Pronunciation

Course: B.Sc Subject: English Communication and Life

Skills Unit: 2

Pronunciation

• "Pronunciation" refers to the way in which we make the sound of words.

• To pronounce words, we push air from our lungs up through our throat and vocal chords, through our mouth, past our tongue and out between our teeth and lips. (Sometimes air also travels through our nose.)

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As well as creating correct vowel and consonant sounds using the muscles of our mouth, tongue and lips, there are other important aspects of pronunciation, including:

word stress - emphasis on certain syllables in a wordsentence stress - emphasis on certain words in a

sentence linking - joining certain words together intonation - the rise and fall of our voice as we speak

Phonetic Chart

• This phonemic chart uses symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). IPA symbols are useful for learning pronunciation. The symbols on this chart represent the 44 sounds used in British English speech (Received Pronunciation or RP, an educated accent associated with but not exclusive to south-east England).

Alphabet Pronunciation • Below, you can see how we pronounce the

letters of the alphabet.

Classifying the vowel sounds in English

• The classification of vowels is based on four major aspects:• Tongue height - according to the vertical position of the

tongue (high vowels, also referred to as close; low vowels, also referred to as open; intermediate - close-mid and open-mid)

• Frontless vs. backless of the tongue - according to the horizontal position of the highest part of the tongue.

• Lip rounding - whether the lips are rounded (O-shape) or spread (no rounding) when the sound is being made.

• Tenseness of the articulators - refers to the amount of muscular tension around the mouth when creating vowel sounds. Tense and lax are used to describe muscular tension.

Front vowels

(tongue body is pushed forward)

Central vowels(tongue body is neutral)

Back vowels(tongue body is pulled

back)

High/close vowels

(tongue body is raised)

/i:/ see/I/ sit /u:/ boot

/U/ book

Mid vowels(tongue body is intermediate)

/e/ bait*/E/ bet /ᵊ/ sofa**, /3:/ bird /o/ boat*

/):/ bought***

Low/open vowels

(tongue body is lowered)

/œ/ bat/ᶺ/ under**

/a:/ father, /ᵅ/ sock(BrE)

Classifying the vowel sounds in English

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1

Classifying the Consonants Sounds of English

• According to the Manner and Place of Articulation the consonants are:

stops, also known as plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, laterals, and approximants. Nasals, laterals and approximants are always voiced; stops, fricatives and affricates can be voiced or unvoiced.

Manner and Place of ArticulationStops/Plosives/

During production of these sounds, the airflow from the lungs is completely blocked at some point, then released. In English, they are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/.

FricativesThe flow of air is constricted, but not totally stopped or blocked. In English, these include /f/, /v/, /ᶱ/, /ð/,/s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ᶾ/, and /h/.

AffricatesThese sounds begin like stops, with a complete blockage of air/closure of the vocal tract, and end with a restricted flow of air like fricatives. English has two affricates - the /tʃ/ sounds of "church" and the /dᶾ/ of "judge".

Nasals Nasals are sounds made with air passing through the nose. In English, these are /m/, /n/, and /ᶯ/.

Laterals Lateral consonants allow the air to escape at the sides of the tongue. In English there is only one such sound - /l/

ApproximantsIn the production of an approximant, one articulator is close to another, but the vocal tract is not narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced. In English, these are /j/, /w/ and /r/. Approximants /j/ and /w/ are also referred to as semi-vowels.

The place of articulation

• According to the place of articulation (where in the mouth or throat the sound is produced) the consonants are:

Contin…Bilabial: with both lips /p/, /b/, /m/

Labiodental: between lower lip and upper teeth /f/, /v/

Dental/Interdental: between the teeth /ᶱ/, /ð/

Alveolar: the ridge behind the upper front teeth /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, /r/

Alveo-palatal (or post-alveolar): it is the area betweenthe alveolar ridge and the hard palate

/ʃ/, /ᶾ/, /tʃ/, /dᶾ/

Palatal: hard palate, or 'roof' of the mouth' /j/

Velar: the soft palate or velum /k/, /g/, /ᶯ/

Glottal (laryngeal): space between the vocal cords /h/

Speech Mechanism

2

Th- sound

• Three-free• Thin-fin• Thread-Fred• Death-deaf• They-day• Those-doze

l-n-sound

• Lot-not• Night-light• Life-knife• Lame-name• Line-nine

V-sound

• Vic-wick• Wine-vine• Why-vie• Advice• Arrive• Five

l-r-(w)-sound

• lamp ramp• lace race • lake rake (awake)• lock rock (wok)• light right (white) • load road

S-sh-sound

• Sea-she• She sells seashells on

the seashore.

References • https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/what.htm• http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/english-phonetics.html • Image 1 https://www.google.co.in/search?tbm=isch&tbs=rimg

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• http://www.slideshare.net/josemariaagulleiro/classroom-language-simple-instructions• http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/training/

Contin…• Image 2 https://www.google.co.in/search?tbm=isch&tbs=rimg

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