1. Cinzia Giglioni Università della Valle d’Aosta
Phonetics
Cinzia Giglioni
Università della Valle d’Aosta

2. Task 1 Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C. Stress
Phoneme
Intonation
The music of our voices
Giving emphasis to one syllable
An individual sound

3. Task 1 Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C. Stress
Phoneme
Intonation
The music of our voices
Giving emphasis to one syllable
An individual sound

4. Task 2 Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
An individual sound is mispronounced
A request is made with very flat intonation
The wrong syllable is stressed in a word
The word is incomprehensible
The listener might understand “bin” when the speaker wanted to say “pin”
The speaker can sound arrogant and demanding

5. Task 2 Match the terms 1 – 3 with the definitions A – C.
An individual sound is mispronounced
A request is made with very flat intonation
The wrong syllable is stressed in a word
The word is incomprehensible
The listener might understand “bin” when the speaker wanted to say “pin”
The speaker can sound arrogant and demanding

6. ?

7. INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET(IPA)

8. SYMBOLS …from Latin: e.g. /m//v//ɑ/ …from Greek: e.g. /θ//ð//ʊ/
…created:/ŋ/
…and the diacritic symbols:/ː//'//ˌ/

9. Aims of the lesson:
Becoming more aware of how and why we use English sounds
(language awareness, metalinguistic analysis)
Improving English pronunciation

10. MINIMAL PAIRS 3
θriː
tin
kæt
triː
hæt
θɪn

11. Examples of English sounds which don’t exist in Italian
Let’s compare!
Italian sounds which don’t exist in English
Examples of English sounds which don’t exist in Italian
Consonants
/λ/ aglio
/ɲ/ gnomo
/dz/ zelo
/ts/ zio
Vowels
/ə/ about
/ɜ:/ bird
/æ/ cat
/ɪ:/ see
Diphthongs
/aʊ/ now
/əʊ/ go
/eə/ there
/ð/ then
/θ/ thin
/ɳ/ long
/ʒ / measure

12. Let’s compare! 7 vowels 23 consonants = 30 12 vowels 8 diphtongs
= 44

13. Consonants and their symbols
/b/ as in bag /d/ as in dog /f/ as in fat /g/ as in good /h/ as in hat /l/ as in late /m/ as in man
/n/ as in note /p/ as in pot /r/ as in rope /s/ as in sock /t/ as in tear /v/ as in vowel /w/ as in worm /z/ as in zoo

14. Other familiar symbols, but…
/k/ cake, crack, ache, stomach
/g/ get, give; NO: gem
/h/ happy, here; NO: thirsty, show, Thomas, hour, heir,
/j/ your, yes, cute; NO: jam
/s/ piece/peace, sell/cell,
/z/ zone, lazy, nose/knows,
NO: pizza

15. Confusion between spellings and sounds
beat, seed, piece, machine /i:/
day, veil, obey /eı/
shoe, sugar, issue, mansion, mission, nation, suspicion, ocean, conscious, chaperon, schist, fuchsia /∫/
one single sound may correspond
to more than one letter

16. Confusion between spellings and sounds
man car name /æ/ man /α:/ car /eɪ/ name /t∫/ cheese, church, cheap /∫/ chalet, champagne, Chigago, chic /k/ character, chemistry, chaos

17. Confusion between spellings and sounds: silent letters
<b> in subtle, doubt, comb, lamb <w> in answer <k> in knife, know, knight <gh> in bright, light, night <-e> in name, time, goose

18. Silent letters – Which letters are silent in the following words?
tomb whistle folk Greenwich
pneumatic soften dumb honest
receipt weigh debt
psychiatry column scissors knot
comb heir aisle

19. Homophones: flour, flower

20. Homographs
He took a bow at the end of the concert /baʊ/ He was wearing a bow tie /bəʊ/

21. Words, words, words…. WORD STRESS Melancholic ˌmeləŋ’kɒlɪk
Secondary stress
Primary stress

22. STRESS SHIFT afternoon afternoon tea Japanese Japanese Girl
weekend weekend traffic

23. Classic Italian-speakers errors
adjective, colleague, canal, report……
IN COMPOUNDS
, home-page, web-site, chat-line

24. ASSIMILATION
a consonant sound at the end of a word becomes similar to a consonant sound at the beginning of another word:
/s + ʃ/  /ʃ:/ this shop /ðɪʃ’ʃɒp/
/t + k/  /k:/ that cake /ðæk’keɪk/
/t + g/  /g:/ greet guests /gri:g’gests/

25. LINKING /r/
Normally /r/ is not pronounced in the final position in BBC English. In connected speech, however, the final spelling ‘r’ of a word is pronounced if the first sound of the next word is a vowel:
That’s my car /ka:/
That car is new. /ka:r ɪz nju:/

26. INTRUSIVE CONSONANTS:/j/ /w/
- if the first word ends in /ɪ/ and the next word starts with any vowel sound, we add /j/
every ear /evrɪ ʲɪə/
sounds like every year
- if the first word ends with /u:/ or /ʊ/ and the next word starts with any vowel sound, we add /w/
you ache /ju: ʷeɪk/
sounds like you wake

27. ELISION next please /neks pli:z/ I don’t know /ai dəʊ nəʊ/
a sound which would be present in a word spoken in isolation is omitted in connected speech, e.g.:omission of /t/, omission of /d/
next please /neks pli:z/
I don’t know /ai dəʊ nəʊ/
you and me /ju: ən mi:/
stand there /stæn ðeə/

28. VOWEL REDUCTION
If you say the following sentences rapidly, stressing the underlined syllables:
You and me
I wish you would tell me
You will notice that in the second sentence the vowels in these two words are reduced, i.e. become shorter and less clear:
/ju: ən mi:/
/aɪ ’wɪʃ jʊ wʊd ‘tel mɪ/

29. STRONG AND WEAK FORMS strong form weak form and /ænd/ /ən/
of /ɒv/ /əv/
you /ju:/ /jʊ/
does /dʌz/ /dəz/
have /hæv/ /həv/ /əv/

30. INTONATION
I had coffee cake and honey
I had coffee, cake and honey

31. FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION
INDICATOR OF ATTITUDE - expresses our attitude at the moment of speaking to the situation we are in, or to what we are talking about, or to ourselves or to our listener;
GRAMMATICAL INDICATOR - indicates if our utterance is a declarative sentence, an imperative, an exclamation, a question;
DISCOURSE INDICATOR – reveals the relationship between utterances and information throughout the discourse.

32. Exercises

33. 1. In each of these groups of words, one word is exactly the same as in normal letters. Underline it. Then write the others in normal letters.
/'pensəl/ /'peɪpə/ /pen/ /'nəʊtbʊk/ /desk/ /fæks/ /kəm'pjuːtə/ /'telɪfəʊn/ /nek/ /hed/ /hænd/ /leg/ /hen/ /pɪg/ /ʃiːp/ /kaʊ/ /griːn/ /bluː/ /red/ /blæk/ /get/ /teɪk/ /gɪv/ /gəʊ/ /'sevən//ten/ /θriː/ /faɪv/

34. 1. KEY
pencil paper pen notebook desk fax computer telephone neck head hand leg hen pig sheep cow green blue red black get take give go seven ten three five

35. 2. Here is a list of different activities
2. Here is a list of different activities. In each one, one of the words is written with phonemic symbols. Write it in normal letters.
Ski /dʒʌmpɪŋ/ /wɒʃɪŋ/ the dishes /juːzɪŋ/ a computer /sɪŋɪŋ/ a song /θɪŋkɪŋ/ about something /pleɪjɪŋ/ games

36. 2. KEY
Ski jumping washing the dishes using a computer singing a song thinking about something playing games

37. 3. Long vs. short vowels bee sheet bit cat food cangaroo put third but
core
far
marsh (fever)
set

38. 3. KEY Short bit cat put but set Long bee sheet food cangaroo third
core
far
marsh
Short
bit
cat
put
but
set

39. 4. Insert the missing words
/ɪ/
/e/ æ
bead
bet
did
ken
lad
seat

40. 4. KEY /i:/ /ɪ/ /e/ æ bead bid bed bad beat bit bet bat deed did dead
dad
keen
kin
ken
can
lead
lid
led
lad
seat
sit
set
sat

41. 5. Diphthongs: identify the words
/ʧaɪld/
/’weɪʤɪz/
/ʃaʊt/
/ʧɔɪs/
/ʃaɪ/
/’deɪnʤə/
/en’ʤɔɪd/
/’aɪðə/
/ʃaʊə/

42. 5. KEYS /ʧaɪld/ /’weɪʤɪz/ /ʃaʊt/ /ʧɔɪs/ /ʃaɪ/ /’deɪnʤə/ /en’ʤɔɪd/
Child
Wages
Shout
Choice
Shy
Danger
Enjoyed
Either
shower

43. 6.Identify the correct transcription
Soul
/sɒl/
/sɔ:l/
/səʊl/
Throw
/θrɔ:/
/θrəʊ/
/θru:/
Sew
/sɔ:/
/səʊ/
/sju:/
Ought
/ɔ:t/
/əʊt/
/ɒt/

44. 6.KEY Soul Throw Sew Ought /sɒl/ /sɔ:l/ /səʊl/ /θrɔ:/ /θrəʊ/ /θru:/
/sju:/
Ought
/ɔ:t/
/əʊt/
/ɒt/

45. 7. For each of the following words, choose the correct vowel sound
foot
a) /ʊ/
b) /u:/
c) /əʊ/
stir
a) /ɜː/
b) /ɪ/
c) /ə/
want
a) /ɑː/
b) /ɒ/
clear
a) /i:/
b) /ə/
c) /ɪə/
straw
a) /ɜ:/
b) /ɔ:/
c) /ʌ/

46. 7.KEY
foot
a) /ʊ/
stir
a) /ɜ:/
Want
b) /ɒ/
clear
c) /ɪə/
straw
b) /ɔ:/

47. 8. Match the word and the phonetic transcription
1)            orange
2)                  women
3)                  quay/key
4)                  children
5)                  ceiling
6)                  this
7)                  these
8)                  machine
9)                  minute
10)             promise
11)             cottage
12)             language
a)     / mə’ʃi:n/
b)   /’si:lɪɳ/
c)      /ði:z/
d)     /’læɳgwɪdʒ/
e)     /’ɒrɪndʒ/
f)       /’wɪmɪn/
g)     /ðɪs/
h)     /’tʃɪldrən/
i)        /’prɒmɪs/
j)       /’kɒtɪdʒ/
k)     /’mɪnɪt/
l)        /ki:/

48. 8. KEY
1-e 8-a
2-f k
3-l 10-i
4-h 11-j
5-b 12-d
6-g
7-c

49. 9. Choose the word which matches the phonetic transcription
1) /maʊðz/ a) mouths
b) months
c) mouse
2) /nəʊ/ a) nor
b) now
c) know/no
3) /praʊd/ a) pride
b) proud
c) prude
4) /fɪəʳ/ a) fear
b) fair
c) far

50. 9. KEY A C B

51. 10. Words commonly mispronounced. Guess what these words are
9. laɪən/
10./breθ/
11./bri:ð/
12/rɪ'si:t/
13./mə’tjuə/
14./hɪə/
15./ri:dʒən/ ………
16./dɪ'li:t/
17./bækwəd/
18./fo:wəd/
19./pə’tɪkjələ/
20./nʌθɪɳ/
/wɜ:d/
/əʊnli/
/frʌnt/
/'eəriə/
/pla:nt/
/vəraɪəti/
/peərənt/
/ðeə/ 51

52. 10. KEY 1)word 10)breath 19)particular 2)only 11) breathe 20) nothing
3)front 12)receipt
4)area 13) mature
5)plant 14)hear-here
6)variety 15)region
7)parent 16)delete
8)there 17)backward
9)lion 18)forward

53. Links