INTRODUCTORY-CORRECTIVE COURSE ON ENGLISH

PRONUNCIATION

WEEK 1

КОМПЛЕКС БЕЗЗВУЧНИХ ТРЕНУВАЛЬНИХ ВПРАВ

для постановки англійської вимови

1. Оголення зубів (“Оскал”).

Розведіть губи доверху і донизу, дещо оголивши нижні і верхні зуби.
Утримуйте губи в натягнутому напруженому положенні, не вип’ячуюючи їх
уперед (так званий плоский уклад – flat articulation). Не слід доводити оскал до
оголення ясен.

2. Оскал із розкриттям та закриттям рота.

Розімкніть губи, опускайте і піднімайте нижню щелепу при оголених
зубах. Губи утримуйте в положенні плоского укладу.

3. Вип’ячування губ.
Інтенсивно, не допускаючи прояву шуму, видувайте повітря з ротової
порожнини. При цьому утримуйте губи в напруженому стані.

4. Плоске округлення губ.

Утримуючи губи в положення “оскал”, повільно їх округліть, залишаючи
губи притиснутими до зубів (тобто не вип’ячуюючи їх уперед).

5. Опускання й підіймання нижньої губи.

Утримуючи губи в положення “оскал”, злегка підніміть верхню губу,
оголивши край верхніх зубів; прикусіть нижню губу верхніми зубами.
Опускайте нижню губу, оголюючи нижні зуби. Верхня губа залишається при
цьому нерухомою.

6. Висування язика “жалом”.

7. Утримування кінчика язика між різцями зубів. Утримуючи губи в

положення “оскал”, висуньте кінчик язика, розташовуючи його між зубами.
Губи при цьому залишаються нерухомими.

KEY TO PHONETIC SYMBOLS

Vowels aпd diphthongs

No 1 /i:/ as in see /i:/ No 11 // as in fur //
No 2 // as in sit // No 12 // as in ago /'/
No 3 // as in ten /tn/ No 13 // as in page //
No 4 // as in hat /ht/ No 14 // as in home //

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 No 5 /:/ as in arm /:/ No 15 // as in five / /
No
No 6 // as in got /t/ as in now //
16 //
No 7 /:/ as in saw /:/ No 17 // as in join //
No 8 // as in put // No 18 // as in near //
No 9 // as in too // No 19 // as in hair //
No 10 // as in cup // No 20 // as in pure //
Consonants
 as in pen //  as in so //
 as in bad /d/  as in zoo //
 as in tea //  as in she //
 as in did //  as in vision //
 as in cat /t/  as in how //
 as in get /t/ m as in man /m/
 as in chin //  as in no //
 as in June //  as in sing //
 as in fall //  as in leg //
 as in voice //  as in red //
 as in thin //  as in yes //
 as in then //  as in wet //

The Tonetic Stress Marks

Low High
1. Falling (F) \m
\
m
2. Rising (R) /m
/
m
3. Falling-Rising (Undivided) (F-R) m m
Falling-Rising (Divided) (F-R) \m ()m /m
\
m ()m /m
4. Rising-Falling (Undivided) (R-F) /\ m m
Rising-Falling (Divided) (R-F) /m ()m \m
/
m ()m \m
5. Rising-Falling-Rising (Undivided) (R-F-R) /\/m
/\/
m
6. Level Tone (L) >m
>
m

Phonetics / (//)/ is the branch of linguistics which

studies the sound means of language from the point of view of their articulation (i.e.
the way the speech sounds are produced), acoustic qualities (the way the sounds are
transmitted from the speaker’s mouth to the listener’s ear), their function (the way the
speech sounds are used in spoken language) and semantics (their role in forming the
meaning of larger linguistic units).
Phonetic system of any language consists of two levels: (1) segmental
(elementary sounds, vowels and consonants that form the vocalic and consonantal

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subsystems) and (2) suprasegmental (syllables, accentual (rhythmic) units, intonation
groups, utterances, that form the subsystems of pitch, stress, tempo, pauses, etc.).
Both levels (so called phonetic level of a language) serve to form and differentiate
units of other subsystems of language (lexical and grammatical).

Phoneme is the smallest indivisible language unit, capable of distinguishing

one word from another word of the same language or one grammatical form of the
same word, and existing in the speech of all the members of a definite language
community.

The Phoneme inventory / / of English comprises 20

vowels among which there are 12 monophthongs (,,,,,,,,,,,)
and 8 diphthongs (, ,,,,,,). The consonantal system of
standard English pronunciation consists of 24 phonemes represented by the following
two groups of sounds: noise consonants (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
) and sonorants (, , , , , , ). All these sounds have there own frequency of
occurrence in the text. Phonemes are elements of the language. Every phoneme is
represented in speech by its several variants, or allophones.

Allophones // are speech sounds which are material realizations

of one and the same phoneme and which cannot distinguish words or change
their meanings, and occur in phonetic contexts different from one another. A
phoneme can have an infinite number of allophones. It is important to
distinguish between the principal (or typical) variant of a phoneme and its
subsidiary variants. They appear in connected speech as a result of assimilation or
reduction or due to individual speech habits.

Transcription /(|)|/ is a phonetic alphabet, a system of symbols

in which every phoneme is supposed to have its own symbol.
The most fundamental types of transcription are: (1) international; (2)
phonemic (or broad) and (3) phonetic (or allophonic, or narrow) transcription.
1) International phonetic transcription, or Alphabet, was introduced by the
International Phonetic Association (IPA) in 1887. These symbols, or phonetic
alphabet, are provided by the International Phonetic Association and are revised from
time to time to implement new discoveries and changes in phonetic theory.
International Phonetic Association / 

 (IPA) was founded in France in 1886 by Paul Passy as a forum for
teachers who were inspired by using phonetics to improve the teaching of the spoken
language to foreign learners and wished to popularize their methods. The Association
laid the foundations for the modern science of phonetics. Since its beginning, the
Association has taken the responsibility for maintaining a standard set of phonetic
symbols to be used in practical phonetics, presented in the form of a chart.
2) In the Phonemic (or broad) transcription every phoneme is given an
individual symbol, the number of which is 44 (according to the number of phonemes

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in British English). In phonemic transcription we use the slant brackets to indicate
phonemic symbols, e.g. /pt/, /pt/, /pt/. Note: Phonemic transcription introduces 4
new symbols: // for [], // for [], / for [], /:/ for [:]. This type of
transcription is used in studying English as a speciality.
3) Phonetic (or allophonic, or narrow) transcription presents the full range
of phonetic symbols which carry a lot of fine detail about the phonetic quality of
sounds. In other words, in this type of transcription every allophone has either a
special symbol or a diacritic mark, a small mark that can be added to a symbol to
modify its value, e.g. a small circle [o] placed under a symbol represents a voiceless
sound like // in the word play []; the diacritic mark [ ] beneath a consonant
stands for its dental allophone as in eight []. The square brackets [] indicate
phonetic (allophonic) symbols. It is used in doing research work in the field of
phonetics.

Organs of speech /  /, or the vocal organs are a set of

organs (lungs, larynx, pharynx, nasal cavity, mouth (or oral) cavity, alveolar ridge,
hard palate, velum or soft palate, uvula, vocal cords, tongue, lips, upper and lower
jaws, teeth) used for the production of sounds through which people communicate
(See Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Organs of speech

There should be distinguished active speech organs, which can be moved into
contact with other articulators, such as the tongue, and passive organs of speech, such
as the teeth, the hard palate and the alveolar ridge, which are immovable in producing
speech sounds.

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 Note!!! The learners have to remember four main lip positions in the
production of English sounds:
(a) spread, the most typical lip position in the production of English sounds,
e.g.: seed //, meat //, sit //, set //, where lips are slightly spread and
pinned to the revealed lower and upper teeth;
(b) neutral (open), i.e. the lips are neither spread nor protruded, though the
opening between the teeth is a bit wider than in the spread lip position, e.g.:
frog //;
(c) rounded (open) as, for instance, in the production of the phoneme // lips
are rounded but they are not protruded, the bulk of the tongue being in its lowest
position, e.g.: cat //, sat //, apple //, or the bulk of the tongue is at the
back of the mouth cavity as in the production of // though somewhat advanced;
(d) rounded (close), i.e. the lips are rounded but not protruded, e.g.:
moon //, look // (see Fig.).

a) b)

c) d)
Fig. 2. Four main lip positions in the production of English sounds:
a) spread, b) neutral, c) rounded (open), d) rounded (close)

Articulation basis / / refers to the articulatory

habits characteristic of all the native speakers of a language. The peculiarities of the
articulation basis of English determine specific articulatory characteristics of its
sound system, the character of sound modifications in connected speech and the
physiological mechanism of syllable formation.
The main points of difference between the articulation basis of English and
Ukrainian are as follows:
1. The tongue in English is more tense and bulky and has a retracted position
for most of the phonemes.
2. The lips are also more tense and less movable than in Ukrainian. They are
mostly spread (with the lower teeth revealed) or neutral (flat articulation).
3. Forelingual English consonants are articulated with the tongue-tip against
the alveoli: /, , , , , , , , , / or against the teeth /, /. The
corresponding Ukrainian ones are articulated with the blade of the tongue against the
teeth, except for /ш, ж/.

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 4. All English consonants are hard (except for /, /) and have no palatalized
opposition while the Ukrainian ones have. Palatalization in English is a phonetic
mistake.
5. The English word-final voiced consonants must not be devocalized, e.g. bag,
sad.
6. The English plosive voiceless /, , / are pronounced with aspiration, e.g.
Kate, take the plate. The strongest degree of aspiration is registered in these
consonants when they occur in word-initial position before a vowel in the production
of which the compressed air is prevented from escaping by the articulatory closure,
followed by a sound similar to /h/. It is necessary to remember that when voiceless
plosives /p, t, k/ are preceded by /s/ at the beginning of a word or syllable they are not
aspirated, e.g. speak.
7. The English sonorants /, , / are tenser and longer than corresponding
Ukrainian ones, and they are syllabic when post-tonic and preceded by a consonant,
thus the words button //, sudden //, cycle // consist of two
syllables: / - /, / - /, / - /. Remember, words such as bottle and
button would not sound acceptable in RP pronunciation if
pronounced //, //.
8. In English, unlike in Ukrainian, vowel sounds differ in length. The duration
of a vowel is usually marked by two dots, like in see //. There are five historically
long monophthongs in English: /, , , , /. In connected speech they occur in
their positional variants: the longest when word final, half long when followed by a
voiced consonant and the shortest if it is followed by a voiceless consonant as in 
–  – , respectively.
9. The most frequently occurring vowel of English is schwa //, or the
neutral vowel //. It is the most common weak vowel in English which has no regular
letter for its spelling and never occurs in a stressed syllable, e.g. in the word about
// the first syllable is represented by a schwa vowel. The schwa phoneme
occurs in speech in its four allophones:
(1) sound // articulated with the shade of // is pronounced in initial
unstressed syllables as in the words anew //, ashore // and in the
indefinite article a, e.g.: a book //; this allophone is marked as //, e.g.:
aback //, a look //;
(2) when the sound // occurs in a final unstressed syllable it acquires the
coloring of the phoneme // and can be marked in allophonic transcription as //,
e.g.: other //;
(3) before the suffixes -s, -es, -ed, -er/-or, etc. the schwa vowel // as in the
words bettered //, teachers // is characterized by a bit longer
duration; this allophone of // is marked with the help of the symbol //, e.g.:
classifiers /, delivered //;
(4) the sound // occurs in its shortest in duration when it is used in initial
unstressed syllables that have the CVC structure as in contain //, compose
// or in the suffixes -tion, -sion and the like as in the words construction,
disillusion, function, table; this allophone of the schwa vowel is marked either by the

6
symbol /()/ or as //,
e.g.: /()/, //, //, //. Sometimes one can
come across several allophones of the // phoneme within one word, e.g.:
assumption //, container /()/, etc.

THE ENGLISH VOWEL SYSTEM

Vowel / / is a speech sound in the production of which there is no
|

obstruction to the airflow as it passes from the larynx to the lips. The vocal cords in
the production of vowels are always in a raised position. Vowels are almost always
found at the centre of a syllable, being able of forming a syllable alone. There are
twenty vowels in English: 12 monophthongs (2 diphthongoids among them) and 8
diphthongs.
Monophthong /|/ is a vowel in the production of which there is no
any noticeable change.
Diphthong /|/ is a sound, which changes its quality in the course of its
production, i.e. it consists of the movement, or glide from one vowel to another. The
first element of a diphthong which remains constant and does not glide is called the
nucleus. The nucleus of the diphthong is much longer and stronger than the glide.
Diphthongoid /|/ is a vowel sound in the articulation of which the
organs of speech slightly change their position. In English such diphthongized vowels
are // and // when they occur in open syllables and before lenis or nasal
consonants. In allophonic transcription they can be represented as // and //.

The English monophthongs are classified according to:

(1)  the horizontal movement of the tongue:
(a) front (monophthongs , ,  and the diphthongs /, , , /). The
front vowels are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the front part of the mouth
while the front of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.
(b) front-retracted (monophthong // and the diphthongs //). The Front-
retracted vowels are produced with the bulk of the tongue in the front part of the
mouth being somewhat retracted, while the front of the tongue is raised towards the
hard palate.
(c) mixed, or central (monophthongs /,,/). The central vowels are
produced with the central part of the tongue raised as in // or // which are neither
front like // or // or back like // // //). The phoneme //, which is described as
both central and mid, is usually named schwa.
(d) back-advanced (monophthong // and the diphthongs /, /),
(e) back (monophthongs /  , / and the diphthong //). The back
vowels are formed with the bulk of the tongue in the back part of the mouth cavity, when
it is raised towards the junction between the hard and soft parts of the palate; back
vowels are // and the nuclei of the diphthongs /, /, though the
diphthong // is not included into the normative course of phonetics yet, since it is
regarded as an unstable diphthong from the point of view of the vowels forming it.
For example, once it occurred in the words door, floor pronounced as /d/, /fl/

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[Barber]. In present-day English pronunciation it is registered in the words poor, sure
pronounced as /p/, //.

(2) the vertical movement of the tongue:

(a) close (high): narrow /: : /
broad /  /
A vowel in the production of which the tongue is raised as close to the roof of
the mouth as is possible is called close, or high. Close vowels (or high vowels) may
be front (when the front of the tongue is raised), these are unrounded /, /; they may
be back (when the back of the tongue is raised), these are rounded /, /. Besides the
close position of the tongue has two variations: narrow and broad. For instance, the
vowels /, / are both front and close (or high) but in the production of // the front
part of the tongue is raised a little higher than in the production of //; for this reason
the vowel // is defined as front, close (high) and narrow, while the vowel // is
characterised as front, close (high) and broad.
(b) mid: narrow / : /
broad /  /
In the production of mid, or half-open vowels the tongue occupies a slightly
lower position than in the articulation of high, or close vowels/:, :, , /.

(c) open, or low: narrow /:/

broad / : /.
In the production of open, or low vowels the tongue occupies the lowest
position in the mouth and the jaw is lowered, e.g. the phoneme // is characterised as
front and open (or low).

(3) the lip position:

(a) rounded /  , /. In the production of rounded vowels the lips are
slightly rounded and protruded.
(b) unrounded , , , , ,, /. The unrounded vowels are the ones
pronounced with flat articulation.

(4) the degree of articulatory organs muscular tension:

(a) tense (all long vowels:, ,  ). Tense vowels are the sounds that
are articulated with a comparatively greater amount of energy. The long vowels and
diphthongs are regarded as tense;
(b) lax (all short vowels /, , , ,  , /). Lax vowels are pronounced with
relatively little articulatory energy. The short vowels are classed as lax.

(5) the force of articulation at the end of a vowel:

(a) free (long monophthongs, diphthongs in open syllables and unstressed short
vowels are classified as free vowels. They are pronounced in an open syllable with a
weakening in the force of articulation towards the end.
(b) checked (historically short vowels under stress). These are the vowels in the
articulation of which there is no weakening of the force of articulation. They are

8
pronounced abruptly at the end, immediately followed by a consonant that checks
them. English historically short vowels under stress are called checked vowels and the
syllabic boundary never occurs after them.

(6) the stability of articulation:

(a) monophthongs (/, , , ,, ,  /);
(b) diphthongoids (/, /);
(c) diphthongs (/, , , , );

(7) the length of a vowel:

(a) historically short vowels (/, , , , , /);
(b) historically long vowels (/, , ,, /) are opposed to the short ones
because of their greater duration as, for instance, the phonemes / ,
/ are in contrast with the following short phonemes /, , , , ,  /.

The English diphthongs are classified according to:

1) the glide, i.e. a non-significant sound produced by the passing of the vocal
organs to or from the articulatory position of a speech sound. In the case of
diphthongs the glide is comparatively slow (a more or less gradual glide from one
quality to another is their essential part):
(a) ending in // (e),
(b) ending in // (, , )
(c) ending in // (, ).

2) the nucleus, i.e. the first element of a diphthong which remains constant and
does not glide:
(a) falling when the nucleus is stronger than the glide,
(b) rising when the glide is stronger than the nucleus.
(c) level when both elements are equal

3) the articutatory character of the second element:

(a) closing /, , , , /;
(b) centring /e/.

The classification of the English diphthongs is presented in the following chart.

9
 Fig. 3. The chart of English diphthongs

THE CHART OF ENGLISH VOWELS

According to
FRONT BACK
the height of
the tongue
According Front CENTRAL Back
to the position
Fully Fully
retracte ad-
of the bulk front back
d vanced
of the tongue
HIGH Narrow : :
(close) Broad ,  , 
MID Narrow ,  : 
(half-
Broad   
open)
Narrow :, 
LOW
(open) , ,
Broad : 

In English there are also some complex sounds known as triphthongs
consisting of two syllables, they are: /, , ; , / as in mayor /|m –
/, fire /|f – /, hour /| – /, etc.

FRONT VOWELS

There are four front monophthongs in English. They are: , , ,  and the
diphthongs /, , /.
Note!!! As any other English vowel, the front monophthons are actualized in
connected speech by their positional variants: the longest when word final, half long
when followed by a voiced consonant and the shortest if it is followed by a voiceless
consonant as in  –  – , respectively.

The vowel No 1 // is defined as front,

high, narrow, unrounded, long, tense,
diphthongized. It is pronounced with the bulk
of the tongue in the front part of the mouth, the
front of the tongue being raised high in the
direction of the hard palate, but not so high as
to cause the air stream to produce audible
friction. The vowel // is diphthongized since
in the production of the vowel the tongue may
slightly change its position from a more open and retracted position to closer and

10
more advanced one. The lips are tense, spread or neutral, the opening between the
jaws is rather narrow. The soft palate is raised, the vocal cords are in vibration.
As compared with the Ukrainian /і/, the pronunciation of which doesn’t differ
much, the English //, though, is more tense. Care should be taken, however, not to
make the English // too long before voiceless consonants. The Ukrainian /і/ that
resembles the English // most of all is in the words іва, Ігор, ідол, ігри. In case the
student replaces the English // by a distinct Ukrainian /и/, he/she should be
instructed to give a shade of /і/ to the end of the sound.
Ukrainian learners very often palatalize the English consonants before this and
the other front vowels as well as before //. This is a rude, though non-phonemic
mistake. Ukrainian learners make this mistake under the influence of their native
language, in which a consonant regularly becomes palatalized before the sounds //
and /і/. In this case care should be taken not to raise the front of the tongue towards
the hard palate during the retention stage in the articulation of the consonant. Thus, to
prevent or eliminate palatalization the front part of the tongue must be raised towards
the hard palate after the release of the preceding consonant, i.e. just after the
articulation of the preceding consonant has been completed. Therefore, learners are
recommended to practise the English // with the continuants (i.e., the sounds
produced with an incomplete closure of the vocal tract. All vowels and fricatives are
called continuants) that can be held on continuously without change in quality: /, ,
, , , /.
The substitution of the English // by the Ukrainian /и/ or English // is a
phonemic mistake since it causes the change of the meaning of the word, for
example: seat (місце) – sit (сидіти); feel (відчувати) – fill (наповнювати); feet
(ноги) – fit (пасувати); meal (їжа) – mill (млин), etc.

Ukrainian palatalized continuants English non-palatalized continuants

Ліда /Л’ІДА/ Leader //
Сі (бемоль) /С’І/ See /s/
Мідія /М’ІД’ІЙА/ Media //
Віл /В’ІЛ/ Veal //
Бік /Б’ІК/ Beak /b/
Тік /Т’ІК/ Teak //

The vowel No 2 //

The vowel // is defined as front-
retracted, high, broad, unrounded, short,
lax. The vowel // is pronounced with the
bulk of the tongue in the front part of the
mouth cavity, being though slightly
retracted. The front of the tongue is raised
in the direction of the hard palate but as
high as for //. The lips are tense, spread

11
or neutral, the opening between the jaws is rather narrow. The soft palate is raised,
the vocal cords are in vibration.
As compared with the Ukrainian /и/, in the production of the English // the
organs of speech are a bit tenser. The Ukrainian learners often replace the English //
by the English // or the Ukrainian /i/. The latter mistake is phonemic, since it either
leads to misunderstanding or it hampers understanding, compare: live – leave, bit –
beat; lip – leap; dip – deep; rich – reach, ship – sheep, etc. To prevent mistakes in
the production of the vowel // the students should be advised to move the tongue
slightly backwards, the front of the tongue being kept lower as compared with its
position for the English //.
Care should be taken not to palatalize consonants before //, compare:
Ukrainian palatalized continuants English non-palatalized continuants
Сіті /С’ІТ’І/ City //

The vowel No 3 //

The vowel // is defined as
front, mid, narrow, unrounded,
short and lax. It is pronounced
with the bulk of the tongue in the
front part of the mouth cavity.
The front of the tongue is raised
in the direction of the hard palate,
but a little less than for production
of the English // phoneme. The
lips are tense, spread or neutral,
the opening between the jaws is
rather narrow. The soft palate is raised, the vocal cords are in vibration.
Ukrainian learners very often replace the English // by the Ukrainian /E/
which is less front, or by the English // which is more open. This is a phonemic
mistake since it leads on to the change of the meaning of the word or its grammatical
form, for instance men // – man //.
To prevent the substitution of // by the English // the front of the tongue
should be kept a little higher than for the production of / /. Besides the learners may
also be advised not to open his mouth too wide, spread their lips a little.

The vowel No 4 //

The vowel // is defined as
front, low, or open, broad,
unrounded, short and lax. It is
pronounced with the bulk of the
tongue in the front part of the mouth
cavity. The tongue occupies the
lowest position possible in the

12
mouth. The front of the tongue is slightly raised, but less high than for the production
of //. The lips are neutral, the opening between the jaws is wide. The soft palate is
raised, the vocal cords are in vibration.
Ukrainian learners very often replace the English // by the English //. Such a
replacement results in the phonemic mistake, for example: sad /sd/– said /sd/, dad
/dd/ – dead /dd/, bad /bd/ – bed /bd/, mat /mt/ – met /mt/. To correct this
mistake the tongue should be kept lower for // than for the English //. Sometimes
the Ukrainian learners substitute the English // by the Ukrainian /e/. To prevent this
mistake, the learners should be recommended to open the mouth wider than for the
production of the Ukrainian /e/ and give the coloring of /a/ to the beginning of the
vowel.

Phoneme No 13 // is
pronounced with the bulk of the
tongue in the front part of the mouth
cavity. During the pronunciation of the
nucleus of this diphthong the front of
the tongue is raised in the direction of
the hard palate as for the phoneme No
3 //. Thus the nucleus of the
diphthong // is practically the same
as for the vowel //, though the
opening between the jaws is slightly
larger and wider for the nucleus of the diphthong //. Thus, // is front, mid, narrow,
unrounded. After completing the nucleus, the front of the tongue glides still higher,
moving in the direction of //, though the actual formation of // is not accomplished.
During the pronunciation of both the nucleus and the glide the lips are slightly spread.
The opening between the jaws is rather narrow, a little wider for the nucleus than for
the glide.
Mistakes in the pronunciation of the nucleus consist in replacing the English //
by the Ukrainian /E/ which is less front, or by the English / / which is more open.
Ukrainian learners should remember that the opening between the jaws in the
production of the nucleus of the diphthong // is a bit wider than that of for the
phoneme No 3 // and a bit narrower than for the phoneme No 4 //. This is a non-
phonemic mistake.
Mistakes in the pronunciation of the glide consist in (a) dropping the glide and
thus replacing the diphthong by the monophthong //, which is sometimes lengthened
/:/. This mistake is phonemic since it may lead on to the change of the meaning of
the word, e.g.: /met/ (the Past Simple of meet) instead of mate //. Another
mistake in the pronunciation of the glide of the diphthong // lies in replacing the
glide // by the Ukrainian phoneme /Й/, e.g. /hЙ/ instead of /h/. To prevent or
correct this mistake, the glide movement of the tongue should be stopped before the
tongue reaches the position necessary for the production of the sound /Й/. The
substitution of the glide // in the diphthong // is also observed in the pronunciation

13
of other -gliding diphthongs, namely: //, //. Thus the advice as for the correction
of this mistake in the pronunciation of the glide // in the diphthongs //, // is the
same as for the diphthong //.

Phoneme No 15 // is
pronounced with the bulk of the
tongue in the front part of the mouth
cavity but slightly retracted. During
the pronunciation of the nucleus of
this diphthong the front of the tongue
is slightly raised but lower than
for //. Thus the nucleus is defined as
front, low, broad, unrounded. The
nearest Ukrainian approximation of
the nucleus of the diphthong // if
the Ukrainian word: пай. During the glide the front of the tongue moves higher in the
direction of // but without reaching it. The opening between the jaws is rather wide
for the production of the nucleus // and much narrow for the glide //.
The Ukrainian learners are apt to replace the nucleus // of the English
diphthong // by the fully back phoneme // as in the word /l:t/ instead of /lt/.
To correct this mistake, the bulk of the tongue in the pronunciation of the nucleus of
this diphthong should be moved to occupy the front retracted position in the mouth
cavity.

THE ENGLISH CONSONANT SYSTEM

Consonant // is the sounds made by a closure or narrowing in the
vocal tract as a result of which the airflow is either completely or incompletely blocked
(for example, in the production of plosives /, , , , , / which form a complete
stoppage of the air-stream, or in the pronunciation of fricatives /, , , , , , , ,
/, in the production of which the air passes through a passage formed between the main
speech organs without blocking it).
The English consonant system consists of 24 consonant phonemes which can
be classified as follows:
1) According to the active organ or place of obstruction the English consonants
are classified into:
a) labial made either with one (labiodental /, /) or both lips (bilabial /,
, , /);
b) forelingual:
- interdental /, / produced with the tongue tip between the teeth;
- alveolar /t, d, s, z, n, l/ made with the tongue tip or blade at the alveolar
ridge;
- post-alveolar //;
- palato-alveolar /, , , /;
c) medio-lingual: palatal //;

14
 d) backlingual: velar /, / made with the back of the tongue and the soft
palate;
e) pharyngeal: glottal //.

2) According to the manner of noise production, the English consonants are

classed as:
a) occlusives /, /, in the production of which the vocal
tract is completely closed;
b) constrictives, classified into:
- noise consonants, or fricatives /, , , , , , , , /, produced when
the air passage is narrowed to such an extent that the air being forced through it
produces the noise of friction; the narrower the passage, the more fricative noise is
produced;
-sonorants /, , , /;
c) occlusive-constrictives, or affricates /, /, in the production of which
the air-pressure behind a complete closure in the vocal tract is gradually released;
the initial release produces a plosive, but the separation which follows is
sufficiently slow to produce audible friction, and there is thus a fricative element in
the sound.

3) According to the work of the vocal cords, i.e. the mode of vibration of the
vocal cords, the English consonants are classified into: voiced, voiceless. According to
the force of articulation consonants are divided into relatively strong, or fortis, and
relatively weak, or lenis.
For voiced consonants, which are less strongly articulated than voiceless ones,
the term lenis consonants is used, meaning weakly articulated sounds. The following
English consonants are voiced and lenis: /, , , , , , , , , , /.
English voiceless consonants are fortis as they are pronounced with a relatively
strong degree of muscular effort and breath force. The following English consonants
are termed as voiceless and fortis: /,  , , , , , /.

4) According to the position of the soft palate the English consonants are
classed as:
a) oral, or the non-nasalized consonants. In English all consonants except /, ,
/ are called oral;
b) nasal consonants /, , / which are characterized by the complete stoppage
of the oral cavity with the air escaping through the nasal cavity.

5) According to the prevalence of noise over the musical tone the English
consonants are classified into:
a) noise consonants, or fricatives. In the pronunciation of fricatives /, , , ,
, , , , / the closure is so restricted that audible friction is produced, but there is no
total closure of the air-stream.
b) sonorants: nasal /, , /, medial /, , /, lateral //. In the production of
the lateral sonorant // (both in its “clear” and “dark” allophones) the tongue is pressed

15
against the alveolar ridge or the teeth, and the sides of the tongue are lowered. The air
escapes at the sides of the mouth. In the production of medial sonorants the air passes
without audible friction over the central part of the tongue, the sides of the tongue being
raised. Nasal sonorants /, , / are characterized by the complete stoppage in the oral
cavity; the air escapes through the nasal cavity.
The sonorants /, , / are very often termed as semi-consonants, or semi-
vowels, or approximants since they are vowel-like in character, i.e. they lack the friction
or obstruction in their production.

THE CHART OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS

According to the
active speech organ LABIAL LINGUAL
and the place of

Back-lingual (velar)
obstruction Forelingual

Medio-lingual
Labio-dental

GLOTTAL
Palato-alveolar

(palatal)
Bilabial

Post-alveolar
According
Interdental

Alveolar
(apical)
(apical)

(apical)
to the type of
obstruction and
the manner of
producing noise
Plosives (noise p t 
OCCLUSIVES

consonants) b d 

Nasal
m n 
sonorants

Fricatives
f  s 
(noise 
v  z 
consonants)
CONSTRICTIVES

Sonorants

Medial w r 

Lateral 

Occlusive-
t
constrictives
d
(affricates)

ARTICULATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS

16
 PLOSIVES. Plosive consonants are formed by completely closing the air
passage (by the lips or tongue-tip or tongue-back), then compressing the air and
suddenly opening the passage so that the air is released with a slight explosion. There
are three pairs of plosive phonemes in English /, /, /, /, /, /, which form 36
different combinations.
/, /
The consonants /, / are articulated with the lips pressed together. The soft
palate is raised so that the breath cannot get out of either the nose or the mouth. Thus,
the air-passage is completely blocked by closing the lips and raising the soft palate.
Then the lips are quickly opened and the air escapes with a slight explosion. In the
production of // the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate, whereas in the
articulation of /b/ they are drawn near together and vibrate. The English /p/ is a strong
sound, pronounced with aspiration. Thus, /p/ may be defined as occlusive, noise,
plosive, bilabial, voiceless, fortis consonant. The position of the organs of speech for
/p/ is shown in Figure.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /p/

The English /b/ is a weak stop, and it is pronounced without aspiration. The
most important thing, as with the other weak consonants, is to make it very gentle and
short. The consonant /b/ is defined as occlusive, noise, plosive, bilabial, voiced, lenis.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /b/

/, /

17
 The consonants /, / are articulated with the tip of the tongue firmly pressed
against the middle of the alveolar ridge (apical articulation). The soft palate is raised,
so the breath cannot escape through either the nose or the mouth. When the tongue-
tip is quickly removed from the alveolar ridge the breath rushes out with a slight
explosion.
In its production the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate. The
English /t/ is a strong plosive (stop) consonant. The plosive /t/ is aspirated in the same
way as /p/, i.e., in a stressed syllable, when followed by a vowel and not preceded
by /s/, it is pronounced with aspiration, as in taken. Thus /t/ may be defined as an
occlusive, plosive, forelingual, apical, alveolar voiceless fortis consonant. The
position of the organs of speech for /t/ is shown in Figure.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /t/

The English /d/ is a weak consonant. In the articulation of /d/ the vocal cords
are drawn near together and vibrate.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /d/

Thus /d/ may be defined as an occlusive, noise plosive, forelingual, apical,

alveolar, voiced, lenis consonant.
Typical mistakes. The Ukrainian learners often substitute the English /t, d/ by
the corresponding Ukrainian consonants /Т/and /Д/ pronounced with the blade of the
tongue touching the upper teeth, the tip being passive and lowered (having the so-
called dorsal articulation). One has to remember the difference between the English
/t, d/ and the Ukrainian/Т/and /Д/ lies in the position of the tongue tip: in the
production of the English /t, d/ the tip of the tongue occupies apico-alveolar position,
while in the pronunciation the corresponding Ukrainian sounds the tip of the tongue

18
has the so-called dorsal position. To correct this mistakes the learner should know
where the alveolar ridge is and remember to press the tip of the tongue slightly
against it.

/, /
The consonants /, / are articulated with the back of the tongue raised and
pressed against the soft palate. When the back of the tongue is quickly lowered from
the soft palate, the breath rushes out of the mouth with a slight explosion. In the
production of a plosive /k/ vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate; the sound /k/
is aspirated in the same way as /p/ and /t/. Thus, /k/ may be defined as an occlusive,
noise, plosive, backlingual, velar, voiceless, fortis consonant. The position of the
organs of speech for this sound is shown in Figure.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /k/

The English // is a weak consonant and it is never aspirated. In its production
the vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate. Thus, // may be defined as an
occlusive, noice, plosive, backlingual, velar, voiced, lenis consonant. The position of
the organs of speech for this sound is shown in Figure.

Fig. Tongue position of the English //

Note!!! The voiceless plosive consonants /p/, /t/, /k/ are pronounced with
aspiration before a stressed vowel. However, the degree of their aspiration varies: (1)
it is strongest in the word initial position when they are followed either by a long

19
monophthong or a diphthong, e.g. pass, tall; pair, tear, care; (2) aspiration becomes
weaker when the sounds /p/, /t/, /k/ are followed by short monophthongs, e.g.: pull,
cut, pot, top; (3) when /p/, /t/, /k/ are preceded by the consonant /s/ they are
pronounced without aspiration: park – spark, cool – school. In the word final position
consonants /p/, /t/, /k/ have a weak degree of aspiration, e.g.: talk, stop, pit.

Typical mistakes in the production of English plosives. (1) Ukrainian learners

may pronounce the English voiceless plosive consonants /p/, /t/, /k/ without
aspiration. In order to pronounce a voiceless plosive consonant with aspiration it is
necessary to let a puff of breath out of the mouth immediately after a quick separation
of the articulating organs and just before the beginning of the vowel that follows the
plosive consonant. The air-pressure against the complete obstruction should be
strong, but muscular tension at the place of articulation should be weak. Care should
be taken not to pronounce the Ukrainian sound /X/ instead of the puff of air
(aspiration). (2) Very often Ukrainian learners pronounce voiceless plosives /p/, /t/,
/k/ preceded by /s/ with aspiration, as in speak, skate, splash, etc. which is a rude
mistake.

THE ENGLISH NASAL CONSONANTS

There are three phonemes in English which are represented by nasal
consonants /m, n, /. In all nasal consonants the soft palate is lowered and at the
same time the mouth passage is blocked at some point, so that all the air is pushed out
of the nose.
The consonant /m/ is defined as an occlusive, nasal, bilabial sonorant. It is
articulated with the lips slightly pressed together, forming a complete obstruction to
the air flow through the mouth cavity. The soft palate is lowered and the air passes
out through the nasal cavity. The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate so
that voice is produced. When a vowel follows, the position of the tongue during the
production of /m/ approximates to the position required for that vowel. The position
of the speech organs for this sound is shown in Figure.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /m/

The /n/ may be defined as an occlusive, nasal, forelingual, apical alveolar

sonorant. It is articulated with the tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge (apical

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articulation), forming a complete obstruction to the air flow through the mouth
cavity. The soft palate is lowered. The air passes out through the nasal cavity. The
vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate so that voice is produced. The
position of the speech organs for this sound is shown in Figure.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /n/

Neither /m/, nor /n/ will cause much difficulty to most Ukrainian learners. In
many languages /n/ is made with the tongue-tip on the teeth themselves rather than on
the alveolar ridge, and this should be avoided if possible, but the use of the dental /n/
in English is hardly noticeable.

THE ENGLISH FRICATIVE CONSONANTS

/, /
The consonants /s/, /z/ are articulated with the tip and blade of the tongue held
close to the alveolar ridge, the front of the tongue being at the same time somewhat
raised in the direction of the hard palate. There is a very considerable narrowing at
this point, not near the teeth and not near the hard palate. The teeth are very close
together. The sides of the blade of the tongue are raised, forming a short and narrow
channel. Thus a round narrowing is formed through which the air passes with friction.
The soft palate is raised so that all the breath is forced to go through the mouth.
In the production of /s/ the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate,
whereas in the articulation of /z/ they are drawn near together and vibrate. The
position of the speech organs for these sounds is shown in Figures.

Fig. Tongue position of the English /s/

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 Fig. Tongue position of the English /z/

Thus, the consonants /s/, /z/ may be defined as constrictive, noise, fricative,
forelingual, apical alveolar consonants pronounced with a round narrowing. The
consonant /s/ is voiceless fortis, the consonant /z/ is voiced lenis.
Typical mistakes. Ukrainian learners sometimes replace the English apico-
alveolar consonants /s/, /z/ by the Ukrainian dorsal /С/, /З/. To overcome this
difficulty it is recommended to practise pronouncing /s/, /z/ in words where the
sounds /s/, /z/ occur (a) between two alveolar consonants, (b) after an alveolar
consonant, (c) before an alveolar consonant. In all these positions care should be
taken not to lower the tongue tip while pronouncing /s/, /z/.
/,  /
The consonants //, // are articulated with the tip of the tongue slightly
projected out between the upper and lower teeth (in a mirror you will be able to see
the tip). In the production of these sounds the soft palate is raised so that all the
breath is forced to go through the mouth. The tip of the tongue is placed against the
edge of the upper teeth to form a flat narrowing where the friction is made, the main
part of the tongue being fairly flat. The air is blown through this position so that some
friction occurs. The noise made by the friction for // and // is not very great, much
less than for /s/ and /z/. For // the friction is voiceless, whereas for // there is some
vocal cord vibration. The lip position will depend upon the adjacent vowel, e.g. being
spread for thief, health, these, etc., and somewhat rounded for thought, truth, soothe,
etc. Thus, the consonants //, // may be defined as constrictive, noise, fricative,
forelingual apical interdental. The consonant // is voiceless fortis, the consonant //
is voiced lenis.
The position of the speech organs for these sounds is shown in Figures.

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 Fig. Tongue position of the English //

Fig. Tongue position of the English //

Typical mistakes. Many Ukrainian learners replace //, // by /s/, /z/ or /f/, /v/.
To correct this mistake they may learn to acquire //, // by starting with an
exaggerated form of it, placing the tip of the tongue so that it projects out between the
upper and lower teeth. When the tongue is in this position they must blow so that a
stream of air passes out between the tongue-tip and the edge of the upper teeth. The
lower lip must be kept out of the way when practising this exercise. It should be
observed that in making //, // the teeth are separated more widely than in the
articulation of /s/, /z/.
Note! The consonants //, // are particularly difficult for Ukrainian learners
when they occur near the sounds /s/, /z/. Students are recommended to practise
carefully such phrases as this is the thing; the sixth street, the eighth zone, is thin,
who’s that, etc.

/, /
The sounds //, // are articulated with the tip and blade of the tongue and the
front of the tongue simultaneously raised. The space between the blade of the tongue
and the back of the alveolar ridge is narrow, though wider than for /s/, /z/. the air
passes through the narrowing with friction. The front of the tongue is higher than for
/s/ and /z/. The soft palate is raised so that all the breath is forced to go through the
mouth. The teeth are close or fairly close together. The lips are slightly rounded and
protruded. In pronouncing // the vocal cords are kept apart and do not vibrate,
whereas in the production of // they are drawn near together and vibrate.
Thus, the consonants //, // may be defined as constrictive, noise, fricative,
palato-alveolar pronounced with a flat narrowing. The consonant // is voiceless
fortis, the consonants // is voiced lenis. The position of the speech organs for these
sounds is shown in Figures.

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 Fig. Tongue position of the English //

Fig. Tongue position of the English //

Typical mistakes. In pronouncing the English //, // Ukrainian learners are apt
to replace them by the Ukrainian consonants /Ш/, /Ж/. To prevent this mistake it is
recommended to palatalize the Ukrainian consonants /Ш/, /Ж/ deliberately. Care
should be taken, however, not to palatalize them too much and not to lengthen them.
The English //, // may be acquired by keeping the tongue very loose, and by
retracting the tip of the tongue and exaggerating the lip-protrusion.

/h/
The consonant /h/ is articulated with a strong air stream passing though the
open glottis. The bulk of the tongue and the lips are held in the position necessary for
the production of a following vowel. Thus, /h/ may be defined as a constrictive,
noise, fricative, glottal, voiceless consonant pronounced with a flat narrowing. The
consonant /h/ can only occur in syllable-initial prevocalic position, e.g.: high, behind.
The position of the speech organs for this sound is shown in Figure.

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 Fig. Tongue position of the English /h/

Typical mistakes. In pronouncing the English glottal fricative consonant /h/

Ukrainian learners are apt to replace it by the Ukrainian back-lingual fricative
consonant /X/. To prevent or correct this mistake it is necessary to keep the back part
of the tongue away from the soft palate and breathe the air out freely without creating
any obstruction in the mouth cavity to the flow of air. The learners should bear in
mind that the English consonant /h/ is a pure sound of breath, almost noiseless, which
is added to the vowel immediately following. The consonant /h/ always occurs before
a vowel and consists of the sound of breath passing between the open vocal cords and
out of the mouth which is already prepared for the following vowel, e.g., before /i:/
the mouth is in position for /i:/, before /:/ it is ready for /:/ and so on. Thus, in
order to make the sound /h/, the mouth is held ready for the vowel and a short gasp of
breath is pushed up by the lungs.

Note! In English there exits also a “voiced h”, which is represented in narrow
transcription by the symbol //. It has the mouth position of a vowel but is
pronounced with such strong exhaling force that the air produces considerable
friction in the glottis causing the vocal cords to vibrate. “Voiced h” occurs in between
vowels as in ahead, behind and is sometimes qualified as murmured.

/j/
The consonant // is articulated with the front of the tongue held against the
hard palate at approximately the same height as in pronouncing the vowel //. The
sides of the tongue are raised, leaving the air-passage open along the median line of
the tongue. The vocal cords are drawn near together and vibrate. The air-passage
between the front of the tongue and the hard palate is rather wide and the air flows
through it without any audible friction. As a result, in the articulation of /j/ tone
prevails over noise. The sound is very short and weak. The tongue immediately glides
from the position for /j/ to that of the following vowel. The lips are generally neutral
or spread, but may anticipate the lip-rounding of the following vowel in such cases as
you, yawn, etc. Thus, /j/ may be defined as a constrictive, medial, mediolingual
palatal sonorant. The sonorant /j/ can only occur in syllable-initial prevocalic
position, e.g.: your //, beyond //, etc. The position of the speech organs
for this sound is shown in Figure.

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 Fig. Tongue position of the English //

Typical mistakes. Ukrainian learners are apt to replace the English // by the
Ukrainian /Й/. In order to prevent or correct this mistake, it is recommended to start
pronouncing the sonorant as // and then make a quick glide to the position of the
vowel immediately following.

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