PRONUNCIATION from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A [eI*] to Z [zi] page 1

Workshop - LETTERS du JOUR -Workshop

PRONUNCIATION from A [eI*]

to Z [zi] Rocco Dal Vera University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music


PRONUNCIATION AUTHORITIES CONSULTED ......................................................................................................................3 INDEX TO LETTER DU JOUR ...................................................................................................................................................8

Letter du Jour A .....................................................................................................................................................11 [œ]/a, as in HAD.......................................................................................................................................................................11 [A]/ah, as in FATHER ...............................................................................................................................................................12 [O]/aw, as in LAWYER ..............................................................................................................................................................13 [eI*]/ay as in HAY ......................................................................................................................................................................13

Letter du Jour B......................................................................................................................................................17 [b]/b, as in BUBBLE ..................................................................................................................................................................17

Letter du Jour C .....................................................................................................................................................19 [tS]/ch, as in CHURCH..............................................................................................................................................................19

Letter du Jour D .....................................................................................................................................................22 [d]/d, as in DREADED ..............................................................................................................................................................22

Letter du Jour E ......................................................................................................................................................25 [i]/ee as in HEED......................................................................................................................................................................25 [E]/e as in HEAD.......................................................................................................................................................................26

Letter du Jour F ......................................................................................................................................................28 [f]/f as in FLUFF .......................................................................................................................................................................28

Letter du Jour G .....................................................................................................................................................30 [g]/g as in GIGGLE ...................................................................................................................................................................30

Letter du Jour H .....................................................................................................................................................33 [h]/h as in HOW .......................................................................................................................................................................33 [çj]/hy as in HUGE ...................................................................................................................................................................34

Letter du Jour I ......................................................................................................................................................36 [I]/i, as in HID ..........................................................................................................................................................................36 [´]/´, the "schwa", or neutral vowel.......................................................................................................................................37 [aI*]/i @, as in HIGH ......................................................................................................................................................................37

Letter du Jour J ......................................................................................................................................................40 [dZ]/j, as in JUDGE....................................................................................................................................................................40

Letter du Jour K .....................................................................................................................................................42 [k]/k, as in COOK .....................................................................................................................................................................42

Letter du Jour L ......................................................................................................................................................44 [l,:]/l, as in LULL.......................................................................................................................................................................44

Letter du Jour M ....................................................................................................................................................47 [m]/m, as in MAMMAL ............................................................................................................................................................47

Letter du Jour N .....................................................................................................................................................49 [n]/n, as in NANNY ..................................................................................................................................................................49 [N]/ng, as in SINGING ..............................................................................................................................................................49

Letter du Jour O .....................................................................................................................................................52 [oU*]/oh, as in HOE....................................................................................................................................................................52 [aU*]/ow, as in HOW ..................................................................................................................................................................53 [OI*]/oi, as in HOIST ..................................................................................................................................................................53 [Å]/o, as in HOT........................................................................................................................................................................54

Letter du Jour P ......................................................................................................................................................56 [p]/p, as in POPULAR ...............................................................................................................................................................56

Letter du Jour Q .....................................................................................................................................................59 Letter du Jour R .....................................................................................................................................................60

[r]/r, as in REWRITE.................................................................................................................................................................60 [‰±]/UR and [„]/ur, as in MURMUR ["m‰±m„] ...........................................................................................................................62

Letter du Jour S ......................................................................................................................................................66 [s]/s as in SERIOUSNESS ..........................................................................................................................................................66 [S]/sh, as in SHUSH ..................................................................................................................................................................68

Letter du Jour T .....................................................................................................................................................70 [t]/t, as in TOTALITY ...............................................................................................................................................................70 [T]/th, as in THING, & [D]/th, as in THIS................................................................................................................................72

Letter du Jour U .....................................................................................................................................................74 [u]/u, as in PRUNE....................................................................................................................................................................74 [U]/uu, as in PUT......................................................................................................................................................................75 [ø]/u, as in HUT .......................................................................................................................................................................75

Letter du Jour V .....................................................................................................................................................77 [v]/v, as in VALVE....................................................................................................................................................................77

Letter du Jour W ....................................................................................................................................................79 [w]/w, as in WITCH, & [∑]/hw, as in WHICH .........................................................................................................................79

Letter du Jour X .....................................................................................................................................................81 Letter du Jour Y......................................................................................................................................................82

[È]/ee, as in EASY......................................................................................................................................................................82 [j]/y, as in YOU.........................................................................................................................................................................83

Letter du Jour Z ......................................................................................................................................................85 [z]/z, as in ZONES.....................................................................................................................................................................85 [Z]/zh, as in AZURE ..................................................................................................................................................................85 WORDS THAT CHANGE WITH USE.........................................................................................................................................87 GLOSSARY FOR LETTER DU JOUR ..........................................................................................................................................90


Workshop - LETTERS du JOUR -Workshop PRONUNCIATION from A [eI*] to Z

[zi]

Some pronunciations in the following section may strike you as so

foreign that they just don't seem right. What if you are convinced the

pronunciation dubbed "standard" is wrong? How did we pick standard

pronunciation? The following respected sources are used. There are 35 of

them because each has certain strengths and many sources disagree.

Pronunciation can be a contentious subject. Both Rocco and Bob (and

almost every other actor) have at some time experienced shock in finding

that our assumptions about "proper" speech are not necessarily shared by

the experts. In fact most of the words listed were chosen because they

gave us a jolt when we found out how they should be said.

Table LdJ .1 Pronunciation Authorities PRONUNCIATION AUTHORITIES CONSULTED

English Pronouncing Dictionary, Daniel Jones

The Oxford English Dictionary, Sir Agustus Henry Murray, et al., eds.

The Oxford American Dictionary

NBC Handbook of Pronunciation, Eugene, Ehrlich

A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, H. W. Fowler

Merriam Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary

A Dictionary of the English Language, Joseph Worcester

Speak With Distinction, Edith W. Skinner

Ten Thousand Words: How to Pronounce Them, Josephene Turck Baker

The Century Dictionary, William Whitney, Benjamin Smith

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

18,000 Words Often Mispronounced, W. H. P. Pfyfe

The New Century Dictionary, H. G. Emery, K. G. Brewster, eds.

Desk-Book of 25,000 Words Frequently Mispronounced, Frank Vizetelly

Webster's New International Dictionary

Everyday Errors in Pronunciation, John Gilmartin

Common Errors in English and How to Avoid Them, A lexander Witherspoon

The American College Encyclopedic Dictionary

A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English, John Kenyon, Thomas Knott

The Winston Dictionary Webster's Third New Internatiuonal Dictionary


Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary

The American Heritage Dictionary

The Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary

Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary

Webster's New World Dictionary

Webster's New World Guide to Pronunciation, William Chisholm

Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary

The New York Times Everyday Reader's Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, and Mispronounced Words, Lawrence Urdang, ed.

There is No Zoo in Zoology, and Other Beastly Mispronunciations, Charles Elster

Shakespeare's Names, Helge Kökeritz

Shakespeare's Pronunciation, Helge Kökeritz

Note that charts refer to PREFERRED or STANDARD (the most elevated or

cultured of pronunciations) and to NON-STANDARD. They do not refer to RIGHT

and WRONG nor to CORRECT and INCORRECT pronunciation. What if it sounds

British to your ear? Some pronunciations may, but they are actually based on a

dialect called Elevated Standard. That is a stage dialect we will cover more fully

in Chapter 5. We assume that all actors wish to know the preferred

pronunciation of a word, and then make their own choices, depending on

different contexts they are in and characters they are playing. If you're doing a

voice-over for a medical video, you will want to say "respiratory" [rI."spaI*´*.r´.ÆtO´*.rÈ],

"cerebral" ["sE.r´.br´:], and "bulimia"[bju."lI.mI.´] in order to sound authoritative and

credible - even though many doctors don't say them that way. But, if those

words come up in an "After-School Special", the more commonly heard

pronunciation will probably be the better choice. Remember, good speech is

not about showing off, it is what communicates most effectively under the

circumstances. Good speech is what works.

The following workshop section has two primary goals:


1. to provide the tools for you to adjust toward a neutral, non-regional

sound - when you wish to do so. Most student actors begin their studies

with at least broadly regional, and possibly narrowly dialectal speech.

2. to assist you in eliminating common problems and stumbling blocks

associated with each sound.

If you can adjust these influences at will, you have a much better

chance at mastering all language. Instead of layering every other dialect

on top of your own, thus creating a potentially hopeless muddle, you can

start clean, without distraction. Instead of forcing each character to

employ your own articulation style, you have choice. You can use as many

or as few of your own speech tendencies as you wish.


LETTERS DU JOUR - ONE LETTER AT A TIME.

How do you organize that task? Most seemingly monumental tasks simply

need to be broken down into manageable, daily jobs. The big tasks can

therefore even become pleasurable. Because the alphabet is the single most

familiar way in which most of us organize the sounds in English, we have

created a series of exercises for each letter. Your daily LETTER du JOUR menu

includes these parts:

DESCRIPTION: categories the sound falls into, such as voiced/unvoiced,

fricative/glide, etc. (see pp. _____).

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE Table. 3.9 Ways to Pron. Example IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

Here you will see the many different sounds the letter can represent.

FORMATION: what lips, tongue, vocal folds, and jaw are doing to make sound.

PLACEMENT PROBLEMS: preferred sound quality, common placement errors.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: ways sound slips out of line, changes through

regional dialects, drills to adjust sound to standard1.

DRILLS: tongue twisters, and phrases to practice

Table. 3.10 Mispronunciation Example MOST COMMON MISPRONUNCIATIONS

Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation

Pronunciations are transcribed in phonetics as well as respelled so you can use

the system that's clearer for you.

Consider these three ways to use the material:

1Specific sound changes can be difficult to describe. We will use both phonetics and respelling to indicate some of the ways speakers shift standard sounds. Refer to the vowel and consonant charts (pp.___/___) to help you with the symbols and respelling keys.


1) Start at the beginning and work your way through A-to-Z, spending a

couple of sessions on the more complex sections, and breezing through

others. Some letters may take more "jours" than others. Note that A, J, O,

and R have two to three times more work connected with them than most

letters, while F, J, K, Q ,V and W are very brief work-outs. You may wish

two or three sessions for A alone, just to get used to the work. Then, on

some other days, you may actually be able to cover two or three full

letters, to average out a month of work.

2) Group sets of related sounds (as opposed to letters) together and work

them as units - all the plosive consonants, or all the front vowels, for

example. A Guide To Finding The Sounds By Category follows.

3) Search for specific drills because you've been told you need work on

forming a particular letter or sound. If you get that kind of note from

your teacher, director or coach, the following Index to the Letter du

Jour will help you look up the approprate exercises. Because you might

get a note using either spelling or sound terms, and since there is such a

disparity between spelling and sound in English, we provide the index to

help you reconcile the two, and show you where to find the sections you

want.


SOUNDS BY CATEGORY - AN INDEX

Table. X.XX Guide To Sounds By Category Letter du Jour - GUIDE TO FINDING SOUNDS BY CATEGORY

FRONT VOWELS BACK VOWELS CENTRAL VOWELS Symbol Letter Page Symbol Letter Page Symbol Letter Page [i]/ee E [A]/ah A/O [ø]/u U [È]/ee Y [Å]/o O [´]/´ I [I]/i I [O]/aw A/O [„]/ur R [E]/e E [U]/uu U [‰±]/UR R [œ]/a A [u]/oo U

DIPHTHONGS DIPHTHONGS/TRIPHTHONGS of [„] Symbol Letter Page Symbol Letter Page [eI*]/ay A [I„*]/ir R [aI*]/i� I [e„*]/air R [OI*]/oi O [A„*]/ahr R [aU*]/ow O [O„*]/or R [oU*]/oh O [U„*]/uur R [aI*„*]/i�r R [aU*„*]/owr R

CONSONANTS PLOSIVE FRICATIVE AFFRICATE

Symbol Letter Page Symbol Letter Page Symbol Letter Page [p]/p P [f]/f F [tS]/ch C [b]/b B [v]/v V [dZ]/j J [t]/t T [s]/s S LATERAL [d]/d D [z]/z Z Symbol Letter Page

[k]/k K [S]/sh S [l]/l L [g]/g G [Z]/zh Z [:]/l L

NASAL [T]/th T GLIDE Symbol Letter Page [D]/th T Symbol Letter Page

[m]/m M [r]/r R [w]/w W [n]/n N [∑]/hw W [N]/ng N/A [j]/y Y


Table. X.XX Index-Letter du Jour INDEX TO LETTER DU JOUR

SOUND IPA/Respelling

WAYS THE SOUND APPEARS IN WORDS, SPELLING VARIETIES

Letter Page

[i] ee be, see, receive, beak, people, key-quay, machine, field, Caesar, phoenix, debris

E

[È] ee silly, chamois, Raleigh, goalie, Chelsea Y [I] i it, myth, guilt, busy, taken, image, women, captain,

breeches, before I

[e] (not addressed in its pure form) [E] e met, dead, leopard, heifer, bury-berry, guest, said,

any, Thames E

[œ] a had, plaid, guarantee A [a] (not addressed in its pure form) ask, aunt [A] ah calm, father, hurrah A/O [Å] o watch, rock, laurel, squash, Lawrence-Laurence,

forest, Gloucester, bureaucracy O

[O] aw flaw, taunt, balk, all, ought, chorus A/O [o] (not addressed in its pure form) opinion, Ophelia, poetic [U] uu took, wolf, would, pull, worsted U [u] oo rude, blue-blew, fruit, do, ooze, soup, shoe,

through-thru-thró-threw U

[ø] u tub, come, touch, blood, does U [´] ´ affirm, soda, telephone, possible, oppose, purpose,

melody, upon, suppose, chorus, labyrinth, sirrah, national, gorgeous, vicious, porous, Confucius, the (weak form before a consonant), to (weak form before a consonant)

I

[„] ur over, sugar, ascertain, mother, grandeur, taper-tapir, stubborn, actor, cupboard, surprise, sulfur, picture, martyr

R

[‰±] UR certain, first, curt, myrtle, myrrh, worse, rehearse, courteous, chauffeur, colonel

R

[eI*] ay ate-eight, rain-rein-reign, pray-prey, great-grate, gauge, cliché, ballet, matinée

A

[aI*] i� I-eye-aye, tie-Thai, thigh, I'll-aisle-isle, by-buy-bye, guide, height, benign, diamond, fire

I

[OI*] oi oyster, oil, boy, buoyant, Freud O [aU*] ow house, bow-bough O [oU* oh so-sew-sow, soul-sole-Seoul, coat, doe-dough, mauve,

beau-bow, yeoman, broach-brooch O

[i„*] ir here-hear, deer-dear, pier-peer, weird, Gloucestershire, souvenir

R

[e„*] air their-there, pair-pare-pear, parent, mare, air-ere-e'er-heir-Ayr-Eyre

R

[A„*] ahr are, car, sergeant-Sargent, hearth, guard, catarrh, bizarre, bazaar

R

[O„*] or oar-ore-o'er-or, door, pour, war, dinosaur R [U„*] uur poor, tour, sure, jury, Moor-moor-Moore R


[aI*„*] i�r hire-higher, byre-buyer, dire-dyer, lyre-liar R [aU*„*] owr flower-flour-flow'r, our-hour-Auer R [b] b be, bubble, tube B [tS] ch chicken, cello, wretched, nature C [d] d dab, paddle, stored D [f] f fall, phonetic, fluff, cough, half F [g] g give, lag, egg, beggar, examine, exhaust, ghost G [h] h he, who, mishap H [∑] hw what, somewhere W [dZ] j July, genuine, soldier, judge, region, exaggerate J [k] k Kim, coat, chaos, quit, expend, back, plaque-plack K [l,:] l lily, tall L [m] m mad, hummer, hymn, bomb, phlegm, calm, Banff M [n] n none-nun, gunning, mnemonic, pneumatic,

gnome-Nome, reign-rein-rain N

[N] ng singing, bank, tongue N/A [p] p pat, happy, hop, hiccough P [r] r right-rite-write-Wright, carry, rheumatism R [s] s said, psychology, schism, cent-sent, dice, ax, hiss, pizza S [S] sh shoe, sure, ocean, machine, anxious, mission,

conscious, motion, schnapps S

[t] t top, better, hit, helped, Thames, ptomaine, doubt, right T [T] th thick, Matthew T [D] th this, lathe T [v] v verve, of, Stephen-Steven V [w] w weed, wow, language, quip, one, San Juan W [j] y you. brilliant, usual, knew-new, beauty, Jung Y [z] z zoom, xylophone, disaster, was, close, buzz, examine Z [Z] zh negligée, mirage, azure, treasure, bijou, Zsa Zsa Z

EXERCISE X.XX FINDING YOUR WAY THROUGH LETTER du JOUR

1.Make a list of your most frequently received pronunciation notes.

2.Using the Guide and the Index, identify the Letters that will cover your issues; (Some

problems may fall into more than one area.) For example:

"Don't say 'git.'" (E)

"Sounding a little too sibilant." (S, Z)

"Duke isn't DOOK, it's DYOOK." (Y)


3. Share your list with your imitating partners and the class to get their feedback, and to

plan which areas to concentrate on.

For the various tasks in this chapter and the workshop sequence,

twenty minute to half hour sessions are ideal, because the level of

concentration required is high. Breaks are important to allow information

to settle in. Be patient with yourself. This very technical work has a big

pay-off that comes with time. Mastering your own language is an

extraordinary thrill earned by tiny, intricate steps. But when mastery

comes, suddenly even your ideas seem better, finer and fuller, because

you are so much better at expressing them.


Letter du Jour: A WAYS TO PRONOUNCE - 15!

Table LdJ .2 Letter du Jour-A IPA Symbol Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings

[ i ] ee leak, quay [ E ] e dread [œ ] a fad, guarantee, plaid [ A ] ah father, suave, palm, hurrah [ Å ] o what, laurel, Lawrence, bureaucracy [ O ] aw drawl, fall, quality, daughter [ ´ ] ´ above [‰± ] ur earnest [eI* ] ay great, fate, day, ail, gauge, gaol [aI* ] i@ aisle [aU* ] ow kraut, miaow [oU* ] oh float, faux, mauve, beau [I„* ] eer fear [E„*] air hair, fare [A„*] ahr far

We will focus on [œ]/a, [A]/ah, [O]/aw, and [eI*]/ay.

[œ]/a, as in HAD FORMATION: Front of tongue low and relaxed, mouth wide open, the lowest of

front vowel sounds. Compare with nearest contrasting sounds by looking in a

mirror and saying HEAD [hEd], HAD [hœd] , HOD [hÅd].

PLACEMENT: If not correctly placed, can be the most tense and nasal2 sounding

vowel. Relax, make a slight yawn to lift your soft palate. Say HAD [hœd]. To test

for an overly nasal sound, pinch your nose closed and say the sound. If it

changes, then too much of the air and sound is being sent through your nose.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS:

1.- [œ]/a changing to [ E*œ ]/ea. Open your mouth wider, and faster.

Practice on: Nancy, imagine, natty, man, band, dandy 2Describing sound qualities in print is like writing wine reviews (rich, nutty, amusingly fruity but unassuming...). We sometimes use following terms to describe problems with sounds. You may wish to review them in the glossary if they are unfamiliar: nasal, tense, bright, dark, sibilant, lateral lisp, off-glide, on-glide, round, blurred, overly-retroflexed, hard.


a. - Daniel can't stand canned Spam.

b. - Hand the man another ham sandwich.

2.- [œN]/ang changing to [œI*N]/aing, or [EN]/eng. Keep the front of your tongue

low.

Practice on: band/bank, sand/sank, planned/plank

c. - The lanky man angrily drank himself into blankness.

d. - Dan dangled a sack of cash and his banker thanked him.

3.- [œr]/ar changing to [Er]/er. Put the [r]/r into the next syllable, so that HARRY

would be ["hœ rÈ]/HA-ree, not ["hE„* È]/HAIR-ee.

Practice on: arid, parry, barrier, marry, Barry, character, mariner

Use these pairs of words to separate the sounds [E]/e and [œ]/a:

merry/marry, berry/Barry, hairy/harry, Terry/tarry

e. - Harry, the baritone barrister, married the garrulous character actress Sharon

Harrington, and carried her off to his garret in a wheelbarrow with a parasol

attached.

[A]/ah, as in FATHER FORMATION: Back of tongue low and relaxed, mouth wide open, lips

unrounded, soft palate raised - as if the doctor just asked you to open your

mouth and say "ah". This sound is often used for singing practice because of its

openness.

PLACEMENT: This open vowel sound is a good place to practice releasing any

tenseness in your tone. Add a slight yawn and relax into the sound [hA]/hah.


- [A]/ah changing to [a]/a. The sound becomes too bright. Drop the back of the

tongue and relax the mouth farther open.

Practice on: suave, alms, hurrah, Milan, lava, barrage, lager, saga

a. - Ah, father calms mama's qualms with a massage at the spa.


b. - Hurrah! Brahms and Mahler in concert at Baden Baden!

[O]/aw, as in LAWYER FORMATION: Back of tongue mid-low and relaxed, lips rounded.

PLACEMENT: Sound is warm, dark and rounded.


1. - [O]/aw changing to [A]/ah. The sound becomes too bright. Round the lips

more.

Practice on these word pairs saying the first word in the British manner with the "r" dropped,

then matching that sound on the second word:

lore/law, lord/laud, torn/taunt, or/awe, court/caught

2. - [O]/aw changing to [U´*]/uu´. This substitution is particularly common on the

East coast. Speak slowly. Look in a mirror and don't relax or change your lips,

or drop the center of your tongue during the sound.

Practice on: bawdy, caution, vault, hawk, talk, thought, stalk

a. - Paul Kaufman's awesome paunch daunted the staunchest tailors.

b. - Shaw bawled at the thought of his daughter marrying an awful pauper.

[eI*]/ay as in HAY FORMATION: Diphthong. Front of tongue starts at mid-front level and rises to

high front level, Jaw closing slightly with action; lips relaxed and unrounded.

PLACEMENT: Sound needs to stay far forward in the mouth with a bright, clear

quality. Avoid letting the tongue drop and making the sound lax or dark.


- [eI*]/ay changing to [Í*]/ui. Keep the sound forward. Smile on the sound. Keep

the center of your tongue high.

- [eI*]/ay changing to [e]/ay. Regionally and with some dialects (especially those

influenced by Scots/Irish such as Canadian) the second part of the diphthong

will disappear.


Practice on: aid, weigh, train, name, survey, gauge, plague

a. - Today is the day they take the babies away.

b. - The caped and overweight lady sailed forward in a vague shapeless wave of

beige.

Table LdJ .3 A-Mispronounced WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED

Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation aberrant ´."be´*.rńt ´ BER ńt "œ.b´.rńt A bu rńt

abyss ´."bIs ´ BIS "œ.bIs A bis

academia Æœ.k´."di.mI.´ A k´ DEE mi ´ Æœ.k´."deI*.mI.´ A k´ DAY mi ´

accent (n.) accent (v.)

"œk.sEnt œk."sEnt

Ak sent ak SENT

Improper Stressing

accessory œk."sE.s´.rÈ ak SE s´ ree ´."sE.s´.rÈ ´ SE s´ ree

acclimate ´."klaI*.mIt ´ KL i@ mit "œk.l´.ÆmeI*t AK l´ MAYT

accompanist ´."køm.p´.nIst ´ KUM p´ nist ´."køm.p´.ni.Ist ´ KUM p´ nee ist

accompt ´."kaU*nt ´ KOWNT ´."kÅmt ´ KOMT

accouterment ´."ku.t„.mńt ´ KOO tur mńt ´."ku.tr´.mńt ´ KOO tr´ mńt accurate "œ.kjU.rIt A kyuu rit "œ.k´.rIt A k´ rit

across ´."krÅs ´ KROS ´."krÅst ´ KROST

acumen ´."kju.mń ´ KYOO mń "œ.kju.mń AK yoo mń

adieu ´."dju ´ DYOO ´."du ´ DOO

adjective "œ.dZIk.tIv A jik tiv "œ.dZ´.tIv A j´ tiv

admirable "œd.m´.r´.b´: AD m´ r´ b´l œd."maI*´*.r´.b´: ad M i@ r´ b´l

advertisement Æœd.v„."taI*z.mńt AD vur T i@Z mńt Æœd."v‰±t.´z.mńt acceptable for

AD VUR t´z mńt British speech

aegis "i.dZIs EE jis "eI*.dZIs AY jis

aerie "E.rÈ E ree "I.rÈ, "œ.rÈ, "eI*„*.rÈ I ree, A ree, AY ´ ree

Aesop "i.sÅp EE sop "eI*.sÅp AY sop

affluence "œ.flu.Ins A flu ins ´."flu.Ints ´ FLU ints

Albany (New York) "O:.b´.nÈ AWL b´ nee "œ:.b´.nÈ AL b´ nee

algae "œ:.dZÈ AL jee "œ:.dZeI*, "œ:.dZaI* AL jay, AL ji@

alleged ´."lEdZd ´ LEJD ´."lEdZ.´d ´ LE j´d

alms3 Amz AHMZ A:mz AHLMZ

alumnae4 ´."løm.nÈ ´ LUM nee ´."løm.naI* ´ LUM ni@

3The "l" on this word is dropped as it is for: almond, balm, balmy, calm, calmly, embalm, halm, Malmesbury, malmsey, napalm, psalms, palm, palmistry, qualm.


alumni ´."løm.naI* ´ LUM ni@

always "O:.weI*z AWL wayz "A.wiz AH weez

amateur "œ.m´.t„ A m´ t´r "œ.m´.tS„ "œ.m´t.U„* "œ.m´t.jU„*

A m´ ch´r A m´ tuur A m´ tyuur

ambergris "œm.b„.Ægris AM b´r GREES "œm.b„.ÆgrIs AM b´r GRIS

amenable ´."mi.n´.b´: ´ MEE n´ b´l ´."mE.n´.b´: ´ ME n´ b´l

ancillary "œn.sI.ÆlE.rÈ AN si le ree Æœn."sI.l´.rÈ acceptable for

AN SI l´ ree British speech

angst œNst ANGST ANst AHNGST

Antarctic(a) œnt.ÆA„*k.tIk ant AHRK tik œ."nA„*.dIk a NAHR dik

antenna (singular) antennae (plural)

œn."tE.n´ œn."tE.nÈ

an TE n´ an TE nee

œn."tE.naI*

an TE ni@

apartheid ´."pA„*t."heI*t ´ PAHRT HAYT ´."pA„*.TaI*d ´ PAHR THi@D

aphrodisiac Æœ.froU*."dI.zI.œk A froh DI zee ak Æœ.froU*."di.Zi.œk A froh DEE zhee ak

Appalacia (n, s) Æœ.p´."lœ.tSI.´ A p´ LA chi ´ œ.p´."leI*.S´ A p´ LAY sh´ apparatus Æœ.p´."reI*.t´s A p´ RAY t´s Æœ.p´."rœ.t´s A p´ RA t´s

applicable "œ.plI.k´.b´: A pli k´ b´l ´."plI.k´.b´: ´ PLI k´ b´l

aqua- "œ.kw´ A kw´ "A.kw´ AH kw´

aqueous "eI*.kwI.´s AY kwee ´s "œ.kwI.´s A kwee ´s

archaeology ÆA„*.kI"Å.l´.dZÈ AHR kee O l´ jee ÆA„*.keI*."Å.l´.dZÈ AHR kay O l´ jee

archangel "A„*."keI*n.dZ´: AHR KAYN j´l ÆA„*."tSeI*n.dZ´: AHR CHAYN j´l

archetype "A„*.k´.ÆtaI*p AHR k´ Ti@P "A„*.tS´.ÆtaI*p AHR ch´ Ti@P

arctic "A„*k.tIk AHRK tik "A„*.tIk AHR tik

argot "A„*.goU* AHR goh "A„*.g´t acceptable for

AHR g´t British speech

aristocrat "œ.rIs.t´.Ækrœt A ris t´ KRAT ´."rIs.t´.Ækrœt ´ RIS t´ KRAT

arse As AHS A„*s AHRS

asbestos œs."bEst.´s as BES t´s œz."bEst.oU*s az BES tohs

assembly ´."sEm.blÈ ´ SEM blee ´."sEm.b´.lÈ ´ SEM b´ lee

assuage ´."sweI*dZ ´ SWAYJ ´."sweI*Z, ´."swAZ

´ SWAZH, ´ SWAHZH

asterisk "œ.st´.ÆrIsk A st´ RISK "œ.strIks, "œ.strIk A striks, A strik

athlete "œT.lit ATH leet "œ.T´.Ælit ATH ´ leet

atmospheric Æœt.m´s."fE.rIk AT m´s FE rik Æœt.m´s.fI.rIk AT m´s FI rik

authority O."TÅ.rI.tÈ aw THO ri tee A."TO„*.rI.tÈ ah THOR i tee

4Alumnus is a male graduate or former student of a school, college, or university. Its plural is alumni. Alumna is a female graduate or former student. Its plural is alumnae. Alumni is generally used to refer to both the alumni and alumnae of a coeducational institution.


auxiliary Og."zI:.j´.rÈ awg ZIL y´ ree Og."zI.l´.rÈ awg ZIL ´ ree


Letter du Jour: B Did you know that the letter B actually means "house"? It was

originally the second letter in the alphabet used by ancient Syrians and

Palestinians. I was called "beth", their word for "house". Many believe that it

evolved from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for house and it certainly is an

enclosed letter. The Egyptians however drew the symbol like this with even a

doorway _____ then it evolved thusly through the Semites, Phoenicians and

Greeks_______ _______ finally being rounded to its present form by the

Romans about CE 114. When the Greeks first borrowed the symbol they called it

"beta" (They also called the entire set of letters "alphabet" from their first two

letters alpha and beta).

The letter B comes in about 20th place in frequency of use in written

materials and of course carries the connotation of second (not as good as an A

but good, Company B, Team B, B List actors, etc.). The small case version of the

letter didn't appear until CE 300 as a shortcut, taking less time to write than a

capital.

B usually corresponds to the sound [b]. Is it now mute after m at the ends

of words like climb, dumb, bomb, and lamb. That wasn't always true, but

pronunciation evolves over time to make speaking easier. So, the B probably

was dropped in mb combinations as the language shifted from Middle to

Modern English because it takes too much lip action to articulate it well5.

5An extreme extension of this action can be heard today in some Scottish dialects where the mb drops the b in words like humble, amber, thimble, etc.


DESCRIPTION: voiced, bi-labial, stop-plosive consonant

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .4 Letter du Jour-B IPA Symbol


[ b ] b bill (initial) above, blubber (medial) club (final) climb (silent)

[b]/b, as in BUBBLE

FORMATION: With lips lightly closed, breath exhaled; vocal folds vibrated; soft

palate raised causing pressure to build behind lips; lips quickly separated

resulting in a voiced explosive sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Some accents and dialects unvoice the final "b"

sound, so that [b]/b changes to [p]/p, or the lips fail to completely block the

stream of air so that [b]/b changes to [B]/bv.

Practice on: scribe, barb, robber, neighbor, bubble, dubious

Pay particular attention to clear, well-sounded endings.

Practice on: fibbed, verbs, cubed, tribes, enfeebles, eatables. curb, herb, cab

a. - Balance the better bids on the bankrupt apartment building.

b. - The probable trouble was intolerable, and Bobby babbled on about it, sobbing

abjectly.

DRILLS:- repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. rubber baby buggy bumpers 2. begging beguilingly

3. bigger buggies 4. bleached cherubs 5. a big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood

6. the bootblack brought the black book back

7. toy boat 8. Peggy Babcock

9. Bodega Bodega 10. paper poppy, baby bubble 11. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)



Table LdJ .5 - B Troublesome Words

Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation Babel "beI*.b´: BAY Úb´l "bœ.b´: BA b´l bacchanal Æbœ.k´."nœ: BA k´ NAL ÆbA.k´."nA: BAH k´ NAHL Bacchus "bœ.k´s BA k´s "bA.k´s BAH k´s Bach bAç 6 bAk BAHK bade bœd BAD beI*d BAYD badminton "bœd.mIn.tń BAD min tń "bœd.mI.tń BAD mi tń bagel "beI*.g´: BAY g´l "bœ.g´: BA g´l Bahamian b´."heI*.mI.ń b´ HAY mi ń b´."hA.mI.ń b´ HAH mi ń bankruptcy "bœNk.røpt.sÈ BANGK ruhpt see "bœNk.røp.sÈ BANGK ruhp see balk bOk BAWK bO:k BAWLK balm bAm BAHM bA:m BAHLM banal7 "beI*.n´:, b´."nœ:

b´."nA:, bœ."nA: BAY n´l, b´ NAL b´ NAHL, ba NAHL

barbiturate bA„*."bI.tS´.rIt bahr BI ch´ rit bA„*."bI.tSu.It bahr BI chu it basal "beI*.s´: BAY s´l "beI*.z´: BAY z´l basil "bœ.z´: BA z´l "beI*.z´: BAY z´l basis (s.) basis (pl.)

"beI*.sIs "beI*.siz

BAY sis BAY seez

reversing pronounciations

bas relief "bA rI."lif BAH ri LEEF "bAs rI."lif BAHS ri LEEF because bI."kOz bi KAWZ bi."køz bee KUHZ been bIn BiN bEn, bin BEN, BEEN behemoth bI."hi.m´T bi HEE m´th "bi.h´.m´T BEE h´ m´th Beijing8 beI*."dZIN bay JING beI*."SIN bay SHING beneficent b´."nE.fI.sńt b´ NE fi sńt b´."nI.fI.sńt b´ NI fi sńt beneficiary ÆbE.nI."fI.SI.´.rÈ BE ni FI shi ´ ree ÆbE.n´."fI.S´.rÈ BE n´ FI sh´ ree benignant bI."nIg.nńt bi NIG nńt bI."naI*.nńt bi N i@ nńt bequeath bI."kwiD bi KWEETH bi."kwiT bee KWEETH bestial "bEst.j´: BEST y´l "bis.tS´: BEES ch´l bestiality ÆbEs.tI."œ.lI.tÈ BES ti A li tee Æbis.ti."œ.lI.tÈ BEES tee A li tee blasphemous "blœs.f´.m´s BLAS f´ m´s blœs."fi.m´s blas FEE m´s blithe blaI*D BLi@TH blaI*T BLi@TH Boise "bOI*.sÈ BOY see "bOI*.zÈ BOY zee bolivar/Bolivar boU*."li.vA„* boh LEE vahr "boU*.lI.ÆvA„* BOH li VAHR

6The final consonant sound in Bach is difficult to describe to English speakers. It does show up in the English language as the first sound in words starting with "hu" as in human, or humor. It is a typical German sound and is represented by the phonetic symbol [ç]. 7No matter which pronunciation you choose you will fail to please at least half of your listeners. Many public speakers simply drop banal from their vocabulary. Of course, an actor doesn't have that option with a script. So pick whichever pronunciation you like. 8It is risky to make assertions about foreign place names. Problems stemming from differences in alphabets, and sounds used in native speech that don't exist in English result in the creation of "exonyms" like Florence for Firenze, Moscow for Moskva, etc. Our recommendation for the capital of China is to pronounce the now less frequently used Peking as ["pi."kIN] and Beijing as [beI*."dZIN] even though neither is how it is really said in China.


bombardier ÆbÅm.b„."dI„* BOM b´r DIR ÆbÅm.b´."dI„* BOM b´ DIR bona fide "boU*.n´.ÆfaI*d BOH n´ FI�D ÆboU*.n´."faI*.dÈ BOH n´ FI� dee bon mot bO) mo BAW(N) MOH bAn mAt BAHN MAHT bouquet (flowers) bouquet (aroma)

bu."keI* boU*."keI*

boo KAY boh KAY

boU*."keI* bu."keI*

boh KAY boo KAY

boudoir "bu.dwA„* BOO dwahr bU."dwA„* buu DWAHR Brobdingnagian ÆbrÅb.dIN."nœ.gI.ń BROB ding NA gi an ÆbrÅb.dIg."neI*.dZI.ń BROB dig NAY ji ń

breeches "brI.tS´z BRI ch´z "bri.tS´z BREE ch´z brooch broU*tS BROHCH brutS BROOCH bruit brut BROOT "bru.It BROO it bulimia bju."lI.mI.´ byoo LI mee ´ bu."li.mI.´ boo LEE mee ´ buoy "bu.È BOO ee bOI* BOY Byzantine bI."zœn.tIn bi ZAN tin "bI.zń.ÆtaI*n BI zń Ti@N


Letter du Jour: C WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .6 Letter du Jour - C IPA Symbol


[ k ] k crisp, Christian, cup (initial) tactical, because, inchoate (medial) music, ache, back, Bach (final) [ s ] s cease (initial) policing (medial) mice (final) [ tS ] ch choose, cello (initial) kitchen (medial) cinch (final) [ S ] sh schnapps, Cherbourg, chagrin (initial) machine, ocean, conscious (medial) gauche (final)

We will focus on the sound [tS]/ch.

[tS]/ch, as in CHURCH

FORMATION: Affricate sound - combination of plosive [t]/t and fricative [Z]/zh.

Blade of tongue raised to touch front palate just behind gum ridge; breath

stream momentarily stopped by tongue at front palate. Tongue then quickly

lowers slightly, allowing breath stream to explode between it and front palate.

Sound is unvoiced.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tongue extends too far forward the sound will

be overly sibilant, and lisping. If instead of releasing the tongue tip on the [t]/t

sound, the sides of the tongue are released, a lateral lisp will result. Both

sounds can vary from mild lisps which only require practice and attention to

correct, to cases which need the assistance of a speech pathologist.

Practice on: church, change, structure, latching, stretch, witch

sheet/cheat, muss/much, shoes/choose, shuck/chuck

eats/each, cats/catch, hits/hitch, coats/coach


dish/ditch, wish/witch, bush/butch, mash/match

a. - Richard felt wretched after a lunch of chocolate and chives.

b. - Chuck fetched a pitcher of chalky milk and perched on his chair cheerfully

munching Cheerios.


1. Chichester witches 5. charming bachelor Chuck

2. Christian churches 6. richest challenge

3. bleached cherubs 7. charting challenging channels

4. choose orange shoes 8. sh-zh-ch-j-s-z-ch-j [S´-Z´-tS´-dZ´-s´-z´-tS´-dZ´] repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .7 Mispronounced - C WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation cadre "kœ.drÈ, "kA.d„* KAD ree,

KAH d´r "kA.dreI* KAH dray

calm kAm KAHM kA:m KAHLM

calve9 kœv KAV kœ:v KALV

Cambrian "kœm.brI.ń KAM bri ń "keI*m.bri.ń KAYM bree ń

cannot "kœ.nÅt KA not k´."nÅt k´ NOT

capricious k´."prI.S´s k´ PRISH ´s k´."pri.S´s k´ PREE sh´s

caramel kœ.r´.m´: KA r´ m´l "kA„*.m´: KAHR m´l

carbonate (n.) carbonate (v.)

"kA„*.b´.nIt "kA„*.b´.ÆneI*t

KAR b´ nit KAR b´ nayt

failure to distinguish

Carnegie10 kA„*".neI*.gÈ kahr NAY gee "kA„*.nI.gÈ KAHR ni gee

Caribbean Ækœ.rI."bi.ń KA ri BEE ń k´."rI.bi.ń k´ RI bee ń

caveat "keI*.vI.œt KAY vi at "kœ.vI.Åt KAH vi ot

celebratory "sE.l´.br´.ÆtO.rÈ SE l´ br´ TAW ree s´."lE.br´.ÆtO.rÈ s´ LE br´ TAW ree

cents sEnts SENTS sIns SINS

cerebral "sE.r´.br´: SE r´ br´l s´."ri.br´: s´ REE br´l

chaise longue SeI*z lON SHAYZ LONG tSeI*s lAU*ndZ CHAYS LOWNJ

chassis "Sœ.sÈ SHA see "tSœ.sIs, "tSœ.sˆ CHA sis

chemise S´."miz sh´ MEEZ S´."mis sh´ MIS

chicanery SI."keI*.n´.rÈ shi KAY n´ ree tSI."keI*.n´.rÈ chi KAY n´ ree

Chicano tSi."kA.noU* chee KAH noh tSI."kœ.noU* chi KA noh

chiropodist kaI*."rÅ.p´.dIst ki@ RO p´ dist S´."rÅ.p´.dIst sh´ RO p´ dist

9 Calf is also sometimes similarly mispronounced by the insertion of an "l". 10 "The accent is on the second syllable." - Andrew Carnegie. For the concert hall, and Dale Carnegie, the accent on the first syllable is most commonly heard.


chivalrous "SI.v´:.r´s SHI v´l r´s SI."vœ:.r´s shi VAL r´s

chromosome "kroU*.m´.ÆsoU*m KROH m´ SOHM "kroU*.m´.ÆzoU*n KROH m´ ZOHN

cliché kli."SeI* klee SHAY kl´."SeI* kl´ SHAY

clique klik KLEEK klIk KLIK

clitorus "klI.t´.r´s KLI t´ r´s kl´."tO´*.r´s kl´ TOR ´s

coitus "koU*.I.t´s KOH i t´s koU*."aI*.t´s, koU*."eI*.t´s, "kOI*.t´s

KOH i@ t´s, KOH ay@ t´s, Koy t´s

colander "kø.lń.d„ KU lń dur "kÅ.lń.d„ KO lń dur

collate k´."leI*t k´ LAYT "koU*.leI*t KOH layt

collation k´."leI*.Sń k´ LAY shń "koU*.leI*.Sń KOH lay shń

combatant k´m."bœ.tńt kom BA tńt "kÅm.b´.tńt acceptable for

KOM b´ tńt British Speech

comparable "kÅm.p´.r´.b´: KOM p´ r´ b´l k´m."pE.r´.b´: k´m PE r´ b´l

conch kÅNk KONGK kÅntS KONCH

consortium kń."sO„*.SI.´m kń SOR shi ´m kń."sO„*.tI.´m kń SOR tee ´m

constable "køns.t´.b´: KUN st´ b´l "kÅns.t´.b´: KAHN st´ b´l

consummate (adj.)

consummate (v.) kń."sø.mIt "kÅn.sju.ÆmeI*t

kń SU mit, KAHN syoo MAYT

"kAn.s´.m´t "kAn,s´.ÆmeI*t

KAHN s´ m´t, KAHN s´ MAYT

contemplative (n. of religious orders) contemplative (adj. pensive)

kń."tEm.pl´.tIv "kÅn.t´m.ÆpleI*.tIv

kń TEM pl´ tiv KON t´m play tiv

failure to distinguish meanings

contumely "kÅn.tjum.lÈ KON tyoom lee kń."tum.lÈ kń TOOM lee

controversial ÆkÅn.tr´."v‰±.S´: KON tr´ VUR sh´l ÆkAn.tr´."v‰±.si.´: KON tr´ VUR see ´l

coral "kÅ.r´: KO r´l "kO´*.r´: KOR r´l

coupon "ku.pÅn KOO pon "kju.pÅn KYOO pon

courage "kø.rIdZ KU rij "k‰±.rIdZ KUR rij

covert (adj. & n.) "kø.v„t KU vurt koU*."v‰±t KOH VURT

crayon "kreI*.Ån KRAY on krœn KRAN

culinary "kju.lI.n´.rÈ KYOO li n´. ree "kø.l´.nE.rÈ KU li ne ree

cupola "kju.p´.l´ KYOO p´ l´ "kju.p´.loU*, "ku.pj´.loU*

KYOO p´ loh. KUP y´ loh


Letter du Jour: D DESCRIPTION; (typically) voiced, lingua-dental, stop-plosive, consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .8 Letter du Jour -D ipa Symbol


[ d ] d dog (initial position middle (medial position) end (terminal position) [t ] t asked (final) [dZ ] j adjust, soldier (medial) pledge (final)

[d]/d, as in DREADED

FORMATION: Tip of tongue lightly pressed against gum ridge behind upper

teeth; sides of tongue touch side teeth; soft palate raised; air stream stopped.

Air is sent past the vocal folds causing them to vibrate; air pressure builds

behind tongue tip, which is released quickly, and air explodes out of the mouth.


1. - Sometimes the [d]/d is dropped from the middle of words.

Practice on: grandfather, sandwich, commanded, breadth

a. - I demanded the width of my sandwich have the breadth of a hand.

b. - Anderson, the candle-maker, handled dozens of individually hand-dipped

candles daily.

2. - Do not let the tongue touch the teeth11. This dentalization [d1] is noticeable

in several Eastern urban dialects.

Practice on: wreathe/reed, breathe/breed, thence/dense, they/day, loathe/load,

thither/dither, though/dough

c. - Don't dither, Dudley, weed the garden, and do the dishes.

11Unless [d]/d is followed immediately by a "TH" sound.


d. - Danny, wouldn't dare drop his daughters dolls in the dumpster.

3. - Make sure that final [d]/d sounds are fully voiced and don't become [t]/t

through a lack of energy on the sound. Be careful not to make an off-glide

sound [d´]. Stop on the [d].

Practice on: beat/bead, set/said, hurt/heard, root/rude, goat/goad, right/ride

e. - Todd hoarded a load of hardwood, and didn't intend to vend it.

f. - Did you hide the kids in the woods, or in the old shed?


1. A dozen Black & Decker Dustbusters 5. Paddy had a deadened haddock in the paddock.

2. deranged avenger 6. wooden noodle

3. handle dandelion 7. depth and breadth 4. Dwight wouldn't dwell with a dozen wooden dwarves.

8. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .9 Mispronounced - D

WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation

daiquiri "daI*.k´.rÈ D i@ k´ ree "dœ.k´.rÈ DA k´ ree

dais "deI*.Is DAY is "daI*.Is D i@ is

damask "dœ.m´sk DA m´sk d´."mœsk d´ MASK

data "deI*.t´ DAY t´ "dœ.t´ DA t´

decibel12 "dE.sI.ÆbE: DE si BEL "dE.s´.b´: DE s´ b´l

decrease (n.) decrease (v.)

"di.kris dI."kris

DEE krees di KREES

improper stressing

deity "di.I.tÈ DEE i tee "deI*.I.tÈ DAY i tee

deluge "dE:.judZ DEL yooj "deI*.luZ DAY loozh

depot "di.poU* DEE poh "dE.poU* suitable for some

DE poh military & British

despicable "dE.spI.k´.b´: DE spi k´ b´l d´."spI.k´.b´: d´ SPI k´ b´l

detritus dI."traI*.tIs di TRY tis "dE.tr´.t´s DE tr´ t´s

dew dju DYOO du DOO

12An interesting bit of trivia, and a good way to remember this pronunciation is that the last syllable of this word is meant to honor A lexander Graham Bell. That’s why the symbol describing this is dB for deci (divisions of ten) Bells (units of sound pressure).


diesel "di.z´: DEE z´l "di.s´: DEE s´l

diminution ÆdI.mIn."ju.Sń DI min YOO shń ÆdIm.ju."nI.Sń DIM yoo NI shń

diphtheria dIf."TI.rI.´ dif THI ri ´ dIp."TI.rI.´ dip THI ri ´

diphthong "dIf.TÅN DIF thong "dIp.TÅN DIP thong

dirigible "dI.rI.dZI.b´: DI ri j´ b´l Æd´."rI.dZ´.b´: di RI j´ b´l

discourage dIs."kø.rIdZ dis KU rij dIs."k‰.rIdZ dis KUR rij

disheveled dI."SE.v´:d di SHE v´ld dIs."hi.v´:d dis HEE v´ld

disparate "dIs.p´.r´t DI sp´ r´t dI."spE.rIt di SPE rit

dissect dI."sEkt di SEKT "daI*.sEkt D i@ sekt

doth døT DUTH dÅT DOTH

dour dU„* DUUR "dAU*.„* DOWUR

drawer (one who draws and the receptacle)

"drO.´± DRAW er drO´± DROR

drowned drAU*nd DROWND "drAU*n.d´d DROWN d´d

ducat "dø.k´t DUK ´t "du.k´t DOOK ´t

duty "dju.tÈ DYOO tee "du.tÈ DOO tee


Letter du Jour: E WAYS TO PRONOUNCE - 12!

Table LdJ .10 Letter du Jour - E IPA Symbol


[ i ] ee receive, seed, people, read, cede, chief [ I ] i because, except, breeches [ E ] e heavy, get, leopard, leisure [ u ] oo flew, blue, queue [ ´ ] ´ women, difference [´± ] ur user [‰± ] ur learn, clerk [eI* ] ay great, obey, cliché, ballet, matinee, reign, eight [aI* ] i@ height, die, dye [oU* ] oh beau [I„*] eer here, dear, cheer, weird [E„*] air there, heir

We will focus on [i]/ee, and [E]/e.

[i]/ee as in HEED

FORMATION: Highest and most forward of all the vowel sounds, front of tongue

lifted high toward front palate; muscles of tongue tense; jaw almost shut; lips

unrounded. Because of the effort needed to make this sound it is usually found

on stressed syllables. Compare it to the nearby [I]/i, as in HID, and [È]/ee as in

the last syllable of SILLY.

PLACEMENT: Often called the "smile vowel" - why we say cheeeese when

someone takes a picture. It is supposed to be a bright sound. If the lips are

rounded, or closed the sound will lack brilliance and clarity.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Some regions (notably American Southern) start this

sound with a relaxed tongue then tense into the vowel, producing an on-glide

diphthong [´*i]/uee. Work instead to come cleanly on to the vowel.

Practice on: agree, thee, eagle, convene, seize, teased, police, peeling, reveal

bid/bead, pill/peal, rid/read, dim/deem, kills/keels, sin/seen


a. - Steve is weak-kneed and queasily freezes at scenes from B-movies.

b. - Edith eats the greasy eels with ease, peeling each with her teeth.

[E]/e as in HEAD

FORMATION: Front of tongue at mid-front level, relaxed; lips unrounded; jaw

half-open. Compare it to nearby sounds [I]/i, as in HID, and [œ]/a, as in HAD.

PLACEMENT: Keep sound forward and bright. A slight smile will help. As with

[œ]/a, this sound can become nasal, so experiment with pinching your nose

closed, and see if the tone changes. If it does, then too much of the sound is

resonating through your nose. Make a slight yawn (this will raise your soft

palate) and see if the sound comes out more clearly.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: The infamous "git-get" substitution. To correct it

open your mouth farther and drop the front of your tongue.

Practice on: hid/head, pit/pet, did/dead, rid/red, will/well, bitter/better

ten tin men, then hem him in, pin Dennis' pen, din in the den

a. - Every Wednesday Betty gets her best dress ready for a heavy session of betting

on roulette with friends and a heavy sweating session with Teddy.

b. - Yesterday's leftover lettuce, a deviled egg, and several sections of wet bread

went into Jenny's breakfast.

c. – Measure the egg on your leg.

Table LdJ .11 Mispronounced - E WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED

Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation ebullient I."bU:.jńt i BUUL yńt I."bu.lI.ńt i BUU li ńt

economic Æi.k´."nÅ.mIk EE k´ NO mik ÆE.k´."nÅ.mIk E k´ NO mik

electoral I."lEk.t´.r´: i LEK t´ r´l Æi.lEk."tO„*.r´: EE lek TO r´l

eleemosynary ÆE.l´."mÅ.s´.n´.rÈ E l´ MO s´ n´ ree Æi.lI.´."mÅ.s´.nE.rÈ E lee ´ MO s´ ne ree

elephantine ÆE.l´."fœn.tIn E l´ FAN tin "E.l´.fń.ÆtaI*n E l´ fń Ti@N

encourage In."kø.rIdZ in KU rij En."k‰±.rIdZ en KUR rij

enclave "En.kleI*v EN klayv "Ån.kleI*v ON klayv

envelope (n.) "En.v´.ÆloU*p EN v´ lohp "Ån.v´.ÆloU*p ON v´ lohp

envoy "En.vOI* EN voi "Ån.vOI* ON voi


equanimity Æi.kw´."nI.mI.tÈ EE kw´ NIM i tee ÆE.kw´."nI.mI.tÈ E kw´ NIM i tee

equilibrate Æi.kw´."lI.breI*t EE kw´ LI brayt I."kwI.l´.breI*t i KWI l´ brayt

era "I.r´, "I„*.r´ I r´ "E.r´ E r´

err ‰± UR E„* AIR

erratum I."reI*.t´m i RAY t´m I."rœ.t´m i RA t´m

erudite "E.ru.ÆdaI*t E roo Di@T "E„.ju.ÆdaI*t ER yoo Di@T

espresso I."sprE.soU* i SPRE soh Ek."sprE.soU* ek SPRE soh

et cetera ÆEt."sE.t´.r´ ET SE t´ r´ ÆEk."sE.tr´ EK SE t´ r´

evolution ÆE.v´:."ju.Sń E v´l YOO shń Æi.v´:."ju.Sń suitable for

EE v´l YOO shń British speech

evolve I."vÅ:v i VOLV i."vA:v ee VAHLV

exclaim Ik."skleI*m ik SKLAYM Ek."skleI*m ek SKLAYM

explicable "Ek.splI.k´.b´: EK splik ´ b´l Ik."splI.k´.b´: ik SPLIK ´ b´l

exquisite "Ek.skwI.zIt EK skwi zit Ik."skwI.zIt ik SKWI zit

extant Ik."stœnt ik STANT "Ek.stńt EK stńt

extraordinary Ik."strO„*.dI.n´.rÈ ik STROR di n´ ree ÆEk.str´."O„*.dI.nE.rÈ EK str´ OR di ne ree


Letter du Jour: F DESCRIPTION: (typically) unvoiced, labio-dental, fricative, continuant

consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .12 Letter du Jour - F Ipa Symbol


[ f ] f flu (initial) after, stuffing (medial) if, tiff, calf (final) [ v ] v of (final)

[f]/f as in FLUFF

FORMATION: Lower lip brought up under edge of upper teeth; soft palate raised;

breath comes out in continuous stream between lower lip and upper teeth;

vocal folds do not vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Practice usually needed here on rapidity and clarity.

Practice on: further/father/farther, hoofer/heifer/huffer, field/filled/felled

a. - Five flasks of coffee for breakfast lifted the fretful fog from Fred's mind.

b. - The selfish elf finished the fine French aftershave himself.


1. filly fully folly 5. fluffy finches flying fast

2. fetch fresh fruit 6. Frank threw Fred three free throws.

3. fixed perspectives 7. French-fried falafel 4. Freddie's friend Eddie phoned for Freddie to fetch fresh fruit from the farm of the famous French farmer.

8. f v sh zh s z sh zh [f´ v´ S´ Z´ s´ z´ S´ Z´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .13 Mispronounced - F

WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation falcon "fO:.kń FAWL kń "fœ:.kń FAL kń familiar fE."mI:.jE± f´ MIHL y´r fE±."mI.jE± f´r MIH jur


February "fE.bru.ÆE.rÈ FE broo E ree "fE.bju.ÆE.rÈ FEB yoo E ree fetid "fE.tId FE tid "fi.tId FEE tid finis "fI.nIs FI nis fi."ni fee NEE flaccid "flœk.sId FLAK sid "flœ.sId FLA sid Florida "flÅ.rI.d´ FLO ri d´ "flO´*±.d´ FLOR d´ flutist "flu.tIst FLOO tist "flaU*.tIst FLOW tist forbade fO„*."bœd for BAD fO„*.beI*d for BAYD forehead "fÅ.rId FAW rid "fO„*."hEd FOR HED foreign "fÅ.rIn FO rin "fO„*.rIn FOR rin forget f„."gEt f´r GET f„."gIt fur GIT formidable "fO„*.mI.d´.b´: FOR mid ´ b´l fO„*."mI.d´.b´: for MID ´ b´l forte (strong point) fO„*t FORT "fO„*.teI* FOR tay forte (music) "fO„*.teI* FOR tay fO„*."teI* for TAY foyer "fOI*.„ FOI ur "fOI*.jeI* FOI yay frequent (adj.) frequent (v.)

"fri.kwńt frI."kwEnt

FREE kwńt fri KWENT

Improper stressing

Friday "fraI*.dÈ FRi� dee "fraI*.deI* FRi� day fungi "føn.dZaI* FUN ji@ "føN.gÈ FUNG gee


Letter du Jour: G DESCRIPTION: (typically) voiced, lingua-palatal, stop-plosive, consonant

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .14 Letter du Jour - G IPA Symbol Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings [ g ] g good, ghost (initial) begin (medial) bag, rogue (final) [dZ ] j gelatin (initial) ledger, exaggerate (medial) trudge (final) [ Z ] zh gendarme (initial) bourgeois (medial) rouge (final) [ f ] f cough (final) [ k ] k hough, lough (final) [ N ] ng hanger (medial) song (final) [Ng] ng-g linger (medial) [ n ] n gnu (initial) foreign (final) [ p ] p hiccough (final) (silent) height, bough13

[g]/g as in GIGGLE

FORMATION: Back of tongue raised and in contact with soft palate,which is

elevated. Exhalation begun, building up pressure, and the vocal folds vibrated.

The tongue is quickly lowered, producing a voiced plosive sound.


1. - If back of tongue doesn't press firmly against the soft palate, [g]/g will take

on a fricative sound. This will make the speaker sound fuzzy, or slightly drunk.

Spanish speakers are particularly prone to this as the correlative Spanish sound

is a fricative [Ø].

13In fact OUGH is one of the most problematic spellings in English. Observe: bough [aU*], Edinborough [´], hiccough [øp], Lough [Åç], hough [Åk], ought [Å], though [oU*], through [u], tough [øf], trough [Åf]. The word "slough" is pronounced [slaU*, sløf, slu].


Practice on: begin, logging, giggle, boggle, again, league, tiger, argue, mug

a. - Gary's golf game began to disintegrate as he gulped great flagons of lager.

b. - Gregory the greengrocer haggled with the gluttonous and aggressive

gourmand over a bag of grapes.

2. - At the ends of words be careful to give the sound full value. Some speakers

lose energy and unvoice the sound to [k]/k, or drop it altogether.

Practice on: fatigue, twig, shrug, fugue, brogue, plague, burgh, hag, egg

c. - Meg bragged of her big-league log book, and begged for autographs.

d. - Greta's legs graced the pages of Vogue and gobs of catalogues.


1. giggle gaggle 5. bigger buggies 2. eight great gray geese grazing gaily in Greece

6. linger longer

3. gouging grouchy Gauchos 7. begging beguilingly 4. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

8. n ng k g l ng k g [n N k g l N k g] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .15 Mispronounced - G


gala "geI*.l´ GAY l´ "gA.l´

GAH l´

gaseous "gœ.sI.´s GA si ´s "gœ.S´s GA sh´s

Gawain "gA.wIn GAH win g´."weI*n g´ WAYN

genuine "dZEn.ju.In JEN yoo in "dZEn.ju.ÆwaI*n JEN yoo wi@n

get gEt GET gIt GIT

gibberish "dZI.b´.rIS JI b´ rish "gI.b´.rIS

GI b´ rish

giblet "dZI.blIt JI blit "gI.blIt GI blit

glaucoma glO."koU*.m´ glaw KOH m´ glAU*."koU*.m´ glow KOH m´

gondola "gÅn.d´.l´ GON d´ l´ gÅn."doU*.l´ gon DOH l´

government "gø.v„n.mńt GU vurn mńt "gø.v„.mńt GU vur mńt


gramercy Gramercy14

gr´."m‰±.sÈ "grœ.m„.sÈ

gr´ MUR see GRA mur see

reversing pronunciations

granary "grœ.n´.rÈ GRA n´ ree "greI*.n´.rÈ GRAY n´ ree

gratis "grœ.tIs, "greI*.tIs

GRA tis, GRAY tis

"grA.tIs GRAH tis

grievous "gri.v´s GREE v´s "gri.vi.´s GREE vee ´s

grimace grI."meI*s gri MAYS "grI.m´s GRI m´s

grocery "groU*.s´.rÈ GROH s´ ree "groU*.S´.rÈ GROH sh´ ree

grovel "grø.v´: GRU v´l "grÅ.v´: GRO v´l

guillotine "gI.l´.Ætin GI l´ TEEN "gi.j´.Ætin GEE y´ TEEN

14Gramercy is the name of a New York City park. Gramercy (usually all in lower-case) is an interjection expressing pleasant surprise or thanks - a contraction of grand mercy.


Letter du Jour: H DESCRIPTION: unvoiced, glottal, fricative, continuant, consonant

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .16 Letter du Jour - H IPA Symbol Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings [ h ] h hand (initial) mishap (medial) [ H ] h behind (medial)15 [çj ] hy huge (initial)16 inhumane (medial) [ g ] g ghost (initial) [ f ] f photo (initial) roughage (medial) cough (final) [ p ] p hiccough (final) [∑ ] hw when (initial) anywhere (medial) [ D ] th this (initial) other (medial) seethe (final) [ T ] th thing (initial) brothel (medial) both (final) [tS ] ch churn (initial) bachelor (medial) watch (final) [ S ] sh shine (initial) bashful (medial) wish (final)

Although this consonant shows up in ten different sounds, we will focus on just

two: [h]/h and [çj]/hy

[h]/h as in HOW

15[ H ] is a subtle voiced sound found in English only in the medial position between two vowel sounds. 16[ ç ] is a sound most frequently recognized in German on words like ich, or in Scottish on words like loch. It is present in many languages, but its only occurrence in American English is on the rapid connection of [ h ] and [ j ].


FORMATION: Produced by continuous flow of air through vocal folds,throat and

the mouth; tongue and lips relaxed and in position for following vowel; soft

palate raised; vocal folds do not vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Speakers with breathy voices need to watch that

words starting with the unvoiced air stream of [h]/h don't carry that airy quality

throughout the entire word.

Practice on: heavy, health, hedge, wholly, Hamlet, highway, hungry, hundred

a. - Her high hopes hid behind a heavy heart and inhibited her happiness.

b. - Hard-hearted Harold hit Henry hard with a hickory-handled hammer.

c. - Henry howled horribly and hurriedly hobbled home.

[çj]/hy as in HUGE

FORMATION: sound begins in the same manner as [h]/h. As the tongue rises in

anticipation of [j]/y, the air stream is focused on the soft palate producing the

unvoiced fricative [ç].

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Some dialects (New York is a good example) drop [ç]

leaving the [j]/y sound to stand alone, so "human" becomes ["jumń]/YOO m´ n.

Practice on: hue/ewe, Hugo/you go, Houston/Euston, Huron/you're on

humid, humility, humanitarian, hewn

a. - Hubristic Hugo humorlessly hated humanity.

b. - They humiliated Hubert, the humongous human, by heaving him into lake

Huron.

Drills: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly.

1. you knew Hugh 5. dormant humidors

2. you go with Hugo 6. perhaps happy hippies

3. huge humans humorously hued 7. humorous rumors

4. Youmans' menu/human's - men who 8. how many mahogany and mohair hassocks has Hermione


Table LdJ .17 Mispronounced - H WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation

halve hœv HAV hœ:v HALV

handkerchief "hœN.k„.ÆtSIf HANG kur chif "hœN.k„.ÆtSif HANG kur cheef

harass "hœ.r´s HA r´s h´."rœs h´ RAS

height haI*t Hi@T haI*tT Hi@TTH

heinous "heI*.n´s HAY n´s "hi.ni.´s HEE nee ´s

helicopter "hE.lI.ÆkÅp.t„ HE li KOP tur "hi.lI.kÅp.t„ HEE li KOP tur

herb17 ‰±b URB h‰±b HURB

homicide "hÅ.mI.ÆsaI*d HO mi Si@D "hoU*.mI.ÆsaI*d HOH mi Si@D

homogeneity ÆhoU*.moU*.dZ´."ni.I.tÈ HOH moh j´ NEE i tee ÆhoU*.moU*.dZ´."neI*.I.tÈ HOH moh j´ NAY i tee

horrible "hÅ.rI.b´: HO ri b´l "hO„*.r´.b´: HOr r´ b´l

horror "hÅ.r„ HO rur "hO„*.„ HOR ur

hospitable "hÅs.pI.t´.b´: HO spi t´ b´l hÅ."spI.t´.b´: ho SPI t´ b´l

hostile "hÅs.t´: HOS t´l "hÅs.taI*: acceptable for

HOS ti@l British speech

houses "hAU*.zIz HOW ziz "hAU*.sIz HOW siz

housewife "hø.sIf HU sif "hAU*s."waI*f HOWS Wi�F

hovel "hø.v´: HU v´l "hÅ.v´: HO v´l

huge çjudZ HYOOJ judZ YOOJ

human "çju.mń HYOO mń "ju.mń YOO mń

hundred "høn.drId HUN drid "hø.n„d HU nurd

hygienist haI*."dZi.nIst hi@ JEE nist haI*."dZE.nIst hi@ JE nist

hysteria hI."stI.rI.´ hi STI ri ´ hI."stE.rI.´ hi STE ree ´

17Pronounce the initial "H" in herbal, herbicide, herbaceous, herbivore, herbivorous, and herbarium. Keep it silent on herbage, and herb.


Letter du Jour: I WAYS TO PRONOUNCE: 11!

Table LdJ .18 Letter du Jour - I IPA Symbols Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings [ i ] ee receive, chief [ I ] i hit, build [ E ] e leisure (British) [œ ] a plaid [ u ] oo fruit [ ´ ] ´ edible [eI* ] ay faint, vein [aI* ] i@ wine, lie, height [OI* ] oi oil [I„* ] ir bier, weird [E„*] air fair, heir

We will focus on the sounds of [I]/i, [´]/´, and [aI*]/i@.

[I]/i, as in HID

FORMATION: Front of tongue high, but more relaxed than for [i]/ee; lips

unrounded and relaxed; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate. Compare to the

nearby sounds [i]/ee, as in HEED, and [E]/e, as in HEAD.

PLACEMENT: This bright forward vowel can become murky sounding if you

round your lips. Allow your lips to spread slightly in the feeling of a smile to

keep the sound clear.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Many non-native speakers will substitute [i]/ee. Also

guard against nasality, especially near nasal sounds [m, n, N]/m, n, ng. Make clear

separations between [I]/i, and its two surrounding sounds [i]/ee, and [E]/e.


Practice on: beat/bit/bet, deed/did/dead, seed/Sid/said, seal/sill/sell, reed/rid/red

hips, bib, titter, hideous, tickle, niggardly, thimble, million, village, billion

a. - Tim, sitting prettily in his silver slip, didn't consider his idiosyncrasies to be

significant.

b. - Will the gypsy's whiskey still irritate my liver, or shall I switch to gin fizzes?

[´]/´, the "schwa", or neutral vowel

FORMATION: Tongue low, in most relaxed state; lips unrounded; jaw relaxed,

mouth slightly open;soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

PLACEMENT: Situated in center of mouth; most relaxed of all the vowels, and

likely to have most balanced tonality. If you have a problem with tonality, this,

and it's stressed correlative [ø]/u are good vowels to use to find a centered

tone.

USE: This sound is sometimes called the :"schwa" from the German-Yiddish

word sheva for emptiness. It is regarded as the most neutral of the vowel

sounds, and is the most frequently occurring vowel in American English. Since it

is the most relaxed vowel, it can only occur on unstressed syllables.

Hear the sound in comparison to [ø]/u:

commence/come, suppose/sup, Tacoma/tuck, upon/upper.

Practice on: apparent, beneficent, dependent, machine, support, common

a. - The amateurish artificiality of the actress was reprehensible.

b. - Her experiences of their selfishness and carelessness caused her anxiety.

[aI*]/ i@, as in HIGH

FORMATION: Diphthong. Tongue starts in low mid-back position and moves

forward toward high front region; lips unrounded; the jaw starts dropped, then

lifts; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.


PLACEMENT: Watch out for over-nasality. A good adaptation to make this

diphthong rounder is to adjust the first sound from [a] to [A].18 That is a darker

and rounder sound, and can keep the diphthong from being too brassy.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This is the diphthong Southerners are famous for

changing, so that we hear "I'm right fine" shift to "Ahm raht fahn." Use a tape

recorder to check the sound, and a mirror so you can see the jaw close and

tongue lift to the second sound.

Practice on: Tom/time, tall/tile, spa/spy, bah/buy, dock/dike, fond/find

tie, thigh, I'll, diamond, scythe, sublime, hive, crimes, imbibe,

a. - I'm the kind that likes a wild time for a dime.

b. - Write, we know, should not be written "right", should not be written "wright",

nor should it be written "rite", but "write", for only then is it written right. Table LdJ .19 Mispronounced - I

WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation idea aI*."di.´ i@ DEE ´ aI*."di.„ i@ DEE ur

ignominy "Ig.noU*.ÆmI.nÈ IG noh mi nee Ig."nÅ.m´.nÈ ig NO m´ nee

ignoramus ÆIg.n´."reI*.m´s IG n´ RAY m´s ÆIg.n´."rœ.m´s IG n´ RA m´s

illustrative I."løs.tr´.tIv i LUS tr´ tiv ÆI.l´."streI*.tIv I l´ STRAY tiv

impious "Im.pI.´s IM pi ´s Im."paI*.´s im P i@ ´s

impotent "Im.p´.tńt IM p´ tńt Im."poU*.tńt im POH tńt

incognito In."kÅg.nI.toU* in KOG ni toh ÆIn.kÅg."ni.toU* IN kog NEE toh

increase (n.) increase (v.)

"In.kris In."kris

IN krees in KREES

improper stressing

indefatigable ÆIn.dI."fœ.tI.g´.b´: IN di FA ti g´ b´l ÆIn.dI.f´."ti.g´.b´: IN di f´ TEE g´ b´l

inexplicable In."Ek.splI.k´.b´: in EK spli k´ b´l In.Eks."plI.k´.b´: IN ek SPLI k´ b´l

infiltrate In."fI:.treI*t in FIL trayt "In.f´:.ÆtreI*t IN f´l TRAYT

influence "In.flu.ńs IN floo ńs In."flu.ńts in FLOO ńts

inherent In."hI´*.rńt in HI rńt In."hE.rńt in HE rńt

inhospitable In."hÅs.pI.t´.b´: in HO spi t´ b´l ÆIn.hÅ."spI.t´.b´: in ho SPI t´ b´l

inquiry In."kwaI*´*.rÈ in KW i@ ree "In.kw´.rÈ IN kw´ ree

integral "In.t´.gr´: IN t´ gr´l In."tEg.r´: in TE gr´l

18Many phoneticians do write this diphthong as [AI, AI*, AI, Ai].


interest "In.tr´st IN tr´st "In.t´.ÆrEst IN t´ REST

interesting "In.tr´.stIN IN tr´ sting "I.n´.ÆrEs.tIN I n´ RE sting

intravenous ÆIn.tr´."vi.n´s IN tr´ VEE n´s ÆIn.tr´."vi.nI.´s IN tr´ VEE nee ´s

Iran I."rAn i RAHN aI*."rœn i@ RAN

Iraq I."rAk i RAHK aI*."rœk i@ RAK

irony "aI*.r´.nÈ i@ r´ nee "aI*.„.nÈ i@ ur nee

irregardless ---- ---- ---- This is not a word.

irrelevant I."rE.l´.vńt i RE l´ vńt I."rE.v´.lńt i RE v´ lńt

irreparable I."rE.pr´.b´: i RE pr´ b´l I.rI."pE.r´.b´: i ri PE r´ b´l

irrevocable I."rE.v´.k´.b´: i RE v´ k´ b´l I.rI."voU*.k´.b´: i ri VOH k´ b´l

Italian19 I."tœ:.jń i TAL yń aI*."tœ:.jń i@ TAL yń

19Rocco, as you might expect, is particularly alert to this one!


Letter du Jour: J DESCRIPTION: (typically) voiced, affricate, consonant

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .20 Letter du Jour - J IPA Symbol Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings [dZ ] j jury (initial) adjust, rejoice (medial) [ Z ] zh jabot (initial) Raj (final) [ j ] y Johannes [ h ] h jacaranda

We will focus on the letter "J" as it represents the sound of [dZ]/j.

[dZ]/j, as in JUDGE

FORMATION: Affricate sound - combination of stop-plosive [d]/d, and fricative

[Z]/zh. Blade of tongue raised, lightly touching front palate just behind gum

ridge; breath stream momentarily stopped by tongue at soft palate; tongue then

quickly lowers a bit, allowing breath stream to explode between it and front

palate to form the [Z]/zh part of the sound. Palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tongue extends too far forward the sound will

be overly sibilant, and lisping. If instead of releasing the tongue tip on the [d]/d

sound, the sides of the tongue are released, a lateral lisp will result. Both

sounds can vary from mild lisps which only require practice and attention to

correct, to cases which need the assistance of a speech pathologist. Be sure to

fully voice this sound at the ends of words. Don't let it become [tS]/ch.

Practice on: each/siege, rich/ridge, catch/cadge, leather/ledger, etch/edge

juice, jaw, jolly, region, fugitive, dodges, fringed, avenged

a. - A surge of rage changed his visage from joyful to jaundiced.

b. - The juvenile gigolo joshingly badgered his bejeweled benefactress about a

juicy sojourn in Argentina.


Drills: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly:

1. gorgeous Georgia's jargon 5. generous German managers

2. urgent juror 6. strange Indian hinges

3. deranged avenger 7. devulging bulging bilges

4. begrudging curmudgeon 8. sh zh ch j s z ch j [S´ Z´ tS´ dZ´ s´ z´ tS´ dZ´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .21 Mispronounced - J


jewelry "dZu.´:.rÈ JOO ´l ree "dZu.l´.rÈ JOO l´ ree

joust dZøst JUST dZAU*st JOWST

jubilant "dZu.bI.lńt JUU bi lńt "dZu.bju.lńt JUU byoo lńt

juror "dZU´*.r„ JUU rur "dZ‰±.rO„* JUR or

just dZøst JUST dZIs J IS

juvenile "dZu.v´.n´: JOO v´ n´l "dZu.v´.ÆnaI*: JOO v´ ni@l


Letter du Jour: K DESCRIPTION: (typically) unvoiced, lingua-velar, stop-plosive, consonant

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .22 Letter du Jour - K IPA Symbol Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings [ k ] k klaxon (initial) irksome (medial) brook (final) [ n ] n know (initial)

[k]/k, as in COOK

FORMATION: Back of tongue raised and in contact with soft palate, which is

elevated. Exhalation is begun, building up pressure; vocal folds not vibrated;

tongue quickly lowered, producing unvoiced plosive sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the back of the tongue doesn't come into firm

contact, a blurred fricative sound will replace [k]/k. Additionally, the sound is

often omitted at the ends of words and in challenging consonant combinations.

Practice on: guilt/kilt, gram/cram, ragging/wracking, boogie/bookie, bag/back, tag/tack,

beacon/begun

excellent, election, clip, eccentric, tact, heckler, acne, picture, Arctic, flaccid

chaos, kept, lackey, broker, occur, forsook, walk, pick, fluke, ask

a. - Jack whisked a flask of the musked vodka-like tincture from his jacket pocket.

b. - The instructor inked political questions on Marx, Kant and Copernicus.


DRILLS: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly:

1. kinky cookie 5. necessary accessories

2. kickle cackle 6. go-kart cargoes of take-out tacos

3. fixed perspectives 7. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

4. mixed biscuits 8. n ng k g l ng k g [n´ N´ k´ g´ l´ N´ k´ g´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .23 Mispronounced - K


kiln kI: KIL kI:n KILN kismet "kIz.mEt KIZ met "kIs.m´t KIS m´t Koran k´."rAn k´ RAN "kO„*.rœn KAW ran kudos20 "kju.dÅs KYOO dahs "ku.doU*z KOO dohz

20 Useage note: kudos is not a plural word. It means glory or praise. There is no singular form of the word, so you can’t give someone a ‘kudo’. ‘He received many kudos is also incorrect. You should say, “He received much kudos.”


Letter du Jour: L DESCRIPTION: voiced, lingua-alveolar, lateral, continuant, semi-vowel

consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .24 Letter du Jour - L IPA Symbols Respelling Examples of words and their various spellings [ l ] l like (initial) relish (medial) [ : ] l faulty (medial) tall (final) silent calm

[l, :]/l, as in LULL

FORMATION: Jaw open fairly wide; broadened tip of tongue pressed against

upper gum ridge; sides of tongue allow openings between them and side teeth

for air to flow laterally; palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Though "l" has one formation, it has two important

functions. [l] is the "clear", or "released" consonant. It is always followed by a

vowel sound. When you form this sound, you can feel your tongue will only

touch briefly on your gum ridge, then release into the vowel. Focus on speed

and alacrity with this sound.

Practice on: lily, lovely, failing, shallow, toweling, Philip, silly, lullaby,

Be careful not to add an extra syllable, so that words like "failing" become FAY

´ ling.

a. - The lovely ladies leaned on the leeward rail of the luxury liner and looked

longingly at the eleven lanky Leningrad longshoremen.

b. - Lollie loved flipping off literary allusions and belly laughs during long

telephone talks.


[:] called the "dark", or "unreleased L" is followed by either a consonant or

silence. When you say this sound your tongue will hold against the gum ridge,

and the back of your tongue will drop lower. This is a natural quality, and not

one you will want to emphasize. The "dark l" is a problematic sound for many

speakers. Here are some of the misarticulations:

1. - many speakers fail to touch their tongue to the gum ridge at all on this

sound. The result is either [oU*]/oh or [ :‚ ], also called a "double-dark l." On all

these exercises look in a mirror and be sure you see and feel your tongue meet

the gum ridge.

2. - [:] can distort the vowel in front of it, changing "feel" to "fill.

Practice these pairs of words, and keep the vowel the same for both.

feeling/feel, peeling/peel, failing/fail, bailing/bail

3. - avoid adding an extra syllable before [:].

scowl, girl, steal, coil, pearl, mile, foil, Carl, deal

4. - on words of more than one syllable, don't add [w]/w or [j]/y before [:].

towel is ["taU*´:]/TOW ´l, not ["taU*w´:]/TOW-w´l

vial is ["vaI*´:]/Vi@ ´l, not ["vaI*j´:]/Vi@ y´l

5. - don't drop the [:] when it's followed by [j]/y. Practice on:

value, brilliant, Italian, will you, peculiar, billion, failure Natalia Hilliardi, sister of Illya, the peculiar Italian Duke, found herself engaged to Julius

Williams, a brilliantly alluring, but hateful Australian. Illya's millions would join with Julius'

billions, and Illya Hilliardi would be the richest and most resilient Italian Duke. But Natalia

valued neither millions nor billions, and certainly didn't like Julius. When Illya insisted, she

took to Valium, and nearly made his plot a failure.

Practice on:

a. Consult the dull culturally refined authorities about hushing up while studying.

b. I'll swallow a tall glass of cold milk.


c. Fill the bottle until it is full.

d. Tell Phil he'll pull all the wool from the dull colored ball.

DRILLS: - repeat each several times rapidly and clearly

1. Culligan and calla lily 6. red leather, yellow leather 11. peculiarly brilliant

2. limited ability 7. minimal animal 12. Italian William

3. eleven benevolent elephants 8. philological ability 13. lemon liniment

4. will you, William 9. literally literary 14. Willamette family

5. aluminum linoleum 10. alabaster balasters 15. n ng k g l ng k g [n´ N´ k´ g´ l´ N´ k´ g´]

Table LdJ .25 Mispronounced - L

WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation lackadaisical Ælœ.k´."deI*.zI.k´: ] LA k´ DAY zi k´l Ælœk.s´."deI*.zI.k´: LAK s´ DAY zi k´l

lambaste lœm."beI*st lam BAYST "lœm."bœst LAM BAST

lamentable "lœ.mń.t´.b´: LA mń t´ b´l l´."mEn.t´.b´: l´ MEN t´ b´l

largess "lA„*.dZ´s LAHR j´s lA„*."dZEs lahr JES

leisure "l”.ZE± LEH zhur "li.ZE± LEE zhur

length lENkT LENGKTH lEnT, leI*nT, liNkT LENTH, LAYNTH, LEENGKTH

liaison "li.´.zÅn, li."eI*.zÅn, Æli.eI*."zO)

LEE ´ zon, lee AY zon, lee ay zo)

"leI*.´.zÅn LAY ´ zon

library "laI*.brE.rÈ Li@ bre ree "laI*.bE.rÈ Li@ be ree

liege lidZ LEEJ liZ LEEZH

lingerie "lœn.Z´.rÈ, lœn.Z´."rÈ

LAN zh´ ree lan zh´ REE ÆlAn.dZ´."reI* lahn j´ RAY

lithe laI*D Li@TH laI*T Li@TH

loath (adj.) loathe (v.)

loU*T loU*D

LOHTH LOHTH

reversing pronunciations

loathsome "loU*D.s´m LOHTH s´m "loU*T.s´m LOHTH s´m

long-lived lÅN laI*vd LONG Li@VD lÅN lIvd LONG LIVD

louring/ lowering (threatening)

"lAU*´*.rIN LOWUR ring "loU*.w´.rIN LOH wur ring


Letter du Jour: M DESCRIPTION: voiced, bi-labial, nasal, continuant, consonant

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .26 Letter du Jour - M IPA Symbol


[m ] m mask (initial) hamburger (medial) beam (final) [m` ] m (syllabic initially, only on foreign words) Mhorr rhythm (final) silent mnemonic

[m]/m, as in MAMMAL

FORMATION: Lips lightly closed; soft palate lowered to allow air to pass through

and out of nose; tongue relaxed and lowered; vocal folds vibrate.

PLACEMENT: Since this sound is produced through the nose, the quality of sound

can reveal nasal blockage. As that is usually not correctable by simply "speaking

better", medical attention may be required before correction can be effective.

Blockage can be caused by congestion from adenoids, growths in the nasal

passage, deviated septum, injury, allergies, or the common cold. This is true of

all the nasal resonating consonants: [m, n, N].

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Use this sound to increase your sense of facial mask

resonance. Focus also on speed and precision.

Practice on: mimicking, mummery, mumbled, manumission, remember

a. - Mamie mumbled and murmured memorandums to the members at Monday's

interminable meeting.

b. - Mama maintains her moments of submissiveness are merely my imagination.

DRILLS: repeat each several times rapidly and clearly


1. minimal animal 5. moving Vermont

2. mommala poppala 6. inimically mimicking

3. murmur rumors 7. abominable mambo 4. Martin met a mob of marching munching monkeys.

8. remembered dismembering

9. abominable abdominals

Table LdJ .27 Mispronounced - M

WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation machination Æmœ.kI."neI*.Sń MAK i NAY shń Æmœ.SI."neI*.Sń MASH i NAY shń

madman "mœd.mń MAD mń "mœd.mœn MAD man

magi "meI*.dZaI* MAY ji@ "mœ.dZaI* MA ji@

maraschino Æmœ.r´."ski.noU* MA r´ SKEE noh ÆmE.r´."Si.noU* MA r´ SHEE noh

mature m´."tjU„* m´ TYUUR m´."tS‰± m´ CHUR

mauve moU*v MOHV mÅv, mOv MOV, MAWV

mayonnaise "meI*.´.ÆneI*z MAY ´ NAYZ "mœ.neI*z MA nayz

mayoral "meI*.´.r´: MAY ´ r´l meI*."O´*.r´: may AW r´l

medieval mE.dI."i.v´: mi.dI."i.v´:

me dee EE v´l mee dee EE v´l mI."di.v´: mi DEE v´l

memento m´."mEn.toU* m´ MEN toh moU*."mEn.toU* moh MEN toh

memorabilia ÆmE.m´.r´."bI.lI.´ ME m´ r´ BI li ´ ÆmEm.r´."bi:.j´ mem r´ BEEL y´

men mEn MEN mIn MIN

mentor "mEn.t„ MEN tur "mEn.tO„* MEN tawr

merchandise (n.&v.) "m‰±.tSń.ÆdaI*z MUR chń Di@Z "m‰±.tSń.ÆdaI*s MUR chń Di@S

midwifery "mId.waI*.frÈ MID wi@f ree mId."wI.f´.rÈ mid Wi@ f´ ree

milieu mi:."jU meel YUU "mI:.ju MIL yoo

minuscule mI."nøs.kju: mi NUS kyool "mI.n´.skju: MI n´s kyool

minutiae mIn."ju.SI.Æi min YOO shi ee mI."nu.S´ mi NOO sh´

mirror "mI´*.r„ MI r´r "mI„* MEER

mischievous "mIs.tS´.v´s MIS ch´ v´s mIs."tSi.vI.´s mis CHEE vee ´s

Monday "møn.dÈ MUN dee "møn.deI* MUN day

mores "moU*.rIz MOH reez "mO´*.reI*z MAW rayz

mustache m´."stœS m´ STASH "møs.tœS MU stash


Letter du Jour: N DESCRIPTION: voiced, alveolar, nasal, continuant, consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Tabe LdJ .28 Letter du Jour N IPA Symbol

Respelling Examples of their words and their various spellings

[ n ] n need, knead, mnemonic, pneumonia (initial) announce (medial) win (final) [ n` ] n (syllabic initially, only on foreign words) Nkomo even (final) [ N ] ng singer (medial) song, tongue, think (final) Silent condemn

We will focus on the sounds of [n]/n, and [N]/ng

PLACEMENT: Both sounds, like [m]/m are nasal resonators, and rely on an open

and clear nasal passage.

[n]/n, as in NANNY

FORMATION: Tip of tongue pressed lightly against the upper gum ridge, sides of

the tongue in contact with side teeth; lips unrounded; tongue relaxed; air passes

through nose as soft palate is lowered, and vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Don't get stuck in the nasal resonators for the

following vowel. Work for speed and clarity. Don't omit the sound in difficult

consonant combinations such as [nm]/nm.

Practice on: deed/need, dab/nab, done/none, dale/nail, wading/waning

ninny, none, government, environment, phenomenon

a. - Nanette's need for nicotine wasn't known until noon.

b. - Neil's unnerving tendency to gnaw his knuckles undermined the important job

interview.


[N]/ng, as in SINGING

FORMATION: Lips unrounded; jaw slightly open; back of tongue raised against

soft palate, so air cannot exit mouth; tip of tongue rests low behind lower front

teeth; soft palate lowered, allowing air to move through nasal passage; vocal

folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This is a difficult sound for many American dialects

and foreign accents.

1. - complete "ing" endings so that [IN]/ing doesn't change to [ń]/´ n.

2. - don't alter "ing" endings so that [IN]/ing changes to [in]/een.

Practice on: sing/singing, bring/bringing, wing/winging, ding/dinging, cling/clinging

a. - Darling, you'll not be getting something for nothing this evening.

b. - Singing, laughing and drinking, their lives came to nothing.

3. - when [N]/ng is followed by a vowel, don't change it to [Ng]/ng-g.

Practice on: long/longing, throng/thronging, clang/clanging, hang/hanging

Long Island, gingham, hanger, bring it, king of, sing on, bang at

c. - King A lbert sang a long and twanging song of young love.

d. - Bringing A llen along, we were running along the Long Island shipping

anchorage.

4. - the [Ng]/ng-g sound is present in many words

Practice on: angular, mangle, younger, longer, linguist, singled, bungled

e. - Linger longer in the jungle, King of Tonga.

f. - Mr. Bungle's attempts to mingle in the singles bar were anguishing.

5. - the [Nk]/ng-k sound is present in many words

Practice on: length, strength, ankle, sprinkle, thinking, tinkle, minx, larynx

ankle/angle, tinkle/tingle, anchor/anger, rankle/wrangle, banker/Bangor

6. - beware of [œN]/ang changing to [œI*N]/aing. Keep the front of your tongue

low.


Practice on: band/bank, sand/sank, planned/plank, hand/handkerchief

g. - The lanky man angrily drank himself into blankness.

h. - With a loud clanging and banging, Anne madly rang the gong.

Practice on this combination of [N]/ng sounds:

i. - The lanky English linguist languished long, feeling hungry and angry, his

strength shrinking, as he sank on a mangled plank and drank until his anger

shrank.

DRILLS: - repeat each one several times rapidly and clearly:

1. linger longer 6. winging to England

2. twanging language 7. anchor in Bangor

3. belonging longer 8. drinking ink

4. wrong rung wringing 9. long, long ago

5. angry banker in Bangor 10. n ng k g l ng k g [n´ N´ k´ g´ l´ N´ k´ g´] -repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .29 Mispronounced- N


naiveté nA.iv."teI* nah eev TAY naI*."i.v´.tÈ nah EEV ´ tee

nascent "nœ.sńt NA sńt "neI*.sńt NAY sńt

negotiate n´."goU*.SI.ÆeI*t n´ GOH shee AYT n´."goU*.si.ÆeI*t n´ GOH see AYT

new nju NYOO nu NOO

New Orleans nju "O„*.lI.ńz nyoo OR li ńz Ænu O„*."linz NOO or LEENZ

newspaper "njuz."peI*.p„ NYOOZ PAY pur "nus."peI*.p„ NOOZ PAY pur

nihilism "naI*.´.lI.z´m Ni@ ´ li z´m "ni.´.lI.z´m NEE ´ li z´m

nuclear "nju.klI„* NYOO kli ur "nu.kj´.l„ NU ky´ lur

nuptial "nøp.S´: NUP sh´l "nøp.tSu.´: NUP choo ´l


Letter du Jour: O WAYS TO PRONOUNCE: 19!

Table LdJ .30 Letter du Jour - O IPA Symbol


[ i ] ee people, amoeba [ I ] i women [ E ] e leopard [ Å ] o knowledge, hot, orange [ O ] aw bought [ o ] oh opinion [ U ] uu woman, could, wolf, foot, Worcestershire [ u ] oo ooze, to, food, wound, ouzel [ ø ] u color, hiccough, blood [ ´ ] ´ polite [´± ] ur actor [‰± ] ur work, journey [eI* ] ay gaol [OI* ] oi boy, oil [aU* ] ow loud, how, oust [oU* ] oh shoulder, bowl, boast, home, no [O„*] or floor, hoary, horn [U„*] uur poor, tour [w ] w once, ouija, someone

We will focus on "O" as it is used in the sounds [oU*]/oh, [aU*]/ow, [OI*]/oi, and

[Å]/o.

[oU*]/oh, as in HOE

FORMATION: Diphthong - for initial sound [o] back of tongue in upper mid back

position and relaxed; lips rounded and lax; soft palate raised; vocal folds

vibrate. As diphthong shifts into second sound [U] back of tongue rises slightly,

and lips tense, rounding farther.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Be sure not to slide into a British sounding [Ú*] when

speaking classical texts because of a misguided desire to "speak well."


Practice on: photo, oleo, Hoboken, Tokyo, overgrowth, taupe, boast, bowl, home

a. - The hole in Joan's hose had slowly grown past her soles and over her toes.

b. - It was so cold in the old theatre that there was snow blowing over the front

rows.

[aU*]/ow, as in HOW

FORMATION: Diphthong - tongue starts in low mid-back position, rises to high-

back region; lips lax and unrounded for first element of diphthong [a];

becoming tense and rounded for second sound [U*]; jaw moves from open to

closed; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Many speakers make the initial sound too far

forward and the diphthong takes on the brassy quality of [œU*] instead of the

darker [aU*]/ow. It can be helpful to take the sound all the way to [A]/ah21. In the

following word pairs let the sound of the first word help shape the initial vowel

in the diphthong.

Practice on: ah/hour, papa/power, balm/bow, calm/cow, spa/spout, drama/drought

a. - Howard's frowzy spouse slouched around the house, and lounged on the couch.

b. - How the stout Countess allowed her round and mountainous form to gain

pound upon pound astounded us all.

[OI*]/oi, as in HOIST

FORMATION: Diphthong - tongue starts in mid-back position [O] and moves to

the high front region [I*]; lips move from slightly rounded to unrounded; soft

palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tongue doesn't rise to make the second sound

[I]/i, the vowel [O]/aw results so that oil sounds like all. Additionally, when the

21Many phoneticians do write this diphthong as [AU, AU*, AU, Au].


diphthong is followed by [:]/l, there is a tendency to add [j]/y, so that oil sounds

like oiyal.

Practice on: moil, foil, toil, coil, boil, doily, spoil, recoil, multifoil, voile, soil, despoil

a. - Floyd, the royal boy, joined the singing with a moistly adenoidal voice.

b. - Roy enjoyed Troy's joyous boyish foibles, but was disappointed by his adroit

avoidance of toil.

[Å]/o, as in HOT

There are three vowel sounds in English that are so close together that many

speakers have trouble differentiating between them: [A]/ah, [Å]/o, and [O]/aw. All

are formed with a low back tongue placement. Many American dialects

generalize them into one sound. They should be separated. The main difference

is lip roundness:

Americans tend to speak these sounds more accurately when accompanied by

an "R" sound, so look in a mirror and watch your lips as you say these key

words:

[A]/ah as in hard is unrounded.

[Å]/o as in horrible (make it rhyme with hot) is slightly rounded. (For US

speakers this sound is often used naturally in words like — sorry, borrow and

tomorrow.)

[O]/aw as in horn is very rounded.

Practice these words in comparison:

Table LdJ .31 [A, Å, O]- in Comparison [A]/ah [Å]/o [O]/aw [oU*]/oh [A]/ah [Å]/o [O]/aw [oU*]/oh 1. ah ox awe oh 17. alms odd awed owed 2. Allah Ollie all old 18. palm pod pawed polled 3. palm policy Paul pole 19. papa popper pauper pope 4. balm bomb bawl bowl 20. Baden body bawd bode 5. Tahoe Tom tall toll 21. Tana tonic tawny tone 6. taco tock talk toque 22. Dahl doll Dalton dole


7. Dada dotted daughter dote 23. calm cod cawed code 8. Kahn con call cone 24. mama mop maw mow 9. spa spondee spawn spoke 25. armada mod Maud mode 10. Mahler moll maul mole 26. Nazi knotty naughty noted 11. llama lolling lawless loan 27. father fond fawned phoned 12. father folly falcon foal 28. facade sod sawed sewed 13. psalm somber sauce sews 29. sake sock Salk soak 14. Shah shot Shaw show 30. mirage Roger raw row 15. Brahms broth brought broach 31. drama drop drawn drone 16. Java John jaundice Jones 32. cha-cha chock chalk choke

Compare these sets of sentences where the sounds fall in the same order:

a. Charge off to war, Homer. The almond got raw and old.

b. Martin swallowed the gorgeous cone. Massage the monster's paw slowly.

c. Carve the horrible warm bowl. Calm that hot mawkish tone.

When [Å]/o is followed by an "R", most Americans change it to [O„**]/or. Compare

these words, and match the vowel sounds.

Practice on: hot/horrible, dot/Dorothy, fog/forest, log/lorry, Tom/torrent

This next sentence has these sounds [År, œr, O„*] in random order: d. Rehearsing makes Horace hoarse, and hoarseness is ‰± Å.r O„* O„*

harassing to his humble hobby horse. Now if this hoarseness œ.r ø Å O„* O„*

harasses Horace's horse, how it must affect Horace. Actually, it œ.r Å.r O„* ø Å.r

haunts Horace. O Å.r Table LdJ .32 Mispronounced - O

WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation obeisance oU*."beI*.sńs oh BAY sńs oU*."bi.sńs oh BEE sńs

obelisk "Å.b´.ÆlIsk O b´ LISK "oU*.b´.ÆlIsk OH b´ LISK

oblique ´."blik ´ BLEEK oU*."blik oh BLEEK

official ´."fI.S´: ´ FI sh´l oU*."fIS.´: oh FI sh´l

often "Å.fń O fń "Åf.tń OF tń


olfactory Å:."fœk.t´.rÈ ol FAK t´ ree oU*:."fœk.t´.rÈ ohl FAK t´ ree

oligarchy "Å.lI.ÆgA„*.kÈ O li GAHR kee "oU*.lI.ÆgA„*.kÈ OH li GAHR kee

onerous "Å.n´.r´s O n´ r´s "oU*.n´.r´s OH n´ r´s

onomatopoeia ÆÅ.n´.ÆmA.t´."pi.´ O n´ MAH t´ PEE ´ ÆÅ.n´.ÆmA.n´."peI*.´ O n´ MAH n´ PAY ´

ophthalmologist ÆÅf.TA:."mÅ.l´.dZ´st OF thahl MO l´ j´st ÆÅp.TA."mÅ.l´.dZ´st OP th´ MO l´ j´st

oracle "Å.rI.k´: O ri k´l "O„*.rI.k´: OR ri k´l

origin "Å.rI.dZń O ri jń "O„*.rI.dZń OR ri jń

ornery "O„*.n´.rÈ OR n´ ree "An.rÈ AHN ree

orthoepy "O„*.ToU*.ÆE.pÈ OR thoh E pee O„*."ToU*.´.pÈ or THOH ´ pee

our aU*„* OW´R A„* AHR


Letter du Jour: P DESCRIPTION: bi-labial, voiceless, stop-plosive consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .33 Letter du Jour - P IPA Symbol


[ p ] p poem (initial) happen, upon (medial) hop (final) [ n ] n pneumatic (silent)

[p]/p, as in POPULAR

FORMATION: Lips closed; soft palate raised; air exhaled to create gentle

pressure behind lips; lips then opened quickly; air released explosively; tongue

relaxed; vocal folds don't vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Guard against over-popping when using a

microphone (though on-stage it might be a strong dramatic effect). Work for

speed and clarity

Practice on: bit/pit, beg/peg, rib/rip, tab/tap, dabber/dapper, Mabel/maple

a. - Pepe peculiarly planted purple paper poppies and pink paper petunias, in

perfectly preformed patterns.

b. - Harper typically supposes his perspectives are popular, but his personal

prejudices appeal only to purely apish disciples.


1. paper poppy, baby bubble 5. dapper dabber

2. Peggy Babcock 6. keep on peeking, creeping peeper

3. peculiarly perverted viper 7. sloppily sipping purple slurpees

4. rapid rabid rabbit 8. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)


Table LdJ .34 Mispronounced - P

WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation paean "pi.ń PEE ń "peI*.ń PAY ń

palm pAm PAHM pA:m PAHLM

paradigm "pœ.r´.ÆdIm PA r´ DIM "pœ.r´.ÆdaI*m acceptable for

PE r´ Di�M British speech

parley "pA„*.lÈ PAHR lee "pA„*.leI* PAHR lay

pastoral "pœs.t´.r´: PAS t´ r´l pœs."tO´*.r´: pas TOR r´l

pectoral "pEk.t´.r´: PEK t´ r´l pEk."tO´*.r´: pek TOR r´l

pen pEn PEN pIn PIN

penalize "pi.n´.ÆlaI*z PEE n´ Li�Z "pE.n´.ÆlaI*z PE n´ Li�Z

permit (n.) permit (v,)

"p‰±.mIt p„."mIt

PUR mit pur MIT

improper stressing

persevere Æp‰±.sI."vI„* PUR si VIR p„."sE.v„, Æp‰±.s„."vI„*

pur SE vur PUR sur VIR

phenomenon f´."nÅ.mI.ÆnÅn f´ NO mi NON f´."nÅ.mI.Ænøn f´ NO mi NUN

pianist pi."œ.nIst pee A nist "pi.´.nIst PEE ´ nist

piquant "pi.kńt PEE kńt pi."kAnt, "pi.kwńt

pee KAHNT PEE kwńt

plantain "plœn.tIn PLAN tin plœn."teI*n plan TAYN

poinsettia pOI*n."sE.tI.´ poin SE ti ´ pOI*nt."sE.t´ point SE t´

police p´."lis p´ LEES "poU*.lis POH lees

porcupine "pO„*.kj´.ÆpaI*n POR ky´ Pi�N "pO„*.kÈ."paI*n POR kee Pi�N

porridge "pÅ.rIdZ PO rij "pO„*.rIdZ POR rij

possess p´."zEs p´ ZES poU*."zEs poh ZES

precedence prI."si.dńs pri SEE dńs "prE.s´.dńs PRE s´ dńs

predator "prE.d´.t„ PRE d´ t´r "prE.d´.ÆtO„* PRE d´ TOR

preferable "prE.f´.r´.b´: PRE f´ r´ b´l prI."f‰.r´.b´: pri FUR r´ b´l

prelude "prE:.jud PREL yood "preI*.lud PRAY lood

premises "prE.mI.s´z PRE mi s´z "prE.m´.Æsiz PRE m´ SEEZ

premonition Æpri.m´."nI.Sń PREE m´ NI shń ÆprE.m´."nI.Sń PRE m´ NI shń

preparatory prI."pE.r´.ÆtO´*.rÈ pri PE r´ TOR ree "prE.pr´.ÆtO´*.rÈ PREP r´ TOR ree

prestigious prI."stI.dZ´s pri STI j´s prE."sti.dZ´s pre STEE j´s

preventive prI."vEn.tIv pri VEN tiv prI."vEn.t´.tIv pri VEN t´ tiv

primer (book) primer (he, who, or that which primes)

"prI.m„ "praI*.m„

PRI m´r PRi� m´r

failure to

distinguish

privilege "prI.v´.ÆlIdZ PRI v´ lij "prIv.lIdZ PRIV lij

process "prÅ.sEs PRO ses "proU*.sEs PROH ses British speech


acceptable for processor "prÅ.sE.s„ PRO se s´r "prÅ.sE.sO„* PRO se sor

program "proU*.grœm PROH gram "proU*g.r´m PROH gr´m

progress "prÅ.grEs PRO gres "proU*.grEs acceptable for

PROH gres British speech

promulgate pr´."mø:.geI*t pr´ MUL gayt "prÅ.m´:.ÆgeI*t PRO m´l GAYT

pronunciation pr´.Ænøn.sI."eI*.Sń pr´ NUN si AY shń pr´.ÆnAU*n.sI."eI*.Sń pr´ NOWN si AY shń

psalm sAm SAHM sA:m SAHLM

pulpit "pU:.pIt PUUL pit "pø:.pIt PUL pit


Letter du Jour: Q WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .35 Letter du Jour - Q IPA Symbol


[ kw ] kw quite (initial) inquire (medial) [ k ] k plaque [ kj ] ky queue "Q" has no phonetic identity in English, - all sounds it is used to create are represented by other letters - so there will be no articulation drills for this section.

Table LdJ .36 Mispronounced - Q WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED


qualm kwAm KWAHM kwA:m KWAHLM

quasi "kweI*.zaI* KWAY zi� "kwA.zÈ KWAH zee

quay ki KEE kweI* KWAY

querulous "kwE.r´.l´s KWE r´ l´s "kwI„*.j´.l´s KWIR y´ l´s

query "kwI´*.rÈ KWI ree "kwE.rÈ KWE ree

quietus kwaI*."i.t´s kwi� EE t´s "kwaI*.´.t´s KWi� ´ t´s


Letter du Jour: R DESCRIPTION: voiced, retroflexed, lingua-palatal fricative continuant

consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .37 Letter du Jour - R IPA Symbol


[ r ] r right, write (initial) around, furry (medial) [ „ ] ur over, hear, hair, far, for, poor, fire, hour [ ‰± ] UR worm, turn, journey, fern, earn, third,

myrtle, myrrh, chauffeur

Remember, "R" can function as both vowel and consonant. R, L, and S are

considered to be the most troublesome letters in English, so this is an important

section. First, the consonant:

[r]/r, as in REWRITE

FORMATION: Center of tongue raised toward center of palate; tongue tip and

blade may be raised toward the palate, but do not touch it; lips very slightly

rounded and protruded; jaw lowered; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate. For

[r] to function as consonant, it must be followed by a vowel sound.


1. - Don't over-round the lips substituting [w] for [r]. Use a mirror, or place a

finger across your lips to feel for any movement on the [r].

Practice on: way/Wray, weak/wreak, wangle/wrangle; wen/wren, wit/writ, wench/wrench,

west/wrest, wiggle/wriggle, wight/Wright

a. - Francois' rust brown Rolls Royce raced around the track, driven dreadfully by

the dangerously deranged Frenchman.

2. - Some dialects and accents substitute [:]/l for [r].

Practice on: lead/read, lack/rack, lug/rug, load/road, lore/roar, lip/rip


b. - Really, relying for their living on their relations' salaries, relaxed Lorraine and

Larry.

3. - When [r] is placed between two vowels, the first vowel often inadvertently

changes, and the [r] is shifted to [„r]. To correct this, identify the first vowel, and

save the [r] for the second syllable. For example: "marry" is often said as "mer-

ry". To get it right, say it as ["mœ-rÈ]/MA-ree.

Practice on these sets of words. For accuracy, refer to the IPA vowel chart, pp.__, since respelling

is less specific.

Table LdJ .38 Comparison of the Front Vowels With [r] [Ir]/ir [e´* r]/air [Er]/er [œr]/ar erase airy=aerie Eric arid pyrrhic paring perish parish berate bearing=baring bury=berry Barrie=Barry tyranny tearable terrible tarry direct dairy Derry Darrow Kirin caring Kerry carry mirror Mary merry marry miracle Marion America Marilyn lyric hilarious celerity hilarity virile vary very Varro sirrah Sarah serenade Saracen heroic hairy herring Harry spirit sparing Sperry sparrow

Table LdJ .39 Comparison of the Mid-Vowels with [r] [‰r]/ur-r [´r]/ur-r [ør]/u-r burry drapery burrow furry sufferer furrow currish conqueror courage stirring surrender Surrey whirring wanderer worry myrrhic summary Murray

Table LdJ .40 Comparison of the Last Three Back Vowels with [r] [Or]/awr [År]/o-r [Ar]ahr auricle oracle aria Laura lorry Lara chorus Corin carabao Maureen morals Mara orally orange aria pouring porridge sparring


boring borrow barring story torrid starring

[‰±]/UR and [„]/ur, as in MURMUR ["m‰±m„]

FORMATION: Central part of the tongue raised and tensed; tongue tip may be

curled back slightly, but doesn't touch roof of mouth; lips slightly rounded; jaw

half open; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate. These sounds can only be

made properly if followed by a consonant or silence. [‰±] is stressed and longer,

[„] is unstressed and shorter.

PLACEMENT: Mid-central vowels (see the vowel chart, pp.__), tend to have a

naturally even tone, but some dialects (such as Australian and British North

Country) will over-round the lips and make these sounds strongly nasal.


1. - The "Hard R", or overly-retroflexed "R". This is one of the defining sounds

of western, mid-west, range, country, and mountain American dialects. If your

"R" is too "hard", you are probably lifting and pulling back on the tip of your

tongue. Here is a way to reduce that tendency:

Practice:

a. Say the word "hard" and observe the placement of your tongue tip and any tension in the

back of your tongue.

b. Say the word "hard" again with a British dialect (no retroflection). Keep the tip of your

tongue pressed lightly against the back of your lower teeth; relax the back of the tongue.

c. Say "hard" again with as heavily retroflexed a sound as you can. Pull your tongue tip up

and back

d. A lternate several times between the British and over-done American dialects until you

have a clear sense of how your tongue tip operates on this sound.

e. Finally, split the difference between the two sounds so that your "R" isn't as hard as

before, but hasn't disappeared entirely. Play with varying degrees of retroflection.


2. - When you feel comfortable with that exercise, use the same format to

practice on all the various ways the vowel of "R" shows up in English:

Table LdJ .41 Comparison of R Diphthongs/Vowels [‰±]/UR [„]/ur [I„*]/ir [e„*]/air [A„*]/ahr aver over ear air army purple perplex pier pair part confer conifer cheer care card burn amber beer bare barn dirt wonder deer dare dark [O„*]/awr [U„*]/uur [aI*„*]/i�r [aU*„*]/owr pour poor pyre power tore tour tire tower shore sure shire shower door dour dire dower bore boor byre bower

3. - The presence of an "R" vowel also causes some mispronunciations: pour for

poor, shore for sure, as well as words like fear said with too high a vowel so it

sounds like "feer". Also avoid making triphthong words sound like two

syllables: tower like tow-wer (there is no "W" sound in those words), and fire

like fi-yer.

4. - If an "R" diphthong is followed by a vowel sound in the beginning of the

next word, that will cause the sound to change to a diphthong followed by an

"R" consonant. For example, in "far, far away", the first "far" is different from

the second ([fA„ fA´* r´"weI*]) because of the vowel in "away". Because of this

natural shift, in dialects or regional speech where no r-coloring is used (East

coast, Southern, etc.), there is a tendency, in phonetically similar situations, to

intrude an r-consonant out of thin air. For example: "idea is" becomes "idea

ris", or "law of averages" changes to "law rof averages".

Practice on: so far away/sofa away, finer and/China and, lore of/law of

a. - Minnesota after a rainfall is America at its finest.

b. - Canada always appears bigger than China on the map.


You may have discovered that you need to adjust your articulation of some "R"

sounds. To help, whenever "R" is followed by a vowel sound underline it.

Whenever followed by a consonant sound, or by silence, cross it out. Any "R"

that is underlined will function as a consonant. Guard against [r] to [w]

substitution. Any "R" that is crossed out is a vowel. Beware of over-

retroflection. Remember that these are rules of sound not spelling. For

example:

A ll for one, and one for all. ("one" begins with the [w] consonant sound)

For hour after hour. ("hour" begins with the diphthong [aU*], not the consonant "H")

Here are some sentences for you to practice marking and speaking the "R":

Practice on:

a. The erstwhile poet wrote earnest but worthless verses. ‰± r ‰± ‰± ‰±

b. Return the green pre registration forms before enrolling. r ‰± r r r r O„* O´*. r r

c. A fter a rousing round of beer and pretzels, I'm ready to retire. ´.r r r I´.* r r r r aI*„*

d. Beware of the rip-tide running offshore. E´.* r r r O„*

e. The rustic rocking chair remains a relic of rural life. r r E„* r r rU´*.r

f. The dramatic instructor was feared for his temper. r r „ I„* O„* „

g. The horrible warriors wreaked a terrible catastrophe. Å.r Å.r ´± r E.r r


h. The bored jurors snored through the original hearing. O„* U´*.r„ O„* r O.r I´*.r

i. The editor's grammar rarely ever required correction. „ r „ rE„* „ r aI*„* r

j. The ambassador traveled to the Orient to protect American trade interests „ r O´.*r r E.r r r

regarding the importing of car parts, scrap iron, and rubber tires. r A„* O„ A„* A„* r aI*„* r „ aI*„*

Table LdJ .42 Mispronounced - R WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED


rabid "rœ.bId RA bid "reI*.bId RAY bid

ratiocination Ærœ.SI.ÆÅ.sI."neI*.Sń RA shi O si NAY shń ÆreI*.SI.ÆÅ.sI."neI*.Sń RAY shi O si NAY shń

ration "rœ.Sń RA shń "reI*.Sń RAY shń

realtor "ri.´:.t„ REE ´l t´r "ri.l´.t„ REE l´ t´r

recognize "rE.k´g.ÆnaI*z RE k´g Ni�Z "rE.k´.ÆnaI*z RE k´ Ni�Z

refuge "rEf.judZ REF yooj "rEf.juZ REF yoozh

refugee "rEf.ju.ÆdZÈ, ÆrEf.ju."dZi

REF yoo JEE REF yoo JEE "rEf.ju.ÆZÈ

ÆrEf.ju."Zi

REF yoo ZHEE REF yoo ZHEE

regime reI*."Zim ray ZHEEM rI."dZim ri JEEM

remonstrate rI."mÅns.treI*t ri MON strayt "rE.mń.ÆstreIt RE mń STRAYT

reparable "rE.p´.r´.b´: RE p´ r´ b´l rI."pE.r´.b´: ri PER r´ b´l

repartee ÆrE.pA„*."ti RE pahr TEE ÆrE.pA„*."teI* RE pahr TAY

respiratory rI."spaI*´*.r´.tO´*.rÈ ri SPi� r´ taw ree "rEs.p´.r´.ÆtO´*.rÈ RE sp´ r´ TAW ree

respite "rEs.pIt RES pit r´."spaI*t res PYT

roof ruf ROOF rUf RUUF

route rut ROOT rAU*t ROWT

ruse ruz ROOZ rus ROOS

rural "rU´*.r´: RUU r´l "r‰.r´: RUR r´l


Letter du Jour: S DESCRIPTION: (typically) voiceless lingua-alveolar fricative continuant

consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .43 Letter du Jour - S IPA Symbol


[ s ] s see, pseudo, schism, science (initial) astride, cassette, (medial) base, amass [ z ] z disaster (medial) nose, his (final) [ S ] sh shore, schnapps (initial) ashen (medial) wash, Bosch (final) silent Illinois

We will focus on "S" as [s] and [S].

[s]/s as in SERIOUSNESS

FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved or channeled, and raised toward

alveolar ridge; sides of tongue sealed against side teeth; air passes between

tongue and alveolar ridge in continuous flow; teeth close together but not

closed; soft palate raised; vocal folds don't vibrate.


1. - If the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge, and air is allowed to pass

around the sides of the tongue, you get a lateral lisp.

2. - If the tongue thrusts forward between the teeth, you get a frontal lisp which

sounds like [T]/th.

3. - If the focus of the sound is too far back it will have a vague, almost [S]/sh

quality.

4. - If the sound is made too forcefully, or for too long, it will stand out and

draw attention.


We will work on both "S" and its voiced cognate "Z". The "S" is one of the most

important sounds to get right, and one of the most difficult. If it has any non-

standard quality at all it will become the center of attention and steal focus

from the speaker. The high frequency sound of the "S" carries great distances,

and microphones are especially sensitive to the sound. If you have ever gotten a

warning comment on this sound, take it seriously. Few issues can stop a career

more quickly. The drills here are for those who need a minor tune-up. If you

don't respond easily to these, a visit to a speech pathologist could be the

answer.

Practice these consonant combinations:

1. (slowly - hold each sound) l. . . .n.. . . .z.. . .d, l. . . .n.. . .s. . . .t, (repeat several times. Don't let

the tip of your tongue touch the back of your upper teeth. The goal is to focus the "S" and "Z".

Experiment with subtle adjustments in placement to find the best focus. Often an objective

listener and a tape recorder are necessary to help you hear it.

2. Say these pairs. Let the n, t, d, and l sounds help you place the s and z.

neat-seat need-zeal knit-sit did-zit

net-set Ned-said tat-sat dad-Zach

bought-sought Len-Zen test-zest tone-zone

3. Say each word with a "T" sound before it. Keep "S" as brief as possible.

t-steam t-stem t-stab t-stand t-stack t-staff t-stag t-stage

t-stain t-staid t-stale t-stall t-stamp t-stand t-stink t-star

t-staple t-start t-state t-static t-status t-stay t-stead t-steal

4. Say each word with a "N" sound before it.

n-zoom n-zooms n-zany n-zeal n-Zen n-zest n-zinc n-zenith

n-zoo n-zoos n-zoot n-Zulu n-zone n-zebra n-zero n-Zoe

5. Say each word with a "T" sound before it. Keep the "S" as brief as possible. Don't change

[str]/str to [Str]/shtr.


{t-steam, t-stream, t-seam} {t-stand, t-strand, t-sand} {t-stay, t-stray, t-say}

6. Though the following words end with an "S" spelling it is actually a "Z" sound. Be sure to

fully voice that sound.

loses as because cheese please news surprise wise

his hers is was tells weeds wins judges

longs deeds allows nose close ease says has


[S]/sh, as in SHUSH

FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved or channeled, and raised with the

sides of tongue sealed against side teeth, tongue tip pointed downward; air

passes between tongue blade and front of hard palate in continuous stream; lips

slightly protruded; soft palate raised; vocal folds do not vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: If the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge and

one or both sides of the tongue release, the sound shifts to a lateral lisp. If the

tongue tip thrusts forward a frontal lisp [T]/th results.

Practice on: seen/sheen, said/shed, sock/shock, Sam/sham, sort/short

viscous/vicious, my scene/machine, press her/pressure

lease/leash, office/fish, Russ/rush, hopeless/flesh, mass/mash

On the following sentences, identify the [s]/s, [z]/z, and [S]/sh sounds, and articulate them

clearly:

a. Sister Susie is sewing shirts for soldiers; such skill at sewing shirts for soldiers

Sister Susie shows.

b. Sharon's shameless gaucheries surely caused a share of the vicious gossip about

her suspicious attraction to the Welsh fisherman.

c. The sharp-looking Chevy was washed to a shiny finish and furnished to perfection

with sheepskin seat cushions.

Table LdJ .44 Mispronounced - S WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED

Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation sacrilegious Æsœ.kr´."lI.dZ´s SAK r´ LIJ ´s Æsœ.kr´."li.dZ´s SAK r´ LEEJ ´s

salve salver

sœv "sœ.v„

SAV SA v´r sœ:v

"sœ.:v„

SALV SAL v´r

sandwich "sœnd.wItS SAND wich "sœm.wItS SAM wich

sanguine "sœNg.wIn SANG gwin "sœN.gwaI*n SANG gwi�n

schedule "skE.dZu: SKE jool "SE.dZu: acceptable for

SHE jool British speech

schism "sI.z´m SI z´m "skI.z´m SKI z´m

schizophrenia ÆskIt.s´."fri.nI.´ SKIT s´ FREE ni ´ ÆskIt.s´."frE.nI.´ SKIT s´ FRE ni ´


secretary "sEk.r´.ÆtE.rÈ SEK r´ TE ree "sE.k„.ÆtE.rÈ SEK ur TE ree

secreted (all meanings) sI."kri.t´d si KREE t´d "si.kr´.t´d SEE kr´ t´d

senile "si.naI*: SEE ni�l "sE.naI*: SE ni�l

servile "s‰±.v´: SUR v´l "s‰±.vaI*: SUR vi�l

sheik SeI*k SHAYK Sik SHEEK

short-lived "SO„*t "laI*vd SHORT Li�VD "SO„*t "lIvd SHORT LIVD

siege sidZ SEEJ siZ SEEZH

sieve sIv SIV siv SEEV

similar "sI.mI.l„ SI mi l´r "sIm.ju.l„ SIM yoo l´r

sinecure "saI*.n´.ÆkjU„* Si� n´ KYUUR "sI.n´.ÆkjU„* SI n´ KYUUR

sirrah "sI´*.r´ SIR r´ s´."rA si RAH

sonorous s´."nO„*.r´s s´ NOR r´s "sÅ.n´.r´s acceptable for

SO n´ r´s British speech

species "spi.SÈz SPEE sheez "spi.siz SPEE seez

spherical "sfE.rI.k´: SFE ri k´l "sfI´*.rI.k´: SFI ri k´l

spontaneity ÆspÅn.t´."ni.I.tÈ SPON t´ NEE i tee ÆspÅn.t´."neI*.I.tÈ SPON t´ NAY i tee

status steI*.t´s STAY t´s stœ.t´s STA t´s

strength strENkT STRENGKTH strEnT, striNkT, streI*NkT

STRENTH, STRINGKTH, STRAYNGKTH

succinct s´k."sINkt s´k SINGKT s´."sINkt s´ SINGKT

summarily "sø.m´.r´.lÈ SU m´ r´ lee s´."mE.r´.lÈ s´ ME r´ lee

superfluous sju."p‰±.flu.´s syoo PUR floo ´s Æsu.p„."flu.´s SOO pur FLOO ´s

superfluity Æsju.p„."flu.I.tÈ SYOO pur FLOO i tee Æsu.p„."flu.I.tÈ SOO pur FLOO i tee

supposed s´."poU*zd s´ POHZD s´."poU*.z´d s´ POH z´d

sure SU„* SHUUR S‰± SHUR

swath swathe

swOT sweI*D

SWAWTH SWAYTH

swAD swAD

SWAHTH SWAHTH

syrup "sI´*.r´p SI r´p "s‰±.r´p SUR r´p


Letter du Jour: T The letter T actually began as X! Ancient Egyptians used the symbol

about 300 BC, then the Semites took it, called it "taw"(which to them meant

"mark") and shifted it around so it looked like a plus or cross (+) . When the

Greeks took over the letter, they moved the cross bar to the top of the vertical

stroke much like its present form. While it is 20th in the Alphabet, this is the

second most widely used letter in printed material. The smaller case version did

not develop until the CE 500s, went through various changes and finally reached

its present form in the 1500s. In the relationship of spelling to sound, the letter T almost always

represents the sound [t]. The reverse is not as consistently true. The sound [t]

can be spelled ed in words like walked and missed, or spelled th in a few proper

names like Thomas, Theresa, Thailand, Thompson, and words like thyme. The t

with h spelling is alphabetically inferior to the way the Greeks do it. They have a

specific symbol called a "theta" (T). The th sound was alien to the Latin

speaking Romans, so they didn't include it in their 25-letter alphabet. Both

voiced [D] as in either and voiceless [T] th as in ether were spoken in Old English,

however, and the runic "thorn" and the "edh" were used interchangeably

to spell them. The Latin educated Norman scribes rejected these symbols and

used the th or, less frequently the y22. In Modern English th represents both the

voiced sound and the voiceless sound.

T is allegedly silent in tch-ending words like catch, fetch and itch (i.e., as

ch includes [t] when it spells [tS]). It has become mute also in the orally awkward 22Modern misunderstanding of this spelling convention has resulted in confusing readings of Shakespearean texts where ye can be the weak form of you, versus the word the as in Ye Olde Sweete Shoppe. Ye for you should be pronounced [j´]. Ye for the should be pronounced [D´, Di].


stl and tn consonant clusters in words like castle, nestle, thistle, jostle and

hustle, and in fasten, listen, often and soften.


DESCRIPTION: (typically) voiceless, lingua-alveolar, stop-plosive, consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .45 Letter du Jour - T IPA Symbol


[ t ] t talk, thyme, ptomaine (initial) after, butter (medial) hit, butt, light, doubt (final) often (silent) [ T ] th thing (initial) athlete, Matthew (medial) both (final) [ D ] th this (initial) bother (medial) breathe (final)

[t]/t, as in TOTALITY

FORMATION: Tip of tongue lightly pressed against gum ridge behind the upper

teeth; sides of tongue touch side teeth; soft palate raised; air stopped; vocal

folds separated and do not vibrate. Air pressure builds behind tongue tip;

tongue is released quickly, and air explodes out of mouth.


This consonant functions three ways in English: unaspirated [tÆ], aspirated [tÓ],

and dentalized [ t1 ].

1. - When the sound is followed by a consonant it is "unaspirated", or has the

stop, but not the plosive quality. If you put in that aspiration, your speech will

sound affected, or over-pronounced. Do it both ways to hear the difference.

Practice on: hits, heatstroke, pit bull, hot dog, football, notebook, fat free

a. - Hit lots of little cotton balls lightly, and correct your wrist position, or your golf

game won't be its best.

2. - When the unaspirated [tÆ]/t is followed by [r]/r, be careful not to splash the

sound or change it to [tSr]/chr - so that "tree" becomes "chree".

Practice on: trial, true, attract, betray, chartreuse, tremendous, trajectory

b. - Travel on the train to Trenton.


c. - Trevor trilled twenty-two Italian trios.

Further, the situation is even more complex when [tr] is preceeded by [s]. Be

careful not to change it to [StSr]/shchr

d. – Strength training should include instruction in stretching.

e. – Striped vests with string fringes strike me as abstractly stylish.

3. - When the [tÆ]/t at the end of a word, is followed by the same sound at the

start of the next word, don't make two sounds. Rather, hold your tongue in

place a bit longer, and give a slight burst of energy for the second [tÓ]/t.

Practice on: hit to, fat Tillie, last ticket, can't tell, spanked Tom, swiped ten

f. - Matt touched ten tent tops, testing to see if they were tied tightly.

4. - When the [tÓ]/t is followed by a vowel sound, or silence, it is "aspirated", or

pops with a light rush of air like a small "H". Be careful not to turn this into

[ts]/ts.

In the following example the only difference between these pairs is that the first words will have

a slightly longer and more present "H".

Practice on: bet her/better, kit he/kitty, shut her/shutter, pat her/patter

g. - You bet he'd better not touch the teeth on the "T" consonant.

h. - Tom took Peter to batting practice.

5. - When [tÆ]/t is followed by [T]/th, or [D]/th, the sound is "dentalized", or made

with the tongue touching the top front teeth in anticipation of the "TH" sound23.

It is noted as [ t1 ]. This is a fairly natural action, and usually doesn't need to be

forced.

Practice on: bet three, first Thursday, adjust things, ancient Thebes

g. - Hit the ball at the first throw.

h. - I hate that the bills are due on the fifth and twelfth

23The same action happens when [n, d] are followed by [T, D] . We make note of it here, because the issue of [t] articulation is more complex, and more likely to need this level of detail.


[T]/th, as in THING, and [D]/th, as in THIS

FORMATION: Tip of tongue placed inter-dentally (between front teeth); air

moved between tongue tip and upper teeth in continuous stream; soft palate

raised, on [T]/th, vocal folds do not vibrate, for [D]/th, they do.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This sound requires the tongue to reach so far

forward that some consonant combinations are challenging. Some dialects

substitute [f]/f for [T]/th, so "birthday" becomes "birfday", and [d]/d for [D]/th,

so that "this" shifts to "dis". These are a difficult sounds for non-native

speakers because they don't exist in most other languages. Foreign speakers will

tend to substitute [t]/t, or [s]/s for [T]/th, and [d]/d, or [z]/z for [D]/th.

Practice on: [T]/th

tree/three, tick/thick, sin/thin, saw/thaw, tie/thigh, boat/both

a. - I think Theadora's thesis was thin and not thought through thoroughly.

b. - The anesthesiologist's ether throbbed in my throat.

Practice on: [D]/th

Dan/than, dare/there, wiz/with, laze/lathe, seed/seethe

c. - Breathe rhythmically, and don't dither as you gather together.

d. - Mother loathes bathing and clothing teething babies.


1. Topeka, Topeka, Topeka 6. teases Terry's teary thesis theories

2. three tethered teething things 7. the thorn had torn through

3. Heather's hat has ten thousand

feathers

8. p b t d k g t d [p´ b´ t´ d´ k´ g´ t´ d´] -repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

4. Sarah's rising sighs and writhing thighs

9. sh zh th th s z th th [S´ Z´ T´ D´ s´ z´ T´ D´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

5. Strategy tragedy


Table LdJ .46 - T Troublesome Words

Problem Word Preferred Pronunciation Non-Standard Pronunciation temperature "tEm.p´.r´.tS„ TEM p´ r´ ch´r "tEm.p„.tS„ TEM p´r ch´r tercel24 "t‰±.s´: TUR s´l t„."sE: t´r SEL textile "tEks.t´: TEKS t´l "tEks.taI*: TEKS ti�l the (before a consonant) the (before a vowel)

D´ Di

th´ thee

reversal of pronunciations

theatre "Ti.´.t„ THEE ´ t´r Ti."eI*.t„ thee AY t´r thither "DI.D„ THI th´r "TI.D„ THI th´r thoroughly "Tø.r´.lÈ THU r´ lee "T‰±.r´.lÈ THUR r´ lee Thursday "T‰±.zdÈ THURZ dee "T‰±z.deI* THURZ day timbre (sound) timber (wood)

"tœm.b„ "tIm.b„

TAM b´r TIM b´r

"tIm.b„ ---

TIM b´r --

tiramisu Æti.rA.mi."su TEE rah mee SOO ÆtI.rE."mi.su TIH rE MEE soo tortuous (twisted) torturous (tormented)

"tO„*.tSu.´s "tO„.*tS´.r´s

TOR choo ´s TOR ch´r r´s

reversal of pronunciations

tousled "tAU*z´:d TOW z´ld "tAU*s´:d TOW s´ld transfer (v.) transfer (n.)

trœns."f‰± "trœns.f´±

trans FUR TRANS f´r

improper stressing

trauma "trO.m´ TRAW m´ "trAU*.m´ TROW m´ traverse "trœ.v„s TRA v´rs tr´."v‰±s tr´ VURS tribunal traI*."bju.n´: tri� BYOO n´l trI."bju.n´: trI BYOO n´l triumvirate traI*."øm.v´.ÆrIt tri� UHM v´ RIT ÆtraI*.´m."vaI*.rIt TRI�� ´m VI�� rit Tuesday "tjuz.dÈ TYOOZ dee "tuz.deI* TOOZ day tumult "tju.m´:t TYOO m´lt "tø.m´:t TU m´lt turgid "t‰±.dZId TUR jid "t‰±.gId TUR gid turret "tø.rIt TU rit "t‰.rIt TUR rit tyrannical tI."rœ.nI.k´: ti RA ni k´l taI*."rœ.nI.k´: ti� RA ni k´l

24Tercel is a male peregrine falcon. The name of the car model is taken from this source. Toyota may choose to pronounce it anyway they like.


Letter du Jour: U WAYS TO PRONOUNCE: 22!

Table LdJ .47 Letter du Jour - U IPA Symbol


[ i ] ee quay [ I ] i build [ E ] e guess [ œ ] a guarantee [ Å ] o hough, lough [ O ] aw caught, bought [ U ] uu could, vacuum [ u ] oo true, fruit, rude, soup, through [ ø ] u up, touch [ ´ ] ´ upon [ „ ] ur urbane [ ‰±, ‰ ] UR fur, furry [ aI* ] i� guy, guide [ OI* ] oi deutzia, Reuters, Freud [ aU* ] ow house, kraut [ oU* ] oh mauve, beau [ O„* ] or four [ U„* ] uur tour, sure [ a„* ] ahr guard [ aU„* ] owr flour [ ju ] yoo feud, due, duke, beauty [ w ] w guava

We will focus on [u]/oo, [U]/uu, and [ø]/u.

[u]/u, as in PRUNE

FORMATION: Highest back vowel. Back of tongue raised, lips rounded and

forward, soft palate raised, vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Keep the sound distinct. Don't let it drift into the

nearby sounds of [U]/uu, as in COULD, or [ø]/u, as in CUP.

Practice on: hut/hook/hoot, cup/cook/kook, tuck/took/toucan, putt/put/pewter

stood/stooge, pull/pool, full/fool, hood/who'd, putsch/pooch

a. - Who's soup spoon was used to scoop the goo from the school's pool?

b. - Ruth rudely goosed Bruce as he removed his shoes.


[U]/uu, as in PUT

FORMATION: Back of tongue high, lips moderately rounded, soft palate is

raised, vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: as this sound isn't in many other languages, foreign

speakers will often substitute [O]/aw, [oU*]/oh, or [u]/u, which are all close

sounds. Native speakers are most likely to shift [U]/uu to [´]/´, by releasing the

lip roundness and not putting enough energy on the sound.

1. - When it is followed by [:]/l, be careful not to add an extra syllable, changing

wool [wU:]/wuul to ["wU´:]/WUU-´l.

Practice on: pull, full, wool, bull, fulfill, wolf

a. - The good-looking snooker player hooked fully five balls off the cushion.

b. - Spinsterhood can be quite good, if it's fully understood.

c. - Don't use that bull to pull the wool over my eyes.

2. - Don't change the diphthong [U„*] /uur to [‰±]/UR, or [O„*] /or.

Practice on:

Table LdJ .48 [U„*, O„*, ‰±] Comparison [U„*]/uur [O„*]/or [‰±]/UR [U„*]/uur [O„*]/or [‰±]/UR boor/Boer bore/boar burr Moor more Myrrh tour tore turn sure shore shirt spoor spore spurn your yore yearn poor pore/pour purple dour door dirt

d. - The demure and immature juror looked with curiosity at the lurid evidence

during the trial of the "Brooklyn Butcher".

e. - The furious epicure took a poorly planned tour of the bush country looking for

obscure rural cookbooks.


[ø]/u, as in HUT

FORMATION: Tongue centered and relaxed, lips unrounded, soft palate raised,

vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Non-native speakers will often shift this sound to

[Å]/o, as in HOT. Southern regional dialects will sometimes alter it to [‰]/UR, so

that HUT sounds like HURT (without the "R").

Practice on:

Table LdJ .49 [‰±, ø, Å]- Comparisons [‰±]/UR [ø]/U [Å]/o [‰±]/UR [ø]/U [Å]/o sir supper sop search suck sock dirge drudge dodge dirk duck dock lurch lunch lodge first fussed fond hurt hut hot shirt shut shot bird bud body turn tumble Tom

These word pairs will have the SAME SOUNDS IN BOTH WORDS:

cut/courage, cup/curry, bum/burrow≈borough25, tub/turret, come/current,

mud/Murray, nut/nourish, fun/furrow, sun/surrey, hum/hurry, flub/flourish,

come/constable.

Practice sentences:

a. - Mother Courage had such a wonderful run in London.

b. - Consult the dull culturally refined adults about hushing up while studying.

c. - It takes courage to hurriedly gulp hot curry.

Table LdJ .50 Mispronounced - U WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED


ultimatum Æø:.tI."meI*.t´m UL ti MAY t´m Æø:.tI."mA.t´m UL ti MAH t´m

undertaking (endeavor)

undertaking (mortician's profession)

Æøn.d„."teI*.kIN "øn.d„.ÆteI*k.IN

UN d´r TAY king UN d´r TAY king

reversal of stressing

usurp ju."z‰±p yoo ZURP ju."s‰±p yoo SURP

25 Note the problematic similarity of: borrow ["bÅ.roU*], burro ["bU.roU*], bureau ["bjÁE*.roÁ*], and borough≈burrow≈boro (suffix)≈Burrough(e)s≈Burrows ["bø.roU*](z).


usury "ju.Z´.rÈ YOO zh´ ree "ju.z´.rÈ YOO z´ ree


Letter du Jour: V DESCRIPTION: (typically) voiced, labio-dental, fricative continuant,

consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .51 Letter du Jour - V IPA Symbol


[ v ] v verse (initial) over (medial) love (final)

[v]/v, as in VALVE

FORMATION: Lower lip touches edge of upper teeth; soft palate raises; air

pushed out between lower lip and upper teeth in steady stream, vocal folds

vibrated.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: As with other voiced-fricative sounds, attention must

be placed on the sound in the final position to be sure it doesn't unvoice to

[f]/f. Many non-native speakers will unvoice this sound in all positions. Spanish

speakers will tend to confuse this sound with [B]26 or [b]/b. Europeans are prone

to [v]/v, [w]/w interchanges.

Practice on: folly/volley, feel/veal, off/of, safe/save, leaf/leave, safes/saves

berry/very, buy/vie, bend/vend, cab/calve, lobes/loaves

wane/vein-vane, wow/vow, "y"/vie, wicker/vicar, weal/veal

a. - Very well, loaves of baked unleavened bread will be served with the Bavarian

veal.

b. - Above every withered vine, bumblebees bobbed and weaved, buzzing about

with benevolent abandon.

26[B] is a voiced bi-labial fricative. It sounds like a combination of "B" and "V".


DRILLS: Repeat each one several times rapidly and clearly

1. deliver shriveled devils 5. vibrantly verbal Bavarian

2. involved Volvo lovers 6. beveled vestibule

3. marvelous larvae 7. Vanna wooed a voodoo man

4. nervous Vern's weird red vest 8. alluvial bivalve

9. f v sh zh s z sh zh [f´ v´ S´ Z´ s´ z´ S´ Z´] -repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .52 Mispronounced - V


vacuum "vœ.kju.´m VA kyoo Em "vœ.kjum VA kyoom

vagaries v´."ge´*.rIz, "veI*.g´.rIz

v´ GAIR reez VAY g´ reez

"vœ.g´.rIz VA g´ reez

valet "vœ.lIt VA lit vœ."leI* va LAY

vase veI*s VAYS vAz acceptable for

VOZ British speech

vaudeville "voU*d.vI: VOHD vil "vO.d´.ÆvI: VAWD ´ VIL

vegetable "vEdZ.t´.b´: VEJ t´ b´l "vE.dZ´.t´.b´: VE j´ t´ b´l

vehicle "vi.I.k´: VEE i k´l "vi.hI.k´: VEE hi k´l

venereal v´."nI.rI.´: v´ NI ri ´l v´."nE.rI.´: v´ NE ri ´l

vendor "vEn.d„ VEN d´r "vEn.dO„* VEN dor

vertebrae "v‰±.t´.Æbri VUR t´ bree "v‰±.t´.breI* VUR t´ bray

vice versa "vaI*.sI "v‰±.s´ Vi� si VUR s´ "vaI*s "v‰±.s´ Vi�S VUR s´

victuals "vI.t´:z VI t´lz "vIk.tSu.´:z VIK choo ´lz

visa "vi.z´ VEE z´ "vi.s´ VEE s´


Letter du Jour: W DESCRIPTION: (typically) voiced, bi-labial, glide (semi-vowel), continuant,

consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .53 Letter du Jour - W IPA Symbol


[ w ] w will (initial) away (medial) [ ∑ ] hw what (initial) somewhere (medial)

[w]/w, as in WITCH, and [∑]/hw, as in WHICH

FORMATION: For [w]/w, lips slightly rounded and protruded; back of tongue

lifted, tip of tongue behind the lower front teeth, air flow sent between the lips

as they part, soft palate raised, vocal folds vibrate. This consonant must be

followed by a vowel sound. To form [∑]/hw, the operation is almost the same

except unvoiced, so vocal folds are open and not vibrating. The action is like

blowing out a candle. It too, must be followed by a vowel sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Non-native speakers sometimes switch [v]/v for

[w]/w, or [∑]/hw. Native speakers frequently fail to use the [∑]/hw sound at all.

[∑]/hw will always be used when the word is spelled with "WH", except for:

whooping, who, whom, whose, whole, wholly, whore - those words use [h]/h.

Practice on:

Table LdJ .54 [∑, w, v, f]- Comparisons [∑]/hw [w]/w [v]/v [f]/f [∑]/hw [w]/w [v]/v [f]/f wheel we'll veal feel whelp wealth veldt felt wherry wary very ferry whirred word averred furred whale wale veil fail whales Wales vales fails why "Y" vie fie whine wine vine fine while wile vile file where wear very fair


a. - When white-wall wheels are worn in wet weather, they become somewhat the

worse for wear.

b. - Once or twice during the week we will work, otherwise we will wait, while

watching television.

c. - The squire acquiesced to the weird whims of his squawking wife because,

however wild her wishes, he could not ever bear to be without her.


1. whither which way 6. Willie's villa

2. wrong rung wringing 7. we'll wail at the whale

3. will you, William 8. wicked wicket victim

4. Willamette metalworkers

5. while her withers wither with her

9. p b w hw p b r w [p´ b´ w´ ∑´ p´ b´ r´ w´] - repeat rapidly (20 times on one breath)

Table LdJ .55 Mispronounced - W


"W" "dø.b´:.Æju DU b´l yoo "dø.bj´ DUB y´

wash wAS WAHSH wA„*S WARSH

wastrel "weI*s.tr´: WAY str´l "wAs.tr´: WAH str´l

Wednesday "wEnz.dÈ WENZ dee "wEnz.deI* WENZ day

werewolf "wI„*.ÆwU:f WIR WUULF "wE„*.ÆwU:f WER WUULF

whoop(ing) hup HOOP ∑up HWOOP

wisteria wI."stI.rI.´ wi STI ri ´ wI."stE.rI.´ 27 wi STE ri ´

with wID WITH wIT WITH

wizened "wI.zńd WI zńd "waI*.zńd Wi� zńd

wont wOnt woU*nt

WAWNT WOHNT

wAnt WAHNT

worsted (s.) yarn, cloth

worsted (v.) from worst

"wUs.tId "w‰±s.tId

WUUS tid WURS tid

failure to distinguish

27This pronunciation is correct for the spelling wistaria, which may have been the original intention, since the shrub is named after Caspar Wistar. However, it is not in common use.


Letter du Jour: X WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .56 Letter du Jour - X IPA Symbol


[ gz ] gz exist [ ks ] ks excuse [ kS ] ksh luxury [ z ] z xylophone [ s ] s xi (Greek letter, [saI*])

No phonetic sounds will be specifically assigned to this letter.

Table LdJ .57 Mispronounced - X WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED


Xanthippe zœn."tI.pÈ zan TI pee zœn."TI.pÈ acceptable for

zan THI pee British speech

Xavier "zeI*v.j„ (ÆhA.vi."Er· Spanish)

ZAYV y´r Ig."zeI*v.j„ ig ZAYV y´r

xenophobia ÆzE.n´."foU*.bI.´ ZE n´ FOH bi ´ Æzi.n´."foU*.bI.´ ZEE n´ FOH bi ´


Letter du Jour: Y WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .58 Letter du Jour - Y IPA Symbol


[ j ] y you (initial) canyon (medial) [ i ] ee quay [ È ] ee easy [ I ] i myth [ „ ] ur martyr [ ‰± ] UR myrtle, myrrh [ eI* ] ay pray, prey [ aI* ] i� eye, aye, buy, by, "Y" [ OI* ] oi boy, buoyant [ E„* ] air Ayr, Eyre, they're

We will focus on "Y" as it is used in [È]/ee, and [j]/y.

[È]/ee, as in EASY

FORMATION: Front of tongue lifted high toward front palate, tongue tense, jaw

almost shut, lips spread, soft palate raised, vocal folds vibrate. Compare this to

the close sounds of [i]/ee in the first syllable of EASY ["izÈ], and [I]/i in the first

syllable of SILLY ["sIlÈ].

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Only found on unstressed syllables, typically "y", and

"ie" spelled endings of words, and the "day" endings for the days of the week

(Monday, Tuesday, etc.). Avoid stressing the sound, or lifting it up to [i]/ee.

Practice these words; the first vowel will be [i], the second, [È]:

easy, beastly, meaty, needy, Petey, seamy, Erie, dearie, dreamy

Practice these words; the first vowel will be [I], the second, [È]:

pretty, hippie, silly, Billy, hilly, misty, giddy, ability, piggy, pity

Sentences: a. - The ability of the pretty filly to run easily on a muddy track, makes her a fairly

safe bet for Monday's race.

b. - Fifty very tiny lilies grew peacefully in the cemetery.


[j]/y, as in YOU

FORMATION: Lips slightly widened, jaw relaxed open, front of tongue raised to

front of palate, air stream directed over tongue, vocal folds vibrate. This

consonant must be followed by a vowel sound.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: This sound poses few problems in common words

like "beauty", "argue", and "fuel". However,

1. - When preceded by [d]/d, it is sometimes incorrectly shifted to [dZ]/j ("did

you" becomes "di-joo").

Practice on: did you, would you, could you, had you, good year, heard you

2. - When preceded by [t]/t it can shift to [tS]/ch ("don't you" becomes "dohn-

choo"), or [t]/t can shift to a glottal stop [/] ("don't you" becomes [doU*/ ju]).

Practice on: can't you, won't you, don't you, hit you, trust you, must you

3. - When preceded by [s]/s it might shift to [S]/sh ("kiss you" becomes "ki-

shoo").

Practice on: kiss you, miss you, force you, pass you, toss you, curse you

4. - When preceded by [z]/z, it can shift to [Z]/zh ("as you" becomes "a-zhoo").

Practice on: as you, please you, tease you, has uses, his yell, was young, is yet

5. - When preceded by [:]/l, it can shift to [:‚]/l, or [oU*]/oh ("will you" becomes

"wioh you").

Practice on: will you, tell you, brilliant, peculiar, Italian, kill you, will yell

6. -General American dialect frequently omits the [j]/y altogether. For Elevated

Speech, this sound is commonly called the "Liquid U". It usually is found when

the letter "U" is preceded by: t, d, th or n, and is optional following: l and s.

Practice on: butte/tutor, view/stew, abuse/obtuse, Cuba/tuba, humor/tumor

beauty/duty, puke/duke, fuse/dues, imbue/adieu, few/dew

Matthew/enthuse, impugn/Bethune, both you/Thucydides

mew/new, muse/news, amuse/renews, computer/neuter


miss you/sue, muse/sues, mute/suit, permute/hirsute

abusive/elusive, mute/lute, cued/lewd, cube/lubricate


Sentences: a. - The resolute suitor was a nuisance as he serenaded her enthusiastically on his

new tuba.

b. - The superbly dutiful new Lieutenant knew that the superintendent's

attitude was suicidal, but assumed his behavior would continue as usual.

c. - Bruce wanted to re-do the new room in unusual hues, with nuances of puce

and fuchsia, because it suited his humor.

DRILLS: repeat each rapidly and clearly:

1. peculiarly brilliant Italian stallion 5. curiously obscure procurer

2. did you, would you, could you 6. enthusiastic Thucydides

3. don't you, won't you, can't, you 7. unique New York

4. new venue's revenue 8. excuse the askew skewers

Table LdJ .59 Mispronounced - Y WORDS MOST FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED


yarmulke "jA„*.m´:.k´ YAHR m´l k´ "jA.m´.k´ YAH m´ k´

ye (article, meaning the)

ye (archaic form of you)

D´, Di 28 j´ , ji

TH ´ ,TH EE Y´ ,YEE

ji YEE

yolk joU*k YOHK joU:k YOHLK

your jU„* YUUR j‰± YUR

28[ D´] is used when the next sound is a consonant. [ Di ] or [ DI ]is used when the next sound is a vowel, or for unusual stress.


Letter du Jour: Z DESCRIPTION: (typically) voiced lingua-alveolar fricative continuant

consonant.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE

Table LdJ .60 Letter du Jour - Z IPA Symbol


[ z ] z zoom (initial) dazzle, sizes (medial) buzz, recognize (final) [ Z ] zh Zsa Zsa (initial) azure (medial) [ ts ] ts Zeitgeist (initial) pizza (medial)

We will focus on [z]/z, and [Z]/zh.

[z]/z, as in ZONES

FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved, or channeled, and raised toward

alveolar ridge; sides of tongue sealed against side teeth; air passes between

tongue and alveolar ridge in continuous flow; teeth close together, but not

closed; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: "Z" is the voiced partner of the unvoiced "S", so all

the sibilant issues are present with both sounds (see page__, under letter S).

Additionally, guard against the tendency to unvoice [z]/z at the ends of words.

Practice on: as, because, was, is, news, size, seizes, buzzes, daisies, businesses

cease/seize, seal/zeal, bus/buzz, sip/zip, sue/zoo, noose/news

a. - Girls are mere playthings to those boys whose looks send chills down the backs

of co-eds.

b. - Studying the zoology of buzzards is an unpleasant and sometimes hazardous

business.


[Z]/zh, as in AZURE

FORMATION: Blade of tongue slightly grooved or channeled, and raised with

sides of tongue sealed against side teeth, tongue tip pointed downward; air

passes between tongue blade and front of hard palate in continuous stream; lips

slightly protruded; soft palate raised; vocal folds vibrate.

ARTICULATION PROBLEMS: Be sure to fully voice this sound, especially in final

positions.

Practice on: grey shirt/grazier, glacier/glazier, sea shore/seizure, ashen/azure

a. - The Persian's unusual exposure to the sun's rays caused a mirage which gave

him much pleasure as the delusion was a vision of Zsa Zsa in a luxurious beige

negligée.

b. - For purposes of persuasion, some resort to rouge, others to massage, and some

to exposure.

DRILLS: Repeat each several times rapidly and clearly

1. Gigi seizes Genet 5. glazier's glacier, grazier's glacier

2. measure regimes 6. Parisian's pleasurable persuasions

3. usual casual users of userers 7. sh zh th th s z th th [S´ Z´ T´ D´ s´ z´ T´ D´]

4. f v sh zh s z sh zh [f´ v´ S´ Z´ s´ z´ S´ Z´]

8. sh zh ch j s z ch j [S´ Z´ tS´ dZ´ s´ z´ tS´ dZ´]

Table LdJ .61 Mispronounced - Z


zealot "zE.l´t ZE lEt "zi.lAt ZEE laht

Zeus zjus ZYOOS zus ZOOS

zoology zoU*."Å.l´.dZÈ zoh O l´ jee zu."Å.l´.dZÈ zoo O l´ jee

zoological ÆzoU*.´."lÅ.dZI.k´: zoh ´ LO ji k´l Æzu.´."lÅ.dZI.k´: zoo ´ LO ji k´l

zoologist zoU*."Å.l´.dZIst zoh O l´ jist zu."Å.l´.dZIst zoo O l´ jist


zounds29 zundz zAU*ndz

ZOONDZ ZOUNDZ

29An archaic contraction for the oath by God's wounds. This justifies the common theatrical pronunciation of [zundz]. In that context [zAU*ndz] would seem to be a misinformed "spelling pronunciation". However, in the 16th and 17th centuries, when this expression was in use, the word wound was pronounced [waU*nd], not [wund] as we do today. Some scholars feel that since it is an archaic term, not a modern one, we should preserve its original pronunciation, and not up-date it.


WORDS THAT CHANGE WITH USE

Many words shift syllable stress and pronunciation to indicate different

meanings or function in a sentence. For example: Her perfume perfumes the

air; or, You mustn't discount already discounted sale items.

Here is a partial list of words that change pronunciation when they change

function:

Table LdJ 62 Words that Change With Use accent (n.) accent (v.)

[ "œk.sEnt ] [ œk."sEnt ]

Ak sent ak SENT

bouquet (flowers)

bouquet (aroma) [ bu."keI* ] [ boU*."keI* ]

boo KAY boh KAY

complex (adj. complicated) complex (n. group)

[ k´m."plEks] [ "kÅm.plEks]

k´m PLEKS KOM pleks

conjure (charge solemnly) conjure (invoke a spirit)

[ kń."dZU„* ] [ "køn.dZ„ ]

kń JUUR KUN j´r

console (n.) console (v.)

[ "kÅn.soU*: ] [ kń."soU*: ]

KON sohl kń SOHL

consummate (adj.) consummate (v.)

[ kń."sømIt ] [ "kÅn.sjU.ÆmeI*t ]

kń SU mit KON syuu MAYT

contemplative (pensive)

contemplative (of religious orders) [Æ "kÅn.tEm.ÆpleI*.tIv ] [ kń."tEm.pl´.ÆtIv ]

KON t´m PLAY tiv kń TEM pl´ TIV

content (what is contained) content (well-being)

[ "kÅn.tEnt ] [ kń."tEnt ]

KON tent kń TENT

contest (s.) contest (v.)

[ "kÅn.tEst ] [ kń."tEst ]

KON test kń TEST

contract (s.) contract (v.)

[ "kÅn.trœkt ] [ kń."trœkt ]

KON trakt kń TRAKT

contrast (s.) contrast (v.)

[ "kÅn.trœst ] [ kń."trœst ]

KON trast kń TRAST

control (s., v.) control (in machinery)

[ kń."troU*: ] [ "kÅn.troU*: ]

kń TROHL KON trohl

convert (s.) convert (v.)

[ "kÅn.v„t ] [ kń."v‰±t ]

KON vurt kń VURT

convict (s.) convict (v.)

[ "kÅn.vIkt ] KON vikt kń VIKT


[ kń."vIkt ] decoy (s.) decoy (v.)

[ "di.kOI* ] [ dI."kOI* ]

DEE koi di KOI

decrease (s.) decrease (v.)

[ "di.kris ] [ dI."kris ]

DEE krees di KREES

defect (s.) defect (v.)

[ "di.fEkt ] [ dI."fEkt ]

DEE fekt di FEKT

desert (deserved, abandon) desert ( wilderness)

[ dI."z‰±t ] [ "dE.z„t ]

di ZURT DE z´rt

detail (item) detail (squad, to catalogue)

[ dI."teI*: ] [ "di.teI*: ]

di TAYL DEE tayl

discard (s.) discard (v.)

[ "dIs.kA„*d ] [ dIs."kA„*d ]

DIS kahrd dis KAHRD

discord (s.) discord (v.)

[ "dIs.kO„*d ] [ dIs."kO„*d ]

DIS kord dis KORD

discount (s.) discount (v.)

[ "dIs.kAU*nt ] [ dIs."kAU*nt ]

DIS kownt dis KOWNT

discourse (s.) discourse (v.)

[ "dIs.kO„*s ] [ dIs."kO„*s ]

DIS kors dis KORS

entrance (s.) entrance (v.)

[ "En.trńs ] [ In."trœns ]

EN trńs in TRANS

expatriate (s., adj.) expatriate (v.)

[ Eks."peI*.trI.´t ] [ Eks."peI*.trI.ÆeI*t ]

eks PAY tri ´t eks PAY tri AYT

expert (s., adj.) expert (when not attributive)

[ "Ek.sp„t ] [ Ik."sp‰±t ]

EKS p´rt ik SPURT

forte (in music) forte (strong point)

[ "fO„*.teI* ] [ "fO„*t ]

FOR tay FORT

frequent (adj.) frequent (v.)

[ "fri.kwEnt ] [ frI."kwEnt ]

FREE kwńt fri KWENT

gill (respiratory organ, ravine)

gill (measure)

Gill (man's name)

Gill (short for Gillian)

[ gI: ] [ dZI: ] [ gI: ] [ dZI: ](as in Jack and Gill, now more frequently written Jack and Jill.)

GIL JIL GIL JIL

increase (s.) increase (v.)

[ "In.kris ] [ In."kris ]

IN krees in KREES

insert (s.) insert (v.)

[ "In.s„t ] [ In."s‰±t ]

IN s´rt in SURT

minute (very small) minute (time, angle, memo)

[ maI*."njut ] [ "mI.nIt ]

mi� NYOOT MI nit

object (s.) [ "Åb.dZEkt ] OB jekt


object (v.) [ ´b."dZEkt ] ´b JEKT perfect (s., adj.) perfect (v.)

[ "p‰±.fIkt ] [ p„."fEkt ]

PUR fikt p´r FEKT

perfume (s.) perfume (v.)

[ "p‰±.fjum ] [ p„."fjum ]

PUR fyoom p´r FYOOM

permit (s.) permit (v.)

[ "p‰±.mIt ] [ p„."mIt ]

PUR mit p´r MIT

primer (he, who, or that which primes) primer (elementary book, printing type)

[ "praI*.m„ ] [ "prI.m„ ]

PRi� m´r PRI m´r

protest (s.) protest (v.)

[ "proU.*tEst ] [ pr´."tEst ]

PROH test pr´ TEST

rebel (s.) rebel (v.)

[ "rE.b´: ] [ rI."bE: ]

RE b´l ri BEL

reject (s.) reject (v.)

[ "ri.dZEkt ] [ rI."dZEkt ]

REE jekt ri JEKT

research (s.) research (v.)

[ "ri.s„tS ] [ rI."s‰±tS ]

REE s´rch ri SURCH

subject (s.) subject (v.)

[ "søb.dZEkt ] [ s´b."dZEkt ]

SUB jekt s´b JEKT

survey (s.) survey (v.)

[ "s‰±.veI* ] [ s„."veI* ]

SUR vay s´r VAY

torment (s.) torment (v.)

[ "tO„*.mEnt ] [ tO„*."mEnt ]

TOR ment tor MENT

toward (adj.) toward (prep.)

[ "toU*.„d ] [ t´."wO„*d ]

TOH ´rd t´ WORD

transfer (s.) transfer (v.)

[ "trœns.f„ ] [ trœns."f‰± ]

TRANS f´r trans FUR


GLOSSARY FOR LETTER DU JOUR

Accent - Pronunciation and style characteristic of a foreign language speaker.

Adenoids - Lymphoid tissue growths in the nose above the throat that when swollen may

obstruct nasal breathing, induce postnasal discharge, and make speech difficult.

Blurred - Unclear speech sounds blended together; lacking specificity and clarity.

Bright - Placed forward in the mouth.

Clear - Precise, forward placed.

Dark - Mellow tone, placed back in the mouth.

Double Dark L - [ :‚ ], L sound made without touching the tongue upwards to the alveolar

ridge, but by dropping the back of the tongue and rounding the lips.

Deviated Septum - When the thin partition between the two sides of the nose shifts to

block the nasal passage. It can be the result of an injury, or abnormal growth.

Hard - Tense, retroflexed.

Interdental - Between the teeth.

Lax - So relaxed as to be slurred, or lack clarity and precision.

Liquid U - The combination of [j]/y and the vowel [u]/oo, as in DUKE [djuk]/dyook and

sometimes in combination with the vowel [U]/uu as in DURING ["djU´*rIN]/DYUUring.

Lisp (Lateral, Frontal) - A speech defect or mannerism characterized by the failure to

produce normal sibilants, especially by thrusting the tongue forward, substituting the

sounds (th) and (th) for the sibilants (s) and (z) in a frontal lisp. Lateral lisp releases the

side of the tongue.

Murky - Indistinct, lacking clarity of tone or precision in articulation.

Nasal - 1) Uttered by lowering the soft palate and occluding the mouth so that most of

the air passes through the nose, as in sounding m, n, and [N]/ng. 2) Characterized by or

resembling a resonant sound produced through the nose: a nasal whine.


Off-Glide - Falling diphthong where the second element is weaker than the first. A lso

releasing sound after a final terminal consonant: DID as [dId´].

On-Glide - Non-standard diphthong where a primary vowel is initiated by a weak vowel,

typically [´]: DEED as [d´*id].

Retroflexed - Pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back against the roof of the

mouth.

Round - Balanced, pleasing tone.

Sibilant - A speech sound, as [s]/s, [S]/sh, [z]/z, or [Z]/zh, that suggests hissing.

Substitution - Replacement of one sound with another as: MEN [mEn]/MEN to [mIn]/MIN

Tense - Constricted, harsh sound produced when the articulators are clenched or held

tightly.

Documents

PRONUNCIATION from A [eI*] to Z [zi]