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American English Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet <http://dictionary.cambridge.org/>

Simplified American-English

Phonetic Alphabet <http://www.merriam-webster.com/>

consonants vowels consonants vowels

b bad, lab ʌ cup, luck b bad, lab ə cup, luck

d did, lady ɑ hot, rock d did, lady ä hot, rock

f find, if æ cat, black f find, if a cat, black

g give, flag e met, bed g give, flag e met, bed

h how, hello ə away, cinema h how, hello ə away, cinema

j yes, yellow ɪ hit, sitting y yes, yellow i hit, sitting

k cat, back i see, heat k cat, back ē see, heat

l leg, little ɔ hall, jaw l leg, little ȯ hall, jaw

m man, lemon ʊ put, could m man, lemon u̇ put, could

n no, ten u blue, food n no, ten ü blue, food

ŋ sing, finger aɪ five, eye ŋ sing, finger ī five, eye

p pet, map aʊ now, out p pet, map au̇ now, out

r red, try oʊ go, home r red, try ō go, home

s sun, miss eɪ say, eight s sun, miss ā say, eight

ʃ she, crash ɔɪ boy, join sh she, crash ȯi boy, join

t tea, getting jʊ pure, uniform t tea, getting yu̇ pure, uniform

tʃ check, church ch check, church

θ think, both th think, both

δ this, mother th this, mother

v voice, five v voice, five

w wet, window w wet, window

z zoo, lazy z zoo, lazy

ʒ pleasure, vision zh pleasure, vision

dʒ just, large j just, large

Phonetic animations: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/

Exercise: What is the word? Some have homophones.

1. \wʊd\

2. \δer\

3. \noʊ\

4. \θru\

5. \ɔt\

6. \bæθ\

7. \δiz\

8. \daʊn\

9. \beɪδ\

10. \δɪs\

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Answers:

1. would,

wood

2. there,

they're,

their

3. know, no

4. through,

threw

5. ought

6. bath

7. these

8. down

9. bathe

10. this

Exercise: Each of these heterophones has more than one pronunciation and meaning. What are

they?

1. resume

2. bow

3. bass

4. live

5. close

6. contest 7. record

8. lead

9. buffet

10. minute

Syllables and Stress

When a word has many syllables, one of them is always pronounced more strongly. This is called

syllable stress, and we say that the syllable is stressed. The syllable that is stressed is spoken

higher, clearer, louder, and longer. English speakers sometimes can't understand what you're

saying if you use the wrong stress even if all the sounds are pronounced correctly.

Using the dictionary

Dictionaries tell you which syllable is stressed. The most popular system is to put an apostrophe

(') before the primary (main) stress in the phonetic transcription of the word. It is true that there

can be a secondary stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the primary

stress and is only used in long words. The symbol for secondary stress is a short vertical line

before and at the foot of the secondarily stressed syllable (ˌ).

• become \bɪˈkʌm\ • distort \dɪˈstɔrt\

• pursue \pərˈsuː\ • hydrate \ˈhɑɪ·dreɪt\

• dialog \ˈdɑɪ·əˌlɔɡ\ • lethargic \ləˈθɑr·dʒɪk\

How many syllables do these words have? Which syllable is stressed?

1. photograph

2. photographic

3. photography

4. committee

5. volunteer

6. indistinguishable

7. society

8. demonstration

9. character

10. referee

Special Sounds

The schwa: \ə\

The schwa, \ə\, is the most common sound in English. It is a relaxed vowel sound that sounds like

“uh” which any vowel can have. A vowel sound that does not have the syllable stress in the word

is often reduced and sounds like \ə\.

• banana \bəˈnæn·ə\ • contagion \kənˈteɪ·dʒən\

• multiply \ˈmʌl·təˌplɑɪ\ • catastrophe \kəˈtæs·trə·fi\

In a sentence, if a word is not stressed, it will be reduced and the vowel in that word may sound

like \ə\.

The prepositions at, to, and for are usually reduced to [ət], [tə], and [fər].

• I study at night. [ət]

• I had eggs for breakfast. [fər]

• He went to work. [tə]

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The disappearing H

The H sound at the beginning of a pronoun or helping verb can disappear. (This does not happen

if the H is at the beginning of a sentence.)

• Tell (h)im.

• Call (h)er.

• Isn't (h)e?

• Jane (h)as gone.

• The students (h)ave arrived.

• John (h)ad had a good time.

Pronounce the following:

1. Why has she sold her house?

2. The lawyer said to meet him at his office with the papers.

3. Why doesn’t she tell him herself?

4. Put the books I bought him on the bottom shelf.

5. The sailor agreed to sail her boat in the race.

The American T

The pronunciation of the American T depends on its position in a word or phrase. There are four

basic rules: T is T, T is D, T is silent, T is held.

T is T

1. If the T is at the beginning of a word or a stressed syllable, it is a strong, clear T sound:

table, take, tomorrow, teach, ten, turn, photography, Italian.. Thomas tried two times. It

took Tim ten times to try the telephone.

2. The T sounds like a T if it is in the following combinations: ST, TS, TR, STR, CT, LT and

sometimes NT. first, pets, trick, instruct, fault, tent. They control the contents.

3. In the past tense, D sounds like T after an unvoiced consonant sound — f, k, p, s, ch, sh

(but not t): picked [pɪkt], hoped [hoʊpt], raced [reɪst], watched [wɑtʃt], washed [wɑʃt]

T is D

Stress can change how you pronounce a sound. T becomes D if it does not begin the syllable that

has the stress. Most dictionaries do not show this change in sound; however, the Cambridge

Dictionary of American English uses the symbol [t̬]: photo [ˈfoʊ·t̬oʊ], water [ˈwɔ·t̬ər], Italy

[ˈɪ·t̬əl·i], city [ˈsɪt̬·i]

Pronounce the following words:

1. letter

2. daughter

3. later

4. meeting

5. better

6. bottle

7. heater

8. data

9. computer

10. matter

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T is silent

T and N are so close in the mouth that the T can disappear: interview [ˈɪn·ərˌvju], international

[ˌɪn·ərˈnæʃ·ə·nəl], advantage [ədˈvæn·ɪdʒ], percentage [pərˈsen·ɪdʒ], twenty [ˈtwen·i], printer

[ˈprɪn·ər], winter [ˈwɪn·ər], enter [ˈen·ər].

Pronounce the following sentences:

1. He had a great interview.

2. Try to enter the information.

3. Turn the printer on.

4. Finish the printing.

5. She's at the international center.

6. It's twenty degrees in Toronto.

7. I don't understand it.

8. She invented it in Santa

Monica.

9. He can't even do it.

10. They don't even want it.

11. They won't ever try.

12. What's the point of it?

13. She's the intercontinental representative.

14. Hasn't she?

15. Isn't she?

16. Aren't I?

T is a glottal stop

A glottal stop is a speech sound made by a momentary, complete closing of the glottis in the back

of the throat. It's the sound we make when we say 'uh-oh.' In English, it is sometimes used as a

kind of t-sound. You hear it in words and syllables that end in t + a vowel + n. We don't say the

vowel at all, so we say the t + n: written, certain, forgotten. button, cotton, kitten, continent,

sentence. He's forgotten the carton of satin mittens. She's certain that he has written it. Martin

has gotten a kitten. The glottal stop is also heard when the t is followed by consonants: football,

outside, atmospheric, that name, quite well.

If the T is at the end of a word, you almost don't hear it at all: put, what, lot, set, hot, sit, shot,

brought, light. That's quite right, isn't it?

Word Pronunciation

Rules for syllable stress

Long words with no prefix or suffix often have stress on the first syllable.

• beautiful \ˈbju·t̬ɪ·fəl\

• algebra \ˈæl·dʒə·brə\

• library \ˈlɑɪˌbrer·i\

• functional

• segment

• climate

Prefixes and suffixes

Most words with prefixes and suffixes have stress on the main part of the word.

• investment \ɪnˈvest·mənt\

• remember

• disqualify

• uncover

Words with a suffix starting with I (-ic, -ion, -ive, -iar, -iant, -ify, -ial, -ily, -ish, -io, -iate, -iable, -

iary except -ist and -ite), -graphy, and -logy usually have stress on the syllable before the suffix.

• familiar \fəˈmɪl·jər\

• opinion \əˈpɪn·jən\

• historic \hɪˈstɔr·ɪk\

• Bostonian

• catastrophic

• economic

• activity

• economist

• creation

• biographical

For some words with the suffixes -ee, -eer, -ier, -ese, stress the suffix.

• engineer \ˌen·dʒəˈnɪər\ • employee

• Japanese • financier

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For words with prepositional prefixes, the verbs have the stress on the root, and the nouns have

the stress on the prefix.

• outdo (v)

• foresee (v)

• overlook (v)

• understand (v)

• upstage (v)

• oversight (n)

• underdog (n)

• insult (n)

• upstart (n)

• outcome (n)

Initialisms

Initialisms have stress on the last sound.

• CD

• UNC

• MBA

• DIY

• ATM

Acronyms

Acronyms have stress on the first syllable.

• NATO

• ASAP

• OPEC

• NASA

• SARS

Compound words

Compound words (two words together that make a new word) usually have the stress on the first

word.

• newspaper

• classroom

• bookmark

• snowboard

• grapefruit

• summertime

• grasshopper

• wallpaper

Shifting stress

Stress can move from one sound to another. As nouns or adjectives, these words have stress on

the first syllable. As verbs, the stress is on the second syllable. In some cases, the spelling

changes when the accent moves to another syllable.

How can these words be pronounced?

1. present

2. perfect

3. increase

4. permit

5. insult

6. record

7. conflict

8. envelop/envelope

9. unit/unite

10. desert

Some words ending in –ate are spelled the same and have the same stress, but are pronounced

differently.

• A recent graduate (noun) \ˈɡrædʒ·u·ɪt\

• She's going to graduate. (verb) \ˈɡrædʒ·uˌeɪt\

How can these words be pronounced?

1. advocate (n. and v.)

2. alternate (n., adj., and v.)

3. intimate (n., adj., and v.)

4. duplicate (n., adj., and v.)

5. associate (n., adj., and v.)

6. estimate (n. and v.)

7. separate (adj., and v.)

Confusion between numbers can be lessened if the stress is put on the proper syllable:

• fifty \ˈfɪf·t̬i\

• fifteen \fɪfˈtin\

• seventy \ˈsev·ən·t̬i\

• seventeen \ˌsev·ənˈtin\

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Stressing word phrases

An adjective that is used to describe a specific thing is stressed. If the adjective is just a

description, the noun is stressed.

• BLUE jeans (a category of pants) blue PANTS (pants that are the color blue)

• the WHITE House (where the U.S. president lives)

a white HOUSE (the house is the color white)

• a HOT dog (something you eat) a hot DOG (a panting dog)

Which element should be stressed?

• a dark room / a darkroom

• the main street / Main Street

• a convenient store / a convenience store

• a six-year-old / six years old

• a green berry / a blueberry

• a high school / a local school

• a black bird / a blackbird

• an empty room / a living room

• a greenhouse / a green house

• a cheap skate / a cheapskate

Words for streets have stress, except for the word street.

• Park ROAD

• FRANKLIN Street

• Fifth AVENUE

• MAIN Street

• Rodeo DRIVE

Names of places usually have the stress on the second word.

• Chapel HILL

• Central PARK

• New YORK

• Myrtle BEACH

• Grand CANYON

Phrasal verbs usually have the stress on the second word.

• to pick UP

• to look IN on

• to hand OUT

• to drop OUT

• to hand OVER

• to crack DOWN

• to follow THROUGH

• to be made UP of

Phrasal nouns usually have the stress on the first word.

• a PICKup

• a HANDout

• a DROPout

• a RIP-off

• a DOWNfall

• an ONlooker

Restructuring syllables

Why do English speakers pronounce “interest” as “intrest”? CV(C) syllables are the more

preferred in English. If there are too many consonants or too few consonants, the array of sounds

is restructured and/or reduced.

This is why syllables in some long words (with the stress on the first syllable) can disappear:

vegetable [ˈvedʒ·tə·bəl], chocolate [ˈtʃɑk·lət], camera [ˈkæm·rə].

Pronounce the following words:

1. every

2. broccoli

3. family

4. different

5. separate (adj)

6. Barbara

7. general

8. practically

9. temperature

10. federal

11. evening

12. favorite

13. Wednesday

14. miserable

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Sentence Pronunciation

Connected speech

One of the most important aspects of pronunciation and listening is to understand that Americans

don’t just speak fast but that they connect their words and change the sounds of words.

When you learn English by reading (as most people do) you tend to speak it word by

word. However, in English, words are not pronounced one by one. Usually, the end of one word

attaches to the beginning of the next word. This is also true for initials, numbers, and spelling.

This connected speech makes sentences have an underlying hum or drone that only breaks when

you come to a period. Each sentence sounds like one long word.

Connected speech allows us to speak efficiently (say the most in the shortest amount of time) and

with rhythm (with flow and music).

Consonant-to-vowel connections

When a word ends in a consonant sound, we often move the consonant sound to the beginning of

the next word if the next word starts with a vowel sound.

Examples:

• Stop it. � Sto pit [stɑ pɪt]

• I need it. � I nee dit [ɑɪ ni dɪt]

• This is old. � Thi si sold [δɪ sɪ zoʊld]

• Read a book. � Rea da book [ri də bʊk]

You also use connections in spelling and numbers:

• LA � [e leɪ]

• 909-5068 � [nɑɪ noʊ nɑɪn - fɑɪ voʊ sɪk seɪt]

Similar consonant connections

When a word ends in a consonant sound and the following word begins in the same or similar

consonant sound, you will only pronounce that sound once by lengthening or holding the sound.

You do not say the consonant sound twice.

Examples:

• best time � bes time [bes tɑɪm]

• big grape � bi grape [bɪ greɪp]

• good day � goo day [gʊ deɪ]

• sit down � si down [sɪ dɑʊn]

Connect the following words that end in a consonant sound with the words that begin with a

vowel sound. How should these sentences be pronounced?

1. Pick it up. 2. Line up.

3. 40502

4. My dog is a poodle.

5. Would you like an orange?

6. Take a book over there.

7. “Life is like a box of chocolates.” -- Forrest Gump

8. Can I have a bit of egg?

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Vowel-to-Vowel connections

When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link

the words with a W or Y (international j) sound.

If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound:

• too often � tu [w]ɔ·fən

• so I � soʊ [w]aɪ

If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound:

• I am � aɪ [j]æm

• Kay is � keɪ [j]ɪz

• she asked � ʃi [j]æskt

Can you find the vowel-to-vowel connections? What are the sounds that connect them?

1. Go away!

2. I’ll do it the next day, I promise.

3. Jamie is a teacher.

4. I ordered two eggs.

5. Are you a happy or sad person?

6. Play a song.

Combining T, D, S or Z + Y

When the letter or sound of T, D, S or Z is followed by a word that starts with Y, or its sound,

both sounds are connected. These letters and sounds connect not only with Y, but they do so as

well with the initial unwritten [y] sound of syllables and words. They form a combination that

changes the pronunciation.

T + Y = CH [tʃ]

Can't you do it? kæn tʃə du wɪt

Don't you like it? doʊn tʃə lɑɪ kɪt

actually ˈæk·tʃu·ə·li

nature ˈneɪ·tʃər

D + Y = J [dʒ]

Where’d you go? hweər dʒə ɡoʊ

Would you help me? wʊ dʒə help mi

Did you like it? dɪ dʒə lɑɪ kɪt

graduation ˌɡrædʒ·uˈeɪ·ʃən

S + Y = SH [ʃ]

insurance ɪnˈʃʊər·əns

sugar ˈʃʊɡ·ər

Yes, you are. je ʃu wɑr

I miss you. ɑɪ mɪ ʃu

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Z + Y = ZH [ʒ]

How's your family? hɑʊ ʒʊər ˈfæm·ə·li

Who's your friend? hu ʒʊər frend

casual ˈkæʒ·u·əl

usual ˈju·ʒu·əl

Can you find the combinations that connect T, D, S, or Z with Y?

1. Where's your mom?

2. I'll let you know.

3. Bless you!

4. It's gradual.

5. Haven't you done it?

6. Let me guess your age.

7. Could you tell?

8. Who's your friend?

9. I won’t let you go.

10. soldier

11. issue

12. anxious

13. amateur

14. efficient

Elisions

An elision is the complete disappearance of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, making the

word or phrase easier for the speaker to pronounce. One of the most common elisions in spoken

English is t and d.

Examples:

• next please \neks pli:z\

• I don’t know \ɑɪ doʊ noʊ\

• post the letter \poʊs δə let̬ər\

• old man \oʊl mæn\

• you and me \ju n mi\

• stand there \stæn δeər\

Changing the sounds at the end of unstressed words

Some sounds at the ends of unstressed words change depending on the beginning sound of the

word that follows.

Of can be pronounced [ə] before a consonant sound and pronounced [əv] before a vowel sound.

• a cup of coffee [ə]

• the end of August [əv]

To can be pronounced [tə] before a consonant sound and pronounced [tuw] before a vowel sound.

• He went to work. [tə]

• He went to a restaurant [tuw]

The is often pronounced [δə] before a consonant sound and pronounced [δi] before a vowel

sound.

• the book [δə]

• the air [δi]

The letter n is added to the article a if it is followed by vowel sound. Reduce the vowel of a/an to

[ə].

• a car [ə]

• an island [ən]

If T is followed by an unstressed vowel sound, T may become D [t̬]: bought a [bɔ t̬ə], caught a

[cɔ t̬ə], lot of [lɔ t̬əv], got a [gɔ t̬ə]

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Pronounce the following sentences:

1. What a good idea.

2. Put it there.

3. You ought to get a new car.

Rhythm

In general, a language is either syllable-timed or stressed-timed. The duration of every syllable in

a syllable-timed language is equal. Examples of syllable-timed languages are Cantonese Chinese,

French, Italian, Turkish, and Spanish. In a stressed-timed language, the time duration between

two stressed syllables is equal. Examples of stress-timed languages are English, German, Russian,

Portuguese, and Persian.

Since English is a stress-timed language, good pronunciation depends a lot on the ability to stress

the correct words and successfully use rhythm to make sure you are understood. Simply put,

spoken English stresses the principal (main) elements in a sentence - content words - and quickly

glides over the less important words - function words. Nouns, principal verbs, adjectives and

adverbs are all content words. Pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions are

function words and are pronounced quickly moving towards the more important words.

CONTENT WORDS are stressed. Examples are:

Nouns: kitchen, Peter

Principal verbs: visit, construct

Adjectives: beautiful, interesting

Adverbs: often, carefully

Demonstratives: that, those

Negatives: don’t, hardly

Interrogatives: who, why, where

FUNCTION WORDS are not stressed. Examples are:

Articles: the, a, some

Auxiliary verbs: do, am, can, were

Prepositions: before, next to, opposite

Conjunctions: but, while, as

Pronouns: they, she, us, who, that

Are these words content or function words?

• for

• information

• in order to

• difficult

• much

• exacting

• in front of

• Jack

• he

• however

• went

• with

• just

• quickly

• the

• hard

• next to

• CD ROM

• open

• had

Now, practice reading the following sentences stressing the content words:

• The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance. (14 syllables)

• He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.

(22 syllables)

Mark the words that should be stressed. Then, read the sentences, stressing the content words.

1. Jack went to the shop to grab some drinks.

2. He had finished breakfast before I arrived.

3. Phillip ordered a huge steak for dinner.

4. They will have to stay up late if they are going to finish their homework.

5. It must have been something in the air that caused Jack to shout.

6. Could you please be more quiet?

7. Unfortunately, Jack wasn't able to finish on time.

8. As soon as he has collected the results he will post them to his website.

9. Peter bought shoes today.

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10. There should have been some replies by now.

11. Knowledge creates opportunities where none have existed before.

12. He said that that one wasn’t working.

Sentence Timing

The time it takes to say a sentence depends on the number of stressed syllables, not on the total

number of syllables. The time between stressed syllables is equal.

• Kids make noise.

• The kids make noise.

• The kids will make noise.

• The kids are making noise.

• The kids have been making noise.

• Buy new toys.

• Buy us new toys.

• Buy us some new toys.

• You should buy us some new toys.

Tips in using sentence intonation:

• Always focus on pronouncing stressed words well, non-stressed words can be glided

over.

• Don't focus on pronouncing each word. Focus on the stressed words in each sentence.

• Stressed words are usually spoken with a regular rhythm.

Can vs. can’t

Because the “t” in can’t is not clearly pronounced in American English, it sounds similar to can.

How can we determine the difference? When we use the positive form of can, we quickly glide

over can and it is hardly pronounced. Since can is unstressed, it is pronounced \kən\.

• They can come on Friday.

On the other hand, when we use the negative form can't, we tend to stress the fact that it is the

negative form by stressing can't. Since can’t is stressed, it is pronounced \kæn(t)\. Note that the t

may be silent in the nt combination.

• They can't come on Friday .

As you can see from the above example the sentence, "They can't come on Friday" is longer than

"They can come on Friday" because both the modal can't and the verb come are stressed.

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Question intonation

Yes/No questions usually end with a rising intonation. (Although most short answer verbs are

helping verbs, they are stressed.)

• Was it expensive? Yes, it was.

• Were the people friendly?

• Did you go to the park?

• Are you going to go fishing this weekend?

• Are you studying English right now?

• Do you like to play soccer?

• Will your team win the game?

• Are you a lawyer?

Wh- questions (Who? Whom? What? Why? When? Where? How?) usually end with a falling

intonation.

• Where did you spend your vacation?

• What was you best vacation ever?

• How often do you come to class?

• What kind of music do you like?

• Whose book is that?

• Who likes sports?

• Whom did you go to the movies with?

• Whom did you write to?

Questions with a choice have rising intonation on the first choices and falling intonation on the

last choice.

• Would you like coffee or tea?

• Are you married or single?

• Would you like…?

• Is it…?

• Do you want…?

• Are you…?

Intonation in Lists

In saying a list of items, the intonation often rises on each item before the last item. On the last

item, the intonation falls to a low note to show that the list is finished.

• I have a pencil, some stamps, an envelope, and some pennies.

• Here’s a cup, an apple, a paper plate, some presents, and a newspaper.

• I have a pen, a postcard, a map, a spoon, and some pictures.

Exercise:

In pairs, one student will hum the intonation patterns for a random sentence or question (1-4). The

other student will guess the sentence or question hummed. Then switch.

1. I like pizza, pickles, and chips.

2. Would you prefer coffee or tea?

3. Next week we are flying to Rome.

4. Is he going to the dentist?