1. TRANSCRIPTION
Prepared by Khoa Anh Viet, M.A.
Prepared by Khoa Anh Viet 1

2. Why is spelling so hard?
• Blame the alphabet. You can
never tell what sound a letter is
going to make.
• Blame the dic tionary.
• Blame is on the his tory of the
Englis h.
Sourceː
William, E. (2008). The challenge of spelling in English.
English Teaching Forum, 46(1), 2-11.
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3. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-ai’ /eɪ/ː cocaine, McCain, rain, etc.
(except with ‘air’, Thai, naïve, )
• ‘-ate ’ (v) /eɪ/ː graduate, communicate,
• etc. ’ (n) /ət/ (usually more than three
‘-ate
syllable nouns or adjectives)ː graduate,
chocolate, etc.
Note ː /s e nɪ t/
ˈ
Senate ???
• ‘-aze ’ /eɪz/ː haze, maze, etc.
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4. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-al’ /əl/ (suffix)ː arrival, industrial, etc.
• ‘-able ’ /əbl/: comfortable, portable,
• etc.
‘ad-’
/æd/ (when stressed)ː advertise, adverb,
etc.
/əd/ (when unstressed)ː advise,
• ‘-ar (c ons onant -r, s tre s s e d or
advance, etc.
one -s yllable )’ /ɑː/: car, start, etc.
• ‘-as h’ /æʃ/: flash, trash, etc.
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5. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-ese’ /iː/ː Vietnamese, Japanese, etc.
• ‘e x-’ /eks/ (when stressed)ː export (n),
ex-wife, execute, etc.
• ‘e x-’
/ɪks/ (when unstressed before a
consonant)ː export (v), exceed, etc.
/ɪɡz/ (when unstressed before a vowel)ː
example, executive, etc.
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6. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-e c t’
/ekt/ (when stressed)ː subject (v),
object (v), inject, etc.
/ɪkt/ (when unstressed)ː subject (n),
object (n), etc.
• ‘-e n’ /ən/ (v, suffix)ː widen,
strengthen, etc.
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7. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-e e r’ /ɪə/ (suffix): engineer,
volunteer, etc.
• ‘-e tte ’ /et/: launderette, cigarette, etc.
• ‘-e d’
/t/ after voiceless sounds except /t/
/d/ after voiced sounds except /d/
/ɪd/ after /t/ and /d/ sounds.
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8. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-e r’ /ə(r)/ (unstressed)ː teacher,
speaker, etc.
• ‘-e r (-c ons onant -r, s tre s s e d or
one -s yllable )’ /ɜː/ː mermaid, fern,
• etc.’ /iː/: employee, refugee, etc. (not
‘e e
before r - /ɪə/ː sneer)
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9. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-ity’ /əti/ or /ɪti/: ability, university, etc.
• ‘-is h’ /ɪʃ/ː English, astonish, etc.
• ‘-ing’ /ɪŋ /ː learning, doing.
• ‘-ist or -ism’ /ɪst or ɪzm/ː tourist,
• tourism. heroic, ironic, etc.
‘-ic ’ /ɪk/:
• ‘-is e /-ize ’ (v) /aɪz/ː realize, organize,
etc.
Expe rtis e ? ? ? /e ks pɜː
ˌ
ˈ tiː z/
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10. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-ir’ (consonant -r, stressed or one-
syllable)’ /ɜː /ː birdie, birth, etc.
• ‘-ie’ (stressed)’ /iː/ː achieve, relief,
relieve, retrieve, etc.
• ‘-ice’ (stressed or one-syllable)’
/aɪs/ː rice, suffice, etc.
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11. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘dis-’ /dɪs/ (prefix): dislike, disco, etc.
• ‘-ful’ /fl/ (suffix): awful, careful, etc.
• ‘-fy’ (v) /faɪ /ː beautify, satisfy, etc.
• ‘-ly’ /li/ (suffix): happily, merely, etc.
• ‘-ment’ /mənt/ (unstressed):
enjoyment, moment, etc.
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12. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-or (-c ons onant -r, s tre s s e d or
one -s yllable )’ /ɔː/ː torment, sort,
• etc. ’ /əs/: serious, adventurous, etc.
‘-ous
• ‘-oir’ /wɑː(r)/ː abattoir, reservoir, etc.
• ‘-ory, -e ry, ’ /əri/ (unstressed)ː
history, surgery, etc.
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13. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘pos t-’ /pəʊst/ (prefix)ː post-war, etc.
• ‘-s ive ’ /sɪv/: expensive, intensive,
etc.
• ‘-s ome ’ /səm/ (unstressed):
troublesome, lonesome, etc.
• ‘-tive ’ /tɪv/: competitive, festive, etc.
• ‘-tion’ / n/ action, nation, etc.
ʃə ː
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14. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-ual’ (v) (> 1 syllable) /uəl/ː actual,
usual, etc.
• ‘un-’ (prefix) /ʌn/ː unhappy, unusual,
etc.
• ‘-ur-(c ons onant -r, s tre s s e d or
one -s yllable )’ /ɜː/ː surname, surf,
purr, etc.
• ‘-ur-(r, s tre s s e d)’ /ʌ/ː burrow,
curry, etc.
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15. You can guess the pronunciation when …
• ‘-us k’ / s k/ tusk, busk, etc.
ʌ ː
• ‘-us t’ /ʌst/ː must, lust, etc. (sustain
unstressed)
• ‘-uc e ’ /juːs/ (stressed)ː seduce,
produce, etc.
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16. You can guess the pronunciation when …
We ak form / /ə
‘a’ attend ‘ar’ particular
‘o’ carrot ‘e’ violet
‘u’ autumn ‘er’ perhaps
‘ough’ thorough
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