【Pronunciation】Overview (概述)

Exercise: Word Pronunciation Comparison Ball vs Bore
Bell vs Bear
Bill vs Beer
Doll vs Door
Dull vs Door Contents 【Pronunciation - 01】 /i/ b(ea)t /b/ /i/ /t/ ( 打 )
【Pronunciation - 02】 /ɪ/ b(i)t /b/ /ɪ/ /t/ ( 少量 ) 【Pronunciation - 03】 /e/ b(ai)t /b/ /e/ /t/ ( 餌 ) 【Pronunciation - 04】 /ɛ/ b(e)t /b/ /ɛ/ /t/ ( 賭注 )
【Pronunciation - 05】 /æ/ b(a)t /b/ /æ/ /t/ ( 蝙蝠 ) 【Pronunciation - 06】 /ʌ/ b(u)t /b/ /ʌ/ /t/ ( 但 ) 【Pronunciation - 07】 /ə/ (a)bout /ə/ /b/ /o/ /t/ ( 關於 ) 【Pronunciation - 08】 /ɚ/ b(ir)d /b/ /ɚ/ /d/ ( 鳥 ) 【Pronunciation - 09】 /u/ b(oo)t /b/ /u/ /t/ ( 開機 ) 【Pronunciation - 10】 /ʊ/ b(oo)k /b/ /ʊ/ /k/ ( 書 ) 【Pronunciation - 11】 /o/ b(oa)t /b/ /o/ /t/ ( 船 ) 【Pronunciation - 12】 /ɔ/ b(ough)t /b/ /ɔ/ /t/ ( 買 ) 【Pronunciation - 13】 /ɑ/ b(o)b /b/ /ɑ/ /b/ ( 鮑勃 ) 【Pronunciation - 14】 /ɑɪ/ b(i)te /b/ /ɑɪ/ /t/ ( 咬 ) 【Pronunciation - 15】 /ɑʊ/ b(row)n /b/ /r/ /ɑʊ/ /n/ ( 棕色的 ) 【Pronunciation - 16】 /ɔɪ/ b(oy) /b/ /ɔɪ/ ( 男孩 ) 【Pronunciation - 17】 /p/ (p)ot /p/ /ɑ/ /t/ ( 鍋 ) 【Pronunciation - 18】 /b/ (b)et /b/ /ɛ/ /t/ ( 賭注 ) 【Pronunciation - 19】 /d/ (d)og /d/ /ɔ/ /g/ ( 狗 ) 【Pronunciation - 20】 /t/ (t)op /t/ /ɑ/ /p/ ( 最佳 ) 【Pronunciation - 21】 /k/ (k)it /k/ /ɪ/ /t/ ( 成套工具 )
【Pronunciation - 22】 /g/ (g)ot /g/ /ɑ/ /t/ ( 得到了 )
【Pronunciation - 23】 /f/ (f)og /f/ /ɔ/ /g/ ( 多霧路段 ) 【Pronunciation - 24】 /v/ (v)at /v/ /æ/ /t/ ( 增值稅 )
【Pronunciation - 25】 /ɵ/ (th)ick /ɵ/ /ɪ/ /k/ ( 厚的 ) th vs z
【Pronunciation - 26】 /ð/ (th)at /ð/ /æ/ /t/ ( 那 )
【Pronunciation - 27】 /s/ (s)at /s/ /æ/ /t/ ( 坐 )
【Pronunciation - 28】 /z/ (z)oo /z/ /u/ ( 動物園 )
【Pronunciation - 29】 /ʃ/ (sh)ut /ʃ/ /ʌ/ /t/ ( 關閉 ) 【Pronunciation - 30】 /ʒ/ mea(s)ure /m/ /ɛ/ /ʒ/ /ɚ/ ( 措施 )
【Pronunciation - 31】 /h/ (h)elp /h/ /ɛ/ /l/ /p/ ( 幫助 )
【Pronunciation - 32】 /ʧ/ (ch)ur(ch) /ʧ/ /ɚ/ /ʧ/ ( 教會 )
【Pronunciation - 33】 /ʤ/ (j)ump /ʤ/ /ʌ/ /m/ /p/ ( 跳 )
【Pronunciation - 34】 /m/ (m)o(m) /m/ /ɑ/ /m/ ( 媽媽 )
【Pronunciation - 35】 /n/ (n)od /n/ /ɑ/ /d/ ( 點頭 )
【Pronunciation - 36】 /ŋ/ th(ing) /ɵ/ /ɪ/ /ŋ/ ( 事物 )
【Pronunciation - 37】 /l/ (l)ot /l/ /ɑ/ /t/ ( 很多 ) l vs r
【Pronunciation - 38】 /r/ (r)at /r/ /æ/ /t/ ( 鼠 )
【Pronunciation - 39】 /w/ (w)on /w/ /ʌ/ /n/ ( 韓元 )
【Pronunciation - 40】 /j/ (y)ou /j/ /u/ ( 你 ) Your Ultimate Guide to Pronunciation Rules in English Rules of English pronunciation
Base Checklist:
1. Is the word a noun?
2. Is its origin Latin or French?
3. What rules affect it? How we got these pronunciation rules. Vowels: How to know when they should be long or short. Diphthongs: What they are, and how to use them. Consonants: How to know when to pronounce them differently.
How we got these pronunciation rules. It’s so easy to feel frustrated when learning the pronunciation rules of English. For example, why does though rhyme with throw, but cough, which has the same ending, rhymes with off? Because there are so many other languages that influence and have been absorbed into the English language with their rules and patterns. It started when the Germanic tribes, the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles , went across the sea to conquer the British Isles, where they only spoke different dialects of Celtic. This is when we get Old English and Early Middle English, which looks very different from the English we speak today. After that, we start to move into Late Middle English, and the language begins to shift and change to look a little more like the English we speak today, which is probably thanks to the Latin and French that were mostly spoken and used by royalty, the wealthy class, and the church. This means that we have words in English which have a Latin or Romance origin, and these words often follow different pronunciation rules than words that have Old English or Germanic and French origins. It wasn’t until we had Early Modern English, William Caxton’s printing press, the English Bible, Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Shakespeare that English started to become a more important national language of England. Then, of course, the time of Late Modern English saw the Industrial Revolution, the influence of science, and the colonialism of the British Empire, in which English starts to be influenced even more by other languages. And now English is a modern, global language that’s spoken by millions of people around the world! So, the next time you feel frustrated with English pronunciation, you can remember all the many influences and changes it has gone through over the centuries. Vowels: How to know when they are long or short General rules: A vowel next to a consonant is usually a short vowel. A consonant between two vowels usually causes the first vowel to be a long vowel (or capitalized vowel: cake = cAke = cAk) A vowel before a double consonant, two hard consonant sounds, or a consonant that sounds like two consonants ( such as 'x' = 'ks' ), is pronounced as a short vowel. Example: Short 'a' sound in words like cap or apple ,
Long or Capitalized 'a=A' sound in words like grape or cape. (grApe = grAp, cApe = cAp) Adding an e to the end of a word may change the vowel in the word v-c-e = V-c-e = V-c Here are some other words with a long 'a' sound: Shape Grape Able Cable Sometimes a word like ' able' or ' cable' can be mistakenly pronounced with a short 'a' sound, as in apple. Remember that when you see a double consonant , as in the two p’s of apple, you usually pronounce that ' a' sound as a short 'a'. apple = a-pul
If the word has a single consonant , as in cable, you pronounce it with a long 'a' or capitalized 'A'. cable = cA-bl This is also true of words with two hard consonants together, as in tackle (hard consonants = ck) . Or a consonant like x = ks. Tap Tape = t-A-p Table = t-A-bl Able = A-bl Tackle Cable = c-A-bl Dabble Apple = a-pple Giraffe Label = l-A-bl Babble What about the “a” sound in longer words like “relatable” or “relaxation”? When we separate two vowels with only one consonant, as in relatable, we use a long a. But what about relaxation? Here, we have an x between two vowel sounds. But the thing is that x sounds like two hard consonant sounds together, k and s. Because of this, we pronounce the a in relax like the a in cap. And when it comes to the ending '-ation', we always pronounce the a as a long a, as in nation or vacation. Once you’re comfortable with the this basic pattern of how to pronounce vowels, you’ll understand the way other vowels work, too. You’ll hear the short e sound in a word like egg or bed, but you’ll here the long e sound in a word like concrete. You’ll hear the short o in a word like stop and the long o in a word like tote. Look at these other words to see what I mean. Try pronouncing them on your own: Red Odd Ode Rid Ride But Flute NOTE: Most of the time you will hear the long e sound in diphthongs, which is when we put two vowels together. What about “i” as in “kind”?
Most of the time i follows the basic patterns that the other vowels do. But there’s one exception: “i” in kind, blind, or find.
English learners make mistakes with these words all the time and try to pronounce the i as a short i. And that makes sense!
After all, when we put other vowels before -nd, we pronounce them in their short form, as in:
Sand Hand Under Fund Pond Bond Lend Bend And there is one case when i follows this rule, too, as in the word wind.
But most of the time i breaks that rule, as in:
Wind up (the phrasal verb) Kind Find Bind Blind Behind What is the schwa sound?
If you know how to pronounce the u in but or up, you know how to make the schwa sound , which is also just the short u sound. The schwa sound can be hard for learners to pronounce, which is why, when you first start, it might be easier to pronounce it like a long o, as in dog.
The word the or the article a can also have a schwa sound sometimes if you put it before a word beginning with a consonant, such as in:
The dog A cat The other thing about the schwa sound is that, if a word has multiple syllables, the unstressed vowels can have the schwa sound, too. Can you hear the schwa sounds in these words?
About Ago Silent Harmony Brilliant Easily Problem Syringe R-controlled vowels In North American pronunciation, we use the rhotic r, which means we pronounce the r after vowels and at the end of words. This is different from the English that is spoken in the UK or in Australia, for example. So, in North American English, the r sound can have an affect on the vowels next to it. An r-controlled vowel is a vowel that comes before the letter r, and the r sound changes the way the vowel sounds. In some cases, you can almost hear more than one vowel sound. Try pronouncing these words (Do you here the long o and the short u before the r?) : Car Star Her Stir Or When we add an e after the r, watch the way it changes the vowel sound: Care Stare Here Before In a word with more than one syllable, the r-controlled vowels in the unstressed syllable can often sound similar to a schwa. Try pronouncing the r-controlled vowels in these words: Around Surround Original Cracker Bigger Diphthongs: What they are, and how to use them I mentioned it briefly before, but diphthongs are the sounds that you get when you put two vowels together. And, actually, you’ve already heard similar sounds when you pronounce words with long vowels, like the a in grape, the o in phone, the i in time. Of course, there are diphthongs in English that are easy to remember, such as: Ee, which almost always sounds like a long e, Oi, which almost always sounds like the oi in noise But some of them are not so easy, and this is one of the most confusing areas for learners, which is why we’re going to look at some of the common patterns you’ll find with diphthongs. Words with ei: neighbor vs. receive Most of the time, when you see ei in a word, it will have a long a sound, as in cape: Neighbor Weigh Reign Reindeer But, when an ei comes after a c in a stressed syllable, it will have a long e sound, as in: Perceive Receive Deceive Receipt Words with ou: about, soup, and through Usually, when you see the ou vowel combination, it will follow this pattern (au): About Sound Round Shout Proud Flour However, words with an oup combination have a long u sound, as in: Soup Group Croup Words with a ould combination, which come from Old English and Germanic languages, have more of a schwa sound, as in put (remember the “l” here is silent” : Would Could Should How about words like cough or tough? These words also come from old Germanic languages, and we pronounce them with an f sound at the end: Cough Tough Rough Slough And then, there are words with an ough or an ought combination. With these combinations, you pronounce the ending as a long o: Though Thorough A nd if there is a t, it sounds like the ot in hot: Thought Ought Bought Words with oo: Pool vs. cook Words with oo also present a challenge to English learners, because the oo sound can either sound like the u in put or the u in flute. Here are some general patterns that might help you. When we combine oo with an l, we usually get a long u sound as in flute: Pool Fool Drool Stool Words with an oon follow the same pattern: Soon Moon Swoon Spoon When we combine an oo with a k, we usually get a short u sound as in put: Cook Look Crook Hook Book But, as always, we have those words in English that you just need to memorize, as in these ood and oot words. Do you know the differences in these words? Good Food Hood Boot Foot Root Consonants: How to know when to pronounce them differently In the same way that vowels might be giving you trouble, consonant sounds can be confusing, too. So, let’s take a look at some common pronunciation tendencies with consonant sounds in English: Words with c: Cat vs. city It’s sometimes hard to know when to use a soft c, which sounds like an s, or a hard c, which sounds like a k. Usually, when c comes before the vowels a, o, or u, we pronounce it as a hard c: Cut Cat Cop Coin Cover However, when a c comes before an i, e, or a y, it sounds like an s : Civil Cent Cycle Cinch Cinnamon Words with a g: Bag vs. magic When we put g before an i, e, or y, we usually pronounce it as a soft g, like the j in jam. Gentle Germ Ginger Allergy Energy Stingy Magic Logic Rigid Agile When we put g at the end of the word, we usually pronounce it as a hard g. But when we add an e to the ending, as in words that end in -ge, we also have the same soft g sound. Age Cage Garage Garbage Sponge Emerge Stage Page And, usually, when you put g before a, o, or u, we pronounce it like a hard g, which sounds like a voiced k sound . Gun Gallop Garbage Goat Gone When we put other consonants after g , like l or r, we also use a hard g: Glow Grow Glamour Grammar Of course, there are a few exceptions in which a word with a gi or ge combination has a hard g sound: Gig Giggle Gift Get Words with a th: Other vs. thick We actually have two kinds of th sounds in English: one unvoiced and one voiced. To make a voiced th sound, put your tongue between your teeth and let your vocal chords vibrate. To make an unvoiced th sound, put your tongue between your teeth, and blow out. You should feel air moving from your mouth if you put your hand in front of your face. You can hear the voiced th sound in words like: Mother Other Bother Together Gather Sometimes, we put a voiced th at the beginning of words that we use all the time, like: The Than Their They Them Though Those This That We put a voiced th sound at the ends of words with a -the Bathe Clothe Breathe Soothe You hear the unvoiced th sound at the beginning and ends of words like: Thick Thin Path Death Both Math Thanks Thigh Thief Words with an h: honest vs. hug Most of the time we pronounce the h at the beginning of words, which means we should feel air moving out of our lungs: Him Her Hug Hook Hurt Hard Hush Hill However, when it comes to certain English words that have a Latin or Romance origin, we don’t pronounce the h : Honor Honest Heir Hour Words with an sh and zh sound: Mission and efficient You might have noticed words in English have an sh sound even though they don’t have a sh. They might also have heard a voiced sh sound as well. We create an unvoiced sh sound by putting our teeth together gently and pushing air through our mouth. We create a voiced zh sound by putting our teeth together, vibrating our vocal chords, and allowing a gentle push of air through our teeth. I’m talking about words like: Vacation Mission Initiate Machine These words typically have Romance or Latin roots, so keep you eyes out for letter combinations like: - tion - ission - chine - iti - - ici - And sometimes we use a zh sound, which you can also think of as a voiced sh sound. This is the sound you hear in words like: Casual Usual Leisure Measure Seizure Illusion Division Occasion These also have their origin in Latin and Romance languages, so you can look for words with letter combinations: - sure - sual - zure - sion Different pronunciations of -ed after different consonants Another really difficult aspect of English pronunciation is the different ways in which we pronounce the ending sound -ed . Thankfully, there are some general rules you can follow here! If the -ed comes after a t or d , it sounds like an id or ed as in: Planted Stranded If the -ed comes after p, k, f, gh, sh, ch, ss, c, and x sounds, the - ed sounds more like a t: Hoped Liked Sniffed Washed Hatched Missed Danced Fixed With words that end in l, n, r, g, v, s, z, b, and m sounds, the -ed ending sounds more like a d sound: Filled Cleaned Toured Managed Lived Amazed Used Grabbed Climbed I know that seems like a lot to remember, but it just takes a bit of practice with words that have -ed endings. How can I remember all these different pronunciation rules? Well, now that we’ve talked about history and taken you on a journey through the many rules and patterns of English pronunciation, how are you supposed to practice and memorize all these rules? Practice with minimal pairs Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ in one sound in English, which may be a vowel, diphthong, or consonant sound. For example Pen and pin Seat and sheet Udder and other Steer and stare Practicing with minimal pairs can help you isolate and focus on those sounds that might be most difficult for you. Figure out what sounds are most difficult for you to pronounce. It might be the u in put or the th sound, for example. Make a list of minimal pairs, print it out and put it somewhere you’ll see it all the time. Commit to practicing with minimal pairs at least a few minutes every day. Practice with songs and poetry Singing songs and reciting poetry in English will do wonders for your pronunciation! Why? Because music is fun and can make you feel emotions which help create direct connections to your learning, which makes memorization easier and more natural. If you need song ideas, we’ve got you covered! If you download our song worksheets you’ll find the lyrics and links to the songs as well as the opportunity to boost your vocabulary before you listen to the lyrics. And if you need ideas for poetry, here are my suggestions: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost Elegy in April and September by Wilfred Owen Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou Practice with the ELSA app I highly recommend downloading and practicing with the ELSA app on your phone or device. We’ve used it ourselves, and we can personally attest that it’s fun and easy to use. The ELSA app works like a virtual pronunciation coach, which means that you read short dialogues out loud and speak it into the app, and the artificial intelligence, which can actually hear differences in accent and pronunciation, gives you feedback based on standard North American English pronunciation. It’s amazing! I tried it using different pronunciations to see if the AI could tell the difference, and it can! And we’ve been lucky enough to team up with ELSA so that, right now, our readers can get access to 80% off a lifetime membership to ELSA Pro. Yep, that’s right! You can sign up once and have it for a lifetime! How cool is that? How to Improve Your English Pronunciation in 7 Easy Steps 25 of the Most Important English Pronunciation Rules Discussion Questions (Pronunciation) (1) What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘pronunciation’? (2) Are you happy with your pronunciation? (3) What do you do to improve your pronunciation? (4) Do you like studying pronunciation in class? (5) Do you prefer British or American pronunciation? (6) What problems do you have with pronunciation? (7) Is pronunciation very important to you? (8) What’s the biggest communication problem you’ve had because of pronunciation? (9) What areas of pronunciation are you working on at the moment? (10) Do you think pronunciation is easy? (11) What is pronunciation? (12) What pronunciation problems do learners of your language have? (13) What are the differences between stress and intonation? Is one more important to you? (14) Can you easily pronounce all of the sounds in English? (15) Do you have problems with linking different sounds? (16) Do you have more problems with hearing English pronunciation or using it in your own speech? (17) What’s the best pronunciation you’ve ever had? (18) Do people ever tell you your pronunciation is good? (19) Do you know any good websites to practice pronunciation? (20) What advice would you give to other students who want to improve their pronunciation?