4.2.Pronounce “s/es” in a correct way : Barbers, bridges, books, bays, sunbeams, teaches, classes, beds, clothes, branches, bookcases, cakes, washes, canals, boxes, cars , brushes, see
Trang 1SOME BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH SOUNDS
I.VOWELS :
1.Long vowels : (5)
/ i: / in beat , mean , peace
/ / in bird , fern , purse
/ a: / in card , half , past
/ / in board , torn , horse
/ u: / in food , soon , loose
2.Short vowels : (6+1)
/ / in bit , pin , fish
/ e / in bet , men , yes
/ / in bat , man , gas
/ / in but , come , rush
/ / in pot , gone , cross
/ / in put , pull , push
/ / when a vowel isn’t stressed on : alive , system…
*/ / is usually found in “-y” at the end of words : many, happy
*/ u / in actual ,fluctuate, actuate …
3.Diphthongs :
/ / in here , beard , fierce
/ / in air , cairn , scarce
/ / in moored , tour
/ / in paid , pain , face
/ / in tide , time , by
/ / in avoid , loin , boy
/ / in home , most , post
/ / in loud , growl , house
4.Triphthongs : (diphthong + / / )
/ / in layer , player
/ / in fire , liar
/ / in loyal , royal
/ / in lower , mower
/ / in power , hour
5.Semi-vowels :
/ h / in how , home , habit
/ r / in red , race , radio
/ j / in yes , yard , yellow
/w / in wet , wage , wall…
HOW TO RECOGNIZE SOME COMMON VOWELS AND DITHTHONGS
/ i: / in -ea : tea , mean , meat
In -e : be , me , he , she…
Trang 2in - ee : see, tree
in - e+cons.+ silent e : Pete , concrete, mete…
in - (c)ei : ceiling , receive , deceive
in -ie : chief , field , niece , piece
/ / in – e at the beginning of a word: ensure, endanger…
in - i+cons (+cons) : bit , risk , milk
In - y+cons : mystery , rhythm
/ / in -e+cons (+cons) : bell , rest , let
In -ea(d) : pleasure , measure ,head , bread , ready , dread
/ / in -a + cons (+cons.) : hat , act , man
/ / in -ew : few , new , pew ….
in – u+cons.+silent e : cube, cute, music ,university…
/ a: / in –aft : after , craft , draft , aft…
In – alf : haft , staff…
In -ar : car , card , artist…
In -ask : ask , mask , bask , task …
In -ass : pass , brass grass , glass ….
In -ast : fast , wast , last , past…
In -ath : path , bath , father , rather…
/ / in -o + cons (+cons.) :cost , cloth , long , off …
/ / in -all : all , fall , wall , tall…
In -alk : walk , talk ,
In –au : auto , pause , august , autumn
In –aw : law , saw , dawn , pawn…
In –or+ cons/+ silent e :horse,port,form,short,bore,more…
In –ought : ought , bought , fought , brought…
In –our+ cons : mourn , course…
In –war : war , warm , warn , ward , warden,water….
/ u:/ in –u after /j,l,r/ : june , blue , rule ….
In –oo +l/m/n : fool , doom , pool , noon …
In –oo+(cons.)at the end of a word : bamboo , too , aternoon …
In –oo + voiced sounds : room , food , tool…( but :good/
Hood/ wood…→ / /
In –ou+ p : soup, coupon,
/ / in –u +cons.(+cons.) : full , put , push , bush ….
In –oo +k : look , took , rook , mook….
In –oo +voiceless sounds : foot , cook , hook…(but :hoop /
Hoot / hoof…→ / /
Trang 3/ / in –ear +cons : earth, research, earn, heard, early…
In –er (+cons.): her, stern, fern, term ,nerve…
In -ir (+cons.) : sir, girl, bird, first…
In -or : work, worth, worst, worship…
In –ur (+cons.) : fur, turn, hurt, burn…
/ / in –a/e/i/o when they aren’t stressed on : ability, system, communicative, compassion, photo…
In –or/ ar / er at the end of a word : regular, farmer, actor…
/ / in o + m/n/th : somme, son, mother,wonderful,money
In u +cons : up, cut, study, subject,much …
In –lood ; blood, flood…
/ / in –a+cons.+silent e : face, case, date,make, late, wave…
In –a (usually in stressed syllable): radio, paper, table,…
In –ai : aid, maid, hail, aim, train, waiter, rain…
In –ay : today, play, may, stay, say, Taylor…
In –ei : eight, veil, rein, reign, neighbour…
In –ey : convey, they, grey , obey, …
/ a / in –i+cons.+silent e :five, dive, mine, shine…
In –ie : die, lie, tie, bye…
In –igh : hight, night, slight,might…
In –y (at the end of a word +after a cons).: cry, try, by, shy
In –uy (at the end of a word): buy, guy…
*height /ha /.
/ / in –oi : voice, noise, boil, choice, coin, toilet, avoid…
In –oy : toy, boy, enjoy, destroy, annoy…
/ / in –ou+cons(+cons.) : out, house, loud, round…
In –ow+cons : owl, down, brown, town, now,how…
/ / in –ow : know, show, slow, snow…
in –o (at the end of a syllable or a word) : so, no, solo…
in oa+cons : coat, boat, foal, foam, goal, poach…
In –o+cons.+silent e : phone, bone, hope, note, close…
In –old : old, bold, fold, told …
In –ost (in some words) : post, most, ghost … (but : cost / / , lost / /
/ / in -ear : clear, dear, year, tear, ear …
In –eer : beer, cheer, engineer, steer, …
In –ere : here, mere,atmosphere, …
In –se(ri-) : serious, series, serial, …
/ / in –ear : bear, wear, …
In –air : fair, chair, air, hair…
In –ere /eir : there, their, where, …
Trang 4In –are : care, hare, dare, fare, rare…
/ / in –oor (some words) : poor,
In –our : tour, tourist, you’re,
In –su(r)/tu : sure, usual, casual, actually…
EXERCISE:
Note down the vowels and diphthongs you read in the following words :
hit / click / interest / eaten / meat / meal / study / far / cousin / father / guitar / love /men / said / man / sand / send / bad / bed / pan / top / sport / job / four / boss / talk / doctor / more / wrong / call / box / put / look / food / tooth / full /
June / fruit / foot / school / teacher / bird / together / pagoda / work / church / about / shirt / early / other / term / play / time / voice / radio / wildlife / toy / paper / type /typical / they / height / enjoy / buy / how / bowl / town / know / window / now / mouth / close / note / couch / here / where / poor / door / idea / square / ensure / tour / upstairs / dear / chair / casual //.
II.CONSONANTS :
1.Voiceless sounds :
/ f,t,k,p,s, , , , / + / /
2.Voiced sounds :
- vowels + the rest
/b,d,g,dz,v, ,z, ,m,n, ,l / + / r j , w /
III KEY TO PRONUNCIATION :
1.Voiceless + Voiceless
2.Voiced + Voiced
→
* “ ED” → /t/ after voiceless sounds /f,k,p,s, , , /
→ /d/ after voiced sounds
→ / id / after /t,d/
Note : Some adjectives that end in –ed :
- crooked / / - naked / / - learned / / - wicked / / -
ragged / / - wretched / /…
* -S/ES → /s / after voiceless sounds
→ /z / after voiced sounds
→ /iz/ after /s,z , , , , , , /
4.EXERCISES :
4.1.Pronounce “ed” correctly :
Loved ,locked, watched, cried, studied, stopped, worked, mended, danced, wanted, preferred, kissed, washed, translated, changed, liked, hated, rained, closed, laughed, ploughed…
More exercises : Read any ‘ed’ you find in your book.
4.2.Pronounce “s/es” in a correct way :
Barbers, bridges, books, bays, sunbeams, teaches, classes, beds, clothes, branches, bookcases, cakes, washes, canals, boxes, cars , brushes, seems, kisses, weekends, cages, things, cancels, changes, applicants, chooses, ways, matches, forests, raises, enjoys, finishes, tights, is, lectures…
Trang 5More exercises : Read any “s” or “es” you come across in your book.
5.Some difficulties we have to pay attention to :
a th → / / usually with lexical words : thin – thought – thank…
→ / / usually with grammatical words + “th”between two vowels :this,that, with,though,father ,mother,breathing…
b ch → / / watch , teacher , chair
→ / k / chemistry, mechanic, psychology
→ / / machine, machete, machination,machinery…
c s → / s / sit, see, son, so, Paris, tennis
→ / / in su – sure , sugar , ensure …
in ssi ,-nsion : discussion, pension, expansion…
→ / / usually “s” between two vowels : easy, nose, trousers…
Usually at the ends of a word having a voiced sound or a vowel :cars, boys, potatoes…
→ / / usually “s” in “-sure, -si “ in the middle of a word : measure, pleasure, vision, television… ( but: pressure…)
d f(f) → / / off , coffee
→ / v / of
e g → / g / gap, go , give, gift
→ / / usually “g” after “e,i,y” : general , genuine, giraffe, gymnastics, gypsy …
f gh → / f / laugh , cough , enough …
→ / - / thought, bought, ought ,high…
Exercises : Choose the word(s) whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others.
1 a.design b.preserve c.basic d.physical
2 a.brother b.breathing c.either d.death
3 a.page b.game c.go d.gift
4 a.organise b.promise c.paradise d.realise
5 a.check b.cheese c.headache d.cherry
6 a.smells b.cuts c.opens d.plays
7 a.desire b.resignation c.compromise d.design
8 a.leisure b.pressure c.treasure d.pleasure
9 a.laugh b.plough c.enough d.cough
10.a.of b.coffee c.knife d.leaf
11.a.cinder b.ceiling c.cello d.celebrate
12.a.choke b.church c.chirp d.choir
13 a.house b.honest c.hundred d.head
14 a.enough b.cough c.though d.rough
15 a.surgeon b.agent c.engine d.regard
Trang 66 Some typical exercises:
1 Distinguishing / / from / / :
worse – horse – sword - order
2 Distinguishing / / from / / :
made – played – said - afraid
3 Distinguishing / / from / / :
famous – space – pace - attack
4 Distinguishing / / from / / :
shown – known – how - snow
5 Distinguishing / / from / / :
but – run – some - bury
6 Distinguishing / / from / / :
husband – useless – must - industry
7 Distinguishing / / from / / :
on – none – won - son
8 Distinguishing / / from / / :
dead – bean – meat – seat
9 Distinguishing / / from / / :
dear – wear – fear – hear
10 Distinguishing / / from / / :
wood – wool – food - foot
11 Distinguishing / / from / / :
cost – most – post - cold
12 Distinguishing / / from / / :
seen – sit – sure - seem
13 Distinguishing / / from / / :
closure – pleasure – measure - pressure
14 Distinguishing / / from / / :
threat- those- thank- think
tenth – worth – breathe - death
15 Distinguishing / / from / / :
news- loose- choose- close
16 Distinguishing / / from / / :
village – passage- magazine- gesture
17 Distinguishing / / from / / :
laugh- thought – bought- ought
18 Distinguishing / / from / / :
hour – hear – hat- head
19 Distinguishing / / from / / :
debt- comb- climb- bomb
20 Distinguishing / / from / / :
off- wife- knife- of
21 Distinguishing / / from / / :
communicate- separate- classmate- delicate
22 Distinguishing / / from / / :
singer- younger – stronger- longer
23 Distinguishing / / from / / :
Trang 7learned- naked- sacred- loved
24 Distinguishing / / from / / :
watched – stopped – walked- crooked
25 Distinguishing / / from / / :
example- excellent- examination- exact
26 Distinguishing / / from / / :
Fasten- listen- castle- meet
SOME BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH STRESS
®
I.The first syllable is stressed :
1 Two-syllable N/ADJ/ADV :
‘export,n – ‘increase,n – ‘perfect,adj – ‘always,adv.
( But : guitar – canal – decoy – police – machine – manure – july – idea – ideal – patrol – marine – romance – divine …)
2 Compound adjectives, esp “pre+ “ :
‘outdoor – ‘oversea – ‘dark-blue
3 Compound words :”any ” , “some _”, “ ward(s):
‘anyone – ‘somewhere – ‘afterwards …
4 Words having more than 3 syllables :
* ‘animal – ‘mineral – ‘propety – ‘elephant (but :tobacco – cicada – pagoda – months of the year: October…)
*’temporaty – ‘necessary – ‘barbarism – ‘communism (but : ultimatum –
enthusiast – memorandum – curriculum – ephemeral)
II.The second syllable is stressed :
1.Two-syllable verds/ phrasal verbs :
export,v – increase,v – perfect,v – take ‘off – warm ‘up –
(but:the stress comes on the first syllable when the second one is a suffix and whose ending is one of the following :-er, -ern, -en, -ie, -ish, -ow, -y ):
Enter,v – govern,v – open,v – deepen,v – finish,v – study,v – follow,v (but :
allow).
2.Two- syllable words having prefixes :
Aboard,adv – afield,adv – alive,adj – deform,v – disarm,v – displace,v – become,v – because,conj – belong,v…
III.The stress comes on syllable just before following endings :
-tion / / :conservation,n – prevention,n – pollution,n…
-sion / / :discussion, expansion, pension…
(but –sion / / : television , )
-( )ety/ity : society, ability, familiar
-graphy : geography, photography
-metry : geometry,
-nomy : gastronomy, astronomy, economy
Trang 8-logy : biology, sociology, methodology
-sophy : philosophy
-ic : mechanic, logic, scientific, electric…
(but :Catholic, Arabic, Arithmetic, Politics…)
cial / tial : special – influential
cian : musician, electrician, physician…
-( )ia : Asia, Arabia,
-tual : intellectual, mutual, effectual
-( )iency : proficiency,
-ience : science,
-eous : simultaneous, courageous
IV.The last syllable is stressed :
-ade : decade,n
(but : centidrade, marmalade, retrograde, …}
-ee : refugee,n – referee,n
(but : coffee, committee, oversee,v, employee,n… )
-ese : Chinese, Japanese
-eer : engineer, career,
-oo : bamboo, shampoo, afternoon
(but : cuckoo,n -)
-ette : cigarette, serviette,n –
-esque : picturesque,adj-
IV Words that have suffixes or/and prefixes are streesed on the root :
Unhappily
root
Eg:- depend,v →dependence,n → independence,n
- stand,v →understand,v →misunderstanding,n
- nation,n →national,adj →international,adj
V.The stress comes on the third syllable from the last one :
-i+syllable : ability – familiar – political -
-ate : temperate – consulate – (but:dehydrate )
-ite : appetite – opposite –dynamite – erudite
-urous : adventurous –
-ude : solitude -
-ute : institute - (but: attribute – contribute )
-ary : diary –
-ative : informative –
-fy : simplify –
-ise/ize : compromise – industrialize –
**IT IS ADVISABLE TO LOOK UP ANY NEW WORD YOU COME ACROSS.
** Would you please help me to add phonetic symbols to this document?