Ldj in revision

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LETTERS du JOUR - Workshop

PRONUNCIATION from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

Rocco Dal Vera University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

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PRONUNCIATION AUTHORITIES CONSULTED ......................................................................................................................3 INDEX TO LETTER DU JOUR ...................................................................................................................................................8 Letter du Jour A .....................................................................................................................................................11 [œ]/a, as in HAD.......................................................................................................................................................................11 [A]/ah, as in FATHER ...............................................................................................................................................................12 [O]/aw, as in LAWYER ..............................................................................................................................................................13 [eI*]/ay as in HAY ......................................................................................................................................................................13 Letter du Jour B......................................................................................................................................................17 [b]/b, as in BUBBLE ..................................................................................................................................................................17 Letter du Jour C .....................................................................................................................................................19 [tS]/ch, as in CHURCH ..............................................................................................................................................................19 Letter du Jour D .....................................................................................................................................................22 [d]/d, as in DREADED ..............................................................................................................................................................22 Letter du Jour E ......................................................................................................................................................25 [i]/ee as in HEED ......................................................................................................................................................................25 [E]/e as in HEAD.......................................................................................................................................................................26 Letter du Jour F ......................................................................................................................................................28 [f]/f as in FLUFF .......................................................................................................................................................................28 Letter du Jour G .....................................................................................................................................................30 [g]/g as in GIGGLE ...................................................................................................................................................................30 Letter du Jour H .....................................................................................................................................................33 [h]/h as in HOW .......................................................................................................................................................................33 [çj]/hy as in HUGE ...................................................................................................................................................................34 Letter du Jour I ......................................................................................................................................................36 [I]/i, as in HID ..........................................................................................................................................................................36 [´]/´, the "schwa", or neutral vowel.......................................................................................................................................37 [aI*]/i@, as in HIGH ......................................................................................................................................................................37 Letter du Jour J ......................................................................................................................................................40 [dZ]/j, as in JUDGE....................................................................................................................................................................40 Letter du Jour K .....................................................................................................................................................42 [k]/k, as in COOK .....................................................................................................................................................................42 Letter du Jour L ......................................................................................................................................................44 [l,:]/l, as in LULL.......................................................................................................................................................................44 Letter du Jour M ....................................................................................................................................................47 [m]/m, as in MAMMAL ............................................................................................................................................................47 Letter du Jour N .....................................................................................................................................................49 [n]/n, as in NANNY ..................................................................................................................................................................49 [N]/ng, as in SINGING ..............................................................................................................................................................49 Letter du Jour O .....................................................................................................................................................52 [oU*]/oh, as in HOE ....................................................................................................................................................................52 [aU*]/ow, as in HOW ..................................................................................................................................................................53 [OI*]/oi, as in HOIST ..................................................................................................................................................................53 [Å]/o, as in HOT........................................................................................................................................................................54 Letter du Jour P ......................................................................................................................................................56 [p]/p, as in POPULAR ...............................................................................................................................................................56 Letter du Jour Q .....................................................................................................................................................59 Letter du Jour R .....................................................................................................................................................60 [r]/r, as in REWRITE.................................................................................................................................................................60 [‰±]/UR and [„]/ur, as in MURMUR ["m‰±m„] ...........................................................................................................................62 Letter du Jour S ......................................................................................................................................................66 [s]/s as in SERIOUSNESS ..........................................................................................................................................................66 [S]/sh, as in SHUSH ..................................................................................................................................................................68 Letter du Jour T .....................................................................................................................................................70 [t]/t, as in TOTALITY ...............................................................................................................................................................70 [T]/th, as in THING, & [D]/th, as in THIS................................................................................................................................72 Letter du Jour U .....................................................................................................................................................74 [u]/u, as in PRUNE....................................................................................................................................................................74 [U]/uu, as in PUT ......................................................................................................................................................................75 [ø]/u, as in HUT .......................................................................................................................................................................75 Letter du Jour V .....................................................................................................................................................77 [v]/v, as in VALVE....................................................................................................................................................................77 Letter du Jour W ....................................................................................................................................................79 [w]/w, as in WITCH, & [∑]/hw, as in WHICH .........................................................................................................................79 Letter du Jour X .....................................................................................................................................................81 Letter du Jour Y......................................................................................................................................................82 [È]/ee, as in EASY......................................................................................................................................................................82 [j]/y, as in YOU.........................................................................................................................................................................83 Letter du Jour Z ......................................................................................................................................................85 [z]/z, as in ZONES.....................................................................................................................................................................85 [Z]/zh, as in AZURE ..................................................................................................................................................................85 WORDS THAT CHANGE WITH USE.........................................................................................................................................87 GLOSSARY FOR LETTER DU JOUR ..........................................................................................................................................90

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LETTERS du JOUR - Workshop P RONUNCI ATI ON from A [eI*] to Z [zi] Workshop -

Some pronunciations in the following section may strike you as so foreign that they just don't seem right. What if you are convinced the pronunciation dubbed "standard" is wrong? How did we pick standard pronunciation? The following respected sources are used. There are 35 of them because each has certain strengths and many sources disagree.

Pronunciation can be a contentious subject. Both Rocco and Bob (and almost every other actor) have at some time experienced shock in finding that our assumptions about "proper" speech are not necessarily shared by the experts. In fact most of the words listed were chosen because they gave us a jolt when we found out how they should be said.

Table LdJ .1

Pronunciation A uthorities

PRO N UN C IATIO N AUTH O RITIES C O N SULTED

English Pronouncing Dictionary, Daniel J ones

The Oxford English Dictionary, Sir A gustus Henry Murray, et al., eds.

A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, H. W. Fowler

NBC Handbook of Pronunciation, Eugene, Ehrlich A Dictionary of the English Speak With Distinction, Language, J oseph Worcester Edith W. Skinner The Century Dictionary, William Whitney, Benjamin Smith The New Century Dictionary, H. G. Emery, K. G. Brewster, eds.

Everyday Errors in Pronunciation, J ohn Gilmartin A Pronouncing Dictionary of A merican English, J ohn Kenyon, Thomas Knott

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Desk-Book of 25,000 Words Frequently Mispronounced, Frank Vizetelly Common Errors in English and How to A void Them, A lexander Witherspoon The Winston Dictionary

The Oxford A merican Dictionary Merriam Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary Ten Thousand Words: How to Pronounce Them, J osephene Turck Baker 18,000 Words Often Mispronounced, W. H. P. Pfyfe Webster's New International Dictionary The A merican College Encyclopedic Dictionary Webster's Third New Internatiuonal Dictionary

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Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary

The A merican Heritage Dictionary

The Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary

Webster's New World Dictionary

Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary

The New York Times Everyday Reader's Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, and Mispronounced Words, Lawrence Urdang, ed.

Shakespeare's Names, Helge Kökeritz

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language Webster's New World Guide to Pronunciation, William Chisholm

There is No Zoo in Zoology, and Other Beastly Mispronunciations, Charles Elster

Shakespeare's Pronunciation, Helge Kökeritz

Note that charts refer to PREFERRED or STANDARD (the most elevated or cultured of pronunciations) and to NON-STANDARD. They do not refer to RIGHT and WRONG nor to CORRECT and INCORRECT pronunciation. What if it sounds British to your ear? Some pronunciations may, but they are actually based on a dialect called Elevated Standard. That is a stage dialect we will cover more fully in Chapter 5. We assume that all actors wish to know the preferred pronunciation of a word, and then make their own choices, depending on different contexts they are in and characters they are playing. If you're doing a voice-over for a medical video, you will want to say "respiratory" [rI."spaI*´*.r´.ÆtO´*.rÈ], "cerebral" ["sE.r´.br´:], and "bulimia"[bju."lI.mI.´] in order to sound authoritative and credible - even though many doctors don't say them that way. But, if those words come up in an "After-School Special", the more commonly heard pronunciation will probably be the better choice. Remember, good speech is not about showing off, it is what communicates most effectively under the circumstances. Good speech is what works.

The following workshop section has two primary goals:

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1. to provide the tools for you to adjust toward a neutral, non-regional sound - when you wish to do so. Most student actors begin their studies with at least broadly regional, and possibly narrowly dialectal speech.

2. to assist you in eliminating common problems and stumbling blocks associated with each sound.

If you can adjust these influences at will, you have a much better chance at mastering all language. Instead of layering every other dialect on top of your own, thus creating a potentially hopeless muddle, you can start clean, without distraction. Instead of forcing each character to employ your own articulation style, you have choice. You can use as many or as few of your own speech tendencies as you wish.

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LETTERS D U J O UR - O N E LETTER AT A TIM E. How do you organize that task? Most seemingly monumental tasks simply need to be broken down into manageable, daily jobs. The big tasks can therefore even become pleasurable. Because the alphabet is the single most familiar way in which most of us organize the sounds in English, we have created a series of exercises for each letter. Your daily LETTER du JOUR menu includes these parts:

D ESC RIPTIO N : categories the sound falls into, such as voiced/unvoiced, fricative/glide, etc. (see pp. _____).

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table. 3.9 IPA Symbol

Ways to Pron. Example Examples of words and their various spellings

Respelling

Here you will see the many different sounds the letter can represent.

FO RM ATIO N : what lips, tongue, vocal folds, and jaw are doing to make sound.

PLAC EM EN T PRO B LEM S: preferred sound quality, common placement errors.

ARTIC ULATIO N PRO B LEM S: ways sound slips out of line, changes through regional dialects, drills to adjust sound to standard1.

D RILLS: tongue twisters, and phrases to practice Table. 3.10

Mispronunciation Example

M O ST C O M M O N M ISPRO N UN C IATIO N S Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

Pronunciations are transcribed in phonetics as well as respelled so you can use the system that's clearer for you.

Consider these three ways to use the material:

1Specific

sound changes can be difficult to describe. We will use both phonetics and respelling to indicate some of the ways speakers shift standard sounds. Refer to the vowel and consonant charts (pp.___/___) to help you with the symbols and respelling keys.

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1) Start at the beginning and work your way through A- to - Z, spending a couple of sessions on the more complex sections, and breezing through others. Some letters may take more "jours" than others. Note that A, J, O, and R have two to three times more work connected with them than most letters, while F, J, K, Q ,V and W are very brief work-outs. You may wish two or three sessions for A alone, just to get used to the work. Then, on some other days, you may actually be able to cover two or three full letters, to average out a month of work.

2) Group sets of related sounds (as opposed to letters) together and work them as units - all the plosive consonants, or all the front vowels, for example. A Guide To Finding The So unds B y C atego ry follows.

3) Search for specific drills because you've been told you need work on forming a particular letter or sound. If you get that kind of note from your teacher, director or coach, the following Index to the Letter du

Jour will help you look up the approprate exercises. Because you might get a note using either spelling or sound terms, and since there is such a disparity between spelling and sound in English, we provide the index to help you reconcile the two, and show you where to find the sections you want.

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SO UN D S B Y C ATEGO RY - AN IN D EX Table. X.XX

Guide To Sounds By Category

Letter du Jour - GUIDE TO FINDING SOUNDS BY CATEGORY FRONT VOWELS Symbol

[i]/ee [È]/ee [I]/i [E]/e [œ]/a

Letter

E Y I E A

Page

BACK VOWELS Symbol

[A]/ah [Å]/o [O]/aw [U]/uu [u]/oo

Letter

A/O O A/O U U

Letter

[eI*]/ay [aI*]/i [OI*]/oi [aU*]/ow [oU*]/oh

A I O O O

PLOSIVE Symbol

Letter

[p]/p [b]/b [t]/t [d]/d [k]/k [g]/g

P B T D K G NASAL

Symbol

Letter

[m]/m [n]/n [N]/ng

M N N/A

Page

Page

Symbol

Letter

[ø]/u [´]/´ [„]/ur [‰±]/UR

DIPHTHONGS Symbol

Page

CENTRAL VOWELS U I R R

Page

DIPHTHONGS/TRIPHTHONGS of [„] Page

Symbol

[I„*]/ir [e„*]/air [A„*]/ahr [O„*]/or [U„*]/uur [aI*„*]/i r [aU*„*]/owr CONSONANTS FRICATIVE

Symbol

[f]/f [v]/v [s]/s [z]/z [S]/sh [Z]/zh [T]/th [D]/th [r]/r

Letter

F V S Z S Z T T R

Page

Letter

Page

R R R R R R R

AFFRICATE Symbol

Letter

Page

Symbol

Letter

Page

[l]/l [:]/l

L L GLIDE

Symbol

Letter

[tS]/ch [dZ]/j

C J LATERAL

[w]/w W [∑]/hw W [j]/y Y

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Table. X.XX

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Index-Letter du J our

IN D EX TO LETTER D U J O UR SOUND IPA/Respelling

[i]

ee

[È] [I]

ee i

[e] [E]

e

[œ] [a] [A] [Å]

a

[O] [o] [U] [u]

aw

[ø] [´]

u ´

[„]

ur

[‰±]

UR

[eI*]

ay

[aI*]

i

[OI*] [aU*] [oU*

oi ow oh

[i„*]

ir

[e„*]

air

[A„*]

ahr

[O„*] [U„*]

or uur

ah o

uu oo

WAYS THE SOUND APPEARS IN WORDS, SPELLING VARIETIES

b e , see , recei ve, b ea k, peo ple, key -q uay , machi ne, fie ld, Cae sar, phoe nix, debris silly , chamois, Raleigh, goalie , Chelsea

Letter

E Y I

i t, my th, gui lt, bu sy, take n, i ma ge, wo me n, captai n, bree ches, b e fore (not addressed in its pure form) me t, dea d, leo pard, hei fer, b u ry-b e rry, gue st, sai d, E a ny, Tha mes ha d, plai d, gua rantee A (not addressed in its pure form) a sk, au nt cal m, fa ther, hurrah A/O wa tch, ro ck, lau rel, sq ua sh, Law rence-Lau rence, O fo rest, Glou cester, bureau cracy flaw , tau nt, bal k, a ll, ou ght, cho rus A/O (not addressed in its pure form) o pinion, O phelia, po etic too k, wo lf, wou ld, pu ll, wor sted U ru de, blue -blew , frui t, do , oo ze, sou p, shoe , U through -thru -thró -threw tu b, co me, tou ch, bloo d, doe s U a ffirm, soda , tele phone, possi ble, o ppose, purpo se, I melo dy, u pon, su ppose, choru s, labyrinth, sirrah , natio nal, gorgeou s, viciou s, porou s, Confuciu s, the (weak form before a consonant) , to (weak form before a consonant) over , sugar , ascer tain, mother , grandeur , R taper -tapir , stubbor n, actor , cupboar d, sur prise, sulfur , picture , martyr cer tain, fir st, cur t, myr tle, myrrh , wor se, rehear se, cour teous, R chauffeur , colo nel a te-ei ght, rai n-rei n-rei gn, pray -prey , grea t-gra te, A gau ge, cliché , ballet , matinée I -eye -aye , tie -Thai, thigh , I 'll-ais le-is le, I b y -b uy -b ye , gui de, hei ght, beni gn, dia mond, fi re oy ster, oi l, boy , b uoy ant, Freu d O hou se, b ow -b ough O so -sew -sow , sou l-so le-S eou l, coa t, doe -dough , mau ve, O b eau -b ow , yeo man, broa ch-broo ch here -hear , deer -dear , pier -peer , weir d, R Gloucestershire , souvenir their -there , pair -pare -pear , pa rent, ma re, R air -ere -e'er -heir -Ayr -Eyre are , car , ser geant-Sar gent, hear th, guar d, catarrh , R bizarre , bazaar oar -ore -o'er -or , door , pour , war , dinosaur R poor , tour , sure , ju ry, Moor -moor -M oore R

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[aI*„*] [aU*„*] [b] [tS] [d] [f] [g] [h] [∑] [dZ] [k] [l,:] [m] [n]

i r owr b ch d f g h hw j k l m n

[N] [p] [r] [s] [S]

ng p r s sh

[t] [T] [D] [v] [w] [j] [z] [Z]

t th th v w y z zh

hire -higher , b yre -b uyer , dire -dyer , lyre -liar flower -flour -flow'r , our -hour -Auer be, bubble, tube

ch icken, c ello, wretch ed, nat ure d ab, padd le, stored f all, ph onetic, f luff , cough , half g ive, lag , egg , begg ar, ex amine, exh aust, gh ost h e, wh o, mish ap wh at, somewh ere J uly, g enuine, sold ier, j udg e, reg ion, exagg erate K im, c oat, ch aos, q uit, ex pend, back , plaque -plack l i l y, tall m ad, humm er, hymn , bomb , phlegm, calm , Ban ff n on e-n un , gunn ing, mn emon ic, pn eumatic, gn ome-N ome, rei gn -rei n -rai n si ng i ng , ban k, tongue p at, happ y, hop , hiccough r ight-r ite-wr ite-Wr ight, carr y, rh eumatism s aid, ps ychology, sch ism, c ent-s ent, di c e, ax , hi ss , pi zz a sh oe, s ure, oc ean, mach ine, anx ious, mi ss ion, conscious, motion , schnapps t op, bett er, hi t , helped , Th ames, pt omaine, doubt , ri ght th ick, Matth ew th is, lath e v erv e, of , Steph en-Stev en w eed, w ow, langu age, q u ip, o ne, San J uan y ou. brilli ant, u sual, kn ew-n ew, bea uty, J ung z oom, x ylophone, di s aster, was , clos e, buzz , ex amine negli g ée, mirag e, az ure, treas ure, bi j ou, Zs a Zs a

EXERCISE X.XX

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R R B C D F G H W J K L M N N/A P R S S T T T V W Y Z Z

FINDING YOUR WAY THROUGH LETTER du JOUR

1.Make a list of your most frequently received pronunciation notes.

2.Using the Guide and the Index, identify the Letters that will cover your issues; (Some problems may fall into more than one area.) For example: "Don't say 'git.'" (E) "Sounding a little too sibilant." (S, Z) "Duke isn't DOOK, it's DYOOK." (Y)

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3.

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Share your list with your imitating partners and the class to get their feedback, and to

plan which areas to concentrate on.

For the various tasks in this chapter and the workshop sequence, twenty minute to half hour sessions are ideal, because the level of concentration required is high. Breaks are important to allow information to settle in. Be patient with yourself. This very technical work has a big pay-off that comes with time. Mastering your own language is an extraordinary thrill earned by tiny, intricate steps. But when mastery comes, suddenly even your ideas seem better, finer and fuller, because you are so much better at expressing them.

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Letter du Jou r: A WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E - 15!

Table LdJ .2

Letter du J our-A

IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[i] [E] [œ ] [A] [Å] [O] [´] [‰± ] [eI* ] [aI* ] [aU* ] [oU* ] [I„* ] [E„*] [A„*]

ee e a ah o aw ´ ur ay i@ ow oh eer air ahr

leak, quay dread fad, guarantee, plaid father, suave, palm, hurrah what, laurel, Lawrence, bureaucracy drawl, fall, quality, daughter above earnest great, fate, day, ail, gauge, gaol aisle kraut, miaow float, faux, mauve, beau fear hair, fare far

We will focus on [œ]/a, [A]/ah, [O]/aw, and [eI*]/ay. [œ]/a, as in H AD FORMATION: Front of tongue low and relaxed, mouth wide open, the lowest of front vowel sounds. Compare with nearest contrasting sounds by looking in a mirror and saying HEAD [hEd], HAD [hœd] , HOD [hÅd].

PLACEMENT: If not correctly placed, can be the most tense and nasal2 sounding vowel. Relax, make a slight yawn to lift your soft palate. Say HAD [hœd]. To test for an overly nasal sound, pinch your nose closed and say the sound. If it changes, then too much of the air and sound is being sent through your nose.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: 1.- [œ]/a changing to [ E*œ ]/ea. Open your mouth wider, and faster.

Practice on: 2Describing

Nancy, imagine, natty, man, band, dandy

sound qualities in print is like writing wine reviews (rich, nutty, amusingly fruity but unassuming...). We sometimes use following terms to describe problems with sounds. You may wish to review them in the glossary if they are unfamiliar: nasal, tense, bright, dark, sibilant, lateral lisp, off-glide, on-glide, round, blurred, overly-retroflexed, hard.

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a. - Daniel can't stand canned Spam. b. - Hand the man another ham sandwich.

2.- [œN]/ang changing to [œI*N]/aing, or [EN]/eng. Keep the front of your tongue low.

Practice on:

band/bank, sand/sank, planned/plank c. - The lanky man angrily drank himself into blankness. d. - Dan dangled a sack of cash and his banker thanked him.

3.- [œr]/ar changing to [Er]/er. Put the [r]/r into the next syllable, so that HARRY would be ["hœ rÈ]/HA-ree, not ["hE„* È]/HAIR-ee.

Practice on:

arid, parry, barrier, marry, Barry, character, mariner

Use these pairs of words to separate the sounds [E]/e and [œ]/a: merry/marry, berry/Barry, hairy/harry, Terry/tarry e. - Harry, the baritone barrister, married the garrulous character actress Sharon Harrington, and carried her off to his garret in a wheelbarrow with a parasol attached.

[A]/ah, as in FATH ER FORMATION: Back of tongue low and relaxed, mouth wide open, lips unrounded, soft palate raised - as if the doctor just asked you to open your mouth and say "ah". This sound is often used for singing practice because of its openness.

PLACEMENT: This open vowel sound is a good place to practice releasing any tenseness in your tone. Add a slight yawn and relax into the sound [hA]/hah.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: - [A]/ah changing to [a]/a. The sound becomes too bright. Drop the back of the tongue and relax the mouth farther open.

Practice on:

suave, alms, hurrah, Milan, lava, barrage, lager, saga a. - A h, father calms mama's qualms with a massage at the spa.

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b. - Hurrah! Brahms and Mahler in concert at Baden Baden!

[O]/aw, as in LAWY ER FORMATION: Back of tongue mid-low and relaxed, lips rounded.

PLACEMENT: Sound is warm, dark and rounded.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: 1. - [O]/aw changing to [A]/ah. The sound becomes too bright. Round the lips more.

Practice on these word pairs saying the first word in the British manner with the "r" dropped, then matching that sound on the second word: lore/law, lord/laud, torn/taunt, or/awe, court/caught

2. - [O]/aw changing to [U´*]/uu´. This substitution is particularly common on the East coast. Speak slowly. Look in a mirror and don't relax or change your lips, or drop the center of your tongue during the sound.

Practice on:

bawdy, caution, vault, hawk, talk, thought, stalk a. - Paul Kaufman's awesome paunch daunted the staunchest tailors. b. - Shaw bawled at the thought of his daughter marrying an awful pauper.

[eI*]/ay as in HAY FORMATION: Diphthong. Front of tongue starts at mid-front level and rises to high front level, Jaw closing slightly with action; lips relaxed and unrounded.

PLACEMENT: Sound needs to stay far forward in the mouth with a bright, clear quality. Avoid letting the tongue drop and making the sound lax or dark.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: - [eI*]/ay changing to [´I*]/ui. Keep the sound forward. Smile on the sound. Keep the center of your tongue high.

- [eI*]/ay changing to [e]/ay. Regionally and with some dialects (especially those influenced by Scots/Irish such as Canadian) the second part of the diphthong will disappear.

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Practice on:

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aid, weigh, train, name, survey, gauge, plague a. - Today is the day they take the babies away. b. - The caped and overweight lady sailed forward in a vague shapeless wave of

beige.

Table LdJ .3

A -Mispronounced

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

aberrant abyss academia accent (n.) accent (v.) accessory acclimate accompanist accompt

´."be´*.r´nt ´."bIs Æœ.k´."di.mI.´ "œk.sEnt œk."sEnt

´ BER ´nt

ak SE s´ ree

accurate across acumen adieu adjective admirable

œk."sE.s´.rÈ ´."klaI*.mIt ´."køm.p´.nIst ´."kaU*nt ´."ku.t„.m´nt "œ.kjU.rIt ´."krÅs ´."kju.m´n ´."dju "œ.dZIk.tIv "œd.m´.r´.b´:

advertisement

Æœd.v„."taI*z.m´nt

aegis aerie

"i.dZIs "E.rÈ

EE jis

Aesop affluence Albany (New York) algae alleged alms3 alumnae4

"i.sÅp "œ.flu.Ins "O:.b´.nÈ "œ:.dZÈ ´."lEdZd Amz ´."løm.nÈ

EE sop

accouterment

3The

´ BIS A k´ DEE mi ´ Ak sent ak SENT

Non-Standard Pronunciation

"œ.b´.r´nt "œ.bIs Æœ.k´."deI*.mI.´

A bu r´nt

Improper

Stressing

´."sE.s´.rÈ ´ KLi@ mit "œk.l´.ÆmeI*t ´ KUM p´ nist ´."køm.p´.ni.Ist ´ KOWNT ´."kÅmt ´ KOO tur m´nt ´."ku.tr´.m´nt A kyuu rit "œ.k´.rIt ´ KROS ´."krÅst ´ KYOO m´n "œ.kju.m´n ´ DYOO ´."du A jik tiv "œ.dZ´.tIv AD m´ r´ b´l œd."maI*´*.r´.b´: A D vur Ti@Z m´nt Æœd."v‰±t.´z.m´nt acceptable for E ree

A flu ins AWL b´ nee AL jee ´ LEJD A HMZ ´ LUM nee

"eI*.dZIs "I.rÈ, "œ.rÈ, "eI*„*.rÈ "eI*.sÅp ´."flu.Ints "œ:.b´.nÈ "œ:.dZeI*, "œ:.dZaI* ´."lEdZ.´d A:mz ´."løm.naI*

A bis A k´ DAY mi ´

´ SE s´ ree AK l´ MA YT ´ KUM p´ nee ist

´ KOMT ´ KOO tr´ m´nt A k´ rit ´ KROST AK yoo m´n ´ DOO A j´ tiv ad Mi@ r´ b´l AD VUR t´z m´nt

British speech AY jis I ree, A ree, AY ´ ree AY sop ´ FLU ints AL b´ nee AL jay, AL ji@ ´ LE j´d A HLMZ ´ LUM ni@

"l" on this word is dropped as it is for: almond, balm, balmy, calm, calmly, embalm, halm, Malmesbury, malmsey, napalm, psalms, palm, palmistry, qualm.

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

alumni always amateur

´."løm.naI* "O:.weI*z "œ.m´.t„

´ LUM ni@

ambergris amenable ancillary

"œm.b„.Ægris ´."mi.n´.b´: "œn.sI.ÆlE.rÈ

AM b´r GREES

angst Antarctic(a) antenna antennae apartheid aphrodisiac

œNst œnt.ÆA„*k.tIk œn."tE.n´ œn."tE.nÈ

(singular) (plural)

AWL wayz A m´ t´r

´ MEE n´ b´l AN si le ree

"A.wiz "œ.m´.tS„ "œ.m´t.U„* "œ.m´t.jU„* "œm.b„.ÆgrIs ´."mE.n´.b´: Æœn."sI.l´.rÈ acceptable for

´."pA„*t."heI*t Æœ.froU*."dI.zI.œk A ppalacia (n, s) Æœ.p´."lœ.tSI.´ Æœ.p´."reI*.t´s apparatus "œ.plI.k´.b´: applicable "œ.kw´ aqua"eI*.kwI.´s aqueous archaeology ÆA„*.kI"Å.l´.dZÈ "A„*."keI*n.dZ´: archangel "A„*.k´.ÆtaI*p archetype "A„*k.tIk arctic "A„*.goU* argot

ant AHRK tik

ANst œ."nA„*.dIk

an TE n´ an TE nee

œn."tE.naI*

A NGST

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AH weez A m´ ch´r A m´ tuur A m´ tyuur AM b´r GRIS ´ ME n´ b´l A N SI l´ ree British speech A HNGST a NAHR dik an TE ni@

´."pA„*.TaI*d A froh DI zee ak Æœ.froU*."di.Zi.œk A p´ LA chi ´ œ.p´."leI*.S´ A p´ RAY t´s Æœ.p´."rœ.t´s A pli k´ b´l ´."plI.k´.b´: A kw´ "A.kw´ AY kwee ´s "œ.kwI.´s A HR kee O l´ jee ÆA„*.keI*."Å.l´.dZÈ A HR KA YN j´l ÆA„*."tSeI*n.dZ´: AHR k´ Ti@P "A„*.tS´.ÆtaI*p AHRK tik "A„*.tIk AHR goh "A„*.g´t

´ PA HR THi@D

aristocrat arse asbestos assembly assuage

"œ.rIs.t´.Ækrœt As œs."bEst.´s ´."sEm.blÈ ´."sweI*dZ

A ris t´ KRA T

´ RIS t´ KRA T

asterisk athlete atmospheric authority

"œ.st´.ÆrIsk "œT.lit Æœt.m´s."fE.rIk O."TÅ.rI.tÈ

A st´ RISK

4A lumnus

´ PA HRT HA YT

acceptable for A HS as BES t´s ´ SEM blee ´ SWAYJ

ATH leet A T m´s FE rik aw THO ri tee

´."rIs.t´.Ækrœt A„*s œz."bEst.oU*s ´."sEm.b´.lÈ ´."sweI*Z, ´."swAZ "œ.strIks, "œ.strIk "œ.T´.Ælit Æœt.m´s.fI.rIk A."TO„*.rI.tÈ

A froh DEE zhee ak

A p´ LAY sh´ A p´ RA t´s ´ PLI k´ b´l AH kw´ A kwee ´s AHR kay O l´ jee

A HR CHA YN j´l AHR ch´ Ti@P AHR tik AHR g´t British speech A HRS az BES tohs ´ SEM b´ lee ´ SWAZH, ´ SWAHZH A striks, A strik ATH ´ leet A T m´s FI rik ah THOR i tee

is a male graduate or former student of a school, college, or university. Its plural is alumni . A lumna is a female graduate or former student. Its plural is alumnae .

A lumni is generally used to refer to both the alumni and alumnae of a coeducational institution.

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

auxiliary

Og."zI:.j´.rÈ

awg ZIL y´ ree

Og."zI.l´.rÈ

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awg ZIL ´ ree

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Letter du Jou r: B D id y o u k no w that the letter B actually means "ho use"? It was originally the second letter in the alphabet used by ancient Syrians and Palestinians. I was called "beth", their word for "house". Many believe that it evolved from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for house and it certainly is an enclosed letter. The Egyptians however drew the symbol like this with even a doorway _____ then it evolved thusly through the Semites, Phoenicians and Greeks_______ _______ finally being rounded to its present form by the Romans about CE 114. When the Greeks first borrowed the symbol they called it "beta" (They also called the entire set of letters "alphabet" from their first two letters alpha and beta).

The letter B comes in about 20th place in frequency of use in written materials and of course carries the connotation of second (not as good as an A but good, Company B, Team B, B List actors, etc.). The small case version of the letter didn't appear until CE 300 as a shortcut, taking less time to write than a capital.

B usually corresponds to the sound [b]. Is it now mute after m at the ends of words like climb, dumb, bomb, and lamb. That wasn't always true, but pronunciation evolves over time to make speaking easier. So, the B probably was dropped in mb combinations as the language shifted from Middle to Modern English because it takes too much lip action to articulate it well5.

5A n

extreme extension of this action can be heard today in some Scottish dialects where the mb drops the b in words like humble, amber, thimble, etc.

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D ESC RIPTIO N : voiced, bi-labial, stop-plosive consonant WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .4

Letter du J our-B

IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[b]

b

bill (initial) above, blubber (medial) club (final) climb (silent)

[b]/b, as in B UB B LE FORMATION: With lips lightly closed, breath exhaled; vocal folds vibrated; soft palate raised causing pressure to build behind lips; lips quickly separated resulting in a voiced explosive sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Some accents and dialects unvoice the final "b" sound, so that [b]/b changes to [p]/p, or the lips fail to completely block the stream of air so that [b]/b changes to [B]/bv.

Practice on:

scribe, barb, robber, neighbor, bubble, dubious

Pay particular attention to clear, well-sounded endings.

Practice on:

fibbed, verbs, cubed, tribes, enfeebles, eatables. curb, herb, cab a. - Balance the better bids on the bankrupt apartment building. b. - The probable trouble was intolerable, and Bobby babbled on about it, sobbing abjectly.

DRILLS:- repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. rubber baby buggy bumpers

2. begging beguilingly

3. bigger buggies

4. bleached cherubs

5. a big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood

6. the bootblack brought the black book back

7. toy boat

8. Peggy Babcock

9. Bodega Bodega

10. paper poppy, baby bubble

11. p b t d k g t d

[p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´]

- repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

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Table LdJ .5

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-B

Troublesome Words Problem Word Babel bacchanal Bacchus Bach bade badminton bagel Bahamian bankruptcy balk balm banal7 barbiturate basal basil basis (s.) basis (pl.) bas relief because been behemoth Beijing8 beneficent beneficiary benignant bequeath bestial bestiality blasphemous blithe Boise bolivar/Bolivar 6The

Preferred Pronunciation "beI*.b´: BAY Úb´l Æbœ.k´."nœ: BA k´ NAL "bœ.k´s BA k´s bAç 6 bœd BAD "bœd.mIn.t´n BAD min t´n "beI*.g´: BAY g´l b´."heI*.mI.´n b´ HAY mi ´n "bœNk.røpt.sÈ BANGK ruhpt see bOk BAWK bAm BAHM "beI*.n´:, b´."nœ: BAY n´l, b´ NAL b´ NAHL, ba NAHL b´."nA:, bœ."nA: bA„*."bI.tS´.rIt bahr BI ch´ rit "beI*.s´: BAY s´l "bœ.z´: BA z´l "beI*.sIs BAY sis "beI*.siz BAY seez "bA rI."lif BAH ri LEEF bI."kOz bi KAWZ bIn BiN bI."hi.m´T bi HEE m´th beI*."dZIN bay JING b´."nE.fI.s´nt b´ NE fi s´nt ÆbE.nI."fI.SI.´.rÈ BE ni FI shi ´ ree bI."nIg.n´nt bi NIG n´nt bI."kwiD bi KWEE TH "bEst.j´: BEST y´l ÆbEs.tI."œ.lI.tÈ BES ti A li tee "blœs.f´.m´s BLAS f´ m´s blaI*D BLi@TH "bOI*.sÈ BOY see boU*."li.vA„* boh LEE vahr

Non-Standard Pronunciation "bœ.b´: BA b´l ÆbA.k´."nA: BAH k´ NAHL "bA.k´s BAH k´s bAk BAHK beI*d BAYD "bœd.mI.t´n BAD mi t´n "bœ.g´: BA g´l b´."hA.mI.´n b´ HAH mi ´n "bœNk.røp.sÈ BANGK ruhp see bO:k BAWLK bA:m BAHLM bA„*."bI.tSu.It "beI*.z´: "beI*.z´: reversing pronounciations

bahr BI chu it BAY z´l BAY z´l

"bAs rI."lif bi."køz bEn, bin "bi.h´.m´T beI*."SIN

BAHS ri LEEF bee KUHZ BEN, BEEN BEE h´ m´th bay SHING

b´."nI.fI.s´nt ÆbE.n´."fI.S´.rÈ bI."naI*.n´nt bi."kwiT "bis.tS´: Æbis.ti."œ.lI.tÈ blœs."fi.m´s blaI*T "bOI*.zÈ "boU*.lI.ÆvA„*

b´ NI fi s´nt BE n´ FI sh´ ree bi Ni@ n´nt bee KWEETH BEES ch´l BEES tee A li tee blas FEE m´s BLi@TH BOY zee BOH li VAHR

final consonant sound in Bach is difficult to describe to English speakers. It does show up in the English language as the first sound in words starting with "hu" as in human, or humor. It is a typical German sound and is represented by the phonetic symbol [ç].

7No matter which pronunciation you choose you will fail to please at least half of your listeners. Many public speakers simply drop banal from their vocabulary. Of course, an actor doesn't have that option with a script. So pick whichever pronunciation you like.

8It is risky to make assertions about foreign place names. Problems stemming from differences in alphabets, and sounds used in native speech that don't exist in English result in the creation of "exonyms" like Florence for Firenze, Moscow for Moskva, etc. Our recommendation for the capital of China is to pronounce the now less frequently used Peking as ["pi."kIN] and Beijing as [beI*."dZIN] even though neither is how it is really said in China.

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

bombardier bona fide bon mot bouquet (flowers) bouquet (aroma) boudoir Brobdingnagian breeches brooch bruit bulimia buoy Byzantine

ÆbÅm.b„."dI„* "boU*.n´.ÆfaI*d bO) mo bu."keI* boU*."keI* "bu.dwA„* ÆbrÅb.dIN."nœ.gI.´n "brI.tS´z broU*tS brut bju."lI.mI.´ "bu.È bI."zœn.tIn

BOM b´r DIR BOH n´ FI D BAW(N) MOH boo KAY boh KAY BOO dwahr

ÆbÅm.b´."dI„* ÆboU*.n´."faI*.dÈ bAn mAt boU*."keI* bu."keI* bU."dwA„*

BROB ding NA gi an ÆbrÅb.dIg."neI*.dZI.´n

BRI ch´z BROHCH BROOT byoo LI mee ´ BOO ee bi ZAN tin

"bri.tS´z brutS "bru.It bu."li.mI.´ bOI* "bI.z´n.ÆtaI*n

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BOM b´ DIR BOH n´ FI dee BAHN MAHT boh KAY boo KAY buu DWAHR BROB dig NAY ji ´n

BREE ch´z BROOCH BROO it boo LEE mee ´ BOY BI z´n Ti@N

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Letter du Jou r: C WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .6 IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

Letter du J our - C

[k]

k

[s]

s

[ tS ]

ch

[S]

sh

crisp, Christian, cup (initial) tactical, because, inchoate (medial) music, ache, back, Bach (final) cease (initial) policing (medial) mice (final) choose, cello (initial) kitchen (medial) cinch (final) schnapps, Cherbourg, chagrin (initial) machine, ocean, conscious (medial) gauche (final)

We will focus on the sound [tS]/ch. [tS]/ch, as in C H URC H FORMATION: Affricate sound - combination of plosive [t]/t and fricative [Z]/zh.

Blade of tongue raised to touch front palate just behind gum ridge; breath stream momentarily stopped by tongue at front palate. Tongue then quickly lowers slightly, allowing breath stream to explode between it and front palate.

Sound is unvoiced.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tongue extends too far forward the sound will be overly sibilant, and lisping. If instead of releasing the tongue tip on the [t]/t sound, the sides of the tongue are released, a lateral lisp will result. Both sounds can vary from mild lisps which only require practice and attention to correct, to cases which need the assistance of a speech pathologist.

Practice on:

church, change, structure, latching, stretch, witch sheet/cheat, muss/much, shoes/choose, shuck/chuck eats/each, cats/catch, hits/hitch, coats/coach

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dish/ditch, wish/witch, bush/butch, mash/match a. - Richard felt wretched after a lunch of chocolate and chives. b. - Chuck fetched a pitcher of chalky milk and perched on his chair cheerfully munching Cheerios.

DRILLS:- repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. Chichester witches

5. charming bachelor Chuck

2. Christian churches

6. richest challenge

3. bleached cherubs

7. charting challenging channels

4. choose orange shoes

8. sh-zh-ch-j-s-z-ch-j [S´-Z´-tS´-dZ´-s´-z´-tS´-dZ´] repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .7

Mispronounced - C

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

cadre

"kœ.drÈ, "kA.d„*

"kA.dreI*

KAH dray

calm

kAm kœv "kœm.brI.´n "kœ.nÅt k´."prI.S´s kœ.r´.m´: "kA„*.b´.nIt "kA„*.b´.ÆneI*t kA„*".neI*.gÈ Ækœ.rI."bi.´n "keI*.vI.œt "sE.l´.br´.ÆtO.rÈ sEnts "sE.r´.br´: SeI*z lON "Sœ.sÈ S´."miz SI."keI*.n´.rÈ tSi."kA.noU* kaI*."rÅ.p´.dIst

kA:m kœ:v "keI*m.bri.´n k´."nÅt k´."pri.S´s "kA„*.m´: failure to distinguish "kA„*.nI.gÈ k´."rI.bi.´n "kœ.vI.Åt s´."lE.br´.ÆtO.rÈ sIns s´."ri.br´: tSeI*s lAU*ndZ "tSœ.sIs, "tSœ.sˆ S´."mis tSI."keI*.n´.rÈ tSI."kœ.noU* S´."rÅ.p´.dIst

KAHLM

calve9 Cambrian cannot capricious caramel carbonate (n.) carbonate (v.)

Carnegie10 Caribbean caveat celebratory cents cerebral chaise longue chassis chemise chicanery Chicano chiropodist

9

KAD ree, KAH d´r KAHM KAV KAM bri

´n

KA not k´ PRISH ´s KA r´ m´l KAR b´ nit KAR b´ nayt kahr NAY gee KA ri BEE ´n KAY vi at SE l´ br´ TAW ree SENTS SE r´ br´l SHAYZ LONG SHA see sh´ MEEZ shi KAY n´ ree chee KAH noh ki@ RO p´ dist

KALV KAYM bree

´n

k´ NOT k´ PREE sh´s KAHR m´l

KAHR ni gee k´ RI bee ´n KAH vi ot s´ LE br´ TAW ree SINS s´ REE br´l CHAYS LOWNJ CHA sis sh´ MIS chi KAY n´ ree chi KA noh sh´ RO p´ dist

Calf is also sometimes similarly mispronounced by the insertion of an "l". accent is on the second syllable." - A ndrew Carnegie. For the concert hall, and Dale Carnegie, the accent on the first syllable is most commonly heard.

10 "The

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

chivalrous chromosome cliché clique clitorus coitus

colander collate collation combatant

"SI.v´:.r´s "kroU*.m´.ÆsoU*m kli."SeI* klik "klI.t´.r´s "koU*.I.t´s

SHI v´l r´s

"kø.l´n.d„ k´."leI*t k´."leI*.S´n k´m."bœ.t´nt

KU l´n dur

KROH m´ SOHM klee SHAY KLEEK KLI t´ r´s KOH i t´s

k´ LAYT k´ LAY sh´n kom BA t´nt

SI."vœ:.r´s "kroU*.m´.ÆzoU*n kl´."SeI* klIk kl´."tO´*.r´s koU*."aI*.t´s, koU*."eI*.t´s, "kOI*.t´s "kÅ.l´n.d„ "koU*.leI*t "koU*.leI*.S´n "kÅm.b´.t´nt acceptable for

comparable conch consortium constable consummate consummate

(adj.) (v.)

contemplative

(n. of religious orders)

contemplative (adj. pensive)

contumely controversial coral coupon courage covert (adj. & n.) crayon culinary cupola

"kÅm.p´.r´.b´: kÅNk k´n."sO„*.SI.´m "køns.t´.b´: k´n."sø.mIt "kÅn.sju.ÆmeI*t k´n."tEm.pl´.tIv

KOM p´ r´ b´l

"kÅn.t´m.ÆpleI*.tIv "kÅn.tjum.lÈ ÆkÅn.tr´."v‰±.S´: "kÅ.r´: "ku.pÅn "kø.rIdZ "kø.v„t "kreI*.Ån "kju.lI.n´.rÈ "kju.p´.l´

KON t´m play tiv

KONGK k´n SOR shi ´m KUN st´ b´l k´n SU mit, KAHN syoo MAYT k´n TEM pl´ tiv

KON tyoom lee KON tr´ VUR sh´l KO r´l KOO pon KU rij KU vurt KRAY on KYOO li n

´. ree

KYOO p´ l´

k´m."pE.r´.b´: kÅntS k´n."sO„*.tI.´m "kÅns.t´.b´: "kAn.s´.m´t "kAn,s´.ÆmeI*t

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shi VAL r´s KROH m´ ZOHN kl´ SHAY KLIK kl´ TOR ´s KOH i@ t´s, KOH ay@ t´s, Koy t´s KO l´n dur KOH layt KOH lay sh´n KOM b´ t´nt

British Speech k´m PE r´ b´l KONCH k´n SOR tee ´m KAHN st´ b´l KAHN s´ m´t, KAHN s´ MAYT

failure to distinguish meanings

k´n."tum.lÈ ÆkAn.tr´."v‰±.si.´: "kO´*.r´: "kju.pÅn "k‰±.rIdZ koU*."v‰±t krœn "kø.l´.nE.rÈ "kju.p´.loU*, "ku.pj´.loU*

k´n TOOM lee KON tr´ VUR see ´l

KOR r´l KYOO pon KUR rij KOH VURT KRAN KU li ne ree KYOO p´ loh.

KUP y´ loh

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Letter du Jou r: D D ESC RIPTIO N ; (typically) voiced, lingua-dental, stop-plosive, consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .8 ipa Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

Letter du J our -D

[d]

d

[t ] [dZ ]

t j

dog (initial position middle (medial position) end (terminal position) asked (final) adjust, soldier (medial) pledge (final)

[d]/d, as in D READ ED FORMATION: Tip of tongue lightly pressed against gum ridge behind upper teeth; sides of tongue touch side teeth; soft palate raised; air stream stopped.

Air is sent past the vocal folds causing them to vibrate; air pressure builds behind tongue tip, which is released quickly, and air explodes out of the mouth.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: 1. - Sometimes the [d]/d is dropped from the middle of words.

Practice on:

grandfather, sandwich, commanded, breadth a. - I demanded the width of my sandwich have the breadth of a hand. b. - A nderson, the candle-maker, handled dozens of individually hand-dipped

candles daily.

2. - Do not let the tongue touch the teeth11. This dentalization [d1] is noticeable in several Eastern urban dialects.

Practice on:

wreathe/reed, breathe/breed, thence/dense, they/day, loathe/load,

thither/dither, though/dough c. - Don't dither, Dudley, weed the garden, and do the dishes.

11Unless

[d]/d is followed immediately by a "TH" sound.

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d. - Danny, wouldn't dare drop his daughters dolls in the dumpster.

3. - Make sure that final [d]/d sounds are fully voiced and don't become [t]/t through a lack of energy on the sound. Be careful not to make an off-glide sound [d´]. Stop on the [d].

Practice on:

beat/bead, set/said, hurt/heard, root/rude, goat/goad, right/ride e. - Todd hoarded a load of hardwood, and didn't intend to vend it. f. - Did you hide the kids in the woods, or in the old shed?

DRILLS:- repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. A dozen Black & Decker Dustbusters

5. Paddy had a deadened haddock in the paddock.

2. deranged avenger

6. wooden noodle

3. handle dandelion

7. depth and breadth

4. Dwight wouldn't dwell with a dozen wooden dwarves.

8. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´]

Table LdJ .9

Mispronounced - D

Problem Word

daiquiri dais damask data decibel12 decrease (n.) decrease (v.) deity deluge depot despicable detritus dew 12A n

- repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Preferred Pronunciation Di@ k´ ree

"daI*.k´.rÈ "deI*.Is "dœ.m´sk "deI*.t´ "dE.sI.ÆbE: "di.kris dI."kris "di.I.tÈ "dE:.judZ "di.poU*

"dE.spI.k´.b´: dI."traI*.tIs dju

DAY is DA m´sk DAY t´ DE si BEL

Non-Standard Pronunciation DA k´ ree

"dœ.k´.rÈ "daI*.Is d´."mœsk "dœ.t´ "dE.s´.b´:

Di@ is d´ MASK DA t´ DE s´ b´l

DEE krees di KREES

improper

stressing

DEE i tee

"deI*.I.tÈ "deI*.luZ "dE.poU*

DAY i tee

d´."spI.k´.b´: "dE.tr´.t´s du

d´ SPI k´ b´l

DEL yooj DEE poh

suitable for some DE spi k´ b´l di TRY tis DYOO

DAY loozh DE poh military & British

DE tr´ t´s DOO

interesting bit of trivia, and a good way to remember this pronunciation is that the last syllable of this word is meant to honor A lexander Graham Bell. That’s why the symbol describing this is dB for deci (divisions of ten) Bells (units of sound pressure).

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

diesel diminution diphtheria diphthong dirigible discourage disheveled disparate dissect doth dour drawer (one who

"di.z´: ÆdI.mIn."ju.S´n dIf."TI.rI.´ "dIf.TÅN "dI.rI.dZI.b´: dIs."kø.rIdZ dI."SE.v´:d "dIs.p´.r´t dI."sEkt døT dU„* "drO.´±

DEE z´l

drowned ducat duty

drAU*nd "dø.k´t "dju.tÈ

DROWND

draws and the receptacle)

DI min YOO sh´n dif THI ri ´ DIF thong DI ri j´ b´l dis KU rij di SHE v´ld DI sp´ r´t di SEKT DUTH DUUR DRAW er

DUK ´t DYOO tee

[eI*]

"di.s´: ÆdIm.ju."nI.S´n dIp."TI.rI.´ "dIp.TÅN Æd´."rI.dZ´.b´: dIs."k‰.rIdZ dIs."hi.v´:d dI."spE.rIt "daI*.sEkt dÅT "dAU*.„* drO´±

DEE s´l

"drAU*n.d´d "du.k´t "du.tÈ

DROWN d´d

to Z [zi] page 28

DIM yoo NI sh´n dip THI ri ´ DIP thong di RI j´ b´l dis KUR rij dis HEE v´ld di SPE rit Di@ sekt DOTH DOWUR DROR

DOOK ´t DOO tee

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Letter du Jou r: E WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E - 12!

Table LdJ .10 Letter du J our - E IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[i] [I] [E] [u] [´] [´± ] [‰± ] [eI* ] [aI* ] [oU* ] [I„*] [E„*]

ee i e oo ´ ur ur ay i@ oh eer air

receive, seed, people, read, cede, chief because, except, breeches heavy, get, leopard, leisure flew, blue, queue women, difference user learn, clerk great, obey, cliché, ballet, matinee, reign, eight height, die, dye beau here, dear, cheer, weird there, heir

We will focus on [i]/ee, and [E]/e. [i]/ee as in H EED FORMATION: Highest and most forward of all the vowel sounds, front of tongue lifted high toward front palate; muscles of tongue tense; jaw almost shut; lips unrounded. Because of the effort needed to make this sound it is usually found on stressed syllables. Compare it to the nearby [I]/i, as in HID, and [È]/ee as in the last syllable of SILLY. PLACEMENT: Often called the "smile vowel" - why we say cheeeese when someone takes a picture. It is supposed to be a bright sound. If the lips are rounded, or closed the sound will lack brilliance and clarity.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Some regions (notably American Southern) start this sound with a relaxed tongue then tense into the vowel, producing an on-glide diphthong [´*i]/uee. Work instead to come cleanly on to the vowel.

Practice on:

agree, thee, eagle, convene, seize, teased, police, peeling, reveal bid/bead, pill/peal, rid/read, dim/deem, kills/keels, sin/seen

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a. - Steve is weak-kneed and queasily freezes at scenes from B-movies. b. - Edith eats the greasy eels with ease, peeling each with her teeth.

[E]/e as in H EAD FORMATION: Front of tongue at mid-front level, relaxed; lips unrounded; jaw half-open. Compare it to nearby sounds [I]/i, as in HID, and [œ]/a, as in HAD. PLACEMENT: Keep sound forward and bright. A slight smile will help. As with [œ]/a, this sound can become nasal, so experiment with pinching your nose closed, and see if the tone changes. If it does, then too much of the sound is resonating through your nose. Make a slight yawn (this will raise your soft palate) and see if the sound comes out more clearly.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: The infamous "git-get" substitution. To correct it open your mouth farther and drop the front of your tongue.

Practice on:

hid/head, pit/pet, did/dead, rid/red, will/well, bitter/better ten tin men, then hem him in, pin Dennis' pen, din in the den a. - Every Wednesday Betty gets her best dress ready for a heavy session of betting on roulette with friends and a heavy sweating session with Teddy. b. - Yesterday's leftover lettuce, a deviled egg, and several sections of wet bread went into J enny's breakfast. c. – Measure the egg on your leg.

Table LdJ .11 Mispronounced - E

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

ebullient

I."bu.lI.´nt ÆE.k´."nÅ.mIk Æi.lEk."tO„*.r´:

i BUU li ´nt

electoral

I."bU:.j´nt Æi.k´."nÅ.mIk I."lEk.t´.r´:

i BUUL y´nt

eleemosynary

ÆE.l´."mÅ.s´.n´.rÈ

E l´ MO s´ n´ ree

Æi.lI.´."mÅ.s´.nE.rÈ

E lee ´ MO s´ ne ree

elephantine

ÆE.l´."fœn.tIn In."kø.rIdZ "En.kleI*v "En.v´.ÆloU*p "En.vOI*

E l´ FAN tin

"E.l´.f´n.ÆtaI*n En."k‰±.rIdZ "Ån.kleI*v "Ån.v´.ÆloU*p "Ån.vOI*

E l´ f´n Ti@N

economic

encourage enclave envelope envoy

(n.)

EE k´ NO mik i LEK t´ r´l

in KU rij EN klayv EN v´ lohp EN voi

E k´ NO mik EE lek TO r´l

en KUR rij ON klayv ON v´ lohp ON voi

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

equanimity equilibrate era err erratum erudite espresso et cetera evolution

Æi.kw´."nI.mI.tÈ Æi.kw´."lI.breI*t "I.r´, "I„*.r´ ‰± I."reI*.t´m "E.ru.ÆdaI*t I."sprE.soU* ÆEt."sE.t´.r´ ÆE.v´:."ju.S´n

EE kw´ NIM i tee EE kw´ LI brayt I r´ UR i RAY t´m E roo Di@T i SPRE soh ET SE t´ r´ E v´l YOO sh´n

ÆE.kw´."nI.mI.tÈ I."kwI.l´.breI*t "E.r´ E„* I."rœ.t´m "E„.ju.ÆdaI*t Ek."sprE.soU* ÆEk."sE.tr´ Æi.v´:."ju.S´n suitable for

i VOLV

extant

I."vÅ:v Ik."skleI*m "Ek.splI.k´.b´: "Ek.skwI.zIt Ik."stœnt

extraordinary

Ik."strO„*.dI.n´.rÈ

ik STROR di n´ ree

evolve exclaim explicable exquisite

ik SKLAYM EK splik ´ b´l EK skwi zit ik STANT

[eI*]

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E kw´ NIM i tee i KWI l´ brayt E r´ AIR i RA t´m ER yoo Di@T ek SPRE soh EK SE t´ r´ EE v´l YOO sh´n

British speech

i."vA:v Ek."skleI*m Ik."splI.k´.b´: Ik."skwI.zIt "Ek.st´nt

ee VAHLV

ÆEk.str´."O„*.dI.nE.rÈ

EK str´ OR di ne ree

ek SKLAYM ik SPLIK ´ b´l ik SKWI zit EK st´nt

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Letter du Jou r: F D ESC RIPTIO N :

(typically)

unvoiced, labio-dental, fricative, continuant

consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .12 Letter du J our - F Ipa Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[f]

f

[v]

v

flu (initial) after, stuffing (medial) if, tiff, calf (final) of (final)

[f]/f as in FLUFF FORMATION: Lower lip brought up under edge of upper teeth; soft palate raised; breath comes out in continuous stream between lower lip and upper teeth; vocal folds do not vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Practice usually needed here on rapidity and clarity.

Practice on:

further/father/farther, hoofer/heifer/huffer, field/filled/felled a. - Five flasks of coffee for breakfast lifted the fretful fog from Fred's mind. b. - The selfish elf finished the fine French aftershave himself.

DRILLS:- repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. filly fully folly

5. fluffy finches flying fast

2. fetch fresh fruit

6. Frank threw Fred three free throws.

3. fixed perspectives

7. French-fried falafel

4. Freddie's friend Eddie phoned for Freddie to fetch fresh fruit from the farm of the famous French farmer.

8. f v sh zh s z sh zh [f´ v´ S´ Z´ s´ z´ S´ Z´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .13 Mispronounced - F

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

falcon

"fO:.k´n fE."mI:.jE±

"fœ:.k´n fE±."mI.jE±

familiar

FAWL k´n f´ MIHL y´r

FAL k´n f´r MIH jur

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

February fetid finis flaccid Florida flutist forbade forehead foreign forget formidable forte

(strong point)

forte

(music)

foyer frequent frequent Friday fungi

(adj.) (v.)

"fE.bru.ÆE.rÈ "fE.tId "fI.nIs "flœk.sId "flÅ.rI.d´ "flu.tIst fO„*."bœd "fÅ.rId "fÅ.rIn f„."gEt "fO„*.mI.d´.b´: fO„*t "fO„*.teI* "fOI*.„ "fri.kw´nt frI."kwEnt "fraI*.dÈ "føn.dZaI*

[eI*]

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"fE.bju.ÆE.rÈ "fi.tId fi."ni "flœ.sId "flO´*±.d´ "flaU*.tIst fO„*.beI*d "fO„*."hEd "fO„*.rIn f„."gIt fO„*."mI.d´.b´: "fO„*.teI* fO„*."teI* "fOI*.jeI*

FEB yoo E ree

FREE kw´nt fri KWENT

Improper

stressing

FRi dee

"fraI*.deI* "føN.gÈ

FRi day

FE broo E ree FE tid FI nis FLAK sid FLO ri d´ FLOO tist for BAD FAW rid FO rin f´r GET FOR mid ´ b´l FORT FOR tay FOI ur

FUN ji@

FEE tid fee NEE FLA sid FLOR d´ FLOW tist for BAYD FOR HED FOR rin fur GIT for MID ´ b´l FOR tay for TAY FOI yay

FUNG gee

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Letter du Jou r: G D ESC RIPTIO N :

(typically)

voiced, lingua-palatal, stop-plosive, consonant

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .14 Letter du J our - G

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings IPA Symbol

[g]

g

[dZ ]

j

[Z]

zh

[f] [k] [N]

f k ng

[Ng] [n]

ng-g n

[p]

p

good, ghost (initial) begin (medial) bag, rogue (final) gelatin (initial) ledger, exaggerate (medial) trudge (final) gendarme (initial) bourgeois (medial) rouge (final) cough (final) hough, lough (final) hanger (medial) song (final) linger (medial) gnu (initial) foreign (final) hiccough (final) (silent) height, bough13

[g]/g as in GIGGLE FORMATION: Back of tongue raised and in contact with soft palate,which is elevated. Exhalation begun, building up pressure, and the vocal folds vibrated.

The tongue is quickly lowered, producing a voiced plosive sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: 1. - If back of tongue doesn't press firmly against the soft palate, [g]/g will take on a fricative sound. This will make the speaker sound fuzzy, or slightly drunk.

Spanish speakers are particularly prone to this as the correlative Spanish sound is a fricative [Ø].

13In

fact OUGH is one of the most problematic spellings in English. Observe: bough [aU*], Edinborough [´], hiccough [øp], Lough [Åç], hough [Åk], ought [Å], though [oU*], through [u], tough [øf], trough [Åf]. The word "slough" is pronounced [slaU*, sløf, slu].

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Practice on:

[eI*]

to Z [zi] page 35

begin, logging, giggle, boggle, again, league, tiger, argue, mug a. - Gary's golf game began to disintegrate as he gulped great flagons of lager. b. - Gregory the greengrocer haggled with the gluttonous and aggressive

gourmand over a bag of grapes.

2. - At the ends of words be careful to give the sound full value. Some speakers lose energy and unvoice the sound to [k]/k, or drop it altogether.

Practice on:

fatigue, twig, shrug, fugue, brogue, plague, burgh, hag, egg c. - Meg bragged of her big-league log book, and begged for autographs. d. - Greta's legs graced the pages of Vogue and gobs of catalogues.

DRILLS:- repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. giggle gaggle

5. bigger buggies

2. eight great gray geese grazing gaily in Greece

6. linger longer

3. gouging grouchy Gauchos

7. begging beguilingly

4. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´]

8. n ng k g l ng k g [n N k g l N k g]

- repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

- repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .15 Mispronounced - G

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

gala

"geI*.l´

GAY l´

"gA.l´

GAH l´

gaseous Gawain genuine get gibberish

"gœ.sI.´s "gA.wIn "dZEn.ju.In gEt "dZI.b´.rIS

GA si ´s

"gœ.S´s g´."weI*n "dZEn.ju.ÆwaI*n gIt "gI.b´.rIS

GA sh´s

giblet glaucoma gondola government

"dZI.blIt glO."koU*.m´ "gÅn.d´.l´ "gø.v„n.m´nt

JI blit

"gI.blIt glAU*."koU*.m´ gÅn."doU*.l´ "gø.v„.m´nt

GI blit

GAH win JEN yoo in GET JI b´ rish

glaw KOH m´ GON d´ l´ GU vurn m´nt

g´ WAYN JEN yoo wi@n GIT GI b´ rish

glow KOH m´ gon DOH l´ GU vur m´nt

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

gramercy Gramercy14 granary gratis grievous grimace grocery grovel guillotine

14Gramercy

gr´."m‰±.sÈ "grœ.m„.sÈ "grœ.n´.rÈ "grœ.tIs, "greI*.tIs "gri.v´s grI."meI*s "groU*.s´.rÈ "grø.v´: "gI.l´.Ætin

[eI*]

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gr´ MUR see GRA mur see

reversing

pronunciations

GRA n´ ree

"greI*.n´.rÈ "grA.tIs

GRAY n´ ree

"gri.vi.´s "grI.m´s "groU*.S´.rÈ "grÅ.v´: "gi.j´.Ætin

GREE vee ´s

GRA tis, GRAY tis GREE v´s gri MAYS GROH s´ ree GRU v´l GI l´ TEEN

GRAH tis

GRI m´s GROH sh´ ree GRO v´l GEE y´ TEEN

is the name of a New York City park. Gramercy (usually all in lower-case) is an interjection expressing pleasant surprise or thanks - a contraction of grand mercy.

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Letter du Jou r: H D ESC RIPTIO N : unvoiced, glottal, fricative, continuant, consonant WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .16 Letter du J our - H IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[h]

h

[H] [çj ]

h hy

[g] [f]

g f

[p] [∑ ]

p hw

[D]

th

[T]

th

[tS ]

ch

[S]

sh

hand (initial) mishap (medial) behind (medial)15 huge (initial)16 inhumane (medial) ghost (initial) photo (initial) roughage (medial) cough (final) hiccough (final) when (initial) anywhere (medial) this (initial) other (medial) seethe (final) thing (initial) brothel (medial) both (final) churn (initial) bachelor (medial) watch (final) shine (initial) bashful (medial) wish (final)

Although this consonant shows up in ten different sounds, we will focus on just two: [h]/h and [çj]/hy [h]/h as in H O W

15[

H ] is a subtle voiced sound found in English only in the medial position between two vowel sounds.

16[ ç ] is a sound most frequently recognized in German on words like ich, or in Scottish on words like loch. It is present in many languages, but its only occurrence in A merican English is on the rapid connection of [ h ] and [ j ].

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FORMATION: Produced by continuous flow of air through vocal folds,throat and the mouth; tongue and lips relaxed and in position for following vowel; soft palate raised; vocal folds do not vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Speakers with breathy voices need to watch that words starting with the unvoiced air stream of [h]/h don't carry that airy quality throughout the entire word.

Practice on:

heavy, health, hedge, wholly, Hamlet, highway, hungry, hundred a. - Her high hopes hid behind a heavy heart and inhibited her happiness. b. - Hard-hearted Harold hit Henry hard with a hickory-handled hammer. c. - Henry howled horribly and hurriedly hobbled home.

[çj]/hy as in H UGE FORMATION: sound begins in the same manner as [h]/h. As the tongue rises in anticipation of [j]/y, the air stream is focused on the soft palate producing the unvoiced fricative [ç].

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Some dialects (New York is a good example) drop [ç] leaving the [j]/y sound to stand alone, so "human" becomes ["jum´n]/Y O O m´ n.

Practice on:

hue/ewe, Hugo/you go, Houston/Euston, Huron/you're on humid, humility, humanitarian, hewn a. - Hubristic Hugo humorlessly hated humanity. b. - They humiliated Hubert, the humongous human, by heaving him into lake

Huron.

Drills: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. you knew Hugh

5. dormant humidors

2. you go with Hugo

6. perhaps happy hippies

3. huge humans humorously hued

7. humorous rumors

4. Youmans' menu/human's - men who

8. how many mahogany and mohair hassocks has Hermione

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Table LdJ .17 Mispronounced - H

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation HAV

Non-Standard Pronunciation HALV

harass height heinous helicopter herb17 homicide

hœv "hœN.k„.ÆtSIf "hœ.r´s haI*t "heI*.n´s "hE.lI.ÆkÅp.t„ ‰±b "hÅ.mI.ÆsaI*d

homogeneity

ÆhoU*.moU*.dZ´."ni.I.tÈ

HOH moh j´ NEE i tee

ÆhoU*.moU*.dZ´."neI*.I.tÈ

HOH moh j´ NAY i tee

horrible horror hospitable hostile

"hÅ.rI.b´: "hÅ.r„ "hÅs.pI.t´.b´: "hÅs.t´:

HO ri b´l

"hO„*.r´.b´: "hO„*.„ hÅ."spI.t´.b´: "hÅs.taI*:

HOr r´ b´l

halve handkerchief

HANG kur chif HA r´s Hi@T HAY n´s HE li KOP tur URB HO mi Si@D

HO rur HO spi t´ b´l HOS t´l

hœ:v "hœN.k„.ÆtSif h´."rœs haI*tT "hi.ni.´s "hi.lI.kÅp.t„ h‰±b "hoU*.mI.ÆsaI*d

acceptable for

houses housewife hovel huge human hundred hygienist hysteria

17Pronounce

"hAU*.zIz "hø.sIf "hø.v´: çjudZ "çju.m´n "høn.drId haI*."dZi.nIst hI."stI.rI.´

HOW ziz HU sif HU v´l HYOOJ HYOO m´n HUN drid hi@ JEE nist hi STI ri ´

"hAU*.sIz "hAU*s."waI*f "hÅ.v´: judZ "ju.m´n "hø.n„d haI*."dZE.nIst hI."stE.rI.´

HANG kur cheef h´ RAS Hi@T TH HEE nee ´s HEE li KOP tur HURB HOH mi Si@D

HOR ur ho SPI t´ b´l HOS ti@l

British speech HOW siz HOWS Wi F HO v´l YOOJ YOO m´n HU nurd hi@ JE nist hi STE ree ´

the initial "H" in herbal, herbicide, herbaceous, herbivore, herbivorous, and herbarium. Keep it silent on herbage, and herb.

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Letter du Jou r: I WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E: 11!

Table LdJ .18 Letter du J our - I IPA Symbols Respelling

Examples of words and their various spellings

[i] [I] [E] [œ ] [u] [´] [eI* ] [aI* ] [OI* ] [I„* ] [E„*]

receive, chief hit, build leisure (British) plaid fruit edible faint, vein wine, lie, height oil bier, weird fair, heir

ee i e a oo ´ ay i@ oi ir air

We will focus on the sounds of [I]/i, [´]/´, and [aI*]/i@.

[I]/i, as in H ID FORMATION: Front of tongue high, but more relaxed than for [i]/ee; lips unrounded and relaxed; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate. Compare to the nearby sounds [i]/ee, as in HEED, and [E]/e, as in HEAD. PLACEMENT: This bright forward vowel can become murky sounding if you round your lips. Allow your lips to spread slightly in the feeling of a smile to keep the sound clear.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Many non-native speakers will substitute [i]/ee. Also guard against nasality, especially near nasal sounds [m, n, N]/m, n, ng. Make clear separations between [I]/i, and its two surrounding sounds [i]/ee, and [E]/e.

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Practice on:

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to Z [zi] page 41

beat/bit/bet, deed/did/dead, seed/Sid/said, seal/sill/sell, reed/rid/red hips, bib, titter, hideous, tickle, niggardly, thimble, million, village, billion a. - Tim, sitting prettily in his silver slip, didn't consider his idiosyncrasies to be

significant. b. - Will the gypsy's whiskey still irritate my liver, or shall I switch to gin fizzes?

[´]/´, the "schwa", o r neutral vo wel FORMATION: Tongue low, in most relaxed state; lips unrounded; jaw relaxed, mouth slightly open;soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

PLACEMENT: Situated in center of mouth; most relaxed of all the vowels, and likely to have most balanced tonality. If you have a problem with tonality, this, and it's stressed correlative [ø]/u are good vowels to use to find a centered tone.

USE: This sound is sometimes called the :"schwa" from the German-Yiddish word sheva for emptiness. It is regarded as the most neutral of the vowel sounds, and is the most frequently occurring vowel in American English. Since it is the most relaxed vowel, it can only occur on unstressed syllables.

Hear the sound in comparison to [ø]/u: commence/come, suppose/sup, Tacoma/tuck, upon/upper.

Practice on:

apparent, beneficent, dependent, machine, support, common a. - The amateurish artificiality of the actress was reprehensible. b. - Her experiences of their selfishness and carelessness caused her anxiety.

[aI*]/i@, as in H IGH FORMATION: Diphthong. Tongue starts in low mid-back position and moves forward toward high front region; lips unrounded; the jaw starts dropped, then lifts; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

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PLACEMENT: Watch out for over-nasality. A good adaptation to make this diphthong rounder is to adjust the first sound from [a] to [A]. 18 That is a darker and rounder sound, and can keep the diphthong from being too brassy.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This is the diphthong Southerners are famous for changing, so that we hear "I'm right fine" shift to "Ahm raht fahn." Use a tape recorder to check the sound, and a mirror so you can see the jaw close and tongue lift to the second sound.

Practice on:

Tom/time, tall/tile, spa/spy, bah/buy, dock/dike, fond/find tie, thigh, I'll, diamond, scythe, sublime, hive, crimes, imbibe, a. - I'm the kind that likes a wild time for a dime. b. - Write, we know, should not be written "right", should not be written "wright", nor should it be written "rite", but "write", for only then is it written right.

Table LdJ .19 Mispronounced - I

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

idea

aI*."di.´ "Ig.noU*.ÆmI.nÈ ÆIg.n´."reI*.m´s I."løs.tr´.tIv "Im.pI.´s "Im.p´.t´nt In."kÅg.nI.toU* "In.kris In."kris

i@ DEE ´

aI*."di.„ Ig."nÅ.m´.nÈ ÆIg.n´."rœ.m´s ÆI.l´."streI*.tIv Im."paI*.´s Im."poU*.t´nt ÆIn.kÅg."ni.toU*

i@ DEE ur

IN krees in KREES

improper

stressing

ÆIn.dI."fœ.tI.g´.b´: In."Ek.splI.k´.b´:

IN di FA ti g´ b´l

ÆIn.dI.f´."ti.g´.b´: In.Eks."plI.k´.b´:

IN di f´ TEE g´ b´l

In."fI:.treI*t "In.flu.´ns In."hI´*.r´nt In."hÅs.pI.t´.b´: In."kwaI*´*.rÈ "In.t´.gr´:

in FIL trayt

"In.f´:.ÆtreI*t In."flu.´nts In."hE.r´nt ÆIn.hÅ."spI.t´.b´: "In.kw´.rÈ In."tEg.r´:

IN f´l TRAYT

ignominy ignoramus illustrative impious impotent incognito increase (n.) increase (v.) indefatigable inexplicable infiltrate influence inherent inhospitable inquiry integral

18Many

IG noh mi nee IG n´ RAY m´s i LUS tr´ tiv IM pi ´s IM p´ t´nt in KOG ni toh

in EK spli k´ b´l

IN floo ´ns in HI r´nt in HO spi t´ b´l in KWi@ ree IN t´ gr´l

phoneticians do write this diphthong as [AI, AI*, AI, Ai].

ig NO m´ nee IG n´ RA m´s I l´ STRAY tiv im Pi@ ´s im POH t´nt IN kog NEE toh

IN ek SPLI k´ b´l

in FLOO ´nts in HE r´nt in ho SPI t´ b´l IN kw´ ree in TE gr´l

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interest interesting intravenous Iran Iraq irony irregardless irrelevant irreparable irrevocable Italian19

19Rocco,

"In.tr´st "In.tr´.stIN ÆIn.tr´."vi.n´s I."rAn I."rAk "aI*.r´.nÈ ---I."rE.l´.v´nt I."rE.pr´.b´: I."rE.v´.k´.b´: I."tœ:.j´n

IN tr´st IN tr´ sting IN tr´ VEE n´s

i RAHN i RAHK i@ r´ nee ---i RE l´ v´nt i RE pr´ b´l i RE v´ k´ b´l i TAL y´n

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IN t´ REST "In.t´.ÆrEst I n´ RE sting "I.n´.ÆrEs.tIN ÆIn.tr´."vi.nI.´s IN tr´ VEE nee ´s i@ RAN aI*."rœn i@ RAK aI*."rœk i@ ur nee "aI*.„.nÈ This is not a word.

---i RE v´ l´nt I."rE.v´.l´nt i ri PE r´ b´l I.rI."pE.r´.b´: I.rI."voU*.k´.b´: i ri VOH k´ b´l i@ TAL y´n aI*."tœ:.j´n

as you might expect, is particularly alert to this one!

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Letter du Jou r: J D ESC RIPTIO N : (typically) voiced, affricate, consonant WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .20 Letter du J our - J IPA Symbol

Respelling

Examples of words and their various spellings

[dZ ]

j

[Z]

zh

[j] [h]

y h

jury (initial) adjust, rejoice (medial) jabot (initial) Raj (final) J ohannes jacaranda

We will focus on the letter "J" as it represents the sound of [dZ]/j. [dZ]/j, as in J UD GE FORMATION: Affricate sound - combination of stop-plosive [d]/d, and fricative [Z]/zh. Blade of tongue raised, lightly touching front palate just behind gum ridge; breath stream momentarily stopped by tongue at soft palate; tongue then quickly lowers a bit, allowing breath stream to explode between it and front palate to form the [Z]/zh part of the sound. Palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tongue extends too far forward the sound will be overly sibilant, and lisping. If instead of releasing the tongue tip on the [d]/d sound, the sides of the tongue are released, a lateral lisp will result. Both sounds can vary from mild lisps which only require practice and attention to correct, to cases which need the assistance of a speech pathologist. Be sure to fully voice this sound at the ends of words. Don't let it become [tS]/ch.

Practice on:

each/siege, rich/ridge, catch/cadge, leather/ledger, etch/edge juice, jaw, jolly, region, fugitive, dodges, fringed, avenged a. - A surge of rage changed his visage from joyful to jaundiced. b. - The juvenile gigolo joshingly badgered his bejeweled benefactress about a

juicy sojourn in A rgentina.

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Drills: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly: 1. gorgeous Georgia's jargon

5. generous German managers

2. urgent juror

6. strange Indian hinges

3. deranged avenger

7. devulging bulging bilges

4. begrudging curmudgeon

8. sh zh ch j s z ch j [S´ Z´ tS´ dZ´ s´ z´ tS´ dZ´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .21 Mispronounced - J

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

jewelry joust jubilant juror just juvenile

"dZu.´:.rÈ dZøst "dZu.bI.l´nt "dZU´*.r„ dZøst "dZu.v´.n´:

"dZu.l´.rÈ dZAU*st "dZu.bju.l´nt "dZ‰±.rO„* dZIs "dZu.v´.ÆnaI*:

JOO ´l ree J UST JUU bi l´nt JUU rur J UST JOO v´ n´l

JOO l´ ree J OWST JUU byoo l´nt JUR or J IS JOO v´ ni@l

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Letter du Jou r: K D ESC RIPTIO N :

(typically)

unvoiced, lingua-velar, stop-plosive, consonant

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .22 Letter du J our - K IPA Symbol

Respelling

Examples of words and their various spellings

[k]

k

[n]

n

klaxon (initial) irksome (medial) brook (final) know (initial)

[k]/k , as in C O O K FORMATION: Back of tongue raised and in contact with soft palate, which is elevated. Exhalation is begun, building up pressure; vocal folds not vibrated; tongue quickly lowered, producing unvoiced plosive sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the back of the tongue doesn't come into firm contact, a blurred fricative sound will replace [k]/k. Additionally, the sound is often omitted at the ends of words and in challenging consonant combinations.

Practice on:

guilt/kilt, gram/cram, ragging/wracking, boogie/bookie, bag/back, tag/tack,

beacon/begun excellent, election, clip, eccentric, tact, heckler, acne, picture, A rctic, flaccid chaos, kept, lackey, broker, occur, forsook, walk, pick, fluke, ask a. - J ack whisked a flask of the musked vodka-like tincture from his jacket pocket. b. - The instructor inked political questions on Marx, Kant and Copernicus.

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DRILLS: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly: 1. kinky cookie

5. necessary accessories

2. kickle cackle

6. go-kart cargoes of take-out tacos

3. fixed perspectives

7. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

4. mixed biscuits

8. n ng k g l ng k g [n´ N´ k´ g´ l´ N´ k´ g´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .23 Mispronounced - K

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

kiln kismet Koran kudos20

kI: "kIz.mEt k´."rAn "kju.dÅs

kI:n "kIs.m´t "kO„*.rœn "ku.doU*z

20 Useage

KIL KIZ met k´ RAN KYOO dahs

KILN KIS m´t KAW ran KO O do hz

note: kudos is not a plural word. It means glory or praise. There is no singular form of the word, so you can’t give someone a ‘kudo’. ‘He received many kudos is also incorrect. You should say, “He received much kudos.”

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Letter du Jou r: L D ESC RIPTIO N : voiced, lingua-alveolar, lateral, continuant, semi-vowel consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .24 Letter du J our - L IPA Symbols Respelling

[l] [:]

Examples of words and their various spellings

l

like (initial) relish (medial) l faulty (medial) tall (final) silent calm

[l, :]/l, as in LULL FORMATION: Jaw open fairly wide; broadened tip of tongue pressed against upper gum ridge; sides of tongue allow openings between them and side teeth for air to flow laterally; palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Though "l" has one formation, it has two important functions. [l] is the "clear", or "released" consonant. It is always followed by a vowel sound. When you form this sound, you can feel your tongue will only touch briefly on your gum ridge, then release into the vowel. Focus on speed and alacrity with this sound.

Practice on:

lily, lovely, failing, shallow, toweling, Philip, silly, lullaby,

Be careful not to add an extra syllable, so that words like "failing" become FAY ´ ling. a. - The lovely ladies leaned on the leeward rail of the luxury liner and looked longingly at the eleven lanky Leningrad longshoremen. b. - Lollie loved flipping off literary allusions and belly laughs during long telephone talks.

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[:] called the "dark", or "unreleased L" is followed by either a consonant or silence. When you say this sound your tongue will hold against the gum ridge, and the back of your tongue will drop lower. This is a natural quality, and not one you will want to emphasize. The "dark l" is a problematic sound for many speakers. Here are some of the misarticulations: 1. - many speakers fail to touch their tongue to the gum ridge at all on this sound. The result is either [oU*]/oh or [ :‚ ], also called a "double-dark l." On all these exercises look in a mirror and be sure you see and feel your tongue meet the gum ridge.

2. - [:] can distort the vowel in front of it, changing "feel" to "fill.

Practice these pairs of words, and keep the vowel the same for both. feeling/feel, peeling/peel, failing/fail, bailing/bail

3. - avoid adding an extra syllable before [:]. scowl, girl, steal, coil, pearl, mile, foil, Carl, deal

4. - on words of more than one syllable, don't add [w]/w or [j]/y before [:]. towel is ["taU*´:]/TO W ´l, not ["taU*w´:]/TO W- w´l vial is ["vaI*´:]/V i@ ´l, not ["vaI*j´:]/V i@ y´l 5. - don't drop the [:] when it's followed by [j]/y. Practice on: value, brilliant, Italian, will you, peculiar, billion, failure Natalia Hilliardi, sister of Illya, the peculiar Italian Duke, found herself engaged to J ulius Williams, a brilliantly alluring, but hateful A ustralian. Illya's millions would join with J ulius' billions, and Illya Hilliardi would be the richest and most resilient Italian Duke. But Natalia valued neither millions nor billions, and certainly didn't like J ulius. When Illya insisted, she took to Valium, and nearly made his plot a failure.

Practice on: a.

Consult the dull culturally refined authorities about hushing up while studying.

b.

I'll swallow a tall glass of cold milk.

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c.

Fill the bottle until it is full.

d.

Tell Phil he'll pull all the wool from the dull colored ball.

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DRILLS: - repeat each several times rapidly and clearly 1. Culligan and calla lily

6. red leather, yellow leather 11. peculiarly brilliant

2. limited ability

7. minimal animal

12. Italian William

3. eleven benevolent elephants 8. philological ability

13. lemon liniment

4. will you, William

9. literally literary

14. Willamette family

5. aluminum linoleum

10. alabaster balasters

15. n ng k g l ng k g [n´ N´ k´ g´ l´ N´ k´ g´]

Table LdJ .25 Mispronounced - L

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

lackadaisical lambaste lamentable largess leisure length liaison

Ælœ.k´."deI*.zI.k´: ]

LA k´ DAY zi k´l

Ælœk.s´."deI*.zI.k´:

LAK s´ DAY zi k´l

lœm."beI*st "lœ.m´n.t´.b´: "lA„*.dZ´s "l”.ZE± lENkT

lam BAYST

"lœm."bœst l´."mEn.t´.b´: lA„*."dZEs "li.ZE±

LAM BAST

LENGKTH

lEnT, leI*nT, liNkT

LENTH, LAYNTH, LEENGKTH

"li.´.zÅn, li."eI*.zÅn, Æli.eI*."zO)

LEE ´ zon, lee AY zon,

"leI*.´.zÅn

LAY ´ zon

"laI*.brE.rÈ lidZ "lœn.Z´.rÈ, lœn.Z´."rÈ laI*D loU*T loU*D "loU*D.s´m lÅN laI*vd "lAU*´*.rIN

L i@ bre ree

"laI*.bE.rÈ liZ ÆlAn.dZ´."reI*

L i@ be ree

L i@TH

laI*T

L i@T H

LOHTH LOHTH

reversing

pronunciations

LOH TH s´m

"loU*T.s´m lÅN lIvd "loU*.w´.rIN

LOHTH s´m

library liege lingerie lithe loath (adj.) loathe (v.) loathsome long-lived louring/ lowering (threatening)

LA m´n t´ b´l LAHR j´s LEH zhur

lee ay

l´ MEN t´ b´l lahr JES LEE zhur

z o)

LEEJ LAN zh´ ree lan zh´ REE

LONG L i@VD LOWUR ring

LEEZH lahn j´ RAY

LONG LIVD LOH wur ring

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Letter du Jou r: M D ESC RIPTIO N : voiced, bi-labial, nasal, continuant, consonant WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .26 Letter du J our - M IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[m ]

m

[m` ]

mask (initial) hamburger (medial) beam (final) m (syllabic initially, only on foreign words) Mhorr rhythm (final) silent mnemonic

[m]/m, as in M AM M AL FORMATION: Lips lightly closed; soft palate lowered to allow air to pass through and out of nose; tongue relaxed and lowered; vocal folds vibrate.

PLACEMENT: Since this sound is produced through the nose, the quality of sound can reveal nasal blockage. As that is usually not correctable by simply "speaking better", medical attention may be required before correction can be effective.

Blockage can be caused by congestion from adenoids, growths in the nasal passage, deviated septum, injury, allergies, or the common cold. This is true of all the nasal resonating consonants: [m, n, N].

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Use this sound to increase your sense of facial mask resonance. Focus also on speed and precision.

Practice on:

mimicking, mummery, mumbled, manumission, remember a. - Mamie mumbled and murmured memorandums to the members at Monday's

interminable meeting. b. - Mama maintains her moments of submissiveness are merely my imagination.

DRILLS: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

1. minimal animal

5. moving Vermont

2. mommala poppala

6. inimically mimicking

3. murmur rumors

7. abominable mambo

4. Martin met a mob of marching munching monkeys.

8. remembered dismembering

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9. abominable abdominals

Table LdJ .27 Mispronounced - M

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

machination

Æmœ.SI."neI*.S´n "mœd.mœn "mœ.dZaI* ÆmE.r´."Si.noU* m´."tS‰± mÅv, mOv "mœ.neI*z meI*."O´*.r´: mI."di.v´:

MASH i NAY sh´n

memento

Æmœ.kI."neI*.S´n "mœd.m´n "meI*.dZaI* Æmœ.r´."ski.noU* m´."tjU„* moU*v "meI*.´.ÆneI*z "meI*.´.r´: mE.dI."i.v´: mi.dI."i.v´: m´."mEn.toU*

MAK i NAY sh´n

m´ MEN toh

moU*."mEn.toU*

moh MEN toh

memorabilia

ÆmE.m´.r´."bI.lI.´

ME m´ r´ BI li ´

ÆmEm.r´."bi:.j´

mem r´ BEEL y´

men

mEn "mEn.t„ "m‰±.tS´n.ÆdaI*z "mId.waI*.frÈ mi:."jU mI."nøs.kju: mIn."ju.SI.Æi "mI´*.r„ "mIs.tS´.v´s "møn.dÈ "moU*.rIz m´."stœS

MEN

mIn "mEn.tO„* "m‰±.tS´n.ÆdaI*s mId."wI.f´.rÈ "mI:.ju "mI.n´.skju: mI."nu.S´ "mI„* mIs."tSi.vI.´s "møn.deI* "mO´*.reI*z "møs.tœS

MIN

madman magi maraschino mature mauve mayonnaise mayoral medieval

mentor merchandise (n.&v.) midwifery milieu minuscule minutiae mirror mischievous Monday mores mustache

MAD m´n MAY j i@ MA r´ SKEE noh m´ TYUUR MOHV MAY

´ NAYZ

MAY ´ r´l me dee EE v´l mee dee EE v´l

MEN tur MUR ch´n Di@Z MID w i@f ree meel YUU mi NUS kyool min YOO shi ee MI r´r MIS ch´ v´s MUN dee MOH reez m´ STASH

MAD man MA j i@ MA r´ SHEE noh m´ CHUR MOV, MAWV MA nayz may AW r´l mi DEE v´l

MEN tawr MUR ch´n Di@S mid W i@ f´ ree MIL yoo MI n´s kyool mi NOO sh´ MEER mis CHEE vee ´s MUN day MAW rayz MU stash

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Letter du Jou r: N D ESC RIPTIO N : voiced, alveolar, nasal, continuant, consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Tabe LdJ .28 Letter du J our N IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of their words and their various spellings

[n]

n

[ n` ]

n

[N]

ng Silent

need, knead, mnemonic, pneumonia (initial) announce (medial) win (final) (syllabic initially, only on foreign words) Nkomo even (final) singer (medial) song, tongue, think (final) condemn

We will focus on the sounds of [n]/n, and [N]/ng PLACEMENT: Both sounds, like [m]/m are nasal resonators, and rely on an open and clear nasal passage. [n]/n, as in N AN N Y FORMATION: Tip of tongue pressed lightly against the upper gum ridge, sides of the tongue in contact with side teeth; lips unrounded; tongue relaxed; air passes through nose as soft palate is lowered, and vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Don't get stuck in the nasal resonators for the following vowel. Work for speed and clarity. Don't omit the sound in difficult consonant combinations such as [nm]/nm.

Practice on:

deed/need, dab/nab, done/none, dale/nail, wading/waning ninny, none, government, environment, phenomenon a. - Nanette's need for nicotine wasn't known until noon. b. - Neil's unnerving tendency to gnaw his knuckles undermined the important job

interview.

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[N]/ng, as in SIN GIN G FORMATION: Lips unrounded; jaw slightly open; back of tongue raised against soft palate, so air cannot exit mouth; tip of tongue rests low behind lower front teeth; soft palate lowered, allowing air to move through nasal passage; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This is a difficult sound for many American dialects and foreign accents.

1. - complete "ing" endings so that [IN]/ing doesn't change to [´n]/´ n.

2. - don't alter "ing" endings so that [IN]/ing changes to [in]/een.

Practice on:

sing/singing, bring/bringing, wing/winging, ding/dinging, cling/clinging a. - Darling, you'll not be getting something for nothing this evening. b. - Singing, laughing and drinking, their lives came to nothing.

3. - when [N]/ng is followed by a vowel, don't change it to [Ng]/ng-g.

Practice on:

long/longing, throng/thronging, clang/clanging, hang/hanging Long Island, gingham, hanger, bring it, king of, sing on, bang at c. - King A lbert sang a long and twanging song of young love. d. - Bringing A llen along, we were running along the Long Island shipping

anchorage.

4. - the [Ng]/ng-g sound is present in many words Practice on:

angular, mangle, younger, longer, linguist, singled, bungled e. - Linger longer in the jungle, King of Tonga. f. - Mr. Bungle's attempts to mingle in the singles bar were anguishing.

5. - the [Nk]/ng-k sound is present in many words Practice on:

length, strength, ankle, sprinkle, thinking, tinkle, minx, larynx ankle/angle, tinkle/tingle, anchor/anger, rankle/wrangle, banker/Bangor

6. - beware of [œN]/ang changing to [œI*N]/aing. Keep the front of your tongue low.

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Practice on:

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to Z [zi] page 55

band/bank, sand/sank, planned/plank, hand/handkerchief g. - The lanky man angrily drank himself into blankness. h. - With a loud clanging and banging, A nne madly rang the gong.

Practice on this combination of [N]/ng sounds: i. - The lanky English linguist languished long, feeling hungry and angry, his strength shrinking, as he sank on a mangled plank and drank until his anger shrank.

DRILLS: - repeat each one several times rapidly and clearly: 1. linger longer

6. winging to England

2. twanging language

7. anchor in Bangor

3. belonging longer

8. drinking ink

4. wrong rung wringing

9. long, long ago 10. n ng k g l ng k g [n´ N´ k´ g´ l´ N´ k´ g´]

5. angry banker in Bangor

-repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .29 Mispronounced- N

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

naiveté nascent negotiate new New Orleans newspaper nihilism nuclear nuptial

Preferred Pronunciation nah eev TAY

nA.iv."teI* "nœ.s´nt n´."goU*.SI.ÆeI*t nju nju "O„*.lI.´nz "njuz."peI*.p„ "naI*.´.lI.z´m "nju.klI„* "nøp.S´:

NA s´nt n´ GOH shee AYT NYOO nyoo OR li

´nz

NYOOZ PAY pur N i@ ´ li z´m NYOO kli ur NUP sh´l

Non-Standard Pronunciation nah EEV ´ tee

naI*."i.v´.tÈ "neI*.s´nt n´."goU*.si.ÆeI*t nu Ænu O„*."linz "nus."peI*.p„ "ni.´.lI.z´m "nu.kj´.l„ "nøp.tSu.´:

NAY s´nt n´ GOH see AYT NOO NOO or LEENZ NOOZ PAY pur NEE ´ li z´m NU ky´ lur NUP choo ´l

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Letter du Jou r: O WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E: 19!

Table LdJ .30 Letter du J our - O IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[i] [I] [E] [Å] [O] [o] [U] [u] [ø] [´] [´± ] [‰± ] [eI* ] [OI* ] [aU* ] [oU* ] [O„*] [U„*] [w ]

ee i e o aw oh uu oo u ´ ur ur ay oi ow oh or uur w

people, amoeba women leopard knowledge, hot, orange bought opinion woman, could, wolf, foot, Worcestershire ooze, to, food, wound, ouzel color, hiccough, blood polite actor work, journey gaol boy, oil loud, how, oust shoulder, bowl, boast, home, no floor, hoary, horn poor, tour once, ouija, someone

We will focus on "O" as it is used in the sounds [oU*]/oh, [aU*]/ow, [OI*]/oi, and [Å]/o. [oU*]/o h, as in H O E FORMATION: Diphthong - for initial sound [o] back of tongue in upper mid back position and relaxed; lips rounded and lax; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate. As diphthong shifts into second sound [U] back of tongue rises slightly, and lips tense, rounding farther.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Be sure not to slide into a British sounding [´U*] when speaking classical texts because of a misguided desire to "speak well."

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Practice on:

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photo, oleo, Hoboken, Tokyo, overgrowth, taupe, boast, bowl, home a. - The hole in J oan's hose had slowly grown past her soles and over her toes. b. - It was so cold in the old theatre that there was snow blowing over the front

rows.

[aU*]/o w, as in H O W FORMATION: Diphthong - tongue starts in low mid-back position, rises to highback region; lips lax and unrounded for first element of diphthong [a]; becoming tense and rounded for second sound [U*]; jaw moves from open to closed; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Many speakers make the initial sound too far forward and the diphthong takes on the brassy quality of [Ĺ“U*] instead of the darker [aU*]/ow. It can be helpful to take the sound all the way to [A]/ah21. In the following word pairs let the sound of the first word help shape the initial vowel in the diphthong.

Practice on:

ah/hour, papa/power, balm/bow, calm/cow, spa/spout, drama/drought a. - Howard's frowzy spouse slouched around the house, and lounged on the couch. b. - How the stout Countess allowed her round and mountainous form to gain pound upon pound astounded us all.

[OI*]/o i, as in H O IST FORMATION: Diphthong - tongue starts in mid-back position [O] and moves to the high front region [I*]; lips move from slightly rounded to unrounded; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tongue doesn't rise to make the second sound [I]/i, the vowel [O]/aw results so that oil sounds like all. Additionally, when the

21Many

phoneticians do write this diphthong as [AU, AU*, AU, Au].

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diphthong is followed by [:]/l, there is a tendency to add [j]/y, so that oil sounds like oiyal.

Practice on:

moil, foil, toil, coil, boil, doily, spoil, recoil, multifoil, voile, soil, despoil a. - Floyd, the royal boy, joined the singing with a moistly adenoidal voice. b. - Roy enjoyed Troy's joyous boyish foibles, but was disappointed by his adroit

avoidance of toil.

[Å]/o , as in H O T There are three vowel sounds in English that are so close together that many speakers have trouble differentiating between them: [A]/ah, [Å]/o, and [O]/aw. All are formed with a low back tongue placement. Many American dialects generalize them into one sound. They should be separated. The main difference is lip roundness:

Americans tend to speak these sounds more accurately when accompanied by an "R" sound, so look in a mirror and watch your lips as you say these key words: [A]/ah as in hard is unrounded. [Å]/o as in horrible (make it rhyme with hot) is slightly rounded. (For US speakers this sound is often used naturally in words like — sorry, borrow and tomorrow.)

[O]/aw as in horn is very rounded.

Practice these words in comparison:

Table LdJ .31 [A, Å, O]- in Comparison

[A]/ah

[Å]/o

[O]/aw

[oU*]/ o h

[A]/ah

[Å]/o

[O]/aw

[oU*]/ o h

1. ah 2. Allah 3. palm 4. balm 5. Tahoe 6. taco

ox Ollie policy bomb Tom tock

awe all Paul bawl tall talk

oh old pole bowl toll toque

17. alms 18. palm 19. papa 20. Baden 21. Tana 22. Dahl

odd pod popper body tonic doll

awed pawed pauper bawd tawny Dalton

owed polled pope bode tone dole

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7. Dada 8. Kahn 9. spa 10. Mahler 11. llama 12. father 13. psalm 14. Shah 15. Brahms 16. Java

dotted con spondee moll lolling folly somber shot broth John

daughter call spawn maul lawless falcon sauce Shaw brought jaundice

dote cone spoke mole loan foal sews show broach Jones

23. calm 24. mama 25. armada 26. Nazi 27. father 28. facade 29. sake 30. mirage 31. drama 32. cha-cha

cod mop mod knotty fond sod sock Roger drop chock

[eI*]

cawed maw Maud naughty fawned sawed Salk raw drawn chalk

to Z [zi] page 59

code mow mode noted phoned sewed soak row drone choke

Compare these sets of sentences where the sounds fall in the same order: a. Charge off to war, Homer.

The almond got raw and old.

b. Martin swallowed the gorgeous cone.

Massage the monster's paw slowly.

c. Carve the horrible warm bowl.

Calm that hot mawkish tone.

When [Å]/o is followed by an "R", most Americans change it to [O„**]/or. Compare these words, and match the vowel sounds.

Practice on:

hot/horrible, dot/Dorothy, fog/forest, log/lorry, Tom/torrent

This next sentence has these sounds [År, œr, O„*] in random order: d. Rehearsing makes Horace hoarse, and hoarseness is

‰±

Å.r

O„*

O„*

harassing to his humble hobby horse. Now if this hoarseness

œ.r

ø

Å O„*

O„*

harasses Horace's horse, how it must affect Horace. A ctually, it

œ.r Å.r

O„*

ø

Å.r

haunts Horace.

O

Å.r

Table LdJ .32 Mispronounced - O

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

obeisance

oU*."beI*.s´ns "Å.b´.ÆlIsk ´."blik ´."fI.S´: "Å.f´n

oU*."bi.s´ns "oU*.b´.ÆlIsk oU*."blik oU*."fIS.´: "Åf.t´n

obelisk oblique official often

oh BAY s´ns O b´ LISK ´ BLEEK ´ FI sh´l O f´n

oh BEE s´ns OH b´ LISK oh BLEEK oh FI sh´l OF t´n

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ohl FAK t´ ree

O n´ MAH t´ PEE ´

ÆÅ.n´.ÆmA.n´."peI*.´

O n´ MAH n´ PAY ´

ÆÅf.TA:."mÅ.l´.dZ´st

OF thahl MO l´ j´st

ÆÅp.TA."mÅ.l´.dZ´st

OP th´ MO l´ j´st

"Å.rI.k´: "Å.rI.dZ´n "O„*.n´.rÈ "O„*.ToU*.ÆE.pÈ aU*„*

O ri k´l

"O„*.rI.k´: "O„*.rI.dZ´n "An.rÈ O„*."ToU*.´.pÈ A„*

OR ri k´l

ol FAK t´ ree

onerous onomatopoeia

ÆÅ.n´.ÆmA.t´."pi.´

ophthalmologist oracle

oligarchy

origin ornery orthoepy our

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oU*:."fœk.t´.rÈ "oU*.lI.ÆgA„*.kÈ "oU*.n´.r´s

Å:."fœk.t´.rÈ "Å.lI.ÆgA„*.kÈ "Å.n´.r´s

olfactory

[eI*]

O li GAHR kee O n´ r´s

O ri j´n OR n´ ree OR thoh E pee OW´R

OH li GAHR kee OH n´ r´s

OR ri j´n AHN ree or THOH ´ pee AHR

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Letter du Jou r: P D ESC RIPTIO N : bi-labial, voiceless, stop-plosive consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .33 Letter du J our - P IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[p]

p

[n]

n

poem (initial) happen, upon (medial) hop (final) pneumatic (silent)

[p]/p, as in PO PULAR FORMATION: Lips closed; soft palate raised; air exhaled to create gentle pressure behind lips; lips then opened quickly; air released explosively; tongue relaxed; vocal folds don't vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Guard against over-popping when using a microphone (though on-stage it might be a strong dramatic effect). Work for speed and clarity Practice on:

bit/pit, beg/peg, rib/rip, tab/tap, dabber/dapper, Mabel/maple a. - Pepe peculiarly planted purple paper poppies and pink paper petunias, in

perfectly preformed patterns. b. - Harper typically supposes his perspectives are popular, but his personal prejudices appeal only to purely apish disciples.

DRILLS: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly 1. paper poppy, baby bubble

5. dapper dabber

2. Peggy Babcock

6. keep on peeking, creeping peeper

3. peculiarly perverted viper

7. sloppily sipping purple slurpees

4. rapid rabid rabbit

8. p b t d k g t d

[p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

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Table LdJ .34 Mispronounced - P

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

paean

"pi.´n pAm "pœ.r´.ÆdIm

PEE ´n

"peI*.´n pA:m "pœ.r´.ÆdaI*m

"pA„*.lÈ "pœs.t´.r´: "pEk.t´.r´: pEn "pi.n´.ÆlaI*z "p‰±.mIt p„."mIt Æp‰±.sI."vI„*

PAHR lee

f´."nÅ.mI.ÆnÅn pi."œ.nIst "pi.k´nt

f´ NO mi NON

"plœn.tIn pOI*n."sE.tI.´ p´."lis "pO„*.kj´.ÆpaI*n "pÅ.rIdZ p´."zEs prI."si.d´ns "prE.d´.t„ "prE.f´.r´.b´: "prE:.jud "prE.mI.s´z Æpri.m´."nI.S´n prI."pE.r´.ÆtO´*.rÈ prI."stI.dZ´s prI."vEn.tIv "prI.m„ "praI*.m„ "prI.v´.ÆlIdZ "prÅ.sEs

PLAN tin

palm paradigm parley pastoral pectoral pen penalize permit permit

(n.) (v,)

persevere phenomenon pianist piquant plantain poinsettia police porcupine porridge possess precedence predator preferable prelude premises premonition preparatory prestigious preventive primer (book) primer (he, who,

or that which primes)

privilege process

PAHM PA r´ DIM

acceptable for

PAY ´n PAHLM PE r´ Di M

British speech

"pA„*.leI* pœs."tO´*.r´: pEk."tO´*.r´: pIn "pE.n´.ÆlaI*z

PAHR lay

PUR mit pur MIT

improper

stressing

PUR si VIR

p„."sE.v„, Æp‰±.s„."vI„* f´."nÅ.mI.Ænøn "pi.´.nIst pi."kAnt, "pi.kw´nt plœn."teI*n pOI*nt."sE.t´ "poU*.lis "pO„*.kÈ."paI*n "pO„*.rIdZ poU*."zEs "prE.s´.d´ns "prE.d´.ÆtO„* prI."f‰.r´.b´: "preI*.lud "prE.m´.Æsiz ÆprE.m´."nI.S´n "prE.pr´.ÆtO´*.rÈ prE."sti.dZ´s prI."vEn.t´.tIv

pur SE vur PUR sur VIR

PRI m´r PRi m´r

failure to

distinguish

PRI v´ lij

"prIv.lIdZ "proU*.sEs

PRIV lij

PAS t´ r´l PEK t´ r´l PEN PEE n´ Li Z

pee A nist PEE k´nt

poin SE ti ´ p´ LEES POR ky´ Pi N PO rij p´ ZES pri SEE d´ns PRE d´ t´r PRE f´ r´ b´l PREL yood PRE mi s´z PREE m´ NI sh´n pri PE r´ TOR ree pri STI j´s pri VEN tiv

PRO ses

pas TOR r´l pek TOR r´l PIN PE n´ Li Z

f´ NO mi NUN PEE ´ nist pee KAHNT PEE kw´nt plan TAYN point SE t´ POH lees POR kee Pi N POR rij poh ZES PRE s´ d´ns PRE d´ TOR pri FUR r´ b´l PRAY lood PRE m´ SEEZ PRE m´ NI sh´n PREP r´ TOR ree pre STEE j´s pri VEN t´ tiv

PROH ses

British speech

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acceptable for processor program progress

"prÅ.sE.s„ "proU*.grœm "prÅ.grEs

PRO se s´r PROH gram PRO gres

"prÅ.sE.sO„* "proU*g.r´m "proU*.grEs acceptable for

PRO se sor PROH gr´m PROH gres

British speech

promulgate

pr´."mø:.geI*t

pr´ MUL gayt

"prÅ.m´:.ÆgeI*t

PRO m´l GAYT

pronunciation

pr´.Ænøn.sI."eI*.S´n

pr´ NUN si AY sh´n

pr´.ÆnAU*n.sI."eI*.S´n

pr´ NOWN si AY sh´n

psalm

sAm "pU:.pIt

SAHM

sA:m "pø:.pIt

SAHLM

pulpit

PUUL pit

PUL pit

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Letter du Jou r: Q WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .35 Letter du J our - Q IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[ kw ]

kw

[k] [ kj ]

k ky

quite (initial) inquire (medial) plaque queue

"Q" has no phonetic identity in English, - all sounds it is used to create are represented by other letters - so there will be no articulation drills for this section.

Table LdJ .36 Mispronounced - Q

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

qualm quasi quay querulous query quietus

kwAm "kweI*.zaI* ki "kwE.r´.l´s "kwI´*.rÈ kwaI*."i.t´s

kwA:m "kwA.zÈ kweI* "kwI„*.j´.l´s "kwE.rÈ "kwaI*.´.t´s

KWA HM KWAY zi KEE KWE r´ l´s KWI ree kwi EE t´s

KWA HLM KWAH zee KWA Y KWIR y´ l´s KWE ree KWi ´ t´s

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Letter du Jou r: R D ESC RIPTIO N : voiced, retroflexed, lingua-palatal fricative continuant consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .37 Letter du J our - R IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[r]

r

[„] [ ‰± ]

ur UR

right, write (initial) around, furry (medial) over, hear, hair, far, for, poor, fire, hour worm, turn, journey, fern, earn, third, myrtle, myrrh, chauffeur

Remember, "R" can function as both vowel and consonant. R, L, and S are considered to be the most troublesome letters in English, so this is an important section. First, the consonant: [r]/r, as in REWRITE FORMATION: Center of tongue raised toward center of palate; tongue tip and blade may be raised toward the palate, but do not touch it; lips very slightly rounded and protruded; jaw lowered; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate. For [r] to function as consonant, it must be followed by a vowel sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: 1. - Don't over-round the lips substituting [w] for [r]. Use a mirror, or place a finger across your lips to feel for any movement on the [r].

Practice on:

way/Wray, weak/wreak, wangle/wrangle; wen/wren, wit/writ, wench/wrench,

west/wrest, wiggle/wriggle, wight/Wright a. - Francois' rust brown Rolls Royce raced around the track, driven dreadfully by the dangerously deranged Frenchman.

2. - Some dialects and accents substitute [:]/l for [r].

Practice on:

lead/read, lack/rack, lug/rug, load/road, lore/roar, lip/rip

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b. - Really, relying for their living on their relations' salaries, relaxed Lorraine and Larry.

3. - When [r] is placed between two vowels, the first vowel often inadvertently changes, and the [r] is shifted to [„r]. To correct this, identify the first vowel, and save the [r] for the second syllable. For example: "marry" is often said as "merry". To get it right, say it as ["mœ-rÈ]/MA-ree.

Practice on these sets of words. For accuracy, refer to the IPA vowel chart, pp.__, since respelling is less specific.

Table LdJ .38 Comparison of the Front Vowels With [r]

[Ir]/ir

[e´* r]/air

[Er]/er

[œr]/ar

erase pyrrhic berate tyranny direct Kirin mirror miracle lyric virile sirrah heroic spirit

airy=aerie paring bearing=baring tearable dairy caring Mary Marion hilarious vary Sarah hairy sparing

Eric perish bury=berry terrible Derry Kerry merry A merica celerity very serenade herring Sperry

arid parish Barrie=Barry tarry Darrow carry marry Marilyn hilarity Varro Saracen Harry sparrow

Table LdJ .39 Comparison of the Mid-Vowels with [r]

[‰r]/ur-r

[´r]/ur-r

[ør]/u-r

burry furry currish stirring whirring myrrhic

drapery sufferer conqueror surrender wanderer summary

burrow furrow courage Surrey worry Murray

Table LdJ .40 Comparison of the Last Three Back Vowels with [r]

[Or]/awr

[År]/o-r

[Ar]ahr

auricle Laura chorus Maureen orally pouring

oracle lorry Corin morals orange porridge

aria Lara carabao Mara aria sparring

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boring story

borrow torrid

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barring starring

[‰±]/UR and [„]/ur, as in M URM UR ["m‰±m„] FORMATION: Central part of the tongue raised and tensed; tongue tip may be curled back slightly, but doesn't touch roof of mouth; lips slightly rounded; jaw half open; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate. These sounds can only be made properly if followed by a consonant or silence. [‰±] is stressed and longer, [„] is unstressed and shorter.

PLACEMENT: Mid-central vowels (see the vowel chart, pp.__), tend to have a naturally even tone, but some dialects (such as Australian and British North Country) will over-round the lips and make these sounds strongly nasal.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: 1. - The "Hard R", or overly-retroflexed "R". This is one of the defining sounds of western, mid-west, range, country, and mountain American dialects. If your "R" is too "hard", you are probably lifting and pulling back on the tip of your tongue. Here is a way to reduce that tendency: Practice: a.

Say the word "hard" and observe the placement of your tongue tip and any tension in the

back of your tongue. b.

Say the word "hard" again with a British dialect (no retroflection). Keep the tip of your tongue pressed lightly against the back of your lower teeth; relax the back of the tongue.

c.

Say "hard" again with as heavily retroflexed a sound as you can. Pull your tongue tip up

and back d.

A lternate several times between the British and over-done A merican dialects until you have a clear sense of how your tongue tip operates on this sound.

e.

Finally, split the difference between the two sounds so that your "R" isn't as hard as before, but hasn't disappeared entirely. Play with varying degrees of retroflection.

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2. - When you feel comfortable with that exercise, use the same format to practice on all the various ways the vowel of "R" shows up in English: Table LdJ .41 Comparison of R Diphthongs/Vowels

[‰±]/UR

[„]/ur

[I„*]/ir

[e„*]/air

[A„*]/ahr

aver purple confer burn dirt

over perplex conifer amber wonder

ear pier cheer beer deer

air pair care bare dare

army part card barn dark

pour tore shore door bore

poor tour sure dour boor

pyre tire shire dire byre

power tower shower dower bower

[O„*]/awr

[U„*]/uur

[aI*„*]/i r

[aU*„*]/owr

3. - The presence of an "R" vowel also causes some mispronunciations: pour for poor, shore for sure, as well as words like fear said with too high a vowel so it sounds like "feer". Also avoid making triphthong words sound like two syllables: tower like tow-wer (there is no "W" sound in those words), and fire like fi-yer.

4. - If an "R" diphthong is followed by a vowel sound in the beginning of the next word, that will cause the sound to change to a diphthong followed by an "R" consonant. For example, in "far, far away", the first "far" is different from the second ([fA„ fA´* r´"weI*]) because of the vowel in "away". Because of this natural shift, in dialects or regional speech where no r-coloring is used (East coast, Southern, etc.), there is a tendency, in phonetically similar situations, to intrude an r-consonant out of thin air. For example: "idea is" becomes "idea ris", or "law of averages" changes to "law rof averages".

Practice on:

so far away/sofa away, finer and/China and, lore of/law of a. - Minnesota after a rainfall is A merica at its finest. b. - Canada always appears bigger than China on the map.

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You may have discovered that you need to adjust your articulation of some "R" sounds. To help, whenever "R" is followed by a vowel sound underline it.

Whenever followed by a consonant sound, or by silence, cross it out. Any "R" that is underlined will function as a consonant. Guard against [r] to [w] substitution. Any "R" that is crossed out is a vowel. Beware of overretroflection. Remember that these are rules of sound not spelling. For example: A ll for one, and one for all.

For hour after hour.

("one" begins with the [w] consonant sound)

("hour" begins with the diphthong [aU*], not the consonant "H")

Here are some sentences for you to practice marking and speaking the "R": Practice on: a. The erstwhile poet wrote earnest but worthless verses. ‰± r ‰± ‰± ‰± b. Return the green pre registration forms before enrolling. r ‰± r r r r O„* O´*. r r c. A fter a rousing round of beer and pretzels, I'm ready to retire. ´.r r r I´.* r r r r aI*„* d. Beware of the rip-tide running offshore.

E´.* r r r O„* e. The rustic rocking chair remains a relic of rural life. r r E„* r r rU´*.r f. The dramatic instructor was feared for his temper. r r „ I„* O„* „ g. The horrible warriors wreaked a terrible catastrophe. Å.r Å.r ´± r E.r r

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h. The bored jurors snored through the original hearing.

O„* U´*.r„ O„* r O.r I´*.r i. The editor's grammar rarely ever required correction. „ r „ rE„* „r aI*„* r j. The ambassador traveled to the Orient to protect A merican trade interests „ r O´.*r r E.r r r regarding the importing of car parts, scrap iron, and rubber tires. r A„* O„ A„* A„* r aI*„* r „ aI*„*

Table LdJ .42 Mispronounced - R

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

rabid ratiocination ration realtor recognize refuge refugee regime remonstrate reparable repartee respiratory respite roof route ruse rural

Preferred Pronunciation RA bid

Non-Standard Pronunciation RAY bid

Ærœ.SI.ÆÅ.sI."neI*.S´n

RA shi O si NAY sh´n

ÆreI*.SI.ÆÅ.sI."neI*.S´n

RAY shi O si NAY sh´n

"rœ.S´n "ri.´:.t„ "rE.k´g.ÆnaI*z "rEf.judZ "rEf.ju.ÆdZÈ, ÆrEf.ju."dZi reI*."Zim rI."mÅns.treI*t "rE.p´.r´.b´: ÆrE.pA„*."ti

RA sh´n

"reI*.S´n "ri.l´.t„ "rE.k´.ÆnaI*z "rEf.juZ "rEf.ju.ÆZÈ ÆrEf.ju."Zi rI."dZim "rE.m´n.ÆstreIt rI."pE.r´.b´: ÆrE.pA„*."teI*

RAY sh´n

rI."spaI*´*.r´.tO´*.rÈ

ri SPi r´ taw ree

"rEs.p´.r´.ÆtO´*.rÈ

RE sp´ r´ TAW ree

"rEs.pIt ruf rut ruz "rU´*.r´:

RES pit

r´."spaI*t rUf rAU*t rus "r‰.r´:

res PYT

"rœ.bId

REE ´l t´r RE k´g Ni Z REF yooj REF yoo JEE REF yoo JEE ray ZHEEM ri MON strayt RE p´ r´ b´l RE pahr TEE

ROOF ROOT ROOZ RUU r´l

"reI*.bId

REE l´ t´r RE k´ Ni Z REF yoozh REF yoo ZHEE REF yoo ZHEE ri JEEM RE m´n STRAYT ri PER r´ b´l RE pahr TAY

RUUF ROWT ROOS RUR r´l

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Letter du Jou r: S D ESC RIPTIO N : (typically) voiceless lingua-alveolar fricative continuant consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .43 Letter du J our - S IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[s]

s

[z] [S]

see, pseudo, schism, science (initial) astride, cassette, (medial) base, amass z disaster (medial) nose, his (final) sh shore, schnapps (initial) ashen (medial) wash, Bosch (final) silent Illinois

We will focus on "S" as [s] and [S]. [s]/s as in SERIO USN ESS FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved or channeled, and raised toward alveolar ridge; sides of tongue sealed against side teeth; air passes between tongue and alveolar ridge in continuous flow; teeth close together but not closed; soft palate raised; vocal folds don't vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: 1. - If the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge, and air is allowed to pass around the sides of the tongue, you get a lateral lisp.

2. - If the tongue thrusts forward between the teeth, you get a frontal lisp which sounds like [T]/th.

3. - If the focus of the sound is too far back it will have a vague, almost [S]/sh quality.

4. - If the sound is made too forcefully, or for too long, it will stand out and draw attention.

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We will work on both "S" and its voiced cognate "Z". The "S" is one of the most important sounds to get right, and one of the most difficult. If it has any nonstandard quality at all it will become the center of attention and steal focus from the speaker. The high frequency sound of the "S" carries great distances, and microphones are especially sensitive to the sound. If you have ever gotten a warning comment on this sound, take it seriously. Few issues can stop a career more quickly. The drills here are for those who need a minor tune-up. If you don't respond easily to these, a visit to a speech pathologist could be the answer.

Practice these consonant combinations: 1.

(slowly - hold each sound) l....n.....z....d, l....n....s....t, (repeat several times. Don't let

the tip of your tongue touch the back of your upper teeth. The goal is to focus the "S" and "Z".

Experiment with subtle adjustments in placement to find the best focus. Often an objective listener and a tape recorder are necessary to help you hear it.

2.

Say these pairs. Let the n, t, d, and l sounds help you place the s and z.

neat-seat

need-zeal

knit-sit

did-zit

net-set

Ned-said

tat-sat

dad-Zach

bought-sought

Len-Zen

test-zest

tone-zone

3.

Say each word with a "T" sound before it. Keep "S" as brief as possible.

t-steam

t-stem

t-stab

t-stand

t-stack

t-staff

t-stag

t-stage

t-stain

t-staid

t-stale

t-stall

t-stamp

t-stand

t-stink

t-star

t-staple

t-start

t-state

t-static

t-status

t-stay

t-stead

t-steal

4.

Say each word with a "N" sound before it.

n-zoom

n-zooms

n-zany

n-zeal

n-Zen

n-zest

n-zinc

n-zenith

n-zoo

n-zoos

n-zoot

n-Zulu

n-zone

n-zebra

n-zero

n-Zoe

5.

Say each word with a "T" sound before it. Keep the "S" as brief as possible. Don't change

[str]/str to [Str]/shtr.

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

{t-steam, t-stream, t-seam}

6.

{t-stand, t-strand, t-sand}

[eI*]

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{t-stay, t-stray, t-say}

Though the following words end with an "S" spelling it is actually a "Z" sound. Be sure to

fully voice that sound. loses

as

because

cheese

please

news

surprise

wise

his

hers

is

was

tells

weeds

wins

judges

longs

deeds

allows

nose

close

ease

says

has

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[S]/sh, as in SH USH FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved or channeled, and raised with the sides of tongue sealed against side teeth, tongue tip pointed downward; air passes between tongue blade and front of hard palate in continuous stream; lips slightly protruded; soft palate raised; vocal folds do not vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge and one or both sides of the tongue release, the sound shifts to a lateral lisp. If the tongue tip thrusts forward a frontal lisp [T]/th results.

Practice on:

seen/sheen, said/shed, sock/shock, Sam/sham, sort/short viscous/vicious, my scene/machine, press her/pressure lease/leash, office/fish, Russ/rush, hopeless/flesh, mass/mash

On the following sentences, identify the [s]/s, [z]/z, and [S]/sh sounds, and articulate them clearly: a.

Sister Susie is sewing shirts for soldiers; such skill at sewing shirts for soldiers

Sister Susie shows. b.

Sharon's shameless gaucheries surely caused a share of the vicious gossip about her suspicious attraction to the Welsh fisherman.

c.

The sharp-looking Chevy was washed to a shiny finish and furnished to perfection with sheepskin seat cushions.

Table LdJ .44 Mispronounced - S

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

sacrilegious

Æsœ.kr´."lI.dZ´s sœv "sœ.v„ "sœnd.wItS "sœNg.wIn "skE.dZu:

Æsœ.kr´."li.dZ´s sœ:v "sœ.:v„ "sœm.wItS "sœN.gwaI*n "SE.dZu:

salve salver sandwich sanguine schedule

SAK r´ LIJ ´s SAV SA v´r SAND wich SANG gwin SKE jool

acceptable for schism schizophrenia

"sI.z´m ÆskIt.s´."fri.nI.´

SI z´m SKIT s´ FREE ni ´

"skI.z´m ÆskIt.s´."frE.nI.´

SAK r´ LEEJ ´s SALV SAL v´r SAM wich SANG gwi n SHE jool

British speech SKI z´m SKIT s´ FRE ni ´

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

secretary secreted (all meanings) senile servile sheik short-lived siege sieve similar sinecure sirrah sonorous

"sEk.r´.ÆtE.rÈ sI."kri.t´d "si.naI*: "s‰±.v´: SeI*k "SO„*t "laI*vd sidZ sIv "sI.mI.l„ "saI*.n´.ÆkjU„* "sI´*.r´ s´."nO„*.r´s

SEK r´ TE ree si KREE t´d SEE ni l SUR v´l SHAYK SHORT Li VD SEEJ SIV SI mi l´r Si

n´ KYUUR

SIR r´ s´ NOR r´s

"sE.k„.ÆtE.rÈ "si.kr´.t´d "sE.naI*: "s‰±.vaI*: Sik "SO„*t "lIvd siZ siv "sIm.ju.l„ "sI.n´.ÆkjU„* s´."rA "sÅ.n´.r´s acceptable for

species spherical spontaneity status strength succinct summarily superfluous superfluity supposed sure swath swathe syrup

"spi.SÈz "sfE.rI.k´: ÆspÅn.t´."ni.I.tÈ steI*.t´s strENkT

SPEE sheez

s´k."sINkt "sø.m´.r´.lÈ sju."p‰±.flu.´s Æsju.p„."flu.I.tÈ s´."poU*zd SU„* swOT sweI*D "sI´*.r´p

s´k SINGKT

SFE ri k´l SPON t´ NEE i tee STAY t´s STRENGKTH

SU m´ r´ lee syoo PUR floo ´s SYOO pur FLOO i tee

s´ POHZD SHUUR SWAWTH SWAY TH SI r´p

"spi.siz "sfI´*.rI.k´: ÆspÅn.t´."neI*.I.tÈ stœ.t´s strEnT, striNkT, streI*NkT s´."sINkt s´."mE.r´.lÈ Æsu.p„."flu.´s Æsu.p„."flu.I.tÈ s´."poU*.z´d S‰± swAD swAD "s‰±.r´p

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SEK ur TE ree SEE kr´ t´d SE ni l SUR vi l SHEEK SHORT LIVD SEEZH SEEV SIM yoo l´r SI n´ KYUUR si RAH SO n´ r´s

British speech SPEE seez SFI ri k´l SPON t´ NAY i tee STA t´s STRENTH, STRINGKTH, STRAYNGKTH s´ SINGKT s´ ME r´ lee SOO pur FLOO ´s SOO pur FLOO i tee s´ POH z´d SHUR SWAHTH SWAHTH SUR r´p

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

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Letter du Jou r: T The letter T actually began as X! Ancient Egyptians used the symbol about 300 BC, then the Semites took it, called it "taw"(which to them meant "mark") and shifted it around so it looked like a plus or cross ( +) . When the Greeks took over the letter, they moved the cross bar to the top of the vertical stroke much like its present form. While it is 20th in the Alphabet, this is the second most widely used letter in printed material. The smaller case version did not develop until the CE 500s, went through various changes and finally reached its present form in the 1500s.

In the relationship of spelling to sound, the letter T almost always represents the sound [t]. The reverse is not as consistently true. The sound [t] can be spelled ed in words like walked and missed, or spelled th in a few proper names like Thomas, Theresa, Thailand, Thompson, and words like thyme. The t with h spelling is alphabetically inferior to the way the Greeks do it. They have a specific symbol called a "theta" (T). The th sound was alien to the Latin speaking Romans, so they didn't include it in their 25-letter alphabet. Both voiced [D] as in either and voiceless [T] th as in ether were spoken in Old English, however, and the runic "thorn"

and the "edh"

were used interchangeably

to spell them. The Latin educated Norman scribes rejected these symbols and used the th or, less frequently the y22. In Modern English th represents both the voiced sound and the voiceless sound.

T is allegedly silent in tch-ending words like catch, fetch and itch (i.e., as ch includes [t] when it spells [tS]). It has become mute also in the orally awkward 22Modern

misunderstanding of this spelling convention has resulted in confusing readings of Shakespearean texts where ye can be the weak form of you, versus the word the as in Ye Olde Sweete Shoppe. Ye for you should be pronounced [j´]. Ye for the should be pronounced [D´, Di].

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stl and tn consonant clusters in words like castle, nestle, thistle, jostle and hustle, and in fasten, listen, often and soften.

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D ESC RIPTIO N : (typically) voiceless, lingua-alveolar, stop-plosive, consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .45 Letter du J our - T IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[t]

t

[T]

th

[D]

th

talk, thyme, ptomaine (initial) after, butter (medial) hit, butt, light, doubt (final) often (silent) thing (initial) athlete, Matthew (medial) both (final) this (initial) bother (medial) breathe (final)

[t]/t, as in TO TALITY FORMATION: Tip of tongue lightly pressed against gum ridge behind the upper teeth; sides of tongue touch side teeth; soft palate raised; air stopped; vocal folds separated and do not vibrate. Air pressure builds behind tongue tip; tongue is released quickly, and air explodes out of mouth.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This consonant functions three ways in English: unaspirated [tÆ], aspirated [tÓ], and dentalized [ t1 ].

1. - When the sound is followed by a consonant it is "unaspirated", or has the stop, but not the plosive quality. If you put in that aspiration, your speech will sound affected, or over-pronounced. Do it both ways to hear the difference.

Practice on:

hits, heatstroke, pit bull, hot dog, football, notebook, fat free a. - Hit lots of little cotton balls lightly, and correct your wrist position, or your golf

game won't be its best.

2. - When the unaspirated [tÆ]/t is followed by [r]/r, be careful not to splash the sound or change it to [tSr]/chr - so that "tree" becomes "chree".

Practice on:

trial, true, attract, betray, chartreuse, tremendous, trajectory b. - Travel on the train to Trenton.

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c. - Trevor trilled twenty-two Italian trios.

Further, the situation is even more complex when [tr] is preceeded by [s]. Be careful not to change it to [StSr]/shchr d. – Strength training should include instruction in stretching. e. – Striped vests with string fringes strike me as abstractly stylish.

3. - When the [tÆ]/t at the end of a word, is followed by the same sound at the start of the next word, don't make two sounds. Rather, hold your tongue in place a bit longer, and give a slight burst of energy for the second [tÓ]/t.

Practice on:

hit to, fat Tillie, last ticket, can't tell, spanked Tom, swiped ten f. - Matt touched ten tent tops, testing to see if they were tied tightly.

4. - When the [tÓ]/t is followed by a vowel sound, or silence, it is "aspirated", or pops with a light rush of air like a small "H". Be careful not to turn this into [ts]/ts.

In the following example the only difference between these pairs is that the first words will have a slightly longer and more present "H".

Practice on:

bet her/better, kit he/kitty, shut her/shutter, pat her/patter g. - You bet he'd better not touch the teeth on the "T" consonant. h. - Tom took Peter to batting practice.

5. - When [tÆ]/t is followed by [T]/th, or [D]/th, the sound is "dentalized", or made with the tongue touching the top front teeth in anticipation of the "TH" sound23.

It is noted as [ t1 ]. This is a fairly natural action, and usually doesn't need to be forced.

Practice on:

bet three, first Thursday, adjust things, ancient Thebes g. - Hit the ball at the first throw. h. - I hate that the bills are due on the fifth and twelfth

23The

same action happens when [n, d] are followed by [T, D] . We make note of it here, because the issue of [t] articulation is more complex, and more likely to need this level of detail.

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[T]/th, as in TH IN G, and [D]/ th , as in TH IS FORMATION: Tip of tongue placed inter-dentally (between front teeth); air moved between tongue tip and upper teeth in continuous stream; soft palate raised, on [T]/th, vocal folds do not vibrate, for [D]/th, they do.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This sound requires the tongue to reach so far forward that some consonant combinations are challenging. Some dialects substitute [f]/f for [T]/th, so "birthday" becomes "birfday", and [d]/d for [D]/th, so that "this" shifts to "dis". These are a difficult sounds for non-native speakers because they don't exist in most other languages. Foreign speakers will tend to substitute [t]/t, or [s]/s for [T]/th, and [d]/d, or [z]/z for [D]/th.

Practice on:

[T]/th tree/three, tick/thick, sin/thin, saw/thaw, tie/thigh, boat/both a. - I think Theadora's thesis was thin and not thought through thoroughly. b. - The anesthesiologist's ether throbbed in my throat.

Practice on:

[D]/th Dan/than, dare/there, wiz/with, laze/lathe, seed/seethe c. - Breathe rhythmically, and don't dither as you gather together. d. - Mother loathes bathing and clothing teething babies.

DRILLS: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly 1. Topeka, Topeka, Topeka

6. teases Terry's teary thesis theories

2. three tethered teething things

7. the thorn had torn through

3. Heather's hat has ten thousand

8. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´]

feathers

-repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

4. Sarah's rising sighs and writhing thighs

9. sh zh th th s z th th [S´ Z´ T´ D´ s´ z´ T´ D´]

5. Strategy tragedy

- repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

Table LdJ .46 - T Problem Word temperature tercel24 textile the (before a consonant) the (before a vowel) theatre thither thoroughly Thursday timbre (sound) timber (wood) tiramisu tortuous (twisted) torturous (tormented) tousled transfer (v.) transfer (n.) trauma traverse tribunal triumvirate Tuesday tumult turgid turret tyrannical

24Tercel

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Troublesome Words Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation "tEm.p´.r´.tS„ "tEm.p„.tS„ TEM p´ r´ ch´r TEM p´r ch´r "t‰±.s´: t„."sE: TUR s´l t´r SEL "tEks.t´: "tEks.taI* : TEKS t´l TEKS ti l D´ reversal of pronunciations th ´ Di th ee "Ti.´.t„ Ti."eI*.t„ THEE ´ t´r thee AY t´r "DI.D„ "TI.D„ TH I th´r THI th´r "Tø.r´.lÈ "T‰±.r´.lÈ THU r´ lee THUR r´ lee "T‰±.zdÈ "T‰±z.deI* THURZ dee THURZ day "tœm.b„ "tIm.b„ TAM b´r TIM b´r "tIm.b„ ---TIM b´r Æti.rA.mi."su TEE rah mee SOO ÆtI.rE."mi.su TIH rE MEE soo "tO„*.tSu.´s "tO„.*tS´.r´s "tAU*z´:d trœns."f‰± "trœns.f´± "trO.m´ "trœ.v„s traI*."bju.n´: traI*."øm.v´.ÆrIt "tjuz.dÈ "tju.m´:t "t‰±.dZId "tø.rIt tI."rœ.nI.k´:

TOR choo ´s TOR ch´r r´s TOW z´ld trans FUR TRANS f´r TRAW m´ TRA v´rs tri BYOO n´l tri UHM v´ RIT TYOOZ dee TYOO m´lt TUR jid TU rit ti RA ni k´l

reversal of

pronunciations

"tAU*s´:d improper

TOW s´ld stressing

"trAU*.m´ tr´."v‰±s trI."bju.n´: ÆtraI*.´m."vaI*.rIt "tuz.deI* "tø.m´:t "t‰±.gId "t‰.rIt taI*."rœ.nI.k´:

TROW m´ tr´ VURS trI BYOO n´l TRI ´m VI TOOZ day TU m´lt TUR gid TUR rit ti RA ni k´l

rit

is a male peregrine falcon. The name of the car model is taken from this source.

Toyota may choose to pronounce it anyway they like.

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Letter du Jou r: U WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E: 22!

Table LdJ .47 Letter du J our - U IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [

ee i e a o aw uu oo u ´ ur UR i oi ow oh or uur ahr owr yoo w

i] I] E] œ] Å] O] U] u] ø] ´] „] ‰±, ‰ ] aI* ] OI* ] aU* ] oU* ] O„* ] U„* ] a„* ] aU„* ] ju ] w]

quay build guess guarantee hough, lough caught, bought could, vacuum true, fruit, rude, soup, through up, touch upon urbane fur, furry guy, guide deutzia, Reuters, Freud house, kraut mauve, beau four tour, sure guard flour feud, due, duke, beauty guava

We will focus on [u]/oo, [U]/uu, and [ø]/u. [u]/u, as in PRUN E FORMATION: Highest back vowel. Back of tongue raised, lips rounded and forward, soft palate raised, vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Keep the sound distinct. Don't let it drift into the nearby sounds of [U]/uu, as in COULD, or [ø]/u, as in CUP. Practice on:

hut/hook/hoot, cup/cook/kook, tuck/took/toucan, putt/put/pewter stood/stooge, pull/pool, full/fool, hood/who'd, putsch/pooch a. - Who's soup spoon was used to scoop the goo from the school's pool?

b. - Ruth rudely goosed Bruce as he removed his shoes.

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[U]/uu, as in PUT FORMATION: Back of tongue high, lips moderately rounded, soft palate is raised, vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: as this sound isn't in many other languages, foreign speakers will often substitute [O]/aw, [oU*]/oh, or [u]/u, which are all close sounds. Native speakers are most likely to shift [U]/uu to [´]/´, by releasing the lip roundness and not putting enough energy on the sound.

1. - When it is followed by [:]/l, be careful not to add an extra syllable, changing wool [wU:]/wuul to ["wU´:]/WUU-´l.

Practice on:

pull, full, wool, bull, fulfill, wolf a. - The good-looking snooker player hooked fully five balls off the cushion. b. - Spinsterhood can be quite good, if it's fully understood. c. - Don't use that bull to pull the wool over my eyes.

2. - Don't change the diphthong [U„*] /uur to [‰±]/UR, or [O„*] /or.

Practice on:

Table LdJ .48 [U„*, O„*, ‰±] Comparison

[U„*]/uur

[O„*]/o r

[‰±]/UR

[U„*]/uur

[O„*]/o r

[‰±]/UR

boor/Boer tour spoor poor

bore/boar tore spore pore/pour

burr turn spurn purple

Moor sure your dour

more shore yore door

Myrrh shirt yearn dirt

d. - The demure and immature juror looked with curiosity at the lurid evidence during the trial of the "Brooklyn Butcher". e. - The furious epicure took a poorly planned tour of the bush country looking for obscure rural cookbooks.

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[ø]/u, as in H UT FORMATION: Tongue centered and relaxed, lips unrounded, soft palate raised, vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Non-native speakers will often shift this sound to [Å]/o, as in HOT. Southern regional dialects will sometimes alter it to [‰]/UR, so that HUT sounds like HURT (without the "R").

Practice on:

Table LdJ .49 [‰±, ø, Å]- Comparisons

[‰±]/UR

[ø]/U

[Å]/o

[‰±]/UR

[ø]/U

[Å]/o

sir dirge lurch hurt bird

supper drudge lunch hut bud

sop dodge lodge hot body

search dirk first shirt turn

suck duck fussed shut tumble

sock dock fond shot Tom

These word pairs will have the SA ME SOUNDS IN BOTH WORDS: cut/courage, cup/curry, bum/burrow≈borough25, tub/turret, come/current, mud/Murray, nut/nourish, fun/furrow, sun/surrey, hum/hurry, flub/flourish, come/constable.

Practice sentences: a. - Mother Courage had such a wonderful run in London. b. - Consult the dull culturally refined adults about hushing up while studying. c. - It takes courage to hurriedly gulp hot curry.

Table LdJ .50 Mispronounced - U

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

ultimatum undertaking (endeavor)

undertaking

Preferred Pronunciation UL ti MAY t´m

Æø:.tI."meI*.t´m Æøn.d„."teI*.kIN

UN d´r TAY king

(mortician's profession)

"øn.d„.ÆteI*k.IN

UN d´r TAY king

usurp

ju."z‰±p

yoo ZURP

25 Note

Non-Standard Pronunciation UL ti MAH t´m

Æø:.tI."mA.t´m reversal of

stressing

ju."s‰±p

yoo SURP

the problematic similarity of: borrow ["bÅ.roU*], burro ["bU.roU*], bureau ["bjÁE*.roÁ*], and borough≈burrow≈boro (suffix)≈Burrough(e)s≈Burrows ["bø.roU*](z).

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

usury

"ju.Z´.rÈ

YOO zh´ ree

"ju.z´.rÈ

[eI*]

YOO z´ ree

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Letter du Jou r: V D ESC RIPTIO N : (typically) voiced, labio-dental, fricative continuant, consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .51 Letter du J our - V IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[v]

v

verse (initial) over (medial) love (final)

[v]/v, as in VALVE FORMATION: Lower lip touches edge of upper teeth; soft palate raises; air pushed out between lower lip and upper teeth in steady stream, vocal folds vibrated.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: As with other voiced-fricative sounds, attention must be placed on the sound in the final position to be sure it doesn't unvoice to [f]/f. Many non-native speakers will unvoice this sound in all positions. Spanish speakers will tend to confuse this sound with [B]26 or [b]/b. Europeans are prone to [v]/v, [w]/w interchanges.

Practice on:

folly/volley, feel/veal, off/of, safe/save, leaf/leave, safes/saves berry/very, buy/vie, bend/vend, cab/calve, lobes/loaves wane/vein-vane, wow/vow, "y"/vie, wicker/vicar, weal/veal a. - Very well, loaves of baked unleavened bread will be served with the Bavarian

veal. b. - A bove every withered vine, bumblebees bobbed and weaved, buzzing about with benevolent abandon.

26[B]

is a voiced bi-labial fricative. It sounds like a combination of "B" and "V".

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DRILLS: Repeat each one several times rapidly and clearly 1. deliver shriveled devils

5. vibrantly verbal Bavarian

2. involved Volvo lovers

6. beveled vestibule

3. marvelous larvae

7. Vanna wooed a voodoo man

4. nervous Vern's weird red vest

8. alluvial bivalve 9. f v sh zh s z sh zh [f´ v´ S´ Z´ s´ z´ S´ Z´] -repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .52 Mispronounced - V

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

vacuum vagaries

"vœ.kjum "vœ.g´.rIz

VA kyoom

valet vase

"vœ.kju.´m v´."ge´*.rIz, "veI*.g´.rIz "vœ.lIt veI*s

VA kyoo Em

vœ."leI* vAz

va LAY

vaudeville vegetable vehicle venereal vendor vertebrae vice versa victuals visa

"voU*d.vI: "vEdZ.t´.b´: "vi.I.k´: v´."nI.rI.´: "vEn.d„ "v‰±.t´.Æbri "vaI*.sI "v‰±.s´ "vI.t´:z "vi.z´

VOHD vil

v´ GAIR reez VAY g´ reez VA lit VA YS

acceptable for VEJ t´ b´l VEE i k´l v´ NI ri ´l VEN d´r VUR t´ bree Vi si VUR s´ VI t´lz VEE z´

"vO.d´.ÆvI: "vE.dZ´.t´.b´: "vi.hI.k´: v´."nE.rI.´: "vEn.dO„* "v‰±.t´.breI* "vaI*s "v‰±.s´ "vIk.tSu.´:z "vi.s´

VA g´ reez

VOZ British speech VAWD ´ VIL VE j´ t´ b´l VEE hi k´l v´ NE ri ´l VEN dor VUR t´ bray Vi S VUR s´ VIK choo ´lz VEE s´

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Letter du Jou r: W D ESC RIPTIO N : (typically) voiced, bi-labial, glide (semi-vowel), continuant, consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .53 Letter du J our - W IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[w]

w

[∑]

hw

will (initial) away (medial) what (initial) somewhere (medial)

[w]/w, as in WITC H , and [∑]/hw, as in WH IC H FORMATION: For [w]/w, lips slightly rounded and protruded; back of tongue lifted, tip of tongue behind the lower front teeth, air flow sent between the lips as they part, soft palate raised, vocal folds vibrate. This consonant must be followed by a vowel sound. To form [∑]/hw, the operation is almost the same except unvoiced, so vocal folds are open and not vibrating. The action is like blowing out a candle. It too, must be followed by a vowel sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Non-native speakers sometimes switch [v]/v for [w]/w, or [∑]/hw. Native speakers frequently fail to use the [∑]/hw sound at all. [∑]/hw will always be used when the word is spelled with "WH", except for: whooping, who, whom, whose, whole, wholly, whore - those words use [h]/h.

Practice on:

Table LdJ .54

[∑, w, v, f]- Comparisons

[∑]/hw

[w]/w

[v]/v

[f]/f

[∑]/hw

[w]/w

[v]/v

[f]/f

wheel wherry whale why while

we'll wary wale "Y" wile

veal very veil vie vile

feel ferry fail fie file

whelp whirred whales whine where

wealth word Wales wine wear

veldt averred vales vine very

felt furred fails fine fair

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a. - When white-wall wheels are worn in wet weather, they become somewhat the worse for wear. b. - Once or twice during the week we will work, otherwise we will wait, while watching television. c. - The squire acquiesced to the weird whims of his squawking wife because, however wild her wishes, he could not ever bear to be without her.

DRILLS: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly 1. whither which way

6. Willie's villa

2. wrong rung wringing

7. we'll wail at the whale

3. will you, William

8. wicked wicket victim

4. Willamette metalworkers

9. p b w hw p b r w [p´ b´ w´ ∑´ p´ b´ r´ w´]

5. while her withers wither with her

- repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .55 Mispronounced - W

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

"W" wash wastrel Wednesday werewolf whoop(ing) wisteria with wizened wont

"dø.b´:.Æju wAS "weI*s.tr´: "wEnz.dÈ "wI„*.ÆwU:f hup wI."stI.rI.´ wID "wI.z´nd wOnt woU*nt "wUs.tId

"dø.bj´ wA„*S "wAs.tr´: "wEnz.deI* "wE„*.ÆwU:f ∑up wI."stE.rI.´ 27 wIT "waI*.z´nd wAnt

DUB y´

failure to

distinguish

worsted (s.) yarn, cloth

worsted

(v.) from worst

27This

"w‰±s.tId

DU b´l yoo WA HSH WAY str´l WENZ dee WIR WUULF HOOP wi STI ri ´ WI TH WI z´nd WA WNT WOHNT WUUS tid

WA RSH WAH str´l WENZ day WER WUULF HWOOP wi STE ri ´ WITH Wi

z´nd

WA HNT

WURS tid

pronunciation is correct for the spelling wistaria, which may have been the original intention, since the shrub is named after Caspar Wistar. However, it is not in common use.

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Letter du Jou r: X WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .56 Letter du J our - X IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[ [ [ [ [

gz ks ksh z s

gz ] ks ] kS ] z] s]

exist excuse luxury xylophone xi (Greek letter, [saI*])

No phonetic sounds will be specifically assigned to this letter.

Table LdJ .57 Mispronounced - X

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

Xanthippe

zœn."tI.pÈ

zan TI pee

zœn."TI.pÈ acceptable for

zan THI pee British speech

Xavier

"zeI*v.j„

ZAYV y´r

Ig."zeI*v.j„

ig ZAYV y´r

ZE n´ FOH bi ´

Æzi.n´."foU*.bI.´

ZEE n´ FOH bi ´

(ÆhA.vi."Er· Spanish)

xenophobia

ÆzE.n´."foU*.bI.´

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Letter du Jou r: Y WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .58 Letter du J our - Y IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[j]

y

[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [

ee ee i ur UR ay i oi air

i] È] I] „] ‰± ] eI* ] aI* ] OI* ] E„* ]

you (initial) canyon (medial) quay easy myth martyr myrtle, myrrh pray, prey eye, aye, buy, by, "Y" boy, buoyant A yr, Eyre, they're

We will focus on "Y" as it is used in [È]/ee, and [j]/y. [È]/ee, as in EASY FORMATION: Front of tongue lifted high toward front palate, tongue tense, jaw almost shut, lips spread, soft palate raised, vocal folds vibrate. Compare this to the close sounds of [i]/ee in the first syllable of EASY ["izÈ], and [I]/i in the first syllable of SILLY ["sIlÈ].

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Only found on unstressed syllables, typically "y", and "ie" spelled endings of words, and the "day" endings for the days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.). Avoid stressing the sound, or lifting it up to [i]/ee.

Practice these words; the first vowel will be [i], the second, [È]: easy, beastly, meaty, needy, Petey, seamy, Erie, dearie, dreamy Practice these words; the first vowel will be [I], the second, [È]: pretty, hippie, silly, Billy, hilly, misty, giddy, ability, piggy, pity Sentences:

a. - The ability of the pretty filly to run easily on a muddy track, makes her a fairly safe bet for Monday's race. b. - Fifty very tiny lilies grew peacefully in the cemetery.

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[j]/y , as in Y O U FORMATION: Lips slightly widened, jaw relaxed open, front of tongue raised to front of palate, air stream directed over tongue, vocal folds vibrate. This consonant must be followed by a vowel sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This sound poses few problems in common words like "beauty", "argue", and "fuel". However, 1. - When preceded by [d]/d, it is sometimes incorrectly shifted to [dZ]/j ("did you" becomes "di-joo").

Practice on:

did you, would you, could you, had you, good year, heard you

2. - When preceded by [t]/t it can shift to [tS]/ch ("don't you" becomes "dohnchoo"), or [t]/t can shift to a glottal stop [/] ("don't you" becomes [doU*/ ju]).

Practice on: 3. -

can't you, won't you, don't you, hit you, trust you, must you

When preceded by [s]/s it might shift to [S]/sh ("kiss you" becomes "ki-

shoo").

Practice on:

kiss you, miss you, force you, pass you, toss you, curse you

4. - When preceded by [z]/z, it can shift to [Z]/zh ("as you" becomes "a-zhoo").

Practice on:

as you, please you, tease you, has uses, his yell, was young, is yet

5. - When preceded by [:]/l, it can shift to [:‚]/l,

or [oU*]/oh ("will you" becomes

"wioh you").

Practice on: will you, tell you, brilliant, peculiar, Italian, kill you, will yell

6. -General American dialect frequently omits the [j]/y altogether. For Elevated Speech, this sound is commonly called the "Liquid U". It usually is found when the letter "U" is preceded by: t, d, th or n, and is optional following: l and s.

Practice on:

butte/tutor, view/stew, abuse/obtuse, Cuba/tuba, humor/tumor beauty/duty, puke/duke, fuse/dues, imbue/adieu, few/dew Matthew/enthuse, impugn/Bethune, both you/Thucydides mew/new, muse/news, amuse/renews, computer/neuter

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

miss you/sue, muse/sues, mute/suit, permute/hirsute abusive/elusive, mute/lute, cued/lewd, cube/lubricate

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Sentences:

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a. - The resolute suitor was a nuisance as he serenaded her enthusiastically on his

new tuba. b. - The superbly dutiful new Lieutenant knew that the superintendent's attitude was suicidal, but assumed his behavior would continue as usual. c. - Bruce wanted to re-do the new room in unusual hues, with nuances of puce and fuchsia, because it suited his humor.

DRILLS: repeat each rapidly and clearly: 1. peculiarly brilliant Italian stallion

5. curiously obscure procurer

2. did you, would you, could you

6. enthusiastic Thucydides

3. don't you, won't you, can't, you

7. unique New York

4. new venue's revenue

8. excuse the askew skewers

Table LdJ .59 Mispronounced - Y

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

yarmulke ye

"jA„*.m´:.k´ D´, Di 28

"jA.m´.k´ ji

YAH m´ k´

joU:k j‰±

YOHLK

(article, meaning the)

ye

(archaic form of you)

yolk your

28[

j´ , ji joU*k jU„*

YAHR m´l k´

TH ´ ,TH EE

YEE

Y´ ,YEE YOHK YUUR

YUR

D´] is used when the next sound is a consonant. [ Di ] or [ DI ]is used when the next sound is a vowel, or for unusual stress.

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Letter du Jou r: Z D ESC RIPTIO N : (typically) voiced lingua-alveolar fricative continuant consonant.

WAY S TO PRO N O UN C E Table LdJ .60 Letter du J our - Z IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[z]

z

[Z]

zh

[ ts ]

ts

zoom (initial) dazzle, sizes (medial) buzz, recognize (final) Zsa Zsa (initial) azure (medial) Zeitgeist (initial) pizza (medial)

We will focus on [z]/z, and [Z]/zh. [z]/z , as in ZO N ES FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved, or channeled, and raised toward alveolar ridge; sides of tongue sealed against side teeth; air passes between tongue and alveolar ridge in continuous flow; teeth close together, but not closed; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: "Z" is the voiced partner of the unvoiced "S", so all the sibilant issues are present with both sounds (see page__, under letter S).

Additionally, guard against the tendency to unvoice [z]/z at the ends of words.

Practice on:

as, because, was, is, news, size, seizes, buzzes, daisies, businesses cease/seize, seal/zeal, bus/buzz, sip/zip, sue/zoo, noose/news a. - Girls are mere playthings to those boys whose looks send chills down the backs

of co-eds. b. - Studying the zoology of buzzards is an unpleasant and sometimes hazardous business.

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[Z]/z h, as in AZURE FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved or channeled, and raised with sides of tongue sealed against side teeth, tongue tip pointed downward; air passes between tongue blade and front of hard palate in continuous stream; lips slightly protruded; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Be sure to fully voice this sound, especially in final positions.

Practice on:

grey shirt/grazier, glacier/glazier, sea shore/seizure, ashen/azure a. - The Persian's unusual exposure to the sun's rays caused a mirage which gave him much pleasure as the delusion was a vision of Zsa Zsa in a luxurious beige negligée. b. - For purposes of persuasion, some resort to rouge, others to massage, and some

to exposure.

DRILLS: Repeat each several times rapidly and clearly 1. Gigi seizes Genet

5. glazier's glacier, grazier's glacier

2. measure regimes

6. Parisian's pleasurable persuasions

3. usual casual users of userers

7. sh zh th th s z th th [S´ Z´ T´ D´ s´ z´ T´ D´]

4. f v sh zh s z sh zh [f´ v´ S´ Z´ s´ z´ S´ Z´]

8. sh zh ch j s z ch j [S´ Z´ tS´ dZ´ s´ z´ tS´ dZ´]

Table LdJ .61 Mispronounced - Z

WO RD S M O ST FREQ UEN TLY M ISPRO N O UN C ED

Problem Word

Preferred Pronunciation

Non-Standard Pronunciation

zealot Zeus zoology zoological zoologist

"zE.l´t zjus zoU*."Å.l´.dZÈ

ZE lEt

ZEE laht

zoh O l´ jee

"zi.lAt zus zu."Å.l´.dZÈ

ÆzoU*.´."lÅ.dZI.k´:

zoh ´ LO ji k´l

Æzu.´."lÅ.dZI.k´:

zoo ´ LO ji k´l

zoU*."Å.l´.dZIst

zoh O l´ jist

zu."Å.l´.dZIst

zoo O l´ jist

ZYOOS

ZOOS zoo O l´ jee

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zounds29

29A n

zundz zAU*ndz

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ZOONDZ ZOUNDZ

archaic contraction for the oath by God's wounds. This justifies the common theatrical pronunciation of [zundz]. In that context [zAU*ndz] would seem to be a misinformed "spelling pronunciation". However, in the 16th and 17th centuries, when this expression was in use, the word wound was pronounced [waU*nd], not [wund] as we do today. Some scholars feel that since it is an archaic term, not a modern one, we should preserve its original pronunciation, and not up-date it.

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WORDS THAT CHANG E WI TH USE Many words shift syllable stress and pronunciation to indicate different meanings or function in a sentence. For example: Her perfume perfumes the air; or, You mustn't discount already disco unted sale items.

Here is a partial list of words that change pronunciation when they change function: Table LdJ 62 Words that Change With Use accent (n.) accent (v.) bouquet (flowers) bouquet (aroma) complex (adj. complicated) complex (n. group) conjure (charge solemnly) conjure (invoke a spirit) console (n.) console (v.) consummate (adj.) consummate (v.) contemplative contemplative

(pensive) (of religious orders)

content (what is contained) content (well-being) contest (s.) contest (v.) contract (s.) contract (v.) contrast (s.) contrast (v.) control (s., v.) control (in machinery) convert (s.) convert (v.) convict (s.) convict (v.)

[ "œk.sEnt ] [ œk."sEnt ] [ bu."keI* ] [ boU*."keI* ] [ k´m."plEks] [ "kÅm.plEks] [ k´n."dZU„* ] [ "køn.dZ„ ] [ "kÅn.soU*: ] [ k´n."soU*: ] [ k´n."sømIt ] [ "kÅn.sjU.ÆmeI*t ] [Æ "kÅn.tEm.ÆpleI*.tIv ] [ k´n."tEm.pl´.ÆtIv ] [ "kÅn.tEnt ] [ k´n."tEnt ] [ "kÅn.tEst ] [ k´n."tEst ] [ "kÅn.trœkt ] [ k´n."trœkt ] [ "kÅn.trœst ] [ k´n."trœst ] [ k´n."troU*: ] [ "kÅn.troU*: ] [ "kÅn.v„t ] [ k´n."v‰±t ] [ "kÅn.vIkt ]

Ak sent ak SEN T boo KAY boh KAY k´m PLEKS KO M pleks k´n J UUR KUN j´r KO N sohl k´n SO H L k´n SU mit KO N syuu MAYT KO N t´m PLAY tiv k´n TEM pl´ TIV KO N tent k´n TEN T KO N test k´n TEST KO N trakt k´n TRAKT KO N trast k´n TRAST k´n TRO H L KO N trohl KO N vurt k´n VURT KO N vikt k´n VIKT

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A

decoy (s.) decoy (v.) decrease (s.) decrease (v.) defect (s.) defect (v.) desert (deserved, abandon) desert ( wilderness) detail (item) detail (squad, to catalogue) discard (s.) discard (v.) discord (s.) discord (v.) discount (s.) discount (v.) discourse (s.) discourse (v.) entrance (s.) entrance (v.) expatriate (s., adj.) expatriate (v.) expert (s., adj.) expert (when not attributive) forte (in music) forte (strong point) frequent (adj.) frequent (v.) gill (respiratory organ, ravine) gill (measure) Gill (man's name) Gill (short for Gillian)

[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [

k´n."vIkt ] "di.kOI* ] dI."kOI* ] "di.kris ] dI."kris ] "di.fEkt ] dI."fEkt ] dI."z‰±t ] "dE.z„t ] dI."teI*: ] "di.teI*: ] "dIs.kA„*d ] dIs."kA„*d ] "dIs.kO„*d ] dIs."kO„*d ] "dIs.kAU*nt ] dIs."kAU*nt ] "dIs.kO„*s ] dIs."kO„*s ] "En.tr´ns ] In."trœns ] Eks."peI*.trI.´t ] Eks."peI*.trI.ÆeI*t ] "Ek.sp„t ] Ik."sp‰±t ] "fO„*.teI* ] "fO„*t ] "fri.kwEnt ] frI."kwEnt ] gI: ] dZI: ] gI: ] dZI: ](as in Jack and Gill, now

D EE koi di KO I D EE krees di KREES D EE fekt di FEKT di ZURT D E z´rt di TAY L D EE tayl D IS kahrd dis KAH RD D IS kord dis KO RD D IS kownt dis KO WN T D IS kors dis KO RS EN tr´ns in TRAN S eks PAY tri ´t eks PAY tri AYT EKS p´rt ik SPURT FO R tay FORT FREE kw´nt fri KWEN T GIL JIL GIL JIL

[ [ [ [ [ [ [

"In.kris ] In."kris ] "In.s„t ] In."s‰±t ] maI*."njut ] "mI.nIt ] "Åb.dZEkt ]

IN krees in KREES IN s´rt in SURT mi N Y O O T M I nit O B jekt

more frequently written Jack and Jill.)

increase (s.) increase (v.) insert (s.) insert (v.) minute (very small) minute (time, angle, memo) object (s.)

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object (v.) perfect (s., adj.) perfect (v.) perfume (s.) perfume (v.) permit (s.) permit (v.) primer (he, who, or that which primes) primer (elementary book, printing type) protest (s.) protest (v.) rebel (s.) rebel (v.) reject (s.) reject (v.) research (s.) research (v.) subject (s.) subject (v.) survey (s.) survey (v.) torment (s.) torment (v.) toward (adj.) toward (prep.) transfer (s.) transfer (v.)

[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [

´b."dZEkt ] "p‰±.fIkt ] p„."fEkt ] "p‰±.fjum ] p„."fjum ] "p‰±.mIt ] p„."mIt ] "praI*.m„ ] "prI.m„ ] "proU.*tEst ] pr´."tEst ] "rE.b´: ] rI."bE: ] "ri.dZEkt ] rI."dZEkt ] "ri.s„tS ] rI."s‰±tS ] "søb.dZEkt ] s´b."dZEkt ] "s‰±.veI* ] s„."veI* ] "tO„*.mEnt ] tO„*."mEnt ] "toU*.„d ] t´."wO„*d ] "trœns.f„ ] trœns."f‰± ]

´b J EKT PUR fikt p´r FEKT PUR fyoom p´r FY O O M PUR mit p´r M IT PRi m´r PRI m´r PRO H test pr´ TEST RE b´l ri B EL REE jekt ri J EKT REE s´rch ri SURC H SUB jekt s´b J EKT SUR vay s´r VAY TO R ment tor M EN T TO H ´rd t´ WO RD TRAN S f´r trans FUR

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G LOSSARY FOR LE TTE R DU JOUR Accent - Pronunciation and style characteristic of a foreign language speaker.

Adenoids - Lymphoid tissue growths in the nose above the throat that when swollen may obstruct nasal breathing, induce postnasal discharge, and make speech difficult.

Blurred - Unclear speech sounds blended together; lacking specificity and clarity.

Bright - Placed forward in the mouth.

Clear - Precise, forward placed.

Dark - Mellow tone, placed back in the mouth.

Double Dark L - [ :‚ ], L sound made without touching the tongue upwards to the alveolar ridge, but by dropping the back of the tongue and rounding the lips.

Deviated Septum - When the thin partition between the two sides of the nose shifts to block the nasal passage. It can be the result of an injury, or abnormal growth.

Hard - Tense, retroflexed.

Interdental - Between the teeth.

Lax - So relaxed as to be slurred, or lack clarity and precision.

Liquid U - The combination of [j]/y and the vowel [u]/oo, as in DUKE [djuk]/dyook and sometimes in combination with the vowel [U]/uu as in DURING ["djU´*rIN]/DYUUring.

Lisp (Lateral, Frontal) - A speech defect or mannerism characterized by the failure to produce normal sibilants, especially by thrusting the tongue forward, substituting the sounds (th) and (th) for the sibilants (s) and (z) in a frontal lisp. Lateral lisp releases the side of the tongue.

Murky - Indistinct, lacking clarity of tone or precision in articulation.

Nasal - 1) Uttered by lowering the soft palate and occluding the mouth so that most of the air passes through the nose, as in sounding m, n, and [N]/ng. 2) Characterized by or resembling a resonant sound produced through the nose: a nasal whine.

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Off-Glide - Falling diphthong where the second element is weaker than the first. A lso releasing sound after a final terminal consonant: DID as [dId´].

On-Glide - Non-standard diphthong where a primary vowel is initiated by a weak vowel, typically [´]: DEED as [d´*id].

Retroflexed - Pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back against the roof of the mouth.

Round - Balanced, pleasing tone.

Sibilant - A speech sound, as [s]/s, [S]/sh, [z]/z, or [Z]/zh, that suggests hissing.

Substitution - Replacement of one sound with another as: MEN [mEn]/MEN to [mIn]/MIN Tense - Constricted, harsh sound produced when the articulators are clenched or held tightly.