Prof Francisco Zabala – 2014 Spelling & Pronunciation Basic Vowel Pattern: (Consonant) + Vowel + Consonant Monosyllabic words that are formed by one vowel letter sandwiched by one or more consonants generally take a short vowel sound = z add cat BASIC VOWEL PATTERN: (CC)VC(C) = d = H = P = T egg it on met sit lot put = U up bus • At the edges: o Several consonant letters may stand for just one consonant sound Nick !mHj chop !sRPo knit !mHs puff !oUe o There may be several consonant sounds together moths !lPSr strong !rsqPM grip !fqHo clan !jkzm • Exceptions: these are normally a small group of common every-day words that got fossilized in the language E.g.: most !l?Trs ghost !f?Trs kind.!j`Hmc mind.!l`Hmc won’t !v?Tms don’t !c?Tms bath !a@9S can’t !j@9ms Ending Modifiers that “make the previous vowel letter say its name” a Silent When silent is added at the end of a one-syllable word that ends in a single consonant, ‘the vowel letter in the middle tends to say its own name.’ SILENT = z = dH = d = h9 = H = `H = P =?T = T+ U ='i(t9 cut → cute hat → hate pet → Pete sit → site hop → hope duck → duke • Exceptions: these are normally a small group of common every-day words that got fossilized in the language E.g.: have g?u+ !gzu live !kHu love !kUu some r?l+ !rUl come !jUl none !mUm gone !fPm Prof Francisco Zabala – 2014 b Magic When is added at the end of a one-syllable word ending in a single consonant letter, the vowel in the middle tends to say its own name MAGIC = z = dH = d = h9 = H = `H = P =?T = T+ U ='i(t9 lad → lady Ken → key tin → tiny pot → pony duck → duty c Final When is added at the end of a one-syllable word ending in a single consonant letter, the vowel in the middle tends to say its own name This does not apply to medial letter FINAL = z = dH = H = `H = P =?T = T+ U ='i(t9 cab → cable till → tile pot → pole run → rule Double consonant letters Consonant letters are normally doubled to keep a short vowel In other words, the occurrence of diphthongs and long vowels tends to be blocked by these double letters Compare: write !q`Hs writing !q`HsHM wrote !q?Ts written !qHsmÿ DOUBLE CONSONANTS Si lent Magic Final Long Blocked Long Block ed Long Blocked = z+ dH later latter lady daddy table apple = d+ h9 Pete getting key Benny = H+ `H site sitting tiny tinny idle middle = P+ ?T hope hopping Toby dolly noble wobble = T+ U+ 'i(t9 cute cutting duly dully mule juggle Note: Words ending in in their base form take ?T For example: poll !o?Tk polling !o?TkHM roll !q?Tk rolling !q?TkHM stroll !rsq?Tk strolling !rsq?TkHM toll !s?Tk tolling !s?TkHM Prof Francisco Zabala – 2014 Internal modifiers a Radical A post-vocalic letter indicates that the vowel sound is longer or more open This occurs in monosyllabic words and in the stressed syllable of longer words, too Final may also result in a centring diphthong (i.e .H?+ d?+ T?.) = z = @9+ d? = d = 29+ d? = H = 29+ `H? = P = N9 = T+ U = 29+ T? RAD ICAL Basic Vowel Pattern Monosyllable cat cart gem germ fit firm pot port run turn Polysyllable remark German confirm imported disturbing care there fire pore pure Note: This rule does not work either when the letter is doubled or when it is between two vowel sounds within the base form marry !lzqh sorry !rPqh very !udqh curry !jUqh Paris !ozqHr harry !gzqh berry !adqh mirror !lHq? b Troublesome The quality of letters is distorted when they are followed by = z., = N9 = d., = 'i(t9 = `T = P., = ?T FI NAL TROUBLESOME Basic Vowel Pattern Monosyllable pat paw net new cot cow cot flow Polysyllable withdraw renewed allowed fellow The quality of and changes when they are preceded by INITIAL TROUBLESOME Basic Vowel Pattern Monosyllable = N9 bad war = z., = P match watch = P., = 29 loss worse Polysyllable award wallet working Prof Francisco Zabala – 2014 Two vowels together: “the first says its name” Although these patterns are highly inconsistent, there is a tendency: when there are two vowel letters together, many times “the first that came says its name” THE FIRST VOWEL LETTER SAYS ITS NAME Spelling Examples dH Complain rain raid h9 Bean team reason h9 See glee feel h9 Ceiling seize `H Replied die ?T Goat load ?T Soul shoulder 'i(t9 Fruit nuisance Common exceptions t9 Fool moon T Good book NH Toy boil N9 Daughter fraud Consonants The relationship between the spelling and pronunciation of consonants is much more straightforward than the behaviour of vowels a The following letters always stand for the same phoneme, even if they are doubled: • a.: Ben, lab, bobby, pebble • c.: Dan, daddy, fuddy-duddy • e.: Frank, cufflinks, puff • g.: hand, heart, hard • cY.: jam, major, juice • j.: kit, bike, Nike • k.: lot, ball, allotted, rolling • l.: more, humble, from, immediate • m.: nice, then, thinner, beginning • u.: vice, Eve, savvy • y.: zoo, zebra, buzzing, fizzy b e.: Phillips, phonetics, photograph c R.: she, show, marsh d • sR.: chin, much, arch • j.: architect, character, headache • R.: chef, champagne, Chicago e • Silent: high, weigh, eight, night • e.: enough, rough, cough Prof Francisco Zabala – 2014 f • • S o o Words ending in : bath, cloth, math (BUT with) Most content words beginning in : theme, theatre, throw o Grammar words beginning with : they, this, that, etc (BUT though) Content words ending in : bathe, breathe, bother C o g • • • • • j + consonant: act, buckle, mediocre j + : camera, cut, come r + : cinema, century, cycle jr : accident, success R.: delicious, precious, special, glacial h • • f , : gate, go, gun, bigger, leggings cY : gem, engine, gym (BUT girl, get, give, begin, tiger, finger, etc.) i is generally: • jv at the beginning or middle of a word: question, square, liquid • j in “silent endings” : antique, unique j is very unstable See “.r or y.? The eternal nightmare!” in the set of notes k • s generally: lot, talk, bottom • sR? in the ending : picture, future, torture • R in the endings : ambitious, information, initial l • jr + unstressed vowel: Mexico, maximum • jr + consonant or final: extra, excellent, sex, mix • fy + stressed vowel: exam, exist • y when initial in the word: xenophobic, Xavier, Xerox m • i at the beginning of a word: yes, young, yacht • H internally in a word: gym, myth, rhythm • At the end of words: o h in final unstressed position: city, busy, family o `H in monosyllables: my, sty, fly, why, try o `H under the effect of silent or radical : rhyme, type, tyre o `H when stressed: July, apply, deny o `H in the ending : justify, clarify, modify Adapted from: Fitzpatrick, F (1995) A teacher’s guide to practical pronunciation London: Prentice Hall Prof Francisco Zabala – 2014 Basic Vowel Pattern (C)(C) V C (C) (C) Short vowel sound Mends !'l(dm'cy( Double consonants Latter z (Cf Later dH.) Silent Vowel says its name Tendencies Pete h9 (Cf pet d.) Magic Tony ?T (Cf Johnny P.) Two vowel letters rain dH., team h9., goat ?T Radical cart @9 (Cf cat z.) he gh'9( (Cf here H?.) Exceptions Fossilized & frequent words (e.g have, come, love)