LECTURE 1: VOWELS

Vowels are the sounds in the production of which none of the articulators come
very close together so the passage of air-stream is relatively unobstructed and the
air can get out freely.

•Vowels are the type of sounds that depend mainly on the variations in the position
of the tongue. They are normally voiced.

•Vowels can be classified according to three variables:

a. Tongue height.

b. Part of the tongue which is raised

c. Degree of lip rounding

Diphthongs

A diphthong is a glide from one vowel to another, and the whole glide acts like one
of the long simple vowels.

- Centering diphthongs: ending in /ə/ - /eə/ /iə/ /uə/

- Closing diphthongs: ending in /i/, /ʊ/ - /ai/ /ei/ /ɔi/ /əʊ/ /aʊ/

LECTURE 2: CONSONANTS
 Consonants are the sounds produced when one articulator moves towards
another or two articulators come together, obstructing the air-stream and the air-
stream can’t get out freely.
 Consonants can be classified according to the place where the air stream is
obstructed (the place of articulation) and the way in which the air stream is
obstructed (the manner of articulation) and according to voicing.
 The classification of consonants can be illustrated in the chart below:

LECTURE 3: PHONEME – MINIMAL PAIRS

- A phoneme is the smallest segment of sound which can distinguish two words.
- There are 44 phonemes in English. They can be divided into two types:
consonants (24) and vowels (20).
- Each phoneme is meaningless in isolation. It becomes meaningful only when it is
combined with other phonemes.
- Pair of words which differ by only one phoneme in identical environment are
known as minimal pairs.
LECTURE 4: STRESS

A. Word stress

There are two very simple rules about word stress:

1. One word has only one stress.

2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.

Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where
to put the stress.

Stress on first syllable

Rules Examples

Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, Table

Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

Stress on last syllable

Rules Examples

Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT,

Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)

Rules Examples

Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic,

Words ending in -sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion

Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)

Rules Examples

Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and deMOcracy, dependaBIlity

-gy

Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical

Compound words (words with two parts)

Rules Examples

For compound nouns, the stress is BLACKbird, GREENhouse

on the first part

For compound adjectives, the bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned

stress is on the second part

For compound verbs, the stress is to underSTAND, to overFLOW

on the second part

B. Sentence Stress
♥ The most important rule: Do not apply the sentence stress patterns you use
in your native tongue into English.
♥ ♥ Stress important words (content words) in every sentence: Nouns, Verbs,
Adjectives, Adverbs and Negative contractions (won’t, can’t, isn’t…)
♥ ♥ ♥ Do not stress or even distress non important words (function words) in
every sentence: Articles, Pronouns, Prepositions and Auxiliary verbs
Examples:
* my FRIEND is LIVING in LONDON.
* i’s LIKE to BUY a COMPUTER.

LECTURE 5: ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH

A. Assimilation:

Assimilation of place

1. Alveolar /t, d, n / + bilabial /m, b, p, w/=> bilabial

/t/ => /p/

/d/ => /b/

/n/ => /m/

2. Alveolar /t, d, n / + velar /k, g/=> velar

/t/ => /k/

/d/ => /g/

/n/ => /ŋ/

3. Alveolar /t, d, n / + dental /ð, θ/=> dentalized

4. Alveolar /t, d, n / + palato-alveolar or palatal /ʃ, ʒ, j/=> palato-alveolar or

palatal

/s/ becomes /ʃ/

/z/ becomes /ʒ

Alveolar stops and a following / j / may merge to form an affricate.

Assimilation of manner

1. Plosive /t, d/ + fricative /s, z/=> fricative

2. Plosive /d/ + nasal /n/=> nasal

Assimilation of voice
With regressive assimilation, final voiced consonants have no voicing when
followed by initial voiceless consonants.

B. Elision

a. Aspirated stops + weak vowel /ə/ → aspirated stops

b. Weak vowel /ə/ disappears before syllabic consonants /n, l, r/

c. Stop + (stop) + stop

d. Stop + (stop) + fricative

e. Fricative + (stop) + fricative

f. /-st / + stop, nasal, fricative → /-s/

g. / -ft / + stop, nasal, fricative → / -f /

h. /-nd/ + lenis stop, nasal → /-n/

i. /-md/ + lenis stop, nasal, → /-m/

j. Loss of final / v / in OF + consonant

C. Linking

a. Linking final consonant to initial vowel

b. Linking identical consonants

c. Intrusive /j/

d. Intrusive /w/
PRACTICE TEST
I. Find the phoneme which corresponds to each description below, then give
an example and transcribe an example phonemically.

1. Short low back rounded vowel

2. long high back rounded vowel

3. long high front unrounded vowel

4. Voiceless labio-dental fricative consonant

5. Voiced dental fricative consonant

6. Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative consonant

II. Describe the following phonemes, then transcribe an example phonemically

1. /ɪ/ ……………………………………………………………………………….

2. /eə/ ……………………………………………………………………………….

3. /ʊ/……………………………………………………………………………….

4. /s/: ……………………………………………………………………………….

5. /v/: ……………………………………………………………………………..

6. /θ/: ……………………………………………………………………………..

III. Choose the sound that is different from the other sounds. Explain your
choice.
1. /e/, /æ/, /ɔː/

2. /i:/, /ə/, /ʌ/

3. /aʊ/, /ɪə/, /ɔɪ/

4. /t/, /s/, /n/

5. /f/, /s/, /p/

6. /p/, /b/, /t/

IV. For each group of sounds listed below, state the phonetic features which
they all share.

1. /ɒ/, /ɔː/, /u:/

2. /ɪ/, /u:/, /i:/

3. /ɜ:/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/

4. /b/, /m/, /w/

5. /f/, /θ/, /s/

6. /b/, /d/, /g/

V. In English, different letters may represent the same sound. Give at least
two possible and then give 02 English words that contain this sound.
Transcribe phonemically.
Sound Letters

1. /p/ ………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
2. /t/
………………………………………………………………
3. /k/
………………………………………………………………
4. /f/ ……………………………………………………………….

5. /s/ ……………………………………………………………….

6. /θ/ ……………………………………………………………….

7. /ʃ/ ……………………………………………………………….

8. /tʃ/ ……………………………………………………………….

9. /b/ ………………………………………………………………..

10. /d/ ………………………………………………………………..

11. /g/ ………………………………………………………………..

12. /v/ ………………………………………………………………..

13. /z/ ………………………………………………………………..

14. /ð/ …………………………………………………………

15. /ʒ/ …………………………………………………………

16. /i:/ …………………………………………………………

17. /ʌ/ …………………………………………………………

18. /ɪə/ …………………………………………………………

19. /eə/ …………………………………………………………

20. /u:/ …………………………………………………………

21. /eɪ/ …………………………………………………………

 22. /ɑ:/ …………………………………………………………

23. /e/ …………………………………………………………

24. /əʊ/ …………………………………………………………

25. /ɒ/

V. Find a minimal pair for each of the following pairs of sounds. Transcribe
the words phonemically.

1. /ɔː/ and /əʊ/

2. /ɪ/ and /ɪə/

3. /eə/ and /ɪə/

4. /p/ and /b/

5. /t/ and /d/

6. /w/ and /r/

VI. Select A, B, C or D only to indicate the word whose bold and underlined
part is pronounced differently from the rest.

1 A. come B. sun C. utter D. union

2 A. pool B. tool C. blood D. spoon

3 A. chemist B. chicken C. teacher D. century

4 A. thought B. tough C. taught D. bought

5 A. pressure B. heat C. meat D. feed

6 A. chalk B. champagne C. machine D. sheet

VII. Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the
word that differs from the rest in the position of the main stress in each
of the following questions.

1 A. arrow B. arrive C. arrest D. about

2 A. excuse B. suburb C. garden D. swimming

3 A. fascinate B. discourage C. horrible D. terrify

4 A. tenant B. common C. rubbish D. machine

5 A. revision B. remember C. dialogue D. adverbial

6 A. Christmas B. champion C. chemise D. chimney

VIII. Write the transcription, identify and explain aspects of connected speech

1. foreign mission

2. worst joke

3. put on your clothes

4. lettuce salad

5. white meat

6. it's true

7. roman candle

8. a while ago

9. hit you

10. most of people