1. English Pronunciation Practice A Practical Course for Students of English By Wang Guizhen Faculty of English Language & Culture Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

2. Revision Part I English Phonemes

3. English vowels & vowel classification The English pure vowels can be classified according to the height of the raised part of the tongue the part of the tongue raised the position of the lips

7. pot p

8. English Consonants & Consonant Classification The English consonants can be classified according to place of articulation manner of articulation voicing, i.e. voiced or voiceless

14. Place of articulation Manner of articulation Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Palato- alveolar PalatalVelar Glotal Plosive pbpb tdtd kk Fricative fvfv  szsz  h Affricate tdtd Nasal mn  Lateral l Approximant wrj

17. Reading Practice I shall have to try and get some cash from our bank at lunchtime. Then we can let them have the money that they want as soon as they like. What are they asking us to pay them?

18. Reading Practice I shall have to try and get some cash from our bank at lunchtime. Then we can let them have the money that they want as soon as they like. What are they asking us to pay them? (15/41)

19. Part II The Rhythmic Structure of English Rhythm and stress Rhythm and the length of sounds Rhythm and sound linking Rhythm and assimilation Rhythm and weak forms

20. ENGLISH STRESS & RHYTHM I. Stressed-Timed Rhythm Rhythm in speech syllable-timed languages : stress-timed languages Syllable-timed language: an approximately equal amount of time to each syllable Stress-timed language: the rhythm is based on a larger unit

21. |How did you |manage to |keep so |calm secs|.33.33.33 |.33.33.33 |.5.5 | 1.0 ? secs|.5.25.25 |.5.25.25 |.67.33 | 1.0

25. Who’s coming to the birthday par- ty? By a non-native speaker of English. Who’s coming to the birthday par- ty? By a native speaker of English.

29. was at war Fig 11: “was at war” in the sentence “England was at war with America”. -- (By non-native speaker of English)

30. Time Amptitude was at war Fig 12: “was at war” in the sentence “England was at war with America”. -- (By native speaker of English)

31. was at war Fig: “was at war” in the sentence “England was at war with America”. -- (By non-native speaker of English) was at war Fig: “was at war” in the sentence “England was at war with America”. -- (By native speaker of English) Amptitude

32. I.Rhythm and stress Sentence stress has two main functions: 1. To indicate the important words in the sentence; 2. To serve as the basis for the rhythmical structure of the sentence.

33. Ex. 1 Content words are usually stressed and function words unstressed: I called her at home, but she was at school. Keep her from moving so I can take her picture. Nothing happened to Ted during the storm. Take it or leave it; the choice is up to you. Ex. 2 Content words are not always stressed: -- Hello, I'm John. What's your name? -- My name's Frank. I'm Simon Brown's cousin. Where do you live? -- Next door to the Browns'. Where do you live?

34. Bert's friend John has just sold two very fine old paintings. The Daniel Jones Pronouncing Dictionary lists most versions of modern English Pronunciation. What would you have done if he had talked to you in the street? It would have been better not to have paid for it before you had received it.

35. Ex. 3 Each of the following sentences contains the same amount of stressed syllables. Read them at a steady, regular speed. He asked me to give him a ticket. He should ask if we could give him a ticket. He should have asked us if we could give him another ticket.

36. Ex. 4 Give suitable answers to the three questions you hear. i) (No.) It's on the twenty-first. ii) I've got a ticket. iii) (No.) She sells clothes. iv) (No.) He's got a cold. v) (Yes.) (No.) We're not going till Thursday night.

37. Ex. 5 Respond to the two different things you hear. i) He's got a new car. ii) I've got some flowers. iii) I've been to Paris. iv) Then I'll have some soup. v) He said he'd phone.

38. II. Rhythm and the length of sounds 1. Vowels are longer when final or followed by a voiced consonant than when followed by a voiceless consonant. 2. Vowels are longer in stressed monosyllables than when followed by an unstressed syllable or syllables. 3. Vowels are longer in stressed syllables than in unstressed syllables.

39. Table 3: Length of /i:/ in different phonetic contexts in accented monosyllables

40. III. Rhythm and sound linking 1.To blend or join the final consonant of one word with the initial word of the following word, as in "post ‿ office". 2.To link the final vowels /  :/ and /  / to a following vowel by adding the /r/ sound, which is called linking-r, as in "her own", or intrusive-r, as in "the idea ‿ of". 3.To make smooth transitions when words are separated by more than two consonants, i.e. treat them as consonant sequences, as in "next ‿ topic". 4.To make smooth transitions when the preceding word ends with a vowel and the following word begins also with a vowel sound by adding a slight /j/ or /w/, as in "my ‿ arm". 5.To change the pronunciation of some final and initial consonants, as in "Did ‿ you …".

41. Ex. 6 Write down the phrases you hear. 1. ______________ 2. ______________ 3. ______________ 4. ______________ 5. ______________ 6. ______________ 7. ______________ 8. ______________

42. Key: Ex. 6 1.What of it? 2.It’s after nine already. 3.Come on in. 4.They looked as if they’re angry. 5.How much is it? 6.Are you sure about all of it? 7.She’s on the phone. 8.If it’s time, I’ll go.

43. Ex. 7 Read the following dialogues, paying special attention to the linking. 1. -- Can ‿ I help ‿ you, sir? --Yes, I'm ‿ in ‿ a rush I'm ‿ afraid. Can ‿ I have ‿ a piece ‿ of ‿ apple cake please, with ‿ icecream? -- Certainly, sir. I'll ‿ ask the waiter to come ‿ over ‿ as soon ‿ as possible. 2. -- Switch ‿ off the light, David. It's ‿ almost ‿ eleven. -- I'm scared ‿ of the dark. I think ‿ I heard ‿ a noise. Look ‿ over there! Something ‿ on the window ledge ‿ is moving!

44. 3. -- How ‿ often do ‿ I have to do ‿ it? -- You ‿ ought to do ‿ every ‿ exercise once ‿ a week. -- Do ‿ I have to do ‿ every ‿ exercise? -- Yes, it should take ‿ you ‿ about two ‿ hours. Though ‿ I don't suppose ‿ it will! 4. -- Actually, I ‿ ought to practise more regularly ‿ I suppose. -- Well, don't worry ‿ about ‿ it. I ‿ often forget myself. -- Perhaps we ‿ ought to try ‿ and go together.

45. 5. -- How ‿ is ‿ it going, Edward? -- Not bad ‿ at ‿ all. It's not ‿ exactly ‿ a busy place though. -- Where ‿ are you staying? -- Just ‿ a little pub ‿ on the ‿ edge ‿ of town. -- And what ‿ are you doing ‿ on your ‿ own? -- Not ‿ a lot ‿ actually. This ‿ evening there's ‿ a match ‿ on TV, so ‿ I'll get ‿ a snack ‿ in town ‿ and watch ‿ a bit ‿ of football ‿ afterwards.

46. IV. Rhythm and Assimilation and Elision 1) ________________ 2) _________________ 3) ________________ 4) _________________ 5) ________________ 6) _________________

47. Key: Ex. 1.That man. 2.Of course. 3.We’ve phoned him. 4.That goat. 5.Good morning. 6.I can’t go.

48. Ex. 8 Fill in the blanks with the words you hear. 1) They're ____________ aren't they? 2) I can't find mine. Can I ____________? 3) I ____________ it. Do you? 4) Everyone can see that it ____________. 5) ________so often if you can manage by yourself. 6) That's the ____________ to start. 7) This is his ____________. 8) ____________ looks nice.

49. Key: Ex.8 1) They're _nice shoes__ aren't they? 2) I can't find mine. Can I ___use yours__? 3) I ___I don’t believe___ it. Do you? 4) Everyone can see that it ___it can’t be done___. 5) ___Don’t go____ so often if you can manage by yourself. 6) That's the ___right place___ to start. 7) This is his __own car___. 8) __That cup__ looks nice.

50. Ex. 9 Write down the words you hear. 1.Dropping of vowels and consonants within a word 1) _______________ 2) _________________ 3) _______________ 4) _________________ 2.Dropping of sounds at the word boundaries 1) _______________ 2) _________________ 3) _______________ 4) _________________

51. Key: Ex. 9 robbery nursery correct direction February suffering Get him a pen. Get another. Not alone. Take her along. He was annoyed. Rob him

52. V. Rhythm and weak forms Ex. 10 Write down the phrases or sentences you hear. 1) ________________ 2) _________________ 3) ________________ 4) _________________ 5) ________________ 6) _________________

53. Key: Ex. 10 1That’s our own. 2.Have you tried them all? 3.It’ll get in the way of the door. 4.It’s from overseas. 5.For at least one or two. 6.The only remark that was to the point.

54. 1. -- Give me a book now. -- Just a minute. 2. -- It's an orange that I'd like. -- I thought you were saying 'an apple'. 3. -- What is the old man doing? -- He's telling the children stories. 4. -- Somebody's going to take her home. -- Anything wrong with her? 5. -- I like his novels. -- I like his poems.

55. I. AI saw them together. BWhere did you see them? AIn the town. BWhen did you see them? AThis morning. BDid you say anything to them? AI told them I should tell you. BWhich you’ve now done. Thank you. AAren’t you going to send for them? BNo need. I’ve already invited them for dinner. AThem? Both of them? Together? BLike to join us?

56. 2. AWe all know that we face problems. We know that we face difficulties. We are all aware that the difficulties that we face are not difficulties that will be overcome immediately, or that will be overcome easily. We all recognize that the problems that confront us are not problems that will be solved overnight. But I sometimes wonder if we realise… if we realise sufficiently that… BThat that was the clock striking two, Frank! Go to sleep! ASorry, dear. Didn’t know it was so late. My big day, tomorrow, you know. Ah, well. Goodnight. BIt’s a lovely speech, Frank.

57. 3. A He’s not on the fourth floor now, he’s been moved – to the fifth. Use the lift. I’ll ring to say you’ve arrived. BNo hurry. Er … how is he, Nurse? AI think he’s improved. Still coughs a lot, of course. BAnd he behaves all right, does he? AOh, yes. We have plenty of laughs! We’ll miss him when he leaves! BHe loves pretty nurses, Grandad does! It’s a family weakness! By the way, he wanted me to bring him this gift. For his special favourite – a nurse called Soft. AHow lovely! BFunny name, Soft, isn’t it? AYes. But I’ve got used to it. BOh. Sorry. AWell, I’ll ring to say you’ve arrived. BI’m sorry!

58. 4. AI haven’t always lived in this cottage, you know. BHaven’t you? How pretty it is! AYou’ve not been here long, of course. BI haven’t, no. Only a month, in fact. But it’s a very nice village. I’ve grown to love it already. AYou haven’t seen Ferringly House, yet, I suppose? BOh, it’s magnificent! A beautiful house! ABut the new people haven’t looked after it properly, you know. BWell, I haven’t seen it closely, of course, Mrs, er… AFerringly. Madeleine Ferringly.

59. 5. AJim’s left, of course. BHe’s left, too, has he? AAnd Jean. BYes, she’s gone to work at Fletcher’s, they tell me. AOh, it’s changed a lot since you were here. It’s become much more efficient, of course. But it’s lost the personal touch, I’m afraid. BAnd what about our old friend Martin? AOh, Martin’s stayed on. BAnd become more efficient? AHe’s had to. At avoiding work, that is.