Critical Sounds

These are the sounds of English that may prove difficult to students. The difficulty may be caused
by the following:

a. The sound may not be present in the vernacular, thus, the learner would substitute a sound in his
native tongue similar to the absent sound. Some examples are
/f/ with /p/ /v/ with /b/ / θ / as in thin with /t/

b. There is only one sound in the vernacular while there are several allied sounds in the target
language. An example is the sound /s/. In Filipino and most other Philippine dialects, we have
only /s/ compared to 6 different hissing sounds in English like /s /, /z/, /tʃ/ as in church, /ʒ / as in
leisure, /ʃ/ as in wish and /dʒ / as in judge.

c. There are some end sounds in English that change depending on the sounds close to them. If the
student is not aware of this, he may just give them just one sound.
/t/ after voiceless sounds except /t/ as in faced, washed, bumped

-ed/d (past tense marker) /d/ after voiced sounds except /d/ as in bathed, shaved, hummed

/Id/ after /t/ or /d/ as in handed, wanted

-s (plural marker) /s/ after voiceless sounds except hissing sounds as in chefs, cakes

/z/ after voiced sounds except hissing sounds as in caves, buns

/Iz/ after hissing sounds as in wishes, churches, hedges

d. There are only 5 vowels and others have three while there 11 in English not to count the
diphthongs.

e. Most Filipino languages do not have several consonants coming one after another in succession.
Consonant clusters (CCV, CCCV, VCC, VCCC) can pose a problem to Filipino students. When
these occur in word initial position, students tend to let a vowel creep in so that the pattern will be
VC instead of several consonants coming after one another. But when these occur in final
position, students tend to just drop the other end consonants.
Stop is pronounced like (is-top) Tasks becomes just task.

School is pronounced like (is-chool) Posts becomes just post

f. A sound in English may be spelled differently or the same letter combination may have different
pronunciation.
Bough, through, although, bought, cough, hiccough, enough

Eat, key, Greek, field, police, either, people, amoeba, Caesar, quay
 Some people think that in speech, content is more important than delivery. However, the
speaker’s failure to articulate the sounds and pronounce the words properly may become a barrier to
effective communication.

It has often been said that the first duty of the speaker is to be heard and understood easily. Even
if he speaks with a voice of pleasing quality and with all the variety that could be desired if he utters his
words weakly and indistinctly, his audience will soon tire of the effort trying to understand him.

Thus, it should also be our concern to make our speech intelligible to the audience. One way this
is done is make sure that the sounds of English, especially the critical sounds, are articulated clearly.

LESSON 1 Contrasting /æ/ as in bat, /ə/ as in but, /e/ as in bait and /ɛ/ as in bet

How to produce the sounds

/ɛ/ as in bet

The jaw drops to mid-height. The tongue tip touches the lower front teeth while the sides touch
the upper bicuspids very lightly. The lips are not rounded and the sound short.

/e/ as in bait/

The jaws drop to mid-height and the lips are spread in a smile. The front of the tongue takes a
lower position than that for [ I] making the oral passage wider. From the mid position the tongue rises
forward and upward toward [I] causing a slight diphthongization. The muscles of both the tongue and jaw
are tense and the sound long.

/æ/ as in bat

The jaw drops to a low position with the lips spread in a wide smile. The tongue tip slightly
touches the back of the lower front teeth. Muscles of both jaw and tongue are tense. The sound is long.
You can check out the link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NavmTDkd8Z8.

Individually articulated, these sounds may not be difficult to but when they occur in continued
speech, not properly differentiating them may cause misunderstanding.

Practice contrasting the focus sounds as you read the words and sentences.

/æ/ as in bat /ɛ/ as in bet /e/ as in bait Sentences

sad said say It’s sad to hear them say that he said that.
rack wreck rake He wrecked the rack when he put the rake against it.
man men main/mane Do you consider men with lengthy manes manly?
past pest paste The children pasted pictures of pests in their
workbook these past days.
add Ed aid We can still add to the aid for Ed.
marry merry Do we have to marry to be merry?
shad shed shade We kept the shad in the tool shed for shade.
talisman tell tale She tells tales about talismans to those men.
Brad breakfast break Brad breaks the night when he takes breakfast.
batter better bait A better batter can bait the children into more baking.
latter letter later As Dan and Lenny said their goodbyes later that day,
Dan planned to pen a letter for the latter.
bathtub Beth bathe Baby Beth loves to bathe in the bathtub.
matter met mate He met with his mate to talk about the meter and
other matters.
can Ken cane Ken can carry his cane, bag and coat.
sat set sate We sat through all the sets of food to sate our hunger.

Can you add more words with the focus sounds indicated to the list and use them in sentences too?
Challenge yourself by putting all the words in each number in the same sentence.

/æ/ as in bat /ɛ/ as in bet /e/ as in bait Sentences

1.
2.
3.
4.
5

Schwa or /ə/ as in but

The schwa is a lower, mid, central lax vowel. It is an effortless, neutral, weak, indefinite, obscure
sound. The tip of the tongue touches nothing and is relaxed on the floor of the mouth. This is why it is
called the “neutral vowel.”

This sound is the most distinctive feature of English phonetics (Manalo: 1960). In connected
speech, it contributes much to correct rhythm and appropriate rate. It is most frequently used in unstressed
syllables regardless of spelling.

Check out the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jh6nn0OS74.

Read the words highlighting the primary and secondary accents (underlined) and going neutral on the
unaccented syllable (in bold) to produce the schwa.

above understand Catholic obligation*

sofa arena woman mission
correct memory obtain assassination
abandon advantageous occur occasion
ancient cinema maintenance publication
 *Note: The -tion/-sion ending in words is articulated with the schwa sound or as /shən/.

Read the sentences contrasting the /æ/, /ə/, /e/ and /ɛ/ sounds.

1. I understand that a negotiation is going on between that woman and the employer.
2. Above the sofa is a painting of a merry man who married a beautiful woman.
3. It is advantageous for Adam to break his night fast with anything than to totally abandon breakfast.
4. I obtained the information that my grandmother was baptized Catholic from an ancient photo album.
5. Occasions like this bring back to our memory the beautiful mission of our ancestors.

Practice Selections for /æ/, /ə/, /e/ and /ɛ/ sounds. Read the texts and passages enunciating the focus
sounds distinctly.

Break, break, break, Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! Haply I think on thee, - and then my state,
But the tender grace of a day that is dead Like to the lark at break of day arising
Will never come back to me. From sullen earth, sings hymns at Heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings
-Lord Tennyson, Break, Break, Break That then I scorn to change my state with Kings.
-Shakespeare, Sonnet 29

Let me not to the marriage of two minds Cannon to the right of them,
Admit impediments, Love is not love Cannon to the left of them,
Which alters when alteration finds, Cannon behind them,
Or bends with the remover to remove Volley’d and thundered;
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark Stormed at with shot and hell,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; While horse and hero fell.
It is the star to every wandering bark
Whose worth’s unknown They that had fought so well
Although its height taken. Came through the jaws of death,
-Shakespeare, Sonnet 116 Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
- Lord Tennyson, The Six Hundred

INDIVIDUAL TASK: Consult your dictionary on the correct articulation of the underlined letters.
Read all the words with correct pronunciation. Choose one word and do a thorough research on
meaning, etymology, etc and use in a sentence.

1. leopard 2. aviation 3. naivete 4. atom 5. patriarch

crepe jeopardy meringue soiree tortoise
echelon wagon satin heroine says
theory analysis variation director plaid
waistcoat cupboard blackguard almond attache’

5. bury 7. papal 8. cleanliness 9 canary 10. filet

 favorite tabernacle cicada heifer against
harangue quadruped local gallant timbre
century committee salmon freight history
cache chimera heinous lingerie maniac

INDIVIDUAL TASK: Oral reading and poetry interpretation.

Text 1

I MET THE MASTER

Lorrie Cline

I had walked life’s way with an easy tread, Melted and vanished and in their place
Had followed where comfort and pleasures led, Naught else did I see but the Master’s face,
Until one day in a quiet place And I cried aloud, “Oh make me meet
I met the Master face to face. To follow the steps of Thy wounded feet.”

With station and rank and wealth for my goal, My thought is now for the souls of men,
Much thought for my body but none for my soul, I have lost my life to find it again,
I had entered to win life’s mad race, E’er since one day in a quiet place
When I met the Master face to face. I met the Master face to face.

I met Him and knew Him and blushed to see

That his eyes, full of sorrow, were fixed on me;
And I faltered and fell at His feet that day,
While my castles melted and vanished away.

Text 2

WHEN I AM DEAD, MY DEAREST And haply may forget.

Chr ist ina R oss ett i

When I am dead, my dearest,

Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,

I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,