‫المسلك‪:‬االنجليزية‬

‫الفصل‪:‬االول‬

‫الوحدة‪4 :‬‬

‫‪Spoken English‬‬
‫المادة‪:‬‬

‫األستاذ‪ :‬أغبالو عبد العالي‬

Lesson 1

Letters and Sounds

Letters are written, and sounds are spoken. It is important that these functions are not confused.
When we write in normal spelling, we are using letters to convey sounds. In English this relationship
is only ever a rough guide to pronunciation, and it is certainly not reliable.

In man and many, the letter ‘a’ has two different pronunciations, and we can add three more in
banana and bather. Then consider wasp, clasp, and asp. Among the more notorious examples of
English spelling are cough, enough, thorough, through, bough. There are also words that sound
identical but are written in different ways:

you yew ewe

sent scent cent
won one
bare bear

In English alphabet, we have only five vowel letters - A, E, I, O, U - but there are twenty different
vowel sounds.

This can be very inconvenient when we want to discuss sounds.

Obviously, it is difficult to read every word correctly by simply referring to its spelling. Why?
Because there are different types of discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation in the rhyme::

(1) Different letters/sequences of letters may represent the same sound:

know dough both
(2) A single letter may represent different sounds:
take already and familiar call watch
(3) A combination of letters may represent a single sound:
tough bough cough others less watch moth
(4) Some letters do not represent any sound at all

know thorough rhyme debt

The ideal solution could be to adopt a method of spelling that is completely consistent, where a
reader would know that a certain symbol would always refer to the same sound.

A list of symbols for the forty-four phonemes of English, based on the symbols of the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), The chart below contains all of the IPA symbols used

to represent the sounds of the English language. This is the standard set of phonemic symbols for
English Received Pronunciation (RP).
vowels

+ + + + + +
meet sit good food dear pay
meet / mi:t /
+e + + + + + +
bed better bird door fewer boy go
+ + + + + + +
bad up park hot fear my cow
monophthongs diphthongs
Consonants
consonants
-p +b -t +d - + -k +g
pear bite tie die church june car god
-f +v - + -s +z - +
fine vain think this see zoo she pleasure bite / baɪt /

+m +n + -h +l +r +w +j
man now sing hot light right white yet

[ ] - small capital letter I [ ] - 'eng' (right-tail n)

[ ] - 'epsilon' -- a Greek letter [ ] - 'eth'
[ ] - sometimes called 'upsilon' [ ] - 'theta'
[ ] - 'ash'; digraph a-e -- usually just "digraph" [ ] - 'schwa'
[ ] - script A [ ] - 'caret'

[ ] - open O
The colon /: / represents longer duration in pronunciation and is found in long vowels such as / i: /, /
a: /, / u: /, etc.
[+]-Voiced: A feature that characterizes the production of all vowel and the majority of consonants.
It refers to the vibration of the vocal cords when the air stream pushes them apart.
[-]-Voiceless: A feature that is associated with the production of few consonants. It implies that the
glottis (the space between the vocal cords) remains open so that the air stream can pass through freely
without making them vibrate.

Lesson 2

. A phoneme is the smallest ‘distinctive unit sound’ of a language. It distinguishes one word from
another in a given language. This means changing a phoneme in a word, produces another word, that
has a different meaning. In the pair of words (minimal pairs) 'cat' and 'bat', the distinguishing
sounds /c/ and /b/ are both phonemes. The phoneme is an abstract term (a speech sound as it exists in
the mind of the speaker) and it is specific to a particular language.

A phoneme may have several allophones, related sounds that are distinct but do not change the
meaning of a word when they are interchanged. The sounds corresponding to the letter "t" in the
English words 'tea' and 'trip' are not in fact quite the same. The position of the tongue is slightly
different, which causes a difference in sound detectable by an instrument such as a speech
spectrograph. Thus the [t] in 'tea' and the [t] in 'trip' are allophones of the phoneme /t/.

(Different pronunciation of the same sound).

 Exercises for lesson 1 and lesson 2
words below1. Look at the and put them into the correct column on the number of sounds

Judge singing sugar horse enough daughter thinking cupboard caught knowledge
business door more cow through treasure chemist laugh carrot island singer
thorough check heart know . bought sight doubt

2 sounds 3 4 sounds 5 6 sounds

sounds sounds

2 a.Give the phonetic symbol for the first sounds in the following words.

Example bomb /b /

a city / / e phyisics / / I. pneumonia / / m. quick / /

b cake / / f. shoot / / j. zone / / n. what / /

c thick / / g. Thames / / k. usually / / o. English / /

d choice / / h. knee / / l. jug / / p. this / /

b.Give the phonetic symbol for the vowel sound in the following words.

a. head / / f. I / / k. late / / p. meat / /

b. fun / / g. May / / l. God / / q. boat / /

c. ham / / h. dawn / / m. toy / / r. ice / /

d. strange / / i. hill / / n. food / / e. thing / /

j. took / / o. stop / /

c.Write the following words in phonetic transcription.

Example: heart: / hɑːt /

a. church / / d. thrive / / g. huge / / j. Pew/ /

b. compass / / e. yelled / / h. stop / / k. feud/ /

c. campus / / f. caught / / i. awful / / I. Possess/ /

Send your answers to this email

a.agbalou@yahoo.fr
 Sultan Moulay Slimane University
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Beni Mellal
Department of English Studies
Semester1
Module 4
Spoken english Prof. Agbalou Abdelali (Week three and four)
 The sounds of language

Consonants and vowels

Describing consonants

What makes one consonant different from another?

Producing a consonant involves making the vocal tract narrower at some location than it
usually is. We call this narrowing a constriction. Which consonant you're pronouncing
depends on where in the vocal tract the constriction is and how narrow it is. It also depends
on a few other things, such as whether the vocal cords are vibrating and whether air is flowing
through the nose(nasal or oral).

We classify consonants along three major dimensions:

 place of articulation
 manner of articulation
 voicing

The place of articulation dimension specifies where in the vocal tract the constriction is.
The voicing parameter specifies whether the vocal folds are vibrating. The manner of
articulation dimesion is essentially everything else: how narrow the constriction is, whether
air is flowing through the nose, and whether the tongue is dropped down on one side.

 Place of articulation are:

This is the location where the obstruction to the airflow occurs along the vocal tract. Notice that the
different places of articulation are described in a backward movement beginning in the lips and
ending in the velum. So each place is a little farther back in the mouth than the previous one.
 Place of articulation are:

• Bilabials:

They are represented by the symbols [p], which is voiceless, and [b] and
[m], which are voiced. In a bilabial consonant, the lower and upper
lips approach or touch each other. English [p], [b], and [m] are
bilabial stops.

• Labiodentals:

These are sounds formed with the upper teeth and the lower lip. The first sounds
in of the words fat and vat and the final sounds in the words safe and save are
labiodentals. They are represented by the symbols [f], which is voiceless, and [v],
which is voiced. Cough and photo, are both pronounced as [f].

• Dentals:

These are sounds formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth.
The initial sound of thin and the final sound of bath are both voiceless
dentals. The symbol used for this sound is [θ]. The voiced dental is
represented by the symbol [ð] like the, there, then and thus. In a dental
consonant, the tip or blade of the tongue approaches or touches the
upper teeth. English [θ] and [ð] are dental fricatives. There are
actually

• Alveolars:

These are sounds formed with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridge.
The initial sounds in top, dip, sit, zoo and nut are all alveolars. The symbols for
these sounds are easy to remember [t], [d], [s], [z], [n]. Of these, [t] and [s] are
voiceless whereas [d], [z] and [n] are voiced. Other alveolars are the [l] sound as
in lap and [r] as in right.
 • Postalveolars

In a postalveolar consonant, the constriction is made immediately behind

the alveolar ridge. The initial sounds in the words shout and child, which are both
voiceless. The “sh” sound is represented as [ʃ] and the “ch” sound is represented
as [tʃ]. The word shoe-brush begins and ends with the voiceless Postalveolar sound
[ʃ] and the word church begins and ends with the other voiceless Postalveolar
sound [tʃ]. The sound [ʒ] such as treasure and pleasure which is voiced
Postalveolar

• Palatal

In a palatal consonant, the body of the tongue approaches or touches the hard palate. English [j] is a palatal
approximant -- the tongue body approaches the hard palate, but closely enough to create turbulence in the
airstream.

• Velars:

• Sounds produced with the back of the tongue against the velum
are called velars. . The sound [k] as in cook is voiceless. The sound [g]
as in go. The voiced sound [ŋ] as in bang.
•

Glottal:

There is one sound that is produced without the active use of the tongue and other parts of the mouth. It is
the voiceless sound [h] as in horse .
  Manner of articulation :

The way in which the articulators (e.g. the teeth, lips, tongue) obstruct the airflow in the vocal tract to
make a sound.

 Manner of articulation are:

• Stops:

The set [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g] are all produced by some form of “stopping” of the air stream (very briefly) then
letting it go abruptly. This type of consonant sound, resulting from a blocking or stopping effect on the air
stream, is called a stop (or a “plosive”). Example: bed.

• Fricatives:

The set of sounds [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ] [h] involved almost blocking the air stream and having the air
push through the very narrow opening. As the air is pushed through, a type of friction is produced and the
resulting sounds are called fricatives. Example: fish, those.
 • Affricates:

If you combine a brief stopping of the air stream with an obstructed release which causes some friction, you
will be able to produce the sounds [tʃ] and [dʒ] these are called affricates . Example: cheap and jeep.

• Nasals:

When the velum is lowered and the air stream is allowed to flow out through the nose to produce [m], [n] and
[ŋ], the sounds are described as nasals. Example: morning and name.

• Liquids:

The initial sounds in led and red are described as liquids. They are both voiced. The [l] sound is called a lateral
liquid and formed by letting the air stream flow around the sides of the tongue as the tip of the tongue makes
contact with the middle of the alveolar ridge. The [r] sound at the beginning of red is formed with the tongue
tip raised and curled back near the alveolar ridge.

• Glides:

The sounds [w] and [j] are described as glides. They are both voiced and occur at the beginning of we, you and
yes. These sounds are typically produced with the tongue in motion (or “gliding”) to or from the position of a
vowel and are sometimes called semi-vowels.

The following is the chart for English consonants:

Place of articulation

Manner of bilabials labiodentals dentals Alveolars postalveolars palatal velars glottal

articulation
Stops −p +b −t +d −k +g
fricatives −f +v −θ +ð −s +z ʃ +ʒ −h
affricates − tʃ +dʒ
nasals +m +n +ŋ
liquids +l +r
glides +w +j

(+) voiced (−) vioceless

Exercises

1 . Try to pronounce the initial sounds of the following words and indentify the
place of articulation of each one (e.g. bilabial, alveolar, etc.).

a. calf __________ e. hand __________ i. shoulder __________

b. chin __________ f. knee __________ j. stomach __________

c. foot __________ g. mouth __________ k. thigh __________

d. groin __________ h. pelvis __________ l. toe __________

2.Identify the manner of articulation of the initial sounds in the following words (stop, fricative, etc.).

a. cheery _________ d. funny _________ g. merry _________

b. crazy _________ e. jolly _________ h. silly _________

c. dizzy _________ f. loony _________ i. wimpy _________

d. groin __________ h. pelvis __________ l. toe __________

3. and indentify the place of articulation, the manner of articulation and voicing of the following

Sounds.

[k] :

[g] :

[ʒ] :

[n] :

Example:

[d] :alveolar stop voiced

 Sultan Moulay Slimane University

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Beni Mellal

Department of English Studies

Semester1

Module 4

Spoken english Prof. Agbalou Abdelali

(Week five)

1
 ENGLISH VOWELS

Vowels are normally made with the air stream that meets no closure or narrowing in the mouth,or nasal
cavity . That is why in the production of vowel sounds there is no noise component characteristic of
consonantal sounds. There are 20 vowel sounds in English. They are [ɪ], [i:], [ɒ], [ɔ:], [ʌ], [a:], [ʊ], [u:], [e],
[æ], [ə], [ə:], [eɪ], [aɪ], [ɔɪ], [ɪə], [εə], [uə], [au], [əu].

On the articulatory level the description of vowels notes changes:

1. in the stability of articulation;

2. in the tongue position;

3. in the lip position;

4. in the vowel length.

1. Stability of Articulation. All English vowels are divided into two groups: pure vowels
or monophthongs,and diphthongs .

Monophthongs are vowels the articulation of which is almost unchanging. The quality of such
vowels is relatively pure. The English monophthongs are: [ɪ], [ɒ], [ɔ:], [ʌ], [a:], [ʊ], [e], [æ],
[ə], [ə:]. [ i: ]. [u:].

In the pronunciation of diphthongs the organs of speech glide from one vowel position to another
within one syllable. The starting point, the nucleus, is strong and distinct. The glide which shows the
direction of the quality change is very weak. In fact diphthongs consist of two clearly perceptible
vowel elements. The English diphthongs are: [eɪ], [aɪ], [ɔɪ], [ɪə], [εə], [uə], [au], [əu].

2. Tongue Positions. The changes in the position of the tongue determine largely the shape of the
mouth. The tongue may move in horizontal and vertical directions, thus changing the quality of
vowel sounds.

(1)When the tongue moves in the horizontal direction various parts of it may be raised in the
direction of the palate.

When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth and the front part of it is raised to the hard palate
a front vowel is pronounced. This is the position for the English vowels [i:], [e], [æ].

When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth but slightly retracted, and the part of the tongue
nearer to centre than to front is raised, a front-retracted vowel is pronounced. Such is the position for
the English vowel [ɪ].

When the front of the tongue is raised towards the back part of the hard palate the vowel is
called central. This is the position for the English vowels [ʌ], [ə], [ə:].

When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth and the back of it is raised towards the soft palate
a back vowel is pronounced. This is the position for the English vowels [ɒ], [ɔ:], [u:].

When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth but is slightly advanced and the central part of it is
raised towards the front part of the soft palate a back-advanced vowel is pronounced. This is the
position for the English vowel [ʊ].

(2) Moving in the vertical direction in the mouth various parts of the tongue may be raised to
different height towards the roof of the mouth.

2
When the front or the back of the tongue is raised high towards the palate the vowel is called close.
This is the way the English vowels [ɪ], [i:], [ʊ], [u:] are pronounced.

When the front or the back of the tongue is as low as possible in the mouth open vowels are
pronounced. This is the way to pronounce the English vowels [ɒ], [ɔ:], [a:], [æ].

When the highest part of the tongue occupies the position intermediate between the close and the
open one mid vowels are pronounced. This is the position for the English vowels [e], [ə], [ɜː], [ʌ].

3. Lip Position. The shape of the mouth cavity is also largely dependent on the position of the lips.
When the lips are neutral or spread the vowels are termed unrounded. Such is the position of the
lips for the English vowels [ɪ], [i:], [ɒ], [ʌ], [a:], [e], [æ], [ə], [ɜː].

When the lips are drawn together so that the opening between them is more or less round the vowel
is called rounded. This is the position for the English vowels [ɒ], [ɔ:], [ʊ], [u:].

4. Vowel Length. Vowels are capable of being continued during a longer or a shorter period. All
English vowels (with the exception of diphthongs) are generally divided into long and short.

Long vowels are: [i:], [a:], [ɔ:], [u:], [ɜː].

Short vowels are: [ɪ], [e], [ʌ], [ɒ], [ʊ], [ə].

The vowel [æ] is not included in the category of short vowels because of specific length associated
with it.

Description of the vowels:

Examples:

Sounds [ɪ] – [i:]

[ɪ] sit /sɪt/ is a monophtong: front,close, unrounded,short

[i:], front, is a monophtong :close, unrounded, long.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The tongue is in

the front part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is rather high in the mouth. the side rims of it
make a firm contact with the upper teeth. The lips are spread.

3
[ ʊ] put/pʊt/ is a monophthong: Short high back rounded

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The whole body of the tongue is

in the back part of the mouth. The part of the tongue nearer to the centre than to the back is
raised just above the half-close position. There is no firm contact between the side rims of the
tongue and the upper teeth. The lips are rounded. The vowel is short.

[u:] food /fu:d/ is a monophtong: back, close, rounded, long.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The tongue is in the back

part of the mouth. The back of the tongue is rather high in the mouth. No firm contact is made
between the rims of the tongue and the upper teeth.. The lips are very closely rounded. The
mouth is open only very little. The vowel is long.

[Λ] up /Λp / is a monophthong: central, mid, unrounded, short.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The tongue is in the central part of the mouth. The front of the
tongue is raised to the back of the hard palate just above the fully open position. No contact is made
between the tongue and the upper teeth.. The jaws are considerably separated. The lips are neutrally
open. The vowel is short.

[a:] dark /da:k/ is a monothphthong: back, open, unrounded, long.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The mouth is open. The tongue is in the back part of the mouth.
The back of the tongue is only slightly raised. No contact is made between the tip of the tongue and
the upper teeth. The lips are neutral.

4
[ɔ:]door /dɔ:r/ is a monophthong: back, open, rounded, long.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The tongue is in the back part of the mouth. The back of the
tongue is raised to a half-open position. No contact is made between the tip of the tongue and the
upper teeth. The mouth is less open and the lips are more rounded than for the vowel [ɒ].

[ɒ] god /gɒd /is a monophthong: back, open, rounded, short.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. It is articulated with the mouth wide open and slight open lip-
rounding. The body of the tongue is even more retracted than in the case with the vowel [a:]. The
back of the tongue is only slightly raised. No contact is made between the tip of the tongue and the
upper teeth.

[e]bed /bed/is a monophthong, front, mid, unrounded, short.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The tongue is in the front part of a mouth. The front of the
tongue is raised to the hard palate, but not as high as for [ɪ]. The side rims of the tongue make a
light contact with the upper teeth. The lips are loosely spread.

[æ] mad /mæd/ is a monophthong: front, open, unrounded.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The mouth is more open than for [e]. The tongue is in the front
part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is rather low in the mouth. The side rims of the tongue
make a very slight contact with the back upper teeth.

5
 [ə] about / əboʊt/ is a monophthong:central, mid, unrounded

[ɜː] bird /bɜːd/ is a monophthong: central, mid, unrounded, long.

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The tongue is almost flat. The central part of the tongue is
slightly higher than the front and the back of the tongue, which are raised between the half-close
and half-open position. No firm contact is made between the rims of the tongue and the upper
teeth, the lips are neutrally spread, they do not cover the teeth. The passage between the teeth is
rather narrow. It is long

:
For the vowels, as you move from left to right along the chart (for example from /iː/ to /uː/), the
tongue moves from the front of the mouth to the back, and the lips change progressively from flat to
more “O”-shaped.
Similarly, as you move from the top of the vowel chart to the bottom (for example from /iː/ to /æ/)
the lips also change from flat to “O”-shaped, and this time the tongue moves from the top to the
bottom of the mouth.

1. Sounds [eɪ], [aɪ], [ɔɪ]

2. [eɪ] make /meɪk/ is a diphthong :front, mid, unrounded to front, close, unrounded

6
Articulation: Look at the diagram. The nucleus is the vowel [e]. For the glide the tongue moves
upward in the direction of [ɪ] and the mouth gets closer. The lips are spread.

[aɪ] ]- is a diphthong : open, Neutral, Unrounded to front, close, unrounded,

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The sound starts with the advanced vowel [ʌ] with the mouth
wide open and the lips neutral. For the glide the tongue moves upwards in the direction of [ɪ], with
the mouth very narrowly open and the lips spread and not rounded.

[ɔɪ] boy /bɔɪ/ is a diphthong: back, open, rounded to front, close, unrounded

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The nucleus lies between the sound [ɔ:] and [ɒ]. It starts with the
position between back half-open and open. For the glide the tongue moves upwards in the direction
of [ɪ], though the tongue rarely reaches there. The lips are slightly rounded for the nucleus changing
to neutral for the glide.

[ɪə]- is a diphthong : front, close, unrounded to central, mid, unrounded.

 Articulation: Look at the diagram. The nucleus is the vowel [ɪ]. For the glide the tongue moves in
the direction of the neutral vowel [ə]. The lips are slightly spread for the nucleus and are neutral for
the glide.

[εə] is a diphthong : front, open, unrounded to central, mid, unrounded

Articulation: Look at the diagram. The nucleus of this diphthong is a vowel between [e] and [æ].
The tongue is in the half-open front position. For the glide the tongue moves in the direction of the
neutral sound [ə]. The lips are neutral.

Exercise

Give the descriptions of the following sounds:

ɪ sit/sɪt/ :
e ten/ten/ :
æ cat/kæt/ :
ʌ cup/kʌp/ :
ɒ got/ɡɒt/ :
ɑː father/ˈfɑːðə(r) :
ɔː saw/sɔː/ :
[ɔɪ] boy /bɔɪ / :

8
Department of english studies
S1
Modul 4
Spoken eEnglish
Prof .Abdelali Agbalou
Week six
Sultan Mly Sliman University Spoken English

Department of English S1

Benni-Mellal Prof: Agbalou

Minimal Pair
Definition of a Minimal Pair
"A minimal pair is a pair of words that differ in a single phoneme. Minimal pairs are often
used to show that two sounds contrast in a language. For example, we can demonstrate that [s]
and [z] contrast in English by adducing minimal pairs such as sip and zip, or bus and buzz.
Since the only difference in these words is the [s] vs. [z], we conclude that they belong to
distinct phonemes.

Word Position and Context

With regard to both creating and understanding minimal pairs, context is everything. The only
way we can create a minimal pair with reference to the two sounds involved is to put them in
exactly the same environment in terms of word position and the surrounding context, To
clarify further, the pair: jail–Yale shows the contrast between /dʒ/ and /j/ in initial position,
budge–buzz focuses on the contrast between /dʒ/ and /z/ in final position, while witch–wish
contrasts /t∫/ and /ʃ/ in final position. It should be noted that minimal pairs include forms that
have different spellings, as evidenced in jail–Yale," (Yavas 2011).

Near Minimal Pairs

True minimal pairs aren't too common, but near minimal pairs are easy to find. Sometimes it
is not possible to find perfect minimal pairs differentiated by only a single sound for every
phoneme. Sometimes it is necessary to settle for near minimal pairs ... Pleasure and leather
qualify as a near minimal pair, since the sounds immediately adjacent to the target sounds, [ð]
and [ʒ], are the same in both words: [e] before the target sound and [r] after it. Like minimal
pairs, near minimal pairs are usually sufficient to demonstrate that two sounds are separate
phonemes in a language," (Gordon 2019).

Making minimal pairs is a method that can be used to work out whether two
different sounds in a certain language are allophones or phonemes. For instance, we
can see that l and r are different phonemes by making the minimal pair:

l and r can
distinguish
between
words:
lime - rhyme - they are
distinctive
for the
meaning of
the word

But the two types of English /l/ - light and dark - cannot make a minimal pair,
because the rules state that: /l/ can only appear in the word where /ɫ/cannot appear.
Example : light /l/ learn /lɜːn/ intial position and dark /ɫ/ mile /maɪl/final position.

In some languages they CAN make minimal pairs.

Sometimes we cannot make a minimal pair to show different phonemes, simply

because there are no words that fit. When this happens, we can usually find
MINIMAL CONTEXTS instead. Thus you cannot find a minimal pair to show that

and are different phonemes. But we can find a minimal context like this:

and are
in different
CONTEXTS
fission - vision - although
fission and
vision are
not minimal
pairs.

Exercises.

Find the minimal pairs in this list.

cat - bat
wide - wise
ride - road
kite - night
take - steak
maid - made
wise - rice
base - phase
caught - cot
 1.Symbols introduced: /θ/& /ð/
Transcribe the following words:
Thursday without Loathe teeth than although them northern throw either clothe
cloth sooths soothes teethe wealthy whether bath bathe.

Words in /θ/:

Words in/ð/:

D2. Read the list of words in pairs.

.a) Minimal pairs: voiceless /t/ and voiceless /θ/

tree ./triː/ ..three /θriː/

taught /tɔːt/ .thought ../θɔːt/
teary ./ˈtɪəri/ ..theory ../ˈθɪəri/
nutting ../ˈnʌtɪŋ/ ..nothing ../ˈnʌθɪŋ/
rootless ./ˈruːtləs/ ..ruthless ./ˈruːθləs/
b) Minimal pairs: voiced /d/ and voiced /ð/

day /deɪ/ ..they ../ðeɪ/

doze /dəʊz/ ..those .../ðəʊz/
dense ../dens/ ..thence ../ðens/
udder ./ˈʌdə/ other ./ˈʌðə/
sudden /ˈsʌdn/ ..southern /ˈsʌðən/
breeding /ˈbriːdɪŋ/ ..breathing /ˈbriːðɪŋ/

3. Read the sentence twice! (Focus on the consonants /θ/ and /ð/

.There those thousand thinkers were thinking how did the other three thieves go
through.

4. (A) Read the short paragraph once! (Focus on the consonants /θ/ and /ð/

Something in a thirty-acre thermal thicket of thorns and thistles .thumped and

thundered .threatening the three-D thoughts of Matthew the thug - although,
theatrically, it was only .the thirteen-thousand thistles and thorns through the
underneath of his thigh that the .thirty year old thug thought of that morning.
Department of english studies

S1

Modul 4

Spoken eEnglish

Prof .Abdelali Agbalou

Week seven and eight

1
1.Syllable
Definition: A syllable is any of the units into which a word may be divided. It usually consists of a vowel
sound. This vowel sound can be alone as in “A”, or can be preceded by a consonant sound as in “To”, or
can be followed by a consonant sound as in “Eat”, or it can be between two consonant sounds or more as in
“Take”, “Shock”, “Sleep”, etc So, a syllable equals (=) a vowel sound (=) one vowel sound or a diphthong.
For example, in the word “Sleep” we have one vowel sound /i:/, but in /the word “Take” we’ve got the
diphthong (two vowel sounds) /eɪ/ The weakest vowel sound in the English language is /ə/, and this sound
is never stressed. It is called Schwa.

Syllable types

 A monosyllabic word is made of one syllable.

 A disyllabic word is made of two syllables.

 A trisyllabic word is made of three syllables.

 A polysyllabic word consists of four syllables and more

A.Divide the words according to the number of syllables:

Actor – hero – strain- see- light- sculpture- ice- love- hate- dreaming- paly- glove- industry- knife- mistake-
miserable- poetry- hole- pretend- punishment- signature- snake- spider- spoke- evoke- simulation- syllable-
thoughtful- smart- words- science- transformer- necessary

2.Stress
Stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words
in a phrase or sentence as compared with others, less energetically articulated. We mark the strong
stress as in actually done in most dictionaries with (‘) before the strong syllable. The syllable witch
is to be strongly (e.g.) “migrant“/ˈmaɪɡrənt/ stress is put in the first syllable(1.0).but it is on the
second syllable in the word “necessity” /nɪˈsɛsɪtɪ /(0.1.00)and on the third syllable in the word
“presuppose”/ˌpriːsəˈpəʊz/ (2.01).in a long word more than two syllables ,we mark the secondary
stress(2)before the syllable as jus•ti•fi•ca•tion /ˌdʒʌs tə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən/ (2.0.01.0).

The rules
1. A word of one syllable has stress on the first letter. E.g. 'Go - 'Hot – 'Long – 'Teach.

2. A word of two syllables:

a. A noun of two syllables has stress on the first syllable. N = '1 + 2 stress on 1 E.g. 'En/glish – 'Fa/ther –
'teach/er – 'Act/or – 'Pres/ent But in “Be/'lief” stress is on syllable two because the first contains /ə/.

b. An adjective of two syllables has stress on the first syllable. Adj. = '1 + 2 stress on 1. E.g. 'Hap/py –
'Sun/ny – 'Hot/ter – 'Ug/ly – 'Stu/pid. But in “Cor/'rect” stress is on the second syllable because the first
contains /ə/.

c. An adverb or a preposition of two syllables has stress on the first syllable. Adv. = '1 + 2 E.g. 'Un/der –
'O/ver – 'Ne/ver – 'Af/ter. But in “Be'low”, “Be'neath”, “A'bove”, “A'go” stress is on the second syllable
because the first contains /ə /.

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A verb of two syllables has stress on the second syllable. V = 1 + '2 E.g. Cor/'rect – Pre/'sent – Be/'lieve.

But in “'La/bel”, “'O/pen” stress is on the first syllable because the second syllable contains /ə/.

3. A compound noun = 'N1 + N2 takes stress on the first noun (N1) E.g. 'Lady-bird, 'Taxi-driver, 'School-
bag, 'Silk-worm, 'Pencil-case, 'Suit-case.

4. A compound noun = 'Adj. + N takes stress on the adjective (Adj.) E.g. 'Black-board, 'Green-house,
'Round-table, 'Black-smith, 'White-house.

5. A compound adjective = Adj. + 'V(pp) takes stress on the verb (V (pp)). E.G. Well-'done, Well-'known,
Old-'fashioned, Narrow-'minded.

6. A compound verb = Preposition + 'V takes stress on the verb (V).

E.g. Under-'stand, Over-'do, Over-'flow, Under-'estimate.

7. A phrasal verb (V + 'Prep/or 'Adv) takes stress on the Prep/or Adv. E.g. Sit 'down, Fly a'way, Stand 'up,
Climb 'up, Run a'way, Go 'into.

8. A word that ends (finishes) with one of these five (5) endings takes stress on the second syllable from
end.

The endings are (-ic(s), -sion(s), -tion(s), -ive, -ant) E;g.

'Graph/ic – 'Ma/gic – Me/'chan/ic – 'Pan/ic – 'Pub/lic.

'Vi/sion – Di/'vi/sion – Con/'clu/sion – Tel/e/'vi/sion or 'Tel/e/vi/sion In/tro/'duc/tion – Si/tu/'a/tion –

In/'ten/tion.

Ex/'pens/ive – Ef/'fect/ive – Com/'puls/ive (But : In/'quis/i/tive) Im/'por/tant – Re/'sis/tant – As/'sis/tant.

9. A word that ends (finishes) with one of these thirteen (13) endings takes stress on the third syllable from
end. (Words of 3 syllables or more.) The endings are (-cy, -ty, -phy, - -gy, -al, -er, --ful, - less, -ous, -fy, -
ible, -able, -ist, -ness, -ize, etc…) E.g. U/ni/'ver/si/ty, Sim/i/'lar/i/ty, Re/'al/i/ty

Phi/'los/o/phy, Pho/'tog/ra/phy

Ge/'ol/o/gy, Tech/'nol/o/gy, Bi/'ol/o/gy

'Phys/i/cal, 'Man/u/al, Me/'chan/i/cal

Pho/'tog/ra/pher, Ki/'lo/me/ter, 'Car/pen/ter (But: Com/'put/er)(2nd) 'Beau/ti/ful, 'Plen/ti/ful (But:

Re/'spect/ful, De/'light/ful) (2nd)

'Dan/ger/ous, 'Mar/vel/lous (But: Cou/'ra/geous, De/'li/cious) (2nd) 'Beau/ti/fy, 'Sim/pli/fy, 'Rec/ti/fy,

'Fal/si/fy

'Hor/ri/ble, 'Cre/di/ble, In/'cre/di/ble Re/'spect/a/ble, 'Ca/pa/ble, De/'pend/a/ble 'Jour/nal/ist, 'Sci/en/tist,

'Phys/is/ist, Bi/'o/log/ist 'Help/less/ness, 'Care/less/ness, 'Clev/er/ness

'Civ/i/lize, 'So/siol/ize, 'Ang/li/cize. But: 'Gen/e/ra/lize (2 and 3 contain /ə/)are not stressed.

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5. Pronunciation of plural-,genetive and 3rd person singular___s:

/s/ after voiceless sounds cats, tips, kicks

/z/ after voiced sounds pens, cars, songs

/iz/ after sibilants sounds /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ kisses, dishes, boxes

Ending is pronounced Ending is pronounced Ending is pronounced

/s/ /z/ /iz/

Words ending with the Verbs ending with the Verbs ending with the
sounds sounds sounds
/b/ /g/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /v/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/
/p/ /f/ /k//θ/ and all vowel sounds

Cats Pens Kisses

Tips Cars Dishes

kicks songs boxes

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Department of english studies
S1
Modul 4
Spoken eEnglish
Prof .Abdelali Agbalou
Week Nine and Ten

1
1.Exercises
Ending is pronounced Ending is pronounced Ending is pronounced

/s/ /z/ /iz/

Add the following words to the correct column above

games races rules sounds catches looks bats

2.Symbols introduced: /æ/, /ʌ/

Words in /æ/:-----

---

Words in /ʌ/:-----

------

3.Explain the following idioms.

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4.Word families, stress and the sound/ə/

Here are some word families.Mark the main stress and underline the /ə/sound.

Which sounds have no /ə/sound?

5. Depending on the ending of the word, the pronunciation of the “ed” ending will change.look at
the last sound of the infinitive of the verb.

Ending is pronounced Ending is pronounced Ending is pronounced

/id/ /t/ /d/
Verbs ending with the Verbs ending with the Verbs ending with the
sounds sounds sounds
/p/ /f/ /k/ /s/ /ʃ/ /ʈʃ/ /θ/
/d/ /t/ /b/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /v/ /z/ /dʒ/
and all vowel sounds
She needed (needID) She looked(lookT) You grabbed(grabD)
They wanted (wantID We helped(helpT) She hugged(hugD)
I laughed(laughT) It cleaned(cleanD)
He wished(wishT) She saved (saveD)
They marched(marchT) We stayed(stayD)
It snowed (snowD
6.Write the words in the correct column

Expanded caused damaged populated scarred happened needed established

started walked parked

ed pronounced /id/ 2) ed pronounced/t/ 3) ed pronounced/d/

expanded

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Sultan Mly Sliman University Spoken English

Department of English S1

Benni-Mellal Prof: Agbalou

4
4.Proverbs :

"Fortune favors the bold."

"There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"Too many cooks spoil the broth."