Un-Hungarian sounds

Szilágyi Szandra

Fonetika és fonológia angoltanároknak

Autumn 2014

1. Consonants

1.1. / ŋ / the velar nasal the sound / ŋ / regularly appears before /k, g/ just

as in Hungarian in word-final ng, the g is silent

/n/: sin kin son ban thin wind hand

/ŋ/: sing king sung bang thing winged hanged

1.2. / w / labio-velar: just like /u/ but /w/ is [- syllabic], a

”semi-vowel” it only occurs in prevocalic position in RP wh is pronounced just like w (which =

witch)

/v/: verse veal via vine veil vest invite

/w/: worse wheel wire wine whale west in white

1.3. / θ, ð / dental fricatives pronounce them like a lisp /s/ and /z/ they can be confused by beginners: /θ/ with /f/ and /ð/

with /d/ /θ/’s and /ð/’s spelling is always th

/s/: sing mouse face force miss seem useful/θ/: thing mouth faith fourth myth theme youthful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSdxqIBfEAw&feature=youtu.be

/d/: dare die dine eider sudden wordy dense/ð/: there thy thine either southern worthy thence

there is /θ/ ~ /ð/ alternation when a singular word becomes plural bath baths mouth mouths path paths youth youths

here are some other examples /θ/: breath tooth north /ð/: breathe teethe northern

2. Vowels

2.1. / ӕ / it is produced in the front of the mouth, with the

tongue in a mid or low position much broader than Hungarian /ɛ/ /ӕ/’s spelling is always a

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/vowel_short_7.shtml

2.2. / e / in conservative RP it is not as broad as the Hungarian /ɛ/,

it’s between /ɛ/ and /e:/ othervise nowadays it is the same as Hungarian /e/

/ӕ/: bat lad pack catch marry flash cattle

/e/: bet lead peck ketch merry flesh kettle

/ӕ/: salary mansion bag had a fact fanatic radish

/e/: celery mention beg head affect phonetic reddish

2.3. / ɪ / tongue is raised to mid position or high position

and is produced in the front half of the mouth it’s much broader than Hungarian /i/, similar to /ɛ/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/vowel_short_1.shtml

/ɪ/: sin bin rid is live risen his

2.4. / Ʌ / low and central it is similar to a short Hungarian /a:/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/vowel_short_3.shtml

2.5. / ɒ / low and back it is between Hungarian /o/ and /ɔ/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/vowel_short_4.shtml

/Ʌ/: luck nut rub sung cuff colour gun

/ɒ/: lock not rob song cough collar gone

2.6. / ʊ / it is much broader than /u/ and approaches /o/

/u/: fut luk rum sugár puding pulóver bulit

/ ʊ/: foot look room sugar pudding pullover bullet

2.7. / ɜ: / it is similar to /ə/ but longer and tenser it is always followed by r in the spelling

/Ø:/: fő sző ők sőt lőn szőkül ökör

/ɜ:/: fur sir irk shirt learn circle occur

sources

János Kovács – Péter Siptár (1989): Angolra hangolva. Budapest. Tankönyvkiadó.

Ádám Nádasdy (2003): Practice book in English Phonetics and Phonology. Budapest. Nemzeti.

http://www.youtube.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/

Thank you for your attention!