 Voice and T pronunciation Week 6 English Communication Tom Stearns Hansung University

In English, every consonant is either voiced or unvoiced. VoicedUnvoiced B D G J (dʒ) L M N NG (ŋ) R V W Y (j) Z TH (ð) ZH (ʒ) F K P S T TH (θ) CH (tʃ) SH (ʃ) H

t d s z p b k g f v ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ θ ð unvoiced voiced

t “T” is the most complicated letter in English because it can sound like T, D, B, M, V, etc. depending on the context. 1. When does it sound like T? a. At the beginning of a word: tomato, tennis, typing b. At the beginning of a stressed syllable: potential, antique c. Immediately after an unvoiced consonant: left, past, empty

t 2. When does it sound like a flap ( ɾ )? a. Between vowel sounds: tomato, artist, put it at a 3. When does it sound like tʃ (CH sound)? a. Before a “u” in unstressed syllables: virtue, conceptual b. At the end of a word, when the next word is you, your, yours, or yourself: but you, want yours c. In words with “tr,” for example: trade, country, interesting

t 4. When does it sound like ʃ (SH sound)? a. Before an “ia/ie/io/iu” in unstressed syllables: spatial, patient, national, Mauritius 5. When is it silent, or muted (no sound)? a. At the end of a word, when the next word begins with a voiced consonant: but my what we get very

Notice: These are informal pronunciation rules. You may or may not find them in the dictionary like this. Example: potato Dictionary Pronunciation: pə‘teɪtoʊ Because native speakers naturally express the stress rules without thinking about it, they know that the “t” in toʊ is a flap sound, not a T sound. t