Improving

Pronunciation
 Pronunciation
Pronunciation is a necessary part of
speaking (oral communication). It
involves making correct sounds of a
particular language, as well as how
sounds are put together in the flow of
speech.
Phonetics and Phonology
Phonetics:
Phonetics is the study of the sounds of
human speech.

Phonology:
Phonology is the study of sound system
of a particular language.
International Phonetic Association

International Phonetic Association has devised

standardized representation of the sounds of
spoken language which is called International
Phonetic Alphabet.

International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an
alphabetic system of phonetic notation (a set of
phonetic symbols).
 Phoneme
A phoneme is the smallest
meaningful unit in the
sound system of a
language.
Exapmles:
/ʤ/, /θ/, /p/
 Sounds in English

There are 44 sounds in English

Language
 24 Consonants
 12 Vowels
 07 short vowels
 05 long vowels
 08 diphthongs (a sound made by gliding
from one vowel sound to another)
Syllable
Syllable is a unit of pronunciation having
one vowel sound, with or without
surrounding consonants, forming the whole
or a part of a word.
In dictionaries, syllable division is usually
indicated by a heavy black dot.
Examples:
/chair/ monosyllabic
/ho.tel/ bisyllabic
/dic.ta.tor/ trisyllabic
 ………….Continued

If a word has double letters, syllable

division comes between both letters.
/com.mu.ni.ca.tion/

Syllable Stress:
In a word of two syllables, one syllable is
pronounced with more force, or loudness,
than the other. This difference of
emphasis is called stress.
 …………Continued
A dictionary indicates a stressed syllable,
usually by a mark like this (´).

Primary and Secondary Stress:

Words of three or more syllables may have two
stresses, one heavier than the other. The heavier
stress is called primary stress while the weaker
stress is called secondary stress.
Primary stress usually appears at the top of the
syllable while secondary stress appears at the
bottom e.g. /com.′mu.ni.′ca.tion/
Figure out how each of the
following words is pronounced:
/ʃi:p/
/wɒt/
/kɪŋ/
/θɪŋk/
/wɒtə(r)/
/ʧi:p/
/feɪvə(r)/
/bɔɪ/
/gɜ:(r)l/
 ……….Continued

/ɪmɪteɪʃən/
/fæʃən/
/ɪntərækʃən/
/sɒftweə/
/enʤənɪə/
/ʧɒkəlɪt/
 Connected Speech

When we speak naturally we do not pronounce

a word, stop, then say the next word in the
sentence. Fluent speech flows with a rhythm
and the words bump into each other.
To make speech flow smoothly the way we
pronounce the end and beginning of some
words can change depending on the sounds at
the beginning and end of those words.
 Features of Connected Speech
Assimilation:
Sounds that belong to one word can cause
changes in sounds belonging to other
words.
When a word’s pronunciation is affected
by sounds in a neighbouring word, we
call this process assimilation.
Examples:
Ten pins--- Tempins
Have to ……haf to
 ………Continued
Would you like to have tea?
Wuju like to have tea?

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meechu.

Got you!
Gotcha!
that boy . /ðap bɔɪ/
that girl . /ðak gɜ:l/
good pen . /gʊb pen/
good concert . /gʊg kɒnsət/
ten players . /tem pleɪəz/
ten cups ./teŋ kʌps/
 Elision
Elision
It is the omission of one or more sounds (such
as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in
a word or phrase, producing a result that is
easier for the speaker to pronounce.
Examples:
He leaves next week. (nex week)
She acts like she owns the place! (aks)
Handbag (hanbag)
Letter ( lette) / letə /
 Home task

Look at the underlined vowel letters in

the following words and check each word
in your dictionary. Find out which
symbol does your dictionary use for each
vowel letter:
Thirty purple birds returned early.
I like my bright lime butterfly.
They waited eight days for the late train.
Thank You
/θæŋk ju:/