Transcritipn Practice Book

VYTAUTAS
MAGNUS UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY

Audronė Raškauskienė
Jurgita Vaičenonienė

PHONETICS:
DRILLS AND EXERCISES

A Resource Book for Students

Kaunas, 2013

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UDK 811.111‘342(075.8)
Ra233

This resource book was approved for publication at the meeting of the Department of English Philology, Faculty
of Humanities on 9 October 2012 (Protocol No. 5) and the meeting of the Committee of the Faculty of
Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University on 3 December 2012 (Protocol No. 6‐4).
Reviewed by Prof. Dr. Ingrida Eglė Žindžiuvienė

ISBN 978‐9955‐12‐871‐7 (internetinis)
ISBN 978‐9955‐12‐872‐4 (spausdintas)
© Audronė Raškauskienė, 2013
© Jurgita Vaičenonienė, 2013
© Vytautas Magnus University, 2013

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This resource book is dedicated to the memory of Vitalija Liutvinskienė (19562011)
who for twenty years was a devoted teacher at the Department of English Philology,
Vytautas Magnus University, and who taught English Phonetics among other subjects.

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FOREWORD

The importance of intercultural communication is growing in a globalized and ever‐changing
world. In this context, the role of English as an international language cannot be denied. The
knowledge of English Phonetics, i.e. how particular sounds are produced, their properties, how we
perceive speech and what happens to speech sounds when we speak fast, helps us to speak clearly
and understand others correctly, which is of utmost importance, especially in intercultural
contexts.
The present resource book is designed as a supplement to Peter Roach’s (2010) textbook English
Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course and may be used to accompany lecture courses on
English Phonetics at university level. It is equally suitable for self‐study and for in‐class situation
with a teacher. Phonetics: Drills and Exercises gives students practice in pronunciation and
transcription of English sounds, enhances their understanding of phonological structures and
rules, and improves speaking and listening skills.
The resource book consists of 13 units and 7 appendices. Each unit contains the information about
the texts to be read on the unit’s topic, a list of key terms, a variety of pronunciation and
transcription exercises, online resources for further practice, and study questions which help to
revise the material practiced in the unit.
Units 1‐4, 11‐13 and appendices E, F, and G were prepared by Assoc. Prof. Audronė Raškauskienė,
whereas units 5‐10 and appendices A, B, C, and D were prepared by Dr. Jurgita Vaičenonienė.
The authors extend their gratitude to Lina Kišonytė who contributed the resource book by
painting the mid‐sagittal sections of the human head in Unit 3, Darius Tumšys for pictures in Units
5‐7, and Edmundas Unguraitis for the pictorial story in Appendix A.

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CONTENTS

Foreword 4
1 Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) 6
2 Accents and Dialects of English 12
3 Production of Speech Sounds 16
4 Vowels, Diphthongs, and Triphthongs 20
5 Plosive Consonants of English (p, t, k, b, d, g) 28
6 Fricative (f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h) and Affricate (tʃ, dʒ) Consonants of English 34
7 Nasal (m, n, ŋ) and Approximant (l, r, w, j) Consonants of English 40
8 The Syllable 47
9 Strong and Weak Syllables 52
10 Stress Placement in Simple Words 57
11 Stress Placement in Complex Words 63
12 Weak Forms 68
13 Aspects of Connected Speech 74

References 82
Appendix A Diagnostic Test 87
Appendix B Vowels, Diphthongs and Silent Letters 89
Appendix C Group Discussion of the Film “My Fair Lady” 92
Appendix D Topics for Individual Presentations 93
Appendix E Sentence Stress and Weak Forms 94
Appendix F ELectures and Suggestions for InClass Activities
by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Handke, “The Virtual Linguistics Campus” 97
Appendix G Links to Additional Transcription Exercises 99

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1 SYMBOLS OF THE INTERNATIONAL
PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)

Readings
Roach, P. 2010. English Phonetics and Phonology. A Practical Course.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1‐3; 31‐37.

Key terms

Consonants
Diacritics
Diphthongs
IPA
Phoneme
Transcription
Vowels

Practice
1. Review the English Alphabet (adapted from http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/english‐
phonetics.html).
A a [eɪ] N n [en]
B b [bi:] O o [əʊ]
C c [si:] P p [pi:]
D d [di:] Q q [kju:]
E e [i:] R r [a:]
F f [ef] S s [es]
G g [dʒi:] T t [ti:]
H h [eɪtʃ] U u [ju:]
I i [aɪ] V v [vi:]
J j [dʒɪ] W w [dʌblju:]
K k [keɪ] X x [eks]
L l [el] Y y [waɪ]
M m [em] Z z [zed] in Am E [zi:]
Note: In English, there is no one‐to‐one relation between the system of writing and the system of
pronunciation. The English alphabet has 26 letters but in (Standard British) English there are
approximately 44 speech sounds. A set of phonetic symbols called the International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) is used to represent the basic sounds of spoken languages.
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2. Pronounce the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet correctly. Practice writing the
IPA symbols in the spaces provided. Add at least three more examples of words containing
each of the symbols (adapted from http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/english‐phonetics.html;
http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/ipa/consonants.html).
Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
i. Short vowels
Student’s IPA Examples Student’s examples
transcription
ʌ [ ] cup, luck, love, fun
æ [ ] cat, black, mat, hat
e [ ] met, bed, pen, best
ə [ ] away, cinema, under
ɪ [ ] hit, sitting, hymn, in
ɒ [ ] hot, rock, dog, wash
ʊ [ ] put, could, good, foot
i [ ] happy, lucky, stadium

ii. Long vowels
transcription
ɑ: [ ] arm, father, car, start
ɜ: [ ] turn, learn, girl, fur
i: [ ] see, heat, key, sea
ɔ: [ ] call, four, north, bought
u: [ ] blue, food, new, cool

Note: The colon /:/ represents longer duration in pronunciation and is found in the transcription of long
vowels.
iii. Diphthongs
transcription
aɪ [ ] five, eye, kite, buy

eɪ [ ] say, eight, cake, made
ɔɪ [ ] boy, join, noise, toy
a [ ] now, out, cow, loud
əʊ [ ] go, home, no, low
eə [ ] where, air, share, wear
ɪə [ ] near, here, ear, sheer
pure, tourist, cure,
ʊə [ ]
newer

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iv. Consonants:
transcription
b [ ] bad, lab, job, back
d [ ] did, lady, dog, bad
f [ ] find, if, off, fat
g [ ] give, flag, go, bag
h [ ] how, hello, whole, head
j [ ] yes, yellow, year, yawn
k [ ] cat, back, pick, scan
l [ ] leg, little, like, feel
m [ ] man, lemon, miss, climb
n [ ] no, ten, need, know
ŋ [ ] sing, finger, long, king
p [ ] pet, map, top, spin
r [ ] red, try, right, wrong
s [ ] sun, miss, see, police
ʃ [ ] she, crash, ship, station
t [ ] tea, getting, time, bit
t ʃ [ ] check, church, pitch, chair
θ [ ] think, both, bath, thumb
ð [ ] this, mother, with, that
v [ ] voice, five, view, save
w [ ] wet, window, queen, win
z [ ] zoo, lazy, zero, please
ʒ [ ] pleasure, vision, measure,
d ʒ [ ] just, large, jam, age

v. Note the names of the following speech sounds (phonemes):

[ʊ] ‘upsilon’
[æ] ‘ash’
[ɒ] open ‘o’
[ʌ] ‘caret’
[ə] ‘schwa’
[ŋ] ‘eng’
[ð] ‘eth’
[θ] ‘theta’
[j] ‘yod’
[ʃ] ‘esh’
[ʒ] ‘yogh’

3. Listen and repeat the sounds of English on the following BBC Learning English website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/chart.shtml.
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4. Listen and repeat the pronunciation of consonants on
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/chapter6/soundsvowels.html. Provide your examples
with each consonant:
Consonant Example Student’s example

b buy
d die
g guy
p pie
t tie
k kite
w why
l lie
r rye
m my
n nigh
ŋ rang
f fie
θ thigh
s sigh
ʃ shy
h high
v vie
ð thy
z Zion
ʒ vision
ʃ chime

d ʒ jive

5. Write down the phonemes that occur in English but do not occur in your language:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Write down the phonemes that occur in your native language but not in English:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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7. Revision of terms. Complete the crossword puzzle below:
Across: Down:
1. Name for the symbol [ʒ] 1. Name for the symbol [j]
3. Name for the symbol [ʌ] 2. Name for the symbol [ʃ]
5. Name for the symbol [ʊ] 4. International Phonetic Alphabet
7. Author of the textbook English Phonetics 6. Punctuation mark which is found in the
and Phonology transcription of long vowels
9. Name for the symbol [æ] 8. Name for the symbol [ə]
11. Name for the symbol [ð] 10. Name for the symbol [θ]

6 8
7

10
5 4 9

3 2 11

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Online resources
1. Definitions of the key terms.
http://www.cambridge.org/servlet/file/EPP_PED_Glossary.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=2491706&ITEM_
VERSION=1&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=7
2. Extra exercises for use with English Phonetics and Phonology.
http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/custom/resourceview/item2491714/
?site_locale=en_US&currentResourceID=2491738&currentProjectID=5629545
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3. Why are phonetics important?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJG0uErf8WY
4. The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet.
http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc‐soundsipa.htm
5. The sounds of English.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/
6. Interactive phonetic chart for English pronunciation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HeujZ45OZE&feature=related
7. Pronunciation tips.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/vowel_short_1s.html
8. Transcription tips.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/transcription%20exercises/tips%20for%20transcription.html
9. Ladefoged, P. English Vowels. In A Course in Phonetics 5 th. Ed. Thomson/ Wadsworth Publishers.
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/chapter4/4vowels.html
10. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/
11. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/pronunciation.html
12. A Free Online Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation.
http://www.howjsay.com/
13. English Pronouncing Dictionary.
http://seas3.elte.hu/epd/epd.pl?s=hall&t=&grammar=

Study questions
1. What is IPA?
2. How many speech sounds are there in the IPA?
3. What is a phoneme?
4. What is a phonemic system of language?
5. What symbols do we use to represent speech sounds?
6. What is transcription?
7. How do we call the following vowel phonemes?
ʌ, æ, ə, ʊ
8. How do we call the following consonant phonemes?
ŋ, θ, ð, j
9. How do we pronounce the following speech sounds (vowels)?
ʌ, æ, ə, ʊ, ɒ, ɜ:
10. How do we pronounce the following speech sounds (consonants)?
t ʃ, ʃ, ŋ, ʒ, θ, ð, dʒ

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2

ACCENTS AND DIALECTS OF ENGLISH

Readings
Roach, P. 2010. English Phonetics and Phonology. A Practical Course. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. 3‐7.

Key terms

Accent
BBC English
Cockney Dialect
Dialect
Estuary English
Received Pronunciation (RP)

Practice
1. Listen to the vowel sounds, spoken by an American and a British speaker at
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/chapter4/4vowels.html.

2. Listen to the below given sentences spoken in the following accents: Southern American
English, Dublin (Irish) English, Edinburgh (Scottish) English, London English and New Zealand
English at http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/transcription%20exercises/arthur.htm. What
pronunciation differences can you hear?

Once there was a young rat named Arthur, who could never make up his mind. Whenever his
friends asked him if he would like to go out with them, he would only answer, "I don't know." He
wouldn't say "yes" or "no" either. He would always shirk making a choice.

3. Read aloud and listen to the complete story of Arthur the Rat in a British accent at
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/transcription%20exercises/peter.htm (the text is taken
from Ladefoged, P. A Course in Phonetics 5th ed.)

Once there was a young rat named Arthur, who could never make up his mind. Whenever his
friends asked him if he would like to go out with them, he would only answer, “I don‘t know.“ He
would always shirk making a choice. His aunt Helen said to him, "Now look here. No one is going
to care for you if you carry on like this. You have no more mind than a blade of grass." One rainy
day, the rats heard a great noise in the loft. The pine rafters were all rotten, so that the barn was
rather unsafe. At last the joists gave way and fell to the ground. The walls shook and all the rats'
hair stood on end with fear and horror. "This won't do," said the captain. "I'll send out scouts to
search for a new home." Within five hours the ten scouts came back and said, "We found a stone
house where there is room and board for us all. There is a kindly horse named Nelly, a cow, a calf,
and a garden with an elm tree." The rats crawled out of their little houses and stood on the floor
in a long line. Just then the old one saw Arthur. "Stop," he ordered coarsely. "You are coming, of
course?" "I'm not certain," said Arthur, undaunted. "The roof may not come down yet." "Well,"
said the angry old rat, "we can't wait for you to join us. Right about face. March!"

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4. Listen to the complete story of Arthur the Rat in an American accent at
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/transcription%20exercises/american.htm.
What pronunciation differences can you hear?

5. Listen to examples of British regional accents at http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/.
Follow links to Voices Recordings. Chose one of the recordings by clicking on a dot on the map, and
then do the following (adapted from Hewings 2007: 15):

 Click on the name of one of the speakers under “More clips from this interview”.
 Read “About the interviewee”.
 Read the transcript.
 Listen to the recording and follow the transcript.
 Some clips have a section on “More about the speech in this clip”. Read this, focusing in
particular on information about pronunciation. Some dialect words are explained in this
section.
 Do the same with any other “More clips from this interview”.
 Go back and listen to the “Voice clip(s)”. These do not have transcripts. How much do you
understand when you listen without a transcript? Do you notice features of pronunciation
you observed and read about earlier?
 Do the same with accents from other parts of the UK by clicking on other dots on the map.

6. Listen to a selection of recordings on British Library site (between five and ten) from different
parts of the UK and make a list of interesting pronunciation patterns
(http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/activities/phonological‐variation/).

7. Listen to a Cockney dialect sound clip and RP sound clip on Dialect Guide site
http://pointpark.libguides.com/content.php?pid=209576&sid=1746431.
Make a list of differences in pronunciation that you notice.

8. Discuss the following questions in small groups and present a summary of your discussion:

 Cockney, the dialect of the East End area of London, is highly stigmatized and mostly
associated with uneducated, working class people. Such stereotypes about the relation of
the dialect and social class can be found cross‐culturally. Provide Lithuanian illustrations of
the social stigma attributed to a regional accent.
 Can you hear regional accents/ dialects on Lithuanian television channels? In what contexts?
 What Lithuanian dialect/ accent do you speak?
 Do you speak the same way at the university with your friends and at your home town?
Why? What are the differences?
 Do you expect a lecturer/ doctor/ lawyer speak in a regional or standard Lithuanian accent?
Why?
 In your opinion, which accent of English do you know best? Why?
 Can you name an example of a literary work where an author is using unconventional
spelling and/ or non‐standard language as a means of indicating the social class of the
characters?

9. Record yourself reading the text in Exercise 2. Listen to the recording and highlight the
differences between your pronunciation and that of the speaker of BBC English.

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Online resources

2. Received Pronunciation: a social accent of English. British Library.
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/find‐out‐more/received‐pronunciation/
3. What is a dialect? What is an accent? British Library.
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/regional‐voices/
4. Dialects and accents of England. International dialects of English archive.
http://web.ku.edu/~idea/europe/england/england.htm
5. Accents and dialects. British Library.
http://sounds.bl.uk/Accents‐and‐dialects
6. The audio archive.
http://alt‐usage‐english.org/audio_archive.shtml
7. Cockney English.
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/CockneyEnglish.html
8. Cockney dialect audio resources. Dialect guide ‐ British Isles.
http://pointpark.libguides.com/content.php?pid=209576&sid=1746431
9. Estuary English.
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/
10. American varieties.
http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/
11. Speech Internet Dictionary.
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/sid/sida.htm
12. British Broadcasting Corporation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/
13. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
http://www.abc.net.au/
14. RTÉ Ireland’s National Television and Radio Broadcaster.
http://www.rte.ie/.
15. 938Live Singapore Radio.
http://www.internet‐live‐radio.com/2011/09/938live‐singapore‐radio.html
16. Radio New Zealand.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/
17. Famous speeches & audio.
http://www.history.com/speeches/
18. TED: Ideas worth spreading.
http://www.ted.com/

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Study questions

1. What is an accent?
2. What is a dialect?
3. What is Received Pronunciation (RP)?
4. What is BBC English?
5. What is Queen’s English?
6. What is a Cockney Dialect?
7. What is Estuary English? Is it important? Why?
8. What is the recommended accent in this course?
9. Why is it good to concentrate on one model?
10. Are some accents inferior/ superior to others?

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3
PRODUCTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS

Readings
Roach, P. 2010. English Phonetics and Phonology. A Practical Course. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. 8‐10.

Key terms

Active articulators
Alveolar ridge
Articulatory phonetics
Diaphragm
Epiglottis
Esophagus
Glottis
Hard palate
Jaw
Larynx
Lips
Lungs
Nasal cavity
Palate
Passive articulators
Pharynx
Soft palate
Teeth
Tongue (back, tip)
Uvula
Velum
Vocal apparatus
Vocal cords/folds
Vocal tract

Practice
1. Create a list of translations of the names of articulators into your native language.

17

2. Study the picture of the mid‐sagittal section of the human head below.
(Also see Mannell, Robert. Vocal Tract Articulators
http://clas.mq.edu.au/phonetics/phonetics/introduction/tongue_palate.html and
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/langling/resources/midsagsectionbw.jpg).

Note: Active and Passive Articulators (taken from Mannell, Place of Articulation.
http://clas.mq.edu.au/phonetics/phonetics/consonants/place.html).

Active Articulators. An active articulator is the articulator that does all or most of the moving
during a speech gesture. The active articulator is usually the lower lip or some part of the
tongue. These active articulators are attached to the jaw which is relatively free to move when
compared to parts of the vocal tract connected directly to the greater mass of the skull.

Passive Articulators. A passive articulator is the articulator that makes little or no movement
during a speech gesture. The active articulator moves towards the relatively immobile passive
articulator. Passive articulators are often directly connected to the skull. Passive articulators
include the upper lip, the upper teeth, the various parts of the upper surface of the oral cavity,
and the back wall of the pharynx.

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3. Indicate the articulators on the picture provided.

Articulators:
nasal cavity
soft palate
uvula
hard palate
palate
alveolar ridge
lips
tip of tongue
blade of tongue
back of tongue
jaw

4. On the picture below, indicate parts of the respiratory system which function in the production
of speech.

Respiratory system:
nasal cavity
alveolar ridge
teeth
lips
tongue
glottis
larynx
lungs
diaphragm
velum
epiglottis
esophagus

5. Click on the link http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html and work
with Interactive Sagittal Section. Use the radio buttons to change voicing, nasality, lip position,
and tongue position. To move the tongue, specify manner and place of articulation.

19

Online resources

http://www.cambridge.org/servlet/file/store7/item2491718/version1/EPP_WS_ExtraExercises
U02.pdf
3. Articulatory anatomy.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/anatomy.htm
4. Mannell, R. Vocal Tract Articulators.
http://clas.mq.edu.au/phonetics/phonetics/introduction/tongue_palate.html
5. Human articulators in action – video. Auditory Neuroscience.
http://mustelid.physiol.ox.ac.uk/drupal/?q=vocalization/articulators
6. Human vocal folds in action ‐ youtube video. Auditory Neuroscience.
http://mustelid.physiol.ox.ac.uk/drupal/?q=vocal_folds
7. The physics and physiology of speech.
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/Phonetics/Phonetics1a.html
8. Tongue video.
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/chapter11/tongue.html
9. Jaw video.
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/chapter11/movie.html
10. Larynx video.
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/chapter11/larynx.html
11. Interactive sagittal section.
http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html
12. Gibbon, D. 2006. Midsaggital Section of the Head. In Phonetics: Realising Sounds, p.21.
http://wwwhomes.unibielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2006WS/IntroductionToLinguistics/
07‐IntroPhoneticsArticulatory.pdf
13. Vocal sound production.
http://hyperphysics.phy‐astr.gsu.edu/hbase/music/voice.html

Study questions

1. Which organs are needed to produce speech?
2. What is articulatory phonetics?
3. What are active articulators?
4. What are passive articulators?
5. How is the airstream produced?
6. What parts of the vocal tract are responsible for the obstruction of the air flow from the lungs?
7. How are vowels and consonants different?
8. What articulators belong to respiratory system?
9. What articulators work in the production of consonants [p], [b], and [m]?
10. What articulators work in the production of consonants [θ]and [ð]?

20

4 VOWELS, DIPHTHONGS, AND TRIPHTHONGS

Readings

Key terms

Cardinal vowels (primary, secondary)
Diphthongs
Distribution of the sounds
Glide
Monophthongs
Pure vowel
Triphthongs
Vowel sequence
Vowels (short, long)

Practice
1. Match the term in column A with its characteristics in column B (adapted from Celce‐Murcia,
Brinton, & Goodwin 1996: 102):

A B
a. It depends on how far forward or back the tongue is positioned
1. Monophthongs
within the oral cavity during articulation and which part of the
(pure vowels)
tongue is involved
2. Diphthongs and
b. Require greater muscular tension/greater articulatory energy
triphthongs
3. Lax
c. The lips are pushed forward into the shape of a circle
(Short vowels)
4. Tense
d. The organs of speech remain approximately stationary
(Long vowels)
e. The corners of the lips are moved away from each other, as when
5. Rounded vowels
smiling
6. Spread vowels f. Require less muscular tension/less articulatory energy
g. It depends on the tongue height within the oral cavity and the
7. Neutral vowels
accompanying raised or lowered position of the jaw
8. Open, mid or close
h. The lips are not noticeably rounded or spread
vowels
9. Front, central or
i. The organs of speech perform perceptible movement
back vowels
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2. Look into a mirror and pronounce the words heed, hid, head, had, far, love, good, food, dog,
door. Write the transcription symbols for the vowels you hear. Specify the vowel sounds in terms of
the four characteristics: tongue height (high or close), frontness or backness of the tongue, lip
rounding, and the tenseness of the articulators (adapted from Ladefoged 2001: 12‐14):

Example: Heed [i:] close (high) front unrounded (spread) tense
Word Transcription Description

Hid
Head
Had
Far
Love
Good
Food
Dog
Door

3. Say the vowels “eeahoo” ([i:] [ɑ:] [ɔ:]) and notice the changes of position in the tongue and
lips as you move from one vowel to the next (adapted from
http://www.netplaces.com/singing/diction/vowel‐classification.htm).

4. Locate primary cardinal vowels on the quadrilateral given below:

5. Transcribe the following pairs of words. State what principles of vowel classification they
illustrate (adapted from Leontyeva 1980: 67):

Pair Transcription Pair Transcription
cod – cord fool – full
not – naught pool – pull
cot – caught food – put
end – and am – aim
ten – tan man – main
hem – ham Nor – no
fir – for law – low
firm – form called – cold
turn – torn caught – coat
body – border kettle – cattle

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6. Locate E
English shorrt vowels on
n the quadrrilateral giv
ven below:

7. Transcriibe the follo owing word ds and writee the transccription sym mbol for thee vowel:

pick ______________________ Tim ______________________ film ______________________ [ ]

Ben ______________________ send _____________________ debt ______________________ [ ]

Pack _____________________ mass _____________________ Ann _______________________ [ ]

odd ______________________ rock _____________________ Tom ______________________ [ ]

book _____________________ full _______________________ could ______________
_ _____ [ ]

luck ______________________ love ______________________ some _______________
_ _____ [ ]

under ____________________ ago ______________________ perhapss ________________ [ ]

8. Write att least five wwords contaaining Engliish short vo owels.
[ʌ] ____________________________________________________________________________

[æ] ____________________________________________________________________________

[e] ____________________________________________________________________________

[ɪ] ____________________________________________________________________________

[ɒ] ____________________________________________________________________________

[ʊ] ____________________________________________________________________________

[ə] ____________________________________________________________________________

23

9. Locate English long vowels on the quadrilateral given below:

10. Transcribe the following words and write the transcription symbol for the vowel:

Team _____________ Steve _______________ seem _________________ key ________________ [ ]

Half _______________ car __________________ Mark _________________ laugh _____________ [ ]

Talk _______________ small _______________ taught ________________ law ________________ [ ]

Moon _____________ true _________________ soup _________________ crew ______________ [ ]

Nurse _____________ dirt _________________ verse _________________ work ______________ [ ]

11. Write your own examples of words containing English long vowels (at least five words for
each English long vowel).

[ɑ:] ______________________________________________________________________________

[i:] _______________________________________________________________________________

[ɔ:] ______________________________________________________________________________

[u:] ______________________________________________________________________________

[ɜ:] ______________________________________________________________________________

12. Transcribe the following words (adapted from O’Connor 1980: 80‐82):

wheat [ ] wit [ ] wet [ ]
cheek [ ] chick [ ] check [ ]
bet [ ] bat [ ] but [ ]
ten [ ] tan [ ] ton [ ]
luck [ ] lark [ ] lock [ ]
duck [ ] dark [ ] dock [ ]
ream [ ] rim [ ] ram [ ]
beat [ ] bit [ ] bet [ ]
bet [ ] bat [ ] but [ ]
shod [ ] shored [ ] should [ ]
cod [ ] cord [ ] could [ ]

24

13. English vowels. Click on the symbol for the vowels in the following exercise.
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flash/rpvkey.htm
14. Check the words which contain the sounds shown in
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flash/symword1.htm
15. Listen and repeat the tongue twister (the tongue twister is taken from
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/chapter15/seashells.aiff):
She sells seashells on the seashore and the seashells that she sells are seashells I'm sure.
16. Complete the table (adapted from http://www.scribd.com/doc/25247741/Vowels‐in‐
spoken‐English):

English Vowel System
Short Long Diphthongs (8) Triphthongs (5)

vowels (7) vowels (5) Closing (‐ʊ) Closing (‐ɪ)
Centering (‐ə)

17. Indicate the diphthongs and their glide from the pure vowel to the second vowel of the
diphthong on the quadrilateral given below:

18. Fill in the table by putting the following words into columns according to the diphthong they
contain. The first is done for you:

why, care, join, how, hope, stay, snow, south, point, mild, bare, moor, real, noise, down, mouth,
nine, road, paint, poor, cheer, coin, drown, both, age, joke, eyes, there, bright, so, shape, tour, ear,
sure, late, rise, found, coke, join, tone.

Diphthongs
aɪ
why
25

19. Read the following sentences aloud. Underline the syllables containing diphthongs. Write the
diphthong(s) next to the sentences. The first is done for you. (adapted from Huang 1991: 98;
Sauer 2006: 88, 90):

1. The steward assured us it was secured. [ʊə]

2. Surely we are going to a party to‐night.

3. You can’t afford this expensive tour now that you’re poor.

4. The cure which he endured was cruel and arduous.

5. My wife’s diary is strictly private.

6. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

7. See you later, alligator – in a while, crocodile.

8. There was a young lady of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.

9. There was a young fellow named Tate
Who dined with his girl at 8.08;
But I’d hate to relate
What that fellow named Tate
And his girlfriend ate at 8.08.

10. These pronunciation exercises are a pain in the neck.

20. Transcribe the following words and read them aloud. Explain the vowel sequences you hear.
(adapted from O’Connor 1980: 87‐88):

tyre [ ] tower [ ]
trial [ ] trowel [ ]
quiet [ ] tired [ ]
coward [ ] powerful [ ]
buyer [ ] bower [ ]
flyer [ ] flower [ ]
iron [ ] riot [ ]
ours [ ] showery [ ]
greyer [ ] employer [ ]
grower [ ] thrower [ ]
player [ ] betrayal [ ]
royal [ ] lawyer [ ]
follower [ ] fire [ ]

26

Online resources

http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/custom/resourceview/item2491714/?
site_locale=en_US&currentResourceID=2491740&currentProjectID=5629545
3. IPA for language learning – vowels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bCM9RnDBZw
4. English vowel vounds (Flash).
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/
5. Vowels and diphthongs.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/
6. The Cardinal Vowels ‐ Daniel Jones.mp4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fV2f_fmFGc
7. RP English vowels.
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flash/rpvkey.htm
8. RP English.
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flash/symword1.htm
9. Vowel exercise.
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/Phonetics%20Exercises/Vowels1Ex.html
10. The first pure vowel [i:].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHY46EL8Jrs&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
11. The short [ɪ]sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XCYdg58PXU&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
12. The near‐close near‐back rounded vowel [ʊ].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pptrzUnJHQE&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
13. The close back rounded vowel [u:].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78QhHQDKUlc&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
14. The close‐mid front unrounded vowel [e].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq3cxoOHqEA&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
15. The schwa [ə].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Hhi0I68D0&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
16. Schwa. BBC Learning English.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/schwa/
17. The vowel in the word bird [ɜ:].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZlWlr6Kem8&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
18. Open‐mid back rounded vowel [ɔ:].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz8‐0zXB6j0&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3
19. Diphthongs and triphthongs.
http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/ipa/diphthongs.html

27

Study questions

1. What do you know about the system of Cardinal Vowels?
2. What are the principles of vowel classification regarding the articulatory characteristics of the vowels?
3. How are vowels classified as regards vertical‐horizontal movements of the tongue?
4. How can be vowels classified as regards lip participation and the degree of tenseness in the
articulation of vowels?
5. How are vowels classified as regards their tenseness and length?
6. What are monophthongs? What are their characteristics regarding the stability of its articulation?
7. What are diphthongs? What are their characteristics regarding the stability of its articulation?
8. How are diphthongs subdivided according to the tongue movement from the pure vowel to the
second vowel of the diphthong?
9. What are triphthongs? How are they formed?
10. Compare the vowel system in your native language with English vowel system. What are the
differences?

28

5 PLOSIVE CONSONANTS OF ENGLISH
(p, t, k, b, d, g)

Readings

Key terms

Aspiration
Alveolar (t,d)
Bilabial (p,b)
Fortis/voiceless (p,t,k)
Lenis/voiced (b,d,g)
Plosives (also stops) (p, t, k, b, d, g + ʔ)
Production of plosives: air intake → closure → compression → release → plosion
Velum/velar (k,g)
Voicing

Practice
1. Identify (1) the place of articulation, (2) the plosives pronounced in the diagrams below and (3)
give examples of English words beginning with these sounds.

A
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

29

B
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

C
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

2. Write and transcribe three words to exemplify the following cases:

1. Bilabial consonants in CV (consonant‐vowel) position
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

2. Alveolar consonants in VCV position
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

3. Velar consonants in VC position
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

30
4. Voiceless consonants
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

5. Voiced consonants
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

6. Unaspirated p,t,k in initial position
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

7. Aspirated p,t,k in initial position
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

8. Vowel shortening before p,t,k in final position
________ [ ]
________ [ ]
________ [ ]

3. Transcribe the words and underline the vowels/diphthongs which are shortened because of the
following fortis consonant:

1. Mate [ ]
2. Made [ ]
3. Seek [ ]
4. Seed [ ]
5. Nag [ ]
6. Sip [ ]
7. Mode [ ]
8. Cloak [ ]
9. Lap [ ]

4. Circle the words (adapted from Ladefoged 2001: 19‐20):

1. beginning with a bilabial consonant
mat gnat sat bat rat pat
2. beginning with a velar consonant
knot got lot cot hot pot
3. beginning with an alveolar consonant
zip nip lip ship tip dip
4. ending with a plosive consonant
pill lip lit graph crab dog hide

31
5. Read and transcribe the words below. Which consonants are aspirated? Why? (examples are
taken from Gussmann 2002: 3‐4)

1. Pain [ ] 1. Spain [ ]
2. Team [ ] 2. Steam [ ]
3. Key [ ] 3. Ski [ ]
4. Supper [ ] 4. Aspen [ ]
5. Batter [ ] 5. Pester [ ]
6. Hate [ ] 6. Haste [ ]
7. Break [ ] 7. Task [ ]

6. Define the consonant sounds in bold:

Fortis/lenis Place of articulation Manner of articulation
Forty
Debate
Raccoon
Ladder
Game
Park

7. Read the tongue twisters as quickly as you can (tongue twisters are taken from
http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/en.htm):

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?

Denise sees the fleece,
Denise sees the fleas.
At least Denise could sneeze
and feed and freeze the fleas.

Stupid superstition!

Gobbling gorgoyles gobbled gobbling goblins.

A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose!
a) Pay attention to the articulation of the plosives. What articulatory problems arise? Why?

b) Search the website and pick a tongue twister with the sound which is problematic to you. Learn
the tongue twister by heart and present it in class.

32
8. Create your story/dialogue using at least 20 words listed below. Be careful about the correct
pronunciation of the plosives:

Cap Cab Rope Robe Debt Dead Bright Bride
Debt Lamb Sign Gnome Chemist School Stomach Ache
Potato Topic Decapitated Tobacco Decode About Hurt Bit
Heard Heart Hurt Pocket Spill Spit Slip Pay

9. In groups of four, answer the questions. Compare your answers with another group (based on
http://www.englishclub.com/interesting‐facts/index.htm):

1. The most common vowel in English is ______, followed by _____. Example:
2. The most common consonant in English is _____, followed by _____. Example:
3. Every syllable in English must have a vowel. Not all syllables have consonants. T / F
4. More English words begin with the letter _____ than with any other letter. Example:
5. The only word in English that ends with the letters "‐mt" is___________
6. We pronounce the combination "ough" in 9 different ways, as in:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
9.

7. We can find 10 words in the 7‐letter word "therein" without rearranging any of its letters:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

10. Read Chapter 5 from Roach (2010: 31‐38). Write an essay in which you give a discussion of
what a phoneme is and what are the problems around the definition of the phoneme. Use other
sources which are available to you.

33
Online resources

1. The pronunciation of plosive consonants.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html
4. Learning plosives through songs.
http://allphonetics.blogspot.com/2008/05/plosive‐story‐p‐b‐t‐d‐k‐g_14.html
5. On the use of glottal stop instead of plosives.
http://www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk/plosiveconsonants.html

Study questions

1. What is voicing or phonation?
2. How are different‐sounding voice qualities produced?
3. What plosive consonants does English have?
4. What are the general characteristics of the articulation of plosive consonants?
5. What are the phases in the production of the plosive consonant?
6. What is the basis of difference of English plosives?
7. What are the word positions where English plosives can occur?
8. What distinguishes p, t, k form b, d, g?
9. When are the p, t, k sounds unaspirated?
10. What is fortis and what is lenis?

34
6
FRICATIVE (f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h) AND
AFFRICATE (tʃ, dʒ) CONSONANTS OF ENGLISH

Readings

Key terms
Affricate (tʃ, dʒ)
Alveolar
Continuant consonant
Dental
Homorganic
Fricative (f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h)
Glottal
Glottalization
Labiodental
Post‐alveolar
Production of affricates: air intake → closure → compression → release → plosion → air
escaping through narrow passage → fricative sound
Production of fricatives: air escaping through narrow passage → fricative sound

Practice
1. Identify (1) the place of articulation and (2) the fricatives pronounced in the diagrams below
and (3) give examples of English words beginning with these sounds.

A
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

35
B
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

C
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

D
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

36
2. Characterize the following sounds according to their place and manner of articulation, and
voicing:

[z] a) b) c)
[v] a) b) c)
[θ] a) b) c)
[ʃ] a) b) c)

[ð] a) b) c)
[t] a) b) c)
[h] a) b) c)
[ʒ] a) b) c)

3. What phonetic property/ies distinguishes the following pairs of sounds (voicing, manner, place
of articulation) (based on Carr 2012: 11)?
(a) [k] and [g] (b) [d] and [z] (c) [ʒ] and [z] (d ) [d] and [g]
_______________ ________________ _______________ ________________
_______________ ________________ _______________ ________________
4. Which of the following English words begin/end with a fricative? (adapted from Carr 2012: 11)
psychology round plot philosophy think xylophone whale
use epitaph half halve hash haze phase
path cuts sheep seventh messiah hour swim
5. Write the phonemic symbols for the following characterizations and illustrate with two English
words:

1. A voiceless dental fricative: [ ] a) b)
2. A glottal fricative: [ ] a) b)
3. A voiced post‐alveolar affricate: [ ] a) b)
4. A voiceless alveolar fricative: [ ] a) b)
5. A voiced labiodental fricative: [ ] a) b)

37
6. Provide minimal pairs that illustrate how the pairs of plosive and fricative consonants change
the word meaning (e.g. bad – bat):

Pairs of consonants Initial position (CV) Final position(VC)
[k] and [g]
[v] and [f]
[θ] and [ð]
[tʃ] and [dʒ]
[tʃ] and [ʃ]
[p] and [b]
[t] and [d]
[s] and [z]

7. Compare and transcribe the following words phonemically and phonetically (adapted from
Tench 2011: 44‐45):

Word Phonetic transcription Phonemic transcription
Cheek [ ] [ ]
Chic [ ] [ ]
Catch [ ] [ ]
Cash [ ] [ ]
Porch [ ] [ ]
Porsche [ ] [ ]
Which [ ] [ ]
Witch [ ] [ ]
Richard [ ] [ ]
George [ ] [ ]
College [ ] [ ]
Collage [ ] [ ]
Marriage [ ] [ ]
Mirage [ ] [ ]
Vestige [ ] [ ]
Prestige [ ] [ ]
Ethics [ ] [ ]
Essex [ ] [ ]
Caesar [ ] [ ]
Seizure [ ] [ ]

38
8. Read the extract from the film The Pink Panther (2006), where the Pink Panther and inspector
Clouseau are having a conversation (the extract is taken from
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/dec10/less03.htm). Underline the words that are pronounced with [tʃ]
and [dʒ]. What problem of pronunciation is illustrated in the extract? What advice could you give
to pronounce the sounds in a correct way?

C: It is fish and chips for lunch.
PP: Ships? I can‘t eat ships, they‘re too big!
C: I said chips, you know, fried potatoes!
PP: Oh, I see, chips with a CH, not ships with an SH.
C: That‘s right, you‘re a genius!
PP: Was the fish expensive?
C: No, it was cheap.
PP: Jeep? You bought a jeep?
C: No, cheap, the opposite of expensive.
PP Oh, I see, cheap with a CH, not jeep with a J!

9. Listen to Michael Jackson’s Earth Song. Comment on the pronunciation of what. Is the sound
pronounced the same as in the words were, was, weeping, etc., and why? (the song extract is taken
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lbOgBtE3w)

Earth Song

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain.. .
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Your comment:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

39
10. Read the following tongue twisters. What articulatory problems arise? Why? (tongue twisters
are taken from http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/en.htm)

The thirty‐three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
Hercules, a hardy hunter, hunted a hare in the Hampshire Hills. Hit him on the head with a hard,
hard hammer and he howled horribly!
Lenny Lou leopard led leprechauns leaping like lemmings.
Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
Chester Cheetah chews a chunk of cheep cheddar cheese.
Online resources

1. The pronunciation of fricative consonants.
4. Pronunciation of two uncommon fricatives (e.g., which, huge).
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/chapter1/others.html
6. Vowel shortening before voiceless final fricatives.
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/chapter3/shortening.htm

Study questions

1. What are the fricative and affricate consonants of English?
2. What are the characteristics of fricatives?
3. What are the main features of affricates?
4. What is the specific quality of the glottal h?
5. What is the place of articulation of the two English affricates?
6. What is the important feature of all fortis consonants?
7. How do fortis consonants differ from lenis consonants?
8. What sound is produced by some speakers of English in words which orthographically begin
with wh? What is its phonetic symbol?
9. What is glottalization? When does it occur? What is the symbol for the glottal stop?
10. How many affricates are distinguished in the Lithuanian language?

40
7 NASAL (m, n, ŋ) AND APPROXIMANT
(l, r, w, j) CONSONANTS OF ENGLISH

Readings

Key terms

Approximant (l, r, w, j)
Bilabial
Lateral (l)
Minimal pair
Morpheme
Nasal (m, n, ŋ)
Palatal
Production of nasals: air intake → closure → lowered soft palate → partially closed vocal folds
→ air escapes though the nose → nasal sound
Production of approximants: air intake → articulators approach slightly or do not touch each
other → partially closed vocal folds → air passes over the surface / along the sides of the tongue
→ approximant sound
Retroflex
Rhotic/non‐rhotic accent

Practice
1. Identify (1) the place of articulation and (2) the nasals/approximants pronounced in the
diagrams below and (3) give examples of English words beginning with these sounds.
A
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

41
B
(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

C

(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

D

(1)________________

(2)________________

(3)________________

42
2. Comment on the pronunciation of ng in medial and final positions in the words below and give
your examples:

Pronunciation Other examples
No Word Commentary
of ng illustrating the rule
1 Wrong [ ]
2 Wronger [ ]
3 Hang [ ]
4 Hanging [ ] [ ]
5 Jungle [ ]
6 Jungly [ ]
7 Extinguishing [ ] [ ]
(You may listen to the pronunciation of the words on http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?)

3. Provide examples for the two allophones of [l] in initial, medial and final positions in English:

Dark [l] Clear [l]
Initially Medially Finally Initially Medially Finally

4. Read the tongue twisters as quickly as possible. Pay a particular attention to the pronunciation
of the nasals and approximants. Identify whether the sound [l] is dark or light (the tongue twisters
are taken from http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=9&t=399):

You‘ve no need to light a night‐light
On a night like tonight,
For a night‐light‘s light‘s a slight light,
And tonight‘s a night that‘s light.

Luke's duck likes lakes. Luke Luck licks lakes. Luke's duck licks lakes. Duck takes licks in lakes
Luke Luck likes. Luke Luck takes licks In lakes duck likes.

Red lorry, Yellow lorry, Red lorry, Yellow lorry.

43
5. Visit the websites of BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/) and CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/video/).
Listen to the 3 reports on a similar topic (e.g., weather, politics, art, etc.). Focus on the
pronounciation of the sound [r], present and exemplify your findings:

Internet address and title of the Commentary and examples
audio/ video report
1.

2.
BBC
3.
1.
CNN
2.
3.
Summarizing
statement

6. Create or find 5 advertising slogans with the emphasis on the nasals and approximants e.g.,
M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand; What we want is Watney's:

Slogan Commentary on the alliteration of the chosen consonants
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

44
7. Revision of English consonants. Fill in the table below with the appropriate consonants:

Labio Post
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
dental alveolar
Plosives
Nasals
Fricatives
Affricates
Lateral
Approximants

8. Circle the words (based on Ladefoged 2001: 19):

1. beginning with a labiodental consonant

fat cat that mat chat vat

2. beginning with a dental consonant

pie guy shy thigh thy high

3. beginning with a post‐alveolar consonant

sigh shy tie thigh thy lie

4. ending with a fricative

race wreath bush breathe bang rave rose raugh

5. ending with a nasal

rain rang dumb deaf

6. beginning with a lateral

nut lull bar rob one

7. beginning with an approximant

we you one nun huge only

8. ending with an affricate

much back edge ooze itsy‐bitsy

45
9. Define the sounds in bold according to their voicing, place and manner of articulation (adapted
from Ladefoged 2001: 20):

Voiced/ Place of Manner of
Sound
voiceless articulation articulation
Example:
[ d ] Voiced Alveolar Plosive
Adder
Brother [ ]
Ringing [ ]
Etching [ ]
Robber [ ]
Ether [ ]
Pleasure [ ]
Hopper [ ]
Telling [ ]
Funny [ ]
Lodger [ ]
Youth [ ]
Arrow [ ]
Lower [ ]

Online resources

1. The pronunciation of nasals and approximants.



4. Allophones of [l] in British English.
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/course/chapter3/lallaphone.htm

5. On the rhotic and non rhotic accents of English.
http://www.videojug.com/film/how‐to‐do‐accents

6. Quizz on consonants.
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz29394221a6e58.html

46
Study questions

1. Which English consonants are continuants?
2. What is the main feature of nasal consonants?
3. Which nasal sound gives considerable problems to foreign learners?
4. Which are the positions where ŋ never occurs?
5. Which are the typical positions of ŋ?
6. Which are the positions where ŋ occurs without the following g sound?
7. What are the articulation features of the l sound?
8. What are the different realizations of the l sound?
9. What are the distributions of the different realizations of the l sound?
10. When is l devoiced?
11. What sounds are called approximants?
12. How r is produced in English?
13. What tongue shape is called retroflex?
14. Why is r described as post‐alveolar?
15. What is the position of the lips in the articulation of the r sound?
16. What is the distributional peculiarity of r?
17. Which are the accents where r occurs in final position or before a consonant?
18. Is BBC English a rhotic accent?
20. Why are j and w called consonants although phonetically they are like vowels?
21. How can it be proved that w and j are consonants?
22. Are j and w ever made with friction?

47
8

THE SYLLABLE

Readings

Key terms

Ambisyllabic
Coda/ zero coda
Consonant cluster
Maximum onsets principle
Minimum syllable
Onset/ zero onset
Peak
Phonotactics
Rhyme

Practice
1. How many syllables are there in the following words?
1. Straw
2. Straight
3. Contain
4. Lengths
5. Handmade
6. Radio
7. Democratic
8. Characteristically
9. Antidisestablishmentarianism
10. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

2. Give three English words for the following:

Minimum syllable
Syllable with ONSET
Syllable with CODA
Syllable with ONSET and CODA

48
3. Give one example with initial 3 consonant clusters:

Initial Postinitial
l r w j
S p
t
k

4. Provide examples with the following (a) onset, (b) coda and (c) syllable structures:

(a) onsets
Structure Example Your examples
CV cat
CCV train
CCCV spring

(b) codas

VC at
VCC act
VCCC text
VCCCC texts

(c) syllables

V a
CVC cat
CCCVC stripe
CVCC salt
CCVCC planned
CVCCC tenths
CCVC stop

49
5. Could the following sound clusters be possible words in English? Why yes/not?

1. [spmɔ:lt]
2. [stnɜ:t]
3. [ŋɔ:]
4. [rəʊh]
5. [bʊj]
6. [stli:k]
7. [tekstsd]

Invent your example of an impossible word in English and comment on your choice.

Word:

Comment:

6. Analyze the syllable structure of the following words: to, asked, straw, eat, east, snow, texts.

Transcription:

1. [ ]
2. [ ]
3. [ ]
4. [ ]
5. [ ]
6. [ ]
7. [ ]

Syllable structure:
ONSET PEAK CODA

Pre Post
Initial Vowel Prefinal Final Postfinal 1 Postfinal 2 Postfinal 3
initial initial

7. Which syllable division of the word extra is the most acceptable for you? Why?

a. E.kstrə
b. Ek.strə
c. Eks.trə
d. Ekst.rə
e. Ekstr.ə

50
8. When languages come into contact they often borrow words from each other. However, the
pronunciation of the borrowed words is usually different from the pronunciation in the source
language because the word is changed according to the phonological, graphological and
morphological rules of the borrowing language (e.g. English Shakespeare is Lithuanian Šekspyras).
For example, Hawaiian, differently from English, has only 8 consonants, fewer vowels, and the
syllables of this language always end in a vowel. Foreign borrowings are thus simplified and
adapted to the phonology of Hawaiian. Consider the following borrowings from English into
Hawaiian and answer questions 1‐5 below:
(adapted from http://clas.mq.edu.au/units/tutorials/phoneme_allophone.pdf and
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/ling102/homework1.pdf)

English word English pronunciation Hawaiian word
Albert ælbət ʔalapaki
Ticket tɪkɪt kikiki
Soap səʊp kopa
Beer bɪə pia
Wharf wɔ:f uapo
Brush brʌʃ palaki
Story stɔ:ir kole
School sku:l kola
Wine waɪn waina
Rice raɪs laiki
Bell bel pele
Flour flaʊə palaoa
Zodiac zəʊdiæk kokiaka
Thousand θaʊzənd kaukani
Palm pɑ:m paama
Elephant ɛləfənt ʔelepani

1. Divide English and Hawaiian words into syllables. What are the four possible structural types of
Hawaiian syllables? How do they differ from/are similar to English?

2. List the English consonants for which Hawaiian [p] is used. What do they have in common?

3. List the English consonants for which Hawaiian [k] is used. What do they have in common?

4. Fill in the consonant/vowel correspondence table below. Comment on the changes.

5. What would be Hawaiian borrowing for English oak, merry, and tea?

Consonants Vowels
English Hawaiian English Hawaiian

51
Your comments:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Online resources


http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/custom/resourceview/item2491714?
currentResourceID=2491747&currentProjectID=5629545

3. On English syllable structure.
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba/phon/syllables.html

4. On English syllables. http://dingo.sbs.arizona.edu/~hharley/PDFs/WordsBook/Chapter3.pdf

5. Exercise on syllable structure.
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba/phon/syllables_exercise.html

7. Video on vowels, consonants and syllables in British English pronunciation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbG85eMqkU&list=SP67CF2C29C5D476A3

Study questions

1. How can a syllable be defined phonetically and phonologically?
2. What are the two sorts of initial two‐consonant clusters in English?
3. What are the possible initial three consonant clusters in English?
4. What is the maximum number of consonants in final position?
5. Does consonant [r] occur as a final consonant in BBC pronunciation?
6. Can h,w,j be final consonants in English?
7. What are the two sorts of two‐consonant final clusters?
8. What are the two types of final three‐consonant clusters?
9. What is the maximum phonological structure of the English syllable?
10. Are coda and onset obligatory or optional elements of the syllable?

52
9

STRONG AND WEAK SYLLABLES

Readings

Key terms

Elision
Intonation
Syllabic consonant (l, m, n, ŋ, r)
Strong syllable
Schwa (ə)
Weak syllable

Practice
1. Mark which syllables are weak (W) and strong (S) in the following words:

Celtic Marker Provide
Renovate Report Carmelite
Aloud Yesterday Aaron
Supersede Albatross Occur
Pencil Pretend Precious

2. Transcribe and pronounce the place names below. Mark weak/ strong syllables. Check your
answers in the dictionary.
Cambridge [ ]
Canberra [ ]
Dundalk [ ]
Featherstonehaugh [ ]
Illinois [ ]
Kosciusko [ ]
New Orleans [ ]
Quebec [ ]
Woolfardisworthy [ ]

53
3. Provide examples for the different spellings of the schwa sound in weak syllables:
Common spellings
Example Your examples Transcription
of [ə]
1. 1.
Aback
‘a’ 2. 2.
[ə'bæk]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Solar
‘ar’ 2. 2.
['səʊlə]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Consulate
‘ate’ 2. 2.
['kɒnsjʊlət]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Today
‘o’ 2. 2.
[tə'deɪ]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Tutor
‘or’ 2. 2.
['tju:tə]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Statement
‘e’ 2. 2.
['steɪtmənt]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Longer
‘er’ 2. 2.
['lɒŋgə]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Subdue
‘u’ 2. 2.
[səb'dju:]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Thorough
‘ough’ 2. 2.
['θʌrə]
3. 3.
1. 1.
Jealous
‘ou’ 2. 2.
['dʒeləs]
3. 3.

54
4. Read the words aloud and transcribe them. Provide your examples with the weak vowels [i],
[u], [ə]:
Word Transcription Your examples
Coffee
City
Graduate
To own
Better
Darkness
Liverpool

5. Mark which syllables are strong (S) and weak (W) in the content words below. Transcribe the
sentences paying a particular attention to the vowels [ə], [i] and [u] in weak syllables (adapted
from Knutsson 2002: 15‐19):

1. The nicer woman agreed about the doctor.

2. Beggars, bums and martyrs offend London’s population.

3. The quickest villagers improved their excuses.

4. Return before the women’s departure.

5. Due to influenza, evacuation was announced.

6. Read aloud, transcribe the words below and mark the syllabic consonants; give your examples
with the syllabic consonants:
Word Transcription Your examples
Rattle
Rattling
Pistol
Cotton
Tarzan
Frightening
Open
Particular
Letter
Bottom
Single
Veteran
Happen
Hungary

55
7. Read aloud the transcribed passage (a), mark and carefully pronounce the syllabic consonants;
read aloud the passage (b) and identify all the possible syllabic consonants in it (the extracts are
taken from Lecumberri and Maidment 2000: 40‐43):

a)
/'meni 'kʌntriz əv ɪntrə'dju:st 'dʒʊəriz / ðɪs ɪz 'dʌn ɪn ən ə'tempt tə 'brɪŋ
'dʒʌstɪs 'kləʊsə tu 'ɔ:dɪnəri pi:pl / səʊ ðət wi 'ɔ:l teɪk 'pɑ:t ɪn ði 'æplɪkeɪʃn əv
ðə lɔ: / ɪn 'sʌtʃ 'kʌntriz / 'dʒʊərəz ə 'rændəmli sə'lektɪd frəm ði i'lektərəl 'sensəs
/ ənd hu'evər ɪz 'tʃəʊzn hæz ði ɒblɪgeɪʃn tu 'ækt əz ə 'dʒʊərər / ɪn eni 'keis ðət
gəʊz 'ʌp ə 'traəl ɪn ðə 'ləʊkl 'kɔ:ts / ðɪs ɪz 'nəʊn əz 'dʒʊəri 'sɜ:vɪs/ 'fɪfti:n 'pɜ:snz
ər ə'pɔɪntɪd / frəm hu:m 'twelv wɪl hæv tə teɪk 'pɑ:t ɪn ə 'traəl / ðə di'fens kn
ri'dʒekt ʌp tə 'θri: 'kændɪdeɪts ɒn 'dɪfərənt 'graʊndz / sʌtʃ əz bi:ɪŋ 'predʒʊdɪst
əgenst ðə di'fendənt / wʌns juv bi:n 'tʃəʊzn / ðəz 'lɪtl 'tʃɑ:ns əv bi:ɪŋ 'eɪbl tə get
'aʊt əv ɪt /
b)

It is a widely held belief that whenever two English people meet, they will start talking about the
weather. I am not sure that is entirely true, but I can see the reason why the English should be so
interested in this subject. For one thing, English society is one which, unlike some others, doesn’t
easily tolerate total silence, even between strangers. The exception to this is, of course, when the
English are on trains. It is another supposed typical trait of the national character that the English
never speak to another on a train. Apart from this, the weather makes a nice neutral topic of
conversation for a few minutes. One cannot blame anybody for the weather, so talking about it is
unlikely to cause any ill‐feeling. You can, of course, blame the weather forecasters for getting their
predictions wrong and the English frequently do this. The other thing about the weather in
England is that it is certainly worth talking about. Things change so rapidly here. You can
experience three or more different types of weather in a single day. Quite recently I left home
early in the morning and drove to the station in terrible fog and frost. By the middle of the
morning it was sunny and warm, but I came home in the evening and had to drive through an
awful storm with wind, rain, thunder and lightning.

56
Online resources


http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/custom/resourceview/item2491714?
currentResourceID=2491748&currentProjectID=5629545

5. On the short vowel schwa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbYVN077‐‐M

6. Song illustrating syllabic consonants.
http://allphonetics.blogspot.com/2011/10/logical‐song‐for‐syllabic‐consonants.html

7. Article on the reasons of studying phonetics for group discussion.
http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/paper/3341

Study questions

1. What factors are important to the distribution of strong and weak syllables?
2. How do weak syllables differ from strong ones?
3. Which vowels cannot occur as a peak of strong syllables?
4. Which vowels can stand as a peak of weak syllables?
5. What is the most frequently occurring vowel in English, found in weak syllables?
6. What are the characteristics of schwa?
7. Why the distinction between short [ɪ]/ [ʊ] and long [ɪ:]/ [u:] is neutralized in weak syllables?
What symbols are used to represent the two sounds?
8. What are the syllabic consonants of English? What is their phonological representation?
9. In what contexts do syllabic consonants occur?
10. Is it possible to find several syllabic consonants together?

57
10

STRESS PLACEMENT IN SIMPLE WORDS

Readings

Key terms

Complex/derivative word
Compound word
Simple word
Stress (primary, secondary, unstressed)
Pitch
Prominence

Practice
1. Which syllables in the following nonce‐words are stressed? How do you know?

1. Lalalala 3. Jarajeirajara
2. Acronicronacron 4. Neeneneene

Your comment:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which syllables in the words below carry primary and secondary stress and which are
unstressed?

Tomato Mother Novella
Talisman Iconography Aloud
Beta Deacon Tamagotchi
Ornament Oppression Motive
Apartment Alarm Ichthyology

3. Which words are simple, complex (derivative) and compound?

Lithuanian Approach First‐class
Bald Catdog Navigation
Spiderman Arrow Irregular
Provide Greenhouse Typewriter
Uncertainty Renew Police

58
4. In English, word stress is not decided in relation to the syllables of the word, whereas in some
languages, stress placement is predictable. For example, in Czech, stress always falls on the first
syllable of the word. Carry out an investigation of the languages that you know and present your
findings about the predictability of stress placement in them:

Language Stress placement rule Examples
Lithuanian
Russian
French
German
Polish
Latvian
...
...
...

5. Stress the two‐syllable words, provide an explanation for your decision and give your own
examples:

Word
Word Explanation of stress placement Other examples
class
1. tutor
Verb
2. contain
1. lonely
Adjective
2. concrete
1. cartoon
Noun
2. process

59
6. Stress the three‐syllable words, provide an explanation for your decision and give your own
examples:

Word
Word Explanation of stress placement Other examples
class
1. abolish
Verb
2. testify
1. innocent
Adjective
2. arrogant
1. corridor
Noun
2. dynamite

7. Arrange the words according to their stress pattern (S – strong syllable; W – weak syllable):

Determine Resurrect Disaster Capital
Abashed Purchase Boring Tattoo
Cargo Seldom Appetite Dominate
Potato Dolores Allow Panama
Mandarin Entertain Hurry Appliance

Stress
SW WS SWW WSW WWS
patterns

Words

8. Place a stress mark and transcribe the following names and place names. Check your answers
on http://www.fonetiks.org/nameseng.html

1. Eleanor [ ]
2. Penelope [ ]
3. Irene [ ]
4. Sean [ ]
5. Matthew [ ]
6. McGuiness’ [ ]
7. Leicester [ ]
8. Melbourne [ ]
9. Washington [ ]
10. Venice [ ]
11. Ireland [ ]
12. Niagara Falls [ ]

60
13. European [ ]

14. Malaysia [ ]
15. Tunisia [ ]
16. Venezuela [ ]
17. Singapore [ ]
18. Madagascar [ ]
19. The Philippines [ ]
20. Kuwait [ ]

9. Create a poem containing one‐, two‐, and three‐syllable nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives.
Place stress marks on the words:

Poem structure Your poem
_____________
Title
________________________
Noun Noun Noun
Adverb Adjective Noun _________________________
Verb Verb Verb Verb
_________________________
Noun
_________________________

10. Revision of terms. Complete the crossword puzzle.

Across: Down:
1. A little lump of soft tissue in the back of 2. The “roof of the mouth” or ...
your mouth dangling from the end of soft 4. A type of consonant consisting of a plosive
palate. followed by a fricative with the same place of
2. The centre of the syllable is ... articulation.
3. The writing down of a spoken utterance 5. Covers language differences in such things as
using a suitable set of symbols. vocabulary and grammar.
7. This term is used to describe varieties of 6. A consonant articulated with contact between
English pronunciation in which the r one or both of the lips and the teeth.
phoneme is found in all phonological 8. When two sounds have the same place of
contexts. articulation they are said to be ...
10. The scientific study of speech. 9. A type of consonant which is made by forcing
13. The class of sound which makes the least air though a narrow gap so that a hissing noise is
obstruction to the flow of air. generated.
15. A sound made with both lips. 11. A vowel glide with three distinguishable
vowel qualities.
12. This term refers to the end of a syllable.
14. The best‐known fictional phonetician, the
central male character of Shaw’s Pygmalion and
of the musical My Fair Lady.

61

15 6

14
11
9

8
10

2

1
5
3 4 12

7

13

Online resources

http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/custom/resourceview/item2491714
/?site_locale=en_US&currentResourceID=2491749&currentProjectID=5629545
3. On grammatical influences on stress.
http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/course/chapter5
/grammatical%20influences.htm
4. Exercise on word stress.
http://elt.oup.com/student/project3rdedition/level1/unit2/pronunciation/exercise1;jsessioni
d=0981E08D95504A81A486B95F767B30A0?cc=lt&selLanguage=en

62
Study questions

1. What are the production characteristics of stressed syllables?
2. What are the sound characteristics of stressed syllables?
3. What makes a syllable prominent?
4. What kinds of stress analysis are there?
5. How can stress placement be identified?
6. How is the strongest kind of stress, primary stress, achieved?
7. What is the secondary level of stress?
8. How is secondary stress represented in transcription?
9. What is the third level of stress?
10. Which unstressed syllables will sound more prominent: those containing the vowels that are
typical of weak syllables or those containing some other vowel?
11. What criteria should be used to decide on the placement of stress?
12. Once stress placement rules are so complex and have so many exceptions, what should learners do?
13. Can weak syllables be stressed?
14. What are the conditions under which stress patterns can change in two syllable and three syllable
words?

63
11

STRESS PLACEMENT IN COMPLEX WORDS

Readings

Key terms

Affix
Monosyllabic words
Polysyllabic words
Prefix
Root
Stem
Suffix
Variable stress
Word‐class pairs

Practice
1. Choose the correct prefix for the words given below. Put stress marks on both forms. Explain
your choice for the stress placement.

dis‐, il‐, im‐, in‐, ir‐, mis‐, mal‐, over‐, post‐, re‐, un‐

Example: A'gree disa'gree

Logical
Possible
Decorate
Correct
Responsible
Pleasant
Place
Function
Certain
Graduate
Open
Eat

64
2. Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following words with prefixes. Explain your
choice for the stress placement (adapted from Hewings 2007: 36):

Hypertext Hyperspace
Hyperactive Hypersensitive
Interplay Interchange
Interactive Interchangeable
Counterpart Counterclaim
Counterintelligence Counterproductive
Subsection Subtext
Subconscious Subtropical
Supermodel Superman
Supernatural Supersensible

3. Fill in the table by providing your own examples of words with suffixes. Mark the primary and
secondary stress on the words where necessary. Explain your choice for the stress placement. You can
consult English words by suffix (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_words_by_suffix)

i. Suffixes carrying the primary stress themselves

‐ain
ascertain
(verbs only)
ee awardee
eer auctioneer
ese Vietnamese
ette caravanette
esque carnivalesque
ique mystique

ii. Suffixes that influence stress in the stem (primary stress on the last syllable of the stem)

eous courageous
graphy scenography
ial doctorial
ic bureaucratic
ion reincarnation
ious auspicious
ive argumentative
ty ablativity

65
iii. Suffixes that do not affect the stress placement

able achievable
age blockage
al aspirational
en heighten
ful harmful
ing gliding
ish brownish
like adultlike
less bottomless
ly adoringly
ment fulfilment
ness baldness
ous monotonous
fy historify
wise clockwise
y cheesy

4. Read the following pairs of words aloud. Decide where the main stress is in the first word and if
it stays on the same syllable in the second word, or moves. Mark the stress (adapted from
Vaughan‐Rees 2002: 46‐47):

enigma → enigmatic
estimate → estimation
consult → consultant
refer → referral
refuge → refugee
capable → capability
joy → joyous
address → addressee
telephone → telephonic
picture → picturesque
astronomy → astronomical
harm → harmless
approve → approval
consult → consultancy
glory → glorify
poison → poisonous
admire → admiration
meaning → meaningful
victory → victorious
journal → journalese

66
5. Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following compound words. Pay a special
attention to exceptions. Explain your choice for the stress placement (adapted from Hewings
2007: 38‐40):

i
ladybird teapot shopkeeper
house‐hunting handwriting distance learning
waiting‐room dressing gown defining moment
search party control tower think tank
absolute zero hot potato red herring
global warming ever‐changing good looking

ii.
time‐consuming fund‐raising fee‐paying
flatfooted age‐related drug‐induced
battle‐hardened alcohol based pear‐shaped
secondhand one‐armed first‐class
northeast southwest downstream
down‐grade back‐pedal ill‐treat

6. Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following phrases (adapted from Flecher 1990,
http://ebookbrowse.com/longman‐pronunciation‐dictionary‐study‐guide‐pdf‐d211100555):

Mid‐day a mid‐day sun
Right‐hand a right‐hand side
Soft‐hearted a soft‐hearted couple
Overseas an overseas posting
Good‐tempered a good‐tempered child

7. Practice pairs of words with different stress by doing exercises 3943 in Longman
Pronunciation Dictionary Study Guide by Flecher, 1990: 24‐26.
http://ebookbrowse.com/longman‐pronunciation‐dictionary‐study‐guide‐pdf‐d211100555

67
Online resources



3. Common prefixes in English.
http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/comprefix07.htm

4. Common suffixes in English.
http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/comsuffixes.htm

5. Compound adjective.
http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/compadjterm.htm

6. Compound noun.
http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/compnounterm.htm

7. Compound words.
http://englishwithjennifer.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/student‐stumper‐11‐compound‐words/

Study questions

1. Is there a rule of regularity in English word stress?
2. What are the conditions under which stress patterns can change in words?
3. What are complex words?
4. Why is it difficult in English to decide whether a word should be treated as simple or complex?
5. What are the two major types of complex words?
6. What are the effects of affixes on word stress?
7. What are the problems with some complex words when we divide them into stem and affix?
8. What is stem?
9. What is root?
10. Which are the productive suffixes that carry the primary stress?
11. Which suffixes influence stress in the stem through shift to another syllable in the stem?
12. What suffixes do not affect stress placement?
13. What is the effect of prefixes on stress placement?
14. What are the rules of stress placement in compound words?
15. What are the reasons for variation in stress position in word‐class pairs?

68
12

WEAK FORMS

Readings

Key terms

Content words
Contracted forms
Function words
Sentence stress
Strong forms
Weak forms
Word stress

Practice
1. Fill in the table. List grammatical categories which are attributed to content and function words.
Give two examples of each grammatical category:

Content words Function words
(‘lexical’ words) (‘grammar’ words, ‘form’ words)
Nouns Articles
……….. ………….
……….. ………….

2. Transcribe the following sentence. Underline the function words and comment on the transcription
choices of the weak/strong forms of the function words (adapted from Tench 2011: 111):

That man said that all that rain that fell yesterday was enough to fill that reservoir that we saw.

69
3. Complete the table. Check your answers in the dictionary (adapted from Collins and Mees
2003: 17). Write the title of the dictionary that you used:

Essential Weak Forms
Class Word Strong form Weak form
[eɪ] (before consonants), [ə] (before consonants),
a, an
[æn] (before vowels) [ən] (before vowels)
Determiners
the
some
and
as [æ z]
Conjunctions than
that
but [b ə t]
at [æ t] [ə t]
for
Prepositions from
of
to [t ʊ] or [t u:]
am
are
Verb to be is
was
were
has
Auxiliary verb
have
have
had
[də] (before consonants), [du]
do [du:] (in final position)
before vowels
does
can
Other auxiliary will
verbs shall [ʃ æ l] (in final position)
would
should
[məs] (before consonants),
must
[məst] (before vowels)
he
she
you
we
Pronouns his
her
your
him
us [ ʌs]
them
that

70
4. Transcribe the following words and comment on the transcription choices of the weak/strong
forms of the function words (adapted from Tench 2011: 111‐112)

Word Transcription Word Transcription
a coffee an ice cream
a grape an orange
a hotel an inn
a useful thing an ugly scene
the rain the ice
the morning the afternoon
the night the evening
the hotel the hour
the usual the unusual
some sugar some animal
some money some woman
some time some man
some coffee some child

5. Transcribe the following contracted forms:

aren’t [ ] weren’t [ ] don’t [ ]
doesn’t [ ] shan’t [ ] won’t [ ]
can’t [ ] mustn’t [ ] daren’t [ ]
there’s [ ] there’re [ ] there’ll [ ]
there’d [ ] I’d [ ] you’d [ ]
he’d [ ] she’d [ ] we’d [ ]
they’d [ ] I’ll [ ] you’ll [ ]
he’ll [ ] she’ll [ ] we’ll [ ]
they’ll [ ] it’ll [ ] I’ve [ ]
you’ve [ ] he’s [ ] she’s [ ]
it’s [ ] we’ve [ ] they’ve [ ]
I’m [ ] you’re [ ] he’s [ ]
she’s [ ] we’re [ ] they’re [ ]

6. Transcribe the following sentences. Mark the stressed syllables, underline weak/strong forms
of function words and explain the reasons of the use of weak/strong form of the function word:

1. I gave it to her not to you.
__________________________________________________________________________________

2. I waited for him/her for an hour.
__________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are you looking at?
__________________________________________________________________________________

4. I am looking at the girl in a red dress.
__________________________________________________________________________________

71
5. You are taller than your brother.
__________________________________________________________________________________

6. He can play tennis well, but I can too.
__________________________________________________________________________________

7. Where do you come from?
__________________________________________________________________________________

8. I come from Lithuania.
__________________________________________________________________________________

9. You should have let me know before leaving for London.
__________________________________________________________________________________

10. I must complete the assignment on time.
__________________________________________________________________________________

11. They met some years ago and became friends.
__________________________________________________________________________________

12. Can I have some more tea?
__________________________________________________________________________________

13. How long have you been waiting there?
__________________________________________________________________________________

14. I don’t like that music at all.
__________________________________________________________________________________

15. You said that you were not coming to the party on Friday.
__________________________________________________________________________________

7. Listen to an excerpt from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EbuDkyWkP0. Mark the sentence stress and underline
weak /strong forms of function words on the transcript provided below. Explain the reasons
of the use of weak/strong form of the function word (the text is taken from
http://www.bibliomania.com/0/‐/frameset.html).

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune
must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may
be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the
surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other
of their daughters.
"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park
is let at last?"
Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

72
"But it is," returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it."
Mr. Bennet made no answer.
"Do not you want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife impatiently.
"You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it."
This was invitation enough.
"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man
of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and
four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris
immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants
are to be in the house by the end of next week."
"What is his name?"
"Bingley."
"Is he married or single?"
"Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a
year. What a fine thing for our girls!"

Online resources

3. Exercises on word and phrasal stress.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/frame%20for%20index%20of%20stress%20exercises.htm
5. Word and phrasal stress.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/wordAndPhrasalStress/word_and_phrasal_stress.htm
6. Strong and weak forms.
http://cardiff.ac.uk/encap/resources/tench‐strongandweakforms.pdf
7. Weak forms.
http://Davidbrett.Uniss.It/Phonology/Notes%20and%20exercises/Weak%20forms%20audio/
Introandpreps/Weak_Forms.Htm
7. The 37 essential weak‐form words.
Minerva.Ublog.Cl/Archivos/1885/Weak_Forms.Pdf
8. Knútsson, P. Weak forms.
https://notendur.hi.is/peturk/KENNSLA/02/TOP/weakforms.html

73
Study questions

1. What are content words?
2. What are function words? How else can we call them?
3. What is the difference between strong and weak forms?
4. Do all words in English have strong and weak forms?
5. Is it possible to use only strong forms in speaking?
6. Why is it important to learn how weak forms are used?
7. Are contracted forms weak or strong?
8. How are the words which have strong and weak forms called?
9. Are these words more frequently pronounced in their weak or strong forms?
What does it depend upon?
10. In what context are strong forms accepted?

74
13

ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH

Readings

Key terms

Assimilation (manner, place, voice)
Close juncture
Coalescent assimilation
Elision
External open juncture
Foot
Intrusive r
Juncture
Linking
Linking r
Progressive assimilation
Regressive assimilation
Rhythm
Stress‐timed rhythm
Syllable‐timed rhythm
Zero realization

Practice
1. Divide the following sentences up into feet, using a single vertical line (|) as a boundary symbol:

1. We are planning to go to Japan for Christmas.
2. John thinks of joining the Red Cross organization after graduating from the university.
3. Why are looking at her like that?
4. Who are the top mountaineers in the world?
5. Sir James Black made a number of contributions in cardiology.

2. Draw tree diagrams of the rhythmical structure of the following words and phrases:

1. publish
2. escalator
3. sunglasses
4. thirty children
5. thirty children playing games

75
3. Following the rules of assimilation, underline the phoneme that is realized differently as a
result of being near some other phoneme belonging to a neighbouring word, write the
transcription of the phrase and indicate the type of assimilation. The first is done for you (adapted
from Bowler and Cunningham 2001: 52; English Phonology and PhoneticsAssimilation
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6589044/English‐Phonology‐and‐Phonetics‐Assimilation;
Kelly 2001: 109‐110; Collins and Mees 2003: 106):

i. [t] changes to [p] before [m] [b] or [p]
white magic → [waɪp regressive assimilation of place

mædʒɪk]
light music →
bright moon →
that man →
fat boy →
white bread →
light blue →
white paper →
footpath →
that person →

ii. [t] changes to [k] before [k] or [g]
white coffee →
short cut →
credit card →
street credibility →
white gloves →
cut glass →
that girl →
fat goat →
bright green →

iii. [d] changes to [b] before [m] [b] or [p]
Good morning →
grand master →
red mask →
blood bank →
red brick →
good boy →
hard path →
bad pain →
red pepper →

76
iv. [d] changes to [g] before [k] or [g]

bad cold →
second class →
red cross →
sand castle →
hard copy →
red gate →
kid‐gloves →
good girl →
closed game →
field glasses →

v. [n] changes to [m] before [m] [b] or [p]

in March →
ten men →
open market →
gone back →
chicken breast →
green bean →
down payment →
pen pal →
tin plate →

vi. [n] changes to [ŋ] before [k] or [g]

painkiller →
one cup →
green card →
open court →
roman calendar →
green grass →
main gate →
common ground →
action group →
iron curtain →

vii. [s] changes to [ʃ] before [ʃ] or [j]

nice shoes →
spaceship →
bus shelter →
dress shop →
nice shirt →
this shiny one →
this year →
those years →
nice yacht →
this yogurt →

77
viii. [z] changes to [ʒ] before [ʃ] or [j]

those shops →
these shoes →
rose show →
these sheep →
cheese shop →
news sheet →
wise youngster →
Where’s yours? →
is young →
is youthful →

ix. [θ] changes to [s] before [s]

fifth season →
bath salts →
birth certificate →
earth science →
both sides →
both sexes →
fourth summer →
north south →
fifth set →
bath seat →

x. Yod coalescence.
[t] merges with [j] to produce [tʃ]; [d] merges with [j] to produce [dʒ]

suit yourself →
last year →
Didn’t you…? →
what you need →
I bet you →
Would you …? →
Could you…? →
Did you…? →
educate →
you had yours →

4. Do the gap filling exercise on Yod Coalescence on
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/notes%20and%20exercises/yod%20coal/yodCloze/
yodCloze.html.

78
5. Fill in the table providing examples of the assimilation of manner and the assimilation of voice.

Assimilation of manner Assimilation of voice
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6. Fill in the table providing examples of different cases of elision.

Loss of weak vowel Loss of weak vowel Avoidance of complex Loss of final [v] in

after [p], [t], [k] before [n], [ l] or [r] consonant clusters; loss of [t] “of” before
[d] in consonant sequences consonants

7. Read the following words and word combinations in full form and in the form reduced by
elision, dropping the sounds [t] and [d]. Write the transcription of the full form and the form used
in a rapid connected speech (adapted from Karnevskaya, Misuno and Rakovskaya 2005: 57):

The word Transcription of the full Transcription of the form reduced

form by elision (rapid connected speech)
firstly
handgrip
handmade
landmark
land‐breeze
mindful
sandbag
sandstone
sandstorm
bandsman
bandmaster
bandbox
handshake

8. Read the following word combinations and phrases. Mark the “linking r” and the phoneme it
links with (adapted from Karnevskaya, Misuno and Rakovskaya 2005: 55):

father‐in‐law after all clutter of cats

mother‐in‐law for example litter of pigs
daughter and son for instance muster of peacocks
brother and sister more important pair of horses
mother and father bigger and better

a lecture on history dead or alive
a picture of a city sooner or later
a teacher of English ask for a favour
a tour of Scotland German or English
the Tower of London partner and colleague

79
9. Transcribe the following phrases paying a special attention to the intrusive r (adapted from
Roach 2010: 144; http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/p201‐5‐lecture.pdf):

The idea of it _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Grandma always ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Law and order _______________________________________________________________________________________________

India and China ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Libya and Egypt _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Korea and Japan _____________________________________________________________________________________________

A media event _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Law of the land ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Formula A ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Australia all out _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Vodka and coke _____________________________________________________________________________________________

"I saw a film today, oh boy" (The Beatles, A Day in the Life) _____________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Transcribe the following minimal pairs and explain the significance of juncture (adapted from
Roach 2010: 144‐145):

Orthography Transcription Orthography Transcription
My turn Might earn
My train Might rain
He lies Heal eyes
Keep sticking Keeps ticking
I scream Ice cream
A name An aim
All that I’m after today All the time after today

80
Online resources

3. Assimilation of place of articulation.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/notes%20and%20exercises/assimilation/assimilation_of_
place_of_articul.htm
4. Assimilation of voicing.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/notes%20and%20exercises/assimilation/assimilation_of_
voicing.htm
5. Assimilation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/progs/prog3.shtml
6. Elision.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/notes%20and%20exercises/elision/elision.htm
7. Yod coalescence.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/notes%20and%20exercises/yod%20coal/yod_coalescence.htm
4. Realizations of Could you...?/Would you...?
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/realizations%20of%20could%20you%20would%20you/
realizations%20of%20could%20you‐would%20you.htm
5. Realizations of Did you...?
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/realizations%20of%20did%20you/realizations%20of%20did
%20you.htm
6. Exercises on aspects of connected speech.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/99transcriptions/aspectOfCS_exercises/transcription1_4.htm
7. Linking "r" and elision.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/progs/prog2.shtml
8. Knútsson, Pétur. Linking (and "intrusive") r.
https://notendur.hi.is/peturk/KENNSLA/02/TOP/rlinking.html

Study questions

1. What does the notion of rhythm involve?
2. What does stress‐timed rhythm imply?
3. What does syllable‐timed rhythm imply?
4. Is the rhythm of the English language stress‐timed or syllable‐timed?
5. What is the unit of rhythm?
6. What is the effect of rhythmic speech on stress?

81
7. What does the variation in rhythm depend on?
8. What is assimilation?
9. What is regressive assimilation?
10. What is progressive assimilation?
11. Do consonants disappear as a result of assimilation of place?
12. What is the general tendency for the assimilation of manner?
13. How is assimilation of voice spread?
14. What is elision? What phonemes can be affected by elision?
15. What is linking?
16. Is linking a feature of words pronounced in isolation or in connected speech?
17. What is intrusive r?
18. What is juncture?
19. What is external open juncture?
20. What is close juncture?

82
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http://cardiff.ac.uk/encap/resources/tench‐strongandweakforms.pdf. 1 March 2013.
Szczesniak, K. IPA Transcription Practice: International Phonetic Alphabet Worksheets.
http://es.scribd.com/fullscreen/88413768?access_key=key‐tv1rorz6lvb54wwd3uq.
1 March 2013.
TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. http://www.ted.com/. 1 March 2013.
The Abdication Speech by King Edward VIII (audio).
http://www.britroyals.com/movie.asp?page=kings.asp?id=edward8&movieid=edward8&am=.
1 March 2013.
The Abdication Speech by King Edward VIII (transcript).
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/edward.htm. 1 March 2013.
The Audio Archive. http://alt‐usage‐english.org/audio_archive.shtml. 1 March 2013.
The Cardinal Vowels Daniel Jones.mp4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fV2f_fmFGc.
1 March 2013.
Vocal Sound Production. http://hyperphysics.phy‐astr.gsu.edu/hbase/music/voice.html.
1 March 2013.
Voice & Speech Source. http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/ipa/consonants.html. 1 March 2013.
Voices. http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/. 1 March 2013.
Vowels in Spoken English. http://www.scribd.com/doc/25247741/Vowels‐in‐spoken‐English.
1 March 2013.
Why Are Phonetics Important?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJG0uErf8WY. 1 March 2013.

87
APPENDIX A
Diagnostic Test

1. Tell the story (see the next page) in your own words (characterize, describe the participants;
invent a possible conversation between them and their inner thoughts; think about the setting in
which the meeting takes place; predict the future events; relate to your own experience, etc.). Add
a twist of creativity and originality. Record your story.
2. Exchange the record with your friend and evaluate each other according to the form below
(taken from Lane 2010: 256):
NAME:_________________________________________________________________________
1. General clarity
a. Mostly clear __________
b. Unclear in parts __________
c. Mostly unclear __________
2. Speaking rate
a. Too fast __________
b. Appropriate __________
c. Too many pauses __________
3. Rhythm and fluency
a. Natural sounding: clear phrases and clear linking of words __________
b. Some unnatural pausing/ choppiness __________
c. Sounds choppy, halting __________
4. Intonation
a. Natural sounding __________
b. Flat sounding __________
c. Some unnatural rises/ falls in pitch __________
5. Other problems (word stress, sounds, mispronounced words, etc.):

88

89
APPENDIX B
Vowels, Diphthongs and Silent Letters

1. Transcribe the words in italics and check your transcription in the dictionary (the poems are
taken from http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media/poems.php)

Our Queer Language, by Lord Cromer
When the English tongue we speak,
Why is break not rhymed with freak? _____________ / _____________
Will you tell me why it’s true
We say sew but likewise few; _____________ / _____________
And the maker of a verse
Cannot cap his horse with worse? _____________ / _____________
Beard sounds not the same as heard; _____________ / _____________
Cord is different from word; _____________ / _____________
Cow is cow, but low is low; _____________ / _____________
Shoe is never rhymed with foe. _____________ / _____________
Think of hose and dose and lose; _____________ / _____________ / _____________
Doll and roll and home and some. _____________ / _____________
And since pay is rhymed with say, _____________ / _____________
Why not paid with said, I pray? _____________ / _____________
We have blood and food and good; _____________ / _____________ / _____________
Mould is not pronounced as could. _____________ / _____________
Wherefore done but gone and lone? _____________ / _____________ / _____________
Is there any reason known?
And, in short, it seems to me,
Sounds and letters disagree.

Eye Rhymes, by Helen Owyer

Bear and dear _____________ / _____________
Share, I fear _____________ / _____________
The pointless deceptiveness
Of there and here. _____________ / _____________
Some and home _____________ / _____________
Tomb and comb, _____________ / _____________
Sin against the tongue
Like from and whom. _____________ / _____________
Howl and bowl _____________ / _____________
Foul and soul, _____________ / _____________
Mislead the ear
Like doll and toll. _____________ / _____________
Give and dive _____________ / _____________
Live and thrive, _____________ / _____________

90
Bewilder the moppet
Of six or five. _____________ / ____________
Love and hove _____________ / ____________
Dove and strove _____________ / ____________
Sound no more alike
Than glove and cove. _____________ / ____________
Pew and sew _____________ / ____________
Do and go _____________ / ____________
Fail expectation
Like now and slow. _____________ / ____________
Laid and said _____________ / ____________
Must be read
As if they rhymed
With neighed and Ned. _____________ / ____________

Our Queer Language (2)

I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough? ____________ / __________ / ___________ / ___________
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, lough and through? ____________ / __________ / ___________ / ___________
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word ____________
That looks like beard and sounds like bird, ____________ / ___________
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead ‐ ____________ / ___________ / ____________
For goodness sake don't call it deed! ____________
Watch out for meat and great and threat ____________ / ___________ / ____________
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt). ____________ / ___________ / ____________
A moth is not a moth in mother, ____________ / ___________
Nor both in bother, broth in brother, ____________ / ___________ /_____________ / __________
And here is not a match for there ____________ / ___________
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear, ____________ / ___________ / ____________ / ___________
And then there's dose and rose and lose ‐ ____________ / ___________ / ____________
Just look them up ‐ and goose and choose, ____________ / ___________
And cork and work and card and ward, ____________ / ___________ / ____________ / ___________
And font and front and word and sword, ____________ / ___________ / ____________ / ___________
And do and go and thwart and cart ‐ ____________ / ___________ / ____________ / ___________
Come, come, I've hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Man alive!
I'd mastered it when I was five!

91
Professor P. Dantick's Dictum on Spelling

Sacred is the b in limb, ____________
Hallowed is the n in hymn, ____________
Sanctified the k in knot, ____________
The gh in laugh and thought, ____________ / ____________
Consecrate the g in gem, ____________
The ph in phone and phlegm, ____________ / ____________
Yet there be irreverent meddlers
From Bernard Shaw to ice‐cream pedlars,
Who would respell even busy ____________
Just to line it up with dizzy. ____________
Who'd e'en contest the right of who ____________
To start itself with w,
And would chop the final e's
From give and have and please and freeze. ____________ / ___________ /___________ / ___________

2. Explain the play of words in the poem and rewrite it replacing the words with appropriate
homophones (the poem is taken from http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media/poems.php)

Margo Roark
Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques for my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it to say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
It's rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
Eye am shore your pleased two no
It's letter perfect awl the weigh
My checker tolled me sew.

92
APPENDIX C
Group Discussion of the Film “My Fair Lady”

1. What are your impressions about the film?
2. Who spoke Cockney?
3. What other accents were heard in the film?
4. Fill in the table below: identify the sounds/words which were spoken with an accent. Think of
phonological terms that you can use to describe the speech of the characters.
Differences
Sounds Example words/ sentences
from RP
Vowel
pronunciation

Diphthong
pronunciation

Consonant
pronunciation

Grammatical/
syntactical
differences

93
APPENDIX D
Topics for Individual Presentations

1. Present a summary of the key features of the chosen dialect/ accent.
2. Do not read from the slides.
3. Present in a fluent way, be careful about the pronunciation of more difficult words – your
pronunciation, fluency and intonation will be evaluated.

Literature: McArthur, T. 2003. Oxford Guide to World English. London/New York: OUP.
No Topic Date Name, surname

1 British English: BBC/ RP
2 Dialects, varieties and English languages
3 Dialects in England 1
7 Scotland 1
8 Scotland 2
9 Wales
10 Ireland 1
11 Ireland 2
12 American dialects 1
16 African‐ American English
17 Canada 1
18 Canada 2
19 Caribbean English
20 Rasta Talk and Reggae
21 American and British: comparison 1
22 American and British: comparison 2
23 Australia 1
24 Australia 2

94
APPENDIX E
Sentence Stress and Weak Forms

Listen to the following famous speeches. Mark the sentence stress and underline weak/strong
forms of function words on the transcripts provided below. Explain the reasons of the use of
weak/strong forms of function words.

i. The abdication speech by King Edward VIII (later the Duke of Windsor) on
http://www.britroyals.com/movie.asp?page=kings.asp?id=edward8&movieid=edward8&am=.
The transcript is taken from http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/edward.htm.

“At long last I am able to say a few words of my own. I have never wanted to withhold
anything, but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak.
A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been
succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my
allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart.
You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you
to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire,
which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty‐five years tried to serve.
But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the
heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do
without the help and support of the woman I love.
And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone.
This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly
concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.
I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of
what would, in the end, be best for all.
This decision has been made less difficult to me by the sure knowledge that my brother,
with his long training in the public affairs of this country and with his fine qualities, will
be able to take my place forthwith without interruption or injury to the life and progress
of the empire. And he has one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you, and not
bestowed on me ‐‐ a happy home with his wife and children.
During these hard days I have been comforted by her majesty my mother and by my
family. The ministers of the crown, and in particular, Mr. Baldwin, the Prime Minister,
have always treated me with full consideration. There has never been any constitutional

95
difference between me and them, and between me and Parliament. Bred in the
constitutional tradition by my father, I should never have allowed any such issue to arise.
Ever since I was Prince of Wales, and later on when I occupied the throne, I have been
treated with the greatest kindness by all classes of the people wherever I have lived or
journeyed throughout the empire. For that I am very grateful.
I now quit altogether public affairs and I lay down my burden. It may be some time
before I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British
race and empire with profound interest, and if at any time in the future I can be found of
service to his majesty in a private station, I shall not fail.
And now, we all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and
prosperity with all my heart. God bless you all! God save the King! “
Edward VIII ‐ December 11, 1936

ii. Excerpt from Margaret Thatcher’s speech to Conservative Party Conference on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvz8tg4MVpA. The transcript of the speech is taken from
http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105454.

“One of the great debates of our time is about how much of your money should be spent
by the State and how much you should keep to spend on your family. Let us never forget
this fundamental truth: the State has no source of money other than money which people
earn themselves. If the State wishes to spend more it can do so only by borrowing your
savings or by taxing you more. It is no good thinking that someone else will pay—that
"someone else" is you. There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers'
money.
Prosperity will not come by inventing more and more lavish public expenditure
programmes. You do not grow richer by ordering another cheque‐book from the Bank. No
nation ever grew more prosperous by taxing its citizens beyond their capacity to pay. We
have a duty to make sure that every penny piece we raise in taxation is spent wisely and
well. For it is our party which is dedicated to good housekeeping—indeed, I would not
mind betting that if Mr. Gladstone were alive today he would apply to join the
Conservative Party.
Protecting the taxpayer's purse, protecting the public services – these are our two great
tasks, and their demands have to be reconciled. How very pleasant it would be, how very
popular it would be, to say "spend more on this, expand more on that." We all have our
favourite causes—I know I do. But someone has to add up the figures. Every business has
to do it, every housewife has to do it, every Government should do it, and this one will".

96
iii. Excerpt from Tony Blair's valedictory speech to the Party Conference on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PCYPPKp7ts. The transcript of the speech is taken from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/sep/26/labourconference.labour3.

"I'd like to start by saying something very simple. Thank you.
Thank you to you, our party, our members, our supporters, the people who week in, week
out do the work, take the flak but don't often get the credit. Thank you, the Labour party
for giving me the extraordinary privilege of leading you these past 12 years.
I know I look a lot older. That's what being leader of the Labour party does to you.
Actually, looking round some of you look a lot older.
That's what having me as leader of the Labour party does to you Nobody knows that
better than John Prescott, my deputy these last 10 years, author of "traditional values in
a modern setting".
I may have taken New Labour to the country but it was you that helped me take it to the
party, so thank you.
Something I don't say often enough – thank you to my family.
It's usual after you thank the family, you thank your agent and yes I do want to thank him
and through him the wonderful people of Sedgefield.
When I went to Sedgefield to seek the nomination, just before the 1983 election, I was a
refugee from the London‐based politics of that time.
I knocked on John Burton's door. He said "come in; but shut up for half an hour, we're
watching the Cup Winners' Cup final".
I sat in the company of the most normal people I had met in the Labour party.
They taught me that most of politics isn't about politics, in the sense of meetings,
resolutions, speeches or even parties. It starts with people.
It's about friendship, art, culture, sport. It's about being a fully paid up member of the
human race before being a fully paid up member of the Labour party.
But above all else, I want to thank the British people".

97
APPENDIX F
ELectures and Suggestions for InClass Activities
by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Handke, “The Virtual Linguistics Campus”

Phonology ‐ Phonetic Transcription I.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt‐lbhLHO1Y
Phonology ‐ Phonetic Transcription II.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUydNnU4Mvo
Phonology ‐ The Phoneme I.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3UpSsH3Tb0
Phonology ‐ The Phoneme II.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_o‐jA7TvYA
The Phoneme, Complementary Distribution, Allophones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkp0pYdOcyU
Phonology ‐ The Sound System of RP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O3WmFnt5ag&list=PL382E64F02FB6A899
Phonology ‐ English in England: RP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf27GOVHV2A
Phonology ‐ English in England: Beyond RP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ueYcG9npI
Phonetics ‐ Basic Segments of Speech (Vowels I).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=xa5bG_wrK7s&feature=endscreen
Phonetics ‐ Basic Segments of Speech (Vowels II).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB8PyODhC_8
Phonetics ‐ Basic Segments of Speech (Consonants).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF9qTJD25Ig
Phonology ‐ Vowels and Vocalic Change.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQTg9y_Qex0
Phonology ‐ The Phonological Varieties of PDE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XC9xL1SNg8
Phonetics ‐ Suprasegmental Features.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpdgi6_qeU4
Phonology ‐ PDE Suprasegmental Phonology I (Stress).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtH_JBiaKkM
Phonology ‐ PDE Connected Speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsmEMJFgSjw

98
The Transcription of RP ‐ Suggestions for In‐Class Activities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFhfpIvqgPI
Vowels ‐ Suggestions for In‐Class Activities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYGFgUSTUU
Consonants ‐ Suggestions for In‐Class Activities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzGuvC‐2WE4
Phonetics, Phonology & The Phoneme ‐ Suggestions for In‐Class Activities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh5yulDXppI
PDE Connected Speech ‐ Suggestions for In‐Class Activities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lepOdpbo8Fg

99
APPENDIX G
Links to Additional Transcription Exercises

Transcription Exercises.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/transcription%20exercises/index_of_transcription_exercises.
htm

Szczesniak, Konrad. IPA Transcription Practice: International Phonetic Alphabet Worksheets.
4. Diphthongs, Ex. 1‐3.
http://es.scribd.com/fullscreen/88413768?access_key=key‐tv1rorz6lvb54wwd3uq

Exercises. Short phrases and weak forms.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/vowel%20sounds/phonemic%20transcription/transcribing_
phrases1/phonemic%20transcription%20load_phrases.html

Exercise. Contrast between weak and strong forms of common words.
http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonology/vowel%20sounds/phonemic%20transcription/transcribing_
phrases5/phonemicTranscription.html

Transcription exercises. Cambridge English Online: Phonetics Focus. Games.
http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/

Matching exercise.
http://jerome.boulinguez.free.fr/english/file/hotpotatoes/cinematv.htm

"Rock" phonetics: find the names of famous English‐speaking bands or singers according to their
phonetic transcription.
http://ddata.over‐blog.com/xxxyyy/0/43/50/45/hot‐pot/phonetics_rock.htm

Phonetic recognition. Gap‐fill exercise.
http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/phonetic1.htm

100
Raškauskienė, Audronė; Vaičenonienė, Jurgita
Ra233 Phonetics: Drills and Exercises. A Resource Book for Students / Audronė Raškauskienė, Jurgita
Vaičenonienė. – Kaunas: Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, 2013. – 100 p., iliustr.

ISBN 978‐9955‐12‐871‐7 (internetinis)
ISBN 978‐9955‐12‐872‐4 (spausdintas)

Metodinė priemonė Phonetics: Drills and Exercises yra skirta studentams filologams, studijuojantiems
anglų kalbą ir visiems norintiems patobulinti šnekamosios anglų kalbos tarimo, klausymo, suvokimo įgūdžius.
Parengtos užduotys padės besimokantiems geriau įsisavinti teorines fonetikos žinias, suteiks galimybę
savarankiškai gilintis į jiems įdomesnes temas. Kiekvieną metodinės priemonės dalį sudaro rekomenduojamų
skaitinių sąrašas, žinotini terminai, įvairūs pratimai, internetinės nuorodos į papildomas užduotis ir
savikontrolės klausimai.
UDK 811.111‘342(075.8)
Ra233

Audronė Raškauskienė
Jurgita Vaičenonienė

PHONETICS: DRILLS AND EXERCISES
A Resource Book for Students

Maketuotoja Janina Baranavičienė

2013‐01‐25. Tiražas 50 egz. Užsakymas K13‐002
Išleido ir spausdino Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto leidykla
S. Daukanto g. 27, LT‐44249 Kaunas
Puslapis internete: http://www.leidykla.vdu.lt
Elektroninis paštas: info@leidykla.vdu.lt

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VYTAUTAS

aɪ [ ] five, eye, kite, buy

Consonant Example Student’s example

Word Transcription Description

Short Long Diphthongs (8) Triphthongs (5)

[ʃ] a) b) c)

(a) [k] and [g] (b) [d] and [z] (c) [ʒ] and [z] (d ) [d] and [g]

_______ _ __________

_______ _ __________

psychology round plot philosophy think xylophone whale

use epitaph half halve hash haze phase

path cuts sheep seventh messiah hour swim

Structure Example Your examples

Structure Example Your examples

ONSET PEAK CODA

13. European [ ]

white magic → [waɪp regressive assimilation of place

Loss of weak vowel Loss of weak vowel Avoidance of complex Loss of final [v] in

The word Transcription of the full Transcription of the form reduced

father‐in‐law after all clutter of cats

No Topic Date Name, surname

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