Lesson 15: Consonant clusters

- When we have 2 or more consonants together, we call them a consonant

cluster.
- The numbers of permitted combinations of consonants in initial and final
clusters are limited.
- An inability to produce many of these clusters can lead to
incomprehensibility.
- Common pronunciation mistakes
 Changing a consonant in a cluster into a different: present/pleasant
 Leaving out one of the consonant sounds: plash/splash
 Adding an extra vowel between consonants: faree/free
- Listing:
 Initial two-consonant clusters beginning with a stop
 Initial two-consonant clusters beginning with a fricative
 Initial two-consonant clusters beginning with a nasal
 Initial two-consonant clusters beginning with /h/
 Initial clusters of three consonants
 Final clusters of two consonants beginning with a nasal
 Final clusters of two consonants beginning with /l/ or /r/
 Final clusters of two consonants beginning with a fricative or a stop
 Final three-consonant cluster
- Note: some final clusters with three/four consonants can be difficult to
pronounce so in some words, these are commonly simplified. The middle
consonants of /kts/, /mps/, /mpt/, /nts/, /ndz/ and /skt/ is hardly heard or
even left out.

Lesson 16: Syllable and stress

- Syllable onset (consonant)

rhyme peak (vowel)
coda (consonant)
- Listing:
 Minimum syllable: single vowel in isolation or isolated consonant
(are, or, err, um, shh)
 Syllables with an onset and a peak (bar, key,..)
 Syllables with a coda and a peak (am, ought, ease,...)
 Syllables with onset and coda (run, sit, fill,...)
 Syllabic consonants: /l̩ /, /m̩/, /n̩/, /r̩/, /ŋ̬̍ / (sudden, table, bottle,...)
- Stress:
 Is the degree of prominence with which a sound or a word is
pronounced
 There are 3 kinds of stress: word stress is fixed, phrase stress and
sentence stress vary with the contexxt in which they are found.
 Level of stress:
 Primary stress
 Secondary stress
 Is produced by 4 main factors: pitch (most important), loudness,
length and quality.