English
Pronunciation
The Sounds of
English
Features of English
There are 26 letters in English
alphabet, but there are 44 sounds or
phonemes in English language.
The pronunciation of a word is written
between two slashes: e.g.
cat -- /kæt/
Phonetic
Transcription
Why learn pronunciation?
Arch /ɑ:tʃ/
/ɑ:keɪndʒəl/ Archangel
/əlaʊd/
/əlaʊd/
Allowed / Aloud
Live / Leave
/lɪv/ /li:v/
IPA Chart
SHORT vowels
LONG vowels
Diphthongs (double vowel sounds)
Voiceless consonants
Voiced consonants
Other consonants
Linkage of Sounds
1 Syllable
/aɪ/ + /s/ = ice
/m/ + /eɪ/ + /k/ = make
/s/ + /au/ + /n/ + /d/ = sound
/f/ + /ʊ/ + /t/ + /b/ + /ɔ:/ + /l/ = football
/l/ + /ʌ/ + /v/ = love
/p/ + /i/ + /æ/ + /n/ + /əʊ/ = piano
/h/ + /ɔ:/ + /n/ = horn
/ɒ/ + /n/ + /ɪ/ + /s/ = honest
2 Syllables
Short Vowels
/ʌ/ cup /I/ pig
/ɒ/ hot /æ/ man
/Ʊ/ put /e/ egg
/ǝ/ away
Let’s practise!
1. Would you like to have a cup of tea?
2. The coffee is not too hot.
3. Put some sugar in my juice.
4. Take that toy away from the kid!
5. There is a big pig in the farm.
6. A single man and a married woman.
7. One egg for me, two eggs for you.
Short Vowel Sounds
/e/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɒ/ /ə/
leg ban duck rock cinema
dead fan luck wash dinner
treasure hand come odd never
friend bad young lot terror
wet land tough waffle bother
bury black blood wallet charisma
said sack does novel balloon
Hear the Difference
/ʌ / /æ/
cup cap
uncle ankle
bunk bank
but bat
swum swam
Long Vowels
/u:/ blue, food
/i:/ see, heat
/ɔ:/ four, call, war
/ɜ:/ learn, turn
/a:/ father, arm
Contrast: Long & Short Vowels
/i:/ /ɪ/
Long Vowel Short Vowel
sheep ship
wheel will
sleep slip
leave live
reach rich
cheap chip
Long & Short Vowels
/u:/ /ʊ/
Long Vowel Short Vowel
food foot
full good
pool pull
cool could
boot book
moon would
Diphthongs
/aI/ /eI/ /ƆI/ /Iə/ /eə/ /ə Ʊ / /aƱ/ /Ʊə/
cry say boy ear air go now poor
five eight oil here hair low out pure
eye bake join hear bear home how shower
bye day toy near wear bone pouch tower
try take foil beer heir odour flower tourist
buy make where
rise wait
Practise!
1. I leave home at eight a.m., and start my
work at quarter to eight.
2. The bear has brown hair, and it drinks beer.
3. Poor people have pure hearts.
4. My mother bakes delicious cakes and loves
to say funny things.
5. She has bright eyes that look like ice.
6. The boy joins the Toy Club.
7. Let’s go home now.
Voiced Consonants
/b/ /d/ /dӡ/ /g/ /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ӡ/
bad did joke give five this zoo vision
lab lady bridge flag van then lazy treasure
nation
tabloid mad lodger beg vote Mother busy
binge buzz Asian
bob told giggle native
that present
bubble beige
Other
pub smooth
Voiceless Consonants
/p/ /t/ /tʃ/ /k/ /f/ / θ/ /s/ /ʃ/
pay tea church cat frog thin sun sugar
tap get check back fluff thick miss she
peep tattoo touch author dance Shower
kick physic
pop pretty punch knock coffee birth Ice pressure
up flute rough healthy pussy
precious
careful throw cautious
flute
thumb push
Hear the difference
/dӡ/ /tʃ/
joke /dʒəʊk/ choke /tʃəʊk/
junk /dʒʌŋk/ chunk /tʃʌŋk/
lunge /lʌndʒ/ lunch /lʌntʃ/
surge /sɜ:dʒ/ search /sɜ:tʃ/
Other Consonants
/m/ /n/ / ŋ/ /l/ /r/ /h/ /w/ /j/
mum no sing leg red how wet yet
man ten finger fell try hi wind yes
pant phone long tale drawer honey walk you
Convey a Message
Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these
things with her from the store: Six
spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick
slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a
snack for her brother Bob. We also
need a small plastic snake and a big toy
frog for the kids. She can scoop these
things into three red bags, and we will
go meet her Wednesday at the train
station.
Phonetic transcription of the
message to Stella
/ pli:z kɔ:l Stelə. A:sk hɜ: tʊ brɪnŋ ði:z θɪŋz
wɪθ hɜ: frɒm ðə stɔ: : sɪks spʊːnz əv freʃ
snəʊ, faɪv θɪk slæbs əv blʊ: tʃi:z, ənd
'meɪbi: ə snæk fər hɜ: 'brʌðə Bɒb. Wi:
'ɔːlsəʊ ni:d ə smɔːl 'plæstɪck sneɪk ənd ə
bɪg tɔɪ frɒg fər ðə kɪds. ʃi: kən skʊp ði:z
θɪŋz 'ɪntʊ θri: red bægs, ənd wi: gəu mi:t
hɜ: 'Wenzdɪ ət ðə treɪn 'steiʃən /
Verbs Ending in -ed
/ɪd/ /t/ /d/
Verbs end in …
/t/ & /d/ Voiceless Consonants Voiced C. or Vowels
/p/ /s/ /k/ /f/ /θ/ /tʃ/ /ʃ/ /b/ /l/ /g/ /n/ /ð/ /dʒ/ /ʒ/ /z/
Wait Waited Laugh Laughed Judge Judged
Need Needed Walk Walked Play Played
Board Boarded Miss Missed Rain Rained
Guard Guarded Catch Caught Please Pleased
Verbs ending in /t/ & /d/
cry /kraɪ/ = cried /kraid/
end /end/ = Ended /endɪd/
use /ju:z/ = Used /ju:zd/
fancy /fænsi/ = Fancied /fænsid/
thank /θæŋk/ = Thanked /θæŋkt/
mail /meɪl/ = Mailed /meild/
phone /foʊn/ = Phoned /foʊnd/
Melt /melt/ = Melted /meltɪd/
Plural Noun Ending -s
/s/ /z/
Nouns ending in …
/f/ /p/ /θ/ /k/ /t/ - Voiceless /b/ /d/ /g/ /ŋ/ /ð/ /m/ /r/ /l/
Cup /cʌp/ = /cʌps/ Bed /bɛd/ = /bɛdz/
Part
Bath /bæθ/ = /bæθs/ Game /geɪm/ = /geɪmz/
Hat /hæt/ = /hæts/ Party /parti/ = /partiz/
Book /bʊk/ = /bʊks/ Toy /tɔɪ/ = /tɔɪz/
NOTE: /i/ is pronounced like a short vowel /ɪ/
Word Stress / Stressed Syllable
What is Word Stress?
1. Word stress is found in words
that have more than one syllable.
Louder 2. Word stress is important it helps
to differentiate words that are
both nouns & verbs.
3. Stressing the wrong syllable can
O
o O o confuse the listener.
4. In dictionaries, stressed syllable
proGRESS PROgress is underlined or comes after a
vertical line high up [ ‘ ] e.g.
(verb) (noun)
progress / ‘proʊgres / [noun] or
/prəgres/ [verb]
5. Most two-syllable nouns have 1st
syllable stressed, with a few
Change in pitch exceptions e.g. lagoon, hotel
Longer 6. Most two-syllable verbs have 2nd
syllable stressed.
7. Word Stress does not have fixed
rules; so always check your
dictionary for pronunciation.
Verbs & Nouns
Verbs Nouns
Record /rɪ'kɔ:ʳd/ Record /'rekɔ:ʳd/
Contract /kən'trækt/ Contract /'kɒntrækt/
Process /prə'ses/ Process /'proʊses/
Export /ɪks'pɔ:ʳt/ Export /'ekspɔ:ʳt/
I have two jazz records.
I need to record this in my note.
Practise!
O o o O oo o o o O o O o o
equal equality equalisation equalise
O o O o o O o o O O o
ticket passport Malaysia hotel apple
o O o O o o O o o O o O oo
computer lecturer English banana beautiful
o o O o O o o o o O o O o o
I carried the bottle to the hotel. photography
Days / Months
O o O o O o
Monday Tuesday Wednesday
O o O o O o o O o
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
O oo o O oo o O o oO O o
January February April July August
o O o o O o o O o
September October December
Schwa /ə/ - Unstressed
sofa /səʊfə/ Excellent /ɛksələnt/
Canada /kænədə/ Banana /bənɑ:nə/
America /əmerɪkə/ Sister /sɪstə/
________________________________
This present is for my brother.
This book is about a boy wizard.
NOTE: Schwa sound is a weak vowel. You can find examples of
this sound in many words that end with the letter ‘a’.
Sentence Stress
1 2 3 4
1 and 2 and 3 and 4
1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4
1 and then a 2 and then a 3 and then a 4
NOTE:
1. All sentences are spoken at the same length of time despite their numbers.
2. The stress is on the number words. The unstressed words are spoken much
quicker in order to keep the rhythm of the language.
Sentence Stress
Listen and repeat:
I asked you to buy me a bunch of red roses.
I asked you to buy me a bunch of red roses.
I asked you to buy me a bunch of red roses.
NOTE:
1. Stress on different words is to convey different meanings.
2. The first sentence emphasises on ‘you’ – the speaker is stressing that he
wants the listener himself to buy the red roses.
3. The second sentence emphasises that the roses cannot be other colour
but red.
4. The third sentence emphasises that the speaker wants roses, not any
other kind of flowers.
Intonation / Sentence Stress
There was a young There was an old man
man from Kowloon, from Peru,
Who was whisked off Who dreamed he was
by a typhoon. eating his shoe.
He was blown out to We awoke in the night
sea, with a terrible fright,
For two days or three. And found out that it
And finally washed up was quite true.
in Rangoon.
Rhythm
Hey Diddle, Diddle!
The cat and the fiddle.
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
and the dish ran away with the spoon.
NOTE:
The underlined words/syllables are the stressed parts, so they are
pronounced louder, longer and at a higher pitch than the rest.
