Introduction to English pronunciation and phonetics Lecture 2

Introduction to English pronunciation and phonetics Lecture 2

Diphthongs • a glide between two vowel sounds (di- = two); “double vowel” • 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 train weigh/ way Compare /ˈreıvən/ /treın/ /weı/ Sw ‘mig, nej’ Eng ‘May, neigh’

/aı/ as in ‘time’ Examples night/knight die/dye sigh Compare /naıt/ /daı/ /saı/ 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/ Note! country /ʌ/ pause /ɔ: / astronaut /ɔ: /

/əʊ||o(ʊ)/ as in ‘flow’ Examples nose boat toe/tow row/roe /nəʊz || noʊz/ /bəʊt || boʊt/ /təʊ || toʊ/ /rəʊ || roʊ/

/ıə/ as in ’near’ Examples spear /spıə(r)/ beard /bıə(r)d/ fear /fıə(r)/ pierce /pıə(r)s/

/eə/ as in ’hair’ Examples wear/where fair/fare heir/air /weə(r)/ /feə(r)/ /eə(r)/

Note the pronunciation of these three! where we’re /weə(r)/ /wɜː(r)/ /wıə(r)/

Consonants • obstruction of the airstream • can be voiced (vibration of vocal cords) or voiceless (no vibration) Examples voiced bill goat voiceless pill 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 pspneumonia, 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 -stlisten, 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 knknight /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

/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/ peace/piece loose rice excuse (noun) /z/ peas lose rise 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 common function words (his, hers, yours, as, whose) • some names (James, Jones, Burns)

/ʃ/ as in ‘shore’ Examples shape ship smash machine /ʃeıp/ /ʃıp/ /smæʃ/ /məˈʃiːn/

/ʒ/ as in ‘measure’ Examples treasure television prestige usual /ˈtreʒə/ /ˈtelevıʒən/ /preˈstiːʒ/ /ˈju: ʒʊəl/

/θ/ as in ‘thin’ Examples faith Thursday thing cathedral /feıθ/ /ˈθɜː(r)zdeı/ /θıŋ/ /kəˈθiːdrəl/

/ð/ as in ‘then’ Examples then brother feather breathe /ðen/ /ˈbrʌðə(r)/ /ˈfeðə(r)/ /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)