Slide 1

PBF Pronunciation Course

MANNER AND PLACE OF ARTICULATION OF THE ENGLISH CONSONANTSBilabialLabiodentalDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarglottalStops: breath is fully stopped and then releasedVoiceless/p//t//k///Voiced/b//d//g/Fricatives: breath causes frictionVoiceless/f////s////h/Voiced/v////z///Affricates: breath is stopped and friction follows.Voiceless/t/Voiced/d/Nasals: breath is released through the noseVoiced/m//n///Liquids: breath does not cause frictionLateral Voiced/l/Retroflex /r/flap/r/2Semivowels: mouth moves from one position to anotherVoiced/w//y/

/p/pencopyhappen

/b/Back babyjob

/t/TeaTightbutton

/d/Dayladderodd

/k/KeyClockschool

/g/GetGiggleghost

/t/church match nature

/d/JudgeAgesoldier

/f/FatCoffeeRoughphoto

/v/Viewheavymove

//Thingauthorpath

//ThisOthersmooth

/s/SoonCeasesister

/z/ZeroMusicRosesbuzz

//ShipSurenational

//Pleasurevision

/h/HotWholeahead

/m/More hammersum

/n/NiceKnowFunnysun

//RingAngerThankssung

/l/LightValleyfeel

/r/RightWrongSorryarrange

/j/YetUseBeautyfew

/w/WetOneWhenqueen

//Departmentfootball

//KitBidHymnminute

/e/DressBedHeadmany

//Trapbad

//LotOddwash

//StrutMudLoveblood

//FootGoodput

/i:/FleeceSeamachine

/e/FaceDaybreak

/a/PriceHightry

//Choiceboy

/u:/GooseTwoBluegroup

//GoatShowno

/a/Mouthnow

/a/Mouthnow

//NearHereweary

/e/SquareFairvarious

/:/ThoughtLawNorthwar

//PoorJurycure

/:/NurseStirLearnrefer

// shwaAboutCommonstandard

/i/HappyRadiateglorious

/u/thank youInfluencesituation

/n/Suddenlycotton

/l/Middlemetal

//(stress mark)

Silent BB is not pronounced when following M at the end of a word:climb
crumb
dumb
comb

Silent C C is not pronounced in the ending "scle:muscle

Silent DD is not pronounced in the following common words:handkerchief
sandwich
Wednesday

Silent E E is not pronounced at the end of words and usually makes the vowel long :hope
drive
gave
write
site

Silent GH GH is not pronounced before T and at the end of many words:Thought fight
through weigh
daughter right
light
might

Silent H H is not pronounced when following W. Some speakers whisper the H before the W :what
when
where
whether
why

Silent H H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words. Use the article "an" with unvoiced H. Here are some of the most common:hour
honest
honor
heir
herb

Pronounced H H is pronounced at the beginning of these common words. Use the article "a" with voiced H:hill
history
height
happy
hangover

Silent K K is not pronounced when followed by N at the beginning of a word:knife
knee
know
knock
knowledge

Silent L L is often not pronounced before D, F, M, K:Calmwould
half should
salmon
talk
balk

Silent N N is not pronounced following M at the end of a word:autumn
hymn

Silent P P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the suffix "psych" and "pneu":psychiatrist
pneumonia
psychotherapy
psychotic

Silent S S is not pronounced before L in the following words:island
isle

Silent T T is not pronounced in these common words:Castle thistle
Christmas whistle
fasten
listen
often

Silent U U is not pronounced after G and before a vowel :guess
guidance
guitar
guest

Silent W W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word followed by an R:wrap
write
wrong

Silent W W is not pronounced with these three pronouns:who
whose
whom

What is 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.These changes are described as features of connected speech.

Sounds link
Linking is a way of joining the pronunciation of two words so that they are easy to say and flow together smoothly. In English there are different ways that this happens.

Consonant to vowel linking- when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word begins with a vowel sound.

Vowel to vowel linking- when certain vowels come next to each other an extra sound is added to make the link smooth.

She sells sea shells by the sea shore

Linking 'r'
In standard British English (RP) the letter 'r' after a vowel sound at the end of word is often not pronounced. However, when the following word begins with a vowel the /r/ sound is pronounced to make a smooth link. See

Sounds disappear
When the sounds /t/ or /d/ occur between two consonant sounds, they will often disappear completely from the pronunciation.

Sounds join together
When a word ends in a consonant sound and the following word begins with the same consonant sound, we don't pronounce two sounds - both sounds are pronounced together as one.

Sounds change
When a word ends in a consonant sound and the following word begins with a consonant sound, depending on the particular sounds, the last sound of the first word or both the last sound and the first sound of the next word can change.