Pronunciation Overview

Blue Ocean English Consultants

 What is Pronunciation?

● The act of of producing sounds of speech,

including:
- articulation
- stress
- intonation

● Often with reference to some

standard of correctness or
acceptability.
What is Articulation?

● Describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, etc, make

contact. We articulate by modifying the air
stream as it goes through our voice box, mouth
and nose.
– Consonants and Vowels
– Point of Articulation
– Positioning
– Voiced and Voiceless
– Aspiration
What is Stress?

● In words with more than one syllable, one

syllable is always stronger than the others.
● A language’s rhythm results from stress
patterns.
● Examples: I’m réady, Can you gíve him this,
purchase, Colléction, Indepéndently
What is Intonation?

● Intonation is the emphasis we place on a

given word by varying pitch. It allows us to
indicate:
– questions
– doubts
– focus
The Importance of Silence

● Phrasing

● Pausing

● Thought groups
Pitfalls Practice
Major Pitfalls
- Beginnings

● S: school, ski, stomach

● Y: yesterday, yellow, yield, year
● R vs. H: redhead, he tired and retired, the
hate rate, report
Major Pitfalls
- Word Endings

● ping pong, picnic, checkmate

● easy, busy, coffee,
● “ed” verbs (“t”, “d” “ed”)
● “ing” and “s”
● them, then, ring
Major Pitfalls
- “TU” and “DU”

● These sounds appear in the middle of words that

have “tu” or “du” combinations, as well as in
words starting with “ j ” and “ch”

● Examples:
– TU: Culture, feature, overture
– DU: Educate

– J: Juice
– CH: choose
Major Pitfalls
- “TU” and “DU”: Practice

“DU” “TU”
graduate mutual punctual
education congratulate mature
residual Portugal eventual
gradual culture natural
procedure ritual picturesque
individual century spiritual
schedule situation feature
Major Pitfalls
- “TU” and “DU”: Practice
• What’s the schedule for tomorrow ?

• When do the mutual funds mature ?

• Do you think Portuguese will shift gradually

towards Spanish ?

• Will education improve in Brazil in the next

century ?

• Does each individual have a personal culture ?

• Is it a ritual to watch TV nature programmes?

Major Pitfalls
- “SH” vs “CH”

● SH: shake, shallow, ship,

● CH: challenge, chair, chip
 Major Pitfalls
– “TH”

● There are two types:

– Voiced “TH”
● Examples: The, this, those, that, these, there, then, they

– Unvoiced “TH”
● Examples: Thin, thought, thermos, thief, theater, thanks, thirty, three

● N.B. To pronounce both you must put your tongue between

your teeth.
 Major Pitfalls
– Voiced ‘TH’,

● Examples: The, this, those, that, these, there, then, they

● To pronounce the voiced ‘th’, stick your tongue out slightly,

making sure that your teeth touch your tongue lightly on
either side. Vibrate your vocal cords as you blow air out of
your mouth between your tongue and your upper teeth,
then pull your tongue back to pronounce the rest of the
word.
 Major Pitfalls
– Unvoiced ‘TH’,

● Examples: Thin, thought, thermos, thief, theater, thanks,

thirty, three

● To pronounce the unvoiced ‘th’, stick your tongue out

slightly (making sure that your teeth touch your tongue
lightly on either side) and let air escape around your
tongue, without your vocal cords vibrating.
Major Pitfalls
– ‘TH’ Minimal pairs.

•thick sick
•think sink
•thought sought fought
•three tree free
•thin tin fin
•thrill trill frill
•clothing closing
•breathe breeze
•faith face
Major Pitfalls
– ‘TH’: Practice

● Nothing is worth thousands of deaths.

● Lesser weather never weathered wetter weather better.
● The truth is that thirteen Southern States were threatening
to withdraw from the Union.
● Think thin thoughts in order to thrive throughout your diet.
● Thieves are thankless thugs who deserve our wrath.
● Whether the weather be nice or whether the weather be
not, Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather
be hot, We’ll whether the weather whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.
Major Pitfalls
- “TH”

● thick, there, brother, teeth, teethe

● think
● with
Short and Long Vowels: The Silent “E” &
Co.

Vowel SHORT LONG SHORT LONG

A tap tape Ran rain

E Pet Pete Set seat
I kit kite bit bite
O pop pope hop hope
U cut cute tut tutor
Short and Long Vowels: More Detail...

Vowel SHORT LONG SHORT LONG

A tap tape Ran rain

E Pet Pete Set seat
I kit kite bit bite
O pop pope hop hope
U cut cute tut tutor
Major Pitfalls
- ‘I’ vs ‘EE’

● To pronounce the /i/ in “heat” the position of your lips

and chin is tense. Try positioning your mouth for a
smile and say “heat”. That’s why photographers
always tell you to “say cheese”!

● Now relax your lips and chin and say “hit”

Major Pitfalls
- ‘I’ vs ‘EE’: Minimal Pairs

•Leave Live
•Sheep •Sleep Slip
Ship
•Coffee •Wheat Wit
Coffin
•Beat Bit •Seat Sit

•Deed Did •Mean Men

•Steal Still
•Feet Fit
•Eat It
Major Pitfalls
- ‘I’ vs ‘EE’: Practice

• The strategic plan is a good strategy.

• Do you believe your team’s defeat was because of the
heat?
• You seek a doctor when you’re sick.
• The business was very busy.
• Don’t sit on the sheet on the seat.
• The police took a bribe from the politician.
• At least read the bill.
• The heat hit me when I exited the train.
• There was a brief interval in the movie in the cinema.
 Major Pitfalls
– Beginning /r/ sound

● To Pronounce words that have an initial /r/, position your

tongue as if you were saying the syllable “er” as in the last
syllable of “December”

● Why is this a problem area?

– Compare the sound of the start of the Portuguese word: “Rato”
with the English word “Ready”
● Now try the following:
– He was a redhead and he was tired so he retired but he did not
hate the change in rate.
Major Pitfalls
– ‘R’ vs ‘H’: Minimal pairs.

•hide ride
•red head
•heed read
•hate rate
•hat rat
•high rye
•hoe row
 Major Pitfalls
– ‘R’ vs ‘H’: Practice

• Are red hens or white hens prettier?

• Would you rather have an honest answer or one to make you
happy?
• Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood rode right through the river.

• What do you plan to do when you retire?

• Is it hard to hear in the rear?
• In reality real high rollers roll the dice only when the stakes are
high.
• Is the reproduction rate for rabbits higher or lower than for
horses?
Major Pitfalls
- ED verbs

● The past tense of regular verbs: –ed.

● The pronunciation of the "ed" added to regular verbs
to form the past tense follows a set of 3 reliable
rules.
Major Pitfalls
- ED verbs
● If the infinitive ends in /t/ or /d/ the "ed" is
pronounced as an extra syllable.
– e.g. start→ started, record → recorded

● If the infinitive ends in a voiceless consonant other

than /t/ then /t/ is added to the verb.
– e.g. stop → stopped /stopt/, Mix → mixed /mixt/

● If the infinitive ends in a vowel or a voiced

consonant other than /d/, a /d/ is added.
– Sob → sobbed /sobd/, snooze → snoozed /snoozd/
boo → booed /bood/
Major Pitfalls
- ED verbs: Practice

tip thaw nod bathe

race belong measure type
raise sip hoot dine
urge doubt fan peck
aid shock watch hatch
seem baffle knit cause
heat add lock etch