The Call Center

Academy
Developing
people
through
experience,
expertise and
technology
Accent Neutralization
PRONUNCIATION
VOWEL SYSTEM OF
AMERICAN ENGLISH
1. Long Vowels
symbol sound example
ā ei ate, rake, lane, faint
ē ee eat, meet, knead, reed
ī äi ice, kite, lie, wi-fi, rye
ō ou oak, show, dough, low
Long Vowels…

symbol sound example

ū ooh booth, dude, food
ä ah follow, dollar, stop
æ äε Ann, ban, mat, lap
æo au down, frown, crown
2. Short Vowels
symbol sound example
Σ eh get, debt, let,
read
i i hit, mitt, lit, kit
u ih + uh look, book, shook
∂ uh mutt, stunt, cut
Diphthongs
These are vowel sounds with glides.

In producing diphthongs, the organs of speech start in

the position for a vowel sound and move immediately
in the direction of another in one impulse of breath.

/ai/ rise sighs flies white nice

/au/ out ounce sound brow mouse

/oi/ toy boil noise coin avoid

Vowel Specific Drills
a. The Vowel /ē/
• Smile!!

Say: /ē/, /ē/, /ē/, /ē/, /ē/, /ē/

deal street week
dear speedy keep
mean peak sheet
leading clear team
Vowel Specific Drills
b. The Vowel /i/
• the tongue is high in the front
• the lips are pulled back slightly

Say: /i/, /i/, /i/, /i/, /i/

Mr. Miller which in

ribbon Mississippi gift
critically-ill Virginia win
Vowel Specific Drills
c. The Vowel /ā/
• curve the tongue about halfway up in the front
• pull the lips back slightly
• glide the tongue up and forward, dropping the jaw
slightly
Say: /ā/, /ā/, /ā/, /ā/, /ā/, /ā/
major Dave Maine
tape states main
paper rates change
data greatly
Vowel Specific Drills
d. The Vowel / Σ /
• the tongue is curved up in the front
• the lips are pulled back slightly

Say: / Σ /, / Σ /, / Σ /, / Σ /, / Σ /
test letter central
question well guest
amend ten western
when best
 Vowel Specific Drills
e. The Vowel /æ/
• the tongue should be lowered and pushed forward
• slightly drop lower jaw
• pull lips back slightly

Say:/æ/, /æ/, /æ/, /æ/, /æ/

grab back half
slack batch backup
draft Alabama Kansas
map
Vowel Specific Drills
f. The Vowel /ä/
• the lips are relaxed
• the jaw is lowered
• the tongue is in the bottom of the mouth

Say: /ä/, /ä/, /ä/, /ä/, /ä/

follow dollar stop
drop stock contract
lock ton from
top John Scott
 Vowel Specific Drills
g. The Vowel /o/
• the lips are slightly rounded
• the tongue is low in the mouth, being slightly pulled
back, and is higher in the back than in the front

Say: /o/, /o/, /o/, /o/, /o/

pause call boss
thought cost bought
applaud hall law
 Vowel Specific Drills
h. The Vowel /ō/
• the tongue should be high in the back
• the lips should be rounded
• This is a glide and as you say it, your lips should become
slightly rounded and your tongue should move back and up
 
Say: /ō/ /ō/ /ō/ /ō/ /ō/
most code phone
cold suppose told
won’t loan quote
zone note revoke
Vowel Specific Drills
i. The Vowel /u/
• tongue slightly pulled back and curved
high in the back of the mouth
• lips somewhat rounded

Say: /u/, /u/, /u/, /u/, /u/

look pull should
book could good
took
Vowel Specific Drills
j. The Vowel /ü/
• the lips are very rounded
• the tongue is high in the back

Say: /ü/, /ü/ /ü/, /ü/, /ü/, /ü/

group rules two
tool crew blue
new June
Vowel Specific Drills
k. The Vowel /oi/
•startwith the lips very rounded and the tongue pulled
•back in the mouth
•glide the tongue up and forward, pulling the lips back

Say: /oi/, /oi/, /oi/, /oi/, /oi/

void joint deploy
invoice avoid point
Vowel Specific Drills
l. The Vowel / æo /
• lips pulled back slightly, the mouth open, the tongue down;
then bring the lips forward, making them very round while
bringing the lower jaw up

Say: /au/, /au/, /au/, /au/, au/

how about now
loud down hour
found discount account
 Vowel Specific Drills
m. The Vowel /ī/
• start with the mouth open and the tongue down
• bring the lower jaw up and the body of the tongue up and
forward
• the tongue tip stays down.

Say> /ai/, /ai/, /ai/, /ai/, /ai/

night smile file right

buy bribe site pile
strive time fine
Pronunciation (cont…)
æ æo ä ī ā ē ū ou
At out ought I’d Ate Eat Ooze Own
Bat About Bought Bite Bait Beat Boot Boat
Cat Couch Caught Kite Cane Keys Cool Coat
Chat Chowder Chalk Child Chair Cheer Choose Chose
Dad Doubt Dot Dial Date Deed Do Don’t
Fat Found Fought Fight Fate Feet Food Phone
Fallow Fountain Fall File Fail Feel Fool Foal
Gas Gown Got Kite Gate Gear Ghoul Go
Hat How Hot Height Hate Heat Hoot Hope
That Thou Thar Thine They These Who’ll Though
Thang Thousand Thought Thigh Thane Thief Jewel Throw
Van Vow Volume Viper Vain Veal Voodoo Crow
Pronunciation (cont…)
 Transition of Adjectives and Verbs
Notice the change that occurs when you go
from an adjective or a noun to a verb. The
stress stays in the same place, but the –mate
in the adjective is completely reduced [-m’t].
Whereas in a verb, it is a full sound [a-]
 Vowel Reduction
When a syllable or word is not stressed, the
vowel is said very quickly and with less emphasis. The
result is that vowels in unstressed words may be left
out altogether, or they may change form and be
“reduced.” If the vowel that is unstressed is a long
vowel, it may be reduced to its corresponding short
vowel.
CONSONANT SYSTEM OF
AMERICAN ENGLISH
/p/ peal pill pan loop shepherd
/b/ bead bin ban board robber
/t/ teen till Thomas little better passed
licked
/d/ dean doubt crammed pinned sealed
feared
/k/ keen kin scan psyche plaque chasm
/g/ gear game good hamburger plug
/f/ feel fill Volkswagen sphere laugh
/v/ veer void Stephen move Volkswagen
/th/ think cathedral path booth
/[th]/ then there seethe bathe mouth (v)
/s/ seal scene price less thus
/z/ zeal roses eyes rise knees girls
busy
lose easy
/sh/ shell cushion motion champagne
Charlotte
/zh/ measure pleasure leisure prestige
garage entourage allusion negligee
/ch/ chill choke pitcher teacher literature
/j/ jeer gin jump George judge
gauge

/l/ lamb slope call ripple table

/m/ mail moan smoke small stream

/n/ nip kneel gnat snap dean lone

clan

/[ng]/ ring fling spring ink thank

incongruous

/w/ win warm work swell

/y/ yell yacht payee

CONSONANT SOUNDS NOT FOUND IN FILIPINO

/f/-/p/

fade…paid fat…pat
fast…past fail…pail
fill…pill full…pull
feet…Pete fall…Paul
four…pour fine…pine
 /v/–/b/

very…barry vacant varnish

vase…base vacuum verb
van…ban valley vertical
vent…bent value vitamin
voice…boys valuable vehicle
vest…best village voucher
veil…bail veteran victory
vow…bow vegetable have
vet…bet vision sleeve
volt…bolt visible evil
 voiceless “th”

thank tank earth

thin tin oath
three tree faith
thorn torn tooth
thick tick teeth
theme team path
thigh tie with
thread tread both
through true truth
thought taught breath
 voiced “th”

this…dis other
the…da mother
those…doze brother
there…dare father
their…dare either
than…Dan neither
that…dat farther
thy…die either
though…doe rather
they…day clothes
 /j /

Jean jeep
Jim gym
James jail
Jenny jet
Jack jam
John jar
George jaw
Joe joke
just job
June juice
 /hw/

wheel whisper
where whistle
which wheat
whale whiz
when while
why white
what wharf
 /z/

zoo zebra
zero zig-zag
zipper freeze
lazy crazy
dizzy prize
says (sez)
has (haz)
is (iz)
 /sh/

sheep ship
shell shape
shack shop
shall shawl
short show
shut should
shoot wish
wash bush
mash mesh
sure (shoor) nation (shun)
 /ch /

cheap each
chip itch
chain sketch
chest catch
match choke
coach chew
cheese much
Dutch chill
child children
chief chalk
Standard American Pronunciation

Here are some of the elements with which the American

pronunciation is distinct from other English language
varieties

1. The Sound of T
2. The Sound of R
3. The Sound of L
4. Tee Aitch
5. American I and E
6. S or Z
AMERICAN T
1. [ T is T ]
 If the T is at the beginning of a word it is a strong, clear T sound.

 With stressed T and ST, TS, TR, CT, LT, and sometimes NT
combinations, T is also aspirated (content, contract, Stephen)

 T replaces D in the past tense, after an unvoiced consonant sound

– f, k, p, s, ch, sh, th (laughed, picked, hoped)

 time, table, tomorrow, teach, Tom

 It took Tim ten times to try the telephone
 Control your tears.
 Ted took ten tomatoes.
2. T is in the middle [T is D]
If the T is in the middle of the word, intonation
changes the sound to a soft D.
 water, daughter, better, letter, shutter

 What a good idea.  Get a better water heater.

[w'd' güdäi deey'] [gedda bedder wäder heeder]

 Put it in a bottle.  Put all the data in the computer.

[pü di di n' bäd'l] [püdall the dayd' in the k'mpyuder]
3. NT combos and T at the end [T is
Silent]
N and T are so close in the mouth that the
[t] can disappear.
 interview, international, percentage
If T is at the end, you almost don’t hear it
at all
 set, shot, brought
4. TN combos [T is Held]
With -tain, -tten and some TN combinations, the T is held.
 kitten, mountain, fountain
 He’s forgotten the carton of satin mittens
 The cotton curtain is not in the fountain
 Martin has got a kitten
 It’s not certain that it was gotten from the fountain.
Pronunciation (cont…)

The American R
popular ardor marriage
ocular succor carriage
rapture color library
capture collar parrot
amateur odor narrate
procure occur transparency
procedure behavior paragraph
Pronunciation (cont…)

The American L

 The American L has two different pronunciations in

English. In the beginning or middle of a word, the
tongue tip touches just behind the teeth — on those
hard ridges.
love, lose, left

 At the end of a word, the L is especially noticeable if

it is either missing or too short.
ball, call, dull
Pronunciation (cont…)

Tee Aitch

1. Unvoiced (soft /th/)

The unvoiced TH is like an S between the teeth.
 thing, thought, thorough

2. Voiced (hard /th/)

The voiced TH is like a D, but instead of being in back of
the teeth, it's 1/4 inch lower and forward, between the
teeth.
 this, that, them
Pronunciation (cont…)
 Tee Aitch
The Throng of Thermometers
The throng of thermometers from the Thuringian Thermometer
Folks arrived on Thursday. There were a thousand thirty-three
thick thermometers, though, instead of a thousand thirty-six thin
thermometers, which was three thermometers fewer than the
thousand thirty-six we were expecting, not to mention that they
were thick rather than thin ones. We asked the Thuringian
Thermometer Folks to reship the thermometers; thin not thick.
They apologized and promised to ship the thermometers and
replace the thick ones with thin ones.
 I and E
/i/ /ē /
sin seen
kin keen
grin green
win wean
been bean
did deed
sick seek
chick cheek
fist feast
rich reach
Either read the book or get rid of it.
Didn’t you buy it to eat?
I didn’t seek to be sick.
Each foot itches.

List the most important ones.

She dipped deeply into the sack.
They begged for a big meal.
The living influenced us more than the dead
did.
Don’t grin at my green sweater.
Can you lift what’s left?
You’ll get wet if you wait.
Tell us a tale, grandpa.

There’s a gate to get us through.

He said he was sad.
The hen sat where he set her.
Did you reach your rich uncle?
 “S” OR “Z”
3 possible pronunciations: /s/ /z/ /iz/
Which one do you choose?

• If the preceding sound is /s/ /sh/ /ch/ or /z/ , then use

/iz/
watches , misses , searches , buzzes , washes
• If the preceding sound is "voiceless" (you cannot feel
any vibration in your throat when you say it), then
use /s/
breaks , costs , eats , talks , hopes
• In all other cases use /z/
begins , enjoys , stays , goes , remembers
A clipper shipped several
clipped sheep.
Were these clipped sheep
the clipper ship’s sheep,
Or just clipped sheep
Shipped on a clipper ship?
Three grey greedy geese
Feeding on a weedy piece.
The piece was weedy,
The geese were greedy,
Three grey greedy geese
 Thirty three thunderbirds
Thrummed thrumpingly
Through the thickening thicket.
We say Dan when we mean than and
den when we mean then.“This book is
mine and that is yours,” are habits we
can easily form. By saying this and
that many times – “This is mine” and
“That is yours” or “ I would rather have
this dish though that one is the best”
are good practice drills for those who
say den instead of then.
Neil Knott was shot and Sam Schott was not. So it
is better to be Schott than Knott. Some say Knott
was not shot but Schott says he shot Knott.

Either the shot Schott shot at Knott was not shot,

or Knott was shot. If the shot Schott shot shot
Schott, then Schott was shot, not Knott. However,
the shot Schott shot shot not Schott ---- but Knott.
The fool named Paul pulls the
whole pole full of holes. The
whole pole full of wholes was
pulled by the fool named Paul
Paul Sedd sternly said “Pol Sid, stand
near the pool and pull with full force the
whole rope thru the hole in the roof.”
Pol Sid sourly said: “Paul, you’re near the
pool. Why not pull the whole rope thru the
hole in the roof?”