Phonetics
Cinzia Giglioni
Università della Valle d’Aosta
Task 1
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
1.
2.
3.
Stress
Phoneme
Intonation
A.
B.
C.
The music of our voices
Giving emphasis to one syllable
An individual sound
Task 1
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
1.
2.
3.
Stress
Phoneme
Intonation
A.
B.
C.
The music of our voices
Giving emphasis to one syllable
An individual sound
Task 2
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
1.
2.
3.
An individual sound is mispronounced
A request is made with very flat intonation
The wrong syllable is stressed in a word
A.
B.
The word is incomprehensible
The listener might understand “bin” when the speaker
wanted to say “pin”
The speaker can sound arrogant and demanding
C.
Task 2
Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
1.
2.
3.
An individual sound is mispronounced
A request is made with very flat intonation
The wrong syllable is stressed in a word
A.
B.
The word is incomprehensible
The listener might understand “bin” when the speaker
wanted to say “pin”
The speaker can sound arrogant and demanding
C.
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
triː
θɪn
kæt
hæt
Let’s compare!
Italian sounds
which don’t exist
in English
Consonants
/λ/ aglio
/ɲ/ gnomo
/dz/ zelo
/ts/ zio
Examples of English sounds which don’t exist in Italian
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 vowels
23 consonants
12 vowels
8 diphtongs
24 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,
Thomas, hour, heir,
• /j/ your, yes, cute; NO: jam
• /s/ piece/peace, sell/cell,
• /z/ zone, lazy, nose/knows,
NO: pizza
show,
Confusion between spellings and sounds
• beat, seed, piece, machine
• day, veil, obey
/i:/
/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
/æ/ man
car
/α:/ car
name
/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
pneumatic soften
receipt
psychiatry
comb
weigh
Greenwich
dumb honest
debt
column scissors
heir
aisle
knot
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:/
/t + k/  /k:/
/t + g/  /g:/
this shop /ðɪʃ’ʃɒp/
that cake /ðæk’keɪk/
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
and
of
you
does
have
/ænd/
/ɒv/
/ju:/
/dʌz/
/hæv/
weak form
/ən/
/əv/
/jʊ/
/dəz/
/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
• 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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
/ʧaɪld/
/’weɪʤɪz/
/ʃaʊt/
/ʧɔɪs/
/ʃaɪ/
/’deɪnʤə/
/en’ʤɔɪd/
/’aɪðə/
/ʃaʊə/
5. KEYS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
/ʧaɪld/
/’weɪʤɪz/
/ʃaʊt/
/ʧɔɪs/
/ʃaɪ/
/’deɪnʤə/
/en’ʤɔɪd/
/’aɪðə/
/ʃaʊə/
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Child
Wages
Shout
Choice
Shy
Danger
Enjoyed
Either
shower
6.Identify the correct transcription
•
Soul
•
a. /sɒl/
b. /sɔ:l/
c. /səʊl/
•
Throw
a. /θrɔ:/
b. /θrəʊ/
c. /θru:/
Sew
a. /sɔ:/
b. /səʊ/
c. /sju:/
•
Ought
a. /ɔ:t/
b. /əʊt/
c. /ɒt/
6.KEY
•
Soul
•
a. /sɒl/
b. /sɔ:l/
c. /səʊl/
•
Throw
a. /θrɔ:/
b. /θrəʊ/
c. /θru:/
Sew
a. /sɔ:/
b. /səʊ/
c. /sju:/
•
Ought
a. /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
• foot
a) /ʊ/
• stir
a) /ɜ:/
• Want
b) /ɒ/
• clear
– c) /ɪə/
• straw
– b) /ɔ:/
8. Match the word and the phonetic
transcription
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
orange
women
quay/key
children
ceiling
this
these
machine
minute
promise
cottage
language
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
/ mə’ʃi:n/
/’si:lɪɳ/
/ði:z/
/’læɳgwɪdʒ/
/’ɒrɪndʒ/
/’wɪmɪn/
/ðɪs/
/’tʃɪldrən/
/’prɒmɪs/
/’kɒtɪdʒ/
/’mɪnɪt/
/ki:/
1-e
2-f
3-l
4-h
5-b
6-g
7-c
8-a 8.
9-k
10-i
11-j
12-d
KEY
9. Choose the word which matches the phonetic
transcription
1) /maʊðz/
a) mouths
b) months
c) mouse
2) /nəʊ/ a) nor
3) /praʊd/
b) now
c) know/no
a) pride
b) proud
c) prude
4) /fɪəʳ/ a) fear
b) fair
c) far
9. KEY
1)
2)
3)
4)
A
C
B
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
2)only
3)front
4)area
5)plant
6)variety
7)parent
8)there
9)lion
10)breath
11) breathe
12)receipt
13) mature
14)hear-here
15)region
16)delete
17)backward
18)forward
19)particular
20) nothing
Links
• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download
/pron_chart/pron_chart.shtml
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelli
ng/recognising/homophones/quiz.shtml
• http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flas
h/flashin.htm