Pronunciation and Spelling in English

ЛИНГВОГУМАНИТАРНЫЙ КОЛЛЕДЖ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЯ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

«МИНСКИЙ  ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ» 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ЗВУКОБУКВЕННЫЕ   СООТВЕТСТВИЯ

В  АНГЛИЙСКОМ  ЯЗЫКЕ

      Практикум 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Минск, 2008 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pronunciation and Spelling in English 
 
 
 
 

Self-study and classroom use 
 
 
 

СОСТАВИТЕЛИ:    Гуринович Е. А., преподаватель практической фонетики; 

                 Кучерчук Ю. В., преподаватель практической фонетики. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    Практикум предназначен для учащихся лингвогуманитарного колледжа. 

    Данные материалы включают теоретические сведения о звукобуквенных соответствиях в английском языке, упражнения для совершенствования навыков чтения, а также материалы для чтения и заучивания наизусть. Материалы могут быть использованы как для аудиторной, так и самостоятельной работы учащихся.   
 
 

    Рассмотрено и одобрено на заседании ПЦК практической фонетики.

    Протокол  № 3 от 14 октября 2008 года.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

1. The Syllable. The Principles of Syllable Division

 

The nature of the syllable

  Syllable formation in English is based on the phonological opposition vowel-consonant. Vowels are usually syllabic while consonants are not with the exceptions of [l], [m], [n], which become syllabic in final position preceded by a consonant or between two final consonants: bottle [^|bɒtl], bottom [^|bɒtm], button [^|bʌtn].

  A syllable is a speech unit which consists of a sound or a group of sounds one of which is heard more prominent than the others. This sound is the peak or the nucleus of the syllable and is called syllabic (vowels and sonorants are usually syllabic).

  The English language has developed the closed type of a syllable as the fundamental one while in Russian it is the open type that forms the basis of syllable formation.

  The other aspect of this component is syllable division. There is a problem of syllable division in case of intervocalic consonants and their clusters, like in such words as city, extra, standing and others.

  Let us consider the word extra. There are two syllables but where should the boundary between them fall?

1. [e-kstrə]. It is unlike that people would opt for a division between [e] and [kstrə] because there are no words in English which begin with consonant sequence [kstr].
2. Similarly, a division between [ekstr] and [ə] would be unnatural.
3. [ek-strə], [eks-trə], [ekst-rə] are possible. People usually prefer either of the first two options here, but there is no obvious way of deciding between them.

  In some cases we may take into account the morphemic structure of words. For example, standing consists of two syllables; on phonemic grounds [^|stæn-dIŋ], on grammatical grounds [^|stænd-Iŋ].

 

  Syllable division rules for simple words and parts

of compound words 

 
 

  ! The so-called thriphthongs in English are disyllabic combinations, because they contain two vowel phonemes: [ faI |ə].

 

Ex. 1.1 ( , track 1)

     How many syllables?

One word in each set has a different number of syllables from the others. Decide which it is, then check with the recording. 

 

Ex. 1.2 ( , track 1)

What stress pattern?

One word in each set has a different stress pattern from the others. Which is it? Define the type of the stressed word. Check with the recording. 

 

Ex.1.3 Transcribe and divide into syllables.

            Determine where the syllable boundary lies

 

 

Ex. 1.4 Transcribe the following words, divide them into syllables and explain the rule

 

Ex. 1.5 Divide the words into syllables and explain the rule in each line:

  1) Ready, pocket, mother, coffee, city;

  2) Bottle, couple, cattle, mitten, middle;

  3) Breakfast, hedgehog, doctor, country, fifty;

  4) Farmer, herself, sleepy, ninety, gloomy;

  5) Extreme, abrupt, include, nasty, attract;

  6) Fire, towel, vowel, lower, goer. 

 

2. The Primary and the Secondary Meaning of Letters

 

  In English one letter can denote a few different sounds (polysemantic letters). That’s why there are the primary and the secondary sound meanings of them. The primary meaning of a letter is the sound which this letter:

1. denotes in the alphabet: a – [eI], e – [i:]. E.g. bake, be;
2. doesn’t correspond to the alphabetical letter: a – [æ]. e.g. cat;
3. approximates the alphabetical letter: f – [f], y – [aI].

     The secondary meaning of a letter is the one which differs from its primary alphabetical meaning and depends on the consonants preceding or following this letter. E.g. a – [ a:] - staff, [o ] – wander, [ɔ:] – war.

  The sound formation of the English language distinguishes long and short vowels. According to this peculiarity in English each stressed vowel can have two meanings: alphabetical (long) and short. 
 

  READING OF VOWELS IN STRESSED SYLLABLES 

 

 

3. The Primary Sound Meanings of Vowels in Different Types of Syllables

 

  In disyllabic and polysyllabic words the vowel letter has its alphabetical (long) primary meaning if:

1. it is used in word final position e. g. he, no, my;
2. it is separated from the following vowel letter or from the combinations –le, -re by only one consonant letter e.g. pilot, idle, fibre;
3. it is followed by a consonant + r +vowel e.g. library, April;
4. in some vowel combinations* e.g. diet, going.

The vowel letter has its short primary meaning:

1. if it is separated from the following vowel or the combination –le by two or more consonants e.g. render, silly, fiddle.
2. if the vowel letter (apart from “u”) is in the third stressed syllable from the end e.g. family, cylinder; but: funeral;
3. if the vowel letter is followed by a single letter “v” e.g. river, never; but: uvula [^\ju:vju:lə], fever [^\fi:və], over [^\əυvə];
4. if the vowel letter is followed by a consonant and one of the combinations, such as –-ic, -ish, -ity e.g. tragic, polish, cavity;
5. in disyllabic words with the sound [I] and [ju:] in the last unstressed syllable the vowel letter of a stressed syllable has a short meaning: e.g. tribune, facet; but: stupid.