Silent letters – Which letters are silent following words?

in the

tomb whistle folk Greenwich pneumatic soften dumb honest receipt weigh debt psychiatry column scissors knot comb heir aisle

Homophones: flour, flower

Homographs

He took a bow at the end of the concert /baʊ/ He was wearing a bow tie /bəʊ/

Words, words, words….

WORD STRESS Melancholic ˌ meləŋ’kɒlɪk Secondary stress Primary stress

STRESS SHIFT

afternoon afternoon tea Japanese Japanese Girl weekend weekend traffic

Classic Italian-speakers errors

a djective, c o lleague, can a l, rep o rt…… IN COMPOUNDS e -mail, h o me-page, w e b-site, ch a t-line

ASSIMILATION a consonant sound at the end of a word becomes similar to a consonant sound at the beginning of another word: /s + ʃ/  /ʃ:/ /t + k/  /k:/ /t + g/  /g:/ this shop /ðɪʃ’ʃɒp/ that cake /ðæk’keɪk/ greet guests /gri:g’gests/

LINKING /r/

Normally /r/ is not pronounced in the final position in BBC English. In connected speech, however, the final spelling ‘r’ of a word is pronounced if the first sound of the next word is a vowel:

That’s my car /ka:/ That car is new. /ka:r ɪz nju:/

INTRUSIVE CONSONANTS

:/j/ /w/

- if the first word ends in /ɪ/ and the next word starts with any vowel sound, we add /j/ every ear /evrɪ ʲɪə/ sounds like every year - if the first word ends with /u:/ or /ʊ/ and the next word starts with any vowel sound, we add /w/ you ache /ju: ʷeɪk/ sounds like you wake

ELISION a sound which would be present in a word spoken in isolation is omitted in connected speech, e.g.:omission of /t/, omission of /d/ next please /neks pli:z/ I don’t know /ai dəʊ nəʊ/ you and me /ju: ən mi:/ stand there /stæn ðeə/

VOWEL REDUCTION

If you say the following sentences rapidly, stressing the underlined syllables: You and me I wish you would tell me You will notice that in the second sentence the vowels in these two words are reduced, i.e. become shorter and less clear: /ju: ən mi:/ /aɪ ’wɪʃ jʊ wʊd ‘tel mɪ/

STRONG AND WEAK FORMS and of you does have

strong form

/ænd/ /ɒv/ /ju:/ /dʌz/ /hæv/

weak form

/ən/ /əv/ /jʊ/ /dəz/ /həv/ /əv/

INTONATION

I had coffee cake and honey I had coffee, cake and honey

FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION

1. INDICATOR OF ATTITUDE - expresses our attitude at the moment of speaking to the situation we are in, or to what we are talking about, or to ourselves or to our listener; 2. GRAMMATICAL INDICATOR - indicates if our utterance is a declarative sentence, an imperative, an exclamation, a question; 3. DISCOURSE INDICATOR – reveals the relationship between utterances and information throughout the discourse.

Exercises

1. In each of these groups of words, one word is exactly the same as in normal letters. Underline it. Then write the others in normal letters.

/'pensəl/ /'peɪpə/ /pen/ /'nəʊtbʊk/ /desk/ /fæks/ /kəm'pju ː tə/ /'telɪfəʊn/ /nek/ /hed/ /hænd/ /leg/ /hen/ /pɪg/ /ʃi ː p/ /kaʊ/ /gri ː n/ /blu ː / /red/ /blæk/ /get/ /teɪk/ /gɪv/ /gəʊ/ /'sevən//ten/ /θri ː / /faɪv/

1. KEY pencil paper pen notebook desk fax computer telephone neck head hand leg hen pig sheep cow green blue red black get take give go seven ten three five

2. Here is a list of different activities. In each one, one of the words is written with phonemic symbols. Write it in normal letters.

Ski /dʒʌmpɪŋ/ /wɒʃɪŋ/ the dishes /ju ː zɪŋ/ a computer /sɪŋɪŋ/ a song /θɪŋkɪŋ/ about something /pleɪjɪŋ/ games

2. KEY Ski jumping washing the dishes using a computer singing a song thinking about something playing games

• • • • • • • • • • • • • bee sheet bit cat food cangaroo put third but core far marsh (fever) set 3. Long vs. short vowels

• • • • • • • •

Long

bee sheet food cangaroo third core far marsh

3. KEY

• • • • •

Short

bit cat put but set

/i:/

4. Insert the missing words

/ ɪ/ /e/ æ bead bet did ken lad seat

/i:/ bead beat deed keen lead seat / ɪ/ bid bit did kin lid sit

4. KEY

/e/ bed bet dead ken led set æ bad bat dad can lad sat

5. Diphthongs: identify the words

1. /ʧaɪld/ 2. /’weɪʤɪz/ 3. /ʃaʊt/ 4. /ʧɔɪs/ 5. /ʃaɪ/ 6. /’deɪnʤə/ 7. /en’ʤɔɪd/ 8. /’aɪðə/ 9. /ʃaʊə/

1. /ʧaɪld/ 2. /’weɪʤɪz/ 3. /ʃaʊt/ 4. /ʧɔɪs/ 5. /ʃaɪ/ 6. /’deɪnʤə/ 7. /en’ʤɔɪd/ 8. /’aɪðə/ 9. /ʃaʊə/

5. KEYS

1. Child 2. Wages 3. Shout 4. Choice 5. Shy 6. Danger 7. Enjoyed 8. Either 9. shower

6.Identify the correct transcription

• Soul a. /s ɒl/ b. /s ɔ:l/ c. /sə ʊl/ • Throw a. /θr ɔ:/ b. /θr əʊ/ c. /θr u:/ • Sew a. /s ɔ:/ b. /s əʊ/ c. /sj u:/ • Ought a. / ɔ:t/ b. / əʊt/ c. / ɒt/

• Soul a. /s ɒl/ b. /s ɔ:l/ c. /sə ʊl/ • Throw a. /θr ɔ:/ b. /θr əʊ/ c. /θr u:/

6.KEY

• Sew a. /s ɔ:/ b. /s əʊ/ c. /sj u:/ • Ought a. / ɔ:t/ b. / əʊt/ c. / ɒt/

• • • 7. For each of the following words, choose the correct vowel sound foot – a) /ʊ/ – b) /u:/ – c) /əʊ/ stir – a) /ɜː/ – – b) /ɪ/ c) /ə/ want – a) / ɑ ː / – b) /ɒ/ – c) /ə/ • • clear – a) /i:/ – b) /ə/ – c) /ɪə/ straw – a) /ɜ:/ – b) /ɔ:/ – c) /ʌ/

• foot a) /ʊ/ • • stir a) /ɜ:/ Want b) /ɒ/

7.KEY

• • clear – c) /ɪə/ straw – b) /ɔ:/

8. Match the word and the phonetic transcription 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) orange women quay/key children ceiling this these machine minute promise cottage language a) / mə’ʃi:n/ b) /’si:lɪɳ/ c) /ði:z/ d) /’læɳgwɪdʒ/ e) /’ɒrɪndʒ/ f) /’wɪmɪn/ g) /ðɪs/ h) /’tʃɪldrən/ i) l) /’prɒmɪs/ j) /’kɒtɪdʒ/ k) /’mɪnɪt/ /ki:/

1-e 2-f 3-l 4-h 5-b 6-g 7-c 8-a

8. KEY

9-k 10-i 11-j 12-d

9. Choose the word which matches the phonetic transcription 1) /maʊðz/ a) mouths b) months c) mouse 2) /nəʊ/ a) nor 3) /praʊd/ b) now c) know/no a) pride b) proud c) prude 4) /fɪəʳ/ a) fear b) fair c) far

1) A 2) C 3) B 4) A

9. KEY

10. Words commonly mispronounced. Guess what these words are 6.

7.

8.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

/wɜ:d/ - .........................

/əʊnli/ - ........................

/frʌnt/ - ........................

/'eəriə/ - ......................

/pla:nt/ - .......................

/vəraɪəti/ - ....................

/peərənt/ - ....................

/ðeə/ - .........................

9. laɪən/ - ......................

10./breθ/ - ......................

11./bri:ð/ - .....................

12/rɪ'si:t/ - .....................

13./mə’tjuə/ - ...................

14./hɪə/ - .........................

15./ri:dʒən/ - .........……… 16./dɪ'li:t/ - ......................

17./bækwəd/ - ..................

18./fo:wəd/ - ....................

19./pə’tɪkjələ/ - ................

20./nʌθɪɳ/ - .....................

1)word 2)only 3)front 4)area 5)plant 6)variety 7)parent 8)there 9)lion 10. KEY 10)breath 11) breathe 12)receipt 13) mature 14)hear-here 15)region 16)delete 17)backward 18)forward 19)particular 20) nothing

Links

• • • http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download /pron_chart/pron_chart.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelli ng/recognising/homophones/quiz.shtml

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/flas h/flashin.htm