Learn about how to pronounce alphabets.

1. Improving
Pronunciation

2. Pronunciation
Pronunciation is a necessary part of
speaking (oral communication). It
involves making correct sounds of a
particular language, as well as how
sounds are put together in the flow of
speech.

3. Phonetics and Phonology
Phonetics:
Phonetics is the study of the sounds of
human speech.
Phonology:
Phonology is the study of sound system
of a particular language.

4. International Phonetic Association
International Phonetic Association has devised
standardized representation of the sounds of
spoken language which is called
International Phonetic Alphabet.
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is
an alphabetic system of phonetic notation (a
set of phonetic symbols).

5. Phoneme
A phoneme is the smallest
meaningful unit in the
sound system of a
language.
Exapmles:
/ʤ/, /θ/, /p/

6. Sounds in English
There are 44 sounds in English
Language
24 Consonants
12 Vowels
 07 short vowels
 05 long vowels
 08 diphthongs (a sound made by gliding
from one vowel sound to another)

7. Syllable
Syllable is a unit of pronunciation having
one vowel sound, with or without
surrounding consonants, forming the
whole or a part of a word.
In dictionaries, syllable division is usually
indicated by a heavy black dot.
Examples:
/chair/ monosyllabic
/ho.tel/ bisyllabic
/dic.ta.tor/ trisyllabic

8. ………….Continued
If a word has double letters, syllable
division comes between both letters.
/com.mu.ni.ca.tion/
Syllable Stress:
In a word of two syllables, one syllable is
pronounced with more force, or loudness,
than the other. This difference of
emphasis is called stress.

9. …………Continued
A dictionary indicates a stressed syllable,
usually by a mark like this (´).
Primary and Secondary Stress:
Words of three or more syllables may have two
stresses, one heavier than the other. The heavier
stress is called primary stress while the weaker
stress is called secondary stress.
Primary stress usually appears at the top of the
syllable while secondary stress appears at the
bottom e.g. /com.′mu.ni.′ca.tion/

10. Stress-Timed Language
English is timed by the syllables we
stress.

11. Exercise
Which words give information that the
listener needs to understand the message?
1) What time do you close?
2) Could I have return ticket to Central
please?
3) The answer is on page twelve.
4) Where did you park the car?
5) The meeting starts at three?

12. Figure out how each of the
following words is pronounced:
/ʃi:p/
/wɒt/
/kɪŋ/
/θɪŋk/
/wɒtə/
/ʧi:p/
/feɪvə/
/bɔɪ/
/gɜ:l/

13. ……….Continued
/ɪmɪteɪʃən/
/fæʃən/
/ɪntərækʃən/
/sɒftweə/
/enʤənɪə/
/ʧɒkəlɪt/

14. Connected Speech
When we speak naturally we do not pronounce
a word, stop, then say the next word in the
sentence. Fluent speech flows with a rhythm
and the words bump into each other.
To make speech flow smoothly the way we
pronounce the end and beginning of some
words can change depending on the sounds at
the beginning and end of those words.

15. Features of Connected Speech
Assimilation:
Sounds that belong to one word can cause
changes in sounds belonging to other
words.
When a word’s pronunciation is affected
by sounds in a neighbouring word, we
call this process assimilation.
Examples:
Ten pins--- Tempins
Have to ……haf to

16. ………Continued
Would you like to have tea?
Wuju like to have tea?
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meechu.
Got you!
Gotcha!

17. that boy . /ðap bɔɪ/
that girl . /ðak gɜ:l/
good pen . /gʊb pen/
good concert . /gʊg kɒnsət/
ten players . /tem pleɪəz/
ten cups ./teŋ kʌps/

18. Elision
Elision
It is the omission of one or more sounds (such
as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in
a word or phrase, producing a result that is
easier for the speaker to pronounce.
Examples:
He leaves next week. (nex week)
She acts like she owns the place! (aks)
Handbag (hanbag)
Letter ( lette) / letə /

19. Home task
Look at the underlined vowel letters in
the following words and check each word
in your dictionary. Find out which
symbol does your dictionary use for each
vowel letter:
Thirty purple birds returned early.
I like my bright lime butterfly.
They waited eight days for the late train.

20. Thank You
/θæŋk ju:/