Laura Carmen CUTITARU

WORKBOOK
in

ENGLISH PHONETICS
for
st
1 YEAR STUDENTS

1
1. VOWELS
Phonemic transcription
Symbol Explanation E.g.
ʌ short a sun /sʌn/
ɑ: long a car /kɑ:/
ə like the Rom. the /ðə/
ă
ɜ: like a long sir /sɜ:/
Rom. ă
e e bet /bet/
æ a very open e hat /hæt/
ɪ i sin /sɪn/
i: long i seen /si:n/
ɒ o Tom /tɒm/
ɔ: long o saw /sɔ:/
ʊ u put /pʊt/
u: long u shoe /ʃu:/

2. DIPHTHONGS
Phonemic transcription
Symbol Explanation E.g.
iə open i plus a hear /hiə/
short ă
eə very open e air /eə/
plus short ă
ʊə short u plus tour /tʊə/
short ă
aɪ ai nice /naɪs/
eɪ ei face /feɪs/
ɔɪ oi voice /vɔɪs/
əu ău so /səu/
aʊ au cow /kaʊ /

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3. CONSONANTS
Phonemic transcription
Symbol Explanation E.g.
p p pen /pen/
b b Ben /ben/
t t ten /ten/
d d den /den/
k c cut /kʌt/
g g gum /gʌm/
ʧ the sound in chess /ʧes/
the Rom. ce/ci
ʤ the sound in jam /ʤæm/
the Rom.ge/gi
m m man / mæn/
n n sin /sɪn/
ŋ n velar sing /sɪŋ/
f f fat /fæt/
v v vet /vet/
Ɵ s with the
tongue between thin /Ɵɪn/
the teeth
ð z with the
tongue between the /ðə/
the teeth
s s sit /sɪt/
z z zip /zɪp/
ʃ the Rom. ș ship /ʃɪp/
ʒ the Rom. j beige /beɪʒ/
l l lab /læb/
r softer than the rat /ræt/
Rom. r
h h hi /haɪ/

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4. SEMI-VOWELS (SEMI-CONSONANTS)
Symbol Explanation E.g. Phonemic
transcription
w the u we hear wet /wet/
in oameni
j the i we hear yet /jet/
in iar, iod.

MINIMAL PAIRS AND SETS

Exercises

1. Which of the following words would be treated as minimal pairs?

bite, heat, tape, bun, mate, tale, bell, bait, meal, vote, bet, pit, might.

2. Find a minimal set based on a vowel, starting from the word TIME.
3. Find a minimal set based on a consonant, starting from the word SIP.

4. Read aloud the following limerick1:

A fly and a flea in a flue

Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, ‘Let us flee!’
‘Let us fly!’ said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

Questions:
a. Identify the minimal set.
b. Identify the homophones.

1
Humorous 5-line verse rhyming AABBA.
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5. This exercise is different, as it involves letters instead of sounds:

Start from the word SHIP. Change one letter at a time so as to get each
time a valid word in English, until you obtain the word DOCK.

ENGLISH SOUNDS
I. THE VOWELS

/ɪ/
i - this
y - gym
ie - marries
a - palace
e- simile
ate - separate ( but the verb is in /eɪt/ )
ain fountain
Exceptional: Sunday, money, women, build, busy

Exercises

1. Transcribe the examples above.

2. Read aloud the following limerick, paying attention to / ɪ / and /i:/.

A certain young chap named Bill Beebee

Was in love with a lady named Phoebe.
‘But’, said he, ‘I must see
What the clerical fee
Be before Phoebe be Phoebe B.Beebee’.
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 /i:/
ee – weed
ea - dream
ie – field
ei – receive
i - machine
oe and ae in words of Greek or Latin origin: Oedipus, Caesar, formulae
Exceptional: quay, people

Exercise. Write down what you hear when an English speaker says /si:/

/e/
e – pen
ue - guess
ea – head, cleanse, Reading
a – many, any, Thames, Pall Mall

Exceptional: says, said, friend, again, leopard, Leonard, Leicester, ate,

leisure, bury

Exercise. Transcribe the examples above.

/æ/
a– talent
Exceptional: plait, plaid
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Exercise. Read aloud the following minimal pairs based on the contrast
between /æ / and /e/:

bag - beg man - men

dad - dead sad - said
land - lend gas - guess
pan - pen tan - ten

/ʌ/
u– cut
o– come
ou – country
Exceptional: oo - flood, blood
oe - does
No English word ends in /ʌ /.

Exercise. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

onion
ton
nourish
dove
London
tongue

/ ɑ: /
ar - garden
ear - heart
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er - clerk
a +ss – class
a+ff - staff
a+th - path
a+ mute l – half, calm
 French borrowings in -oir: memoir, reservoir
 words of foreign origin: banana, drama

Exercise. Read aloud the following sentences that contain / ɑ: /

The dog in the garden gave a sharp bark.

He started an argument about modern art.
The guard barred the entrance.

/ɒ/
o– not, pot
a preceded by w – want, wash
Exceptional:
ou, ow – cough, Gloucester, knowledge
au – sausage
ua – quality

/ ɔ: /
or - horse
aw – saw
au – caught
ou – thought
all – ball
al + cons. – halt
Exceptional: water, broad, Magdalene (College)

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Exercise. Distinguish between / ɒ / and / ɔ: /

law and order

Sean stopped all the clocks.
Tom was in awe.
Their daughter bought a sword on the spot.

/ʊ /
u– full
oo – book
ou – could
Exceptional: wolf, woman, Boleyn, Worcester

Exercise. Read aloud the following words. They contain / ʊ /.

stood, put, cushion, wood, should, bush, look, hood, could, brook.

/u:/
oo – food
o – move
ou – through
u– rude
eu, eau – feud, beauty
ew, ui, ue, oe - chew, fruit, Sue, shoe

Exercise 1. Read and translate:

once in a blue moon

too good to be true
true-blue (adj.)

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Exercise 2. Write down the words you would obtain if you used the long
vowel instead of the short / ʊ /.

full, pull, look

Exercise 3. How many words do you know that are pronounced /tu:/?

/ə/
The schwa occurs in unstressed syllables.
It can replace almost all other vowels and diphthongs in unstressed
positions.

Exercise 1. Give the phonemic transcription:

China, drama, banana, colour, syrup, above

Exercise 2. Practise:
/ æ / → / ə / man - workman
/e / → /ə /men - workmen
/ ɑ: / → /ə / fast - breakfast
/ ɔ: / → /ə / ward - backward
/u: / →/ə / to(o) - today
/ ʌ / →/ə / come - welcome

/ ɜ: /
er – mercy
ir – first
ur – fur
er, err, ear – her, err, earl
yr – myrtle
ou – courtesy
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w+or –word
eur in French borrowings – amateur
Exceptional: colonel

Exercise 1. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

herb
were
Sir
surgeon
worm

Exercise 2. Pronounce these words and pay attention to the slight

difference between them:

warm - worm
war - were

II. THE DIPHTHONGS

a). Diphthongs in / ɪ / = / eɪ aɪ ɔɪ /

/eɪ /
a ( the letter of the alphabet)
ai, ay – daisy, say
ei, ey – veil, grey

French borrowings ending in e – café, resume

Some proper names: Yeats
Exceptional: bass, gauge, ah, dahlia

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Exercise. Read aloud and translate:

No pain, no gain.
Haste makes waste.
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

/aɪ /

i+ different vowels or consonants: fire, time, lie, child, right, climb

The ending –ile of adjectives is pronounced with /ɪ/ in American English

and with /aɪ/ in British English: agile, fragile.

Exercise 1. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

aisle
isle

Exercise 2. Write down the words that are pronounced / baɪ /.

/ɔɪ /
oi – oil
oy – boy
Exceptional: buoy, buoyant

Exercise. Find the words containing diphthongs:

1. The boy with the toy made a lot of noise.

2. They noticed the buoy while on the voyage on sea.
3. Lloyd was employed by the oil company.
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 b). Diphthongs in / ʊ / = / əʊ aʊ /

/ əʊ /
o – no
oa – road
oe – toe
ou – soul
ow – slow

Exceptional: don’t, oh, only, sew, folk, yolk

Exercise 1. Contrast the following pairs of words:

low - law flow - flaw

so - saw pole - Paul
show - Shaw coat - caught
drone - drawn ode - awed
whole - hall woke - walk

Exercise 2. Write down 3 words that are pronounced /səʊ /.

/aʊ /
ou – out, doubt, bough
ow – how

Exercise. Read carefully:

around the town

out loud
The Browns found a mouse in their house.
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The owl howls loud.

c). Diphthongs in /ə/ = / iə eə ʊə /

/ɪə /
er – series
eer – beer
ear – dear
ere – here
eir – weird
ier – fierce
ea – ideal

/ eə /
air – fair
ear – bear
are – care
Exceptional: mayor, prayer, scarce, where, there, heir

/ ʊə /
oor – moor, poor
ure – endure, pure
ur – during
our – tour
ewe – jewel
ue –cruel, fuel
ua – valuable

Exercise 1. Transcribe the examples above.

Exercise 2. Contrast /ɪə /and / eə / in the following pairs:

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deer - dare
mere - mare
fear - fare
cheer - chair

Exercise 3. Practise the diphthong / ʊə /:

The doctor was sure that he was past cure.

to tear one’s hair (out)

Exercise 4. Contrast all three diphthongs / ʊə ɪə eə /:

sure- share - sheer

tour - tear - tear
poor - pear - peer

Revision Exercises with English Diphthongs

1. Write the symbols for the diphthongs in the following

words:
Tone, style, out, way, beer, bear, soil, cure, hair, why, prey,
bake, bough, goat, poor, fold

2. Read the following poem by Robert Frost and transcribe

the words that contain diphthongs:
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire,
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
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 I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

3. Identify the homophones:

/mi:t/
/nɒt/
/seɪl/
/peə/
/kɔ:s/
/teɪl/
/bi:t/
/reɪn/
/ˈmɔ:nɪŋ/
/fi:t/
/peɪl/
/pleɪn/
/wi:k/
/si:/
/ˈsɪərɪəl/
/ˈselə/
/saɪt/
/breɪk/
/dɪə/

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4. Give the phonetic transcription of the following
homographs:

Tear, lead, minute, wind

III. THE CONSONANTS

a).The Bilabial Plosives / p b/

/p/
p, pp – part, apple
Exceptional : hiccough

/p/ is silent in pn-, ps-, -pt: pneumonia, pneumatic, psychic, pseudo-,

receipt
/p/ is not pronounced in clusters between m and t: empty, prompt, or in
other clusters as in raspberry, cupboard.

Exercise. Give the phonemic transcription of the words above.

/b /
b, bb – baby, rubber

b is silent in final position when preceded by m – comb, tomb, or when

followed in the same syllable by t – debt, subtle, doubt

Exercise. Read and give the phonemic transcription of the following

words:

limb debt
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doubt dumb
subtle plumber

b).The Alveolar Plosives / t d /

/t/
t, tt – tell, better
th – thyme, Thomas, Mathilda, Esther, Thames
The past tense ending of regular verbs (-ed) after voiceless consonants:
asked, stopped
It is silent in –stle, -sten, -stm-: castle, listen, Christmas

/d/
d, dd – dog, ladder
There is the tendency not to pronounce it when preceded by /n/ and
followed by another consonant: grandmother, handsome
The past tense ending of regular verbs (-ed) after voiced consonants and
vowels (vowels are considered voiced): logged, sobbed.

SO REMEMBER:
The past tense ending -ed in verbs is pronounced
/d/ after vowels and voiced consonants: played, amazed
/t/ after voiceless consonants: checked, typed
/ɪd/ when the verb ends in /t/ or /d/: spotted, nodded.

Exercises

1. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

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bouquet madness
moisten admission
Windsor waited

2. Indicate the final consonant in the following words:

happened pasted

bruised breathed

proved waded

laughed hissed

mattered glistened

c).The Velar Plosives /k g/

/k/
c followed by a,o,u - car, call, cool
cc followed by e, i - accent, accept
k – king, key
ck –lock
ch - chemist
qu – antique
x – mixed

/g/
g, gg – bag, struggle
x – example, exhibit
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It is silent before /n/: gnat, gnaw, gnu
It is silent in the groups of letters gh- : sigh, right, night

Exercise. Transcribe the examples above.

d).The Affricates / ʧ ʤ /

/ʧ/
ch – chair, church
-ture – lecture, picture
-tion preceded by /s/ question, suggestion

/ʤ/
j – job, jump
g – followed by e,i,y –gender, giant, gym
gg, dg, dj, di – exaggerate, bridge, adjacent, soldier
ch – spinach, Norwich
Exceptional: gaol

Exercise. Transcribe the examples above.

e).The Fricatives / f v Ɵð sz ʃ ʒ h/

e1). The labio-dental fricatives /f v/

/f/

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f, ff – fine, buffalo
ph – philosophy, diphthong
gh – enough, cough
Exceptional: lieutenant

/v/
v – ever, have
ph – nephew, Stephen

A number of nouns ending in –f or –fe in the singular have v in the

plural:
leaf – leaves life – lives knife – knives

Exercise. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

draught
diphtheria
heavens
hyphen

e2).The dental fricatives / Ɵ ð /

/Ɵ/
In spelling, both / Ɵ / and / ð / are rendered by th.

/Ɵ/ occurs:
 in initial position in nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs: thing, thick,
thank, thoroughly
 in all words beginning with thr- : three, through

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  in medial position: author, method

/ð/
/ð/ occurs:
 in functional words : the, that, this, there, they
 in words of Germanic origin: gather, whether

Exercise. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

theft youths
though worthy
sympathy booth
Thames ether
thumb heathen

e3).The alveolar fricatives /s z /

/s/
s, ss – see, asset
sc – science
c + e, i, y – ice, cycle, city
It is silent in: isle, island, viscount

We pronounce /s/ the ending representing the plural morpheme or the

third person singular in verbs after voiceless consonants: roofs, cups; he
speaks, it sinks.

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Words ending in –se are pronounced with /s/ when they are nouns and
with /z/ when they are verbs:
Noun Verb
use /ju:s/ use /ju:z/
abuse /əbju:s/ abuse/əbju:z/
excuse /ɪkskju:s/ excuse /ɪkskju:z/

The same rule applies to the pair adjective close /kləʊs/ and verb close
/kləʊz/.
ss is always /s/: fussy, miss
Exceptions: dessert, possess, dissolve, scissors (we pronounce with a /z/)

/z/
z, zz – zebra, fizz
es – buses, bushes
x – xylophone, example

The letter s is pronounced /z/:

 when it represents the plural morpheme or the third person singular
in verbs after vowels or voiced consonants: days, he gives, dogs,
she says
 in nouns ending in s, ss, x, sh, ch where the plural ending is –es:
gases, glasses, bushes,watches
 in Greek proper names ending in –es: Sophocles
 in Latin nouns in the plural: axis – axes, index – indices
 in Greek nouns in the plural: analysis – analyses, basis - bases

SO REMEMBER:
When s represents the plural morpheme or the third person singular in
verbs, it is pronounced:
 /z/ after vowels and voiced consonants: plays, lemons; he reads
 /s/ after voiceless consonants: roofs, cups; he speaks

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Exercise. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

houses crises

ceaseless gross

woods analysis

Wednesday viscount

e4).The palato-alveolar fricatives / ʃ ʒ /

/ʃ/
sh – ship
s+io – mansion
ci – musician
sci- conscious
ti – nation
su –sugar
ce – ocean
ss –assure
ch – machine

/ʒ/
It occurs in final position only in French borrowings: beige, rouge
sure – pleasure
zure – seizure
si – occasion
s – usual

Exercise. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

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Chicago
genre
parachute
Asia
schedule
Sean

e5).The glottal fricative /h/

/h/
h – house, behind
wh – whole, whose
It is silent initially in four words: hour, honour, honest, heir
It is silent medially in: vehement, vehicle, nihilism, shepherd
It is silent in proper names ending in –ham: Balham, Fulham
It is silent after ex-: exhaust, exhibit
It is not pronounced when preceded by r: rheumatism, rhapsody

Exercise. Transcribe all the words given as examples above.

f).The Nasal Consonants /m n ŋ /

/m/
m, mm – mother, summer
mb – comb, tomb
Initial m followed by n is silent: mnemonic

/n/

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n, nn – nine, dinner
It is silent when preceded by m: autumn, damn.
It is pronounced in the derivatives of such words: autumnal, damnation,
but not in the verb damned.

/ŋ/
ng – sing, king
nk – ink, thank

Exercises.

1. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

hymn languid
longest limb
kingdom bomber
ungrateful solemn

2. Are these minimal pairs?

sing /sɪŋ/
sink /sɪŋk/

bang /bæŋ/
bank /bæŋk/

ring /rɪŋ/
rink /rɪŋk/

g).The Lateral Consonants /l r /

/l/
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l, ll – lake, cellar
It is silent in the following letter sequences:
-alf – half
-ould –could
- alk – chalk
-olk –folk
-alm – calm
It is also silent in the words colonel (the first l), Faulkner, Lincoln (the
second l).

/r/
r, rr – road, merry

Exercises

1. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

should
balm
rare
psalm
create

2. Read the following tongue-twisters:

a). Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pickled
peppers did Peter Piper pick?
b). A loyal warrior will rarely worry why we rule.

3. Do you know any tongue twister in your own mother tongue?

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 h).The Semi-Vowels or Semi-Consonants /j w/

/j/
y – you
i, e – opinion
u – university
eu, ew – feud, few, review
eau – beauty
/w/
w – were, want
w after consonants- sweet, twenty
u (especially when preceded by q or g) quick, language, acquaint
oir - memoir
Exceptional: one, suite
N.B. suite /swi:t/ vs. suit /sju:t/

Exercises

1. Read the following tongue twister:

Swan swam over the sea

Swim swan swim;
Swan swam back again,
Well swum swan.

2. Give the phonemic transcription of the following words:

yet
pure
yawn

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 SOUNDS IN CONNECTED SPEECH

Exercise:
Identify the vowels that are usually elided in the pronunciation of the
following words:

Nursery, petitioner, policeman, difficult, banana, boundary, several,

suppose, history, beverage, chancellor, fashionable, perhaps, temporary,
potato, phonetically, preference, secretary, Edinborough, especially,
carefully, possibly, probably, novelist, suffering, reasonable, parliament,
buffalo, believe, government, bachelor, naturally, awfully, comfortable,
machine, repetition, photography, interesting.

GENERAL REVISION EXERCISES

1. Read the following poem and pay attention to the relationship

between spelling and pronunciation:

Sounds and Letters

When the English tongue we speak,

Why is break not rhymed with weak?
Will you tell me why it’s true,
We say sew, but likewise few?
And the maker of a verse
Can’t rhyme his horse and worse.
Beard sounds not the same as heard.

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Cord is different from a word.
Cow is cow, but low is low,
Shoe is never rhymed with toe,
Wherefore done, but gone and lone.
Is there any reason known?
And in short it seems to me
Sounds and letters disagree.

2. Indicate the first sound in the following words:

enemy elastic icy

even occupy ounce
idea unreason exchange
usual university urea
chemist identify chauffeur
chalet onion quake

3. Write down how many sounds you can find in the following words:

know nourish pseudo

because London debt
sword height tomb
through brooch listen

4. Write the silent consonant(s). Not all words have silent consonants.

tempt muscle Hugh

tomb fasten honest
receipt knight Faulkner
iron island should
heir isle balm
gnaw hour colonel
calf annihilate womb

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5. Underline the words that have the /t/ sound:

empty, Esther, Christmas, bruised, proved, asked, Thomas, shocked,

castle, brushed, hoped, depot, Theresa, moisten.

6. Write the first sound in the following words:

xylophone Thames soothe

epoch wanted excited
cent Czech wretched
ooze schedule genre
err Theresa hysterical
gaol snake hourly
psychology thumb

7. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the –gh- sequence in the

following limerick (rhyming in a L. is AABBA, but here it does not
apply!):

There was an old woman so tough

She hung all her clothes on a bough.
And she swam even though
There was ice on the slough
Yet didn’t develop a cough.

8. Read the following tongue twisters. They are based on which sounds?

a). Which witch switched the Swiss wristwatches?

b). She sells seashells by the seashore.

9. Do time and thyme form a minimal pair?

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