Pronouncing

Pronunciation





Northwestern Polytechnic University
 
2
Tense Versus Lax Vowel Contrast i/I
(long e, short i)
beat -- bit             least -- list          meat -- mitt
leap -- lip             deal -- dill            teen -- tin
sheep -- ship      peal -- pill          seed Sid
heel -- hill           leave -- live        neat -- knit
leak -- lick           deed -- did         seep -- sip
eat -- it               seek -- sick         reap -- rip
seat -- sit             feast -- fist           fleet -- flit
seen -- sin           ream -- rim          feet -- fit
heat -- hit             lead -- lid            seen -- sin
feel -- fill            sleep -- slip        peep -- pip
 
3
Tense Versus Lax Vowel Contrast i/I
(long e, short i)
1.    We will see the movie soon.
2.    It will seem warmer soon.
3.    Sit in that seat please.
4.    Delia leaped from the hill to the valley.
5.    She was sick but continued to knit.
6.    He thinks she filled his coffee cup.
7.    His room was nice and clean.
8.    Jim hid the Easter eggs from Sid.
9.    The teacher spilled the ink.
10.  Each fishing trip was great.
11.  The team will drink milk.
4
Tense Versus Lax Vowel Contrast i/I
(long e, short i)
1.  He will eat peas and beans at the picnic.
2.  It is a pity the money is hidden from Tim.
3.  The bee flew into the cream.
4.  Evil men keep a key to the city hall.
5.  Seize a wheel and push it eagerly.
6.  Even a big pill will tease him.
7.  Have you seen the pins and beads?
8.  We want a machine with a needle.
9.  Dena and Bill both asked Eva to go.
10.The stick hit Chris on the lip.
5
Tense/Lax vowels:
[e] Long a, [E] Short e
agent -- elephant
ape -- any
alien -- elm
mate -- met
late -- let
same -- sell
fail -- fell
sail -- seven
date -- deck
wait -- wet
6
Distinguishing the Two "OO" sounds 
  1. Luke took his suit to the pool.
  2. You should look for new shoes.
  3. The lovely tulips were in full bloom.
  4. Is it true that you plan to move?
  5. This tatoo was covered with a full sleve.
  6. These bushes grew a full foot last year.
  7. Should the crew work until noon?
  8. She pulled the loose tooth at school.
  9. Whose tomb was he looking for?
10. Who pushed the door open?
7
Pronunciation Drill
I watched it on TV.
I`ve got a new watch.
I found the fish on the beach.
Thank you very much.
She chipped the china.
You can use a cheat sheet on the exam.
Which watch is in the ditch?
 
 
8
Pay Attention to Endings 
rose...roses                 wash...washes
kiss...kisses                cause...causes
dish...dishes                advise...advises
watch...watches          change...changes
judge...judges              mix...mixes
box...boxes                  surprise...surprises
9
Pronouncing Endings Clearly 
[s]                                [z]                            [ch]
lace...laces                  nose...noses           bench...benches
face...faces                 quiz...quizzes           lunch...lunches
price...prices               praise...praises        speech...speeches
juice...juices                cheese...cheeses    match...matches
excuse...excuses        size...sizes               beach...beaches
fence...fences             freeze...freezes        roach...roaches
 
[dg]                             [sh]                           [ks]
page...pages              wish...wishes            box...boxes
edge...edges              flash...flashes           sex...sexes
bridge...bridges          blush...blushes         six...sixes
sponge...sponges      rush...rushes             fix...fixes
stage...stages            crash...crashes         coax...coaxes
age...ages                  crush...crushes         ax...axes
10
Tongue Twisters
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where`s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
 
A tutor who tooted the flute,
tried to tutor two tutors to toot.
He said to the tutor:
"Is it harder to toot, or
to tutor two tutors to toot?
 
Tina Taylor the ticket taker takes tea at ten past ten on Tuesdays. If Tina Taylor is taking tea, who`s taking tickets at ten past ten on Tuesdays?
11
Diphthongs: complex vowels 
Complex vowels have two sounds. The first is always strong and the second is the glide. The glide is weaker but it is also very audible, so you must never stop the glide.
 
PRACTICE
 
 beat      but              bought     but              bait      but
 bit         but              boot         but              bite      but
 bet        but              book        but              boy      but
 bat        but              Burt          but              bout     but
 bot        but              butter       but              boat     but
 about    but
 
 
12
Pronouncing r-colored Vowels
bar        but
bore      but
beer      but
bear      but
boor      but
burr       but
butter    but
13
Word Stress: the Syllable 
A syllable is a"beat" in the rhythm of English. It has at least one vowel and may contain consonants. My, bed, tests are one syllable words. In Standard American English there are two types of syllables: open and closed.
 
Long vowels and diphthongs can occur in both open and closed syllables:
            reading            mind            beat
 
Short vowels occur only in closed syllables:
            pen                  faster
 
Learning English requires knowing which syllable to stress and how many syllables there are in the word.
14
Figuring out the number of Syllables
Two problems figuring out the number of syllables in an English word:
 
First, you must know when the letter "e" is silent. Usually e" at the end of a word is siloent and therefore does not count as a syllable.
 
                type            note            damage            range
 
In the word washes, there are two syllables, while in the word washed, there is only one syllable, because "e" is a silent letter.
 
 
15
Figuring out the Number of Syllables
Secondly, in many English words, unstressed vowels are dropped:
 
       family         chocolate         vegetable
16
Predicting Word Stress in SAE 
1. Stress the first syllable of two syllable nouns.
 
        brother        ceiling        climate        history
 
2. Stress the second part of the numerals from 13 to 19
 
        thirteen    fourteen    fifteen    sixteen   
 
        seventeen    eighteen    nineteen
 
     Stress the first syllable in the numerals from 30 to 90
 
        thirty    forty    fifty    sixty    seventy    eighty    ninety
17
Predicting Word Stress in SAE 
3. Stress reflexive pronouns on the second syllable.
 
        myself    yourself    himself    herself    itself    
 
        ourselves    yourselves    themselves
 
4. Stress compound nouns on the first word
 
        gas station    credit card      bus stop    sun glasses
 
        baseball        tennis court    hot dog      laptop
 
        football          basketball       volleyball
18
Predicting Word Stress in SAE 
5. Stress the last word in two-word verbs
 
    drop out    pick up   turn off     go away    watch out    get up
 
6. Stress the first syllable in adjectives
 
    wonderful        beautiful        horrible        terrible
 
    useful               pleasant        jealous        different
 
7. Stress the first syllable in the verbs:
 
    offer        finish        punish        damage        suffer
 
    terrify      differ
19
Predicting Word Stress in SAE 
8. Stress the second part of the compound in adverbs:
 
        downtown            northeast            overseas                     
 
9. Stress the first syllables in nouns and the second syllable in
     verbs:
 
        record            record
        object            object
        suspect         suspect
        conflict          conflict
        increase        increase
        export            export
        import            import
20
Lengthening Vowel Sounds in SAE 
Exaggerate the length of vowels in the one-syllable words:
 
moon      sky          hand         read        short
 
mud        house      door         wise        see
 
law          cone        shame     old          leaves
 
book        pan          plate        long        vase
21
Extend the Length of the Words
1. The high mountain range stretched as far
    as we could see.
 
2. The old horse moved slowly along the road.
 
3. The glow from the moon lighted the sceen
    below.
 
4. A large white cloud drifted slowly across
    the sky.
 
5. The smooth blue ocean was calm and
    quiet.
22
Phonetic Sound of Plural Endings 
                    [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z]
 
Dr. Anders speaks and her students repeat the sentenses.
              [z]         [s]                        [s]                               [Iz]
 
I`ve been to the circus seven times.
 
Susan likes cats, dogs, and horses.
 
The names of those flowers are hard to say.
 
Everything grows in my garden: lilies, roses, zinnias, as well as weeds.
 
 
23
terminal s sounds of plurals 
Charles watches all of the tennis games.
 
Busses, trucks, and vans waited in a row.
 
Jenny washes the dishes and dries the pots and pans.
 
Potatoes, beans, peas, and carrots are in the soup.
 
Your friends are in good businesses and make a lot of sales.
 
Let`s take the cookies to the movies with us.
 
These paintings are unnecessary expenses.
24
terminal s sounds of plurals 
Thousands of dollars of damages are expected.
 
Claire admires and appreciates your thoughts.
 
Pansies have pretty flower faces.
 
Gusts of wind, flying papers, and dust discourage attendance.
 
She listens, he speaks, then they exchange roles.
 
The notices were pinned to the booths.
 
The beliefs of these churches offer promises of life after death.
25
Pronouncing Plural Endings 
s-        [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z]
 
employs            churches            watches             damages
 
brags                adds                    paints                Mary`s
        
repeats            avoids                  melts                  balls
 
falls                  buries                  breaks                cleans
 
dolls                 listens                  discusses          shouts
 
crosses            needs                  locks                  stops
26
Pronouncing Plural Endings 
s-        [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z]
 
 wipes               studies               loves                 cats
 
wraps                reveals              promises            bowls
 
stalls                 pleases             encourages        wishes
 
swims                pronounces      dresses              travels
 
enjoys                runs                  knocks               cries
 
cleans                races                drinks                news
27
Pronouncing Plural Endings 
s-        [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z]
 
children`s            publishes            boats            omits
 
deletes                recognizes           closes          changes
 
judges                anchors                 mixes           notices
 
 A`s                      raise                        buzz              sees
 
 
28
Final /dz/ and /ts/ 
1. There were no plates in the place
 
2. There`ve been some nice nights recently.
 
3. In this course you learn about the courts.
 
4. I`d like a piece of pizza.
 
5. There were sighs on both sides of the courtroom.
 
6. She needs bandages on her knees.
 
7. Doing homework aids you in getting A`s in your courses.
29
Final /dz/ and /ts/ 
8. Rows of trees lined the roads to town.
 
9. Liz bought a dozen lids for canning vegetables.
 
10. The news was all about the nudes show on TV.
 
11. The bees landed on her shiny beds.
 
12. They go for bike rides after sunrise in the spring.
 
13. Those cats are hard to catch.
 
14. Each of us eats in the cafeteria.
30
Final /dz/ and /ts/ 
15. It was so cold that the coach wore two coats.
 
16. Can you match the color of those matts?
 
17. The Ritz Hotel has rich customers.
 
18. The peaches were better than the pizzas.
 
19. Their heads were hidden behind the hedge.
 
20. They were in a rage about the police raids.
 
21. They`re going to change those gold chains.
31
Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds
1. The books were left on the table.
 
2. The student chooses a subject for research.
 
3. He speeds down the raceway each week.
 
4. The judges` decision is final.
 
5. The churches will have special Easter services.
 
6. The boy safely grabbed the golden apple.
 
7. Julius filled his mug with a Starbucks coffee.
32
Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds
  8. Leslie rolled the rock down the hill.
 
  9. The student needed help with mathematics.
 
10. The nurses rushed over the mountain pass.
 
11. The astronauts landed safely on Mars.
 
12. The girls laughed loudly at the boy`s joke.
 
13. Jeff uses his computer daily.
 
14. The dog hides all his bones in the rose bed.
33
Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds
15. The hops crops were to be gathered.
 
16. She always chooses red and blue ribbons.
 
17. The limbs of the tree were broken by the storm.
 
18. They crowded into the small log cabin to rest.
 
19. Drop the coins in the parking meter.
 
20. The teacher talked the entire hour about Fez.
 
21. Amy saved the old dress in her rag bag.
34
Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds
22. Janice waited an hour for the number four bus.
 
23.The dog barked at the passing cars.
 
24. The wages were too low for the workers.
 
25. The cat scratched the little girl`s arm.
 
26. All of the bridges were built by a company of engineers.
 
27. The minister preached a worthwhile sermon every Sunday.
 
28. Lois knew the hedges needed trimming.
35
Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds
29. The machine crushed rocks for the road.
 
30. The pitcher tossed the ball to the shortstop.
 
31. Ms. Sears was interested only in riches.
 
32. Each of the dancers watched the director.
 
33. All of the children brought their lunches to school.
 
34. The matches were always kept in the metal box.
 
35. The small child amuses his parents with stories.
36
Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds
36. Roland and Jay place the wood carefully on the fire.
 
37. The wind blows in the evening until dusk.
 
38. Changes were made during rehearsals.
 
39. She runs a mile each day and exercises in the gym.
 
40. Put the coats on the bed and the bags on the floor.
 
41. the man needed help with his car.
 
42. Amy faces some changes when she starts working.
37
 [th] made into [s] by Chinese speakers
this             thin            thank              those           threw   
 
brother       tooth         thank              nothing        weather
 
month         these        method           other            through
 
there           with          Thursday        father           thing
 
both            weather    anything         toothache    throw
 
theme         them          thirsty            bathing        bathe
 
death          that            south              feather        thousand
38
 th practice in context  
1. This Thursday I must see the dentist about my toothache.
 
2. My grandmother bequeathed thirty thousand dollars to
 
    my Aunt Beth.
 
3. My mother and father say nothing is too difficult if you try.
 
4. These three feathers were found in an ancient cave.
 
5. Although it is a thousand miles to my stepmother`s house,
 
    my brother made it in a day and a half.