DIFFICULTIES IN PRONUNCIATION

1. Non-phonetic character of English

2. Silent Letters

3. Hard and soft sounds

4. Interference of native sounds

5. Variation in pronunciation

6. Changes in Language

7. American versus British English

Non-Phonetic Character of English

The number of alphabets in English is less than the number of sounds:

a. 44 principal English sounds

b. 26 letters of English alphabets.

(many alphabets represent more than one sound)

Vowel sound of /i:/ (long ‘ee’ sound)

It is spelt in following different ways:

• meet

• me

• meat

• field

• seize

• cease

• police

Vowel sound of /i:/ (long ‘ee’ sound)

• ‘Did he believe that Caesar could see the people seize the seas?’ Or

• ‘The silly amoeba stole the key to the machine’.

‘Sh’ Sound / ʃ / • shoe

• sugar

• issue

• mansion,

• suspicion

• ocean

• conscious

• chaperon

“Ough" Sounds

• ‘Though he pulled through a cough and hiccough, he still had a rough night on a bough’.

“Ough" Sounds

• rough' (raf)

• 'plough' (plow)

• 'thought' (thot)

• 'through' (throo)

• ‘although' (altho)

• 'drought' (drot)

• 'naughty'.

"OU" Sounds

• cloud (clowd)

• soul (sole)

• touch (tuch)

• youth (yooth)

• could (kud)

• bought (bot)

• journey (jam).

‘a’ Sound

'a' gives different sounds in:

• Father

• Fate

• Cat

• fall

'ea‘ Sound

'ea' gives different sounds in:

• beat

• heart

• break

• ear

• learn

• bread

‘ut’ Sound

‘ut’ sounds differently in:

• But

• put

Silent Letters.

The silent letters are usually baffling. In English these are found in all the three positions i.e.

a. Initial Position: 'Psychology, Psalm, Wrap

b. Medial Position: Debt, Calm, adjustment

c. Final Position: Autumn, Condemn,

Hard and soft sounds.

• Letter 'C' in Cat ___ hard sound

• Letter 'C' in Cinema ___ soft sound

• Letter 'G' in Get ___ hard sound

• Letter 'G' in Gem ___ soft sound

Interference of Native Sounds.

The chief problems arise out of the contrasting patterns of the sounds of the mother tongue and English. Our students utter the sound of English letters in the pattern of Urdu.

Variation in Pronunciation

Variations in pronunciations also occur due to syntactic function of words whereby we have uniformity in spellings but variation in pronunciation; e.g.

• Lead as a noun / led /

• Lead as a verb / li:d /

• Use as a noun / u:s /

• Use as a verb / u:z /

• Object as a noun / ɒb ʤ kt/

• Object as a verb / Əbʤekt/

Changes in Language.

English Language has undergone lots of changes over the past centuries.  Modern English is quite different from English of medieval ages and old English. Hence, if we come across a piece of writing that is different from modern English, it would be hard to read out the script correctly.

American versus British English

Pronunciation of American English varies from British English. The latter is regarded as ‘Standard English’. Students are usually more exposed to American English owing to electronic media, and so find difficulty in adopting the standard English Pronunciation.

PHONETIC SYMBOLS (VOWELS)i: see /si:/ 3: fur /f3: (r)/

I sIt /sIt/ Ə ago / Ə gƏʊ/

e ten /ten/ eI page /peIʤ/

æ hat /hæt/ Əʊ home /hƏʊm/

ɑ: arm /a:m/ aI five /faIv/

ɒ got /gɒt/ aʊ now /naʊ/

⊃: saw /s⊃:/ ⊃I join /ʤ⊃In/

ʊ put /pʊt/ IƏ near /n IƏ(r)/

u: too / tu:/ eƏ hair /heƏ (r)/

Λ cup /kΛ p/ ʊƏ pure /pjʊƏ (r)/

CONSONANTS

p pen /pen/ s so /sƏʊ/

b bad /bæd/ z zoo /zu:/

t tea /ti:/ ʃ she /ʃi:/

d did /d Id/ ʒ vision /vʒIn/

k cat /kæt/ h how /haʊ/

g got /gɒt/ m man /mæn/

tʃ chin /tʃIn/ n no /nƏʊ/

ʤ June /ʤu:n/ ŋ sing /sI ŋ/

f fall /f :l/⊃ l leg /leg/

v voice /v Is/⊃ r red /red/

Θ thin /Θ In/ j yes /jes/

ð then /ðen/ w wet /wet/

PHONETICS• Əbyu:s - Abuse• æʤʊtent - Adjutant• aIl - Aisle• a:mƏnd - Amend• æmƏte(r) - Amateur• Əpɒsl - Apostle• æsmƏ - Asthma• a:nt - Aunt• bælkƏnI - Balcony• beIð - Bathe• bInaIn - Benign• brIsl - Bristle• Bju:gl - Bugle• bjʊƏrɒkrƏsI -Bureaucracy

PHONETICS• ƏʤeIsnt - Adjacent • Ədv3:tIsmƏnt - Advertisement• ælIbaI - Alibi• a:mz - Alms• Əpa:theIt - Apartheid• ƏsƏʊʃIeIt - Associate• ƏtæʃeIt - Attaché• ævƏla:nʃ - Avalanche• bæleI - Ballet• beIʒ - Beige• bʊkeI - Bouquet• bʊfeI - Buffet• bjʊƏrƏʊ - Bureau• berIƏl - Burial

PHONETICS• berI - bury• kƏset - cassette• ʃæsI - chassis• ʃ : (r)⊃ - shore• kɒmpƏrƏbl - comparable• k :(r)⊃ - corps• ku:pɒn - coupon• deIIs - dais• Det - debt• depƏʊ - depot• dIv :s⊃ - divorce• IfIʃnt - efficient• InvelƏp - envelop• espIƏna:ʒ - espionage• fƏsa:d - façade • flaʊƏ (r) - flour / flower• freIt - freight

PHONETICS• kƏrIƏ(r) - career• ʃæmpeIn - champagne• ʃƏʊfƏ(r) - chauffeur• kla:k - clerk• kƏmpetItƏ(r)- competitor• ku: - coup• krIvæs - crevasse• deIbri: - debris• deIbju: - debut• di:vI eIt - deviate• dɒsI ei - dossier• ɒntʊra: ʒ - entourage• envƏlƏʊp - envelope• ekstempƏrI - extempore• feIn - feign• fi:tƏs - foetus• ʤenjʊIn - genuine

PHONETICS• glæsIƏ (r) - glacier• grænʤƏ (r) - grandeur• heInƏs - heinous• IntestIn - intestine• mƏnu:vƏ(r) - manoeuvre• medƏʊ - meadow• mƏtrɒpƏlIs - metropolis• mIsaIl - missile• nIgƏʊʃIeIt - negotiate• ΛnIen - onion• Λvn - oven• fi:nIks - phoenix• pi:tsƏ - pizza• sa:m - psalm• ki: - key / quay• ri:m - ream

PHONETICS• n :⊃ - gnaw• grenItʃ - Greenwich• IndaIt - indict• lI eIzn - liaison • ma:tƏ(r) - martyr • menju: - menu• mIra:ʒ - mirage • mƏsta:ʃ - moustache• I:dIƏs - • ɒprƏ - opera• petrƏl - petrol• fƏtɒgrƏfI - photography• prefIs - preface• sju:dƏʊ - pseudo • Relm - realm• rIsi:t - receipt