PRONUNCIATION

Pronunciation (noun): the way in which we pronounce a word
{ronounce (verb): to make the sound of a word

English is not Phonetic

Always remember that English is not "phonetic". That means that we do not always say a word the same way that we spell it.

Some words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation, for example:

·                     I like to read [ri:d].

·                     I have read [red] that book.

Some words have different spelling but the same pronunciation, for example:

·                     I have read [red] that book.

·                     My favourite colour is red [red].

Glossary of Pronunciation Terms

accent	the unique speech patterns of a person or group
affricate	a speech sound (consonant) that contains a stop followed by an immediate fricative, as in the ch /ʧ/ in "chair"
air flow/airstream	the flow or passage of air out of the mouth
alveolar	sound formed by touching the tip of the tongue to the upper alveolar ridge, as in /t/ or /d/
alveolar ridge	the bony region at the roof and bottom of the mouth behind the front teeth; contains the tooth sockets
approximants	consonants with a partial obstruction of airflow, as in /w/ and /r/
articulation	the act of making speech sounds
aspiration	a small "explosion" of air when you make a sound
auditory	hearing (not seeing)
bilabial	consonant sounds formed using both lips, as in /p/ or /b/
close vowel (sometimes called "high" vowel)	a vowel sound that is pronounced with the tongue close to the roof of the mouth (but not close enough to constrict the air and make a consonant), as in /i:/ in the word "free"
consonant	a speech sound made when there is complete or partial obstruction of air in the mouth, as in /v/, /h/, /d/ (compare vowel)
clusters	blended sounds put together to make a single sound
Curl	a position of the tongue where the tongue is shaped in a curve, not flat
dental	a consonant sound made when the tongue touches the upper teeth, as in /t/ and /n/
dialect	unique vocabulary, pronunciation and usage that is typical of a certain group of people
diphthong	a sound made by the combination of two vowel sounds in a single syllable, as in "boy", "loud" or "wide", where the sound starts as one vowel and moves towards another vowel
flatten	a positioning of the tongue where the tongue is flat not round
fricative	a speech sound (consonant) in which air is forced to pass through a small opening and creates friction, as in /f/ and /v/
glide/slide	moving the tongue while saying a word
glottal stop	the sound that is made when the vocal folds are closed very briefly; as in the middle of the word "uh-oh" (common in American English)
Gum	the tissue around the base of the teeth
hard palate	hard part of the roof of the mouth
intonation	change in pitch of a sentence, up and down; the music or rhythm of speech
labiodental	sounds that are made with the lower lip and upper teeth, as in /f/ and /v/
Larynx	the hollow, muscular organ in the throat that holds the vocal chords; the voice box
Lateral	a speech sound that is made by touching the tongue to the middle of the alveolar ridge, allowing air to pass on both sides
lengthen sound	make the duration of the sound longer
inkingl	the joining of words when speaking, as in "Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?" (Can I have a bit of egg?)
lips spread	lips are open slightly and pulled back
Lower	bottom of mouth
minimal pairs	two words that differ only in terms of one sound, as in "cat and bat" OR "fine and vine"
monophthong	a single vowel sound that does not change in auditory quality; also called a "pure vowel"
nasal consonants	consonant sounds made by pushing air through the nose, as in /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/
non-pulmonic	when the air comes from a source other than the lungs
obstruction	a blockage of air flow
open vowel (also called "low" vowel)	a vowel that is produced with the tongue far down from the roof of the mouth, as in the /a:/ sound in "far"
palatal	a sound that is made when the tongue is near or touching the roof of the mouth
Palate	the roof of the mouth
phoneme	an individual speech sound
phonetic alphabet	an alphabet that represents the sounds of speech
phonetic transcription	a form of notation that uses symbols to identify the individual sounds (phonemes) in a word
plosive	a consonant sound produced when there is a complete obstruction of air followed by its sudden release, as in the /p/ of "pot"
Pitch	amount of highness or lowness of a sound or speech
postalveolar	a consonant sound made with the tip of the tongue slightly back from the alveolar ridge, as in /ʃ/ in "shut"
pressed lips	top and bottom lips touching
protruded lips	rounded lips, pushed out
pulmonic	a sound that is made using the airstream directly from the lungs
raised	higher than the neutral position
reduction	the natural shortening of sounds when speaking (e.g. "going to" reduced to "gonna")
rhotic	a variety or dialect of English in which "r" is pronounced before a consonant (as in "hard") and at the end of words (as in "car"); Midwestern American English, for example, is "rhotic"
Roof	the inside top part of the mouth
rounded lips	lips formed into the shape of a circle
rounded vowel	a vowel made with rounded lips
sentence stress	the placement of emphasis on specific words within a sentence or phrase
shorten sound	make the duration of a sound shorter
soft palate	soft part of the roof of the mouth
sonorant	sounds that are made when air is impeded only slightly, as in /m/, /n/
stop (stop consonant)	a consonant sound that is produced when the airflow is (temporarily) stopped entirely by the lips or tongue, as in /p/
syllable	a single unit of sound that creates one beat in a word; the word "coffee" has two syllables (cof-fee)
syllable nucleus	the central part of a syllable, usually a vowel
Tap	touch quickly
Tone	the emotion that is conveyed through the sound of speech (e.g. anger or sadness)
tongue	muscular tissue in the mouth used for tasting and articulating
tooth ridge	the hard area directly behind the top front teeth
Trill	a vibrating sound made with a flapping tongue, as in the rolled "r" sound made when people roll their r's
Upper	top of mouth
Velar	of a sound that is made with the back of the tongue near the soft palate, as in the the /ŋ/ in "sing"
Velum	a soft membrane on the roof of the mouth (also called "soft palate")
vocal chords (AmE cords)	two muscles inside the larynx that vibrate and create the voice
vocal tract	the entire apparatus that produces voice, starting in the lungs and ending at the lips and nostrils (openings of the mouth and nose)
Voiced	of a sound made with the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating
voiceless/unvoiced	of a sound made without the vocal chords (voice box) vibrating
Vowel	a speech sound made when air is free to pass through the mouth with little or no obstruction, as in sounds made with the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y (compare consonant)
vowel backness	position of the tongue in relation to the back of the mouth when making a vowel sound (positions include front, near-front, centre, near-back, back)
vowel height	distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth when pronouncing a vowel sound (IPA has 7 heights: close (highest), near-close, mid-close, mid, open-mid, near-open, open (lowest)
word stress	the placement of emphasis within a word that has more than one syllable

Linking in English

When we say a sentence in English, we join or "link" words to each other. Because of this linking, the words in a sentence do not always sound the same as when we say them individually. Linking is very important in English. If you recognize and use linking, two things will happen:

1.                  you will understand other people more easily

2.                  other people will understand you more easily

There are basically two types of linking:

·                     consonant > vowel
We link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a vowel sound

·                     vowel > vowel
We link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel sound

In this lesson we look at:

·                     Understanding Vowels and Consonants

·                     Linking Consonant to Vowel

·                     Linking Vowel to Vowel

Understanding Vowels & Consonants for Linking

To understand linking, it is important to know the difference between vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Here is a table of English vowels and consonants:

vowels

a

e

i

O

u

consonants

b

c

d

f

g

h

j

k

l

m

n

p

q

r

s

t

v

w

x

y

z

The table shows the letters that are vowels and consonants. But the important thing in linking is the sound, not the letter. Often the letter and the sound are the same, but not always.

For example, the word "pay" ends with:

·                     the consonant letter "y"

·                     the vowel sound "a"

Here are some more examples:

	though	know
ends with the letter	h	w
ends with the sound	o	o

	uniform	honest
begins with the letter	u	h
begins with the sound	y	o

Linking Consonant to Vowel

When a word ends in a consonant sound, we often move the consonant sound to the beginning of the next word if it starts with a vowel sound.

For example, in the phrase "turn off":

We write it like this:	turn	off
We say it like this:	tur	noff

Remember that it's the sound that matters. In the next example, "have" ends with:

·                     the letter "e" (vowel)

·                     the sound "v" (consonant)

So we link "have" to the next word "a" which begins with a vowel sound:

We write it like this:	Can I have a bit of egg?
We say it like this:	Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?

Linking Vowel to Vowel

When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link the words with a sort of W or Y sound.

If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound:

oo | o	We write it like this: too often who is so I do all We say it like this: tooWoften whoWis soWI doWall

If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound:

oo | --

We write it like this: Kay is I am the end she asked We say it like this: KayYis IYam theYend sheYasked