATIVESSIWI:/S/VS/F/ SOLD FOLD SAUCE FORCE
3 ALVEOLAR VS LABIO-DENTAL
3 FRICATIVESSIWI:/S/VS/F/ SUN FUN SEED FEED
3
4 /N/ VS 'SH' SIWI GNAW SHORE KNEE SHE
3
5 /W/ VS /L/ SIWI WOK LOCK WINE LINE
3
6 /W/ VS /L/ SIWI WHY LIE WAKE LAKE
3 ALVEOLAR VS PALATO-ALVEOLAR
7 FRICATIVESSIWI SIGN SHINE SEW SHOW
3
8 /N/ VS /S/ SIWI GNAW SAW NINE SIGN
3
9 /N/ VS 'NG' SFWF RON WRONG PIN PING
4
0 'TH' VS /F/ SIWI THIN FIN THAW FOUR
4
1 /V/ VS /B/ SIWI VASE BARS VEST BEST
4
2 /L/ VS /J/ SIWI LAWN YAWN LOU YOU
4
3 /P/ VS /SP/ PIE SPY PEACH SPEECH POT
4
4 /S/ VS /SL/ LEAP SLEEP LIP SLIP LOW
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4
5 /S/ VS /SK/ SAILS SCALES SIP SKIP SEE
4
6 /S/ VS /ST/ SICK STICK SACK STACK SEAL
4
7 /T/ VS /ST/ SIWI TAKE STAKE TALK STORK
4
8 /T/ VS /ST/ SFWF BEAT BEAST BERT BURST
4
9 /W/ VS /SW/ WING SWING WEEP SWEEP
5
0 /K/ VS /SK/ KEY SKI CAT SCAT
5
1 /N/ VS /SN/ NAIL SNAIL KNEES SNEEZE
5
2 /M/ VS /SM/ MOG SMOG MASH SMASH
5
3 /L/ CLUSTERS LIP FLIP LAP CLAP
5
4 /R/ VS /TR/ RASH TRASH RAY TRAY
5
5 /R/ CLUSTERS RAT BRAT RED BREAD
5
6 /SK/ VS /ST/ SCOOP STOOP SCHOOL STOOL
5
7 /K/ VS /G/ SIWI CAP GAP GATE KATE
5
8 /D/ VS /T/ SFWF CORD CAUGHT BERT BIRD
5
9 /K/ VS /G/ SFWF PECK PEG BUCK BUG
6
0 /P/ VS /B/ SFWF CUP CUB NIP NIB
6
1 VOICING SFWF PEACH BEACH FAN VAN
Test 4: Say these words aloud while a native speaker of English or your teacher
circles the incorrect pronuciations. Calculate your reading age afterwards.
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
DICTATION PRACTICE
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124.Good 143.Cruel
125.Knelt 144.Disobey
126.Shotgun 145.Alive
127.Sunset 146.Uniform
128.Airplane 147.Turtle
129.Happy 148.Cable
130.Perhaps 149.Thistle
131.Machine CAPITAL & APOSTROPHE
132.Elephant 150.Bill
133.Rerun 151.New York
134.Softness 152.Sunday
135.Crying 153.July
136.Clever 154.Independence Day
137.Lemon 155.It’s
138.Robin 156.She’s
139.Music 157.Can’t
140.Polite 158.Boy’s
141.Paper 159.Boys’
142.Diet
47 SPELLING RULES:
CONSONANT RULES:
1. The letter q is always followed by the letter u, and we say "kw." [quiet]
2. /c/ before e, i or y says ‘s.' [chance, icing, icy]
3. /g/ before e, i or y may say ‘j.' [germ, giant, gym]
4. We often double l, f and s following a single vowel at the end of a one-syllable word.
[ball, off, miss]
5. Two-letter ‘k' (ck) is used only after a single vowel which says short ‘a' - ‘e' - ‘i' - ‘o' -
‘u' [pack, peck, pick, pock, puck]
6. Three-letter j (dge) is used only after a single vowel which says short ‘a' - ‘e' - ‘i' - ‘o' -
‘u' [badge, ledge, ridge, lodge, fudge]
7. The letter z, never s, is used to say ‘z' at the beginning of a base word. [zoo]
8. The letter s never follows x.
9. Double consonants within words of more than one syllable should both be sounded for
spelling. [hap py]
10. s-h is used to say ‘sh' at the beginning of a word, at the end of a syllable, but not at
the beginning of most syllables after the first one except for the ending ship. [she, wish,
friendship]
11. t-i, s-i, and c-i are used to say ‘sh' at the beginning of any syllable after the first one.
[nation, mansion, facial]
12. s-i is used to say ‘sh' when the syllable before it [session] or the base word ends in an
-s [tense/tension]; s-i can say its voiced ‘zh' sound when s is between two vowels.
[vision]
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
VOWEL RULES:
13. Vowels a, e, o, u usually say long ‘a' - ‘e' - ‘o' - ‘u' at the end of a syllable. [pa per, be
gin, o pen, u nit]
14. Vowels i and o may say long ‘i' and ‘o' when followed by two consonants. [find, old]
15. Vowels i and y may say ‘i' at the end of a syllable [fam i ly, bi cy cle], but usually say
‘i' or ‘e' [pi an o, ba by, by, fi nal]
16. Vowel y, not i, is used at the end of English words. [by, guy]
17. Base words do not end with the letter a saying long ‘a' (except for the article a); a-y is
used most often. [play]
18. o-r may say ‘er' when w comes before the o-r. [works]
19. We use ei after c [receipt], if we say long a [veil], and in some exceptions. [neither,
foreign, sovereign, seized, counterfeit, forfeited, leisure, either, weird, heifer, protein,
height, feisty, stein, weir, seismograph, sheik, kaleidoscope, Geiger counter, etc.] This is
not an exhaustive list of exceptions.
20. Silent final e's:
A 1. Silent final e lets the vowel say its name. [time]
B 2. English words do not end with v or u. [have, value]
C 3. Silent final e lets c and g say their second sounds. [chance, charge]
D 4. English syllables must have a written vowel. [ta ble]
E 5. e [none of the above, e.g., are, horse]
AFFIX RULES:
21. All, till and full are usually written with one l when added to another syllable.
[almost, until, careful]
22. The past tense ending e-d says ‘d' or ‘t' after words that do not end with d or t
[warmed, baked]; otherwise
e-d forms a second syllable. [grad ed]
23. Final y is changed to i before a suffix that does not begin with i. [cry, cried, cry ing]
24. When adding a consonant suffix, silent final e words usually keep the e [safe ty,
shame less, move ment], but not always. [wis dom, tru ly, ninth]
25. When adding a vowel suffix, silent final e words are written without the e. [time,
timing]
26. When adding a vowel suffix to a one-syllable word ending with one short vowel and
one consonant [hop], double the final consonant. [hopping]
27.When adding a vowel suffix to a two-syllable word ending with one short vowel and
one consonant, double the final consonant if the accent is on the last syllable [admit´,
admitted] unless the suffix throws the accent back to the first syllable. [refer3, referred,
ref´ er ence; confer´, conferred, con´ fer ence]
28. When prefixes dis, mis and un are added to root words beginning with the same letter
with which the prefix ends, this letter will be doubled. [unnecessary, dissolve, misspell]
: PLURAL RULES
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
29. The plural of most nouns is formed by adding s. [boys, cages, horses]
30. Nouns ending with the sounds of s, x, z, ch, sh or 'j' form their plurals by adding e-s.
[fox es, bush es, boss es]
31. Nouns ending in y after a vowel form their plurals by adding s. [mon key/mon keys]
32. Nouns ending in y after a consonant form their plurals by changing y to i and adding
e-s.
[pup py/pup pies]
33. Nouns ending in o after a vowel form their plurals by adding s. [pa ti o / pa ti os]
34. Nouns ending in o after a consonant usually form their plurals by adding e-s [he ro/he
roes] B except some musical terms. [pi an o/pi an os]
35. Most nouns ending in f and f-e form their plurals by adding s [belief / beliefs]; some
change f to v and add
e-s. [wolf /wolves, wife /wives]
35a. Most verbs form their third person, present, singular as if they were nouns becoming
plurals. [cuts, raises, dresses, fixes, fizzes, catches, pushes, plays, carries, goes]
SYLLABICATION RULES:
45. Capitalize words which are the individual names or titles of people, of places, of
books, of days and months, etc. [Bill, Chief Sitting Bull, New York, Amazon River, Call
of the Wild, Sunday, June]
46. An apostrophe takes the place of missing letters in a contraction. [it is/it's; she is/she's;
cannot/can't]
47. An apostrophe shows ownership or possession [Mary's coat, boys' coats], but is never
used with any possessive pronouns. [my, mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, its, whose]
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Step Two: Identify Accent Interference. Find your first language below and see the
types of language interference common for it.
Arabic
1. 1 . The R is formed in the front of the mouth, and it is trilled or rolled.
2. The aspirated P as in put does not exist. The sound will resemble a B sound.
Paper > baber.
3. The TH sound does not exist in Arabic.
4. Voiceless initial TH will be replaced with S. thin > sin.
5. Voiced initial TH will be replaced with Z or D. that > zat or dat.
6. The aspirated T will sound more like D. too > doo.
7. CH does not exist. It is replaced by SH. cheep > sheep.
8. There is no hard G as in go. The G is always soft as in gentle.
9. The short vowel sounds can cause difficulties for the ESL learner.
Czech
1. W is replaced with a V sound. want > vant
2. Y, when used as a vowel, is a long "E" sound. symbol > seembol
3. J is a Y sound. January > Yanuary
4. The TH sound does not exist.
5. Voiceless initial TH becomes T. think > tink
6. Voiced initial Th becomes D. these > dese
7. Voiceless final TH becomes F, S, or T. with > %if, @s, or wit
8. Voiced middle TH becomes D. mother > modder
9. Final G is replaced by K. pig > pik
Chinese
1 . Consonant clusters are rare in Chinese. Since English has many of them, this can
create pronunciation problems for the ESL student.
2. The TH sound does not exist.
3. Voiceless TH will be replaced by T or F. think > tink or fink
4. Voiced TH will be replaced by D or V. that > dat or vat
5 . The L and R sounds are difficult to produce since students cannot distinguish the
difference between the two sounds. Some will always use "R" for both sounds, while
others will always use "L." glass > grass or grass > glass blew > brew or brew >
blew
6. In the initial position a sound resembling L will usually replace an R. road > load
7. Chinese has no Z sound. It is replaced with SH or S. zip > ship or sip
Croatia
1 . Voiced and voiceless TH do not exist. Students will tend to pronounce these
sounds as D or T. both > bod or hot; these > dese or tese
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
2. The short English vowel sounds are very difficult. Generally, the student tends not
to hear the slight variations in these sounds.
3. The letter R is rolled.
4. The letter W does not exist. It is replaced by V or F. want > vant or fant
5. In many cases V > B, C > S, and X > H. vat > bat; cold > sold; Texas > Tehas
Farsi
1. Farsi lacks some of the letters/sounds that occur in the English alphabet. They
include 0, Q, U, W, and X. This can cause much difficulty in pronunciation.
2. Initial voiceless Th becomes T or S. think > tink or sink
3. The sound W is replaced by V. want > vant
4. Final D becomes T. bad > bat
5. Initial G may be replaced by C. goat > coat
6. Short vowels will be difficult.
French
1. The Th sound does not occur in French.
a. Voiceless initial TH becomes S. think > sink b. Voiced initial TH becomes Z. them
> zem
2. The CH sound does not occur in French. It is replaced with SH. cheek > sheek
3 . The sound of J as in "jeep" does not occur in French. It has the sound of
"rouge".
4. The R sound is difficult. Many French speakers substitute the R made at the back
of the throat - a "growled" sound. Some will substitute the trilled R.
5. ING as in "ring" does not occur. Ring may become fin.
6. Final S is not pronounced, and final T after a vowel is also not pronounced.
7. P, T, and K are not aspirated. They sound more like B, D, and G respectively. cap
> cab; bat > bad; back > bag
German
1. Voiceless initial TH will usually be replaced by S. think > sink
2. Voiced initial TH will usually be replaced by Z. that > zat
3. W has the sound of V in German. want > vant
4. The letter S is difficult for Germans.
5. S before a vowel becomes Z. so > zo
6. S followed by P, T, or L becomes SH. spell > shpell; step > shtep; sleep > shleep
7. When B, D, or G occur at the end of an English word, the ESL student will
usually use P, T, or K respectively. cab > cap; bad > bat; bag > back
8. The R sound can be difficult. In German, the R is made at the back of the throat
and has a "growled" sound.
Ghana
1. /?/ is sometimes pronounced /a/ as in "cupboard" for instance; consonants
clusters might be dropped after long vowels, e.g.: "past" pronounced almost the
same way as "pass"
2. Use of plural morpheme with uncountable nouns, e.g.:" many damages"
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
3. Semantic extension, e.g.: " sorry" to express one's compassion to other people,
e.g.: Sorry for your daughter's misfortune.
4. Local borrowing: "chewing stick" for a fresh twig chewed for cleaning the teeth;
"herbalist" for traditional doctor, especially those endowed with magical power ,
"high life" for a special Ghanaian dance and music in the then newly independent
Ghanaian society. Today, coping with modern technology, a cell-phone is called in
Ghana: "I'm-on-the-way!"
Hong Kong
1. Voiceless TH will be replaced by T or F. think > tink or fink,
2. Voiced TH will be replaced by D or V. that > dat or vat
3. L and R sounds are difficult to pronounce, students cannot distinguish the
difference between the two sounds. Some will always use "R" for both sounds, while
others will always use "L." glass > grass or grass > glass blew > brew or brew >
blew; in the initial position a sound resembling L will usually replace an R. road >
load
4. Chinese has no Z sound; it is replaced with SH or S. zip > ship or sip
5. Words and phrases from Chinese: dim sum (snacks served in Chinese
restaurants), gweilo ("ghost person", a European man)
6. Loan translations from Chinese: dragon boat(a long canoe-like boat raced at
festivals)
7. Terms from other languages: amah (Portuguese: a maid)
8. local uses of general words: triad (a secret criminal society)
Hmong
1. Initial B and P have the same sound. bad > bad; pad > bad
2. The TH sound causes difficulty.
3.. Initial voiceless TH becomes T. think > tink
4.. Initial voiced TH becomes D. that > dat
5. The sound of T in the middle of a word will become D. better > bedder
6. The consonants P, T, and K in the final position are replaced with B, D, and G
respectively, and become voiced. hip > bib; hit > hid; sick > sig
Hungarian
1. Some Hungarian vowel sounds have no English equivalents.
2. There is no sound for W in Hungarian. It is replaced with a V sound. want > vant
3. The letter J has a Y sound. January > Yanuary
4. The TH sound causes difficulty in Hungarian.
5. Voiceless initial TH becomes S or T. think > sink or tink
6. Voiced initial TH becomes Z or D. that > zat or dat
7. The letter R is trilled or rolled.
India
1. Voiced and voiceless TH becomes T. three > tree; think > tink
2. The sound P is replaced by B. pig > big
3. The sound W becomes V. want > vant
4. The sound CH becomes SH. cheep > sheep
5. Final consonants are often omitted, especially the G from NG. doing > doin
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© 2002 Steven Donahue
6. Short vowel sounds cause much difficulty, since the ESL student does not hear the
slight variations.
7. The consonants F, Q, V, X, and Z do not exist as separate characters in the Hindi
alphabet.
8. Indian English is rhotic, /r/ being pronounced in all positions
9. weak vowels are pronounced as full vowels in such words as photography and
student
10. word stress is used primarily for emphasis and suffixes are stressed
11. voiced and voiceless TH becomes T: three > tree; think > tink
12. Voiced and voiceless TH becomes T. three > tree; think > tink
13. the sound P is replaced by B. pig > big
14. the sound W becomes V. want > vant
15. CH becomes SH. cheep > sheep
16. Final consonants are often omitted, especially the G from NG. doing > doin
17. Distinct kinds of pronunciation lead to different kinds of IndE: Bengalis using
/b/ for /v/, making bowel and vowel homophones.
18. Interrogative constructions without subject/auxiliary inversion: What you would
like to buy?
19. One used rather than the indefinite article: He gave me one book.
20. Stative verbs given progressive forms: She is having two books.
21. reduplication used for emphasis and to indicate a distributive meaning: He
bought some small small things.
22. yes and no as question tags: He is coming, yes?
23. isn't it? as a generalized question tag: They are coming tomorrow, isn't it?
24. reflexive pronouns and only used for emphasis: They live like that only.
Italy
1. /?/+/g/ instead of /?/ in words like sing.
2. TH, which is often pronounced /t/.
3. Schwa insertion after a /t/ in word-final position that gives an Italian’s English a
very peculiar accent.
Japanese
1. The letter C may be pronounced as SH. cent > shent
2. The sound W is replaced by V. want > vant
3. Initial V becomes B. vine > bine
4. The TH sound does not occur in Japanese.
5. Initial voiceless TH becomes S. think > sink
6. Initial voiced TH becomes D. these > dese
7. Final TH becomes S. with > wis
8. The L sound is usually replaced by an R type sound. led > red
Korean
1. The TH sound does not occur in Korean.
2. Initial TH becomes D. think > dink; that > dat
3. Final voiceless TH is replaced with S. with > wis
4. Final voiced TH becomes D. smooth > smood
5. The sound L is usually replaced with an R sound. led > red
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CONSONANTS
1. /p/
DIRECTIONS
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
2. /b/
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DIRECTIONS:
WORDS
34
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rib rIb
boys bOyz
global glowb@l
cowboy kawbOy
COMPARISONS
3. /t/
DIRECTIONS:
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
36
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63. /d/
DIRECTIONS:
WORDS
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dill dIl
dents dEnts
heeding hiydIÎ
bidder bId@r
rending rEndIÎ
bead biyd
Sid sId
said sEd
COMPARISONS
64. /k/
DIRECTIONS:
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
39
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65. /g/
DIRECTIONS:
1. Relax the lower jaw
2. Open the mouth slightly.
3. Raise the back of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth
4. Stop the air stream
5. Quickly drop the tongue and release the air.
6. Vibrate the vocal chords.
WORDS
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girl g@rl
bug b@g
God gad
COMPARISONS
66. /T/
DIRECTIONS
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
/T/ Phonetic /D/ Phonetic
theme Tiym thee Diy
arithmetic @rITm@tIk rhythm rIDIm
teeth tiyT teethe tiyD
thatch T{T that D{t
catheter k{T@t@r gather g{D@r
bath b{T bathe beyD
thigh Tay thy Day
oath’s owTs oaths owDz
thousand TowZ@nd thou Daw
67. /D/
42
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DIRECTIONS:
WORDS
43
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rib rIb
boys bOyz
global glowb@l
cowboy kawbOy
COMPARISONS
68. /s/
DIRECTIONS:
44
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
45
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69. /z/
DIRECTIONS:
46
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
70. /S/
DIRECTIONS:
47
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
48
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71. /Z/
DIRECTIONS:
1. Relax lower jaw
2. Raise tip and blade of tongue to gum ridge without touching it
3. Touch sides of tongue to upper teeth.
4. Arch front of tongue
5. Direct breath over tip of tongue in a narrow stream
6. Keep lips neutral
7. Vibrate vocal chords.
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
72. /h/
50
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DIRECTIONS
WORDS
51
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73. /y/
DIRECTIONS:
52
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
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74. /w/
DIRECTIONS:
1. Relax the lower jaw
2. Rest tongue behind lower teeth
3. Round lips
4. Arch back of tongue as for vowel sound /uw/
5. Lips move to shape of following vowel (always followed by a vowel in English)
6. Vibrate vocal chords
WORDS
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wet wEt
wealth wElT
wend wEnd
COMPARISONS
w Phonetic ÷ Phonetic v Phonetic
we’ll wiyl wheel ÷iyl veal viyl
witch wIT which ÷IT vale veyl
wit wIt whit ÷It vim vIm
women wIm@n whim ÷Im vim vIm
worse w@rs when ÷En verse v@rs
weed wiyd wheat ÷iyt Vedic viydIk
wet wEt whet ÷Et vet vEt
why way whine ÷ayn vine vayn
wile wayl while ÷ayl vile vayl
75. /÷/
DIRECTIONS:
55
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
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76. /f /
DIRECTIONS:
57
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
f Phonetic v Phonetic p Phonetic
fee fiy vee viy pea piy
fat f{t vat v{t pat p{t
fast f{st vast v{st past p{st
few fyuw view vyuw pew pyuw
coffee cafiy covey k@viy copy kapiy
loaf lowf loave lowv lope lowp
scarf skarf carve karv carp karp
Sheaffer Sef@r shaver Seyv@r shaper Seyp@r
woeful wowf@l oval owv@l opal owp@l
77. /v/
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DIRECTIONS:
1. Let lower jaw hang relaxed.
2. Touch tongue to back of lower teeth.
3. Press lower lip to edges of upper lip.
4. Force out air between teeth and lower lip.
5. Vibrate vocal chords.
WORDS
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COMPARISONS
78. /m/
DIRECTIONS
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WORDS
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79. / n/
DIRECTIONS:
WORDS
62
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COMPARISONS
80. /l/
DIRECTIONS:
WORDS
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leap liyp
lick lIk
loquacious lowkweyS@s
low low
silly sIliy
relish rElIS
valley v{liy
foliage fOylID
COMPARISONS
81. /Î/
DIRECTIONS:
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
82. /T/
65
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DIRECTIONS:
1. Let the lower jaw hang relaxed
2. Have the upper and lower teeth almost touch
3. Blend a quick /t/ sound followed by /S/
4. Arch front of tongue
5. Direct breath over tip of tongue in a narrow stream
6. Protrude the lips slightly
7. Do not vibrate vocal chords.
WORDS
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coach kowT
COMPARISONS
83. /D/
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WORDS
COMPARISONS
84. / r/
"
This consonant is a voiced post-alveolar fricative continuant.
DIRECTIONS:
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METHOD I METHOD II
69
WORDS
COMPARISONS
85. /à /
This consonant is a voiced lateral continuant. It is called “dark l”. When /l/ follows a
vowel, as in ball /baà/, the tongue has more contact with the upper teeth and has a
different characteristic than intial /l/.
DIRECTIONS:
WORDS
COMPARISONS
DIRECTIONS:
1. Tighten vocal cords
2. Close the glottis
3. Cut off the flow of air for an instant.
WORDS
87. /Q/
DIRECTIONS:
1. Briefly touch the gum ridge with the tongue.
WORDS
DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring tongue in contact with gum ridge
2. Force the tongue to remain in contact
3. Make the following /l/ or /n/ sound.
.
WORDS
COMPARISONS
89. / t9/ /d/ These consonants are dentalized consonants. They are
9 9
formed when /t/ or /d/ are produced with the tongue resting on the back of the front upper
teeth rather than on the alveolar ridge (gum ridge).
Vowels
VOWELS
Vowels are produced by the continual vibration of the vocal cords. The air is allowed to
escape the mouth without interruption.
44. /iy/
This is the highest front vowel in English.
DIRECTIONS
1. Press the sides of the tongue against the upper bicuspid (two-pointed) teeth and
the roof of the mouth.
2. You may press the tip of the tongue against the cutting edge of the lower front
teeth.
3. The upper and lower teeth almost touch.
4. The lips spread, almost in a tight smile.
5. Air escapes between the narrow opening of the tongue and front teeth.
6. The muscle under your jaw is somewhat tight.
COMPARISON
45. /I/
This vowel is just below /i/ on the vowel chart.
DIRECTIONS
46 /ey/
Down and back of /I/ is the vowel /ey/. This vowel is really a diphthong and is its
diphthongization is greatest in final position, when followed by a voiced consonant,
or when pronounced with a slide at the end of an intonation unit.
DIRECTIONS
COMPARE
Caesar's/ scissors
Scenically/
cynically
Cervices/ services
Forefeet/ forfeit
Liter/ litter
lever /liver
Parsees/ passes
Reason/ risen
re-sole/ rissole
Streaked/ strict
Treacle/ trickle
Tureen/ Turin.
47. /EI
COMPARE:
acetic
ascetic
beacon beckon
ceiling selling
heedless
headless
meeker Mecca
Peking pecking
weeding wedding
yield yelled
assi
st assessed
cinder
sender
innovate
enervate
listening
lessening
livid
levied
middle
medal
sickened
second
symmetry
cemetery
DIRECTIONS:
COMPARE:
/I/ Phoneti /a/ Phonetic /{/ Phonetic
c
it It pot pat grand gr{nd
did dId father faD@r gland gl{nd
kin kIn box baks Dan d{n
din dIn calm cam ban b{n
litter lIt@r pa pa bat b{t
riff rIf fob fab lavish l{v@S
rich rIT ma ma crass kr{s
pistol pIst@l hot hat cat k{t
rip rIp dot dat attack @t{k
breezier
brassi`ere
diesels dazzles
greenery granary
keyless callous
seaman salmon
seedling
saddling
DIRECTIONS:
COMPARE:
50. /uw/
While /i/ is the highest vowel possible at the front of the mouth, /u/ is the highest
vowel at the back of the mouth. After the sound begins, there is an upward and
backward glide of the tongue.
DIRECTIONS
51. /U/
DIRECTIONS
1. The lips are rounded but less than for the vowel /u/
2. The tips of the lower teeth are close to the upper teeth.
3. The back of the tongue is slightly arched but not as high as /u/
4. The back of the tongue may just touch the upper tooth ridge
5. The muscle under the jaw is relaxed
COMPARE
51. /ow/
This vowel consists of two sounds: an initial “o” sound and a “w” sound at the end.
DIRECTIONS
1. Form the lips in the shape of the letter O
2. Relax the jaw
3. Bunch or arch the tongue in the back of the mouth
4. Purse the lips more as the second sound of the diphthong is produced.
COMPARISON
This back vowel is second lowest back vowel. The lowest is /a/. However, the lip
position for /a/ entails more widening of the lips.
DIRECTIONS:
COMPARISON
54. /ay/
This diphthong begins as the /a/ vowel and moves upward towards /iy/.
DIRECTIONS:
55. /aw/
This diphthong begins as the /a/ vowel and moves upward and backward toward
/U/.
DIRECTIONS:
Directions:
1. Relax the lower jaw.
2. Place the tip of the tongue behind the lower front teeth.
3. Arch the front of the tongue forward and low for the first sound /O/
4. Glide the tongue towards the weak second element /iy/
5. During this glide move the jaw from open to almost closed.
6. Move the lips from a relaxed position to a round position
COMPARISON
57. /@/
This vowel is neither a front or back vowel, but it is produced centrally. This is the
most common vowel in spoken English and is referred to as “schwa”.
DIRECTIONS
COMPARISON
/a/ Phonetic /U/ Phonetic /@/ Phonetic /O/ Phonetic
pot pat book bUk alive @laiv audition OdIS@
n
father faD@r wolf wUf sofa sOf@ autumn Ot@m
box baks could cUd telephon tEl@fow austere OstIr
e n
calm cam pull pUl possible pas@b alright Owrait
@l
pa pa cook cUk oppose @powz nautical nOt@k
@l
fob fab sugar sUg@r Confuciu k@nfyu applaud Oplad
s S@s
ma ma Brooklyn brUklIn labyrinth l{b@rIn awe O
T
hot hat hood hUd national n{S@n awkward OkwIrd
@l
dot dat would wUd chorus kOr@s call cOà
58. /@r/
This vowel is the combination of two sounds. The initial sound is very short and
barely heard. Nonphonemic variants of this sound occur in spoken English: [bÅd]
stressed and followed by r, and [faD2] unstressed and followed by r.
DIRECTIONS
59. /ö/
DIRECTIONS:
1. Relax the jaw .
2. .Slightly spread the lips
3. Place the tongue behind the lower front teeth but do not touch anything.
4. Make sure that all muscles are relaxed
COMPARE
STRESS
Stress results when a syllable is given extra energy. The extra energy may be from a
change in pitch or energy or both. The extra emphasis makes the syllable stand out.
Stress is sometimes called accent. Generally, English tries to avoid having stresses too
close together. There is a tendency in English for the stresses to occur at regular intervals
even if this “violates” the stress pattern of a certain word said in isolation. This tendency
to keep regular intervals is called rhythm. Primary stress is indicated by /2/ (AIGU) and
secondary stress is shown by /1/.(GRAVE)
The ten most frequent words ( 25%) in written and spoken English include: the, of, and,
to, a, in, that, it, is, and I. These words are usually unstressed, unless said in citation form
or in isolation. These common words tend to be reduced and pronounced as the weak
forms-- /@/ , / I/ , or / U/.
About 75% of two-syllable words are accented on the first syllable. For words derived
from German, many are stressed on the first syllable. Of the 1,000 most frequent words in
English, about 83% are of Germanic origin. Primary stress is indicated by /2/ (AIGU)
and secondary stress is shown by /1/.(GRAVE)
Approximately 25% of English words are stressed on the second syllable. Most of these
words begin with a prefix. Most of these words are accented on the second syllable.
Compound nouns usually have primary accent on the first part and a secondary accent on
the second portion.
Unlike compound nouns, compound verbs usually receive secondary stress on the first
element and primary stress on the second component.
33. PRONOUNS
34. NUMBERS
Numbers which end in –teen may receive stress on either syllable. However, for clarity it
is recommended to place the stress on the last syllable.
There is a large group of words which may be used as either nouns or verbs. A difference
in stress indicates a difference in usage.
Many polysyllabic words in English ending in –ate can be used as an adjective, noun, or
verb. If these words are used as an adjective or a noun, the vowel of the ending is left
unstressed and pronounced as /I/ or /@/ . If they are used as a verb, the ending is given
secondary stress and pronounced as the vowel /ey/.
ADJECTIVE OR NOUN WORD VERB
{2dv@kIt advocate {2dv@ke1yt
{2gr@gIt aggregate {2gr@ge1yt
O2lt@rnIt alternate O2lt@rne1yt
{2nImIt animate {2nIme1yt
@pro2prIIt appropriate @pro2prIe1yt
@pra2ksImIt approximate @pra2ksIme1yt
dIlI2b@rIt deliberate dIlI2b@re1yt
dE2s@lIt desolate dE2s@le1yt
Il{2b@rIt elaborate Il{2b@re1yt
E2stImIt estimate E2stIme1yt
gr{2 DUIt graduate gr{2 Due1yt
I2ntImIt intimate I2ntIme1yt
ma2d@rIt moderate ma2d@re2yt
prIsI2pItIt precipitate prIsI2pIte2yt
sE2p@rIt sE2prIt separate sE2p@re1yt
Phrasal verbs consist of two or three words. They are composed of verbs followed by
adverbial particles and/ or prepositions. Prepositions in phrasal verbs are unstressed. The
verb is always stressed. However, the particles following the verb are stressed while the
prepositions are unstressed.
PATTERN ONE
VERB STRESS PHONETIC
PREPOSTION SPELLING
LOOK at lU2k{t
TALK about tO2k@bowt
DisPENSE with dIspE2nswIT
ApPROVE of @1pru2v@v
PATTERN TWO
FIGure OUT fI2gy@row2t
DROP OFF dra2pa2f
TAKE Over tey2kow2v@r
LOOK BACK lU2kb{2k
PATTERN
THREE
RUN aWAY with r@2n@we2I
WALK OUT on wO2kow2t
TALK DOWN to tO2kdaw2n
GET aHEAD of gE2t@hE2d
Words ending in :
--ition --ical
--sion -- ity
--ic ---graphy
usually have stress on the syllable preceding the ending.
Word stress and sentence stress combine to create rhythm in English. Rhythm is the
regular beat of stressed syllables, unstressed syllables and pauses. The length of an
utterance depends not on the number of syllables but on the number of stresses.The
following sentences differ in their number of actual syllables, but are equivalent in the
number of stresses. Even though the sentences are getting longer, the time that it takes to
say each one is about the same.
Content words are words that usually carry information and have a meaning in
themselves. Content words are usually stressed.
TO CLARIFY
When the wind blows / the cradle will rock
TO EMPHASIZE
Truthfully, / I’m not sure I believe you.
TO BREAK UP A LONG SENTENCE
The professor wrote a very long paper that involved / some intricacies of pronunciation.
2. WH-QUESTION Questions that begin with WH- (What, Who, etc.) have a FALLING pattern.
3. YES-NO QUESTION General Questions that can be answered with a Yes or No usually rise HIGH.
4. ECHO QUESTION WH- Questions that rise HIGH mean “Is that really what you said” or “Repeat that.”
5. COMPARISON Both items of a Comparison rise HIGH. One may rise Higher than the other.
6. SUSPENSE If the first part of a sentence end in a rising HIGH pattern, this creates SUSPENSE
7. SERIES (AND) A SERIES of items with AND has the first two items rise HIGH, and the last item
FALLS.
8. ALTERNATIVE QUESTION (OR) ALTERNATIVE Questions with OR that have one item HIGHER than the other require a
choice between the items by the listener.
9. DOUBLE YES-NO QUESTION (OR) DOUBLE YES-NO questions have equally rising HIGH notes on the two items. The
speaker does not necessarily want the listener to choose between the two items.
10. DIRECT ADDRESS In DIRECT ADDRESS, the speaker starts off on a LOW note and the goes up to a HIGH
note.
11. TAG QUESTION--REAL REAL TAG QUESTIONS end with rising HIGH intonation and words such as “Aren’t
you?” and should be answered.
12. TAG QUESTION--RHETORICAL RHETORICAL TAG QUESTIONS end with falling LOW intonation and words such as
“Aren’t you?” and should NOT be answered.
13. FOCUS FOCUS on a particular word in a sentence is indicated by a HIGHER pitch on the word.
14. PERFUNCTORY PERFUNCTORY intonation barely rises HIGH before it FALLS and indicates a lack of
Enthusiasm.
15. ENTHUSIASM ENTHUSIASTIC intonation rises very HIGH before FALLING. It indicates genuine
excitement.
16. COAXING COAXING begins on a HIGH note, comes down to a LOW note, then rises to a
NORMAL note.
17. IRONY IRONY can be indicated when a Yes-No question begins on a NORMAL note, rises to a
HIGH note, then returns to a NORMAL note.
18. SHOCK SHOCK is indicated by an EXTRA HIGH note on the adjective or adverb that makes the
sentence more intensive.
19. SURPRISE SURPRISE is indicated by an EXTRA HIGH note
on the adjective or adverb that makes the sentence more intensive.
20. APPROVAL APPROVAL is indicated by an EXTRA HIGH note on the adjective or adverb that makes
the sentence more intensive.
21. PLACE NAMES PLACE NAMES have HIGH notes on both items.
23. MEANING SHIFT MEANING SHIFT can be indicated by the placement of the HIGH intonation in the word
or words.
24. DETERMINED DETERMINATION can be indicated by a series of downward FALLING intonation
slides.
INTONATION:
Intonation involves pitch: stretched vocal cords make for higher pitch; relaxed vocal
cords for lower. Pitch can convey additional meaning to speech. Some of these additional
Meanings may simply reflect the lexical information or personal characteristics of the
speaker such as surprise or anger. Others can signal grammatical information: a question,
a rhetorical question, or a statement that is final. Pitch can change during an utterance and
produce different tones. If the change in these tones takes place between syllables, it is
called a shift. If it takes place within a syllable, it is called a slide. Intonation patterns are
not necessarily fixed, but can vary from speaker to speaker.
1. STATEMENTS
Simple statements of facts or Declarative sentences usually have falling intonation at the
end of the sentence.
2. WH- QUESTIONS
Questions that begin with interrogative words such as what, who, which, why , when ,
where, and how have a falling pattern at the end of the word.
3. YES-NO QUESTIONS
General questions that may be answered with a yes or no usually rise at the end of the
utterance.
4. ECHO QUESTIONS
With this intonation pattern, two ideas are being compared and receive a higher pitch.
Usually, one item is given an extra high note. It does not seem to matter which item gets
the extra emphasis.
.
6.IMPLICIT CONTRASTS
When a sentence is divided into two thought groups (or more), each thought group has its
own intonation pattern. If the end of the group is a rising-falling pattern—up to a high
note on the final stress, then down to a low note—then the two sentences are distant or
almost separate thoughts.
DISTANT
CLOSE
If the group ends on a high note on its final stress, then returns to normal, there is more of
a connection between the two sentences.
SUSPENSE
If the beginning group ends with a rising pattern, this will create suspense.
8. SERIES WITH AND
There is a rising pattern of intonation on all members except the last. On the last item
there is rising-falling intonation.
9. ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS
Alternative questions require a choice. One of the items must be on an extra high note. It
does not seem to matter which one.
10. ALTERNATIVES WITH OR
The first and second items of the utterance have rising intonation. The last item has rising
–falling intonation. This indicates that the items are intended to be heard as a sequence of
items.
With this type of intonation pattern, the speaker does not necessarily want the listener to
make a choice between the two items mentioned. The pattern can either have rising
intonation at the end or can have a series of rising intonations.
12. DIRECT ADDRESS
Direct address requires starting off on a low note and then rising. Direct address may also
come at the end of a sentence.
13. TAG QUESTION REAL.
Tag questions begin with words such as aren’t you and will he or she. If the tag is
pronounced with a rising pattern, it is a genuine question.
Tag questions begin with words such as aren’t you and will he or she. If the tag is
pronounced with a rising-falling pattern, it is not a genuine question.
Your’re hungry, aren’t you?
15. FOCUS
Attention is focused on the word in a thought group by singling it out with a higher pitch
note occurring on the syllable of that word.
Was it you who baked the cake?
I took the new course. (Did you take the course, or skip it?)
I took the new course. (Did you take the old course or the new one?)
16. PERFUNCTORY
Coaxing or Persuading intonation begins on a high note, comes down to a low note, and
then rises to normal at the end of a sentence.
19. IRONY
When a Yes-No question begins on a normal note, then rises to high on the last sentence
stress, and returns to normal usually indicates irony.
20. SHOCK
Shock can be indicated by an extra high note that seems to intensify the force of the
adjective or adverb.
21. SURPRISE
Surprise, like shock puts an extra high note on the word that is important.
22. APPROVAL
New information tends to take special intonation attention. In English, the new
information tends to have higher pitch and is located at the end of the sentence.
25. MEANING SHIFT
Nominal compounds and sequences of individual words can be distinguished with the
high note that falls on the last sentence-stress.
26. SLIDE
If the last sentence-stress and the high note come on the very last syllable, the intonation
pattern is a slide or glide rather than a shift.
25. DETRMINED
With Determination, a separate stress and a downward slide is given to every word.
LINKING
Linking is the connecting of a final sound of one word or syllable to the initial sound of
the next word.
If a word ends in a tense vowel or a diphthong and the next word or syllable begins with
a vowel, a /y/ may be inserted.
If a word ends in a tense vowel or a diphthong and the next word or syllable begins with
a vowel, a /w/ may be inserted.
144
tour tuwÙwOr
If two low tense vowels that do not end in a glide occur, a glottal stop may be inserted
between them.
If two low tense vowels that do not end in a glide or after /@/, some speaker add an
intrusive /r/ sound.
145
94. Linking and Intervocalic Consonants
If a word or syllable ends in a single consonant and is followed by a word with a vowel,
the consonant is produced as if it belonged to both words.
If a word ends in a consonant cluster and the next word begins with a vowel, the final
cluster is sometimes pronounced as part of the following syllable.
146
If two identical consonants are next to each other, the single consonant is elongated and
not just produced twice.
DELETION
147
98. Deletion in Medial Position
• If a word has /nt/ between two vowels or before syllabic /l/ ,it can be deleted.
• If a word has /t/ or /d/ as the second members of a triple cluster, it can be deleted.
148
If a word ends with /t/ or /d/ in a cluster, and the following word begins in a consonant,
/t/ or /d/ may be deleted.
Exceptions:
1. If the second word begins with a /w/, /h/, /y/, or /r/ there is no deletion.
2. In some consonant cluster ending with /nt/ ,/lt/, /rt/, or /rd/ there is no deletion.
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WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC
chocolate tSa2wkl@t
every E2vriy
history hI2striy
vegetable vE2gt@b@l
laboratory la2br@tOriy
different dI2frEnt
beverage bE2vr@dZ
emerald E2mr@ld
If a word contains two /r/ sounds, the second /r/ is sometimes deleted.
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103. Deletion of Final /v/
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In connected speech, /D/ may be deleted in pronominal forms.
Assimilation
If one sound causes changes in a neighboring sound, this is called assimilation. It can
occur in words or between words.
If the first sound affects the following sound, this is known as progressive assimilation.
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1. /d/ is devoiced to/ t/ by the / s/
2. /s/ is voiced to /z/ by the /g/
3. /s/ is devoiced to /s/ by the /k/
4. /d/ is voiced to /d/ by the /v/
5. /t/ is devoiced to /t/ by the /S/
6. /s/ is voiced to /t/ by vowel /I/
7. /d/ affects /t/
In regressive assimilation, the second sound influences the characteristics of the first
sound.
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6. /z/ becomes /S/
7. /d/ becomes /b/
8. /t/ becomes /k/
9. /n/ becomes /p/
10. /n/ becomes /Î/
EPENTHESIS
109. Epenthesis
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2.planted pl{nt@d
handed h{nd@d
3.prince prInts
4.tense tEnts
5.since sints
6.comfort compfort
1. schwa inserted
2. schwa inserted
3. /t/ inserted
4. /t/ inserted
5. /t/ inserted
6. /p/ inserted
110. Dissimilation
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Perfect Pronunciation Through Poetry
Steven Donahue
Teachers have all lamented the crazy arbitrariness of English spelling and
pronunciation. In “My Fair Lady,” George Bernard Shaw pled for spelling reform with
the word 'GHOTI" arguing GH as in "rough" + O as in "women" +TI as in "nation" =
GHOTI = "fish." In the same vein, here are some poems which can be used in the
language classroom to understand the spoken patterns of English.
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Watch out for meat and great and threat:
They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.
THE CHAOS
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Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
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Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
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Pronunciation -- think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
OUGH
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By Steven Donahue
Story and verse are a primary way that English children absorb the linguistic lessons
of their first language. Embedded in the seemingly simple rhymes are complex
language patterns about intonation, rhythm, stress, and individual vowels and
consonants. In this paper, the various ways that Mother Goose Rhymes can be used
in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom are explored. By pointing out
these linguistic phenomena to ESL learners, they will be better able to sort out the
seeming inconsistencies of what they are hearing in the real English speaking world.
Practice of P, T, K
[rule: difference between voiced and voiceless stops and aspiration of initial voiceless
stops]
With Pat-a-Cake, the student is told to focus on pronouncing the voiceless stop series :
P, T, K. The student is shown how P is pronounced fully in the front of the mouth with
both lips ; T is pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching just behind the front teeth;
and K is pronounced with the back of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth. For
most students it is not necessary to invoke the precise terminology such as bilabial,
alveolar, or velar. The student is told to focus on the voiceless pattern of the sounds P, T,
K as compared to their twin voiced sounds B, D, G.
A second pattern that can be demonstrated with this rhyme is the aspiration
that occurs after the voiced stops P, T, K. Students can hold a piece of paper close to their
lips while reciting the poem and watch the paper move from the aspirated air.
Linking
[ rule: If a word or syllable ends in a single consonant and is followed by a word with a
vowel, the consonant is produced as if it belonged to both words]
Jack be nimble,
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And Jack be quick;
And Jack jump over
The candlestick.
Linking is a linguistic phenomena where the end of one word starts the beginning of a
second word. In this Mother Goose Rhyme, “jump over” actually sounds like “JUM”
and “POVER”. This is no small issue for second language learners who may run to
the dictionary trying to look up a non-existent “Pover”. Here, the linking rule is gone
over so that the student understands that it occurs with words that end in other
consonants. Examples include “gone over” GO NOVER; “stop it” STO PIT, and
“bug off” BU GOFF.
Tapped T
[ rule: when double “t” comes in the middle of a word, it sounds somewhat like a quickly
tapped “d”]
[rule: if a word has /t/ or /d/ as a second member of a triple cluster, it can be deleted]
A second pronunciation point in this short poem is the line “Peter stands at the gate”.
Here, native speakers will delete the “d” sound so that it sounds like “Stan’s”. This is
is a common adjustment that native speakers use to more easily handle challenging
consonant clusters such as “n-d-s”. Other common examples of this occur with the
words “winter” as “winner” , “printer” as “prinner” and “ Atlanta” as “Adlana”.
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TH [T] and TH [D]
Have students count the voiced and voiceless occurrences of TH. There are six
voiced TH sounds and one voiceless TH sound.
A second point in this short rhyme is the difference between the two “do’s” in
“how do you do” . The stress falls on the second “do” not the first. Have students
recite the rhyme reversing the stress to see if it sounds funny to them. Point out
that the vowel in the first “do” is reduced to schwa @ sounds like “duh”. Here
the first “do” is an unstressed auxiliary while the second “do” is stressed because it falls
at the end of a sentence. This is a basic rule in English: Content Words that have a
meaning in and of themselves are stressed (dog, run, December) ; Function Words with
mostly grammatical meanings are unstressed (for, a, who).
Double Consonants
[ rule: If two identical consonants are next to each other, the single consonant is
elongated and not just produced twice]
The mainpoint about this wonderful rhyme is that “first star” is not produced as two
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separate sounds “first” and then “star” . The sounds run together as “firsstar”. The
consonant is almost imperceptibly lengthened. This happens frequently in English when
the final consonant is the same as the beginning consonant of the next word. For
example: “bad dog” is “baddog” or “ less serious” is “lesserious”.
Intonation in a Series
[rule: the first two items of a series rise and the last falls]
[rule: Wh-questions fall ; Yes-No questions rise at the end]
This rhyme exhibits two patterns. First, the fun-to-say series “bow, wow, wow” has
a rise on the first two items and a fall on the last “wow”. Second, the question, “ Whose
dog art thou? follows the falling pattern of Wh-questions. Only Yes-No questions rise
at the end. So the falling pattern of the final “wow” parallels the falling pattern after
“thou.”
Intonation
ESL classes are sometimes pleasantly startled to hear this rhyme sung, as if to a baby. It’s
important to really get into it and demonstrate the uninhibited sound patterns. The
lengthening on “baby” , “blows” “bends” contrasts nicely with the relative shortness
of “treetop”, “rock”, and “fall”. The intonation falls at the end of the sentences which fits
with the meaning of the words. In the final line “baby” is again long while “bough,
cradle, and all” is crushed together and reduced to “bowcrdlnall” so that it is virtually
the same length as the endings of the previous three stanzas.
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