Transcribing English words

Victor GAO

Faculty of Foreign LanguagesZhejiang Education College

Sept. 2009

Are you all ears?

英语口语与朗读涉及两个系统

韵律系统超音位因素

英语语音音位系统

句重音 句子节奏句子语调英语元音 英语辅音

5-9 号开口越来越小1-5 号开口越来越大

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

:

1-4号唇型越来越扁 6-9号唇型越来越圆

1-4号为前元音

English monophthongs

5-9号为后元音 10-12号为中元音

front central backClosed

Close-mid

Open-mid

Open

spread

The basic vowels chart

rounded

舌前 舌中 舌后The basic vowels chart

唇型越来越扁

唇型越来越圆

合口

半合

半开

全开

中央

front central backClosed

Close-mid

Open-mid

Open

spread

The basic vowels chart

rounded

Basics of successful reading

Phonemic awarenessPhonics

vocabularyReading fluencyComprehension

Grammar Proficiency

Phonemic Awareness

Phonics: The integration of sounds and symbols

Phonemic Awareness: being sensitive to the sounds and their written forms

If symbols are involved in letter reading, it is phonics! 在读英语时，看到字母就知道其发音。

What is a syllable?

A syllable is a unit of sound composed of 

1. a central peak of sonority 响音峰 (usually a vowel), and

2. the consonants that cluster around this central peak.

age hi make next huge

What is a syllable?

For example, the word hotel has two syllables: ho and tel.

The syllables are marked here as in ho/tel.

Syllable Structure The general structure of a

syllable consists of the following segments:

Onset (obligatory in some languages, optional or even restricted in others)

Rhyme & Nucleus (obligatory in all languages)

Coda (optional in some languages, highly restricted or prohibited in others)

Syllable structureParts Description Optionality

OnsetInitial segment of a syllable: Optional

RhymeCore of a syllable, consisting of a nucleus and coda (see below)

Obligatory

Nucleus核

Central segment of a syllable Obligatory

CodaClosing segment of a syllable Optional

are

Central peak of sonority 响音峰

tar

Onset sound

star

More onset sounds

start

A coda

starts

More codas

Weak and Strong Syllables

One of the most noticeable features of English is that many syllables are weak.

I will discuss in a separate chapter how these weak syllables are pronounced and where they occur in English.

Weak and Strong Syllables

We could describe them partly in terms of stress by saying, for example, that strong syllables are stressed and weak syllables unstressed. Example:

Example /ɪg‵zɑːmpl /

What is an open syllable?

In a stressed syllable, if there is only one vowel letter, followed by a consonant letter and a silent “e”, then this syllable is called an open syllable and that vowel letter is pronounced as the sound of the vowel letter itself.

Examples: make, those, no, I

重读开音节 在一个重读音节中，如果只有一个元音

字母，后加一个辅音字母和一个尾音 e（哑音 e ），那么该音节就叫做重读开音节，其中的元音字母发字母本身的音。如 make, those, no, I

What is a closed syllable? In a stressed syllable, if there is

only one vowel letter, followed by one or two consonant letters without a silent “e”, then this syllable is called a closed syllable and

that vowel letter is pronounced as the sound of the short vowel whose shape is similar to the vowel letter itself. like

What is a closed syllable? In a stressed syllable, if

there is only one vowel letter, followed by one or two consonant letters without a silent “e”, then this syllable is called a closed syllable

What is a closed syllable? And that vowel letter is

pronounced as the sound of the short vowel whose shape is similar to the vowel letter itself. For example:

Closed syllables

a e i o u

Examples: big ； back

在一个重读音节中，如果只有一个元音字母，后加一个或两个辅音字母，后面不跟有哑音 e ，那么该音节就叫做重读闭音节，其中的元音字母发与该字母形状相应的短元音。

a e i o u

如 big ； back

重读闭音节

Syllable types

A closed syllable: A closed syllable has one and only one vowel, and it ends in a consonant.

Examples include in, ask, truck, sock, stretch, twelfth, and on.

a can be pronounced as:

– –a base

Vowel letter a

aOpen

a can be pronounced as:

– –a basea

va bag

vOpen

Closed

Vowel letter a

a can be pronounced as:

– –a base

ava bag

v

a ago• •

Open

Closed

Unstressed

Vowel letter a

Strong and weak forms

a can be pronounced as:

– –a base

ava bag

v

a ago• •

Long vowel

Short vowel

Vowel No.12

Vowel letter a

– –

e

e these

Vowel letter e

e can be pronounced as:

– –

e

e these

e e

e can be pronounced as:

eggvv

Vowel letter e

e can be pronounced as:

– –

e

e these

e

ve egg

v

e• marvelous•

Vowel letter e

i can be pronounced as:

– –

i

i bike

Vowel letter i

i can be pronounced as:

– –

i

i bikevi big

v

Vowel letter i

i can be pronounced as:

– –

i

i bikevi big

v

i• terrible

•

v

Vowel letter i

o can be pronounced as:

– –

o

o hope

Vowel letter o

o can be pronounced as:

– –

o

o hope

o son

Vowel letter o

o can be pronounced as:

– –

o

o hope

o son

ov

hotv

Vowel letter o

o can be pronounced as:

– –

o

o hope

• •

o son

o

ov

hotv

Vowel letter o

today–‵

u can be pronounced as:

– –

u

u huge

Vowel letter e

u can be pronounced as:

– –

u

u huge

u sun

Vowel letter e

u can be pronounced as:

– –

u

u huge

v vu sun

u put

Vowel letter u

u can be pronounced as:

– –

u

u huge

v v

• •

u sun

u put

u but

Vowel letter u

u can be pronounced as:

– –

u

u huge

v v

• •

u sun

u put

u but

Vowel Letter e

Phonemic Awareness

Phonics: The integration of sounds and symbols

Phonemic Awareness: being sensitive to the sounds and their written forms

If symbols are involved in letter reading, it is phonics! 在读英语时，看到字母就知道其发音。

Practice

phonics

形音对照法

Practice

phonics

Practice

phonics‵v v

Practice

syllables

音节

Practice

syllables

Practice

syllables ‵v •

Practice

vowel

元音

Practice

vowel

Practice

vowel

Practice

monophthongs

单元音

Practice

monophthongs

Practice

monophthongs‵v v•

Practice

diphthongs

双元音

Practice

diphthongs

Practice

diphthongs‵v v

Practice

consonant

辅音

Practice

consonant

Practice

consonant ‵v • •

Practice

bilabial

双唇音

Practice

bilabial

Practice

bilabial‵

– –

bilabial

Practice

dental

齿音

Practice

dental

dental

Practice

dental‵v •

Practice

alveolar

齿龈音

Practice

alveolar

Practice

alveolar‵v •

alveolar

Practice

palatal

腭

Practice

palatal

palatal

Practice

palatal‵v ••

Practice

velum

小舌

Practice

velum

Practice

velum‵•–

velar

Practice

glottal

声门的

Practice

glottal

Adam’s Apple

Practice

glottal‵v •

Practice

plosive

爆破音

Practice

plosive

Practice

plosive‵v–

Practice

fricative

摩擦音

Practice

fricative

Practice

fricative‵v v•

Practice

affricate

破擦音

Practice

affricate

Practice

affricate

Practice

affricate‵v v

Practice

lateral

舌侧音

Practice

lateral

Practice

lateral

Practice

lateral‵ v ••

Practice

articulation‵

发音

Practice

articulation‵

Practice

articulation‵v – –

‵

Practice

combination

组合

Practice

combination

Practice

combination‵v –v

‵

Practice

discipline

纪律

Practice

discipline

Practice

disciplinev

‵v •

Practice

passage

短文

Practice

passage

Practice

passagev

‵

Practice

Italy

Practice

Italy

Practice

Italyv

‵ • v

Practice

Italian

Practice

Italian

Practice

Italianv

‵ •vv

Practice

Italianv

‵v

Practice

simultaneous

同时发生的

Practice

simultaneous

Practice

simultaneous‵v

– –

Practice

challenge

Practice

challenge

挑战

Practice

challenge‵v •

Basics of successful reading

Phonemic awarenessPhonics

vocabularyReading fluencyComprehension

Grammar Proficiency