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© 2002 Steven Donahue

Pronunciation Manual & CD

Professor Steven Donahue

Miami-Dade Community College


Spring 2006
This book and CD cover about 100 features of the English Sound System.

“Good Fences
make good “What did he say!?
neighbors.” Good wrenches
make good
laborers?”
“Hey, dude. I know
a good Accent
Reduction Course.”

on

© 2006 Steven Donahue


All Rights Reserved

REDUCE YOUR ACCENT! 8

ten steps 9

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

Test Your Pronunciation 9

Identify Accent Interference 10

Master English Consonants 10

Conquer English Vowels 10

Hit the Right Rhythm 10

Step Six: Perfect Your Pitch 10

The Perfect Voice 10

Speak with Confidence 11

Test Your Progress 11

Read Aloud 11

consonants and vowels 11

LISTEN AND SELECT THE THE WORD OR PHRASE YOU HEAR 12

Vowel Inventory 15

Consonant Inventory 16

Circle the word 17

Schonell Reading Test 19

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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

: 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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

Spanish 30

Tagalog 30

Thai 31

Turkish 31

Vietnamese 31

Step Three: Master English Consonants 32

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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

/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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

THOUGHT GROUPS 118

Intonation Patterns in English 119


STATEMENTS 121
WH- QUESTIONS 121
YES-NO QUESTIONS 122
ECHO QUESTIONS 124
COMPARISONS AND CONTRASTS 124
IMPLICIT CONTRASTS 126
NON FINAL INTONATION 127
DISTANT 127
CLOSE 128
SUSPENSE 128
SERIES WITH AND 129
ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS 129
ALTERNATIVES WITH OR 130
DOUBLE YES-NO 130
DIRECT ADDRESS 131
TAG QUESTION REAL 132
TAG QUESTIONS—RHETORICAL 132
FOCUS 133
PERFUNCTORY 134
ENTHUSIASM 135
COAXING 136
IRONY 137
SHOCK 138
SURPRISE 138
APPROVAL 139
PLACE-NAMES 140
NEW INFORMATION 140
MEANING SHIFT 141
SLIDE 141
DETRMINED 142

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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Linking and Intervocalic Consonants 146


Linking and Resyllabification 146
Linking and Consonant Elongation 146
Linking and Unreleased 147

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

Perfect Pronunciation Through Poetry 156


The New Colossus 156
Cough and Dough 156
THE CHAOS 157
OUGH 160

Teaching Pronunciation with Mother Goose Rhymes 160


Practice of P, T, K 161
Linking 161
Tapped T 162
TH [T] and TH [D] 163
Double Consonants 163
Intonation in a Series 164
Intonation 164

[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:

By Professor Steven Donahue Wheel Veal


Whale Vail
Introduction Worse Verse
Dear Dr. Pronunciation, Wet Vet
We “V”
Womb Voom
I’ve fallen in love with a Brazilian man,
and we are now engaged. I am returning
with him to make introductions to my Then have him lift his right hand if he
family that lives in Wisconsin. But I’m hears a W; Left for V. If his score is over
afraid that the visit is going to explode 50%--give him a passionate kiss and get
in my face because my father is a stuffy on to the altar.
English teacher and a pronunciation …………………………………………
maven. Yet, Erico, my lover is unable to …………………………………………
say even the word “Wisconsin” correctly …….
—it sounds like “Vees-Coe-Sin.” Please
give me some emergency advice for his By taking this course and using
accent and save my wedding day! this CD you have begun an important
learning process—discovering your
Tongue-tied in Rio. wonderfully unique accent and voice.
Really, the term “Accent Reduction” is
--- not the best. Perhaps it should be called
Accent Improvement or Accent
Dear Tongue-Tied, Enhancement. After all, there are very
successful people with accents in
Pardon the expression, but your primary television and movies! Think of some:
accent should be on nurturing your Salma Hayek, Arnold Shwarznegger,
budding relationship by instilling Danny Thomas, Tony Curtis, and Charlie
confidence into your lover as he crosses Chan.
over to another culture.
Portuguese, the language of Brazil, Most of us know that there are areas of
happens to not have a W sound, so Erico our pronunciation that need
is probably substituting the U sound—or improvement. Some of us may have a
something in between a U and a V. In foreign accent because we speak English
addition, as a second language. For native
Portuguese is very nasal, while speakers, we may have a US regional
American English is not—so he is accent that marks us in some way in our
probably passing over the N sound in the new location or in the workplace. And
middle of the word. Sit down with him for some, due to our social or
and show him how to make a full W educational backgrounds, we have give-
sound. Put your hands on his face so that away pronunciation markers that identify
he says it fully—“Double U” and “Wah us. In fact, we know that the moment
that we open our mouth to speak, we

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

reveal a wealth of information about


ourselves: age, gender, educational
background, even physical size.

Can you reduce your accent?


Yes! The art and science of reducing an REDUCE YOUR ACCENT!
accent has come along way since the (in ten steps)
days of Professor Henry Higgins in My
Fair Lady and the repetitive practice of 1. Step One: Test Your
phrases such as “It rains mainly in the Pronunciation
plain in Spain.” In this Manual and CD,
we will discover some fantastic
techniques for analyzing and fixing your
individual accent.
2. Step Two: Identify Accent
The first step is to analyze your Interference
accent.
3. Step Three: Master English
The second step is to take the Consonants
lessons that are responsive to your
particular accent problem. 4. Step Four: Conquer English
As you read take this Vowels
course, practice in front of the mirror,
with audio cassettes or a video camera, 5. Step Five: Hit the Right
or with a person whose accent you like. Rhythm
Listen to speakers who you admire on
the radio or television. Your efforts at 6. Step Six: Perfect Your Pitch
becoming a better speaker of
English will be rewarded as people 7. Step Seven: The Perfect Voice
remark on how well you enunciate you
words and phrases. 8. Step Eight: Speak with
Confidence

9. Step Nine: Test Your Progress

10. Step Ten: Practice—Read


Aloud

Step One: Test Your Pronunciation

The following CD includes a


comprehensive pronunciation analysis of
your accent patterns. In addition, in the
back of this manual is a series of test
words and phrases for all the consonants

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

and vowels in English. Say them to your


teacher or an native speaker of English. Step Five: Hit the Right Rhythm
Be sure to do all of the exercises in the
accompanying CD. By Rhythm we mean the drum beat that
goes on while we are speaking. In the
dictionary,
Step Two: Identify Accent Rhythm is indicated by small stress signs
Interference ‘. We are going to cover some basic
Rhythm
Now that you have identified some patterns of English, which if mastered,
possible areas of concern for you will make you a clearer speaker.
pronunciation patterns, it is time to try
and figure out what some of the causes • Rhythm
of an accent might be. Make a list of the
words in English that you have a Step Six: Perfect Your Pitch
problem with. Words like “vegetable,” or
“shrimp.” Intonation is how the emotional content
of a spoken message is carried. If you
use no
Step Three: Master English intonation, you will sound like a
Consonants computer or robot or machine like. No
matter how important your message,
There are about 24 English consonants. people will not respond to it because it
The good news is that 16 are will seem unimportant, trivial, or boring.
the easy ones. They are almost • Intonation
“universal” because similar ones exist in
most Step Seven: The Perfect Voice
languages. Make a list of English
consonants and divide into two groups: Have you ever been present when
• English Consonants someone is speaking publicly, but they
• The easy ones do not speak loudly enough? Or have
• The hard ones you ever been on the phone with
someone who mutters or is
Step Four: Conquer English Vowels incoherent? Voice quality is something
that gives an impression of you, as
In this chapter we cover the 16 vowels a speaker, to others.
present in English. Just like the
consonants, some • Voice Quality
are going to be pretty easy. Others
however are going to be challenging. a
list of English consonants and divide
into two groups:

• 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.

Vowels Keyword Transcribed Consonants Keyword Transcribed


i key ki p pea pi
ɪ pit pɪt b bee bi
e pet pet t toe təʊ
æ pat pæt d doe dəʊ
ɑ hard hɑd k cap kæp
ɒ pot pɒt g get get
ɔ raw rɔ f fat fæt
ʊ put pʊt v vet vet
u coo ku Ɵ thin Ɵɪn
ʌ hut hʌt ð then ðen
3 cur k3 s sack sæk
ə about/mother əbaʊt/mʌðə z zoo zu
eɪ bay beɪ ʃ ship ʃɪp

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

aɪ buy baɪ ʒ measure meʒə


ɔɪ boy bɔɪ h hide haɪd
əʊ go gəʊ m man mæn
aʊ cow kaʊ n no nəʊ
ɪə peer pɪə ŋ sing sɪŋ
eə pair peə l lie laɪ
ʊə poor pʊə r red red
j year jɪə
w wet wet
ʧ chin ʧɪn
ʤ judge DeD

LISTEN AND SELECT THE THE 21. load road


WORD OR PHRASE YOU HEAR: 22. lock rock
A B
23. i e
24. pit pet
A B 25. knit net
1. i: i 26. mitt met
2. eat it 27. sit set
3. neat knit 28. ill L
4. beat bit 29. bill bell
5. seat sit 30. fill fell
6. eel ill 31. will well
7. heel hill 32. hill hell
8. green grin 33. did deal
9. teen tin A B
10. reach rich 34. b v
11. sheep ship 35. base vase
A B 36. berry very
12. l r 37. boat vote
13. light right 38. bolt volt
14. lice rice 39. best vest
15. lot rot 40. beer veer
16. low row 41. bent vent
17. long wrong 42. bat vat
18. lead read 43. ban van
19. led red 44. curb curve
20. lung rung A B

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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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

85. use youth 124.she sea,see


86. mass math 125.shed said
87. pass path 126.shelf self
88. worse worth 127.shell sell
A B 128.shingle single
89. ou au/a: 129.shit sit
90. so saw 130.show sew
91. low law 131.leash lease
92. hole hall 132.fished fist
93. bowl ball
94. coal call
95. wrote rot
96. note not
97. boat bought Test 2: Pronounce these words and
98. coat caught phrases while a native speaker of
English or your teacher listens and
99. coast cost
marks your mistakes.
A B
100.z/d th Vowel Inventory
101.bays bathe
102.sues soothe [ i ] 1. We see people and speak to
103.breeze breathe bees.
104.close clothe
105.Z thee [ I ] 2. It hit the mitt a bit and made
106.den then Juan sit.
107.dare there
108.Dan than [ ey ] 3. Obey and pay is a great way
109.die thy to pray.
A B
110.o u [ E ] 4. They led the dead leopard to
the egg.
111.cob cub
112.rob rub
[ { ] 5. The trash made a splash and
113.sob sub a crash.
114.cop cup
115.pop pup [ a ] 6. Father had a massage at the
116.dock duck spa.
117.lock luck
118.stock stuck [ aI ] 7. Try a diamond in your
119.not nut eye.
120.won one
A B [ aw ] 8. How does an owl sit on
121.sh s a bough?
122.ship sip
123.sheet seat [ @ ] 9. The balloon on the sofa
is from Africa.

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

[ @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.

[U ] 15. I mistook the book in the [ dZ ] 18. Jane is at a fragile age.


bush.
[ h ] 19. Did he have a mishap?

Consonant Inventory [ y ] 20. The groom said yes in the


churchyard.
[l ] 1. A little old lady.
[ w ] 21. Which witch is going to
[ r ] 2. Robert borrowed a car. sweep?

[p ] 3. The pet was chirping on [ m ] 22. Mom had a bamboo stem.


the rope.
[ n ] 23. Nancy gave money for a
[b ] 4. He bit the robber on the gun.
rib.
[Î ] 24. That’s a strong song.
[t ] 5. The teen was bitter and
hurt.
PLURALS
[d ] 6. The dean was sudden and
hard. Place your papers, pens and books on the
desks.
[k ] 7. Keep the walker in Texas.
PAST TENSE
[ g ] 8. Don’t give yoga to a dog.
The teacher watched the students,
[f ] 9. Phone the surfer on the answered a question, and laughed.
roof.
INTONATION
[v ] 10. Vanish forever and live.

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

What time is it? Is it raining? His


English is better than mine. We have Test 3: Circle the word you hear while
pens, pencils, and paper. a native speaker of English or your
teacher says them aloud.
COMMENTS:

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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

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.

Schonell Reading Test

Directions: Read the words left to right.

TREE LITTLE MILK EGG


BOOK SCHOOL SIT FROG

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

PLAYING BUN FLOWER ROAD


CLOCK TRAIN LIGHT PICTURE
THINK SUMMER PEOPLE SOMETHING
DREAM DOWNSTAIRS BISCUIT SHEPHERD
THIRSTY CROWD SANDWICH BEGINNING
POSTAGE ISLAND SAUCER ANGEL
CEILING APPEARED GNOME CANARY
ATTRACTIVE IMAGINE NEPHEW GRADUALLY
SMOLDER APPLAUD DISPOSAL NOURISHED
DISEASED UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA KNOWLEDGE
AUDIENCE SITUATED PHYSICS CAMPAIGN
CHOIR INTERCEDE FASCINATE FORFEIT
SIEGE RECENT PLAUSIBLE PROPHECY
COLONEL SOLOIST SYSTEMATIC SLOVENLY
CLASSIFICATION GENUINE INSTITUTION PIVOT
CONSCIENCE HEROIC PNEUMONIA PRELIMINARY
ANTIQUE SUSCEPTIBLE ENIGMA OBLIVION
SCINTILLATE SATIRICAL SABRE BEGUILE
TERRESTRIAL BELLIGERENT ADAMANT SEPULCHER
STATISTICS MISCELLANEOUS PROCRASTINATE TYRANNICAL
EVANGELICAL GROTESQUE INERADICABLE JUDICATURE
PREFERENTIAL HOMONYM FICTITIOUS RESCIND
METAMORPHOSIS SOMNAMBULIST BIBLIOGRAPHY IDIOSYNCRASY

DICTATION PRACTICE

Reading age = ( (Number of words


correct) / 10 ) + 5

CONSONANTS 18. Ridge


1. Quiet 19. Lodge
2. Chance 20. Fudge
3. Icing 21. Zoo
4. Icy 22. Excess
5. Germ 23. Happy
6. Giant 24. Ship
7. Gym 25. She
8. Ball 26. Wish
9. Off 27. Friendship
10. Miss 28. Nation
11. Pack 29. Mansion
12. Peck 30. Facial
13. Pick 31. Session
14. Pock 32. Tension
15. Puck 33. Vision
16. Badge VOWELS
17. Ledge 34. Paper

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

35. Begin 80. Warmed


36. Open 81. Baked
37. Unit 82. Graded
38. Find 83. Cried
39. Old 84. Crying
40. Family 85. Safety
41. Bicycle 86. Shameless
42. Piano 87. Movement
43. Baby 88. Wisdom
44. By 89. Truly
45. Final 90. Ninth
46. Guy 91. Timing
47. Play 92. Hopping
48. Works 93. Admitted
49. Receipt 94. Reference
50. Veil 95. Conference
51. Neither 96. Unnecessary
52. Foreign 97. Dissolve
53. Sovereign 98. Misspell
54. Seized PLURAL
55. Counterfeited 99. Boys
56. Leisure 100.Cages
57. Either 101.Horses
58. Weird 102.Foxes
59. Heifer 103.Bushes
60. Protein 104.Bosses
61. Height 105.Monkeys
62. Feisty 106.Puppies
63. Stein 107.Patios
64. Weir 108.Heroes
65. Seismograph 109.Pianos
66. Sheik 110.Beliefs
67. Kaleidoscope 111.Wolves
68. Geiger counter 112.Wives
69. Time 113.Cuts
70. Have 114.Raises
71. Value 115.Dresses
72. Chance 116.Fixes
73. Charge 117.Fizzes
74. Table 118.Catches
75. Are 119.Pushes
76. Horse 120.Plays
AFFIX 121.Carries
77. Almost 122.Goes
78. Until SYLLABLES
79. Careful 123.Boat

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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:

36. A one-syllable word is never divided. [boat, good, knelt]


37. A compound word is divided between the words that make the compound word. [shot
gun, sun set, air plane]
38. Divide between two consonants [hap py, per haps] unless the consonants form a
digraph and are sounded together. [ma chine, e le phant]
39. When a word has an affix, it is divided between the root and the affix. [re run, soft
ness, cry ing]
40. When a single consonant comes between two vowels, it is usually divided after the
consonant if the first vowel is short. [clev er, lem on, rob in]
41. When a single consonant comes between two vowels or vowel sounds, it is usually
divided before the consonant if the first vowel is long. [mu sic, po lite, pa per]
42. Divide between two vowels when they are sounded separately. [di et, cru el]
43. Vowels that are sounded alone form their own syllable. [dis o bey, a live, u ni form]
44. When a word ends in l-e preceded by a consonant, divide before the consonant. [tur
tle, ca ble, this tle]

CAPITAL LETTER & APOSTROPHE 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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

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

10. Final D is replaced by T. bad > bat

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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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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© 2002 Steven Donahue

6. The sound B becomes V. bat > vat


7. The J sound becomes a Z sound. jeep > zeep
8. The H or WH sounds become an F sound. held > feld; white > fight
Nigeria
1. Long vowels or diphthongs are shorter.(e.g.: car /kar/ instead of /ka:r/).
2. Local words (borrowings: e.g. "Na wa!" An interjection used to express positive
feelings. Its meaning depends strongly on context of use and speaker's intonation;
e.g.: Na wa for you, that you got that scholarship!)
3. Some initial English expression which went through semantic extension; e.g.: How
far or how bodi? (from the human body!) to mean How are you/ How are you
feeling?
Norway
1. /z/, which does not exist in Norwegian. For this reason, some Norwegians have
difficulties pronouncing words with voiced s and use unvoiced s.
2. Long o is normally pronounced /u:/ in Norwegian, while long u becomes /y:/.
“Pool” might be heard like /py:l/ in a Norwegians English.
Polish
1. In the initial position, the letter J will always sound like a Y. January > Yanuary
2. There is no TH sound in Polish.
3. Initial voiceless TH can become T or F. three > tree or free
4. Initial voiced TH usually becomes D. that > dat
5. Final TH can be replaced by S or T. with > wis or wit
6. The letter W becomes V, want > vant
Portuguese
1. CH will sound like SH. cheep > sheep
2. The letter H is never pronounced.
3. Since Portuguese has many nasal sounds, this may cause the ESL student some
problems in pronunciation.
Russian
1. English short vowel sounds are very difficult.
2. There is no TH sound in Russian.
3. Voiceless initial TH becomes S. think > sink
4. Voiced initial TH becomes Z. that > zat
5. Voiceless final TH becomes F, S, Z, or T. with > wif, wis, wiz, wit
6. Middle TH becomes Z. father > fazer
7. There is no W sound in Russian. It is replaced by the V sound. want > vant
8. The letter R is rolled or "growled" at the back of the throat.
9. A hard G sound replaces the letter H in foreign words. Ohio > Ogio
Sierra Leone
1. Long and short vowels: e.g.: words like lean, speak, east, beast are all produced
with the same sound /i/, as well as the pairs sleep-slip, beat-
bit; "
2. "Past" is rather pronounced /pass/.

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3. /? / is realised in various ways, mostly as the sound is written: e.g.: as [o] in


"mother", as [u] in "us", "but", "bus"
4. Ends of word are hardly produced: "old" as /o:l/, find as /fain/.
5. The personal pronoun "yu" for you; e.g.: Yu no fo se(as for meaning: you know).
A typical Krio expression is: Aw di wok? (How is it going?)
Singapore
1. Equal stress on all syllables
2. Intonation has many short tone groups-there is no contrastive stress
3. final consonants are often unreleased, resulting in glottal stops /hi/ for hit
4. final consonant clusters are generally reduced to one spoken consonant: 'juss' for
just, 'slep'/'sle' for slept
5. vowels in words like 'take', 'so' and 'dare' are often monophthongs
6. Tendency to omit articles
7. The present-tense inflection -s/
8. The plural inflection -s/
9. The past-tense inflection -ed,-t/
10. Word Order: You have pen or not?/I got three sister./She come from China.
11. 'Already' is used as a marker of completive aspect
12. 'Use to' occurs as a marker of habitual aspect: She use to go to the market. (She
goes to the market.)
13. 'Would' is used for future events
14. Direct/indirect objects are preposed: This book we don't have.
15. There is a preference for 'also' over 'too'
16. Chinese particles, such as lah and aa, are a common means of conveying
emphasis and emotion: You wait me, aa? (Will you wait for me?)

17. Words borrowed from regional languages: makan (food).-non-English


interjections: ay yaah! (suggest exasperation), che! (express irritation or regret)
South Africa
1. Tendency to raise vowels such as "a, e, ä" so as to get /de'de/ for daddy.
2. Stress of /r/ in clusters such as /kr, gr,tr, dr/
Spanish
1. There are no voiceless consonant blends beginning with "S"; consequently, an "e"
sound will precede these blends. street > estreet, school > eschool
2. There is no SH sound. It becomes CH. shoe > choe
3. The letters R and RR are formed in the front of the mouth and are trilled.
4. The letter H has no sound. The letter J always carries the H sound as does G
before the vowels E or I.
5. The sound TH exists in Spanish, but the letters TH are never used together. D will
have the TH sound wherever possible in a Spanish sentence. In Spanish, Z and C
(before E or I ) carry the sound TH.
6. In many cases V will sound like a soft B sound. have> hab
Tagalog
1. The letter V has a B sound. vest > best; vat > bat

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

2. The letter J has a Y sound. jam > yam


3. S and Z have the S sound. zip > sip; zebra > sebra
4. All words ending in TAIN have the same sound as the ending of the word
"maintain." fountain > fountain
5. The TH sound is difficult.
6. Voiceless initial TH sounds like T. think > tink
7. Voiced initial TH sounds like D. these > dese
8. Final TH sounds like T. tooth > toot
9. The letter F has a P sound. fan > pan
Thai
1. Voiced final consonants in English are omitted.
2. Multiple final consonant clusters are impossible.
3. Voiceless consonant blends at the beginning of English words are difficult. ESL
students will tend to voice them. stop > sadop; spend > sabend
4. The TH sound does not exist in the Thai language.
5. Voiceless initial TH becomes T. three > tree
6. Voiced initial TH becomes D. that > dat
7. Voiceless final TH becomes T. with > wit
8. The letter V has a W sound. visit > wisit
9. The letters R and L are interchanged because they sound the same. free > flee; fly
> fry
10. CH sounds like SH. cheep > sheep
Turkish
1. There are no initial consonant clusters in Turkish.
1. Insert a vowel before or after the S. store > istore or sitore
2. The TH sound does not occur in Turkish.
3. Voiceless initial TH becomes S or T. thin > sin or tin
4. Voiced TH becomes Z or D. that > zat or dat
3. The letters V and W are confusing. V is especially difficult to produce before
vowels.
4. W is replaced by oo as in noon. white > ooite
5. Words ending in B, D, or G will be substituted with P, T, or K respectively. nab >
nap; lid > lit; pig > pik
6. Where P, T, or K occur in the middle of a word, B, D, or G will be substituted.
dipper > dibber; butter > budder; bicker > bigger
Vietnamese
1. Pronunciation may be choppy for ESL students because the English language has
so many words of more than one syllable.
2. The TH sound is difficult.
3. Voiceless initial TH can become T or S. think > tink or sink
4. Voiced initial TH can become Z. that > zat
5. CH has the Sh sound. cheep > sheep
6. The L can have the sound of R. load > road
7. The letter D is confusing. It may be replaced by J, Y, or Z. dig > zig; jig > yig or
zig

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

Step Three: Master English Consonants

CONSONANTS

1. /p/

This consonant is a voiceless stop.

DIRECTIONS

1. Relax lower jaw


2. Let tip of tongue rest behind lower teeth
3. Close lips firmly against each other so as to stop air from leaving mouth
4. Quickly release build up of pressure.

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


pea p}iy
reaper riyp@r
peep p}iyp
pit p}It
lippy lIpiy
rip rIp
poise p}Oyz
opal owp}@l
cowpoke kawpowk

COMPARISONS

/p/ Phonetic /b/ Phonetic


pea p}iy bee biy
reaper riyp@r Reba riyb@
peep p}iyp plebe pliyb
pit p}It bit bIt
lippy lIpiy Libby lIbiy
rip rIp rib rIb
poise p}Oyz boys bOyz
opal owp}@l global glowb@l
cowpoke kawpowk cowboy kawbOy

2. /b/

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

This consonant is a voiced stop.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax lower jaw


2. Let tip of tongue rest behind lower teeth
3. Close lips firmly against each other so as to stop air from leaving mouth
4. Quickly release build up of pressure
5. Vibrate vocal chords

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


bee biy
Reba riyb@
plebe pliyb
bit bIt
Libby lIbiy

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

rib rIb
boys bOyz
global glowb@l
cowboy kawbOy

COMPARISONS

/p/ Phonetic /b/ Phonetic


pea p}iy bee biy
reaper riyp@r Reba riyb@
peep p}iyp plebe pliyb
pit p}It bit bIt
lippy lIpiy Libby lIbiy
rip rIp rib rIb
poise p}Oyz boys bOyz
opal owp}@l global glowb@l
cowpoke kawpowk cowboy kawbOy

3. /t/

This consonant is a voiceless stop.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax lower jaw


2. Let tip press firmly against upper gum ridge, behind the front teeth.
3. Quickly drop the tongue as the air is expelled.

35
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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


teen tiyn
till tIl
tents tEnts
heating hiytIÎ
bitter bIt@r
renting rEntIÎ
beat biyt
sit sIt
set sEt

COMPARISONS

/t/ Phonetic /d/ Phonetic


teen tiyn dean diyn
till tIl dill dIl
tents tEnts dents dEnts
heating hiytIÎ heeding hiydIÎ
bitter bIt@r bidder bId@r
renting rEntIÎ rending rEndIÎ
beat biyt bead biyd
sit sIt Sid sId
set sEt said sEd

36
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63. /d/

This consonant is a voiced stop.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax lower jaw


2. Let tip press firmly against upper gum ridge, behind the front teeth.
3. Quickly drop the tongue as the air is expelled.
4. Vibrate vocal chords.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


dean diyn

37
© 2002 Steven Donahue

dill dIl
dents dEnts
heeding hiydIÎ
bidder bId@r
rending rEndIÎ
bead biyd
Sid sId
said sEd

COMPARISONS

/t/ Phonetic /d/ Phonetic


teen tiyn dean diyn
till tIl dill dIl
tents tEnts dents dEnts
heating hiytIÎ heeding hiydIÎ
bitter bIt@r bidder bId@r
renting rEntIÎ rending rEndIÎ
beat biyt bead biyd
sit sIt Sid sId
set sEt said sEd

64. /k/

This consonant is a voiceless stop.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax lower jaw


2. Rest tongue lightly behind lower teeth
3. Raise the back of the tongue toward the soft palate
4. Stop the air flow
5. Quickly drop the tongue as the air is expelled

38
© 2002 Steven Donahue

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


keys kiyz
Meeker mIk@r
leek liyk
kilt kIlt
wrecker wrEk@r
back b{k
curl k@rl
buck b@k
cod kad

COMPARISONS

/k/ Phonetic /g/ Phonetic


keys kiyz geezer giyz@r
Meeker mIk@r meagre miyg@r

39
© 2002 Steven Donahue

leek liyk league liyg


kilt kIlt guilt gIlt
wrecker wrEk@r reggae rEgey
back b{k bag b{g
curl k@rl girl g@rl
buck b@k bug b@g
cod kad God gad

65. /g/

This consonant is a voiced stop.

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

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


geezer giyz@r
meagre miyg@r
league liyg
guilt gIlt
reggae rEgey
bag b{g

40
© 2002 Steven Donahue

girl g@rl
bug b@g
God gad

COMPARISONS

/k/ Phonetic /g/ Phonetic


keys kiyz geezer giyz@r
Meeker mIk@r meagre miyg@r
leek liyk league liyg
kilt kIlt guilt gIlt
wrecker wrEk@r reggae rEgey
back b{k bag b{g
curl k@rl girl g@rl
buck b@k bug b@g
cod kad God gad

66. /T/

This consonant is a voiceless interdental fricative.

DIRECTIONS

1. Relax lower jaw


2. Let tip of tongue rest between the upper and lower teeth.
3. Keep the tongue in contact with the upper molars.
4. Direct air over the tongue and under the top teeth.

41
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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


theme Tiym
arithmetic @rITm@tIk
pith pIT
thatch T{T
catheter k{T@t@r
bath b{T
thigh Tay
oath’s owTs
thousand TowZ@nd

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
© 2002 Steven Donahue

This consonant is a voiced interdental fricative.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax lower jaw


2. Let tip of tongue rest between the upper and lower teeth.
3. Keep the tongue in contact with the upper molars.
4. Direct air over the tongue and under the top teeth.
5. Vibrate the vocal chords.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


bee biy
Reba riyb@
plebe pliyb
bit bIt
Libby lIbiy

43
© 2002 Steven Donahue

rib rIb
boys bOyz
global glowb@l
cowboy kawbOy

COMPARISONS

/p/ Phonetic /b/ Phonetic


pea p}iy bee biy
reaper riyp@r Reba riyb@
peep p}iyp plebe pliyb
pit p}It bit bIt
lippy lIpiy Libby lIbiy
rip rIp rib rIb
poise p}Oyz boys bOyz
opal owp}@l global glowb@l
cowpoke kawpowk cowboy kawbOy

68. /s/

This consonant is a voiceless sibilant.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Keep the teeth close together


2. Make the body of the tongue grooved
3. Let the tip of the tongue be free and pointing toward the gum ridge.
4. Sides of tongue may or may not touch sides of upper teeth.
5. Do not vibrate vocal chords.

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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


see siy
policing p@liycIÎ
obese owbiys
Sioux suw
Macy meysiy
rejoice r@DOyc
moose muws
bets bEts
sinks sI Îks

COMPARISONS

/s/ Phonetic /z/ Phonetic


see siy Z ziy
policing p@liycIÎ pleasing pliyzIÎ
obese owbiys bees biyz

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Sioux suw zoo zuw


Macy meysiy mazey meyziy
rejoice r@DOyc joys jOyz
moose muws moos muwz
bets bEts beds bEdz
sinks sI Îks sings sIÎz

69. /z/

This consonant is a voiced stop.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Keep the teeth close together


2. Make the body of the tongue grooved
3. Let the tip of the tongue be free and pointing toward the gum ridge.
4. Sides of tongue may or may not touch sides of upper teeth.
5. Vibrate vocal chords.

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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


Z ziy
pleasing pliyzIÎ
bees biyz
zoo zuw
mazey meyziy
joys jOyz
moos muwz
beds bEdz
sings sIÎz

COMPARISONS

/z/ Phonetic /s/ Phonetic


Z ziy see siy
pleasing pliyzIÎ policing p@liycIÎ
bees biyz obese owbiys
zoo zuw Sioux suw
mazey meyziy Macy meysiy
joys jOyz rejoice r@DOyc
moos muwz moose muws
beds bEdz bets bEts
sings sIÎz sinks sI Îks

70. /S/

This consonant is a voiceless palato-alevolar fricative continuant.

DIRECTIONS:

47
© 2002 Steven Donahue

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. Do not vibrate vocal chords.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


she Siy
shut S@t
shrew Sruw
ocean owS@n
Russia r@S@
tissue tISuw
essential @sEnS@l
racial reyS@l
fashion f{S@n

COMPARISONS

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/S/ Phonetic /Z/ Phonetic


she Siy genre Zanrey
shut S@t Zsa Zsa ZaZa
shrew Sruw gendarme Zandarm
ocean owS@n leisure liyZUr
Russia r@S@ vision viyZ@n
tissue tISuw regime r@Ziym
essential @sEnS@l prestige pr@stiyZ
racial reyS@l camouflage k{m@flaZ
fashion f{S@n beige beyZ

71. /Z/

This consonant is a voiced patato-alevolar fricative continuant.

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

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


genre Zanrey
Zsa Zsa ZaZa
gendarme Zandarm
leisure liyZUr
vision viyZ@n
regime r@Ziym
prestige pr@stiyZ
camouflage k{m@flaZ
beige beyZ

COMPARISONS

/S/ Phonetic /Z/ Phonetic


she Siy genre Zanrey
shut S@t Zsa Zsa ZaZa
shrew Sruw gendarme Zandarm
ocean owS@n leisure liyZUr
Russia r@S@ vision viyZ@n
tissue tISuw regime r@Ziym
essential @sEnS@l prestige pr@stiyZ
racial reyS@l camouflage k{m@flaZ
fashion f{S@n beige beyZ

72. /h/

This consonant is a voiceless glottal fricative consonant

50
© 2002 Steven Donahue

DIRECTIONS

1. relax lower jaw


2. rest tongue behind lower teeth
3. emit a puff of air through mouth.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


he hiy
heavy hEviy
hurry h@riy
height hayt
huge huwD
whore hOr
Houston hyust@n
humid hYumId
who huw

/h/ Phonetic No “H” Phonetic


hair heyr air eyr

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

heart hart art art


hear hiyr ear iyr
hand h{nd and {nd
inhibit InhIb@t inhibition In@bIS@n
prohibit prowhIb@t prohibition prow@bIS@n
historic hIstOrIk prehistoric priyIstOrIk

73. /y/

This consonant is a voiced palatal consonant glide.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Let lower jaw hang relaxed


2. rest tip of tongue behind lower teeth.
3. Arch front of tongue toward hard palate.
4. As sound is produced, quickly drop tongue down.

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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


yes yEs
yet yEt
yell yEl
yam y{m
you yuw
young y@®
yowl yawl
reuinion riyuwny@n
Dracula dr{kyul@

COMPARISONS

/y/ Phonetic /D/ Phonetic


yes yEs jest DEst
yet yEt jet DEt
yell yEl gel Del
yam y{m jam D{m
you yuw Jew Duw
young y@® junk D@Îk
yowl yawl jowl wl
reuinion riyuwny@n rejuvenate r@Duwv@ne
yt
Dracula dr{kyul@ tragic tr{DIk

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74. /w/

This consonant is a voiced bilabial consonant glide.

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

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


weed wiyd
witch wIT
wig wiyg
wit wIt
wither wID@r
weather wED@r

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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. /÷/

This consonant is a voiceless bilabial consonant glide..

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax the lower jaw


2. Rest tongue behind lower teeth
4. Round lips
5. Arch back of tongue as for vowel sound /uw/
6. Lips move to shape of following vowel (always followed by a vowel in English)

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


wheel ÷iyl
which ÷IT
whit ÷It
whim ÷Im
when ÷En
wheat ÷iyt
whet ÷Et
whine ÷ayn
while ÷ayl

COMPARISONS

w Phonetic ÷ Phonetic v Phonetic

56
© 2002 Steven Donahue

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

76. /f /

This consonant is a voiceless labio-dental fricative continuant.

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.

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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


fees fiyz
beefy biyfI
sheaf Siyf
fervor f@rv@r
perfume p@rfyum
fane feyn
focal fowk@l
fear fI@r
fire us fayr@s

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/

This consonant is a voiced labio-dental fricative continuant.

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

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

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


vee viy
van v{n
voo vuw
vie vay
veer vI@r
have h{v
civility s@vIl@tiy
Venus viyn@s
strive strayv

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

COMPARISONS

f Phonetic v Phonetic b Phonetic


fee fiy vee viy bee biy
fan f{n van v{n ban b{n
few do fyuwduw voodoo vuwduw boohoo buwhuw
fie fay vie vay buy bay
fear fI@r veer vI@r beer bI@r
half h{f have h{v rehab riyh{b
affinity @fIn@tiy civility s@vIl@tiy ability @bIl@tiy
feed us fiyd@s Venus viyn@s bean us biyn@s
strife strayf strive strayv tribe trayb

78. /m/

This consonant is a voiced bilabial nasal continuant consonant.

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring lips together gently.


2. Relax lower jaw
3. Relax tongue on floor of mouth
4. Lower the soft palate
5. Resonate through the nasal passage

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WORDS

/m/ Phonetic /b/ Phonetic


me miy bee biy
match m{T batch b{T
mud m@d bud b@d
moo muw boo buw
maul ma@l bawl bawl
mob mab bob bab

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jamming D{mIÎ{ jabbing j{bIÎ


cam k{m cab k{b
tum t@m tub t@b

79. / n/

This consonant is a voiced alveolar continuant consonant sound.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Let lower jaw be relaxed.


2. Relax and lower soft palate
3. Touch tip of tongue to gum ridge
4. Resonate vibrated breath through nasal passage

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


nil nIl
nub n@b
neigh ney
no now
runner r@n@r
raining reynIÎ
seen siyn
den dEn
pane peyn

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

COMPARISONS

/n/ Phonetic /d/ Phonetic


nil nIl dill dIl
nub n@b dub d@b
neigh ney day dey
no now doe dow
runner r@n@r rudder r@d@r
raining reynIÎ raiding reydIÎ
seen siyn seed siyd
den dEn dead dEd
pane peyn paid peyd

80. /l/

This consonant is a voiced alveolar lateral continuant.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax the jaw


2. Open the mouth
3. Broaden the tongue
4. Put the tip of the tongue on the gum ridge
5. Let air pass over sides of tongue.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


lap l{p

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leap liyp
lick lIk
loquacious lowkweyS@s
low low
silly sIliy
relish rElIS
valley v{liy
foliage fOylID

COMPARISONS

/l/ Phonetic /r / Phonetic


late leyt rate reyt
cloud klawd crowd krawd
glue gluw grew gruw
lime laim rhyme raym
alive @layv arrive @raiv
play pley pray prey
blush bl@S brush br@S
fly flay fry fray
glass gl{s grass gr{s

81. /Î/

This consonant is a voiced velar nasal continuant.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Let lower jaw hang relaxed


2. Lower soft palate
3. Raise back of tongue as for sounds /k/ and /g/
4. Maintain contact while air resonates through nasal cavity

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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


English IîlIS
ping pIÎ
bing bIÎ
clung kl@Î
tongue t@Î
length leyÎT
shrink SrIÎk
precincts priysIÎks
banks b{Îks

COMPARISONS

/Î/ Phonetic /n/ Phonetic


English IîlIS nil nIl
ping pIÎ nub n@b
bing bIÎ neigh ney
clung kl@Î no now
tongue t@Î runner r@n@r
length leyÎT raining reynIÎ
shrink SrIÎk seen siyn
precincts priysIÎks den dEn
banks b{Îks pane peyn

82. /T/

This consonant is a voiceless affricate.

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

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

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


each iyT
rich rIT
wretch wrET
catch k{T
birch b@rT
much m@T
blotch blaT
aitch eyT

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© 2002 Steven Donahue

coach kowT

COMPARISONS

/ T/ Phonetic /D/ Phonetic


each iyT siege siyD
rich rIT ridge rID
wretch wrET dredge drED
catch k{T cadge c{D
birch b@rT Burge b@rD
much m@T smudge sm@D
blotch blaT lodge laD
aitch eyT age eyD
coach kowT cogent kowD@nt

83. /D/

This consonant is a voiced affricate.


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. Vibrate vocal chords.

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WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


siege siyD
ridge rID
dredge drED
cadge c{D
Burge b@rD
smudge sm@D
lodge laD
age eyD
cogent kowD@nt

COMPARISONS

/T/ Phonetic /D/ Phonetic


each iyT siege siyD
rich rIT ridge rID
wretch wrET dredge drED
catch k{T cadge c{D
birch b@rT Burge b@rD
much m@T smudge sm@D
blotch blaT lodge laD
aitch eyT age eyD
coach kowT cogent kowD@nt

84. / r/
"
This consonant is a voiced post-alveolar fricative continuant.

DIRECTIONS:

68
© 2002 Steven Donahue

METHOD I METHOD II

1. Relax the jaw 1. Relax the jaw


2. Place tongue behind tongue ridge 2. Bunch back of tongue
3. Curl tip backwards

69
WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


rate reyt
crowd krawd
grew gruw
rhyme raym
arrive @raiv
pray prey
brush br@S
fry fray
grass gr{s

COMPARISONS

/l/ Phonetic /r/ Phonetic


late leyt rate reyt
cloud klawd crowd krawd
glue gluw grew gruw
lime laim rhyme raym
alive @layv arrive @raiv
play pley pray prey
blush bl@S brush br@S
fly flay fry fray
glass gl{s grass gr{s

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:

1. Relax the jaw


2. Open the mouth
3. Broaden the tongue
4. Put the tip of the tongue on the gum ridge
5. slide the sides of the tongue back along the upper teeth.
6. Let air pass over sides of tongue.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


eel iyà
meal miyà
we’ll wiyà
he’ll hiyà
ill Ià
pill pIà
Jill D Ià
hell hEà
curl k@rà

COMPARISONS

/l / Phonetic /à/ Phonetic


leaf liyf eel iyà
leash liyS meal miyà
lilly lIliy we’ll wiyà
little lit@à he’ll hiyà
lisp lIsp ill Ià
lit lIt pill pIà
limn lIm Jill D Ià
lend lEnd hell hEà
ladle leyd@l curl k@rà
86. /?/

This consonant is a glottal stop.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Tighten vocal cords
2. Close the glottis
3. Cut off the flow of air for an instant.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


oh oh! (dismay) o?o
kitten kiy?@n
button b@?n
uh-oh (trouble) ?@?ow
sudden s@?dn
bidden bI?dn
uh-uh (no) ?@?@
COMPARISONS

/?/ Phonetic /t/,/d/ Phonetic


kitten kiy?@n kitten kIt@n
button b@?n button b@t@n
sudden s@?dn sudden s@d@n
bidden bI?dn bidden bIdEn

87. /Q/

This consonant is a flap or a tap..

DIRECTIONS:
1. Briefly touch the gum ridge with the tongue.

WORDS

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


data deyQ@
city cIQiy
party parQiy
dirty d@rQiy
catty k{Qiy
ladder l{Q@r
butter b@Q@r
COMPARISONS

/?/ Phonetic /t/,/d/ Phonetic


dirty d@rQiy dirty d@rtiy
catty k{Qiy catty k{tiy
ladder l{Q@r ladder l{d@r
butter b@Q@r butter b@t@r

88. / t/ /n/ /d/ /l/


" " " "
These consonants are syllabic consonants. They function as a syllable without an
accompanying vowel. They occur when a syllable ends in /t/,/d/,/n/, or/l/ and the next
syllable is unstressed and contains an /l/ or /n/.

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

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


little lItl
sudden s@dn
saddle s{dl
cotton katn
kettle kEQl
tunnel t@nl
shouldn’t SUdnt

COMPARISONS

/?/ Phonetic /t/,/d/ Phonetic


kitten kiy?@n kitten kIt@n
button b@?n button b@t@n
sudden s@?dn sudden s@d@n
bidden bI?dn bidden bIdEn

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).

WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


teen tiyn
till tIl
tents tEnts
heating hiytIÎ
bitter bIt@r
renting rEntIÎ
beat biyt
sit sIt
set sEt
WORD PHONETIC SPELLING
dean diyn
dill dIl
dents dEnts
heeding hiydIÎ
bidder bId@r
rending rEndIÎ
bead biyd
Sid sId
said sEd

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

/iy/ Phonetic / I/ Phonetic


deed diyd did dId
teams tiymz Tim’s tImz
keen kiyn kin kIn
green griyn grin grIn
glean gliyn glint glInt
clean kliyn din dIn
demeaned d@miyn mint mInt
@d
leave liyv live (v) lIv
bean biyn been bIn

45. /I/
This vowel is just below /i/ on the vowel chart.

DIRECTIONS

1. Drop the jaw and relax it slightly.


2. Relax the pressure of the tongue against the upper bicuspids.
3. The forced smile of the /i/ vowel is relaxed.
4. The muscle under the jaw is somewhat lax.

/i/ Phoneti /I/ Phoneti /ey/ Phoneti


c c c
reap riyp rip rIp ace eys
antique antiyk tick tIk eight yet
peep piyp pip pIp bay bey
creep kriyp crypt krIpt gay gey
feast fiyst miss mIs save seyv
reef riyf fist fIst fail feyl
Pete piyt bit bIt laid leyd
eat iyt mint mInt inane Ineyn
keen kiyn din dIn hay hey

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

1. The jaw drops a little more than in /I/


2. The sides of the tongue press slightly against the upper bicuspids.
3. The mouth opens just a little wider
4. The lips are open and relaxed
5. At the end of this vowel, the tongue moves upward toward /iy/

COMPARE

/ey/ Phoneti /E/ Phonetic /{/ Phonetic


c
ate yet tech tEk grand gr{nd
rain reyn pep pEp gland gl{nd
pray prey fest fEst Dan d{n
great greyt left lEft ban b{n
gauge geyD pet pEt bat b{t
cliché klISey bet bEt lavish l{v@S
ballet baley effort Ef2t crass kr{s
matinee m{tIney kettle kEt@l cat c{t
blame bleym pest pEst attack @t{k

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.

antique/antic beats/bits Celia/sillier


antiques/antics beater/bitter cervices/services
Aries/eyries beaters/bitters cheap/chip
artiste/artist beech/bitch cheat/chit
artistes/artists beef/biff cheats/chits
axes/axes beefed/biffed cheek/chick
B's/biz beefing/biffing cheeks/chicks
bailee/bailey beefs/biffs cheep/chip
bailees/baileys been/bin cheeped/chipped
bargees/barges bees/biz cheeping/chipping
bases/bases beet/bit cheeps/chips
bases/basses beets/bits crease/Chris/
beach/bitch beta/bitter clique/click/
beached/bitched betas/bitters cliques/clicks/
beaches/bitches bleats/blitz colleen/Colin/
beaching/bitching bleep/blip creak/crick
bead/bid bleeps/blips creaked/cricked
beading/bidding bootee/booty creaking/cricking
beads/bids breaches/breeches creaks/cricks
beaker/bicker bream/brim crease/Chris
beakers/bickers Caesars/scissors creek/crick
bean/bin cc/sissy creeks/cricks
beans/bins ceased/cyst Deal/dill
beat/bit ceases/cissies deal/dill
beaten/bitten cede/Sid dean/din
deans/dins forefeet/forfeit jean/gin
decoy/decoy foresees/forces jeans/gins
decoys/decoys freely/frilly Jean/gin
deed/did frees/frizz jeep/gyp/
deem/dim freezes/frizzes jeeps/gyps/
deemed/dimmed freezing/frizzing keel/kill
deeming/dimming freesia/frizzier keeled/killed
deems/dims freeze/frizz keeling/killing
deep/dip frieze/frizz keels/kills
deeper/dipper gelatine/gelatin/ keen/kin
deeps/dips Gene/djinn keep/kip
defect/defect gene/djinn keeper/kipper
defects/defects genes/djinns keepers/kippers
defile/defile Gene/gin keeping/kipping
defiles/defiles gene/gin keeps/kips
defuse/diffuse genes/gins Keith/kith
defused/diffused glebe/glib keyed/kid
dilettanti/dilettante/ greased/grist kneel/nil
draftee/draughty greed/grid lead/lid
DTs/ditties green/grin leads/lids
E's/is greens/grins leafed/lift
e'en/in greet/grit leak/lick
e'en/inn greeted/gritted leaked/licked
each/itch greeting/gritting leaking/licking
ease/is greets/grits leaks/licks
eat/it grippe/grip/ lean/Lynn
eats/its grippes/grips leap/lip
eats/it's guarantee/guaranty leaped/lipped
eel/ill guarantees/guaranties leaps/lips
eels/ills he'd/hid leas/Liz
ellipses/ellipsis/ he'll/hill leased/list
feast/fist he's/his least/list
feasts/fists heal/hill leave/live
feat/fit heals/hills leaves/lives
feats/fits heap/hip leaving/living
feel/Phil heaps/hips leavings/livings
feel/fill heat/hit Leeds/lids
feeling/filling heater/hitter leek/lick
feelings/fillings heats/hits leeks/licks
feels/fills heating/hitting lees/Liz
fees/fizz heed/hid lever/liver
feet/fit heel/hill levers/livers
field/filled heels/hills lied/lit
fleet/flit jean/djinn litre/litter
fleeting/flitting jeans/djinns litres/litters
fleets/flits Jean/djinn leas/Liz
mead/mid peke/pick reeking/wricking
meal/mill pekes/picks reeks/wricks
meals/mills pekes/pyx reel/Rhyl
measles/mizzles penis/pinnace reel/rill
meat/mitt penises/pinnaces reels/rills
meats/mitts Pete/pit refund/refund
Meath/myth pique/pick refunds/refunds
meek/Mick piqued/picked reject/reject
mealie/Millie piquing/picking rejects/rejects
meet/mitt piques/picks re-join/rejoin
meets/mitts piece/piss re-joined/rejoined
mete/mitt pieced/pissed re-joins/rejoins
metes/mitts pieces/pisses re-mark/remark
neap/nip piecing/pissing re-marks/remarks
neaps/nips peal/pill re-marked/remarked
neat/knit/ piques/pyx re-marking/remarking
neater/knitter/ prima/primmer re-proof/reproof
neat/nit PT/pity re-proofs/reproofs
Neil/nil queen/quin reseed/recede
Parsees/passes queens/quins reseeded/receded
peace/piss reach/rich reseeds/recedes
peach/pitch reaches/riches reseeding/receding
peached/pitched read/rid re-sole/rissole
peaches/pitches reading/ridding re-soles/rissoles
peaching/pitching reads/rids Rheims/rims
peak/pick ream/rim Riga/rigger
peaked/picked reams/rims Riga/rigour
peaking/picking reap/rip scene/sin
peaks/picks reaped/ripped scenes/sins
peaks/pyx reaping/ripping scenic/cynic/
peal/pill reaps/rips scenically/cynically/
peals/pills reason/risen schema/skimmer
peat/pit rebound/rebound schemas/skimmers
peek/pick rebounds/rebounds scheme/skim
peeked/picked reed/rid schemed/skimmed
peeking/picking reeds/rids schemer/skimmer
peeks/picks reef/riff schemes/skims
peeks/pyx reefed/rift scheming/skimming
peel/pill reefs/riffs seal/sill
peels/pills reek/rick seals/sills
peeler/pillar reeks/ricks sealer/Scylla
peelers/pillars reeked/ricked sealers/Scyllas
peep/pip reeked/ricked seat/sit
peeping/pipping reeking/ricking seater/sitter
peeped/pipped reek/wrick seats/sits
peeps/pips reeked/wricked seating/sitting
seed/Sid sneaks/snicks warrantee/warranty
seek/sic speak/spick warrantees/warranties
seek/sick steal/still we'll/will
seeking/sicking stealing/stilling weak/wick
seeks/sicks steals/stills weaker/wicker
seeks/six steel/still weal/will
seen/sin steeled/stilled weals/wills
seep/sip steels/stills weald/willed
seeped/sipped steely/stilly wean/whin
seeping/sipping steeple/stipple wean/win
seeps/sips steeples/stipples weans/wins
sheen/shin stelae/stilly weaned/wind
sheep/ship streaked/strict weaner/winner
sheet/shit teak/tic weaning/winning
sheeting/shitting teak/tick week/Wick
sheets/shits teal/till week/wick
Sikh/sic team/Tim weeks/wicks
Sikh/sick teases/tizzies weeny/whinny
Sikhs/sicks teat/tit weep/whip
Sikhs/six teats/tits weeping/whipping
skeet/skit teem/Tim weeps/whips
skeets/skits teen/tin wees/whiz
ski'd/skid teens/tins wheat/whit
sleek/slick teenier/tinnier wheat/wit
sleeker/slicker teeniest/tinniest wheel/will
sleekest/slickest teeny/tinny wheeled/willed
sleeks/slicks teeter/titter wheeling/willing
sleep/slip teetered/tittered wheels/wills
sleeper/slipper teetering/tittering wheeze/whizz
sleepers/slippers teeters/titters wheezed/whizzed
sleeping/slipping treacle/trickle wheezes/whizzes
sleeps/slips trustee/trusty wheezing/whizzing
sleepy/slippy tureen/Turin wield/willed
sleet/slit 'tween/twin weeny/Winnie
sleeting/slitting tweet/twit wreak/rick
sleets/slits tweeted/twitted wreaked/ricked
sneak/snick tweeter/twitter wreaks/ricks
sneaked/snicked tweeters/twitters wreak/wrick
sneakers/snickers tweeting/twitting wreaked/wricked
sneaking/snicking V's/viz wreaks/wricks

47. /EI

Below /ey/ is this vowel. Unlike /ey/ it is not diphthongized.


DIRECTIONS

1. The tongue DOES NOT touch the bicuspids with pressure.


2. The jaw is lowered from the position for /ey/
3. Allow the tip of the tongue to relax behind the lower front teeth.
4. Arch the tongue half-high.
5. The lips are in a neutral position.

COMPARE:

/I/ Phoneti /E/ Phonetic /{/ Phonetic


c
it It tech tEk grand gr{nd
did dId pep pEp gland gl{nd
kin kIn fest fEst Dan d{n
din dIn left lEft ban b{n
litter lIt@r pet pEt bat b{t
riff rIf bet bEt lavish l{v@S
rich rIT effort Ef2t crass kr{s
pistol pIst@l kettle kEt@l cat c{t
rip rIp pest pEst attack @t{k

acetic
ascetic
beacon beckon
ceiling selling
heedless
headless
meeker Mecca
Peking pecking
weeding wedding
yield yelled

acetic/ascetic /cheeks/Czechs freed/Fred/


beacon/beckon cleanly/cleanly geese/guess
/beacons/beckons cleans/cleanse gene/gen/
bead/bed cleaver/clever /genes/gens
/beading/bedding crease/cress genie/Jenny
/beads/beds creased/crest /genies/jennies
beak/beck crossbreed/crossbred/ glean/glen/
beaks/becks C's/says /gleans/glens
bean/ben/ dea/dell hea/hell
/beans/bens /deals/dells healed/held
beast/best dean/den heals/hells
/beasts/bests /deans/dens Heanor/henna
beat/bet deceiver/dissever heap/hep
/beater/better /deceivers/dissevers he'd/head
/beaters/betters deed/dead/ heed/head
/beating/betting deep/dep /heeded/headed
/beats/bets D's/Des /heeding/heading/
beater/bettor each/etch /heeds/heads
/beaters/bettors Easter/Esther heedless/headless/
been/ben eat/ate/ he'l/hell
beet/bet ee/ hee/hell
/beets/bets eels/L's/ /heels/hells
beta/better e'en/N/ heeled/held
/betas/betters ekes/X/ interbreed/interbred/
beta/bettor eland/Elland/ jean/gen
/betas/bettors Ely/Ellie/ /jeans/gens
bleed/bled/ Eva/ever Jeanie/Jenny
breastfeed/breastfed/ feed/fed/ keen/ken/
breed/bread fee/fell /keened/kenned
breed/bred /feeler/feller /keening/kenning
cede/said /feeling/felling /keens/kens
ceiling/selling /feels/fells knead/Ned/
cheek/check feeler/fellah knee/knell
/cheeked/checked/ fees/fez knee/Nell
/cheeking/checking/ f(o)eta/fettle lead/lead
/cheeks/checks field/felled /leading/leading
cheek/cheque fiend/fend/ /leads/leads
/cheeks/cheques /fiends/fends/ lead/led
cheek/Czech force-feed/force-fed leafed/left
league/leg peak/peck /reeds/reds
/leagues/legs /peaked/pecked reedy/ready/
/leaguing/legging /peaking/pecking /reedier/readier/
lean/Len/ /peaks/pecks /reediest/readiest/
leaned/lend peat/pet reef/ref
leans/lens peaty/petty reefed/reft
leaped/leapt /peatier/pettier reek/wreck
leas/Les/ /peatiest/pettiest /reeked/wrecked
lease/less Peebles/pebbles /reeking/wrecking
leased/lest peek/peck /reeks/wrecks
least/lest /peeked/pecked reeks/Rex/
Leeds/leads /peeking/pecking reeve/rev/
lees/Les /peeks/pecks /reeves/revs
lied/let/ peep/pep repea/repel
liege/ledge/ /peeped/pepped /repealed/repelled
/lieges/ledges/ /peeping/pepping /repealing/repelling
lip-read/lip-read /peeps/peps /repeals/repels
Lisa/lesser peeper/pepper re-present/represent
litre/letter/ /peepers/peppers /re-
/litres/letters/ peke/peck presented/represented
mead/Med/ /pekes/pecks /re-
mean/men Peking/pecking presenting/representing
meanie/many/ Pete/pet /re-presents/represents
meat/Met/ pieced/pest/ re-read/re-read
meats/Metz/ pique/peck/ reseat/reset
meed/Med /piqued/pecked/ /reseating/resetting
meeker/Mecca /piques/pecks/ /reseats/resets
meet/met /piquing/pecking/ Riesling/wrestling
meets/Metz plead/pled scenes/sends
mete/met priest/pressed/ sea/cel/
metes/Metz proofread/proofread /seals/cells/
mien/men reach/retch sea/sell
mislead/misled /reached/retched /sealing/selling
misread/misread /reaches/retches /seals/sells
neat/net /reaching/retching /sealer/seller
neat/nett reach/wretch /sealers/sellers
neatly/Netley/ /reaches/wretches sealer/cellar/
need/Ned read/read /sealers/cellars/
needy/Neddy/ read/red seas/says
Nei/knell /reader/redder seat/set
Nei/Nell /reads/reds /seating/setting
Nice/ness reading/Reading/ /seats/sets
niece/ness reap/rep seat/sett
/nieces/nesses/ reaps/reps /seats/setts
overfeed/overfed/ reed/read seed/said
overleaped/overleapt reed/red seek/sec/
seek/sec sweeter/sweater/ /wielding/welding/
/seeks/secs sweetie/sweaty/ /wields/welds
seeks/sex teak/tec wield/welled
seeped/Sept/ teak/Tech/ wreak/wreck
sees/says tea/tel /wreaked/wrecked
seize/says tea/tell /wreaking/wrecking
sheaf/chef/ teed/Ted /wreaks/wrecks
she'd/shed teen/ten/ wreaks/Rex
she'l/shell /teens/tens/ yield/yelled
shield/shelled/ Tina/tenner
siege/sedge Tina/tenor
/sieges/sedges/ treed/tread/
signor/se~nor undersea/undersell
Sikh/sec wea/well
/Sikhs/secs /weals/wells
Sikhs/sex weald/weld
speak/spec /wealds/welds
/speaks/specs weald/welled
speak/speck wean/wen
/speaks/specks /weans/wens
speed/sped/ wean/when
spoonfeed/spoonfed/ weaned/wend
steam/stem we'd/wed
/steamed/stemmed weed/wed
/steaming/stemming /weeded/wedded/
/steams/stems /weeding/wedding/
steed/stead/ /weeds/weds/
steely/stele we'l/well
steep/step wheat/wet/
/steeped/stepped wheat/whet
/steeping/stepping whee/well
/steeps/steps /wheeled/welled
steep/steppe /wheeling/welling
/steeps/steppes /wheels/wells
suite/sweat wheeled/weld
/suites/sweats wheeling/welling/
sweet/sweat wield/weld
/sweets/sweats /wielded/welded/

assi
st assessed
cinder
sender

innovate
enervate

listening
lessening
livid
levied
middle
medal

sickened
second

symmetry
cemetery

agin/again/ /bins/bens /clinched/clenche


assist/assessed/ bit/bet d
axis/access/ /bits/bets /clinches/clenche
below/bellow bitter/better s
bid/bed /bitters/betters /clinching/clenchi
/bidding/bedding bitter/bettor ng
/bids/beds /bitters/bettors conviction/conve
big/beg bliss/bless ction
bigger/beggar blithering/blether crypt/crept
bill/bell ing decayed/decade
/billed/belled build/belled depose/depots
/billing/belling built/belt descant/descant
/bills/bells chick/check /descants/descan
bill/belle /chicks/checks ts
/bills/belles chick/cheque Dick/deck
billow/bellow /chicks/cheques dicker/decker
/billowed/bellowe chick/Czech /dickers/deckers
d /chicks/Czechs did/dead
/bellowing/billowi Chris/cress differ/deafer
ng cinder/sender differential/defer
/billows/bellows /cinders/senders ential
billy/belly cliff/clef /differentially/def
/billies/bellies /cliffs/clefs erentially
bin/ben clinch/clench dill/dell
din/den gill/gel immigration/emig
/dins/dens /gills/gels ration
dint/dent gill/jell /immigrations/em
/dints/dents /gills/jells igrations
dip/dep gin/gen imminent/eminen
disc/desk /ginned/genned t
/discs/desks /ginning/genning /imminence/emin
disparate/desper /gins/gens ence
ate gist/jest /imminently/emin
disposition/dispo /gists/jests ently
ssession guild/geld impress/empress
djinn/gen /guilds/gelds /impresses/empr
/djinns/gens gym/gem esses
escort/escort /gyms/gems in/n
/escorts/escorts hick/heck /ins/n's
excise/excise /hicks/hecks infield/Enfield
exploit/exploit hid/head inflict/inflect
/exploits/exploits hill/hell /inflicted/inflecte
export/export /hills/hells d
/exports/exports him/hem /inflicting/inflecti
expose/expos hip/hep ng
extract/extract hither/heather /inflicts/inflects
/extracts/extracts hymn/hem infliction/inflectio
fib/Feb /hymned/hemme n
fill/fell d /inflictions/inflect
/filled/felled /hymning/hemmi ions
/filling/felling ng inn/n
/fills/fells /hymns/hems /inns/n's
fin/fen id/ed innovate/enervat
/fins/fens if/eff e
Finn/fen if/f /innovated/enerv
/Finns/fens ilk/elk ated
fitted/fetid ill/l /innovating/everv
fitter/fetter ills/l's ating
/fitters/fetters immigrant/emigr /innovates/enerv
fizz/fez ant ates
/fizzes/fezes /immigrants/emig into/enter
flick/fleck rants it/ate
/flicked/flecked immigrate/emigr itch/etch
/flicking/flecking ate /itched/etched
/flicks/flecks /immigrated/emi /itches/etches
flicks/flex grated /itching/etching
gild/geld /immigrates/emig Jill/gel
/gilded/gelded rates Jill/jell
/gilding/gelding /immigrating/emi Jim/gem
/gilds/gelds grating jimmy/jemmy
/jimmies/jemmies Lynn/Len /piddles/peddles
jinn/gen mid/Med /piddling/peddlin
jinns/gens middle/medal g
kilt/Celt /middles/medals pig/peg
/kilts/Celts middle/meddle /pigged/pegged
kin/ken /middled/meddle /pigging/pegging
kindle/Kendal d /pigs/pegs
kipped/kept /middles/meddles piggy/Peggy/
kitsch/ketch /middling/meddli pin/pen
knit/net ng/ /pinned/penned
/knitted/netted milt/melt /pinning/penning
/knitting/netting mint/meant /pins/pens
/knits/nets miss/mess pinny/Penny/
knit/nett /missed/messed //pinnies/pennies/
/knits/netts /missing/messing pip/pep
lid/lead / /pipped/pepped
/lids/leads /missy/messy/ /pipping/pepping
lid/led mist/messed /pips/peps
lift/left mitt/met pissed/pest
limning/lemming mitts/Metz pit/pet
Linda/lender myths/meths /pits/pets
lint/leant nick/neck /pitting/petting/
lint/Lent /nicked/necked pity/petty
lint/lent /nicking/necking pitied/petted
lintel/lentil /nicks/necks position/possessi
/lintels/lentils nil/knell on
Linz/Lents nil/Nell /positions/posses
lipped/leapt nit/net sions
list/lest /nits/nets primmest/premis
listen/lessen nit/nett ed/
/listened/lessene /nits/netts pyx/pecks
d nix/necks quill/quell
/listening/lesseni Phil/fell /quills/quells
ng pick/peck record/record
/listens/lessens /picked/pecked /records/records
listen/lesson /picking/pecking rich/retch
/listens/lessons /picks/pecks /riches/retches
lit/let picker/pecker rich/wretch
litter/letter /pickers/peckers /riches/wretches/
/littered/lettered piddle/pedal rick/wreck
/littering/letterin /piddled/pedalled /ricked/wrecked
g /piddles/pedals /ricking/wrecking
/litters/letters /piddling/pedallin /ricks/wrecks
livid/levied/ g ricks/Rex
Liz/Les piddle/peddle Ricky/recce
Lois/loess /piddled/peddled rid/read
rid/red slid/sled vintner/Ventnor
/rids/reds slipped/slept whin/wen
ridden/redden spick/spec whin/when
ridding/Reading/ spick/speck whipped/wept
ridge/Reg spill/spell whist/west
riff/ref /spilled/spelled whit/wet
rift/reft /spilling/spelling /whits/wets
rip/rep /spills/spells whit/whet
/rips/reps spilt/spelt /whits/whets
rip/repp stiller/Stella whither/weather
Scylla/cellar stiller/stellar whither/wether
/Scyllas/cellars swill/swell whither/whether
Scylla/seller /swilled/swelled will/well
/Scyllas/sellers /swilling/swelling /willed/welled
shilling/shelling /swills/swells /willing/welling
sic/sec sylph/self /wills/wells
sick/sec symmetry/cemet willed/weld
/sicks/secs ery/ wilt/welt
sicked/sect tic/tec /wilts/welts
sickened/second tic/tech win/wen
sicks/sex tick/tec /wins/wens
Sid/said /ticks/tecs win/when
signora/senora tick/tech /wins/when's
/signoras/senoras /ticks/techs wince/whence
sill/cell tics/techs winch/wench
/sills/cells till/tel /winched/wenche
sill/sell till/tell d
/sills/sells /tilling/telling /winching/wenchi
since/sense /tills/tells ng
sinned/send tiller/teller /winches/wenche
sinner/senna /tillers/tellers s
sins/sends tin/ten wind/wend
sipped/Sept /tins/tens /winded/wended
sit/set tinder/tender /winding/wending
/sits/sets tinned/tend /winds/wends
/sitting/setting tint/tent windy/Wendy/
/sittings/settings /tints/tents wit/wet
sit/sett trick/trek /wits/wets
/sits/setts /tricked/trekked wit/whet
sitter/setter /tricking/trekking /wits/whets
/sitters/setters /tricks/treks wither/weather
six/secs trimmer/tremor /withered/weathe
six/sex /trimmers/tremor red
/sixes/sexes s /withering/weath
skip/skep victor/vector ering
/skips/skeps /victors/vectors
/withers/weather /wricked/wrecked /wrists/rests
s /wricking/wreckin wrist/wrest
wither/wether g/ /wrists/wrests
/withers/wethers /wricks/wrecks writ/ret
wither/whether wricks/Rex /writs/rets
wrick/wreck wrist/rest
48. /{/

This is the last of the front vowels.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Relax and lower the jaw


2. Let the mouth be as wide as possible without forcing it
3. The tongue is practically flat
4. Make a light contact is made between the lower teeth and the tongue

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

beach/batch beaters/batters/ breed/brad


beaches/batches beech/batch breeds/brads
bead/bad/ beeches/batches breezier/brassi`ere
bead/bade been/ban cedar/sadder
beak/back/ beet/bat cede/sad
beaks/backs/ beets/bats cheap/chap/
beaker/backer/ beetle/battle/ cheat/chat/
beakers/backers/ beetled/battled/ cheated/chatted/
bean/ban beetles/battles/ cheating/chatting/
beans/bans beetling/battling/ cheats/chats/
beans/banns/ beta/batter cheap/chap
beast/bast/ betas/batters cheep/chap
beat/bat/ betel/battle cheeped/chapped/
beating/batting/ betels/battles cheeping/chapping/
beats/bats bleak/black/ cheeps/chaps/
beaten/batten/ bleaker/blacker/ cheese/Chas/
beater/batter/ bleakest/blackest/ cheetah/chatter
cheetahs/chatters eel/Al/ heel/Hal
chic/shack e'en/Ann/ Jean/Jan
clean/clan e'en/an keen/can
cleans/clans/ eked/act/ keened/canned/
clique/clack/ ekes/ax/ keening/canning/
cliques/clacks/ Ely/Ali/ keens/cans/
creak/crack Ely/alley keen/Cannes
creaked/cracked E's/as keener/canna
creaking/cracking Eve/Ave/ keep/cap/
creaks/cracks feat/fat keeping/capping/
cream/cram/ feats/fats keeps/caps/
creamed/crammed/ feed/fad Keith/Cath/
creaming/cramming/ feeds/fads keyed/cad/
creams/crams/ feet/fat keyless/callous/
crease/crass fiend/fanned keyless/callus
creek/crack fleet/flat kilo/callow/
creeks/cracks fleetly/flatly leach/latch
creep/crap/ fleetness/flatness leached/latched
creeping/crapping/ fleets/flats leaches/latches
creeps/craps/ fleeter/flatter leaching/latching
dean/Dan fleetest/flattest lead/lad
deed/dad geese/gas leads/lads
deeds/dads gene/Jan leader/ladder
deem/dam gleaned/gland leaders/ladders
deeming/damming grebe/grab league/lag
deeming/damming grebes/grabs leagued/lagged
deems/dams greenery/granary leagues/lags
deem/damn G's/jazz leaguing/lagging
deemed/dammed greenery/granary leak/lack
deeming/damming he'd/had leaked/lacked
deems/damns he'll/Hal leaking/lacking
deeper/dapper heal/Hal leaks/lacks
diesel/dazzle heap/hap leaks/lax
diesels/dazzles heaped/happed leaky/lackey
dream/drachm heaping/happing leaned/land
dreams/drachms heaps/haps leap/lap
dream/dram he's/has leaped/lapped
dreams/drams heat/hat leaping/lapping
ease/as heats/hats leaps/laps
eastern/Aston/ heater/hatter leaps/lapse
Easter/aster heaters/hatters lease/lass
Easters/asters heath/hath leases/lasses
eat/at/ heave/have leash/lash
eater/attar/ heaves/haves leashes/lashes
edict/addict/ heaving/having leave/lav
edicts/addicts/ heed/had leaves/lavs
leech/latch overleap/overlap piques/packs
leeches/latches overleaped/overlapped piquing/packing
Leeds/lads overleaping/overlapping piqued/pact
leek/lack overleaps/overlaps piques/pax
leeks/lacks peach/patch plead/plaid
leeks/lax peached/patched pleads/plaids
Leix/lash peaches/patches pleat/plait
lied/lat peaching/patching pleated/plaited
lieder/ladder peak/pack pleating/plaiting
litre/latter peaked/packed pleats/plaits
mead/mad peaking/packing quiche/cache
mean/man peaks/packs quiches/caches/
meanly/manly peaked/pact quiche/cash
meaning/manning peaks/pax quiches/cashes
means/mans peal/pal reach/ratch
meaner/manna peals/pals reaches/ratches
meaner/manner pealed/palled ream/ram
meaner/manor pealing/palling reams/rams
meat/mat peat/pat reap/rap
meats/mats peaty/Patty reaped/rapped
meat/matt peed/pad reaping/rapping
meed/mad peek/pack reaps/raps
meek/mac peeked/packed reaped/rapt
meet/mat peeking/packing reap/wrap
meeting/matting peeks/packs reaping/wrapping
meets/mats peeked/pact reaped/wrapped
meet/matt peeks/pax reaps/wraps
mete/mat peel/pal reaper/wrapper
meted/matted peeled/palled reapers/wrappers
metes/mats peeling/palling reek/rack
meting/matting peels/pals reeked/racked
mete/matt peeler/pallor reeking/racking
meter/matter peke/pack reeks/racks
meters/matters pekes/packs reek/wrack
meeting/matting pekes/pax Rheims/rams
metre/matter Peking/packing Rita/ratter
metres/matters penal/panel scenes/sans
mien/man peep/pap scream/scram
miens/mans Pete/Pat screamed/scrammed
neap/knap Peter/patter screaming/scramming
neaps/knaps peter/patter screams/scrams
neap/nap petered/pattered screech/scratch
neaps/naps petering/pattering screeched/scratched
neat/Nat peters/patters screeches/scratches
neat/gnat pique/pack screeching/scratching
neater/natter piqued/packed seaman/salmon
seam/Sam steamers/stammers
seaman/salmon teak/tack
seamen/salmon teat/tat
seamy/Sammy teats/tats
seat/sat teen/tan
seed/sad teens/tans
seedling/saddling teeter/tatter
seek/sac teetered/tattered
seeks/sacs teeters/tatters
seeks/sax Tina/tanner
seek/sack treed/trad
seeking/sacking weak/whack
seeks/sacks weaker/whacker
seem/Sam week/whack
seep/sap weeks/whacks
seeped/sapped weeks/wax/
seeping/sapping wreak/rack
seeps/saps wreaked/racked
semen/salmon wreaks/racks
sepia/sappier wreaking/racking
she'd/shad wreak/wrack
she'll/shall
sheet/shat
Sikh/sac
Sikhs/sacs
Sikh/sack
Sikhs/sacks
Sikhs/sax
skeet/scat
sleek/slack
sleeked/slacked
sleeker/slacker
sleekest/slackest
sleeking/slacking
sleekly/slackly
sleekness/slackness
sleeks/slacks
sleep/slap
sleeping/slapping
sleeps/slaps
sleet/slat
sleets/slats
sleeted/slatted
sneak/snack
sneaks/snacks
steamer/stammer
49. /a/

This is the lowest vowel in English.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Lower the jaw below a normal relaxed position


2. Make the lips wide open
3. The tongue touches the floor of the mouth.
4. The back of the tongue arches up a bit towards the throat.

COMPARE:

/@/ Phoneti /a/ Phonetic /{/ Phonetic


c
alive @laiv pot pat grand gr{nd
sofa sOf@ father faD@r gland gl{nd
telephone tEl@fow box baks Dan d{n
n
possible pas@b calm cam ban b{n
@l
oppose @powz pa pa bat b{t
Confucius k@nfyu fob fab lavish l{v@S
S@s
labyrinth l{b@rIn ma ma crass kr{s
T
national n{S@n hot hat cat c{t
@l
chorus kOr@s dot dat attack @t{k

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

1. Round and protrude the lips as much as possible


2. Draw back the tongue as far as comfortable keeping it high.
3. Touch the tongue along the back upper teeth
4. Tense the muscle under the jaw
COMPARE

/i/ Phonetic /uw/ Phonetic


deed diyd rude ruwd
teams tiymz blew bluw
keen kiyn fruit fruwt
green griyn ooze uwz
glean gliyn do duw
clean kliyn soup suwp
demeaned d@miyn shoe Suw
@d
leave liyv threw Truw
bean biyn chew Tuw

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

/uw/ Phoneti /U/ Phonetic /@/ Phoneti


c c
rude ruwd book bUk alive @laiv
blew bluw wolf wUf sofa sOf@
do duw could cUd telephone tEl@fow
n
ooze uwz pull pUl possible pas@b
@l
soup suwp cook cUk oppose @powz
shoe Suw sugar sUg@r Confucius k@nfyu
S@s
threw Truw Brooklyn brUklIn labyrinth l{b@rIn
T
shampoo Sampu hood hUd national n{S@n
w @l
kangaroo kaÎ@ru spook spUk chorus kOr@s
w

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

/uw/ Phoneti /O/ Phonetic /ow/ Phoneti


c c
rude ruwd all Ol bethroth b@TrOT
blew bluw draw drO drove drOv
do duw flaunt flOnt bowl bOwl
ooze uwz ball bOl tone tOn
soup suwp ought Ot gnome nOm
shoe Suw awe O vogue vOg
threw Truw jawed DOd abode abOd
shampoo Sampu thought TOt woe wO
w
kangaroo kaÎ@ru sausage sOs@D toe tO
w
53. /O/

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:

1. Relax the lower jaw.


2. Relax the tongue tip behind the lower teeth.
3. Open the mouth an inch or less across and half an inch high.
4. Bunch the tongue a little in the back of the mouth. Arch the back of the tongue
half low toward the soft palate.

COMPARISON

/a/ Phonetic /ow/ Phonetic /@/ Phonetic /O/ Phonetic


pot pat bethroth b@TrOT alive @laiv audition OdIS@
n
father faD@r drove drOv sofa sOf@ autumn Ot@m
box baks bowl bOwl telephon tEl@fow austere OstIr
e n
calm cam tone tOn possible pas@b alright Owrait
@l
pa pa gnome nOm oppose @powz nautical nOt@k
@l
fob fab vogue VoG Confuciu k@nfyu applaud Oplad
s S@s
ma ma abode abOd labyrinth l{b@rIn awe O
T
hot hat woe wO national n{S@n awkward OkwIrd
@l
dot dat toe tO chorus kOr@s call cOà

54. /ay/

This diphthong begins as the /a/ vowel and moves upward towards /iy/.

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 /a/
4. Glide the tongue towards the weak second element /i/
5. During this this glide move the jaw from open to half open
COMPARISON

/ay/ Phonetic /aw/ Phonetic /Oy/ Phonetic


eyes ayz now naw boy bOy
despise dIspayz prow praw voice voys
alibis {lIbayz gown gawn oyster Oyst@r
surmise sIrmayz house haws Freud frOyd
thighs Tayz owl awl buoyant bOy@nt
shies Sayz vow vaw oil Oyl
rise rayz Tao taw toys tOys
surprised s@prayz@ Mao maw joys Doyz
d
white ÷ait mouths mawTs Goya gOy@

55. /aw/

This diphthong begins as the /a/ vowel and moves upward and backward toward
/U/.

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 /a/
4. Glide the tongue towards the weak second element /U/
5. During this this glide move the jaw from open to half open
6. Move the lips from a relaxed position to a round position
COMPARISON

/ay/ Phonetic /aw/ Phonetic /Oy/ Phonetic


eyes ayz now naw boy bOy
despise dIspayz prow praw voice voys
alibis {lIbayz gown gawn oyster Oyst@r
surmise sIrmayz house haws Freud frOyd
thighs Tayz owl awl buoyant bOy@nt
shies Sayz vow vaw oil Oyl
rise rayz Tao taw toys tOys
surprised s@prayz@ Mao maw joys Doyz
d
white ÷ayt mouths mawTs Goya gOy@
56. /Oy/

This vowel begins as /O/ and glides toward /iy/.

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

/ay/ Phonetic /aw/ Phonetic /Oy/ Phonetic


eyes ayz now naw boy bOy
despise dIspayz prow praw voice voys
alibis {lIbayz gown gawn oyster Oyst@r
surmise sIrmayz house haws Freud frOyd
thighs Tayz owl awl buoyant bOy@nt
shies Sayz vow vaw oil Oyl
rise rayz Tao taw toys tOys
surprised s@prayz@ Mao maw joys Doyz
d
white ÷ayt mouths mawTs Goya gOy@

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

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.

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

1 Relax the jaw .


5. Slightly spread the lips
6. Place the tongue behind the lower front teeth but do not touch anything.
7. Make sure that all muscles are relaxed
8. Quickly move to the r sound by either:
(a) turning the tip of the tongue toward the back of the mouth without touching
anything.
(b) slide the tongue back on the upper teeth bunching the back of the tongue.
COMPARISON

/@r/ WORD r- sounds WORD


worm w@rm warm wOrm
word w@rd ward wOrd
star st@r steer stI@r
were w@r wear wE@r
burn b@rn barn barn
lurk l@rk lark lark

59. /ö/

This vowel is a nonphonemic variant of schwa. It is usually in stressed syllables.

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

/@/ PHONETIC / ö/ PHONETIC


suppose s@powz sup s öp
sofa s@f@ fun f ön
bazooka b@zuwk@ buzz b öz
Tacoma t@kowm@ tuck t ök
soda sowd@ duck d ök
until @ntIl untilled öntIl@d
cocoon k@kuwn cuckold k ökOld
uh @ up öp

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)

28. ONE SYLLABLE

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/.

Word Stressed Form Weak Form Example


A /ey/ /@/ In a train.
An /{n/ /@n/ Shoot an arrow
And /{nd/ /@n/ You and I
Are /ar/ /@r/ Who are you?
Can /k{n/ /k@n/ She can go.
Had /h{d/ /@d/ They had to leave.
Has /h{z/ /@z/ She has to speak.
Have /h{v/ /@v/ You have to come.
Of /av/ /@v/ Two of us
Or /Or/ /@r/ Win or lose
That /D{t/ /D@t/ I saw that.
The /Diy/ /D@/ or /Di/ On the shelf
To /tuw/ /t@/ or /tU/ Ten to two
was /waz/ /w@z/ It was fun

29. TWO SYLLABLE (STRESS ON FIRST SYLLABLE)

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)

Word Phonetic spelling


NEver nE2v@r
BREAkfast brE2kf@st
MONday m@2ndI
FAther fa2D@r
SISter sI2st@r
FROLic fra2l@k
WISdom wI2zd@m
YELlow YE2low
OFten a2f@n
TWENty twE2ntI
FIFty fI2fti
FINger fI2Î@r
ELbow E2lbow
HAMmer h{2m@r
WATer wa2t@r

30. TWO SYLLABLE ( STRESS ON SECOND SYLLABLE)

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.

Nouns Phonetic Adjectives Phonetic Verbs Phonetic


aWard @wO2rd unHEALthy @nhE2lTi deCLARe D@klE2r
surPRISE s@paI2z berREAVed b@ri2v@ exPLAIN Ekspley2
d n
proPOSal pr@pow ASLEEP @sli2p forGET f@rgE2t
2z@l
ComPLAInt k@mplei inCREDible InkrE2d obTAIN Abtey2n
2’nt @bl

31. COMPOUND NOUNS

Compound nouns usually have primary accent on the first part and a secondary accent on
the second portion.

Compound Noun Phonetic Spelling


BLACkbird bl{2kb@1rd
BIRD’s –nest b@2rdznE1st
DRUGstore dr@2gstO1r
THOROUghfare T@2r@fE@1r
WEATHerman wE2D@rm{1n
AIRplane E2rpley1n
COWboy kow2bOy2
HOTdog ha1tdO1g

32. COMPOUND VERBS

Unlike compound nouns, compound verbs usually receive secondary stress on the first
element and primary stress on the second component.

COMPOUND VERB PHONETIC SPELLING


underSTAND @1 nd@rst{2and
overLOOK o1wverlU2k
outRUN a1wtr@2n

33. PRONOUNS

Reflexive pronouns receive the stronger accent on the second element.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUN PHONETIC SPELLING


mySELF ma1ysE2lf
yourSELF yU1rsE2lf
himSELF hI1sE2lf
themSELVES DE1msE2lvz

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.

NUMBER PHONETIC SPELLING


thirTEEN D@1rti2yn
THIRty D@2rtI
fourTEEN fO1ti2yn
FOURty fO2rtI
fifTEEN fI1fti2yn
FIFty fI2ftI
sixTEEN si1ksti2yn
SIXty si2kstI
sevenTEEN sE1v@nti2yn
SEVenty sE2v@ntI
eightTEEN a1yti2yn
EIGHTy a2ytI
nineTEEN na1yti2yn
NINEty na2yntI

35. NOUN VERB PAIRS.

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.

NOUN WORD VERB


ka2ns@rt Concert k@ns@2rt
ka2nd@kt Conduct k@nd@2kt
ka2nflIkt Conflict k@nflI2kt
ka2ntEst Contest k@ntE2st
ka2ntr{1kt Contract k@ntr{2kt
ka2ntr{1st Contrast k@ntr{2st
ka2nv2@rt Convert k@nv@2rt
dE2z@rt Desert dIz@2rt
I2nkla1yn Incline Inkla2yn
I2krI1ys Increase IkrI2ys
I2ns@rt Insert Ins@2rt
I2ns@lt Insult Ins@2lt
a2bDIIkt Object @bDE2kt
o2wv@rflo1w Overflow o1wv@rflo2w
p@2rmIt Permit p@rmI2t
prE2z@nt Present prIzE2nt
pra2grIs Progress pr@grE2s
pra2DE1kt Project pr@DE1kt
pro2wtE2st Protest pr@wtE2st
rE2b@l Rebel r@b@2l
rE2k@rd Record rIkO2rd
s@2rve1y Survey s@rve2y

36. POLYSYLLABIC WORDS

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

37. PHRASAL VERBS

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

38. ADDED SUFFIX


When a suffix is added to a word, the new form is generally stressed on the same syllable
as the basic word.

BASIC WORD NEW FORM PHONETIC


SPELLING
abandon abandonment @b{2nd@n 
ab{2nd@nm@nt
happy happiness h{2pI  h{2pInIs
reason reasonable rI2yz@n 
rI2z@n@b@l

39. SPECIAL ENDINGS

Words ending in :

--ition --ical
--sion -- ity
--ic ---graphy
usually have stress on the syllable preceding the ending.

BASIC WORD NEW FORM PHONETIC


SPELLING
contribute contribution k@ntrI2byUt 
ka1ntrIbyu2S@n
biology biological ba1ya2l@DI 
ba1y@la1DIk@l
public publicity p@2blIk 
p@blI2sItI
photograph photograph fo2wt@gr{1f 
f@ta2fr@fI

40. Sentence Stress

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.

SENTENCE PHONETIC SPELLING


dogs eat bones dO2gzi2tbo2wnz
the dogs eat bones D@dO2gzi2tbo2wnz
the dogs will eat bones D@dO2gili2tbo2wnz
the dogs will eat the bones D@dO2gili’2tD@bo2wnz
the dogs will have eaten the bones D@dO2gil@vi2t@nD@bo2wn
z

41. CONTENT WORDS

Content words are words that usually carry information and have a meaning in
themselves. Content words are usually stressed.

CATEGORY WORD PHONETIC


SPELLING
Nouns cat k{2t
Verbs run r@2n
Adjectives brown bra2wn
Adverbs differently dIfr@ntlI2
Demonstratives this TI2s
Interrogatives who ÷u2

42. FUNCTION WORDS

Function words signify grammatical relationships and have little or no meaning by


themselves. They are usually unstessed unless the speaker wants to give them some
special emphasis.

CATEGORY WORD PHONETIC SPELLING


Articles the D@
Simple Prepositions of @v
Personal Pronouns I aI
Possessive Adjectives my maI
Relative Pronouns that D{t
Common Conjunctions but b@t
“One” used as a noun one D@blu2w@n
substitute The blue one
Verbs used with be,have,do,will,would, bi,h{v,du,wIl,wUd,S{l
auxiliaries shall,should,can,could, ,Sud,k{n,kUd,maI,ma
may, might, must. It,m@st

43. THOUGHT GROUPS


Rhythm consists of the alternation of stressed syllables, unstressed syllables, and pauses.
Almost every sentence has a pause in it when spoken. So a thought group is a portion of a
sentence set off by pauses. Usually, the pauses are indicated by a “/”.

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.

Intonation Type Intonation


Description ofPatterns in English
Intonation Pattern

1. STATEMENT STATEMENTS or declarative sentences have FALLING Intonation.

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.

22. NEW INFORMATION NEW INFORMATION is usually highlighted by a HIGH note.

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

Pronouncing a Wh-question with a rising intonation creates an Echo Question. An echo


question seems to ask: “Is that really what you said?” or “Could you repeat that?”

5. COMPARISONS AND CONTRASTS

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

Implicit contrasts do not mention the second item to be compared with.


7.NON FINAL INTONATION

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.

11. DOUBLE YES-NO

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.

14. TAG QUESTIONS—RHETORICAL

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?

I can speak well, can’t I?

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. (Who took the course?)

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

Perfunctory intonation indicates no genuine feeling. It is slightly rising-falling intonation.


17. ENTHUSIASM

Enthusiastic intonation starts off at a extra-high point and falls.


18. COAXING

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

Approval is signalled by an extra high note on the adjective or adverb.


23. PLACE-NAMES

To signal an important name of a city or state the following pattern is used.

24. NEW INFORMATION

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.

90. Linking and /y/ glides

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.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


be able biyÙeyb@l
create kriyÙeyt
say it seyÙyIt
layette leyÙyEt
my own mayÙyown
naïve nayÙYiyv
toy airplane tOyÙyErpleyn
boyish bOyÙyish
see evil siyÙyiyv@l

91. Linking and /w/glides

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.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


blue ink bluwÙwInk
Stuart stuwÙwart
no art nowÙwart
Noel nowÙwel
How is it? hawÙwIzIt
flour flawÙw@r
tower tawÙw@r

144
tour tuwÙwOr

92. Glottal stop linking--/?/

If two low tense vowels that do not end in a glide occur, a glottal stop may be inserted
between them.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


spa owners spa?own@rs
saw Al saw?n
Pa Adams pa?d@mz

93. Linking and /r/ insertion

If two low tense vowels that do not end in a glide or after /@/, some speaker add an
intrusive /r/ sound.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


spa owners sparown@rs
saw Ann sawr{n
vanilla ice cream v@nIl@raiskriym
media event miyd@r@vEnt
law enforcement lawrEnfOrsm@nt
lawyer lawryer

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.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


dog eat dog dOgÙiytdOg
black and grey bl{kÙ@ndgrey
Dean Avenue diynÙ{v@nuw
red apple redÙ{p@l
great abs greyÙt{bz
fake air feykÙeyr

95. Linking and Resyllabification

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.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


right arm ray/t{rm
wept over wEp/towv@r
find out fayn/dawt
pushed up pUS/t@p
lasting l{s/tIÎ
adaptable @d{p/t@b@l
sprint over sprIn/tOv@r

96. Linking and Consonant Elongation

146
If two identical consonants are next to each other, the single consonant is elongated and
not just produced twice.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


stop pushing stap:USI Î
short time Sort:aym
quick cure kwIk:y@r
classroom management kl{sruwm:{n@Dm@nt
rob Bill rab:Il
bad dog b{d:Og
big gap bIg:{p
less cereal lEs:@riy@l

97. Linking and Unreleased

If a stop consonant is followed by a stop or an affricate, the first stop is unreleased.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


pet cat pet§k{t
black board bl{k §bOrd
good jury gUd§D@riy
soap dish sowp§dIS
big dipper bIg§dIp@r
big church bIg§ T@rT
piture pIt§tSUr

DELETION

In this form of adjustment in speech, sounds are omitted.

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.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


winter wIn@r
Toronto t@ranow
enter En@r
mantle m{n@l
restless rEsl@s
exactly egs{liy
windmill wInmIl
hands h{nz

99. Deletion in Final Position

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.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


east side iysayd
blind man blaynm{n
wild boar waylbOr
told Steve tOlstiyv

Exceptions:

1. If the second word begins with a /w/, /h/, /y/, or /r/ there is no deletion.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


east hill iysthIl
blind youth blayndyuwT
wild ride wayldrayd
the west won D@wEstw@n

2. In some consonant cluster ending with /nt/ ,/lt/, /rt/, or /rd/ there is no deletion.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


plant food pl{ntfuwd
felt pen fEltpEn
bird feeder b@rdfiyd@r
shortstop Sortstap
fast food f{stfuwd

100.Deletion and Syncope

If a multisyllabic word has an unstressed medial vowel /@/ or /I/ following a


stressed syllable, they can optionally drop out.

149
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

101. Deletion of initial syllable

If a word begins with an unstressed vowel or syllable, it may be deleted in informal


speech.. This is also called aphesis.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


because k@z
about bawt
around rawnd
esquire skwayr

102. Deletion of noninitial /r/

If a word contains two /r/ sounds, the second /r/ is sometimes deleted.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


February fEbyuwEriy
governor g@vnOr
surprise s@prayz
temperature tEmp@tSUr

150
103. Deletion of Final /v/

Before words with initial consonants, /v/ may be reduced to /@/.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


lots of luck lats@l@k
waste of time weyst@taym
hearts of palm harts@palm
ace of spades eys@speydz

104. Deletion of initial /h/

In connected speech, /h/ when in a pronominal form.

WORD or PHRASE PHONET IC


ask her {sk@r
ask him {skIm
help her hElp@r
help him hElpIm
get her get@r
get him gEtIm

105. Deletion and /D/

151
In connected speech, /D/ may be deleted in pronominal forms.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


ask them {skEm
tell them tElEm
help them hElpEm
get them gEtEm

Assimilation

If one sound causes changes in a neighboring sound, this is called assimilation. It can
occur in words or between words.

106. Progressive Assimilation

If the first sound affects the following sound, this is known as progressive assimilation.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


1.guessed gEst
2.bags b{gZ
3.backs b{ks
4.moved mUvd
5.fished fISt
6.it is  it’s It Iz  Its
7.had to  had a h{d tuw  h{d@

152
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/

107. Regressive Assimilation

In regressive assimilation, the second sound influences the characteristics of the first
sound.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


1. have to h{vtuw  h{ft@
2. has to h{z tuw  h{st@
3. used to yuwzdtuw yuwst@
4. impossible Impas@b@l
5. horseshoe hOrSuw
6. his shirt hISIrt
7. good boy gUbOy
8. pet kitten pEkIt@N
9. He’s in pain hiyzImpeyn
10. Be on guard biyaÎ@rd
11. give me a call gImiy@kOl

1. /t/ causes /v/ to devoice to /f/


2. /t/ causes /z/ to devoice to /s/
3. /t/ causes /d/ to devoice to /t/
4. /p/ makes negation take /m/
5. /s/ becomes /S/

153
6. /z/ becomes /S/
7. /d/ becomes /b/
8. /t/ becomes /k/
9. /n/ becomes /p/
10. /n/ becomes /Î/

108. Palatalization Assimilation

In coalescent assimilation( or palatalization), two sounds come together to create a third


sound.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


1. issue ISuw
2. pleasure plEZy@r
3.stature st{tSy@r
4. He lets you talk hiylEtSyuwtOk
5. procedure prowsiydZy@r
6. She needs your advice SiyniydZy@r{dvays

EPENTHESIS

This adjustment involves insertion of a vowel or consonant into an existing word

109. Epenthesis

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


1.places pleys@z
buzzes buz@z

154
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

Dissimilation occurs when two adjacent sounds become more


different from one another.

WORD or PHRASE PHONETIC


fifths fIfTs  fIfts
sixths sIksTs  sIks
Fifth Steet fIfTstriyt fiStriyt

155
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.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,


With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor, that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-post to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus, New York City, 1883


Cough and Dough

I take it you already know


Of tough and bough and cough and dough.
Others may stumble but not you,
On hiccough, through, lough and through.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.

Beware of heard, a dreadful word


That looks like beard and sounds like bird,
And dead--it's said like bed, not bead.
For goodness's sake, don't call it deed!

156
Watch out for meat and great and threat:
They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.

A moth is not a moth in mother,


Nor both in bother, broth in brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there's dose and rose and lose--
Just look them up--and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword,
And do and go and thwart and cart.
Come, come, I've hardly made a start.

A dreadful language? Man alive,


I'd mastered it when I was five.

THE CHAOS

Dearest creature in creation,


Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Pray console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear sew it.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,


Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;

157
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,


Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,


Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour


And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very,


Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.

158
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,


Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,


Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,


Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.


Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

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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.

Finally, which rhymes with enough --


Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

OUGH

I'm taught p-l-o-u-g-h


Shall be pronounced "Plow."
"Zat's easy when you know," I say,
"Mon Anglais I'll get through."

My teacher say zat in zat case


O-u-g-h is "oo."
And zen I laugh and say to him
"Zees Anglais make me cough."

He say, "Not coo, but in zat word


O-u-g-h is `off.'"
O sacre bleu! Such varied sound
Of words make me hiccough.

He says, "Again my friend is wrong;


O-u-g-h is `uff.'"
I say, "I try to spik your words,
I can't pronounce them, though."

"In time you'll learn, but now you're wrong;


O-u-g-h is `owe'!"
"I'll try no more, I shall go mad,
I'll drown me in ze lough."

Teaching Pronunciation with Mother Goose Rhymes

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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]

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man!


So I will, master, as fast as I can;
Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T,
Put it in the oven for Tommy and me.

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]

Come, butter, come


Come, butter, come!
Peter stands at the gate,
Waiting for a buttered cake;
Come, butter, come.

The accent of many foreigners is partly exhibited by the hypercorrect pronunciation of


certain words. Here the word “butter” sounds like “budder” and the word “waiting”
sounds like “wading”. Few native speakers would pronounce the “t” sound in the middle
of this word. At times it is revelatory for the ESL student to realize that they are correctly
hearing the “d” sound and not the spelling convention “t”.

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]

[ rule: differentiate between voiced and voiceless TH]


[ rule: function words are unstressed, unless at the end of a sentence]

One misty, moisty morning,


When cloudy was the weather,
There I met an old man
Clothed all in leather;

Clothed all in leather,


With cap under his chin—
How do you do, and how do you do,
And how do you do again?

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]

Star bright, starlight,


First star I’ve seen tonight.
Wish I may, wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

The mainpoint about this wonderful rhyme is that “first star” is not produced as two

163
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]

Bow, wow, wow!


Whose dog art thou?
Little Tom Tinker’s dog.
Bow, wow, wow!

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

Hush-a-bye, baby, on the treetop,


When the wind blows, the cradle will rock;
When the bough bends, the cradle will fall.
Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.

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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[end]

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