INTRODUCTION

The importance of intercultural communication is growing in a globalized and ever‐changing

world. In this context, the role of English as an international language cannot be denied. The
knowledge of English Phonetics and Phonology, i.e. how particular sounds are produced, their
properties, how we perceive speech and what happens to speech sounds when we speak fast, helps
us to speak clearly and understand others correctly, which is of utmost importance, especially in
intercultural contexts.
The present resource book is designed as a supplement to Peter Roach’s (2010) textbook English
Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course and may be used to accompany lecture courses on
English Phonetics and Phonology at university level. It is equally suitable for self‐study and for
in‐class situations with a teacher. The book gives students practice in pronunciation and
transcription of English sounds, enhances their understanding of phonological structures and rules,
and improves speaking and listening skills.
The resource book consists of eight chapters. Each contains both summary of theory and plenty of
practice.
 CONTENT

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS ..................................................3

PRACTICE ...............................................................................................................8
CHAPTER 2: THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS ...........................16
PRACTICE .............................................................................................................18
CHAPTER 3. THE CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS ....................................24
PRACTICE .............................................................................................................26
CHAPTER 4. THE CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS .........................34
PRACTICE .............................................................................................................39
CHAPTER 5: THE SYLLABLE ..........................................................................54
PRACTICE .............................................................................................................62
CHAPTER 6: STRESS IN ENGLISH AND WEAK FORMS ..........................73
PRACTICE .............................................................................................................83
CHAPTER 7: ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH ..................................105
PRACTICE ...........................................................................................................110
CHAPTER 8: INTONATION ............................................................................118
PRACTICE ...........................................................................................................125
SUGGESTED ANSWER.....................................................................................127
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 179

2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS

1. Definitions of Phonetics and Phonology

Both phonetics and phonology are important components of linguistics, which is the science that
deals with the general study of language. While phonetics is the study of the sounds made by the
human voice in speech, phonology is the study of how sounds pattern and function in a given
language (Lodge, 2009).
Phonetics describes the concrete, physical form of sounds (how they are produced, heard and
how they can be described), while phonology is concerned with the function of sounds, that is
with their status and inventory in any given language. In other words, phonetics studies the actual
sounds that we produce while phonology studies the abstract patterns of the sounds in our
mind (Ladefoged, P. & Johnson, K., 2011).
2. Types of phonetics
Ashby (2013) believes that speech can be examined in various ways, corresponding to the stages
of the transmission of the speech signal from a speaker to a listener.
a. Articulatory phonetics is concerned with the articulation of speech, i.e. the position,
shape, and movement of articulators, such as the lips, tongue, and vocal folds.
b. Acoustic phonetics is concerned about the physical nature of the speech signal.
c. Auditory phonetics is the study of how the ear receives the speech signal.

Articulatory phonetics Acoustic phonetics Auditory phonetics

Pressure

High Frequency Wave

Time
Period
Low Frequency Wave
Pressure

Time

Period

3. Letters, sounds, and symbols

In the study of phonetics, symbols are used to represent sounds. We cannot use the ordinary letters
of the alphabet to symbolize sounds as there are obvious differences between pronunciation and
ordinary spelling. These letters may have totally different values from those which learners are

3
accustomed to. In addition, many English sounds may be spelt in a large number of different ways.
(Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
4. Accents and dialects in English
Accents are several ways in which the language can be pronounced. Dialects refer variations in
grammar and vocabulary. Varieties refer all these aspects of language variation – pronunciation
together with grammar and vocabulary (Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
One variety of English pronunciation which has traditionally been connected with the more
privileged section of the population is variously referred to as ‘Oxford English’, ‘BBC English’
and even ‘the Queen’s English’, but none of these names can be considered at all accurate. For a
long time, phoneticians have called it Received Pronunciation (or RP). The term ‘Received
Pronunciation’ seems to have caught on with the media and has begun to have wider currency with
the general public (Roach, 2009).
5. Segments, phonemes, and allophones
Speech is a continuous flow of sounds with interruptions only when necessary to take in air to
breathe, or to organize our thoughts. The process of dividing up this continuous flow into smaller
chunks that are easier to deal with is called segmentation, and the resulting smaller sound units are
termed segments (Lodge, 2009).
A phoneme can be defined as the smallest distinctive, or contrastive, unit in the sound system of
a language. In other words, a phoneme contrasts meaningfully with other speech sounds.
Phonemes are abstract, idealized sounds that are never pronounced and never heard. Actual,
concrete speech sounds can be regarded as the realization of phonemes by individual speakers, and
are referred to as allophones (Skandera, & Burleigh, (2005).
The allophones of a particular phoneme typically have phonetic similarity.
• They usually sound fairly similar to each other.
• They are usually articulated in a somewhat similar way.
The occurrence of allophones in this instance is predictable. They can be considered as
complements to each other; where one occurs the other cannot. Such an allophonic patterning is
termed complementary distribution (McMahon, 2002).

4
 Example

6. Phonemic and phonetic transcription

According to Lodge, (2009), phonetic transcription can be defined as a system of alphabetic
writing in which each symbol represents one and only one distinct elementary speech sound and
one of the phonetic alphabets that are widely used is that of the International Phonetic Association.
A phonetic transcription can indicate minute details of the articulation of any particular sound by
the use of differently shaped symbols, e.g. [Ɂ ɹ], or by adding little marks (known as diacritics) to
a symbol, e.g. [ẽ ḅ]. In contrast, a phonemic transcription shows only the phoneme contrasts and
does not tell us precisely what the realisations of the phoneme are.
A broad phonetic transcription may be defined as a transcription obtained by using the minimum
number of symbols requisite for representing without ambiguity the sounds of the language in
question (without reference to other languages).
If it is desired to have separate symbols for all the sounds occurring in several languages and
dialects, a very large number of symbols and diacritical marks will be necessary. Transcriptions of
this kind are called narrow phonetic transcriptions.

5
 SYMBOLS FOR VOWEL PHONEMES
Monophthongs Diphthongs

ɑː park ə potato aɪ light eə there

æ flat ʌ cup eɪ play ɪə fear

e bed ɜː third ɔɪ toy ʊə tour

ɪ ship iː feet əʊ coat

ɒ not ɔː four aʊ house

ʊ look u: food

SYMBOLS FOR CONSONANT PHONEMES

Voiceless Voiced
p pen b bad
t tea d did m man r red
k cat ɡ get
s see z zoo n now
ʃ shoe ʒ vision w wet
tʃ chain dʒ jam ŋ sing
f fall v van
θ thin ð this l leg j yes
h hat

7. Minimal pairs and minimal sets

McMahon, (2002) defines a minimal pair as a pair of words distinguished by a single sound. For
example, if we take the word ‘man’, and replace the first sound by /p/, we get a new word ‘pan’.
Meanwhile, a minimal set is a set of words distinguished by replacing one sound with another.
For example, man, ban, tan, ran, etc. can make a minimal set. Instead of changing the initial
consonant, we can also change the vowel (e.g. mean, moan, men, mine, moon) or the final
consonant (e.g. man, mat, mad).

6
 8. Homophones and homographs
Another feature of English is that some pronunciations correspond to multiple spellings. According
to Ashby (2013), homophones are words that look different but sound exactly the same.
Example:
• Cs, seas, sees and seize are all pronounced /siːz/,
• rowed and road /rəʊd/,
• file and phial /faɪl/
• passed and past /pɑːst/
• two, too, and to /tuː/
Homographs, on the other hand, are words which are pronounced differently but spelt exactly
the same.
Example:
• bow /baʊ/ (‘bending from the waist or the front end of a boat’) and bow /bəʊ/ (an elaborate
knot in a piece of ribbon or about a piece of musical equipment)
• lead /led/ (‘a kind of metal’) and lead /liːd/ (‘to go first’)
• wind /wɪnd/ (‘current of air’) and wind /waɪnd/ (‘to turn round’)

7
PRACTICE
Activity 1.1
Decide whether these statements describe phonetics (A) or phonology (B). Write A or B.
1. This is the science of speech sound. ____________
2. It deals with the abstract side of the sounds of a language. ____________
3. It deals with “actual” physical sounds as they are manifested. ____________
4. It is the study of the selection and patterns of sounds in a single language. ____________
5. It is the term used for the study of sound in human language. ____________
6. It is the business of describing the sounds that we use in speaking. ____________
7. It is concerned with the function of sounds. ____________
8. It describes the concrete, physical form of sounds. ____________
9. Phonologist is the term used for linguists who study this. ____________
10. Phonetician is the term used for linguists who study this. ____________

Activity 1.2
Decide which branch of phonetics, (a) articulatory, (b) acoustic or (c) auditory, these statements
describe. Write (a), (b) or (c).
1. It describes how sounds are made. ____
2. It is concerned with the perception, categorization, and recognition of speech sounds. ____
3. It studies the vibrations in the air caused by sounds travelling in the air from the speaker’s
mouth to the hearer’s ear. ____
4. It informs theories of speech production. ____
5. It deals with the physical nature of speech sounds. ____
6. It is related to listening to speech sounds and thinking about exactly what they sound. ____

Activity 1.3
Compare the sounds in bold in the following words and decide if they have the same or different
pronunciations. Explain your answer.
1. the a’s in father, fall, any, ago, watch
2. the i’s in grind, machine, bird

8
3. the u’s in rule, put, hut
4. the o’s in stove, move, love
5. the ea’s in meat, head, great, bear

Activity 1.4
Underline the word in which a consonant is not pronounced.
0. pencil, hour, cousin
1. cupboard, pub, pupil 6. country, child, knife
2. bird, tiger, snake 7. island, address, some
3. wall, science, cave 8. window, paint, pencil
4. tall, desk, half 9. hundred, green, white
5. Wednesday, Monday, Sunday 10. lamp, autumn, bath

Activity 1.5
Put the following words into sets that begin with the same sound.
knight, cat, king, get, gnat, guest, calm, quay, quest, west, vest, want, vase

Activity 1.6
Complete the sentences with the right words given.
dialect accent regional variety social
1. A(n) ______________ is a way in which the language can be pronounced.
2. The term ‘______________’ is used to cover variation in grammar and vocabulary.
3. A ‘______________’ refers all these aspects of language variation – pronunciation
together with grammar and vocabulary.
4. ______________ variation involves differences between one place and another.
5. ______________ variation reflects differences between one social group and another.
This can cover such matters as gender, ethnicity, religion, age and, very significantly,
social class.

9
Activity 1.7
How many phonemes are there in the following words?
Word No. of phoneme Word No. of phoneme
1. booth 6. through
2. debt 7. writer
3. yacht 8. lesson
4. key 9. homophone
5. bought 10. imagination

Activity 1.8
Look at these words. Three of the four words include the same phoneme – which word is
different from the others?
1. a. church b. Chester c. such d. ridge
2. a. shape b. hiss c. push d. passion
3. a. German b. justice c. chicken d. postage
4. a. yacht b. university c. major d. you
5. a. gate b. pig c. germs d. great
6. a. cat b. nice c. ceiling d. sensitive
7. a. think b. mother c. mammoth d. thanks
8. a. vision b. buzz c. zip d. lazy

Activity 1.9
Decide whether phoneme(s) or allophone(s) fit the blanks in the following sentences.
1. A _______________ is a member of a set of abstract units which together form the sound
system of a given language and through which contrasts of meaning are produced.
2. Only the _______________ of a _______________ can exist in reality as concrete
entities.
3. _______________ are real and they can be recorded, stored and reproduced, and
analyzed in acoustic or articulatory terms.
4. The _______________ is an abstract unit which may be realized as any one of a number
of _______________.

10
Activity 1.10
Write the CV-patterns for each of the following English words:
Word Pattern Word Pattern
1. spin 6. attack
2. cream 7. psychic
3. tomato 8. assign
4. Spain 9. text
5. wrong 10. announce

Activity 1.11
Look at the phoneme for each question: which one of the four words contains that phoneme?
1. /ʌ/ a. month b. mouth c. math d. test
2. / ɪ/ a. bean b. buy c. pine d. pill
3. /ʊə/ a. tour b. took c. pure d. food
4. /e/ a. the b. feed c. then d. this
5. /ɑː/ a. call b. park c. one d. cap
6. /eɪ/ a. our b. lime c. crack d. game
7. /eə/ a. fear b. bar c. beer d. bear

Activity 1.12
Are the following pairs of words minimal pairs? Circle Yes or No.
1. right - write Yes / No 6. sitting – seating Yes / No
2. caught – court Yes / No 7. chews – choose Yes / No
3. three – tree Yes / No 8. bowl – bowel Yes / No
4. knot – not Yes / No 9. walk – work Yes / No
5. pool – pull Yes / No 10. grate – great Yes / No

Activity 1.13
Create two minimal pairs with each given word by replacing the consonants in different word
positions.

11
Consonant Initial Medial Final
0. /t/ tea pea, sea charter charmer, charger seat seed, seal
1. /p/ pack mapping ape
2. /m/ mate slimming room
3. /s/ seek leasing class
4. /ʃ/ sheet mashed bash
5. /l/ lash rolling coal
6. /f/ feel refined staff
7. /n/ knee sneak bone
8. /d/ dash budding bed
9. /ɡ/ gain plugging wig
10. /z/ zip buzzing seize

Activity 1.14
Create three words with contrasts by supplying different vowels in the following consonantal
frames.
0. /b__t/ beat, bait, bet 6. /l__n/
1. /s__l/ 7. /k__n/
2. /pl__/ 8. /d__m/
3. /sp__k/ 9. /t__k/
4. /m__θ/ 10. /ɡr__nd/

Activity 1.15
Look at each pair of words: are they homophones or not? Choose True if you think they are
homophones, False if you think they are not.
1. where / wear True / False 6. out / ought True / False
2. sow / saw True / False 7. flour / flower True / False
3. sum / some True / False 8. peace / piece True / False
4. wood / would True / False 9. caught / court True / False
5. thought / fort True / False 10. chews / choose True / False

12
Activity 1.16
Which word does not rhyme with the word given?
1. eight a. straight b. wait c. white d. mate
2. bright a. feet b. tonight c. white d. bite
3. tall a. ball b. hole c. small d. crawl
4. hen a. when b. ten c. again d. pain
5. sew a. go b. though c. mow d. flew
6. nose a. laws b. grows c. froze d. toes
7. fun a. one b. moon c. sun d. son
8. mean a. seen b. teen c. men d. clean

Activity 1.17
The following spelling errors would be impossible for most computer spelling checkers to deal
with. Supply a suitable homophone to correct each of the sentences.
Correction
0. You’ll get a really accurate wait if you use these electronic scales. weight
1. Why don’t you join a quire if you like singing so much?
2. The people standing on the key saw Megan sail past in her yacht.
3. Harry simply guest, but luckily he got the right answer.
4. Passengers are requested to form an orderly cue at the bus stop.
5. The primary task of any doctor is to heel the sick.
6. For breakfast, many people choose to eat a serial with milk.
7. Janet tried extremely hard, but it was all in vein, I’m sad to say.
8. Why is the yoke of this egg such a peculiar shade of yellow?
9. The gross errors in the treasurer’s report are plane for all to see.

Activity 1.18
Transcribe the following sets of homographs.
Homograph Transcription Meaning
0. live /laɪv/ ‘not dead’

13
 live /lɪv/ ‘to be alive’
1. refuse /rɪˈfjuːz/ to decline
refuse /ˈrefjuːs/ rubbish
2. close /kləʊs/ near
close /kləʊz/ to shut
3. convict /ˈkɒnvɪkt/ prisoner
convict /kənˈvɪkt/ to find guilty
4. desert /ˈdezərt/ sandy wasteland
desert /dɪˈzɜːrt/ to run away
5. invalid not legally acceptable
/ɪnˈvælɪd/
invalid /ˈɪnvəlɪd/ sick person
6. sow /səʊ/ to scatter seeds
sow /saʊ/ female pig
7. tear /tɪr/ liquid from the eye
tear /ter/ to rip up
8. house /haʊs/ building for living in
house /haʊz/ to provide accommodation
9. wound /wuːnd/ injury
wound /waʊnd/ past tense of ‘to wind’
10. bass /beɪs/ low pitch
bass /bæs/ kind of fish

Activity 1.19
Fill in the gaps in the following sentences.
1. When a word is written with phonetic symbols we say it is _____________.
2. The sounds of spoken language are divided into two basic types, _____________ and
_____________.
3. Many phonemes may be pronounced (“realized”) in more than one way; these different
realizations are called _____________.

14
4. We can add marks to phonetic symbols to provide more information about them. These
marks are called _____________.
5. The symbols that we use are based on the Alphabet of the _____________.
6. A phonetic transcription that gives a lot of detail is called a _____________transcription.
7. When we consider two related sounds in a relationship where one of them can only occur
where the other cannot occur, we say that the sounds are in _____________.

15
CHAPTER 2: THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS

Traditionally, there are three systems of speech organs that have different functions in the speech
production process (Ashby, 2013).

1. The respiratory system

Speech is produced by moulding and moving the articulators of all kinds around an airstream. In
most cases this air is expelled from the lungs, so it is called egressive pulmonic air. The airstream
goes up the windpipe (or the trachea) and then passes through the larynx (known familiarly as the
‘Adam’s apple’). Inside the larynx are the two vocal folds (also called the vocal cords).
The air passages above the larynx are known as the vocal tract, which may be divided into the
oral tract, within the mouth and pharynx (the space at the back of the mouth), and the nasal tract,
within the nose. When the flap at the back of the mouth is lowered, air goes in and out through the
nose (Ashby, 2013).
2. The phonatory system
As cited in Roach (2009), inside the larynx are the two vocal folds (also called the vocal cords).
The gap between the vocal folds is termed the glottis. Three possibilities of the vocal folds’ actions
have been mentioned:
• If the glottis is open, i.e. if the vocal folds are apart, the air passes through without causing
the vocal folds to vibrate. Sounds produced in this way are called voiceless. Voiceless
sounds are made with more force, or higher tension. This is called a fortis articulation.
• If the glottis is narrow, i.e. if the vocal folds are together, the airstream forces its way
through and causes the vocal folds to vibrate. Sounds produced in this way are called

16
 voiced. Voiced sounds are usually made with a relatively weak breath force, or little
muscular tension. This is called a lenis articulation.
• A third possibility is that the glottis is closed, i.e. the vocal folds are firmly pressed together,
and the airstream is stopped completely. Such a glottal closure can produce only one sound,
which is called a glottal stop or glottal plosive.
3. The articulatory system
3.1. Articulators above the larynx
The air passages above the larynx are known as the vocal tract, which may be divided into the oral
tract within the mouth and pharynx, and the nasal tract within the nose.
The parts of the vocal tract that can be used to form sound are called articulators. While active
articulators are organs that move (often voluntarily and in a controlled fashion), passive
articulators cannot move but are the target for active articulators (Ashby, 2013).
3.2. Vowels and Consonants
Sound is produced by the interference of the flow of air through the mouth (and nose). Consonants
are created when the pulmonic airflow is directly restricted or obstructed and cannot escape from
the oral cavity without creating audible friction. By way of contrast, vowels are created when the
airflow is not crucially restricted or obstructed. Therefore, pulmonic air can escape the oral cavity
without creating audible friction.
The production of a special type of consonant called approximants, for example, involves about
the same type of tongue activity than the production of vowels, which is why some classifications
of speech sounds propose a third group of sounds called semi vowels (Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).

17
PRACTICE
Activity 2.1
Label the diagram using the words in the box.
pharynx nasal cavity oral cavity larynx
lungs vocal folds vocal tract trachea

Activity 2.2
Label the diagram of the larynx using the words in the box.
glottis vocal cords trachea larynx

18
Activity 2.3
Match the position of the vocal folds and the sounds they can produce in the position.

a. Voiced sounds

b. Glottal stop

c. Voiceless sounds

Activity 2.4
Which of the following sounds are pronounced with the glottis open?
1. dʒ 4. s 7. eɪ 10. f
2. ɑː 5. ŋ 8. ʃ 11. j
3. ɒ 6. u: 9. aʊ 12. ɡ

Activity 2.5
Which of the following sounds are pronounced with the glottis narrow?
1. əʊ 4. ʃ 7. l 10. ʒ
2. s 5. u: 8. h 11. θ
3. ə 6. n 9. ɪə 12. ʌ

Activity 2.6
State the voicing of the underlined sound in each word below. Write Voiced or Voiceless.
1. bee 3. hike 5. fish 7. vine 9. listen
2. reason 4. hang 6. jungle 8. peach 10. lime

19
Activity 2.7
Label the diagram using the words in the box.
nose upper lip tongue lower lip
upper teeth pharynx lower teeth

nose

upper teeth

upper lip

lower lip

lower teeth pharynx

tongue

Activity 2.8
Decide whether these following articulators are active (A) or passive (P).
1. alveolar ridge 3. tongue 5. hard palate
2. soft palate / velum 4. lips 6. teeth

Activity 2.9
Name the active articulator for each of the underlined sounds below.
1. those 5. mess
2. keep 6. rich
3. revile 7. pet
4. final 8. yacht

20
Activity 2.10
Give the phonetic symbol for the initial consonant sound(s) in each of the following words.
1. rhetoric 11. psalm
2. one 12. chorus
3. know 13. chaste
4. Thomas 14. charade
5. sure 15. shave

6. cereal 16. gnat

7. jaguar 17. wrong
8. unity 18. zero
9. pheasant 19. ghost
10. theme 20. science

Activity 2.11
Give the phonetic symbol for the medial consonant sound(s) in each of the following words.
1. toughen 11. listen
2. visage 12. plumber
3. alloy 13. cupboard
4. descent 14. soften
5. measure 15. measles
6. away 16. author
7. errand 17. leather
8. ocean 18. psyche
9. adjourn 19. future
10. aghast 20. lawyer

21
Activity 2.12
Give the phonetic symbol for the final consonant sound(s) in each of the following words.
1. froth 11. phase
2. miss 12. lathe
3. stomach 13. tongue
4. indict 14. comb
5. ledge 15. brogue
6. itch 16. mall

7. sign 17. rough

8. niche 18. beige
9. hiccough 19. hopped
10. ooze 20. solemn

Activity 2.13
Which of the following words begin with a voiceless consonant?
1. phase 3. heartache 5. embargo 7. chaos 9. write
2. banana 4. pneumonia 6. knock 8. X-ray 10. honest

Activity 2.14
Which of the following words have a voiceless consonant between the two vowels?
1. easy 3. pleasure 5. breathy 7. racer 9. classy
2. clothing 4. mission 6. leather 8. tougher 10. fever

Activity 2.15
Which of the following words have a voiceless consonant at the end?
1. rays 5. breathe 9. dose 13. comb 17. perform
2. worse 6. off 10. of 14. prince 18. distinguish
3. wise 7. does 11. path 15. show 19. match
4. faces 8. cloth 12. people 16. obey 20. sing

22
Activity 2.16
Change the voicing of the underlined consonants in the words below. Which new English
words do you get?
1. beg 6. lacy 11. fleece

2. wait 7. reviews 12. cart

3. few 8. bigger 13. ice
4. chump 9. fuzzy 14. ridge
5. thy 10. etching 15. host

Activity 2.17
Fill in the gaps in the sentences below.
1. Inside the larynx there are two flaps of muscle which are called the vocal _________ or
vocal _________.
2. The space between them is known as the _________.
3. When they are tightly closed they can be made to produce a _________ stop.
4. When they are close together and air is passed between them, the resulting vibration is
called _________ or _________.
5. _________ articulators are organs we can move.
6. _________ articulators are organs that are fixed or stationary.

23
CHAPTER 3. THE CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS
Vowels are syllabic sounds made with free passage of air down the mid-line of the vocal tract,
usually with a convex tongue shape, and without friction. They are normally voiced; and they are
normally oral (Ogden, 2009).
In the production of vowel sounds, the articulators do not come very close together, and the passage
of the airstream is relatively unobstructed. We can describe vowel sounds roughly in terms of the
position of the highest point of the tongue and the position of the lips (Ladefoged, P. & Johnson,
K., 2011).
1. The cardinal vowels
In 1917, the British phonetician Daniel Jones (1881–1967) produced his system of cardinal vowels,
a model which is still widely employed to describe, classify and compare vowels. (Roach, 2009)

2. Classification of vowels
As cited in Ladefoged, P. & Johnson, K. (2011), the most generally used description of vowel
sounds takes into account the following physical variables:
2.1. Tongue height to find out how close the tongue is to the roof of the mouth.

High Mid Low

24
 • If the upper tongue surface is close to the roof of the mouth, the sounds are called
close vowels.
• Vowels made with an open mouth cavity, with the tongue far away from the roof
of the mouth, are termed open vowels.
2.2. Tongue shape to find out which part of the tongue is highest in the vowel articulation.
• If the front of the tongue is highest, we term the sounds front vowels.
• If the back of the tongue is the highest part, we have what are called back vowels
2.3. Lip shape to find out how it helps produce different vowel qualities.
• Front vowels have unrounded or spread lip position.
• Back vowels have rounded lips.
2.4. Duration to consider the relative length of sounds in relation to that of other sounds.
• Long vowels are usually distinguished from short vowels in that the duration of
time that speakers spend in articulating them is somewhat longer than the time
spent for the articulation of short vowels.
2.5. Monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs to find out if there is an obvious
change in the tongue or lip shape.
• English vowels can be described as monophthongs if the positions of the tongue
and lips are held steady in the production of these vowel sounds.
• Diphthongs are those vowel sounds that consist of a movement or glide from one
vowel to another. The glide must be accomplished in one movement within a
single syllable without the possibility of a break.
- Closing diphthongs are diphthongs articulated with the tongue moving from
a more open to a close position: aɪ, eɪ, ɔɪ, əʊ, aʊ.
- Centring diphthongs are diphthongs articulated with the tongue moving
from the front/back to the centre: eə, ɪə, ʊə
• Triphthongs imply the combination of three different positions of the tongue in
the production of a vowel. They are always the results of the combination of a
closing diphthong plus a schwa: aɪə, eɪə, ɔɪə, əʊə, aʊə.

25
PRACTICE
Activity 3.1
Read the vowels in the following words carefully and write Close if the vowels in your tongue
is raised and Open if it is lowered.
1. palm 4. fleece 7. trap 10. two 13. goose
2. meet 5. march 8. beat 11. true 14. flat
3. sat 6. suit 9. weed 12. rude 15. tea

Activity 3.2
Read the vowels in the following words carefully and write ‘Front’ if the front of the tongue is
highest and ‘Back’ if the back of the tongue is the highest part.
1. plan 4. more 7. trend 8. fee 11. choose
2. ship 5. sweat 8. pull 9. bank 12. wood
3. caught 6. cat 9. coop 10. good 13. weep

Activity 3.3
Locate English short vowels on the quadrilateral given below:

Activity 3.4
Transcribe the following words and write the transcription symbol for the vowel:
0. pick /pɪk/ Tim /tɪm/ film /fɪlm/ /ɪ/
1. Ben send debt
2. pack mass Ann
3. odd rock Tom

26
 4. book full could
5. luck love some
6. under ago perhaps

Activity 3.5
Write five words containing the following English short vowels.
1. /ʌ/
2. /æ/
3. /e/
4. /ɪ/
5. /ɒ/
6. /ʊ/
7. /ə/

Activity 3.6
Locate English long vowels on the quadrilateral given below:

Activity 3.7
Identify which of the following words contain long vowels.
1. horse 3. wear 5. calm 7. height 9. fierce
2. turn 4. loose 6. round 8. toil 10. seen

27
Activity 3.8
Transcribe the following words and write the transcription symbol for the vowel.
0. team /ti:m/ Steve /sti:v/ seem /si:m/ key /ki:/ /i:/
1. half car Mark laugh
2. talk small taught law
3. moon true soup crew
4. nurse dirt verse work

Activity 3.9
Write five words for each English long vowel.
1. /iː/
2. /ɑː/
3. /ɔː/
4. /u:/
5. /ɜː/

Activity 3.10
Complete the table to give full descriptions of the vowels given.
Tongue Tongue shape Lip shape Duration Example
height (Front/Back) (Unrounded/ (Long/Short)
(Open/Close) Rounded)
0. /iː/ close front unrounded long sheep
1. /ɪ/
2. /e/
3. /æ/
4. /ɑː/
5. /ɒ/
6. /ɔː/
7. /ʊ/
8. /u:/

28
 9. /ə/
10. /ɜː/
11. /ʌ/

Activity 3.11
Write the transcription symbols for the vowels in the following words. Specify the vowel sounds
in terms of the four characteristics: tongue height (high or close), tongue shape, lip shape, and
the duration of the articulation.
Word Vowel Description
0. heed /iː/ close front unrounded long
1. hid
2. head
3. had
4. far
5. love
6. good
7. food
8. dog
9. door

Activity 3.12
State whether the vowels in the underlined portions are the same (S) or different (D) in the
following words. In either case, state the phonetic description of the vowels, together with the
phonetic symbols.
S/D Descriptions
0. bill – city S /ɪ/ - close-mid, front, unrounded, short
00. mess – mass D /e/ - mid, front, unrounded, short
/æ/ open, front, unrounded short
1. heal – electricity /ɪ/ - close-mid, front, unrounded, short
/hiːl/ /ɪˌlekˈtrɪsəti/ D
/iː/ - close, front, unrounded, long

29
 2. anywhere – pharmacy /e/ - mid, front, unrounded, short
/ˈeniweə(r)/ /ˈfɑːməsi/ D
/ɑː/ - open, back, rounded, long

3. explicable – explicate /ɪ/ - close-mid, front, unrounded, short

/ˈeksplɪkəbl/ /ˈeksplɪkeɪt/ S

4. measure – finger /e/ - mid, front, unrounded, short

/ˈmeʒə(r)/ /ˈfɪŋɡə(r)/ D
/ɪ/ - close-mid, front, unrounded, short

5. butter – tough /ʌ/ - open-mid, back, unrounded, short

/ˈbʌtə(r)/ /tʌf/ S

6. cholesterol – bottom /ə/ - close-mid, central, unrounded, short

/kəˈlestərɔːl/ /ˈbɒtəm/ D
/ɒ/ - open-mid, back, unrounded, short

7. limb – busy
/lɪm/ /ˈbɪzi/ S /ɪ/ - close-mid, front, unrounded, short

8. laugh – caught /ɑː/ - open, back, rounded, long

/lɑːf/ /kɔːt/ D
/ɔː/ - open - mid, back, rounded, long

9. analyze – analysis /ə/ - close-mid, central, unrounded, short

/ˈænəlaɪz/ /əˈnæləsɪs/ D
/æ/ open, front, unrounded short

10. heart – harsh

/hɑːt/ /hɑːʃ/ S /ɑː/ - open, back, rounded, long

Activity 3.13
Indicate the diphthongs and their glide from the first vowel to the second vowel of the diphthong
on the quadrilateral given below:

30
Activity 3.14
Which of the following words have a monophthong (M) and which have a diphthong (D)?
Write M or D.
1. day 5. saw 9. boat 13. die 17. laughed
2. please 6. seize 10. friend 14. rhyme 18. sleeve
3. throat 7. home 11. light 15. trawl 19. heart
4. heard 8. choose 12. wheat 16. wait 20. steer

Activity 3.15
Fill in the table by putting the following words into columns according to the diphthong they
contain.
why, care, join, how, fair, hope, stay, snow, south, point, mild, bare, moor, real, noise, down,
mouth, nine, road, paint, cheer, coin, drown, both, age, share, joke, eyes, there, bright, so, shape,
tour, ear, late, rise, found.
Diphthongs
/aɪ/
why

Activity 3.16
Read the following sentences aloud. Underline the syllables containing diphthongs. Write the
diphthong(s) next to the sentences.
0. The steward assured us it was secured. /ʊə/
1. Surely we are going to a party tonight.
2. You can’t afford this expensive tour now that you’re poor.

31
 3. The cure which he endured was cruel and arduous.
4. My wife’s diary is strictly private.
5. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
6. See you later, alligator – in a while, crocodile.
7. There was a young lady of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.
8. There was a young fellow named Tate
Who dined with his girl at 8.08;
But I’d hate to relate
What that fellow named Tate
And his girlfriend ate at 8.08.
9. These pronunciation exercises are a pain in the neck.

Activity 3.17
Choose the right phonetic symbol for the underlined vowel in each word below and write it next
to the word.

/eɪ/ /aɪ/ /ɔɪ/ /əʊ/ /aʊ/ /ɪə/ /eə/ /ʊə/ /iː/ /ɑː/

/ɔː/ /u:/ /ɜː/ /ɪ/ /e/ /æ/ /ɒ/ /ʊ/ /ʌ/ /ə/
1. encyclopedia 6. chain 11. warm
2. brochure 7. fireplace 12. current
3. academy 8. coffin 13. memorandum
4. contemporary 9. advertising 14. celebrate
5. chairman 10. authority 15. admire

32
Activity 3.18
Complete the table.
English Vowel System
Short vowels Long vowels Diphthongs Triphthongs
Closing /ʊ/ Closing /ɪ/ Centering /ə/

Activity 3.19
Match the term in column A with its characteristics in column B.
A B
A. It depends on how far forward or back the tongue is positioned within
1. Monophthongs the oral cavity during articulation and which part of the tongue is
involved
2. Diphthongs B. Require greater muscular tension/greater articulatory energy
3. Short vowels C. The lips are pushed forward into the shape of a circle
4. Long vowels D. The organs of speech remain approximately stationary
E. The corners of the lips are moved away from each other, as when
5. Rounded vowels
smiling
6. Spread vowels F. Require less muscular tension/less articulatory energy
G. It depends on the tongue height within the oral cavity and the
7. Neutral vowels
accompanying raised or lowered position of the jaw
8. Open, mid or
H. The lips are not noticeably rounded or spread
close vowels
9. Front, central or
I. The organs of speech perform perceptible movement
back vowels

33
CHAPTER 4. THE CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS
Lodge (2009) argues that consonants can be classified along three dimensions: the voicing of
articulation (or intensity), place of articulation, (which tells us where the sound is produced), and
manner of articulation (which describes how a sound is made).
1. Voicing of articulation
English has two classes of consonant sound: one with stronger and voiceless articulation is termed
fortis and the other, whose articulation is weaker and potentially voiced, is lenis (Ashby, 2013).

Fortis (Voiceless) Lenis (Voiced)

/p/ /b/
/t/ /d/ /m/ /r/
/k/ /ɡ/
/s/ /z/ /n/
/ʃ/ /ʒ/ /w/
/tʃ/ /dʒ/ /l/
/f/ /v/
/θ/ /ð/ /ŋ/ /j/
/h/

2. Places of articulation
Ladefoged, P. & Johnson, K. (2011) and many other authors agree that the principal terms for the
particular types of obstruction required in the description of English are as follows.

34
2.1. Bilabial (or Labial) sounds are made by 2.2. Labiodental sounds are made by touching
touching the upper and lower lips together. the lower lip to the upper teeth. There are
English has four bilabial sounds: /p, b, m, two fricatives in English, namely /f, v/.
w/.

2.3. Dental (or Interdental) sounds are made 2.4. Alveolar sounds are made by touching the
by touching the tongue to the back of the tip or blade of the tongue to a location just
upper teeth. English has two dentals: /θ, ð/. forward of the alveolar ridge. English has
six alveolar sounds /t, d, n, l, s, z/.

2.5. Post-alveolar sounds (or palato-alveolar) 2.6. Velar sounds are made with the tongue
are made by touching the blade of the back raised towards the soft palate (or the
tongue to a location just behind the alveolar velum). Sounds with velar articulation in
ridge. English has five post alveolar English are /k, ɡ, ŋ/.
sounds: /ʃ, tʃ, ʒ, dʒ, r/.

35
2.7. Palatal sounds are made with the tongue 2.8. Glottal sounds are made at the glottis, the
body, the massive part of the middle of the space between the vocal folds, which are
tongue, raised up to the hard palate, or the located at the larynx. /h/ is the only glottal
roof of the mouth. There is only one palatal sound in English.
in English, namely /j/.

3. Manner of articulation
According Roach (2009) and Ogden (2009), at most places of articulation there are several basic
ways in which articulatory gestures can be accomplished producing various sounds as follows.
3.1.Plosives, or stops, are sounds for which the speaker makes a complete closure at some
point in the vocal tract, builds up the air pressure while the closure is held, and then
releases the air explosively through the mouth. English has three fortis plosives /p, t,
k/, and three lenis plosives /b, d, ɡ /.
3.2. Fricatives are made when air forces its way through a very narrow gap between two
speech organs, thereby producing audible friction. In English there are four fortis
fricatives /f, θ, s, ʃ/ and four lenis fricatives /v, ð, z, ʒ/.
3.3. Affricates are sounds that consist of two elements. The first element is a plosive. This
means that affricates, too, require a complete closure in the vocal tract, but the air is
released slowly enough to produce friction, which we hear as a hissing s-like sound.
There are two affricates in English: the fortis /tʃ/ and the lenis /dʒ/.
3.4. Nasals are made with a complete closure in the oral tract, but with the velum lowered
so that air escapes through the nose. For English there are three main nasal sounds, /m,
n, ŋ/, bilabial, alveolar and velar respectively. Nasals are usually voiced in English.
3.5. Laterals, or more specifically lateral approximants are also made with air that
escapes around the sides of a partial closure of the speech organs. English has only one
lateral, namely the lenis /l/, where the tip of the tongue touches the centre of the alveolar
ridge.
3.6. Approximants are generally made when the speech organs approach each other but
they do not touch each other. The three English approximants are all lenis phonemes:
/r, j, w/.

36
 4. Allophonic variation
Allophones are variations in the way speech sounds (phonemes) are articulated in particular
contexts, i.e. in particular positions in words, either when spoken on their own or as a stream of
connected speech. Typically, we write allophones in square brackets and use diacritics – small
marks that modify the value – to increase the phonetic precision of a transcription (House, 2013).
4.1. Aspiration
Aspiration is noise made when a consonantal constriction is released and air is allowed to escape
relatively freely (Car, 2008).
• Fortis plosives /p, t, k/ are aspirated when they are syllable initial preceding a stressed vowel.
• When one of them is preceded by /s/ or when it occurs at the end of a syllable and is not
followed by a vowel, it is unaspirated.
4.2. Devoicing
Devoicing is a process in which an underlyingly voiced phoneme is realized as voiceless in
particular contexts (Roach, 2009).
• Lenis plosives and affricate (/b, d, ɡ, dʒ/) are devoiced when they are syllable initial, except
when immediately preceded by a lenis sound.
• All lenis plosives, the lenis affricate, and all lenis fricatives (/b, d, ɡ, v, ð, z, ʒ, dʒ/) can be fully
devoiced in word-final position or before a voiceless sound. They are not devoiced when
surrounded by voiced segments.
• The lenis lateral and lenis approximants (/l, r, w, j/) can be fully devoiced
when they follow any one of the fortis plosives /p, t, k/ in stressed syllables.
4.3. Shortening (Pre-fortis clipping)
A syllable-final fortis consonant has the effect of shortening the vowel, or nasal and lateral
consonants (/m, n, l, ŋ/) preceding it (Roach, 2009).
Pre-fortis Pre-lenis
1. we [wiː] wheat [wiˑt] weed [wiːd]
2. no [nəʊ] note [nə̌ʊt] node [nəʊd]
3. saw [sɔː] sauce [sɔˑs] sawed [sɔːd]
4. stay [steɪ] state [stěɪt] stayed [steɪd]
5. bill [bɪl] built ̆
[bɪlt] build [bɪld]

37
 4.4.Nasalisation
Nasalisation is the production of sounds for speech by pushing air out through the nasal cavity.
For example, there is a difference in pronunciation of the /iː/ sound in words like seed [siːd] and
and seen [sĩːn] (Car, 2008).
4.5. Velarisation
Velarisation is a secondary articulation made by the back of the tongue and the velum. It is often
said that the dark l [ɫ] has a primary articulation at the alveolar ridge but a secondary articulation
at the velum while the clear l [l] is pronounced without such secondary articulation (Car, 2008).
• The dark l never appears at the beginning of the word but is found word-internally before
a consonant or at the end of a word, e.g. milk [mɪɫk], Bill [bɪɫ].
• The clear l appears almost exclusively before a vowel.
It can appear word-internally before a vowel e.g. pillow [ˈpɪl.əʊ], or a consonant, e.g.
Dublin [dʌblɪn].
It can also be found at the end of a word, but this only happens when the next word begins
with a vowel and must be closely linked with the preceding one, e.g. all over [ɔːl ˈəʊ.və].
4.6. Glottalisation
Glottalisation is a process in which the closure in an oral articulation is accompanied by a glottal
stop articulation. Syllable-final fortis stops are regularly glottalised before another consonant, e.g.
locksmith [ˈlɒʔk.smɪθ]. Note that /tʃ/ also has optional glottalization when following a stressed
vowel (or when syllable-final), e.g. kitchen [ˈkɪʔtʃ.(ə)n] (Ashby, 2013).

38
PRACTICE
Activity 4.1
List all consonants that occur in the following words as IPA symbols.
0. dot /d/, /t/ 7. thumb 14. foxes 21. witches
1. path 8. few 15. morning 22. eyes
2. post 9. zebra 16. thank 23. ache
3. girl 10. measure 17. unit 24. faith
4. age 11. itch 18. singer 25. cure
5. able 12. choir 19. thought 26. atlas
6. sport 13. pure 20. judge 27. gin

Activity 4.2
Identify the error in the transcription of the consonant sounds in the following words and write
the correct symbol in the space provided after the word.
1. strength /strenŋθ/
2. crime /craɪm /
3. wishing /wɪshɪŋ/
4. wives /waɪvs/
5. these /θiːz/ should be
6. hijacking /ˈhaɪjækɪŋ/
7. chipping /ˈtʃɪppɪŋ/
8. yelling /yelɪŋ/
9. sixteen /ˌsixˈtiːn/
10. thesis /ˈðisɪs/

Activity 4.3
State whether the place of articulation is the same (S) or different (D) in the initial consonants
of each pair. In either case, state the place of articulation.
S/D Place of articulation
0. now – pneumonia: S alveolar

39
 00. sun – sugar D alveolar – post-alveolar
1. goose – gerrymander
2. simple – shackle
3. curious – cereal
4. phonetic – fictional
5. manners – tankers

6. normal – location
7. wander – yesterday
8. those – Thursday
9. scissors – zipper
10. temperate – chestnut
11. chromosome – chief
12. baker – delegate
13. happened – usual
14. neuron – market
15. painting – broccoli

Activity 4.4
Underline the words:
1. beginning with a bilabial consonant
mat gnat sat bat rat pat
2. beginning with a velar consonant
knot got lot cot hot pot
3. beginning with an alveolar consonant
zip nip lip ship tip dip
4. beginning with a labiodental consonant:
fat cat that mat chat vat
5. beginning with an alveolar consonant:
zip nip lip sip tip dip
6. beginning with a dental consonant:

40
 pie guy shy thigh thy high
7. beginning with a post-alveolar consonant:
sigh shy tie thigh thy lie
8. ending with an alveolar consonant:
pot sad boss lamb lamp size hen call

Activity 4.5
Identify (A) the place of articulation, (B) the plosives pronounced in the diagrams below and
(C) give examples of English words beginning with these sounds.

1. 2. 3.
(A) ___________________ (A) ___________________ (A) ___________________
(B) ___________________ (B) ___________________ (B) ___________________
(C) ___________________ (C) ___________________ (C) ___________________
___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Activity 4.6
Identify (A) the place of articulation, (B) the fricatives pronounced in the diagrams below and
(C) give examples of English words beginning with these sounds.

1. 2.
(A) ___________________ (A) ___________________
(B) ___________________ (B) ___________________
(C) _________________________________ (C) _________________________________

41
 3. 4.
(A) ___________________ (A) ___________________
(B) ___________________ (B) ___________________
(C) ___________________________________ (C) _________________________________

Activity 4.7
Characterize the following sounds according to their place and manner of articulation, and
voicing:
Place of articulation Manner of articulation Voicing (Fortis / Lenis)
1. /z/
2. /k/
3. /θ/
4. /ʃ/
5. /ð/
6. /t/
7. /h/
8. /b/

Activity 4.8
What phonetic property distinguishes the following pairs of sounds (voicing, manner or place
of articulation)?
1. /k/ and /ɡ/ 2. /s/ and /z/
3. /d/ and /z/ 4. /v/ and /ð/
5. /d/ and /ɡ/ 6. /ʃ/ and /s/
7. /t/ and /d/ 8. /ʃ/ and /ʒ/
9. /t/ and /s/ 10. /ð/ and /ʒ/

42
Activity 4.9
Underline the words that begin/end with a fricative.
psychology philosophy whale half haze cuts meet
round think use halve phase sheep hour
plot xylophone epitaph hash path seventh swim

Activity 4.10
Write the phonemic symbols for the following characterizations and illustrate with two English
words.
Description of phoneme Phoneme Words
1. A voiceless dental fricative
2. A glottal fricative
3. A voiced post‐alveolar affricate
4. A voiceless alveolar fricative
5. A voiced labiodental fricative

Activity 4.11
Identify (A) the place of articulation, (B) the nasals / approximants pronounced in the diagrams
below and (C) give examples of English words beginning or ending with these sounds.

1. 2.
(A) ___________________ (A) ___________________
(B) ___________________ (B) ___________________
(C) _________________________________ (C) ______________________________

43
 3. 4.
(A) ___________________ (A) ___________________
(B) ___________________ (B) ___________________
(C) _____________________________ (C) ______________________________

Activity 4.12
Fill in the table below with the appropriate consonants.
Bilabial Labio Dental Alveolar Post Palatal Velar Glottal
dental alveolar
Plosives
Fricatives
Affricates
Nasals
Lateral
(approximant)
Approximants

Activity 4.13
The following groups consist of sounds that share a phonetic feature plus one sound that does
not belong to this group. Underline the sound that does not belong to the group, and identify the
feature shared by the remaining sounds of the group.
0. /l, d, s, t, k, z/ /k/ is a velar, the rest are alveolars
1. /f, s, tʃ, z, θ, ʒ, ð /
2. /t, z, n, m, d, l, s/
3. /n, ɡ, v, s, z, r, m/
4. /m, w, ŋ, p, b/

44
Activity 4.14
Divide each of the following groups of symbols into two sets of three, each of which has some
common feature (voicing, place, or manner) of articulation.
Symbols Set 1 Set 2
1. p m t n k ŋ p t k (plosive) m n ŋ (nasal)
2. s l p m v ʃ
3. f j w r z θ
4. s v h ð ʒ θ
5. d k n l ŋ ɡ
6. t m b ʃ s ɡ
7. ʃ p ʒ b tʃ m
8. h j z r w s

9. n s p k j w
10. j w b d ɡ r

Activity 4.15
Consider how the sounds represented by the underlined letters are made in the following pairs
of words. Which features (voicing, place, or manner) distinguish the sounds and hence the words
from each other?

0. rope robe Voicing

1. right ride
2. home hope
3. link sing

4. leaf leap
5. word bird

6. think zinc
7. yeast feast
8. sick tick
9. lip lick

45
 10. rift wrist
11. cad can
12. bad bag

Activity 4.16
Underline the words
1. ending with a fricative.
race wreath bush breathe bang rave rose rough
2. ending with a nasal.
rain comb rail rang dumb deaf lamp climb
3. beginning with a lateral.
load nut lull bar lose rob one lure
4. beginning with an approximant
we who one nut jet yet only rule
5. ending with an affricate.
much back edge choose fuss range rush touch
6. start with a fricative.
foreign theater tidings hospital cassette shroud
7. have an approximant.
winter university captive ripe little mute
8. end in an alveolar.
went atom rigor column multiple garnish

Activity 4.17
Define the sounds in bold according to their voicing, place and manner of articulation.
Sound Voicing Place of Manner of
(Fortis / Lenis) articulation articulation
0. adder /d/ Lenis Alveolar Plosive
1. brother
2. ringing
3. etching

46
 Sound Voicing Place of Manner of
(Fortis / Lenis) articulation articulation
4. robber
5. ether
6. pleasure
7. hopper
8. telling
9. funny
10. lodger
11. youth
12. arrow
13. wonder
14. survey
15. forty

Activity 4.18
Group the sounds represented by the underlined letters in the words below according to their
manner of articulation, using the terms in the lesson.
door jaw war more raw your zoom there
shore nor gore paw bore vote think horse
sing chore four law core tore sing treasure
1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

47
Activity 4.19
Transcribe the following words. Which consonants are aspirated?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
0. pin /pɪp/ [pʰɪp]
00. spin /spɪn/ [spɪn]
1. pain
2. team
3. key
4. supper
5. batter
6. please
7. hate
8. break
9. Spain
10. team
11. ski
12. attend
13. task
14. competitor
15. competent

Activity 4.20
Transcribe the following words. Which initial consonants are devoiced?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
0. bag /bæɡ/ [b̥æɡ]
1. bake
2. coat
3. goat
4. doubt
5. cook

48
 Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
6. bought
7. pull
8. bored
9. billboard
10. handbag

Activity 4.21
Transcribe the following words. Which consonants are devoiced?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
0. cab /kæb/ [kæb̥]
1. lid
2. rays
3. bag
4. judge
5. leave
6. breathe
7. freeze
8. bomb
9. rouge
10. gag
11. add two
12. cheesecake
13. bad times
14. bad guys
15. good news

49
Activity 4.22
Transcribe the following words. Which consonants are devoiced?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
0. please /pliːz/ [pl̥ iːz̥]
1. try
2. quick
3. tune
4. play
5. twin
6. cue
7. clean
8. spring
9. strength
10. student

Activity 4.23
Transcribe the following words. Which vowels or consonants undergo pre-fortis clipping?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
1. mode
2. thick
3. kiss
4. safer
5. raised
6. debt
7. walk
8. lamp
9. receipt
10. husband

50
Activity 4.24
Transcribe the following proverbs and identify the vowels that are likely to undergo pre-fortis
clipping.
1. Many hands make light work.
2. A bird in the hand is worth two
in the bush.
3. A stitch in time saves nine.
4. Many a slip twixt cup and lip.
5. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Activity 4.25
Transcribe the following words. Which vowels are nasalized?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
1. hang
2. soon
3. man
4. ant
5. mom
6. sing
7. can
8. ten
9. morning
10. danger

51
Activity 4.26
Transcribe the following words. In which of them is the /l/ likely to be “dark” (velarized)?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
1. alive
2. kill
3. play
4. loom
5. allow
6. tell us
7. dullness
8. Hilton
9. cool and calm
10. gambler

Activity 4.27
Transcribe the following words. Which consonants can be glottalised?
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
1. captive
2. arctic
3. actor
4. petrol
5. stopwatch
6. football
7. nature
8. sleepwalker
9. stepbrother
10. lipstick

52
Activity 4.28
Transcribe the following sentences, marking aspiration, devoicing, pre-fortis clipping,
nasalization, velarization, and glottalization wherever applicable.
Word Phonemic transcription Phonetic transcription
1. asset
2. conflict
3. attend
4. damage
5. cashback
6. convene
7. customs
8. counter
9. credit
10. pension
11. replace
12. posture
13. debtor
14. second
15. retain
16. deceive
17. principal
18. earnings
19. birthday
20. recall

53
CHAPTER 5: THE SYLLABLE
1. Syllable
Phonetically (i.e.in relation to the way we produce them and the way they sound), syllables are
usually described as consisting of a center which has little or no obstruction to airflow and which
sounds comparatively loud; before and after this center (i.e. at the beginning and end of the
syllable), there will be greater obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound (Mahon, 2002).
From the phonological point of view, in order to identify syllables, we need to look at the possible
combination of English phonemes, looking at what can occur in initial position – in other words,
what can occur at the beginning of the first word when we begin to speak after a pause and looking
at how a word ends when it is the last word spoken before a pause.
2. The structure of the English syllable
Syllables are divided into [onset] + [rhyme], and rhymes into [nucleus] + [coda]. The most
sonorous element of a syllable, the peak itself, is the nucleus. Lower sonority sounds preceding
the nucleus are grouped into the onset, and those following the nucleus are grouped into the coda
(Mahon, 2002).
2.1. Nucleus
The nucleus or the head of the syllable will generally contain a vowel. A syllable with a single
vowel in isolation which is preceded and followed by silence is a minimum syllable, e.g. are /ɑ:/,
or /ɔ:/, err /ɜ:/ (Roach, 2009).
2.2. Onset
The onset is one or more consonants preceding the nucleus of the syllable as /b/ in bar /bɑ:/, /k/ in
key /ki:/, /m/ in more /mɔ:/ or /b/ in be /bi:/ (Roach, 2009).
a. If the first syllable of the word in question begins with a vowel (any vowel may occur,
though ʊ is rare) we say this initial syllable has a zero onset.
b. If the syllable begins with one consonant, that initial consonant may be any consonant
phoneme except /ŋ/ and /ʒ/ is rare.
c. If the syllable begins with two or more consonants, or a consonant cluster,
• /s/ will work as the pre-initial consonant, e.g sting /stɪŋ/, sway /sweɪ/, and smoke
/sməʊk/.
• one of a set of 15 consonants will work as the initial consonant.

54
 • one of the set /l/, /r/, /w/, and /j/ will work as the post-initial consonant, play /pleɪ/,
try /traɪ/, quick /kwɪk/ and few /fju:/.
• Consonant clusters /sl/, /sw/ and /sw/ can be analysed either as pre-initial /s/ +
initial /l/, /w/, /j/ or /r / or initial /s/ + post initial /l/, /w/, /j/ or /r /, as in play
/pleɪ/, try /traɪ/, quick /kwɪk/ and few /fju:/.

Onset
(Pre- Initial (Post-initial)
initial)
/s/ Any consonant except /ŋ/ & /ʒ/ /l/, /r/, /w/ or /j/
1. sting s t ɪŋ
2. sway s w eɪ
3. smoke s m əʊk
4. play p l eɪ
5. try t r aɪ
6. quick k w ɪk
7. few f j u:
8. splay s p l eɪ
9. screen s k r i:n
10. squeak s k w i:k
11. stew s t j u:
12. twin t w ɪn
13. sphere s f ɪə
14. shrink ʃ r ɪŋk
15. news n j u:z

55
The diagram below shows constituents of the syllable.

pin
(Note that small sigma (σ) is shorthand for syllable)
A syllable, by definition, will always have a nucleus, but syllables that lack codas (like free), onsets
(inch), or both (eye) are possible. Syllables that have a coda are termed closed, and syllables
without a coda are termed open.
Syllable structure trees for some English words

free inch eye print

2.3. Coda
The coda is one or more consonants one or more consonants following the nucleus of the syllable,
e.g. as /m/ in am /æm/, /t/ in ought /ɔ:t/, /z/ in ease /i:z/ or /t/ in eat /i:t/ (Roach, 2009).
• If there is no final consonant, we say that there is a zero coda.
• When there is one consonant only, this is called the final consonant. Any consonant may
be a final consonant except /h/, /w/ and /j/.
The consonant /r/ is a special case: it does not occur as a final consonant in BBC
pronunciation, but there are many rhotic accent of English in which syllables may end with
this consonant.
• If the syllable ends with a two-consonant cluster,
- the cluster consists of a pre-final consonant (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/ or /s/) and a final
consonant as in bump /bʌmp/, bent /bent/, bank /bæŋk/, belt /belt/ and ask /ɑ:sk/, or

56
 - the cluster consists of a final consonant and a post-final consonant (/s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, or
/θ/) as in bets /bets/, beds /bedz/, backed /bækt/, bagged /bægd/ and eighth /eɪtθ/
• If the syllable ends with a three-consonant cluster,
- the cluster consists of a pre-final, a final and a post-final consonant as in helped
/helpt/, banks /bæŋks/, bonds /bɒndz/, and twelfth /twelfθ/, or
- the cluster consists of a final, post-final 1 and post-final 2, as in fifths /fɪfθs/, next
/nekst/, and lapsed /læpts/
• Most four-consonant clusters can be analysed as consisting of a pre-final, final, post-
final 1 and post-final 2 as in twelfths /twelfθs/ and prompts /prɒmpts/.
Coda
(Pre-final) Final (Post-final 1) (Post-final 2)
/m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/ or /s/ /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, or /θ/ /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, or /θ/
1. bump bʌ m p
2. bent be n t
3. bank bæ ŋ k
4. belt be l t
5. ask æ s k
6. bets be t s
7. beds be d z
8. backed bæ k t
9. bagged bæ ɡ d
10. eighth eɪ t θ
11. helped he l p t
12. banks bæ ŋ k s
13. bonds bɒ n d z
14. twelfth twe l f θ
15. fifths fɪ f θ s
16. next ne s k t
17. lapsed læ p s t

57
***A small number of cases seem to require a different analysis, as consisting of a final consonant
with no pre-final but three post-final consonants as in sixths /sɪksθs/ and texts /teksts/
To sum up, we may describe the English syllable as having the following maximum phonological
structure:
Pre- Initial Post- VOWEL Pre- Final Post- Post- Post-
initial initial final final 1 final 2 final 3

ONSET CODA

e.g. shrinks
Pre- Initial Post- VOWEL Pre- Final Post- Post- Post-
initial initial final final 1 final 2 final 3
ʃ r ɪ ŋ k s
ONSET CODA

3. Syllable division
Most English speakers feel that the word morning /ˈmɔ:nɪŋ/ consist of two syllables, but we need
a way of deciding whether the division into syllables should be mɔ: and nɪŋ, or mɔ:n and ɪŋ.
Universally, languages prefer syllables of the CV type (with an onset, without a coda). Even in
English, which allows more complex syllables, a CVCV string will generally be syllabified as
CV.CV, rather than CVC.V. (Consider cu.pi.di.ty or ca.ma.ra.de.rie.) This tendency to place a
consonant into an onset whenever possible is known as priority of onsets or maximal onsets
principle. This principle states that where two syllables are to be divided, any consonants between
them should be attached to the right hand syllable, not the left, as far as possible within the
restrictions governing syllable onsets and codas. In other words, where there is a choice, always
assign as many consonants as possible to the onset, and as few as possible to the coda. However,
remember that every word must also consist of a sequence of well-formed syllables. So, morning
would be divided as /ˈmɔ:.nɪŋ/; extra as /ˈek.strə/; dirty as /ˈdɜ:.ti/; oyster as /ˈɔɪ.stə/; starry as
/ˈstɑ:.ri/, falter as /ˈfɔ:l.tə/ (Mahon, 2002).
When one consonant stands between vowels and it is difficult to assign the consonant to one
syllable or the other – as in words like carry /ˈkæri/, for neither syllable final /æ/ nor syllable final

58
/r/ occurs in BBC pronunciation, a possible solution is to say that the consonant belongs to both
syllables. The consonant in this situation is referred to as ambisyllabic (Mahon, 2002).
4. Weak syllables and strong syllables
4.1. Weak syllables
Some of English syllables are strong while many others are weak. Regarding phonetic
characteristics of syllables when comparing weak syllables with strong syllables, we find the
vowel in a weak syllable tends to be shorter, of lower intensity (loudness) and different in quality.
For example, in the word data /ˈdeɪtə/, the weak syllable /tə/ is shorter than the strong one /deɪ/, is
less loud and has vowel /ə/, which cannot occur in strong vowels. In a word like bottle /ˈbɒtl/, the
weak second syllable contains no vowel at all, but consists entirely of the consonant /l̩ /, which is
called syllabic consonant (Roach, 2009).
➢ A weak syllable has a short vowel in the rhyme, with no coda, as /ɪ/ in report
➢ A weak syllable can only have /ə/, /i/ or /u/ as the peak.
• the vowel /ə/ (schwa) as in better /ˈbetə/, open /ˈəʊpən/, sharpen /ˈʃɑ:pən/, photograph
/ˈfəʊtəgrɑ:f/
Spelling of /ə/ Examples Spelling of /ə/ Examples
a attend /əˈtend/ e settlement /ˈsetlmənt/
character /ˈkærəktə/ violet /ˈvaɪələt/
barracks /ˈbærəks/ postmen /ˈpəʊstmən/
ar particular /pæˈtɪkjələ/ er perhaps /pəˈhæps/
molar /ˈməʊlə/ stronger /ˈstrɒŋgə/
monarchy /ˈmɒnəki/ superman /ˈsu:pəmæn/
ate intimate /ˈɪntɪmət/ u autumn /ˈɔ:təm/
accurate /ˈækjərət/ support /səˈpɔ:t/
desolate /ˈdesələt/ halibut /ˈhælɪbət/
o tomorrow /təˈmɒrəʊ/ ough thorough /ˈθʌrə/
potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/ borough /ˈbʌrə/
carrot /ˈkærət/
or forget /fəˈget/ ou gracious /ˈgreɪʃəs/
ambassador /æmˈbæsədə/ callous /ˈkæləs/
opportunity /ɒpəˈtʃu:nəti/

59
 • a close front unrounded vowel in the general area of /i:/ and /ɪ/, symbolized /i/, as in
happy /hæpi/, radio /ˈreɪdiəʊ/
Spelling of /i/ Examples
y or ey in word-final position happy /ˈhæpi/
valley /ˈvæli/
i or y in morpheme final-position with suffixes happier /ˈhæpiə/
beginning with vowels like –er, -est, or -ing easiest /ˈi:ziest/
hurrying /ˈhʌriɪŋ/
e in unstressed re, pre, or de if it precedes a vowel react /riˈækt/
create /kriˈeɪt/
deodorant /diˈəʊdərənt/
i in iate and ious appreciate /əˈpri:ʃieɪt/
hilarious /hɪˈleəriəs/
In unstressed he, she, we, me, be or the preceding he is /hi ɪz/
a vowel the apple /ði ˈæpl/
• a close back rounded vowel in the general area of /u:/ and /ʊ/, symbolized /u/, as in
thank you /ˈθæŋk ju/, influence /ˈɪnfluəns/
Spelling of /u/ Examples
ou or o in unstressed you, to, into or do preceding a vowel You accompany us.
/ju əˈkʌmpəni əs/

ough or o in unstressed through and who the man who is talking

/ðə ˈmæn hu ɪz ˈtɔlkɪŋ/
u preceding vowel within a word evacuation /ɪˈvækjueɪʃn/
influenza /ˌɪnfluˈenzə/

4.2. Strong syllables

If a syllable has a complex rhyme, then it is strong; and complexity can be achieved in two different
ways (Roach, 2009).
➢ A strong syllable may have a short vowel, but one or more coda consonants, as /et/ in
bet and /est/ in best.

60
 ➢ It may have a branching nucleus, consisting of a long vowel or diphthong with or without
a coda, as /i:/ in beast, /ɑɪ/ in bite, /i:/ in bee, or /aɪ/ in by.
Whether a syllable is a strong or weak one is a major factor in determining the position of stress
in a word: essentially, no stressed syllable in English may be weak. This means that no lexical
word, or full word of English can consist only of a short vowel alone, with or without an onset,
since such words, including nouns, verbs and adjectives, must be able to bear stress: thus, we have
be /bi:/, say /seɪ/, and loss, but not */bɪ/, */se/, or */lɒ/ (Roach, 2009).
On the other hand, function words like the indefinite article a, or the pronunciation /tə/ for the
preposition to, which are part of the grammatical structure of sentences and are characteristically
unstressed, can be weak. In cases where these do attract stress, they have special pronunciations
/eɪ/ and /tu:/, where the vowel is long, the nucleus branches, and the syllable is therefore heavy
(Roach, 2009).
5. Syllabic consonants
Consonants /l/, /r/ or a nasal, standing as the peak of the syllable instead of a vowel are syllabic
consonants. It is usual to indicate that a consonant is syllabic by means of a small vertical mark ( ̩)
beneath the symbol, for example cattle /ˈkætl̩ /. Syllables with syllabic consonants are weak
syllables (Roach, 2009)..
Syllabic l̩ cattle /ˈkætl̩ /, bottle /ˈbɒtl̩ /, westle /ˈresl̩ /, muddle /ˈmudl̩ /, couple /ˈkʌpl̩ /,
trouble /ˈtrʌbl̩ /, struggle /ˈstrʌgl̩ /, knuckle /ˈnʌkl̩ /, bottling /ˈbɒtl̩ ɪŋ/,
muddling /ˈmʌdl̩ ɪŋ/, struggling /ˈstrʌgl̩ ɪŋ/
panel /ˈpænl̩ /, petal /ˈpetl̩ /, kernel /ˈkɜ:nl̩ /, pedal /ˈpedl̩ /, parsel /ˈpɑ:sl̩ /,
papal /ˈpeɪpl̩ /, label /ˈleɪbl̩ /, ducal /ˈdju:kl̩ /
Syllabic n̩ threaten /ˈθretn̩/, threatening /ˈθretn̩ɪŋ/, happen /ˈhæpn̩/, happening
/ˈhæpn̩ɪŋ/, ribbon /ˈrɪbn̩/, seven /ˈsevn̩/, heaven /ˈhevn̩/, often /ˈɒfn̩/
Syllabic m̩ uppermost /ˈupm̩əʊst/
Syllabic ŋ̩ thicken /ˈθɪk ŋ̩/
Syllabic r̩ hungry /ˈhʌŋgr̩i/, Hungary /ˈhʌŋgr̩i/
Combination of national /ˈnæʃn̩l̩ /, literal /ˈlɪtr̩l̩ /, visionary /ˈvɪʒn̩r̩i/, veteran /ˈvetr̩n̩/
syllabic consonants

61
PRACTICE
Activity 5.1
Identify the number of syllables in each of the following words.
Word No. of syllables Word No. of syllables
1. parcel 21. dotted
2. antagonize 22. jumped
3. ocean 23. cotton
4. impressive 24. communication
5. tremble 25. probably
6. onomatopoeia 26. magnet
7. awkward 27. vanish
8. Gargantuan 28. ruin
9. sputter 29. rhythm
10. chocolate 30. chaos
11. futuristic 31. coronavirus
12. pout 32. butter
13. cruciferous 33. mousse
14. ecstasy 34. rebounding
15. folklore 35. anthropology
16. hypersensitivity 36. boundary
17. delve 37. giant
18. scrumptious 38. bible
19. monument 39. bubble
20. deal 40. establish

Activity 5.2
Identify the number of syllables and phonemes in each of the following words.
Word No. of No. of Word No. of No. of
syllables phonemes syllables phonemes
1. ordinary 31. ancient

62
2. lovely 32. theater
3. named 33. science
4. interest 34. therefore
5. instrumental 35. companion
6. loaves 36. comparative
7. disinterested 37. literature
8. union 38. literal
9. national 39. movement
10. factory 40. movable
11. anxious 41. immune
12. pollution 42. steal
13. scientist 43. reality
14. extra 44. roaring
15. extraordinary 45. laughter
16. vicious 46. evenings
17. suspicious 47. inability
18. surely 48. alcoholism
19. stuffy 49. ancient
20. speculate 50. muttered
21. edges 51. efficient
22. hedgerows 52. experiment
23. inscrutable 53. mistakes
24. nutritious 54. companionship
25. antibiotics 55. government
26. imitation 56. gradually
27. slowly 57. anxiety
28. hungrily 58. reduction
29. halves 59. widespread
30. onions 60. especially

63
Activity 5.3
Give three English words for the following:
1. Minimum syllable
2. Syllable with zero onset
3. Syllable with zero coda
4. Syllable with both onset and coda

Activity 5.4
Provide three examples with the following (a) onset, (b) coda and (c) syllable structures:
(a) onsets
Structure Example Your examples
1. C cat
2. CC train
3. CCC spring
(b) codas
Structure Example Your examples
4. C at
5. CC act
6. CCC text
7. CCCC texts
(c) syllables
Structure Example Your examples
8. V a
9. CVC cat
10. CCCVC stripe
11. CVCC salt
12. CCVCC planned
13. CVCCC tenths
14. CCVC stop

64
Activity 5.5
Analyze the syllable structures of the following words: to, asked, straw, eat, east, snow, texts.
E.g. shrinks
Pre- Initial Post- VOWEL Pre- Final Post-
initial initial final final
ʃ r ɪ ŋ k s
ONSET CODA

Activity 5.6
Analyze the syllable structure of the following words.
WORD ONSET PEAK CODA
Pre- Initial Post- Vowel Pre- Final Post- Post- Post-
initial initial final final 1 final 2 final 3
1. midst
2. square
3. glimpse
4. screen
5. splint

65
6. cysts
7. sixth
8. crisped
9. cringed
10. quilt
11. fenced
12. scream
13. next
14. street
15. squawk
16. sprig
17. wrists
18. oinks
19. crypts
20. blink
21. milked
22. scents
23. scalped
24. bunked
25. ponds
26. lounged
27. benched
28. queue
29. prompt
30. waltzed
31. coins
32. cinched
33. straight
34. splat
35. squall

66
Activity 5.7
Call and mall are examples of two words which rhyme with each other; cat and kill are examples
of two words which alliterate with each other.
From the following set of words, list all those which rhyme with each other and those which
alliterate with each other.
cell, coal, fed, fell, head, heed, keen, keyed, king, said, scene, seed, sing, soul, whole

Activity 5.8
Transcribe the following English words into IPA, indicating syllable boundaries with a period.
Word Transcription Word Transcription
0. banana /bə.ˈnæn.ə/
1. about 11. tricky
2. betrayal 12. freedom
3. camera 13. octopus
4. categorical 14. create
5. elementary 15. myself
6. extra 16. angry
7. fascinating 17. contains
8. integrity 18. follow
9. interesting 19. onset
10. sandy 20. cryptic

67
Activity 5.9
Transcribe the following English words into IPA, and draw a syllable structure tree for each,
indicating the onset, nucleus, coda, and rhyme constituents.
1. English 10. sequencing 19. structure 28. nucleus
2. friendship 11. concreteness 20. fractals 29. Georgetown
3. Atlantic 12. representative 21. veranda 30. believe
4. reply 13. ransom 22. papaya 31. metric
5. regime 14. anecdote 23. camera 32. integrity
6. person 15. panic 24. majesty 33. Africa
7. rival 16. pity 25. study 34. radical
8. legal 17. action 26. many 35. liquid
9. penalty 18. garbage 27. picnic 36. spinach

Activity 5.10
Underline the words that contain:
1. /i/ as the peak of a weak syllable: audible, hitter, lisp, pity, foreign, Nancy, horrible,
slowly, leave, heed, crease, Greek, tweet, teal, gleam, weather, live, heart, gene, deal
2. /ɪ/ as the peak of a weak syllable: seen, pitch, sneaker, feast, knit, cheap, sing, fist, greed,
simmer, evening, each, eat, isle, slick, sigh, grit, cider, spirit, hill, until
3. /u/ as the peak of a weak syllable: goodness, groom, foot, cooled, woman, root, broom,
shook, school, coiled, couch, under, renew, stew, ponder, fudge, surrender, who, fool
4. /ə/ as the peak of a weak syllable: undone, luckily, Monday, rushing, redundant, trouble,
Paris, plaza, suspend, crumble, sudden, grovel, rupture, jungle, stutter

68
Activity 5.11
Underline the letter that represents /ə/, /ɪ/, /i/, /u/ as the peak of a weak syllable in the following
words when they are pronounced in fast speech.
1. camera 6. veteran 11. aspirin 16. temperature 21. reasonable
2. imaginative 7. principal 12. management 17. testament 22. general
3. opera 8. famous 13. vegetarian 18. motivate 23. pathology
4. facilitate 9. generality 14. operatic 19. imagination 24. testimony
5. managerial 10. principality 15. chocolate 20. practically 25. beverage

Activity 5.12
Transcribe the following English words into IPA, indicating syllable boundaries with a period.
Mark which syllables are weak (W) and strong (S) in the following words:
Word Transcription Pattern Word Transcription Pattern
0. about ə. ˈbaʊt WS
1. Celtic 11. caramel
2. marker 12. aloud
3. provide 13. yesterday
4. renovate 14. apron
5. report 15. supersede
6. albatross 16. Cambridge
7. occur 17. Canberra
8. pencil 18. worthy
9. pretend 19. darkness
10. precious 20. ocean

Activity 5.13
Transcribe the following words. Mark which syllables are strong (S) and weak (W) and identify
the weak vowel(s) that they contain if there is any.

69
 Word Transcription Pattern Weak vowel(s)
0. about əˈbaʊt WS ə
1. coffee
2. city
3. graduate
4. own
5. nicer
6. woman
7. agree
8. doctor
9. quickest
10. villagers
11. improved
12. excuses
13. influenza
14. evacuation
15. better
16. carelessness
17. Liverpool
18. beggars
19. bums
20. offend
21. London
22. population
23. return
24. before
25. women’s
26. departure
27. due
28. announce

70
Activity 5.14
Transcribe the following words into phonetics using syllabic consonants. Indicate stress as
appropriate.
Syllabic /l̩ / Syllabic / n̩ / Syllabic / m̩ /
1. cancel 6. deacon 11. alum
2. example 7. chicken 12. atom
3. fuel 8. chosen 13. bottom
4. royal 9. dozen 14. maxim
5. apple 10. garden 15. random

Activity 5.15
Transcribe the following words into phonetics using syllabic consonants. Indicate stress as
appropriate.
Word Transcription Word Transcription
1. fickle 26. suitable
2. dimple 27. dabble
3. capon 28. Stockum
4. gable 29. problem
5. castle 30. parcel
6. tunnel 31. token
7. seven 32. museum
8. villain 33. tuition
9. reliable 34. visible
10. random 35. feeble
11. dampen 36. system
12. carton 37. chuckle
13. listen 38. parson
14. million 39. sandal

71
15. symptom 40. totem
16. sharpen 41. tension
17. inedible 42. ample
18. golden 43. cymbal
19. spasm 44. heathen
20. channel 45. tandem
21. gentle 46. Latin
22. action 47. mention
23. waggle 48. solemn
24. salon 49. woman
25. municipal 50. purple

72
CHAPTER 6: STRESS IN ENGLISH AND WEAK FORMS
1. Stressed syllables
Native speakers of English are intuitively aware that certain syllables in each word, and one
syllable in particular, will be more phonetically prominent than others. In father, the first syllable
seems stronger than the second; in about, it is the other way around; and in syllable, the first
syllable stands out from the rest (Mahon, 2002).
A stressed syllable is marked in transcription by placing a small vertical line (ˈ) high up, just before
the syllable it relates to as in father /ˈfɑ:ðə/, about /əˈbaʊt/, syllable /ˈsɪləbl/.
We can study stress from the points of view of production and of perception. The production of
stress is generally believed to depend on the speaker using more muscular energy than is used for
unstressed syllables. From the perceptual point of view, all stressed syllables have one
characteristic in common, which is prominence. There are four important factors which make a
syllable prominence (Mahon, 2002):
• Stressed syllables are louder than unstressed syllables.
• Stressed syllables are perceived as longer.
• Stressed syllables are heard as higher pitch.
• Stress has effects on vowel quality.
To take our earlier examples of father, about, and syllable, the stressed syllables have the full
vowels /ɑ:/, /aʊ/ and /ɪ/ respectively, but the unstressed ones typically have schwa; we do not say
/ˈsɪlæbel/, for instance, but /ˈsɪləbəl/ (or /ˈsɪləbl/).
2. Levels of stress
Within the word, there can be more than one level of stress. There are four levels of stress (Roach,
2009).
➢ Primary stress is the strongest type of stress like the stress falling on the last syllable of
around /əˈraʊnd/.
➢ Secondary stress is the type of stress that is weaker than primary stress but stronger than
that of unstressed syllables. The stress falling on the first syllable of photographic
/ˌfəʊtəˈgræfɪk/ and anthropology /ˌænθrəˈpɒlədʒi/
➢ Tertiary stress falls on unstressed syllables containing vowels other than /ə/, /ɪ/, /i/, /u/ or
syllabic consonant like the last syllable in decorate /ˈdekəreɪt/

73
 ➢ Reduced stress falls on unstressed syllables containing /ə/, /ɪ/, /i/, /u/ or syllabic consonant
such as the forth, sixth and last syllables in indivisibility /ˌɪndɪvɪzəˈbɪləti/.
In IPA transcription, main stress is indicated by a superscripted line (ˈ) preceding the syllable,
secondary stress by a subscripted line (ˌ). For the sake of simplicity, indivisibility is transcribed as
/ˌɪndɪvɪzəˈbɪləti/.
3. Placement of stress within the word.
Single-syllable words when pronounced in isolation have primary stress. In a multi-syllabic word,
only strong syllables can be stressed while weak syllables are always unstressed (Roach, 2009).
In order to decide on stress placement, it is necessary to consider the followings:
• word formation (whether it is a simple, complex or compound word)
• grammatical category (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
• number of syllables
• phonological structures of the syllables, which decides which syllable is strong, which is
weak.
Also keep in mind that there are many exceptions to these rules and that English syllable stress
can be quite irregular.
3.1. Stress in simple words
Two-syllable words
NOUNS VERBS / ADJECTIVES / ADVERBS
Stress is generally on the first syllable Stress is generally on the second syllable
First syllable Second syllable First syllable Second syllable

If the first syllable is strong, stress the first If the second syllable is strong, stress the
syllable second syllable
STRONG STRONG
e.g.
e.g money /ˈmʌni/ Verbs: apply /əˈplaɪ/, rotate /rəʊˈteɪt/,
product /ˈprɒdʌkt/ maintain /meɪnˈteɪn/
larynx /ˈlærɪŋks/ Adjectives: correct /kəˈrekt/, alive /əˈlaɪv/,
divine /dɪˈvaɪn/

74
 Adverbs: again /əˈɡen/, away /əˈweɪ/, perhaps
/pəˈhæps/, indeed /ɪnˈdi:d/

If the second syllable is weak or contains

If the first syllable is weak, stress the second /əʊ/, stress the first syllable.
syllable. STRONG WEAK /əʊ/
WEAK STRONG e.g.
e.g. divan /dɪˈvæn/ Verbs: enter /ˈentə/, open /ˈəʊpən/
ballon /bəˈlu:n/ Adjectives: equal /ˈi:kwəl/, lovely /ˈlʌvli/,
design /dɪˈzaɪn/ even /ˈi:vən/, hollow /ˈhɒləʊ/
Adverbs: never /ˈnevə/, often /ˈɒfən/,
even /ˈi:vn/, rather /ˈrɑ:ðə/,
almost /ˈɔ:lməʊst/

Example of exceptions:
honest /ˈɒnɪst/ perfect /ˈpɜ:fɪkt/

Two-syllable noun/adjective and verb pairs.

Stress on the first syllables of nouns and adjectives and on the second syllables of verbs.
Noun/Adjective Verb Noun/Adjective Verb
ˈabstract abˈstract ˈobject obˈject
ˈconduct conˈduct ˈperfect perˈfect
ˈcontract conˈtract ˈpermit perˈmit
ˈcontrast conˈtrast ˈpresent preˈsent
ˈdesert deˈsert ˈproduce proˈduce
ˈescort esˈcort ˈprotest proˈtest
ˈexport exˈport ˈrebel reˈbel
ˈimport imˈport ˈrecord reˈcord
ˈinsult inˈsult ˈsubject suˈbject

75
 Three-syllable words
NOUNS VERBS / ADJECTIVES/ ADVERBS
If the first syllable is strong, it receives If the third syllable is strong, it receives
primary stress. primary stress.
STRONG STRONG
e.g. quality /ˈkwɒntəti/ e.g. entertain /entəˈteɪn/
emperor /ˈempərə/ resurrect /rezəˈrekt/
custody /ˈkʌstədi/

If the first syllable is weak and the second If the third syllable is weak and the second
syllable is strong, stress the second syllable. syllable is strong, stress the second syllable.
WEAK STRONG STRONG WEAK
e.g. potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/ e.g. encounter /ɪŋˈkaʊntə/
disaster /dɪˈzɑ:stə/ determine /dɪˈtɜ:mɪn/
mimosa /mɪˈməʊzə/
If both the first and the second syllables are
weak, stress the first syllable.
STRONG WEAK WEAK
e.g. parody /ˈpærədi/
monitor/ˈmɒnɪtə/

3.2. Stress in complex words

The first type of complex word is made from a basic word form (stem) with one or more than one
affix (prefix or suffix) (e.g. unpleasant = un- + pleasant, goodness = good + -ness). While prefixes
do not affect word stress, suffixes may or may not affect word stress (Roach, 2009).
A. Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves
-ee/-eer refugee, evacuee, employee, mountaineer, volunteer, puppeteer
-ese Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, journalese
-ette cigarette, launderette, baguette, cassette,
-ique/-esque physique, boutique, antique, picturesque, statuesque

76
-air(e) millionaire, billionaire, questionnaire, extraordinaire, legionnaire
-ade blockade, arcade, invade, biodegrade, lemonade
-eur masseur, chanteur, chauffeur, entrepreneur
-oon monsoon, balloon, afternoon, tycoon, cartoon

B. Suffixes that do not affect stress placement (the way the stem is stressed does not change)
-able comfortable, changeable
-age anchorage, storage
-al refusal, arrival
-en widen, lengthen
-ful wonderful, careful
-ing amazing, interesting
-like birdlike, childlike
-less powerless, hopeless
-ly hurriedly, lovely
-ment punishment, entertainment
-ness yellowness, loneliness
-ous poisonous, marvellous
-fy glorify, beautify
-wise otherwise, clockwise
-y funny, noisy
-ish (adjective) devilish, childish
-ism racism, capitalism
-ist pianist, cyclist
-ary, -ery, -ory stationary, bribery, contradictory

C. Suffixes moving the stress to the syllable before the suffix (the last syllable of the stem)
-ion procession, recognition, television
-eous curvaceous, courageous, righteous
-ic atomic, heroic, acidic

77
 -ical methodical, analytical, grammatical
-ial official, commercial, colonial
-ian beautician, politician, historian
-ity minority, authority, security
-cracy democracy, bureaucracy, autocracy
-ual conceptual, intellectual, contextual
-ious suspicious, mysterious, victorious

D. Suffixes moving the stress to the syllable two syllables before the suffix (the
syllable before the last syllable in the stem)
-graph photograph, autograph, telegraph
-crat bureaucrat, democrat, aristocrat
-ate (adjective) delicate, articulate, ultimate
-ar spectacular, popular, bipolar
-ise/-ize supervise, criticize, emphasize

3.3. Stress in compound words

The second type of complex words are compound words which are made of two or more
independent English words and are written as one word (e.g. armchair, sunflower) or with a
hyphen (e.g. open-minded, cost-effective) or with a space (e.g. desk lamp, battery charger) (Yavas,
2011).
Compound words with two elements Examples
NOUNS Stress falls on the first element. cupcake,
First element Second element typewriter
White House,
breakthough
VERBS Stress falls on the second element. fall apart
First element Second element update
ADVERBS Stress falls on the second element. outside
First element Second element downstream

78
 ADJECTIVES  Primary stress falls on the noun element waterproof
NOUN low-fat

NOUN

 Primary stress falls on the participial or –ed element ˌbad- ˈtempered

Participle/-ed ˌold- ˈfashioned
ˌgood- ˈlooking
ˌout- ˈgoing
 Primary stress does not fall on the number element ˌsecond-ˈhand,

Number ˌfirst-ˈclass

Compound words more than two elements

Stress falls on the first element. mother-in-law
free-for-all
First element Second element Third element
forget-me-not

3.4. Variable stress

The stress pattern is not always fixed or unchanging in English words. Stress position may vary
because the stress on other words occurs next to the word in question or because not all speakers
agree on the placement of stress in some words (Roach, 2009).
In connected speech, the stress on the final-stressed compound tends to move to a preceding
syllable and change to secondary stress if the following word begins with a strongly stressed
syllable (Roach, 2009).
Examples:
ˌbad-ˈtempered but a ˌbad-tempered ˈteacher
ˌhalf-ˈtimbered but a ˌhalf-timbered ˈhouse
ˌheavy-ˈhanded but a ˌheavy-handed ˈsentence
3.5. Strong forms and weak forms of words

79
We reduce function words, which generally do not carry as much importance or meaning as the
content words. If they were eliminated, the sentence would still make sense (Collins & Mees,
2013).
Function words (unstressed) Content words (stressed)
a. Pronouns (e.g. he, she, you, they, mine, his, a. Nouns (e.g. hour, tea)
himself, one, some, any, anywhere, b. Main verbs (e.g. play, waited)
somewhere, anything, something) c. Adjectives (e.g. good, cold)
b. Prepositions (e.g. to, in, for, at, by, on, d. Adverbs (e.g. quickly, never)
with, from) e. Question words (e.g. who, what, why)
c. Conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or, nor, so, f. Contractions with not (e.g. can’t, isn’t)
yet)
d. Auxiliary verbs (e.g. am, is, was, were, do,
does, been, have, can could, should)
e. Articles (e.g. a, an, the)

• When a function word is reduced, we use the weak form of the word. The weak form is
said more quickly and more softly. The vowel becomes the schwa /ə/ (Roach, 2009).
Typical unstressed words
Word Weak form Examples
the /ðə/ (before consonants) Shut the door.
/ði/ (before vowels) Wait for the end.
a /ə/ (before consonants) Read a book.
an /ən/ (before vowels) Eat an apple.
and /ən/ Come and see.
/n/ after /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/ or /ʃ/ Fish and chips.
but /bət/ It’s good but expensive.
that /ðət/ The prize is the thing that
(in relative clauses) annoys me.
than /ðən/ Better than ever.
his (before a noun) /ɪz/ Take his name.

80
her /ə/ (before consonants) Take her home.
(object or possessive adjective) /ər/ (before vowels) Take her out.
your /jə/ (before consonants) Take your time.
/jər/ (before vowels) On your own
she /ʃi/ Who is she?
he /i/ Which did he choose?
we /wi/ How can we get there?
you /ju/ What do you think?
him /ɪm/ Leave him alone.
them /ðəm/ Leave them here.
us /əs/ Write us a letter.
at /ət/ I’ll see you at lunch.
for /fə/ (before consonants) Tea for two.
/fər/ (before vowels) Thanks for asking.
from /frəm/ I’m home from work.
of /əv/ Most of all
to /tə/ Try to stop.
as /əs/ As much as possible
some /səm/ Have some more tea
there /ðə/ (before consonants) There should be a rule.
/ðər/ (before vowels) There is only one.
can /kən/ They can wait.
could /kəd/ He could do it.
have /əv/ Which have you seen?
has /əs/ Which has been best?
had /əd/
shall /ʃəl/ or /ʃl̩ / We shall need to hurry.
should /ʃəd/ I should forget it.
must /məs/ (before consonants) You must try harder.
/məst/ (before vowels) He must eat more.

81
do /də/ (before consonants) Why do they like it?
does /du/ (before vowels) Why do all the cars stop?
/dəz/ When does it arrive?
am /əm/ Why am I here?
are /ə/ (before consonants) Here are the plates.
/ər/ (before vowels) The coats are in there.
was /wəz/ He was here a minute ago.
were /wə/ (before consonants) The papers were late.
/wər/ (before vowels) The questions were easy.
• When the function word is at the end of the sentence, or if it is used for emphasis, the strong
form of the word is used.
Weak form with reduced vowel Strong form with full vowel
for I’m looking for you. Who are you looking for?
/fə/ /fɔ:/
to Would you like to go? I’d love to.
/tə/ /tu:/
at He’s at the bank. Are you laughing with me or at me?
/ət/ /æt/

82
PRACTICE
Activity 6.1
Mark the stress for the following two-syllable nouns.
0. antique /æntɪ:k/
1. agent /eɪdʒənt/ 17. balance /bæləns/
2. ballad /bæləd/ 18. bottom /bɒtəm/
3. bottle /bɒtl/ 19. cabbage /kæbɪdʒ/
4. carrot /kærət/ 20. chicken /tʃɪkɪn/
5. cookie /kʊki/ 21. country /kʌntri/
6. empire /empaɪə/ 22. dimple /dɪmpl/
7. father /fɑ:ðə/ 23. husband /hʌzbənd/
8. spinach /spɪnɪtʃ/ 24. zipper /zɪpə/
9. appeal /əpi:l/ 25. balloon /bəlu:n/
10. canoe /kənu:/ 26. Brazil /brəzɪl/
11. canal /kənæl/ 27. gazelle /gəzel/
12. giraffe /dʒərɑ:f/ 28. Japan /jəpæn/
13. Chile /tʃɪli/ 29. machine /məʃi:n/
14. parade /pəreɪd/ 30. typhoon /taɪfu:n/
15. laptop /læptɒp/ 31. shampoo /ʃæmpu:/
16. tuna /tu:nə/ 32. July /dʒulaɪ/

Activity 6.2
Mark the stress for the following two-syllable verbs.
0. maintain /meɪnteɪn/
1. edit /edɪt/ 25. carouse /kəraʊz/
2. usurp /ju:zɜ:p/ 26. cancel /kænsl/
3. devote /dɪvəʊt/ 27. adapt /ədæpt/
4. involve /ɪnvɒlv/ 28. decide /dɪsaɪd/
5. balance /bæləns/ 29. admit /ədmɪt/
6. announce /ənaʊns/ 30. distance /dɪstəns/

83
 7. harvest /hɑ:vɪst/ 31. intend /ɪntend/
8. surface /sɜ:fɪs/ 32. predict /prɪdɪkt/
9. achieve /ətʃi:v/ 33. exhaust /ɪgzɔ:st/
10. submit /səbmɪt/ 34. erase /ɪzeɪz/
11. elect /ɪlekt/ 35. emerge /ɪmɜ:dʒ/
12. repeat /rɪpi:t/ 36. observe /əbsɜ:v/
13. delay /dɪleɪ/ 37. exempt /ɪɡzempt/
14. collapse /kəlæps/ 38. combine /kəmbaɪn/
15. blossom /blɒsəm/ 39. agree /əɡri:/
16. confine /kənfaɪn/ 40. furnish /fɜ:nɪʃ/
17. punish /pʌnɪʃ/ 41. figure /fɪɡə/
18. visit /vɪsɪt/ 42. deny /dɪnaɪ/
19. convince /kənvɪns/ 43. promise /prɒmɪs/
20. torment /tɔ:mənt/ 44. bother /bɒðə/
21. surmise /səmaɪs/ 45. digest /daɪdʒest/
22. imply /ɪmplaɪ/ 46. support /səpɔ:t/
23. reply /rɪplaɪ/ 47. differ /dɪfə/
24. approach /əprəʊtʃ/ 48. pronounce /prənaʊns/

Activity 6.3
Mark the stress for the following two-syllable adjectives.
0. yellow /jeləʊ/
1. absent /æbsənt/ 20. arid /ærɪd/
2. early /ɜ:li/ 21. proper /prɒpə/
3. ready /redi/ 22. sudden /sʌdn/
4. supreme /su:pri:m/ 23. absurd /əbsɜ:d/
5. frantic /fræntɪk/ 24. secure /sɪkjʊə/
6. occult /əkʌlt/ 25. banal /bənɑ:l/
7. corrupt /kərʌpt/ 26. alive /əlaɪv/
8. complete /kəmpli:t/ 27. intense /ɪntens/

84
 9. mundane /mʌndeɪn/ 28. obscure /əbskjʊə/
10. canine /keɪnaɪn/ 29. obscene /əbsi:n/
11. common /kɒmən/ 30. fluent /flu:ənt/
12. perfect /pɜ:fɪkt/ 31. solid /sɒlɪd/
13. busy /bɪzi/ 32. ample /æmpl/
14. solid /sɒlɪd/ 33. sincere /sɪnsɪə/
15. immense /ɪmens/ 34. handsome /hændsəm/
16. remote /rɪməʊt/ 35. divine /dɪvaɪn/
17. serene /səri:n/ 36. honest /ɒnɪst/
18. okay /əʊkeɪ/ 37. robust /rəʊbʌst/
19. sincere /sɪnsɪə/ 38. vulgar /vʌlgə/

Activity 6.4
Mark the stress for the following two-syllable adverbs.
0. aloud /əlaʊd/
1. very /veri/ 18. perhaps /pəhæps/
2. even /i:vn/ 19. ever /evə/
3. also /ɔ:lsəʊ/ 20. today /tədeɪ/
4. again /əgeɪn/ 21. enough /ɪnʌf/
5. always /ɔ:lweɪz/ 22. either /aɪðə/
6. rather /rɑ:ðə/ 23. around /əraʊnd/
7. almost /ɔ:lməʊst/ 24. indeed /ɪndi:d/
8. often /ɒfn/ 25. instead /ɪnsted/
9. better /betə/ 26. ahead /əhed/
10. before /bɪfɔ:/ 27. alone /ələʊn/
11. little /lɪtl/ 28. pretty /prɪti/
12. further /fɜ:ðə/ 29. abroad /əbrəʊd/
13. along /əlɔ:ŋ/ 30. aside /əsaɪd/
14. okay /əʊkeɪ/ 31. behind /bɪhaɪnd/
15. maybe /meɪbi/ 32. across /əkrɔ:s/

85
 16. seldom /seldəm/ 33. solo /seʊləʊ/
17. apart /əpɑ:t/ 34. beyond /bɪjɒnd/

Activity 6.5
Write the correct stress pattern for the words in bold.
0. There’s been an increase in the Oo 33. Put a couple of inserts in this text.
number of students.
00. Numbers are increasing. oOo 34. He inserted a few words into her
paragraph.
1. We’ve seen a decrease in the bird 35. They surveyed over 1000 people.
population.
2. Numbers are decreasing every year. 36. Let’s do a customer survey to find
out.
3. They import their oil from the UK. 37. He contrasted the two pictures.
4. This is a cheap import. 38. There’s a big contrast between you
two.
5. We need to export more. 39. The story details their struggle with
poverty.
6. Oil is one of their biggest exports. 40. It’s just a minor detail.
7. They discounted the theories. 41. You’ll need an escort to get
through security.
8. Is there a discount on this? 42. He escorted her out of the door.
9. I’d like a refund please. 43. The roses perfumed the room.
10. We’ll refund you 50%. 44. He bought her a bottle of perfume
for her birthday.
11. They won’t permit her to leave the 45. This is one of the rejects from the
country. factory.
12. Do you need a permit to fish here? 46. He rejected her advice.
13. They’re reporting armed conflict in 47. The victory was an upset in the
the area. championships.

86
14. His opinion conflicted with hers. 48. He upset her with his cruel
remarks.
15. She entered a beauty contest. 49. They lived in a compound.
16. They contested the results. 50. Current policy is just compounding
problems.
17. Your offer is so low it’s an insult. 51. The economy is contracting.
18. Don’t insult me! 52. Have you signed the contract?
19. There’s a student protest today. 53. They’re conducting an enquiry.
20. They’re protesting against cuts. 54. The conduct of the student was
unacceptable.
21. He rebelled against authority. 55. He treats her like an object.
22. He was a rebel when he was 56. She objected to the proposals.
younger.
23. That’s a rewrite of an old song. 57. What subjects do you study?
24. She rewrote her story. 58. She was subjected to harsh
criticism.
25. We’re updating our files. 59. He gave her a present.
26. We’ve got some updates for you. 60. He’s going to present his findings.
27. They got an upgrade on the flight. 61. They’re working on a project.
28. It’s time to upgrade our computer. 62. He projects himself well.
29. I received an invite to her party. 63. He refused permission.
30. They invited us to their house. 64. The refuse collectors are on strike.
31. There’s a misprint in the book. 65. The soldiers deserted their post.
32. He misprinted the word. 66. They went travelling in the Sahara
desert.

87
Activity 6.6
Arrange the words according to their stress pattern (S – strong syllable; W – weak syllable)
1. determine 5. abashed 9. cargo 13. potato 17. Mandarin
2. resurrect 6. purchase 10. seldom 14. Dolores 18. entertain
3. disaster 7. boring 11. appetite 15. allow 19. hurry
4. capital 8. tattoo 12. dominate 16. Panama 20. appliance
SW WS SWW WSW WWS

Activity 6.7
Mark the stress for the following three-syllable nouns.
0. Arizona /ærɪzəʊnə/
1. camera /kæmərə/ 27. papaya /pəpaɪə/
2. amalgam /əmælɡəm/ 28. labyrinth /læbərɪnθ/
3. veranda /vərændə/ 29. alumni /əlʌmnaɪ/
4. abdomen /æbdəmən/ 30. aroma /ərəʊmə/
5. horizon /həraɪzn/ 31. buffalo /bʌfələʊ/
6. vitamin /vaɪtəmɪn/ 32. horizon /həraɪzn/
7. enigma /ɪnɪɡmə/ 33. origin /ɒrɪdʒɪn/
8. chimpanzee /tʃɪmpænzi:/ 34. serenade /serəneɪd/
9. warranty /wɒrənti/ 35. mayonnaise /meɪəneɪz/
10. mania /meɪniə/ 36. period /pɪəriəd/
11. tornado /tɔ:neɪdəʊ/ 37. continent /kɒntɪnənt/
12. America /əmerɪkə/ 38. diploma /dɪpləʊmə/
13. appendix /əpendiks/ 39. algebra /ældʒɪbrə/

88
 14. cerebrum /səri:brəm/ 40. conundrum /kənʌndrəm/
15. bonanza /bənænzə/ 41. syllable /sɪləbl/
16. algebra /ældʒɪbrə/ 42. Nebraska /nəbræskə/
17. computer /kəmpju:tə/ 43. comedy /kɒmədi/
18. accident /æksɪdənt/ 44. agenda /ədʒendə/
19. clarinet /klærənet/ 45. animal /ænɪml/
20. gasoline /ɡæsəli:n/ 46. cigarette /sɪɡəret
21. alien /eɪliən/ 47. arduous /ɑ:djuəs/
22. synopsis /sɪnɒpsɪs/ 48. elephant /elɪfənt/
23. agenda /ədʒendə/ 49. Africa /æfrɪkə/
24. marina /məri:nə/ 50. kangaroo /kæŋɡəru:/
25. factotum /fæktəʊtəm/ 51. magazine /mæɡəzi:n/
26. tomato /təmɑ:təʊ/ 52. galaxy /ɡæləksi/

Activity 6.8
Mark the stress for the following three-syllable verbs.
0. benefit /ˈbenɪfɪt/
1. celebrate /selɪbreɪt/ 44. solicit /səlɪsɪt/
2. edify /edɪfaɪ/ 45. interfere /ɪntəfɪə/
3. consider /kənsɪdə/ 46. entertain /entəteɪn/
4. deliver /dɪlɪvə/ 47. bewilder /bɪ wɪldə/
5. remember /rɪmembə/ 48. advertise /ædvətaɪz/
6. register /redʒɪstə/ 49. compliment /kɒmplɪmənt/
7. exercise /eksəsaɪz/ 50. educate /edʒukeɪt/
8. accomplish /əkʌmplɪʃ/ 51. sacrifice /sækrɪfaɪs/
9. decorate /dekəreɪt/ 52. recognize /rekəɡnaɪz/
10. monitor /mɒnɪtə/ 53. annotate /ænəteɪt/
11. decipher /dɪsaɪfə/ 54. escalate /eskəleɪt/
12. interview /ɪntəvju:/ 55. motivate /məʊtɪveɪt/
13. examine /ɪɡzæmɪn/ 56. glorify /ɡlɔ:rɪfaɪ/

89
14. rectify /rektɪfaɪ/ 57. quarantine /kwɒrənti:n/
15. astonish /əstɒnɪʃ/ 58. isolate /aɪsəleɪt/
16. deposit /dɪpɒzɪt/ 59. recover /rɪkʌvə/
17. unify /ju:nɪfaɪ/ 60. manifest /mænɪfest/
18. assemble /əsembl/ 61. handicap /hændikæp/
19. establish /ɪstæblɪʃ/ 62. contribute /kəntrɪbju:t/
20. illustrate /ɪləstreɪt/ 63. prohibit /prəhɪbɪt/
21. elicit /ilɪsɪt/ 64. interpret /ɪntɜ:prɪt/
22. suffocate /sʌfəkeɪt/ 65. advocate /ædvəkeɪt/
23. represent /reprɪzent/ 66. recycle /ri:saɪkl/
24. graduate /ɡrædʒueɪt/ 67. discipline /dɪsəplɪn/
25. abdicate /æbdɪkeɪt/ 68. separate /sepəreɪt/
26. imagine /ɪmædʒɪn/ 69. embarrass /ɪmbærəs/
27. abolish /əbɒlɪʃ/ 70. discover /dɪskʌvə/
28. abandon /əbændən/ 71. duplicate /dju:plɪkeɪt/
29. encounter /ɪnkaʊntə/ 72. desolate /desəleɪt/
30. hibernate /haɪbəneɪt/ 73. volunteer /vɒləntɪə/
31. dominate /dɒmɪneɪt/ 74. estimate /estɪmeɪt/
32. animate /ænɪmeɪt/ 75. delegate /delɪgeɪt/
33. navigate /nævɪɡeɪt/ 76. compromise /kɒmprəmaɪz/
34. endeavor /endevə/ 77. comprehend /kɒmprɪhend/
35. accustom /əkʌstəm/ 78. inhabit /ɪnhæbɪt/
36. speculate /spekjuleɪt/ 79. guarantee /ɡærənti:/
37. embroider /ɪmbrɔɪdə/ 80. validate /vælɪdeɪt/
38. ridicule /rɪdɪkju:l/ 81. qualify /kwɒlɪfaɪ/
39. paraphrase /pærəfreɪz/ 82. apprehend /æprɪhend/
40. hesitate /hezɪteɪt/ 83. occupy /ɒkjupaɪ/
41. televise /telɪvaɪz/ 84. contradict /kɒntrədɪkt/
42. interrupt /ɪntərʌpt/ 85. compensate /kɒmpenseɪt/
43. develop /dɪveləp/ 86. determine /dɪtɜ:mɪn/

90
Activity 6.9
Mark the stress for the following three-syllable adjectives.
0. junior /ˈdʒu:niə/ 12. ultimate /ʌltɪmət/
1. generous /dʒenərəs/ 13. adequate /ædɪkwət/
2. senior /si:nɪə/ 14. domestic /dəmestɪk/
3. obvious /ɒbviəs/ 15. federal /fedərəl/
4. organic /ɔ:ɡænɪk/ 16. abundant /əbʌndənt/
5. elegant /elɪɡənt/ 17. defiant /dɪfaɪənt/
6. violent /vaɪələnt 18. parallel /pærəlel/
7. acoustic /əku:tɪk/ 19. actual /æktʃuəl/
8. fortunate /fɔ:tʃənət/ 20. mutual /mju:tʃuəl/
9. annual /ænjuəl/ 21. punctual /pʌŋktʃuəl/
10. tangible /tændʒəbl/ 22. indulgent /ɪndʌldʒənt/
11. similar /sɪmələ/ 23. permanent /pɜ:mənənt/

Activity 6.10
Choose the correct prefix for the words given below. Put stress marks on both forms.
dis‐, il‐, im‐, in‐, ir‐, mis‐, mal‐, over‐, post‐, re‐, un‐
0. a ˈ g r e e disaˈgree
1. l o g i c a l 7. p l a c e
2. p o s s i b l e 8. f u n c t i o n
3. d e c o r a t e 9. c e r t a i n
4. c o r r e c t 10. g r a d u a t e
5. r e s p o n s i b l e 11. o p e n
6. p l e a s a n t 12. e a t

91
Activity 6.11
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following words with prefixes.
1. h y p e r t e x t 5. i n t e r p l a y
2. h y p e r s p a c e 6. i n t e r c h a n g e
3. h y p e r a c t i v e 7. i n t e r a c t i v e
4. h y p e r s e n s i t i v e 8. i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e
9. c o u n t e r p a r t 13. s u b s e c t i o n
10. c o u n t e r c l a i m 14. s u b t e x t
11. c o u n t e r i n t e l l i g e n c e 15. s u b c o n s c i o u s
12. c o u n t e r p r o d u c t i v e 16. s u b t r o p i c a l
17. s u p e r m o d e l 19. s u p e r n a t u r a l
18. s u p e r m a n 20. s u p e r s e n s i b l e

Activity 6.12
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the words with suffixes where necessary.
0. asˈcerˌtain
1. awardee 4. caravanette
2. auctioneer 5. carnivalesque
3. Vietnamese 6. mystique

Activity 6.13
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the words with suffixes where necessary.
0. a ˈ c h i e v a b l e
1. h a r m f u l 6. a d o r i n g l y 11. c l o c k w i s e
2. b o t t o m l e s s 7. p u r i f y 12. h e i g h t e n
3. m o n o t o n o u s 8. a s p i r a t i o n a l 13. c h i l d l i k e
4. b l o c k a g e 9. b r o w n i s h 14. b a l d n e s s
5. g l i d i n g 10. f u l f i l m e n t 15. c h e e s y

92
Activity 6.14
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the words with suffixes where necessary.
0. couˈrageous 4. doctorial
1. reincarnation 5. argumentative
2. scenography 6. bureaucratic
3. auspicious 7. negativity

Activity 6.15
Decide where the main stress is in the first word and if it stays on the same syllable in the second
word or moves. Mark the stress.
0. e ˈ n i g m a ➔ enigˈmatic
1. e s t i m a t e ➔ estimation
2. c o n s u l t ➔ consultant
3. r e f e r ➔ referral
4. r e f u g e ➔ refugee
5. c a p a b l e ➔ capability
6. j o y ➔ joyous
7. a d d r e s s ➔ addressee
8. t e l e p h o n e ➔ telephony
9. p i c t u r e ➔ picturesque
10. a s t r o n o m y ➔ astronomical
11. h a r m ➔ harmless
12. a p p r o v e ➔ approval
13. a c c o u n t ➔ accountancy
14. g l o r y ➔ glorify
15. p o i s o n ➔ poisonous
16. a d m i r e ➔ admiration
17. m e a n i n g ➔ meaningful
18. v i c t o r y ➔ victorious
19. j o u r n a l ➔ journalese

93
20. l e m o n ➔ lemonade
21. m i l l i o n ➔ millionaire
22. r e a l i z e ➔ realization
23. a b s e n t ➔ absentee
24. m o u n t a i n ➔ mountaineer
25. J a p a n ➔ Japanese
26. p i c t u r e ➔ picturesque
27. k i t c h e n ➔ kitchenette
28. l a r y n x ➔ laryngitis
29. h o n o r ➔ honorific
30. p e r s o n ➔ personify
31. l a b o r ➔ laborious
32. h u m i d ➔ humidity
33. s p e e d ➔ speedometer
34. c o n t e x t ➔ contextual
35. m o m e n t ➔ momentous
36. h o m o n y m ➔ homonymy
37. a t o m ➔ atomic
38. a c i d ➔ acidic
39. p a r e n t ➔ parental
40. d e p a r t m e n t ➔ departmental
41. m o r t a l ➔ mortality
42. h u m i d ➔ humidity
43. p e r s o n ➔ personify
44. p r o d u c t ➔ production
45. a r r i v e ➔ arrival
46. a s c e n d ➔ ascendant
47. c e l i b a t e ➔ celibacy
48. f r e e ➔ freedom
49. p l a y ➔ player

94
50. l i o n ➔ lioness
51. g r a c e ➔ graceful
52. n a t i o n ➔ nationhood
53. g r e e n ➔ greenish
54. a l c o h o l ➔ alcoholism
55. h u m a n ➔ humanist
56. s u b m i t ➔ submissive
57. s p e c i a l ➔ specialize
58. b o t t o m ➔ bottomless
59. f r i e n d ➔ friendly
60. a m e n d ➔ amendment
61. f r a n k ➔ frankness
62. f r i e n d ➔ friendship
63. b u r d e n ➔ burdensome
64. c l o c k ➔ clockwise
65. g r o w ➔ growth
66. c e r t a i n ➔ certainty
67. s i l k ➔ silky
68. m o m e n t ➔ momentary
69. A r i s t o t l e ➔ Aristotelian
70. s u b s t a n c e ➔ substantial
71. l i b r a r y ➔ librarian
72. g e o m e t r y ➔ geometrical
73. i n s e c t ➔ insecticide
74. p e r i o d ➔ periodic

95
Activity 6.16
Mark the primary and secondary stress (if applicable) on the following compound nouns.
0. ˈ h a t c h e c k
1. l a d y b i r d 25. q u e s t i o n m a r k
2. h a n d w r i t i n g 26. W h i t e H o u s e
3. d e f i n i n g m o m e n t 27. v a c u u m c l e a n e r
4. a b s o l u t e z e r o 28. r h y t h m b a n d
5. t u n i n g f o r k 29. p r e s c r i p t i o n d r u g
6. b l o o d p r e s s u r e 30. r i p c o r d
7. m o n k e y w r e n c h 31. b e g i n n e r ’ s l u c k
8. f l a s h c a r d 32. l a n g u a g e a r t s
9. g i f t c a t a l o g 33. s h o p k e e p e r
10. c l o t h e s h a n g e r 34. w a i t i n g r o o m
11. r e c l i n i n g c h a i r 35. c o n t r o l t o w e r
12. k e t t l e d r u m 36. r e d h e r r i n g
13. g o a l k e e p e r 37. s u b m a r i n e c h a s e r
14. h e a d h u n t i n g 38. B r u s s e l s p r o u t s
15. d r e s s i n g g o w n 39. r u b b e r s t a m p
16. t h i n k t a n k 40. g u i n e a h e n
17. t e a p o t 41. s c h o o l g r o u n d
18. d i s t a n c e l e a r n i n g 42. V i r g i n I s l a n d s
19. s e a r c h p a r t y 43. f o r t u n e t e l l i n g
20. h o t s e a t 44. f l u t t e r k i c k
21. h o n e y m o o n 45. g l a s s b l o w i n g
22. g l o b a l w a r m i n g 46. M i d d l e E a s t
23. p o c k e t w a t c h 47. g u n r u n n e r
24. d r e a m c a t c h e r 48. c r a c k e r b a r r e l

96
Activity 6.17
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following compound verbs.
0. ˌ d o w n ˈ g r a d e
1. i l l ‐ t r e a t 26. d o u b l e - s p a c e
2. s t i r - f r y 27. h i g h l i g h t
3. t a k e o f f 28. b i r d - w a t c h
4. s o u n d p r o o f 29. d o w n l o a d
5. t e s t - d r i v e 30. d o w n g r a d e
6. t a k e a w a y 31. u p g r a d e
7. d r y - c l e a n 32. u n d e r m i n e
8. h a n d p i c k 33. s i d e s t e p
9. b r a i n w a s h 34. b a c k ‐ p e d a l
10. g i f t - w r a p 35. w a t e r p r o o f
11. h e a d h u n t 36. d o u b l e - c l i c k
12. b a d - m o u t h 37. p r o o f r e a d
13. d o w n s i z e 38. s e c o n d - g u e s s
14. u p b e a t 39. b r e a k u p
15. f i n e - t u n e 40. f l y b y
16. c o u n t e r a t t a c k 41. g h o s t w r i t e
17. u p d a t e 42. w h i t e w a s h
18. b a b y s i t 43. d o u b l e - c h e c k
19. c o l o r - c o d e 44. h o m e g r o w
20. b a c k u p 45. h a n d c u f f
21. a i r - c o n d i t i o n 46. d o w n p l a y
22. s h o r t c h a n g e 47. u p s h i f t
23. t a k e o u t 48. u p h o l d
24. w i n d o w - s h o p 49. d o w n g r a d e
25. t r o u b l e s h o o t 50. o f f b e a t

97
Activity 6.18
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following compound adverbs.
0. ˈ u p w a r d s
1. c l o c k w i s e 31. o v e r s e a s
2. l i k e w i s e 32. f o r w a r d s
3. u p s t a i r s 33. t h r o u g h o u t
4. s o m e h o w 34. i n d o o r
5. o u t s i d e 35. m i d w a y
6. h e r e b y 36. o n w a r d s
7. t h e r e a b o u t s 37. b a c k s t a g e
8. t h e r e u p o n 38. d o w n - m a r k e t
9. h e n c e f o r w a r d 39. o v e r h e a d
10. a n y w a y 40. w h o l e s a l e
11. w h e n e v e r 41. l e n g t h w i s e
12. n e a r b y 42. s o m e t i m e s
13. w o r l d w i d e 43. e v e r y w h e r e
14. h a l f w a y 44. d o w n h i l l
15. n a t i o n w i d e 45. u p t u r n
16. a n y m o r e 46. w h e r e a b o u t s
17. o f f l i n e 47. t h e r e i n
18. u p m a r k e t 48. h e n c e f o r t h
19. u n d e r g r o u n d 49. i n w a r d s
20. u p r i v e r 50. a l t o g e t h e r
21. a n t i c l o c k w i s e 51. n o w h e r e
22. a n y w h e r e 52. o v e r s e a s
23. m e a n w h i l e 53. b e f o r e h a n d
24. o v e r n i g h t 54. n o n s t o p
25. a l o n g s i d e 55. o f f s h o r e
26. h e r e i n 56. o n l i n e
27. t h e r e b y 57. s o m e d a y

98
 28. w h e r e u p o n 58. o f f s t a g e
29. t h e r e f o r e 59. d o w n t o w n
30. f u r t h e r m o r e 60. o n b o a r d

Activity 6.19
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following compound adjectives.
0. ˌ g o o d - ˈ l o o k i n g 23. i l l - s u i t e d
1. b a t t l e ‐ h a r d e n e d 24. w e l l - m a n n e r e d
2. o n e ‐ a r m e d 25. r e d - h o t
3. l o n g - l a s t i n g 26. a b s e n t - m i n d e d
4. m o u t h - w a t e r i n g 27. h i g h l y - r e s p e c t e d
5. w o r l d - f a m o u s 28. o l d - f a s h i o n e d
6. s m o k e - f r e e 29. l o n g - f o r g o t t e n
7. i c e - c o l d 30. s h o r t - l i v e d
8. s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 31. p e a r ‐ s h a p e d
9. f a s t - m o v i n g 32. w a t e r p r o o f
10. b r a n d n e w 33. t i g h t - f i t t i n g
11. t h o u g h t - p r o v o k i n g 34. t i m e - s a v i n g
12. a g e ‐ r e l a t e d 35. b r i g h t l y - l i t
13. s e c o n d - h a n d 36. w e l l - k n o w n
14. s e l f - c o n f i d e n t 37. d e n s e l y - p o p u l a t e d
15. q u i c k - t h i n k i n g 38. f l a t - f o o t e d
16. a l c o h o l b a s e d 39. t o n g u e - t i e d
17. f i r s t ‐ c l a s s 40. l o n g - l a s t i n g
18. e a s y - g o i n g 41. n a r r o w - m i n d e d
19. g l u t e n - f r e e 42. f a r - r e a c h i n g
20. f a m i l y - f r i e n d l y 43. s h o r t - s i g h t e d
21. m i d d l e - a g e d 44. n e v e r - e n d i n g
22. w a t e r - c o o l e d 45. t i m e ‐ c o n s u m i n g

99
Activity 6.20
Put the words in the correct column of the table according to the type of words and mark the
stress (primary and/or secondary).
1. Portuguese 9. arrow 17. mother 25. novella
2. approach 10. irregular 18. talisman 26. iconography
3. first‐class 11. provide 19. aloud 27. beta
4. unique 12. greenhouse 20. deacon 28. dragonfly
5. catdog 13. typewriter 21. ornament 29. oppression
6. navigation 14. uncertainty 22. motive 30. apartment
7. Spiderman 15. renew 23. alarm 31. archaeology
8. police 16. tomato 24. Polish 32. Russian
Simple words Complex (derivative) words Compound words
approach /əˈprəʊtʃ/

Activity 6.21
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following compound words with more than two
elements.
0. f o r ˈ g e t - m e - n o t
1. m o t h e r - i n - l a w 8. u p t o d a t e
2. m a n - o f - w a r 9. s a l t - a n d - p e p p e r
3. o v e r - t h e - c o u n t e r 10. u p - a n d - c o m i n g
4. r e n t - a - c a r 11. m o t h e r - o f - p e a r l

100
 5. r i g h t - o f - w a y 12. m e r r y - g o - r o u n d
6. j a c k - i n - t h e - b o x 13. s t a t e o f t h e a r t
7. n i n e t o f i v e 14. h e a d - t o - h e a d

Activity 6.22
Mark the primary and secondary stress on the following noun phrases.
0. t h e ˌ n o r t h e a s t ˈ o u t s k i r t s
1. a f i v e - m i n u t e b r e a k
2. a t h r e e - h o u r d r i v e
3. a o n e - w a y s t r e e t
4. a m i d ‐ d a y s u n
5. a s o f t ‐ h e a r t e d c o u p l e
6. a g o o d ‐ t e m p e r e d c h i l d
7. a p a r t - t i m e j o b
8. a s h o r t - t e r m p l a n
9. h i g h - q u a l i t y g o o d s
10. a f e e - p a y i n g s c h o o l
11. d o w n s t r e a m a r e a s
12. a d r u g - i n d u c e d c o m a
13. d e e p l y - r o o t e d t r a d i t i o n s
14. s u n - d r i e d t o m a t o e s
15. E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g c o u n t r i e s
16. a l a s t - m i n u t e d e c i s i o n
17. a t e n - s t o r y b u i l d i n g
18. a t w e n t y - p a g e b o o k
19. a r i g h t ‐ h a n d s i d e
20. a n o v e r s e a s p o s t i n g
21. a f u l l - l e n g t h v e r s i o n
22. a d e e p - s e a d i v i n g
23. l o n g - d i s t a n c e t r a i n i n g

101
 24. a r e c o r d - b r e a k i n g j u m p
25. a n o n e - a r m e d b a n d i t
26. a f u n d - r a i s i n g e v e n t
27. a r e a d y - m a d e s u i t
28. a f r e e - s t a n d i n g t o w e r
29. a s h o r t - h a i r c a t

Activity 6.23
Identify the function words with weak forms and those with strong forms and transcribe the
words.
Function words
Weak forms Strong forms
0. I gave it to her, not to you. I /aɪ/, it /ɪt/, to /tə/ her /hɜ:/, you /ju:/
1. I waited for him for an hour.
2. What are you looking at?
3. I am looking at the girl in a red dress.
4. You are taller than your brother.
5. He can play tennis well, but I can too.
6. Where do you come from?
7. I come from Lithuania.
8. You should have let me know before
leaving for London.
9. I must complete the assignment on time.
10. They met some years ago and became
friends.
11. Can I have some more tea?
12. How long have you been waiting there?
13. I don’t like that music at all.
14. You said that you were not coming to the
party on Friday.

102
Activity 6.24
Underline the function words with weak forms and circle those with strong forms and transcribe
the words.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must
_________________________________________________________________________
be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his
_________________________________________________________________________
first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families,
_________________________________________________________________________
that he is considered as the rightful property of someone or other of their daughters.
_________________________________________________________________________
"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, “Have you heard that Netherfield Park is
_________________________________________________________________________
let at last?”
_________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.
_________________________________________________________________________
"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of
_________________________________________________________________________
large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to
_________________________________________________________________________
see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately;
_________________________________________________________________________
that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house
_________________________________________________________________________
by the end of next week."
_________________________________________________________________________
"What is his name?"
_________________________________________________________________________
"Bingley."
_________________________________________________________________________

103
"Is he married or single?"
_________________________________________________________________________
"Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year.
_________________________________________________________________________
What a fine thing for our girls!"
_________________________________________________________________________

104
CHAPTER 7: ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH
The pronunciation of words when pronounced separately in their citation forms differs from the
pronunciation in natural connected speech (spontaneous speech) in which they are joined together
without any clear boundaries. Connected speech is a factor of fluency and causes changes to the
shapes of the words when we make an utterance, which is a continuous piece of speech beginning
and ending with a clear pause (Roach, 2009).
The most common features of connected speech are the weak forms and contractions of
grammatical and some lexical words, some of which are acceptable in written English, e.g. can’t,
won’t, didn’t, I’ll, he’d, they’ve, etc.
Other various features contribute to characterize natural connected speech are rhythm, weak forms,
assimilation, elision and linking
1. Rhythm
The rhythm of a language is the recurrence of prominent elements of speech at what are perceived
to be regular intervals of time. English has stress-timed rhythm, which means strong stresses tend
to occur at relatively equal intervals of time, irrespective of the number of the lesser-stressed
syllables or words between them. In other words, the amount of time between strong stresses is
always roughly the same, and the more intervening lesser-stressed syllables or words there are, the
faster they are pronounced in order to fit them into the time span available (Skandera & Burleigh,
2005).
A unit of rhythm, the foot, begins with a stressed syllable and includes all following unstressed
syllables up to (but not including) the following stress syllable (Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).The
example sentences below would be divided into feet as follows:
I’ve |ˈheard that |ˈJack and |ˈJane |ˈspent their |ˈholidays in Ja|ˈmaica.
FF C F C F C C F C F C
C = content word, F = function word
|ˈWalk |ˈdown the |ˈpath to the |ˈend of the ca|ˈnal
|ˈWhat are the |ˈplan for to|ˈmorrow |ˈJohn?
|ˈAll of |ˈthese are |ˈold |ˈphotographs
The |ˈconsequences of his |ˈactions are |ˈobvious
|ˈMegan had de|ˈcided to |ˈfetch them from the |ˈhospital

105
However, it seems that stresses are altered according to context. In speaking English, we vary in
how rhythmically. Sometimes we speak with rhythm and sometimes we don’t. Stress-timed
rhythm is thus perhaps characteristic of one style of speaking, not of English speech as a whole;
one always speaks with some degree of rhythmicality, but the degree varies.
2. Assimilation
The articulation of one sound is influenced by the articulation of a neighbouring sound in that a
speech organ either prolongs a distinctive feature of a preceding sound or anticipates a distinctive
feature of a following sound. This process is called assimilation (Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
Assimilation varies in extent according to speaking rate and style: it is more likely to be found in
rapid, casual speech and less likely in slow, careful speech (Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
Assimilation generally affects consonants. As an example, consider a case where two words are
combined. The first word ends with a single final consonant (Cf) and the second starts with a single
initial consonant (Ci). We can construct a diagram like this:
- - - - - - Cf Ci - - - - - -
Word boundary

Types of assimilation Examples

Regressive assimilation a. Assimilation of place:
[Cf  Ci] • /t/ followed by a bilabial consonant becomes /p/:
Cf is affected by Ci and that person /ðæp ˈpɜ:sn/, that man /ðæp mæn/, meat pie
changes to become like Ci /mi:p paɪ/
in some way. • /t/ followed by a velar consonant becomes /k/:
that case /ðæk keɪs/, bright color /braɪk ˈkʌlə/
• /d/ followed by a bilabial consonant becomes /b/:
good boy /ɡʊb boɪ/
• /d/ followed by a velar consonant becomes /g/:
card game /kɑ:ɡ ɡeɪm/
• /n/ followed by a bilabial consonant becomes /m/:
green paper /ɡri:m ˈpeɪpə/
b. Assimilation of manner

106
 • Plosive Cf followed by a fricative or nasal becomes a fricative
or nasal
that side /ðæs saɪd/, good night /ɡʊn naɪt/
c. Assimilation of voice:
• Voiced Cf followed by voiceless Ci becomes voiceless:
have to /hæf tu/, cheesecake /ˈtʃi:skeɪk/
Progressive assimilation a. Assimilation of place
[Cf → Ci] • /n/ following a bilabial consonant becomes /m/
Ci is affected by Cf and happen /ˈhæpm/
changes to become like Cf • /n/ following a velar consonant becomes /ŋ/
in some way. bacon /ˈbeɪkŋ/
b. Assimilation of manner
• /ð/ following a nasal consonant becomes a nasal
in the /ɪn nə/
• /ð/ following a plosive consonant becomes a plosive
get them /ɡet təm/, read these /riːd diːz/
c. Assimilation of voice
• Suffix –s or –‘s is pronounced
- /s/ in cats /kæts/, jump /dʒʌmps/, Pat’s /pæts/ because of
voiceless Cf
- /z/ in dogs /dɒgz/, runs /rʌnz/, Pam’s /pæmz/ because of
voiced Cf
• Suffix –ed or is pronounced
- /t/ in looked /lʊkt/, fished /fɪʃt/ because of voiceless Cf
- /d/ in turned /tɜ:nd/, moved /mu:vd/ because of voiced Cf
Coalescent assimilation • /t/ + /j/ becomes /tʃ/
[Cf  Ci] don’t you /dəʊntʃu/, intuition /ɪntʃuˈi:ʃn/, picture /ˈpɪktʃə/
Cf and Ci affect each • /d/ + /j/ becomes /dʒ/
other, merging to form a could you /kʊdʒu/, duel /dʒu:əl/, soldier /ˈsəʊldʒə/
• /s/ + /j/ becomes /ʃ/:

107
 single, new sound, or this year /ðɪʃɪə/, nice yard /naɪʃɑ:d/
rather phoneme. • /z/ + /j/ becomes /ʒ/:
where’s your /wheəʒə/, was yummy /wəˈʒʌmi/

3. Elision
The omission of one or more sounds in spoken language is technically termed elision. Elision is
more common in rapid speech and informal situations as an important means of making the
pronunciation easier, and consequently of maintaining the natural, isochronous rhythm of English
(Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
Types of elision Examples
Elision of consonants • Avoidance of complex consonant clusters
acts /æks/, clothes /kləʊz/, months /mʌns/, twelfth /twelθ/, scripts
/skɪps/
old man /əʊl mæn/, looked back /lʊk bæk/, next please /neks pli:z/
• Loss of final /v/ in of before consonants
lots of them /lɒts ə ðəm/, waste of money /weɪst ə ˈmʌni/
Elision of vowels • Loss of weak vowels after /p/, /t/, and /k/
potato /phteɪtəʊ/, tomato /thmeɪtəʊ/, canary /khneəri/, perhaps
/phhæps/, today /thdeɪ/
tonight /tˈnaɪt/, police /pˈli:s/, correct /kˈrekt/
• Loss of vowel in of
all of mine /ɔ:l v maɪn/, best of three /best f θri:/
Elision of whole • Loss of unstressed syllable before or after a stressed syllable,
syllables especially when the unstressed syllable contains a consonant that is
repeated in the following syllable.
library /ˈlaɪbri/, particularly /pəˈtɪkjəli/

4. Linking
In connect speech, words are linked together in a number of ways. We use /r/, /w/ and /j/ to link
a vowel sound at the end of a word with a vowel sound at the beginning of the next word (Skandera
& Burleigh, 2005).

108
 Types of linking Examples
Intrusive /r/ here are /hɪə r ə/
/ə, ɔ:, ɑ:/ + Intrusive /r/ + Vowel four eggs / fɔ: r egz/
media event /mi:diə r ɪvent/
visa application /vi:sə r æplɪkeɪʃn/
formula A /fɔ:mjələ r eɪ/
drawing /drɔ:rɪŋ/
Intrusive /w/ cooperation /kəʊwɒpəreɪʃn/
/u:, ʊ, aʊ, əʊ/ + Intrusive /w/ + Vowel to England /tu w ɪŋglənd/
you and me / ju w ən mi/
two or three /tu: w ə θri:/
go outside /gəʊ w aʊtsaɪd/
Intrusive /j/ he is silly and stupid /hi j iz sɪli j ən stju:pɪd
/i:, ɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, eɪ/ + Intrusive /j/ + Vowel me and you /mi j ən ju/
three or four /θri: j ə fɔ:/
the end /ði j end/

109
PRACTICE
Activity 7.1
Divide the following sentences up into feet, using a vertical line (|) as a boundary symbol. If a
sentence starts with an unstressed syllable, leave it out of consideration – it doesn’t belong in a
foot.

e.g ǀWalk ǀdown the ǀpath to the ǀend of the caǀnal

1. A b i r d i n t h e h a n d i s w o r t h t w o i n t h e b u s h .
2. O v e r a q u a r t e r o f a c e n t u r y h a s e l a p s e d s i n c e h i s d e a t h .
3. C o m p u t e r s c o n s u m e a c o n s i d e r a b l e a m o u n t o f m o n e y a n d
time.
4. M o s t o f t h e m h a v e a r r i v e d o n t h e b u s .
5. N e w s p a p e r e d i t o r s a r e i n v a r i a b l y u n d e r w o r k e d .
6. A p a r t i c u l a r p r o b l e m o f t h e b o a t w a s a l e a k .
7. O p e n i n g t h e b o t t l e p r e s e n t e d n o d i f f i c u l t y .
8. T h e r e i s n o a l t e r n a t i v e t o t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’ s p r o p o s a l .
9. W e o u g h t t o m a k e a c o l l e c t i o n t o c o v e r t h e e x p e n s e s .
10. F i n a l l y t h e y a r r i v e d a t a h a r b o r a t t h e e d g e o f t h e m o u n t a i n s .
11. J a m e s d e c i d e d t o t y p e t h e l e t t e r h i m s e l f .
12. T h e p l a n e w a s a p p r o a c h i n g t h e r u n w a y a t h i g h s p e e d .
13. T r y t o s e e t h e o t h e r p e r s o n ’ s p o i n t o f v i e w .
14. Y o u p u t y o u r b r a k e s o n w h e n t h e l i g h t t u r n s t o r e d .
15. I n a s h o r t t i m e t h e h o u s e w a s f u l l o f c h i l d r e n .
16. E a c h p e r s o n i n t h e g r o u p w a s t r a i n e d i n s u r v i v a l .
17. A b o u t t h r e e h u n d r e d s o l d i e r s w e r e l i n e d u p .
18. B u y i n g a n e w c o m p u t e r i s a m a j o r e x p e n s e .
19. A l l t h e p e o p l e w h o c a m e t o t h e w e d d i n g w e r e f r o m E n g l a n d .
20. T r y t o b e a s t a c t f u l a s y o u c a n w h e n y o u t a l k t o h i m .
21. M a r y h a s l i v e d i n E n g l a n d f o r t e n y e a r s .
22. H e ’ s g o i n g t o f l y t o C h i c a g o n e x t w e e k .
23. I d o n ’ t u n d e r s t a n d t h i s c h a p t e r o f t h e b o o k .

110
 24. T h e c h i l d r e n w i l l b e s w i m m i n g i n t h e o c e a n a t f i v e o ’ c l o c k .
25. J o h n h a d e a t e n l u n c h b e f o r e h i s c o l l e a g u e a r r i v e d .
26. T h e b e s t t i m e t o s t u d y i s e a r l y i n t h e m o r n i n g o r l a t e i n t h e
evening.
27. T h e t r e e s a l o n g t h e r i v e r a r e b e g i n n i n g t o b l o s s o m .
28. O u r f r i e n d s c a l l e d u s y e s t e r d a y a n d a s k e d i f w e ’ d l i k e t o v i s i t
them next month.
29. Y o u ’ l l b e h a p p y t o k n o w t h a t s h e ’ d d e c i d e d t o t a k e t h e
position.
30. I w o n ’ t g i v e a w a y y o u r s e c r e t .

Activity 7.2
Following the rules of assimilation, write the transcription of the phrase.
A. /t/ changes to /p/ before /m/, /b/ or /p/
0. white magic /waɪt ˈmædʒɪk/ ➔ /waɪp ˈmædʒɪk/
1. light music ➔
2. bright moon ➔
3. that man ➔
4. fat boy ➔
5. white bread ➔
6. light blue ➔
7. white paper ➔
8. footpath ➔
9. that person ➔
B. /t/ changes to /k/ before /k/ or /g/
10. white coffee ➔
11. short cut ➔
12. credit card ➔
13. street credibility ➔
14. white gloves ➔

111
15. cut glass ➔
16. that girl ➔
17. fat goat ➔
18. bright green ➔
C. /d/ changes to /b/ before /m/, /b/ or /p/
19. good morning ➔
20. grand master ➔
21. red mask ➔
22. blood bank ➔
23. red brick ➔
24. good boy ➔
25. hard path ➔
26. bad pain ➔
27. red pepper ➔
D. /d/ changes to /ɡ/ before /k/ or /ɡ/
28. bad cold ➔
29. second class ➔
30. red cross ➔
31. sand castle ➔
32. hard copy ➔
33. red gate ➔
34. kid gloves ➔
35. good girl ➔
36. closed game ➔
37. field glasses ➔
E. /n/ changes to /m/ before /m/, /b/ or /p/
38. in March ➔
39. ten men ➔
40. open market ➔
41. gone back ➔

112
42. chicken breast ➔
43. green bean ➔
44. down payment ➔
45. pen pal ➔
46. tin plate ➔
F. /n/ changes to /ŋ/ before /k/ or /ɡ/
47. painkiller ➔
48. one cup ➔
49. green card ➔
50. open court ➔
51. Roman calendar ➔
52. green grass ➔
53. main gate ➔
54. common ground ➔
55. action group ➔
56. iron curtain ➔
G. /s/ changes to /ʃ/ before /ʃ/ or /j/
57. nice shoes ➔
58. spaceship ➔
59. bus shelter ➔
60. dress shop ➔
61. nice shirt ➔
62. this shiny one ➔
63. this year ➔
64. nice yacht ➔
65. this yogurt ➔
H. /z/ changes to /ʒ/ before /ʃ/ or /j/
66. those shops ➔
67. these shoes ➔
68. rose show ➔

113
69. these sheep ➔
70. cheese shop ➔
71. news sheet ➔
72. wise youngster ➔
73. Where’s yours? ➔
74. is young ➔
75. is youthful ➔
I. /θ/ changes to /s/ before /s/
76. fifth season ➔
77. bath salt ➔
78. birth certificate ➔
79. earth science ➔
80. both sides ➔
81. both sexes ➔
82. fourth summer ➔
83. north south ➔
84. fifth set ➔
85. bath seat ➔
J. /t/ merges with /j/ to produce /tʃ/; /d/ merges with /j/ to produce /dʒ/
86. suit yourself ➔
87. last year ➔
88. Didn’t you…? ➔
89. what you need ➔
90. I bet you ➔
91. Would you …? ➔
92. Could you…? ➔
93. Did you…? ➔
94. educate ➔
95. you had yours ➔

114
Activity 7.3
Write the transcription of the full form and the form used in a rapid connected speech of the
following words and word combinations reduced by elision, dropping consonants.
Word Transcription of the full Transcription of the form reduced by
form elision (rapid connected speech)
0. firstly /ˈfɜ:stli/ ➔ /ˈfɜ:sli/
1. handgrip ➔
2. handmade ➔
3. landmark ➔
4. land‐breeze ➔
5. mindful ➔
6. sandbag ➔
7. sandstone ➔
8. sandstorm ➔
9. bandsman ➔
10. bandmaster ➔
11. bandbox ➔
12. handshake ➔

Activity 7.4
Mark the “linking r” and the phoneme it links with the following word combinations and
phrases.
0. father‐rin‐law 12. after all
1. clutter of cats 13. mother‐in‐law
2. for example 14. litter of pigs
3. daughter and son 15. for instance
4. muster of peacocks 16. brother and sister
5. more important 17. pair of horses
6. mother and father 18. bigger and better
7. a lecture on history 19. dead or alive

115
 8. a picture of a city 20. sooner or later
9. a teacher of English 21. ask for a favor
10. a tour of Scotland 22. German or English
11. the Tower of London 23. partner and colleague

Activity 7.5
Transcribe the following phrases with the intrusive r.
0. the idea of it /ðɪ aɪˈdɪə rəv ɪt/
1. grandma always
2. law and order
3. India and China
4. Libya and Egypt
5. Korea and Japan
6. a media event
7. law of the land
8. Formula A
9. Australia all out
10. vodka and coke
11. “I saw a film today, oh boy”

Activity 7.6
Transcribe the following phrases with the intrusive w.
0. you and me /ju wən mi/
1. two or three
2. go outside
3. go along
4. you often
5. new address
6. go up
7. a yellow and blue one

116
 8. do his homework
9. blue or grey
10. new assistant

Activity 7.7
Transcribe the following phrases with the intrusive j.
0. me and you /mi jən ju/
1. three or four 8. G or H
2. the end 9. my answer
3. the eighth 10. by email
4. the eleventh 11. see anything
5. the alphabet 12. coffee or tea
6. I only 13. play a song
7. maybe it’s 14. I am

Activity 7.8
Transcribe the following minimal pairs.
0. my turn /maɪ tɜ:n/ might earn
1. my train might rain
2. he lies heal eyes
3. keep sticking keeps ticking
4. I scream ice cream
5. a name an aim
6. all that I’m all the time after
after today today

117
CHAPTER 8: INTONATION
1. Pitch, intonation, and tone languages
1.1. Pitch
Pitch refers to human perception, i.e. whether one perceives sounds as ‘high’ or ‘low’. The most
important physical factor in determining pitch is the frequency (i.e. speed of vibration) of the
vocal folds; in general terms, the higher the frequency, the higher the perceived pitch, and vice
versa. Pitch variation has an important role to play in communication, supplying meaning
additional to that conveyed by the segmental phonemes (Roach, 2009).
1.2. Intonation
Intonation can be defined as the use of pitch and other suprasegmental features to convey
discourse-level meaning (Roach, 2009).
Example:
a. “You’re a werewolf?” • rising pitch indicates a yes/no question
b. “I’m a werewolf.” • falling pitch indicates a statement
c. “A werewolf? I thought you were a • a complex rise-fall-rise pattern signals
vampire!” surprise
In each case, the word werewolf receives a distinctive pitch pattern. However, the lexical item
referred to remains the same.
Linguists generally agree on the following basic principles of intonation (Skandera & Burleigh,
2005):
• All languages, including tone languages, have intonation.
• Intonation is principally the variation of pitch, but also prominence, over a stretch of speech.
• Intonation has four functions.
o The structural function signals the grammatical or structural role of an utterance,
determining, for example, whether it is a question, a request, or an instruction.
o The accentual function affects the prominence of a syllable, and thus plays a role in
focusing stress on particular words in connected speech.
o The attitudinal function conveys the speakers' personal orientations towards what they
say, or gives us clues about how the speakers feel – whether they are uninterested,
excited, or ironic, for example.

118
 o And the discourse function marks the turn taking processes in an exchange between
speakers.
• The set of intonation patterns, or contours, is limited and can be fully determined, but linguists
are not in full agreement about the actual number of different contours
• In order to analyze intonation, continuous speech can be broken down into smaller units, but
there are different conventions about how to determine these units.
1.3. Tone languages
Pitch variation has an important role to play in communication, supplying meaning additional to
that conveyed by the segmental phonemes. We can distinguish two significant ways in which pitch
functions, namely (lexical) tone and intonation. In many languages, it is possible to use pitch
differences to distinguish the dictionary meaning of words. This function of pitch is known as tone
and such languages are termed tone languages. Tone languages may make use of different numbers
of pitch levels. Two levels (high and low) or three (high, mid and low) are common (Roach, 2009)..
Languages like these, which use a tone system of two or three significant pitch levels, are called
register tone languages. In the Far East, contour tone languages are more common. These chiefly
employ falling and rising pitches; examples are to be found in the languages of China, including
the most widely spoken variety, Mandarin Chinese (Roach, 2009).
1.4. Intonation variation
Most European languages do not use pitch to indicate dictionary meaning. For instance, you can
say the English word yes on a number of different pitch patterns:

Yet it continues to mean yes and can’t be made to mean anything else. In English, pitch variation
is confined to intonation.
Intonation tunes operate over an extent greater than a single word, usually over complete clauses
or sentences. Intonation is crucial to human communication, supplying types of meaning additional
to what is supplied by the words themselves. Think how often you hear people come out with
statements like: ‘It wasn’t so much what he said – it was more the way he said it.’

2. English intonation patterns and some functions of English tones

119
Intonation Meaning Examples & explanations
patterns
Fall (\) Neutrality or finality A: Have you seen Ann? B has no interest in
B: \No continuing with that
topic of conversation
A: Do you know what the B does not know and is
longest balloon flight was? not expecting to be
B: \No told.
Rise (/) More to follow A: Excuse me. B’s reply means ‘what
B: /Yes do you want?’
A: Do you know John Smith? B’s reply invites A to
B: /yes continue.
Fall-rise \/ Limited agreement or A: I’ve heard that it’s a good B would not
response with school. completely agree with
reservations B: \/Yes what A said.
A: It’s not really an expensive
book, is it?
B: \/No
Rise-fall /\ Strong feelings of A: You wouldn’t do an awful B strongly disagrees.
approval, disapproval or thing like that, would you?
surprise B: /\No
A: Isn’t the view lovely? B strongly agrees.
B: /\Yes
A: I think you said it was the B is surprised.
best so far.
B: /\Yes
Level _ Feeling of saying Teacher: David _Beckham A teacher calling the
something routine, Student: _Yes names of students from
uninteresting or boring a register

120
 A: Do you suffer from any A is asked a series of
serious illness? routine questions to
B: _No apply for an insurance
A: Is your eyesight defective? policy.
B: _No

We usually find that completed statements and commands involve falling tones, whereas yes–no
questions and introductory non-final clauses more typically have rising nuclei, e.g.
Utterance type Default pattern
Statements Fanny carefully repeated the in\structions.
Delia’s bought a turkey from some guy in \Swindon.
It’s really well worth a \visit.
A \month or so ago.
Commands \Tell me about it.
Shut the \window.
Stack the books on those \shelves.
Wh-questions What’s the best way to roast a \goose?
Tag questions What’s your \name?
(confirmation Where do you \live?
questions) What were you thinking of \doing this evening?
How can we possibly pay this \bill?
Who on earth can we ask to \help?
Peter’s seen a \jaguar, \hasn’t he?
Yes-No questions Will it be ready by /Friday?
Tag questions Delia’s bought a turkey from some guy in /Swindon?
(true questions) It’s really well worth a /visit?
Has Prue booked her flight to /Paris?
Peter’s seen a \jaguar, /hasn’t he?
Non-final clauses Although Oliver promised to /help (he let us \down).
Meet us on /Thursday. (And then we can sort it out later.)
Don’t /worry. (It’ll be alright.)

121
 After having watched the /play something I didn’t do very /willingly
I’m convinced
of Marguerite’s \talent.
Lists We’ve invited /Delia, /Fanny, /Jamie, and all the \neighbours.
You can have /pasta, /rice, boiled po/tatoes or \chips.
A /book, a /pen, and ten \minidiscs.

A few meanings have been suggested for the five tones introduced, but each tone may have many
more such meanings. Moreover, no particular tone has a unique ‘privilege of occurrence’ in a
particular context.
3. The tone unit
We can normally break connected speech down into utterances, i.e. units that begin and end with
a clear pause. While utterances may consist of only one syllable, such as yes or no, they are
normally much longer, as in The other day, while I was in town, I met Chris, who I hadn't seen for
a couple of weeks. Within an utterance, we can sometimes also identify smaller units, over which
a single intonation contour extends. Such a stretch of speech we call a tone unit, or tone group
(Skandera & Burleigh, 2005). For example, the simple question (i) below, the longer question (ii),
and the statement (iii) are all utterances.
i When?
ii When did you say you would arrive?
iii When he finally arrived, he discovered his friends had already left.
(i) and (ii) each consist of a single tone unit whereas (iii) is made up of two tone units. A tone unit,
then, can extend over a stretch of speech as short as a single syllable, as in (i), or over a much
longer stretch of speech, as in (ii).
An utterance may be spoken as a single tone unit or it may be broken into several tone units. The
way the utterance is divided into tone units depends partly on the tempo of the speech. The faster
a person speaks, the longer and fewer the tone units; the slower the speech, the shorter and more
numerous the tone units. We say it depends partly on the tempo of speech because speakers can,
to a large degree, control the ‘chunking’ the way they want to.

122
Within a tone unit, each stressed syllable has a minor pitch increase, but there is one syllable in
which this pitch increase is more significant. The syllable that carries the major pitch change is
called the tonic syllable. For example, in the following sentence:

the elements marked with a ‘ are stressed, but the major pitch increase is on teacher, which is
marked with an asterisk.
A tonic syllable carries not only a tone but also a type of stress that will be called tonic stress.
e.g. \/John ǀ is it /you (Syllable carrying a tone is underlined)
The tone unit has a place in a range of phonological units that are in hierarchical relationship:
SPEECH >> UTTERANCE >> TONE UNIT >> FOOT >> SYLLABLE >> PHONEME
• Speech consists of a number of utterances.
• Each utterance consists of one or more tone units.
• Each tone unit consists of one or more feet.
• Each foot consists of one or more syllables.
• Each syllable consists of one or more phonemes.
The structure of the tone unit
Each symbol tone unit has one and only one tonic syllable; this mean that the tonic syllable is an
obligatory component of the tone unit (Skandera & Burleigh, 2005).
• The tonic syllable (TS), or nucleus, is the last prominent syllable in a tone unit.
• The head (H) is that part of a tone unit which extends from the first stressed syllable up to,
but not including, the tonic syllable. If there is no stressed syllable before the tonic syllable,
there is no head.
• The pre-head (PH) is composed of all the unstressed syllables in a tone unit preceding the
first stressed syllable. Thus pre-heads are found when there is no head (i.e. no stressed
syllable preceding the tonic syllable) or when there is a head.
• The tail (T) comprises all the syllables that occur between the tonic syllable and the end
of the tone unit.
We can mark off the four components of tone units with a vertical line and summarize tone unit
structure as follows:

123
 (pre-head) (head) tonic (tail)
syllable

Or more briefly, as
(PH) (H) TS (T)

Examples
(a) ˈgive me \ˈthose
H TS

(b) ˈBill ˈcalled to ˈgive \ˈthese

me
H TS

(c) in an \ˈhour
PH TS

(d) in a ˈlittle ˈless than an \ˈhour

PH H TS

(e) \ˈlook at it
TS T

(f) /ˈwhat did you ˈsay

TS T

(g) \ˈboth of them were ˈhere

TS T

124
PRACTICE

Activity 8.1
Mark the tone for each tone unit with the underlined tonic syllable.
0. /Actually, it was pretty \good.
1. In my opinion, it’s too expensive.
2. How are you doing?
3. When does it start?
4. Who told you?
5. I’m going outside.
6. I’ll be back in a minute.
7. If I study hard, I’ll get an A.
8. I’m going inside, to get something to drink.
9. Can you call me at five?
10. Is it good?
11. I left work, came home, and had dinner.
12. I need milk, apples, eggs, and sugar.
13. Do you want the blue one or the black one?

Activity 8.2
Match the intonation patterns of the following with the six types indicated below.
A. low rise C. low fall E. fall–rise
B. high (long) rise D. long (full) fall F. rise–fall
Utterance Intonation pattern
0. “I am so happy for you.” D
1. “Would you like to have coffee or tea?” (open choice reading)
2. “Would you like to have coffee or tea?” (closed choice)
3. “Where will the meeting be held?” (information seeking)
4. “Where will the meeting be held?” (I couldn’t hear you)
5. “What am I doing? I am trying to fix the TV.”
6. “Her predictions came true.” (clear finality)

125
7. “Who was at the meeting?”
8. “Whatever you say.”
9. “We should look for him, shouldn’t we?”
10. “You can take the old route.” (agree with reservation)
11. “Are you out of your mind?”
12. “Did you wash the car yet?”
13. “You would have done it the same way, wouldn’t you?”

Activity 8.3
Analyze the following tone units with the underlined tone syllables.
0. Are you living /here?
Are you ˈliving /ˈhere?
PH H TS
1. What’s he \looking for?
2. highlighting im\portant words
3. my flight a/rrives
4. at /nine o’clock
5. I’ll /call you
6. from the \airport
7. I only want to \/taste it.
8. The bus was \late
9. Is that the /end?
10. We asked if it had \come.
11. \/most of them
12. /\All of them went
13. Would you like some more /milk?
14. Only when the \/wind blows
15. /Why did you go?
16. What was the \name of the place?
17. I \/might buy it.
18. I \/might have thought of buying it.

126