CONSONANT CLASSIFICATION TIPS CONSONAN T SOUND /p/ SPELLING CASES STUDENS’ DIFFICULTIES Arabic and Vietnamese speakers tend to substitute /b/ for /p/. p, pp, silent p /b / b, bb, silent b /t/ t, tt, th, silent t /d/ d, dd, silent d /k/ k, c, cc, ck, ch, x, xc, gu, silent k People form Asia may confuse /p/ and /f/. Speakers of Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, Japanese, and Slavic and Indian language fail to aspirate /p/ at the beginning of a word or a stressed syllable. Thus, it sounds like /b/ for speakers of English. Speakers of Arabic may confuse /p/ and /b/. Spanish and Portuguese speakers tend to pronounce /b/ like /v/. Speakers of Dutch, German, Danish, Turkish, Russian, Chinese, West African languages, sometimes replace voiced /b/ with voiceless /p/ Japanese speakers may pronounce /t/ as /ʧ/. Portuguese students may also substitute /ʧ/ before /iy/or /I/. Speakers of Indian languages often substitute a retroflex /t/ OTHER FEATURES Spelling Double p after short vowels(/æ/, /ɛ/, stressed schwa, a with the letter /o/, /i/) Examples: Happy vs paper Supper vs supermarket Hopping vs hoping Spelling The letter /b/ always has the sound /b/, except for a few words in which it is silent. For notes on doubling of consonants like rubber and silent letters. Spelling The doubling of /t/ after the vowels / æ, ɛ, I, Ʌ/ spelled with the letter o, especially when ending like –er and –ing. For example: hot – hotter Sit – sitting. Speakers of Chinese, Portuguese, and Spelling Swahili may confuse the sound /t/ and /d/. The spelling dd is use in the middle Russian, Thai, Turkish, German, Dutch, or at the end of words after the Danish, and West African language, tend vowels / æ, ɛ, I, Ʌ/ and /ɑ/. to pronounce /d/ as its voiceless For example: middle, suddenly, equivalent /t/ at the end of the words. add. Japanese and Portuguese speakers may pronounce /d/ close to /ʤ/. Spanish and Portuguese speakers tend to pronounce /d/ more like /ð/ in the middle of the word. Speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Spelling Russian, Dutch, and Indian, do not aspirate Some of the letters used to spell / the sound /k/ at the beginning of words. k/ are also commonly used for the Turkish speakers may have some difficulty other sounds: with /k/ before the sounds /iy/ or /I/. C has the sound /s/ before the letters e, I, and y. Some Arabic speakers may confuse /k/ and /g/ in all positions. Ch is usually pronounced /ʧ/ Note the silent k in word like know. /g/ g, gg, gh, x /s/ s, ss, se, c, ce, cs, x, cc, ps, st, sw, silent s /z/ z, zz, se, ss, x /ʃ / sh, ti, ci, ssi, s, ch, ce, xi /ʒ/ s, si, ge, ti, z Vietnamese speakers may have difficulty with /g/ as the beginning of a word. Thai speakers sometimes replace it with /k/. Some speakers of Arabic have difficulty with /g/ and substitute either /k/ or /ʤ/. Some speakers Japanese may pronounce /g/ as /ŋ/ between vowels. Greek and speakers may use a softer nonEnglish sound rather than the hard stop sound /g/ in some words. Speakers of Greek, Italian, and Spanish may replace /s/ with /z/ before /m/. for example: saying “zmall” for small Garman speakers may substitute /z/ a vowel. For example saying “zo” for so. Some speakers of European, Spanish and Portuguese, confuse /s/ and /ʃ/. Japanese speakers may replace /s/ with /ʃ/. Speakers of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Turkish, German, Dutch, and Scandinavian, West African, and Indian languages, have difficulty with the sound /z/. The most common error is to replace this sound with /s/. Spanish, Chinese, Thai, And Scandinavian speakers tend to have difficulty with /z/ in al positions in words. Japanese speakers may replace /z/ with /ʤ/ or, before the vowels /iy/, /I/, with /ʤ/. The sound /s/ and /ʃ/ are confused by speakers of Greek and by some speakers of Korean, Dutch, Swahili, European, Spanish, and Indian Languages. Japanese and Chinese speakers may confuse /ʃ/ and /h/ The speakers form Dutch, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Indian language, Scandinavian language, and sometimes Spelling Note that the letters ng at the end of a word does not have the sound /g/. Spelling The fact that /s/ has so many spelling may be confusing to students. Point out that most of the spelling contains the letter s or the letter c. Is also a common spelling for the sound /z/. At the beginning of a word, however, s always has the sound /s/, except in the spelling sh. Spelling Spelling for the sound /z/ that uses the letter s often cause difficulty. The letter /s/ has the sound /s/ at the beginning of a word. It also usually has the sound /s/ when it is next to a voiceless sound. The letters s commonly has the sound /z/ when is comes between two voiced sound. Spelling The variety of spelling in addition to sh for the sound /ʃ/ may cause confusion. The other spellings tend to occur in certain ending. For example: -ion, ial, -and, -ious. Spelling The spelling for the sound /ʒ/ may cause difficulty, since they are all Arabic, many speakers also find the sound /ʒ/ difficult. Students tend to replace the sound /ʒ/ with sounds close to /ʤ/, /ʃ/, or /z/. /ʧ/ ch, tch, t, ti, c /ʤ/ j, g, ge, dge, dj, d /y/ y, u, i, ew, iew, ean French, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek, Scandinavian and some Vietnamese speakers have difficulty with the sound /ʧ/. Many of these students replace it with /ʃ/ or /ts/. Chinese speakers may use a foreignsounding pronunciation of the sound /ʧ/. Italians do not have trouble pronouncing /ʧ/, but may make mistakes because of spelling pronouncing the spelling c or cc before e or i. Spanish speakers do not have difficulty with /ʧ/, but need practice in learning to discriminate /ʧ/ from /ʃ/. Portuguese, French, Vietnamese, and sometimes Dutch speakers may pronounce it as /ʒ/. Thai speakers often replace it with /ʧ/. Korean speakers may confuse /ʤ/ and /z/. Speakers of Greek substitute /ʃ/ or /dz/. Spanish speakers may confuse /ʤ/, /y/ or may substitute /ʧ/, for /ʤ/ especially at the end of the words. German and Swedish speakers often substitute /y/ for /ʤ/. The sound /y/ is pronounced as /ʤ/, or a sound close to /ʤ/, by many Spanish speakers. Some Portuguese speakers may tend to omit the sound /y/. Chinese and Japanese speakers may find the consonant /y/ difficult before the sound /iy/ or /I/, as in year. regular spellings for the other, more common sounds. Note: That the letter s has the sound /ʒ/ only before the letters i or u Spelling Student often find the spelling t for the sound /ʧ/ confusing. For example: mixture, future, furniture, natural, actually, century, literature, culture. Spelling The letter g before e, i, or y usually has the sound /ʤ/, but there are some common exceptions in which it is pronounced /g/, including, get, forget, give, begin, and together. Spelling The sound /y/ as part of spelling u is confusing for many students, who often find it hard to know when to use a /y/ sound and when not to, The spelling u has the sound. In the middle of a word, also after the consonants /n/ and /l/, if the u vowel does not have strong stress: January, annual, continuo, menu, value, volume. The /y/ sound also occurs, but more rarely, with a few other consonant sound. These speaker use the sound /y/ in more places, for example, after the consonants /t/, /d/, and /n/, as in /f/ f, ff, ph, gh /v/ f, v /w/ w, wh, o, u /h/ h, wh, silent h It is difficult for speakers of Korean, Tagalog, Indian language, and some other Asian languages. Speakers usually confuse /f/ with the sound /p/. Japanese speakers, often confuse it with /h/. The sound /v/ is difficult for speakers of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Punjabi and other Indian language, Korean, Spanish, Thai, Lao, and Khmer. Many students, such as speakers of Arabic, tend to substitute /f/ for /v/. Chinese speakers may also substitute /w/. Japanese, Korean, and Spanish speakers often replace /v/ with /b/. Dutch, German, and Turkish speakers may also have difficulty with the sound, especially at the end of words, where /v/ is likely to be replaced by /f/. Many students, including speakers of German, Indian language, Russian, Thai, Farsi, Turkish and Scandinavian languages, confuse /v/ and /w/. Speakers many languages, including German, Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian, Turkish, Farsi, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, and Indian, Slavic, and Scandinavian language, tend to have difficulty with this sound. Many learners, including speaker of German, Slavic, and Scandinavian language, Turkish, and sometimes Italian, replace /w/ with /v/. Dutch, Lao, and Farsi speakers also confuse /w/ and /v/ or make an intermediate sound for both. Spanish and Greek speakers may replace /w/ with /gw/, /g/ or similar sound. Some students may confuse /w/ with /r/ or use a sound resembling /b/. Speakers of French, Portuguese, Italian, Hebrew, and some African language, as well as some speaker of Turkish, tend to omit the sound /h/. Learners tend to put /h/ in the wrong student, due or news. Spelling The pronunciation of the vowel in words that end with the spelling gh pronounced as /f/. In the words above, the letters gh spell the sound /f/, but many others words, gh is silent. The sound /v/ is written with the letter v, except in the word of. Note that the letter v is never doubled, even after a vowel like /I/, /ɛ/, or /æ/, as in river, giving, never, or having. When the sound /v/ comes at the end of a word, the letter e is added in the spelling, even in words with the vowels, /I/, /æ/, /Ʌ/. Note: that the words have is pronounced with the sound /f/ in have to. Spelling Students may find the spelling of /w/ a vowel letter (u or o). Note: That the u in qu regularly represents the sound /w/, but that the u in gu and su has the sound /w/ only in a few words. The letter w is silent in some common words. For example: sweater, two, answer. Spelling The sound /h/ is usually spelled with the letter h. The letter h also occurs in the combinations sh, ch, th, ph, and /θ/ th /ð/ th /m/ m, mm, mn, silent m /n/ n, nn, kn, gn /ŋ/ place more frequently as they get more self-conscious about not saying this sound when they should. Speakers of Greek, Spanish, Slavic language, Arabic, and Chinese tend to pronounce /h/ as a harsh sound, like the non-English sound /x/ in Bach Japanese speakers tend to confuse the sound /h/ with /f/. Chinese speaker also often confuse the sound /s/, / ʃ/ and /h/. Speakers of Greek, and Castilian Spanish, have great difficulty with the sound /θ/, usually replacing it with /s/, /t/, or /f/. Even native English speakers often simplify these in some way, for example, pronouncing fifth as /fIθ/ Students have great difficulty with the sound /ð/. They usually replace it with /z/, /d/ or /v/. Japanese speakers may also substitute /ʤ/. Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese speakers may confuse /m/ with /n/ or /ŋ/ at the end of words. Chinese speakers may also nasalize the vowels before /m/ and either drop the /m/ itself or replace it with /n/ or /ŋ/ Speakers of Greek, Italian and Spanish, may tend to voice /s/ when it is followed by /m/, as in small, pronouncing the /s/ more like a /z/. Students have difficulty with /n/ at the ends of words. Speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Turkish, do not pronounce final /n/ clearly enough. Many students have difficulty with syllabic /n/, in words like garden or written, usually inserting a vowel before the /n/. The sound /ŋ/ occurs frequently, wh, where it does not usually have the sound /h/. Spelling Since the letters th can spell either /ð/ or /θ/. At the beginning of content words, th is pronounced /θ/. Example: think, thing, thirsty, three, thank. Spelling Since the letters th can spell either /ð/ or /θ/. At the beginning of words, the spelling th is almost always pronounces /ð/ Examples: the, this, these, that, than Spelling The sound /m/ is written with the letter m. Note: the doubling of m in words like summer and swimming to preserve the lax pronunciation of the vowel. Student often pronounce consonant letters that should be silent. Note: The silent b in the spelling mb. The silent n in the spelling mn. Spelling Note: The doubling of n in words like funny, dinner, and beginning to keep the lax sound of the vowels. Syllabic /n/ is commonly spelled: n(didn’t, couldn’t, isn’t) –en (garden, listen, student) –on (person, lesson) Spelling /l/ l, ll, silent l /r/ r, rr, wr, rh especially in the -ing from of verbs. Arabic, French, some German, Farsi, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Turkish, West African and Slavic speakers may have difficulty with this sound usually pronouncing it /ŋg/, /ŋk/ or /n/. While some student tent to add a /g/ after every /ŋ/ sound. Speakers of Vietnamese, Thai, and Lao have difficulty distinguishing /n/ and /l/ at the end of words. Speakers of some Chinese dialects also confuse /n/ and /l/. Speakers of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and other Asian language, as well as speakers of some African language, tend to confuse /r/ and /l/. Many students pronounce /l/ with the tongue in a slightly different position than for English /l/ Speakers of many Asian languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean, and Lao, confuse /l/ and /r/. French, German, Danish, Hebrew, some Portuguese, and many Dutch speakers often make a sound produced too far back in the mouth. Many students, including speakers of Arabic, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, Farsi, Norwegian and Swedish, as well as African, Indian, and Slavic language, trill /r/ or pronounce it a short flap sound resembling the /d/ sound in ladder. Students tend to have particular difficulty when /r/ is in a consonant cluster or in a word that also has a /l/ sound. Serrano Tobar, Cindy Yamileth The sound /ŋ/ is usually written with the letters ng. Before a /k/ or /g/ sound, it is spelled with the letter n. Spelling Doubling of /l/: Note: that the letter l is often doubled at the end of a word after the vowels /ɛ, I, Ʌ, ɑ, ɔ, Ʊ/ In American English, when –ed or – ing is added to a verb ending in l, the l is doubled only if the vowel before it is stressed. In British English, the l is doubled even if the vowel is not stressed. Syllabic /l/ is spelled: -le (little, candle) –al (final) –el (travel) –il (pencil), or –ol (symbol) Silent l: many students pronounce l where it should be silent. Spelling The sound /r/ is usually written with the letter r or, in the middle of a word it is sometimes spelled wr or r, with the w or h silent. 31-4355-2009 Section 02 Phonology