HINTS TO TEACHING

ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

PROF. RODRIGO QUEIROZ

UFAC – Campus Floresta
2013
CONTRASTIVE

NON –
CONSTRASTIVE
 STOP ASPIRATION

Voiceless stops /p/, /t/ and /k/ :

• lightly aspirated when occurring word-initially
and strongly aspirated at the beginning of
stressed syllables.
pet [pEt]
take [teyk]
cat [kt]
peculiar [p@kyUwly@r]
 FLAPPING RULE
 In American English the alveolar stops /t/ and /d/
become an alveolar flap /Ð/ when they fall between two
vowels, the first of which is stressed.

water [wO Ð@r]

letter [lE Ð@r]
butter [b@ Ð@r]
city [sI Ðiy]
automatic [O Ð@m Ðik]
shut up [S@ Ð@p]
 This “flapping” and “weakening” of the AmE
alveolar stops occurs even in the presence of the
sonorant consonants /r/, /l/, and /n/.

party [pArÐiy]
quarter [kwOrÐ@r]
order [OrÐ@r]
little [lI Ðl]
battle [b Ðl]
Internet [InÐ@rnEt]
Pentagon [pEnÐ@gAn]
twenty [twEnÐiy]
 The “flapping” also occurs across word
boundaries.

let it be
[lEÐItbiy]
a lot of trouble
[@lAÐ@vtr@bl]
a cat on the roof
[@kÐAnT@rUwf]
GLOTTALIZATION

button
mutton
mountain
fountain
certain
curtain
THE GLOTTAL STOP
VOWEL LENGTHENING

race
LIGHT DARK

Lake Feel
Love Pal
Leaf Milk
r - coloring

/i/ as in BEER
/e/ as in BEAR
/@/ as in BURR
// as in BAR
// as in BOOR
// as in BORE
 REGULAR PLURAL

 If the noun ends in the following unvoiced

consonant sounds: /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, /T/,
pronounce the "s" as /s/.

proof [prUwfs]
coats [kwts]
cups [k@ps]
paths [pTs]
  If the noun ends in a voiced consonant sound, /b/,
/d/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /N/, /r/, /y/ or in a vowel
sound, pronounce the "s" as /z/.

jobs [dzAbz]
pans [pnz]
beds [bEdz]
things [TINz]
dogs [dOgz]
cars [kArz]
dolls [dAlz]
days [deyz]
gems [dzEmz]
 If the noun ends with a fricative or affricate
consonant - /s/, /z/, /S/, /Z/, /tS/, /dZ/ pronounce
the plural suffixes "s" or "-es" as /Iz/.

kisses [kIsIz]
quizzes [kwIzIz]
wishes [wISIz]
garages [g@rAZIz]
benches [bEntSIz]
pages [peydZIZ]
 REGULAR PAST

 When the pronunciation of the infinitive ends in a

vowel or voiced consonant, the pronunciation of the
_ed suffix will be /d/.

play [pley] - played [pleyd]

grab [grb]- grabbed [grbd]
live [lIv] - lived [lIvd]
blame [bleym] - blamed [bleymd]
listen [lIs@n] - listened [lIs@nd]
 When the pronunciation of the infinitive ends with a
voiceless consonant, the pronunciation of the _ed
suffix will be /t/.

stop [stAp] - stopped [stApt]

work [w@rk] - worked [w@rkt]
laugh [lf] – laughed [lft]
miss [mIs]- missed [mIst]
cash [kS] – cashed [kSt]
 When the pronunciation of the infinitive ends with
an alveolar stop consonant – /t/ or /d/, – the
pronunciation of the _ed suffix will be /@d/.

need [nIyd] - needed [nIyd@d]

attend [@tEnd] - attended [@tEnd@d]
visit [vIz@t] - visited [vIz@t@d]
want [wOnt] - wanted [wOnt@d]