Introduction to English pronunciation and phonetics Lecture 2
Diphthongs a glide between two vowel sounds (di- = two) two types of diphthongs centring (as in near /ıə/) closing (as in sky /aı/) English has seven distinctive diphthongs
/eı/ as in ‘say’ Examples raven /ˈreıvən/ train /treın/ weigh/ way /weı/ Compare Sw ‘mig, nej’ Eng ‘May, neigh’
/aı/ as in ‘time’ Examples bite /baıt/ die /daı/ sigh /saı/ Compare Sw ‘aj, maj’ Eng ‘I, my’
/ɔı/ as in ‘toy’ Examples moist /mɔıst/ soil /sɔıl/ coin /kɔın/ Compare Sw ‘koj, boj’ Eng ‘coy, boy’
/aʊ/ as in ‘scout’ Examples noun /naʊn/ howl /haʊl/ out /aʊt/
/əʊ||o(ʊ)/ as in ‘flow’ Examples nose /nəʊz||noʊz/ boat /bəʊt||boʊt/ toe /təʊ||toʊ/ row /rəʊ||roʊ/
/ıə/ as in ’near’ Examples spear /spıə(r)/ beard /bıə(r)d/ beer /bıə(r)/ pierce /pıə(r)s/
/eə/ as in ’hair’ Examples wear/where /weə(r)/ bare/bear /beə(r)/ heir/air /eə(r)/
Consonants obstruction of the airstream can be voiced (vibration of vocal cords) or voiceless (no vibration) Examples voiced voiceless bill pill goat coat
Describing consonants the place of articulation; where (e.g. bilabial) the manner of articulation; how (e.g. fricative)
Plosives (or stops) flow of air completely blocked and then released English has six plosives three voiced: /b/, /d/, /g/ three voiceless: /p/, /t/, /k/
/p/ as in ‘pin’ /b/ as in ‘bin’ ’p’ is mute in words with pn- and ps- pneumonia, psalm, pseudo, psycho ’b’ is mute in words ending in -mb lamb /læm/, thumb, climb, comb also mute in: subtle, doubt, debt
/t/ as in ‘tip’ /d/ as in ‘dip’ ’t’ is mute in some words with -st- listen, castle, Christmas, christen ‘-ed’ = /t/ in e.g. washed, asked, laughed ‘th’ = /t/ in Thames, Mathilda, Thomas Compare Eng/Sw ‘tips, tent, lead’ vs. ‘tips, tänt, lid’
/k/ as in ‘coal’ /g/ as in ‘goal’ ’k’ is mute in words with kn- knight /naıt/ knit /nıt/ ’g’ is mute in words with gn- or -gn: gnat /næt/ reign /reın/
Fricatives flow of air partially blocked, creating friction English has nine fricatives; four voiced and five voiceless
/f/ as in ‘fast’ /v/ as in ‘vast’ Examples /f/ off, physics, Phil, enough /v/ of, village, vet, verse NB! Clear distinction between /v/ - /w/
/s/ as in ‘ice’ /z/ as in ‘eyes’ Examples /s/ bus, price, niece, place /z/ buzz, prize, knees, plays Note: letter ‘z’ pronounced /zi:/ or /zed/
/s/ versus /z/ More examples /s/ /z/ peace/piece peas loose lose rice rise excuse (noun) excuse (verb)
/z/ normally used in ’-s’ after vowel or voiced consonant (says, pays, dogs, scissors, Jim’s) some common verb forms (is, was, has, does) some function words (his, hers, yours, as, whose) some names (James, Jones, Burns)
/ʃ/ as in ‘shore’ Examples machine /məˈʃiːn/ Asia /ˈeıʃə/ ship /ʃıp/ Charlotte /ˈʃɑː(r)lət/
/ʒ/ as in ‘measure’ Examples treasure /ˈtreʒə/ television /ˈtelevıʒən/ prestige /preˈstiːʒ/ usual /ˈju:ʒʊəl/
/θ/ as in ‘thin’ Examples faith /feıθ/ Thursday /ˈθɜː(r)zdeı/ thing /θıŋ/ cathedral /kəˈθiːdrəl/
/ð/ as in ‘then’ Examples then /ðen/ brother /ˈbrʌðə(r)/ feather /ˈfeðə(r)/ breathe /briːð/ (but: breath /breθ/ )
Pronunciations of ‘th’ /θ/ in most words beginning with th- in most words ending in -th /ð/ in some words beginning with th- (then, thus, the, that, though) in many words with -th- in the middle (mother, another, weather)
NB! Bad joke! At the Australian hospital: The nurse: Did you come here /təˈdaı/? The tourist: No, I came here to get better!