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Intonation and Rhythm

Read out this paragraph and try to anticipate the tones. Have you ever been to the mountains? They’re so beautiful, aren’t they? Last summer, we visited a small village in the hills. The air was fresh, and the view was amazing. Every morning, we’d wake up to the sound of birds singing. By midday, the sunlight would shine through the trees, making shadows on the ground. It was peaceful, but at night, the wind would howl, and it felt a little scary. Wouldn’t you like to spend a few days there? Practise these sentences in the tones indicated. // ˈhæv ju ˈev.ə ˈbiːn tə ðə ↗maʊn.tɪnz // // ðeə ˈsəʊ ↘ˈbjuː.tə.fəl / ↘ɑːnt ðeɪ // // ˈ lɑːst ↗sʌm.ə / wi ˈvɪz.ɪ.tɪd ə ˈsmɔːl ˈvɪl.ɪdʒ ɪn ðə ↘hɪlz // // ði ˈeə wəz ↗ˈfreʃ / ən ðə ˈvjuː wəz ə↘meɪ.zɪŋ // // ˈ ev.ri ↗mɔː.nɪŋ / wiːd ˈweɪk ˈʌp tə ðə ˈsaʊnd əv ˈbɜːdz ↘sɪŋ.ɪŋ// / baɪ ↘mɪd↗deɪ / ðə ˈsʌn.laɪt wʊd ˈʃaɪn θruː ðə ↗ˈtriːz / ˈmeɪ.kɪŋ ˈʃæd.əʊz ɒn ðə ↘ɡraʊnd // // ɪt wəz ↘piːs↗fəl / bət ət ↗naɪt / ðə ˈwɪnd wʊd ↗haʊl / ən ɪt ˈfelt ə ˈlɪt.l ↘skeə.ri ...
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Pronunciation

Recall the pronunciations of the following words. Then go to the Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary , look up these words, try to pronounce them, and note down their phonemic transcriptions: 1. Tortoise 2. Epitome 3. Pizza 4. Elite 5. Economy 6. Entrepreneur 7. England 8. Restaurant 9. Yacht 10. Tuition 11. Reservoir 12. Cuisine 13. Tomb 14. Bomb 15. Wednesday 16. Onion 17. Debut 18. Debt 19. Pronunciation 20. Develop 21. Honour 22. Singer 23. Indigestion 24. Iron 25. Women 26. Adjacent 27. Lettuce 28. Almond 29. Stomach 30. Gesture 31. Colleague 32. Poem 33. Determine 34. Bicycle 35. Vegetable 36. Jewellery 37. Vehicle 38. February 39. Mosquito 40. Police Words ending with - et Crick et Lock et Bask et   Words ending with - ment Entertain ment Orna ment Enjoy ment   Words (other than verbs) ending with - tain Cer tain Foun tain Cur tain   Words (having at least two syllables) ending with - age Langu age Vill age Cott age (Exceptions: Words borrowed from French: collage, sa...
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Practice on Word Stress

Part A Go to Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary , look up these words, and observe which syllables are stressed. Note down which syllable (ultimate, penultimate, antepenultimate, or preantepenultimate) is stressed in each word. 1. techno logy 2. bio logy 3. zoo logy 4. photo graph 5. photo graphy 6. auto graph 7. bio graphy 8. loc ate  (two syllables) 9. vibr ate  (two syllables) 10. quest ion 11. suggest ion 12. scientif ic 13. electr ic 14. nationalist ic 15. technolog ical 16. psycholog ical 17. abil ity 18. activ ity 19. curios ity 20. demo cracy 21. demo crat 22. auto crat 23. bureau cracy 24. monum ental 25. ornam ental 26. million aire 27. questionn aire 28. engin eer 29. Chin ese 30. Japan ese 31. ment ee 32. pay ee 33. pion eer 34. cigar ette 35. my self 36. your self 37. US A   38. WH O 39. magic ian 40. music ian 41. spec ial 42. essent ial 43. maint ain   (verb) 44. obt ain  (verb) 45. complic ate   (more than two syllables) 46. cultiv ate  (...
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A Few Stress Rules in English

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The following are some stress rules. Go to Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary , look up these words, and observe which syllables are stressed. Rule 1: Verbs of two syllables ending in  -ate  and  -ct  usually take the stress on the ultimate (last) syllable. /nəˈreɪt/ ‘narrate’ /ləʊˈkeɪt/ ‘locate’ /maɪˈɡreɪt/ ‘migrate’ /vaɪˈbreɪt/ ‘vibrate’ /dɪˈbeɪt/ ‘debate’ /kənˈtækt/ ‘contact’ /əˈtrækt/ ‘attract’ /kəˈnekt/ ‘connect’ /dɪˈpɪkt/ ‘depict’ /ɪnˈfekt/ ‘infect’ Rule 2: Words ending in  -ion  have the primary stress on the penultimate syllable. /ˈkwes.tʃən/ ‘question’ /ɪˌmædʒ.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/ ‘imagination’ /ˌɪn.dɪˈdʒes.tʃən/ ‘indigestion’ /ˌɪn.trəˈdʌk.ʃən/ ‘introduction’ /səˈdʒes.tʃən/ ‘suggestion’ Rule 3: Words ending in  -ic and -ian  are stressed on the penultimate syllable. /ɪˈlek.trɪk/ ‘electric’ /ˌsaɪ.ənˈtɪf.ɪk/ ‘scientific’ /ɑːˈtɪs.tɪk/ ‘artistic’ /ˌpeɪ.trɪˈɒt.ɪk/ ‘patriotic’ /ˌnæʃ.ən.əˈlɪs.tɪk/ ‘nationalistic’ /ɪˌlekˈtrɪʃ.ən...
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Syllabification

  HOW ARE WORDS SYLLABIFIED? To syllabify a word, you need to understand the phonotactic constraints of English. The term “phonotactic constraints” refers to the “restrictions on the sequence of sounds that can occur in a given position in a syllable.” (Philip Carr, A Glossary of Phonology ) These are the most important phonotactic constraints in English: No word in English can end with the following vowels: /e, æ, ʌ, ɒ/. Therefore, you cannot end a syllable with any of these vowels. For example, the word “bottle” is transcribed and syllabified in this way: /ˈbɒt.əl/. These four vowels always need a coda. The vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ can never occur in the final position of a syllable if the syllable is stressed. For example, the word “sister” is transcribed and syllabified in this manner: /ˈsɪs.tə/. Here, the sound /ɪ/ occurs in a stressed syllable. Therefore, it needs a coda. On the other hand, the word “oxygen” is transcribed and syllabified like this: /ˈɒk.sɪ.dʒən/. Since the vowel /...
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