Handout-English Phonemes.doc

Unit 1 English PhonemesContentSection 1 Basic Concepts 1Exercise 1 3Exercise 2 3Exercise 3 4Exercise 4 4Section 2 Vowels 6Exercise 512Exercise 6 14Exercise 7 15Exercise 8 15Exercise 9 16Exercise 10 17Exercise 11 19Section 3 Consonants21Exercise 12 26Exercise 13 27Exercise 14 28Exercise 15 29Exercise 16 29Unit 1 English PhonemesLearning Objectives:In this unit, the students will learn some basic concepts in English pronunciation and the correct pronunciation of English phonemes.Section 1 Basic ConceptsThe standard of good pronunciation:To have good pronunciation means 1) to pronounce correctly all the individual speech sounds in English; 2) to pronounce correctly the speech sounds in their combinations in isolated words as well as in sentences; 3) to speak fluently with correct rhythm, including the correct placement of stresses and pauses and the transition of sounds according to the context; and 4) to speak with appropriate intonation according to the context.Phoneme A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a word. Knowing about phonemes is important for spelling. A phoneme may be made up of one or more letters which make one sound.For example, the /f/ sound (represented by the letters ph in the word phoneme) is a phoneme. Correct discrimination of English phonemes is the first step towards the correct pronunciation. The students need to learn the correct discrimination and pronunciation of the English consonants and vowels. 20 vowels: /i:/i/e/u:/u/:/:/a:/ei/ai/i/au/u/i/u/28 consonants:/p/b/t/d/k/g/l/w/j/m/n/ts/dz/tr/dr/f/v/s/z/r/h/SyllableA syllable is a word part and the basic unit of English rhythm. English words can have one, two, three or even more syllables. A syllable is made up of either a single vowel sound (as in the pronunciation of oh) or a combination of vowel and consonant(s) (as in no and not).For example, in the word driveway(/draivwei/), there are two syllables. In the sentence Drive him away (/draiv/ /him/ /wei/), there are four. Stressed syllableIn English words with more than one syllable, one of them will receive more stress than the others. Stressed syllables are those that are marked in the dictionary as stressed. For example, in the word driveway, the first syllable is a stressed syllable while the second syllable is not. Stressed syllables in English are usually longer, louder, and higher in pitch.For example: ba NAAAA na Syllable 1 Syllable 2 Syllable 3 (short) (long) (short)The word banana (/bn:n/) has 3 syllables. Syllable 1 is not stressed and so is short. Syllable 2 is stressed and so is long with a clear vowel sound /:/. Syllable 3 is not stressed and so is also short.Here is a short summary about the stressed and unstressed syllables:Stressed syllables are strong syllables. Unstressed syllables are weak syllables.Stressed syllables are 1) long; 2) have a pitch change; and 3) have full vowel sounds.Unstressed syllables are 1) short; and 2) often have a reduced vowel sound.RhythmWe all know that correct pronunciation of the individual English sounds is important in communication. The way the sounds are organized, however, is often more crucial for understanding. The rhythm of English, for example, is one of the two major organizing structures that native speakers rely on to process speech. Rhythm can be found everywhere in life: the sound of a clock, the beating of the heart, the strokes of a swimmer, and of course in poetry and music. But rhythm in language is less familiar because it is less obvious. The rhythm of a language is characterized by the timing pattern of successive syllables. In some languages, every syllable is given about the same length, while in others, syllables vary in length. In English, strong beats are called stress - the heart of the rhythmic pattern.Exercise 1: Spot the odd one out. Look carefully at the words below. Can you spot the phoneme that is common to each set? Which word doesnt share the common phoneme?1. he feet bread green2. true book wood look3. bus foot push book4. true jump bus cut5. blouse sun cow house6. poor tour Europe cry7. cloth purple pool push8. tears freeze desk busy9. three fan thousand thin10. kite cry broom flyExercise 2: How many syllables are there in each sentence?Example: They worked all night. (4) Hes going to start a new business. Sorry to keep you waiting. When is a good time to call? Theyd rented it before we got there. They were in the living room.Exercise 3: Read and appreciateProverbs 1. When drink is in, wit is out.2. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.3. Out of sight, out of mind.4. Strike while the iron is hot.5. Learn to crawl before you can walk.6. A stitch in time saves nine.7. Dont count your chickens before they are hatched.8. Birds of a feather flock together.9. One swallow does not make a summer.10. East or west, home is best.Exercise 4: Read and appreciateProseAll I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert FulghumMost of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school. These are the things I learned. Share everything. Play fair. Dont hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Dont take things that arent yours. Say youre sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup - they all die. So do we. And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology and politics and sane living.Think of what a better world it would be if we all the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 oclock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together. Section 2 VowelsThe Speech OrgansAlveolar Ridge 牙槽嵴 Soft Palate 软腭 Hard Palate 硬腭 Epiglottis 喉头盖Vocal fords 声带 Pharynx 咽喉 Nasal Cavity 鼻腔 Larynx 喉 Uvula 小舌Definition of VowelsVowels are sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips. There are 20 vowels in English, among which 12 are pure vowels and 8 are diphthongs. 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, i.e. whether they are rounded or unrounded.A diphthong is a glide from one vowel to another within one syllable.Description of the vowels Front & Central Vowels/i:/ high, front, unrounded vowel/i/ lower high, front, unrounded vowel/e/ mid, front, unrounded vowel/ low, front, unrounded vowel/:/ mid, central, unrounded vowel / mid, central, unrounded vowel Back Vowels/B:/ low, back, unrounded vowel/R/ low, back, rounded vowel/R:/ mid-low, back, rounded vowel/u/ lower high, back, rounded vowel/u:/ high, back, rounded vowel/Q/ lower mid, back, unrounded vowel FrontCenterBackHighi:u:iuMide: R:LowQ B:RFront vowels There are four front vowels in English: /i:/, /i/, /e/ and /. The reason these are called front vowels is that the tongue body is shifted forward, causing the vowels to be produced in the front of the mouth. In addition, the front vowels may be subdivided into those that are high (or close), like /i:/ and /i/, mid, like /e/, and low (or open), like /. For the two vowels in the high front space, /i:/ and /i/, the tongue is close to the hard palate. Likewise, for the low vowel / the tongue is nearly flat and the lower jaw more open than for the other front vowels./i:/& /i/i:/ is a very common sound in the worlds languages. It is made by raising the body of the tongue from its rest position and shifting it forward. The /i/ sound is made by lowering the tongue slightly from the high-front position for /i:/. Besides, /i:/ is a much more tense sound than /i/. The fact that English has these two high front vowels, differentiated by muscle tension in the root of the tongue, sets it apart from many languages of the world. Both /i:/ and /i/ can occur in initial, medial, and final position in words.As for /i:/and /i/, it is easy for the learners to detect the difference in length. What counts here, however, is the difference in quality. It is therefore important to point out the fact that to pronounce a correct /i/, you need to lower you tongue a little bit from the position for /i:/, and make it a lax sound instead of a tense sound like /i:/. The importance of correct pronunciation of /i/ lies in the fact that it is the second most frequent vowel in English./i:/发音组合: e ee ea ie ei Examples : me he we evenbee feel breeze deep free seat beat lead tea eat reason grief believe achieve receive conceive/i/发音组合: i Examples: sit bit kick pick wish/e/ and /e/ is also an English vowel with high frequency of occurrence. The tongue body is shifted forward in the mid-plane. / is produced by shifting the body of the tongue forward from its relaxed state, and lowering it from the position for /e/. It is the lowest of the front vowels. /e/ and / do not occur in final position in English words.The problem is some of the learners fail to make a clear distinction between the two in their speech. The difficulty is that they have to make the clear distinction consistent./e/发音组合: e ea a Examples：pen ten best beg egg net bread heaven marry any many/发音组合: a Examples: cap map bad mad bank thank lamp Central vowelsThere are two central vowels in English: /:/ and /. They are called central vowels because they tend to be produced at a point midway between the front and back vowels and between the high and low vowels./:/ and / are central vowels. /:/ is made with the tongue in the approximate middle of the mouth. It occurs only in stressed syllables. / is also called a schwa. It is made similarly to /:/, but with less tension. / is the most frequently used vowel in English. /:/发音组合：or ir er ur earExamples：work worker worm bird dirt affirm term burn surf pearl learn/发音组合：a er or Examples：appear arise again alike a man a pen teacher mother brother driver anger doctor actor tutor famous jealousBack vowels There are six back vowels in English. The back vowels are produced by shifting the body of the tongue back from its central position. The tip of the tongue remains at the level of the lower teeth. The front and back vowels have several features in common as well as some differences. Unlike the front vowels that are made with a fairly neutral lip posture, four of the back vowels are rounded. /u:/ and /u/u:/ and /u/ are both high, back, rounded vowels. The /u:/ marks the highest boundary for the back vowels, as /i:/ does for the front vowels. Therefore, the tongue is retracted from its rest position and raised toward the soft palate. Along with /u:/, /u/ completes the vowels in the high back space on the vowels chart. When making the sound, the tongue is retracted as for /u:/ but not elevated to the same extent. In addition, the /u/ vowel is not made with as much tension in the root of the tongue as /u:/. The same tense/lax contrast is also seen for /i:/ and /i/. This sound is not very common despite the fact that it appears in some frequently used words, such as should, good, and book. /u:/ occurs at all the three positions of a word while /u/ occurs only in the middle position of a word, like book and hook. To ensure correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between /u:/ and /u/: /u:/ is the highest back vowel, so the raised part of the tongue for /u:/ is higher than that for /u/; the part of the tongue raised for /u/ is not as back as that for /u:/; /u:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for /u/./u:/发音组合：oo o ou uExamples：food fool boom cool hoop pool shoot tomb group blue clue rule truth conclude/u/发音组合：oo u ou Examples：foot good cook hook took pull full bull should /:/ and /:/ is a mid-back vowel. For its production, the tongue is retracted and almost flat in the mouth. The vowel is almost fully back and has quite strong lip-rounding. / is a low vowel. The lips are slightly rounded. To ensure correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between these two vowels: / / is a low vowel while /:/ is a mid vowel, so the mouth is more open for /； /:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for /./:/发音组合：a oo aw ou ore au or ar Examples：talk ball hall call door floor law saw bought fought thought tought before ignore caught naughty nautical force born sort warn /发音组合：o Examples：ox on not cop rot hot lot /a:/ and /The /a:/ is made by lowering and flattening the tongue in the oral cavity. It is a low vowel, but not as back as other back vowels in English. / is quite different from other vowels in this group in that it is more like a central vowel than a back vowel. / is made with the tongue in the approximate middle of the mouth, perhaps shifted back slightly. It is lower than the other central vowels /:/ and /. The lip position is neutral. It is important for the learners to make a clear distinction between /a:/ and / in their pronunciation./a:/发音组合：ar ear alExamples：far dark hart farm garden bar star heart half/发音组合：u oExamples：up cut but bus luck butter monk onionExercise 5: Read aloud the following words./i:/ fever we sea leave teeth receive either police key grief believe /i/ if busy system women ticket before village /e/ set lend edit address head measure said/ land fat add flash satisfied plaid /:/ worm work shirt firm burst fur service earth/ after speaker major focus sugar again separate excellent tonight /u:/ smooth soon group lose prove rude /u/ foot took sugar should could woman /:/ ball talk because fault corner horse four law before court / office bother copy watch / bus fun won other enough southern blood flood/a:/ art start after father class heart DiphthongsThere are eight diphthongs in English. A diphthong is two vowel sounds pronounced one after the other within the same syllable. When you pronounce diphthongs, you change the shape of your mouth as you move from one sound to another. In other words, diphthongs are sounds which consist of a movement of glide from one vowel to another. The first part is much longer and stronger than the second part. /i/ / /u/ centering diphthongs, gliding towards the / vowel. The starting point for /i/ is a little closer than /i/ in bit, bin. / begins with the similar vowel sound as the e of get, men. /u/ has a starting point slightly closer than /u/ in put, pull. /i/ 发音组合：eer ear ere Examples：beer deer hear near fear here / 发音组合：air ear are ereExamples：hair fair air chair bear swear dare hare there /u/发音组合：oor ure ourExamples：poor lure sure tour /ei/ /ai/ /i/ closing diphthongs, gliding towards the /i/ vowel./ei/ begins with the same vowel sound as the e of get, men. /ai/ begins with an open vowel which is between front and back; it is quite similar to the / in words li