UNIVERSIDAD DE COSTA RICA

SEDE REGIONAL OCCIDENTE

BACHILLERATO Y LICENCIATURA
EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLÉS

Introduction to English Pronunciation

2022
LUZ MARINA VASQUEZ CARRANZA, Ph.D.
Introduction

One might possess a very large lexicon and great grammatical structure in a target
language, but attaining native-like pronunciation is a great challenge that non-
native speakers rarely accomplish.

This textbook is specifically designed for Spanish speakers learning English as a

Foreign Language, as the author is a native speaker of Spanish with broad
experience in teaching EFL in a Spanish-speaking context. Given her broad
background in teaching pronunciation for more than fifteen years, she can foresee
the types of pronunciation problems faced by this population in their effort to learn
EFL. The goal pursued in this text is to help learners comprehend, through
theoretical descriptions and images as well as plenty of examples, how each English
consonant and vowel sound is produced. The text is aimed at intermediate and
higher-level English students, as technical vocabulary is required to comprehend the
explanations provided.

Although most texts on pronunciation start by describing the English vowel system,
such an approach follows the First Language Acquisition process (i.e., taking as
starting point the premise that infants naturally acquire vowel sounds before they
acquire consonant sounds). Nonetheless, students who ‘learn’ a foreign language
after puberty already possess an established inventory of sounds in their First
Language (L1), and hence, their acquisition of pronunciation is not the same as that
of an infant. In learning English as a Foreign Language, and given that the English
vowel inventory is very complex and Spanish does not contain such a degree of
variation among vowel segments, the assumption undertaken herein is that it is
best to introduce English learners to pronunciation processes and to the technical
jargon that it involves by first studying consonant segments.

The first reason for undertaking this approach is that Spanish speakers already
have an acquired consonant system and that many of the English consonant
sounds are found in Spanish despite differences in their phonetic realizations;
students can hence bootstrap onto their L1 to ease the studying of the English
consonant inventory. A second reason is that, in contrast with consonant sounds,
Spanish has a total of 5 vowel segments whereas English has around 13 depending
on dialectal variation. Furthermore, the perceptive difference between one vowel
segment and another is normally very difficult for Spanish speakers, as they hardly
notice the difference between a tense and a lax vowel, for example. Therefore, we
propose studying vowel segments after studying consonant segments; once students
have become familiar with terms such as place and manner of articulation and have
studied and practiced English consonant segments (as well as their allophonic
variations), they will more easily comprehend the difference between Spanish and
English vowels and among the English vowels themselves.

The text starts with a general overview of phonetics and how the teaching of
pronunciation has been perceived and dealt with methodologically throughout
history with an aim to engage the student by highlighting the relevance of studying

2
pronunciation. It also contains some basic information about psycho-linguistic
aspects related to pronunciation and which might be helpful for students to know
(e.g., age, motivation, attitude, aptitude).

The rest of the chapters contain thorough descriptions of the vocal tract as it relates
to language articulation, as well as a detailed explanation of how and where each
English sound is produced.

The second chapter is devoted to briefly introducing the main concepts about the
vocal tract and how speech is possible. Chapter III describes all English consonant
sounds in detail as well as their allophones (i.e., variants of a given phoneme). First,
consonants are described in terms of voicing and place of articulation; then they are
described in terms of manner of articulation. Pictures are provided to help learners
understand where exactly in the vocal tract each consonant sound is articulated
(i.e., produced). Plenty of examples at the word level and at the sentence level are
provided as practice for each consonant sound.

Chapter IV describes and illustrates the main English vowel sounds; plenty of
examples are provided for each vowel segment at the word level. All vocal sounds are
contrasted with other ones which might be easily confused by native Spanish
speakers (i.e., in minimal pairs), as Spanish has far fewer vowel sounds.

In the final chapter, an introduction to suprasegmental processes such as

assimilation of sounds within a given context and deletion of weakly stressed
sounds and syllables is provided. A word on stress patterns at the word level is
additionally included.

Overall, plenty of exercises are provided for students to be able to practice each
sound as they make progress. Tongue twisters are additionally provided as further
practice for the various consonant and vowel segments. The main focus of this text
is the study of pronunciation at the segmental level (i.e., the pronunciation of
individual sounds).

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 Chapter 1
I. An overview on the teaching of pronunciation

PHONETICS is concerned with describing speech, with specifying how sounds are
articulated. It involves the physical properties of speech sounds, namely, their
physiological articulation, their acoustic properties (i.e., how speech sounds are
transmitted from one speaker to another), auditory perception, and
neurophysiological status (Caffrey, 2017).

It is obvious that, despite its importance as the main component of any human
language, by and large, phonetics has been seen as ‘the Cinderella of foreign
language teaching’, because syntax and lexicon have been the main focus in the
language classroom (Kelly, 1969).

Phonetics has, nonetheless, been taught on and off through two general
approaches, namely:
1. An Intuitive-Imitative Approach whereby the student listens and repeats (i.e.,
lab work).
▪ It depends on learners’ ability to listen to and imitate the segmental and
supra-segmental aspects of the target language, not on an
understanding of how the articulators interact to yield a given sound.
▪ No explicit information is provided on phonetic processes.
▪ Good models to listen to are needed (i.e., native speakers or near native-
speakers).
▪ Learners shall be good listeners as to catch subtle sound changes and
to notice sounds that do not exist in their L1 or which might differ in
terms of their phonetic realization from the speaker’s native tongue.

2. An analytic-linguistic Approach
▪ It utilizes tools such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA),
articulatory descriptions, pictures of the vocal apparatus, contrastive
information to supplement listening, imitation, and production.
▪ It comes to complement rather than to replace the Intuitive-Imitative
Approach.

Overall, whereas at some points in history pronunciation has been completely

ignored, at some others, it has been a key part of teaching/learning a language.
Various approaches have been used at different points in time; these approaches
might be summarized as follows:

1. The Direct Method: It developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since the
main focus was on teaching the language rather than teaching about the
language and relying on the mother tongue was discouraged, pronunciation
was merely taught through imitation. The assumption was that children learn
their L1 through imitation of the adult model. Of course, we know that

4
 learning a Second or Foreign language is not the same as learning an L1
(Celce Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1996).

2. The Reform Movement: According to Celce Murcia et al. (1996), it emerged in

the late 1800s, and at that point in history, pronunciation finally started to
receive more attention. The International Phonetic Alphabet (the IPA) was
created by phoneticians such as Henry Sweet, Wilhem Viëtor, and Paul Parsy.
The IPA is important in that:

a) It evidences that Phonetics is considered a science dedicated to describing

and analyzing sound-system languages.
b) It allows to accurately represent the sounds of all languages through a
one-to-one relationship between the written symbol and the sound it
represents.
c) Special diacritics might be added to phonetic symbols as to evidence subtle
phonetic features such as aspiration (defined in detail later on); this allows
language learners to literally observe the changes from one word to
another, for example.

Examples:

// /ɚ///////

3. Audiolingualism: It developed between the 1940s and 50s. Its focus was on
teaching pronunciation from the start. Audiolingualism goes beyond imitation
and includes tools such as a visual transcription system (i.e., IPA) and charts
that demonstrate how sounds are articulated (Celce Murcia et al., 1996).

4. The Cognitive Approach: It surfaced in the 1960s with transformational-

generative grammar (Chomsky, 1959; 1965) and cognitive psychology
(Neisser, 1967). Language was viewed as a rule-governed behavior rather than
habit formation. According to this tendency, native-like pronunciation is
unrealistic and could not be achieved anyways, hence, the focus relied on
more learnable skills such as grammar structures and lexicon (Celce Murcia
et al., 1996).

5. Nativist Approaches: Language acquisition is said to be an innate ability and

therefore, it follows a universal pattern; language is hard-wired within the
human brain (Celce Murcia et al., 1996). Native approaches are:
a) Total Physical Response (TPR; Asher, 1977): language was taught through
imitation of the target sounds.
b) Natural Approach (Krashen & Terrel, 1983): the focus was on listening
before speaking, but no explicit pronunciation instruction was given. The
emphasis was on communication skills, not on accuracy.

6. The Communicative Approach: It emerged in the1980s and since the primary

goal of language was communication, language use was the main purpose of

5
 language teaching/learning. This approach brought about the focus on
teaching pronunciation: the argument was that “there’s a threshold level of
pronunciation for non-native speakers of English; if they fall below this
threshold level, they will have oral communication problems no matter how
excellent and extensive their control of English grammar and vocabulary
might be” (Celce-Murcia et al., 1996; p.7). Highly intelligible pronunciation is
seen as one of the necessary components of oral communication

7. Today’s Approach: Nowadays, various previous approaches are combined.

Today’s Approach includes at least the following techniques:
• Listening and imitation (from the Direct Method)
• Phonetic training (using articulatory descriptions, diagrams, and the
phonetic alphabet)
• Minimal pair drills in context (e.g., Mary wants to sit on a soft seat)
• Audio-visual aids to enhance the teacher’s description of how sounds
are produced (mirrors, pictures, sound-color charts, videos, audios,
etc.)
• Developmental approximation drills (just as with children, acquiring
sounds in order of difficulty; e.g., /w/ → //)
• Practice of vowel shifts and stress shifts related by affixation (e.g.,
PHOtograph / phoTOgraphy)
• Reading aloud/recitation (focus on stress, timing, and intonation)
• Recording of learner’s production
• Integration of segmental and supra-segmental components

II. Psycholinguistic issues in the teaching of pronunciation

The main concern in this text is to study the articulation of English sounds,
though it is paramount to refer to certain facts which influence the
teaching/learning of pronunciation, including attitude, motivation, and age.
It has been said that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” but, although age
might, in fact, have an effect when it comes to the acquisition of sounds in a foreign
language, as accounted for under the Critical Period Hypothesis proposed by
Lennenberg (1967), age is not enough to explain varying degrees in native-like
pronunciation by non-native speakers of a given target language.
According to Lennenberg, at around puberty the brain lateralizes, and assigning
certain functions to the different hemispheres of the brain is completed. The period
previous to this completion is referred to as the Critical Period (i.e., the biologically
determined period of life during which maximal conditions for language acquisition
exist; Scovel, 1969; Krashen, 1973). Krashen (1973) and Scovel (1969) establish a
connection between the Critical Period Hypothesis (CHP) and language learning; in
their opinion, the CPH implies a loss of plasticity in the brain, which results in an
inability to achieve native-like pronunciation in the second or foreign language after
puberty.
The CPH, however, overlooks motivation, amount of exposure to the target
language, and attitude toward the target language; it certainly does not take into

6
account Foreign Language contexts. Though the prediction would be that non-
native speakers in an EFL context would most likely not attain native-like
pronunciation because they are adults or young adults, there are many anecdotes
about successful adult second and foreign language learners who have ‘beaten the
odds’; when assessed by native speakers, for example, they are rated as natives.
This text is not intended to address in detail these controversial arguments;
instead, it is designed to aid native Spanish speakers, specifically learners of
English as a Foreign Language, to attain a proper comprehensive pronunciation of
English sounds, both consonants, and vowels. Taking into account the fact that age
does not necessarily predict the outcome in any ESL/EFL process, the material
provided throughout this text is aimed as a tool to help you obtain a good
comprehensive pronunciation of English sounds by becoming aware of where and
how each segment is produced.

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 Chapter 2

I. What is involved in phonetics?

Though phonetics is mostly related to how sounds are articulated, it necessarily

involves two components: Acoustic Phonetics and Articulatory Phonetics.

ACOUSTIC PHONETICS: it refers to supra-segmental aspects that apply to entire

words and/or phrases (e.g., stress, rhythm, intonation; a brief introduction to this
component is presented in the final chapter).

ARTICULATORY PHONETICS: it describes how and where segments are articulated

in the vocal tract.

As already pointed out, the main focus in this text is on articulatory phonetics,
although reference is made to some processes that affect individual sounds in
context, either at the word or at the sentence level, and to phonological processes
such as stress and intonation at the word level.

II. How sounds are produced in the vocal tract

In order to start our comprehension of how sounds are produced so as to familiarize

ourselves with the vocal tract, we shall state that the production of speech sounds
involves two cavities (i.e., sections) that make up the vocal tract: the nasal cavity
and the oral cavity.

In producing speech sounds, air from the lungs goes up the trachea into the larynx,
at which point it must pass between two small muscular folds. If the vocal folds are
apart, as they normally are when breathing out, the air from the lungs will have a
relatively free passage into the pharynx and the mouth. Conversely, if the vocal folds
are adjusted so that there is only a narrow passage of air, the airstream will cause a
vibration of the vocal folds (cords). Sounds produced when the vocal folds are
vibrating are referred to as voiced sounds, whereas sounds produced while the
vocal folds are relaxed are referred to as voiceless sounds. Picture 1 below
illustrates the process of speech production.

8
I am certain that you have never noticed this in speech production, but Spanish
does differentiate between voiced and voiceless sounds, just like do all languages
around the world; for instance, pay close attention to the difference between the
sounds which are bolded in the following two examples: pala – bala; tenis – Dennis);
the first sound in pala and tenis is voiceless whereas the first sound in bala and
Dennis is voiced.

In order to appreciate the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds, gently
place your hand on your throat and practice saying [ffff] and then saying [vvvvv] at
tandem (/f/ is voiceless whereas /v/ is voiced). Next, try saying them alternatively
[fffvvvfffvvvfffvvv]. When you produce the /f/ sound, you should feel no vibration in
your vocal cords, but when you produce the /v/ sound, you should easily feel how
they vibrate. Here, it is worth pointing out that in Costa Rican Spanish, as well as in
most Spanish dialects spoken in Latin America, we do not differentiate between v
and b; in words such as vaca and burro, v and b are pronounced the same; they are
both pronounced /b/. In contrast, in some Spanish dialects, these two graphemes
are phonetically distinct.

In sum, consonant sounds might either be voiced (/d, z, v/) or voiceless (/s, f, t/),
whereas all vowel sounds are voiced.

9
 Chapter 3: English consonant sounds1

I. How consonants are described

Consonant sounds might be defined as sounds that result from the obstruction of the
air that comes up through the larynx (from the lungs). In order to describe any
consonant sound, we shall refer to three features: 1) voicing, 2) place of articulation,
and 3) manner of articulation. That is to say, all consonant sounds are either voiced
or voiceless, have a specific place of articulation, and have a specific manner of
articulation; no two consonants are alike.

1) Voicing

As described above, voicing refers to whether or not the vocal folds vibrate while
enunciating a segment. Sounds produced when the vocal folds are vibrating are
known as voiced sounds; whereas sounds produced when the vocal folds are apart
(relaxed) are referred to as voiceless sounds (no vibration). The vocal folds through
which the air is expelled either with voicing or without voicing is illustrated in the
picture below. Picture 2 depicts what the vocal folds look like: they resemble two
swing doors that are flexible enough to open and close rapidly as the airstream
pushes them apart.

Examples:
ten den Paul ball coat goat
Sue zoo feel veal toe dough

(what is the difference between each of these pairs of words?)

1
Much of the information provided in this Chapter as well as in Chapters 4 and 5 has been adapted from sources such as
Baker & Goldstein (1990), Dale & Poms (1985), Gilbert (2001), Kreidler (1997), Ladofoged (2001), Reed & Michaud
(2005), and Hewig & Goldstein (1998).

10
Keep in mind that pairs of words which differ from one another by a single sound
are referred to as minimal pairs; if in a word such as ‘ten’ we were to substitute the
/t/ for /d/, we would obtain a different word, namely ‘den’.

Table 1 contains all English consonant segments in terms of voicing.

Table 1: English voiced and

voiceless consonant
sounds.
VOICELESS VOICED
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

All the sounds in column 1 are described as voiceless sound, whereas the ones in
column 2 are described as voiced sounds.

11
Place of articulation

The place of articulation refers to the place of contact where an obstruction occurs
in the vocal tract between an active (moving) articulator (typically some part of the
tongue) and a passive (stationary) articulator (typically some part of the roof of the
mouth). It is the exact place in the vocal tract at which a given sound is articulated
(produced).

To comprehend how place of articulation works, let us first look at some key
concepts. Articulators (i.e., parts of the mouth involved in sound production) are
classified into active and passive articulators. Active articulators move and they
constitute the articulators that form the lower surface of the mouth, namely:
• the lower lip
• the tongue
o the tip and blade (most mobile parts)
o the front (area behind the blade, it lies underneath the hard palate)
o the center (partly beneath the hard palate)
o the back (beneath the hard palate)
o the root (opposite the wall of the pharynx)

Picture 3 illustrates all lower (active) articulators:

• the epiglottis is attached to the lower part of the root of the tongue;
these articulators often move toward those on the upper surface.
• the lower jaw

On the other hand, passive articulators do not move but come into contact with the
active articulators; they form the upper surface of the mouth, namely,
• the upper lip
• the upper teeth
• the alveolar ridge (i.e., the small protuberance right behind the upper incisors)
• the hard palate (i.e., the bony structure that forms the front part of the roof of
the mouth)

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 • the soft palate (i.e., the soft muscular flap that raises to press against the
back wall of the pharynx and shuts off the nasal tract, preventing the air from
going out through the nose; it separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity)
• the uvula (i.e., the small appendage hanging down in the back of the mouth)
• the back wall of the pharynx (i.e., the part of the vocal tract between the uvula
and the larynx)

Picture 4 below shows the passive articulators.

Lower articulators move to different points or places of articulation (i.e., places in the
mouth at which the contact with passive articulators takes place).

Articulators are also classified as primary and secondary articulators. The main
primary articulators are those articulators that move the most (also referred to as
active articulators), namely: lips, tongue-tip or tongue blade, and back of the
tongue. Secondary articulators (also referred to as passive articulators) are all the
parts of the upper jaw, from front to back. The following picture depicts where all
English consonant sounds are articulated in the vocal tract.

Depending on where sounds are produced and which articulators are involved in
their production, consonant sounds in English are classified as:

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A. Labial sounds: sounds involving the lips

1. Bilabial sounds (the lower and upper lips approach or touch each other: [p, b,
m, w]). Picture 5 shows where bilabial sounds are articulated:

The sound [w] involves two constrictions of the vocal tract made simultaneously.
One of them is lip rounding, and therefore, oftentimes this phoneme is described as
a bilabial approximant (i.e., sounds that lie between consonants and vowels, as one
articulator is close to another, but the vocal tract is not narrowed as much as it
normally is for consonant sounds).

Examples of words containing bilabial sounds:

Paul apple pepper ball cable
club mall came wall go know

Notice that [w] might not necessarily be spelled w, as in go, no.

Now, let’s practice these bilabial sounds by reading the following sentences; make
an effort to pronounce each target bilabial sound (bolded) clearly and loudly:

1. Paul hit the ball against the wall.

2. Peter went to the mall to get a ball.
3. That piece of paper came in the mail for Paul this morning.

2. Labio-dental sounds (the lower lip approaches or touches the upper teeth
and there is a sustained flow of air that escapes slowly: [f, v]). Picture 6 shows
where bilabial sounds are produced:

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 Examples:
float vote fan van fest vest enough rough
soft phone elephant

Notice that  might be spelled as either f or as ph or gh as in phone and cough.

❖ Think of ten examples with each sound; include different spellings when
possible.

Now, let’s practice these labio-dental sounds (bolded) by reading the following
sentences:

1. Phil had to fit the fan in the van.

2. I want to vote for that female from Vermont.
3. These vowels are making my bowels curl.
4. I used my new veil to bail him out.

Notice that, as pointed out earlier, unlike in Spanish, /v/ and /b/ are NOT
pronounced the same; make an effort to differentiate both in all contexts, for if you
do not make this distinction, you will be enouncing one word instead of another
(e.g., boat – vote; ban – van; very – berry; vowels - bowels).

Look at the contrast between  and  in the following sentences. Read them and
make sure you consciously enounce each segment at a different place of articulation
(labio-dental versus bilabial)

English vowels are very very hard; they make my bowels bend up and down very
quickly!
There is a ban for vans to park very close to the veterinarian’s building in
Burlington, Vermont.
That ball flew very fast across the sky and bounced off that very big building on
Venture Boulevard.

15
 Blossoms can vary very much from one vine to another along the vineyard!

Now, let us practice labial sounds in context by reciting these tong twisters out
loud:
[b]
Betty Botter bought a bit of butter. "But," she said, "this butter's bitter!
If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter!"
So she bought a bit of butter better than her bitter butter,
And she put it in her batter, and her batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

[b]
A black bug's blood.
A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits, and a biscuit mixer.
Black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black
bug bit?

[p]

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

   and 

I’m very bad at volleyball, but very fine at basketball.

We are very weary of wearing white woven wool.
We wish to wear vivid violet velvet vintage vests.

Valuable valley villas.

Very well, very well, very well

B. Coronal sounds: sounds involving the tip/blade of the tongue

1. Inter-dental sounds / dental: the tip or blade of the tongue approaches or

touches the upper teeth. English [θ (theta) and [ð] (eth) are dental fricatives.
There are actually two different ways of forming these sounds:

a) The tongue tip can approach the back of the upper teeth, but not
press against them so hard that the airflow is completely blocked.
b) The blade of the tongue can touch the bottom of the upper teeth,
with the tongue tip protruding between the teeth -- still leaving

16
 enough space for a turbulent airstream to escape. This kind of [
and  is often called interdental.

In both cases, there is a sustained flow of air which is released slowly. Picture 7
shows how interdental sounds are articulated:

Examples:
three there theater then thin Thursday mother either ether
Notice that interdental sounds are always spelled th, although it is unpredictable
when th will be pronounced as  or as . All you can do is memorize the finite list
of words that contain these two sounds. However, keep in mind that, by and large,
verbs that contain either  or  tend to be voiced, whereas the nouns that
correspond to those verbs tend to be voiceless (e.g., teeth-teethe; bath- bathe;
breath-breathe; bath-bathe)

❖ Think of ten examples, five with the voiceless interdental sound and five with
the voiced interdental sound.

Now, let’s practice these interdental sounds by reading the following sentences.
Monitor yourself to make sure that you are placing the tongue tip where it belongs;
if needed, use a hand mirror to double-check or ask a classmate or your teacher to
supervise and tell you if you need to make any adjustments. Target sounds are
bolded.

1. On Thursday I had to run three errands with my mother.

2. We rather go to the theater than the other place they had suggested.
3. Either Tuesday or Thursday we’ll get the other three thieves.

Let us practice these dental sounds in context by reciting these tong twisters out
loud:

17
 [θ]
I thought a thought.
But the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought.
If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn't have
thought so much.
The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.

There those thousand thinkers were thinking how did the other three thieves go
through.

2. Alveolar sounds. Most English consonant sounds are alveolar sounds. In these
sounds, the tongue tip approaches or touches the alveolar ridge; i.e., the ridge
immediately behind the upper teeth (See picture 8 below).

The English stops , , and  are formed by completely blocking the airflow at
this place of articulation. The fricatives  and  are also produced at this place of
articulation, as are the approximant  and the tap  Picture 8 illustrates the
place at which these alveolar sounds are articulated:

Examples:

ten den tall doll size Sue zoo was better water

letter ladder utter otter

Notice that  is generally spelled s, though it may also be spelled c as in accident.
But be careful, as  might be spelled s, mainly in verbs, as in was, is, and does
Besides, note that  is not a phoneme but an alternative pronunciation
(i.e., an allophone) of either  or .

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Also notice that /s/ and /z/ are used in verbs marked for third-person singular as
well as in regular plural nouns depending on the final sound of the root, as stated in
the following rules:

a) if the final sound of the root is voiced, -s will be voiced (e.g., cleans; does;
lands; draws // cloves; shoes; chairs)
b) if the final sound of the root is voiceless, -s will also be voiceless (e.g., cooks;
works; talks // pants; desks; clocks)
c) If the final sound of the root in third person singular verbs or in regular plural
nouns ends in -s, the inflection is pronounced  (e.g., closes; wishes - boxes;
pieces)

With a classmate, make a list of regular plural nouns and classify them according to
the pronunciation of their final sound (i.e., the plural marker). When your list is
ready, practice reading each word; pay close attention to the [s] allophone.:

  

Examples: locks cords crosses
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
______________ ______________ ______________
_____________ ______________ ______________

Now, let us practice alveolar sounds by reading the following sentences:

1. I once saw a tall doll at a store.

2. Sue does not like to go to the zoo.
3. I wonder if that ladder is on sale.

_________________________ ***** ______________________________

Practice some more by reciting these tong twisters out loud:

[t]

A tutor who tooted the flute

Tried to tutor two tooters to toot
Said the two to the tutor
“Is it tougher to toot
Or to tutor two tooters to toot?

19
 [t]

A tree toad loved a she-toad,

That lived up in a tree.
She was a three-toed tree toad,
But a two-toed toad was he.

3. Post-alveolar sounds (Palato-alveolar): In these sounds, the constriction is

made immediately behind the alveolar ridge. The narrowing can be made with either
the tip or the blade of the tongue.

The English fricatives  and  are made at this point of articulation, as are the
corresponding affricates  and  Picture 9 shows where post-alveolar sounds
are produced.

The central approximant  is also produced at this point of articulation (as
illustrated in Picture 10 below), although it involves a retracted tongue tip (hence, it
is also described as a retroflex sound).

20
Be careful not to pronounce this sound like the Spanish r, as the Spanish r is very
different (arroz; rojo, as compared to red, rich). For the English , place your
tongue in the post-alveolar region and curl your tongue tip backward a little, then
produce the sound; the Spanish r does not require curling of the tongue tip and it
consists of tapping the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge several times
consecutively while it vibrates vigorously.

Examples of post-alveolar sounds:

shoe chew juice beach wish judge vision

chandelier beige religion art

Notice that even though most of the time  is used to pronounce words that are
spelled sh, sometimes words spelled ch, and which one would expect to be
pronounced  are pronounced  instead, as is the case with Chevrolet and chef;
fortunately, this is a short list.

In contrast,  is normally only used to pronounce words spelled ch (e.g., church,
which, achieve).

Additionally,  might be spelled t, as in introduction, directions, attention. It might

also be spelled s as in sugar, sure.

Similarly,  is spelled either j, as in June, Jane, jungle or d.g (when there is a
break in two consecutive syllables), as in judge, wedge.  is never spelled y.
 might also be spelled g, as in region, indigenous, and agent or d as in soldier.
 is normally spelled s, as in conclusion, illusion, and envision, whereas to
pronounce words that contain double ss, as in mission, permission, issue, we use 
instead.

❖ Think of five examples with each sound.

Let us practice these post-alveolar sounds by reading the following sentences:

1. I have not seen your new jet yet.

2. What a joke that chubby chef is!
3. This is a protected indigenous region.
4. The soldier should have checked his mission before he caused the explosion.

_________________________ ***** ______________________________

21
Now, practice these post-alveolar sounds in context by reciting these tong twisters
out loud:


She sells sea shells on the sea shore. The shells she sells are sea shells, I'm sure.

I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes,
I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.

Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep.

The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed
shilly-shallied south.
These sheep shouldn't sleep in a shack;
sheep should sleep in a shed.



There was a fisherman named Fisher who fished for some fish in a fissure.
Till a fish with a grin, pulled the fisherman in.
Now they're fishing the fissure for Fisher.


If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which
watch?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck

if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?

Out in the pasture the nature watcher watches the catcher. While the catcher
watches the pitcher who pitches the balls. Whether the temperature's up or whether
the temperature's down, the nature watcher, the catcher and the pitcher are always
around. The pitcher pitches, the catcher catches and the watcher watches. So
whether the temperature's rises or whether the temperature falls the nature watcher
just watches the catcher who's watching the pitcher who's watching the balls.

by Sharon Johnson
22
 Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
Spread it thick, say it quick!
Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
Spread it thicker, say it quicker!
Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
Don't eat with your mouth full!

4. Palatal sounds: These sounds involve the front of the tongue and the
hard palate; there is only one palatal sound in English and it is
represented phonetically as [j]. The front of the tongue approaches the
hard palate while the sides of the tongue press against the upper
molars. The articulation of this palatal sound is illustrated in Picture
11:

Examples:

you yellow use usually university

 is always spelled either y or u, never j.

Think of five examples with . When your list is ready, practice saying each
word.

Now, let’s practice this palatal sound by reading the following sentences:

1. I want you to meet my Jew friend.

2. What university will you go to this year?
3. Yesterday you wore your yellow jacket, didn’t you?
4. You know New York. You need New York. You know you need unique New
York.

23
 C. Dorsal sounds: These sounds are speech gestures involving the back of the
tongue.

1. Velar sounds: the back of the tongue touches the hard palate; , as
illustrated in Picture 12:

Examples:

king Kansas example cake curb gate

long clog sing going finger

Notice that /ng/ clusters are normally pronounced , except for contexts wherein
n and g belong to two separate syllables, as in kan.garoo and en.gineer. An
exception would be the word finger which might be pronounced either // or
/ Also, notice here that x might be pronounced  + , as in example and
exaggerated.

Now, let’s practice these velar sounds by reading the following sentences:

1. The king came to the concert riding a great carriage.

2. Greg and Kyle climbed the highest mountain in Korea.

Let us practice these dorsal sounds in context by reciting these tong twisters out
loud:


A proper cup of coffee from a copper coffee pot.
A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies.
How many cans can a canner can, if a canner can can cans?
A canner can can as many cans as a canner can, if a canner can can cans.

24
 The king would sing, about a ring that would go ding

2. Glottal sounds: These are sounds involving the glottis or uvula; ʔ. They
are produced at the very back of the vocal tract and they involve the back of
the tongue, as shown in Picture 13:

Examples:

hotel hate inhale mountain gotten forbidden

Notice that  is an allophone (i.e., an alternative pronunciation) of either t or d;

hence, it is optional, though it is important to be able to articulate it and to identify
it in speech. Additionally, [ʔ is used in the pronunciation of past participle forms
such as gotten and forgotten.

❖ Think of five examples with each sound. When you are ready, practice saying
these words.

Now, let’s practice these glottal sounds by reading the following sentences:

1. I’ve never forgotten how horrible it was to climb that mountain.

2. He says that this student isn’t doing a good job here.

25
 Three Little Kittens
Bold target letters
Three little kittens they lost their mittens, and they began to cry,
“Oh mother dear, we sadly fear that we have lost our mittens.”
“What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.”
“Meeow, meeow, meeow, now we shall have no pie.”
The three little kittens they found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
“Oh mother dear, see here, see here
For we have found our mittens.”
“Put on your mittens, you silly kittens
And you shall have some pie”
“Meeow, meeow, meeow,
Now let us have some pie.”
The three little kittens put on their mittens
And soon ate up the pie,
“Oh mother dear, we greatly fear
That we have soiled our mittens.”
“What! soiled you mittens, you naughty kittens!”
Then they began to cry, “Meeow, meeow, meeow”
Then they began to sigh.
The three little kittens they washed their mittens
And hung them out to dry,
“Oh mother dear, do you not hear
That we have washed our mittens.”
“What! washed your mittens, you are good kittens.”
But I smell a rat close by,
“Meeow, meeow, meeow” we smell a rat close by…

26
3. Manner of articulation

As stated earlier, in the production of consonant sounds, air passes either through
the oral cavity or through the nasal cavity depending on whether the nasal passage
is blocked off or not. Picture 14 shows how oral and nasal articulations occur.

In Nasal sounds: the air comes out through the nose as it is prevented from
coming out through the mouth; the soft palate/velum is lowered and the air is
unable to go out through the mouth (i.e., the oral tract).

In Oral sounds: the air comes out through the mouth as the soft palate/velum
is raised, blocking the nasal passage.

These two possibilities are illustrated in Pictures 15 and 16:

27
 Manner of articulation refers to the way in which the air is expelled out of either
the oral cavity or the nasal cavity; it can be accomplished in several ways:

• articulators may close off the oral/nasal tract for an instant or for a longer
period of time
• articulators may narrow the space considerably
• articulators may modify the shape of the vocal tract by approaching each
other

Depending on these options, consonant sounds might be classified in terms of

manner of articulation as follows:

1. Stop sounds: sounds in which the air is completely blocked for a moment,
then released; stop sounds can be either oral or nasal (i.e., oral
stops/nasal stops).

Stop sounds in English are: ʔ].

Nasal stop sounds in English are [m ]

2. Fricative sounds: sounds in which there is close approximation of two

articulators so that the air stream is partly blocked; as a result, there is a
turbulent airflow; the air flow is sustained for a few milli-seconds. These
sounds are normally perceived as long. Fricative sounds in English are:
.

3. Approximant sounds: sounds in which one articulator is close to another,

but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a lot of
air can escape, without causing audible friction; the articulators are not
apart enough to be considered vowels.

Approximant English sounds are: .

Approximant sounds are sub-divided into two types depending on where
the air comes out:
a. Central approximant: the air escapes through the middle of the
tongue, .
❖ Think of three examples with  and practice saying each out loud.

b. Lateral approximant: the air escapes through the sides of the tongue,
.
❖ Think of three examples with  and practice saying each out loud.

4. Trill : the trill is not found in the English language, though it is found in
Spanish in words such as perro and rojo; many dictionaries and phonetics

28
 books use  instead of  to represent the sound in words such as red
and argue, but given that the trill is a sound that exists in other
languages, in this text we will always use  and not . This should also
help avoid the temptation of using the Spanish r and not the English one!
5. Tap: in this sound, the tongue makes a single tap against the alveolar
ridge (e.g., pity, better, butter, batter, quarter; ); this sound is a
variation (i.e., an allophone) of either [d] or [t], not a phoneme per se. The
tap occurs in contexts in which either ‘t’ or ‘d’ appear in between two vowel
sounds or between ‘r’ and a vowel. Also, it is very important to point out
that the tap is not an allophone of r as it is in Spanish (harina; pero), so
do not attempt to pronounce words such as arrive as either / or //the
correct sound will always be//.
❖ Think of three examples with  and practice saying each out loud.

6. Affricates: they consist of a stop immediately followed by a fricative;

. You should be able to feel that these sounds consist of a sort of
sequence of two sounds wherein there is a brief pause in the center
.

❖ Think of three examples with each manner of articulation and practice

saying each out loud.

II. Phonological processes in consonant sounds

Phonological processes are changes or adjustments that occur when we produce

and combine sounds into words or into larger linguistic units in the chain of speech.
Here are some key concepts to comprehend how and why phonological processes
take place in natural speech at least involving consonant sounds (phonological
processes involving vowel sounds will be addressed later on).

In order to comprehend phonological process, let us first introduce the following

concepts:

PHONEME: phonemes are sounds which differentiate one word from another (e.g.,
/p t s m/: pail-tail; sail-mail; pan-tan)

MINIMAL PAIRS: sets of words that differ from one another by a single phoneme:
shoe-chew; chair-share; wish-witch; yellow-Jell-O; ham-jam; boat-vote; bowel-
vowel

ALLOPHONE: allophones are sounds that are perceptually different but which do
not change the meaning of a word.
Examples:

29
 Paul apple cup
  

works has studies

  

talked seemed painted

  

better better mountain mountain

   ʔ

As can be seen in these examples, the various realizations of each phoneme are
determined according to the context; yet, if you were to produce  instead of  in
a word such as apple, though it would sound unnatural, the word would remain the
same; this is not the case with minimal pairs wherein if one sound is substituted by
another, the resulting word would be a different word, as in bat and bar, for
instance.

ASPIRATION: Only voiceless stop sounds are aspirated ; these sounds are
aspirated in syllable-initial position if the syllable is stressed, as in:

Paul, Peter, pan, paper, oppose, rapidity, appeal

What happens in the enunciation of these aspirated stop sounds is that they imply
a brief puff of air (i.e., they are plosive). Aspiration is represented with the h
diacritic, as in [th] [kh] [ph].

The best way to see that a sound is aspirated is by placing a small piece of paper in
front of your lips as the sound is produced; the piece of paper should move forward
as the puff of air is expelled.

Word-medially, at the beginning of an unstressed syllable, the phoneme is

unaspirated, as in:

Open Pope Apple

[p] [p] [p]

If a sound is unaspirated, it is simply represented with the root phoneme ();

we could refer to this phoneme as a neutral phoneme

30
In final position, these voiceless stop consonants are unreleased, that is, the sound
is not fully released or produced; it is represented as o (e.g., cup, soup, fort, port,
hit, knock, duck).

In order to best observe the difference between aspirated, unaspirated, and

unreleased sounds, pay close attention to the /p/ phoneme in the following words;
notice how each is different:
picture aptitude loop
opinion eruption soap

Stop sounds are not unreleased in the middle of an utterance, only at the end, as
illustrated in the following examples:
Do not use too much soap in that. (unaspirated /)
I love this new soap. (unreleased //)
I would like a cup of coffee please. (unaspirated /)
Pour the juice in this plastic cup. (unreleased /)

The letter  is pronounced as an unaspirated (neutral) sound when it appears as a

morphological marker, even though it appears at the end of words; if an unreleased
phoneme is produced instead, the morphological marker is left out hence resulting
in a violation to a grammatical rule (e.g., worked // not //).

In order to comprehend the phonetic process which results in syllabic consonants

(defined below), let us first define syllable.

THE SYLLABLE

A syllable is a pronunciation unit made up of at least a Nucleus (N), which

constitutes the core of the syllable and is normally a vowel segment or a diphthong.
A syllable might also contain an Onset (O), which refers to all the segments that
might appear before the vowel. The Rhyme(R) is made up of the Nucleus plus one or
more Codas (C); i.e., segments that appear after the nucleus. A syllable is
represented as σ. The diagram below is what is used to represent the syllable
structure for the word sprays:

31
 σ

O(Onset) R(Rhyme)

s ph 

N(Nucleus) C(Coda)

ej z

As can be seen, in order to represent the structure of a syllable, we rely on the

phonemes that make it up, not on the letters (i.e., //, not sprays); in its
spelling a monosyllabic word might have several letters which are phonetically
represented as a single phoneme, for example (thought //). Conversely, a word
might have more phonemes than letters, as in the word example //.

Exercise: In small groups, draw the syllable structure for each of the following
words.

student certainly kitten saddle button tunnel

SYLLABIC CONSONANTS: A syllabic consonant is a consonant sound that can

constitute the center of a syllable instead of a vowel (it can be the core of the syllable
despite the fact that this seems to violate the basic syllable structure). The nasal
consonant /n/ and the lateral /l/ have the capacity to become vowel-like because
they have allophones that can function as a weak syllable without the support of a
vowel sound. This happens when /n/ and /l/ constitute a weakly stressed syllable
following a strongly stressed one. Syllabic consonants are transcribed with a small
vertical line under the syllabic consonant sound. Syllabic  and  occur following
stressed syllables ending in alveolar consonants, most frequently /t/, /d/, and /n/.
Examples:
kitten /ʔ/ or // button didn’t shouldn’t

kettle // or // little ladle tunnel

saddle sentence certainly nickel

32
 garden student

Notice that the vowel in the last syllable corresponding to the first two words
disappears and hence, a syllabic consonant emerges.

Syllabification in English: Syllabification is very hard to predict in English; in fact,

children do not learn to divide words into syllables because of this fact, as do
Spanish-speaking children since First Grade. Nonetheless, here are some general
rules to go by:

1. Single-syllable words can be formed using one letter or many letters (e.g., a,
taught, ball, green).

2. The procedures for determining syllable boundaries can be rather complex.

The starting position is to apply what is known as the Maximal Onset
Principle, namely, if there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it goes
into the Onset rather than the Coda, that is, into the beginning of the
following syllable rather than the end of the preceding syllable. The principle
applies only if there are no phonotactic constraints.

3. In most English dictionaries, words that are more than one syllable long are
divided by a dot (.) or space between syllables.

4. English words that are polysyllabic (i.e., have more than one syllable) always
have one syllable that is stressed. In most English dictionaries, the stressed
syllable is indicated by a stress mark, a diachritic that resembles an
apostrophe (’); that diachritic is placed at the beginning of the stressed
syllable (e.g., ’ta.ble; here, the syllable which receives primary stress is ’ta.
//)There is debate as to how to break out polysyllabic words into syllables,
but here are some suggestions2:

’e.xit ’op.po.site ’Feb.ru.ar.y

’hu.mid ex. ’am.ine in. ’cred.i.ble
ma. ’chine’ em.ploy. ’ee psy. ’chol.ogy

2
As pointed out in http://ipfs-sec.stackexchange.cloudflare-ipfs.com/linguistics/A/question/7159.html, two
Principles apply to deciding on how words are broken down into syllables: 1) the maximum onset principle
(MOP): “as many consonants as possible should belong to the second syllable (i.e., the onset of the following
syllable should be maximized)”. In other words, the correct way to syllabify the word ‘very’, for example, would
be //, as there are words which begin with r- as the onset (e.g., road). Some linguists, however, argue that
stressed syllables must not have an empty coda, which would result in // as the right way to syllabify
‘very’.
Yet, another opinion is that “lax vowels such as /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ must not have an empty coda (because there are no
words ending in a lax vowel). This would mean, for instance, that 'hippy' should be syllabified as /'hɪp.i/, not
/'hɪ.pi/”. Some propose that certain consonants can belong to the preceding as well as to the following syllable
(i.e., they might be ambisyllabic).

33
LIGHT AND DARK /L/: Light /l/ occurs syllable-initially or after front vowels and it
is produced with the tongue tip placed at the alveolar ridge (leap/lip). Dark /ɫ/, in
contrast, occurs syllable finally after back vowels or after // and it is produced
with the body of the tongue approaching the velum (full/hole). The closer the tongue
to the velum, the darker the /ɫ/. What happens is that the articulation of back
vowels or// implies that the tongue body be moved toward the back of the vocal
tract, therefore forcing the articulation of /l/ to a post-alveolar position.

In order to comprehend how groups of consonants shall be pronounced, it is

paramount to understand what consonant clusters are.

CONSONANT CLUSTERS: The most universal type of syllable structure across the
world’s languages is CV (Consonant + Vowel), although a single vowel can be a
syllable by itself, as in the indefinite article ‘a’ (a house). Many English syllables are
CVC (e.g., seem, paid, bed). A consonant cluster is when two or more consonants
occur in a sequence in syllable-initial, mid-, or syllable-final position. In word-initial
position, there are many clusters of two consonants in English, and there are even
some with three. With clusters of two, the first consonant is normally /s/ and the
second one is an approximant (/l/, //, /w/, or /j/):
/sn-/: snake, speak, sky
/pr-/: pray
/kw-/: quite
/hj-/: huge
/pj-/: pure
/sl-/: slow
/sw-/: swift

With initial clusters of three consonants, the first sound is always /s/, the second
sound is a voiceless stop (i.e., /p,t,k/), and the third sound is one of the four
approximants (i.e., /l, ,w,j/).
/spl-/: splash. splinter
/str-/: strange, strong
/skw-/: square
/skj-/: skew

Challenging and word-final clusters:

strengths → CCCVCCC

thinks sixths

Reductions:
Fortunately for Spanish native speakers, there are exceptions which make it easier
to pronounce such complex consonant clusters because they might be reduced
therefore simplifying the speaker’s articulatory effort, as in:
skt → st: asked
sks → ss: asks

34
sts → ss: lists
kts → ks: 
pts → ps: scripts fifths sixths

Here, a word such as asked might be pronounced as  instead of the full ;
the  cluster gets reduced to /. The same happens in words such as scripts
where native speakers are more likely to say / than //

EXERCISE: Now that you are familiar with the term minimal pairs, provide as many
as you can think of with each of the following sets of sounds.

  *   *  

  *   *  

  *   *  

35
 ACTIVITY
In pairs, fill in the blanks by providing the correct sound symbol in each block. In
your notebook, write at least four examples that contain each segment either word-
initially, word-medially, or word-finally: try to come up with examples with the
various sounds in different positions within the words when possible (i.e., some
sounds might not occur in certain positions).

Consonant sounds of English

Bilabial Labio- Inter- Alveolar Post- Palatal Velar Glottal

dental dental alveolar

Stop

voiceless

voiced

Fricative

voiceless

voiced

Affricate

voiceless

voiced

Nasal
voiced

Approxim
ants
Semi-
vowels

Central
approxim
ant

36
 Lateral
approxim
ant

Tap
Voiced

37
As a review for places of articulation, individually or in pairs, write the name for all the places of
articulation in the oral tract which yield English consonant sounds; use arrows if needed.

38
 III. Consonant sounds in context

In the following pages, you will find a list of words with each of the consonant
sounds studied (phonemes and allophones). You will also find information regarding
exceptions for each consonant sound; pay close attention to such exceptions, as
these are the ones that might be challenging to master. Furthermore, words in
which letters are silent are provided for you to be aware of such exceptions (e.g.,
subtle; here, b is not pronounced).

Practice saying each word; if possible, record yourself reading each word out loud,
then listen to yourself and double-check your pronunciation. This recommendation
is especially true for consonant sounds that do not exist in Spanish.

 
pair pear prepare bear bare
peach push pan beach bush
pill post put buy bought
pay paid Paul bring brought
spider spout optimum break broke broken
cap cop cup blow blew blown
betting bedding
Silent [p] cab tribe
pneumonia
pseudonym Silent [b]
psychiatrist debt plumber
psalm doubt tomb 
crumb lamb
cupboard dumb bomb
raspberry numb comb
receipt subtle climb
thumb
Here, pay close attention to the /b/ is pronounced in mb clusters in
different phonetic realizations of  words where the /b/ belongs to a
depending on where it is found within separate syllable, as in:
each word. bom-barded com-bine crum-ble
Dum-bo num-ber mem-ber

39
  

time tough try tiny door cold field drive drove

twisters straight write cut driven card hard address (n)
doubt Thai Thomas adult under address (v)
Theresa protect pretend detach
retire attempt attend attack
attorney maintain contain Silent [d]
entertain
handkerchief handsome
Here, pay close attention to the Wednesday Ma-am (madam)
different phonetic realizations of 
depending on where it is found within
each word.
Silent [t]
castle whistle catch watch
kitchen chestnut Christmas fasten
listen often soften
mortgage mustn’t twisters
entertain depot
In some words of French origin, do not
pronounce the /t/; /t/ is substituted
by the palatal /j/:
ballet  buffet chalet
filet crochet gourmet valet

 
spelled ‘k’ grow grew grown give gave
kiss book given egg guitar guard guide
guess argue ghost ghetto
spelled ‘c’ spaghetti
cook clock card cord count cry
spelled ‘x’ (pronounced /gz/)
spelled ‘cc’ example exhibit exotic exaggerated
occasion accountant accuse accent exit exuberant

spelled ‘ch’ Notice that here we have a sequence of

chemistry headache two consecutive voiced phonemes
/g+z/.
spelled ‘q’
conquer quick quiet squeeze quest

spelled ‘x’ (pronounced /ks/)

40
 Silent [g]
next sixty relax fix gnome gnash (puree) campaign
reign gnat (tiny insect) foreigner
Notice that here we have a sequence of diaphragm tongue
two consecutive voiceless phonemes sign design resign
/k+s/.
When do we pronounce [g.n]?
Here, pay close attention to the In separate syllables
different phonetic realizations of  sig.nal sig.na.ture re.sig.na.tion)
depending on where it is found within
each word.

Silent [k]
knee kneel knelt muscle
know knew known knowledge
knife knight knot asked

 
vet verse vine veal valley
friend flood flee fled evil love cover over
before leaf thief off
coffee difficult
Spelled ‘f’
Spelled ‘ph’ of (this is an exception!)
photograph physician alphabet What’s this made of? //
sphere

Spelled ‘gh’
laugh cough rough
enough tough

 
theater Thursday thumb the this them therefore
thief filthy healthy that father mother bother
wealthy bath breath(n) leather weather whether (homophones)
cloth mouth teeth (n) feather bathe (v) breathe (v)
fourth nineteenth(ordinal clothe teethe (v) soothe
numbers) smooth (noun/adjective/verb)

Silent ‘th’
asthma

41
  
sun grass seat silent zoo zest has xerox
loss boss sound excuse (n) does was hers herbs
scissors dogs desserts closet
Spelled ‘cc’ easy these plays possess
accent accident vaccine cousin

Spelled ‘x’ (pronounced /ks/) Verbs:

six box relax to house to excuse to use to lose

Spelled ‘z’
pizza pretzel waltz

Silent [s]
isle island debris Arkansas Illinois

 
shop shell cash ashes ashamed Spelled ‘g’
she fish beige garage regime
rush flashlight cushion wash massage prestige mirage

Spelled ‘c’ Spelled ‘s’

ocean social delicious ancient casual occasion Asian
leisure pleasure treasure
Spelled ‘s’ or ‘ss’ usual measure television
sugar sure insurance tissue invasion decision division
permission pressure collision explosion version
Here, notice how words that end –sion
Spelled ‘ch’ or -sure are normally pronounced ,
Chicago Michigan Chevrolet not 
champagne brochure machine
parachute chandelier
Spelled ‘z’
Spelled ‘t’ seizure azure
initial education situation cautious
tradition



hat hot hut here hide hold hospital whom whose who

Silent [h]
heir honest honor hour neighbor rhyme vehicle* ghost herb hordeurvs

42
*vehicle might be pronounced /ɫ / or /ɫ/

They called him / They called her → unstressed non-initial him, his, her

 
bachelor cheese church Spelled ‘j’
catch juice major injure adjust
chore kitchen chew June job joke janitor
which jungle Jane

Recall that some words might be

spelled ch yet be pronounced  Spelled ‘g’
baggage magic region regional
Spelled ‘t’ margarine register edge
future culture architecture registrar
adventure courage encourage
message messenger
village voyage danger
Spelled ‘c’ wedge hinge pledge
cello concerto giraffe ledge (shelf)

In context: Spelled ‘d’

What’ya doing? gradual individual education
Don’ya care? graduate
Can’ya take care of it?
I wan’ya. Often spelled ‘dg’ (judge/ledge--shelf),
‘ld’ (soldier), or ‘dj’ (adjective/adjacent)
Not pronounced:
yacht Recall that words spelled y are never
pronounced  (e.g., the word you is
not pronounced // but //.

  

Mrs. sum banner winner sing wrong cling
dam(wall) summer knee knelt ringer hanger lung
hammer me know knew tongue finger
diaphragm knight knife anxious
knowledge knot strong
Silent [m]
Mnemonic gnome (elf) reign sign
resign In ALL –ing endings

43
 Silent [n] walking teaching
hymn condemn playing
autumn column
solemn damn

 
later lamp love lips rope ripe ring restaurant
ladder alligator crocodile pole argument early ear
ball core snore explore
repair
Silent [l]
calf half palm calm Silent 
chalk talk would could Mrs iron*
should folk salmon pearl
*The pronunciation of this word is
Recall that when  is preceded by a unexpected, as it is  not
back vowel or by “r” it is pronounced ; the position of  and  is
/ɫ/.
inverted.

 (V t/d V) ʔ (V t/d V; VntVn))

better butter batter gotten forgotten beaten
writer rider later mountain fountain sultan
Carter otter border*
This allophone is described as the
Here, recall that this sound is an absence of sound because the sound
allophone of [t] or [d], NOT an allophone gets absorbed, sort of speak.
of /r/.

 
water when where which who what young yesterday yellow yuck yen

Recall that /j/ is never used to

pronounce words spelled j (joke, for
example).

44
1. Pair Activity

Now that we have studied consonant sounds in detail, read each of the following
words; carefully look at the bolded letter(s). Describe the place and manner of
articulation for the bolded letter(s) in each word; keep in mind the context in which
each sound occurs. In some of the words, one letter might be pronounced as two
segments; in such cases, describe both, whereas, in others, two letters are
pronounced as a single sound. In some words, the target letter might simply be silent;
if so, write SILENT. You may use a dictionary to double-check your answers:

1. feather

2. badge

3. ocean

4. atom

5. handkerchief

6. example

7. cover

8. to house

9. soften

10. pleasure

11. please (V)

12. student

13. salmon

14. border

15. which

16. chandelier

17. island

18. excellent

19. illusion

45
20. passion

46
In this section, we include multiple examples of words, phrases, and sentences with
challenging sounds for Spanish speakers and establish contrasts among similar
words (i.e., minimal pairs or sets). Listen to them from your teacher and practice
reading each word/phrase.

The Voiceless "th" Sound

Minimal Pairs/sets
thin sin fin myth mitt ether either
thick sick tick path pat wreath reef
thank sank tank
thought sought taught
think sink

Challenging Words

• thief • ruthless • Thanksgiving • threshold

• theft • threaten • thermodynamic • arithmetic
• thorn • mammoth • mathematics • parentheses
• thrice • monthly • parenthetical 4 • wrath5
• thrust3 • withdraw • health
• broth

In Phrases

through thick and thin the wrath of God master's thesis

throw in the towel thanks a bunch three's a crowd
a loose tooth a thorn in the side a thorough analysis
worth a fort birth certificate withdrawal symptoms

Dialogue
A: When's Thanksgiving?
B: It's on a Thursday in November.
A: The third Thursday or the fourth?
B: I think it's the fourth.
A: That would be the twenty-fifth.
B: No, it's the twenty-sixth.
A: Thanks.

3
To push
4
Extra information; information in parenthesis
5
Great anger (e.g., the wrath of God)

47
Oral Reading

The Myth of Security

If you think you're safe from thievery, think again. Most thefts occur within three
miles of the victim's home. People often venture into the streets without giving
their valuables a second thought. They leave things out in the open, where thieves
can easily spot them. Items worth thousands of dollars can be stolen in a tenth of
a second. So be thoughtful. Only you can thwart6 this terrible crime. Watch your
things carefully. Thieves do.

Pronunciation - The Voiced "th" Sound

Minimal Pairs
Thee (you) dee Bathe bade
Then den Breather breed
That Teethe tease
They day Other udder/utter
There dare
Though dough

Challenging Words

• feather • the • rhythm • thereupon

• zither7 • they • rhythmic • therewith
• lather • theirs • therefore
• rather • they've

In Phrases

under the weather teething ring rhythm, rhyme and

one or the other That was then, this is now harmony
either this one or that one bathing beauties lather, rinse, repeat
father, mother, sister, brother a feather in her cap

6
Stop from happening.
7
Musical instrument.

48
Dialogue
A: Is your father coming to the gathering this Saturday?
B: No. Neither is my mother.
A: That's too bad. My brother was looking forward to seeing them.
B: Well, they're both a little under the weather.
A: Oh, sorry to hear that. Can I send something or other to cheer them up?
B: Please don't bother. They'll be fine.

Oral Reading
Even though my father is a weatherman, he can't predict with absolute certainty
whether it will rain or not. Neither can the other people who work with him.
They say there's only a thirty per cent chance of rain, and the next thing you
know, it's pouring. They predict snow, and there's nothing for another five days.
Then, there's a blizzard. So rather than trust my father's weather forecasts, I
use a more reasonable approach. I ask my mother.

Pronunciation     

shoe chew Jew major mayor etch edge

she chi (the vital life force of the body watching washing witch wish
supposedly supported by pager payer catch cash
acupuncture) bridges britches leash leech
ship chip ageless h-less much mush
shack Jack yack
shin chin gin
shell gel yell

Challenging Words
• jail • chest • stranger • exchange
• share • shrew9 • shrinking • voyager
• yawn • jinx • fragile • jealousy
• child • chicken • Yankee • January
• sheaf8 • kitchen • genealogy • childishness
• chief • midget • shadowy • ingenuity
• yeast • yearly • plagiarism
• yen10 • Jill

8
A handful of things tied together.
9
A bad-temper scolding woman.
10
Japanese currency.

49
In Phrases

cash register a jet engine which is which?

Generation X Cajun chicken the Challenger tragedy
wishy-washy a jazz musician place your wager
wedge issues yellow jacket pickled jellyfish
New Jersey shore
George Washington University

Dialogue
A: Which university did you go to?
B: I went to Yale/jail.
A: Oh yeah? When did you graduate
B: I never finished the last term.

A: What did the genie give you?

B: Three wishes.
A: Oh really? What did you use them for?
B: A magic ride in the night sky.

Oral Reading
Jerry and Sherry were very fond of cherry jelly. Every year in July, they would
jump in their jeep and head for the orchard, where they would pick a few bushels
of the fruit in a jiffy. Then they would carry their cherished treasure to Sherry's
house, where they would proceed to change the berries into their favorite treat.
They used and old-fashioned recipe, which called for sugar, gelatin, and of
course, jillions of cherries. They stirred the mixture in a huge aluminum pot,
then gently poured it into shallow jars. They shared a few samples with the
children, but the majority of the batch would be saved until January or February
when they could enjoy it even more.

Pronunciation - The "v" Sound

best vest beliefs believes

bee v wife wives
very berry loaf loaves

50
Challenging Words

• vast • live (adj) • vivid • vegetable

• vice • vile12 • savvy • visionary
• void • rave13 • harvest • vacancy
• five • thrive • lover • convenience
• grove11 • strive • louver14 • vehicle
• glove • very • every • vivacious
• live (V) • vinyl • evasion
• vile • convey • invalid (N/adj)
• rave • virile
• vestige15

In Phrases

moving violation get even violent behavior

It's better to give than to virtue and vice twenty-seventh
receive every once in a while anniversary
vanity fair never again wide variety
veteran's bureau liven up invaluable advice
invasion of privacy verifiable evidence

Dialogue
A: How did you avoid a parking violation?
B: Easy. I parked my vehicle in a vacant lot.
A: Don't they ever check there?
B: Never. Not even in the most severe crackdowns.
A: You're lucky. I've been cited five times.
B: Take my advice. Get a validated parking sticker.

Oral Reading

Valentine’s Day is for Lovers

Every February 14th, Von and Verna celebrate Valentine's Day. They
leave their worries behind and revisit the place they first met seven
years ago: a small cove near the Valley of the Five Ravens.

11
Small orchard or flower.
12
Unpleasant/disgusting.
13
To talk wildly.
14
Type of vent.
15
remains

51
 Chapter 4: English Vowels

Unlike the articulation of consonants, in the articulation of vowels articulators do

not come very close together and the passage of air is relatively unobstructed
(Ladefoged, 2001). All English vowels are voiced, so voicing is not used when
describing vowel segments. Furthermore, vowels are not described in terms of place
of articulation, but in terms of the shape and size of the oral cavity while enouncing
each segment.

Now that you have become familiar with places of articulation in the vocal tract and
that you comprehend where consonant sounds are produced, we are ready to begin
the study of English vowel sounds.

Vowels can be described as the core of a syllable; in fact, a syllable can consist of a
single vowel, as in the words ‘a’ and ‘eye’ (i.e.,), as stated in the previous chapter.

Picture 17 shows where the various English vowels are produced in the oral cavity:

If we think of the oral cavity as a resonance chamber, then the size and shape of
this chamber can be modified by the movement of the tongue and the opening or
closing of the jaw (Celce-Mircie et al., 1996). Vowels are described in terms of height
(height of the tongue body), fronting (similar to place of articulation in consonant
sounds, as it refers to where in the vocal tract the tongue is placed as well as to the
part the tongue which is used), and tensing of the tongue.

52
Overall, vowels can be distinguished from each other according to which part of the
tongue is involved (front, central, back; fronting) and by how high or low the tongue
is when the sound is produced (high, mid, low; height), as well as by how tense or
lax the tongue is while producing the sound (tensing).

The highest point of the tongue is the front of the mouth, and the vowels produced
with the tip of the tongue are hence called front vowels (comparable to alveolar
consonant sounds); these are  Front vowels are produced with the
front of the tongue high in the mouth near the front of the hard palate and with the
jaw in relatively closed position, as can be seen in Picture 18 below.

The tongue is fairly close to the roof of the mouth in the vowel in words such as
‘deed’ (something done; a contract), (high) slightly less close for the vowel in ‘did’
(mid), lower for the vowel in ‘dead’ and ‘dad’ (low), and lowest for the vowel in
‘father’. If you were to look in the mirror while saying the vowels in each of these
words, you would see that your mouth becomes progressively more open while the
tongue remains in the front of the mouth (you are advised to use a mirror to observe
this progression). Front vowels can be seen in Picture 18.

The jaw moves from a closed position to an open position while enouncing front
vowels.

Vowels in which the tongue is close to the upper or back surface of the vocal tact
are referred to as back vowels (comparable to velar consonant sounds) and they are
. The tongue is highest in the vowel in ‘food’ (i.e., ), which is called a
high back vowel. In contrast, the vowel in ‘good’, , is a mid back vowel. This is
illustrated in the Picture 19 below:

53
Vowels produced in the central part of the oral cavity are referred to as central
vowels (approximately in the post-alveolar and palatal region). Central vowels are
either mid () or low (; Spanish sound, as in ‘abeja’). Although  is also
reported for some varieties of English, in this text we will not use this vowel
segment; instead, either the front vowel [] or the back vowel [] are used.

Vowels are additionally described in terms of tensing of the tongue, as stated above.
Tense vowels are articulated with more muscle tension than lax vowels (remember
that the tongue is a muscle!). This added muscle tension serves to stretch the
articulation of tense vowel sounds to more extreme frontal positions in the mouth,
making them less centered and longer.

Tense vowels can occur in both stressed open syllables (i.e., syllables without a
final consonant sound as in ‘tea’, ‘may’, ‘paw’) and stressed closed syllables (i.e.,
syllables ending in a consonant, as in ‘team’, ‘main’. ‘lawn’). Lax vowels, on the
other hand, are articulated with more relaxed muscles and they do not have a
tendency towards dipthongization. Furthermore, in monosyllabic words or when
stressed, lax vowels only occur in closed syllables (e.g., ‘him’, ‘met’, ‘fun’) and never
in open syllables.

54
 I. English vowel sounds in detail

This section provides a detailed description of how each English vowel segment is
produced, it includes plenty of examples for each segment, and it provides
information regarding the spelling for each vowel segment (spelling-to-sound
correspondence is mostly unpredictable for vowel sounds in English; in fact, English
is referred to as an aphonetic language because of this feature).

Long 
The phonetic symbol  is used to represent a high sound produced with the tip of
the tongue almost touching the alveolar ridge. Because of the tension of the tongue
body, the tongue raises in the center, as shown in Picture 20 below.

This is a front, high, tense vowel

NOTE: Long vowels are normally tense, whereas shorter ones are lax.

Examples with long 

eat mean eel Reed please police
eagle seat beet neat keep eager
either tea she agree key he
east beast need lead bead peach

Long  is normally spelled ‘e’, as in

he we me scene these

‘ee’, as in
see eel deed heel needy

‘ea’, as in

55
 east seat lean team bean

‘ie’ or ‘ei’, as in
niece brief piece either

‘y’ in final position, as in

happy healthy twenty yummy

Notice that ‘i’ is rarely pronounced //

Short 
The phonetic symbol  is used to represent a sound between  and . As
shown in the picture below, it is pronounced with the jaw and tongue raised more
than for  but not as much as for ; the tongue is almost at the same place as it
is for [] but a bit lower.

Picture 21 illustrates this front, high, lax vowel.

Examples with short 

ship pin lift give miss bit
dip timid winter listen itch minute
lip little instant inch into ill
is if slip sip sit still
sill live tin dill give fifty

Short  is normally spelled ‘y’, as in

gym syrup symbol system rhythm

‘ui’, as in
build quick quilt guilty guitar

56
 ‘i’, as in
lip with gift differ

Notice in Picture 22 how the tongue drops a bit from  to 

Transcription exercise:

Now that you know how to represent all English consonant sounds, you are ready to
provide full transcriptions for each of the following words; these words form minimal
pairs. Once you transcribe them, read the transcriptions out loud, double-checking
your pronunciation.
least list seat sit
heat hit feet fit
leave live deal dill
deed did Lynn lean
chip cheap field filled
bean bin sleep slip
neat knit heel hill

Long  ( / )

The phonetic symbol  is used to represent a diphthong (in English, diphthongs
refer to any combination of two vowels in a sequence). It begins with  and ends
with . Any of the symbols provided might be used to represent this sound; just
pick one and use it consistently; I suggest using  as it more clearly depicts the
fact that it is a diphthong; most dictionaries use // to represent this vowel sound.

This is a front, mid, tense vowel

57
Examples with :
ate same way bake rain say age came day aim lake lay
date may ache table they obey eight place break April paint stay
play ape ace weight wait bait late blame claim mate clay
Spelling rules:
‘a’ ‘ai ‘ay’ ‘eigh’
late main day eight
sane fail bay weight
safe wait hay sleigh
hate grain ray freight (cargo/shipment)
lady raise play neighbor

Short 
The sound  is shorter than the sound , and the tongue is at mid-height, as
shown in Picture 23.

This is a front, mid, lax vowel.

Examples with :

any end bed next egg rest else bend every many bread
error fence elephant present/present better met let wet get

Spelling rules:
‘e’ ‘ea’
yes head
red lead
sell meadow
never measure

58
Transcription exercise:

Provide full transcriptions for each of the following words; these words form minimal
pairs. Once you transcribe them, read the transcriptions out loud, double-checking
your pronunciation.
met mate red raid
bet bait wed wade
fed fade wet weight
less lace get gate
let late

The diagraph 

This sound is produced by spreading the lips and opening the mouth, but not so
wide as to produce the  sound. It is a front, low, lax vowel.

Picture 24 illustrates where this front, low, lax vowel s produced.

Examples with :

at cat am have ask back actor flag absent class
rapid animal rabbit habit mat past chance passed jacket
rather hat pack lack yak sack bag gag nag
that sat calendar caliber happy brat

Even though this sounds seems to be longer that all other lax vowels, it is because it
sort of combines two sounds:  + .

59
Transcription exercise:

Provide full transcriptions for each of the following words; these words form minimal
pairs. Once you transcribe them, read the transcriptions out loud, double-checking
your pronunciation.
had head
mat met
pat pet
land lend
past pest
tan ten
sad said
and end
add Ed

The  sound

This sound is produced with a wide-open mouth; the tongue is positioned low front,
although its height may vary across dialects.

This is a front, low, tense vowel, as shown in Picture 25.

Examples with :

father chop cot got not/knot optics

pop rock body bow vowel optimum
bowel lot hard card God optimistic
hide high buy bye lay calf
liar towel on honest March collar
artist option watch wash arm dollar
odd rocket are problem shop dog

Transcription exercise:
Provide full transcriptions for each of the following words. Once you transcribe
them, read the transcriptions out loud, double-checking your pronunciation.
60
 cop cap top tap
hot hat log lag
pot pat lock lack
odd add cob cab
mop map solid salad

The ‘wedge’ 

 is a short quick sound; you should not feel any tension and your lips should
barely move during its production, as shown in Picture 26.

It is a mid, central, lax vowel, tenser than the schwa.

Examples with :

us up hug won of nut oven does ugly
much other must sum under come uncle rough
month onion trouble sung hung lung rung
mother uh-hu ultrasound unacceptable uncommon
gut hungry hunt hurry

Spelling rules:
‘u’ ‘o’
but love
cut done
sun some
lucky mother
funny Monday

NOTE: Unlike the schwa (), the wedge occurs ONLY in stressed reduced syllables.

The schwa 

 is the sound that results in English when ANY vowel is unstressed in a word.
Any letters or combination of letters can represent the schwa.

61
 It is a mid, central, lax vowel.

Examples with :

ago agony soda away holiday sofa amaze buffalo
upon relative famous asleep photograph lemon contain suppose
balloon circus reason

Spelling rules: The problem posed by this sound is that it may be spelled as any
vowel, so long as it occurs in a reduced context, as shown in the examples below:

‘a’ ‘e’ ‘i’ ‘o’ ‘u’

arrived oven liquid occur upon
ashamed open humid obtain suppose
asleep cement capital lemon circus
away jacket typical lesson column
signal darkness

Furthermore, the schwa can appear more than once in a single word and it can be
represented by different letters, as in ‘president’, ‘elephant’, ‘accident’

Transcription exercise:
Provide full transcriptions for each of the underlined words in the following
sentences. Once you transcribe them, read the transcriptions out loud, double-
checking your pronunciation.
1. How are you today?
2. See you tonight.
3. See you tomorrow.
4. Don’t complain.
5. I suppose so.
6. I suppose it’s possible.
7. Consider my complaint.
8. Complete today’s lesson.

Long 

The tongue body is back and elevated into a high back position; there is contact
against the upper molars.

62
 Picture 27 illustrates where this high, back, tense vowel is enounced.

Examples with 

food do pool new room shoe suit truth
flew goose chew group threw ruler through school

Spelling rules:
‘u’ ‘oo’ ‘o’ ‘ew’ ‘ue’
rule cool do new due
rude fool to drew blue
June too who stew clue
tune noon tomb knew glued
tuna stool lose news avenue

Note: when the letter ‘u’ is followed by the letters ‘t’, ‘d’, ‘n’, or ‘s’, some native
speakers pronounce it  as in: Tuesday duty new suit

Short 

This sound is shorter than ; the tongue-tip is elevated to high-mid position.

63
 This is a high, back, lax vowel.

Examples with 

cook out full book wood took good stood cushion
foot look hood shook sugar push woman could

Spelling rules:
‘u’ ‘oo’ ‘ou’
pull wool could
put wood would
push good should
bullet cookie
pudding hook

Hints: the letters ‘oo’ followed by ‘d’ or ‘k’ are usually pronounced , as in
hood good book look cook

Minimal pairs with

 
fool full
suit soot (filth)
Luke look
pool pull
stewed stood
cooed could
who’d hood

Transcription exercise: Provide full transcriptions for the following sentences.

Once you finish, read each sentence out loud, making sure you carefully enounce
each segment:

1. Pull the raft from the pool.

2. Too many cooks spoil the soup

3. Mr. Brooks is good looking.

4. June is a good month to move.

5. Lucy had a loose tooth pulled.

64
Long   
 is a diphthong that begins with  and ends with 

This is a mid, back, tense vowel, as illustrated in Picture 28.

Examples with 

oat boat go own both so oak coat toe roam sew loan
ago over spoke hello ocean don’t though toad
snow show no road

Spelling rules:
‘o’ ‘oa’ ‘ow’ ‘oe’ ‘ou’
no soap know toe dough
rope goat owe foe (enemy) though
vote loan grow goes shoulder
home foam throw
fold load bowl

Minimal pairs with

 
phone fun
bone bun
roam rum
boast(possess) bust
tone ton
coat cut
boat but
hole hull (the body of a ship; section which goes under water)
comb come
most must

65
Short/Open 
 is shorter than ; the tongue is positioned back in a low-mid position

This back, low, lax vowel is illustrated in Picture 29

Examples with 

or boss awe (fear) off song law also
store saw wrong flaw often broad draw
ought bought claw awful always taught
thaw August across straw audience naughty

Spelling rules:
‘o’ ‘a’ ‘aw’ ‘au’
*dog fall jaw auto
toss call lawn fault
lost mall dawn cause
long salt drawn auction
offer stall awful authentic
otter fault paw taught

HINTS:
The letter ‘o’ followed by ‘ff’, ‘ng’, and ‘ss’ is usually pronounced , as in
offer off long strong loss tossing

The letters ‘aw’ are usually pronounced , as in

lawn draw awful

The letter ‘a’ followed by ‘ll’, ‘lk’, ‘lt’, and ‘’ld’ is usually pronounced , as in
ball talk salt bald

66
Minimal Pair drill

     

dog dug saw so for far
dawn done law low stalk stock
long lung tall toll taught tot
cough cuff bald bold caught cot
bought but bought boat caller collar

The following two phonetic symbols are also often used in dictionary transcriptions;
make sure to recognize them; you are welcome to use them or not.

The ɝ sound:

This sound occurs in contexts in which a wedge is followed by a ; it occurs ONLY
in stressed syllables. The tongue-tip is curled backward forming a retroflex sound.

The [ɚ] sound:

This sound occurs in the same contexts as [ɝ] but it occurs with unstressed
syllables; in any context where a schwa appears followed by .

Examples with [ɝ]:

urn turn fur herb word blur earn verb stir earth
early curve prefer urgent learn circus Thursday bird journey girl
firm third circle hurt curl curb purple turkey fern term
stern German servant occur third

Examples with [ɚ]:

Saturday baker perhaps butter mirror surprise mother
afternoon sooner butterfly teacher flowerpot deliver understand
sugar after color nature dollar paper actor
picture father flavor feature regular farmer doctor
failure grammar silver razor measure weather collar

67
Chapter 5: Suprasegmental Processes: an Approximation

Phonological processes apply beyond individual segments; they apply in connected

speech depending on the context in which a given sound is placed. Both,
consonants and vowels can assimilate. Here, we refer to some basic supra-
segmental processes, in addition to those introduced for consonant sounds in
Chapter 2 as phonological processes.

1. Assimilation (Change)
Assimilation is when one sound takes on the characteristics of a neighboring sound.
Often times, assimilation is seen as an example of ‘laziness’; however, such a
characterization ignores the fact that assimilation is a universal feature of spoken
language. Native speech is characterized by constant assimilation processes to
sound ‘natural’; it normally also derives from the Economy Principle whereby les
articulatory effort is preferred to ‘save’ time.
In English, assimilation occurs frequently both within words and across word
boundaries. There are three types of assimilation: progressive, regressive, and
coalescent.
In progressive assimilation the conditioning sound precedes and affects the
following sound (X → Y). Examples of this type of assimilation in English are the
plural ending alternations [s] and [z] and the simple past ending alternations [t] and
[d], in which the final sound of the root conditions the voicing status of the suffix.

goes /go d/ Here, the voiced vowel /o/ forces the past tense
marking morpheme to become voiced; i.e., to assimilate (/d/)

Regressive assimilation refers to a more pervasive process as compared to

progressive assimilation. In regressive assimilation the assimilated sound precedes
and is affected by the conditioning sound (XY. Examples of this kind of
assimilation include the words grandpa and pancake. In the first, the labial sound
[p] forces the alveolar sound [n] to become labial [m], as explained below:

grandpa → //
here, the first thing which happens is that the letter ‘d’ is silent; hence, we obtain
//; next, the labial phoneme /p/ forces its preceding sound, namely /n/ to
also become labial, namely /m/
//

The same happens in In pancake where the [k] causes the [n] to become ; the
place of articulation of the conditioning sound forces the preceding sound to become

68
more like it, i.e., to assimilate to its velar place of articulation. Other examples
involving velar sounds that serve as the conditioning sounds are invention ,
angry , incoherent 

Regressive assimilation also occurs frequently with the modals have/has to (when
expressing obligation) and used to (when expressing a formal habitual actions):
have + to → ‘hafta’ has + to → ‘hasta’ used + to → ‘justa’
Here, the voiceless [t] of to is the conditioning sound which causes the voiced [v], [z],
and [d] preceding it to assimilate and become voiceless [f], [s], and [t].
Another example of regressive assimilation is found in English spelling with the
negative prefix in-, which occurs as –in in all cases except when the subsequent
sound is a bilabial or a liquid sound, as in impossible, imbalanced, immobile (as
compared to inflexible, indifferent, illogical). Eventually, this phonological
phenomenon was incorporated into the spelling (*inmobile → immobile; *inlegal →
illegal).
Other examples of regressive assimilation include:
in- -im → the bilabial segment causes the segment in the prefix to assimilate
inoperative impossible inconclusive
intangible imbalanced inconsiderate
inflexible immobile incorrect
indirect impractical incomplete
insufficient inconvenient
intolerance
il- ir- → here, the negative prefix gets conditioned to become more like the
liquids /l/ and //

illogical irreplaceable
illegal irrelevant

Also:
n+g →  n+k → 

A yet different type of regressive assimilation is found in the definite article ‘the’.
When it precedes a consonant sound, it is pronounced  (e.g., the car
//)In contrast, when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel sound, it
is pronounced  (e.g., the ice /). This results from a natural process to help
with the flow in speech; the pause between the final sound in ‘the’ and the first
vowel in ‘ice’ is avoided.

In a word such as university, the first process applies, as the first phoneme in
university is a consonant sound, namely /j/, not a vowel sound; it is transcribed as
//).

69
On the other hand, in rapid speech, sequences of sibilants (i.e., s-like sounds) are
particularly susceptible to regressive assimilation wherein two consecutive sibilants
of the type // + // become a single sibilant sound, namely //, as in:
+ Swiss chalet →  horseshoe 

+ his shirt   one’s shadow 

Coalescent assimilation is a type of reciprocal assimilation where the first and

second sounds in a sequence such as /s,z/ and /t,d/ or final alveolar consonant
sequences such as /ts/ and /dz/ are followed by an initial palatal /y j/. In such
contexts, these sequences become palatalized fricatives and affricates respectively:
I miss you →  +  → 
Does your mother know? →  + /→ 
Is that your dog? →  +  → 
She lets your cat in →  +  → 
Would you mind moving? →  +  → 
She needs your help →  +  → 

This type of assimilation is also known as palatalization.

2. Elision / Deletion (Omission)

Elision refers to when a sound or syllable is lost or omitted. It particularly affects:
consonant clusters, weakly stressed syllables that are not especially missed, and
words that end in an alveolar consonant and that are immediately followed by a
word beginning with a consonant (e.g., east side; blind man; wild boar – as
COMPARED TO east end). The sounds that are elided are those sounds so weakly
articulated that they no longer have any auditory significance.
Some elided (deleted)syllables are represented in standard punctuation, for example,
/I'm/ should be /I am/. In standard speech, the missing vowel is understood and
so meaning does not suffer from this contraction.

Additionally, with stop consonants, a final [t] or [d] may be deleted following initial
[p, k] or [b, g] correspondingly, as in.
Examples:
good boy  good girl 
at peace  pet kitten ʔ

Elision is most commonly used in, but is not exclusive to, connected speech. The
faster the speech, the more likely that sounds and syllables will be elided.

70
Another cause of elision is the loss of a weak vowel after the voiceless plosives /p/,
/t/ and /k/, as in

is an example of the schwa being elided after /p/.

Another cause of elision is when a weak vowel is elided before the syllabic
consonants /l/ or /n/, as in

demonstrates the loss of the schwa before the /n/.

Complex clusters are often elided in order to simplify the saying of the sound.

is elided into the much simpler:

‘George the Sixth’s Throne’

The voiced labio-dental fricative  is often elided when it comes before a consonant,
as in

‘Loads of money’

Contracted forms of words are caused by elision, as in

Finally, some elisions are just by convention or to speed up or simplify the way we
speak, as in

‘secretary’

Note
When a vowel is elided, it is usually a weak vowel, typically the schwa.
When a consonant is elided, it is usually because it's in an environment with other
consonants.

Other examples of deletion include:

o Loss of /t/ in /nt/ clusters, as in winter Toronto enter

o Loss of /t/ or /d/ when they occur second in a cluster at a word boundary if
the following word begins with a consonant, as in

71
 ▪ east side blind man wild boar

when the following word begins with a vowel, final /t/ and /d/ are
maintained, as in
▪ east end blind eye wild alligator

o Loss of unstressed medial vowels, as in

o chocolate every miserable generally beverage emerald
o comparable evening history interesting different favorite

o In rapid informal speech, deletion occasionally occurs in two-syllable words

such as
o correct parade police suppose garage

o Loss of the first non-initial // in a word that has another // in a following
syllable, as in
▪ February governor surprise temperature

o Loss of initial /h/ in pronominal forms, as in

o ask her tell him help him

72
 Chapter 6: Stress, rhythm, and intonation at word level

According to Celce-Murcie et al. (1996), whereas errors at the segmental level might
cause temporary problems in communication, errors with intonation contours might
be interpreted by native speakers as abrupt or even rude. Similarly, if the stress and
rhythm are non-native-like, “the speakers who produce them may not be
understood at all” (p.131), even if all segments are pronounced correctly.

Stressed syllables are those syllables within an utterance that are longer, louder,
and higher in pitch. In English, stressed syllables are more noticeable than in other
languages, as is the case with Romance languages. In fact, in English there are at
least three levels of stressed syllables: strongly stressed syllables, lightly stressed
syllables, and unstressed syllables. In addition, in English stress might fall on any
syllable; this lack of predictability as to where the stress falls is confusing to non-
native learners.

In this chapter, we refer to a few basic concepts related to word stress which might
be useful to start off; it is not intended to cover this topic at length.

Facts that determine where the stress falls in a word include the word historical
origin, affixation, and grammatical function.

For words of Germanic origin, for example, the first syllable of the base form of a
word is typically stressed, as in
FAther YEllow FINger ELbow
SISter OFten WISdom WAter

*Stressed syllables appear in capital letters throughout this chapter.

Many French words that have entered the English language have been assimilated
to follow this pattern, as well:
PICture FLOwer FOReign MUsic DOCtor VIsit

1. Morpho-phonological processes:
Often, when a morpheme (either a prefix or a suffix) is added to a root or base form,
the stress pattern changes. At other times, the stress pattern does not change but
the pronunciation of the syllable containing the affix varies.

Prefixes:
As a general rule, words containing prefixes tend to be strongly stressed on the first
syllable of the base element; the prefix is either unstressed or lightly stressed:
nouns adjectives verbs
aWARD unHEALTHy deCLAIRE
surPRISE aSLEEP exPLAIN
comPLAINT inCREDible forGET

Normally, prefixes are unstressed:

73
 un-DO outDO overLOOK underSTAND
unLEASH outRUN overCOME underCOOK

Exceptions occur when a word with a prefix functions as a noun:

FOREarm OUTlook OVERalls UNDERwear UPstart
FOREcast OUTput OVERpass UNDERpass UProar (chaos)

Notice the difference in the following examples:

functioning as a noun functioning as a verb

He has a lot of FOREsight. Can you foreSEE it happening?
He was wounded in the FOREarm. ForWARNED is foreARMED!
The truck carried an OVERload. Don’t overLOAD the pack of animals.
He’s working on a difficult PROject. They proJECT that it will take six weeks.
Fresh PROduce is expensive. The new company will proDUCE a lot.

Suffixes:
Suffixes affect word stress in one of three ways:
1. They may have no effect on the stress pattern of a root word.
2. They may receive strong stress themselves.
3. They may cause the stress pattern in the stem to switch from one syllable to
another.

Neutral suffixes, which do not affect the stress pattern of the root word, are of
Germanic origin:
-en (threaten) -ing (opening)
-er (baker) -less (groundless)
-ful (tractful) -ish (childish)
-hood (childhood) -ly (friendly)
-ship (friendship)

Suffixes of French origin often cause the final syllable of a word to receive strong
stress, with other syllables receiving light stress or no stress:
-aire -ee
millionAIRE refugEE
questionnAIRE trustEE

-eer -ese
enginEER LebanESE
voluntEER VietnamESE

-esque -ique
groTESQUE boutIQUE
pictuRESQUE technIQUE

74
 -eur -oon
masSEUR balloon

-ette -et
basiNETTE baLLET
casSETTE vaLET

Suffixes might also cause a shift in stress in the root word, as in:

-eous adVANtage advanTAgeous

COurage couRAgeous
-graphy PHOto phoTOgraphy
-ial PROverb proVERbial
-ian PARis paRIsian
-ic CLImate cliMAtic
-ical eCOlogy ecoLOgical
-ious INjure inJUrious
-ity TRANquil tranQUIlity
-ion Educate eduCAtion

Another change in stress refers to a change in word category, as in the case when a
noun changes into a verb:

NOUN → VERB

REcord reCORD NOTE: If you turn these verbs forms into

the simple past tense, the same stress
CONduct condUCT pattern as that in the verb remains
Addict aDDICT (reCORded/conDUCted/proGRESSed).
PROtest proTEST
PROgress proGRESS
PERmit perMIT
INcrease inCREASE
CONflict conFLICT
DEsert deSERT
CONtract conTRACT
OBject obJECT
SUBject subJECT
CONvict conVICT
DEfect deFECT (to leave and join the opposite side)
INsult inSULT
PREsent preSENT
PROduce proDUCE
REbel reBEL
PROject proJECT
SUSpect susPECT
Address aDDRESS

75
Practice the stress shift in the following examples; underline or circle the stressed
syllable in each example.

1. Jennifer Lopez recorded a new record this year.

2. The student presented his teacher with a very nice present.
3. The man objected when he was accused of having taken the strange
object.
4. This town produces a lot of organic fresh produce.
5. You will have to address the crown at this address.
6. The school board decided to conduct an investigation on that teacher’s
conduct.
7. The suspect had been suspected of a similar crime before.
8. You need a permit that will permit the construction of a new school.
9. The desert is such a rough place to live that it is normally deserted.
10. Most of the rebels rebelled against the ideas proposed by the
governor.
11. An increase in food supplies and clean water resulted in increased
life expectancy.
12. According to the addict, it was easy to get addicted to heroin.

In adjectives and nouns, the –ate suffix is reduced to , but in verbs the –ate
suffix is pronounced /). ; this results in a longer syllable in the case of the
Verb:

NOUN/ADJECTIVE VERB
 /
GRAduate GRAduate
SEparate SEparate
EStimate Estimate

DUplicate DUplicate
aPPROximate aPPROximate
ALternate ALternate
MOderate MOderate
aPPROpriate aPPROpriate
eLAborate eLAborate
deLIberate deLIberate
Accurate _
CONsulate _
DElicate _
FORtunate _
conSIderate _
_ aPPREciate
_ DEmonstrate
_ eXAggerate

76
 _ reFRIgerate

Other examples of stress shift are:

refrigeRAtion reFRIgerate/tor
opeRAtion Operate/tor
congratuLAtions conGRAtulate/ted
assassiNAtion aSSAssin/aSSAssinated
celeBRAtion CElebrating/CElebrate/ceLEbrity
aproxiMAtion aPPROximately/aPPROximate
consideRAtion conSIderate(adj)/conSIderately

Exercise:
Circle or underline the stressed syllable in the italicized words:
1. Kate is conducting the concert tonight; her conduct is impeccable.
2. The crowd rebelled over the increase in gas prices.
3. The students celebrated the success of the project.
4. The prisoners objected to the accusations by the security guard.
5. The Sahara Desert has experienced a recent increase in its wild life
population.
6. The school board was unable to contract any better contractors.
7. They conducted a full investigation about the production of new produce.
8. The murder suspect protested about his rights.
9. Because of the many defects in the project, they did not receive a new
project.
10. Are you a graduate student or did you already graduate?
11. How expensive do you estimate the project will be?
12. She had to duplicate the samples to send duplicates to the firm.
13. Students were protesting a 50% increase in their tuition
payments.
14. There are conflicting reports regarding the protest and the
estimates by the government.
15. The parents demanded that professors deliberately stop the
protests.

Other examples of stress shift depending on word functions are:

PHOtograph phoTOgraphy/phoTOgrapher photoGRAphic

TElegraph teLEgraphy/teLEgrapher teleGRAphic
DEmocrat deMOcracy demoCRAtic
DIplomat diPLOmacy diploMAtic
POlitics poLItical/poLIticaly poliTIcian
PERsonal perSONify/personifiCAtion persoNAlity
COMpetent comPEtitor/comPEtitively compeTItion

77
 FAmily faMIliar/faMIliarly famiLIArity

COMPOUNDS
In English, the first element of the compound is always stressed:

BLACKbird AIRplane COWboy SUNshine HOMEtown

HOTdog TAPdance MAILbox COWgirl MAILman

ADJECTIVE COMPOUNDS
WELL trained LIME green GOOD looking

VERB COMPOUNDS
HOUSEsit LIPread HANDcuff
TYPEwrite TIPtoe HANDdrive HANDprint

REFLEXIVES
mySELF yourSELF himSELF

Finally, a useful way to organize words regarding stress patterns is by identifying

the number of syllables + the syllable where the main stress falls (Reed; Personal
communication, 2009), as illustrated below:

(1) cut put swim dress eat stay desk phone get glue → 1.1
(there words have a single syllable; hence, the stress falls on the first and only
syllable)

(2) pencil glasses printer flower paper pencil → 2.1

(these words have two syllables, and the stress falls on the first syllable)

(3) record(V) ignore attend hotel pretend construct → 2.2

(these words contain two syllables, and the stress falls on the second syllable)

(4) telephone ambulance monitor attitude cabinet

photograph → 3.1
(these words contain three syllables, and the stress falls on the first syllable)

(5) eraser recorder controller intruder recycle attention → 3.2

(these words contain three syllables, and the stress falls on the second syllable)

(6) picturesque grotesque volunteer engineer questionnaire → 3.3

(these words contain three syllables, and the stress falls on the third syllable)

(7) dictionary visionary culinary military secondary → 4.1

(these words contain four syllables, and the stress falls on the first syllable)

78
(8) intelligent respectively incinerate administer comparative refrigerate → 4.2
(these words contain four syllables, and the stress falls on the second syllable)

(9) university unintentional unintelligent disrespectfully → 5.3

(these words contain five syllables, and the stress falls on the third syllable)

This same pattern can be applied to other multi-syllabic words. Grouping complex
words into these sort of families might be helpful to study stress at word level.
sorts
Exercise:
Classify the following words according to the pattern just described; you may choose
to underline or circle the stressed syllable in each word.

comparable literature educate contribute

accommodate differ commentary volunteer
refrigerator refugee refuge compound
catalogue fortunate decorative generally
advantage fantastic seventeen
confusion recommend cigarette distribute
dictionary engine engineer comparative
possessive secondary important graduate(V)
pronouns pronounce

As a final word of advice to improve your overall English pronunciation, practice

reading out loud. Read tongue twisters and rhymes to help with intonation
contours; read long texts to help group words into thought groups. When possible,
record yourself and then listen to your recording; you should be able to catch any
words or chunks that sound off

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Kreidler, C. W. (1997). Describing spoken English: An introduction. Routledge:

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Reed, M. & Michaud, C. (2005). Sound Concepts. New York: McGraw Hill

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