Fonética e Fonologia PDF

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1ª edição
Língua Inglesa Fonética e Fonologia
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LÍNGUA INGLESA
FONÉTICA E FONOLOGIA
autoras
VANESSA CHICONELI
PAULA BULLIO
1ª edição
SESES
rio de janeiro 2015
Conselho editorial luis claudio dallier; roberto paes; gladis linhares; karen
bortoloti; marilda franco de moura
Autoras do original vanessa chiconeli e paula bullio
Projeto editorial roberto paes
Coordenação de produção gladis linhares
Coordenação de produção EaD karen fernanda bortoloti
Projeto gráfico paulo vitor bastos
Diagramação bfs media
Revisão linguística paula bullio
Imagem de capa spaxia | dreamstime.com
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por quaisquer meios (eletrônico ou mecânico, incluindo fotocópia e gravação) ou arquivada em
qualquer sistema ou banco de dados sem permissão escrita da Editora. Copyright seses, 2015.
Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (cip)
C533l Chiconeli, Vanessa

Língua inglesa fonética e fonologia / Vanessa Chiconeli; Paula Bullio.
Rio de Janeiro : SESES, 2015.
112 p. : il.
isbn: 978-85-5548-000-3
1. Linguistics. 2. Phonetics. 3. Phonology. 4. English. 5. Língua inglesa.

I. SESES. II. Estácio.
cdd 420
Diretoria de Ensino — Fábrica de Conhecimento

Rua do Bispo, 83, bloco F, Campus João Uchôa
Rio Comprido — Rio de Janeiro — rj — cep 20261-063
Sumário
Prefácio 7
1. Phonetics and Phonology in English 9

Objectives 10
1.1 Phonetics and Phonology 11
1.2 Phonemes and Graphemes 12
1.2.1 The phonetic alphabet 13
1.3 Digraphs and vowels/consonants combination 17
1.3.1 Digraph 17
1.3.2 Vowel combination 18
1.3.3 Consonant combination 20
1.4 Dialects and Accent 22
1.4.1 Differences in pronunciation between Portuguese and English 23
Activities 24
Food for thought 25
References 26
2. Speaking and writing in English 27
Objectives 28
2.1 The language 29
2.1.1 Differences in Structure and Style 31
2.1.2 Speaker & Listener / Writer & Reader 32
2.1.3 How Speaking and Writing Influence Each Other 32
2.1.4 Influence of New Technology 33
2.2 Varieties of English pronunciation 38
2.2.1 Geographical variation 39
2.3 British vs American 40
2.3.1 American Accent 40
Activities 44
Food for thought 47
References 47
3. The consonants in English 49
Objectives 50
3.1 Consonants 51
3.2 Consonants’ classification 52
3.2.1 Describing the twenty-four consonants 55
3.3 Silent and voiced 56
3.4 Plosive and Affricates 57
3.5 Fricatives: 58
3.6 Nasal and other consonants 59
3.7 Final word pronunciation of consonants 60
3.8 TH sound (θ and ð) 61
3.8.1 The sounds of “Y” or “W” as final consonants 62
3.9 Linking – the end of words 64
Activities 67
Food for thought 69
References 69
4. The vowels in English 71
Objectives 73
4.1 Simple vowels 74
4.2 Short Vowels 76
4.2.1 The ǝ vowel (“schwa”) 78
4.3 Long vowels 79
4.4 Diphthongs 81
4.5 The syllable 82
4.5.1 Syllable division 83
Activities 84
Food for thought 86
References 87
5. Stress, intonation and phonetics transcription 89
Objectives 90
5.1 How to stress 91
5.1.1 Sentence Stress and Limericks 93
5.2 Intonation 96
5.3 Transcription 100
Activities 103
References 105
Answers 105
Prefácio
Speakers of any language reflect about the usage and the form of the
language they use. These speakers are able to observe aspects such as the
accent and different words used by another speaker. Who does not remember
discussing about the different way a person from another region had to speak?
It is also possible to determine if a speaker is a foreigner and in many times
we can conclude which country they are from. Any speaker can “talk about”
language and discuss aspects related to the properties of the languages they
know. This is part of people’s common knowledge .
It is known that speaking a determined language implies having some
knowledge which is not only linguistic. Many times speakers of a second
language have some characteristics of his first language transferred to the
second language – it is the foreigner’s accent with particular characteristic of
his own language.
This subject of Phonetics and Phonology in English intends to present
aspects related to these two dependent fields for studying aspects of language.
Phonetics is the study of sound in speech; phonology is the study (and use)
of sound patterns to create meaning. Phonetics focuses on how speech is
physically created and received, including study of the human vocal and auditory
tracts, acoustics, and neurology. Phonology relies on phonetic information
for its practice, but focuses on how patterns in both speech and non-verbal
communication create meaning, and how such patterns are interpreted.
Phonology includes comparative linguistic studies of how cognates, sounds,
and meaning are transmitted among and between human communities and
languages.
This course is necessary for anyone who needs to understand the principles
regulating the use of sounds in spoken English.
7
1
Phonetics and
Phonology in
English
The nature of phonetics and phonology will be developed during this entire
course, but we will introduce some ideas here. In any language we can identify a
small number of regular sounds (vowels and consonants) that we call phonemes.
For example, in the words “pin” and “pen” there are different phonemes, as
there are different consonants in the words “bet” and “pet”. Because English
spelling is very confusing, it is particularly important to learn to think of English
pronunciation in terms of phonemes rather than letters of the alphabet.
OBJECTIVES
In this first chapter, we will have an overview of the most important topics in phonetics and
phonology. There will be an introduction of the phonetic alphabet, which will be used in this
entire course, as well as about the consonants and vowels. Another subject which will be
covered is the difference between accent and dialect.
10 • capítulo 1
1.1 Phonetics and Phonology
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of
human speech. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds
or signs (phones): their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory
perception, and neurophysiological status. Phonology, on the other hand,
is concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of
sounds or signs.
The field of phonetics is a multilayered subject of linguistics that focuses on
speech. In the case of oral languages there are three basic areas of study:
• Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production of speech sounds by

the articulatory and vocal tract by the speaker.
• Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical transmission of speech
sounds from the speaker to the listener.
• Auditory phonetics: the study of the reception and perception of speech
sounds by the listener.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonetics
These areas are inter-connected through the common mechanism of sound,

such as wavelength (pitch), amplitude, and harmonics.
Phonology is concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in
languages. It has traditionally focused on the study of the systems of phonemes
in particular languages, but it may also cover any linguistic analysis either at a
level beneath the word (including syllable, onset and rime, articulatory gestures,
articulatory features, etc.) or at all levels of language where sound is considered
to be structured for conveying linguistic meaning.
The word phonology (as in the phonology of English) can also refer to the
phonological system (sound system) of a given language. This is one of the
fundamental systems which a language is considered to comprise, like its
syntax and its vocabulary.
Phonology is often distinguished from phonetics. While phonetics concerns
the physical production, acoustic transmission and perception of the sounds of
capítulo 1 • 11
speech, phonology describes the way sounds function within a given language
or across languages to encode meaning. For many linguists, phonetics
belongs to descriptive linguistics, and phonology to theoretical linguistics,
although establishing the phonological system of a language is necessarily an
application of theoretical principles to analysis of phonetic evidence. Note that
this distinction was not always made, particularly before the development of
the modern concept of the phoneme in the mid-20th century. Some subfields
of modern phonology have a crossover with phonetics in descriptive disciplines
such as psycholinguistics and speech perception, resulting in specific areas
like articulatory phonology or laboratory phonology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonology
CONNECTION
In order to improve your knowledge on phonetics and phonology, access:
http://ec-concord.ied.edu.hk/phonetics_and_phonology/wordpress/index.php/
phonetics-and-phonology/
1.2 Phonemes and Graphemes

Sound–letter correspondences are the relationships between sounds (or
phonemes) and letters (or graphemes). This starting point highlights the
connections between the sounds in words and the letters that are used to
represent those sounds. Included are two other related concepts: the alphabetic
principle and letter recognition.
Knowledge of sound–letter relationships means knowing, for example, that
the /t/ sound is represented by the letter t. It also means knowing that the sound
/s/ can be represented by more than one letter, for example, s as in soft and c
as in city. Many adults who are non-readers have trouble with identifying these
relationships between sounds and letters.
An awareness of the alphabetic principle means knowing that speech can
be turned into print, that print can be turned into speech, and that letters are
used to represent sounds in the language.
12 • capítulo 1
Letter recognition is the ability to recognize and name the letters of the
alphabet. It includes recognizing and recalling the shapes of letters, identifying
lower and upper case letters, and recognizing letters in isolation and within
printed words even when they appear in different fonts and sizes. Instruction
that focuses on letter–sound relationships is known as phonics.
The basic unit of written language is the letter. The name grapheme is given to the
letter or combination of letters that represents a phoneme. For example, the word
'ghost' contains five letters and four graphemes ('gh,' 'o,' 's,' and 't'), representing four
phonemes. There is much more variability in the structure of written language than
there is in spoken languages. Whereas all spoken languages utilize a basic distinction
between consonants and vowels, there is no such common thread to the world's written
languages.
(Trevor A. Harley, The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory,
2nd ed. Psychology Press, 2001)
1.2.1 The phonetic alphabet
The phonemic alphabet (or chart) is designed for use with learners and teachers
of English at all levels. It is also designed to help to develop your awareness
of pronunciation, and to discover new and practical ways of perceiving,
diagnosing and responding to your own needs. Pronunciation is the physical
side of language, involving the body, the breath, the muscles, acoustic vibration
and harmonics.
Phonetic transcription is the visual representation of speech sounds (or
phones). The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic
alphabet, such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
The pronunciation of words in many languages, as distinct from their
written form (orthography), has undergone significant change over time.
Pronunciation can also vary greatly among dialects of a language. Traditional
orthography in some languages, (particularly French and English), often differs
from the pronunciation. For example, the words bough and through do not
rhyme in English, even though their spellings might suggest they do so. As well,
each contains a silent gh. In the orthography of most European languages,
the fact that many letters are pronounced or silent depending on contexts
capítulo 1 • 13
causes difficulties in determining the appropriate pronunciation, especially
in the cases of English, Irish, and French. However, in other languages, such
as Spanish and Italian, there is a more consistent—though still imperfect—
relationship between orthography and pronunciation (phonemic orthography).
Therefore, phonetic transcription can provide a function that orthography
cannot. It displays a one-to-one relationship between symbols and sounds,
unlike traditional writing systems. Phonetic transcription allows us to step
outside orthography and examine differences in pronunciation between
dialects within a given language, as well as to identify changes in pronunciation
that may take place over time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonetic_transcription
MONOPHTHONGS DIPHTHONGS
i: ɪ ʊ u: ɪə eɪ
see /si:/ sit /sɪt/ good /gʊd/ two /tu:/ here /h ɪə/ eight /eɪt/
e: ə ɜ: ɔ: ʊə ɔı əʊ
egg /eg/ away /əwetaı/ her /hɜ:/ four /f ɔ:/ cure /kj ʊə/ boy /bɔı/ no /nəʊ/
æ ʌ ɑ: ɒ: ea aɪ: aʊ
cat /kæt/ up /ʌp/ ask /ɑ:sk/ on /ɒn / there /δeə/ my /maɪ/ naow /naʊ/
CONSONANTS
tʃ dʒ k
p b t d g
chair / just / can /
pen /pen bee / bi:/ ten /ten/ do /du:/ go /gəʊ/
tʃeɔ/ dʒʌst/ kæn/
f v θ z ʒ
δ s ʃ
five / very / thing/ zoo / pleasure
this /δis/ so /səʊ/ she /ʃi:/
faıv/ verı/ θin/ zu:/ /pleʒə/
n ŋ h l r
m w j
nine / long / house / love / right /
me /mi:/ we / wi:/ yes /jes/
naɪn/ loŋ/ haʊs/ lʌv/ raɪt/
Figura 1.1 – Scanned from UNDERHILL, A. Sound Foundations – Learning and teaching
pronunciation, Macmillan, Oxford, 2005.
14 • capítulo 1
1 – Symbols for phonemes
ɪ as in ‘pit’ pɪt i: as in ‘key’ ki:

e as in ‘pet’ pet ɑ: as in ‘car’ kɒ:
æ as in ‘pat’ pæt ɔ: as in ‘core’ kə:
ʌ as in ‘putt’ pʌt u: as in ‘coo’ ku:
ɒ as in ‘pot’ pɒt ɜ: as in ‘cur’ ku:
ʊ as in ‘put’ pʊt
ə as in ‘about’, upper’ əbaʊt, ʌpə
eɪ as in ‘bay’ beɪ
aɪ as in ‘buy’ baɪ əʊ as in ‘go’ gəʊ
ɔɪ as in ‘boy’ bɔɪ aʊ as in ‘cow’ kaʊ
ɪə as in ‘peer’ pɪə
eə as in ‘pear’ peə
ʊə as in ‘poor’ pʊə
p as in ‘pea’ pi: b as in ‘bee’ bi:

t as in ‘toe’ təʊ d as in ‘doe’ dəʊ
k as in ‘cap’ kæp g as in ‘gap’ gæp
f as in ‘fat’ fæt v as in ‘vat’ væt
θ as in ‘thing’ θtŋ ʌ as in ‘this’ δis
s as in ‘sip’ sɪp z as in ‘zip’ zɪp
ʃ as in ‘ship’ ʃɪp ʒ as in ‘measure’ meʒə
h as in ‘hat’ hæt
m as in ‘map’ mæp l as in ‘led’ led
n as in ‘nap’ næp r as in ‘red’ red
ŋ as in ‘hang’ hæŋ j as in ‘yet’ jet
w as in ‘wet’ wet
tʃ as in ‘chin’ tʃɪn dʒ as in ‘gin’ dʒɪn
capítulo 1 • 15
2 – Non-phonemic symbols
i as in ‘react’, ‘happy’ riækt, hæpi
u as in ‘to each’ tu i/:tʃ
? (glottal stop)
h
aspiration, as in ‘pin’ phin
. syllabic consonant, as in ‘button’ bʌtṇ
ˇ shortened vowel, as in ‘miss’ miĭs
. syllable division, as in ‘differ’ dif.ə
3 – Word stress
‘ primary stress, as in ‘open’ ‘əʊpən
, secondary stress, as in ‘half time’ ,ha:f ‘taɪm
4 – Intonation
| tone-unit boundary
|| pause
Tones:
\ fall
\ rise
v fall-rise
ʌ rise-fall
- level
̍ stressed syllable in head, high pitch, as in ‘please \do
ͅ stressed syllable in head, low pitch, as in ,please \do
· stressed syllable in the tail, as in \my · turn
↑ extra pitch height, as in ↑\my · turn
CONEXÃO
In order to improve your knowledge on the phonetic symbols access: http://www.agendaweb.
org/phonetic.html
16 • capítulo 1
1.3 Digraphs and vowels/consonants
combination
1.3.1 Digraph
A digraph is a single sound, or phoneme, which is represented by two letters.

A trigraph is a phoneme which consists of three letters. However, many people
will simply use the term 'digraph' generally to describe both combinations. In
digraphs, consonants join together to form a kind of consonant team, which
makes a special sound. For instance, p and h combine to form ph, which makes
the /f/ sound as in phonemic.
When two or more consonants appear together and you hear each sound
that each consonant would normally make, the consonant team is called a
consonant blend. For instance, the word blend has two consonant blends: bl,
for which you hear the sounds for both b and l, and nd, for which you hear the
sounds for both n and d.
Digraphs:
• ch, which makes the /ch/ sound as in watch, chick, chimpanzee, and
champion
• ck, which makes the /k/ sound as in chick
• ff, which makes the /f/ sound as in cliffe
• gh, which makes the /g/ sound as in ghost and ghastly
• gn, which makes the /n/ sound as in gnome and gnarled
• kn, which makes the /n/ sound as in knife and knight
• ll, which makes the /l/ sound as in wall
• mb, which makes the /m/ sound as in lamb and thumb
• ng, which makes the /ng/ sound as in fang, boomerang, and fingerprint
• nk, which makes the /nk/ sound as in ink, sink and rink
• ph, which makes the /f/ sound as in digraph, phone, and phonics
• qu, which makes the /kw/ sound as in quick
capítulo 1 • 17
• sh, which makes the /sh/ sound as in shore, shipwreck, shark, and shield
• ss, which makes the /s/ sound as in floss
• th, which makes the /th/ sound as in athlete, toothbrush, bathtub, thin,
and thunderstorm
• th, which makes the /th/ sound as in this, there, and that
• wh, which makes the /hw/ sound as in where and which
• wr, which makes the /wr/ sound as in write
• zz, which makes the /z/ sound as in fuzz and buzz
Trigraphs
• chr, which makes the /chr/ sound as in chrome and chromosome
• dge, which makes the /g/ sound as in dodge and partridge
• tch, which makes the /tch/ sound as in catch, match
http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/digraphs.php
1.3.2 Vowel combination
A vowel combination is a combination of two or three vowels, or of a vowel and at

least one consonant, that is associated with one or more specific single sounds.
For example, ea has the sounds /long e/ and /long a/; ay has the sound /long a/,
and igh has the sound /long i/. These vowel combinations are sometimes called
digraphs, diphthongs, trigraphs, and triphthongs.
Vowel combinations occur in three different forms in written English:
1. Vowels often appear in clusters within a single syllable. This is the most
common form.
2. Vowels often appear in combination with a particular consonant or
consonants which, together, represent a sound unit that is different from what
you would expect if you didn't know the specific combination. For example, the
o in old has the /long o/ sound, but if you didn't already know that already, you
would think that the o in cold was short.
3. Another common combination in English is one or two vowels followed
by gh. The gh is usually silent. It is usually easier to decode the whole unit (igh,
eigh) than to process the vowel and the gh separately.
18 • capítulo 1
A Vowel Combinations
ai/ay: Together, ai or ay make a /long a/ sound.
Example words:
aim, rain, braid, paint, ray, say, stay, tail, twain, praise, stain, and main
Other a vowel combinations

• ay as in day, say, play, spray, and tray
• au as in fault, gaunt, fraud, launch, pause, and sauce
• aw as in saw, paw, claw, dawn, and crawl
• augh as in caught, taught, daughter, naughty, haughty, and slaughter
• wa /wô/ as in want, wash, swamp, squash, squat
• wa /wã/ as in wax, wag, swam, and quack
• all as in ball, tall, hall, and small
• ald as in bald, scald, and alder
• alk as in talk, walk, chalk, and stalk
• alm as in alms, calm, palm, and psalm
• alt as in halt, malt, and salt
E Vowel Combinations
ee and ea
Together, ee or ea make a /long e/ sound. Sometimes, ea together makes a /

short e/ sound or a /long a/ sound instead.
Example words (ee): peek, see, queen, sleep, cheese, street, meet, and team
Example words (ea /long e/): eat, sea, each, leaf, peach, mean, team, ease,
and please
Example words (ea /short e/): dead, head, spread, health, and meant
Example words (ea /long a/): break, great, steak, and yea
Other e vowel combinations

• eu/ew as in sleuth, deuce, few, new, and shrewd
• ei/ey/eigh /long a/ as in veil, beige, they, whey, eight, and weigh
• ei/ey/eigh /long e/ as in seize, key, money, valley
• ei/ey/eigh /long i/ as in heist, eye, geyser, height
capítulo 1 • 19
I Vowel Combinations
• ie /long e/ as in brief, field, grieve, and piece
• ie/ye /long i/ as in die, tie, dye, and rye
• igh as in high, thigh, night, flight, and wright
• ign as in sign, align, assign, and benign
• ind as in bind, kind, mind, grind, and behind
O Vowel Combinations
• oo as in boo, food, smooth, and moose
• oo as in book, look, good, and stood
• oa /long o/ as in oat, loam, groan, loathe, and loaves
• oe /long o/ as in doe, and hoe
• oi/oy /y/ as in oil, coin, voice, boy, and ploy
• old/olk/olt /long o/ as in gold, scold, folk, yolk, bolt, and volt
• oll/ost /long o/ as in roll, knoll, scroll, ghost, most, and post
• oll/ost /short o/ as in doll, loll, cost, lost, and frost
• ou/ow as in out, round, bounce, how, down, and browse
• ou/ow /long o/ as in soul, poultry, own, glow, snow, and owe
• ou as in you, soup, group, and rouge
U Vowel Combinations
• ue /long u/ as in cue, due, hue, rue, sue, blue, clue, flue, glue, and true
• ui /long u/ as in suit, fruit, cruise, juice, and sluice
http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/vowel-combinations.php
1.3.3 Consonant combination
When two or more letters appear together and you hear each sound that each
consonant would normally make, the combination is called a blend. For
instance, the word blend has two consonant blends: bl, for which you hear the
sounds for both b and l, and nd, for which you hear the sounds for both n and d.
20 • capítulo 1
Two-Letter Blends
• bl, which blends the /b/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /bl/ sound
as in blend and blight
• br, which blends the /b/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /br/ sound
as in break and brown
• cl, which blends the /c/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /cl/ sound
as in cluster and class
• cr, which blends the /c/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /cr/ sound
as in crash and cross
• dr, which blends the /d/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /dr/ sound
as in drive and drab
• fl, which blends the /f/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /fl/ sound
as in flu and flake
• fr, which blends the /f/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /fr/ sound
as in freedom and frost
• gl, which blends the /g/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /gl/ sound
as in glad and glory
• gr, which blends the /g/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /gr/ sound
as in green and gravy
• nd, which blends the /n/ and the /d/ sounds together to make the /nd/
sound as in blend and send
• pl, which blends the /p/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /pl/ sound
as in play and plow
• pr, which blends the /p/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /pr/ sound
as in prime and prowl
• sl, which blends the /s/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /sl/ sound
as in slogan and sloppy
• sm, which blends the /s/ and the /m/ sounds together to make the /sm/
sound as in small and smart
• sn, which blends the /s/ and the /n/ sounds together to make the /sn/
sound as in snail and snore
• sp, which blends the /s/ and the /p/ sounds together to make the /sp/
sound as in special and spackel
• st, which blends the /s/ and the /t/ sounds together to make the /st/ sound
as in stop and start
capítulo 1 • 21
Three-Letter Blends
• shr, which blends the /sh/ digraph and the /r/ sound together to make the
/shr/ sound as in shroud
• spl, which blends the /sp/ blend and the /l/ sound together to make the /
spl/ sound as in splash and splendid
• spr, which blends the /sp/ blend and the /r/ sound together to make the /
spr/ sound as in spring and spray
• squ, which blends the /s/ sound and the /sq/ digraph together to make the
/squ/ sound as in squid and squelch
• str, which blends the /st/ blend and the /r/ sound together to make the /
str/ sound as in struggle and strap
• thr, which blends the /th/ digraph and the /r/ sound together to make the
/thr/ sound as in throw
http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/blends.php
1.4 Dialects and Accent

Many people ask me about the difference between a “dialect” and an “accent.”
Really it is simple:
• An accent is the way that particular person or group of people sound. It’s
the way somebody pronounces words, the musicality of their speech, etc.
• A dialect describes both a person’s accent and the grammatical features
of the way that person talks.
It means that Languages have different accents: they are pronounced

differently by people from different geographical backgrounds. The word
accent is often confused with dialect. We use the word dialect to refer to a variety
of a language which is different from others not just in pronunciation but also
in such matters as vocabulary, grammar and word order. Differences of accent,
on the other hand, are pronunciation differences only.
22 • capítulo 1
The accent which is most often recommended for foreign learners studying British
English was named “Received Pronunciation” – usually abbreviated as RP – but
this name is old fashioned because in the past “received” was used as “accepted” or
“approved” and nowadays it does not have this meaning. Since it is most familiar as the
accent used by most announcers and newsreaders on BBC, a preferable name is “BBC
pronunciation”. It is similar here in Brazil as the Portuguese from Globo.
There is no implication that other accents are inferior or less pleasant-sounding;
the reason is simply that BBC is the accent used by textbooks and teachers to teach
English to foreigner speakers.
In talking about accents of English, the foreigners should be careful about
the difference between “England” and “Britain”; there are many different accents in
England, but there are many more if the accents of Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland are considered. As you may know, these three countries with England are the
United Kingdom.
1.4.1 Differences in pronunciation between Portuguese and English
Different languages can be two completely different communication codes or,

in most cases, the huge cultural differences can result in different conceptions
of human interactions. This is, for example, the case of Japanese when
compared to any Latin American language. Some specialists say we must enter
in the Japanese culture or sometimes have a Japanese mind to manage to speak
Japanese correctly – it is surely true as language is culture.
The differences between Portuguese and English are not so deep. Because
of similar origins – the Greek culture, the Roman Empire and their language,
the Christianism, etc. – all the European and Latin American cultures and
their language can be considered very closely in the context of languages. We
could make relations such as saying that Spanish and Portuguese are “sisters”
languages and Italian and Portuguese are “half-sisters” languages or even that
French and Portuguese are “cousins” and English is a “distant cousin”.
Besides the common origins that decrease the cultural differences,
linguistic similarities between English and Portuguese happen especially in the
vocabulary in the written form. Sentence structure and especially pronunciation
presents deep contrasts.
capítulo 1 • 23
CONNECTION
In order to improve your pronunciation, access:
http://www.englishmedialab.com/pronunciation.html
ACTIVITIES
01. Answer these questions:
Think about it
Discuss these questions:
01. Have you ever used your dictionary to check pronunciation? Why? Why not?
02. Do all English dictionaries indicate pronunciation the same way?
03. Do you ever use the Pronunciation Key/ able in your dictionary when you check the
pronunciation of a word?
04. You were probably in the first grade at school when you started learning how to
separate syllables in Portuguese. Do you think the same happens in English?
05. Do you know how to separate syllables in English? Can people separate syllables
in English easily? Why (not)?
06. Is it important to know exactly where a syllable starts and where it ends? How
frequently do you need to use this knowledge?
07. Indicate the number of syllables the word chocolate has in
a. English:
b. Portuguese:
Fonte: GODOY, S.; GONTOW, C.; MARCELINO, M.

English Pronunciation for Brazilians. SP, Disal, 2006.
02. What is the difference between accent and dialect?
03. Which word is used to refer to the relative strength of a syllable?
24 • capítulo 1
04. How many sounds (phonemes) are there in these words:
a) Love
b) Half
c) Wrist
d) Shrink
e) Ought
05. Complete the chart bellow:

/fe'naetik fer fe'netiks/
Identify the homophones. Work individually first. Then compare with a partner.
/si:/: see / sea /meal/: _________ _________
/'flauer/: _________ _________ /fe r/: _________ _________
/rood/: _________ _________ /meid/: _________ _________
/wud/: _________ _________ /nou/: _________ _________
/bard/: _________ _________ /der/: _________ _________
halar/: _________ _________ /mi:t/: _________ _________
/pwst/: _________ _________ /sait/: _________ _________
/'weeart _________ _________ /wed: _________ _________
/bEr/: _________ _________ /bai/: _________ _________
/wed: _________ _________ /pi:s/: _________ _________
/hi:I/: _________ _________ /dai/: _________ _________
/breik/: _________ _________ /kru:z/: _________ _________
/sel/: _________ _________ /hu:z/: _________ _________
Fonte: GODOY, S.; GONTOW, C.; MARCELINO, M.

English Pronunciation for Brazilians. SP, Disal, 2006.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT

As it was possible to observe, phonetics and phonology are not easy topics to learn/teach.
However, it is essential in order to have an extended understanding whenever talking to a
foreigner person.
capítulo 1 • 25
READING
Goldsmith, John A. (1995). "Phonological Theory". In John A. Goldsmith. The Handbook
of Phonological Theory. Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN
1-4051-5768-2.
Gussenhoven, Carlos & Jacobs, Haike. "Understanding Phonology", Hodder & Arnold,
1998. 2nd edition 2005.
Hale, Mark; Reiss, Charles (2008). The Phonological Enterprise. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-953397-0.
Halle, Morris (1954). "The strategy of phonemics". Word 10: 197–209.
Ladefoged, Peter. (1982). A course in phonetics (2nd ed.). London: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich.
Martinet, André (1949). Phonology as functional phonetics. Oxford:: Blackwell.
REFERENCES
GODOY, S.; GONTOW, C.; MARCELINO, M. English Pronunciation for Brazilians. SP, Disal, 2006
HARLEY, Trevor A., The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory, 2nd ed. Psychology Press,
2001
ROACH, P. English Phonetics and Phonology – a pratical course, Cambridge, CUP, 2009
UNDERHILL, A. Sound Foundations – Learning and teaching pronunciation, Macmillan, Oxford, 2005
26 • capítulo 1
2
Speaking and
writing in English
Spoken English is very different from Written English. This fact has historical
explanations and it is also because the language is a living system, which
changes the whole time because people speak it and modify it.
OBJECTIVES
In this chapter, we will have some considerations about the language, style and structure of
spoken and written language and how much the speaking and writing influence each other.
There will be some reflections on the influence of new technology. In the second part, we will
see the varieties of English pronunciation and the difference between American and British
English.
CONNECTION
The State University of New York’s (SUNY) online writing guide on formal writing:
http://writingguide.geneseo.edu/form.shtml
28 • capítulo 2
2.1 The language
The human communities, since its ancient times, have always known how to
communicate orally. The speech is probably the most important characteristic
that distinguish the human being among the other animals and what makes it
possible for them to be organized in a society. Not all the languages, however,
have developed into written systems. Although most people can speak and write
nowadays, only recently has the ability to write been developed.
No community has ever been found to lack spoken language, but only a minority of
languages have ever been written down. Likewise, the vast majority of human beings
learn to speak, but it is only in recent years that some of these people have learned to
write. (CRYSTAL, D. 2008: 123)
David works from his home in Holyhead, North Wales, as a writer, editor, lecturer, and
broadcaster. He read English at University College London (1959-62), specialized in
English language studies, did some research there at the Survey of English Usage under
Randolph Quirk (1962-3), then joined academic life as a lecturer in linguistics, first at
Bangor, then at Reading. He published the first of his 100 or so books in 1964, and
became known chiefly for his research work in English language studies, in such fields as
intonation and stylistics, and in the application of linguistics to religious, educational and
clinical contexts, notably in the development of a range of linguistic profiling techniques
for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. He held a chair at the University of Reading for
10 years, and is now Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor.
David Crystal’s authored works are mainly in the field of language, including several
Penguin books, but he is perhaps best known for his two encyclopedias for Cambridge
University Press, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language and The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of the English Language.
Language is mainly an oral phenomenon. It is never enough to highlight the

importance of the oral forms of the language. The written form is derived from
speech.
A language is a complete, complex, changing, arbitrary system of primarily
oral symbols learned and used for communication within the cultural
capítulo 2 • 29
framework of a linguistic community. Studying pronunciation is to look at
what we cannot see but is the essential of the language.
Dominating the oral language starts with oral understanding and it starts
with the recognition of words in the oral production flow. It is a challenge to
manage to isolate each group of phonemes which corresponds to each semantic
unit (word) inside a sequence of sounds during speech.
It is even bigger if we consider the articulatory system from humans (mouth,
tongue, lips, etc.), which is very limited compared to the knowledge and
communication created in the brain.
Moreover, the use that the human being makes of their articulatory system
to communicate varies considerably from language to language, what explains
why it is in the pronunciation that the interference of two languages becomes
more evident and it is more difficult. The phonologic interference of the first
language in the second language which is being learned carries on, in most
cases, forever, even with people who have already acquired the vocabulary and
the grammar in the foreigner language.
Sometimes, who speaks only one language believes that the sound of their
language is a basic universal system of sounds of speech. This idea usually
stays during the learning of a foreigner language and while it persists, it always
interferes negatively in the perception and oral production of this person. In
one article about phonological interference, FLEGE (1995) wrote:
Language learners who perceive sounds in the target language to be phonologically

identical to native language sounds (despite possible phonetic differences between
the two languages) may base whatever phonetic learning that does occur during the
acquisition process on an acoustic model provided by pairs of similar sounds in two
languages, rather than on a single language-specific acoustic model as in first-language
acquisition. (p.443)
In simple words, what Fledge wanted to say is obvious: the learner’s ear will
not recognize the second language sound as they really are. This is a strong
argument in favor of a detailed phonological study about the contrast between
30 • capítulo 2
the first language and the other they are learning – essential condition for a
good English teacher. A detailed presentation of both systems will help the
student to be aware that the sounds of the two languages are not the same and
that these differences can be relevant in meaning, affecting the understanding.
James Emil Flege was born in Cincinnati (OH) in 1950, a third-generation German-
American. After graduating from St. Xavier High School in 1968, He attended two other
Jesuit institutions, John Carroll University in Cleveland (OH) and the Rome campus of
Loyola University (Chicago), graduating with a BA Hon in English and French in 1972.
After a while, he graduated school at the University of Florida (Gainesville) in 1974,
obtaining an MA degree in Linguistics later followed by MA and PhD degrees (1977,
1979), also in Linguistics, from Indiana University. The research speciality he developed
at Indiana University was Experimental Phonetics.
2.1.1 Differences in Structure and Style
We usually write with correct grammar and in a structured way. We organize

what we write into sentences and paragraphs. We do not usually use contractions
in writing (though if we want to appear very friendly, then we do sometimes
use contractions in writing because this is more like speaking.) We use more
formal vocabulary in writing (for example, we might write "the car exploded"
but say "the car blew up") and we do not usually use slang. In writing, we must
use punctuation marks like commas and question marks (as a symbolic way of
representing things like pauses or tone of voice in speaking).
We usually speak in a much less formal, less structured way. We do not
always use full sentences and correct grammar. The vocabulary that we use
is more familiar and may include slang. We usually speak in a spontaneous
way, without preparation, so we have to make up what we say as we go. This
means that we often repeat ourselves or go off the subject. However, when we
speak, other aspects are present that are not present in writing, such as facial
expression or tone of voice. This means that we can communicate at several
levels, not only with words.
capítulo 2 • 31
Durability
One important difference between speaking and writing is that writing is usually more
durable or permanent. When we speak, our words live for a few moments. When we
write, our words may live for years or even centuries. This is why writing is usually used
to provide a record of events, for example a business agreement or transaction.
CONNECTION
This is from another ELT site. The author of the piece Alex Case is currently writing the exams
materials for onestopenglish. http://www.developingteachers.com/articles_tchtraining/
formal_letters_alex1.htm
2.1.2 Speaker & Listener / Writer & Reader
When we speak, we usually need to be in the same place and time as the other
person. Despite this restriction, speaking does have the advantage that the
speaker receives instant feedback from the listener. The speaker can probably
see immediately if the listener is bored or does not understand something, and
can then modify what he or she is saying.
When we write, our words are usually read by another person in a different
place and at a different time. Indeed, they can be read by many other people,
anywhere and at any time. And the people reading our words can do so at their
leisure, slowly or fast. They can re-read what we write, too. But the writer cannot
receive immediate feedback and cannot (easily) change what has been written.
2.1.3 How Speaking and Writing Influence Each Other
In the past, only a small number of people could write, but almost everybody
could speak. Because their words were not widely recorded, there were many
variations in the way they spoke, with different vocabulary and dialects in
different regions. Today, almost everybody can speak and write. Because writing
is recorded and more permanent, this has influenced the way that people
speak, so that many regional dialects and words have disappeared. (It may seem
32 • capítulo 2
that there are already too many differences that have to be learned, but without
writing there would be far more differences, even between, for example, British
and American English.) So writing has had an important influence on speaking.
But speaking can also influence writing. For example, most new words enter
a language through speaking. Some of them do not live long. If you begin to
see these words in writing it usually means that they have become "real words"
within the language and have a certain amount of permanence.
2.1.4 Influence of New Technology
Modern inventions such as sound recording, telephone, radio, television, fax

or email have made or are making an important impact on both speaking
and writing. To some extent, the divisions between speaking and writing are
becoming blurred. Emails are often written in a much less formal way than is
usual in writing. With voice recording, for example, it has for a long time been
possible to speak to somebody who is not in the same place or time as you
(even though this is a one-way communication: we can speak or listen, but not
interact). With the telephone and radiotelephone, however, it became possible
for two people to carry on a conversation while not being in the same place.
Today, the distinctions are increasingly vague, so that we may have, for example, a
live television broadcast with a mixture of recordings, telephone calls, incoming
faxes and emails and so on. One effect of this new technology and the modern
universality of writing has been to raise the status of speaking. Politicians who
cannot organize their thoughts and speak well on television win very few votes.
English Checker
• aspect: a particular part or feature of something

• dialect: a form of a language used in a specific region
• formal: following a set of rules; structured; official
• status: level or rank in a society
• spontaneous: not planned; unprepared
• structured: organized; systematic
Note: instead of "spoken", some people say "oral" (relating to the mouth) or
"aural" (relating to the ear).
capítulo 2 • 33
Examples
Verbs – Informal & Formal
INFORMAL FORMAL
say sorry apologize, apologise
go up Increase
go down Decrease
set up Establish
look at Examine
blow up Explode
find out Discover
bring about Cause
put off postpone, delay
rack up Accumulate
make up Fabricate
stand for Represent
34 • capítulo 2
INFORMAL FORMAL
find out discover, ascertain
leave out Omit
point out Indicate
go against Oppose
get in touch with Contact
It’s about It concerns, It’s in regards to
need to Required
think about Consider
get Obtain
put up Tolerate
deal with Handle
seem Appear
show demonstrate, illustrate, portray
capítulo 2 • 35
INFORMAL FORMAL
start Commence
keep Retain
free Release
get on someone’s nerves Bother
ring up Call
show up Arrive
let Permit
fill in substitute, inform
block Undermine
give the go ahead, greenlight authorize, authorise
36 • capítulo 2
Slang – Informal & Formal
INFORMAL FORMAL
Kids children
bad negative
good positive
really big considerable
right correct
wrong incorrect
smart intelligent
cheap inexpensive
loaded rich
CONNECTION
This is from the Learn.co.uk site by the Guardian: interactive, designed for UK schools:
http://www.learn.co.uk/default.asp?WCI=Unit&WCU=96
capítulo 2 • 37
2.2 Varieties of English pronunciation
Differences between accents are of two main sorts: phonetic and phonological.
When two accents differ from each other only phonetically, we find the same
set of phonemes in both accents, but some or all of the phonemes are realized
differently. There may also be differences in stress or intonation, but not such as
would cause a change in meaning. As an example of phonetic differences at the
segmental level, it is said that Australian English has the same set of phonemes
and phonemic contrasts as the BBC pronunciation, yet Australian pronunciation
is so different from that accent that it is easily recognized.
Many accents in English also differ noticeably in intonation without the
difference being such as would cause a difference in meaning; some Welsh
accents, for example, have a tendency for unstressed syllables to be higher in pitch
than stressed syllables. Such a difference is, again, a phonetic one. An example of
a phonetic difference in stress would be the stressing of the final syllable of verbs
ending in “-ize” in some Scottish and Irish accents (e.g. “realize rre´laiz).
CONNECTION
In order to study more about accent and differences in pronunciation, access:
http://accent.gmu.edu/
Phonological differences are of various types: again, we can divide these

into segmental and supra-segmental. Within the area of segmental phonology
the most obvious type of difference is where one accent has a different number
of phonemes (and hence of phonemic contrasts) from another. Many speakers
with northern English accents do not have a contrast between ∧ and u, so that
“luck” and “look” are pronounced the same = both “luk”.
GLOSSARY
"Vowels and consonants are considered as small segments of the speech, which
together form a syllable and make the utterance. Specific features that are superimposed
on the utterance of the speech are known as supra-segmental features. Common
38 • capítulo 2
supra-segmental features are the stress, tone and duration in the syllable or word for
a continuous speech sequence. Sometimes even harmony and nasalization are also
included under this category. Supra-segmental or prosodic features are often used
in the context of speech to make it more meaningful and effective. Without supra-
segmental features superimposed on the segmental features, a continuous speech can
also convey meaning but often loses the effectiveness of the message being conveyed."
(Manisha Kulshreshtha, C.P. Singh, and R.M. Sharma, "Speaker Profiling: The
Study of Acoustic Characteristics Based on Phonetic Features of Hindi Dialects for
Forensic Speaker Identification." Forensic Speaker Recognition: Law Enforcement
and Counter-Terrorism, ed. by Amy Neustein and Hemant A. Patil. Springer, 2012)
2.2.1 Geographical variation
For a long time, the study of variation in accents was part of the subject of
dialectology, which aimed to identify all the ways in which a language differed
from place to place. Dialectology in its traditional form is therefore principally
interested in geographical differences; its best-known data-gathering technique
was to send researchers (usually called “field workers”) mainly into rural areas
(where speakers were believed to be less likely to have been influenced by other
accents and to preserve older forms of dialect) and to use lists of questions to
find information about vocabulary and pronunciation, the questions being
chosen to concentrate on items known to vary a lot from region to region.
Surveys of this kind have provided the basis for many useful generalizations
about geographical variation, but they have serious weaknesses: dialectology
concentrated too much on rural varieties, tended to be interested in archaic
forms of the language and took a little notice of variation due to social class,
education and other such factors. More recent research has tended to be
carried out within the framework of sociolinguistics, and has tried to cover
urban speech with a balanced coverage of ages and social classes.
Studies of different accents often concentrate on small communities, but
for our purposes it will be more useful to look briefly at differences between
some of the largest groups of speakers of English. A word of caution should
be given here: it is all too easy to talk about such things as “Scottish English”,
“American English”, and so on, and to ignore the variety that inevitably exists
capítulo 2 • 39
within any large community of speakers. Each individual’s speech is different
from any other’s; and it also follows that the idea of a standard pronunciation is
a convenient fiction, not a scientific fact.
CONNECTION
ITo practice British accent, access:
http://www.wikihow.com/Speak-in-a-British-Accent
2.3 British vs American

There are many differences between British and American English which don’t
concern pronunciation. For example, in England you live in a block of flats,
take the underground and go on holiday. In the United States, you live in an
apartment house, take the subway and go on vacation. These are examples of
vocabulary differences. There are differences of grammar as well. In Britain you
ask, “Have you got the time?” and receive an answer, “It’s ten past two.” In the
United States you say, “Do you have the time?” and they tell you that “It’s ten
after two.” British and American English also differ in terms of spelling. Thus,
British English has colour and centre, where American English has color and
center. Catalogue is spelt catalog, without -ue in the end in the United States,
and so on. But it is in terms of pronunciation that British and American English
differ most. There are several ways in which accents may differ. They may
have different phonemic inventories, that is, different numbers of distinctive
vowel or consonant sounds. They may differ in terms of the actual phonetic
realisations of their phonemes in the flow of speech. Other differences may
involve phonotactics – the positions in the word and the syllable in which the
phonemes of a language can occur, the pronunciation of groups of common
lexical words, patterns of word stress, rhythm, intonation, and so on.
2.3.1 American Accent
In many parts of the world, the fundamental choice for learners of English
is whether to learn an American or a British pronunciation, though this is
40 • capítulo 2
by no means true everywhere. It will be useful to look at the most important
differences between American accents and the BBC accent. It is said that the
majority of American speakers of English have an accent that is often referred
to as General American (GA); since it the American accent most often heard on
international radio and television networks, it is also called Network English.
Most Canadian speakers of English have a very similar accent (few British
people can hear the difference between the Canadian and American accents,
as is the case with the difference between Australian and New Zealand accents).
Accents in America different from GA are mainly found in New Zealand and in
the deep south of the country, but isolated rural communities everywhere tend
to preserve different accents; there is also a growing section of American society
whose native language is Spanish and they speak English with a pronunciation
influenced by Spanish.
The most important difference between GA and BBC is the distribution of
the r phoneme, GA being rhotic (i.e. r occurs in all positions, including before
consonants and at the end of utterances). Thus where BBC pronounces “car” as
ka: and “cart” as ka:t, GA has ka:r and ka:rt. Long vowels and diphthongs that
are written with an “r” in the spelling are pronounced in GA as simple vowels
followed by r. We can make the following comparisons:
BBC GA
Car ka: ka:r
More mc: mc:r
Fear fre fir
Care kea ker
Tour tue tur
capítulo 2 • 41
There are differences in the vowels as well and one which is noticeably
different: the o of “dog”, “cot” in BBC pronunciation is not found in GA. In
most words where the BBC accent has o we find a: or c: so that “dog”, which
is dug in BBC, is da:g or do:g in American pronunciation. In this case, we
have a phonological difference, since one phoneme that is present in BBC
pronunciation is absent in American accents. There are many other differences
between these two pronunciations.
CONNECTION
In order to practice American Accent, access:
http://www.manythings.org/pp/
http://www.americanaccent.com/pronunciation.html
http://pronuncian.com/Podcast/
Let’s see other examples of this difference in pronunciation:

Vowels:
BBC PRONUNCIATION GENERAL AMERICAN

box bɒks bα:ks
hot hɒt hα:t
o'clock ǝ'klɒk ǝ'klα:k
bother 'bɒδǝ 'bα:δǝ
honest 'ɒnıst 'ɒ:nǝst
knowledge 'nɒlıdʒ 'nɒ:lıdʒ
non-profit 'nɒn'prɒf‫ו‬t 'nɒ:n'prɒ:f‫ו‬t

class klɑ:s klӕs
last la:st lӕst
ask a:sk ӕsk
answer 'a:nsǝ 'ӕnsǝ
42 • capítulo 2
laugh la:f lӕf
advance ǝd'va:ns ǝd'vӕns
can't ka:nt kӕnt
Diphthongs:

thought θᴐ:t θɑ:t
caught kᴐ:t kɑ:t
daughter 'dᴐ:tǝ 'dɑ:ṱǝr
author 'ᴐ:θǝ 'ᴐ:θǝr
walk wᴐ:k wɑ:k
autumn 'ᴐ:tǝm 'ɑ:ṱǝm

near n‫ו‬ǝ n‫ו‬r
beard b‫ו‬ǝd b‫ו‬rd
care keɑ ker
where weɑ wer
pure pjᴜǝ, pjᴐ: pjᴜr
Europe 'jᴜǝrǝp 'jᴜrǝp
poor pᴐ:, pᴜǝ pᴜr
Consonants:

atom 'ӕtǝm 'ӕṱǝm
city 's‫ו‬ti 's‫ו‬ṱi
writer 'ra‫ו‬tǝ 'ra‫ו‬ṱǝr
a lot of ǝ'lɒt ǝv ǝ'lɒ:ṱ ǝv
get it 'get ‫ו‬t 'geṱ ‫ו‬t
capítulo 2 • 43
The suffix:
There is a tendency for the —ile suffix in hostile, fragile, fiaile, etc.
(pronounced /-a‫ו‬l/ in BBC English) to have a weak vowel or a syllabic consonant
and to be pronounced /ǝl/ or /l/ in General American, e.g.,

agile 'ӕdʒa‫ו‬l 'ӕdʒa‫ו‬l
hostile 'hɒsta‫ו‬l 'hɒsta‫ו‬l
futile 'fju:ta‫ו‬l 'fju:ta‫ו‬l
fragile 'frӕdʒa‫ו‬l 'frӕdʒa‫ו‬l
mobile 'mǝʊba‫ו‬l 'moʊbỊ
• Finally, there are a number of words the pronunciation differences in

which don't follow any predictable pattern, e.g.,

schedule ʃӕdʒa‫ו‬l 'skedju:l
either 'a‫ו‬δǝ 'i:δǝr
clerk klɑ:k klɜ:rk
nourish 'n˄r‫ו‬ʃ 'nɜ:r‫ו‬ʃ
nougat 'nu:gɑ: 'nu:gǝt
apparatus ,ӕpǝ're‫ו‬tǝs ,ӕpǝ'rӕṱǝs
ACTIVITIES
01. Converting an informal text into a formal text
On this page you will be given a text about the issue of whether the government should
introduce tighter controls on the ownership of guns. The text is written in an informal style.
When we are speaking about these issues we usually use an informal style like the one
below. So the text contains the type of language we use in spoken debates or discussions.
However, we have seen in this unit of study that argumentative essays use a much more
formal academic style. You will be asked to rewrite the text in this formal academic style.
Task: Changing an informal argumentative text into a formal argumentative paragraph

The following text is written in an informal tone. Rewrite it in a more formal tone.
44 • capítulo 2
Main premise: The government should introduce tighter gun controls
Jack Spring thinks that everyone should have the right to own a gun but I don't agree
with him. People like him think that the government is infringing our democratic rights when it
restricts gun ownership. They think that most people who own guns are responsible citizens
who keep the guns for sport and recreation. They also think that the police are unable to
stop violent crime and we need guns to protect ourselves. But I think he's wrong. I agree with
Josephine Bluff who thinks that guns increase the amount of violent crime in the community.
I also think that human life is worth more than sporting shooters right to go shooting on the
weekend. And I also think that many of the guns that are kept around the house end being
used in violent domestic disputes or teenage suicides.
http://www.foothill.edu/bss/people/peterson-david/ct/tutorial/inform.htm
02. Read these words and arrange them in the columns below according to the pronunciation
of their suffix vowel
customary, necessary, testimony, monastery, ordinary, category, futile, voluntary,
matrimony, missile, hostile, territory, dictionary, melancholy

-(ǝ)ri customary, -eri customary,
-ǝni -oʊni
-a‫ו‬l -ᴐ:ri
-(ǝ)li -ǝl
-ᴐ:li
03. Read this text trying to notice the difference whenever you pronounce it as BBC or GA English:
I arrived in New South College on a Sunday afternoon. The porter at the lodge told
me how to get to the central office block, where a clerk at the Accommodations Office
gave me my keys. So I wandered about, looking for the pretty little cottage I had seen on
the colour photograph in the prospectus. I hadn't thought it necessary to ask the clerk
for directions. But it was getting dark and there was just nobody around. The beautiful
blonde girl I had momentarily seen a minute ago had disappeared in the direction of the
car park. Everybody seemed to have gone to spend their leisure time in the city. The dark
green bushes on both sides of the path were beginning to look hostile, and I couldn't help
thinking that I had got lost.
capítulo 2 • 45
04.
The British v The Americans
The British and the Arne' Aans both speak English but they don't always use the same
words.Can you match the British scuds and pleases with their American equivalents? Then
use Me numbers lapin the dots In order to spell the name of a very famous and important
American man.
BRITISH AMERICAN
flat 1 candy 31
tube 1 gasoline 21
shop 15 store 14
chemist 14 can 36
grey 33 sidewalk 25
area 2 elevates 18
mates 3 airplane 23
dustbins 17 apartment 28
lift 4 buddies 17
sweets 18 hood 27
biscuits 5 french fries 30
chips 29 do the dishes 26
post 30 garbage carts 32
autumn 6 wash up 27
loll 20 check 34
petrol 7 zip code 35
mum 8 closet 25
aeroplane 8 vacation 38
crisps 9 cookies 29
caravan 10 Aug store 33
holiday 37 potato chips 23
post code 11 neighborhood 16
tin 11 subway 15
pavement 36 gray 28
wardrobe 35 trailer 24
vases up 12 mall 19
wash your hands 12 fall 20
car bonnet 13 mom 22
46 • capítulo 2
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The differences in pronunciation also go from age to social status or even individual style.
We can find differences in pronunciation – as well as in other fields of linguistics analysis
– resulting from various factors including one’s age and sex, social class, educational
background, occupation, such as the social relationship between speaker and hearer, whether
one is speaking publicly or privately, and the purposes for which one is using language.
Some people – who usually turn out to do well in phonetic training – find that in speaking to
someone with different accent their pronunciation gets progressively more like that of the
person they are speaking to, like a chameleon adapting its color to its environment.
READING
ANDERSON, John M.; and Ewen, Colin J. (1987). Principles of dependency phonology. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
BLOCH, Bernard (1941). "Phonemic overlapping". American Speech 16 (4): 278–284.
doi:10.2307/486567. JSTOR 486567.
BLOOMFIELD, Leonard. (1933). Language. New York: H. Holt and Company. (Revised version of
Bloomfield's 1914 An introduction to the study of language).
GOMEZ, Paco. “British and American English Pronunciation Differences”. Available in: http://www.
ma.eui.upm.es/usuarios/Fmartin/Web/Idiomas/English/Br-Ame-pronun-diff.pdf
REFERENCES
CRYSTAL, D. Biography available: http://www.davidcrystal.com/biography
FLEDGE, J. Biography available: http://jimflege.com/about_me.html
2001
MANISHA KULSHRESHTHA, C.P. Singh, and R.M. Sharma, "Speaker Profiling: The Study of Acoustic
Characteristics Based on Phonetic Features of Hindi Dialects for Forensic Speaker Identification."
Forensic Speaker Recognition: Law Enforcement and Counter-Terrorism, ed. by Amy Neustein and
Hemant A. Patil. Springer, 2012
capítulo 2 • 47
Activity 1 http://www.ltn.lv/~markir/essaywriting/inform.htm
48 • capítulo 2
3
The consonants in
English
The words vowel and consonant are very familiar ones, but when we study the
sounds of speech, we find that it is not easy to define exactly what they mean.
We can have 2 definitions for the consonants:
1. Consonant sounds are made by restricting or blocking the air flow in
some physical way, and this restriction, or the release of the restriction, is what
gives the consonant its characteristic sound. By contrast, vowels require the
vocal tract to be open so that the air stream escapes unobstructed.
2. Consonants, either singly or in clusters, mark the beginning and ends
of syllables. Vowels occur as the centers or focal points of syllables, either
between consonants or on their own.
OBJECTIVES
Hold your breath! In this chapter, there will be a lot of new information but our aim is to make
you recognize the forms and sounds from the consonants in English. We will see all the
linking between consonants-vowels and consonants-consonants.
50 • capítulo 3
3.1 Consonants
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with
complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are [p], pronounced
with the lips; [t], pronounced with the front of the tongue; [k], pronounced with
the back of the tongue; [h], pronounced in the throat; [f] and [s], pronounced by
forcing air through a narrow channel (fricatives); and [m] and [n], which have
air flowing through the nose (nasals). Contrasting with consonants are vowels.
Since the number of possible sounds in all of the world's languages is much
greater than the number of letters in any one alphabet, linguists have devised
systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to assign a unique
and unambiguous symbol to each attested consonant. In fact, the English
alphabet has fewer consonant letters than English has consonant sounds, so
digraphs like "ch", "sh", "th", and "zh" are used to extend the alphabet, and
some letters and digraphs represent more than one consonant. For example,
the sound spelled "th" in "this" is a different consonant than the "th" sound in
"thin". (In the IPA they are transcribed [ð] and [θ], respectively.)
The word consonant is also used to refer to a letter of an alphabet that
denotes a consonant sound. The 21 consonant letters in the English alphabet
are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Z, and usually W and Y. The
letter Y stands for the consonant /j/ in yoke, the vowel /I/ in myth, the vowel /i/ in
funny, and the diphthong /aI/ in my. W always represents a consonant except in
combination with a vowel letter, as in growth, raw, and how, and in a few loan
words from Welsh, like crwth or cwm.
One problem is that some English sounds that we think are consonants,
such as the sounds as the beginning of the words “hay” and “way” do not
obstruct the flow of the air – as the consonants are supposed to make – more
than some vowels do. Therefore, if we say that the difference between vowels
and consonants is a difference in the way they are produced, there will be some
cases of uncertainty or disagreement.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/
search?q=cache:uQlQ2muhih4J:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Consonant+&cd=1&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk&gl=br
capítulo 3 • 51
Another problem is that different languages have different ways of dividing their sounds
into vowels and consonants. For example, the usual sound produced at the beginning
of the word “red” is felt as a consonant by most English speakers, but in some other
languages, as Mandarin Chinese, for example, this sound is treated as one of the vowels.
3.2 Consonants’ classification

Each spoken consonant can be distinguished by several phonetic features:
• The manner of articulation is how air escapes from the vocal tract when
the consonant or approximant (vowel-like) sound is made. Manners include
stops, fricatives, and nasals.
• The place of articulation is where in the vocal tract the obstruction of
the consonant occurs, and which speech organs are involved. Places include
bilabial (both lips), alveolar (tongue against the gum ridge), and velar (tongue
against soft palate). In addition, there may be a simultaneous narrowing at
another place of articulation, such as palatalisation or pharyngealisation.
• The phonation of a consonant is how the vocal cords vibrate during the
articulation. When the vocal cords vibrate fully, the consonant is called voiced;
when they do not vibrate at all, it is voiceless.
• The voice onset time (VOT) indicates the timing of the phonation.
Aspiration is a feature of VOT.
• The airstream mechanism is how the air moving through the vocal tract
is powered. Most languages have exclusively pulmonic egressive consonants,
which use the lungs and diaphragm, but ejectives, clicks, and implosives use
different mechanisms.
• The length is how long the obstruction of a consonant lasts. This feature
is borderline distinctive in English, as in "wholly" [hoʊlli] vs. "holy" [hoʊli], but
cases are limited to morpheme boundaries. Unrelated roots are differentiated
52 • capítulo 3
in various languages such as Italian, Japanese, and Finnish, with two length
levels, "single" and "geminate". Estonian and some Sami languages have three
phonemic lengths: short, geminate, and long geminate, although the distinction
between the geminate and overlong geminate includes suprasegmental
features.
• The articulatory force is how much muscular energy is involved. This has
been proposed many times, but no distinction relying exclusively on force has
ever been demonstrated.
All English consonants can be classified by a combination of these features,

such as "voiceless alveolar stop" [t]. In this case, the airstream mechanism is
omitted.
Some pairs of consonants like p::b, t::d are sometimes called fortis and
lenis, but this is a phonological rather than phonetic distinction.
Take a look at the phonetic symbols for consonants and corresponding key
words.
1. /p/ pet 13. /ʃ/ - she

2. /b/ - boy 14 /ʒ/ - usual
3. /t/ - tea 15. /tʃ/ - chair
4. /d/ - day 16. /dʒ/- just
5. /k/ - car 17. /m/- my
6. /g/ - get 18. /n/ - night
7. /f/ - four 19. /ᶇ/ - king
8. /v/ - van 20. /l/ let
9. /θ/ thank 21. /r/ - red
10. /δ/ they 22. /h/ house
11. /s/ - say 23. /w/ - we
12. /z/ - zoo 24. /y/ - yes
capítulo 3 • 53
MANNER AND PLACE OF ARTICULATION OF IIIE ENGLISH CONSONANTS
54 •
bilabial labiodental dental alveolar palatal velar glottal
Stops: breath is fully siopprd and Voiceless ⁄p⁄ ⁄t⁄ ⁄k⁄ [?]'
then released Voiced ⁄b⁄ ⁄d⁄
capítulo 3
Voiceless ⁄f⁄ ⁄θ⁄ ⁄s⁄ ⁄ʃ⁄ ⁄h⁄
Fricatives: bonth causcs friction
Voiced ⁄v⁄ ⁄δ⁄ ⁄z⁄ ⁄ʒ⁄
Affricates: breath is slopped and Voiceless ⁄tʃ⁄
friction follows Voiced ⁄dʒ⁄
Nasals: breath is released through
Voiced ⁄m⁄ ⁄n⁄ ⁄ᶇ⁄
the nose
Liquids: lateral ⁄l⁄
breath does not Voiced ⁄r⁄

retroflex
cause friction flap [r]2
Sernheroels: mouth moves from

Voiced ⁄w⁄ ⁄y⁄
one position to another
1. The symbol [?] refers to a sound that can sometimes replace ⁄it⁄. Example: that you know ⁄δӕ? yu: noʊ.
2. When Americans say water and lady, the "t" and "d"D are usually pronounced [d]. Example: better⁄'berǝr⁄ - metal⁄'meral⁄
CONNECTION
In order to know more about the consonants, access:
http://usefulenglish.ru/phonetics/english-consonant-sounds
3.2.1 Describing the twenty-four consonants
All consonants – with the exceptions of /w/ and /j/ involve a restriction to the
outflow of air, and it is the precise place and manner of this restriction that
gives each consonant its unique sound. We can describe the uniqueness of
each consonant quite well using these three variables:
1. Voiced or unvoiced
2. Place of articulation
3. Manner of articulation
Variable 1
A sound is said to be voiced if it requires the vocal cords to vibrate and
unvoiced if it does not. In English the voiced/unvoiced distinction tends to
coincide with gentle and strong aspiration. This means that voiced consonants
may be uttered with stronger breath force, while unvoiced consonants may be
uttered with stronger breath force (this is partly because voiced sounds take
energy from the breath in order to drive the larynx, and partly because unvoiced
sounds need to compensate for their lack of voice with force and clarity in their
articulation.).
Variable 2
The place in the vocal tract where the physical restriction or block to the air
flow takes place is referred to as place of articulation, i.e where the characteristic
component sounds of that consonant are initiated.
Variable 3
The nature of the physical restriction to the air flow is referred to as manner
of articulation, i.e how the characteristic component sound of that consonant
are initiated.
capítulo 3 • 55
3.3 Silent and voiced
We are going to observe, first, the difference in the production of consonants.
However, it is necessary to spot the articulatory system:
Hard
Nose Alveolar palate
ridge Soft palate
Upper (velum)
teeth
Upper lip Tongue

Lower lip
Pharynx
Lower teeth
Larynx
If the vocal folds vibrate we will hear the sound that we call “voicing” or
“phonation”. There are many different sorts of voicing that we can produce –
think of the differences in the quality of your voice between singing, shouting
and speaking quietly, or think of the different voices you might use reading a
story to young children in which you have to read out what is said by characters
such as giants, fairies, mice or ducks; many of the differences are made with
the larynx. We can make changes in the vocal folds themselves – they can, for
example, be made longer or shorter, more tense or more relaxed or be more or
less strongly pressed together. The pressure of the air below the vocal folds (the
sub glottal pressure) can also be varied. Three main differences are found:
I. Variations in intensity: we produce voicing with high intensity for shou-

ting, for example, and with low intensity for speaking quietly.
II. Variations in frequency: if the vocal folds vibrate rapidly, the voicing
is at high frequency; if there are fewer vibrations per second, the frequency is
lower.
III. Variations in quality: we can produce different-sounding voice quali-
ties, such as those we might call harsh, breathy, murmured or creaky.
56 • capítulo 3
3.4 Plosive and Affricates
A plosive is a consonant articulation with the following characteristic:
a) One articulator is moved against another, or two articulators are moved

against each other, so as to form a stricture that allows no air to escape from the
vocal tract. The stricture is total.
b) After this stricture has been formed and air has been compressed
behind it, it is released – that is, air is allowed to scape.
c) If the air behind the stricture is still under pressure when the plosive is
released, it is probable that the scape of air will produce noise loud enough to
be heard. This noise is called plosion.
d) There may be voicing during part or all the plosive articulation.
Affricates are complex consonants. They begin as plosives and end as fricatives.
A familiar example is the affricate heard at the beginning and end of the word
“church”. Therefore, we have only two affricate phonemes in English: tʃ and dʒ
In this image, we can see the word “church” in which an affricate can be heard at the beginning
and the end.
We will observe the places of articulation again:
Palato-alveolar
Palatal
Alveolar
Velar
Labial
Dental
Post-alveolar
Bilabial
capítulo 3 • 57
Now, you have the box with these consonants:
— Symbol
— Univoice� voiced
Bilabial Alveolar Palato- Velar — Place of articulation

alveolar
Plosive Aﬀricate Plosive — Manner of articulation
3.5 Fricatives:
Fricatives are consonants with the characteristic that air escapes through a
narrow passage and makes a hissing sound. Most languages have fricatives;
the most commonly found being something like “s”. Fricatives are continuant
consonants, which mean that you can continue making them without the
interruption as long as you have enough air in your lungs. You can demonstrate
the importance of the narrow passage for the air in the following ways:
a) Make a long, hissing “s” sound and gradually lower your tongue so that
it is no longer close to the roof of the mouth. The hissing sound will stop as the
air passage gets larger.
b) Make a long “f” sound and while you are producing this sound, use your
fingers to pull the lower lip away from the upper teeth. Notice how the hissing
sound of the air escaping between teeth and lip suddenly stops.
The fricatives are divided into:
Labiodental: the lower lip is in contact with the upper teeth. The fricative
noise is never very strong and is scarcely audible.
Examples:
f, v – “fan”, “van”, “safer”, “half”, “halve”, etc.
58 • capítulo 3
Dental: they are sometimes described as if the tongue were placed between
the front teeth. In fact, however, the tongue is normally placed behind the teeth.
The air escapes through the gaps between the tongue and the teeth. As with f, v,
the fricative noise is weak.
θ, ð – “thumb”, “thus”, “ether”, “father”, “breath”, “breathe”, etc.
We still have:
The alveolar fricatives as: s, z – “sip”, “zip”, “facing”, “phasing”, “rice”,
“rise”, etc.
The palate-alveolar fricatives as: ʃ, ʒ - “ship”, “Russia”, “measure”, “Irish”,
“garage”, etc.
3.6 Nasal and other consonants

The basic characteristic of a nasal consonant is that the air escapes through the
nose. For this to happen, the soft palate must be lowered; in the case of all the
other consonants and vowels of English, the soft palate is raised and air cannot
pass through the nose. In nasal consonants, however, air does not pass through
the mouth. It is prevented by a complete closure of the mouth at some point.
There are three types of closure:
a) Bilabial (lips), for example: m
monkey
“monkey” has the sound of a bilabial “m”.
b) Alveolar (tongue blade against ridge), for example n

nature
“nature” is another difficult word to be pronounced correctly. It has an
alveolar sound “n”
c) Velar (back tongue against the palate), for example ᶇ

sing
The velar sound ᶇ is considered almost a vowel sound because of its softness,
as in the word “sing”.
capítulo 3 • 59
Let’s observe the chart:
— Symbol
— Univoice� voiced
— Place of articulation
Al
Al
Po eola
Bi
Bi
al
Pa
On
Ve
ve
ve
la
la
v
st r
lat
l
se
bi
bi
ol
ol
ar
al
a
al
a
ar
t
l
Semi- — Manner of articulation

Nasal Lateral
vowels
Fortis Frictionless
fricative continuant
CONECTION
In order to practise the consonant’s pronunciation, access:
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-65568.
php
3.7 Final word pronunciation of consonants

Another common problem is saying the ends of words clearly.
In English, most words end with a consonant sound, and the majority of
words that do have a vowel sound last are frequently used words such as “to” “do”
“the” “you” “he” or have an ending such as “-ly” or “-y”. (Remember: for most
words that are spelled with an “e” at the end, the “e” is silent in pronunciation.)
This is different from many other languages. There are many languages that
do not have consonants at the ends of words (or they only use a limited set of
consonant sounds).
Why it is important to pronounce the last letters of words clearly:

1. Skipping sounds can make you very difficult to understand in general.
2. In some cases, it can give you a “baby talk” kind of sound.
3. In many short words, it can cause some funny or confusing mix-ups.
60 • capítulo 3
Here is an example of a mix-up:
If you say the word “flute” but you skip the “t” sound (or say it too weakly),
then it can sound like the word “flu”. So instead of saying “He is taking flute
lessons” it could sound like you said “He is taking flu lessons”.
A few examples of possible mix-ups:

“wait” could sound like → “way”
shoot → shoe
house → how
might → my
make → may
bike / bite → buy (or by)
type / tight → tie
plane / plate → play
mean / meat → me
hide → high
life / like / light / line → lie
lake → lay
seek / seat → see (or sea)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uWIj1T
xcTOwJ:https://pronunciationcoach.wordpress.com/category/word-
endings/+&cd=1&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk&gl=br
3.8 TH sound (θ and ð)

When people do not pronounce TH correctly, what sound do they make instead?
When TH is voiceless θ (voice is off), common substitutions are T or S, and
sometimes F. When TH is voiced ð, the most common substitutions are D and Z
(or occasionally V). This can lead to some funny (or perhaps embarrassing) mix-
ups. For example, sometimes it is possible to hear Brazilian speakers saying
“taught” when they are trying to say “thought” or they say “mouse” when they
want to say “mouth”!
capítulo 3 • 61
Some other possible mix-ups would be:
“thought” might sound like: “taught” “sought” or “fought”

“death” → “debt” or “deaf”
“thank” → “tank” or “sank”
“three” → “tree” or “free”
“think” → “sink”
“thing” → “sing”
“fourth” → “fort” or “force”
“math” → “mat” or “mass”
“both” → “boat”
“faith” → “fate” or “face”
“truth” → “truce”
“author” → “otter” or “offer”
“thin” → “tin” “sin” or “fin”
“those” → “doze”
“worthy” → “wordy”
“father” → “fodder”
“mother” → “mutter”
“they” → “day”
“other” → “udder” (or “utter”)
“either” → “eater”
You could end up with a funny meaning if you switch some of those words
around. Since the TH sounds in English (θ and ð) are used very frequently it
would be worth the effort to train yourself to say them right.
NOTE: there are a few words in which the TH does not make the usual
sound. For example, in the name “Thomas”, the TH is actually pronounced as
a T sound. Another example is a word like “foothold” which has an accidental
TH: the T of the word “foot” happens to be next to the H of the word “hold” but
they keep their separate sounds.
3.8.1 The sounds of “Y” or “W” as final consonants
When you see a ”Y” or a “W” in the middle of a word, first look to see if the
word is a compound. Inside of a compound word, a “Y” or a “W” will keep the
62 • capítulo 3
same function that it has in the original smaller word. For example, the word
“anyone” is a compound made from the words “any” plus “one”, and since the
“Y” is the last letter of the word “any”, it still is pronounced as a word-final “Y”.
Here are some other compounds that have a “Y” or “W”.
Y: barnyard / boyfriend / copyright / daybreak / everybody / ladybug / layout /
maybe / paycheck / playground / schoolyard.
W: cowboy / crewcut / forward / network / northward / sawhorse / showtime
/ southwest / viewpoint.
Y and W: anyway / citywide / keyword
Y as a consonant
The letter “Y” functions as a consonant when it comes before a vowel. There
are two situations where this could happen:
• As the first letter of a word, for example: ”you”, “yes”, “yard” or ”year”.
• Between two vowels, for example: “royal”, “layer”, “voyage” or “beyond”.
Y as a vowel
The letter “Y” functions as a vowel in three situations:
• As the last letter of a word, for example: “sky”, “rely”, “tiny” or “easy”.
• As part of a vowel pair, for example: “play”, “they”, “toy”, or “buy”.
• Between two consonants, for example: “cycle”, “type”, “myth” or “system”.
W as a consonant
The letter “W” is a consonant when it is in front of a vowel. This can happen
in three situations:
• As the first letter of a word, for example: “water”, “we”, or “with.
• As part of a consonant pair, for example: “sweep”, “twenty”, “when” or
“which”.
• Between two vowels, for example: “vowel”, “coward”, “allowance” or
“lower”.
W as a vowel
A “W” acts as a vowel only when it is the second partner of a vowel pair, for
example: “brown”, “show”, “hawk” or “few”.
Exceptions: There are a few cases of silent “W”, as in: “answer”, “two”,
“who”, “whole”, “wrap” or “wrong”.
capítulo 3 • 63
One final thing to be aware of is that a “Y” can function as a vowel
independently, as in “lynx” or “gym”. When “Y” is a vowel, it uses the same
sounds and spelling patterns as the Vowel “I”. However, a “W” cannot be a
vowel independently, but is only a vowel when it is the second member of a
vowel pair, as in “grow”. When “W” does have a vowel sound, it uses the Long-U
sound u: as in “grew”.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mTTRfaou-yE-
J:https://pronunciationcoach.wordpress.com/category/consonants/feed/+&c-
d=1&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk&gl=br
3.9 Linking – the end of words

Consonant sounds at the ends of English words are difficult for many students,
but it is definitely important to pronounce them well.
If you have difficulty pronouncing word-final consonants in English, here is
a special trick that can make it easier: link the end of the word to the beginning
of the next word.
Let’s use the sentence “He saved up his money”, for an example.
In the phrase “saved up”, pronouncing the “-ed” can be tricky, and skipping
this “-ed” is a fairly common mistake for students. But, in normal conversation,
the [d] at the end of “saved” links to the beginning of the word “up”, and it
actually sounds like “save-dup”.
This kind of linking is a normal part of English pronunciation, so it is a trick
that makes you sound more natural, and moving the [d] sound to the beginning
of the next word makes it easier to pronounce.
Linking can also help to avoid the problem of added vowel sounds. In “saved
up” the [e] is silent, but some students have trouble saying the [v] next to the [d]
without sticking a vowel sound in the middle. But that could cause a problem,
because if the [e] is not silent, then it will end up sounding like “save it up”
instead of “saved up”.
Linking a consonant to a vowel

When the second word starts with a vowel, it is easier to hear the linked
consonant:
64 • capítulo 3
talked about: “talk-tabout”
hard enough: “har-denough”
stops it: “stop-sit”
turned off: “turn-doff”
Linking a consonant to a consonant

When the second word starts with a consonant, the ending of the first word
is harder to hear, so it may seem like it is missing. However, if it is actually
removed, then it would sound different. For example, in the phrase “keep
speaking”, you might think that the [p] is missing, but if I actually take it away,
then it would sound like I am saying “key speaking”!
Here are a few more examples: “might buy” (not “my by”), “teen center” (not
“tee center”), “seat cover” (not “sea cover”), “home plate” (not “hom plate”)
Pronouncing Words with [-s] endings

The S and Z-sounds are also important in words that end with [-s]. The good
news is, there is a clear pattern for this. The sound of an “S” at the end of a word
needs to match the voicing of the sound just before it. Here are some examples
to illustrate:
take — the last sound in this word /k/ is voiceless. So when an “S” is added,
it matches the voicing of the “K” and is pronounced as /s/: takes
live — the last sound in this word /v/ is voiced. So when an “S” is added, it
follows the voicing of the “V” and is pronounced as /z/: lives
pass — the last sound in this word is already /s/, so when “S” is added, a
small vowel sound is used to separate them. And since all vowel sounds are
voiced, the [-s] ending is pronounced as /z/: passes.
capítulo 3 • 65
Voicing
Voicing is an important factor for pronouncing consonants correctly. There
are some consonants that are spoken with the voice off (voiceless) and others
that need to have the voice on (voiced).
Let’s compare T and D. These two sounds are almost the same, because they
are both made in the same place in the mouth, and with the same part of the
tongue. The only factor that makes them different is the voicing.
T is voiceless — that means it is pronounced with the voice turned off; the
vocal cords do not vibrate or make any sound: “t”, “bat”, “time”.
D is voiced — that means is it pronounced with the voice turned on; the
vocal cords vibrate and the sound of the voice is heard: “d”, “bad”, “dime”.
The voiced and voiceless consonants of English

In this list, the consonants in each pair are pronounced in the same place
in the mouth, and differ only in the voicing. For each of these pairs the first is
voiceless and the second is voiced.
T: t, fat, tore
D: d, fad, door
P: p, lap, pat
B: b, lab, bat
C & K: k, pick, come
G: g, pig, gum
F: f, safe, feel
V: v, save, veal
S & C: s, price, sip
Z: z, prize, zip
CH: ch, rich, choke
J & G: j, ridge, joke
TH voiceless: th, bath, thigh
TH voiced: th, bathe, thy
SH: sh, sure
SH voiced: zh, azure
66 • capítulo 3
Besides being able to pronounce these consonant sounds correctly, another
reason why it is important to know about voicing, is to be able to pronounce the
word endings [-s] and [-ed] correctly.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mTTRfaou-yE-
J:https://pronunciationcoach.wordpress.com/category/consonants/feed/+&c-
CONNECTION
In order to practices silent consonants, access:
http://mws.ust.hk/sir/silent_words.php
ACTIVITIES
01. Complete the statements below...
• analyzing the consonant chart;
• observing what you do with your mouth as you pronounce each sound;
• and looking at the illustration above.
1. Bilabial sounds are produced with both ______________________.
2. Labiodental sounds are produced with the upper ______________________ and
lower ______________________.
3. Dental sounds are produced with the tip of your tongue between your
______________________.
4. Alveolar sounds are produced with the tip of your ______________________ approa-
ching or touching the tooth ridge.
5. Palatal sounds are produced with your ______________________ near the hard palate.
6. Velar sounds are produced with your tongue near or on the soft ______________________
also called when:.
7. Glottal sounds are produced by ______________________.passing throueh or stopping
at your vocal ______________________.
capítulo 3 • 67
02. Write brief descriptions of the actions of the articulators and the respiratory system in
the words given below. Your description should start and finish with the position for normal
breathing. Here is a description of the pronunciation of the word 'bee' bi: as an example:
Starting from the position for normal breathing, the lips are closed and the lungs are com-
pressed to create air pressure in the vocal tract. The tongue mows to the position for a close
front vowel, with the front of the tongue raised close to the hard palate. The vocal folds are
brought close together and voicing begins: the lips then open, releasing the compressed air.
Voicing continues for the duration of an 1: vowel. Then the lung pressure is lowered, voicing
ceases and the articulators return to the normal breathing position. Words to describe: (a)
goat; (b) ape.
03. Transcribe the following words:

a) bake d) bought g) bored
b) goat e) tick h) guard
c) doubt f) bough i) pea
04. Written exercises

Transcribe the following words phonemically:
a) fishes d) these g) measure
b) shaver e) achieves h) ahead
c) sixth f) others
05. List all the consonant phonemes of the BBC accent, grouped according to manner of
articulation.
06. Transcribe the following words phonemically:

a) sofa d) breadcrumb g) bought
b) verse e) square h) nineteen
c) teering f) anger
07. When the vocal tract is in its resting position for normal breathing, the soft palate is usu-
ally lowered. Describe what movements arc carried out by the soft palate in the pronunciation
of the following words: a) banner b) mid c) angle
68 • capítulo 3
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
This chapter brought a lot of information, containing names and definitions. However, you
should concentrate on the identification of them all. The transcription will be seen only in
chapter 5.
READING
BAUMAN-WAENGLER J. 2000. Articulatory & phonological impairments: a clinical focus'. Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
CRYSTAL, David 1995. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge
STACKHOUSE J. and Wells B. 1997. Children’s speech and literacy difficulties. London: Whurr
REFERENCES
capítulo 3 • 69
70 • capítulo 3
4
The vowels in
English
The most common view is that vowels are sounds in which there is no
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips.
Hard
Nose Alveolar palate
ridge Soft palate
Upper (velum)
teeth
Upper lip Tongue

Lower lip
Pharynx
Lower teeth
Larynx
Fonte: ROACH, P. English Phonetics and Phonology – a pratical course, Cambridge, CUP,
2009.
A doctor who wants to look at the back of a patient’s mouth often asks them
to say “ah” because making this vowel sound is the best way of presenting an
unobstructed view.
Front Central Back

i: u:
High ı υ
Tongue rises
eı
Ja
Mid oƱ
w
ԑ ˄
op
en
ᴂ
s
α ɔ
Low
72 • capítulo 4
FRONT CENTRAL BACK
/i:/ as in tea ⁄u:⁄ as in blue
HIGH ⁄‫ו‬⁄ as in big ⁄ʊ⁄ as in book
⁄ɜr⁄ as in bird
/e‫ו‬/ as in pay
MID ⁄ɛ⁄ as in get
⁄˄⁄ as in but ⁄oʊ⁄ as in go
⁄ǝ⁄ an in about
LOW ⁄ӕ⁄ as in cat ⁄ɑ⁄ as in bar, not ⁄ᴐ⁄ as in four
⁄a‫ו‬⁄ as in my ⁄aʊ⁄ as in cow ⁄ᴐ‫ו‬⁄ as in boy
Fonte: Scanned from GODOY, S.; GONTOW, C.; MARCELINO, M. English Pronunciation for
Brazilians. SP, Disal, 2006.
OBJECTIVES
In this chapter we will describe the vowels. As it happens with the consonants, the vowels
have a lot of peculiarities that must be studied. In the last part, the syllable will be our focus.
capítulo 4 • 73
4.1 Simple vowels
First of all, we need to know in what ways vowels differ from each other. The
first manner to consider is the shape and position of the tongue. It is usual do
simplify the very complex possibilities by describing just two things: firstly, the
vertical distance between the upper surface of the tongue and the palate and
secondly, the part of the tongue, between front and back, which raised highest.
Let’s see it in a picture:
Front sounds Back sounds
Fonte: UNDERHILL, A. Sound Foundations – Learning and teaching pronunciation,

Macmillan, Oxford, 2005.
There are some examples:

a) Make a vowel like the i: in the English word “see” and look in a mirror;
if you tilt your head back slightly you will be able to see that the tongue is held
up close to the roof of the mouth. Now make an ӕ vowel (as in the word “cat”)
and notice how the distance between the surface of the tongue and the roof of
the mouth is much greater. The difference between i: and ӕ is a difference of
tongue height, and we would describe i: as a relatively close vowel and ӕ as a
relatively open vowel. Tongue height can be changed by moving the tongue up
or down, or moving the lower jaw up or down.
74 • capítulo 4
b) We could describe i: and ӕ as front vowels. By changing the shape of
the tongue we can produce vowels in which a different part of the tongue is the
highest point. A vowel in which the back of the tongue is the highest point is
called a back vowel. If you make the vowel in the word “calm”, which we write
as ɑ:, you can see that the back of the tongue is raised. The vowel u: (as in “too”)
is also a back vowel, but compared with ɑ: it is close.
FRONT BACK
CLOSE i: u:
OPEN ӕ ɑ:
However, this diagram is rather inaccurate. Phoneticians need a very

accurate way of classifying vowels, and have developed a set of vowels which
are arranged in a close-open, front-back diagram similar to the one above, but
which are not the vowels of any particular language. These cardinal vowels
are a standard reference system, anf if you learn the cardinal vowels, you are
not learning to make English sounds, but you are learning about the range of
vowels that the human vocal apparatus can make, and you are also learning a
useful way of describing, classifying and comparing vowels.
It has become traditional to locate cardinal vowels on a four-side figure (a
quadri-lateral which is recommended by the International Phonetic Association
– IPA). The vowels which are shown are called primary cardinal vowels; these are
the vowels that are most familiar to the speakers of most European languages,
and there are other vowels (secondary cardinal vowels) that sounds less familiar.
Front Central Black

Close i u
1 8
2 7
Close-mid e o
3 6
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
4 5
Open a ɑ
Fonte: Scanned from ROACH, P. English Phonetics and Phonology – a pratical course,
Cambridge, CUP, 2009.
capítulo 4 • 75
Cardinal vowel 1 has the symbol i and is defined as the vowel which is as
close and as front as it is possible to make a vowel without obstructing the flow
of air enough to produce friction noise; friction noise is the hissing sound that
one hears in consonants like s or f. Cardinal vowel 5 has the symbol ɑ and is
defined as the most open and back vowel that it is possible to make. Cardinal
vowel 8 u is fully close and back and 4 a is fully open and front. After stablishing
these extreme points, it is possible to put in intermediate points (vowels 2, 3, 6
and 7). Many students when they hear these vowels find that they sound strange
and exaggerated, you must remember that they are extremes of vowel quality.
It is useful to think of the cardinal vowel framework like a map of an area or
country that you are interested in. if the map is to be useful to you it must cover
all the area; but if it covers the whole area of interest it must inevitably go a little
beyond that and include some places that you might never want to go.
When you are familiar with these extreme vowels, you have learned a
way of describing, classifying and comparing vowels. For example, we can say
that the English vowel ӕ is not as open as cardinal vowel 4 a. there is another
important variable of vowel quality, and that is lip-position. Although the lips
can have many different shapes and positions, we will at this stage consider
only three possibilities. They are:
a) Rounded, where the corners of the lips are brought towards each other
and the lips pushed forwards. This is most clearly seen in cardinal vowel 8 u.
b) Spread, with the corners of the lips moved away from each other, as for
a smile. This is most clearly seen in cardinal vowel 1 i.
c) Neutral, where the lips are not noticeably rounded or spread. The noise
most English people make when they are hesitating (written “er”) has a neutral
lip position.
4.2 Short Vowels

Now, using the principles we will examine some of the specificity of English
vowels. As we have seen, English has a large number of vowels sounds; the first
ones to be examined are short vowels. The symbols for them are: ɪ, e, ӕ, ˄, ʋ, ʊ.
Short vowels are only relatively short; as we shall see later, vowels can have quite
different lengths in different contexts.
76 • capítulo 4
Each vowel is described in relation to the cardinal vowels.
ɪ ʊ
e
˄
ɒ
æ
2009
ɪ = example of words: bit, pin, fish
The diagram shows that, though this vowel is in the close front area,
compared with cardinal vowel 1 i, it is more open, and nearer in to the center.
The lips are slightly spread.
e = example of words> bet, men, yes
This is a front vowel between cardinal vowel 2 e and 3 ɛ. The lips are slightly
spread.
ӕ = example words: bat, man, gas.
This vowel is front, but not quite as open as cardinal vowel 4 a. The lips are
slightly spread.
˄ = example words: cut, come, rush
This is a central vowel, and the diagram shows that it is more open than the
open-mid tongue height. The lip position is neutral.
ʋ = example words: pot, gone, cross
capítulo 4 • 77
This vowel is not quite fully back and between open-mid and open in tongue
height. The lips are slightly rounded.
ʊ = example words: put, pull, push
The nearest cardinal vowel is 8 u, but it can be seen that ʊ is more open and
nearer to central. The lips are rounded.
CONNECTION
In order to practice your pronunciation, access:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/
4.2.1 The ǝ vowel (“schwa”)
The most frequently occurring vowel in English is ǝ, which is always associated

with weak syllables. In quality it is mid (i.e. halfway between close and open)
and central (i.e. halfway front and back). It is generally described as lax – that
is, not articulated with much energy. Of course, the quality of this vowel is not
always the same, but the variation is not important.
Not all weak syllables contain ǝ, though many do. Learners of English need
to learn where ǝ is appropriate and where it is not. To do this we often have to use
information that traditional phonemic theory would not accept as relevant – we
must consider spelling. The question to ask is: if the speaker were to pronounce
a particular weak syllable as if it were strong instead, which vowel would it be
most likely to have, according to the usual rules of English spelling? Knowing
this will not tell us which syllables in a word or utterance should be weak but it
will give us a rough guide to the correct pronunciation of weak syllables. Here
there are some examples:
a) Spelt with “a”; strong pronunciation would have ӕ

a(ǝ)ttend, chara(ǝ)cter(ǝ), barra(ǝ)cks
78 • capítulo 4
b) Spelt with “ar”; strong pronunciation would have ɒ:
par(ǝ)ticular(ǝ), mo(ǝ)lar(ǝ), monar(ǝ)chy
c) Adjectival endings spelt “ate”; strong pronunciation would have ei:
intima(ǝ)te, accura(ǝ)te, desola(ǝ)te
There are some exceptions such as “priva(ɪ)te”
d) Spelt with “o”; strong pronunciation would have ɒ or ǝʊ:
to(ǝ)morro(ǝ)w, po(ǝ)tato, carro(ǝ)t
e) Spelt with “or”; Strong pronunciation would have ᴐ:
fo(ǝ)rget, oppo(ǝ)rtunity, ambassador(ǝ)r
f) Spelt with “e”; strong pronunciation would have e:
settleme(ǝ)nt, viole(ǝ)t, postme(ǝ)n
g) Spelt with “er”; strong pronunciation would have ɜ:
pe(ǝ)rhaps, stronge(ǝ)r, supe(ǝ)rman
h) Spelt with “u”; strong pronunciation would have ǝ:
autu(ǝ)mn, su(ǝ)pport, halibu(ǝ)t
i) Spelt with “ough” (there are many pronunciations for the letter-
sequence “ough”
thorough (ǝ), borough (ǝ)
j) Spelt with “ou”; strong pronunciation might have aʊ
Graciou(ǝ)s, callou(ǝ)s
4.3 Long vowels

We must start talking about the long vowels saying that they happen in similar
contexts as the short vowels. It happens because the length of all English vowel
sounds varies very much according to their context (such as the type of sound
that follows them) and the presence or absence of stress. To remind you that
these vowels tend to be long, the symbols consist of one vowel symbol plus a
length mark made of two dots :. We have: i:, ɜ:, ɑ:, ᴐ:, u:. We have six short vowels
and five long vowels.
capítulo 4 • 79
i: u:
ɔ
ɜ:
ɑ:
2009.
i : example words:
beat, mean, peace
This vowel is nearer to cardinal vowel 1, i.e, it is closer and more front than
is the short vowel of bid, pin and fish. Although the tongue shape is not much
different from cardinal vowel 1, the lips are only slightly spread and this results
in a rather different vowel quality.
ɜ : example words:
bird, fern, purse
This is a mid-central vowel which is used in most English accents as a

hesitation sound (written “er”), but which many learners find difficult to copy.
The lip position is neutral.
ɑ: example words:
card, half, pass
This is an open vowel in the region of cardinal vowel 5, but not as back as
this. The lip position is neutral.
ᴐ : example words:
board, torn, horse
The tongue height for this vowel is between the cardinal vowel 6 and 7 and closer
to the latter. This vowel is almost fully back and has quite strong lip rounding.
80 • capítulo 4
u: example words:
food, soon, loose
The nearest cardinal vowel to this is 8, but this is much less back and less
close, while the lips are only moderately rounded.
CONNECTION
In order to improve your pronunciation, access:
http://specialed.about.com/od/readingliteracy/a/44Sounds.htmphonetic.html
4.4 Diphthongs
In terms of length, diphthongs are similar to the long vowels. Perhaps the
most important thing to remember about the diphthongs is that the first part
is much longer and stronger than the second part; for example, most of the
diphthong “aɪ” (as in the words “eye” and “I”) consists of the “a” and a glide
ɪ. As the glide ɪ happens, the loudness of the sound decreases. As a result, the
part ɪ is shorter and quieter. We should always remember that the last part of
English diphthongs must not be made too strongly.
The total number of diphthongs is eight. The easiest way to remember them
is in terms of three groups divided as in this diagram:
DIPHTHONG
Cetring Closing
Ending in ɔ Ending in ı Ending in ʊ
ıə eɔ ʊə eı aı ɔı eʊ aʊ
2009.
capítulo 4 • 81
Tripthongs
The most complex English sounds of the vowel type are the triphthongs. They can be rather
difficult to pronounce, and very difficult to recognize. A Triphthong is a glide from one vowel
to another and then to a third, all pronounced rapidly and without interruption. For example,
a careful pronunciation of the word “hour” begins with a vowel quality similar to a:, goes on to
a glide towards the back close rounded area then ends with a mid-central vowel ǝ (schwa).
CONNECTION
In order to have phonetics resources and videos to help, access:
http://www.agendaweb.org/phonetic.html
4.5 The syllable

The syllable is a very important unit. Most people believe that even if they
cannot define what a syllable is, they can count on how many syllables there
are in a given word or sentence. If they are asked to do this they often tap
their fingers as they count, which illustrates the syllable’s importance in the
rhythm of speech. As a matter of fact, if one tries the experiment of asking a
native speaker to count the syllables in a sentence, there is often a considerable
amount of disagreement.
When we looked at the nature of vowels and consonants, it is shown that one
could decide whether a particular sound was a vowel or a consonant on phonetic
grounds (in relation to how much they obstructed the airflow) or on phonological
grounds (vowels and consonants having different distributions). We find a
similar situation with the syllable, in that it may be defined both phonetically and
phonologically. Phonetically – in relation to the way we produce them and the way
they sound - , syllables are usually described as consisting of a center which has
little or no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud; before and
after this center (i.e at the beginning and end of the syllable), there will be greater
obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound. We will look at some examples:
82 • capítulo 4
a) What we will call a minimum syllable is a single vowel in isolation
(“are”, “or”, “er”). These are preceded and followed by a silence. Isolated sou-
nds such as “m”, which sometimes produce to indicate agreement, or “ʃ”, to
ask for silence, must also be regarded as syllables.
b) Some syllables have an onset – that is, instead of silence, they have one
or more consonants preceding the center of the syllable: “bar”, “key”, “more”.
c) Syllables may have no onset but have a coda – that is, they end with one
or more consonants: “am”, “ought”, “ease”.
d) Some syllables have both onset and coda: “ran”, “sat”, “fill”
This is one way of looking at syllables. Looking at them from the

phonological point of view is quite different. What this involves is looking at
the possible combinations of English phonemes; the study of the possible
phoneme combinations of a language is called phonotactis. It is simplest to
start by looking at what can occur in initial position – in other words, what can
occur at the beginning of the first word when we begin to speak after a pause.
No word begins with more than three consonants. In the same way, we can look
at how a word ends when it is the last word spoken before a pause; it can end
with a vowel, or with one, two, three or four consonants. No current word ends
with more than four consonants.
4.5.1 Syllable division
There are still problems with the description of the syllables: an unanswered
question is how we decide on the division between syllables when we find a
connected sequence of them as we usually do in normal speech. It often happens
that one or more consonants from the end of one word combine with one or
more at the beginning of the following word, resulting in a consonant sequence
that could not occur in a single syllable. For example, “walked through” wᴐ:kt
θru: gives us the consonant sequence ktθr.
Syllable Division Rules:

1. Separate prefixes, suffixes, and root words
• pre/view, work/ing, re/do, end/less, out/side
capítulo 4 • 83
2. Are two consonants next to each other? Divide in between them
• consonant = a letter that is not a vowel
• buf/fet, des/sert, ob/ject, ber/ry, fer/ry
3. Never split 2 consonants that (when pronounced together) make only 1
sound
• "th", "sh", "ph", "th", "ch", and "wh"
4. Is the consonant surrounded by vowels?
• Does the 1st vowel have a long sound? (Like the 'i' in line)
– Divide before the consonant.
– ba/by, re/sult, i/vy, fro/zen, Cu/pid
• Does the 1st vowel have a short sound? (Like the 'i' in mill)
– Divide after the consonant.
– rav/age, met/al, riv/er, mod/el, cur/tal
5. Is there a 'ckle' in the word? Divide right before the 'le'.
• tack/le, freck/le, tick/le, buck/le
6. Is there a 'le' (no 'ck' in front)? Divide 1 letter before the 'le'.
• ap/ple, rum/ble, fa/ble, ta/ble
ACTIVITIES
01. Look at the pictures and find words that rhyme. They are all one-syllabe word. Write the
pairs of words under the corresponding vowel sound. You have an example done for you:
Fonte: GODOY, S.; GONTOW, C.; MARCELINO, M. English Pronunciation for Brazilians. SP,
Disal, 2006.
84 • capítulo 4
⁄˄ ⁄ ⁄ɜr⁄ ⁄ɑ⁄ ⁄ᴐ⁄
⁄ɛ⁄ ⁄ӕ⁄ ⁄i:⁄ ⁄‫ו‬⁄
⁄er⁄ ⁄oʊ⁄ ⁄u:⁄ ⁄ʊ⁄

note
boat
02. On the diagram provided, various articulators arc indicated by labelled arrows (a-c). Give
the names for the articulators.
(d)
(b)
(e)
(a)
(c)
03. Using the descriptive labels introduced for vowel classification, say what the fol-lowing
cardinal vowels arc:
a) [u] b) [c] c) [a] d) [i] e) [o]
04. Draw a vowel quadrilateral and indicate on it the correct places for the following English
vowels:
a) ӕ b) ˄ c) ɪ d) e
05. Write the symbols for the vowels in the following words:
a) bread d) hymn g) mat
b) rough e) pull h) friend
c) foot f) cough
capítulo 4 • 85
06. The following sentences have been partially transcribed, but the vowels have been left
blank. Fill in the vowels, taking care to identify which vowels are weak; put no vowel at all
if you think a syllabic consonant is appropriate, but put a syllabic mark beneath the syllabic
consonant
1. A particular problem of the boat was a leak
p t kj I pr bl mv δ b t wz I k
2. Opening the bottle presented no difficulty
p nᶇ δ b pr z nt d n d f k lt
3. There is no alternative to the government's proposal
δ r z n It n tv t δ g v nm nt spr p zl
4. We ought to make a collection to cover the expenses
w tt m k k l kʃ n t k v δ ksp ns z
5. Finally they arrived at a harbour at the edge of the mountains
f n l δ r vd t h b r t δ dʒ v δ m nt nz
FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Speech is when language is used to communicate. Only humans have language.
Speech is made up of sounds that are made when air passes through the voice box and
is shaped by the lips, tongue, teeth, nose and palate.
To make speech a person has to be able to:
1. choose speech sounds
2. put them into a sequence
3. produce sound in the voice box
4. use the lips, tongue, teeth, nose and palate to make the sounds
Difficulties can happen at any stage of this 4 stage sequence.
Do not be worried if at first it has been difficult to produce some of the sounds we are
looking at.
READING
DE SAUSSURE, Ferdinand. (1916). Cours de linguistique générale. Paris: Payot.
SAPIR, Edward (1925). "Sound patterns in language". Language 1 (2): 37–51.
_______ (1933). "La réalité psychologique des phonémes". Journal de Psychologie Normale et
Pathologique 30: 247–265.
86 • capítulo 4
STAMPE, David. (1979). A dissertation on natural phonology. New York: Garland.
SWADESH, Morris (1934). "The phonemic principle". Language 10 (2): 117–129.
TRAGER, George L.; Bloch, Bernard (1941). "The syllabic phonemes of English". Language 17 (3):
223–246.
TWADDELL, William F. (1935). On defining the phoneme. Language monograph no. 16. Language.
REFERENCES
2001
capítulo 4 • 87
88 • capítulo 4
5
Stress, intonation
and phonetics
transcription
Phonetics and Phonology are closely related. However, whenever we are referring
to stress, intonation, linking words we are relating more to the phonology and
the study of smaller components in a sentence is more related to phonetics.
OBJECTIVES
IIn this chapter our focus will be phonology. We will first see how stress works in English and
afterwards it will be intonation and the last part we will return to the phonetic chart to remem-
ber how to do a phonetic transcription.
90 • capítulo 5
5.1 How to stress
Do you know how to stress? I don’t mean feeling worried and stressed out!
I mean word stress and sentence stress — what exactly does that mean?
Word stress and sentence stress are similar — they use the same sound
features, but just on a different level. Word stress involves strong syllables and
weak syllables in a word, and sentence stress involves strong words and weak
words in a sentence.
There are 3 primary factors that go together for stress. When we compare
the sound of un-stressed syllables, to stressed syllables, the stressed syllables
are: 1. louder, 2. higher in pitch, and 3. a little slower.
Most students can make the sound of stress correctly, but sometimes I find
a student who uses only two of those factors, but not all three, and it sounds a
little strange.
My phone is not on the table.

That sentence has 3 stressed (strong) words: phone, not, and table.
1. Jack will cycle to the restaurant tonight.

In this example, we have one different word which is being stressed. In the
first the focus is on the person “Jack”; in the second, the emphasis is in the
verb tense “will” showing that the action is not happening now or in the past,
but in the future. In the third, the focus is on the verb because Jack will cycle
and not drive, for example. In the fourth we have the preposition “to” stronger
than the others, giving the emphasis in the movement. In number 5, restaurant
is stressed because Jack is not going to the church or anywhere else but the
restaurant. In the last, the focus is tonight showing that the most important
information is “when”.
capítulo 5 • 91
This is how stress works in English: you focus the most important
information in the sentence.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UX5Yh-
D47BqgJ:https://pronunciationcoach.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/how-
to-stress/+&cd=1&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk&gl=br
Stress -ate
A very common problem for learners of English is incorrect word stress in

words that end with –ate. In fact, almost every student I have worked with has
had difficulty with this. Almost everybody makes the mistake of putting the
stress on the –ate ending.
Here’s the rule: Do not put stress on –ate. Put it two syllables before that
ending.
Therefore, the 3-Syllable word “celebrate” has stress on the 1st syllable (not
the last): CElebrate, not celeBRATE. And the 4-Syllable word “eliminate” has
stress on the 2nd syllable: eLIminate, not elimiNATE
Here are some more examples:
3. Syllable words: accurate / delicate / demonstrate / fabricate / fluctuate /

isolate / moderate / populate / separate / tolerate / vertebrate / violate /
4. Syllable words: approximate / certificate / communicate / deliberate /
elaborate / evaporate / incorporate / infuriate / investigate / negotiate / refrigerate
/ subordinate /
There are hundreds of 3 & 4-Syllable words that end with –ate, but only just
a few do not follow the rule, for example: elongate / interrelate / oxygenate /
reinstate / relocate /
5 & 6. Syllable words: There are a few 5 & 6-Syllable words with -ate, and
they also follow the same rule: decontaminate / differentiate / hyperventilate /
intermediate / rehabilitate / intercommunicate /
Thus, with only just a small number of words that do not follow the rule, it
means that virtually every time you see a new word with –ate, you can confidently
predict the stress.
92 • capítulo 5
What about 2-Syllable words?
Most 2-Syllable words that end with –ate have stress on the 1st syllable. Here
are just a few (of many) examples: agate / climate / dictate / donate / frustrate
/ hydrate / inmate / locate / magnate / mandate / migrate / narrate / notate /
primate / private / rebate / rotate / senate / translate / vibrate /
However, some 2-Syllable words do have stress on the –ate, such as: create /
debate / deflate / elate / equate / estate / inflate / innate / irate / negate / ornate /
relate / sedate. Some of these words are used fairly frequently, and perhaps this
pattern influences learners of English to follow a similar stress pattern for all
other words with –ate.
5.1.1 Sentence Stress and Limericks
A limerick is a special kind of rhyme that uses a specific rhythm pattern — and
limericks usually tell a funny or silly story. Here is an example:
I knew a man whose name was Shaw.

He ate a rock and broke his jaw.
What do you think?
He said, with a wink.
Perhaps it’s bad to eat them raw.
The rhythm pattern of limericks makes special use of English sentence

stress. Strong words fall on the beats — or places that you can clap — and weak
words fall between them.
Now, I will repeat the limerick and clap the rhythm at the same time. The
strong words are the ones with uppercase letters.
I KNEW a MAN whose NAME was SHAW.

He ATE a ROCK and BROKE his JAW.
WHAT do you THINK?
He SAID, with a WINK.
PerHAPS it’s BAD to EAT them RAW.
capítulo 5 • 93
Can you hear how the strong words fall on the beats?
The weak words between the beats have to be spoken quickly to maintain
the proper rhythm, so they often have reductions. The biggest reductions in this
limerick happen with the words “do” and “you” in the third line. The vowels in
those words are a very small quick schwa sound. (You may want to go back and
listen to the limerick again, so that you can focus your ear on the reductions.)
Limericks are a great way to practice English sentence stress.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PZirJceJ9gw-
J:https://pronunciationcoach.wordpress.com/category/reductions/feed/+&c-
Cider Inside Her

There once was a lady from Hyde
Who ate some green apples and died
The apples fermented
Inside the lamented
And made cider inside her insides
The fun part of this limerick is the last line, but it would not sound so
interesting without sentence stress, reductions, and linking.
Look at the strong words:
There ONCE was a LAdy from HYDE

Who ATE some green APPLES and DIED
The APples fermented
InSIDE the lamented
And made CIDer inSIDE her inSIDES
Here is why the last line sounds funny:
1. The three stressed syllables all have the same consonant and vowel
sounds.
2. The word “her” is reduced — the “H” is missing, so it sounds like “-er”.
94 • capítulo 5
3. The word “inside” is linked to the word “her” (which is reduced) and
sounds like “insider”, and this matches the sound of the word “cider”.
Thus, sentence stress can be fun! In fact, without it, many jokes and puns in
English would not be funny at all.
Two Limericks
Here are the strong words of the Two Limericks.
There ONCE was a FLY on the WALL.

I WONdered “why DIDn’t it FALL?”
WERE its feet STUCK?
Or WAS it just LUCK?
Or does GRAvity MISS things so SMALL?
There WAS a young LADY named ROSE.
Who HAD a large WART on her NOSE.
When she HAD it reMOVED,
Her apPEARance imPROVED.
But her GLASSes slipped DOWN to her TOES!
NOTE: Sometimes in poetry or music the “rules” are bent a bit to make the
words fit in. In these limericks, some words that are normally strong words are
not stressed.
For example, in the phrase “young lady” the word “young” is an adjective,
and in normal conversation it would be stressed. However, in order to make
proper limerick rhythm, only “lady” is stressed. (The word “lady” is more
important than “young” in that phrase).
Having the ability to vary sentence stress in this way is a very helpful skill for
learning to speak English with a natural and smooth flow.
CONNECTION
In order to improve your knowledge on Phonetics, access:
http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/
capítulo 5 • 95
5.2 Intonation
What is intonation? No definition is completely satisfactory, but any attempt at
a definition must recognize that the pitch of the voice plays the most important
part. Only in very unusual situations do we speak fixed, unvarying pitch, and
when we speak normally the pitch of our voice is constantly changing. One of
the most important tasks in analyzing intonation is to listen to speaker’s pitch
and recognize what it is doing; this is not an easy thing to do, and it seems to
be a quite different skill from that acquired in studying segmental phonetics.
We describe pitch in terms of high and low, and some people find it difficult
to relate what they hear in someone’s voice to a scale ranging from low to high.
We should remember that “high” and “low” are arbitrary choices for end-points
of the pitch scale. It would be perfectly reasonable to think of pitch as ranging
instead from “light” to “heavy”, for example, or from “left” to “right”, and
people who have difficulty in “hearing” intonation patterns are generally only
having difficulty in relating what they hear (which is the same as what everyone
else hears) to this “pseudo-spatial” representation.
It is very important to make the point that we are not interested in all aspects
of a speaker’s pitch; the only things that should interest us are those which
carry some linguistic information. If the speaker tries to talk while riding fast
on a horse, his or her pitch will make a lot of sudden rises and falls as a result
of the irregular movement; this is something which is outside the speaker’s
control and therefore cannot be linguistically significant. Similarly, if we take
two speakers at random we will almost certainly find that one speaker typically
speaks with lower pitch than the other; the difference between the two speakers
is not linguistically significant because their habitual pitch level is determined
by their physical structure. But an individual speaker does not have control over
his or her own pitch, and may close to speak with a higher than normal pitch;
this is something which is potentially of linguistic significance.
A word of caution is needed in connection with the word pitch. Strictly
speaking, this should be used to refer to an auditory sensation experienced by
the hearer. The rate is vibration of the vocal folds – something which is physically
measurable, and which is related to the activity on the part of the speaker – is
the fundamental frequency of voiced sounds, and should not be called “pitch”.
However, as long as this distinction is understood, it is generally agreed that the
96 • capítulo 5
term “pitch” is a convenient one to use informally to refer both to the subjective
sensation and to the objectively measurable fundamental frequency.
We want to answer these two questions:
a) What can we observe when we study pitch variations? What is the form
of intonation?
b) What is the linguistic importance of the phenomena we observe? What
is the function of intonation?
Because of its complexity, we will look only at the form of intonation in

the shortest piece of speech we can find – the single syllable. At this point a
new term will be introduced: we need a name for a continuous piece of speech
beginning and ending with a clear pause, and we will call this an utterance.
Two common one-syllable utterances are “yes” and “no”. the first thing to
notice is that we have a choice of saying these with the pitch remaining at a
constant level, or with the pitch changing from one level to another. The word
we use for the overall behavior of the pitch in these examples is tone; a one
syllable word can be said with either a level tone or a moving tone. If you try
saying “yes” or “no” with a level tone (rather as though you were trying to sing
them on a steady note) you may find the result does not sound natural, and
indeed English speakers do not use level tones on one-syllable utterances very
frequently; moving tones are more common. If English speakers want to say
“yes” or “no” in a definite, final manner they will probably use a falling tone –
one which descends from a higher to a lower pitch. If they want to say “yes?” or
“no?” in a questioning manner they may say it with a rising tone – a movement
from a lower pitch to a higher one.
Notice that in talking about different tones, some idea of function has been
introduced; speakers are said to select from a choice of tones according to how
they want the utterance to be heard, and it is implied that the listener will hear
one-syllable utterances said with different tones as sounding different in some
way. During the development of modern phonetics in the 20th century it was
for a long time hoped that scientific study of intonation would make it possible
to state what the function of each different aspect of intonation was, and that
foreign learners could then be taught rules to enable them to use intonation
in the way native speakers use it. Few people now believe this to be possible.
capítulo 5 • 97
It is certainly possible to produce a few general rules. However, these rules are
certainly not adequate as a complete practical guide to use English intonation.
The only really efficient way to learn to use the intonation of a language is
the way a child acquires the intonation of its first language: through listening
to and talking to English speakers. It is perhaps a discouraging thing to say,
but learners of English who are not able to talk regularly with native speakers
of English, or who are not able at least to listen regularly to colloquial English,
are not likely to learn English intonation, although they may learn very good
pronunciation and use stress correctly.
There are three simple possibilities for the intonation used in pronouncing
the one-word utterances “yes” and “no”. These were: level, fall and rise. It will
often be necessary to use symbols to represent tones, and for this we will use
marks places before the syllable in the following way (phonemic transcription
will not be used in these examples – words are given in spelling):
a) Level: _yes_no
b) Falling \yes \no
c) Rising /yes /no
Functions of English tones

We will look at some typical occurrences of the words “yes” and “no”.
Fall \yes \no
This is the tone about which least needs to be said, and which is usually
regarded as more or less “neutral”. If someone is asked a question and replies
\yes or \no it will be understood that the question is now answered and that
there is nothing more to be said. The fall could be said to give an impression of
finality.
Rise /yes /no

In a variety of ways, this tone conveys an impression that something more
is to follow. A typical occurrence in a dialogue between two speakers whom we
shall call A and B might be the following:
98 • capítulo 5
A (wishing to attract B’s attention): Excuse-me.
B: /yes
(B’s reply is, perhaps, equivalent to “what do you want?”) Another quite
common occurrence would be:
A: Do you know John Smith?
One possible reply from B would be /yes, inviting A to continue with what
she intends to say about John Smith after establishing that B knows him. To
reply instead \yes would give a feeling of finality, of “end of the conversation”;
if A did have something to say about John Smith, the response with a fall would
make it difficult for A to continue.
We can see similar “invitations to continue” in someone’s response to a
series of instructions or directions. For example:
A: you start off on the ring road…
B:/yes
A: turn left at the first round about…
B:/yes
A: and ours is the third house on the left.
Whatever B replies to this last utterance of A, it would be most unlikely

to be /yes again, since A has clearly finished her instructions and it would be
pointless to prompt her to continue.
With “no”, a similar function can be seen. For example:
A: Have you seen Ann?
If B replies \no (without using high pitch at the start) he implies that he
has no interest in continuing with that topic of conversation. But a reply of /no
would be an invitation to A explain why she is looking for Ann, or why she does
not know where she is.
Similarly, someone may ask a question that implies readiness to present
some new information. For example:
A: Do you know what the longest balloon flight was?
capítulo 5 • 99
If B replies /no he is inviting A to tell him, while, a response of \no would be
more likely to mean that he does not know and is not expecting to be told. Such
“do you know?” questions are, in fact, a common cause of misunderstanding in
English conversation, when a question such as A’s above might be a request for
information or an offer to provide some.
Level _yes_no
This tone is certainly used in English, but in a rather restricted context:
it almost always conveys (on single-syllable utterances) a feeling of saying
something routine, uninteresting or boring. A teacher calling the names of
students from a register will often do so using a level tone on each name, and the
students are likely to respond with _yes when their names are called. Similarly,
if one is being asked a series of routine questions for some purpose – such as
applying for an insurance policy – one might reply to each question of a series
(“Have you ever been in prison”, “Do you suffer from any serious illness?”, “Is
your eyesight defective?”, etc.) with _no.
A few meanings have been suggested for the five tones that have been
introduced, but each tone may have many more such meanings. Moreover, it
would be quite wrong to conclude that in the above examples only the tones
given would be appropriate; it is, in fact, almost impossible to find a context
where one could not substitute a different tone. This is not the same thing as
saying that any tone can be used in any context: the point is that no particular
tone has a unique “privilege of occurrence” in a particular context.
5.3 Transcription
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of
language in written form. The source can either be utterances (speech or sign
language) or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists
consider only the former to be transcription.
Transcription should not be confused with translation, which means
representing the meaning of a source language text in a target language (e.g.
translating the meaning of an English text into Spanish), or with transliteration
which means representing a text from one script in another (e.g. transliterating
a Cyrillic text into the Latin script).
100 • capítulo 5
In the academic discipline of linguistics, transcription is an essential part
of the methodologies of phonetics, conversation analysis, dialectology and
sociolinguistics. It also plays an important role for several subfields of speech
technology. Common examples for transcriptions outside academia are the
proceedings of a court hearing such as a criminal trial (by a court reporter) or a
physician's recorded voice notes (medical transcription).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_(linguistics)+&cd=1&hl=
pt-BR&ct=clnk&gl=br
Here, we have, again, the phonetic chart that will help you with the phonetic
transcription you have in the activities:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=phonetics+chart
Phonetic vs. orthographic

Broadly speaking, there are two possible approaches to linguistic transcription. Phonetic
transcription focuses on phonetic and phonological properties of spoken language.
Systems for phonetic transcription thus furnish rules for mapping individual sounds or
phones to written symbols. Systems for orthographic transcription, by contrast, consist
of rules for mapping spoken words onto written forms as prescribed by the orthography
of a given language. Phonetic transcription operates with specially defined character
sets, usually the International Phonetic Alphabet seen above.
capítulo 5 • 101
Which type of transcription is chosen depends mostly on the research interests
pursued. Since phonetic transcription strictly foregrounds the phonetic nature of
language, it is most useful for phonetic or phonological analyses. Orthographic
transcription, on the other hand, has a morphological and a lexical component alongside
the phonetic component. It is thus more convenient wherever meaning-related aspects
of spoken language are investigated. Phonetic transcription is doubtlessly more
systematic in a scientific sense, but it is also harder to learn, more time-consuming to
carry out and less widely applicable than orthographic transcription.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:veumZ8ITa2oJ:en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_(linguistics)+&cd=1&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk&gl=br
Now we can see the IPA symbols:
IPA SYMBOL SYMBOL NAME

ɪ short i, small capital i
ɛ epsilon
Æ ash /aʃ/
A flat a, front a
ɑ back a
˄ BUT-sound, caret
ɤ ram's horns
ɯ turned m
i barred i
ǝ s(c)hwa /ʃwɑ/
ɚ rhotic schwa, r-coloured schwa
ɜ BIRD-sound, reversed épsilon
ɐ turned a
y small capital y
Ø barred o
Œ o-e digraph
Œ capital o-e digraph
ɒ turned back a
ᴐ open o
102 • capítulo 5
O closed o
ʊ small capital u, short u
u barred u
Ɵ barred o
Consonants

Ɂ glottal stop
ʘ theta /θi:tǝ/
Ð eth /ɛð/
ʃ esh /ɛʃ/
ʒ ezh /ɛʒ/
ᶇ eng /ɛᶇ/
ɪ turned r
ʋ curly v
ʍ inverted w
CONNECTION
In order to improve your knowledge on the transcription, access:
http://www.cambridge.org/features/genetti/CH02-IPAtranscription/
ACTIVITIES
01. In the following sentences and bits of dialogue, each underlined syllable must be given
an appropriate tone mark. Write a tone mark just in front of the syllable.
a) This train is for Leeds, York and Hull.
b) Can you give me a lift?
Possibly. Where to?
c) No! Certainly not! Go away!
capítulo 5 • 103
d) Did you know he'd been convicted of drunken driving?
No!
e) If I give him money he goes and ,spends it.
If I lend him the bike he loses it.
He's completely unreliable.
02. Identify the transcriptions and complete the sentences:
1. /ǝ'proʊtʃ/. 5. /tʃe‫ו‬ndʒ/ 9. /pi:s/ 13. /'l˄˅ǝrz/

2. /'kӕtʃ/ 6. /'k˄ntri/ 10. /'‫ו‬ᶇglǝnd/ 14. /θӕᶇk/
3. /'oʊpǝnd/ 7. /'m˄δǝr/ 11. /pu:l/ 15. /pʊl/
4. /'yʊrǝp/ 8. /θᴐt/ 12. /a‫ו‬z/ 16. /hɜrt/
a) It's hot. Let's enjoy the ___________.

b) She ___________ she had been invited.
c) Let's ___________ clothes to the party.
d) He was ___________ in the accident.
e) Look at my ___________.
f) Hippies believed in love and ___________.
g) He ___________ the door.
h) Romeo and Juliet were young ___________.
i) ___________ the chair, please.
j) Brazil is a beautiful ___________.
k) That's a good way to ___________ the problem.
l) John Lennon was from ___________.
m) We're planning a tour around ___________.
n) Here. ___________ the ball.
o) Does your ___________ work as a teacher?
p) I'd like to ___________ you for the money.
104 • capítulo 5
READING
ASHBY, M. & MAIDMENT, J. (2005). Introducing Phonetic Science. Cambridge: CUP.
HUGHES, A., TRUDGILL, P. & WATT, D. (2005). English Accents and Dialects: An Introduction to
Social and Regional Varieties of English in the British Isles (4th ed.). London: Hodder Arnold.
LADEFOGED, P. & JOHNSON, K. (2011). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Stamford: Wadsworth,
Cengage Learning.
ROACH, P. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology: a Practical Course (2nd ed.). Cambridge: CUP.
SCHNEIDER, E., BURRIDGE, K., KORTMANN, B., MESTHRIE, R. & UPTON, C. (2004). A Handbook
of Varieties of English. Vol. 1. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.
Wells, J. (1982). Accents of English (Vols. 1-3). Cambridge: CUP.
REFERENCES
2001
ANSWERS
Chapter 1
01. 6 : personal answer
English: 2 syllables
Portuguese: 4 syllables
02. Accent is concerned only with pronunciation differences, while dialect refers to all
language variation including grammatical and lexical factors.
03. Stress
04.
a) 3 b) 3 c) 4 d) 5 e) 2
capítulo 5 • 105
05. flower/flour mail/ male
Rode/ road fare / fair
Wood/ would maid/ made
Bored/ board no / know
Hire / higher there/ their / they’re
Past / passed meet / meat
Weather/ whether site / sight / cite
Bare/ bear where / wear
Way / weigh bye / buy / by
Heel / heal piece / peace
Brake / break die / dye
Sell / cell cruise / crews
Whose / who’s
06. 6 – 1 = b; 2 = a; 3 = c
Chapter 2
01. Answer to Task 1: Changing an informal argumentative text into a formal argumentative
paragraph
There are, of course, a number of ways you could order the arguments in your answer.
You are correct if you:
a) have placed the arguments that oppose the main premise in the first half of your
paragraph
b) have used problematising phrases to mark the opposing statements as debatable
and possibly untrue
c) have used a contrasting connective, such as "However", to mark where you are
shifting from arguments that oppose your main premise to arguments that support
your main premise
d) have used listing connectives, such as "Moreover", "Furthermore", and "In addition"
to list the arguments that support your main premise
The following is one suggested translation of the informal text into a formal paragraph:
Main premise: The government should introduce tighter gun controls
Jack Spring maintains that everyone should have the right to own a gun. This
position asserts that the government is infringing our democratic rights when it restricts
gun ownership. Most people who own guns, so this argument goes, are responsible citizens
who keep the guns for sport and recreation. It is further contended that the police are
106 • capítulo 5
unable to stop violent crime and we need guns to protect ourselves. However, as Josephine
Bluff states, guns increase the amount of violent crime in the community. Moreover, human
life is worth more than sporting shooters right to go shooting on the weekend. In addition,
many of the guns that are kept around the house end being used in violent domestic disputes
or teenage suicides.
02.
BBC GA
Necessary, monastery, ordinary, category, Necessary, monastery, ordinary, category,
voluntary, dictionary, territory voluntary, dictionary
Testimony, matrimony Testimony, matrimony
Futile, missile, hostile Territory
Melancholy Futile, missile, hostile
Melancholy
03.
I arrived in New1 South College2 on2 a Sunday afternoon3,4. The porters4,5 at the lodge2
told6 me how to get to the central office2,12 block2, where a clerk7 at the Accommodations2
Office2,12 gave me my keys. So6 I wandered2,4 about, looking for4 the pretty5 little5 cottage2,5 I
had seen on2 the colour4 photograph6,3 in the prospectus2. I hadn't thought8,11 it necessary9 to
ask3 the clerk7 for4 directions. But11 it was getting5 dark4 and there10 was just nobody6,2 around.
The beautiful5 blonde2 girl4 I had momentarily6,9 seen a minute12 ago6 had disappeared10 in
the direction of the cars4 park4. Everybody2 seemed to have gone2 to spend their10 leisure7
time in the city5. The dark4 green bushes on2 both6 sides of the path3 were4 beginning to look
hostile2 and I couldn't help thinking that11 I had got2 lost2.
1
New is pronounced /nju:/ in BBC English, but usually /nu:/ in General American.
2
These words have the "short o" vowel /ɒ/ in BBC pronunciation, but /ɑ:/ in General
American.
3
These words are pronounced with /ɑ:/ in BBC English and with /ӕ/ in General
American.
4
In these words, the r comes after a vowel and before another consonant, or at the end
of the word. General American is a rhotic accent, and in it all letters r from the spelling are
pronounced. The words in which the r comes before a vowel and will be pronounced in both
accents are not marked.
5
The consonant /t/ in these words is between vowels, the first of which is stressed. In
General American, /t/ in this position is voiced and tapped.
capítulo 5 • 107
6
The diphthong in these words is pronounced /ǝʊ/ in BBC English, while in General
American it has a back rounded starting point and is usually pronounced /oʊ/.
7
Clerk is pronounced /klɑ:k/ in BBC English and /klɜ:rk/ in General American. Leisure
is pronounced /'leʒǝ/ and /'li:ʒǝr/, respectively.
8
These words, which in BBC pronunciation have the rounded /ᴐ:/ vowel, are usually
pronounced with an unrounded vowel in General American - /ɑ:/.
9
The suffix vowels in these words are the other way about in the two standard accents:
in necessary and momentarily, -ary and -arily have weak vowels in BBC pronunciation
and strong vowels in General American. Hostile has a strong vowel in the suffix in BBC
pronunciation and a weak one in General American.
10
The BBC centring diphthongs /ɪǝ/ and /eǝ/ arc replaced in GA pronunciation by a
vowel + r.
11
The /t/ between vowels will most probably be voiced in the phrases thought it, but
it, that I: t-voicing in General American occurs not only within words, but also across word
boundaries.
12 The weak vowel in these words is usually /ǝ/ in General American.
04.
1 – 28 4 – 18 8 – 22 35 – 25
1 – 15 18 – 31 8 – 23 12 – 26
15 – 14 5 – 29 9 – 23 12 – 27
14 – 33 29 – 30 10 – 24 13 – 27
33 – 28 30 – 19 37 – 38
2 – 16 6 – 20 11 – 35
3 – 17 20 – 34 11 – 36
17 – 32 7 – 21 36 - 25
Chapter 3
01.
1 – lips 4 – tongue 7 – air/ folds
2 – teeth/lip 5 – tongue
3 – teeth 6 – palate
108 • capítulo 5
02.
1. You will obviously not haw written descriptions identical to the ones given below. The
important thing is to check that the sequence of articulatory events is more or less the same.
a) goat
Starting from the position for normal breathing, the back of the tongue is raised to form
a closure against the velum (soft palate). The lungs are compressed to produce higher air
pressure in the vocal tract and the vocal folds are brought together in the voicing position. The
vocal folds begin to vibrate, and the back of the tongue is lowered to allow the compressed
air to escape. The tongue is moved to a mid-central vowel and then moves in the direction
of a closer, backer vowel: the lips are moderately rounded for the second part. The tongue
blade is raised to make a closure against the alveolar ridge, the vocal folds are sepa-rated
and voicing ceases. Then the compressed air is released quietly and the lips return to an
unrounded shape.
b) ape
The tongue is moved slightly upward and forward, and the vocal folds are brought
together to begin voicing. The tongue glides to a slightly closer and more central vowel
position. Then the lips are pressed together, making a closure, and at the same time the vocal
folds are separated so that voicing ceases. The lips are then opened and the compressed air
is released quietly, while the tongue is lowered to the position for normal breathing.
2. a) be‫ו‬k d) bǝ:t g) bǝ:d
3. b) gǝʊt e) t‫ו‬k h) gɑ:d
4. c) daʊt f) baʊ i) pi:
03.
18. a) fiʃ‫ו‬z e) ǝɪʃi:v
b) ʃervǝ I) ˄δǝz
c) sɪksθ g) meʒǝ
d) δi:z h) ǝhed
19. Starting from the position for normal breathing, the lower lip is brought into contact
with the upper teeth. The lungs arc compressed, causing air to flow through the constriction,
producing fricative noise. The tongue moves to the position for t. The vocal folds are brought
together, causing voicing to begin, and at the same time the lower lip is lowered. Then the
tongue blade is raised to make a fairly wide constriction in the post-alveolar region and the
vocal folds are separated to stop voicing; the flow of air causes fricative noise. Next, the
vocal folds are brought together to begin voicing again and at the same time the tongue
capítulo 5 • 109
is lowered from the constriction position into the I vowel posture. The tongue blade is then
raised against the alveolar ridge, Conning a constriction which results in fricative noise. This is
initially accompanied by voicing, which then dies away. Finally, the tongue is lowered from the
alveolar constriction, the vocal folds are separated and normal breathing is resumed.
04.
1. Plosives: ptkbdg
Fricatives: fθsʃhvδzʒ
Affricates: tʃ dʒ
Nasals: mnᶇ
Lateral: l
Approximants: rwj
(This course has also mentioned the possibility of S and m.)
2. a) sǝʊfǝ e) skweǝ
b) vɜ:s f) ӕᶇgǝ
c) st‫ו‬ǝr‫ו‬ᶇ g) bᴐ:t
d) bredkr˄m h) na‫ו‬nti:n
3. a) The soft palate is raised for the b plosive and remains raised for ӕ. It is lowered for
n, then raised again for the final a.
b) The soft palate remains lowered during the articulation of m, and is then raised for
the rest of the syllable.
c) The soft palate is raised for them vowel, then lowered for ᶇ. It is then raised for the g
plosive and remains raised for the I.
Chapter 4
01.
/˄/ /ɜr/ /ɑ/ /ᴐ/

buck third sock saw
truck bird lock straw
/ɛ/ /ӕ/ /i:/ /ɪ/
net cat feet kill
pet hat eat hill
/e‫ו‬/ /oʊ/ /u:/ /ʊ/
train note flute book
plane boat boot cook
110 • capítulo 5
02.
1. a) Soft palate or velum
b) Alveolar ridge
c) Front of tongue
d) Hard palate
e) Lower lip
2.
(c)
(d)
(b)
(a)
3. a) Close back rounded

b) Close-mid front unrounded
c) Open front unrounded
d) Close front unrounded
e) Close-mid back rounded
4.
a) e d) ɪ g) ӕ
b) ˄ e) ʊ h) e
c) ʊ f) ʋ
03.
1. ǝ pǝtɪkjǝlǝ prɒblǝm ǝv δǝ bǝʊt wǝz ǝ li:k
2. ǝʊpnɪᶇ δǝ bɒt! pr‫ו‬zentɪd nǝʊ dɪfɪklti
3. δǝr ɪz nǝʊ ᴐ:ltɜ:nǝt‫ו‬v tǝ δǝ g˄vnmǝnts prǝpǝʊzl
4. wi ᴐ:t tǝ me‫ו‬k ǝ kǝlekʃn tǝ k˄˅ǝ δi ‫ו‬kspens‫ו‬z
(also possible: klekʃn)
5. fa‫ו‬nli δer ǝra‫ו‬vd ǝt ǝ ha:bǝr ǝt δi edʒ ǝv δǝ maʊntɪnz
(also possible: hɑ:br)
capítulo 5 • 111
Chapter 5
01.
1. This train is for /Leeds/York and \Hull
2. Can you give me a /lift
Possibly Where \to
3. \No Certainly\not Go a \way
4. Did you know hed been convicted of drunken/driving ˄No
5. If I give him/money he goes and/spends it
If I lend him the/bike he\loses it
Hes completely unre\liable
02.
a) Pool (15) i) Pull (11)

b) Thought (8) j) Country (6)
c) Change (5) k) Approach (1)
d) Hurt (16) l) England (10)
e) Eyes (12) m) Europe (4)
f) Peace (9) n) Catch (2)
g) Opened (3) o) Mother (7)
h) Lovers (13) p) Thank (14)
112 • capítulo 5

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Língua Inglesa Fonética e Fonologia - Capa 5mm.

pdf 1 11/06/2015 17:06:16

Autoras do original vanessa chiconeli e paula bullio

Projeto editorial roberto paes

Coordenação de produção gladis linhares

Coordenação de produção EaD karen fernanda bortoloti

Projeto gráfico paulo vitor bastos

Diagramação bfs media

Revisão linguística paula bullio

Imagem de capa spaxia | dreamstime.com

Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (cip)

C533l Chiconeli, Vanessa

1. Linguistics. 2. Phonetics. 3. Phonology. 4. English. 5. Língua inglesa.

Diretoria de Ensino — Fábrica de Conhecimento

1. Phonetics and Phonology in English 9

2. Speaking and writing in English 27

3. The consonants in English 49

4. The vowels in English 71

• Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production of speech sounds by

These areas are inter-connected through the common mechanism of sound,

1.2 Phonemes and Graphemes

1.2.1 The phonetic alphabet

ɪ as in ‘pit’ pɪt i: as in ‘key’ ki:

p as in ‘pea’ pi: b as in ‘bee’ bi:

tʃ as in ‘chin’ tʃɪn dʒ as in ‘gin’ dʒɪn

A digraph is a single sound, or phoneme, which is represented by two letters.

1.3.2 Vowel combination

A vowel combination is a combination of two or three vowels, or of a vowel and at

Other a vowel combinations

Together, ee or ea make a /long e/ sound. Sometimes, ea together makes a /

Other e vowel combinations

1.3.3 Consonant combination

1.4 Dialects and Accent

It means that Languages have different accents: they are pronounced

1.4.1 Differences in pronunciation between Portuguese and English

Different languages can be two completely different communication codes or,

Fonte: GODOY, S.; GONTOW, C.; MARCELINO, M.

02. What is the difference between accent and dialect?

03. Which word is used to refer to the relative strength of a syllable?

05. Complete the chart bellow:

Fonte: GODOY, S.; GONTOW, C.; MARCELINO, M.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Language is mainly an oral phenomenon. It is never enough to highlight the

Language learners who perceive sounds in the target language to be phonologically

2.1.1 Differences in Structure and Style

We usually write with correct grammar and in a structured way. We organize

2.1.2 Speaker & Listener / Writer & Reader

2.1.3 How Speaking and Writing Influence Each Other

2.1.4 Influence of New Technology

Modern inventions such as sound recording, telephone, radio, television, fax

• aspect: a particular part or feature of something

say sorry apologize, apologise

find out Discover

bring about Cause

put off postpone, delay

stand for Represent

find out discover, ascertain

leave out Omit

point out Indicate

get in touch with Contact

It’s about It concerns, It’s in regards to

think about Consider