Noticeboard
Phoneme
the
A phoneme is a unit of sound, e.g.
it
ntly,
diphthong /eə/. More importa
r,
distinguishes words from each othe
,
bad
–
e.g. minimal pairs: fill – feel, bag
of
s
pair
where the difference between
words is a single phoneme.
Phonemic script
Phonemic script helps us to record
is the
how words are pronounced. This
t:
scrip
ic
nem
pho
in
l’
word ‘beautifu
/ˈbjuːtɪfʊl/
// indicate something written in
phonemic script
ˈ indicates the main stress
ː indicates a long vowel sound
ʊ is an example of phonemic script
or phonemic alphabet
eech and
Connected sp
weak forms
t
which is the mos
The schwa /ə/,
,
ish
gl
En
in
d sound
commonly hear
ds
un
so
l
we
other vo
of ten replaces
ich
nction words wh
fu
in
especially
r,
fo
,
an
ak, e.g.
are generally we
n
u. Pronunciatio
yo
d,
can, are, an
en
wh
s
change
of these words
en in isolation.
ok
sp
t
they are no
t
‘He wants to ge
In the sentence
e
th
n’
positio
a good teaching
are weak, and
’
‘a
d
an
’
words ‘to
/tə/ and /ə/.
are pronounced
Stress
e
All languages are spoken with som
ch,
Fren
e.g.
e,
som
With
kind of rhythm.
l
idua
indiv
cing
oun
pron
the focus is on
lish,
Eng
with
but
syllables clearly,
stress is the dominant feature. This
regular rhythm and stress makes
English a stress-timed language.
Content words
Content words are words that have
meaning and in speaking they are
usually stressed (said clearly and
s
loudly). Main verbs, nouns, adjective
s.
word
and adverbs are usually content
Function (grammar) words
Function words are words that are
lly
structural and grammatical and usua
and
es
selv
them
by
hing
don’t mean anyt
.
in speaking they are not stressed
and
s,
oun
pron
les,
artic
Auxiliary verbs,
s.
word
tion
func
lly
usua
prepositions are
Intonation
One of the features of
spoken English is how
much meaning can be
given by intonation.
When we speak, our vo
ice does not stay at
the same pitch and vo
lume; it rises and falls
to express a variety of
emotions or functions.
When expressing emoti
on, in general rising
intonation indicates po
sitivity or politeness
while falling intonation
can indicate negativity
or impoliteness. Falling
intonation is also used
with statements, e.g.
‘I like sport, especially
football’, while rising int
onation is used with
questions, e.g. ‘Can I
help you?’ However, wit
h
wh- questions, intonati
on tends to fall, e.g.
‘What’s your name?’ We
also use rising
intonation to indicate
we have not finished
speaking, and falling int
onation to indicate we
have finished. For exa
mple when making list
s:
‘I need eggs, bread, mi
lk and vegetables.’
Understanding pronunciation – Knowing the subject | © British Council 2016