8 Word Stress Rules to Improve Your English Pronunciation. Nouns and adjectives with two syllables. The rule: When a noun (a word referring to a person, thing, place or abstract quality) or an adjective (a word that gives information about a noun) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the first syllable. Rule 1: The letter C is usually not pronounced in the combination of SC. Scissors, ascent, fascinate, muscle. Rule 2: C is usually mute before the letters K and Q. Lock, block, puck, acknowledge. Aqua, Acquit, Acquiesce. Rule 1: The letter D is silent when it appears before the letters N and G.
English Pronunciation
& EnglishSpelling Rules
© 2007-present, by Leon of Leon's Planet
Phonics, Phonetics, Phonemics,Phonology, & Prosody
English Pronunciation Part One The Sound System of English Chapter 0 The Symbols 01 Familiar Consonant Symbols Voiced Voiceless b boat verb p post stop d deed lead t tease seat g god dog k kiss sick case doc v verb brave f fish leaf M those smooth L thief teeth z zoo ooze s sick kiss cease nice. Spoken English, there are two important things to bear in mind: You do not need native-like pronunciation of English sounds in order to be comfortably understood Other aspects of pronunciation are actually more important for your listeners than the sounds you make We will be looking at both those points in this unit.
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INTRODUCTION
to the nomenclature (for teachers):
A: Here are thedefinitions: Phonics: the science that deals with the sound of the written symbols of a language, and often the teaching thereof Phonetics: [Education] the science that deals with the segmental sounds of the spoken languagephoneme is the smallest unit of sound of a language] Phonemics:[Linguistics]the science of phonemes, and their relationships (i.e. changes based upon collocation). Prosodic Features: the 'suprasegmental' sounds (features) of a spoken language (i.e., intonation and voice quality) [ TeachYourself Intonation of English (clickhere) ] Phonology: Phonetics / Phonemics / Phonics / ProsodicFeatures ALL together; Study of sounds in languages. |
Kids, keep scrolling down.
North American Phonics by Leon © 2007-present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First of all, you need to know what the consonants and vowels are. English Vowels:a,e,i,o,u, and sometimes y, w When 'y' or 'w' appear at the beginning of a word or syllable, they are NOT vowels English Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z, (and w & y if occurring at the beginning of a word or syllable) Y and W: As vowels: boy, cow As consonants: you, wool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vowel Sounds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Phonics with Audio) (IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet) (APA = American Phonetic Alphabet)
Irregular (strange) Vowel Sounds
NOTE: The schwa // sound only appears in unstressed syllables. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Spelling Rules | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rule #1: CVC rule. [CVC = Consonant-Vowel-Consonant] The vowel is short! (99% true) [in CVCC the vowel is also short] (99% true) Examples: rat, hen, sit, not, cut (click to download audio file)
Example: rate, here, site, note, cute (click to download audio file)
Examples: The con man can put a cane into a cone and a cub into a cube. 3b) Soft 'C' : When c+e OR c+i OR c+y exists, then 'c' has the /s/ sound. Examples: The city center has a circle.
Examples: Kelly keeps kissing the kite, while Kym keeps kissing Kyle. More Ex.): Kyle the king is kind, even though he is only a kid. What about K + a, o, u?!!! Words that have k + a,o,u are 'loan words' from other languages. Examples: kangaroo (Aus.Aboriginal word), Korea (Korean word), kung fu (Chinese word)
Examples: The bad guy got a gun and put a gag on the gal. 3b) Soft 'G' : When g+e OR g+i OR g+y exists, then 'g' has the /j/ sound. Examples: The gentle gypsy put gel in her hair, then gyrated her hips.
Why? Because 'C' has a friend named, 'K', but 'G' has nobody, nobody, but you!
NOTE: there are many exceptions to this rule. ALSO: Occasionally, there may be a single consonant after a short vowel sound. It drives me crazy.
Examples: he, me, we, hi, go, no, so, flu, Katmandu, and Timbuktu. Some super weird exceptions: to, do, ma, pa, ska, bla, bla, bla
Rule #9: Change the 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'/'er'/'est' Explanation: If there is a vowel before the 'y', as in 'day', just add 's' (days). Examples: day-days, play-plays, way-ways, toy-toys, boy-boys Explanation: If there is a consonant before the 'y', as in 'try', change the 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'. Examples: try-tries, cry-cries, dry-dries, fly-flies, sky-skies, country-countries Explanation: Change the 'y' to 'i' and add 'er' or 'est' Examples: happy-happier-happiest; funny-funnier-funniest; pretty-prettier-prettiest; dirty-dirtier-dirtiest Rule #10: Change the 'f' to 'v' and add 'es' Explanation: If there is an 'f' at the end of a word, we make it plural by changing the 'f' to 'v' and add 'es'. Examples: calf-calves, half-halves, wolf-wolves, wife-wives, knife-knives Rule #11: Change the 'y' to 'i' and add 'ed' or 'ing' Explanation: If there is a vowel before the 'y', just add 'ed' or 'ing'. Examples: play-played-playing, destroy-destroyed-destroying Explanation: If there isn't a vowel before the 'y', change the 'y' to 'i' & add 'ed' (but not for 'ing'). Examples: dry-dried-drying, cry-cried-crying, try-tried-trying Exceptions: fly-flew-flying Rule #12: Change the 'ie' to 'y' when adding 'ing' Explanation: If the verb ends in 'ie', change the 'ie' to 'y' when adding 'ing'. Examples: die-died-dying, Exceptions: lie-lay-lain (to put one's self in horizontal position on the floor or ground) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Consonants | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part 2: Digraphs (Ch & Th) The symbols that we use for English today are from the Roman language. Yet English contains words from Old English, Middle English, German, Latin, Greek, Arabic, Italian, and French. This makes English pronunciation quite complicated. Of course, all of Europe uses Roman symbols, but the Romanization of each language is quite different from one country to another. Sometimes digraphs were invented to represent consonant sounds, which don’t exist in Latin. For example, Latin doesn’t have the // sound. In English, we represent this sound with the digraph “Sh.” In French, the same sound is represented with the digraph “Ch.” Sometimes digraphs were invented to distinguish the origin of the word. For example, the Greek letter /x/ (spelled: ‘chi’, pronounced, /kai/) is transliterated as the digraph “Ch,” but it sounds like /k/. Why did they do this? I don’t know. It really makes things confusing. So in English, the digraph “Ch” has three sounds, depending on the origin of the word. See table below. 1. “Ch” Rule(s) Original English words, which begin with 'ch' are pronounced like ' Greek-English words, which begin with 'ch' are pronounced like a 'k'. French-English words, which begin with 'ch' are pronounced like ' Examples:
NOTE: there are some exceptions, like the English word 'channel' is from French, but it has the pure-English pronunciation.
There are TWO 'th' sounds: / / & / /. Notice that the latter symbol looks much like a 'd'. That's because it sounds much like a 'd', and many non-native English speakers (or Pidgin/Creole speakers), will substitute the 'd' sound for the sound. The former symbol looks unlike any other alphabetical letter in English (or Roman), and that's because it is unlike any other sound in English (or Roman). Since the symbol is a Greek symbol, many words with that sound are from Greek (but not all). Look at the diagrams (below) of the articulations of , , and d...
In the first diagram, we see that the tongue is clenched tightly between the teeth, blocking all air from going in or out. Then, the tongue is drawn in very quickly, and by the laws of physics, air must go out, but also combined the intercostal muscles in the chest contracting, a very strong, almost plosive wind comes out of the mouth. (some say it is a fricative, but I firmly believe it to be a plosive). In the second diagram, the tongue is pressed up against the back of the upper teeth and alveolar ridge. Like the , the initial articulation blocks the would-be hole between the open teeth, not allowing any air to go in or out. BUT, unlike the , the movement forces the tongue out of the mouth between the teeth (slowly), and then slowly the tongue goes back in and down. Because of the slow movement of the tongue, it is labeled a fricative. In the third diagram, we see that the 'd' movement is almost identical to the movement, except that the tongue doesn't actually leave the mouth. The initial articulations are different as well, but not far apart, which would account for the similarity in sound. In fact, many native speakers will use the 'd' sound in place of the sound, when trying to be funny. Example: 'Duh Bears!' (Chicago Bears are a football team, and Chicagoans will often call them 'Duh Bears!'). Also, many non-native English speaker, which speak a Creole of English, like in Jamaica, will use the 'd' sound in place of the ; AND, they will use the 't' sound in place of the sound. This works well, because both 'd' and are fricatives, and both 't' and are plosives. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vowel Teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part 3: Vowel Teams (or Vowel Strings) with more than 1 sound 'ea' (short e sound); bread, breath, dead, death, head, lead, read, wealth, 'ea' (long e sound); bead, beat, breathe, eat, feat, heat, lead, leak, meat, neat, read, treat, weak, wheat 'ea' (long a sound); break, great, steak 'ew' ( /u:/ ); dew, blew, chew, crew, flew, grew, knew, lewd, mew, stew, 'ew' ( /ju:/ ); few, new, pew 'oo' (short sound //); book, foot, good, hood, hook, look, nook, rook, soot, took, wood, 'oo' ( /u:/ ); balloon, boot, cartoon, goose, loose, moose, loop, loot, moon, noon, poop, root, stoop, toon, toot, 'oo' (schwa sound //); blood, flood 'oo' (long o sound); boor, floor, door, moor 'ou' ('au' 'short' sound); bough, grouse, house, louse, mouse, plough 'ou' ('ou' 'long' sound); though 'ou' (schwa sound //); enough, rough, tough 'ow' ('au' 'short' sound); brown, cow, how, now, wow 'ow' ('ou' 'long' sound); blow, flow, grow, know, low, sow, tow, |
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This guide will help you to understand and use the pronunciation symbols found in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English.
Consonants
| p | pen | /pen/ |
| b | bad | /bæd/ |
| t | tea | /tiː/ |
| d | did | /dɪd/ |
| k | cat | /kæt/ |
| ɡ | get | /ɡet/ |
| tʃ | chain | /tʃeɪn/ |
| dʒ | jam | /dʒæm/ |
| f | fall | /fɔːl/ |
| v | van | /væn/ |
| θ | thin | /θɪn/ |
| ð | this | /ðɪs/ |
| s | see | /siː/ |
| z | zoo | /zuː/ |
| ʃ | shoe | /ʃuː/ |
| ʒ | vision | /ˈvɪʒn/ |
| h | hat | /hæt/ |
| m | man | /mæn/ |
| n | now | /naʊ/ |
| ŋ | sing | /sɪŋ/ |
| l | leg | /leɡ/ |
| r | red | /red/ |
| j | yes | /jes/ |
| w | wet | /wet/ |
The symbol (r) indicates that British pronunciation will have /r/ only if a vowel sound follows directly at the beginning of the next word, as in far away; otherwise the /r/ is omitted. For American English, all the /r/ sounds should be pronounced.
/x/ represents a fricative sound as in /lɒx/ for Scottish loch, Irish lough.
Vowels and diphthongs
| iː | see | /siː/ |
| i | happy | /ˈhæpi/ |
| ɪ | sit | /sɪt/ |
| e | bed | /bed/ |
| æ | cat | /kæt/ |
| ɑː | father | /ˈfɑːðə(r)/ |
| ɒ | got | /ɡɒt/ (British English) |
| ɔː | saw | /sɔː/ |
| ʊ | put | /pʊt/ |
| u | actual | /ˈæktʃuəl/ |
| uː | too | /tuː/ |
| ʌ | cup | /kʌp/ |
| ɜː | fur | /fɜː(r)/ |
| ə | about | /əˈbaʊt/ |
| eɪ | say | /seɪ/ |
| əʊ | go | /ɡəʊ/ |
| aɪ | my | /maɪ/ |
| ɔɪ | boy | /bɔɪ/ |
| aʊ | now | /naʊ/ |
| ɪə | near | /nɪə(r)/ (British English) |
| eə | hair | /heə(r)/ (British English) |
| ʊə | pure | /pjʊə(r)/ (British English) |
Nasalized vowels, marked with /˜/, may be retained in certain words taken from French, as in penchant/ˈpɒ̃ʃɒ̃/.
While represented by the same symbols in the dictionary, some vowels and diphthongs differ in quality between British and American English.
Pronunciation in the dictionary
The pronunciations given are those of younger speakers of ‘mainstream’ or ‘unmarked’ Received Pronunciation (British English) and ‘General’ or ‘Network’ American (American English). These models represent accents that are widely taught and easily recognized as British or American. They enable clear communication, are not old-fashioned or strongly regional, and are acceptable in formal and informal situations.
Pronunciations given between slashes /ˌlaɪk ˈðɪs/ are transcribed broadly, using a phonemic system. This means that symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet are used to represent the sounds and features that distinguish one word from another in English. If the symbols are treated simply as sounds the speaker will be clearly understood — words such as cap/kæp/ and cup/kʌp/ will not be confused. The more advanced learner will understand that these symbols (phonemes) represent groups of related English sounds (allophones), and that the choice of symbols is guided by a long tradition of teaching and representing English pronunciation in this way.
The broad approach to transcription is accompanied by a selective approach to variant pronunciations. For example, the transcriptions make clear that the vowel /ɒ/ occurs only in British English, with American pronunciations usually having /ɔː/ or /ɑː/ instead. For these words there is some variation between /ɔː/ and /ɑː/ among speakers of American English, but only one such pronunciation is given.
Some variant pronunciations are represented by the special use of /i/ and /u/ (without a length mark /ː/). /i/ represents a weak vowel that can be sounded either as /iː/ or /ɪ/ or a compromise between them. The sequence /iə/ can be pronounced /jə/, so union can be /ˈjuːniən/ or /ˈjuːnjən/. In the same way /u/ represents a weak vowel between /uː/ and /ʊ/. If followed by a consonant sound it can be pronounced as /ə/, and the sequence /uə/ can be pronounced /wə/, as in actual/ˈæktʃuəl, ˈæktʃwəl/.
Further information about a pronunciation may be given in square brackets [ˈlaɪk ˈðɪs], referring more specifically to sounds on the IPA chart. This narrow transcription is useful for representing pronunciations or sounds that are not British or American, for example the East African pronunciation [ˈboma] given at boma.
Allophones
Allophones can be demonstrated by looking at the /t/ phoneme. In addition to [t], the /t/ phoneme also contains tap [ɾ] and glottal stop [ʔ] sounds, which are used in certain contexts. The [ɾ]tap sound is very much like the /d/ in rider. It is widely used by American speakers when the /t/ is between two vowels and the second vowel is not stressed, as in writer. Both British and American speakers sometimes use the glottal stop [ʔ] (a momentary tight closure of the vocal cords) for the /t/ in words like football/ˈfʊtbɔːl/ and button/ˈbʌtn/. Use of the glottal stop for /t/ in these positions is more common and more widely accepted than its use between vowels, as in water.
American English Pronunciation Rules Pdf Download
Such considerations are not limited to the /t/ phoneme. For example, the /l/ phoneme encompasses a clear [l] sound for words such as like/laɪk/ (where the /l/ is before or between vowels) and a dark [ɫ] sound for other positions, as in full/fʊl/ or milk/mɪlk/. The sound files that accompany our phonemic transcriptions are intended to supplement the phonemic transcriptions and demonstrate such detail.
Syllabic consonants
The sounds /l/ and /n/ can often be syllabic — that is, they can form a syllable by themselves. They can be thought of as representing a sequence of [əl] or [ən]. There is a syllabic /l/ at the end of final/ˈfaɪnl/, but for clarity the schwa /ə/ is shown in the transcription of finally/ˈfaɪnəli/ so that it is not confused with finely/ˈfaɪnli/.
Weak and strong forms
Some pronunciations are labelled as strong or weak forms. The first pronunciation given usually represents the one most commonly used, but where a strong form is indicated it should be used when the word is stressed. A strong form is also usually used when the word is at the end of a sentence. For example:
- Can/kən/you help?
- I’ll help if I can /kæn/.
British English Pronunciation Rules Pdf
Stress
Stress is very important in English — it can be used to distinguish the meaning of similar-sounding words, compounds, phrasal verbs and idioms. The stress patterns indicated in our dictionaries will enable the learner to sound natural and clearly communicate their intended meaning.
The mark /ˈ/ shows the main stress — compare able/ˈeɪbl/, stressed on the first syllable, and ability/əˈbɪləti/, stressed on the second. A stressed syllable is relatively loud, long in duration, said clearly and distinctly, and made noticeable by the pitch of the voice. A stressed syllable does not usually contain the weak vowels /ə/, /i/ or /u/.
Longer transcriptions may have one or more secondary stresses before the main stress. These are marked with /ˌ/ as in abbreviation/əˌbriːviˈeɪʃn/ and agricultural/ˌæɡrɪˈkʌltʃərəl/. They feel like beats in a rhythm leading up to the main stress. Weak stresses after the main stress can sometimes be heard, but they are not marked in our dictionaries.
A word or compound that has two stresses in its dictionary form may show a shift of stress when used in a phrase. For example, the adjective ˌwell-ˈknown has the main stress on known, but in the phrase ˌwell-known ˈauthor the main stress is shifted to the noun that follows.
Further reading
You can find a fuller discussion of the way pronunciation is indicated in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionaryhere.