Pronunciation Focus Exercises for Lesson Two: Pet and Pat · Clear Up Your Accent ©Jade Joddle Speaking Skills Pet Pat Exercises So only the first syllable contains a true short

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Clear Up Your Accent ©Jade Joddle Speaking Skills Pet Pat Exercises

Pronunciation Focus

Exercises for Lesson Two: Pet and Pat

Long and Short

The e in Pet and the a in Pat are both short vowel sounds.

Standard Spelling

The short e sound in Pet is almost always spelled with the letter e, but there are some

variations:

To help us notice this sound, we will use a capital letter E as our standard spelling.

NOTE: In many cases, the letter e is used to represent the ee sound, for example:

So when you are trying to notice and identify the short e sound, remember to use your

ears, not your eyes!

said ai sEd

dead ea dEd

friend ie frEnd

any a Enee

many a mEnee

The IPA spelling of Pet is either /pɛt/ or /pet/

impede im peed

devious dee vee us

http://public.oed.com/how-to-use-the-oed/key-to-pronunciation/



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The short a sound in Pat is always spelled with an a, but the letter a is also used to

represent other sounds, for example:

To help us notice this sound, we will use the capital letter A as our standard spelling.

Rhythm

There are some exceptions, but in general, the short E and short A sounds are found

only in syllables that receive emphasis—either a primary or secondary stress. So to

notice and identify these sounds, we must first notice the rhythm of words and

sentences.

EXAMPLE. If we break the word enemy into its parts, it might seem that it contains two

short E sounds:

However, only the first syllable has a strong stress. The rhythm is:

fate fAYt

father fAHther

The IPA spelling of Pat is /pæt/

enemy E nE mee

E nI mee Boom bI dee

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So only the first syllable contains a true short E sound:

The upside down ə sound is called a schwa; it will be discussed in detail in Lesson

Four. For now, we can spell it either with the short U sound in ‘Put’ or the short ɪ sound

in ‘Bit’. Just use your ear and write what you hear; don’t worry about getting it “correct.”

The important point to understand is that in un-stressed syllables, short vowels often are

not pronounced clearly: We run over them so quickly, it’s hard to tell what sound it is.

It’s a minimal vague vowel sound that connects consonants.

EXAMPLE. independent

If every syllable received equal stress, we would say:

A computer might say it this way, but we human beings, as British English speakers,

say:

enemy E nə mee

In dE pEn dEnt = Boom Boom Boom Boom

independent In dI pEn dunt dI dI Boom pah

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EXERCISE

Say these sentences out loud and then write down what you hear. You should:

Use the standard spelling E for the short e sound in Pet

Use either I or u in the un-stressed syllables where the sound is not clear

Underline the stressed syllables, or write them with bigger letters

ANSWERS ON NEXT PAGE

SENTENCE ONE

Eleanor the elephant is evidently elegant.

WRITE YOUR ANSWER HERE:

SENTENCE TWO

What the president said was entirely inedible.


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ANSWERS:

NOTE. The first E in evidently gets the primary stress, while the second E gets a

secondary stress. Both get some stress, so both show the true short E sound.

Just as for the short e sound in Pet, so also for the short a sound in Pat: although there

are some exceptions, in general the short A sound only appears in stressed syllables. In

general, when the letter a appears in an un-stressed syllable, we run over it so quickly,

it’s hard to tell what sound it is. It’s a schwa.

EXAMPLES:

What thu prE-sI-dunt sEd wuz In-tire-lee In-Ed-I-bul.

WORD MEANING NOTE

As the poem says, this text message includes an error. If we were to correct it, it

would be not inedible but incredible. Something is edible or inedible, depending on

whether or not human beings generally find it acceptable to eat. It’s too difficult to

say, “un-eat-able,” so we say instead, “in-ed-ible.”

imbalance Im bA lunce

adamant A du munt

El –u-nor thu E-lu-funt is E-vI-dEnt-lee El-I-gunt.

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Today, the word adamant is mainly used to describe a person who is unwilling to

change their opinion or decision.

Quote:

“The mayor is adamantly opposed to any tax increase.”

Originally, adamant was the name of a very hard stone—something whose shape

could not be changed. Here’s a line of poetry from the great English poet William

Wordsworth:

Who would force the Soul, tilts with a straw Against a Champion

cased in adamant.

The noun adamant can be made into the adjective adamantine. Here’s how it

looks in the Oxford English Dictionary:

/ˌ adəˈmantʌɪn/

In our way of doing things it would be: ,A-duh-‘mAn-tine.

The first A gets a small, secondary stress; the second A gets the primary stress.

Quote:

“I thought this last information would soften the young man, but he was

adamantine.”

LEARN ABOUT THE WORD





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EXERCISE. Say the sentence in the box below out loud, and write down what you hear.

You should:

Use the standard spelling A for the short a sound in Pat

Use either I or u in the un-stressed syllables where the sound is not clear

Underline the stressed syllables, or write them with bigger letters

ANSWER ON NEXT PAGE

SENTENCE ONE

As a matter of fact, arrogant applicants are actually attractive.


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ANSWER

Rhythm and stress affect the pronunciation of un-stressed syllables in a word, and they

also affect the pronunciation of small words in a sentence, words like and, as, that…

EXAMPLE. A panda can be happy as long as it has adequate land to expand its clan.

The important thing to notice here is the phrase: as long as it has. If we gave every

word and syllable equal emphasis, it would sound like:

As a mA-ter of fAct, A-ro-gunt A-plI-cInts are Ak-chu-lee a-trAk-tIv.

NOTE. In the more high-class, more posh Received Pronunciation, the word

actually is pronounced more like:

Ak-choo-uh-lee

A pAn-da cAn be hA-pee uz long uz it hAs A-duh-kwit LAnd to ex-pAnd its clAn.

AS Long AS It HAS Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom

But British human beings say:

uz-long-uz it hAs dah-Boom-pa dee Boom

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EXAMPLE: Pam was mad that Ben and Jan had decided to defend Rebecca.

ANSWER ON NEXT PAGE

PAm wuz mAd thut BEn un JAn ha-du-sigh-dud tuh duh-FEnd Ruh-bE-ka.

EXERCISE. Say the sentence below out loud and write down what you hear.

But then as her fans and family cheered and clapped, Anna miraculously

rose to stand.


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ANSWER

Break it Down

This sentence is quite difficult to pronounce clearly:

1. Let’s start with the word message mE-sIge

Practise saying it several times with a strong Em-phasis on the first syllable.

2. Now let’s add the end of the sentence:

…message you send mE-sIge you sEnd

Practise this several times with the rhythm: Boom dI boo bEn

3. Now practise: text message TExt mE-sIge

With the rhythm: Boom boom-Ige

But then As her fAns un fAm-ilee cheered un clapped

An-uh mI-RA-cu-lous-lee rose tuh stAnd.

It’s best to edit every text message you send.

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4. Continue:

every text message you send Ev-ree TExt mE-sIge you sEnd

It’s best to edit Its bEst tu Ed-It

5. Finally, say the whole thing, first quite slowly, then a bit faster, and finally up to

natural speed, as you hear it in the Video Lesson:

Its bEst tu Ed-It Ev-ree TExt mE-sIge you sEnd

Clarity

The letter P is called an explosive consonant. We study this in more detail in a future

lesson. Say the word “POW!!” This is the sound we make to imitate an explosion. It IS

an explosion: you close your lips together, build up air pressure from your belly (actually

your diaphragm), and then you let a burst of air explode out of your mouth. Say the

words Pet and Pat with a strong explosion: build up air pressure and then let it out with

a strong burst of air. This will help you get the short E and short A sound crisp and

clear.

Now let’s use this technique to practise the sentence:

Jen felt sad when Jan said to Ben, “Your dear old dad is dead!”

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PRACTISE the following steps:

PEN PET PAD Say all three words with a strong explosion.

Jen felt sad Say these words with the same explosive energy.

PAN PED to PEN Continue on in the same way…

Jan said to Ben

PEE oh PAD is PED

Dear old dad is dead

Now The Whole Sentence… PEN PET PAD pen PAN PED to PEN: yuh PEE oh PAD is PED!

Jen felt sad when Jan said to Ben: “Your dear old dad is dead!”

PRACTISE speech clarity saying the word ‘belly’.

First say the syllables separately: bE Lee Then together: bELee

Now the word berry: bE Ree bEree

Now the word alley A Lee Alee

Now the word marry mA Ree mAree

Now from Playful Practice:

Gentle Jerry JE Ree gEntul JEree

Plan to Marry MA Ree plAn to Maree

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SELF-STUDY EXERCISE – BRITISH VERSUS AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION

Go to the Cambridge Online Dictionary [dictionary.cambridge.org] and search under

“English” [NOT under “Essential British English”] for the words Ten and Sad. Click on

the speaker to listen to the pronunciation. Compare and try to imitate both the UK and

the US versions. The US pronunciation is a bit “lazy,” lower and further back in the

mouth. To get a clear British English accent, aim for the UK pronunciation, higher up

and more towards the front of the mouth. In British English, the short E and A sounds

are also shorter than the US versions.

OPTIONAL RESEARCH – BREATHING FROM THE BELLY

To learn about healthy breathing from the belly, the diaphragm, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ua9bOsZTYg

The narration is also given with excellent British pronunciation!



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Pronunciation Focus Exercises for Lesson Two: Pet and Pat · Clear Up Your Accent ©Jade Joddle Speaking Skills Pet Pat Exercises So only the first syllable contains a true short