1

GSP1202:USEOFENGLI
SH
(
ORALENGLISH)

Compi
ledby
Al
iA.i
dri
sandAdoMagaj
iMansur
Edi
tedby
DrYusufAhmadGwar
zo
Depar
tmentofLanguages,
Facult
yofHumanit
ies,
YusufMai
tamaSul
e
Univer
sit
y,Kano

Thispaperi
ssolemnlyincopyri
ghtasi
tismostl
yanamal gamati
onofthecompi
l
ers’
works.Thus,
itshouldnotbeusedinanymeansdif
ferentf
rom t
heoneitwasmeantfor
wit
houtt
heconsentorappr
ovalofit
scompiler
s.
2

OralEngl
ish
InoralEngli
shweusesomesy mbol sknownasphonemes.Phonemesar e44or46.
Twenty-
fourofthem ar econsonants,whil
et wentyarev owel
s.Sevenofthevowelsare
short
,five ar
el ong,and t he r
emai ni
ng ten are cal
led di
phthongs.The othertwo
phonemesar ecalledsemi -
vowels.Thesesy mbol
sar enotusedi ndail
ywrit
ings;t
hey
areusedinthedictionar
iesandoralEngli
sht ext
s.

TheShortvowel
s
1 /ӕ/Thisi
srepr
esent
edbyt
hef ol
l
owing:
a catbatgang map tank thank l
ad man mad bl
ack patf
atsad
happy

ai ai
pl d plai
t
ua guar
antee guar
ant
or

2 /ə/Thi
sisr epr
esentedbyt hefol
lowi
ng:
a abov e alow ar
l ound about al
lowance
e tablet
er t eacher mast er l
eader manner
o poli
ce pr omot e productprovi
si ocedur
on pr e
or doct or motor author minor major

3 /
Λ/Thi
sisrepresentedbythefol
l
owi
ng:
o son love come some
u sun luck luxury sum mud must

4 /e/Thi
sisr
epresent
edbythefol
lowi ng:
e egg sel
f men leg gett heftbl ess
ea head measur ethread t
hr eatheal t eakf
h br ead br
astbr eat
h
ue guess guest
ai sai d

5 /ɪ
/Thi
sisrepresentedbythefoll
owing:
a manage managerl uggage vil
lage message
e marketbul letpamphl et
i
a marriage
i big mi ss mi xli
d sip ship mi k mi
l l
ls
o women
u busy mi nute
ui bui l
d
y baby ci tylady mi nori
tyv ery merry marry car
ry

6 /
D/Thi
sisr
epresent
edbythefol
l
owing:
a wad wantwas y acht
o dog mob God shop socks pot
3

7 /ᴜ/
Thi
sisrepr
esent
edbyt
hef
oll
owi
ng:
o bosom
oo good book
u putpush pull

TheLongvowels
1 /a:
/Thisi
srepr
esent
edbythefoll
owi
ng:
a pass l
astfastcasaba cassav
a pastcal
m bal
m ask
ar car par k dar
k mark star
au l augh

2 /3:
/Thisisrepresentedby:
ear sear ch research resear
cher
er per manentt erm stern mer
cenary mater er
nalmat ni
t er
y pat nal
f
r er
at ni
ty
i
r gir
lbi rd sti
r
or wor k wor ld worm wor se worstword

3 /ɪ
:/Thi
sisr epr
esent edbythefoll
owing:
e secretlesion be
ea ease eatpl ease lead meatsneak gr ease pl
ead meatseatsea
ee meetsee seem br eed bleed speed
ei r ecei
v e cei
li
ng
i poli
ce v i
sa
i
e beli
ev er i
efbel
el ieve chi
ef
oe amoeba

4 /ᴐ:
/Thi
sisrepresentedbythefollowing:
a walk calltallsmallst allallal t
hough
ar war d war n warm
aw saw f law awkwar d awful
or sor tspor tmentor guar antor condor
ore whor e core score lore
ough boughtt hought

5 /ᴜ:
/Thi
sisrepresentedbyt hef
oll
owing:
ew f lew fews gr
l ew screw
o move mov ementr emover emov emot
alr etomb womb t
ombst
one
oo soon t oo gloom
u ul
r e
ue gl ue blue gruesome
ui sui t

TheDi
pht
hongs

1 /
ai/Thi
sisr
epr
esent
edby
:
4

ei
gh hei
ght
eye eye
i ti
e bi
l te si
te mi
ce ni
ce mil
eli
feice
i
gh ni
ghtsi ghtli
ghtri
ght mi
ghtkni
ght
uy buy guy
y cry fy spy my shy sl
l y

2 /ei
/Thi
sisr
epr esentedbythefol
l
owing:
a ake sake shake shav
l e male mat
efemal
e sav
e case saf
e
ai bai lpaid pai lfai
ll ai
dl ai
n
ea br eak gr eat
au gauge
ay pr ay play May gay say bay day
ea br eak gr eat

3 /ᴐɪ
/Thi
sisr
epr
esent
edbyt hefol
l
owing:
oi boi lvoi
ce soilspoilmoistnoi
se
oy boy coy boy cot
t

4 /eə/
Thi
sisrepresentedbythef
oll
owing:
air air stai
rf lair
are caref ar
l e spare shar
e glare bar
e
ear bear spear
yer prayer play er l
ayer

5 /ɪ
ə/Thisisrepr
esentedbythefol
lowing:
e experence super
i orsuper
i i
orsinceri
ty
ear ear f ear cl
earear phone year near
or seni
i or j
uni
or superi
or ext i
eror i
nt i
eror

6 /aᴜ/Thisi
srepresent
edbythef
oll
owi
ng:
ou gr ound aboutaround
ow t own how bow al ow sow owl now
l
owe t owel

7 /əᴜ/Thisi
srepresentedbythef
oll
owing:
oar r oad roam r oast
o promote mot ion motorpropose no l
o
ough though alhough
t
ow show l ow sl ow glow bl ow grow
owe owe

8 /ᴜə/Thi
sisrepr
esentedbyt
hef
oll
owi
ng:
u dur e dur
abl i
ng
ure ensur e
5

TheSemiv
owel
s1
1 /
w/Thi
sisrepr
esent
edbythef
oll
owing:
w word awar
l d wor
rsome awakeawar
i e

2 /
j/Thi
sisr
epresent
edbythefol
l
owi
ng:
y y
es you yacht y
earnyear y
ardy
ell

TheConsonantsounds

1 /b/
:Thisisrepr
esentedbythefol
l
owi
ng:
b black back brde bal
i lmember
bb bl abberjabber
*Not
e:Iti
ssi
lentinwordslkecl
i i
mb cl i
mbercli
mbi
ng pl
umb pl
umberpl
umbi
ng
bombbombert omb comb combi ng debt
ordebt

2 /p/Thi
sisr
epresent
edbythefol
l
owi
ng:
P pot putapart per
mit
pp puppy happy nappy

3 /d/ Thisi
srepr
esent
edbyt hef
ollowing:
d desk dar
lng debat
i e day dulldream
dd adderaddress addi
ct

4 /ʤ/Thisisr
epresentedbythefol
lowi
ng:
g gistcage large sage gauge
dg j udge adjudi e adj
cat ustbadge budget
j j
ump j est j
eans

5 /
Ӡ/Thi
sisrepr
esentedbythefoll
owing:
g mirage bourgeoi
s bourgeoi
sies
s vsi
i on tel
evsi
i easur
on pl e measur
elesi si
on deci on r
evsi
i on
confusion
z zur
sei e

6 /ʃ
/Thi
sisr epresentedbythefoll
owing:
ch chat eauchev ronchassi
schampagnechicchauv
ini
sm
sh f ashion shop shor tshrnkshy
i
s insure censur e
ss pr essure assur e assurance
t i t
niialnat ion educaton act
i ion mot
ion

7 /ʧ/Thi
sisrepr
esentedbythef ol
lowi
ng:
ch chai r chief chance chest
t fur
nit
uref ut
ure nature cult
ure suggest
i st
onmoi ur
e

8 /
ɵ/Thi
sisr
epr
esent
edbyt
hef
oll
owi
ng:
6

t
h t
hink t
hought t
hief t
hef
tthr
ead t
hank t
hrust

9 /
ð/Thi
sisr
epresentedbythefol
l
owinglet
ter
s:
t
h t
histhat these those t
hey them thus t
hough al
though

10 /ŋ/Thi
sisr
epresent
edbythefol
lowi
ng:
nbef ek t
or nk t
hi hank bank t
ank shr
ink si
nk
ng ng r
si ng song gang wr
i ong st
ing

11 /n/Thi
sisr
epr
esent
edbythefol
l
owi
ng:
n name money man l n
ear
nn mannernanny annualannihi
lat
e

12 /s/Thi
sisrepresent
edbythefol
lowi
ng:
c cellcement cent cei
lng cent
i ur centmer
y per cenar
y cer
tai
n
access
cs ascer t
ain
s safe son sort si
p
ss assume assi gn assaul
tassistassess
zz pi zza

13 /
z/Thi
sisrepresent
edbythefol
lowi
ng:
s season reason busy busi
ness v
isa mi
ser
z zebra zest zi
nc zone

14 /g/
:Thisisrepr
esentedbyt
hefol
lowing:
g girlguy bargai
n brgade bag
i
gg bi ggerluggage agr
ee naggy nigger

15 /k/Thi
sisrepr
esentedbythefoll
owing:
c cal
lcake cage col d acti
vi
ty cl
aim
cc accor d accr
ue accl m accompany
ai
ch char acter chaos chaotc chamel
i eon
ck back bl ack si
ck luck mock r ock pi
ck
k ki
ng kilkudos keen
l

16 /f
/Thi
sisr epresentedbythef
oll
owing:
gh cough l augh rough tough
f fan f i df
el lf
el orm fy af
r terhal f
ff afford af fi
rm affuentof
l f aff
init
y
ph phi losophy phy c phar
si macist phl
egm phot aph
ogr

17 /
l/Thi
sisr epr
esentedbythefol
l
owing:
l lovel ord blue al
arm slow
l
l all
ow allowance foll
ow sell
er
7

18 /
r/Thi
sisr
epr esent
edbythefol
lowi
ng:
r rob read bring r
ule pr
ide cr
est
r
r borr
ow t omorr
ow arr
ow hur r
y

19 /
t/ Thisisrepresent
edbythefoll
owing:
t tank toilbut act spoi
lt metr
e
t
h Thomas Thompson t hyme
t
t attack att
ire at
tent
ion at
testat t
ain

20 /
v/Thi
sisrepresentedbyt
hefol
lowi
ng:
f of
v v lv
ei ictor v
ery av
erage l
iv
er

21 /
m/Thi
sisr
epresent
edbythefol
lowi
ng:
m man l
ame army meat mess
mm mammalcommuni cate communit
y

22 /
h/Thisisrepresent
edbyt hefol
l
owi
ng:
h house his mahogany huh
*
Not
e:Alt
houghthereareotherphonemes,
thesear
ethecommonest
.

TheSi l
entlet
ters
There are some l et
ters whi
ch are not pronounced,though they seem t o be
pronounceablesuchthatmanypeopl eunknowinglypronouncethem.Wear ealready
famili
arwiththecommonestsilentl
ett
ersli
kerwhichisnotpronouncedwheni tcomes
beforeaconsonantasi nhard,orattheendofwor dsascari nnon-r
hoti
cEngl i
shl i
ke
standard Bri
ti
sh Engl
ish.Buti nrhot
ic Engl
i
sh li
ke Amer i
can Engl
ish such r’
s are
pronounced.Belowaresomesilentl
ett
ers:

1 /b/ bomb bomber bombi

ng plumb pl
umber plumbi
ng debt debt
or
cli
mb cl
i
mberclimbi
ng t
omb womb tombstone

2 /
h/ hourhonourhonor
ary honour
abl
e anni
hil
ate si
l
houet
te hei
r

3 /
l/ cal
m t
alk bal
m wal
k

4 /
k/ know knobbl
e known kneelknowl
edge kni
fe

5/
p/ psy
chol
ogy psy
che psy
chi
atr
ics

6/
s/ debr
is chassi
s

TheSy
ll
ableandStress
Aswespeakwebr eatheaftereachsegmentweproduce;i
tisbecauseofwhatwecal l
syl
l
abl
e.Engli
shhasst ress-t
imed-sy
ll
abl
es.Ther
efore,i
nt heEnglishlanguageitis
syl
l
abl
ethatdeter
mineswher etosaylouderi
nawor dorsentence,t
houghint hel
att
er
8

(sentence)we,someti
mes,gi
veemphasi
stoapart
icul
arword.Thepr
ocessofsay
inga
syll
ablewithgr
eaterf
orceorener
gyi
swhati
sref
err
edt oasstr
ess.

a-Asy l
lableisauni tofwor dsaidi nonebr eath.Asy l
lablecanbeasi nglev owel,but
hardlyasi ngleconsonantwi thoutv owel.Somewor dshav eonesy l
lable,somet wo,
somet hreeandsomeev enmor ethanthat.Belowar esomecl assi
ficationsofsy ll
able:
i
-Monosy l
labi
cwor ds(wor dswithonesy l
lable)
:boy gi rll earn man st ate
i
i-Bi
sy l
labicwords( wordswi t
ht wosy ll
ables):ma/ dam ma/ nner ma/ ster lea/der
tea/cher
i
ii-
Trisyll
abicwords( wordswiththreesyll
ables):bro/ther/hood f a/ther/land
e/du/cate
i
v -
Polysyll
abicwor ds( normallywor dswi thf ourt o abov esy l
lables):ca/ r
i/ca/t
u/re
mo/ bi/
li/
tyi n/
ter/
na/ t
io/nalin/for/
ma/ t
ion st an/dar/di
/ za/ti
on

b-
Stressistheprocessofsay
ingasy
ll
abl
ewi
thgr
eat
erf
orce,orl
ouder
.St
udysome
st
resstendenci
esbelow:

1-
MostEngl
i
shbi
syl
l
abi
cwor
dsar
est
ressedi
nthef
ir
stsy
ll
abl
e:Madam TEAcher
MASt
er

2-Wenormall
ystressthefirstsy
ll
abl
einwor
dsendi
ngwiht
t ure,
lyorism:CONfi
dent
ly
PARtial
l
y ACtiv
ely FORmal l
y FORmali
sm Or
gani
sm NAti
onal
ism FURni
tur
e PICt
ure
FUture CULt
ure Agr i
cult
ure NAtur
e
Excepti
on:pr
oFEssionali
sm

3-
Wenor mallyst
ressthesyllabl
epr
ecedingtion,si
on,ssionorsy l
l
ableendingwithic,
ous orst:eduCAtion NAt
ion MOti
on ACtion deVIsion deCI
sion VI
sion poSSEssi
on
proFEssi
onecoNOmi cGARlicsaGAciousPREci ouseffi
CAciousCONcsi ousviVAci
ous
ANxiousecoNOmistCHEmi stmonoGRAphi stext TREmistPHARmaci st

4-Mostofthetime,westressthet hi
rdsyll
ablei
nwor dsendingwithphy
,ty
,alori ty
count
ing from the fi
nalsyl
labl
e:phi LOsophy geOgraphy ecoNOmi
cal PRACt i
cal
soci
oLOgical phil
oSOphi
cal SOcial MOr al Or al NAt i
onal PARty pr obaBI
li
ty
ACti
vit
y maTUr i
ty

5-
West r
esst
hefi
rstsy
ll
ableofbi
syl
labi
candtri
syl
l
abicwordsendingwihcy
t :
FANcy MERcy PHARmacy Accuracy LUnacy LIt
eracy LEgacy POl
icy NORmal
cy
CUrr
encyAgencysuFFIci
encymaLIGnancy

6-
Westressthethir
dsyl
labl
ecount
ingf
rom t
hef
inalsy
ll
abl
einpol
ysy
ll
abi
cwor
ds
whi
chendwihi
t c:pol
ySYl
l
abic

7-Therear
esomewor dswhicharestressedint
heirf
inal
syl
l
able:
commi TTEE nomi
NEE appoinTEE guaranTEE guar
anTOR sur
eTEE conDOR menTOR
attenDEEinv
iTEEsuperv
isee
9

Homony ms
Homony msar edeceptivewordsbecauseoft hei
rstr
iki
ngsimil
ari
ti
eswithoneanother.
I
not herwords,theyaresomewor dsinEngl
ishwhichrendermanyofitsusersgul
li
ble
bot
hi nusageandspel li
ng.AccordingtoMcCar t
hyandO’Dell
(1999),
themi sl
eadi
ng
words(homony ms)canbesubdi v i
dedintohomographsandhomophoneseachof
whi
chwi ll
bedi scussedhereunder.
HomographsSomanywor dshavethesamef orm,alt
houghtheydi f
feri
nwhatt hey
mean,hencetheterm Homographs.Simpl
y,theyarewordswhi charewrit
tenorspell
ed
i
nthesamewaybuthav ingdi
ffer
entmeaningsandpr onunci
ation.Consi
dertheword
r
efusein'
Ialwaysrefusetoanswerhisquest
ions’and'Washy ourhandsaftert
ouching
r
efuse’
.Belowaresomeot herexamplesofhomogr aphs:
i
-Il
ivei
nAbuj a. Wearewatchingt
hemat chli
ve.
i
i
-Thewindwasv er
ystrong. Windyourwatch.
i
i
i-Hebuitanewhouse.
l Myfr
iendwil
lhousemei nAbuja.
i
v-I
twil
ltakeonemi nut
eonly. I
ti ustami
sj nuteamountofmoney .
v
-Whowi llpr
esentthenews? Othmanispresentt
oday.

Homophones
Homophones, ontheot herhands,
arewordswhichhav
ethesamepr onunci
ati
onbut
dif
ferentspell
ing, g.r
e. edin'Healwayswearsr
edcap’andread(pastf
orm)in'Her
ead
twonov el
sy ester
day'.Someoft hemanyexamplesofhomophonesinEngli
shareas
fol
lows:
air/heir al oud/ all
owed dough/
doe
faze/ phase gr oan/ gr own mi ght /mi te
pane/ pain pr ay /pr ey right / rit
e/ wr ight/wr
it
e
scent /sent whet her /weat her stake/ st eak
ti
re/ t
y re aloud/ allowed whi ne/ wine
wai t/wei ght thr ew/ through sol e/soul
i
ts/ i
t’s fl
oe/ f l
ow cit
e/ sight /site
moan/ mown fare/ fair grat e/ gr eat
fl
ew/ flew sai l/sal e ther e/ thei r
hoar se/ horse peal /peel rough/ r uf f
l
ay s/laze place/ plaice hour / our
read/ reed toe/ tow scene/ seen
tea/ t
ee fai r/far
e pai r/pare
rain/rei gn/r
ein whi ch/wi t
ch cor e/ corps
son/ sun peace/ piece sea/ see
some/ sum bar e/bear hear / her e
too/ t
wo be/ bee cease/ seize
meat /meet woul d/ wood one/ won
pray /pr ey not /knot check/ cheque
made/ maid wr i
te/ right mi ght /mi te
ewe/ y ou kni ght / night bale/ bai l
sign/ sine bat ed/ bai ted bor n/ bor ne
10

brake/ br eak cor d/chor d coarse/cour

cur b/ker b curr ant /cur r
ent pore/pour
vane/ v ein wav e/wai ve your/you’r
e
whose/ who’ s swat /swot tai
l/t
ail
team/ teem strait/st raight storey/story
scept ic/sept ic shar e/shear pedal/peddl
faint/feint faun/ f awn fl
are/fl
air
freeze/ frieze discr et e/discreet eli
cit
/il
li
cit
hoar d/ hor de i
ts/ it’
s l
ightening/l
ightning
forbear /for ebear princi pal/ pri
ncipl
e everyone/everyone

SomeConf usi
ngPai r
sofWor ds(Paronymy )
accept/except adverse/av
erse advi
ce/
advi
se
aff
ect /
effect amor al/
immor al complacent/
complai
sant
appraise/apprise censure/censor defuse/di
ff
use
sil
i
con/ sil
icone role/r
oll pal
ate/pal
let
envelop/env el
ope histor
ic/hi
stori
cal l
oath/l
oathe
fat
her /f
arther/
f ur
ther