Advanced English Pronunciation

Advanced

English Pronunciation

20 recorded lessons for university students and English teachers

Wendy Schottman

CD-Rom Mac/PC

Advanced

English Pronunciation

20 recorded lessons for university students and English teachers

Wendy Schottman

Maquette et mise en pages : Nord Compo Couverture, conception et réalisation: Guillaume Pigelet Réalisation, montage, encodage : Centre des Langues et du Multimédia Université Blaise Pascal/Pôle audiovisuel (Clermont-Ferrand) Tous droits de traduction, de reproduction et d’adaptation réservés pour tous pays.

Toute représentation, reproduction intégrale ou partielle faite par quelque procédé que ce soit, sans le consentement de l’auteur ou de ses ayants cause, est illicite et constitue une contrefaçon sanctionnée par les articles 425 et suivants du Code pénal.

Par ailleurs, la loi du 11 mars 1957 interdit formellement les copies ou les reproductions destinées à une utilisation collective.

ISBN 978-2-7080-1348-3 © Éditions Ophrys, 2012 Imprimé en France Éditions Ophrys, 25 rue Ginoux, 75015 Paris, www.ophrys.fr

Acknowledgements To proceed in the order of appearance, so to say…

Without knowing it, my third year students in the English Department of the Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont-Ferrand, France) have provided an invaluable sounding board for these lessons as they have slowly been built up and evolved over the past ten years. Earlier versions of these lessons have been tested and retested over the years.

I want to thank the following people for their careful and constructive proofreading: Fayruz Rajpar, Christine Thompson, Elisa Bariau and Elly Schottman.

I am much indebted to my seven British ‘voices’ for their professional quality work and their patience with my very speciÞc requirements, obliging them to perform in as natural a manner as possible under a multitude of constraints. I am convinced that any lack of enthusiasm for this project would have been immediately detectable in their voices and that this would have had an adverse affect on the language learners using this material. I put my trust in their hands—and voices—and they did not let me down.

Another essential partner in the recording phase of this project was the Centre d’Enseignement à Distance (CEAD) of the Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont-Ferrand, France). I would like to express my gratitude to the director of this institution, Francoise Peyrard, for accepting Editions Ophrys’s request to use the professional sound studio. I am very grateful to the technician, Jean-Baptiste Idoux, for the many hours spent working with me and my ‘voices’ during which I no doubt tested his patience more than once.

The Þrst version of the recordings for each lesson was submitted to two testers selected among my third year university students in our English department. I acknowledge my debt to these young people and their sharp eyes (and ears). They spotted numerous mistakes and weaknesses, and provided me with precious feedback on the difÞculty and timing of exercises. Their global evaluation of the project was always positive, sometime glowingly so. This invigorated my determination to perfect, leading to revisions, creation of new material, many more trips to the sound studio than anyone had counted on and a Þnal re-testing of the lesson in some cases. My sincere thanks go to these testers: Caroline Baturone, Vincent Berlemont, Annelise Chaulier, Clémentine Dauphant, Laure Laval, Mathieu Lecomte, Aurélien Piclin, Justine Roussel and Claire Santiago.

As concerns the brief musical interludes, I want to thank Francis Crispils, my clarinettist friend, for interpreting the Þrst few measures of various 17th century English country dances with me (on the cello). I also want to express my gratitude to Paul Butler, who has very generously made his arrangements for four voices of many such dances published in 1651 in Playford’s English Country Dancing Master available on line at http://crab.rutgers.edu/~pbutler/music.html.

Preface These pronunciation lessons are designed with a dual objective. They aim to help upperintermediate and advanced English language learners to both improve their pronunciation and acquire a solid understanding of the rules and rationale of English pronunciation. This design offers particular advantages for both the aspiring and the practising English teacher (wishing to perfect his or her pronunciation). A successful language teacher must be able to provide an excellent speaking model for his or her students but must also be armed with sufÞcient knowledge of English pronunciation to be able to prioritise pronunciation work and formulate rules—when they exist—in a way that is accessible and meaningful to his or her students. The content of this coursebook addresses both of these concerns.

Another objective of this coursebook is to make the learning process as active as possible: the learner is never asked to read more than one or two paragraphs of explanation before the newly acquired (or reviewed) knowledge is put to practice. Various innovative techniques have been used to maximise the learner’s involvement in the learning process. For example, the learner is often asked to participate in formulating a pronunciation rule (based on his or her observations) rather than being served the rule on a platter. Before listening to a recording, the learner is frequently given a written, pre-listening exercise to complete. The recording thus provides not only a model to repeat, but also the answer key to the pre-listening exercise, promoting an active, invested form of listening, rather than the more passive listening obtained with classical ‘listen and repeat’ exercises. This exercise design also provides the learner with a real-time evaluation of his or her knowledge, so that he or she can quickly and efÞciently identify the points that require further study.

This course is suitable either for self-study or for group work with a teacher in a language lab. The answer key is in most cases given orally—and this is an integral part of the exercise, as explained above—but a written answer key is provided when an oral answer would be too awkward or time-consuming. Cross-references and an index facilitate independent study.

Each lesson is designed to last approximately 50 minutes, but the learner may wish to revisit certain exercises or entire lessons. When used as a textbook for an English pronunciation course, this title provides sufÞcient material for a two-semester class that meets once a week for an hour.

The course has been divided into four parts: rhythm and weak forms, word stress, spellingpronunciation rules, intonation and linking. It is unusual for a pronunciation course book to feature rhythm and weak forms as the Þrst topic addressed, but the choice has been made quite deliberately. Rhythm, along with intonation, is an aspect of English pronunciation that is often quite neglected. As a result, a high percentage of advanced learners have not yet mastered these aspects of pronunciation. The study of rhythm and weak forms is probably the element of English pronunciation where the payoff is greatest for the effort required. Thus it is a very inspiring place for this course to begin!

This course is designed for people who want to improve (or acquire!) a British accent, that is, more speciÞcally, an accent of the type used by educated people from England. A conscious effort has been made to use a large range of English accents for the recordings, rather than to select speakers with accents as close to RP (also known as BBC English or Oxford English) as possible. The seven speakers used for the recordings represent educated, more or less regionally marked varieties of English, as spoken from Bournemouth on the south coast to Carlisle near the Scottish border. Male and female voices are used and the speakers range from age 20 to 65.

VI Preface

One practical objective was to avoid monotony and thus sustain the learner’s attention. But, more importantly, this choice was guided by the author’s Þrm belief that the pronunciation models used with language learners should afford them sufÞcient leeway to feel comfortable: the learner’s goal should be to bring their accent into a range of worthy models presented to them (and heard by them elsewhere) rather than to aspire to imitate one speciÞc model. The seven ‘voices’ used for this coursebook will provide language learners with pleasant, supportive company as they embark on a carefully constructed path leading toward the mastery of English pronunciation.

Some Practical Advice ...for the language learner (if this material is being used for self-study)

Computer or CD player?

This coursebook with CD should ideally be used with a computer to allow easy manipulation of the cursor when working with the recordings. Working with a CD player (it must be one that reads mp3 Þles) is perfectly feasible, but you will have more difÞculty locating a speciÞc passage on a track.

Customising the exercises to your abilities and preferences One of the great advantages of self-study is that you can progress at your own speed, repeating an exercise when necessary, taking all the time you need to read the explanations, scheduling your tea or beer breaks when you most need them... You should not hesitate to go even further in this customising process when working on these twenty pronunciation lessons. For example, some exercises involve multitasking. You will be asked to listen to a list of words that constitute the answer key to a pre-listening exercise you have just done. You need to listen to and repeat the words and correct any mistakes you have made at the same time. If you prefer not to multitask (or if you try and Þnd it too difÞcult), then you should feel free to adapt the instructions to your abilities and preferences, breaking down the task into several steps that you do one after the other.

If you Þnd that the time given to repeat or produce a sentence is too short, you can customise the length of the silences by using the pause button. But be aware that the silences have been timed so as to allow you to evaluate your ability to complete the task at a speed close to that of a native speaker. Indeed using a native speaker-like speech rate is one aspect of good pronunciation. So instead of reaching for the pause button, you might want to choose to accept the challenge and redo the exercise several times (perhaps simplifying it the Þrst time), in order to accomplish the task in the allotted time.

The pre-listening activities and the oral answer keys When there is a pre-listening activity, that is, an activity (identiÞed by the icon) to be done before you listen to the recording, this Þrst activity is an integral and essential part of the exercise. Do not skip over it and start directly with the recording to save time or because you feel that you already master the point in question. The pre-listening activity provides you with an opportunity to test your understanding and knowledge of a speciÞc point of English pronunciation. Typically, you will have just been given some explanation or rule that you will try to apply, but sometimes you are simply asked to accomplish the task to the best of your previously

VIII Some Practical Advice

acquired knowledge. The recorded part of the exercise then provides you with the answer key to the pre-listening activity and thus allows you—as you listen and repeat and correct your responses when necessary—to evaluate where you stand. Depending on the number of mistakes you have made, it will be clear to you whether you need to continue working on the point addressed by the exercise or whether you have mastered it. Not only is it quite rewarding and encouraging to realise that you have mastered a point, but this feedback will allow you to concentrate on those aspects of your pronunciation that most need improvement and thereby progress as efÞciently as possible.

In addition, the fact that you are listening not only in order to repeat, but also to know if you chose the correct answers, engenders a more active, involved form of listening that is beneÞcial to the learning process.

How can you know if you are repeating the model correctly?

My experience has shown that advanced students (of the type this method is aimed at) are quite good at imitating a model, providing that the segment is not too long. Learning to monitor, evaluate and correct your own speech—for grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation—is an essential skill for a language learner. This method will hopefully allow you to perfect this skill in the domain of pronunciation.

Again, according to my experience, the main difÞculty encountered by advanced learners is not reproducing the model but rather preserving good pronunciation when the model is no longer present! In other words, developing good pronunciation reßexes (or at least habits) is where the real challenge lies. The more at ease you are with repeating the model, the more likely you are to integrate those good features into your speech habits and to transfer them to spontaneous speech. But you will never sound just like the model! And the variety of educated, standard accents used for this coursebook should make it clear that, in any case, one model does not sound exactly like the next! Bringing your accent into the range of accents represented here should be your goal.

Some Practical Advice ...for the teacher (if this material is being used with a class in a language lab) It is preferable to let each student work at his or her own pace, using the pause button when necessary, redoing an exercise that was particularly difÞcult, taking the time that he or she needs to do the pre-listening exercises, etc. Be sure that your students are given all the practical advice above (pages VII-VIII) that is pertinent to their situation.

What is the role of the teacher when using a method that can also be used for self-study, with a complete answer key and clear explanations formulated on the worksheet? Here are my suggestions, based on 15 years of experience: • Give a one-minute introduction, including a remark on the connection between what was done the previous class and what you will work on now.

• Offer one or more students an individual evaluation of their pronunciation (completely separate from the recorded exercises). You can easily do this during the class while the other students work independently. I have the student being evaluated read a text with lots of dialogue while I Þll in a detailed evaluation grid. A student who has been made aware of his or her weak points and strong points (not to be forgotten!) will work in a more efÞcient and motivated manner. You can offer to do another evaluation at the end of the semester.

• Make sure that each student has understood how to use the material correctly and check to see that they all repeat (Aloud! Not just in their heads! And not with their whispering voice!).

• Give your students as much feedback as possible on their pronunciation. I Þnd that students are quite good at imitating a model, but often they do not trust their own judgement, so conÞrmation from the teacher that they are indeed reproducing the model correctly is very beneÞcial.

• Do the last exercise (Sentences for practice) together, headphones off, seated in a circle or around a table if possible. No matter how varied the voices and the exercises, students generally appreciate switching to a face-to-face mode of working and getting some direct feedback from a real ßesh and blood teacher!

• When all twenty lessons cannot be used, the teacher is the one who will make the important decision as to which subset of lessons will be used.

tra

Written exercise ck

3

Listening exercise Pay particular attention Speaking exercise Cross-reference

4 min 31 s.

Cross-reference for written answer key Counter number corresponding to the beginning of the second or third part of an exercise.

SBE Standard British English GA General American (standard American English) BROSA Basic Rule of Stress Assignment

Contents Part 1. Rhythm and Reduction in Unstressed Syllables

......................1

Lesson 1. RHYTHM AND REDUCTION IN UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES: WEAK FORMS OF GRAMMATICAL WORDS – PART 1 . . . . . . 3 1. Weak forms of grammatical words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 2. The perfectly regular rhythm of nursery rhymes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 3. Rhythm groups and weak forms in the noun phrase: first build-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 4. Rhythm groups and weak forms in the noun phrase: second build-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

6. Review of phonemic symbols for vowels and basic articulatory features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Lesson 2. RHYTHM AND REDUCTION IN UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES: WEAK FORMS OF GRAMMATICAL WORDS – PART 2 . . . . . 13 1. Rhythm groups and weak forms in the verb phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 2. Building up a sentence with a noun or a pronoun as subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 3. Catch-that-word 1: understanding the combination of two successive weak forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 4. Catch-that-word 2: schwa elision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Lesson 3. RHYTHM AND REDUCTION IN UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES: REDUCTION IN LEXICAL WORDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 1. Frequent reduction of vowels in the last (unstressed) syllable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 2. Catch-that-word 3: understanding a weak form linked to the preceding word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 3. Catch-that-word 4: hearing the auxiliary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 4. Catch-that-word 5: present or past (-ed) form? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Part 2. Word Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Lesson 4. INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH WORD STRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 1. Recognising the stress pattern of three-syllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 2. Classifying words according to the model under which they fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 3. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Lesson 5. THE BASIC RULE OF STRESS ASSIGNMENT (BROSA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 1. Applying the BROSA to two-syllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 2. Two-syllable prefixed nouns that are an exception to the BROSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 3. Two-syllable French loans that come under the Final Stress Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 4. Applying the BROSA to three(+)-syllable words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

XII Contents

Lesson 6. PRESTRESSED-ONE ENDINGS AND OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE OF ENDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 1. Shortcut version of the BROSA for words with prestressed-one (PS-1) endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 2. Classifying words according to the behaviour of the ending: stress active or stress neutral . . . . . . . . . . .38 3. A few tricky endings in –y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 4. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Lesson 7. STRESSING WORDS WITH AN INSEPARABLE PREFIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 1. Two-syllable monocategorial prefixed verb: stress the base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 2. Three-syllable monocategorial prefixed verb with a one-syllable base: stress the base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 3. Two-syllable prefixed noun-verb pairs: identical or different stress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 4. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Lesson 8. FINAL STRESS AND RETRACTED FINAL STRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 1. Final stress for words with a French ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 2. Final Stress or retracted final stress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 3. Two different pronunciations for –ate depending on the grammatical category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 4. Retracted Final Stress: recognising prestressed-two (PS-2) endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Lesson 9. STRESSING WORDS WITH A SEPARABLE PREFIX AND STRESS SHIFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 1. Separable prefix used with a verb or adjective: full vowel and secondary stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 2. Separable or inseparable prefix?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 3. Separable prefix on a noun: full vowel and often primary stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 4. Stress shift to avoid having two primary stresses too close together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Lesson 10. STRESS-NEUTRAL AND MIXED ENDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 1. Stress-neutral endings (the Germanic Model). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 2. The (mixed-behaviour) endings –able, –ible and –ism: one phonological syllable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 3. Mixed-behaviour endings (the Germanic Model versus the Latinate Model). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 4. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Lesson 11. STRESSING COMPOUND WORDS – PART 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 1. Three groups of ‘exceptional’ compound nouns with primary stress on Element B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 2. Compound nouns: the normal stress pattern and the ‘exceptional’ one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 3. Compound nouns and adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 4. Hyphenated compound adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Lesson 12. STRESSING COMPOUND WORDS – PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 1. Compound verbs and phrasal verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 2. Compound or syntactic phrase? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Contents XIII

3. Neo-classical compounds with and without a BROSA ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 4. The photographer and the anthropologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Part 3. Spelling-Pronunciation Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Lesson 13. THE NORMAL LAX AND TENSE VALUES OF SIMPLE VOWEL LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 1. The normal lax value of simple vowel letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 2. The normal tense value of simple vowel letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 3. The variable length of vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 4. The continental value of simple vowel letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Lesson 14. VARIOUS PHONEMES REPRESENTED BY <O> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 1. The normal lax value of <o> (pot /Ĵ/) and a transformation rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 2. A Subrule for <o> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 3. The normal lax value of <o> (pot /Ĵ/) and a group of exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 4. I’d love /ֺ੅/ to move /u‫ڴ‬/ back home /Ȫօ/! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 5. Sentences for practice (and one last group of exceptions)

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . .91

Lesson 15. VARIOUS PHONEMES REPRESENTED BY <a> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 1. Identifying words that come under the All /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ Bald /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ Transformation Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 2. Practicing with a first group of ask-words: the fast group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 3. Identifying words that belong to the fast group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 4. Practicing with a second group of ask-words: the dance group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 5. A few other words we can add to the dance group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 6. Two dialogues for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

Lesson 16. THE DIGRAPHS <OO> AND <OU> AS WELL AS <TH> AND <H> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 1. The different values of <oo> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 2. Recognising words in which <oo> does not have its normal /u‫ڴ‬/ value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 3. The different values of <ou> /<ow> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 4. Pronouncing <th> and identifying silent initial <h>s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101 5. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Lesson 17. THE R-TRANSFORMATION RULE AND FURTHER WORK ON /੆ȶ‫ ڴ‬/ AND /ƥ‫ ڴ‬/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 1. The r-transformation values of lax vowel phonemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 2. A few other spellings that can represent /ȶ‫ڴ‬/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 3. The r-transformation value of tense vowel phonemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 4. Frequent simplification of the /օȪ੆/ diphthong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 5. Various spellings that represent /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 6. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

XIV Contents

Lesson 18. A FEW REMAINING BITS AND PIECES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 1. New Suit Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 2. Words in which the final <e> is not silent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 3. Various pronunciations of the digraph <ea> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 4. The pronunciation of vowels in a few endings that often bear minor stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 5. A selection of words that are often mispronounced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 6. Sentences for practice

+ Basic work on intonation

Part 4. Intonation and Linking

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Lesson 19. INTONATION AND LINKING – PART 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 1. Placing the tonic accent in broad focus: the Last Lexical Item (LLI) Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120 2. Some systematic exceptions to the Last Lexical Item (LLI) Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 3. Putting group final predictable or obvious elements in the tail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 4. Linking by means of resyllabification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 5. R-linking and switching from broad to narrow (contrastive) focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123 6. Placing an emphatic accent and inserting an initial glottal stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Lesson 20. INTONATION AND LINKING – PART 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 1. Narrow focus for contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125 2. Using contrastive or emphatic tonic accent correctly in your response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 3. Fall-Rise tone with an affirmative construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 4. The choice of tone for questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127 5. Vowel link-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128 6. Linking by means of palatalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Appendixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Appendix 1. WEAK FORM CHART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Appendix 2. STRESS IN HOMOGRAPHIC NOUN-VERB PAIRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Appendix 3. THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE VOICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Answer Key for Selected Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Index of Rules and Technical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

PART 1

Rhythm and Reduction in Unstressed Syllables English is a stress-timed language, meaning that the stressed syllables of speech tend to form a regular beat. Schematically, the most important words are stressed (and therefore form the beat) and the less important ones are Ă&#x17E;tted in between the beats. To obtain such a beat, speech rate will be slowed down and sped up, and, in addition, the actual pronunciation of certain words will also be modiĂ&#x17E;ed by means of phonetic reduction. Without phonetic reduction, you cannot obtain the correct rhythm. And if you do not use the correct rhythm when you speak English, your listener will then need to make an additional effort to pick out the words which contain the important information. This is very tiring and your listener might just give up!

Why begin this series of pronunciation lessons with work on rhythm and reduction? First of all, most language learners, even those who are relatively advanced, do not speak English with the correct rhythm. This is not surprising as this aspect of English pronunciation is often totally neglected in language classes, perhaps being considered as secondary to the mastery of speech sounds and word stress. A second reason to begin with rhythm and reduction is that it represents a good value for the effort required. The concepts involved are quite simple to understand and easy to put into practice and they are pertinent for any sentence you utter and for most words of more than one syllable.

LESSON 2

Rhythm and reduction in unstressed syllables: weak forms of grammatical words – part 2

1. Rhythm groups and weak forms in the verb phrase When the main verb is preceded by a primary or modal auxiliary, in most cases, only the main verb is stressed. The weak forms will be used for any auxiliary verbs and they will be said quickly, adding very little time to the sentence.

1.1 First group of sentences Read through the sentences below and notice how the number of auxiliaries increases. rac

k

1

Turn your worksheet face down. Listen and notice how the auxiliaries are pronounced with their weak forms and Þtted in between the two beats, one on the subject and one on the main verb. You will hear these sentences a second time so that you can repeat them.

Ben sings.

Ben will sing.

Ben will have sung.

Ben could have sung.

Ben could have been singing.

Ben might have been singing. t

Turn your worksheet face up now. On the last line of this build-up (printed below):

• Mark in stress.

• Place all the unstressed (grammatical) words in brackets and cross out any initial <h>s that it would be good to elide.

• For each grammatical word, place an R under the word if the weak (reduced) form can be used.

B e n m i g h t h a v e b e e n s i n g i n g.

Once you have finished, correct your written work by referring to the answer key on page 143.

1.2 Second group of sentences Read through the sentences below and notice how the number of auxiliaries varies.

1 min 20 s.

14 PART 1 Rhythm and Reduction in Unstressed Syllables

Turn your worksheet face down. As you listen, notice once again how the auxiliaries are pronounced with a reduced vowel and Þtted in between the beat placed on the subject and the beat on the main verb. These sentences have a third beat on the adverb.

Jane sleeps soundly.

Jane will sleep soundly.

Jane will have slept soundly.

Jane will have been sleeping soundly.

Jane has slept soundly.

Jane has been sleeping soundly.

Jane would have been sleeping soundly.

Jane must have been sleeping soundly.

Turn your worksheet face up now. On the last line of this build-up (printed below):

• Mark in stress.

• Place all the unstressed (grammatical) words in brackets and cross out any initial <h>s that it would be good to elide.

• For each grammatical word, place an R under the word if the weak (reduced) form can be used.

J a n e m u s t h a v e b e e n s l e e p i n g s o u n d l y.

Turn your worksheet face down again. Listen and repeat the series of sentences, making sure you elide the initial /h/s of the grammatical words.

2. Building up a sentence with a noun or a pronoun as subject rac

k

2

First you will hear only the words that are stressed. Repeat these words with a regular beat. As you repeat, mark in stress on these words in the sentence. Then you will hear the complete sentence to repeat. Be sure to use weak forms for all the unstressed grammatical. Cross out any initial <h>s that are elided. t

2 min 05 s.

Once you have finished, correct your written work by referring to the answer key on page 143.

REMEMBER: If you prefer not to multitask, then do not hesitate to play the recording several times for exercises of this type, doing one task at a time. Adapt the instructions to your abilities and preferences.

a. T o m c o u l d h a v e b e e n s w i m m i n g i n t h e l a k e .

He could have been swimming in the lake. b. S u s a n h a s b e e n d a n c i n g a t t h e d i s c o t h e q u e .

She has been dancing at the discotheque.

LESSON 2 15 Rhythm and reduction in unstressed syllables: weak forms of grammatical words – part 2

c. D a n m u s t h a v e b e e n w o r k i n g o n h i s o w n .

He must have been working on his own. d. J a n e t w i l l h a v e b e e n w a i t i n g f o r y o u r c a l l .

She will have been waiting for your call. e. H a r r y w o u l d h a v e b e e n e a t i n g w i t h h i s f r i e n d s .

He would have been eating with his friends.

2 min 33 s.

Once you have finished, correct your written work by referring to the answer key on page 143.

Turn your worksheet face down now. Listen and repeat once more, making sure you elide the initial <h>s of the grammatical words that can be elided.

3. Catch-that-word 1: understanding the combination of two successive weak forms The objective of the catch-that-word exercises is to make you aware of various modiÞcations of the shape of words that occur in connected speech. These modiÞcations are a frequent source of comprehension difÞculties for foreigners. These exercises feature not only comprehension practice, but also include some repetition or other practice in the use of these forms as this is a good way to increase your awareness and comprehension of the phenomena. In addition, integrating some of these phonological processes into your speech will certainly improve your pronunciation. rac

k

3

As you listen to each sentence, Þll in the blanks with the missing grammatical words. These sentences are made up exclusively of simple words, but you may Þnd them difÞcult to understand due to the phonetic reduction that makes two successive grammatical words sound more like one nonsense word: t

for us ¤ /frȪs/, of them ¤ /ȪvȪm/…

a. If you see Karen tomorrow, could you give this card ____ _____. b. My children love computer games and it’s hard _____ ________ to stop playing. c. I really like your cousins—I met all four ____ ________ this afternoon. d. I don’t know if we can get our answer ____ _______ before noon. e. That course is really interesting—you should sign up ______ _____. f. I think both _____ _____ need a break now.

_________ lying in the shade! h. If you have any more information _______ ______ on the trip, please pass it on. i. If your son misbehaves, don’t shout _____ ________. j. It means a lot _____ ______ that you come here every summer.

1 min 48 s.

g. Those cows look so happy! Look _____

Listen to these sentences read a Þrst time with less reduction so that you can correct your written work if necessary. Then the sentence will be read with more reduction and you repeat. If you close your eyes, you can concentrate all your attention on the model and your pronunciation.

PART 2

Word Stress

Every word in English has a stress pattern: one of the syllables bears primary stress and will be more prominent than the others. In the following words, for example, the Þrst syllable carries primary stress: partner, kitchen, relatively, president. This is common, but stress can also fall on the last syllable or somewhere between: retire, parade, consider, mutation, colonial…

Sometimes another syllable will carry secondary stress or even a lower degree of stress. We will be concerned only with primary and secondary stress in these lessons. Both regular dictionaries and pronunciation dictionaries indicate only these two degrees of (major) stress.

A stressed syllable will be more prominent for one or more of the following reasons: it is louder than the unstressed syllables, it is longer, it has a full vowel (not a reduced vowel such as schwa) and/or it is pronounced with a slightly different pitch (higher or lower).

The stress pattern of a word is an integral part of its ‘oral identity’ and therefore, if you do not use the correct stress pattern, you will be very difÞcult to understand—even if all the individual sounds of the word are correctly pronounced. Very often, the vowel in an unstressed syllable is reduced (made shorter and more central). So if your stress pattern is wrong, there is a good chance that your vowels will also be wrong, compounding the difÞculty people will have understanding you.

LESSON 6

Prestressed-one endings and overview of the role of endings

1. Shortcut version of the BROSA1 for words with prestressed-one (PS-1) endings This is an extremely useful shortcut because it not only allows us to assign stress without weighing the penult, but also allows us to assign stress to certain groups of words to which stress could otherwise be correctly assigned only by referring to their historical pronunciation.

It is also an extremely powerful shortcut because it can be applied to over 7,000 words!

Shortcut formulation of the BROSA

words with a PS-1 ending

Applies to:

Stress the syllable that precedes the ending.

Examples: in‫ۉ‬vention, con‫ ۉ‬tinuous, ‫ۉ‬usual, a‫ۉ‬bility,‫ۉ‬purify, he‫ۉ‬roic

All you need to know is how to recognise a PS-1 ending.

Prestressed-one (PS-1) endings

• • • •

–ION type: –i/e/u + V + (C) (–ion, –ial, –ious1, –ium, –ius, –ia, –eal, –eous1, –ual, uar, –uous1…)

–ity / –ety –ic, –ics, –ical –ify / –efy

1. <ou> is a digraph and therefore counts as one vowel.

Place an X in front of the one word in each set that does not have a PS-1 ending. For the Þve other words, circle the PS-1 ending and mark in stress primary, indicating the PS-1 behaviour with an arrow as illustrated on the Þrst two words.

Words in English cannot begin with 00 for rhythmic reasons: the rhythmic principle of a regular alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables that we saw at the sentence level in Lessons 1-3, also applies at the level of the word, particularly at the beginning of a word.

1. Basic Rule of Stress Assignment, presented in Lesson 5.

38 PART 2 Word Stress

So some of these words have a secondary stress. Mark it in where you think it is situated, using a low vertical line. rac

k

1

Listen to and repeat the Þve words in each set with a prestressed-one ending, correcting your written work if necessary. t

If you find it too difficult to conclude if the stress pattern you have written in is the correct one only by listening to the recording, you can consult the written answer-key on page 147.

a. ‫ۈ‬pessi‫ۉ‬mistic / di‫ۉ‬versify / adulterous / audacity / crematorium / mortification b. causality / homosexual / contemporaneous / personify / anecdotal / notoriety c. obliteration / verify / consequential / inauspicious / theatrical / resurgence d. equilibrium / stupendous / exemplify / eligibility / insemination / providential e. simultaneous / fecundity / metaphoric / discriminatory / ineffectual / intensify There are only a few exceptions to this powerful shortcut: a‫ۉ‬rithmetic, ‫ۉ‬Catholic, ‫ۉ‬Arabic, mu‫ۉ‬seum, ‫ۉ‬spiritual, ‫ۈ‬Euro‫ۉ‬pean…

4 min 54 s.

1 min 54 s.

As PS-1 endings appear in thousands of words in English (a good percentage of which are frequently used words), learning to associate a stress pattern with the sound of these endings is a good approach for the language learner. In the second part of this exercise, words with PS-1 endings are grouped together, two by two. Each pair of words has the same ending and the same number of syllables. Therefore the words have the same stress pattern and Þnal sounds (the endings) and this should help you to acquire the ability to automatically stress this type of word correctly.

Repeat each pair of words, tapping your Þnger lightly on your desk on the primary and secondary stress. Write down the Prestressed-one ending. (The Þrst one has been done for you.) a. –ity

c.

e.

g.

b.

d.

f.

h.

Continue to repeat the groups of words, circling each ending (that you have written above) as it is used a second time.

2. Classifying words according to the behaviour of the ending: stress active or stress neutral 2.1 You have now worked with the Basic Rule of Stress Assignment (BROSA) of Latin origin ( Lesson 5 and Exercise 1 of this lesson). You have seen that the rule looks at the end of the word, looking for a heavy syllable on which to place stress. Because the rule examines the word starting from the end, it is referred to as a right-handed rule. When the end of the word is modiÞed, we obviously need to re-calculate stress assignment. Thus we have ‫ۉ‬victory but vic‫ۉ‬torious and ‫ۉ‬memory but me‫ۉ‬morial. Endings of this type, that is BROSA endings, are stress active, because they play a role in determining stress assignment.

LESSON 6 39 Prestressed-one endings and overview of the role of endings

The Germanic model of word stress (which we will study further in the next lesson) examines the beginning of the word. It is a left-handed rule and when an ending is added, the stress pattern of the base is not affected because it is the beginning of the word and not the end that determines stress placement. Germanic endings have this stress-neutral behaviour: they do not modify the stress pattern of the base to which they are added.

The following chart presents the role of endings in English word stress. Take a few minutes to read about the two models presented. Then do the exercise. rac

k

2

Listen to and repeat the sets of words given in the chart.

t

1 min 12 s.

2.2

Now you will add six more sets of words to the chart.

Each set of words will be said twice. Repeat it (twice) and write it down in the correct box. Mark in stress (only primary stress for the time being) and circle the stressactive endings (but not the stress-neutral ones). You will then hear the answer key.

The Role of Endings in English Word Stress Latin Model BASE

–ian, –ious, –ion, –uous, –ity, –ic, –al… stress-active endings

right-handed rule

The word stress of the base often changes when one of these endings is added as the right-hand end of the word has been modiÞed. We refer to a stress-active ending as it has an active role in determining the stress of the word built with it.

con‫ۉ‬tinue – conti‫ۉ‬nuity – con‫ۉ‬tinual _________________________________________________________ ‫ۉ‬educate – edu‫ۉ‬cation _______________________________________________________ ‫ۉ‬diet – die‫ۉ‬tician _________________________________________________________ Germanic model BASE left-handed rule

–ness, –less, –ly, –dom, –ship, –ed, –ing, –s … stress-neutral endings

The word stress of the base does not change when one of these endings is added as the left-hand end (the beginning) of the word has not been modiÞed. We refer to a stress-neutral ending as it plays no role in determining the stress of the base.

‫ۉ‬neighbour – ‫ۉ‬neighbourhood – ‫ۉ‬neighbourly – ‫ۉ‬neighbourli ness ‫ۉ‬ßavour – ‫ۉ‬ßavouring – ‫ۉ‬ßavourful – ‫ۉ‬ßavourless con‫ۉ‬tent – con‫ۉ‬tented – con‫ۉ‬tented ly _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________

PART 3

Spelling-Pronunciation Rules

English spelling has the reputation of being inconsistent, and even downright chaotic, unpredictable and indefensible. For the native speaker, this state of affairs translates into long spelling lists of words with various ‘tricky’ spellings that need to be memorised: double ‘t’ or single ‘t’? double ‘l’ or single ‘l’? ‘f’ or ‘ph’? ‘ent’ or ‘ant’? ‘ei’ or ‘ie’? ‘u’ or ‘oo’? ‘ee’ or ‘ea’?

For the foreign language learner, the question is generally not so much how to spell a word, but rather how to pronounce it knowing how it is spelled. We will see in this chapter that although English spelling is relatively complex, there are in fact not so many words as one might think with truly irregular pronunciation.

English spelling is a product of its history, a history of massive borrowing from French and Latin as well as borrowing on a smaller scale from some 50 other languages. English has chosen to preserve the original spelling of words it borrows to a great extent. Thus we have ‘telephone’ and ‘psychology’, rather than the more logical ‘telefone’ and ‘sikology’. And the French loan ‘police’ instead of ‘poleece’ or ‘polece’. This is one source of complication.

Another source of complexity is changes in pronunciation, some of them major changes, that occurred relatively late in the history of the language, roughly after 1500, at a time when spelling had begun to be standardised and therefore no longer easily adapted to reßect pronunciation changes. Thus, when the ‘h’ in ‘hnut’ or ‘hring’ became silent in the 11th -12th century, it was removed, giving us ‘nut’ and ‘ring’. But when the ‘k’ in ‘knife’ and ‘knee’ became silent in the 17th century, it was not removed. The Great Vowel Shift, which is responsible for those long vowel values for ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’ and ‘u’ found in no other related language (the values in ‘late’ or ‘like’, for example), occurred from the mid 15th century until approximately 1700, by which time it was much too late to envisage modifying the spelling of the thousands of words concerned by this pronunciation change. New phonemes appeared after 1500, but no new letters or spellings were added to the existing ones to represent these phonemes.

And so English has silent letters and vowel letters that can represent a disturbing number of phonemes! But, once again, we will see that the key word for describing English spellingpronunciation rules is ‘complex’, rather than ‘irregular’.

LESSON 15

Various phonemes represented by <a>

He’s all bald and can’t dance fast!

Please note that in Lessons 13 to 18 we are concerned with the pronunciation of phonemes in stressed syllables only.

PART I: The All /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ Bald /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ Transformation Rule

He’s all bald …

In these words, the normal lax value of <a>, /æ/, has been transformed under the inßuence of the following /l/ and is now pronounced /ƥ‫ڴ‬/. This transformation rule is related to the Old Transformation Rule that we saw in the preceding lesson: He’s old and all bald!

1. Identifying words that come under the All /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ Bald /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ Transformation Rule Place an X in front of the one word in each list that does not come under the All Bald Transformation Rule, that is, the one word not pronounced with /ƥ‫ڴ‬/. rac

k

1

Listen to the answer key, repeating all the words and correcting your work if necessary. Remember that /ƥ‫ڴ‬/ needs to be labialised, so round your lips. t

a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

ball all tall malt alter bald talk

hall install shall salt falter scald palm

X alligator allergy wall exalt Baltic calm walk

stall call fall scalp altitude caldron/cauldron chalk

Study the lists above and complete the following rule.

The All Bald Transformation Rule: /æ/ ¤ /ƥ‫ڴ‬/

Words in which <a> is followed by < ______ > (in the same ____________) Words in which <a> is followed by < ______ > < ______ > or < ______ > EXCEPTION:

__________________

EXCEPTIONS:

no frequently used words.

APPROXIMATELY 15 WORDS.

You can check this written work by referring to the answer key on page 156.

94 PART 3 Spelling-Pronunciation Rules

PART II: Ask-words

…and

can’t dance fast!

The word ask has two different standard pronunciations in British English: /æsk/ and /đ‫ڴ‬sk/.

The Þrst pronunciation, with the vowel of cat, the normal value of <a> in this context, was the only standard pronunciation until the end of the 18th century. At that point, the second pronunciation (with the vowel in father) which had appeared a good century earlier, progressively became the standard pronunciation for this word (and approximately 70 other words) in the London area. This pronunciation with /đ‫ڴ‬/ spread to most of southern England. In the northern half of England, in Scotland and in Ireland, this new pronunciation did not catch on and these words continued to be pronounced with /æ/. Because the English speakers who settled in the United States in the 18th century, particularly in the (linguistically) inßuential area around Philadelphia, came dominantly from these latter areas and not from the southern half of England, the older pronunciation with /æ/ is used in General American.

This group of words with two different standard pronunciations can be referred to as askwords. It you are aiming for a Standard British English pronunciation you have a choice, but you should be consistent: either you pronounce all of them with /đ‫ڴ‬/ (as in the south), or you pronounce all of them with /æ/ (as in the north). You therefore need to become aware of the words that belong to this group. We can divide them into two groups on the basis of what follows <a> in the word.

2. Practicing with a first group of ask-words: the fast group 2.1

rac

k

2

Turn your worksheet face down. You will hear seven sentences to repeat. Each one contains two ask-words of the fast type. First you will hear them with the southern /đ‫ڴ‬/ pronunciation. t

1 min 46 s.

REMINDER: Do you Þnd the blanks too short? Whenever this is the case, you have several choices: (1) use the pause button, (2) break the exercise down if there is multitasking or (3) accept the challenge and redo the exercise, several times if necessary, in order to accomplish the task in the time allotted.

Turn your worksheet face up now. You will hear the same sentences again. This time, as you repeat the sentences, underline the two ask-words in each sentence. You will hear the answer key. a. The staff meeting will be held after the holidays. b. My Dad always gets the last laugh. c. Put a plaster on that nasty-looking wound. d. I’ll ask about the new class schedule1. e. The grass in that pasture is deÞnitely greener. f. He walked so fast up that steep path that he lost me! g. I would rather2 leave half 2 the ironing for tomorrow.

1. Schedule can be pronounce with /sk/ or /ԙe/ at the beginning in SBE. In GA, only the /sk/ pronunciation is used.

2. These two words are not truly ask-words because, as you will hear in the recording, the /đ‫ڴ‬/ pronunciation is used all over (and consistently) in England and the /æ/ in used (consistently) in GA.

3 min 54 s.

LESSON 15 95 Various phonemes represented by <a>

2.2

Now you will hear the same sentences one last time, and this time the /æ/ pronunciation will be used. Repeat them with this pronunciation, used in the north of England, in Scotland, in Ireland and in the United States.

Examine all the words you have underlined and complete the following rule.

Ask-Words in the Fast Group

Words in which <a> is followed by a voiceless fricative

(/______ /or /______ /), a word Þnal <ss>

or < _____> and another consonant.

EXCEPTIONS:

There are approximately 20 exceptions, almost all with <ast> (

Exercise 3 below).

APPROXIMATELY 50 WORDS (AND THEIR DERIVATIVES)

You can check this written work by referring to the answer key on page 156.

3. Identifying words that belong to the fast group Unfortunately for the language learner, the words with one of the contexts we identiÞed in the preceding exercise did not all shift to the new /đ‫ڴ‬/ pronunciation. There are approximately 20 ‘exceptions’ (words with a vowel that did not shift) and this exercise will allow you to become familiar with some of the most frequently used ones. Place an X in front of the one word in each group that is not an ask-word, i.e., that cannot be pronounced with /đ‫ڴ‬/. rac

k

3.1

3

X

a.

draft

raft

craft

staff

b.

laugh

elastic

last

calf

half

c.

pass

ass

grass

class

glass

d.

pasture

disaster

master

fantastic

e.

photograph

mascot

basket

masque

f.

plaster

sarcastic

forecast

bastard

g.

raspberry

task

aspirin

grasp

h.

rather

path

maths

exasperate

plastic

vast

bath

3.2

Now repeat, with the southern pronunciation.

3.3

Here are the same words with the northern pronunciation.

4. Practicing with a second group of ask-words: the dance group rac

k

4.1

4

Turn your worksheet face down. You will hear six sentences to repeat.

Each one contains two ask-words of the dance type. The southern pronunciation will be used this Þrst time. t

2 min 56 s.

t

0 min 47 s.

Listen to the answer key, repeating all the words. This Þrst time, the pronunciation used in southern England will be used.

PART 4

Intonation and Linking

Intonation has several functions in English. One of them is to deliver information in easily ‘digestible’ chunks. The lengths of these chunks, or tone groups, and their exact boundaries will depend on the concentration of the information being delivered, but also on the speaker’s perception of the capacity of the listener to ‘absorb’ it.

Another function of intonation is to provide the listener with an indication of which speciÞc part of the utterance—if any—should be focused on. The speaker can choose broad focus, encompassing the entire tone group, or focus so narrow that it is limited to a single word.

Intonation also participates in structuring discourse. The choice of tone (the structured change in pitch) can indicate whether the speaker will continue with another option, for example, or has given the Þnal alternative. The exact focus used can make it clear that part of the chunk of information should be interpreted as referring back to what has already been said. Or, by using a certain tone, the speaker can make it clear that the entire chunk of information in question constitutes shared information, a common point of reference in the discourse, rather than new information.

Attitude can be expressed by intonation. A speaker can offend or calm or intrigue his listener not by what he says (that is, not due to the choice of words), but by how he says it, and this way in which the speaker expresses himself will be deÞned at least partially by his choice of intonation.

And Þnally, intonation can be studied in relation to grammar as the grammatical structure of an utterance can determine, to a certain extent, the intonation structure that will be used.

Studying intonation is a challenge because not only are there several functions of intonation and several variables to intonation structure (the focus, the tone, the key…), but there is a considerable degree of interplay of these functions and variables. Obviously, only a few, selected aspects of intonation can be dealt with in the remaining two lessons of this course. The work on the basics of intonation that has been integrated into the last exercise of each of the preceding lessons will be reviewed and expanded on. We will concentrate on focus and building

118 PART 4 Intonation and Linking

awareness of different tones. Intonation is not only complex, but also very personal in some respects. One goal of these lessons is to heighten the language learnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capacity to observe intonation in practice and, based on these observations, progressively forge his own intonation patterns within the limits of those of native speakers.

Linking is the second topic dealt with in these last two chapters. Linking two adjacent words in the speech chain is quite a natural process that, to a large extent, can be acquired simply by becoming aware that you should not resist the temptation to simplify articulation by running words together!

LESSON 20

Intonation and linking – part 2

1. Narrow focus for contrast For the utterances given below, it would be quite natural to place contrastive stress on one word in each tone group. This word would carry the tonic accent and the tone group would have narrow focus rather than broad focus ( Lesson 5, Intonation Basics).

When a word bears contrastive stress, the speaker is emphasising the fact that this word is being used rather than another word that would have been possible in this position. For example, the speaker wants to emphasise that ‘She is coming’ (and not he or they), or that ‘You’re the Þrst one’ (and not the second or last one).

Quite frequently, the Þrst element of a compound word bears a contrastive tonic accent: ‘I’m sure he’s blue-eyed’. This can occur (as in this case) even when Element A bears only secondary stress in the static stress pattern (the one that is used when the word is said in isolation and that is given in a dictionary). Primary stress simply shifts to Element A. Similarly, words with a separable preÞx can bear a contrastive stress on the preÞx, even if the preÞx takes secondary stress in the static stress pattern: ‘Give him a generous tip! He’s deÞnitely underpaid!’ (The static stress pattern is ‫ۈ‬under‫ۉ‬paid.)

Decide where you think a contrastive tonic accent could quite naturally be placed in each tone group. The static stress pattern of certain words has been indicated in square brackets. a. I’m quite sure that guitarist is left-handed. / It’s frequent among musicians. [‫ۈ‬left-‫ۉ‬handed] b. Did you use olive oil for your salad dressing? [‫ۈ‬olive ‫ۉ‬oil] c. If you want to help her, / then you drive her into town! / Don’t count on me! d. Shall we have red wine with dinner? e. I have no idea which black suitcase is mine./ Next time, / I’ll buy a pink suitcase. f. If we go to Morocco for our holidays, / the ßight will be cheaper. g. They aren’t undernourished, but rather malnourished. [‫ۈ‬under‫ۉ‬nourished; ‫ۈ‬mal‫ۉ‬nourished].

h. That’s a bedside table! It’s not made to be eaten on. [‫ۈ‬bedside ‫ۉ‬table] i. Do you want a hard-boiled egg? [‫ۈ‬hard-‫ۉ‬boiled]

j. I’m convinced that a regular airline would give you better service. rac

k

1

Listen and check that you have chosen the correct word to bear the tonic accent.

t

1 min 33 s.

If you feel it is necessary, you can consult the written answer key (page 160) to check your tonic accent placement.

Now repeat the same sentences.

126 PART 4 Intonation and Linking

REMINDER:

Do you Þnd the blanks too short? Whenever this is the case, you have several choices: (1) use the pause button, (2) break the exercise down if there is multitasking or (3) accept the challenge and redo the exercise, several times if necessary, in order to accomplish the task in the time allotted.

2. Using contrastive or emphatic tonic accent correctly in your response You will be using the same response in two different contexts. The two contexts will require two different placements of the tonic accent. You should use a contrastive/emphatic tonic accent in your response when required. In other words, you will not apply the LLI rule, but rather place the tonic on the most important word in each tone group considering the speciÞc context given.

When an utterance is quite emotional (as is the case here), use extra amplitude for your tone.

You can use a High Fall for all these responses. rac

k

2

Listen to the Þrst line of the dialogue (which is not written here) and reply using the sentence you see, placing a contrastive or emphatic accent on the correct word.

Use a High Fall to indicate more emotion. t

You will then hear the Þrst line again and the reply. Mark in the tonic accent as you repeat.

1.

No, / I’ll pick you up at 5:00.

2.

No, / I’ll pick you up at 5:00.

3.

Could I have some more soup?

4.

Could I have some more soup?

5.

I haven’t got any cash on me.

6.

I haven’t got any cash on me.

7.

Sally has three dogs / and a cat!

8.

Sally / has three dogs / and a cat!

9.

She went to the cinema yesterday.

10. She went to the cinema yesterday.

11. He lives opposite the farm.

12. He lives opposite the farm.

13. He said he would phone.

14. He said he would phone.

15. I’ve got some fresh bread.

16. I’ve got some fresh bread.

If you feel it is necessary, you can consult the written answer key (page 160) to check your tonic accent placement.

3. Fall-Rise tone with an affirmative construction In Lesson 17, Exercise 6, a Fall-Rise tone was used in a Þrst tone group to clearly indicate that the information given was not complete, that it was meant to introduce or frame what followed.

I’m not sure / ৓ that qualiÞcation would secure you a career in tourism.

We are going to look at two other, related, functions of the Fall-Rise tone in afÞrmative constructions. This is a very frequent tone in English and yet one that many language learners never use.

3.1 Fall-Rise to indicate ‘Yes, but…’

Here a Fall-Rise tone is used to indicate that the speaker is referring back to what has just been said and has some reservations. The second tone group (said with a Fall tone) expresses the speakers reservations. rac

k

3

Listen to the dialogue. Then you will hear just the Fall-Rise tone to repeat (the tonic syllable has been underlined), followed by the entire response. t

LESSON 20 127 Intonation and linking – part 2

a. I think we should buy a horse for Karen. You know she loves horses.

She loves horses, but she’s too young to take care of one.

b. I don’t agree with you. I think we should get an electric cooker.

You don’t agree with me, but we both know that I’m the one who wears the trousers.

c. Let’s go to Portugal this spring! The weather is just right on the southern coast!

The weather is perfect, but you know how expensive the ßights are.

d. My daughter’s pregnant and I just can’t see her bringing up a child.

It’s difÞcult to imagine her being a good mother, but we just have to hope for the best.

e. I can’t help with the dishes today. I’ve got too much work.

You have a lot of work to do, but you found time to play computer games all afternoon.

f. Sharon is a pain to work with.

She’s a pain, but you know that she’s 100% dependable.

3.2 Fall-Rise to refer to shared background information

3 min 37 s.

Once again, the Fall-Rise tone used in the Þrst tone group indicates that the speaker is referring to something already known, to knowledge shared, rather than to new information. The tone makes it clear that the speaker has not Þnished, that the main statement (or question) is yet to come.

Listen to each sentence and underline the tonic syllable in the Þrst tone group.

Then repeat. a.

The magazine I lent you yesterday, / belongs to my sister.

b.

When we left the lecture hall, / do you remember if I had my handbag?

c.

When we came back from holidays, / I made it very clear that I want to change a few of our habits.

d.

Since that day Uncle Robert yelled at us, /I’ve never been back to visit him.

e.

Every time you leave the milk out after breakfast, / I have to put it away.

f.

After seeing that horror movie last night / did you have nightmares?

g.

Our new neighbours, / seem to have several dogs.

If you feel it is necessary, you can consult the written answer key (page 160) to check your tonic accent placement.

4. The choice of tone for questions A Fall tone tends to make a question sound rather matter-of-fact: the speaker simply needs the information requested and he sounds like he has no preconceptions about the response, no knowledge on the topic. Typically, a WH– question is used by a speaker who has no idea what the answer will be and that is why a Fall tone is often associated with WH– questions. But we can also formulate a Yes/No question that is meant to be very matter-of-fact and therefore choose to use a Fall tone.

A Fall-Rise tone makes it sound like the speaker has already thought about the response.

Perhaps he has quite a bit of knowledge about the subject and merely wants to verify if he has correctly understood the situation. Typically, we use a Yes/No question when we want to check something, so the Fall-Rise tone is closely associated with that type of question. If a Fall-

Advanced

English Pronunciation

Advanced English Pronunciation a été conçu pour les apprenants qui ont un bon niveau intermédiaire en anglais (CEFR niveau B2) et qui souhaitent non seulement améliorer leur prononciation mais également acquérir des connaissances solides des règles de prononciation et de la logique qui les sous-tendent. Les étudiants anglicistes qui envisagent une carrière d’enseignant ainsi que les enseignants en poste qui souhaitent perfectionner leur prononciation se sentiront particulièrement concernés par cette approche à double objectif.

Traits principaux • Cette méthode convient aussi bien pour un travail en autonomie (de préférence avec un ordinateur) que pour le travail en groupe avec professeur dans un laboratoire de langue. (Dans ce dernier cas, il faut s’adresser directement à Ophrys pour se procurer la version avec licence pour usage multiple et Ophrys envoie le fichier pdf et le l’ensemble des fichiers audio.) Il faut probablement reformuler ceci. Je n’ai pas inclus cette indication sur la 4e de couverture en anglais, mais je pense qu’il faut l’ajouter.

• Chaque leçon est conçue pour durer 50 minutes. Si la méthode est adoptée pour un cours, les 20 leçons conviennent pour un cours de deux semestres d’une heure par semaine.

• Le livre avec fiches de travail est divisé en quatre parties qui couvrent tous les aspects importants de la prononciation de l’anglais : le rythme et les formes faibles, l’accent de mot, les règles de correspondances orthographe-prononciation, l’intonation et les liaisons.

• Sept ‘voix’ sont utilisées pour les enregistrements. Elles représentent l’anglais parlé en Angleterre par des locuteurs cultivés originaires de l’extrême sud (Bournemouth) à l’extrême nord (Carlisle) du pays.

• Une conception innovante permet à l’apprenant d’évaluer ses connaissances et maîtrise de l’anglais en même temps qu’il s’entraîne avec les exercices. De cette façon l’apprenant identifie aisément les points déjà maîtrisés ainsi que les points sur lesquels il doit continuer à travailler.

• Les exercices sont variés et conçus pour promouvoir un apprentissage actif.

• Le rythme caractéristique de l’anglais, un aspect fondamental mais souvent négligé de la prononciation, est traité dès le départ, dans les trois premières leçons.

• Un premier travail sur l’intonation est intégré à chaque leçon. Les notions de bases ainsi présentées et mises en pratique sont révisées et complétées dans les deux dernières leçons.

• Des petites vignettes musicales avec clarinette et violoncelle signalent le début de chaque exercice.

Wendy Schottman est maître de conférences au département d’anglais de l’Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont II). Elle assure des cours de phonétique et phonologie anglaise depuis 15 ans niveau licence, Master et Agrégation. Elle est née et a grandi aux Etats-Unis. L’auteur a un doctorat en ethnolinguistique (Université Paris Descartes) ainsi qu’un doctorat en linguistique anglaise (Paris 13). discours, et a coordonné un dictionnaire des verbes franco-roumain.

www.ophrys.fr ISBN 978-2-7080-1245-5 9 782708 012455