26 Appendix D: Pronunciation
Review of English Sound Segments
Consonants (24 sounds in Canadian English)
Consonants are sounds that are produced with some degree of constriction in the vocal tract, meaning the air is blocked or impeded in some way when they are produced. We use 3 dimensions to describe consonant sounds in English:
1. Place of articulation: where in the mouth the sound is produced. From front to back:
bilabial: articulated using the 2 lips
labio-dental: articulated by placing the top teeth against the bottom lip
dental: articulated by placing the tip of the tongue against the back of the top teeth
alveolar: articulated by placing the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge (the bump on the
roof of the mouth behind the teeth
post alveolar: articulated by placing the front part of the tongue just behind the alveolar ridge
palatal: articulated by placing the body of the tongue against the palate
velar: articulated by placing the body of the tongue against the velum
glottal: articulated with the glottis (in the throat)
2. Manner of articulation: the degree to which the air is blocked when the sound is produced.
1. stops: the air is fully stopped for a second or two when the sound is produced
2. affricates: a combination of a stop and a fricative; air is fully stopped, then the closure is released slightly
3. fricatives: the air is not fully stopped, but rather passes through a narrow opening, creating a
noisy, hissing type sound
4. approximant: produced with the least amount of constriction; air is quite free flowing
5. lateral: the tip of the tongue is placed on the alveolar ridge, but the air flows down the sides of
the tongue
6. retroflex: the tip of the tongue is curled backwards, giving an r-like quality to the sound
3. Voicing: vibration of the vocal folds in the throat; sounds are described as voiceless (no vibration)
or voiced (with vibration)
|
Segment |
Description |
Example Words |
|
/p/ |
voiceless bilabial stop |
pat, pig, pill, pin, pile, post |
|
/b/ |
voiced bilabial stop |
bat, big, bill, bin, bile, boast |
|
/m/ |
voiced bilabial nasal (stop) |
mat, mill, mama, mile, most |
|
/f/ |
voiceless labio-dental fricative |
fat, fig, fill, fin, file, force |
|
/v/ |
voiced labio-dental fricative |
vat, vim, vile, very, veal |
|
/θ/ |
voiceless dental fricative |
thin, think, thing, thick, |
|
/ð/ |
voiced dental fricative |
this, that, than, these, there |
|
/t/ |
voiceless alveolar stop |
tip, tan, tame, tie, trill |
|
/d/ |
voiced alveolar stop |
dip, Dan, dame, die, drill |
|
/n/ |
voiced alveolar nasal (stop) |
no, neat, next, night, knee |
|
/s/ |
voiceless alveolar fricative |
sip, seal, seen, sock, sigh |
|
/z/ |
voiced alveolar fricative |
zip, zeal, zero, zebra, zulu |
|
/l/ |
voiced alveolar lateral approximant |
lip, lead, led, leer, lay |
|
/ʃ/ |
voiceless post alveolar fricative |
ship, she’ll, sheen, shock, shy |
|
/ʒ/ |
voiced post alveolar fricative |
azure, leisure, rouge, ZsaZsa |
|
/tʃ/ |
voiceless post alveolar affricate |
chip, church, cheap, cheek, cheer |
|
/dʒ/ |
voiced post alveolar affricate |
juice, jam, judge, June, joy |
|
/ɹ/ |
voiced retroflex approximant |
rip, read, red, rear, ray |
|
/j/ |
voiced palatal approximant |
yell, yellow, you, youth, yeast |
|
/k/ |
voiceless velar stop |
cot, kilt, cool, coy, crowd |
|
/g/ |
voiced velar stop |
got, gilt, ghoul, give, ground |
|
/ŋ/ |
voiced velar nasal (stop) |
sing, thing, ring, think, running |
|
/w/ |
voiced labial-velar approximant |
what, where, when, why, Wednesday |
|
/h/ |
voiceless glottal fricative |
how, house, who, help, hi |
Vowels (14 sounds in Canadian English)
Vowels are produced with minimal constriction in the vocal tract, meaning the air is free-flowing when they are produced. All vowels in English are also voiced, meaning there is vibration of the vocal folds in the throat when you make them. We use 4 dimensions to describe vowel sounds in English:
1. Height: how high in the mouth the sound is produced. From highest to lowest:
close, near close, close mid, mid, open mid, near open, open
2. Backness: how far back in the mouth the sound is produced: front, near front, central, near back, back
3. Rounding: whether or not the lips are rounded when the sound is produced
4.Whether the sound is a monothong (one pure vowel sound) or a diphthong (a vowel that moves from one sound to another during its production)
|
Segment |
Description |
Example Words |
|
/i/ |
close front unrounded monothong |
eat, beat, read, neat, team |
|
/I/ |
near close front unrounded monothong |
it, bit, rid, knit, Tim |
|
/ɛ/ |
open mid near front unrounded monothong |
sell, ten, leg, men, friend |
|
/æ/ |
near open near front unrounded monothong |
cat, tan, lag, man, fanned |
|
/ʌ/ |
open mid near back unrounded monothong |
but, tuck, none, sun, rub |
|
/ə/ |
mid central unrounded monothong |
sofa, apply, Canada, banana |
|
/u/ |
close back rounded monothong |
pool, food, tool, room, soon |
|
/ʊ/ |
near close near back rounded monothong |
cook, should, wood, could, pull |
|
/ɑ/ |
open back unrounded monothong |
bought, talk, nod, shone, rob |
|
/ej/ |
close mid front unrounded diphthong (moves from /e/ to /I/) |
late, tail, rain, say, bait |
|
/aj/ |
open near front unrounded diphthong (moves from /a/ to /I/) |
light, tile, rye, sigh, bite |
|
/aw/ |
open near front unrounded diphthong (moves from /a/ to /u/) |
cow, about, sound, crown, now |
|
/ow/ |
close mid back rounded diphthong (moves from /o/ to /u/) |
so, road, mole, goal, ghost |
|
/oj/ |
close mid back rounded diphthong (moves from /o/ to /I/) |
boy, soil, royal, toy, avoid |
A word about Canadian raising
Canadian raising is a phenomenon that occurs with most speakers of Canadian English. It applies to the diphthongs /aj/, as in “light”, “tile” and “rye”, and /aw/, as in “cow”, “about” and “crown”. When these vowels occur in words before voiceless consonants (/p/, /f/, / θ/, /t/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/ and /k/), the first vowel in the diphthong is raised to /ʌ/, creating the phonological variant diphthongs /ʌj/ and /ʌw/. This makes the English spoken by Canadians sound slightly different than the English spoken by many Americans, even those from the Northern United States.
Pronunciation of plural endings
If you asked most English speakers what sound indicates a plural in English, they would answer “s”. This is only partly true. There are actually 3 variations of the sound for the English plural marker, and the choice is regulated by a rule that applies 100% of the time, something which is rare in English! The pronunciation of the plural marker -s is determined by the sound that comes before it in the word.
1. If the sound before the plural marker is voiceless (/p/, /f/, / θ/, /t/ and /k/, it is pronounced as /s/, as in “cups”, “laughs”, “baths”, “cats” and “locks”.
2. If the sound before the plural marker -s is voiced (/b/, /v/, /ð/, /d/, /ɹ/, /l/, /g/or any vowel, it is pronounced as /z/, as in “cubs”, “halves”, “lathes”, “gods”, “dares”, “dolls”, “dogs” and “days”.
3. If the sound before the plural marker is /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, it is pronounced as /Iz/, as in “kisses”, “buzzes”, “wishes”, “rouges”, “witches” and “judges”.
Pronunciation of past tense endings
Similar to the rule above for plural endings, there is also a rule for pronunciation of past tense endings that applies 100% of the time. Again, there are 3 variations of the sound for the English past marker, and again the choice is determined by the sound that comes before it in the word.
1. If the sound before the past marker is voiceless, the –ed marker is pronounced as /t/, as in “clapped”, “laughed” and “packed”.
2. If the sound before the past marker is voiced, the –ed marker is pronounced as /d/, as in
“grabbed”, “halved”, “bathed”, “aired”, “mailed” and “eyed”.
3. If the sound before the past marker is /t/ or /d/, the –ed marker is pronounced as /Id/, as in
“plated”, “greeted”, “waited”, “graded”, “attended”, “blended”.