intro to pronunciation

An Introduction to Pronunciation Teaching

/ n ntr 'd k nt pr n ntsi 'e nti: /by George Vassilakis

/ba : vas 'l kis/

Table of Contents

0. Purpose and Intended Readership of this Document 1

1. Introduction 1

2. Priorities in pronunciation teaching 2

2.1. Goals and models 2

2.2. Overall Approach 4

3. Teacher Knowledge and Awareness 5

4. Segmental Phonology 6

4.1. Vowels 6

4.2. Consonants 9

5. Suprasegmental Phonology 14

5.1. The nature of the syllable 14

5.2. Strong and weak syllables 17

5.3. Word stress 19

5.3.1. The nature of word stress 19

5.3.2. Stress in Simple Words 21

5.3.3. Stress in Complex Words 22

6. Problems of Greek Speakers 24

Appendix A: The International Phonetic Alphabet 27

Appendix B: Greek Vowels and Consonants 28

Appendix C: Underhill's Phonemic Chart for English 29

0. Purpose and Intended Readership of this DocumentThis text was specially written for teachers of English as a foreign language in

Greece who are interested in helping their learners improve their pronunciation butfeel that they themselves do not have adequate knowledge of the phonologicalsystems of English to be able to help effectively. It is hoped that of the teachers whobelong to this group, both those whose mother tongue is English and those whohave different mother tongues will benefit from studying the text and doing theaccompanying tasks.

It should be clear that this is a very introductory text and, as such, it mayoccasionally contain information that is very basic and even oversimplified. The aimis to make teachers more aware of the phonological systems of the language, not togive them all of the information that a teacher needs in order to be able to teachpronunciation. The focus is thus on developing teachers' initial awareness, ratherthan equipping them with the tools they need in the classroom.

Introduction to pronunciation teaching - page 1 of 37

© George Vassilakis 2007

1. IntroductionIt is common knowledge that pronunciation teaching in Greece is the poor

relation of most ELT programmes. Although course books, especially in the last fewyears, typically include pronunciation practice among their activities, most EFLteachers in our country equally typically choose not to focus on pronunciation,believing that the time gained in this way can more usefully be invested in moregrammar practice. And yet, pronunciation is assessed in all of the exams thestudents are asked to take, while misunderstandings in spoken communication oftenarise as a result of poor pronunciation!

There are a number of reasons why so little attention is paid to pronunciation andthey relate to both teachers and learner, as well as the materials that are availablefor teaching pronunciation:

• Most teachers do not themselves have an adequate level of awareness of thephonology of English to enable them to feel confident about teachingpronunciation. At the same time, many feel (sometimes wrongly) that theirown phonological performance is not an appropriate model for learners toimitate; as a result, they avoid teaching or correcting pronunciation altogether.

• EFL learners are also not always as highly motivated to improve theirpronunciation as they are with regard to other aspects of their spokenproduction. It is true that pronunciation is closely linked to identity and it istherefore quite understandable that some learners, especially adults, simplydo not wish to sound like native speakers. It is equally true, however, thatpoor pronunciation is often to blame not only for communication breakdownsdue to the unintelligibility of what the learner is trying to say, but also forproblems in understanding what other speakers of English (native ornonnative) are saying,

• Finally, pronunciation teaching materials, in spite of the recent publication of anumber of specialist titles, are still quite sparse, while coursebooks as a rulefail to pay systematic attention to the development of pronunciation skills. Inaddition, most of the pronunciation activities to be found in teaching materialsare based on a behaviourist drill-and-kill paradigm, which inevitably leads toboredom among students and teachers alike. While there is clearly a varietyof activity types based on more sound pedagogic foundations in other areasof the curriculum, pronunciation teaching seems to have changed very little inthe last fifty years.

However, a more principled approach to the teaching of pronunciation, coupledwith a higher level of awareness of the English phonological system amongteachers, could fairly easily lead to tangible results.



2. Priorities in pronunciation teaching2.1. Goals and models

The first thing to determine before we start thinking about the actual teaching ofpronunciation is what our goals are. Obviously, expecting learners to develop anative or near-native pronunciation is quite a problematic goal. It is problematicbecause (a) a native pronunciation expectation is usually unrealistic and often quiteirrelevant to the learners' needs; and (b) there is no such thing as a single, uniformway in which native speakers of English pronounce their language: what is 'native'and acceptable in one geographical and social context may be alien and/orunacceptable in another. The issue of what kind of pronunciation we hope thelearners will develop and to what extent we expect them to develop it are thereforemore complicated than they might seem at first sight.

As far as the question of the model accent which we should teach our learners isconcerned, tradition and expediency have more or less dictated a decision to EFLteachers in Greece: the vast majority of teaching materials (books, tapes, CDs, ELTvideos and multimedia) and all the major learners' dictionaries use the accent whichcame to be known as RP (: Received Pronunciation), and which is nowadays oftencalled BBC English. This is the accent that has traditionally been taught in most ofEurope since the nineteenth century! The reasons why this accent was chosen,although it is only spoken by a tiny minority of Southern English people, may to acertain extent be political, but what is still true is that it is the most comprehensivelydescribed accent, the one we therefore know the most about, and the one that is notusually associated with the place its speakers come from, but rather with their levelof education and, often, social class. It is, in other words, quite a prestigious accent.

However, two factors have to be borne in mind with regard to our choice of BBCEnglish as the model accent to teach:

• Although BBC English can serve as a model for production (but still seebelow), learners are likely to be exposed to a variety of other accents whenthey eventually use English to communicate, native (including many otherBritish, American, Antipodean, African and Indian accents) as well asnonnative. It is essential therefore that they should be trained inunderstanding a number of accents and that we should not limit theirexposure to BBC English. Moreover, if their teacher is a native speakerwhose accent differs from BBC English, she or he should not attempt tochange her or his accent to make it sound more like BBC English, althoughshe or he should be aware of the systematic differences between BBCEnglish and her/his own accent.

• The goal cannot be for the learners themselves to develop all features ofBBC English to the extent that they might be mistaken for a native speaker!Apart from the fact that for most this would be an impossible goal, we haveto also realise that many learners do not wish to sound like native speakers



but prefer to retain their own ethnic and linguistic identity even when using aforeign language. At the same time, we have to bear in mind that mostlearners can expect to have to use their English not just with native speakers(who, of course, use many different accents), but also with other nonnativespeakers from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The main goalshould therefore be for the learners to develop a pronunciation that isintelligible and that does not stigmatise them.

The goals of intelligibility and non-stigmatisation need to be defined so that wecan set pronunciation goals. With regard to intelligibility, a useful distinction hasrecently been drawn Cruttenden 2001 between minimal general intelligibility and highacceptability. Minimal general intelligibility refers to a pronunciation which shares anumber of features with the model such that the listener can understand themessage if given enough time to tune in to the speaker's pronunciation. Highacceptability, on the other hand, refers to a pronunciation that is similar enough tothe model for listeners to be able to understand the message easily without having torely on the context and without the speaker betraying their regional origin tooblatantly. Whereas minimal general intelligibility would be an appropriate goal formost learners up to a high intermediate level, high acceptability is a more suitableaim for advanced learners or foreign teachers of English.

The notion of non-stigmatisation has to do with the sort of reaction that alearner's pronunciation may cause on the part of native listeners. Pronunciationproblems that might lead to any of the following should be given a high prioritybecause of the fact that they might harm the relationship between speaker andlistener and the listener's perception of the speaker as a person:

listener impatience

listener irritation

the assumption that the speaker is of a low educational or socialstandard

the assumption that the speaker is being impolite

It is usually mistakes in rhythm and intonation, rather than the pronunciation ofindividual sounds, that lead to stigmatisation as defined here. Therefore, rhythm andintonation should generally be considered high priorities in pronunciation teaching.

2.2. Overall Approach

Having determined our goals with reference to the learners' wishes, level andcommunicative needs, we then need to consider what approach we will adopt to theteaching of pronunciation, whether, that is, our approach will be systematic,integrated, remedial, or a combination of the three Celce-Murcia et al 1996.

A systematic approach to the teaching of pronunciation would require that apronunciation syllabus is drawn up, which is pre-determined and contains a



specification of phonological phenomena to be taught, in dedicated pronunciationlessons or 'slots' during the year. Thus, if a class devotes, for example, 20 minutes aweek to the development of pronunciation, and 'covers' items like the variousindividual sounds, intonation patterns, word stress, etc. in some sort of pre-determined order, the teacher can be said to have adopted a systematic approach.

An integrated approach takes advantage of the opportunities present for thepresentation and practice of pronunciation phenomena in lessons that are notprimarily aimed at pronunciation development. For example, it involves doing apronunciation slot when the main aim of the lesson is the presentation of the pasttense, focusing on the pronunciation of the -ed ending; doing pronunciation work onthe new vocabulary; isolating and practising pronunciation phenomena from arecording previously used for listening skills development.

A remedial approach to pronunciation teaching focuses retroactively on thepronunciation problems that the particular learners comprising the class have beendiagnosed to have. It usually involves recording the learners' production in order toanalyse it and diagnose problems, then devising specific activities that will helplearners overcome these problems.

Clearly, all approaches have advantages and it would be unfair to the learners touse any one of them exclusively. It is therefore recommended that we should adopt acombined approach with the following characteristics:

• Any opportunity for pronunciation work that arises during grammar,vocabulary, speaking or listening work should be taken advantage of.

• Specific pronunciation phenomena that have been found to be of particulardifficulty to Greek learners should form part of our pronunciation syllabus, tobe covered in 10-minute weekly slots, preferably during the 'oral hour.'

• Individual learners' problems, as diagnosed through interaction andrecordings (audio and/or video) should be dealt with reactively, especially atintermediate and advanced levels, when there is likely to be some mismatchbetween the learners' overall language competence and their phonologicalcompetence.

However, to implement such an approach, teachers need to know theirphonology in the same way as they are expected to know their grammar!



3. Teacher Knowledge and AwarenessFew language teachers would feel comfortable without a sound knowledge of the

grammar and the vocabulary systems of the language they teach. Yet, mostteachers do not mind knowing very little about the phonological system of thelanguage. Of course, it is clear that it is usually not pedagogically desirable to givelearners detailed explanations of either grammatical or phonological phenomena.However, the teacher ought to have that kind of knowledge to be able to explainwhat kind of problems the learners have, why they have these problems and howshe or he can help them overcome such problems. At the same time, it will benecessary for teachers to have explicit knowledge of the grammar, vocabulary andphonology of the language so as to make informed decisions about what to teach(and, more importantly, what not to teach) at each level and how to simplify what isto be taught.

Thus, most teachers would not only be able to understand a grammaticalstatement like the following, but they would also agree that this sort of knowledge isessential to a teacher:

The passive voice verb phrase is formed by using the appropriate formof the verb to be, followed by the past participle of the main verb.

And yet, very few teachers would understand, much less appreciate therelevance of phonological statements like the following to our profession:

The lack of aspiration of syllable-initial fortis plosives in accentedsyllables can often lead to them being perceived as the equivalentvoiced lenis plosives.

In the case of phonology, explicit knowledge and language awareness mayactually be more important than in the case of grammar, as problems inpronunciation often require remediation of a type which would be impossible withoutsuch knowledge; for example, learners may need to be taught what the difference isbetween the way a sound is pronounced in their native language and in English interms of how the sound is pronounced, how the tongue moves, etc.

Thus, English teachers need to have at least some basic knowledge of how thevarious distinctive sounds in the English language are produced, how sounds areaffected by stress and lack of stress (or unstress), what tunes are used to conveydifferent types of meaning, etc. They may also find it helpful to know somethingabout the phonology of the native language of the learners they teach so that theycan identify differences and anticipate potential problems.

The part of the phonological knowledge base that analyses sounds and the waythey are classified and realised in the language is called segmental phonology, whilethe part that analyses phenomena above the word level, such as stress, rhythm, andintonation, is known as suprasegmental phonology. In the next sections, we willreview some very basic terminology and principles of both segmental andsuprasegmental phonology



4. Segmental PhonologyThe distinctive categories of sound (phonemes) in a language are normally

divided into two main categories: (a) the vowels, i.e. the sounds that are producedwhen there is no obstruction to the airflow passing through the windpipe (trachea)and out of the mouth; and (b) the consonants, i.e. the sounds that are producedwhen some form of obstruction occurs in the airflow.

4.1. Vowels

Among the vowels, some are monophtongs, i.e. they sound like one sound, andsome are diphthongs, i.e. they consist in a glide from one sound to another.Examples of monophthongs are the vowel sounds found in the words hat, run, farand dog (respectively: /æ/, / /, / / and / / while examples of diphthongs are thevowel sounds in the words cake, toy, high and beer (respectively: /e /, / /, /a / and/ /). We will mainly be concerned here with the monophthongal vowel sounds.

In describing the articulation of vowels, it is important to describe the following:the horizontal position of the tongue the vertical position of the tonguethe lip positionthe typical duration (length) of the vowel

By varying one or more of the above while allowing the airstream to flowunobstructed, we can produce different vowels. Greek has a fairly uncomplicatedvowel system, consisting of only five vowels: /i/, /u/, / /, / /, / /. English, however,has a fairly complicated system consisting of twelve distinct vowel phonemes as wellas eight diphthongs: /i /, / /, / /, /u /, /e/, / /, / /, / /, /æ/, / /, / /, / /, / /, /e /, / /, / /, / /, /e /, /a / and /a /. The following tasks, adapted from Underhill 1994, will helpus explore how the position of the articulators, and especially the tongue, candetermine the quality of the English vowels we produce.

Task 1: Horizontal Tongue Position

Say the vowels in bee /i / and pool /u / a few times. Then say the vowels slowly, the one after theother, alternating between the two. In what direction does your tongue move? Which vowel is closerto the front and which is closer to the back of the mouth? Do the same for the following pairs ofvowels. Which vowels would you describe as front and which as back?

• /e/ as in the word let and / / as in the word saw• /æ/ as in the word pat and / / as in the word pot

Now try gliding from each of the above front vowels to the back very slowly and notice whatsounds are produced while your tongue is moving towards the back. Next, say the vowels in eachseries below without stopping. Which vowels would you describe as neither front nor back, butcentre?

• /i / / / as in bit / / as in took /u /• /e/ / / as in the first sound of a o / / as in bird / /• /æ/ / / as in luck / / as in part / /



Task 2: Vertical Tongue Position

Say the vowels in bee /i / and pat /æ/ a few times. Then say the vowels slowly, the one after theother, alternating between the two. In what direction does your tongue move? Which vowel requiresthat the tongue is close to the roof of the mouth and which vowel requires that the tongue is low, nearthe bottom of the mouth and the mouth is as open as possible?

Do the same for the following pairs of vowels. Which vowels would you describe as close andwhich as open?• / / as in the word bit and / / as in the word luck• / / as in the word took and / / as in the word part• /u / as in the word pool and / / as in the word pot

Now try gliding from each of the above close vowels to the open ones very slowly and noticewhat sounds are produced while your tongue is moving towards the bottom of the mouth.

Next, say the vowels in each series below without stopping. Which vowels would you describe asneither close nor open, but mid?• /i / /e/ as in bit /æ/ • / / / / as in the first sound of a o / /• / / / / as in bird / / • /u / / / as in the word saw / /

Task 3: Lip position

Say each of the above vowels again while looking at a mirror. Which of the three lip positionsbelow corresponds to each vowel?• spread• neutral• rounded

Task 4: Length

Say the following words. Underline the word in each pair whose vowel is longer.• pick /p k/ peak /pi k/• pull /p l/ pool /pu l/• bed /bed/ bird /b d/• luck /l k/ lark /l k/• pot /p t/ port /p t/

The following diagram (called the vowel quadrilateral) shows the main vowels inBBC English. To understand how it works, imagine that the left hand side of thediagram represents the front of the mouth, while the right represents the back of themouth. The top represents the roof of the mouth. Thus, /i:/ is a close front vowel, / /is a mid centre vowel and / / is an open back vowel.



Front Centre Back

Close

Mid

Open

Here is, then, a summary of characteristics of the English vowels in this accent:

Vowel Tongue (Horizontal) Tongue (Vertical) Lips

i front close spread

front-centre close loosely spread

back close loosely rounded

u back close rounded

e front mid very loosely spread

centre mid relaxed and neutral

centre mid neutrally spread

back mid-open rounded

æ front open neutrally open

centre open neutrally open

back open open

back open lightly rounded

4.2. Consonants

As we stated above, consonants characteristically obstruct the air flow. Thissometimes involves a complete stoppage, so that no air can escape through themouth or nose, but it can also involve different degrees of obstruction or delay in therelease of air.

In describing the articulation of consonants, the following features seem to beparticularly important:



the presence or absence of voicing (= vocal fold vibration) as the air passesthrough the vocal folds

the force with which the consonant is articulatedthe place of articulation, i.e. the position of the tongue and/or otherarticulators

the manner of articulation, i.e. the movement of the articulators and the typeof obstruction to the air flow that occurs.

Task 5: Voiced and unvoiced consonants

Say the following pairs of words, paying special attention to the initial consonant sounds in red:• pet /pet/ bet /bet/• tin /t n/ din /d n/• hush /h / measure /me /• charm /t m/ jar /d /• cot /k t/ got / t/• fear /f / veer /v /• thou ht / t/ though / /• sit /s t/ zit /z t/

Now put your hand on your neck, approximately where your Adam's apple is (or should be) andpress while you say the following sequences of sounds. Make a note of which sounds produce atangible vibration, i.e. which sounds are voiced, and which do not, i.e. are unvoiced.• p b p b p b• t d t d t d• t d t d t d• k k k k • f v f v f v f v• • s z s z s z s z •

Task 6: Fortis and Lenis Consonants

Say the following sounds slowly and carefully. Pay attention to the force of your breath as yousay each sound. To 'feel' the difference in force you could try putting your open palm close to yourlips. Which consonants require more force in the expelled air (and are therefore fortis consonants)?Which require less force in the expelled air (and are therefore lenis consonants)?• p b p b p b• t d t d t d• t d t d t d• k k k k • f v f v f v f v• • s z s z s z s z •

Is the following statement true or false?In English all voiced consonants are fortis, while unvoiced consonants are lenis.



Task 7: The Names of the Articulators

Match the names of the articulators on the left with the definitions (some definitions adapted fromRoach 2002) on the right.

Articulators Definitions

• alveolar ridge• back of the tongue• epiglottis• front of the tongue• glottis• hard palate• root of the tongue• tip of the tongue• tongue blade• uvula • velum

the rear, soft part of the roof of the mouththe part of the tongue that is a little further than the middle, towards the backthe hard, bony ridge behind the upper front teeth the part of tongue that is between the middle and the frontthe front part of the tongue just after the edge, where most of the movement occursthe uppermost front part of the tongue; the edgethe middle part of the roof of the mouththe opening between the vocal foldsthe little lump of soft tissue that you can observe in the back of your mouth dangling from the end of your soft palate the flap of cartilage lying behind the tongue and in front of the entrance to the larynx

Task 8: Place of Articulation

Say the consonants in each group below slowly and carefully and use the following labels todescribe their place of articulation (descriptions adapted from Kelly 2000).bilabial: both lips are used

labio-dental: the lower lip and the upper teeth are used

dental: the tongue tip is placed between the teeth or close to the upper teeth

alveolar: the blade of the tongue is close to the alveolar ridge

palato-alveolar: the blade of the tongue is just behind the alveolar ridge

palatal: the front of the tongue is raised close to the palate

velar: the back of the tongue touches the velum

glottal: the gap between the vocal folds is used to produce audible friction

• / /, / /• /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/• /p/, /b/, /m/• /h/• /k/, / /, / / (this is the consonant in -ing endings), /w/• /f/, /v/• /t /, /d /, / /, / /, /r/• /j/ (the initial consonant in yes)

Task 9: Manner of articulation

Manner of articulation refers to the way in which the air stream is obstructed and released in theproduction of consonants. There are the following possibilities:

• Plosives: The velum is raised and a complete closure is made somewhere in the vocaltract (the lips, the alveolar ridge or the velum). Air pressure builds up behind the closureand the air is then suddenly released.

• Affricates: The velum is raised and a complete closure is made just behind the alveolarridge. Air pressure builds up just behind the closure, but the air is then released more



slowly than in plosives.• Fricatives: Two articulators (e.g. the lips, the tongue, the roof of the mouth) come close

together so that there is audible friction.• Nasal consonants: A complete closure is made somewhere in the oral cavity and the air

can only escape through the nose.• Lateral consonants: The blade of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge so that air flows

around the sides of the tongue.• Approximants: The vocal organs come near to each other, but not so close as to cause

audible friction.

Say the following consonants, paying attention to the way the air stream is obstructed andreleased and decide what kind of consonants they are with reference to their manner of articulation.

/t /, /d //r/, /j/, /w//p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, / //m/, /n/, / //f/, /v/, / /, / /, /s/, /z/, / /, / /, /h//l/

Task 10: Review of consonants

Match the consonants on the left to their descriptions on the right.voiceless velar plosive

d voiced dental fricativeb voiceless palato-alveolar fricative

voiced alveolar lateralm voiced bilabial plosivel voiced bilabial nasalk voiced palato-alveolar affricate

The table below is a summary of information on the English consonantphonemes. Unvoiced phonemes appear in brown type.

plosive affricate fricative nasal lateral approximant

bilabial p b mlabio-dental

f v

dental alveolar t d s z n lpalato-alveolar

t r

palatal jvelar k wglottal h



5. Suprasegmental Phonology5.1. The nature of the syllable

In phonetics and phonology, a syllable is defined with reference to the way it isproduced, the way it sounds and the combinations of phonemes that can comprise asyllable. In phonetic terms, a syllable can be:• a minimum syllable which consists of a vowel in isolation, for example the

words are / /, or / / and err / /.• a syllable which has an onset, i.e. more than silence preceding the centre of

the syllable, for example bar /b /, key /ki /, more /m /• a syllable which does not have an onset, but has a coda, i.e. more than

silence following the centre of the syllable: am /æm/ , is / z/, ought / t/• a syllable which has both an onset and a coda: run /r n/, sat /sæt/, fill /f l/

In English, it is possible to have the following types of syllable:• a syllable with zero onset, i.e. one that begins with a vowel.• a syllable with one initial consonant

• a syllable beginning with two or more consonants, whose onset is then said tobe a consonant cluster:

• If the consonant cluster consists of /s/ followed by another consonant, then /s/is the pre-initial consonant and the other consonant is the initial consonant.

If the consonant cluster begins with a consonant other than /s/, thenthe first consonant is the initial consonant and the next consonant isthe post-initial consonant. Thus, in a monosyllabic word like spleen /spli:n/, /s/ is the pre-initialconsonant, /p/ is the initial consonant and /l/ is the post-initialconsonant.

• A syllable with no final consonant is a syllable with zero coda.• When there is one consonant in the coda, it is called the final consonant.• When there are more than one consonants in the coda, then one of them is

the final consonant and the other either the pre-final or the post-finalconsonant.

Pre-final consonants are /m/, /n/, / /, /l/, /s/. We can see them in wordslike bump /b mp/, bent /bent/ , bank /bæ k/, belt /belt/ , ask / sk/.Post-final consonants are /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, / / as in the words bets /bets/,beds /bedz/, backed /bækt/, bagged /bæ d/, eighth /e t /.

• The possible combinations of consonants in the coda are laid out in thefollowing table



• It is also possible in some cases to have a syllable with no vowel, when thereis a syllabic consonant in the syllable. For example, students /stju .dnts/ (thefullstop symbol (.) denotes a syllable division, whereas the diacritic denotesa syllabic consonant)

In recent phonological work, the term rhyme has also been introduced. Therhyme consists of the vowel and the coda (which is optional) and is divided into thepeak (which is normally the vowel) and the coda. Therefore, the structure of thesyllable can be represented as follows:

Task 11: Syllable structure

Identify the onset, rhyme, peak and coda in the following monosyllabic words and fill in the firsttable. Then identify the consonants in the onset and coda and fill in the second table. The first wordhas been analysed as an example

Table 1: onset, rhyme, peak and codaWord Transcription Onset Rhyme Peak Coda

blocked bl kt bl kt kt

clouds kla dz

facts fækts

freed fri d

peaks pi ks

proms pr mz



Word Transcription Onset Rhyme Peak Coda

rhymes ra mz

springs spr z

straight stre t

straw str

twelfths twelf s

Table 2: analysis of onset and codaWord Trans-

criptionPre-initial

Initial Post-initial

Pre-final Final Post-final 1

Post-final 2

blocked bl kt b l k t

clouds kla dz

facts fækts

freed fri d

peaks pi ks

proms pr mz

rhymes ra mz

springs spr z

straight stre t

straw str

twelfths twelf s

Regarding syllable division, the most widely accepted rule seems to be themaximum onsets principle. This states that where two syllables are to be divided,any consonants between them should be attached to the second syllable as far aspossible, within the restrictions governing syllable onsets and codas.

5.2. Strong and weak syllables

In English, as in many other languages, though not in Greek, some syllables arenoticeably weak, whereas others are strong. Whether a syllable is phonetically weakor strong depends on the properties of the vowel in its peak. Thus, weak syllablecontain vowels which are shorter, less intense and of different quality than thevowels in strong syllables.

Weak syllables can only have one of a small number of possible peaks:• in syllables with no coda at the end of a word, the possibilities are:



the vowel / /: better / bet /a close front vowel, phonetically somewhere between / / and /i /,symbolized /i/: city / s ti/a close back vowel, phonetically somewhere between / / and /u /,symbolized /u/: thank you / æ kju/

• In syllables with a coda whether at the end or within a word, the mostcommon vowel phoneme is / /, and most other vowels will tend to be morecentralized when in weak syllables.

In addition, many well-known English function words have both a weak and astrong form. The weak form of these words is generally the preferred form and it isonly when they are given special prominence that the strong form of these words ispronounced. This seems to be an especially difficult area for Greek learners, whotend to pronounce the strong forms in all contexts.

Below is a list of the most common weak form words in English:• the: / / before consonants; / i/ before vowels• a, an: / / before consonants; / n/ before vowels• and: / n/• but: /b t/• that: / t/ only when introducing a relative clause• than: / n/• his: / z/ and /h z/ only at the beginning of a sentence• her: / / before consonants; / r/ before vowels• your: /j / before consonants; /j r/ before vowels• he: /i/ and /hi/ only at the beginning of a sentence• him: / m/• her: / / and /h / at the beginning of a sentence• them: / m/• us: / s/• at: / t/• for: /f / before consonants and /f r/ before vowels• from: /fr m/• of: / v/• to: /t / before consonants and /tu/ before vowels• as: / z/• some: /s m/• there (only in existential phrases, e.g. there is): / / before consonants and

/ r/ before vowels• can, could: /k n/, /k d/• have, has, had: / v/, / z/, / d/ and /h v/, /h z/, /h d/at the beginning of a

sentence



• shall, should: / l/, / d/• must /m s/ before consonants and /m st/ before vowels• do: /d / before consonants and /du/ before vowels• does: /d z/• am: / m/ • are: / / before consonants and / r/ before vowels• was: /w z/• were: /w / before consonants and /w r/ before vowels

Task 12: Strong and weak syllables

Provide the strong forms of the following weak-form words. The first one has been provided asan example.

Word Weak Form Strong Form

and n ænd

were w

are r

must m st

have v

them m

your j r

should d

that t

us s

5.3. Word stress

5.3.1. The nature of word stress

Most English speakers intuitively perceive word stress easily. Thus, it is clearthat in the words English, speaker and easily the first syllable is stressed. However,when asked to define word stress, one could easily be mistaken in thinking that it isloudness, above all, that determines which syllable is stressed. In fact, four differentfactors contribute to our perception of a syllable as stressed:• loudness is definitely a factor that adds to the prominence of a stressed

syllable, though it is not the most important one• a difference in pitch between the stressed syllable and the unstressed ones,

or, even more, a pitch movement (e.g. rising or falling pitch) within the



syllable, seems to be more important than loudness. Pitch should be definedhere as a difference in the frequency of vibration of the vocal folds, which canbe related to the musical notions of high and low pitched notes.

• stressed syllables also tend to differ in length from unstressed ones. Thus,stressed syllables are always longer than unstressed ones and this seems tobe the second most important factor in determining syllable prominence.

• finally, the quality of the vowel in the peak of stressed syllables is oftendifferent; as we saw in the previous section, weak syllables mostly containcentral, neutralised vowels such as /u/, / /, /i/ and / /. In stressed syllables,more tense vowels are often used, e.g. / /, /æ/, / /, /i /, etc.

While most two-syllable words in English contain only one stressed syllable,polysyllabic words normally contain more than one levels of stress. Somephoneticians have actually suggested up to five levels of stress for one word, but forpractical phonological work it seems that two levels are sufficient: primary stress andsecondary stress. The most prominent syllable in a word is the one that receivesprimary stress. In many words of more than two syllables, there is also a syllable thatis less prominent than the one receiving primary stress, but more prominent than therest of the syllables: this syllable is said to receive secondary stress.

Thus, a word like easy / i zi/ only has primary stress on the first syllable (thediacritic before a syllable indicates that it receives primary stress). On the otherhand, the word independent / nd pend nt/ has primary stress on the third syllableand secondary stress on the first syllable (the diacritic before a syllable indicatessecondary stress).

In Greek word stress placement, the monotonic rule operates, which states thata word can only have primary stress; in addition, the trisyllabic constraint applies,which states that words can only be stressed on the ultimate, penultimate orantepenultimate syllable. As a result, both perception and production of secondarystress can be a problem for Greek learners. Moreover, English words whose primarystress is on a syllable before the antepenultimate will usually be almost impossiblefor many Greek learners to pronounce accurately.

Still, English does have some rules for primary stress placement, albeit rathercomplicated ones and with many exceptions. As general tendencies, though, theword stress rules are important and productive enough, so it is a good idea to brieflyreview them here. The determination of the stress placement tendency within a worddepends on the following factors:• the phonological structure of the syllables the word comprises• whether the word is morphologically simple or complex; complex words are

those that contain affixes (prefixes and/or suffixes) and those that arecompound.

• the class to which the word belongs (whether it is a noun, adjective, verb,etc)

• the number of syllables the word comprises



As far as the phonological structure of the syllables is concerned, the point to beborne in mind is that only strong syllables can be stressed. A strong syllable is onewhose rhyme either has a syllable peak which is a long vowel or diphthong or avowel followed by a coda. Weak syllables, which are never stressed, have a shortvowel in the peak and usually no coda, unless the vowel is / / or / /. Whereas it ispossible for a strong syllable not to be stressed, a weak syllable can never bestressed.

5.3.2. Stress in Simple Words

Bearing in mind this basic rule to do with the phonological structure of thesyllable, we can state the following tentative rules of stress placement in simplewords (i.e. not stems + affixes or compound words):

• Two-syllable words that are nouns are stressed on the first syllable if thesecond syllable contains a short vowel. If the second syllable contains a longvowel, it will be stressed.

• Two-syllable words that are verbs, adjectives, prepositions or adverbsgenerally have the following tendencies:

If the second syllable is strong, then it is stressed.

If the second syllable is weak, then the first syllable is stressed.

The final syllable is not stressed if it contains / /.

• Three-syllable words behave as follows:

In verbs, the stress falls on the first strong syllable from the end;thus, if the last syllable is strong, it will be stressed; if the last syllableis weak and the penultimate syllable is strong, the penultimatesyllable will be stressed; if both the last and the penultimate syllableare weak, the antepenultimate syllable will be stressed.

Nouns and adjectives are normally stressed on the first syllable, aslong as the second syllable is weak, even if the final syllable isstrong. If, however, the second syllable is strong, then they will bestressed on the second syllable.

Task 13: Stress placement in simple words

How do the stress placement rules account for the placement of stress in the following words?Which word appears to be an exception to the rule?• reduce /r dju s/• arrive / ra v/• lovely / l vli/• correct /k rekt/• honest / n st/



• larynx / lær ks/• entertain /ent te n/• disaster /d zast /• emperor / emp r /• intellect / nt lekt/

5.3.3. Stress in Complex Words

Complex words can be defined for our purposes here as either words that aremade from a basic word (the stem) with the addition of an affix (prefix or suffix), forexample dependable, undo or compound words, which are derived from two otherwords, for example glasshouse, downgrade. Special rules apply to stress placementin complex words, as the production or affixation process affects initial stressplacement.*

Whereas prefixes do not usually affect stress placement, so that in most caseswe can safely say that the rules that apply are the same as for simple words, suffixesdo seem to affect stress placement in a more systematic manner. Some suffixes donot affect stress placement at all, while others either result in the movement of stressin the stem or receive the stress themselves. The most common of the suffixes thatdo not affect stress placement are:

• -able: person / p s n/, personable / p s n bl/• -age person / p s n/, personage / p s n d /• -al person / p s n/, personable / p s n l/• -en length /le k /, lengthen / le k n/• -ful: beauty / bju ti/, beautiful / bju t f l/• -ing: drive /dra v/, driving / dra v /• -like: animal / æn m l/, animal like / æn m l la k/• -less: power / pa /, / pa l s/• -ly: beautiful / bju t f l/, beautifully / bju t f li/• -ment: enjoy / n d /, enjoyment / n d m nt/• -ness: callous / kæl s/, callousness / kæl sn s/• -fy: beauty / bju ti/, beautify / bju t fa /

There are also suffixes that always receive the primary stress; the most commonones are:

• -ee: employee / empl i /• -eer: engineer / end n /• -ese: Japanese / d æp ni z/• -ette: cigarette / s ret/

*This very simplified introduction to basic word stress rules is based on

Roach 2000



• -esque: arabesque / ær besk/

Finally, there are suffixes which influence stress placement in the stem. Thefollowing suffixes normally move the stress to the last syllable of the stem:

• -eous: advantage / d v nt d /, advanta eous / ædv n te d s/• -ic: photo raph / f t r f/, photo raphic / f t ræf k/• -ion: subject / s bd kt/, subjection /s b d ek n/• -ive: subject / s bd kt/, subjection /s b d ekt v/

With regard to compound words, the question is, which of the two words thatmake up the compound should receive the primary stress. The general tendency isthat compounds which consist of two nouns have primary stress on the stressedsyllable of the first noun:

typewriter / ta pra t /tea cup / ti k p/*

The same rule seems to generally apply to other compounds (e.g. greenhouse/ ri nha s/, underline / nd la n/); however, there are certain exceptions, which takethe primary stress on the stressed syllable of the second word:

• compounds in which the first word is an adjective and the second ends in -ed: bad-tempered / bæd temp d/

• compounds in which the first word is a number third class / d kl s/• compounds functionin as adverbs downstream / da n stri m/• compounds functionin as verbs whose first word is an adverb up rade

/ p re d/

Having said all this, it has to be borne in mind that rules governing stressplacement are more complicated than this necessarily simplistic introductory accountmay have suggested: what we have described are mere tendencies, and theexceptions are plentiful. Moreover, as we will see in the next section, the rhythm ofEnglish often requires that there should be some stress movement, which meansthat in many cases the actual stress of words in context is different from their stressin isolation.

Task 14: Stress Placement in complex words

Underline the syllable that receives primary stress in the following words. How can you accountfor the stress placement?

• three-wheeler• suitcase• head-first

*Note that the same rules apply whether the compound word is spelt as one word

or is hyphenated or is spelt as two words.



• heavy-handed• picturesque• volunteer• wonderful• poisonous• perfection

5.4. Sentence Stress and Rhythm

5.4.1. Sentence Stress

The term sentence stress is not entirely accurate, but it is used extensively inpronunciation teaching materials to refer to the way stress functions beyond the wordlevel. Word and sentence stress combine in English to create the rhythm of anutterance, i.e. the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables and pauses.

Whereas the rules of word stress are independent of context, sentence stress isdependent on the context and the speaker’s intention. In other words, while thestressed syllable in a word is given, the most prominent syllable in an utterance isnot necessarily given. The following two tasks exemplify this point.

Task 15: Understanding Sentence Stress

Say the sentence below in such ways as to give it the meaning indicated in each case.Which syllable is the most prominent in each case?

John is going to come to the party with us.

• John, not Martha.• There is no doubt about the fact that he s coming.• He is not going to come to the cinema with us.• He is not going to meet us there later.• He is not going to the party with Ella.

Task 16: Sentence Stress vs. Word StressFill in each blank in the statements below with either the words word stress or the words sentence stress.• In the case of multisyllable words, the speaker normally places ___________ on the syllable

that normally carries the word ___________.• ___________ normally falls on the syllable that receives ___________ in the last content

word of the utterance.• Word stress and sentence stress have different roles, but in connected speech, the role of

___________ is subordinated to that of ___________.

Because an utterance that is significant and analysable in terms of phonology isnot necessarily a grammatical sentence (it could be smaller or larger than asentence), it is more appropriate to refer to tone groups and tonic stress, rather than



sentences and sentence stress. Thus, we will reserve the term stressed syllable forthe syllable that receives word stress, but we will use the term tonic syllable for thesyllable that receives tonic stress. The reason why we prefer to refer to tones in thiscase is because the tonic syllable is made especially prominent due to the tonemovement that occurs within it (see the following section)

The tonic syllable is sometimes followed by one or more other syllables. Theseare called the tail. In the tone unit Fine, thank you, the tonic syllable is normally fine,whereas the syllables thank you form the tail:

Fine, thank you.

In a tone unit there can be more than one prominent syllables. If this is the case,the first prominent syllable is the onset and the second is the tonic syllable. The partof the utterance between the onset and the tonic, including the onset but excludingthe tonic, is called the head. Obviously, if a tone unit only contains one prominentsyllable, then that syllable is the tonic and there can be no head. All thenonprominent syllables before the onset (if there is one) or before the tonic (if thereis no onset) form the prehead. So there can be a prehead without a head!

Thus, in the tone unit I’ll see him tomorrow, the components can be representedas follows:

I’ll see him to mor rowonset tonic

prehead head tail

Task 17: Components of the tone unit

Identify the components (onset, tonic syllable, prehead, head, tail) of the following tone units:

I haven t spoken to him.

See you later.

Good bye George.

Shut your face!

An interesting phenomenon can be observed in the placement of word stresswhen certain types of word are juxtaposed in speech: a word may change its stressdepending on its context within a phrase. The phenomenon is known as stress shift.For example, a word like ‘Heathrow’ / hi r / may be produced in isolation with thesame syllables stressed in terms of relative duration and amplitude. However, in aphrase like ‘Heathrow airport’ / hi r e p t/ the primary stress on ‘Heathrow’shifts to the first syllable. A number of words with final primary stress and initialsecondary stress are affected in a similar manner.



Task 18: Stress Shift

Underline the stressed syllables in the following sentences. Which words seem to shift theirstress?• I m thirteen.• She s just a thirteen-year-old girl.• I d like some champagne.• He s only a champagne socialist.• These missiles are air-to-surface.• It s an air-to-surface missile.

5.4.2. Rhythm

The phenomenon of stress shift seems to be aiming for avoidance of stress-clashin the juxtaposition of two stressed syllables and forms evidence that there is aninternal rhythm to the English language, which depends on the alternation ofstressed and unstressed syllables, such that the stresses occur at relatively regularintervals. Thus, English rhythm is sometimes described as stress-timed, in the sensethat the interval between each stressed syllable and the next one is roughly thesame, regardless of the number of intervening unstressed syllables.

Whereas more recent evidence suggests that this claim is an oversimplification(Roach 1982), it is definitely the case that there is at least a tendency in English forunstressed syllables to be shorter and more lax than stressed ones. This tendencycan be seen both within a word and across word boundaries.

You may have noticed in the previous section how pairs of morphologicallyrelated words may contain different phonemes because of the different stresspatterns:• Japan /d æp æn/ Japanese / d æp ni z/• cigar /s / cigarette / s ret/• advantage / d v nt d / advanta eous / ædv n te d s/• photo raph / f t r f/ photo raphic / f t ræf k/• subject / s bd kt/ subjection /s b d ek n/

The general tendency in English is for syllables that are unstressed to containmore centralised vowels. The following diagram indicates how the vowels are likelyto change if the stress shifts from stressed to unstressed:



In addition, so that strings of syllables that are not prominent can be pronouncedfaster and the overall rhythm of a tone group can be maintained, a number of soundlinking phenomena often occur at word boundaries, which may affect the realisationof both vowels and consonants. We will not go into these phenomena in detail, asthey pertain to rapid colloquial speech Brown 1990 and foreign learners will notusually be expected to reproduce them. However, an awareness of such phenomenamay be beneficial to learners on the receptive level, as it is often the case thatlearners fail to recognise words that are otherwise familiar to them when they hearthem pronounced in this manner.

Very briefly, then, sound linking phenomena which may occur between wordsinclude the following:

Assimilation

• Alveolar consonants at the end of a word often assimilate to the place ofarticulation of the next consonant sounds. For example:

‘good boy’ / d b / is often realised / b b / ‘hit man’ /h t mæn/ is realised /h p mæn/‘this shop’ / s p/ is realised / p/‘these shops’ / i z ps/ is realised / i ps/

• Voiced consonants at the end of a word are often devoiced when a voicelessconsonant follows.

‘have to go’ /h v t / is often realised /h f t /

Elision

In rapid speech, certain consonants in consonant clusters at word boundariestend to be deleted. This is most often the case with the alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/as well as the dental fricative / /. Thus, the rapid colloquial pronunciation of thefollowing phrases is as shown:• ‘next please’ /nekspli z/



• ‘old man’ / lmæn/• ‘sixth place’ /s ksple s/

Interestingly, there are words in which elision occurs internally:• sandwich /sænw d /• cupboard /k b d/

Liaison

You have probably noticed that it is not always possible to determine when oneword ends and the next begins. This is due to the phenomenon known as liaison. Toachieve liaison, you often need to insert a sound which, orthographically, does notseem to be there:• ‘law and order’ /l r n d /• ‘they are’ / e j /• ‘ o off’ / w f/

5.5. Intonation5.5.1. The Nature of Intonation

Intonation refers to the nature and movement of pitch in a tone unit. When weexamine the pitch movement in a tone unit there are three variables to observe:

• direction of the pitch movementwhether the pitch rises ( ) , falls ( ), first rises and then falls ( ), first falls and then rises ( ) or whether it is level ( ).

• degree of pitch movement to what extent the pitch rises or falls

• placement of pitch movement within the speaker's own voice rangewhether the speaker uses their normal pitch or they speak higher or lowerthan their normal range

Thus, a pitch movement upwards or downwards may start in the high, middle orlow range of a speaker’s voice (placement of movement), and may involve one, twoor three ranges (degree of movement):



Intonation carries a communicative function in English. The meaning ofintonation has traditionally been described in grammatical and affective (orattitudinal) terms (see Cruttenden 1997), but most recent analyses take account ofits discoursal function (see Brazil 1997) either additionally, or exclusively.

5.5.2. Grammatical Functions of Intonation

Although variations are possible, there is a tendency in English for certainsentence types to be linked to specific intonation contours:• declarative: We went to the theatre.• wh- question: Who’s calling?• yes/no question: Is she there?• multiple interrogative: Did she fall or was she pushed?• imperative: Go away• exclamation: What terrible weather!• confirmation tag: Lovely, isn’t it?• question tag: You like him, don’t you?• polite request: Could you close the door?

Task 18: Intonation and Grammar

Can you explain why the intonation contour might be different in the following cases?

• You went to the theatre.

• What is his name?

• How are you?

• Go away.

• Could you shut the door?



5.5.3. A ective Functions of Intonation

Although most listeners would intuitively interpret certain intonation patterns assignals of a particular emotion, or an indication of the speaker’s attitude towards thelistener, there seems to be little agreement among phonologists in assigning specificpronunciation contours to emotional states.

In general, though, it seems that emotion is expressed in intonation per se not somuch by the contour selected, as by the pitch range used and the degree ofcompliance with the intonational norm. Thus, a wide pitch range is normallyassociated with high emotional involvement, whereas a narrow pitch range isassociated with low emotional involvement, even if the intonation contour remainsthe same. Compare, for example, the following:

Speaker 1: Really? Speaker 2: Really?

It is clear that the first speaker shows more interest in what their interlocutor hassaid and is more encouraging than the second.

Apart from such general statements about the degree of emotional involvementbetrayed by intonation, though, there is very little that intonation on its own can tellus about the speaker’s emotions. However, if we consider in what ways thespeaker’s intonation deviates from what would be normal in each specific context ofcommunication, it is possible to reach some safer conclusions regarding the affectivefunction of intonation.

Recent analyses (Cruttenden 1997, Wichmann 2002) suggest that we can relateeach of the two main pitch directions to an overall meaning: ultimately rising tones( , ) are associated with tentativeness, lack of finality, or openness, whileultimately falling tones ( , ) are associated with certainty, finality, closeness.This seems to be consistent with the grammatical intonational norms mentioned inthe previous section. When the intonation system is used in an unexpected way, i.e.in a way that differs from the norm, then the speaker’s intention must be that thelistener should read some additional affective meaning into the utterance. Thus, in apolite request like Could you close the door? the normal intonation pattern isultimately rising. If instead a falling contour is used, the impression conveyed is oneof abruptness and rudeness.

Attitude, then, can be conveyed by intonation if there is a deviation from theexpected intonation pattern.



Task 19: Attitudinal Functions of Intonation

All of the following intonation patterns are irregular (capitals indicate tonic syllables). Whatattitudinal meaning are they likely to convey?

You went to the THEATRE.

WHO is calling.

Thank you very MUCH.

I m SORry.

5.5.4. Discoursal Functions of Intonation

Consider the following two utterances:

• When is the next seminar?

• When is the next seminar?

In the first utterance the speaker uses a falling intonation, because she/he hasnever had any information about the date of the forthcoming seminar. Presumably,the listener knows the date and the information asked about is new to the speaker.The falling contour is known as the proclaiming tone, because it marks newinformation.

In the second utterance, the speaker indicates that she/he has previously beeninformed of the date of the forthcoming seminar by using a falling-rising intonation.The implication is that the date of the forthcoming seminar is shared knowledgebetween speaker and listener. This is why a falling-rising contour is employed; thiscontour is also known as the referring tone, as it refers back to something that thespeaker and the listener(s) share.

Task 20: Intonation and Discourse

What difference in meaning does a proclaiming or referring tone make in each of the followingcases?

• When I ve finished Roach/ I ll start reading Giegerich.

• I ll help you if you ll help me.



6. Problems of Greek SpeakersThe list of problems and difficulties below is based on Kenworthy 1987, Kelly

2000 as well as my own observations.

6.1. Segments

/p, t, k/ These sounds may be produced with not quite enough aspiration in syllable

initial position, so that they may sound like /b,d,g/ respectively to the English ear.

/b, d, g/ These sounds do occur in Greek, but learners may have difficulty in hearing the

difference between /d/ and /nd/ and /nt/; between /b/ by itself and /mb/ and /mp/; and between /g/ and / k/ and / g/

/r/The Greek /r/ sound is midway between a /d/-like sound and a trilled /r/. It is an

acceptable substitute for English /r/. The /r/ produced after /p, t, k/, however, may be too full a sound. If high acceptability is the goal, then learners should be encouraged to soften and reduce it.

/j, w/The Greek learner tends to hear and pronounce these two sounds as full vowels

(/i/ and /u/ respectively). Although these two sounds are very similar to the consonants the problem is that /j/ and /w/ pronounced in this way will tend to be interpreted by the English listener as separate syllables.

/s, /Greek has a sound which is midway between these two English sounds

phonetically, so there will be problems in perception and production. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that speakers of some varieties of Greek have a negative stereotype of the / / sound, so some Greek learners, particularly those from Athens, may be reluctant to make the sound.

/z, /These two sounds will be confused in perception and production.

/h/Greek learners tend to produce this sound with too much force and 'hissing'

quality. The Greek /x/ phoneme can be realised as a velar, uvular, or palatal voiceless fricative, while the English /h/ is glottal.



/t / and /d /Learners often pronounce these like /ts/ as in 'cats' and /dz/ as in 'fads'.

/mp/Learners frequently mishear and mispronounce this consonant cluster as /mb/.

/nt/Learners frequently mishear and mispronounce this consonant cluster as /nd/.

/ k/Learners frequently mishear and mispronounce this consonant cluster as / /.

/sm/Learners frequently mishear and mispronounce this consonant cluster as /zm/.

VowelsGreek learners often mishear and mispronounce the following vowel roups:/i / and / // /, /æ/ and / // / and / // /, / / and / //u / and / /

/ /There is no schwa in Greek. Learners tend to substitute either /e/ or the Greek

vowel /a/ for schwa.

6.2. Suprasegmentals

Because of the Greek trisyllabic constraint and monotonic principle, word stressis sometimes a problem for Greek speakers, who usually fail to produce stressedsyllables in positions before the antepenultimate and may also fail to producesecondary stress.

The rules of sentence stress are more or less the same in the two languages, sothere will be no problems in perception. However, because Greek is less stress-timed than English and its pronunciation involves little or no vowel reductions, Greekspeakers’ rhythm often sounds unnatural, as unstressed syllables tend to soundalmost as prominent as stressed ones.

Finally, with regard to intonation, there are two main problems: one is thegenerally narrower pitch range employed by Greek speakers, which may give animpression of lack of interest, and the other is the tendency to use an ultimatelyrising intonation in all questions.



7. Further ReadingThis brief introduction has only attempted to give some basic background

information on the English phonological system. A more through presentation of themain features can be found in Roach 2000. Those who are interested in an evenmore detailed treatment should consult Cruttenden 2001 (on segments), Giegerich1992 (on English Phonology) and Cruttenden 1997 (on intonation).

If you find the many phonetic and phonological terms difficult to remember,Roach 2002 is a very helpful glossary.

As far as the teaching of pronunciation is concerned, the most accessible booksavailable are Kelly 2000 and Celce-Murcia et al 1996 (the latter focuses on AmericanEnglish, but the techniques described apply equally to British English)



Appendix A: The International Phonetic Alphabet (please visit http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/course/chapter1/chapter1.html to hear the sounds of the IPA)



Appendix B: Greek Vowels and Consonants

(reproduced from IPA 1999)



Appendix C: Underhill's Phonemic Chart for EnglishIntroduction to pronunciation teaching - page 35 of 37


intro to pronunciation

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