English Pronunciation in Use

Introducing Letters and Sounds

In writing, words are made of letters.

In speech, words are made of sounds.
Letters are not always the same as sounds.
e.g., key [ki:] car [ka:]

The following word pairs have the same

pronunciation but different spelling.
buy bye sun son
weak week weigh way
too two write right
 Introducing Letters and Sounds
There are two kinds of sound:
Consonant sounds [C]
and
Vowel sounds [V]
In duck there are three sounds:
duck /d k/
CVC
Writers often play with the sounds in words.
• Repeat the first sound,
– e.g., Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny
• Repeat the final sound/s,
– e.g., Dennis the Menace
 VOWELS & DIPHTHONGS
Apple Egg Insect Orange Umbrella

Book Arm Earth Eagle Organ

Two Banana Ear Eye Eight

Coin Oval Owl Aeroplane pure

Long Vowels Vs Short Vowels

Meal, teak, deed, seek, ease, peal, peak, neat, lead, reap

Cheek, greed, cheese, meek, breed, bleed, meat, please, read, priest, shriek.

Seat, beat, bead, deed, peak

Mill, tick, did, sick, is, pill, pick, knit, lid, rip

This, lit, is, big, kiss, chit, fit, lip, pill, slit, fish, litter, mimicry, pity, city...

Sit, bit, bid, did, pick

Mat, gnat, pat, vat, bat, at, back, knack, fad

Cat, sack, knack, bag, add, fat, lap, tag, that, have, attic, matter, animal…

Sat, bat, bad, dad, pack

Met, net, pet, vet, bet, ate, beck, neck, fed

Men, den, then, pen, ken, lend, bend, send, ate, best, nest, spell,...

Set, bet, bed, dead, peck.

Long Vowels Vs Short Vowels

Fool,

Soon, boon, fool, shrewd, group, shoe, chew, June, loose, rule,
resume, music.

Full,

Book, should, put, bush, nook, look, sugar, woman, cushion, buffet,
footpath...

Hurt, shirt, bird, curt, fern, perk, third, curd, search

Urge, curse, church, hearth, girl, shirt, dirt, mirth, perch, curly,
purchase…

Hut, shut, bud, cut, fun, puck, thud, cud, such

Sun, lump, tough, much, blood, month, pulse, front, hurry, courage,
Monday…
Long Vowels Vs Short Vowels
Guard, heart, dark, mark, cast, last, card, sharp, dart

cart, car, mart, harsh, chart, dart, arm, harm, bard, park, lark, hard.

Part, hard, art, bard, cart

God, hot, dock, mock, cost, lost, cod, shop, dot

watch, clock, got, not, what, mob, romp, box, bog, pot, lot… or

Cot, shot, cod, don, bonn / /

Port, hoard, ought, bored, court.

Ball, all, caught, thought, bought, call, more, door, forth, shawl, sore, fort...

Court, short, cord, dawn, born.

Weak forms of the (before consonant), at, an, for, and, a, that, but, was.

Again, because, father, about, milkman, water, butter, China, picture…

 Diphthongs

Buy, try, ally, tie, isle, file, bile, vice

I, eye, like, night, fight, trite, bite, file, white, higher, mighty, minor,
nitrate…
Boy, troy, alloy, toy, oil, foil, boil, voice

Soil, joy, loin, point, toil, poise, coy, hoist, envoy, oyster, loiter, poignancy...

Doer, tour, poor, fewer, lure, moor, sure, boor, cure

Newer, stuart, brewer, lure, moor, fluent, truant, endure, during, security...

Door, tore, pore, four, lore, more, shore, bore, core

Call, caught, port, morning, drawing, shortage, cordiality, forswear, gaudy..

Goat, note, own, wrote, road, hope, soak, coat, goad, sowed

Go, no, blow, so, own, know, growth, rose, both, cold, only, remote,
snowball...

No, boat, whole, goat, oat, dote, ho, foal

Got, not, on, rot, rod, hop, sock, cot, god, sod

watch, clock, got, not, what, mob, romp, box, bog, pot, lot…
or

/ /
Now, bout, howl, gout, out, doubt, how, fowl

Cow, shout, plough, drought, mouse, loud, scout, crowded, mouthful, lousy
Here, dear, sheer, ear, pier, near, sneer, tier, beer, steer,

Hear, gear, fierce, real, beard, ear, mere, clear, billiard, theory, easier, dearer..

Hare, dare, share, air, pair, mare, snare, tare, bare, stare

Care, fair, their, heir, chair, fairy, daredevil, rarity, fanfare, careless,
farewell..

Pair, there, dare, hair, rare, mare, layer, bare, stare

Taste, late, gate, date, raid, mate, pate, bait, eight, cane

Day, rain, pain, play, great, table, train, labour, brigade, nation, payment…

Pay, they, day, hey, ray, may, lay, bay, stay

Test, let, get, debt, red, met, pet, bet, ate, ken

Men, den, then, pen, ken, lend, bend, send, ate, best, nest, spell,...
 CONSONANTS
Pear Bird Table Dog Key Girl

Chair Jar Fish Volcano Thirteen Mother

Sofa Zebra Sheep Television Heart Monkey

Nine Ring Leaf Web Yacht Rose

Pronunciation - Production of Sound

• Speech sounds are classified into:

• Vowels
– Pure Vowels
– Diphthongs
• Closing diphthongs
• Centering diphthongs
• Consonants
– Further classified basing on:
• Place of articulation
• Manner of articulation.
 Vowels
Vowel is a voiced sound, in forming which the air issues in a continuous
stream through the pharynx and mouth, there being no obstruction and
no narrowing such as would cause audible friction.

Apple Egg Insect Eagle Umbrella

Book Orange Organ Arm Earth

Two Banana
 Vowels
Apple Egg Insect Eagle Umbrella

Book Orange Organ Arm Earth

Two Banana

• Pure vowels in whose production the point of articulation does not

change. They are 12 in number.

– Front Vowels
– Centre vowels
– Back vowels
 Diphthongs
Diphthongs in whose production the tongue glides from one point
of articulation to another. They are eight in number divided into
two categories Closing Diphthongs and Centering Diphthongs.

Coin Oval Owl Eye Eight

Ear Aeroplane pure

 Consonants

Consonants are produced by an audible

friction or a modification at some place
in the mouth. Consonants are classified
on the basis of :
– the place of articulation; and
– the manner of articulation.
 The place of Articulation
• Bilabial: articulated by the two lips. [p b m w]
• Labio-dental: articulated by the lower lip against the upper teeth.
[f v]

• Dental: articulated by the tip of the tongue and the back of the
upper teeth. [th ]

• Alveolar: articulated by the tip or the blade of the tongue against

the teeth-ridge. [t d s z n l]
 The place of Articulation
• Palato-alveolar: articulated by raising the main body of the
tongue and touching the teeth ridge with the blade of the tongue. [r]
• Palatal: articulated by the front of the tongue against the hard
palate. [ch dz sh z]
• Velar: articulated by the \back of the tongue against the soft palate.
[k g]
• Glottal: articulated in the glottis. [h]
 The Manner of Articulation
• Plosive / Stop: there is a complete closure at some point in the mouth or at the
lips. The flow of air stream is stopped and released suddenly, making an explosive
sound.

• Affricate: the flow of air is stopped as in a plosive but the speech organs are
separated slowly.

• Fricative: the air passage is narrowed at some place in the mouth so that the air,
cause audible friction.

• Nasal: there is a complete closure at some point in the mouth and the air is
released through the nose.
 The Manner of Articulation
• Lateral: there is a partial closure of the mouth with the air escaping through the
sides of the tongue.

• Semi-vowel: it is a voiced gliding sound produced like a vowel, i.e., there is no

obstruction or friction in the mouth. It has, however, the functional status of a
consonant and occurs in consonant positions in syllables.

• Frictionless Continuant: it is produced by bringing the speech organs in

contact as in the production of a fricative consonant but it is very weakly breathed so
that there is no audible friction.
 Classification of Consonants
Place
Bilabia Labio- Alveola Post- Palato- Palata
Dental Velar Glottal
l dental r alveolar Alveolar l
Manner

Plosive
p t k
Unvoiced
Voiced b d g
Affricate
Unvoiced
Voiced
Fricative
f s
Unvoiced h
Voiced v z
Nasal m n
Lateral l
Semi-vowel w j
Frictionless
Continuant r