In the name of Allah, the most
beneficent, the most merciful
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Silent Letters & Alphabet ‘C’
(Mischievous Specters & A Chameleon)
 Silent letter: A letter that does not correspond to any
sound in the pronunciation of a word but essentially is a
part of spelling sequence. E.g. palm, psalm, design,
gnome etc
 Dummy letter: A letter which bears no relation to
neighboring letter and has no correspondence to
pronunciation. E.g. damn, phlegm etc
 Empty letter:
word.

A letter which never has a sound in a
E.g. answer, honest, Island, subtle, debt etc
‘C’ is the most troublesome letter in English language
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Alphabet ‘C’
(Mischievous Specter and A Chameleon)
The Letter ‘C’: The most troublesome
alphabet that has many shades and is the root
cause of poor pronunciation of over thousands
of words. The most common shades include
soft and hard aspects.
 when soft the sound starts with ‘C’
 when hard the sound starts with ‘K’.
 However in the words having ‘ch/tch’,
the sound starts with /t∫/.
 when word sequence has ‘sh/sch’, the
sound is /∫/, whereas in many words it
behaves as a silent letter, an idle spectator
playing no part in the pronunciation of
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those words.
Alphabet ‘C’
(Mischievous Specter and A Chameleon)
The Shades of Letter ‘C’
In words of Greek / Italian origin and their
derivatives, it is hard, ‘k’ sound.
In words of French Origin and their
derivatives, it’s sound turn into, ‘sh’, ‘sch’ /∫/.
In certain native words and mostly in
Borrowings, it is silent.
In most of the native words starting with ‘ch’,
it’s sounds is /t∫/.
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Shades of letter ‘c’
(S soft)/s/
Racist
Tacit
Faces
choice
lace
thrice
trace
malice
space
Ch/tch /t∫/
Change
chase
Such
batch
birches
chaff
search
charm
church
K /k/
Cat
Cattle
chasm
epoch
scum
scheme
character
educate
cater
Sh /∫/
Charade
chalet
ocean
ricochet
racial
patio
chef
chivalry
shame
silent
Muscle
scene
scenario
socks
check
duck
knack
scissors
scenic 5
Silent Letters with Examples
 Behavior of ‘G’
 It has two shades i.e. soft and hard. It is soft before ‘E’, ‘I’, ‘G’ and
hard otherwise.
 Soft (J-Sound): Age, Cage, Gill, Gesture, Turgid, Orgy, Ting,
Fringe, Plunge, Impinge, Large, Longevity, Mirage, Merge,
Courage, College, Barge
 Hard (G-Sound): Game, Guest, Dug, Flog, Mug, Smug, Gait,
Gush, Goulash, Glide, Plug, Slug, Hug, Jug, Mugger, Muggy,
Buggy, Gate, Bag, Bug
 ‘G’ is silent in spelling sequence / ’gn’, ‘gh, ’gm’/
 ‘Gn’ Silent: Sign, gnome, champagne, feign, gneiss, gnaw, gnash,
gnosis, genetic, gnu (African deer) Gnarl, design, foreigner
 ‘Gh’ Silent: daughter, through, thought, light, might, right, fight,
weigh
 ‘Gm’ Silent: phlegm
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Silent Letters with Examples
 ‘B’ is always silent in the spelling sequence, where consonant ‘M’
precedes consonant ‘B’.
 crumb, climbing, thumb, lamb, limb, plumber, bomb, tomb, climb, dumb,
comb etc
 ‘B’ is always silent in the spelling sequence, where it precedes consonant
‘T’.
 Subtle, indebt, debt, doubt etc
 ‘D’ is always silent in the spelling sequence ‘dj’ & ‘dg’ occurring in the
words before vowel ‘e’.
 Hodge, badge, knowledge, edge, hedge, wedge, lodge, dodge etc
 Adjutant, adjourn, adjective etc
 Miscellaneous: Wednesday, handsome, sandwich, handkerchief etc
 T’ Silent
 Match, catch, castle, Christmas, listen, soften, often, butcher, fasten,
whistle, thistle etc
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Silent Letters with Examples
 ‘L’ Silent
 Palm, calm, alm. Almond, salmon, talk, walk, half, would.
Should, etc
 ‘H’ Silent
 If ‘H’ is at the beginning of a word, it comes from French
pronunciation and is silent.
 Hour, honest, honour, heir, herb etc
 It is also silent in the spelling sequence of ‘gh’
 Ghost, ghetto, aghast, ghastly etc
 ‘K’ Silent
 ‘K’ is always silent in the words having initial spelling sequence ‘kn’.
 Knife, knee, know, knock, knowledge, knob, knave etc
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Silent Words with Examples
 ‘N’ Silent
 Autumn, hymn etc
 ‘P’ is always silent in the words having prefix, ‘psych’ & ‘pneu’.
 Psychology, pneumonia, psychiatrist, psychotherapy etc
 ‘S’ Silent
 Island, isle etc
 ‘U’ is always silent in words starting with ‘g’.
 Guess, guide, guitar etc
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British Received Pronunciation(BRP)





The Standard Accent
The Queen’s English
The King’s English
The Oxford English
The BBC English
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Why to Learn BRP
• To improve Communication Skills (Receptive
Skills & Productive Skills)
• For easy consultation of dictionary
• For better comprehension and response to
learning and life
• To avoid embarrassment
• To be understood better
• To familiarize with the standard lexicon in use so
as to gain fluency in speech and be at par.
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Historical Perspective
• Peter Du Ponceau(1760-1844) who used the
term earlier in1818 and later was used by
Alexander John Ellis(1814-1890) in 1869.
• Some linguists called it “Received Standard”
• H. G. Fowler termed it “The Received
Pronunciation”
• Credited to Daniel Jones(1881-1967) in 1917.
• Commonly used and accepted accent of people
in Great Britian.
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Definition and Forms of BRP
• BRP: A form of pronunciation, an accent and a register,
rather than a dialect ,a prestigious form of speech,
mostly spoken and used by people in all spheres of life.
• Conservative
• General
• Advanced
Refers to a traditional accent
Neutral accent
Speech of younger generations
• A mixture of London speech based on the Southern
accent with elements from East Midlands, Middlesex,
and Essex.
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Examples of BRP
• Set-A
Aisle, ache, almond, cloche, cloth, clothe, either, neither
arch, arc, swathe, wry, monsoon, visage, façade, patio
chalet, epitome, solace, asthma, facile, seismic, nicotine,
genuine, cabaret, bronchitis, sachet etc.
• Set-B
Sunbathing, bouquet, buffet, coup, feign, pseudo, parley,
cuckoo, spinach, epoch, archive, anarchy, monarchy,
hierarchy, racial, chameleon, phlegm, malign, alkaline,
submarine, Iodine, gratuity, collage, cadre, anorexia,
billow, chant etc.
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Speech Disorders
Articulation Disorders
Mispronunciation or difficulty
with particular phonemes
Phonological Disorders
Sound substitution difficulties
Omissions
Cluster Reduction
Distortions
Final Consonant Deletion
Substitution
Velor Fronting
Stopping
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Liquid Glides
Speech Disorders
(Cont’d)
• Aphasia: A generic term used for the impairment of
language ability and ranges from having difficulty in
remembering words to being completely unable to speak,
read, or write
• Dyslexia: A generic term that refers to learning disability
which impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy.
It implies inability to read, difficulty with phonological
awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding,
auditory short-term memory or rapid naming.
• Aphonia: Loss of voice resulting from disease, injury to the
vocal cords or psychological causes such as hysteria, trauma
etc
• Asemia: Inability of comprehend or use communicative
symbols as words or gestures
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TIPS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH
PRONUNCIATION
 Train yourself to easily and comfortably speak
correct English with an educated accent.
 Observe the trained/native speakers while they
speak, note the movements of their lips and
tongue and try to imitate them.
 Speak simple and slow with clarity so that
everything you say is understood.
 Familiarize yourself with the English phonetics
and always look up for the correct sounds in the
dictionary
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TIPS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION (Cont’d)
 Focus on ‘S’ and ‘ED’ endings as these give
good exercise to the mouth muscles and
strengthen them for better speech.
 Try and eliminate mother tongue influence that
undermines your conversational skills and at
times cast embarrassment.
 Familiarize yourself with verities of English
language, know the English dialects spoken by
educated class and improve your speech
accordingly.
 List the frequently used words having difficult
pronunciation or those falling within British
Received Pronunciation (BPR). Listen and
practice them.
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TIPS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION (Cont’d)
 Read aloud a passage or two every day to
re-orientate your organs of speech to tune and
adapt to the English language sounds.
 Remember patience and practice pave the way
for better results in speech/accent training.
 Watch the English news on TV channels,
develop the habit of sitting and listening to
CNN, BBC, Fox News, Star World, PTV News
and Star Movies/HBO etc.
 While watching TV or enjoying a documentary or
any favorite English program, observe the
mouth movements of the speakers. Try and
imitate the intonation and rhythm of their
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speech.
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LEXICOLOGY
Class of
Words
Formation of
Words
Derivation
Etymology
Philology
Compounding
Suffixation
Coinage
Prefixation
Back
Formation
Affixation
Blending
Acronyms
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Cont’d
CLASS OF
WORDS
Antonyms
Lexicology
Homonyms
Implicit
Homophones
Complementary
Homographs
Converse
Synonyms
Alliterative
Verb Ph
Adv Ph
Polynyms
Paronyms
Prep Ph
Ajd Ph
Idioms/Phrases
Noun Ph
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SHADES OF “C”
Allotropic
Character
“CH”
Soft “S”
In native words
“CH/TCH”
“SH/SCH”
In words of French
Origin & their
derivatives
Hard “K”
Silent
In native words &
Borrowings
In words of
Greek/Italian
origin & their
derivatives
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‫‪26‬‬
‫ﻥ‬
‫‪N‬‬
‫ﺍ‬
‫‪A‬‬
‫ﺍﻮ‬
‫‪O‬‬
‫ﺏ‬
‫‪B‬‬
‫پ‬
‫‪P‬‬
‫ﺱ‬
‫‪C‬‬
‫ﻕ‬
‫‪Q‬‬
‫ﮢ‬
‫‪D‬‬
‫ﺮ‬
‫‪R‬‬
‫ﺇ‬
‫‪E‬‬
‫ﺱ‬
‫‪S‬‬
‫ﻑ‬
‫‪F‬‬
‫ﭧ‬
‫‪T‬‬
‫ﮒ‪/‬ﺝ‬
‫‪G‬‬
‫ﻱﻮ‬
‫‪U‬‬
‫ﮨ‪/‬ﺡ‬
‫‪H‬‬
‫ﻮ‬
‫‪V‬‬
‫ﺇ‪/‬ﺍ‬
‫‪I‬‬
‫ﻮ‬
‫‪W‬‬
‫ﻱ‬
‫‪J‬‬
‫ﺍ‬
‫‪X‬‬
‫ﮎ‬
‫‪K‬‬
‫ﻱ‬
‫‪Y‬‬
‫ﻝ‬
‫‪L‬‬
‫ڒ‬
‫‪Z‬‬
‫ﻡ‬
‫‪M‬‬
English Alphabet vs Urdu Alphabet
A
‫ﺍ‬
ἁ
N
‫ﻥ‬
n
B
‫ﺏ‬
b
O
‫ﺍﻮ‬
ͽ
C
‫ﺱ‬
S
P
‫پ‬
p
D
‫ﮢ‬
d
Q
‫ﻕ‬
q
E
‫ﺇ‬
ₑ
R
‫ﺮ‬
r
F
‫ﻑ‬
ƒ
S
‫ﺱ‬
s
G
‫ﺝ‬/‫ﮒ‬
ʤ
T
‫ﭧ‬
t
H
‫ﺡ‬/‫ﮨ‬
h
U
‫ﻱﻮ‬
ύ
I
‫ﺍ‬/‫ﺇ‬
i
V
‫ﻮ‬
v
J
‫ﻱ‬
Ʒ
W
‫ﻮ‬
w
K
‫ﮎ‬
k
X
‫ﺍ‬
x
L
‫ﻝ‬
l
Y
‫ﻱ‬
y
M
‫ﻡ‬
m
Z
‫ڒ‬
z
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Urdu
English
Sound
‫ﭺ‬
Ch/tch
ʧ
‫ﺵ‬/‫ﺲ‬
Sh/sch
ʃ
‫ﮒ‬
G
ʤ
‫ﺝ‬
J
j
‫ﺖﮬ‬
Th
ɵ
‫ﺝﮬ‬
J
ɚ
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The Limbs of English Language
The English Language
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English Sounds
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ORGANS OF SPEECH
Organs of
Speech
Lungs/Trachea
(Pulmonic Tube)
Throat
Pharynx
Nose
Mouth
Larynx
Vocal cords
(Folds)
Lips
Epiglottis
Teeth
Palate
Alevolar
Ridge
Hard Palate
Soft Palate
Tongue
Tip
Blade
Front
Back
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CLASSIFICATION OF SOUNDS
(Based On Articulation)
Classification
of Sounds
Obstruents
Sonorents
Stops (Plosives)
Nasals
Fricatives
Liquids
Affricates
Glides
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The organs involved in the production
of speech sound are known as Organs of Speech
Vocal Tract
Pharynx
(Throat /Adam’s
Apple)
Lungs
(Bronchial Tubes /
Trachea / Wind Pipe)
Oral Cavity
(Mouth)
Nasal Cavity
(Nose)
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