PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS

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PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

1. INTRODUCTION!

2. PHONETIC SYSTEM!

2.1. VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS!

2.2. CONSONANTS!

2.3. STRESS!

2.3.1. Stress in compound words!

11

2.3.2. Stress in phrases compared with compounds!

12

2.3.3. Contrastive Stress!

13

2.3.4. Weak and strong forms!

14

2.4. RHYTHM!

15

2.4.1. Regularity of rhythm!

16

3. TRANSCRIPTION TIPS!

17

4. PRACTICE OF PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION!

18

Exercise 1: Write the following transcription into English!

18

Exercise 2: Transcribe the following text!

19

Exercise 3: Circle the correct phonetic transcription!

20

Exercise 4: Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island. Transcribe the following
text.!
21
Exercise 5: Extract from A Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Key in BrE
only). Transcribe the following text.!
22
Exercise 6: Extract from William Trevor, The Paradise Lounge (Key in BrE &
AmE). Transcribe the following text.!
24
Exercise 7: Extract from The Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Key in AmE
only). Transcribe the following text.!
25
Exercise 8: Extract from A Shocking Accident, by Graham Green (Key in BrE
& AmE). Transcribe the following text.!
27
Exercise 9: Their eyes were watching God (Zora Neale Hurston: p.1).
Transcribe the following text.!

30

Exercise 10: 'Thief' hides inside luggage in Spain. Transcribe the following
text into English.!
31
PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY!

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

32

1. INTRODUCTION
!

This is a simple guide to help you with the phonetics transcription of texts

when applying for the Cuerpo de Profesores de Enseanza Secundaria in the speciality
of English Language.
In this guide you will also find ten samples of texts so you can practice at home.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

2. PHONETIC SYSTEM
When facing a phonetic transcription, we need to make sure that we master the
sounds (phonemes) used in the English language. For this reason, we are going to follow
the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as this is the one used in phonetic transcriptions
in modern dictionaries.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

The IPA column contains the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet, as used in phonemic transcri
modern English dictionaries.
The ASCII column shows the corresponding symbol in the Antimoon ASCII Phonetic Alphabet, which can
type the pronunciation of words on a computer without the use of special fonts.
For a full description of the alphabets + audio recordings of the sounds, visit www.antimoon.com/ipa

vowels
2.1.
VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS
IPA
ASCII
U!
^
@9!
a:

@
?!
..
d!
e
q
29 !
e:(r)
H!
i
h9!
i:
P!
o
N9!
o:
T!
u
t9!
u:
`H!
ai
`T!
au
Ou
nT/?T!
q
d? !
e..(r)
dH!
ei
q
H? !
i..(r)
nH!
oi
q
T? !
u..(r)

special symbols
IPA
ASCII
!!

'!

q!

(r)

i(:)

k!

-k-

m!

-m-

examples
cup, luck
arm, father
cat, black
away, cinema
met, bed
turn, learn
hit, sitting
see, heat
hot, rock
call, four
put, could
blue, food
five, eye
now, out
go, home
where, air
say, eight
near, here
boy, join
pure, tourist

consonants
IPA
ASCII
b
b
d
d
f
f
g
g
h
h
j
j
k
k
l
l
m
m
n
n
M
N
p
p
r
r
s
s
R
S
t
t
sR
tS
S
th
C
TH
v
v
w
w
z
z
Y
Z
cY
dZ

examples
bad, lab
did, lady
find, if
give, flag
how, hello
yes, yellow
cat, back
leg, little
man, lemon
no, ten
sing, finger
pet, map
red, try
sun, miss
she, crash
tea, getting
check, church
think, both
this, mother
voice, five
wet, window
zoo, lazy
pleasure, vision
just, large

meaning
! is placed before the stressed syllable in a word. For example, the noun c
is pronounced .!jPmsqjs., and the verb to contract is pronounced .j?m!s
.j`9q. means .j`9q. in American English and .j`9. in British English.
.h. means .h. or .H. or something in between.
Examples: very .!udqh., ability .?!aHkHsh., previous .!oqh9uh?r..
?
. k. shows that the consonant .k. is pronounced as a syllable. This means t
there is a short vowel (shorter than the .?. sound) before the consonant.
?
?
Examples: little .!kHs k., uncle .!UMj k..
?
. m. shows that the consonant .m. is pronounced as a syllable.
?
?
Examples: written .!qHs m., listen .!kHr m..!

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

ing symbol in the Antimoon ASCII Phonetic Alphabet, which can be used to
mputer without the use of special fonts.
udio recordings of the sounds, visit www.antimoon.com/ipa

2.2.
CONSONANTS
consonants

IPA
b
d
f
g
h
j
k
l
m
n
M
p
r
s
R
t
sR
S
C
v
w
z
Y
cY

ASCII
b
d
f
g
h
j
k
l
m
n
N
p
r
s
S
t
tS
th
TH
v
w
z
Z
dZ

examples
bad, lab
did, lady
find, if
give, flag
how, hello
yes, yellow
cat, back
leg, little
man, lemon
no, ten
sing, finger
pet, map
red, try
sun, miss
she, crash
tea, getting
check, church
think, both
this, mother
voice, five
wet, window
zoo, lazy
pleasure, vision
just, large

meaning
re the stressed syllable in a word. For example, the noun contract
.!jPmsqjs., and the verb to contract is pronounced .j?m!sqjs..
`9q. in American English and .j`9. in British English.
.H. or something in between.
y .!udqh., ability .?!aHkHsh., previous .!oqh9uh?r..
the consonant .k. is pronounced as a syllable. This means that
vowel (shorter than the .?. sound) before the consonant.
?
?
e .!kHs k., uncle .!UMj k..
the consonant .m. is pronounced as a syllable.
?
?
ten .!qHs m., listen .!kHr m..!

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

2.3. STRESS
Although the stresses are in a fixed position in a word, their position is unpredictable, in
the sense that there is no single position where the main stress of a word can be expected
to fall. Thus to a large extent, the accentual pattern of each word has to be learnt
separately, though we shall see that with some classes of words it is helpful and relevant
to count syllables from the end rather than from the beginning.
There are some noteworthy generalizations:
1. Native words and early French adoptions tend to take the main stress on the root
syllable and to keep it there, regardless of the affixes word-formation may add, for
example,
kingly / kingliness / unkingliness
stand / under stand / misunderstand
2. By contrast, with more recent adoptions and coinages, especially those based on
words from the classical languages, the place of the stress varies according to
affixation, as in
telegraph / telegraphy / telegraphic
photograph / photography / photographic
argument / argumentative / argumentation
3. A valuable generalization is that all abstract words ending in -ion are stressed on
the syllable preceding this ending, for example, emotion.
4. Stress fall on the syllable before adjectival -ic, for example,
economy / economic
sympathy / sympathetic
5. It falls on the syllable before nominal -ity, as in
curious / curiosity
PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

promiscuous / promiscuity
6. And also on the syllable before nominal or adjectival -ian, for example,
library / librarian
grammar / grammarian
7. A fairly numerous set of words can operate without affixal change as noun or
adjective on the one hand, and as verb on the other; they have an accentual
difference in the two functions, for example,
Noun or adjective:

conduct

contrast

convict

present
Verb:

conduct

contrast

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

convict

present

10

2.3.1. Stress in compound words

Compound nouns are generally stressed on the first element, but with a strong
secondary stress on the second element, for example,
earth,quake
black,bird

life,boat
black,board

When such a compound is made part of another compound, the stress and secondary
stress are re-distributed to give the same rhythm, for example,
light,house

but

lighthouse-,keeper

A smaller number of compounds consisting of free morphemes preserve the stress

pattern of the phrases from which they are derived, with main stress on the final
component, as in
,archbishop

,vicechancellot

,apple sauce

,first rate

Many of these compounds are not nouns, but verbs, like, back fire, adverbs, like,
hence forth, and specially adjectives, like ,flat-footed. In some cases we may be in doubt
as to whether we should regard them as compounds or free syntactic phrases, and we
vacillate in writing between hyphenation and leaving as separate words.
In any case, the stress often shifts from second components to first when the
compound is being used attributely in a noun phrase, for example,
The room in downstairs
His work is ,first class

but

A down stairs room

but

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

His first,class work

11

2.3.2. Stress in phrases compared with compounds

It is usual to emphasize the distinction between the word, which has a fixed stress and
rhythm which the individual cannot alter, and connected speech, where the disposition of
stresses is subjected to the speakers will and the meaning he wishes to convey. There is
much validity in this, but it must not be pressed too far. It will not do to say that initial
stressing, as in black bird, indicates compounds, and final stressing, as in ,New Deal,
indicates the syntactic phrases of connected speech, as we can find many exceptions to
this: we have seen compounds like down stairs, which, despite the similarity with phrases
like down the street, we would not wish to analyse as phrases. And we also find words
such as ,still life, which is usually stressed in BrE as though it was a phrase, but we know
it is a compound because it has a different plural, still lifes (spelt with f), different from the
simplex noun, lives (spelt with v).
Moreover, the stress distribution provides a firm basis for distinguishing not between
compound and phrase, but also between different underlying relations between the
juxtaposed items, that is depending on where the main stress falls, the meaning changes,
for example,

A toy ,factory is a factory that produces toys, whereas A ,toy factory is a factory
that is a toy.

A French teacher is a teacher who teaches French, whereas A ,French teacher

is a teacher that is French.

Thus the distribution of stresses in units higher than the word is subject to rule just as it
is within the word.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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2.3.3. Contrastive Stress

It is clear, then, that the language determines stress location almost as rigidly in
phrases and sentences as it does in individual words. But a person can place stress freely
in units larger than the word. Contrastive stress is capable of highlighting any word in a
sentence. This particularly striking in the case of closed-system words which are normally
unstressed, like and, but, do, or was. Under contrastive stress they assume the form that
they have as dictionary items, for example,
-

John and his mother went (it is not true that only one of them went).

,Will he have gone? (granted that the others have gone, is it true of him also?).

This form device involves prominence. We must observe, however, that it is not limited to
sequences longer than the word. The normal accentuation within a word can also be
distorted at the speakers will if he wants to make a contrastive point, for example,
A: She was looking happy tonight.
B: You thought so? She seemed unhappy to me.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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2.3.4. Weak and strong forms

Stress or emphasis also plays an important role in the selection of the so called
strong and weak forms of many grammatical words of English. They are thus called
because it is not their lexical content that primarily matters, but the role they have in the
sentence. (We will remember, however, the general tendency of schwa to replace any
English vowel in unstressed syllable. Vowel reduction is not, therefore, a process restricted
to the weak forms of a limited set of words.)
Auxiliary verbs like do, have, be, will, shall, modals like can and must, prepositions,
pronouns, possessives and adverbs have parallel forms: a strong one, when the word is
stressed or emphasis is placed on it, and a weak one, when the word is not under stress
or any kind of emphasis. The latter form usually has its vowel reduced to schwa (only [] is
not reduced to schwa) if not elided altogether, elision often applying to many of the
consonants of the word, too. The auxiliary have for instance, whose strong form is hv,
can be reduced to hcv or even simply the fricative consonant v. Here are some examples:
[em][cm]; I saw them, not you. vs. I dont like th(e)m.
[kn][kcn][kn] Yes, I can. Vs. I c(a)n tell you an interesting story.
[hv][hcv][v] I have obeyed you, I swear. Have you met my wife? Theyve left.
[t][tc] Where are you going to? Im going to London.
[f]:][fc] Who are you waiting for? Im waiting for John.
[a:][c] Are you taking me for a fool? Theyre trying to help.

Notice in the examples above that, if the preposition is stranded, it is always stressed and
consequently the form that occurs is always the strong one.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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2.4. RHYTHM
In all the phrases and sentences given as example, one single point of prominence was
indicated, because we were looking at analogies to word-stress in syntactic units. In fact,
of course, this ignores entirely the rhythm that each of these sentences must possess by
virtue of the alternation of stressed and unstressed portions throughout. Broadly speaking,
and in the absence of contrastive stress, English connected speech has stress on the
stressed syllables of open-class items, and absence of stress upon the closed-system
words accompanying them, for example,
-

He told his mother

He sent it to his mother

The natural rhythm of English when unaffected by other factors such as hesitation or
excitement provides roughly equal intervals of time between the stresses. This means that
if the two examples above were spoken by the same person under similar conditions, they
would take approximately the same time, would have the same rhythmic pattern, and
would oblige the speaker to utter the sequence sent it to his more rapidly than the
sequence told his, which occupies the same rhythmic unit.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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2.4.1. Regularity of rhythm

It is necessary to emphasize that absolute regularity of rhythm is the exception rather
than the rule, and that when the intervals between stresses cease to be merely roughly
equal and achieve something like metronomic equality, the stylistic effect is oppressive.
One exception is in counting: when we have to count a fairly large number of items, it
seems easier to prevent ourselves from getting lost if we adopt a strict rhythm, for
example,
one, two, three, four...
seventy four, seventy five...
It also appears when we are compiling an inventory or giving a list of names. An
insistent regularity may also be introduced for emphasis, especially when one is implying
repetition of something which ought to be accepted without argument, as especially when
the speaker is expressing irritation or sarcasm.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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4.

x
Relationship
between / ks /

box /
/ phonemes and letters:

4.

Relationship between
phoneme

/ phonemes and letters:

examples

letters

phoneme

5.
5.

6.
6.

7.
7.

letters
examples
g, s
beige, measure, vision / /
sh, ti, ssi TIPS
fish, station, expression / /
3. TRANSCRIPTION
g, s
beige, measure, vision / /
j, g, dg
judge, age / /
We propose the following
sh, ti, ssi transcription tips: fish, station, expression / /
ch, tch, tu
teacher, butcher, nature / /
j, g, dg
judge, age / /
1. Plural-, genitive- and 3rd person singural _______s:
ch, tch, tu
teacher, butcher, nature / /
Plural-, genitive- and 3rd person singular ___s:
/ / after voiceless sounds
cats, tips, kicks
Plural-, genitive- and 3rd person singular ___s:
/ / after voiced sounds
pens, cars, songs
/ / after voiceless sounds
cats, tips, kicks
/ / after sibilants (
)
kisses, dishes, boxes
/ / after voiced sounds
pens, cars, songs
/ / after sibilants (
)
kisses, dishes, boxes
past- and past participle ___ed:
2./ Pastand voiceless
past participle
/
after
sounds _____ed:
sipped, kicked
past- and past participle ___ed:
/ / after voiced sounds
sinned, followed
/ /
after voiceless sounds
sipped, kicked
/ / after / d / and / t /
mended, sorted
/ / after voiced sounds
sinned, followed
/ / after / d / and / t /
mended, sorted
In British English (RP) an / r / is only transcribed in front of a vowel.
In British English (RP) an / r / is only transcribed in front of a vowel.
3. British English /r/ is only transcribed in front of a vowel.

4. Do not forget to mark the stressed syllable of the word with the short vertical line
before the stressed syllable as in the following examples.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

17

4. PRACTICE OF PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

Exercise 1: Write the following transcription into English

Answer key: Frustration is a burst hot-water bottle, or loathing every moment of a holiday
you're paying a fortune for. It's using the wrong side of the Sellotape, forgetting what you
were going to say, or locking yourself out. Frustration is other people parking in front of
your garage, or a stranger reading a riveting letter on the bus and turning over before you
get to the bottom of the page.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Exercise 2: Transcribe the following text

The weather today will be warm for the time of year and fine on the whole. There will be
showers here and there though some places will miss out completely. The good spell
should hold over the next two days but there may be fog over low ground in the early
mornings. That is the end of the general forecast.

Answer key:

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Exercise 3: Circle the correct phonetic transcription

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

20

Exercise 4: Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island. Transcribe the following text.
London cab drivers are, without question, the finest in the world. They're trustworthy, safe,
generally friendly, always polite. They keep their vehicles spotless inside and out, and
they'll put themselves to the most extraordinary inconvenience to drop you at the front
entrance of your destination. There are really only two odd things about them. One is that
they cannot drive more than two hundred feet in a straight line. I've never understood this,
but no matter where you are or what the driving conditions, every two hundred feet a little
bell goes off in their heads and they abruptly lunge down a side street. And when you get
to your hotel or railway station or wherever it is you are going, they like to drive you all the
way around it at least once so that you can see it from all angles.
Answer key:

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Exercise 5: Extract from A Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Key in BrE only).
Transcribe the following text.
NB: German words in italics should not be transcribed. The transcription of these German
words is given in the key.
The German education system isn't concerned with character building or installing moral
fibre. Instead the aim is to load you with qualifications which will earn you respect and
promotion in the market place. Education for the Germans starts late and finishes even
later. Nursery school is optional, primary school starts at the age of six, and the average
student finishes university in his or her late twenties. At ten years old the brighter pupils go
to a Gymnasium, which is not for training the body but for training the mind, leading to
university. The rest go to other secondary schools which are likely to take them towards an
apprenticeship. For many this leads directly to a career. Achieving the German Abitur, the
final examination, automatically guarantees a place at university in almost any subject you
like. If your average isn't good enough you may have to wait a few years, but rejection isn't
on the cards. The Germans have to do national service, being drafted as soon after their
eighteenth birthday as school allows. You can object to military service and be given
civilian service instead, but if flat feet or bad sight should exempt you, you are let off.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

22

Answer key:

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Exercise 6: Extract from William Trevor, The Paradise Lounge (Key in BrE & AmE).
Transcribe the following text.
In those days adultery and divorce had belonged more in America and England, read
about and alien to what already was being called the 'Irish way of life'. 'Decent, Catholic
Ireland,' Father Horan used to say. The term was vague and yet had meaning. The
emergent nation, seeking pillars on which to build itself, had plumped for holiness and the
Irish language, natural choices in the circumstances. 'A certain class of woman,' old Father
Horan used to say, 'constitutes an abhorrence.'

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Exercise 7: Extract from The Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Key in AmE only).
Transcribe the following text.
NB: German words in italics should not be transcribed. The transcription of these German
words is given in the key.

Virtually all Germans have health problems, and if they don't, there must be something
wrong with them. Most of what ails them is stress related. No nation was ever more
stressed, but this is understandable. After all, running Europe can take it out of you. The
delicacy of the German constitution has long been recognized, and smoothly running
systems put in place to keep it going. In the 1880s Bismarck set up a national health
insurance scheme. Today that national health insurance underpins a vast and wonderful
network of doctors, specialists, hospitals and spas. As with the French, the Germans
devote enormous resources to the treatment of an illness that doesn't exist, the notorious
Kreislaufstrung. While the rest of us go to meet our maker once our circulation stops, the
Germans routinely recover from it and go on to lead useful and productive lives. Once they
are good at it, they can have a Kreislauf- strung as often as twice a month without it
seriously impairing their social life. Treatment for this frightening disease varies. However,
it has been shown to respond positively to three weeks on a Greek beach.

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Answer key:

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Exercise 8: Extract from A Shocking Accident, by Graham Green (Key in BrE & AmE).
Transcribe the following text.
'Sit down, Jerome,' Mr Wordsworth said. 'All going well with the trigonometry?'
'Yes sir.'
'I've had a telephone call, Jerome. From your aunt. I'm afraid I have bad news for you.'
'Yes sir.'
'Your father's had an accident.'
'Oh.'
Mr Wordsworth looked at him with some surprise.
'A serious accident.'
Jerome worshipped his father. The verb is exact. As man re-creates God, so Jerome recreated his father, from a restless widowed author into a mysterious adventurer who
travelled in far places - Nice, Beirut, Majorca, even the Canaries. The time had arrived
about his eighth birthday when Jerome believed that his father either ran guns or was a
member of the British secret service. Now it occurred to him that his father might have
been wounded in a hail of machine gun bullets.
Mr Wordsworth played with the ruler on his desk. He seemed at a loss how to continue. He
said, 'You know your father was in Naples?'
'Yes sir.'
'Your aunt heard from the hospital today.'
'Oh.'
Mr Wordsworth said with desperation, 'It was a street accident.'
'Yes sir?' It seemed quite likely to Jerome that they would call it a street accident. The
police of course had fired first; his father would not take human life except as a last resort.
'I'm afraid your father was very seriously hurt indeed.'
PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

27

'Oh.'
'In fact, Jerome, he died yesterday. Quite without pain.'
'Did they shoot him through the heart?'
'I beg your pardon. What did you say, Jerome?'
'Did they shoot him through the heart?'
'Nobody shot him, Jerome. A pig fell on him.'
An inexplicable convulsion took place in the nerves of Mr Wordsworth's face; it really
looked for a moment as though he were going to laugh. He closed his eyes, composed his
features and said rapidly, as though it were necessary to expel the story as rapidly as
possible. 'Your father was walking along a street in Naples when a pig fell on him. A
shocking accident. Apparently in the poorer quarters of Naples they keep pigs on their
balconies. This one was on the fifth floor. It had grown too fat. The balcony broke. The pig
fell on your father.'
Mr Wordsworth left his desk rapidly and went to the window, turning his back on Jerome.
He shook a little with emotion.
Jerome said, 'What happened to the pig?'

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Answer key:

PROFESORES DE ENSEANZA SECUNDARIA: INGLS!

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Exercise 9: Their eyes were watching God (Zora Neale Hurston: p.1). Transcribe the
following text.
Ships at a distance have every mans wish on board. For some they come in with
the tide. For others sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the
Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is
the life of men.
Now, women forget all those things they dont want to remember, and remember
everything they dont want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things
accordingly.

Answer key:
| ps t dstns hv evri mnz w n bd | f sm e km n w tad | fr z
sel frevr n hrazn | nev at v sat | nev lnd ntl wt tnz z az
we n reznen | hz drimz mkt t de ba tam | t s laf v men |
| na | wmn fet l z z e dnt wnt t rmemb | nd rmembr evr e
dnt wnt t fet | drim z tru | en e kt nd d z kdli |

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Exercise 10: 'Thief' hides inside luggage in Spain. Transcribe the following text
into English.
| f wiks plis w pzld ba rpitd efts frm sutkesz fmli lkt nsad ld km
ptmnt v kt trvl btwin <girona> ept nd bsln |
| ft wn dni wen bz hd en bin brkn nt | wn v psndz pntd
at ld | ssps sutkes | plis pnd t nd t er mezmnt fand mn
kld p nsad | w help v n kmpls | hu wz ls restd | <six-foot> kn
tnst hd krmd hmself nsad |
| hz frend bt bs tkt nd pt kes nt ld hld | wns bs set f
mn n kes klmbd at | pnd sutkesz n hld lk f vljblz | b
f bs pld nt stp n bsln hi hd zpt hmself bk nt z had ples |
| plis rptd t hv dskrabd kram z n pn nd t kes |
Answer key:
For weeks police were puzzled by repeated thefts from suitcases firmly locked inside the
luggage compartment of a coach travelling between Girona Airport and Barcelona.
After one journey when bags had again been broken into, one of the passengers pointed
out a large, suspicious suitcase. Police opened it and to their amazement found a man
curled up inside. With the help of an accomplice, who was also arrested, the six-foot
contortionist had crammed himself inside.
His friend bought a bus ticket and put the case into the luggage hold. Once the bus set off
the man in the case clambered out, opened other suitcases in the hold looking for
valuables. Before the bus pulled into the stop in Barcelona he had zipped himself back into
his hiding place. Police are reported to have described the crime as an 'open and shut
case'.
Adam Mynott, BBC News

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5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Finch, F., and Ortiz Lira, H. A Course in English Phonetics for Spanish Speakers.
Heinemann. London, 1982.
Gimson, A.C. An Introduction to the Pronunciation of EngIish. Arnold. London, 1985.
Kenworthy, J. Teaching English Pronunciation. Longman. London, 1987.
Monroy Casas, R. Sistemas de Transcripcin Fontica del Ingls. Universidad de Murcia,
1992.
Extracts from the following authors:
BBC WORLD NEWS: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/
wordsinthenews/2011/06/110609_witn_contortionist_page1.shtml
HURSTON, Zora Neale. Their Eyes were Watching God. Harper & Row. 1990.
PHONETIC EXERCISES: http://www.anglistik.uni-bonn.de/samgram/phontxt.htm

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