Phonetics
Cinzia GiglioniUniversità della Valle d’Aosta
Task 1
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
1. Stress2. Phoneme3. Intonation
A. The music of our voicesB. Giving emphasis to one syllableC. An individual sound
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
1. Stress2. Phoneme3. Intonation
A. The music of our voicesB. Giving emphasis to one syllableC. An individual sound
Task 1
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
1. An individual sound is mispronounced2. A request is made with very flat intonation3. The wrong syllable is stressed in a word
A. The word is incomprehensibleB. 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 mispronounced2. A request is made with very flat intonation3. The wrong syllable is stressed in a word
A. The word is incomprehensibleB. The listener might understand “bin” when the speaker
wanted to say “pin”C. The speaker can sound arrogant and demanding
Task 2
?
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
3θriː
tin kæt
triːθɪn hæt
Let’s compare!
Italian sounds which don’t exist in English
Examples of English sounds which don’t exist in Italian
Consonants/λ/ aglio/ɲ/ gnomo/dz/ zelo/ts/ zio
Vowels/ə/ about/ɜ:/ bird/æ/ cat/ɪ:/ see
Diphthongs/aʊ/ now /əʊ/ go/eə/ there
Consonants/ð/ then/θ/ thin/ɳ/ long/ʒ / measure
Let’s compare!
7 vowels23 consonants
12 vowels8 diphtongs24 consonants
= 30
= 44
Consonants and their symbols
/b/ as in bag/d/ as in dog/f/ as in fat/g/ as in good/h/ as in hat/l/ as in late/m/ as in man
/n/ as in note/p/ as in pot/r/ as in rope/s/ as in sock/t/ as in tear/v/ as in vowel/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 correspondto 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
He took a bow atthe end of theconcert /baʊ/He was wearing abow tie /bəʊ/
Homographs
Words, words, words….WORD STRESSMelancholicˌmeləŋ’kɒlɪk
Secondary stress
Primary stress
STRESS SHIFT
afternoon afternoon tea
Japanese Japanese Girl
weekend weekend traffic
Classic Italian-speakers errors
adjective, colleague, canal, report……
IN COMPOUNDSe-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 INTONATION1. 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 notebookdesk fax computer telephoneneck head hand leghen pig sheep cowgreen blue red blackget take give goseven 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 jumpingwashing the dishesusing a computersinging a songthinking about somethingplaying games
3. Long vs. short vowels
• bee• sheet• bit• cat• food• cangaroo• put• third• but• core• far• marsh (fever)• set
3. KEY
Long• bee• sheet• food• cangaroo• third• core• far• marsh
Short• bit• cat• put • but• set
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/2. /’weɪʤɪz/3. /ʃaʊt/4. /ʧɔɪs/5. /ʃaɪ/6. /’deɪnʤə/7. /en’ʤɔɪd/8. /’aɪðə/9. /ʃaʊə/
1. Child2. Wages3. Shout4. Choice5. Shy6. Danger7. Enjoyed8. Either9. shower
6.Identify the correct transcription
• Soula. /sɒl/b. /sɔ:l/c. /səʊl/
• Throw– /θrɔ:/– /θrəʊ/– /θru:/
• Sewa. /sɔ:/b. /səʊ/c. /sju:/
• Oughta. /ɔ:t/b. /əʊt/c. /ɒt/
6.KEY
• Soula. /sɒl/b. /sɔ:l/c. /səʊl/
• Throw– /θrɔ:/– /θrəʊ/– /θru:/
• Sewa. /sɔ:/b. /səʊ/c. /sju:/
• Oughta. /ɔ:t/b. /əʊt/c. /ɒt/
7. For each of the following words, choose the correct vowel sound
• foot– a) /ʊ/– b) /u:/– c) /əʊ/
• stir– a) /ɜː/– b) /ɪ/– c) /ə/
• want– a) /ɑː/– b) /ɒ/– c) /ə/
• clear– a) /i:/– b) /ə/– c) /ɪə/
• straw– a) /ɜ:/– b) /ɔ:/– c) /ʌ/
7.KEY
• foota) /ʊ/
• stira) /ɜ:/
• Wantb) /ɒ/
• clear– c) /ɪə/
• straw
– b) /ɔ:/
8. Match the word and the phonetic transcription
1) orange2) women3) quay/key4) children5) ceiling6) this7) these8) machine9) minute10) promise11) cottage12) language
a) / mə’ʃi:n/b) /’si:lɪɳ/c) /ði:z/d) /’læɳgwɪdʒ/e) /’ɒrɪndʒ/f) /’wɪmɪn/g) /ðɪs/h) /’tʃɪldrən/i) /’prɒmɪs/j) /’kɒtɪdʒ/k) /’mɪnɪt/l) /ki:/
8. KEY1-e 8-a2-f 9-k3-l 10-i4-h 11-j5-b 12-d6-g7-c
9. Choose the word which matches the phonetic transcription
1) /maʊðz/ a) mouthsb) monthsc) mouse
2) /nəʊ/ a) norb) nowc) know/no
3) /praʊd/ a) prideb) proudc) prude
4) /fɪəʳ/ a) fearb) fairc) far
9. KEY
1) A2) C3) B4) A
10. Words commonly mispronounced. Guess what these words are
1. /wɜ:d/ - .........................
2. /əʊnli/ - ........................
3. /frʌnt/ - ........................
4. /'eəriə/ - ......................
5. /pla:nt/ - .......................
6. /vəraɪəti/ - ....................
7. /peərənt/ - ....................
8. /ðeə/ - .........................
9. laɪən/ - ......................
10./breθ/ - ......................
11./bri:ð/ - .....................
12/rɪ'si:t/ - .....................
13./mə’tjuə/ - ...................
14./hɪə/ - .........................
15./ri:dʒən/ - .........………
16./dɪ'li:t/ - ......................
17./bækwəd/ - ..................
18./fo:wəd/ - ....................
19./pə’tɪkjələ/ - ................
20./nʌθɪɳ/ - .....................
10. KEY
1)word 10)breath 19)particular2)only 11) breathe 20) nothing3)front 12)receipt4)area 13) mature5)plant 14)hear-here6)variety 15)region7)parent 16)delete8)there 17)backward9)lion 18)forward
Links
• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download/pron_chart/pron_chart.shtml
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/recognising/homophones/quiz.shtml
• http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flash/flashin.htm