Sounds and letters - two different things in English

Site:	eCampus
Cours:	2024-2025 PeiP1-2C Anglais (S1)
Livre:	Sounds and letters - two different things in English

Imprimé par:	Visiteur anonyme
Date:	jeudi 30 janvier 2025, 23:15

Description

Table des matières

1. Why pronunciation matters
2. Sounds and letters: two different things in English
3. Letters' most common pronunciations

1. Why pronunciation matters

Hake a look at the video below:

Now listen to this French accent:

Do you understand now why pronunciation does matter? Because it can lead do disastrous misunderstanding, more or less funny!

2. Sounds and letters: two different things in English

The problem with English is pronunciation as the same association of letters does not mean necessarily the same sound. The problem is more with vowel sounds than consonant sounds.

Consider the following words with the same association of letters E+A and the different pronunciations:

beat <ea> is pronounced /i:/
bear <ea> is pronounced / eə/ (and not beer /bɪə/)
head <ea> is pronounced /e/
near <ear> is pronounced /ɪə /
heart <ear> is pronounced /ɑː / (and not hurt /hɜːt)

It can be even worse as the pronunciation of the word can change the meaning of the word:
e.g. row /rəʊ/ - here row means "a line of seats"
row /raʊ/ - here row means "an argument, a disagreement, a dispute"
We call those words ‘homographs’ – which means: different words, written in the same way.

As there is no universal rule, learning a new word involves learning:

the meaning
the spelling
and the pronunciation

One way of indicating the pronunciation in writing is using the International Phonetic Alphabet. You can listen to all the sounds of English by clicking on each symbol in the chart below:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/TEphonemic_GreyBlue2_0.swf

Download the chart

3. Letters' most common pronunciations

Though many pronunciations are possible for the same association of letters, here are common ones.

We will focus on the vowels of the alphabet and see how they are pronounced most of the time.

It is important when you learn a new word to pay attention to how it is pronounced.

3.1. How to pronounce the letter A

In many words, the letter of the alphabet 'A' is pronounced /eɪ/

e.g. grade

But most of the time it is pronounced /æ/

e.g. Bachelor, practical, lab, graduate

It can also be pronounced / ɑː/

e.g. pass, class, Master

When you have a combination i+consonant+vowel, you pronounce it /eɪ/.

e.g. rat → / æ /                rate → / eɪ /

       plan → / æ /              plane → / eɪ /

      mad → / æ /               made→ / eɪ /

That is why you have to double the final letter in comparative forms not to change the pronunciation: e.g. fat → fatter

▪ If you add 'r' after the 'a', the pronunciation is different again, as you pronounce it /ɑː/

e.g. car → / ɑː/

or /eə/

e.g. care →/ eə /

When you have a combination a + r + vowel, you pronounce it / eə/

e.g. sharing →/ eə /

3.2. How to pronounce the letter E

The letter of the alphabet 'E' is rarely pronounced / iː/ .

e.g. species → / iː /

Most of the time it is pronounced /e/.

e.g. bed, semester → / e /

It can also be pronounced / ɪ / in some words.

e.g. resource, semester, subject → / ɪ /

▪ If you add 'r' after the 'e', the pronunciation is different again, as you pronounce it /ɜː/

or even /ɪə/.

e.g. her → / ɜː /                              here→ / ɪə /
        term → / ɜː /                          atmosphere → / ɪə /

▪ If you combine two letters 'E', you often have the sound / iː/

e.g. green, degree → / iː /

3.3. How to pronounce the letter I

▪ The letter of the alphabet 'I' is pronounced /aɪ/ in many words.

e.g. primary, assignment → /aɪ/

But most of the time it is pronounced /ɪ/.

e.g. physics, English → /ɪ/

When you have a combination i+consonant+vowel, you pronounce it /aɪ/.

e.g. smile, strive

That is why you have to double the final letter in comparative forms not to change the pronunciation: e.g. big → bigger
e.g.        hid→ /ɪ/             hide → /aɪ/
             sit→ /ɪ/                site→ /aɪ/
             win → /ɪ/            wine → /aɪ/

When a word ends in -igh, -ight, -ign, ind, it is pronounced /aɪ/. (except wind)
e.g. rewind, plight, ...
▪ If you add 'r' after the 'i', the pronunciation is different again, as you pronounce it /ɜː/

e.g. bird → /ɜː/
or even /aɪə/
fire →/aɪə/
When you have a combination i+consonant+vowel, you pronounce it /aɪə/
e.g. fir → /ɜː/ fire →/aɪə/

3.4. How to pronounce the letter O

The letter of the alphabet 'O' is pronounced /əʊ/ in many words.

e.g. global → / əʊ /

Most of the time it is pronounced /ɒ/.

e.g. hot , module→ / ɒ /

But it can also be pronounced /ʌ/

e.g. brother → / ʌ /

When you have a combination o + consonant + vowel, you pronounce it / əʊ /.

Notice the difference between the words below.
e.g.   not→ / ɒ /                note→ / əʊ /
         cod → / ɒ /               code → / əʊ /
         hop → / ɒ /               hope→ / əʊ /

That is why you have to double the final letter in comparative forms not to change the pronunciation: e.g. hot → hotter

▪ If you add 'r' after the 'o', the pronunciation is different again, as you pronounce it /ɔː/