Briefing SessionIntensive Course in English

The Chinese University of Hong Kong12 January, 2008.

The Sounds of “Chinese English”

Using English Phonemic Alphabet for better Pronunciation

Access to the Intensive Course in English Pronunciation on the Web

PCE 1003PCE 1003 Intensive Course in EnglishIntensive Course in English

English Phonetic TranscriptionEnglish Phonetic Transcription

What is English Pronunciation?

English is a polysyllabic language

syllables

sounds: vowels + consonants stress

primary stress / / secondary stress / /

beau - ti - ful

:

/ : /

development

de - ve - lop - ment

/ /

pronunciation

pro - nun - ci- a - tion

/ /

phonetic slashes / /

extension mark / : / /:/

How to master the sounds

Vowels

The sounds that could be heard distinctly

How to master the sounds

Diphthongs (two vowels put together)

Triphthongs (three vowels put together)

How to master the sounds

Consonants

Speech sounds “produced by completely or partly stopping the air being breathed out through the mouth”

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Easy Access to Phonemes

Vowels : 12 (6 minimal pairs)

Diphthongs: 8 (3 groups)

Consonants: 24

Easy Access to Phonemes: Vowels

1. i seat /si/ sit /st/

2. bat /bt/ e bet /bet/

3. father /f(r)/ cup /kp/

4. caught /kt/ cot /kt/

5. u fool /ful/ foot /f/

6. bird /bd/ about /bt/

or ? as in seat / / and as in sit / /

FeetFitSleepSlipPillPeelPrettyPeterJeanJimBillKiss

Feet //Fit //Sleep //Slip //Pill //Peel //Pretty //Peter //Little // Jim //Jean //Bill //Kiss //

or ?

or ? as in ten // and as in cat //

BedBadPet PatBlackAnneEllenBenBettyBetterBatter

Bed /e/Bad / /Pet /e/Pat / /Black / /Anne / /Ellen /e/Ben /e/Betty /e/Better /e/Batman / /

or ?

or ? as in father /()/ or as in cup //

HeartCutCartHutAskHusbandUncleCardStarFarmTruckmuch

Heart // Cut //Cart // Hut //Ask // Husband //Uncle //Card // Star // Farm // Truck //Much //

or ?

or ?

as in saw // or as in got //

SportSpotForksFoxPotPortCotCourtBottleDoctordaughter

or ?

Sport //Spot //Forks //Fox //Pot //Port //Cot //Court //Bottle //Doctor //Daughter //

or ? as in too / / or as in put / /

GoodWoolToolBootFullFoolPullPoolRudeCookBookChoose

or ?

Good //Wool // Tool // Boot // Full //Fool // Pull //Pool // Rude // Cook //Book //Choose //

or ? as in bird / / or as in about / /

AgainPoliceBurnAgoFirmpurse

or ?as in bird / / or as in about / /

Again //Police //Burn // Ago //Firm //Purse //

Six pairs of Vowels

i seat /si/ sit /st/

bat /bt/ e bet /bet/

father /f(r)/ cup /kp/

caught /kt/ cot /kt/

u fool /ful/ foot /fl/

bird /bd/ about /bt/

/ // / David

/ / Richard

/ : // : () / Peter

/ / quay

/ // / happy

/ /

a compromise

between // and /:/

/ // / Ellen

/ // / Alan

/ / Alex

/ () / eleven

/ : () / Arthur

/ : /

/ : () / car

/ /

/ / Douglas

/ () / Durham

/ // / John

/ / Yvonne

/ : // : / Audrey

/ : / Sean

/ // / foot

/ / full

/ : // : / food

/ : / rude

/ : / fool

/ : // : / bird

/ : / girl

/ // / Aaron

/ / Albert

/ / Sharon

/ : / pneumonia

/ () / ulcer

/ : : / supermarket

Easy Access to Phonemes: Diphthongs

e say /se/a five /fv/

boy /b/

go /g/a now /na/

ear /(r)/e air /e(r)/ poor /p(r)/

ChairsCheersBearBeerPearPierRarelyReallyStaringsteering

PaperSailGameDateChoiceMakeCakeBoilJoyEyeWhitewine

GroundBrownOutTowelHowHomeToneShowcold

Can you get the diphthongs in these words?

Chairs eCheers Bear e Beer Pear ePier Rarely eReally Staring eSteering

Paper eSail eGame eDate eChoice Make eCake eBoil Joy Eye aWhite aWine a

Ground aBrown aOut aTowel aHow aHome Tone Show Cold

/ // / gauge

/ / Adrian

/ // / eye / I

/ / indict

/ / Brian / Bryan

/ / Fife

/ / five

/ // / oil

/ / boy

/ () / oyster

/ // () / hour

/ / lounge

/ / vowel

/ // / gold

/ / Fiona

/ // () / ear

/ / Beatrice

/ / query

/ // () / fair

/ / Mary

/ / Aaron

/ // () / poor

/ / Europe

fire / () /

sour / () /

player / () /

Easy Access to Phonemes: Triphthongs

Easy Access to Phonemes: Consonants

voiceless

voiced

Consonants/1

pen / /

bad / /

tea / /

did / /

cat / /

got / /

Consonants/2

leg / /

red / /

man / /

no / / sing / /

Consonants/3

so / /

zoo / /

shoe / /tension / () /

vision / /

Consonants/4

chain / /

jam / /

fall / /

van / /

wet / /

Consonants/5

thin / /

this / /

hat / /

yes / /

/ / voiceless

/ / pop

/ / voiced

/ / Bob

/ / voiceless

/ / Ted

/ / voiced

/ / dead

/ / voiceless

/ /Calvin Klein

/ / voiced

/ :() / Gordon

/ / voiced

/ / light

/ / voiced

/ / right

/ / Brian / Bryan

/ / Larry

/ / Nelly

/ / voiced

/ / might

/ / voiced

/ / night

/ / voiced

/ / singing

/ / finger

/ / voiceless

/ / bus

/ / buzz

/ z / voiced

/ / voiceless

/ / bush

selfish shellfish

sitting on the shelf

an annual fund raising

car racing game

/ / voiceless

/ / fan

/ / voiced

/ / van

/ / vine

/ / voiced

/ / wine

/ / voiced

/ : / usually

/ () /vision

/ () / pleasure

/ / voiceless

/ () / chair

/ / cherry

/ / jam

/ / joke

/ : / jeep

/ / voiced

/ / / /cherry Jerry

cheap jeep

choke joke

Jerry and Cherry like to

share choking jokes

about their cheap jeep.

/ / voiceless

/ / thin

/ / thick

/ / this

/ : / these

/ / the

/ / voiced

/ / voiceless

/ / hat

/ / hotel

/ / voiced

/ / yes

/ : / you

/ () / year

/ : / new

/ :() / student

Do they have the same sounds?Homophones in English Pronunciation

flour flower //

write right //

size sighs //

site cite sight //

More about Homophones?

throw through

/:/ //

John join

// //

through threw // //

What do the pronunciation alphabet tell us?

/bju:tf()/ beautiful

// exist

// millennium

/()/ thankful

// xerox

// exit

How to apply English pronunciation alphabet

fatigue

tuberculosis

dermatologist

phlegm

：

：

：

tsunami ：

PCE 1003PCE 1003 Intensive Course in EnglishIntensive Course in English

English Phonetic TranscriptionEnglish Phonetic Transcription