Phonetics

Task 1
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.

1. Stress
2. Phoneme
3. Intonation

A. The music of our voices

B. Giving emphasis to one syllable
C. An individual sound
 Task 1
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.

1. Stress
2. Phoneme
3. Intonation

A. The music of our voices

B. Giving emphasis to one syllable
C. An individual sound
 Task 2
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.

1. An individual sound is mispronounced

2. A request is made with very flat intonation
3. The wrong syllable is stressed in a word

A. The word is incomprehensible

B. The listener might understand “bin” when the speaker
wanted to say “pin”
C. The speaker can sound arrogant and demanding
 Task 2
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.

1. An individual sound is mispronounced

2. A request is made with very flat intonation
3. The wrong syllable is stressed in a word

A. The word is incomprehensible

B. The listener might understand “bin” when the speaker
wanted to say “pin”
C. The speaker can sound arrogant and demanding
INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC
ALPHABET(IPA)
 SYMBOLS
…from Latin: e.g. /m//v//ɑ/
…from Greek: e.g. /θ//ð//ʊ/
…created:/ŋ/

…and the diacritic symbols:/ː//'//ˌ/

Aims of the lesson:
• Becoming more aware of how and why we
use English sounds
(language awareness, metalinguistic analysis)

• Improving English pronunciation

 MINIMAL PAIRS

3 θriː
tin kæt

triː
θɪn hæt
 Let’s compare!
Italian sounds
which don’t exist Examples of English sounds which don’t exist in Italian
in English

Consonants Vowels Diphthongs Consonants

/λ/ aglio /ə/ about /aʊ/ now /ð/ then
/ɲ/ gnomo /ɜ:/ bird /θ/ thin
/dz/ zelo /æ/ cat /əʊ/ go /ɳ/ long
/ts/ zio /ɪ:/ see /eə/ there /ʒ / measure
Let’s compare!

7 vowels = 30
23 consonants

12 vowels
= 44
8 diphtongs
24 consonants
 Consonants and their symbols

/b/ as in bag /n/ as in note

/d/ as in dog /p/ as in pot
/f/ as in fat /r/ as in rope
/g/ as in good /s/ as in sock
/h/ as in hat /t/ as in tear
/l/ as in late /v/ as in vowel
/m/ as in man /w/ as in worm
/z/ as in zoo
 Other familiar symbols, but…

• /k/ cake, crack, ache, stomach

• /g/ get, give; NO: gem
• /h/ happy, here; NO: thirsty, show,
Thomas, hour, heir,
• /j/ your, yes, cute; NO: jam
• /s/ piece/peace, sell/cell,
• /z/ zone, lazy, nose/knows,
NO: pizza
 Confusion between spellings and sounds

• beat, seed, piece, machine /i:/

• day, veil, obey /eı/

• shoe, sugar, issue, mansion, mission, nation, suspicion, ocean, conscious,

chaperon, schist, fuchsia /∫/

one single sound may correspond

to more than one letter
 Confusion between spellings and sounds

man car name

/æ/ man /α:/ car /eɪ/ name

/t∫/ cheese, church, cheap

/∫/ chalet, champagne, Chigago, chic

/k/ character, chemistry, chaos

Confusion between spellings and sounds: silent
letters

<b> in subtle, doubt, comb, lamb

<w> in answer

<k> in knife, know, knight

<gh> in bright, light, night

<-e> in name, time, goose

Silent letters – Which letters are silent in the
following words?

tomb whistle folk Greenwich

pneumatic soften dumb honest

receipt weigh debt

psychiatry column scissors knot

comb heir aisle

Homophones: flour, flower
Homographs

He took a bow at
the end of the
concert /baʊ/
He was wearing a
bow tie /bəʊ/
Words, words, words….
WORD STRESS
Melancholic
ˌmeləŋ’kɒlɪk

Secondary Primary
stress stress
 STRESS SHIFT

afternoon afternoon tea

Japanese Japanese Girl

weekend weekend traffic

Classic Italian-speakers errors

adjective, colleague, canal, report……

IN COMPOUNDS
e-mail, home-page, web-site, chat-line
 ASSIMILATION

a consonant sound at the end of a word becomes similar to a

consonant sound at the beginning of another word:

/s + ʃ/  /ʃ:/ this shop /ðɪʃ’ʃɒp/

/t + k/  /k:/ that cake /ðæk’keɪk/
/t + g/  /g:/ greet guests /gri:g’gests/
 LINKING /r/
Normally /r/ is not pronounced in the final position in BBC
English. In connected speech, however, the final spelling
‘r’ of a word is pronounced if the first sound of the next
word is a vowel:

That’s my car /ka:/

That car is new. /ka:r ɪz nju:/
 INTRUSIVE CONSONANTS:/j/ /w/
- if the first word ends in /ɪ/ and the next word starts with any
vowel sound, we add /j/
every ear /evrɪ ʲɪə/
sounds like every year
- if the first word ends with /u:/ or /ʊ/ and the next word starts
with any vowel sound, we add /w/
you ache /ju: ʷeɪk/
sounds like you wake
 ELISION

a sound which would be present in a word spoken in isolation

is omitted in connected speech, e.g.:omission of /t/, omission
of /d/
next please /neks pli:z/
I don’t know /ai dəʊ nəʊ/

you and me /ju: ən mi:/

stand there /stæn ðeə/
 VOWEL REDUCTION
If you say the following sentences rapidly, stressing the
underlined syllables:
You and me
I wish you would tell me
You will notice that in the second sentence the vowels in
these two words are reduced, i.e. become shorter and less
clear:
/ju: ən mi:/
/aɪ ’wɪʃ jʊ wʊd ‘tel mɪ/
 STRONG AND WEAK FORMS

strong form weak form

and /ænd/ /ən/

of /ɒv/ /əv/
you /ju:/ /jʊ/
does /dʌz/ /dəz/
have /hæv/ /həv/ /əv/
 INTONATION

I had coffee cake and honey

I had coffee, cake and honey

 FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION
1. INDICATOR OF ATTITUDE - expresses our
attitude at the moment of speaking to the
situation we are in, or to what we are talking
about, or to ourselves or to our listener;
2. GRAMMATICAL INDICATOR - indicates if our
utterance is a declarative sentence, an
imperative, an exclamation, a question;
3. DISCOURSE INDICATOR – reveals the
relationship between utterances and
information throughout the discourse.
Exercises
1. In each of these groups of words, one word is exactly the same
as in normal letters. Underline it. Then write the others in normal
letters.

/'pensəl/ /'peɪpə/ /pen/ /'nəʊtbʊk/

/desk/ /fæks/ /kəm'pjuːtə/ /'telɪfəʊn/
/nek/ /hed/ /hænd/ /leg/
/hen/ /pɪg/ /ʃiːp/ /kaʊ/
/griːn/ /bluː/ /red/ /blæk/
/get/ /teɪk/ /gɪv/ /gəʊ/
/'sevən//ten/ /θriː/ /faɪv/
 1. KEY

pencil paper pen notebook

desk fax computer telephone
neck head hand leg
hen pig sheep cow
green blue red black
get take give go
seven ten three five
 2. Here is a list of different activities. In each one, one of
the words is written with phonemic symbols. Write it in
normal letters.

Ski /dʒʌmpɪŋ/
/wɒʃɪŋ/ the dishes
/juːzɪŋ/ a computer
/sɪŋɪŋ/ a song
/θɪŋkɪŋ/ about something
/pleɪjɪŋ/ games
 2. KEY

Ski jumping
washing the dishes
using a computer
singing a song
thinking about something
playing games
 3. Long vs. short vowels

• bee
• sheet
• bit
• cat
• food
• cangaroo
• put
• third
• but
• core
• far
• marsh (fever)
• set
 3. KEY

Long Short
• bee • bit
• sheet
• cat
• food
• cangaroo
• put
• third • but
• core • set
• far
• marsh
 4. Insert the missing words
/i:/ /ɪ/ /e/ æ

bead

bet

did

ken

lad

seat
 4. KEY
/i:/ /ɪ/ /e/ æ

bead bid bed bad

beat bit bet bat

deed did dead dad

keen kin ken can

lead lid led lad

seat sit set sat

 5. Diphthongs: identify the words

1. /ʧaɪld/
2. /’weɪʤɪz/
3. /ʃaʊt/
4. /ʧɔɪs/
5. /ʃaɪ/
6. /’deɪnʤə/
7. /en’ʤɔɪd/
8. /’aɪðə/
9. /ʃaʊə/
 5. KEYS

1. /ʧaɪld/ 1. Child
2. /’weɪʤɪz/ 2. Wages
3. /ʃaʊt/ 3. Shout
4. /ʧɔɪs/ 4. Choice
5. /ʃaɪ/ 5. Shy
6. /’deɪnʤə/ 6. Danger
7. /en’ʤɔɪd/ 7. Enjoyed
8. /’aɪðə/ 8. Either
9. /ʃaʊə/ 9. shower
 6.Identify the correct transcription

• Soul • Sew
a. /sɒl/ a. /sɔ:/
b. /sɔ:l/ b. /səʊ/
c. /səʊl/ c. /sju:/

• Throw • Ought
– /θrɔ:/ a. /ɔ:t/
– /θrəʊ/ b. /əʊt/
– /θru:/ c. /ɒt/
 6.KEY

• Soul • Sew
a. /sɒl/ a. /sɔ:/
b. /sɔ:l/ b. /səʊ/
c. /səʊl/ c. /sju:/

• Throw • Ought
– /θrɔ:/ a. /ɔ:t/
– /θrəʊ/ b. /əʊt/
– /θru:/ c. /ɒt/
 7. For each of the following words, choose the
correct vowel sound
• foot
– a) /ʊ/ • clear
– b) /u:/ – a) /i:/
– c) /əʊ/ – b) /ə/
• stir – c) /ɪə/
– a) /ɜː/ • straw
– b) /ɪ/ – a) /ɜ:/
– c) /ə/ – b) /ɔ:/
• want – c) /ʌ/
– a) /ɑː/
– b) /ɒ/
– c) /ə/
 7.KEY

• foot • clear
a) /ʊ/ – c) /ɪə/
• straw
• stir
– b) /ɔ:/
a) /ɜ:/
• Want
b) /ɒ/
8. Match the word and the phonetic
transcription

1) orange a) / mə’ʃi:n/
2) women b) /’si:lɪɳ/
3) quay/key c) /ði:z/
4) children d) /’læɳgwɪdʒ/
5) ceiling e) /’ɒrɪndʒ/
6) this f) /’wɪmɪn/
7) these g) /ðɪs/
8) machine h) /’tʃɪldrən/
9) minute i) /’prɒmɪs/
10) promise j) /’kɒtɪdʒ/
11) cottage k) /’mɪnɪt/
12) language l) /ki:/
1-e 8. KEY
8-a
2-f 9-k
3-l 10-i
4-h 11-j
5-b 12-d
6-g
7-c
9. Choose the word which matches the phonetic
transcription

1) /maʊðz/ a) mouths
b) months
c) mouse
2) /nəʊ/ a) nor
b) now
c) know/no
3) /praʊd/ a) pride
b) proud
c) prude
4) /fɪəʳ/ a) fear
b) fair
c) far
 9. KEY

1) A
2) C
3) B
4) A
10. Words commonly mispronounced. Guess what these words are

9. laɪən/ - ......................
1. /wɜ:d/ - .........................
10./breθ/ - ......................
2. /əʊnli/ - ........................
11./bri:ð/ - .....................
3. /frʌnt/ - ........................
12/rɪ'si:t/ - .....................
4. /'eəriə/ - ......................
13./mə’tjuə/ - ...................
5. /pla:nt/ - .......................
14./hɪə/ - .........................
6. /vəraɪəti/ - ....................
15./ri:dʒən/ - .........………
7. /peərənt/ - ....................
16./dɪ'li:t/ - ......................
8. /ðeə/ - .........................
17./bækwəd/ - ..................
18./fo:wəd/ - ....................
19./pə’tɪkjələ/ - ................
20./nʌθɪɳ/ - .....................
 10. KEY

1)word 10)breath 19)particular

2)only 11) breathe 20) nothing
3)front 12)receipt
4)area 13) mature
5)plant 14)hear-here
6)variety 15)region
7)parent 16)delete
8)there 17)backward
9)lion 18)forward