Introduction to English pronunciation and phonetics Lecture 3

Nasals a nasal = air passing through the nose English has three nasals, all of them voiced: /m/mime /n/nine /ŋ/ding dong

/n/ as in ‘not’ Pronunciation: the tip of the tongue not touching the teeth ’n’ is mute in words with -mn: condemn /kənˈdem/ autumn /ˈɔːtəm || ˈɑːtəm / hymn /hım/ damn /dæm/

/ ŋ / as in ‘king’ The spelling ’ng’ is usually pronounced /ŋ/ long, strong, singing but sometimes / ŋg / longer /ˈlɒŋgə(r)/ finger /ˈfıŋgə(r)/ hunger /ˈhʌŋgə(r)/ angry /ˈæŋgrı/

Affricates consist of a plosive followed by a fricative English has two affricates one voiceless /tʃ/ chain one voiced /dʒ/ Jane

/ tʃ / as in ‘church’ The plosive /t/ is followed by the fricative /ʃ/ Spelling: ‘ch’ cheese /tʃiːz/ China /ˈtʃaınə/ child /tʃaıld/ check/tʃek/

/ ʃ / versus / tʃ / sheep/ʃiːp/cheap/tʃiːp/ ship/ʃıp/chip/tʃıp/ share/ʃeə(r)/chair/tʃeə(r)/ shoe/ʃuː/chew/tʃuː/ shop/ʃɒp/chop/tʃɒp/

Pronunciations of ‘ch’ / tʃ / in most words / ʃ / in some loan words: champagne, chef, parachute, Charlotte, Chicago, Michigan /k/ in Greek loan words: chaos, chemistry, echo, choir, archipelago mute in yacht / jɒt || jɑːt/

/ dʒ / as in ‘juice’ Examples jeans /dʒiːnz/ jam /dʒæm/ joke /dʒəʊk/ gentle/ ˈdʒentl/ legend /ˈledʒənd/ ridge /rıdʒ/

/ j / as in ‘yes’ Examples yard/ j ɑː(r)d/ young/ jʌŋ/ your/ jɔː(r) / unit /ˈjuːnıt/ Europe /ˈjuːrəp/

/d ʒ / versus /j/ /d ʒ //j/ jetyet Jew/due/dewyou juiceuse jokeyolk ginyin jotyacht jailYale The letter ‘j’ is never pronounced /j/!

/w/ as in ‘well’ Note the contrast /v/ – /w/ ! vet – wet vain – Wayne veil – whale veal – wheel The letter ‘w’ mute in words with wr- write, wring, wreath, wreck

/ l / as in ‘ball’ Two variants (allophones): clear and dark In RP, /l/ is clear before vowels and /j/, dark in other positions clear /l/: let, love, live, million dark /l/: tall, world, people, humble In GA, /l/ is always (more or less) dark In Estuary English dark /l/ often /w/

The letter ‘l’ is mute in some words with –olk, -alf, -alk, -alm folk, yolk calf, half chalk, stalk, walk calm, palm, balm also mute in salmon, Stockholm, colonel, almond

/ r / as in ‘rose’ In RP /r/ is only pronounced before a vowel break, rhyme, bury (but not in metre, barred) In GA /r/ occurs in all positions

Linking /r/ occurs in RP when a word with a final ‘r’ is followed by a vowel: far away your answer butter and jam Compare: four days four evenings

Intrusive /r/ occurs in RP between vowels where there is no ‘r’ in spelling used to prevent hiatus (vokalmöte) Examples: Asia and Africa /eıʃər ən æfrikə/ law and order /lɔːr ən ɔːdə/ vodka and orange/ vɒdkər ən ɒrındʒ /

Caution! Lousy joke! A man went to see his psychiatrist. "When I wake up, I keep on finding that I have black lines all down my body." "I know the problem," said the psychiatrist. "You're a psychopath."