A
guide to speaking and pronouncing colloquial American English
Second
Edition Ann Cook
Illustrated
by Holly Forsyth Audio by Busy Signal Studios
BARRON'S
This
book is dedicated to Nate Cook.
Also,
my special thanks for their extensive contributions to my editor, Dimitry
Popow, Carolyn Jaeckin, Dr. Maria Bruno, Karina Lombard, Dr. Hyouk-Keun Kim,
Ph.D., Karl Althaus, Adrian Wong, Sergey Korshunov, and Jerry Danielson at Busy
Signal Studios.
¿ Copyright
2000 by Ann Cook, http://www.americanaccent.com
Prior
edition copyright ¿ 1991 by Ann Cook.
Portions
of this book were previously published by Matrix Press.
¿
Copyright 1989 by Matrix Press
All
right reserved.
No part
of this book may be reproduced in any form by photostat, microfilm, xerography,
or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system,
electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.
All
inquiries should be addressed to: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. 250
Wireless Boulevard Hauppauge,NY11788 http://www.
barronseduc. com
International
Standard Book No. 0-7641-1429-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 99-75495
PRINTED
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 987654321
öÅÌÁÔÅÌØÎÏ ÉÍÅÔØ ÛÒÉÆÔ WP Phonetic
Read This Firstšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1
Track 1
Less Than It Appears ... More Than
It Appears
A Few Words On Pronunciationššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš šššššššššššššššCD 1 Track 2
Voiced Consonants? Unvoiced
Consonants?
Preliminary Diagnostic Analysisššššššššššššššššššššš šššššššššššCD
1 Track 3
The American Speech Musicššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track
4
What to Do with Your Mouth to Sound
American
American Intonation Do's and Don'ts
What Exactly Is Staircase
Intonation?
Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band Practice
with Nonsense Syllablesššššš CD 1 Track 5
Staircase Intonationšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track
6
Statement Intonation with Nouns
Statement Intonation with
Pronounsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 8
Exercise 1-3; Noun and Pronoun Intonationšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 9
Statement Versus Question Intonation CD 1 Track 10
Emotional or Rhetorical Question
Intonation
Exercise 1-4: Sentence Intonation Testššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 11
Exercise 1-5: Four Main Reasons for
Intonationššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 12
Exercise 1-6: Pitch and Meaning
Changeššššššššš ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššCD 1 Track 13
Exercise 1-8: Meaning of
"Pretty"ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 15
Exercise 1-12: Create Your Own
Intonation Contrastššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 19
Exercise 1 -14: Make a Variable
Stress Sentencešššššššššššššššššššššššš CD
1 Track 21
Exercise 1 -15: Application of
Stressššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD
1 Track 23
How You Talk Indicates to
People How You Arešššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 24
Exercise 1-16: Paragraph Intonation
Practicešššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 25
Exercise 1-17: Staircase Intonation
Practicešššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 26
Exercise 1-18: Reading with
Staircase Intonationššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track
27
Exercise 1-20; Sound/Meaning Shifts
CD 1 Track 29
Exercise 1-21: Squeezed-Out Syllables CD 1 Track 30
Syllable Count Intonation Patterns
Exercise 1-22: Syllable Patternsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 32
Exercise 1-22: Syllable Patterns continuedššššš šššššššššššššššššššCD 1 Track 32
Exercise 1-22; Syllable Patterns
continuedššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD
1 Track 32
Exercise 1-23; Syllable Count Testššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 33
Exercise 1-24: Single-Word
Phrasesšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 35
Descriptive Phrasesššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD Track 36
Exercise 1-25: Sentence Stress with
Descriptive Phrasesššššššššš šššššššššššššššššCD 1 Track 37
Exercise 1 -26: Two Types of
Descriptive Phrasesšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 38
Exercise 1 -26: Two Types of
Descriptive Phrases continuedššššššššššššššššš CD1 Track 38
Exercise 1-27: Descriptive Phrase
Story-The Ugly Ducklingšššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD1 Track 39
Set Phrasesšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 40
A Cultural Indoctrination to American Norms
Exercise 1-28: Sentence Stress with
Set Phrasesššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 41
Exercise 1-30: Set Phrase Story-The
Little Match Girlšššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 1 Track 43
Contrasting a Description and a Set
Phrase
Exercise 1-31: Contrasting
Descriptive and Set Phrasesššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 1 Track 44
Descriptive Phraseššššššššššš šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššSet Phrase
Summary of Stress in Two-Word
Phrases
Exercise 1-33; Nationality
Intonation Quizš CD 2 Track 1
Exercise 1-34: Contrasting
Descriptive and Set Phrasesššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 2
Exercise 1-35: Contrast of Compound
Nounsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 3
Exercise 1-36:
Description and Set Phrase Testššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 4
Grammar in a Nutshellšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 6
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Grammar... But Were Afraid to
Use
Exercise 1-38; Consistent Noun
Stress in Changing Verb Tensesššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 7
Exercise 1-39: Consistent Pronoun
Stress In Changing Verb Tensesššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 8
Exercise 1-40: Intonation in Your
Own Sentencešššššššššššššššššššššššššššš šššCD 2
Track 9
Exercise 1 -40: Intonation in Hour
Own Sentence continuedššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 9
1-40: Intonation in Your Own
Sentence continuedš CD 2 Track 9
Exercise 1-41: Supporting Wordsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 10
Exercise 1 -42: Contrast
Practiceššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 11
Exercise 1 -43; Yes, You Can
or No, You Can't?šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 12
Exercise 1 -44: Building an
Intonation Sentenceššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 13
Exercise 1 -46: Regular Transitions
of Nouns and Verbsšššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 15
Exercise 1-47: Regular Transitions
of Adjectives and Verbsšššššššš CD 2 Track n
Exercise 1-48; Regular Transitions
of Adjectives and Verbsššššššš CD 2 Track 17
The Miracle Techniqueššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 18
A Child Can Learn Any Language
Exercise 1-50: Listening for Pure
Soundsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 21
Exercise 1-51 : Extended Listening
Practiceššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 22
Reduced Soundsšššššššš ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššCD 2
Track 24
Exercise 1-52; Reducing Articlesšššššššš šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššCD 2
Track 25
Exercise 1-53: Reduced Soundsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 26
Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds continuedššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 26
Exercise 1-53; Reduced Sounds continuedššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš šššššššššCD 2 track 26
Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds continuedšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2
Track 26
Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds continuedššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 26
Exercise 1 -53: Reduced Sounds
continuedššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 26
Exercise 1-54: Intonation and
Pronunciation of "That"šššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 27
Exercise 1-55: Crossing Out Reduced
Soundsšššššš ššššššššššššššššššššššššššCD 2 Track 28
Exercise 1-56; Reading Reduced
Soundsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 29
Pauses for Related Thoughts, Ideas,
or for Breathing
Exercise 1-57: Phrasingšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD Track 31
Exercise 1-58: Creating Word Groupsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš šššššššššššCD 2 Track 32
Exercise 1-59: Practicing Word
Groupsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD
2 Track 33
Exercise 1-60: Tag Endingsššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 34
Chapter
2. Word Connectionsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD
2 Track 35
Exercise 2-1 : Spelling and
Pronunciationššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 36
Liaison Rule 1 : Consonant / Vowel
Exercise 2-2: Word Connectionsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 37
Exercise 2-3: Spelling and Number
Connectionsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 38
What's the Difference Between a
Vowel and a Consonant?
Exercise 2-4: Consonant / Vowel Liaison
Practicešššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 39
Exercise 2-4: Consonant / Vowel Liaison Practice continuedššššššššššš CD 2 Track 39
Liaison Rule 2: Consonant / Consonant
Exercise 2-5: Consonant /Consonant
Liaisonsšššššššš CD 2 Track 40
Exercise 2-6: Consonant / Consonant
Liaisonsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 track 41
Exercise 2-7: Liaisons with TH
Combinationšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 42
Exercise 2-8: Consonant / Consonant
Liaison Practicešššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 43
Exercise 2-9: Vowel / Vowel Liaison
Practiceššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 44
Liaison Rule 4: T, D, S, or Z + Y
Exercise 2-10; T, D, S, or Z + Y
Liaisonsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 45
Exercise 2-10: T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaisons continuedššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 45
Exercise 2-10: T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaisons continuedššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 45
Exercise 2-11:T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaison
Practicešššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track
46
Exercise 2-12; Finding Liaisons and
Glidesššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 2 Track 47
Exercise 2-13: Practicing
Liaisonsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 1
Exercise 2-14: Additional Liaison
Practiceššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 2
Exercise 2-15: Colloquial Reductions
and Liaisonsššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 3
Exercise 2-15: Colloquial Reductions and Liaisons continued CD 3 Track 3
Chapter
3. Cat? Caught? Cut?ššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 5
Exercise 3-1 : Word-by-Word and in a
Sentenceššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 6
Exercise 3-2: Finding [æ],
[ä], and [ә] Soundsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 7
Exercise 3-3: Vowel-Sound
Differentiationšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 8
Exercise 3-4: Reading the [æ]
Soundšššššššššššššš ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššCD 3 Track 9
Exercise 3-5: Reading the [ä]
Soundššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš ššššššššššCD strack 10
A Lät of Läng, Hät
Walks in the Garden
Exercise 3-6: Reading the [ә]
Soundšššššššššššššššššššššššššššš ššššššššššššššššššššCD 3 Track 11.
What Must the Sun Above Wonder
About?
Chapter
4. The American Tšššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
šššššššššššššššCD 3 Track 12
Exercise 4-1 ; Stressed and
Unstressed Tšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Thick 13
Exercise 4-2: Betty Bought a Bit of
Better Butterššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 14
Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter
Exercise 4-3: Rute 1-Top of the
Staircaseššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 15
Exercise 4-3; Rule 1-Top of the
Staircase continuedšššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3Track 15
Exercise 4-4: Rule 2-Middle of the
Staircasešššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 16
Exercise 4-5: Rule 3-Bottom of the
Staircase ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššCD3
Track 17
Exercise 4-5: Rule 3-Bottom of the
Staircase continuedšššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 17
Exercise 4-6: Rule 4-"Held
T" Before Nšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3
Track 18
Exercise 4-7: Rule 5-The Silent
Tšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 19
Exercise 4-10: Combinations in Contextššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 2:
Exercise 4-11 : Voiced and Unvoiced
Sounds with T
Exercise 4-12: Finding American T
Sounds CD 3 Track 24
Voiced Consonants and Reduced Vowels
3.šš
Like sound with like sound
Chapter
5. The Elššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 25
L and Foreign Speakers of English
Location of Language in the Mouth
Exercise 5-1 : Sounds Comparing L
with T, D, and Nšššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 26
Exercise 5-1 ; Sounds Comparing L
with T, D and N continuedšššš CD 3 Track 26
Exercise 5-2; Sounds Comparing L
with T, D, and Nšššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 27
What Are All Those Extra Sounds I'm
Hearing?
Exercise 5-8: Hold Your Tongue!šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 track 33
Exercise 5-12: Thirty Little Turtles
In a Bottle of Bottled Waterššš CD 3
Track 37
Voice Qualityššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 40
Exercise 5-15: Shifting Your Voice
Positionšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 41
Chapter
6. The American Ršššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 42
Exercise 6-2 : Double Vowel with
Rššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 44
Exercise 6-3: How to Pronounce
Troublesome Rsšš ššššššššššššššššCD 3 Track 45
Exercise 6-4: Zbigniew's Epsilon
Listšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 46
Exercise 6-5: R Combinationsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3
Track 47
Exercise 6-7: Finding the R
Soundššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 49
Follow-up Diagnostic Analysisšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 50
Chapters
1-6 Review and Expansion
Miscellaneous Reminders of
Intonation
Review Exercise 1 : To have a
friend, be a friend. CD 3 Track 51
Review Exercise 2: To have a friend,
be a friend.šššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 52
7.šš
Combination of concepts 1-6
Review Exercise 3: Get a Better
Water Heater!šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 53
Review Exercise 4: Your Own
Sentenceš ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššCD 3 Track 54
Review Exercise 5: Varying
Emotionsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
cd 3 Track 55
Review Exercise 5: Varying Emotions
continuedšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD
3 Track 55
Review Exercise 6: Realty?
Maybe!ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
šššššššššššššššššCD 3 track 56
Review Exercise 7: Who Did It? I
Don't Know!ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 57
Review Exercise 7: Who Did It? I
Don't Know! continuedšššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 57
Review Exercise 8: Russian Rebellionšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 58
Review Exercise A: Contrasting
Descriptive and Set Phrasesšššš CD 3 Track 59
Review Exercise B: Intonation Review
Testšššššššššššššš CD 3 Track 60
Review Exercise C: Modifying
Descriptive Phrasesšššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 61
Review Exercise D; Modifying Set
Phrasesššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 3
Track 62
Review Exercise E: Two- and
Three-Word Set Phrasesššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 63
Review Exercise F: Three-Word Phrase
Summaryšššššššššššššššššššššš šššCD 3 Track 64
Review Exercise G: Three-Word Phrase
Story-Three Little Pigs CD 4
Track 1
Review Exercise H: Sentence Balance-Goldilocksššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 2
Review Exercise I: Multiple
Modifiers with Set Phrases CD 4 Track 3
Review Exercise J: Compound
intonation of Numbersšššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 4
Review Exercise K: Modify ing Three-Word
Set Phrasesššššššš CD 4 Track 5
Review Exercise L: Four-Word Phrase
Story-Little Red Riding Hoodšššššš CD 4
Treck 6
Review Exercise M: Building Up to
Five-Word Phrasesšššššššššššš CD 4 Track
7
Review Exercise 9: Ignorance on Paradeššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 track 8
Review Exercise 10: Ignorance on
Parade Explanations.šššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 9
Review Exercise 10: Ignorance on
Parade Explanations continued CD 4 Track 9.
Chapter
7. Tee Aitchšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 10
Exercise 7-1 : The Throng of
Thermometersšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 11
Run Them All Together
[runnemälld'gether]
Exercise 7-2: Targeting The TH
Soundššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 12
Chapter
8. More Reduced Soundsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4
Track 14
Exercise 8-1 : Comparing [u] and
[ü]šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 15
Exercise 8-2: Lax Vowelsššššššššššššššššš šššššššššššššššššššCD 4 Track 16
Exercise 8-3; Bit or Beat?ššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD
4 Track 17
Exercise 8-4: Bit or Beat? Bid or
Bead?ššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track
18
Exercise 8-5: Tense and Lax Vowel
Exerciseššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4Track
19
Exercise 8-6: The Middle
"I" Listšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 20
Exercise 8-8: Finding Reduced
Soundsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 22
Exercise 8-9: How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck
Chuck?ššššššš CD 4 Track 23.
Exercise 8-10; Büker
Wülsey's Cükbükššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 24
Exercise 8-12: Nonverbal
Intonationšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 26
Chapter
9. "V" as in Victoryššššššš šššššššššššššššššCD 4 Track 27
Exercise 9-1 : Mind Your Veesšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 28
Exercise 9-3: Finding V Soundsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš ššššššššššššššCD
4 Track 30
Exercise 10-1 : When S Becomes
Zšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
šššššššššCD 4 Track 31
Exercise 10-2: A Surly Sergeant
Socked an Insolent Sailoršššššššš CD 4 Track 32
Exercise 10-3: Allz Well That Endz
Wellšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 33
Exercise 10-4: Voiced and
Unvoiced Endings in the Past Tense CD 4
Track 34
Exercise 10-5: Finding S and Z
Soundsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 35
Exercise 10-4; Application Steps
with S and Zššššššššššššššššššššššš šššššššCD
4 Track 36
Exercise 10-7: Your Own Application
Steps with S and Zššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 37
Chapter
11. Tense and Lax Vowels
Exercise 11 -2: Tense Vowels
Practice Paragraphššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 39
Exercise 11-4: Lax Vowels Practice
Paragraphšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 41
Exercise 11-5: Take a High-Tech
Tackššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 42
Exercise 11-7: Compound Nouns and
Complex Verbsšššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 44
Exercise 11-7: Compound Nouns and
Complex Verbs continuedšš CD 4 Track 44
Exercise 11-7; Compound Nouns and
Complex Verbs continuedšš CD 4Track
44
Exercise 11-8: Your Own Compound
Nounsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 45
Exercise 11-9: Your Compound Nouns
and Complex Verbsšššššššššš CD 4 Track 46
Exercise 11-10: Practical
Application-U.S./Japan Trade Frictionšššš
CD 4 Track 47
Exercise 11-11: Presidential
Candidates' Debatešššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 48
Chapter
12. Nasal Consonantsšššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 49
Exercise 12-2: Ending Nasal
Consonantsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 51
Exercise 12-3: Reading Nasal
Consonant Soundsšššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 52
Exercise 12-4: Finding [n] and [ng]
Soundsššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 53
Chapter
13. Throaty Consonants
Exercise 13-1: Throaty
Consonantsšššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 54
Exercise 13-2: The Letter Xšššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 55
Exercise 13-3: Reading the H, K, G,
NG, and R soundsšššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 56
Exercise 13-4: Glottal Consonant
Practice Paragraphššššššššššššššššššš CD 4 Track 57
Final Diagnostic Analysisššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 4 Track 58
Chapters
1-13. Review and Expansion
Review Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band
Practice with Nonsense Syllables
Review Exercise 1-2; Noun Intonation
Review Exercise 1-3: Noun and
Pronoun Intonation
Review Exercise 1-4: Sentence
Intonation Test
Review Exercise 1-6: Pitch and
Meaning Change
Review Exercise 1-7: Individual
Practice
Review Exercise 1-8: Meaning of
"Pretty," "Sort of," "Kind of," and
"Little"
Review Exercise 1-9: Inflection
Review Exercise 1-10: Individual
Practice
Review Exercise 1-11: Translation
Review Exercise 1-12: Create Your
Own Intonation Contrast
Review Exercise 1-13: Variable
Stress
Review Exercise 1-14: Make a
Variable Stress Sentence
Review Exercise 1-15: Application of
Stress
Review Exercise 1-17: Staircase Intonation Practice
Review Exercise 1-18: Reading with
Staircase Intonation
Review Exercise 1-19: Spelling and
Numbers
Review Exercise 1-20: Sound/Meaning
Shifts
Review Exercise 1-21: Squeezed-Out
Syllables
Review Exercise 1-22: Syllable
Patterns
Review Exercise 1-25: Sentence
Stress with Descriptive Phrases.
Review Exercise 1-23: Syllable Count
Test
Review Exercise 1-24: Single-Word
Phrases
Review Exercise 1-26: Two Types of
Descriptive Phrases
Review Exercise 1-27: Descriptive
Phrase Story-Snow White and The Seven Dwarves
Review Exercise 1-28: Sentence
Stress with Set Phrases
Review Exercise 1-29: Making Set
Phrases
Review Exercise 1-30: Set Phrase
Story-Our Mailman
Review Exercise 1-31: Contrasting
Descriptive and Set Phrases
Review Exercise 1-32: Two-Word
Stress
Review Exercise 1-34: Contrasting
Descriptive and Set Phrases
Review Exercise 1-35: Contrast of
Compound Nouns
Review Exercise 1-36: Description
and Set Phrase Test
Review Exercise 1-38: Consistent
Noun Stress in Changing Verb Tenses (5 disk)
Review Exercise 1-39: Consistent
Pronoun Stress in Changing Verb Tenses
Review Execiseš 1-40: Intonation in Your Own Sentence
Review Exercise 1-41: Supporting
Words
Review Exercise 1-42: Contrast
Practice
Review Exercise 1-43: Yes, You Can
or No, You Can't?
Review Exercise 1-44: Building an
Intonation Sentence
Review Exercise 1-45: Building Your
Own intonation Sentences
Review Exercise 1-46: Regular
Transitions of Nouns and Verbs.
Review Exercise 1-47: Regular
Transitions of Adjectives and Verbs
Review Exercise 1-48; Regular
Transitions of Adjectives and Verbs
Review Exercise 1-51; Extended
Listening Practice
Review Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds
Review Exercise 1-55: Crossing Out
Reduced Sounds
Review Exercise 1-56: Reading
Reduced Sounds
Review Exercise 1-57: Phrasing
Review Exercise 1-60: Tag Endings
Review Exercise 2-1: Spelling and
Pronunciation
Review Exercise 2-4: Consonant /
Vowel Liaison Practice
Review Exercise 2-8: Consonant/Consonant
Liaison Practice
Review Exercise 2-9: Vowel / Vowel
Liaison Practice
Review Exercise 2-11: T, D, S, or Z + Y
Liaison Practice
Review Exercise 2-12: Finding
Liaisons and Glides
Review Exercise 2-13: Practicing
Liaisons
Review Exercise 3-1: Word-by-Word
and in a Sentence
Review Exercise 3-3: Vowel-Sound
Differentiation
Review Exercise 3-4: Finding the
æ, ä, ә Sounds.
Review Exercise 3-5: Reading the
[æ] Sound
Review Exercise 3-6: Reading the [ä]
Sound
Review Exercise 3-7: Reading the
[ә] Sound
Review Exercise 4-1 : Stressed and
Unstressed T
Review Exercise 4-3: Rule 1-Top of
the Staircase
Review Exercise 4-4: Rule 2-Middle
of the Staircase
Review Exercise 4-5: Rule 3-Bottom
of the Staircase
Review Exercise 4-6: Rule
4-"Held T" Before N
Review Exercise 4-7: Rule 5-The
Silent T
Review Exercise 4-10: T Combinations in Context
Review Exercise 4-11: Voiced and
Unvoiced Sounds with T
Review Exercise 5-2: Sounds
Comparing L with T, D, and N
Review Exercise 5-3: Final El with
Schwa
Review Exercise 5-4: Many Final Els
Review Exercise 5-5: Liaise the Ls
Review Exercise 5-7: Silent Ls
Review Exercise 5-8: Hold Your
Tongue!
Review Exercise 5-9: Bill and Ellie
Review Exercise 5-11 : Final L
Practice
Review Exercise 5-12: A Frontal Lobotomy?
Review Exercise 5-13: Speed-reading
Review Exercise 5-14: Tandem Reading
Review Exercise 6-1 : R Location
Practice
Review Exercise 6-2: Double Vowel
Sounds with R
Review Exercise 6-3: How to
Pronounce Troublesome Rs
Review Exercise 6-4: Zbignlew's
Epsilon List
Review Exercise 6-5: R Combinations
Review Exercise 6-6: Roy the Rancher
Review Exercise C: Modifying
Descriptive Phrases
Review Exercise D: Modifying Set
Phrases
Review Exercise E:Two- and
Three-Word Set Phrases
Review Exercise F: Three-Word Phrase
Summary
Review Exercise I: Multiple
Modifiers with Set Phrases
Review Exercise J: Compound
Intonation of Numbers
Review Exercise K: Modifying
Three-Word Set Phrases
Review Exercise L: Three Word Phrase
Story-The Amazing Rock Soup
Review Exercise M: Building Up to
Five-Word Phrases
Review Exercise 7-1: The Thing
Review Exercise 8-1 : Comparing [u]
and [ü]
Review Exercise 8-2: Lax Vowels
Review Exercise 8-4: Bit or Beat?
Bid or Bead?
Review Exercise 8-5: Tense and Lax
Vowel Review Exercise
Review Exercise 8-6: Middle
"I" List
Review Exercise 8-10: [ü]
Paragraph
Review Exercise 8-11: [u] Paragraph
Review Exercise 9-1: Mind Your Vees
Review Exercise 10-2: Sally at the
Seashore
Review Exercise 10-3: Fuzzy Wuzzy
Review Exercise 11-1: Tense Vowels
Review Exercise 11-3: Lax Vowels
Review Exercise 11-7: Compound Nouns
and Complex Verbs
Review Exercise 12-1: Nasal
Consonants
Review Exercise 12-2: Ending Nasal
Consonants
Review Exercise 12-3: Reading Nasal
Consonant Sounds
Review Exercise 13-1: Throaty
Consonants
Review Exercise 13-2: The Letter X
Review Exercise 13-3: Reading the H,
K, G, NG, and R sounds
The Japanese R = The American T
The Spanish S = The American S,
But...
The Spanish R = The American T
The Spanish D = The American Th (voiced)
The Spanish of Spain Z or C = The
American Th (unvoiced)
The Spanish I = The American Y (not
j)
The Doubled Spanish A Sound = The
American O, All or AW Spelling.
The Spanish O = The American OU
The Russian R = The American ô
Exercise 1-4: Sentence Intonation Test
Exercise 1-15: Application of Stress
Exercise 1-17: Staircase Intonation
Practice
Exercise 1-29: Making Set Phrases
Exercise 1-35: Contrast of Compound Nouns
Exercise 1-36: Description and Set Phrase Test
Exercise 1-48: Regular Transitions
of Adj. and Verbs
Exercise 1-23: Syllable Count Test
Exercise 1-51: Extended Listening
Practice
Exercise 2-4: Consonant / Vowel Liaisons
Exercise 2-8: Consonant / Consonant Liaisons
Exercise 2-9: Vowel / Vowel Liaisons
Exercise 2-11 : T, D, S, or Z Liaisons
Exercise 2-12: Finding Liaisons and Glides
Exercise 2-16: Liaison Staircases
Exercise 3-2: Finding [æ],
[ä] and [ә] Sounds
Exercise 4-12: Finding American T
Sounds
Exercise 1-51: Extended Listening
Practice
Exercise 5-6: Finding L Sounds
Exercise 6-7: Finding the R Sound
Review Exercise B: Intonation Review
Test
Exercise 7-2: Targeting the TH Sound
Exercise 8-8: Finding Reduced Sounds
Exercise 9-3: Finding V Sounds
Exercise 10-5: Finding S and Z
Sounds
Exercise 11-2 and 11-4: Finding
Tense (a, e, æ) and Lax Vowel Sounds (i, ә)
Exercise 12-4: Finding [n] and [ng]
Sounds
Exercise 13-4: Glottal Consonant
Practice
Review Ex. 1-4: Sentence Intonation Test
Review Ex. 1-35: Contrast of
Compound Nouns
Review Ex. 1-36: Description and Set
Phrase Test
Review Ex. 1-48: Adjective and Verb
Transitions
Review Ex. 1-51: Extended Listening
Practice
Review Ex. 2-4: Cons. / Vowel Liaison
Practice
Review Ex. 2-8: Cons. / Cons. Liaison
Practice
Review Ex. 2-9: Vowel / Vowel Liaison Practice
Review Ex. 2-11 : T, D, S, or Z Liaison
Practice
Review Ex. 2-12: Finding Liaisons
and Glides
Review Ex. 3-4: Finding the æ,
ä, ә, and d Sounds
Introduction: Read This First........................... iv
A Few
Words On Pronunciation ................................. vii
Preliminary
Diagnostic Analysis .................................. x
Chapter
1 American Intonation ....................................1
Staircase Intonation
...................................................... 5
Syllable Stress
............................................................ 19
Complex
Intonation.................................................... 23
Two-Word
Phrases...................................................... 24
Grammar
in a Nutshell ............................................... 35
The
Miracle Technique ............................................... 46
Reduced
Sounds ......................................................... 48
Word
Groups and Phrasing......................................... 56
Chapter
2 Word Connections..................................... 59
Chapter
3 Cat? Caught? Cut? .................................... 71
Chapter
4 The American T ........................................ 77
Chapter
5 The El........................................................85
Voice
Quality .............................................................. 94
Chapter
6 The American R ........................................ 95
Follow-up
Diagnostic Analysis ................................ 100
Chapters
1-6 Review and Expansion .................... 101
Two-,
Three- and Four-Word Phrases....................... 108
Chapter
7 Tee Aitch ................................................ 118
Chapter
8 More Reduced Sounds ........................... 121
Middle
I List............................................................. 125
Intonation
and Attitude ............................................. 128
Chapter
9 "V" as in Victory.................................... 129
Chapter
10 S or Z? ................................................. 131
Chapter
11 Tense and Lax Vowels ......................... 135
Grammar
in a Bigger Nutshell.................................. 138
Chapter
12 Nasal Consonants ................................ 145
Chapter
13 Throaty Consonants............................. 147
Final
Diagnostic Analysis......................................... 150
Chapters
1-13 Review and Expansion ................. 151
Nationality Guides.............................................. 172
Chinese
..................................................................... 173
Japanese....................................................................
177
Spanish
..................................................................... 180
Indian........................................................................
183
Russian
..................................................................... 186
French.......................................................................
188
German
..................................................................... 189
Korean
...................................................................... 191
Answer
Key............................................................ 193
Index..........................................................................
197
Welcome
to American Accent Training. This book and CD set is designed to
get you started on your American accent. We'll follow the book and go through
the 13 lessons and all the exercises step by step. Everything is explained and
a complete Answer Key may be found in the back of the text.
Accent
is a combination of three main components: intonation (speech
music), liaisons (word connections), and
pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and com-binations).
As you go along, you'll notice that you're being asked to look at accent in a
different way. You'll also realize that the grammar you studied before and this
accent you're studying now are completely different.
Part of
the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured-
the letter of the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free
form, intuitive, and creative- more the spirit of the
language. So, thinking of music, feeling, and flow, let your mouth relax into
the American accent.
Can a
person actually learn a new accent? Many people feel that after a certain age,
it's just not possible. Can classical musicians play jazz? If they practice, of
course they can! For your American accent, it's just a matter of learning and
practicing techniques this book and CD set will teach you. It is up to you to
use them or not. How well you do depends mainly on how open and willing you are
to sounding different from the way you have sounded all your life.
A very
important thing you need to remember is that you can use your accent to say what you
mean and how you mean it. Word stress conveys meaning
through tone or feeling, which can be much more important than the actual words
that you use. We'll cover the expression of these feelings through intonation
in the first lesson.
You may
have noticed that I talk fast and often run my words together. You've prob-ably
heard enough "English-teacher English"-where ... everything ... is
... pronounced without having to listen too carefully. That's why on the CDs
we're going to talk just like the native speakers that we are, in a normal
conversational tone.
Native
speakers may often tell people who are learning English to "slow
down" and to "speak clearly." This is meant with the best of
intentions, but it is exactly the opposite of what a student really needs to
do. If you speak fairly quickly and with strong intonation, you will be
understood more easily. To illustrate this point, you will hear a Vietnamese student
first trying to speak slowly and carefully and then repeating the same words
quickly and with strong intonation. Studying, this exercise took her only about
two minutes to practice, but the difference makes her sound as if she had been
in America for many years.
V Please
listen. You will hear the same words twice. Hello, my name is
Muoi. I'm taking American Accent Training.
iv
You may
have to listen to this CD a couple of times to catch everything. To help you,
every word on the CD is also written in the book. By seeing and hearing
simultaneously, you'll learn to reconcile the differences between the appearance
of English (spelling) and the sound of
English (pronunciation and the other aspects of accent).
The CD
leaves a rather short pause for you to repeat into. The point of this is to get
you responding quickly and without spending too much time thinking about your
response.
Many
people equate accent with pronunciation. I don't
feel this to be true at all. America is a big country, and while the
pronunciation varies from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the southern
to the northern states, two components that are uniquely American stay
basically the same-the speech music, or intonation, and the
word connections or liaisons. Throughout this
program, we will focus on them. In the latter part of the book we will work on
pronunciation concepts, such as Cat? Caught? Cut? and Betty Bought a Bit of
Better Butter; we also will work our way through some of the difficult sounds,
such as TH, the American R, the L, V, and Z.
American
Accent Training was created to help people "sound American"
for lectures, inter-views, teaching, business situations, and general daily
communication. Although America has many regional pronunciation differences,
the accent you will learn is that of standard American English as spoken and
understood by the majority of educated native speakers in the United States.
Don't worry that you will sound slangy or too casual because you most
definitely won't. This is the way a professor lectures to a class, the way a
national news-caster broadcasts, the way that is most comfortable and familiar
to the majority of native speakers.
Learners
can be seriously hampered by a negative outlook, so I'll address this very
impor-tant point early. First, your accent is not bad; it
is nonstandard to the American ear. There is a joke that goes: What do you call
a person who can speak three languages? Trilingual. What do
you call a person who can speak two languages? Bilingual. What do
you call a person who can only speak one language? American.
Every
language is equally valid or good, so every accent is good. The
average Ameri-can, however, truly does have a hard time understanding a
nonstandard accent. George Bernard Shaw said that the English and Americans are
two people divided by the same language!
Some
students learn to overpronounce English because they naturally want to say the
word as it is written. Too often an English teacher may allow this, perhaps
thinking that colloquial American English is unsophisticated, unrefined, or
even incorrect. Not so at all! Just as you don't say the T in listen,
the TT in better is pronounced D, bedder.
Any other pronunciation will sound foreign, strange, wrong, or different
to a native speaker.
v
As you
will see in Exercise 1-21, Squeezed-Out Syllables, on page 18, some words
appear to have three or more syllables, but all of them are not actually
spoken. For example, busi-ness is not (bi/zi/ness),
but rather (birz/ness).
Just
when you get used to eliminating whole syllables from words, you're going to
come across other words that look as if they have only one syllable, but really
need to be said with as many as three! In addition, the inserted syllables are
filled with letters that are not in the written word. I'll give you two
examples of this strange phenomenon. Pool looks
like a nice, one-syllable word, but if you say it this way, at best, it will
sound like pull, and at worst will be unintelligible
to your listener. For clear comprehension, you need to say three syllables
(pu/wuh/luh). Where did that W come from? It's certainly not written down
anywhere, but it is there just as definitely as the P is there. The second
example is a word like feel. If you say just
the letters that you see, it will sound more like fill. You
need to say (fee/yuh/luh). Is that really a Y? Yes. These mysterious semivowels
are explained under Liaisons in Chapter 2. They can appear either inside a word
as you have seen, or between words as you will learn.
Just
like your own language, conversational English has a very smooth, fluid sound.
Imag-ine that you are walking along a dry riverbed with your eyes closed. Every
time you come to a rock, you trip over it, stop, continue, and trip over the
next rock. This is how the average foreigner speaks English. It is slow,
awkward, and even painful. Now imagine that you are a great river rushing through
that same riverbed-rocks are no problem, are they? You just slide over and
around them without ever breaking your smooth flow. It is this feeling
that I want you to capture in English.
Changing
your old speech habits is very similar to changing from a stick shift to an
automatic transmission. Yes, you continue to reach for the gearshift for a
while and your foot still tries to find the clutch pedal, but this soon phases
itself out. In the same way, you may still say "telephone call" (kohl)
instead of (kahl) for a while, but this too will soon pass.
You
will also have to think about your speech more than you do now. In the same way
that you were very aware and self-conscious when you first learned to drive,
you will even-tually relax and deal with the various components simultaneously.
A new
accent is an adventure. Be bold! Exaggerate wildly! You may worry that Ameri-cans
will laugh at you for putting on an accent, but I guarantee you, they won't
even notice. They'll just think that you've finally learned to "talk
right." Good luck with your new accent!
vi
I'd
like to introduce you to the pronunciation guide outlines in the following
chart. There aren't too many characters that are different from the standard
alphabet, but just so you'll be familiar with them, look at the chart. It shows
eight tense vowels and six lax vowels
and semivowels.
In some
books, tense vowels are called long and lax vowels are
called short. Since you will be learning how to
lengthen vowels when they come before a voiced consonant, it would be confusing
to say that hen has a long, short vowel. It is more
descriptive to say that it has a lax vowel that is doubled or lengthened.
|
Tense Vowels |
Lax Vowels |
|
||||||||
|
Symbol |
Sound |
Spelling |
Example |
Symbol |
Sound |
Spelling |
Example |
||
|
ā |
εi |
take |
[tak] |
ε |
eh |
get |
[gεt] |
||
|
ē |
ee |
eat |
[et] |
i |
ih |
it |
[it] |
||
|
ī |
äi |
ice |
[is] |
ü |
ih + uh |
took |
[tük] |
||
|
ō |
ou |
hope |
[hop] |
ə |
uh |
some |
[səm] |
||
|
ū |
ooh |
smooth |
[smuth] |
|
|
|
|
||
|
ä |
ah |
caught |
[kät] |
|
Semivowels |
||||
|
æ |
ä
+ ε |
cat |
[kæt] |
ər |
er |
her |
[hər] |
||
|
æo |
æ + o |
down |
[dæon] |
əl |
ul |
dull |
[dəəl] |
||
Although
this may look like a lot of characters to learn, there are really only four new
ones: æ, ä,
ə, and ü. Under Tense Vowels, you'll notice
that the vowels that say their own name simply have a line over them: [ā], [ē], [ī], [ō], [ū]. There are three
other tense vowels. First, [ä], is pronounced like the sound you make when
the doctor wants to see your throat, or when you loosen a tight belt and sit down
in a soft chair-aaaaaaaah! Next,
you'll find [æ], a
combination of the tense vowel [ä] and the lax vowel [ε]. It is similar to the noise that a goat
or a lamb makes. The last one is [æo], a
combination of [æ] and
[o]. This is a very common sound, usually written as ow or ou in
words like down or round.
A tense
vowel requires you to use a lot of facial muscles to produce
it. If you say [ē], you
must stretch your lips back; for [ū] you
must round your lips forward; for [ä] you drop your jaw down; for [æ] you will drop your jaw far down
and back; for [ā] bring
your lips back and drop your jaw a bit; for [ī] drop your jaw for the ah part of
the sound and pull it back up for the ee part;
and for [ō] round
the lips, drop the jaw and pull back up into [ū]. An American [ō] is really [ōū].
V Now
you try it. Repeat after me. [ē], [ū], [ā], [æ], [ä],
[ī], [ō].
vii
A lax
vowel, on the other hand, is very reduced. In fact, you don't
need to move your face at all. You only need to move the back of your tongue
and your throat. These sounds are very different from most other languages.
Under
Lax Vowels, there are four reduced vowel sounds, starting with the Greek letter
epsilon [ε], pronounced eh; [i]
pronounced ih, and [ü]
pronounced ü, which is a
combina-tion of ih and uh, and the
schwa, [ə], pronounced uh-the
softest, most reduced, most relaxed sound that we can produce. It is
also the most common sound in English. The semivowels are
the American R (pronounced er, which is the schwa
plus R) and the Ameri-can L (which is the schwa plus L). Vowels will be covered
in greater detail in Chapters 3, 8, and 11.
A
consonant is a sound that causes two points of your mouth to come into contact,
in three locations-the lips, the tip of
the tongue, and the throat. A
consonant can either be unvoiced (whispered) or voiced
(spoken), and it can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
You'll notice that for some categories, a particular sound doesn't exist in
English.
|
Initial |
Medial |
Final |
|||
|
Unvoiced |
Voiced |
Unvoiced |
Voiced |
Unvoiced |
Voiced |
|
parry |
bury |
apple |
able |
mop |
mob |
|
ferry |
very |
afraid |
avoid |
off |
of |
|
stew |
zoo |
races |
raises |
face |
phase |
|
sheet |
|
pressure |
pleasure |
crush |
garage |
|
two |
do |
petal |
pedal |
not |
nod |
|
choke |
joke |
gaucho |
gouger |
rich |
ridge |
|
think |
that |
ether |
either |
tooth |
smooth |
|
come |
gum |
bicker |
bigger |
pick |
pig |
|
|
|
accent |
exit |
tax |
tags |
|
|
yes |
|
player |
|
day |
|
|
wool |
|
shower |
|
now |
|
his |
|
ahead |
|
|
|
|
|
late |
|
collect |
|
towel |
|
|
rate |
|
correct |
|
tower |
|
|
me |
|
swimmer |
|
same |
|
|
next |
|
connect |
|
man |
|
|
|
|
finger |
|
ring |
viii
1.šš In many dictionaries, you may find a
character that looks like an upside down V, [a]
and another character that is an upside-down e [ə], the schwa. There
is a linguistic distinction between the two, but they are pronounced
exactly the same. Since you can't hear the difference between these two
sounds, we'll just be using the upside-down e to
indicate the schwa sound. It is pronounced uh.
2.šš The
second point is that we do not differentiate between [ä] and []]. The [ä]
is pro-nounced ah. The backwards C []] is more
or less pronounced aw. This aw sound
has a "back East" sound to it, and as it's not common to the entire
United States, it won't be included here.
3.šš R can be considered a semivowel.
One characteristic of a vowel is that nothing in the mouth touches
anything else. R definitely falls into that category. So in the exercises
throughout the book it will be treated not so much as a consonant, but as a
vowel.
4.šš The ow sound
is usually indicated by [äu], which would be ah + ooh. This
may have been accurate at some point in some locations, but the sound is now
generally [æo]. Town is [tæon], how is [hæo], loud is [læod], and so on.
5.šš Besides voiced and unvoiced,
there are two words that come up in pronunciation. These are sibilant
and plosive. When you say the
[s] sound, you can feel the air sliding out
over the tip of your tongue-this is a sibilant. When you say the [p] sound, you
can feel the air popping out from between your lips-this is
a plosive. Be aware that there are two sounds that are sometimes mistakenly
taught as sibilants, but are actually plosives: [th] and [v].
6.šš For particular points of pronunciation that
pertain to your own language, refer to the Nationality Guides on page 172.
|
Throughout
this text, we will be using three symbols to indicate three separate actions: |
|
|
|
Indicates
a command or a suggestion. |
|
|
Indicates
the beep tone. |
|
|
Indicates
that you need to turn the CD on or off, back up, or pause. |
ix
This is
a speech analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your American
accent. If you are studying American Accent Training on your own, please
contact toll-free (800) 457-4255 or www.americanaccent.com for a
referral to a qualified telephone analyst. The diagnostic analysis is designed
to evaluate your current speech patterns to let you know where your accent is
standard and nonstandard.
Hello,
my name is______. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to learn,
but I
hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American
intona-tion pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to
practice all of the time.
|
1. |
all,
long, caught |
5. |
ice,
I'll, sky |
9. |
come,
front, indicate |
13. |
out,
house, round |
|
2. |
cat,
matter, laugh |
6. |
it,
milk, sin |
10. |
smooth,
too, shoe |
14. |
boy,
oil, toy |
|
3. |
take,
say, fail |
7. |
eat,
me, seen |
11. |
took,
full, would |
|
|
|
4. |
get,
egg, any |
8. |
work,
girl, bird |
12. |
told,
so, roll |
|
|
|
|
A |
|
B |
|
C |
|
D |
|
E |
|
F |
|
1. |
pit |
1. |
bit |
1. |
staple |
1. |
stable |
1. |
cap |
1. |
cab |
|
2. |
fear |
2. |
veer |
2. |
refers |
2. |
reverse |
2. |
half |
2. |
have |
|
3. |
sue |
3. |
zoo |
3. |
faces |
3. |
phases |
3. |
race |
3. |
raise |
|
4. |
sheer |
4. |
din |
4. |
cashew |
4. |
casual |
4. |
rush |
4. |
rouge |
|
5. |
tin |
5. |
gin |
5. |
metal |
5. |
medal |
5. |
hat |
5. |
had |
|
6. |
chin |
6. |
then |
6. |
catcher |
6. |
cadger |
6. |
rich |
6. |
ridge |
|
7. |
thin |
7. |
gut |
7. |
ether |
7. |
either |
7. |
bath |
7. |
bathe |
|
8. |
cut |
8. |
race |
8. |
bicker |
8. |
bigger |
8. |
tack |
8. |
tag |
|
9. |
yellow |
9. |
breed |
9. |
million |
9. |
correction |
9. |
say |
9. |
sore |
|
10. |
would |
10. |
man |
10. |
coward |
10. |
surprise |
10. |
how |
10. |
peeper |
|
11. |
him |
11. |
name |
11. |
reheat |
11. |
summer |
11. |
soul |
11. |
palm |
|
12. |
lace |
|
|
12. |
collection |
12. |
runner |
12. |
people |
12. |
can |
|
13. |
bleed |
|
|
13. |
supplies |
13. |
kingdom |
|
|
13. |
sing |
|
1. |
Go
upstairs. |
|
1. |
Betty
bought a bit of better butter. |
||||||
|
2, |
I am
going to the other room. |
|
|
|
||||||
|
3. |
My
name is Ann. |
|
2. |
Beddy
bada bida bedder budder. |
||||||
|
4. |
It is
the end of the bad years. |
|
|
|
||||||
|
5. |
Give
it to his owner. |
3. |
Italian |
Italy |
|
|||||
|
1. |
Go(w)upstairs. |
4. |
attack |
attic |
|
|||||
|
2. |
I(y)am
going f thee(y)əther
room. |
|
5. |
atomic |
atom |
|
||||
|
3, |
My
nay mi Zæn. |
|
6. |
photography |
photograph |
|
||||
|
4. |
Idiz
the(y)en d'v th' bæ
dyearz. |
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
5. |
G' v'
to(w)i zon'r. |
|
7. |
bet |
bed |
|
||||
x
One of
the main differences between the way an American talks and the way the rest of
the world talks is that we don't really move our lips. (So, when an American
says, "Read my lips!" what does he really mean?) We
create most of our sounds in the throat, using our tongue very actively. If you
hold your fingers over your lips or clench your jaws when you practice speaking
American English, you will find yourself much closer to native-sounding speech
than if you try to pronounce every ... single ... sound ... very ... carefully.
If you
can relate American English to music, remember that the indigenous music is
jazz. Listen to their speech music, and you will hear that Americans have a
melodic, jazzy way of producing sounds. Imagine the sound of a cello when you
say, Beddy bada bida beader budder (Betty
bought a bit of better butter) and you'll be close to the native way of saying
it.
Because
most Americans came from somewhere else, American English reflects the accent
contributions of many lands. The speech music has become much more exaggerated
than British English, developing a strong and distinctive intonation. If you
use this intona-tion, not only will you be easier to understand, but you will
sound much more confident, dynamic, and persuasive.
Intonation,
or speech music, is the sound that you hear when a conversation is too far away
to be clearly audible but close enough for you to tell the nationality of the
speakers. The American intonation dictates liaisons
and pronunciation, and it indicates mood and meaning.
Without intonation, your speech would be flat, mechanical, and very confusing
for your listener. What is the American
intonation pattern? How is it different from other languages? Foa
egzampuru, eefu you hea ah Jahpahneezu pahsohn speakingu Ingurishu, the
sound would be very choppy, mechanical, and unemotional to an American. Za sem
vey vis Cheuman pipples, it sounds too stiff. A mahn
frohm Paree ohn zee ahzer ahnd, eez intonashon goes up at zee end ov evree
sentence, and has such a strong intonation that he sounds
romantic and highly emotional, but this may not be appropriate for a lecture or
a business meeting in English.
1
Do Not
Speak Word by Word
Connect
Words to Form Sound Groups
Use
Staircase Intonation
|
Bä |
|
|
|
|
foun. |
|
/////////// |
bi |
|
|
|
///////// |
|
////////// |
///////// |
zän |
|
|
///////// |
|
////////// |
//////// |
///////// |
the |
|
///////// |
|
///////// |
///////// |
///////// |
///////// |
|
///////// |
Start a
new staircase
when
you want to emphasize
that
information, generally a noun.
+ Do
not speak word by word.
If you
speak word by word, as many people who learned "printed" English do,
you'll end up sounding mechanical and foreign. You may have noticed the same
thing happens in your own language: When someone reads a speech, even a native
speaker, it sounds stiff and stilted, quite different from a normal
conversational tone.
+ Connect
words to form sound groups.
This is
where you're going to start doing something completely
different than what you have done in your previous English
studies. This part is the most difficult for many people because it goes
against everything they've been taught. Instead of thinking of each word as a
unit, think of sound units. These sound units
may or may not correspond to a word written on a page. Native speakers don't
say Bob is on the phone, but say [bäbizän the foun].
Sound units make a sentence flow smoothly, like peanut butter- never really
ending and never really starting, just flowing along. Even chunky peanut butter
is acceptable. So long as you don't try to put plain peanuts directly onto your
bread, you'll be OK.
2
+ Use
staircase intonation.
Let
those sound groups floating on the wavy river in the figure flow downhill and
you'll get the staircase. Staircase intonation not only gives you that American
sound, it also makes you sound much more confident. Not every American uses the
downward stair-case. A certain segment of the population uses rising staircases-generally,
teenagers on their way to a shopping mall: "Hi, my name
is Tiffany. I live in La Canada. I'm on the pep squad."
In
saying your words, imagine that they come out as if they were bounding lightly
down a flight of stairs. Every so often, one jumps up to another level, and
then starts down again. Americans tend to stretch out their sounds longer than
you may think is natural. So to lengthen your vowel sounds, put them on two
stairsteps instead of just one.
We're
here.š I
|
We |
|
|
|
|
///////// |
're |
|
|
|
///////// |
///////// |
he |
|
|
///////// |
///////// |
///////// |
re. |
|
///////// |
///////// |
///////// |
///////// |
The
sound of an American speaking a foreign language is very distinctive, because
we double sounds that should be single. For example, in Japanese or Spanish,
the word no is, to our ear, clipped or abbreviated.
|
No |
|
///////// |
|
Clipped |
|
No |
|
|
///////// |
ou |
|
///////// |
///////// |
Standard American
When
you have a word ending in an unvoiced consonant-one
that you "whisper" (t, k, s, x, f, sh)-you will notice that the
preceding vowel is said quite quickly, and on a single stairstep. When a word
ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant-one
that you "say" (b, d, g, z, v, zh, j), the preceding vowel is said
more slowly, and on a double stairstep.
|
seat |
|
//////////// |
|
Unvoiced |
|
see |
|
|
///////// |
eed |
|
///////// |
///////// |
|
Voiced |
|
There
are two main consequences of not doubling the second category of words: Ei-ther
your listener will hear the wrong word, or even worse, you will always sound
upset.
3
Consider
that the words curt, short, terse, abrupt, and clipped
all literally mean short. When applied to a
person or to language, they take on the meaning of upset or rude. For
example, in the expressions "His curt reply ...,"
"Her terse response...'' or "He
was very short with me" all indicate a less than sunny situation.
About
this time, you're coming to the point where you may be wondering, what exactly
are the mechanics of intonation? What changes when you go to the top of the
staircase or when you put stress on a word? There are three ways to stress a
word.
+ The
first way is to just get louder or raise the
volume. This is not a very sophisticated way of doing it, but it will
definitely command attention.
+ The
second way is to streeeeetch the word out or
lengthen the word that you want to draw attention to (which sounds very
insinuating).
+ The
third way, which is the most refined, is to change pitch. Although
pausing just before changing the pitch is effective, you don't want to do it
every time, because then it becomes an obvious technique. However, it will make
your audience stop and listen because they think you're going to say something
interesting.
Take a
rubber band and hold it with your two thumbs. Every time you want to stress a
word by changing pitch, pull on the rubber band. Stretch it out gently, don' t
jerk it sharply. Make a looping œœ figure
with it and do the same with your voice. Use the rubber band and stretch it out
every time you change pitch. Read first across, then down.
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
||||
|
1. |
duh duh duh |
1.šš |
la la la |
1. |
mee mee mee |
1. |
ho ho ho |
|
2. |
duh
duh duh |
2.šš |
la la
la |
2. |
mee
mee mee |
2. |
ho ho
ho |
|
3. |
duh duh
duh |
3.šš |
la la
la |
3. |
mee mee
mee |
3. |
ho ho
ho |
|
4. |
duh duh
duh |
4.šš |
la la
la |
4. |
mee mee
mee |
4. |
ho ho
ho |
Read
each column down, keeping the same intonation pattern.
|
|
A |
|
B |
|
C |
|
D |
|
1. |
duh duh duh |
1. |
duh
duh duh |
1. |
duh duh
duh |
1. |
duh duh
duh |
|
2. |
ABC |
2. |
imprecise |
2. |
condition |
2. |
alphabet |
|
3. |
123 |
3. |
a hot
dog |
3. |
a hot
dog |
3. |
hot dog
stand |
|
4. |
Dogs eat bones. |
4. |
They
eat bones. |
4. |
They eat
them. |
4. |
Give me
one. |
4
So what
is intonation in American English? What do Americans do? We go up and down
staircases. We start high and end low.
|
|
|
Every
time we want to stress a word or an idea, we just start a new staircase. That
sounds simple enough, but when and where do you start a new staircase?
Intonation
or pitch change is primarily used to introduce new information. This
means that when you are making a statement for the first time, you will stress
the nouns.
|
Dogs |
|
|
bones |
|
///////// |
eat |
|
///////// |
|
///////// |
///////// |
|
///////// |
Practice
the noun stress pattern after me, using pitch change. Add your own examples.
|
1. |
Dogs eat
bones. |
11. |
Jerry
makes music. |
|
2. |
Mike likes
bikes. |
12. |
Jean sells
some apples. |
|
3. |
Elsa wants
a book. |
13. |
Carol
paints the car. |
|
4. |
Adam plays
pool. |
14. |
Bill and I
fix the bikes. |
|
5. |
Bobby
needs some money. |
15. |
Ann and
Ed call the kids. |
|
6. |
Susie
combs her hair. |
16. |
The
kids like the candy. |
|
7. |
John lives
in France. |
17. |
The
girls have a choice. |
|
8. |
Nelly
teaches French. |
18. |
The boys need
some help. |
|
9. |
Ben writes
articles. |
19. |
____________________ |
|
10. |
Keys open
locks. |
20. |
____________________ |
+š Pause the CD.
V
Practice the patterns five more times on your own, using your rubber band.
5
When
you replace the nouns with pronouns (i.e., old information), stress
the verb.
|
|
eat |
|
|
They |
///////// |
them |
|
///////// |
///////// |
///////// |
As we
have seen, nouns are new information;
pronouns are old information. In a
nutshell, these are the two basic intonation patterns:
|
Dogs |
|
bones. |
|
|
eat |
|
|
They |
|
them. |
In the
first column, stress the nouns. In the second column, stress the verb. Fill in
your own examples at the bottom.
|
1. |
Bob sees
Betty. |
1. |
He sees
her. |
|
2. |
Betty
knows Bob. |
2. |
She knows
him. |
|
3. |
Ann
and Ed call the kids. |
3. |
They call
them. |
|
4. |
Jan
sells some apples. |
4. |
She sells
some. |
|
5. |
Jean
sells cars. |
5. |
She sells
them. |
|
6. |
Bill and I
fix the bikes. |
6. |
We fix
them. |
|
7. |
Carl
hears Bob and me. |
7. |
He hears
us. |
|
8. |
Dogs eat bones. |
8. |
They eat
them. |
|
9. |
The girls
have a choice. |
9. |
They have
one. |
|
10. |
The kids
like the candy. |
10. |
They like
it. |
|
11. |
The boys
need some help. |
11. |
They need
something. |
|
12. |
Ellen
should call her sister. |
12. |
She
should call someone. |
|
13. |
The murderer
killed the plumber. |
13. |
He killed
a man. |
|
14. |
The tourists
went shopping. |
14. |
They bought
stuff. |
|
15. |
š______________________ |
15. |
______________________ |
|
16. |
______________________ |
16. |
______________________ |
|
17. |
______________________ |
17. |
______________________ |
|
18. |
______________________ |
18. |
______________________ |
|
19. |
______________________ |
19. |
______________________ |
|
20. |
______________________ |
20. |
______________________ |
6
You may
have learned at some point that questions have a rising intonation. They do,
but usually a question will step upward until the very end, where it takes one
quick little down-ward step. A question rises a little higher than a statement
with the same intonation pattern.
"Here
is my car."
|
Here |
|
|
cä |
|
|
///////// |
is |
|
///// |
är. |
|
///////// |
///// |
my |
///// |
///// |
|
///////// |
///// |
///// |
///// |
///// |
"Where
is my car?"
|
|
|
|
|
cä |
|
|
|
|
|
|
///// |
är? |
|
Where |
|
|
|
///// |
///// |
|
/////////// |
is |
|
|
///// |
///// |
|
/////////// |
//// |
my |
|
///// |
///// |
|
/////////// |
//// |
////// |
|
///// |
///// |
If you
know that your car is parked outside, however, and someone doesn't see it and
asks you where it is, you might think that it has been stolen and your emotion
will show in your intonation as you repeat the question. As your feelings rise
in an emotional situation, your intonation rises up along with them.
"Where
is my car?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
är? |
|
|
|
|
|
cä |
///// |
|
Where |
|
|
|
///// |
///// |
|
///////// |
is |
|
|
///// |
///// |
|
///////// |
//// |
my |
|
///// |
///// |
|
///////// |
//// |
///////// |
|
///// |
///// |
|
///////// |
//// |
///////// |
|
///// |
///// |
"Why?
Is it gone?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
än? |
|
|
|
|
|
gä |
///////// |
|
Why? |
|
|
|
///////// |
///////// |
|
///////// |
Is |
|
|
///////// |
///////// |
|
///////// |
///////// |
it |
|
///////// |
///////// |
|
///////// |
///////// |
/// |
|
///////// |
///////// |
Pause
the CD and underline or highlight the words that you think should be stressed.
Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
|
1. |
Sam
sees Bill. |
11. |
He
sees him. |
|
2. |
She
wants one. |
12. |
Mary
wants a car. |
|
3. |
Betty
likes English. |
13. |
She
likes it. |
|
4. |
They
play with them. |
14. |
They
eat some. |
|
5. |
Children
play with toys. |
15. |
Len
and Joe eat some pizza. |
|
6. |
Bob
and I call you and Bill. |
16. |
We
call you. |
|
1. |
You
and Bill read the news. |
17. |
You
read it. |
|
8. |
It
tells one. |
18. |
The
news tells a story. |
|
9. |
Bernard
works in a restaurant. |
19. |
Mark
lived in France. |
|
10. |
He
works in one. |
20. |
He
lived there. |
7
Depending
on the situation, a word may be stressed for any of the following reasons:
New
Informationšššššššš Opinionššššššššš Contrastšššššššš "Can't"
It
sounds like rain.
Rain is the
new information. It's the most important word in that sentence and you could
replace everything else with duh-duh-duh. Duh-duh-duh rain will
still let you get your point across.
Všš Repeat: Duh-duh-duh rain
I It sounds like rain.
|
Duh |
|
|
|
ray |
|
|
///// |
duh |
|
|
///// |
ayn. |
|
///// |
///// |
duh |
|
///// |
///// |
|
///// |
///// |
///// |
|
///// |
///// |
V Make rain very
musical and put it on two notes: ray-ayn. Duh-duh-duh ray-ayn
/ It sounds like ray-ayn.
It
sounds like rain, but I don't think it is.
In this
case, intonation makes the meaning the opposite of what the words say: It
looks like a diamond, but I think it's a zircon. It smells like Chanel, but at
that price, it's a knock-off. It feels like... It tastes like... These
examples all give the impression that you mean the opposite of what
your senses tell you.
V Practice the
intonation difference between new information and opinion:
It
sounds like rain. (It's rain.) It sounds like
rain, (but it's not.)
He
likes rain, but he hates snow.
Like and hate are
contrasted and are the stronger words in the sentence.
It can't
rain when there're no clouds.
Contractions
(shouldn't, wouldn't) and negatives (no, not, never) are
important words since they totally negate the meaning of a sentence, but they
are not usually stressed. Can't is the exception.
8
Practice
saying the four sentences after me. Pay close attention to the changes in pitch
that you must make to convey the different meanings intended. The words to be
stressed are indicated in bold face.
1.šš It sounds like rain.
2.šš It sounds like rain.
3.šš He likes rain, but he hates
snow.
4.šš It can't rain on my parade! He
can't do it. (See also Ex. 1-43 for negatives.)
Practice
saying the sentences after the suggestion and the beep tone +. You will be
given only a short time in which to reply so that you won't have the
leisure to overthink. Start speaking as soon as you hear the tone because I'll
be saying the sentence only a few sec-onds later.
1.šš Convey the information that it really does
sound as if rain is falling. +
2.šš Convey the opinion that although it has the
sound of rain, it may be something else. +
3.šš Convey the different feelings that someone
has about rain and snow. +
4.šš Convey the fact
that rain is an impossibility right now. +
+š Pause the CD.
V Practice
the four sentences on your own ten times.
+š Once you're familiar with moving the stress
around and feeling how the meaning changes, turn the CD on to continue with the
next exercise.
Native
speakers make a clear distinction between pretty easily (easily)
and pretty easily (a little difficult). Repeat the answers
after me paying close attention to your stress.
Question:š How did you like the movie? Answer:
1. It was
pretty good. (She liked it.)
2. It was
pretty good. (She didn't like it much.)
9
Notice
how the meaning changes, while the actual words stay the same.
1.šš I didn't say he stole the money.
Someone else said it.
2.šš I didn't say he stole the money. That's
not true at all.
3.šš I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested
the possibility.
4.šš I didn't say he stole the money. I
think someone else took it.
5.šš I didn't say he stole the money.
Maybe he just borrowed it.
6.šš I didn't say he stole the money, but
rather some other money.
7.šš I didn't say he stole the money. He
may have taken some jewelry.
|
I |
I
didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it. |
|
|
It's
true that somebody said it, but I wasn't that person. |
|
Didn't |
I didn't
say he stole the money. That's not true at all. |
|
|
Someone
has accused me and I'm protesting my innocence. |
|
Say |
I
didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility. |
|
|
Maybe
I hinted it. Maybe I wrote it. In some way, I indicated that he stole the
money, but I didn't say it. |
|
He |
I
didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it. |
|
|
I
think someone stole the money, only not the person you suspect did it. |
|
Stole |
I
didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it. |
|
|
I
agree that he took it, but I think his motive was different. |
|
The |
I
didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money. |
|
|
We
agree that he stole some money, but I don't think it's this money. |
|
Money |
I
didn't say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry. |
|
|
We
agree that he's a thief, but we think he stole different things. |
Notice
that in the first half of these sentences nothing changes but the intonation.
V Repeat
after me.
10
Now,
let's see what you can do with the same sentence, just by changing the stress
around to different words. I'll tell you which meaning to express. When you
hear the tone +, say the sentence
as quickly as you can, then I'll say the sentence for you. To test your ear,
I'm going to repeat the sentences in random order. Try to determine which word
I'm stressing. The answers are given in parentheses, but don't look unless you
really have to. Here we go.
1. Indicate
that he borrowed the money and didn't steal it. (5) +
2. Indicate
that you are denying having said that he stole it. (2) +
3. Indicate
that you think he stole something besides money. (7) +
4. Indicate
that you were not the person to say it. (1) +
5. Indicate
that you don't think that he was the person who stole it. (4) +
6. Indicate
that you didn't say it outright, but did suggest it in some way. (3) +
7. Indicate
that he many have stolen a different amount of money. (6) +
Practice
these sentences on your own, really exaggerating the word that you think should
be stressed. In the beginning, you're going to feel that this is ridiculous. (Nobody
stresses this hard! Nobody talks like this! People are going to laugh at me!) Yet as
much as you may stress, you're probably only going to be stressing about half
as much as you should.
+šš Pause the CD and
practice the sentences in random order ten times.
Another
reason you must overexaggerate is because when you get tired, emotional, or re-laxed,
you will stop paying attention. When this happens, like a rubber band, you're
going to snap back to the way you originally were sounding (10 percent). So, if
you just stretch yourself to the exact position where you ideally want to be,
you'll go back almost com-pletely to the old way when you relax. For practice,
then, stretch yourself far beyond the normal range
of intonation (150 percent), so when you relax, you relax back to a standard
American sound (100 percent).
Possibly
about this time you're thinking, Well, maybe you do this in
English, but in my language, I just really don't think that we do this. I'd
like you to try a little exercise.
Take
the sentence I didn't say he stole the money and
translate it into your native lan-guage. Write it down below, using whatever
letters or characters you use in your language.
_______________________________
Now
that you have written your sentence down, try shifting the stress around in
your own language by going through the stress patterns 1-7 in Exercise 1-9. Don't
try to put on a
11
particularly
American or other accent; just concentrate on stressing a different word in the
sentence each time you say it.
For example, if your
language is German, Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen
hat, you would change the stress to: Ich habe nicht
gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat, or Ich habe nicht
gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat.
If you translated it
into French, you would say, Je n'ai pas dit qu'il a vole
l'argent, or Je n' pas dit qu'il a vole l'argent.
In
Japanese, many people think that there are no intonation changes, but if you
hear someone say, wakkanai, you'll
realize that it has similarities to every other language. Watashi
wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa iimasen deshita. Or
perhaps, Watashi wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa ümasen deshita.
No
matter how strange it may sound to you, stress each different word several
times in your language. You may notice that with some words it sounds perfectly
normal, but with other words it sounds very strange. Or you may find that in
your language, rather than stressing a word, you prefer to change the word
order or substitute another word. Whatever you do is fine, as long as you
realize where your language patterns are similar to and differ-ent from the
American English intonation patterns. Then, when you do it again, in English,
it will be much easier.
Note An excellent
exercise is to practice speaking your native language with an American accent.
If you can sound like an American speaking your native language, imagine how
easy it would be to speak English with an American accent.
Xš Pause the CD and practice shifting the
stressed words in your native language.
Below
are two sentences-the first is stressed on the most common, everyday word, book. Nine
times out of ten, people will stress the sentence in this way. The second
sentence has a less common, but perfectly acceptable intonation, since we are
making a distinction be-tween two possible locations.
|
Normal
intonation |
Where's
the book? It's on the table. |
|
Changed
intonation |
Is
the book on the table or under it? It's on the table. |
Xš Pause the CD and repeat the sentences.
Write
a short sentence and indicate where you think the most normal intonation would
be placed. Then, change the meaning of the sentence slightly and change the intonation
accordingly.
|
Normal intonation |
___________________________ |
|
Changed intonation |
___________________________ |
12
Notice
how the meaning of the following sentence changes each time we change the
stress pattern. You should be starting to feel in control of your sentences
now.
|
1. |
What
would you like ? |
|
|
This
is the most common version of the sentence, and it is just a simple request
for information. |
|
2. |
What
would you like? |
|
|
This
is to single out an individual from a group. |
|
3. |
What
would you like? |
|
|
You've
been discussing the kinds of things he might like and you want to determine
his specific desires: "Now that
you mention it, what would you like?" |
|
|
or |
|
|
He
has rejected several things and a little exasperated, you ask, "If
you don't want any of these, what would you like?" |
|
4. |
What
would you like? |
|
|
You
didn't hear and you would like the speaker to repeat herself. |
|
|
or |
|
|
You
can't believe what you heard: "I'd like
strawberry jam on my asparagus." - "What would you like
?" |
|
|
+ Turn
off the CD and repeat the four sentences.
Now
you decide which words should be emphasized. Write a normal, everyday sentence
with at least seven words and put it through as many changes as possible. Try
to make a pitch change for each word in the sentence and think about how it
changes the meaning of the entire sentence.
1.________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________
6.________________________________________________________
7.________________________________________________________
13
There
is always at least one stressed word in a sentence and frequently you can have
quite a few if you are introducing a lot of new information or if you want to
contrast several things. Look at the paragraph in Exercise 1-15. Take a pencil
and mark every word that you think should be stressed or sound stronger than
the words around it. I'd like you to make just an accent mark (') to indicate a
word you think should sound stronger than others around it.
Reminder
The three ways to change your voice for intonation are: (1) Volume
(speak louder), (2) Length (stretch out a word), and (3) Pitch
(change your tone).
*š Pause the CD and work on the paragraph below.
Mark
every word or syllable with ' where you think that the sound is stressed. Use
the first sentence as your example. Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
Pause the CD.
Hello,
my' name is______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot
to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on
the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it
is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys,
intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's
like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately,
and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on,
but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you
think? Do I?
V Listen
and re-mark the stressed words with your marker. After you've put in the accent
marks where you think they belong, take one of the colored translucent markers
and as I read very slowly, mark the words that I stress. I am going to
exaggerate the words far more than you'd normally hear in a normal reading of
the paragraph. You can mark either the whole word or just the strong syllable,
whichever you prefer, so that you have a bright spot of color for where the stress
should fall.
Note If you
do the exercise only in pencil, your eye and mind will tend to skip over the
accent marks. The spots of color, however, will register as
"different" and thereby encour-age your pitch change. This may strike
you as unusual, but trust me, it works.
*šš Pause the CD and practice reading the
paragraph out loud three times on your own.
14
Beware
of "Revealing" a Personality that You Don't Have!
There
is no absolute right or wrong in regard to intonation because a case can be
made for stressing just about any word or syllable, but you actually reveal a
lot about yourself by the elements you choose to emphasize. For example, if you
say, Hello, this intonation would indicate
doubt. This is why you say, Hello ? when answering the
telephone because you don't know who is on the other end. Or when you go into a
house and you don't know who's there because you don't see anyone. But if
you're giving a speech or making a presentation and you stand up in front of a
crowd and say, Hello, the people would probably laugh
because it sounds so uncertain. This is where you'd confidently want to say Hello,
my name is So-and-so.
A
second example is, my name is-as
opposed to my name is. If you stress name, it
sounds as if you are going to continue with more personal information: My name
is So-and-so, my address is such-and-such, my blood type is O.
Since it may not be your intention to give all that information, stay
with the standard-Hello, my
name is So-and-so.
If you
stress / every time, it will seem that you have a very high opinion of
yourself. Try it: I'm taking American
Accent Training. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. I think
I'm quite wonderful.
An
earnest, hard-working person might emphasize words this way: I'm taking
Ameri-can Accent Training (Can I learn this stuff?). I hope
to make it as enjoyable as possible (I'll force myself
to enjoy it if I have to). Although the only way to get it is to
practice all the time (24 hours a day).
A Doubting
Thomas would show up with: I should
pick up on (but I might not) the
American intonation pattern pretty easily, (but it looks
pretty hard, too). I've been talking to a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand (but I
think they're just being polite).
V From
your color-marked copy, read each sentence of the paragraph in Exercise 1-15 after
me. Use your rubber band, give a clear pitch change to the highlighted words,
and think about the meaning that the pitch is conveying.
ך Back up the CD and practice this paragraph
three times.
ך Pause the CD and practice three times on your
own.
15
Draw
one step of the staircase for each word of the paragraph. Start a new staircase
for every stressed word. There usually is more than one staircase in a
sentence. New sentences don't have to start new staircases; they can continue
from the previous sentence until you come to a stressed word. I'll read the
beginning sentences. Check the first sentence against the example. Then put the
words of the second sentence on a staircase, based on the way I read it.
Remember, I'm exaggerating to make a point.
V Write
out the rest of the staircases.
ךš Turn the CD back on to check your staircases
with the way I read the paragraph. ךš Pause the CD again to check your staircases
in the Answer Key, beginning on page 193. ךš Back up the CD, and listen and repeat my
reading of the paragraph while following the staircases in the Answer Key.
16
Read
the following with clear intonation where marked.
Hello, my
name is__________________. I'm taking American Accent Training.
There's
a lot
to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I
should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily,
although the only way to get it is to practice all
of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation
more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's
like walking down a staircase. I've been talk-ing to
a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to
understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing
is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
Just
as there is stress in words or phrases, there is intonation in spelling and
numbers. Americans seem to spell things out much more than other people. In any
bureaucratic situ-ation, you'll be asked to spell names and give all kinds of
numbers-your phone number, your birth date, and
so on. There is a distinct stress and rhythm pattern to both spelling and
numbers-usually in groups of three or four
letters or numbers, with the stress falling on the last member of the group.
Acronyms (phrases that are represented by the first letter of each word) and
initials are usually stressed on the last letter. Just listen to the words as I
say them, then repeat the spelling after me.
|
Acronym |
Pronunciation |
|
IBM |
Eye
Bee Em |
|
MIT |
Em
Eye Tee |
|
Ph.D. |
Pee
Aitch Dee |
|
MBA |
Em
Bee εi |
|
LA |
Eh Lay |
|
IQ |
Eye Kyu |
|
RSVP |
Are
Ess Vee Pee |
|
TV |
Tee Vee |
|
USA |
You
Ess εi |
|
ASAP |
εi
Ess εi Pee |
|
CIA |
See
Eye εi |
|
FBI |
Eff
Bee Eye |
|
USMC |
You
Ess Em See |
|
COD |
See
Oh Dee |
|
SOS |
Ess
Oh Ess |
|
X,Y,
Z |
Ex,
Why, Zee |
|
Spelling |
Pronunciation |
|
Box |
Bee
Oh Ex |
|
Cook |
See
Oh Oh Kay |
|
Wilson |
Dubba
You Eye El, Ess Oh En |
|
Numbers |
Pronunciation |
|
Area
Code |
213 |
|
Zip
Code |
94708 |
|
Date |
9/6/62 |
|
Phone
Number |
555-9132 |
17
Intonation
is powerful. It can change meaning and pronunciation. Here you will get the
chance to play with the sounds. Remember, in the beginning, the meaning isn't
that impor-tant-just work on getting control of your pitch changes. Use your
rubber band for each stressed word.
|
my tie |
mai-tai |
Might I? |
|
my keys |
Mikey's |
My keys? |
|
inn key |
in key |
inky |
|
my tea |
mighty |
My D |
|
I
have two. |
I
have, too. |
I have
to. |
|
How
many kids do you have? |
I
have two. |
|
I've
been to Europe. |
I
have, too. |
|
Why
do you work so hard? |
I have
to. |
Intonation
can also completely get rid of certain entire syllables. Some longer words that
are stressed on the first syllable squeeze weak syllables right out. Cover up
the regular columns and read the words between the brackets.
|
actually |
[ækchully] |
every |
[εvree] |
|
average |
[ævr'j] |
family |
[fæmlee] |
|
aspirin |
[æsprin] |
finally |
[fynlee] |
|
broccoli |
[bräklee] |
general |
[jεnr'l] |
|
business |
[bizness] |
groceries |
[grossreez] |
|
camera |
[kæmruh] |
interest |
[intr'st] |
|
chocolate |
[chäkl't] |
jewelry |
[joolree] |
|
comfortable |
[k'mft'bl] |
mathematics |
[mæthmædix] |
|
corporal |
[corpr'l] |
memory |
[mεmree] |
|
desperate |
[dεspr't] |
orange |
[ornj] |
|
diamond |
[däim'nd] |
probably |
[präblee] |
|
diaper |
[däiper] |
restaurant |
[rεstränt] |
|
different |
[diffr'nt] |
separate |
[sεpr't] |
|
emerald |
[εmr'ld] |
several |
[sεvr'l] |
|
vegetable |
[vejt'bl] |
liberal |
[libr'l] |
|
beverage |
[bevr'j] |
conference |
[cänfrns] |
|
bakery |
[bākree] |
coverage |
[c'vr'j] |
|
catholic |
[cæthl'k] |
history |
[hisstree] |
|
nursery |
[nrsree] |
accidentally |
[æksәdentlee] |
|
onion |
[әny'n] |
basically |
[basәklee] |
Note The ~cally
ending is always pronounced ~klee.
18
In
spoken English, if you stress the wrong syllable, you can totally lose the
meaning of a word: "MA-sheen" is hardly recognizable as
"ma-SHEEN" or machine.
At this
point, we won't be concerned with why we are stressing a
particular syllable- that understanding will come later.
In
order to practice accurate pitch change, repeat the following column. Each
syllable will count as one musical note. Remember that words that end in a
vowel or a voiced consonant will be longer than ones ending in an unvoiced
consonant.
1š Syllable
|
A |
B |
C |
|
Pattern 1a |
la! |
get |
stop |
|
|
cat |
quick |
which |
|
jump |
choice |
bit |
|
|
box |
loss |
beat |
|
|
Pattern 1b |
la-a |
law |
bid |
|
|
dog |
goes |
bead |
|
see |
choose |
car |
|
|
plan |
lose |
know |
|
2 Syllables
|
la-la |
Bob Smith |
for you |
|
Pattern 2a |
a dog |
my car |
Who knows? |
|
|
a cat |
some more |
cassette |
|
destroy |
red tape |
ballet |
|
|
a pen |
enclose |
valet |
|
|
pretend |
consume |
to do |
|
|
your job |
my choice |
today |
|
|
pea soup |
How's
work? |
tonight |
|
|
Pattern 2b |
la-la |
wristwatch |
phone book |
|
|
hot dog |
textbook |
doorknob |
|
icy |
bookshelf |
notebook |
|
|
suitcase |
sunshine |
house key |
|
|
project |
placemat |
ballot |
|
|
sunset |
stapler |
valid |
|
|
Get one! |
modern |
dog show |
|
|
Do it! |
modem |
want ad |
19
|
a
hot dog is an overheated canine |
|
a hot
dog is a frankfurter |
3 Syllables
|
A |
B |
C |
|
Pattern 3a |
la-la-la |
Worms eat dirt. |
Joe has three. |
|
|
Bob's hot dog |
Inchworms
inch. |
Bob has eight. |
|
|
Bob
won't know. |
Pets need
care. |
Al
jumped up. |
|
Sam's the boss. |
Ed's too late. |
Glen sat down. |
|
|
Susie's nice. |
Paul
threw up. |
Tom made
lunch. |
|
|
Bill went
home. |
Wool can itch. |
Kids should
play. |
|
|
|
Cats
don't care. |
Birds sing
songs. |
Mom
said, "No!" |
|
|
Stocks can fall. |
Spot has fleas. |
Mars is red. |
|
|
School is fun. |
Nick's a punk. |
Ned
sells cars. |
|
Pattern 3b |
la-la-la |
Make a cake. |
IBM |
|
|
a hot dog |
He forgot. |
a good time |
|
I don't know. |
Take a bath. |
Use your head! |
|
|
He's the boss. |
We're too late. |
How are you? |
|
|
We cleaned up. |
I love you. |
We came home. |
|
|
|
in the bag |
over here |
on the bus |
|
|
for a while |
What a jerk! |
engineer |
|
|
I went home. |
How's your job? |
She fell down. |
|
|
We don't care. |
How'd it go? |
They called back. |
|
|
It's in March. |
Who'd you meet? |
You goofed up. |
|
Pattern 3c |
la-la-la |
percentage
(%) |
Ohio |
|
|
a hot dog |
advantage |
his football |
|
|
I don't
know! |
It's starting. |
They're leaving. |
|
Jim killed
it. |
Let's try it. |
How are
you? |
|
|
tomorrow |
financial |
emphatic |
|
|
|
a fruitcake |
I thought
so. |
Dale planned
it. |
|
|
the engine |
on Wednesday |
You took
it. |
|
|
a wineglass |
in April |
external |
|
|
potato |
I love
you. |
a bargain |
|
|
whatever |
Let's tell him. |
Don't touch
it. |
|
Pattern 3d |
la-la-la |
alphabet |
phone
number |
|
|
hot dog
stand |
possible |
think
about |
|
|
I
don't know. |
Show me
one. |
comfortable |
|
analyze |
area |
waiting
for |
|
|
article |
punctuate |
pitiful |
|
|
|
dinnertime |
emphasis |
everything |
|
|
digital |
syllable |
orchestra |
|
|
analog |
PostIt
note |
ignorant |
|
|
cell
structure |
Rolodex |
Rubbermaid |
20
4 Syllables
|
A |
B |
C |
|
Pattern 4a |
la-la-la-la |
Nate
needs a break. |
Max
wants to know. |
|
|
Spot's a
hot dog. |
Ed took
my car. |
Al's
kitchen floor |
|
Jim
killed a snake. |
Jill ate
a steak. |
Bill's
halfway there. |
|
|
|
Joe
doesn't know. |
Spain's
really far. |
Roses are red, |
|
|
Nate
bought a book. |
Jake's in
the lake. |
Violets are blue, |
|
|
Al
brought some ice. |
Sam's in a
bar. |
Candy is sweet, |
|
|
|
|
and so
are you. |
|
Pattern 4b |
la-la-la-la |
She asked for help. |
I want to know. |
|
|
It's a hot dog. |
We took my car. |
the kitchen floor |
|
He killed a snake. |
We need a break. |
We watched TV. |
|
|
He doesn't know. |
It's really
far. |
She's halfway there. |
|
|
We came back in. |
I love you, too. |
We played all day. |
|
|
|
He bought a book. |
They got away. |
Please show me how. |
|
Pattern 4c |
la-la-la-la |
Boys ring
doorbells. |
Phil
knows mailmen. |
|
|
Bob
likes hot dogs. |
Bill ate breakfast. |
Joe grew
eggplants. |
|
Ann eats
pancakes. |
Guns are lethal. |
Humpty Dumpty |
|
|
Cats eat fish
bones. |
Inchworms
bug me. |
Hawks are vicious. |
|
|
|
Bears are fuzzy. |
Ragtops cost
more. |
Homework bores
them. |
|
|
Planets rotate. |
Salesmen sell
things. |
Mike can hear
you. |
|
Pattern 4d |
la-la-la-la |
an alarm
clock |
He said "lightbulb." |
|
|
It's my hot
dog. |
I don't need
one. |
What does 'box'
mean? |
|
imitation |
Ring the doorbell. |
Put your hands
up. |
|
|
analytic |
What's the matter? |
Where's the mailman? |
|
|
|
We like science. |
introduction |
an assembly |
|
|
my to-do
list |
my report
card |
definition |
|
Pattern 4e |
la-la-la-la |
potato
chip |
What time
is it? |
|
|
a hot dog
stand |
Whose turn
is it? |
my phone
number |
|
Jim killed
a man. |
We worked
on it. |
Let's eat
something. |
|
|
analysis |
How tall
are you? |
How old
are you? |
|
|
|
invisible |
insanity |
untouchable |
|
|
a platypus |
ability |
a maniac |
|
Pattern 4f |
la-la-la-la |
supervisor |
lighthouse
keeper |
|
|
permanently |
window
cleaner |
cough
medicine |
|
demonstrated |
race car
driver |
business
meeting |
|
|
category |
January
(jæn-yə-wery) |
February
(febyəwery) |
|
|
office
supplies |
progress
report |
baby-sitter |
|
|
|
educator |
thingamajig |
dictionary |
21
Put
the following words into the proper category based on the syllable count
intonation. Write the pattern number in the space provided. Check Answer Key,
beginning on p. 193.
|
Single Words |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
l. |
stop |
__ |
5. |
analyze
(v) |
__ |
9. |
believe |
__ |
|
2. |
go |
__ |
6. |
analysis
(n) |
__ |
10. |
director |
__ |
|
3. |
sympathy |
__ |
7. |
analytic
(adj) |
__ |
11. |
indicator |
__ |
|
4. |
sympathetic |
__ |
8. |
mistake |
__ |
12. |
technology |
__ |
|
Noun Phrases |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
1. |
tech
support |
__ |
5. |
English
test |
__ |
9. |
a
fire engine |
__ |
|
2. |
software
program |
__ |
6. |
airline
pilot |
__ |
10. |
sports
fanatic |
__ |
|
3. |
the
truth |
__ |
7. |
Y2K |
__ |
11. |
the
kitchen floor |
__ |
|
4. |
notebook |
__ |
8. |
Santa
Claus |
__ |
12. |
computer
disk |
__ |
|
Phrases |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
on
the table |
__ |
5. |
for
sure |
__ |
9. |
on
the way |
__ |
|
2. |
in
your dreams |
__ |
6. |
OK |
__ |
10. |
like
a princess |
__ |
|
3. |
last
Monday |
__ |
7. |
thank
you |
__ |
11. |
to pick
up |
__ |
|
4. |
for a
while |
__ |
8. |
back
to back |
__ |
12. |
a
pickup |
__ |
|
Sentences |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
All
gets T-shirts. |
__ |
5. |
I
don't know. |
__ |
9. |
She
has head lice. |
__ |
|
2. |
I
went too fast. |
__ |
6. |
Bob
works hard. |
__ |
10. |
Gail
has head lice. |
__ |
|
3. |
Get
up! |
__ |
7. |
It' s
in the back. |
__ |
11. |
Sue's
working hard. |
__ |
|
4. |
Get
one! |
__ |
8. |
Buy
us some! |
__ |
12. |
I
want some more. |
__ |
|
Mixed |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
Do it
again. |
__ |
8. |
in
the middle |
__ |
15. |
Make
up your mind! |
__ |
|
2. |
Joe
was upset. |
__ |
9. |
It's
a good trick. |
__ |
16. |
Tom
has frostbite. |
__ |
|
3. |
banana |
__ |
10. |
specifically |
__ |
17. |
Sam's
a champ. |
__ |
|
4. |
banana
split |
__ |
11. |
Bill
needs it. |
__ |
18. |
He's
a winner. |
__ |
|
5. |
categorize |
__ |
12. |
jump
around |
__ |
19. |
He
likes to win. |
__ |
|
6. |
child
support |
__ |
13. |
on my
own |
__ |
20. |
All
hates pork chops. |
__ |
|
7. |
Mexican
food |
__ |
14. |
by
myself |
__ |
21. |
He
likes ground beef. |
__ |
Make
up your own examples, one of each pattern. Make up more on your own.
|
1. |
__________ |
2a |
5. |
3c |
9. |
__________ |
4c |
|
2. |
__________ |
2b |
6. |
3d |
10. |
__________ |
4d |
|
3. |
__________ |
3a |
7. |
4a |
11. |
__________ |
4e |
|
4. |
__________ |
3b |
8. |
4b |
12. |
__________ |
4f |
22
This is
the beginning of an extremely important part of spoken American English-the rhythms
and intonation patterns of the long streams of nouns and adjectives that are so
commonly used. These exercises will tie in the intonation patterns of adjectives
(nice, old, best, etc.), nouns (dog,
house, surgeon, etc.), and adverbs (very, really,
amazingly, etc.)
One way
of approaching sentence intonation is not to build each sentence from scratch.
Instead, use patterns, with each pattern similar to a mathematical formula.
Instead of plug-ging in numbers, however, plug in words.
In
Exercise 1-2, we looked at simple nounverbnoun patterns, and in Exercise 1-22 and 1-23, the
syllable-count intonation patterns were covered and tested. In Exercises 1-24 to
1-37, we'll examine intonation patterns in two word phrases.
It's
important to note that there's a major difference between syllable
stress and com-pound noun stress patterns.
In the syllable count exercises, each syllable was
represented by a single musical note. In the noun phrases, each individual word will be
represented by a single musical note-no matter how many total syllables there
may be.
At
times, what appears to be a single syllable word will have a "longer"
sound to it- seed takes longer to say than seat for
example. This was introduced on page 3, where you learned that a final voiced
consonant causes the previous vowel to double.
Repeat
the following noun and adjective sentences.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Noun |
Adjective |
|
1. |
It's
a nail. |
It's short. |
|
2. |
It's
a cake. |
It's chocolate.
[chäkl't] |
|
3. |
It's
a tub. |
It's hot.
[hät] |
|
4. |
It's
a drive. |
It's härd. |
|
5. |
It's
a door. |
It's
in back. [bæk] |
|
6. |
It's
a cärd. |
There
are four. |
|
7. |
It's
a spot. [säpt] |
It's smäll. |
|
8. |
It's
a book, [bük] |
It's good.[güd] |
Write
your own noun and adjective sentences below. You will be using these examples
through-out this series of exercises.
9.šš It's a
____________š It's ____________
10.
It's a ____________š It's ____________
11.
It's a ____________š It's ____________
23
Nouns
are "heavier" than adjectives; they carry the weight of the new
information. An adjective and a noun combination is called a descriptive
phrase, and in the absence of contrast or other secondary
changes, the stress will always fall naturally on the noun. In the absence of a
noun, you will stress the adjective, but as soon as a noun appears on the
scene, it takes immediate precedence-and should be stressed.
Repeat
the following phrases.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjective |
Noun
and Adjective |
|
1. |
It's short. |
It's
a short nail. |
|
2. |
It's chocolate. |
It's
a chocolate cake. |
|
3. |
It's good. |
It's
a good plan. |
|
4. |
It's guarded. |
It's
a guarded gate. |
|
5. |
It's wide. |
It's
a wide river. |
|
6. |
There're
four. |
There're
four cards. |
|
7. |
It
was small. |
It
was a small spot. |
|
8. |
It's
the best. |
It's
the best book. |
Pause
the CD and write your own adjective and noun/adjective sentences. Use the same
words from Ex. 1-24.
9. ššIt'sš
_____________ššš šIt's aš
_____________
10.
It'sš _____________šššš It's aš
_____________
11.
It'sš _____________šššš It's aš
_____________
Repeat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjective
Noun |
Adverb
Adjective |
|
1. |
It's
a short nail. |
It's
really short. |
|
2. |
It's
a chocolate cake. |
It's
dark chocolate. |
|
3. |
It's
a hot bath. |
It's
too hot. |
|
4. |
It's
a hard drive. |
It's
extremely hard. |
24
|
5. |
It's
the back door. |
It's
far back. |
|
6. |
There
are four cards. |
There
are only four. |
|
1. |
It's
a small spot. |
It's
laughably small. |
|
8. |
It's
a good book. |
It's
amazingly good. |
Puase
the CD and write your own adjective/noun and adverb/adjective sentences,
carrying over Ex. 1-25.
9. ššIt's ašš _____________šš It'sš
_____________
10.
It's aš _____________ššš It'sš
_____________
11.
It's aš _____________ššš It'sš
_____________
The following
well-known story has been rewritten to contain only descriptions. Stress the
second word of each phrase. Repeat after me.
There
is a mother duck. She lays three
eggs. Soon, there are three baby
birds. Two of the birds are very beautiful.
One of them is quite ugly. The beautiful
ducklings make fun of their ugly brother.
The poo r thing is very unhappy.
As the three birds grow older, the ugly duckling
begins to change. His gray feathers turn snowy white.
His gangly neck becomes beautifully
smooth.
In early spring,
the ugly duckling is swimming in a small pond
in the backyard of the old farm.
He sees his shimmering reflection
in the clear water.
What a great surprise. He is no longer an
ugly duckling. He has grown into a lovely
swan.
When I
learned the alphabet as a child, I heard it before I saw it. I heard that the
last four letters were dubba-you, ex, why, zee. I
thought that dubbayou was a long, strange name for a
letter, but I didn't question it any more than I did aitch.
It was just a name. Many years later, it struck me that it was a double
U. Of course, a W is really UU. I had such a funny feeling, though, when I
realized that something I had taken for granted for so many years had a
background meaning that I had completely overlooked. This "funny
feeling" is ex-actly what most native speakers get when a two-word phrase
is stressed on the wrong word. When two individual words go through the
cultural process of becoming a set phrase, the original sense of each word is
more or less forgotten and the new meaning completely takes over. When we hear
the word painkiller, we
think anesthetic. If, however,
someone says painkiller, it brings up the
strength and almost unrelated meaning of kill.
When
you have a two-word phrase, you have to either stress on the first word, or on
25
the
second word. If you stress both or neither, it's not clear what you are trying
to say. Stress on the first word is more noticeable and one of the most
important concepts of intonation that you are going to study. At first glance,
it doesn't seem significant, but the more you look at this concept, the more
you are going to realize that it reflects how we Americans think, what concepts
we have adopted as our own, and what things we consider important.
Set
phrases are our "cultural icons," or word images; they are indicators
of a deter-mined use that we have
internalized. These set phrases, with stress on the first word, have been taken
into everyday English from descriptive phrases, with stress on the second word.
As soon as a descriptive phrase becomes a set phrase, the emphasis shifts from
the second word to the first. The
original sense of each word is more or less forgotten and the new meaning takes
over.
Set
phrases indicate that we have internalized this phrase as an image,
that we all agree on a concrete idea that this phrase represents. A
hundred years or so ago, when Levi Strauss first came out with his denim pants,
they were described as blue jeans. Now
that we all agree on the image, however, they are blue
jeans.
A more
recent example would be the descriptive phrase, He 's a real
party animal. This slang expression refers to someone who has a
great time at a party. When it first be-came popular, the people using it
needed to explain (with their intonation) that he was an animal
at a party. As time passed, the expression became
cliche and we changed the intona-tion to He's a real party
animal because "everyone knew" what it meant.
Cliches
are hard to recognize in a new language because what may be an old and tired
expression to a native speaker may be fresh and exciting to a newcomer. One way
to look at English from the inside out, rather than always looking from the
outside in, is to get a feel for what Americans have already accepted and
internalized. This starts out as a purely lan-guage phenomenon, but you will
notice that as you progress and undergo the relentless cultural indoctrination
of standard intonation patterns, you will find yourself expressing yourself
with the language cues and signals that will mark you as an insider-not an out-sider.
When
the interpreter was translating for the former Russian President Gorbachev
about his trip to San Francisco in 1990, his pronunciation was good, but he
placed himself on the outside by repeatedly saying, cable car.
The phrase cable car is an
image, an established entity, and it was very noticeable to hear it stressed on
the second word as a mere description.
An
important point that I would like to make is that the "rules" you are
given here are not meant to be memorized. This discussion is only an
introduction to give you a starting point in understanding this phenomenon and
in recognizing what to listen for. Read it over; think about it; then listen,
try it out, listen some more, and try it out again.
As you
become familiar with intonation, you will become more comfortable with American
norms, thus the cultural orientation, or even cultural indoctrination, aspect
of the following examples.
Note When
you get the impression that a two-word description could be hyphenated or even
made into one word, it is a signal that it could be a set phrase-for example, flash
light, flash-light, flashlight. Also, stress the first word
with Street (Main Street) and nation-alities of food and people (Mexican
food, Chinese girls).
26
Repeat
the following sentences.
|
|
Noun |
Noun/Adj. |
Set
Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a finger. |
It's
a nail. |
It's
a fingernail. |
|
2. |
It's
a pan. |
It's
a cake. |
It's
a pancake. |
|
3. |
It's
a tub. |
It's hot. |
It's
a hot tub. (Jacuzzi) |
|
4. |
It's
a drive. |
It's hard. |
It's
a hard drive. |
|
5. |
It's
a bone. |
It's
in back. |
It's
the backbone. (spine) |
|
6. |
It's
a card. |
It's
a trick. |
It's
a card trick. |
|
7. |
It's
a spot. |
It's
a light. |
It's
a spotlight. |
|
8. |
It's
a book. |
It's
a phone. |
It's
a phone book. |
Pause
the CD and write your own noun and set phrase sentences, carrying over the same
nouns you used in Exercise 1-25. Remember, when you use a noun, include the
article (a, an, the); when you use an adjective, you don't need an article.
9.šš It's a_________ššššššššš
It's a_________ššš It's a_____________
10.
It's a_________ššššššššš It's a_________ššš It's a_____________
11.
It's a_________ššššššššš It's a_________ššš It's a_____________
Pause
the CD and add a noun to each word as indicated by the picture. Check Answer
Key, beginning on page 193.
27
The following
story contains only set phrases, as opposed to the descriptive story in Exer-cise
1-27. Stress the first word of each phrase.
The
little match girl was out
in a snowstorm. Her
feet were like ice cubes and her fingertips
had frostbite. She hadn't sold
any matches since daybreak, and she
had a stomachache from
the hunger pangs, but her
stepmother would beat her
with a broomstick if she
came home with an empty coin purse. Looking
into the bright living rooms, she saw
Christmas trees and warm fireplaces.
Out on the snowbank, she lit
match and saw the image of a grand dinner table
of food before her. As the matchstick
burned, the illusion slowly faded. She lit another
one and saw a room full of happy family members. On the
last match, her grandmother came
down and carried her home. In the morning, the passersby
saw the little match girl. She had
frozen during the nighttime, but she
had a smile on her face.
We now
have two main intonation patterns-first word stress and second
word stress. In the following exercise, we will contrast the two.
Repeat
after me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Descriptive
Phrase |
Set
Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a short nail. |
It's
a fingernail. |
|
2. |
It's
a chocolate cake. |
It's
a pancake. |
|
3. |
It's
a hot bath. |
It's
a hot tub. |
|
4. |
It's
a long drive. |
It's
a hard drive. |
|
5. |
It's
the back door. |
It's
the backbone. |
|
6. |
There
are four cards. |
It's
a card trick. |
|
7. |
It's
a small spot. |
It's
a spot light. |
|
8. |
It's
a good book. |
It's
a phone book |
Pause
the CD and rewrite your descriptive phrases (Ex. 1-25) and
set phrases (Ex. 1-28).
|
9. |
It's
a _____________ |
It's
aš _____________ |
|
10. |
It's
aš _____________ |
It's
aš _____________ |
|
11. |
It's
aš _____________ |
It's
aš _____________ |
28
Repeat
the following pairs.
First
Word
|
set phrases |
light
bulb |
|
|
streets |
Main
Street |
|
|
Co. or Corp. |
Xerox
Corporation |
|
|
nationalities of
food |
Chinese
food |
|
|
nationalities of
people |
French guy |
Second
Word
|
descriptive
phrases |
new information |
|
|
road
designations |
Fifth Avenue |
|
|
modified
adjectives |
really big |
|
|
place names and
parks |
New York,
Central Park |
|
|
institutions, or
Inc. |
Oakland Museum,
Xerox Inc. |
|
|
personal names
and titles |
Bob Smith,
Assistant Manager |
|
|
personal
pronouns and possessives |
his car,
Bob 's brother |
|
|
articles |
the bus,
a week, an hour |
|
|
initials and
acronyms |
U.S., IQ |
|
|
chemical
compounds |
zinc oxide |
|
|
colors and
numbers |
red orange,
26 |
|
|
most compound
verbs |
go away,
sit down, fall off |
|
|
percent and
dollar |
10 percent, 50 dollars |
|
|
hyphenated
nationalities |
African-American |
|
|
descriptive
nationalities |
Mexican restaurant |
When
you are in a foreign country, the subject of nationalities naturally comes up a
lot. It would be nice if there were a simple rule that said that all the words
using nationalities are stressed on the first word. There isn't, of course.
Take this preliminary quiz to see if you need to do this exercise. For
simplicity's sake, we will stick with one nationality-American.
Pause
the CD and stress one word in each of the following examples. Repeat after me.
1.šš an American guy
2.šš an American
restaurant
3.šš American food
4.šš an American teacher
5.šš an English teacher
When
you first look at it, the stress shifts may seem arbitrary, but let's examine
the logic behind these five examples and use it to go on to other, similar
cases.
30
The
operative word is American; guy could
even be left out without changing the meaning of the phrase. Compare / saw
two American guys yesterday, with / saw
two Americans yesterday. Words like guy,
man, kid, lady, people are de facto pronouns in an
anthropocentric language. A strong noun, on the other hand, would be stressed- They
flew an American flag. This is why you have the pattern
change in Exercise 1-22: 4e, Jim killed a man; but 4b,
He killed a snake.
Don't
be sidetracked by an ordinary descriptive phrase that happens to have a na-tionality
in it. You are describing the restaurant, We went to a good
restaurant yes-terday or We went to an
American restaurant yesterday. You would use the
same pattern where the nationality is more or less incidental in / had
French toast for breakfast. French fry, on the other hand,
has become a set phrase.
Food is a
weak word. I never ate American
food when I lived in Japan. Let's have Chinese food for dinner.
This is
a description, so the stress is on teacher.
This is
a set phrase. The stress is on the subject being taught, not the nationality of
the teacher: a French teacher, a Spanish teacher, a history
teacher.
Repeat
the following pairs.
|
Set
Phrase |
Descriptive
Phrase |
||
|
An English
teacher... |
An English teacher... |
||
|
|
...teaches
English. |
|
...is from
England. |
|
An English
book... |
An English book...is
on any subject, |
||
|
|
...teaches the
English language. |
|
but it came from
England. |
|
An English
test... |
An English test...
is on any subject, |
||
|
|
...tests a
student on the English language. |
|
but it deals
with or came from England. |
|
English
food... |
An English restaurant... |
||
|
|
. . .is kippers for
breakfast. |
|
...serves kippers
for breakfast. |
31
Intonation
can indicate completely different meanings for otherwise similar words or
phrases. For example, an English teacher
teaches English, but an English teacher is from
England; French class is
where you study French, but French class is
Gallic style and sophistication; an orange tree grows
oranges, but an orange tree is any kind of
tree that has been painted orange. To have your intonation tested, call (800)
457-4255.
In the
following list of words, underline the element that should be stressed. Pause
the CD. Afterwards, check Answer Key, beginning on page 193. Repeat after me.
|
1. |
The White House |
21. |
convenience
store |
41. |
a doorknob |
|
2. |
a white house |
22. |
convenient store |
42. |
a glass door |
|
3. |
a darkroom |
23. |
to pick up |
43. |
a locked door |
|
4. |
a dark room |
24. |
a pickup truck |
44. |
ice cream |
|
5. |
Fifth Avenue |
25. |
six years old |
45. |
I scream. |
|
6. |
Main Street |
26. |
a six-year-old |
46. |
elementary |
|
7. |
a main street |
27. |
six and a half |
47. |
a lemon tree |
|
8. |
a hot dog |
28. |
a sugar bowl |
48. |
Watergate |
|
9. |
a hot dog |
29. |
a wooden bowl |
49. |
the back gate |
|
10. |
a baby blanket |
30. |
a large bowl |
50. |
the final year |
|
11. |
a baby's blanket |
31. |
a mixing bowl |
51. |
a yearbook |
|
12. |
a baby bird |
32. |
a top hat |
52. |
United States |
|
13. |
a blackbird |
33. |
a nice hat |
53. |
New York |
|
14. |
a black bird |
34. |
a straw hat |
54. |
Long Beach |
|
15. |
a greenhouse |
35. |
a chairperson |
55. |
Central Park |
|
16. |
a green house |
36. |
Ph.D. |
56. |
a raw deal |
|
17. |
a green thumb |
37. |
IBM |
57. |
a deal breaker |
|
18. |
a parking ticket |
38. |
MIT |
58. |
the bottom line |
|
19. |
a one-way ticket |
39. |
USA |
59. |
a bottom feeder |
|
20. |
an unpaid ticket |
40. |
ASAP |
60. |
a new low |
32
Let's
check and
see if the concepts are clear. Pause the CD and underline or highlight the
stressed word. Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193. Repeat after me.
1.šš He's a nice
guy.
2.šš He's an American
guy from San Francisco.
3.šš The cheerleader needs a rubber
band to hold her ponytail.
4.šš The executive
assistant needs a paper clip for the final report.
5.šš The law student took an English
test in a foreign country.
6.šš The policeman saw a red car
on the freeway in Los Angeles.
7.šš My old dog has long ears and a
flea problem.
8.šš The new teacher broke his coffee
cup on the first day.
9.šš His best friend has a broken cup in
his other office.
10.šš Let's play football on the weekend
in New York.
11.šš "Jingle Bells" is a nice
song.
12.šš Where are my new shoes?
13.šš Where are my tennis shoes?
14.šš I have a headache from the heat
wave in South Carolina.
15.šš The newlyweds took a long walk in
Long Beach.
16.šš The little dog was sitting on the sidewalk.
17.šš The famous athlete changed clothes in
the locker room.
18.šš The art exhibit was held in an empty
room.
19.šš There was a class reunion at the high
school.
20.šš The headlines indicated a new
policy.
21.šš We got on line and went to
americanaccent dot com.
22.šš The stock options were listed in the company
directory.
23.šš All the second-graders were out on
the playground.
33
Read
the story and stress the indicated words. Notice if they are a description,
a set phrase or contrast. For the next level of this
topic, go to page 111. Repeat after me.
There
is a little girl. Her name is Goldilocks.
She is in a sunny forest. She
sees a small house. She knocks on the
door, but no one answers. She goes
inside. In the large room, there
are three chairs. Goldilocks sits on the biggest
chair, but it is too high. She
sits on the middle-sized one,
but it is too low. She sits on the small chair
and it is just right. On the table,
there are three bowls. There is hot porridge
in the bowls. She tries the first one, but it
is too hot; the second one is too cold,
and the third one is just right,
so she eats it all. After that, she goes
upstairs. She looks around. There
are three beds, so she sits down.
The biggest bed is too hard.
The middle-sized bed is too soft.
The little one is just right,
so she lies down. Soon, she falls asleep. In the meantime, the
family of three bears comes home - the Papa bear,
the Mama bear, and the
Baby bear. They look around.
They
say, "Who's been sitting in our chairs and eating our porridge?" Then
they run upstairs. They say,
"Who's been sleeping in our beds?" Goldilocks
wakes up. She is very scared.
She runs away. Goldilocks never comes back.
Note Up to
this point, we have gone into great detail on the intonation patterns of nouns.
We shall now examine the intonation patterns of verbs.
34
English
is a chronological language. We just love to know when something happened, and
this is indicated by the range and depth of our verb tenses.
I had
already seen it by the time she brought it in.
As you
probably learned in your grammar studies, "the past perfect is an action
in the past that occurred before a separate action in the past." Whew! Not
all languages do this. For example, Japanese is fairly casual about when things
happened, but being a hierarchical language, it is very important to know what relationship
the two people involved had. A high-level person with a low-level one,
two peers, a man and a woman, all these things show up in Japanese grammar.
Grammatically speaking, English is democratic.
The
confusing part is that in English the verb tenses are very important, but
instead of putting them up on the peaks of a sentence, we
throw them all deep down in the valleys!
Therefore, two sentences with strong intonation-such as, "Dogs eat bones" and
"The dogs'll've eaten the bones" sound
amazingly similar. Why? Because it takes the same amount of time to say both
sentences since they have the same number of stresses. The three origi-nal
words and the rhythm stay the same in these sentences, but the meaning changes
as you add more stressed words. Articles and verb tense changes are usually not
stressed.
|
Dogs |
|
|
bones |
|
//////// |
eat |
|
///////// |
|
/////// |
///// |
|
///////// |
|
|
|
dogs |
|
|
|
|
|
bones. |
|
|
|
/////// |
'll |
|
|
|
|
///////// |
|
|
|
/////// |
//// |
've |
|
|
|
///////// |
|
|
|
/////// |
//// |
//// |
eaten |
|
|
///////// |
|
|
|
/////// |
//// |
//// |
/////// |
the |
|
///////// |
|
The |
|
/////// |
//// |
//// |
/////// |
///// |
|
///////// |
|
däg |
|
|
bounz |
|
/////// |
zeet |
|
/////// |
|
/////// |
/////// |
|
/////// |
|
|
|
däg |
|
|
|
|
|
|
bounz |
|
|
|
/////// |
z' |
|
|
|
|
|
////////// |
|
|
|
/////// |
////// |
l' |
|
|
|
|
////////// |
|
|
|
/////// |
////// |
////// |
vee(t) |
|
|
|
////////// |
|
|
|
/////// |
////// |
////// |
////// |
n |
|
|
////////// |
|
the |
|
/////// |
////// |
////// |
////// |
////// |
the |
|
////////// |
Now
let's see how this works in the exercises that follow.
35
This
is a condensed exercise for you to practice simple intonation with a wide range
of verb tenses. When you do the exercise the first time, go through stressing
only the nouns Dogs eat bones. Practice
this until you are quite comfortable with the intonation. The pronunciation and
word connections are on the right, and the full verb tenses are on the far
left.
|
eat |
1. |
The dogs
eat the bones. |
the däg
zeet the bounz |
|
ate |
2. |
The dogs
ate the bones. |
the däg
zεit the bounz |
|
are eating |
3. |
The dogs're
eating the bones. |
the däg
zr reeding the bounz |
|
will eat |
4. |
The dogs'll
eat the bones (if...) |
the däg
zə leet the bounz (if...) |
|
would eat |
5. |
The dogs'd
eat the bones (if...) |
the däg
zə deet the bounz (if...) |
|
would have eaten |
6. |
The dogs'd've
eaten the bones š(if..) |
the däg
zədə
veetn the bounz (if...) |
|
that have eaten |
7. |
The dogs
that've eaten the bones (are..) |
the däg
zədəš veetn the bounz (are...) |
|
have eaten |
8. |
The dogs've
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zə veetn the bounz |
|
had eaten |
9. |
The dogs'd
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zə deetn the bounz |
|
will have eaten |
10. |
The dogs'll've
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zələ
veetn the bounz |
|
ought to eat |
11. |
The dogs
ought to eat the bones. |
the däg
zädə eat the bounz |
|
should eat |
12. |
The dogs
should eat the bones. |
the dägz
sh'deet the bounz |
|
should not eat |
13. |
The dogs
shouldn't eat the bones. |
the dägz
sh'dnneet the bounz |
|
should have
eaten |
14. |
The dogs
should've eaten the bones. |
the dägz
sh'də veetn the bounz |
|
should not have |
15. |
The dogs shouldn't've
eaten the bones. |
the dägz
sh'dnnə
veetn the bounz |
|
could eat |
16. |
The dogs
could eat the bones. |
the dägz
c'deet the bounz |
|
could not eat |
17. |
The dogs
couldn't eat the bones. |
the dägz
c'dnneet the bounz |
|
could have eaten |
18. |
The dogs
could've eaten the bones. |
the dägz
c'də veetn the bounz |
|
could not have |
19. |
The dogs
couldn't've eaten the bones. |
the dägz
c'dnnə
veetn the bounz |
|
might eat |
20. |
The dogs
might eat the bones. |
the dägz
mydeet the bounz |
|
might have eaten |
21. |
The dogs
might've eaten the bones. |
the dägz
mydəveetn the bounz |
|
must eat |
22. |
The dogs
must eat the bones. |
the dägz
məss deet the bounz |
|
must have eaten |
23. |
The dogs
must've eaten the bones. |
the dägz
məsdəveetn the bounz |
|
can eat |
24. |
The dogs
can eat the bones. |
the dägz
c'neet the bounz |
|
can't eat |
25. |
The dogs
can't eat the bones. |
the dägz
cæn(d)eet the bounz |
36
This
is the same as the previous exercise, except you now stress the verbs: They eat
them. Practice this until you are quite comfortable with the
intonation. Notice that in fluent speech, the th of them is
frequently dropped (as is the h in the other object pronouns, him,
her). The pronunciation and word connections are on the right, and the
tense name is on the far left.
|
present |
1. |
They eat
them. |
theyeed'm |
|
past |
2. |
They ate
them. |
theyεid'm |
|
continuous |
3. |
They're
eating them. |
thereeding'm |
|
future |
4. |
They'll
eat them (if...) |
theleed'm
(if...) |
|
present
conditional |
5. |
They'd
eat them (if...) |
they deed'm
(if...) |
|
past
conditional |
6. |
They'd'
ve eaten them (if...) |
they
dəveetn'm (if...) |
|
relative
pronoun |
7. |
The
ones that've eaten them (are...) |
the wənzədəveetn'm (are...) |
|
present
perfect |
8. |
They've
eaten them (many times). |
they veetn'm
(many times) |
|
past
perfect |
9. |
They'd
eaten them (before...) |
they deetn'm
(before...) |
|
future
perfect |
10. |
They'll
have eaten them (by...) |
they
ləveetn'm (by...) |
|
obligation |
11. |
They
ought to eat them. |
they ädəeed'm |
|
obligation |
12. |
They
should eat them. |
they
sh'deed'm |
|
obligation |
13. |
They
shouldn't eat them. |
they
sh'dnneed'm |
|
obligation |
14. |
They
should have eaten them. |
they
sh'dəveetn'm |
|
obligation |
15. |
They
shouldn't' ve eaten them. |
they
sh'dnnəveetn'm |
|
possibility/ability |
16. |
They
could eat them. |
they Ó'deed'm |
|
possibility/ability |
17. |
They
couldn't eat them. |
they
c'dnneed'm |
|
possibility/ability |
18. |
They
could have eaten them. |
they
c'də veetn'm |
|
possibility/ability |
19. |
They
couldn't have eaten them. |
they
c'dnnə
veetn'm |
|
possibility |
20. |
They
might eat them. |
they
mydeed'm |
|
possibility |
21. |
They
might have eaten them. |
they
my də veetn'm |
|
probability |
22. |
They
must eat them. |
they
məss deed'm |
|
probability |
23. |
They
must have eaten them. |
they
məsdəveetn'm |
|
ability |
24. |
They
can eat them. |
they
c'need'm |
|
ability |
25. |
They
can't eat them. |
they cæn(d)eed'm |
37
On the
first of the numbered lines below, write a three-word sentence that you
frequently use, such as "Computers organize information" or
"Lawyers sign contracts" and put it through the 25 changes. This
exercise will take you quite a bit of time and it will force you to rethink
your perceptions of word sounds as related to spelling. It helps to use a
plural noun that ends in a [z] sound (boyz, dogz) rather than an [s] sound
(hats, books). Also, your sentence will flow better if your verb begins with a
vowel sound (earns, owes, offers). When you have finished filling in all the
upper lines of this exercise with your new sentence, use the guidelines from
Ex. 1-38 for the phonetic transcription. Remember, don't rely on spell-ing.
Turn off the CD.
|
eat |
1. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
ate |
2. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
are
eating |
3. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
will
eat |
4. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
would
eat |
5. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
would
have eaten |
6. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
that
have eaten |
7. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
have
eaten |
8. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
had
eaten |
9. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
will
have eaten |
10. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
38
|
ought
to eat |
11. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
should
eat |
12. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
should
not eat |
13. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
should
have eaten |
14. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
should
not have eaten |
15. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
could
eat |
16. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
could
not eat |
17. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
could
have eaten |
18. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
could
not have |
19. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
might
eat |
20. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
might
have eaten |
21. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
must
eat |
22. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
must
have eaten |
23. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
can
eat |
24. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
can't
eat |
25. |
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
|
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
|
____________ |
For
this next part of the intonation of grammatical elements, each sentence has a
few extra words to help you get the meaning. Keep the same strong intonation
that you used before and add the new stress where you see the bold face. Use
your rubber band.
|
1. |
The dogs
eat the bones every day. |
th' däg zeet
th' bounzevree day |
|
2. |
The dogs
ate the bones last week. |
th' däg zεit th' bounzlæss
dweek |
|
3. |
The dogs
're eating the bones right now. |
th' däg zr
reeding th' bounz räit næo |
|
4. |
The dogs'll
eat the bones if they're here. |
th' däg zə leet th' bounzif thεr hir |
|
5. |
The dogs'd
eat the bones if they were here. |
th' däg zə deet th' bounzif they wr hir |
|
6. |
The dogs'd've
eaten the bones if they'd been here. |
th' däg zədə
veetn th' bounzif theyd bin hir |
|
7. |
The dogs
that've eaten the bones are sick. |
th' däg zədə
veetn th' bounzr sick |
|
8. |
The dogs've
eaten the bones every day. |
th' däg zə veetn th' bounzεvry day |
|
9. |
The dogs'd
eaten the bones by the time we got there. |
th' däg zə deetn th' bounz by th' time we gät
thεr |
|
10. |
The dogs'll
have eaten the bones by the time we get there. |
th' däg zələ
veetn th' bounz by th' time we get thεr |
40
Now,
let's work with contrast. For example, The dogs'd eat the bones, and The
dogs'd eaten the bones, are so close in sound, yet so far apart in meaning,
that you need to make a special point of recognizing the difference by
listening for content. Repeat each group of sentences using sound and
intonation for contrast.
|
would eat |
5. |
The dogs'd
eat the bones. |
the däg
zə deet the bounz |
|
had eaten |
9. |
The dogs'd
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zə deetn the bounz |
|
would have eaten |
6. |
The dogs'd've
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zədə
veetn the bounz |
|
that have eaten |
7. |
The dogs
that've eaten the bones. |
the däg
zədə
veetn the bounz |
|
will eat |
4. |
The dogs'll
eat the bones. |
the däg
zə leet the bounz |
|
would eat |
5. |
The dogs'd
eat the bones. |
the däg
zə deet the bounz |
|
would have eaten |
6. |
The dogs'd've
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zədə
veetn the bounz |
|
have eaten |
8. |
The dogs've
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zə veetn the bounz |
|
had eaten |
9. |
The dogs'd
eaten the bones. |
the däg
zə deetn the bounz |
|
will have eaten |
10. |
The dogs'll
have eaten the bones. |
the däg
zələ
veetn the bounz |
|
would eat |
5. |
The dogs'd
eat the bones. |
the däg
zə deet the bounz |
|
ought to eat |
11. |
The dogs
ought to eat the bones. |
the däg
zädə eat the bounz |
|
can eat |
24. |
The dogs
can eat the bones. |
the dägz
c'neet the bounz |
|
can't eat |
25. |
The dogs can't
eat the bones. |
the dägz cæn(d)eet the bounz |
Next
you use a combination of intonation and pronunciation to make the difference
between can and can't. Reduce the positive can to [k 'n]
and stress the verb. Make the negative can't ([kæn(t)]) sound very short and stress both can't
and the verb. This will contrast with the positive, emphasized can, which is
doubled-and the verb is not stressed. If you have
trouble with can't before a word that starts with a vowel, such as open,
put in a very small [(d)]- The
keys kæn(d) open the
locks. Repeat.
|
I can
do it. |
[I
k'n do it] |
positive |
|
I can't
do it. |
[I kæn(t)do it] |
negative |
|
I can
do it. |
[I kææn do it] |
extra
positive |
|
I can't
do it. |
[I kæn(t)do
it] |
extra
negative |
41
Repeat
after me the sentences listed in the following groups.
1.šš I bought a sandwich.
2.šš I said I bought a sandwich.
3.šš I said I think I bought a sandwich.
4.šš I said I really think I bought a sandwich.
5.šš I said I really think I bought a
chicken sandwich.
6.šš I said I really think I bought a chicken
salad sandwich.
7.šš I said I really think I bought a half
a chicken salad sandwich.
8.šš I said I really think I bought a half
a chicken salad sandwich this afternoon.
9.šš I actually said I really think
I bought a half a chicken salad sandwich this afternoon.
10.šš I actually said I really think
I bought another half a chicken salad sandwich this afternoon.
11.šš Can you believe I actually said
I really think I bought another half a chicken salad sandwich
this afternoon?
1.šš I did it.
2.šš I did it again.
3.šš I already did it again.
4.šš I think I already did it again.
5.šš I
said I think I already did it again.
6.šš I said I think I already did it again
yesterday.
7.šš I said I think I already did
it again the day before yesterday.
1.šš I want a ball.
2.šš I want a large ball.
3.šš I want a large, red ball.
4.šš I want a large, red, bouncy ball.
5.šš I want a large, red bouncy rubber ball.
6.šš I want a large, red bouncy rubber basketball.
1.šš I want a raise.
2.šš I want a big raise.
3.šš I want a big, impressive raise.
4.šš I want a big, impressive, annual raise.
5.šš I want a big, impressive, annual cost
of living raise.
42
Exercise
1 -45; Building Your Own intonation Sentencesšššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 14
Build
your own sentence, using everyday words and phrases, such as think, hope,
nice, really, actually, even, this afternoon, big, small, pretty, and so
on.
1.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________
________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
6.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
7.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
8.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
9.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
10.________________________________________________
________________________________________________
43
In the
list below, change the stress from the first syllable for nouns to the second
syllable for verbs. This is a regular, consistent change. Intonation is so
powerful that you'll notice that when the stress changes, the pronunciation of
the vowels do, too.
|
Nouns |
Verbs |
||
|
an
accent |
[æks'nt] |
to
accent |
[æksεnt] |
|
a
concert |
[känsert] |
to
concert |
[k'nsert] |
|
a
conflict |
[känflikt] |
to
conflict |
[k'nflikt] |
|
a
contest |
[käntest] |
to
contest |
[k'ntest] |
|
a
contract |
[käntræct] |
to
contract |
[k'ntrækt] |
|
a
contrast |
[käntræst] |
to
contrast |
[k'ntræst] |
|
a
convert |
[känvert] |
to
convert |
[k'nvert] |
|
a
convict |
[känvikt] |
to
convict |
[k'nvict] |
|
a
default |
[deefält] |
to
default |
[d'fält] |
|
a
desert* |
[dεz'rt] |
to
desert |
[d'z'rt] |
|
a
discharge |
[dischärj] |
to
discharge |
[d'schärj] |
|
an
envelope |
[änv'lop] |
to
envelop |
[envel'p] |
|
an
incline |
[inkline] |
to
incline |
[inkline] |
|
an
influence |
[influ(w)'ns] |
to
influence |
[influ(w)ns]Š |
|
an
insert |
[insert] |
to
insert |
[insert] |
|
an
insult |
[ins'lt] |
to
insult |
[insəlt] |
|
an
object |
[äbject] |
to
object |
[əbject] |
|
perfect |
[prf'ct] |
to
perfect |
[prfekt] |
|
a
permit |
[prmit] |
to
permit |
[prmit] |
|
a
present |
[prεz'nt] |
to
present |
[pr'zεnt] |
|
produce |
[produce] |
to
produce |
[pr'duce] |
|
progress |
[prägr's] |
to
progress |
[pr'grεss] |
|
a
project |
[präject] |
to
project |
[pr'jεct] |
|
a
pronoun |
[pronoun] |
to
pronounce |
[pr'nounce] |
|
a
protest |
[protest] |
to
protest |
[pr'test] |
|
a
rebel |
[rεbəl] |
to
rebel |
[r'bεl] |
|
a
recall |
[reekäll] |
to
recall |
[r'käll] |
|
a
record |
[rεk'rd] |
to
record |
[r'cord] |
|
a
reject |
[reject] |
to
reject |
[r'jεct] |
|
research |
[res'rch] |
to
research |
[r'srch] |
|
a
subject |
[s'bjekt] |
to
subject |
[s'bjekt] |
|
a
survey |
[s'rvei] |
to
survey |
[s'rvei] |
|
a
suspect |
[s'spekt] |
to
suspect |
[s'spekt] |
* The
désert is hot and dry. A dessért is
ice cream. To desért is to abandon.
Š Pronunciation
symbols (w) and (y) represent a glide sound. This is explained on page 63.
44
A
different change occurs when you go from an adjective or a noun to a verb. The
stress stays in the same place, but the -mate in an adjective is
completely reduced [-m't], whereas in a verb, it is a full [a] sound [-mεit].
|
Nouns/Adjectives |
Verbs |
||
|
advocate |
[ædv'k't] |
to
advocate |
[ædv'kεit] |
|
animate |
[æn'm't] |
to
animate |
[æn'mεit] |
|
alternate |
[ältern't] |
to
alternate |
[älternεit] |
|
appropriate |
[əpropre(y)'t] |
to
appropriate |
[əpropre(y)εit] |
|
approximate |
[əpräks'm't] |
to
approximate |
[əpräks' mεit] |
|
articulate |
[ärticyul't] |
to
articulate |
[ärticyəlεit] |
|
associate |
[əssosey't] |
to
associate |
[əssoseyεit] |
|
deliberate |
[d'libr't] |
to
deliberate |
[d'liberεit] |
|
discriminate |
[d'skrim'n't] |
to
descriminate |
[d'skrim'nεit] |
|
duplicate |
[dupl'k't] |
to
duplicate |
[dupl'kεit] |
|
elaborate |
[elæbr't] |
to
elaborate |
[əlæberεit] |
|
an
estimate |
[εst'm't] |
to
estimate |
[εst' mεit] |
|
graduate |
[græjyu(w)'t] |
to
graduate |
[græjyu(w)εit] |
|
intimate |
[int'm't] |
to
intimate |
[int'
mεit] |
|
moderate |
[mäder't] |
to
moderate |
[mäderεit] |
|
predicate |
[prεd'k't] |
to
predicate |
[prεd'kεit] |
|
separate |
[sεpr't] |
to
separate |
[sεperεit] |
Mark
the intonation or indicate the long vowel on the italicized word, depending
which part of speech it is. Pause the CD and mark the proper syllables. See
Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
1.šš You need to insert a
paragraph here on this newspaper insert.
2.šš How can you object
to this object?
3.šš I'd like to present
you with this present.
4.šš Would you care to elaborate
on his elaborate explanation?
5.šš The manufacturer couldn't recall
if there'd been a recall.
6.šš The religious convert wanted
to convert the world.
7.šš The political rebels wanted
to rebel against the world.
8.šš The mogul wanted to record
a new record for his latest artist.
9.šš If you perfect
your intonation, your accent will be perfect.
10.šš Due to the drought, the fields didn't
produce much produce this year.
11.šš Unfortunately, City Hall wouldn't permit
them to get a permit.
12.šš Have you heard that your associate
is known to associate with gangsters?
13.šš How much do you estimate that
the estimate will be?
14.šš The facilitator wanted to separate
the general topic into separate categories.
45
Regaining
Long-Lost Listening Skills
The
trouble with starting accent training after you know a great deal of English is
that you know a great deal about English. You have
a lot of preconceptions and, unfortunately, mis-conceptions about the sound of
English.
Every
sound of every language is within every child. So, what happens with adults?
People learn their native language and stop listening for the sounds that they
never hear; then they lose the ability to hear those sounds. Later, when you
study a foreign language, you learn a lot of spelling rules that take you still
further away from the real sound of that language-in this case, English.
What we
are going to do here is teach you to hear again.
So many times, you've heard what a native speaker said, translated it into your
own accent, and repeated it with your accent. Why? Because you "knew"
how to say it.
|
Tense Vowels |
Lax Vowels |
||||||
|
Symbol |
Sound |
Spelling |
Example |
Symbol |
Sound |
Spelling |
Example |
|
ā |
εi |
take |
[tak] |
ε |
eh |
get |
[gεt] |
|
ē |
ee |
eat |
[et] |
i |
ih |
it |
[it] |
|
ī |
äi |
ice |
[is] |
ü |
ih + uh |
took |
[tük] |
|
ō |
ou |
hope |
[hop] |
ə |
uh |
some |
[səm] |
|
ū |
ooh |
smooth |
[smuth] |
|
|
|
|
|
ä |
ah |
caught |
[kät] |
|
Semivowels |
||
|
æ |
ä
+ ε |
cat |
[kæt] |
ər |
er |
her |
[hər] |
|
æo |
æ + o |
down |
[dæon] |
əl |
ul |
dull |
[dəəl] |
The
first thing you're going to do is write down exactly what I say. It will be
nonsense to you for two reasons: First, because I will be saying sound units,
not word units. Second, be-cause I will be starting at the end of the sentence
instead of the beginning. Listen carefully and write down exactly what you
hear, regardless of meaning. The first sound is given to you-cher.šššššš šššššššššššššššššCD 2 Track 20
46
|
|
' |
|
' |
|
|
' |
|
|
' |
|
' |
|
|
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
_ |
cher. |
V Once
you have written it down, check with the version below.
|
' |
|
' |
|
' |
|
|
' |
|
' |
|
|
är |
diz |
mæn |
zuh |
temp |
tu |
wim |
pru |
vän |
nay |
cher |
V Read
it out loud to yourself and try to hear what the regular English is. Don't look
ahead until you've figured out the sense of it.
Art is
man 's attempt to improve on nature.
Frequently,
people will mistakenly hear Are these... [är
thez] instead of Art is... [är diz]. Not
only are the two pronunciations different, but the intonation and meaning would
also be different:
Art is man
's attempt to improve on nature. Are these man 's attempts to
improve on nature ?
Again,
listen carefully and write the sounds you hear. The answers are below.
Let's
do a few more pure sound exercises to fine-tune your ear. Remember, start at
the end and fill in the blanks right to left, then read them back left to
right. Write whichever symbols are easiest for you to read back. There are
clues sprinkled around for you and all the an-swers are in the Answer Key,
beginning on page 193.šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš CD 2 Track 23
|
1. |
læfdr hæzno fourə næks'nt |
2. |
Wr kwell də ni zärt |
3. |
T' tee
chiz t' lr nə gen |
|
|
Laughter has no
foreign accent. |
|
Work well done
is art. |
|
To teach is to
learn again. |
47
The
Down Side of Intonation
Reduced
sounds are all those extra sounds created by an absence of lip, tongue, jaw,
and throat movement. They are a principal function of intonation and are truly
indicative of the American sound.
American
intonation is made up of peaks and valleys-tops of staircases and bottoms of
staircases. To have strong peaks, you will have to
develop deep valleys. These deep valleys should be filled
with all kinds of reduced vowels, one in particular-the completely neutral schwa.
Ignore spelling. Since you probably first became acquainted with English
through the printed word, this is going to be quite a challenge. The position
of a syllable is more important than spelling as an indication of correct
pronunciation. For example, the words photograph and
photography each have two O's and an A. The first word is stressed
on the first syllable so photograph sounds like [fod'græf]. The second word is stressed on the
second syllable, photography, so the word comes out [f'tahgr'fee]. You
can see here that their spelling doesn't tell you how they sound. Word stress
or intonation will determine the pronunciation. Work on listening to words.
Concentrate on hearing the pure sounds, not in trying to make the word fit a
familiar spelling. Otherwise, you will be taking the long way around and giving
yourself both a lot of extra work and an accent!
Syllables
that are perched atop a peak or a staircase are strong sounds; that is, they
maintain their original pronunciation. On the other hand, syllables that fall
in the valleys or on a lower stairstep are weak sounds; thus they are reduced.
Some vowels are reduced completely to schwas, a very relaxed sound, while
others are only toned down. In the fol-lowing exercises, we will be dealing
with these "toned down" sounds.
In the
Introduction ("Read This First," page iv) I talked about overpronouncing.
This section will handle that overpronunciation. You're going to skim
over words; you're going to dash through certain sounds. Your peaks are going
to be quite strong, but your valleys, blurry-a very intuitive aspect of
intonation that this practice will help you develop.
Articles
(such as the, a) are
usually very reduced sounds. Before a consonant, the and a are
both schwa sounds, which are reduced. Before a vowel, however, you'll notice a
change-the schwa of the turns into a long [e]
plus a connecting (y)-Th '
book changes to thee(y)only
book; A hat becomes a nugly hat. The
article a becomes an. Think
of [ə●nornj] rather than an
orange; [ə●nopening],
[ə●neye], [ə●nimaginary animal].
|
Consonants |
Vowels |
||
|
the
man |
a
girl |
thee(y)apple |
an
orange [ə●nornj] |
|
the
best |
a
banana |
thee(y)egg |
an
opening [ə●nop'ning] |
|
the
last one |
a
computer |
thee(y)easy
way |
an
interview [ə●ninerview] |
48
When
you used the rubber band with [Däg zeet bounz] and when you
built your own sentence, you saw that intonation reduces the unstressed words.
Intonation is the peak and reduced sounds are the valleys. In the beginning,
you should make extra-high peaks and long, deep valleys. When you are not sure,
reduce. In the following exercise, work with this idea. Small words such as
articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, relative pronouns, and
auxiliary verbs are lightly skimmed over and almost not pronounced.
You
have seen how intonation changes the meaning in words and sentences. Inside a
one-syllable word, it distinguishes between a final voiced or unvoiced
consonant be-ed and bet. Inside
a longer word, éunuch vs unίque, the pronunciation
and meaning change in terms of vocabulary. In a sentence (He seems nice; He
seems nice.), the meaning changes in terms of intent.
In a
sentence, intonation can also make a clear vowel sound disappear. When a vowel
is stressed, it has a certain sound; when it is not
stressed, it usually sounds like uh, pro-nounced
[ə]. Small words like to, at, or
as are usually not stressed, so the vowel disappears.
Read
aloud from the right-hand column. The intonation is marked for you.
|
To |
Looks
Like... |
Sounds
Like... |
|
|
today |
[t'day] |
|
The
preposition to usually
reduces so much
that it's like dropping
the vowel. |
tonight |
[t'night] |
|
tomorrow |
[t'märou] |
|
|
to
work |
[t'wrk] |
|
|
to
school |
[t' school] |
|
|
Use a
t' or tə sound
to replace to. |
to
the store |
[t'
th' store] |
|
We
have to go now. |
[we hæftə
go næo] |
|
|
He
went to work |
[he
wentə work] |
|
|
|
They
hope to find it. |
[they
houptə fine dit] |
|
|
I
can't wait to find out. |
[äi cæn(t)wai(t)tə fine dæot] |
|
|
We
don't know what to do. |
[we dont
know w'(t)t' do] |
|
|
Don't
jump to conclusions. |
[dont
j'm t' c'ncloozh'nz] |
|
|
To be
or not to be... |
[t'bee(y)r nät t' bee] |
|
|
He
didn't get to go. |
[he
din ge(t)tə
gou] |
|
If
that same to follows
a vowel sound,
it will become
d' or də. |
He
told me to help. |
[he
told meedə help] |
|
She
told you to get it. |
[she tol joodə geddit] |
|
|
I go
to work |
[ai goudə wrk] |
|
|
at a
quarter to two |
[ædə
kworder də two] |
|
|
|
The
only way to get it is... |
[thee(y)only
waydə geddidiz] |
|
|
You've
got to pay to get it. |
[yoov
gäddə paydə geddit] |
|
|
We
plan to do it. |
[we
plæn də do it] |
|
|
Let's
go to lunch. |
[lets
goudə lunch] |
|
|
The
score was 4 ~ 6 |
[th'
score w'z for də six] |
49
|
To |
Looks Like... |
Sounds Like... |
|||
|
|
It's
the only way to do it. |
[its
thee(y)ounly weidə do(w)'t] |
|||
|
|
So to
speak... |
[soda
speak] |
|||
|
|
I
don't know how to say it. |
[äi
don(t)know hæwdə say(y)it] |
|||
|
|
Go to
page 8. |
[goudə pay jate] |
|||
|
|
Show
me how to get it. |
[show
me hæodə geddit] |
|||
|
|
You
need to know when to do it. |
[you
nee(d)də nou
wendə do(w)it] |
|||
|
|
Who's to blame? |
[hooz də blame] |
|||
|
At |
We're at home. |
[wirət home] |
|
||
|
At is
just the opposite of to. It's a small
grunt followed by a reduced [t]. |
I'll see you at
lunch. |
[äiyəl
see you(w)ət lunch] |
|
||
|
Dinner's at
five. |
[d'nnerzə(t) five] |
|
|||
|
Leave them at
the door. |
[leevəmə(t)thə door] |
|
|||
|
The meeting's at
one. |
[th' meeding z't
w'n] |
|
|||
|
He's at the post
office. |
[heezə(t)the poussdäffəs] |
|
|||
|
|
They're at the
bank. |
[thεrə(t)th' bænk] |
|
||
|
|
I'm at school. |
[äimə(t)school] |
|
||
|
If at is
followed by a vowel sound, it will become 'd or əd. |
I'll see you at
eleven. |
[äiyəl see you(w)ədə
lεv'n] |
|
||
|
He's at a
meeting. |
[heez' də meeding] |
|
|||
|
She laughed at
his idea. |
[she læf dədi
zy deeyə] |
|
|||
|
One at a time |
[wənədə time] |
|
|||
|
|
We got it at an
auction. |
[we gädidədə
näksh'n] |
|
||
|
|
The show started
at eight. |
[th' show
stardədə date] |
|
||
|
|
The dog jumped
out at us. |
[th' däg jump dæo dədəs] |
|
||
|
|
I was at a
friend's house. |
[äi w'z'd' frenz hæos] |
|
||
|
It |
Can you do it? |
[k'niu do(w)'t] |
|
||
|
It and at sound
the same in context - ['t] |
Give it to me. |
[g'v'(t)t' me] |
|
||
|
Buy it tomorrow. |
[bäi(y)ə(t)t' märrow] |
|
|||
|
It can wait. |
['t c' n wait] |
|
|||
|
|
Read it twice. |
[ree d'(t)twice] |
|
||
|
|
Forget about it! |
[frgedd'
bæodit] |
|
||
|
...and they both
turn to 'd or əd between vowels or voiced consonants. |
Give it a try. |
[gividæ try] |
|
||
|
Let it alone. |
[ledidə lone] |
|
|||
|
Take it away. |
[tay kida way] |
|
|||
|
I got it in
London. |
[äi gädidin l'nd'n] |
|
|||
|
What is it
about? |
[w'd'z'd'bæot] |
|
|||
|
|
Let's try it
again. |
[lets try'd' gen] |
|
||
|
|
Look! There it
is! |
[lük there'd'z] |
|
||
50
|
For |
Looks Like... |
Sounds Like... |
|
|
This is for you. |
[th's'z fr you] |
|
|
It's for my
friend. |
[ts fr my friend] |
|
|
A table for
four, please. |
[ə table fr four, pleeze] |
|
|
We planned it
for later. |
[we plan dit fr layd'r] |
|
|
For example, for
instance |
[fregg zæmple] [frin st'nss] |
|
|
What is this
for? |
[w'd'z this
for] (for is not reduced at |
|
|
What did you do
it for? |
[w'j' do(w)it for] the end of a sentence) |
|
|
Who did you get
it for? |
[hoojya geddit
for] |
|
From |
It's from the IRS. |
[ts frm thee(y)äi(y)ä ress] |
|
|
I'm from
Arkansas. |
[äim
fr'm ärk' nsä] |
|
|
There's a call
from Bob. |
[therzə cäll fr'm
Bäb] |
|
|
This letter's
from Alaska! |
[this ledderz
frəmə læskə] |
|
|
Who's it from? |
[hoozit frəm] |
|
|
Where are you
from? |
[wher'r you frəm] |
|
In |
It's in the bag. |
[tsin thə bæg] |
|
|
What's in it? |
[w'ts'n't] |
|
|
I'll be back in
a minute. |
[äiyəl be bæk'nə m'n't] |
|
|
This movie?
Who's in it? |
[this movie
... hooz'n't] |
|
|
Come in. |
[c 'min] |
|
|
He's in America. |
[heez'nə nə
mεrəkə] |
|
An |
He's an
American. |
[heez'nə mεrəkən] |
|
|
I got an A in
English. |
[äi
gäddə nay ih ninglish] |
|
|
He got an F in
Algebra. |
[hee gäddə neffinæl jəbrə] |
|
|
He had an
accident. |
[he hædə
næksəd'nt] |
|
|
We want an
orange. |
[we want'n nornj] |
|
|
He didn't have
an excuse. |
[he didnt hævə
neks kyooss] |
|
|
I'll be there in
an instant. |
[äi(y)'l be
there inə ninstnt] |
|
|
It's an easy
mistake to make. |
[itsə neezee m' stake t' make] |
|
And |
ham and eggs |
[hæmə
neggz] |
|
|
bread and butter |
[bredn buddr] |
|
|
Coffee? With
cream and sugar? |
[käffee ... with
creem'n sh'g'r] |
|
|
No, lemon and
sugar. |
[nou ... lem'n'n
sh'g'r] |
|
|
... And some more
cookies? |
['n smore cükeez] |
|
|
They kept going
back and forth. |
[they kep going
bækn forth] |
|
|
We watched it
again and again. |
[we wäch didə gen'n' gen] |
|
|
He did it over
and over. |
[he di di doverə nover] |
|
|
We learned by
trial and error. |
[we lrnd by tryətənerər] |
51
|
Or |
Looks
Like... |
Sounds
Like... |
|
|
Soup
or salad? |
[super
salad] |
|
|
now
or later |
[næ(w)r laydr] |
|
|
more
or less |
[mor'r
less] |
|
|
left
or right |
[lefter
right] |
|
|
For
here or to go? |
[f'r hir'r
d'go] |
|
|
Are
you going up or down? |
[are
you going úpper dόwn] |
|
This
is an either / or question (Up? Down?) Notice how the
intonation is different from |
||
|
|
"Cream
and sugar?", which is a yes / no |
question. |
|
Are |
What
are you doing? |
[w'dr
you doing] |
|
|
Where
are you going? |
[wer'r
you going] |
|
|
What're
you planning on doing? |
[w'dr
yü planning än doing] |
|
|
How
are you? |
[hæwr you] |
|
|
Those
are no good. |
[thozer
no good] |
|
|
How
are you doing? |
[hæwer you doing] |
|
|
The
kids are still asleep. |
[the kidzer
stillə sleep] |
|
Your |
How's
your family? |
[hæozhier fæmlee] |
|
|
Where're
your keys? |
[wher'r
y'r keez] |
|
|
You're
American, aren't you? |
[yrə mer'k'n, arn choo] |
|
|
Tell
me when you're ready. |
[tell
me wen yr reddy] |
|
|
Is
this your car? |
[izzis
y'r cär] |
|
|
You're
late again, Bob. |
[yer
lay də gen, Bäb] |
|
|
Which
one is yours? |
[which
w'n'z y'rz] |
|
One |
Which
one is better? |
[which
w'n'z bedder] |
|
|
One
of them is broken. |
[w'n'v'm'z
brok'n] |
|
|
I'll
use the other one. |
[æl yuz thee(y)əther w'n] |
|
|
I
like the red one, Edwin. |
[äi
like the redw'n, edw'n] |
|
|
That's
the last one. |
[thæts th' lass dw'n] |
|
|
The
next one'll be better. |
[the necks
dw'n'll be bedd'r] |
|
|
Here's
one for you. |
[hir
zw'n f'r you] |
|
|
Let
them go one by one. |
[led'm
gou w'n by w'n] |
|
The |
It's
the best. |
[ts
th' best] |
|
|
What's
the matter? |
[w'ts
th' madder] |
|
|
What's
the problem? |
[w'tsə präbl'm] |
|
|
I
have to go to the bathroom. |
[äi
hæf t' go d' th' bæthroom] |
|
|
Who's
the boss around here? |
[hoozə bäss səræond hir] |
|
|
Give
it to the dog. |
[g'v'(t)tə th' däg] |
|
|
Put
it in the drawer. |
[püdidin
th' dror] |
52
|
A |
Looks Like... |
Sounds Like... |
|
|
It's a present. |
[tsə preznt] |
|
|
You need a
break. |
[you needə break] |
|
|
Give him a
chance. |
[g'v'mə chæns] |
|
|
Let's get a new
pair of shoes. |
[lets geddə new perə
shooz] |
|
|
Can I have a
Coke, please? |
[c'nai hævə
kouk, pleez] |
|
|
Is that a
computer? |
[izzædə
k'mpyoodr] |
|
|
Where's a public
telephone? |
[wherzə pəblic
teləfoun] |
|
Of |
It's the top of
the line. |
[tsə täp'v th' line] |
|
|
It's a state of
the art printer. |
[tsə stay də thee(y)ärt prinner] |
|
|
As a matter of
fact, ... |
[z'mædderə fækt] |
|
|
Get out of here. |
[geddæow
də hir] |
|
|
Practice all of
the time. |
[prækt'säll'v th'
time] |
|
|
Today's the
first of May. |
[t'dayz
th' frss d'v May] |
|
|
What's the name
of that movie? |
[w'ts th' nay
m'v thæt movie] |
|
|
That's the best
of all! |
[thæts
th' bess d'väll] |
|
|
some of them |
[səməvəm] |
|
|
all of them |
[älləvəm] |
|
|
most of them |
[mosdəvəm] |
|
|
none of them |
[nənəvəm] |
|
|
any of them |
[ennyəvəm] |
|
|
the rest of them |
[th' resdəvəm] |
|
Can |
Can you speak
English? |
[k'new spee kinglish] |
|
|
I can only do it
on Wednesday. |
[äi k'nonly
du(w)idän wenzday] |
|
|
A can opener can
open cans. |
[ə
kænopener k'nopen kænz] |
|
|
Can I help you? |
[k'näi hel piu] |
|
|
Can you do it? |
[k'niu do(w)'t] |
|
|
We can try it
later. |
[we k'n try
it layder] |
|
|
I hope you can
sell it. |
[äi hou piu
k'n sell't] |
|
|
No one can fix
it. |
[nou w'n k'n fick
sit] |
|
|
Let me know if
you can find it. |
[lemme no(w)'few
k'n fine dit] |
|
Had |
Jack had had
enough. |
[jæk'd
hæd' n'f] |
|
|
Bill had
forgotten again. |
[bil'd frga(t)n nə gen] |
|
|
What had he done
to deserve it? |
[w'd'dee d'nd'd'
zr vit] |
|
|
We'd already
seen it. |
[weedäl reddy
see nit] |
|
|
He'd never been
there. |
[heed never bin
there] |
|
|
Had you ever had
one? |
[h'jou(w)ever hædw'n] |
|
|
Where had he
hidden it? |
[wer dee hidn●nit] |
|
|
Bob said he'd
looked into it. |
[bäb sedeed
lükdin tu(w)it] |
53
|
Would |
Looks Like... |
Sounds Like... |
|
|
He would have
helped, if ... |
[he wuda help
dif ...] |
|
|
Would he like
one? |
[woody lye
kw'n] |
|
|
Do you think
he'd do it? |
[dyiu thing keed
du(w)'t] |
|
|
Why would I tell
her? |
[why wüdäi
teller] |
|
|
We'd see it
again, if... |
[weed see(y)idəgen, if...] |
|
|
He'd never be
there on time. |
[heed never be
therän time] |
|
|
Would you ever
have one? |
[w'jou(w)ever
hævw'n] |
|
Was |
He was only
trying to help. |
[he w'zounly
trying də help] |
|
|
Mark was
American. |
[mär kw'z'mer'k'n] |
|
|
Where was it? |
[wer w'z't] |
|
|
How was it? |
[hæow'z't] |
|
|
That was great! |
[thæt w'z great] |
|
|
Who was with
you? |
[hoow'z with
you] |
|
|
She was very
clear. |
[she w'z very clear] |
|
|
When was the war
of 1812? |
[wen w'z th' wor'v
ei(t)teen twelv] |
|
What |
What time is it? |
[w't tye
m'z't] |
|
|
What's up? |
[w'ts'p] |
|
|
What's on your
agenda? |
[w'tsänyrə
jendə] |
|
|
What do you
mean? |
[w'd'y' mean] |
|
|
What did you
mean? |
[w'j'mean] |
|
|
What did you do
about it? |
[w'j' du(w)əbæodit] |
|
|
What took so
long? |
[w't tük so
läng] |
|
|
What do you
think of this? |
[w'ddyə thing k'v this] |
|
|
What did you do
then? |
[w'jiu do then] |
|
|
I don't know
what he wants. |
[I dont know wədee wänts] |
|
Some |
Some are better
than others. |
[s'mr
beddr thənətherz] |
|
|
There are some
leftovers. |
[ther'r s'm lef
doverz] |
|
|
Let's buy some
ice cream. |
[let spy s'
mice creem] |
|
|
Could we get
some other ones? |
[kwee get s 'mother
w'nz] |
|
|
Take some of
mine. |
[take səməv
mine] |
|
|
Would you like
some more? |
[w' joo like s'more] |
|
|
(or very
casually) |
[jlike smore] |
|
|
Do you have some
ice? |
[dyü hæv səmice] |
|
|
Do you have some
mice? |
[dyü
hæv səmice] |
"You
can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the
people all of the time." [yuk'n fool səmə thə
peepəl səmə thə time, b'choo kænt fool
älləthə peepəl älləthə
time]
54
That is a
special case because it serves three different grammatical functions. The rela-tive
pronoun and the conjunction are reducible. The demonstrative
pronoun cannot be reduced to a schwa sound. It must stay [æ].
|
Relative Pronoun |
The car that she
ordered is red. |
[the car
th't she order diz red] |
|
Conjunction |
He said that he
liked it. |
[he sed the dee läikdit.
] |
|
Demonstrative |
Why did you do
that? |
[why dijoo do
thæt?] |
|
Combination |
I know that
he'll read that book that I told you about. |
[äi know
the dill read thæt bük the dai toljoo(w)'
bæot] |
Pause
the CD and cross out any sound that is not clearly pronounced, including to,
for, and, that, than, the,
a, the soft [i], and unstressed syllables
that do not have strong vowel sounds.
Hello, my
name is_________. I'm taking American
Accent Training. There's a lot to
learn,
but I hope
to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the
American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only
way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up
and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to.
I've been paying atten-tion to pitch, too. It's like walking
down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Ameri-cans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway,
I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen
well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Repeat
the paragraph after me. Although you're getting rid of the vowel sounds, you
want to maintain a strong intonation and let the sounds flow together. For the
first reading of this paragraph, it is helpful to keep your teeth clenched
together to reduce excess jaw and lip movement. Let's begin.
Hello, my
name'z_____________. I'm taking 'mer'k'n Acc'nt Train'ng. Therez' lotť
learn,
b't I hope ť make 'ťz 'njoy'bl'z poss'bl. I sh'd p'ck 'p
on the 'mer'k'n 'nťnash'n pattern pretty eas'ly, although
the only way ť get 't 'z ť pracťs all 'v
th' time. I use the 'p'n down, or peaks 'n valleys,
'nťnash'n more th'n I used to. Ive b'n pay'ng 'ttensh'n ť p'ch,
too. 'Ts like walk'ng down' staircase. Ive b'n talk'ng
to' lot 'v'mer'k'ns lately, 'n they tell me th't Im easier to
'nderstand. Anyway, I k'd go on 'n on, b't the 'mporťnt
th'ng 'z ť l's'n wel'n sound g'd. W'll, wh' d'y' th'nk?
Do I?
55
By now
you've begun developing a strong intonation, with clear peaks and reduced val-leys,
so you're ready for the next step. You may find yourself reading the paragraph
in Exercise 1-15 like this: HellomynameisSo-and-SoI'mtakingAmericanAccentTraining.
There 'salottolearnbutIhopetomakeitasenjoyableaspossible. If so,
your audience won't com-pletely comprehend or enjoy your presentation.
In
addition to intonation, there is another aspect of speech that indicates
meaning. This can be called phrasing or tone. Have
you ever caught just a snippet of a conversation in your own language, and
somehow known how to piece together what came before or after the part you
heard? This has to do with phrasing.
In a
sentence, phrasing tells the listener where the speaker is at the moment, where
the speaker is going, and if the speaker is finished or not. Notice that the
intonation stays on the nouns.
Repeat after me.
|
Statement |
Dogs eat bones. |
|
Clauses |
Dogs eat bones,
but cats eat fish, or As we all know,
dogs eat bones. |
|
Listing |
Dogs eat bones,
kibbles, and meat. |
|
Question |
Do dogs
eat bones? |
|
Repeated
Question |
Do dogs
eat bones?!! |
|
Tag
Question |
Dogs eat
bones, don't they? |
|
Tag
Statement |
Dogs eat bones,
DON'T they! |
|
Indirect
Speech |
He
asked if dogs ate bones. |
|
Direct
Speech |
"Do
dogs eat bones?" he asked. |
For
clarity, break your sentences with pauses between natural word groups of
related thoughts or ideas. Of course, you will have to break at every comma and
every period, but besides those breaks, add other little pauses to let your listeners
catch up with you or think over the last burst of information and to allow you
time to take a breath. Let's work on this tech-nique. In doing the following
exercise, you should think of using breath groups and idea
groups.
56
Break
the paragraph into natural word groups. Mark every place where you think a
pause is needed with a slash.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily,
although the only way to get it is to practice all of the
time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys intonation
more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too.
It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a
lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to
understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important
thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
Note In the
beginning, your word groups should be very short. It'll be a sign of your
growing sophistication when they get longer.
+ ššPause the CD to do your marking.
When I
read the paragraph this time, I will exaggerate the pauses. Although we're
working on word groups here, remember, I don't want you to lose your
intonation. Repeat each sentence group after me.
Hello, my
name is ___________. | I'm taking American Accent Training. There's
a
lot to
learn,| but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. | I
should pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily,
although | the only way to get it is to practice all of
the time.| I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys intonatîon
| more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, | too.
Iťs like walking down a staircase. | I've been talking to
a lot of Americans | lately, and they tell me | that I'm easier to
understand. | Anyway, I could go on
and on,
| but the important thing is to listen well | and sound good.
Well, | what do you think? Do I?
+ Next,
back up the CD and practice the word groups three times using strong
intonation. Then, pause the CD and practice three more times on your own. When
reading, your pauses should be neither long nor dramatic - just enough to give
your listener time to digest what you're saying.
57
Pause
the CD and complete each sentence with a tag ending. Use the same verb, but
with the opposite polarity-positive becomes
negative, and negative becomes positive. Then, repeat after me. Check Answer
Key, beginning on page 193.
With a query,
the intonation rises. With confirmation, the
intonation drops.
|
Did
he? |
Didee? |
|
Does
he? |
Duzzy? |
|
Was
he? |
Wuzzy? |
|
Has
he? |
Hazzy? |
|
Is
he? |
Izzy? |
|
Will
he? |
Willy? |
|
Would
he? |
Woody? |
|
Can
he? |
Canny? |
|
Wouldn't
you? |
Wooden
chew? |
|
Shouldn't
I? |
Shüdn näi? |
|
Won't
he? |
Woe
knee? |
|
Didn't
he? |
Didn
knee? |
|
Hasn't
he? |
Has a
knee? |
|
Wouldn't
he? |
Wooden
knee? |
|
Isn't
he? |
Is a
knee? |
|
Isn't
it? |
Is a
nit? |
|
Doesn't
it? |
Duzza
nit? |
|
Aren't
I? |
Are näi? |
|
Won't
you? |
Wone
chew? |
|
Don't
you? |
Done
chew? |
|
Can't
you? |
Can
chew? |
|
Could
you? |
Cüjoo? |
|
Would
you? |
Wüjoo? |
|
1. |
The
new clerk is very slow, isn't he! |
|
|
2. |
But
he can improve, |
? |
|
3. |
She
doesn't type very well, |
! |
|
4. |
They
lost their way, |
? |
|
5. |
You
don't think so, |
! |
|
6. |
I
don't think it's easy, |
? |
|
7. |
I'm
your friend, |
? |
|
8. |
You
won't be coming, |
! |
|
9. |
He
keeps the books, |
! |
|
10. |
We
have to close the office, |
? |
|
11. |
We
have closed the office, |
? |
|
12. |
We
had to close the office, |
! |
|
13. |
We
had the office closed, |
? |
|
14. |
We
had already closed the office, |
? |
|
15. |
We'd
better close the office, |
! |
|
16. |
We'd
rather close the office, |
? |
|
17. |
The
office has closed, |
? |
|
18. |
You
couldn't tell, |
! |
|
19. |
You'll
be working late tonight, |
? |
|
20. |
He
should have been here by now, |
! |
|
21. |
He
should be promoted, |
! |
|
22. |
I
didn't send the fax, |
? |
|
23. |
I
won't get a raise this year, |
? |
|
24. |
You
use the computer. |
? |
|
25. |
You're
used to the computer. |
! |
|
26. |
You
used to use the computer, |
? |
|
27. |
You
never used to work Saturdays, |
? |
|
28. |
That's
better. |
! |
The
basic techniques introduced in this chapter are pitch, stress, the staircase
and musical notes, reduced sounds, and word
groups and phrasing. In chapters 2 through 13, we refine and
expand this knowledge to cover every sound of the American accent.
58
As
mentioned in the previous chapter, in American English, words are not
pronounced one by one. Usually, the end of one word attaches to the beginning
of the next word. This is also true for initials, numbers, and spelling. Part
of the glue that connects sentences is an under-lying hum or drone that only
breaks when you come to a period, and sometimes not even then. You have this
underlying hum in your own language and it helps a great deal toward making you
sound like a native speaker.
Once
you have a strong intonation, you need to connect all those stairsteps together
so that each sentence sounds like one long word. This chapter is going to
introduce you to the idea of liaisons, the connections between words, which
allow us to speak in sound groups rather than in individual words. Just as we
went over where to put an intonation, here you're going to learn how to connect
words. Once you understand and learn to use this technique, you can make the
important leap from this practice book to other materials and your own
conversation.
To make
it easier for you to read, liaisons are written like this: They tell me the
dai measier. (You've already encountered some liaisons in Exercises 1-38,
1-49, 1-53.) It could also be written theytellmethedaimeasier, but it
would be too hard to read.
Read
the following sentences. The last two sentences should be pronounced exactly
the same, no matter how they are written. It is the sound that is
important, not the spelling.
The
dime.
The
dime easier.
They
tell me the dime easier.
They
tell me the dime easier to understand.
They
tell me that I'm easier to understand.
Words
are connected in four main situations:
1šš Consonant
/ Vowel
2šš Consonant
/ Consonant
3šš Vowel
/ Vowel
4šš T,
D, S, or Z + Y
59
Words
are connected when a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word starts
with a vowel sound, including the semivowels W, Y, and R.
|
My name is... |
[my nay●miz] |
|
because I've |
[b'k'zäiv] |
|
pick up on the
American intonation |
[pi●kə
pän the(y)əmer'kə ninətənashən] |
In the
preceding example, the word name ends in a
consonant sound [m] (the e is silent and
doesn't count), and is starts with a
vowel sound [i], so naymiz just naturally
flows together. In because I've, the [z]
sound at the end of because and the [äi] sound
of I blend together smoothly. When you say the last line
[pi●kəpän the(y)əmer'kəninətənashən],
you can feel each sound pushing into the next.
You
also use liaisons in spelling and numbers:
|
LA
(Los Angeles) |
[eh●lay] |
|
902-5050 |
[nai●no●too fai●vo●fai●vo] |
In
pronunciation, a consonant touches at some point in the mouth. Try saying [p]
with your mouth open-you can't do it because your lips must come together to
make the [p] sound. A vowel, on the other hand, doesn't touch anywhere. You can
easily say [e] without any part of the mouth, tongue, or lips coming into
contact with any other part. This is why we are calling W, Y, and R semivowels,
or glides.
Pause
the CD and reconnect the following words. On personal pronouns, it is common to
drop the H. See Answer Key, beginning on page 193. Repeat.
|
hold
on |
[hol
don] |
|
turn
over |
[tur
nover] |
|
tell
her I miss her |
[tellerl
misser] |
1.šš read only _______________________
2.šš fall offšššš _______________________
60
|
3. |
follow
up on |
______________________ |
|
4. |
come
in |
______________________ |
|
5. |
call
him |
______________________ |
|
6. |
sell
it |
______________________ |
|
7. |
take
out |
______________________ |
|
8. |
fade
away |
______________________ |
|
9. |
6-0 |
______________________ |
|
10. |
MA |
______________________ |
Words
are connected when a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word starts
with a consonant that is in a similar position. What is a similar position?
Let's find out.
Say
the sound of each group of letters out loud (the sound of the letter, not the
name: [b] is [buh] not [bee]). There are three general locations-the
lips, behind the teeth, or in the throat. If a word ends with a sound created
in the throat and the next word starts with a sound from that same general
location, these words are going to be linked together. The same with the other
two locations. Repeat after me.
|
Behind
the teeth |
|
||||
|
unvoiced |
voiced |
|
|||
|
t |
d |
|
|||
|
ch |
j |
|
|||
|
- |
1 |
|
|||
|
- |
n |
|
|||
|
s |
z |
|
|||
|
sh |
zh |
|
|||
|
- |
y |
|
|||
|
At
the lips |
|
||||
|
unvoiced |
voiced |
|
|||
|
p |
b |
|
|||
|
f |
v |
|
|||
|
- |
m |
|
|||
|
- |
w |
|
|||
|
In
the throat |
|||||
|
unvoiced |
voiced |
||||
|
k |
g |
||||
|
h |
- |
||||
|
- |
ng |
||||
|
- |
r |
||||
61
I just
didn't get the chance.šššššš
[Ižjusdidn'tžge(t)thežchance.] I've
been late twice.šššš ššššššššššš[I'vbinla(t)twice.]
In the
preceding examples you can see that because the ending [st] of
just and the beginning [d] of didn't are so
near each other in the mouth, it's not worth the effort to start the sound all
over again, so they just flow into each other. You don't say I justә
didn 'tә getә the chance, but do say Ijusdidn't
ge(t)the chance. In the same way, it's too much work to say
I'vә beenә lateә twice, so you say it
almost as if it were a single word, I'vbinla(t)twice.
The
sound of TH is a special case. It is a floater between areas. The sound is some-times
created by the tongue popping out from between the teeth and other times on the
back of the top teeth, combining with various letters to form a new composite
sound. For in-stance, [s] moves forward and the [th] moves back to meet at the
mid-point between the two.
Note Each
of the categories in the drawing contains two labels-voiced
and unvoiced. What does that mean ? Put your thumb and index fingers on your
throat and say [z]; you should feel a vibration from your throat in your
fingers. If you whisper that same sound, you end up with [s] and you feel that
your fingers don't vibrate. So, [z] is a voiced sound, [s], unvoiced. The
consonants in the two left columns are paired like that.
|
Voiced |
Unvoiced |
Voiced |
Unvoiced |
|
b |
p |
|
h |
|
d |
t |
i |
|
|
v |
f |
r |
|
|
g |
k |
m |
|
|
i |
ch |
n |
|
|
z |
s |
ng |
|
|
th |
th |
y |
|
|
zh |
sh |
w |
|
62
When
the TH combination connects with certain sounds, the two sounds blend together to
form a composite sound. In the following examples, see how the TH moves back
and the L moves forward, to meet in a new middle position. Repeat after me.
|
th |
+ |
1 |
with
lemon |
th |
+ |
ch |
both
charges |
|
th |
+ |
n |
with
nachos |
th |
+ |
j |
with
juice |
|
th |
+ |
t |
both
times |
|
|
|
|
|
th |
+ |
d |
with
delivery |
n |
+ |
th |
in
the |
|
th |
+ |
s |
both
sizes |
z |
+ |
th |
was
that |
|
th |
+ |
z |
with
zeal |
d |
+ |
th |
hid
those |
Pause
the CD and reconnect the following words as shown in the models. Check Answer
Key, beginning on page 193. Repeat.
hard
timesšššššššš [hardtimes]
with
luckšššššššššš [withluck]
1.šš business deal _________________________
2.šš credit checkšš _________________________
3.šš the top filešššš _________________________
4.šš sell nine new cars_________________________
5.šš sit down _________________________
6.šš some plans need
luck_________________________
7.šš check cashing _________________________
8.šš let them make conditions
_________________________
9.šš had the _________________________
10.šš both days _________________________
When a
word ending in a vowel sound is next to one beginning with
a vowel sound, they are connected with a glide between the two
vowels. A glide is either a slight [y] sound or a slight [w] sound. How do you
know which one to use? This will take care of itself-the position your lips are
in will dictate either [y] or [w].
Go
away.šššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš Go(w)away.
I also
need the other one.ššššššššš I(y)also
need thee(y)other one.
For
example, if a word ends in [o] your lips are going to be in the forward
position, so a [w] quite naturally leads into the next vowel sound-[Go(w)away].
You don't want to say
63
Go...away
and break the undercurrent of your voice. Run it all together: [Go(w)away].
After a
long [ē] sound, your lips will be pulled
back far enough to create a [y] glide or liaison: [I(y)also
need the(y)other one]. Don't force this sound too much, though. It's not a strong
pushing sound. [I(y) also need the(y)other one] would sound really weird.
Pause
the CD and reconnect the following words as shown in the models. Add a (y)
glide after an [e] sound, and a (w) glide after an [u] sound. Don't forget that
the sound of the American O is really [ou]. Check Answer Key, beginning on page
193.
she
isn't [she(y)isn't] who isššš [who(w)iz]
1.šš go anywherešššššššššš
_______________
2.šš so honestššššššššššššššš _______________
3.šš through ourššššššššššš
_______________
4.šš you areššššššššššššššššš _______________
5.šš he isššššššššššššššššššššš _______________
6.šš do I?ššššššššššššššššššššš _______________
7.šš I askedšššššššššššššššššš _______________
8.šš to openššššššššššššššššš _______________
9.šš she alwaysšššššš ššššššš_______________
10.šš too oftenššššššššššššššš _______________
When
the letter or sound of T, D, S, or Z is followed by a word that starts with Y,
or its sound, both sounds are connected. These letters and sounds connect not
only with Y, but they do so as well with the initial unwritten [y].
Repeat
the following.
T + Y = CH
|
|
|
What's
your name? |
[wәcher
name] |
|
Can't
you do it? |
[kænt
chew do(w)it] |
|
Actually |
[ækžchully] |
|
Don't
you like it? |
[dont chew lye
kit] |
|
Wouldn't
you? |
[wooden
chew] |
|
Haven't
you? No, not yet. |
[hæven
chew? nou, nä chet] |
|
I'll
let you know. |
[I'll
letcha know] |
|
Can I
get you a drink? |
[k'näi
getchewә drink] |
64
|
We
thought you weren't coming. |
[we
thä chew wrnt kәming] |
|
I'll
bet you ten bucks he forgot. |
[æl betcha ten
buxee frgät] |
|
Is that
your final answer? |
[is thæchr
fin'læn sr] |
|
natural |
[næchrәl] |
|
perpetual |
[perpechә(w)әl] |
|
virtual |
[vrchә(w)әl] |
D
+ Y = J
|
|
|
Did
you see it? |
[didjә
see(y)it] |
|
How
did you like it? |
[hæojә
lye kit] |
|
Could
you tell? |
[küjә
tell] |
|
Where
did you send your check? |
[wεrjә
senjer check] |
|
What
did your family think? |
[wәjer
fæmlee think] |
|
Did
you find your keys? |
[didjә
fine jer keez] |
|
We
followed your instructions. |
[we
fallow jerin strәctionz] |
|
Congratulations! |
[k'ngræj'lationz] |
|
education |
[edjәžcation] |
|
individual |
[indәvijә(w)әl] |
|
graduation |
[græjә(w)ation] |
|
gradual |
[græjә(w)әl] |
S + Y = SH
|
|
|
Yes, you
are. |
[yeshu
are] |
|
Insurance |
[inshurance] |
|
Bless you! |
[blesshue] |
|
Press
your hands together. |
[pressure
hanz d'gethr] |
|
Can
you dress yourself? |
[c 'new dreshier
self] |
|
You
can pass your exams this year. |
[yuk'n
pæsher egzæmz thisheer] |
|
I'll
try to guess your age. |
[æl
trydә geshierage] |
|
Let
him gas your car for you. |
[leddim
gæshier cär fr
you] |
Z + Y = ZH
|
|
|
How's
your family? |
[hæozhier
fæmlee] |
|
How
was your trip? |
[hæožwәzhier
trip] |
|
Who's
your friend? |
[hoozhier
frend] |
|
Where's
your mom? |
[wεrzh'r
mäm] |
|
When's
your birthday? |
[wεnzh'r
brthday] |
|
She
says you're OK. |
[she
sεzhierou kay] |
|
Who
does your hair? |
[hoo
dәzhier hεr] |
|
casual |
[kæžzhyә(w)әl] |
|
visual |
[vižzhyә(w)әl] |
65
|
usual |
[yuzhyә(w)әl] |
|
version |
[vrzh'n] |
|
vision |
[vizh'n] |
Reconnect
or rewrite the following words. Remember that there may be a [y] sound that is
not written. Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193. Repeat.
|
|
put
your |
[pücher] |
|
|
gradual |
[gradjya(w)l] |
|
1. |
did
you |
|
|
2. |
who's
your |
|
|
3. |
just
your |
|
|
4. |
gesture |
|
|
5. |
miss
you |
|
|
6. |
tissue |
|
|
1. |
got
your |
|
|
8. |
where's
your |
|
|
9. |
congratulations |
|
|
10. |
had
your |
|
This
word exchange really happened.
Now
that you have the idea of how to link words, let's do some liaison work.
66
In the
following paragraph connect as many of the words as possible. Mark your
liaisons as we have done in the first two sentences. Add the (y) and (w) glides
between vowels.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accent
Training. There's a lot to learn, but I hope to
make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on
the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily, although the(y)only way
to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the
up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I
used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking
down a staircase. I've been talking to(w)a lot
of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to
understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing
is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
V Practice
reading the paragraph three times, focusing on running your words together.
+šš Turn the CD back on and repeat after me as I
read. I'm going to exaggerate the linking of the words, drawing it out much longer
than would be natural.
Back
up the CD to the last paragraph just read and repeat again. This time, however,
read from the paragraph below. The intonation is marked for you in boldface.
Use your rubber band on every stressed word.
Hello, my
nay miz______________. I'm takingә merica næccent(t)raining.
There zә lättә learn, bә däi hope ť
ma ki desen joyablez passible. I shüd pi kәpän
the(y)әmerica nintәnash'n pæddern
pridy(y)ezily, although thee(y)only
waydә geddidiz ť prækti sällәv th' time. I(y)use
thee(y)up'n down, or peak s'n valley
zintәnashәn more thә näi used to. Ivbn
payingә tenshәn ť pitch, too. Itsläi kwälking
dow nә staircase. Ivbn talking to(w)ә
läddәvә merican zla(t)ely, 'n
they tell me the däimeezier to(w)understænd.
Anyway, I could go(w)ä
nә nän, bu(t)thee(y)important
thingiz ť lisәnwellәn soun(d) good.
Well, whәddyü think? Do(w)I?
67
T Use
these techniques on texts of your own and in conversation.
(1) Take
some written material and mark the intonation, then
the word groups, and finally the liaisons.
(2) Practice
saying it out loud.
(3) Record
yourself and listen back.
V In conversation,
think which word you want to make stand out, and change your pitch on that
word. Then, run the in-between words together in the valleys. Listen carefully
to how Americans do it and copy the sound.
In
order for you to recognize these sounds when used by native speakers, they are
presented here, but I don't recommend that you go out of your way to use them
yourself. If, at some point, they come quite naturally of their own accord in
casual conversation, you don't need to resist, but please don't force yourself
to talk this way. Repeat.
|
I have
got to go. |
I've
gotta go. |
|
I have
got a book. |
I've
gotta book. |
|
Do
you want to dance? |
Wanna
dance? |
|
Do
you want a banana? |
Wanna
banana? |
|
Let
me in. |
Lemme
in. |
|
Let
me go. |
Lemme
go. |
|
I'll
let you know. |
I'll
letcha know. |
|
Did
you do it? |
Dija do
it? |
|
Not yet. |
Nä
chet. |
|
I'll meet
you later. |
I'll
meechu layder. |
|
What
do you think? |
Whaddyu
think? |
|
What
did you do with it? |
Whajoo
do with it? |
|
How
did you like it? |
Howja
like it? |
|
When
did you get it? |
When
ju geddit? |
|
Why
did you take it? |
Whyju
tay kit? |
|
Why
don't you try it? |
Why don
chu try it? |
|
What
are you waiting for? |
Whaddya
waitin' for? |
|
What
are you doing? |
Whatcha
doin'? |
|
How
is it going? |
Howzit
going? |
|
Where's
the what-you-may-call-it? |
Where's
the whatchamacallit? |
|
Where's
what-is-his-name? |
Where's
whatsizname? |
|
How about
it? |
How 'bout
it? |
|
He
has got to hurry because he is late. |
He's
gotta hurry 'cuz he's late. |
|
I could've
been a contender. |
I coulda
bina contender. |
68
|
Could you speed
it up, please? |
Couldjoo spee di
dup, pleez? |
||
|
Would you mind
if I tried it? |
Would joo
mindifai try dit? |
||
|
Aren't you Bob Barker? |
Arnchoo Bab Barker? |
||
|
Can't you see it
my way for a change? |
Kænchoo
see it my way for a change? |
||
|
Don't you get
it? |
Doancha geddit? |
||
|
I should have told
you. |
I shoulda toljoo. |
||
|
Tell her (that)
I miss her. |
Teller I misser. |
||
|
Tell him (that)
I miss him. |
Tellim I missim. |
||
|
Did you eat? |
Jeet? |
|
|
|
No, did you? |
No, joo? |
|
|
|
Why don't you get
a job? |
Whyncha getta
job? |
|
|
|
I don't
know, it's too hard. |
I dunno,
stoo härd. |
|
|
|
Could we go? |
Kwee gou? |
|
|
|
Let's go! |
Sko! |
|
|
An
interesting thing about liaisons is that so much of it has to do with whether a
consonant is voiced or not. The key thing to remember is that the vocal cords
don't like switching around at the midpoint. If the first consonant is voiced,
the next one will be as well. If the first one is unvoiced, the second one will
sound unvoiced, no matter what you do. For example, say the word spoon.
Now, say the word sboon. Hear how they
sound the same? This is why I'd like you to always convert the preposition to to dә
when you're speaking English, no matter what comes before it. In the
beginning, to get you used to the concept, we made a distinction between tә
and dә, but now that your
schwa is in place, use a single d' sound everywhere,
except at the very beginning of a sentence.
|
After
a voiced sound: |
He
had to do it. |
[he hæ(d)d' du(w)'t] |
|
After
an unvoiced sound: |
He
got to do it. |
[he
gä(t)d' du(w)'t] |
|
At
the beginning of a sentence: |
To be
or not to be. |
[t' bee(y)r nä(t)d'bee] |
To have
your liaisons tested, call (800) 457-4255.
69
You
are going to make staircases again from me paragraph below-pretty
much as you did in Exercise 1-17 on page 16. This time, instead of putting a
whole word on each stairstep, put a single sound on each step. This is also
similar to the second pan of the Dogs Eat Bones Exercise 1-38 on page 36. Use
the liaison techniques you have just learned to con-nect the words; then
regroup them and place one sound unit on a step. As before, start a new
staircase every time you stress a word. Remember, new sentences don't have to
start new staircases. A staircase can continue from one sentence to another
until you come to a stressed word. Pause the CD.
Note The
liaison practice presented in this chapter was the last of the basic principles
you needed to know before tackling the finer points of pronunciation introduced
in the next.
70
After
laying our foundation with intonation and liaisons, here we finally begin to
refine your pronunciation! We are now going to work on the differences between
[æ], [ä], and [ә], as well as [ō], [ā], and [ē]. Let's
start out with the [æ] sound.
Although
not a common sound, [æ] is very distinctive to the ear and is typically
American. In the practice paragraph in Exercise 3-2 this sound occurs five
times. As its phonetic sym-bol indicates, [æ] is a combination of [ä]
+ [ε]. To pronounce it, drop your jaw down as if you were going to say [ä];
then from that position, try to say [ε]. The final sound is not two
separate vowels, but rather the end result of the combination. It is very close
to the sound that a goat makes: ma-a-a-a!
Y Try
it a few times now: [ä] f [æ]
If you
find yourself getting too nasal with [æ], pinch your nose as you say it.
If [kæt] turns into [kεæt], you need to pull the sound out of
your nose and down into your throat.
Note As you
look for the [œ] sound you might think that words like down or sound
have an [œ] in them. For this diphthong, try [œ] + oh, or [œo].
This way, down would be written [dœon]. Because it is a combined
sound, however, it's not included in the Cat? category. (See Pronunciation
Point 4 on page ix).
The [ä]
sound occurs a little more frequently; you will find ten such sounds in the
exercise. To pronounce [ä], relax your tongue and drop your jaw as far
down as it will go. As a matter of fact, put your hand under your chin and say [mä],
[pä], [tä], [sä]. Your hand should be pushed down by your jaw as
it opens. Remember, it's the sound that you make when the
71
doctor
wants to see your throat, so open it up and dräp your
jäw.
Last is
the schwa [ә], the most common sound in American
English. When you work on Exercise 3-2, depending on how fast you speak, how
smoothly you make liaisons, how strong your intonation is, and how much you
relax your sounds, you will find from 50 to 75 schwas. Spelling doesn't help
identify it, because it can appear as any one of the vowels, or a combination
of them. It is a neutral vowel sound, uh. It is
usually in an unstressed syllable, though it can be stressed as well. Whenever
you find a vowel that can be crossed out and its absence wouldn't change the
pronunciation of the word, you have probably found a schwa: photography
[ph'togr'phy] (the two apostrophes show the location of the neutral
vowel sounds).
Because
it is so common, however, the wrong pronunciation of this one little sound can
leave your speech strongly accented, even if you Americanized everything else.
Note Some
dictionaries use two different written characters, [ә] and
A schwa
is neutral, but it is not silent. By comparison, the silent E at the end of a
word is a signal for pronunciation, but it is not pronounced itself: code is
[kod]. The E tells you to say an [o]. If you leave the E off, you have cod, [käd].
The schwa, on the other hand is neutral, but it is an actual sound-uh. For
example, you could also write photography as phuhtahgruhfee.
Because
it's a neutral sound, the schwa doesn't have any distinctive characteristics,
yet it is the most common sound in the English language.
To make
the [ә] sound, put your hand on your diaphragm and push until a grunt es-capes.
Don't move your jaw, tongue, or lips; just allow the sound to flow past your
vocal cords. It should sound like uh.
Once
you master this sound, you will have an even easier time with pronouncing can and can't.
In a sentence, can't sounds like
[kæn(t)], but can becomes
[kәn], unless it is stressed, when it is [kæn], (as we saw in
Exercise 1-43 on p. 41). Repeat.
|
I can
do it. |
[I
kәn do it] |
|
I can't
do it. |
[I
kæn't do it] |
72
In the
vowel chart that follows, the four corners represent the four most extreme posi-tions
of the mouth. The center box represents the least extreme position-the neutral
schwa. For these four positions, only move your lips and jaw. Your tongue
should stay in the same place-with the tip resting behind the bottom teeth.
1.šš To pronounce beat, your
lips should be drawn back, but your teeth should be close together. Your mouth
should form the shape of a banana.
2.šš To pronounce boot, your
lips should be fully rounded, and your teeth should be close together. Your
mouth should form the shape of a Cheerio.
3.šš To pronounce bought, drop
your jaw straight down from the boot position. Your
mouth should form the shape of an egg.
4.šš To pronounce bat, keep
your jaw down, pull your lips back, and try to simultaneously say [ä] and
[ε]. Your mouth should form the shape of a box.
Note Word-by-word
pronunciation will be different than individual sounds within a sen-tence.
That, than, as, at, and, have, had, can, and so on, are [æ] sounds when
they stand alone, but they are weak words that reduce quickly in speech.
73
|
Stressed |
Unstressed |
|
||
|
that |
thæt |
th't |
thәt |
He
said th't it's OK. |
|
than |
thæn |
th'n |
thәn |
It's
bigger th'n before |
|
as |
æz |
'z |
әz |
'z
soon 'z he gets here... |
|
at |
æt |
't |
әt |
Look '
t the time! |
|
and |
ænd |
'n |
әn |
ham
'n eggs |
|
have |
hæv |
h'v |
hәv |
Where
h'v you been? |
|
had |
hæd |
h'd |
hәd |
He
h'd been at home. |
|
can |
cæn |
c'n |
cәn |
C'n
you do it? |
There
are five [æ], ten [ä], and
seventy-five [ә] sounds in the following paragraph. Under-score them in
pen or pencil. (The first one of each sound is marked for you.)
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking әmerәcәn æccent
Training. There's a
lät
to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible.
I should pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern
pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice
all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and
valleys intonation more than I used to. I've been paying
attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase.
I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and
they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I
could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well
and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
V Next, check
your answers with the Answer Key, beginning on page 193. Finally, take your
markers and give a color to each sound. For example, mark [æ] green, [ä] blue, and [ә] yellow.
Xšš Turn your CD off and read the paragraph
three times on your own.
Note It
sounds regional to end a sentence with [ustә]. In the middle of a
sentence, how-ever, it is more standard: [I ustә live there.]
74
Here
we will read down from 1 to 24, then we will read each row across. Give the [ā] sound a clear
double sound [ε + ee]. Also, the [o] is a
longer sound than you might be expecting. Add the full ooh sound after each
"o."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
æ |
ä |
ә |
ou |
a |
ε |
|
1. |
Ann |
on |
un~ |
own |
ain't |
end |
|
2. |
ban |
bond |
bun |
bone |
bane |
Ben |
|
3. |
can |
con |
come |
cone |
cane |
Ken |
|
4. |
cat |
caught/cot |
cut |
coat |
Kate |
ketch |
|
5. |
Dan |
Don/dawn |
done |
don't |
Dane |
den |
|
6. |
fan |
fawn |
fun |
phone |
feign |
fend |
|
7. |
gap |
gone |
gun |
goat |
gain |
again |
|
8. |
hat |
hot |
hut |
hotel |
hate |
het
up |
|
9. |
Jan |
John |
jump |
Joan |
Jane |
Jenny |
|
10. |
lamp |
lawn |
lump |
loan |
lane |
Len |
|
11. |
man |
monster |
Monday |
moan |
main |
men |
|
12. |
matter |
motto |
mutter |
motor |
made
her |
met
her |
|
13. |
Nan |
non~ |
none/nun |
known |
name |
nemesis |
|
14. |
gnat |
not/knot |
nut |
note |
Nate |
net |
|
15. |
pan |
pawn |
pun |
pony |
pain/pane |
pen |
|
16. |
ran |
Ron |
run |
roan |
rain/reign |
wren |
|
17. |
sand |
sawn |
sun |
sewn/sown |
sane |
send |
|
18. |
shall |
Sean |
shut |
show |
Shane |
Shen |
|
19. |
chance |
chalk |
chuck |
choke |
change |
check |
|
20. |
tack |
talk |
tuck |
token |
take |
tech |
|
21. |
van |
Von |
vug |
vogue |
vague |
vent |
|
22. |
wax |
want |
won/one |
won't |
wane |
when |
|
23. |
yam |
yawn |
young |
yo! |
yea! |
yen |
|
24. |
zap |
czar |
result |
zone |
zany |
zen |
To have
your pronunciation tested, call (800) 457-4255.
75
A fashionably
tan man sat casually at the bat stand,
lashing a handful of practice bats. The manager,
a crabby old bag of bones, passed by and laughed,
"You're about average, Jack. Can't you lash
faster than that?" Jack had had enough, so he
clambered to his feet and lashed bats faster than
any man had ever lashed bats. As a matter of fact,
he lashed bats so fast that he seemed to dance. The
manager was aghast. "Jack, you're a master bat
lasher!" he gasped. Satisfied at last, Jack
sat back and never lashed another bat.
X Pause
the CD and read The Tæn Mæn aloud. Turn it
back on to continue.
John
was not sorry when the boss called off the walks
in the garden. Obviously, to him, it was awfully hot,
and the walks were far too long. He had not thought
that walking would have caught on the way it did, and he fought
the policy from the onset. At first, he thought he could talk
it over at the law office and have it quashed, but a small
obstacle* halted that thought. The top lawyers always
bought coffee at the shop across the lawn
and they didn't want to stop on John's account. John's
problem was not office politics, but office policy.
He resolved the problem by bombing the garden.
* lobster
a small lobster lobstacle a small obstacle
*š Pause the CD and read A
Lät of Läng, Hät Wälks in the Gärden aloud.
When
you read the following schwa paragraph, try clenching your teeth the first
time. It won't sound completely natural, but it will get rid of all of the
excess lip and jaw movement and force your tongue to work harder than usual.
Remember that in speaking American English we don't move our lips much, and we
talk though our teeth from far back in our throats. I'm going to read with my
teeth clenched together and you follow along, holding your teeth together.
Some
pundits proposed that the sun wonders
unnecessarily about sundry and assorted
co-nundrums. One cannot but speculate
what can come of their proposal. It wasn't
enough to trouble us,* but it was
done so underhandedly that hundreds of
sun lovers rushed to the defense of
their beloved sun. None of this was
relevant on Monday, however, when the sun
burned up the entire country. *[әt
wәzәnәnәf tә trәbәlәs]
*š Pause the CD and read What
Must the Sun Above Wonder About? twice. Try it once with your teeth
clenched the first time and normally the second time.
76
The
American T is influenced very strongly by intonation and its position in a word
or phrase. At the top of a staircase T is
pronounced T as in Ted or Italian;
a T in the middle of a staircase is
pronounced as D [Beddy] [Idaly] ; whereas a T at the bottom
of a staircase isn't pronounced at all [ho(t)]. Look at Italian
and Italy in the examples below. The
[tæl] of Italian is at the top of the staircase and
is strong: Italian. The [dә] of
Italy is in the middle and is weak: Italy.
Repeat
after me.
|
Italian |
Italy |
|
|
attack |
attic |
|
|
atomic |
atom |
|
|
photography |
photograph |
In the
sentence Betty bought a bit of better butter, all of the Ts are in weak
positions, so they all sound like soft Ds. Repeat the sentence slowly, word by
word: [Beddy ... badә... bidә... bedder ... budder]. Feel the tip
of your tongue flick across that area behind your top teeth. Think of the music
of a cello again when you say, Betty bought a bit of better butter.
|
Betty
bought a bit of better butter, |
Beddy bä dә bihda
bedder budder. |
|
But,
said she, |
Bu(t),
said she, |
|
This
butter's bitter. |
This budder' z bidder. |
|
If I
put it in my batter, |
If I
püdi din my bædder, |
|
It'll
make my batter bitter. |
Id'll
make my bædder bidder. |
If you
speak any language-such as Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, or Dutch, among
others-where your R touches behind the teeth, you are in luck with the American
T. Just fix the association in your mind so that when you see a middle position
T, you automatically give it your native R sound. Say, Beri
bara bira ... with your native accent. (Not if you
are
77
French,
German, or Chinese!)
Along
with liaisons, the American T contributes a great deal to the smooth, relaxed
sound of English. When you say a word like atom, imagine
that you've been to the dentist and you're a little numb, or that you've had a
couple of drinks, or maybe that you're very sleepy. You won't be wanting to use
a lot of energy saying [ætom], so just relax everything and say
[adәm], like the masculine name, Adam. It's a very smooth, fluid sound.
Rather than saying, BeTTy boughT a biT of beTTer buTTer, which
is physically more demanding, try, Beddy bada bidda bedder budder. It's
easy because you really don't need much muscle tension to say it this way.
The
staircase concept will help clarify the various T sounds. The American T can be
a little tricky if you base your pronunciation on spelling. Here are five rules
to guide you.
1.ššš T is T at the
beginning of a word or in a stressed syllable.
2.ššš T
is D in the middle of a word.
3.ššš T
is Held at the end of a word.
4.ššš T
is Held before N in -tain and -ten endings.
5.ššš T is Silent after N with lax vowels.
When a
T is at the top of a staircase, in a stressed position, it should be a clear
popped sound.
1.šš In the beginning of a word, T is [t].
Ted
took ten tomatoes.
2.šš With a stressed T and ST, TS, TR, CT, LT,
and sometimes NT combinations, T is [t].
He was
content with the contract.
3.šš T replaces D in the past tense, after an
unvoiced consonant sound - f, k, p, s, ch, sh, th - (except T).
T:
laughed [lœft], picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched
[wächt], washed [wäsht], unearthed [uneartht]
D:
halved [hœvd], rigged [rigd], nabbed [næbd], raised [razd], judged
[j'jd], ga-raged [garazhd], smoothed [smoothd]
Exceptions:
wicked [wikәd], naked [nakәd], crooked [krükәd],
etc.
78
Read
the following sentences out loud. Make sure that the underlined (stressed) Ts
are sharp and clear.
1.š It took Tim ten times
to try the telephone.
2.šš Stop touching Ted's toes.
3.š Turn toward Stella and study
her contract together.
4.šš Control your tears.
5.š It's Tommy's turn to tell
the teacher the truth.
An
unstressed T in the middle of a staircase between two vowel sounds should be
pro-nounced as a soft D.
|
Betty
bought a bit of better butter. |
[Beddy bädә bida
bedder budder] |
|
Pat
ought to sit on a lap. |
[pædädә
sidänә læp] |
Read
the following sentences out loud. Make sure that the underlined (unstressed) Ts
sound like a soft D.
|
1. |
What a good
idea. |
[wәdә
gudai deeyә] |
|
2. |
Put it in
a bottle. |
[püdidinә
bäddl] |
|
3. |
Write it in a
letter. |
[räididinә
leddr] |
|
4. |
Set it on
the metal gutter. |
[sedidän
thә medl gәddr] |
|
5. |
Put all the data
in the computer. |
[püdäl
the deidә in the c'mpyudr] |
|
6. |
Insert a
quarter in the meter. |
[inserdә kworder
in the meedr] |
|
7. |
Get a better
water heater. |
[gedә
beddr wädr heedr] |
|
8. |
Let her
put a sweater on. |
[ledr
püdә sweder an] |
|
9. |
Betty's at
a meeting. |
[beddy's
ædә meeding] |
|
10. |
It's getting
hotter and hotter. |
[its gedding
häddrrәn häddr] |
|
11. |
Patty ought
to write a better letter. |
[pæddy(y)ädә
ride a beddr leddr] |
|
12. |
Freida had a
little metal bottle. |
[freedә
hædә liddl medl bäddl] |
T at
the bottom of a staircase is in the held position. By held, I mean that the
tongue is in the T position, but the air isn't released. To compare, when you
say T as in Tom, there 's a sharp burst of air over the tip of the tongue, and
when you say Betty, there 's a soft puff of air over the tip of the
tongue. When you hold a T, as in hot, your tongue is in the position for
T, but you keep the air in.
1.šš She hit the hot hut
with her hat.
2.š We went to that 'Net
site to get what we needed.
3.šš Pat
was quite right, wasn't she?
79
4.š What? Put my hat
back!
5.š hot, late, fat, goat,
hit, put, not, hurt, what, set, paint,
wait, sit, dirt, note, fit, lot, light,
suit, point, incident, tight
The
"held T" is, strictly speaking, not really a T at all. Remember [t]
and [n] are very close in the mouth (see Liaisons,
Exercise 2-5). If you have an N immediately after a T, you don't pop
the T-the tongue is in the T position-but
you release the air with the N, not the T. There is no [t] and no [ә].
Make a special point of not letting your tongue release from the top of your
mouth before you drop into the [n]; otherwise, bu(tt)on would sound like
two words: but-ton. An unstressed T or TT followed by N is
held. Read the following words and sentences out loud. Make sure that the
underlined Ts are held. Remember, there is no "uh" sound before the
[n].
Note Another
point to remember is that you need a sharp upward sliding intonation up to the
"held T," then a quick drop for the N.
|
written |
|
written |
kitten |
|
ri(t)n |
sentence |
patent |
|
|
|
forgotten |
mutant |
|
|
sentence |
certain |
latent |
|
|
sen(t)ns |
curtain |
mountain |
|
|
|
mitten |
recently |
|
|
lately |
Martin |
lately |
|
|
la(t)lee |
bitten |
partly |
|
|
|
button |
frequently |
1.šš He's forgotten the carton
of satin mittens.
2.šš She's
certain that he has written it.
3.šš The
cotton curtain is not in the fountain.
4.šš The hikers went in the mountains.
5.šš Martin has gotten a kitten.
6.šš Students
study Latin in Britain.
7.šš Whitney
has a patent on those sentences.
8.šš He has not forgotten what was written
about the mutant on the mountain.
9.šš It's not certain that it was
gotten from the fountain.
10.šš You need to put an orange cotton
curtain on that window.
11.šš We like that certain satin
better than the carton of cotton curtains.
12.šš The intercontinental hotel is
in Seattle.
13.šš The frightened witness
had forgotten the important written message.
14.šš The child wasn't beaten
because he had bitten the button.
80
[t]
and [n] are so close in the mouth that the [t] can simply disappear. Repeat.
|
1. |
interview |
innerview |
|
2. |
interface |
innerface |
|
3. |
Internet |
innernet |
|
4. |
interstate |
innerstate |
|
5. |
interrupt |
innerrupt |
|
6. |
interfere |
innerfere |
|
1. |
interactive |
inneractive |
|
8. |
international |
innernational |
|
9. |
advantage |
әdvæn'j |
|
10. |
percentage |
percen'j |
|
11. |
twenty |
twenny |
|
12. |
printout |
prinnout
or prindout |
|
13. |
printer |
prinner
or prinder |
|
14. |
winter |
winner
or winder |
|
15. |
enter |
enner
or ender |
Exercise 4-8: Rule
5-The
Silent Tššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3 Track 20
Read
the following sentences out loud. Make sure that the underlined Ts are silent.
|
1. |
He
had a great interview. |
[he
hædә gray dinnerview] |
|
2. |
Try
to enter the information. |
[trydә
enner the infrmation] |
|
3. |
Turn
the printer on. |
[trn
thә prinnerän] |
|
4. |
Finish
the printing. |
[f
'n'sh thә prinning] |
|
5. |
She's
at the international center. |
[sheez'
(t)the(y)innernational
senner] |
|
6. |
It's
twenty degrees in Toronto. |
['ts
twenny d'greezin tränno] |
|
7. |
I
don't understand it. |
[I
doe nәnder stæn d't] |
|
8. |
She
invented it in Santa Monica. |
[she(y)invenәd'din
sænә mänәkә] |
|
9. |
He
can't even do it. |
[he
kæneevәn du(w)'t] |
|
10. |
They
don't even want it. |
[they
doe neevәn wän't] |
|
11. |
They
won't ever try. |
[they
woe never try] |
|
12. |
What's
the point of it? |
[w'ts
the poi n'v't] |
|
13. |
She's
the intercontinental representative. |
[shez
thee(y)innercän(t)nnenl
repr'zen'd'v] |
|
14. |
Hasn't
he? |
[hæzә
nee] |
|
15. |
Isn't
he? |
[izә
nee] |
|
16. |
Aren't
I? |
[är
näi] |
|
17. |
Won't
he? |
[woe
nee] |
|
18. |
Doesn't
he? |
[dәzәnee] |
|
19. |
Wouldn't
it? |
[wüdәnit] |
|
20. |
Didn't
I? |
[didnnäi] |
81
Here are
some extremely common middle T combinations. Repeat after me:
|
|
Whatššššš |
šš But |
That |
|
a |
wәdә |
bәdә |
thәdә |
|
I |
wәdäi |
bәdäi |
thәdäi |
|
I'm |
wәdäim |
bәdäim |
thәdäim |
|
I've |
wәdäiv |
bәdäiv |
thәdäiv |
|
if |
wәdif |
bәdif |
thәdif |
|
it |
wәdit |
bәdit |
thәdit |
|
it's |
wәdits |
bәdits |
thәdits |
|
is |
wәdiz |
bәdiz |
thәdiz |
|
isn't |
wәdiznt |
bәdiznt |
thәdiznt |
|
are |
wәdr |
bәdr |
thәdr |
|
aren't |
wәdärnt |
bәdärnt |
thәdärnt |
|
he |
wәdee |
bәdee |
thәdee |
|
he's |
wәdeez |
bәdeez |
thәdeez |
|
her |
wәdr |
bәdr |
thәdr |
|
you |
wәchew |
bәchew |
thәchew |
|
you'll |
wәchül |
bәchül |
thәchül |
|
you've |
wәchoov |
bәchoov |
thәchoov |
|
you're |
wәchr |
bәchr |
thәchr |
Repeat
the following sentences.
|
1. |
I don't know
what it means. |
I don(t)know
wәdit meenz |
|
2. |
But it looks
like what I need. |
bәdi(t)lük sly
kwәdäi need |
|
3. |
But you said
that you wouldn't. |
bәchew sed
thәchew wüdnt |
|
4. |
I know what
you think. |
I know wәchew
think |
|
5. |
But I don't
think that he will. |
bәdäi
don(t)think thәdee will |
|
6. |
He said
that if we can do it, he'll help. |
he sed the diff
we k'n do(w)it, hill help |
|
7. |
But isn't
it easier this way? |
bәdizni deezier
thi sway? |
|
8. |
We want something
that isn't here. |
we wänt something
thәdiznt here |
|
9. |
You'll like it,
but you'll regret it later. |
yül lye kit,
bәchül r'gre dit laydr |
|
10. |
But he's
not right for what I want. |
bәdeez
nät right fr wәdäi wänt |
|
11. |
It's amazing what
you've accomplished. |
its amazing
wәchoovәccämplisht |
|
12. |
What if he forgets? |
wәdifee frgets |
|
13. |
OK, but
aren't you missing something? |
OK,
bәdärnt chew missing
sәmthing |
|
14. |
I think
that he's OK now. |
I think
thәdeez OK næo |
|
15. |
She wanted to,
but her car broke down. |
She wänәd
to, bәdr cär broke dæon |
|
16. |
We think that
you're taking a chance. |
We think
thәchr taking a chænce |
|
17. |
They don't know
what it's about. |
They don't know
wәdit sәbæot |
82
This
exercise is for the practice of the difference between words that end in either
a vowel or a voiced consonant, which means that the vowel is lengthened or
doubled. Therefore, these words are on a much larger, longer stairstep. Words
that end in an unvoiced consonant are on a smaller, shorter stairstep. This
occurs whether the vowel in question is tense or lax.
|
har |
hard |
heart |
car |
card |
cart |
|
H |
|
C |
|
||
|
ha! |
hod |
hot |
caw |
cod |
cot/caught |
|
har |
hard |
heart |
car |
card |
cart |
|
hall |
hailed |
halt |
call |
called |
|
|
her |
heard |
hurt |
cur |
curd |
curt |
|
hole |
hold |
holt |
coal |
cold |
colt |
|
hoe |
hoed |
|
co- |
code |
coat |
Once
again, go over the following familiar paragraph. First, find all the T's that
are pro-nounced D (there are nine to thirteen here). Second, find all the held
Ts (there are seven). The first one of each is marked for you. Pause the CD to
do this and don't forget to check your answers with the Answer Key, beginning
on page 193, when you finish.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accen(t) Training.
There's a
lo(t) to
learn, butd I hope to make it as enjoyable as
possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern
pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice
all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys,
intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch,
too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talk-ing
to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to
understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing
is to listen well and sound good/Well, what do you think? Do I?
83
The
strong intonation in American English creates certain tendencies in your spoken
lan-guage. Here are four consistent conditions that are a result of
intonation's tense peaks and relaxed valleys:
You
were introduced to reduced vowels in Chapter 1. They appear in the valleys that
are formed by the strong peaks of intonation. The more you reduce the words in
the valleys, the smoother and more natural your speech will sound. A
characteristic of reduced vowels is that your throat muscles should be very
relaxed. This will allow the unstressed vowels to reduce toward the schwa.
Neutral vowels take less energy and muscularity to produce than tense vowels.
For example, the word unbelievable should only have
one hard vowel: [әnbәlēvәbәl].
The
mouth muscles are relaxed to create a voiced sound like [z] or [d]. For
unvoiced consonants, such as [s] or [t], they are sharp and tense. Relaxing
your muscles will simultaneously reduce your vowels and voice your consonants.
Think of voiced con-sonants as reduced
consonants. Both reduced consonants and reduced vowels are
unconsciously preferred by a native speaker of American English. This explains
why T so frequently becomes D and S becomes Z: Get it is to ... [gedidizdә].
It's
not easy to change horses midstream, so when you have a voiced consonant; let
the consonant that follows it be voiced as well. In the verb used [yuzd],
for example, the S is really a Z, so it is followed by D. The phrase used
to [yus tu], on the other hand, has a real S, so it is followed by T.
Vowels are, by definition, voiced. So when one is followed by a common,
reducible word, it will change that word's first sound- like the preposition to, which
will change to [dә].
The
only way to get it is to practice all of the time.
[They
only weidәgeddidizdәpractice all of the time.]
Again,
this will take time. In the beginning, work on recognizing these patterns when
you hear them. When you are confident that you understand the structure beneath
these sounds and you can intuit where they belong, you can start to try them
out. It's not advisable to memorize one reduced word and stick it into an
otherwise overpronounced sentence. It would sound strange.
You've
probably noticed that the preceding three conditions, as well as other areas
that we've covered, such as liaisons and the schwa, have one thing in common-the
idea that it's physically easier this way. This is
one of the most remarkable character-istics of American English. You need to
relax your mouth and throat muscles (except for [æ], [ä], and other tense vowels), and let the
sounds flow smoothly out. If you find yourself tensing up, pursing your lips,
or tightening your throat, you are going to strangle and lose the sound you are
pursuing. Relax, relax, relax.
84
This
chapter discusses the sound of L (not to be confused with that of the American
R, which is covered in the next chapter). We'll approach this sound first, by
touching on the difficulties it presents to foreign speakers of English, and
next by comparing L to the related sounds of T, D, and N.
The
English L is usually no problem at the beginning or in the middle of a word.
The native language of some people, however, causes them to make their English L
much too short. At the end of a word, the L is especially noticeable if it is
either missing (Chinese) or too short (Spanish). In addition, most people
consider the L as a simple consonant. This can also cause a lot of trouble.
Thus, two things are at work here: location of language sounds in the mouth,
and the complexity of the L sound. ,
The
sounds of many Romance languages are generally located far forward in the
mouth. My French teacher told me that if I couldn't see my lips when I spoke
French-it wasn't French! Spanish is sometimes even called the smiling language.
Chinese, on the other hand, is similar to American English in that it is mostly
produced far back in the mouth. The principal difference is that English also
requires clear use of the tongue's tip, a large compo-nent of the sound of L.
The L
is not a simple consonant; it is a compound made up of a vowel and a consonant.
Like the [æ] sound discussed in Chapter 3, the sound of L is a
combination of [ә] and [1]. The [ә], being a reduced vowel sound,
is created in the throat, but the [1] part requires a clear move-ment of the
tongue. First, the tip must touch behind the teeth. (This part is simple
enough.) But then, the back of the tongue must then drop down and back for the
continuing schwa sound. Especially at the end of a word, Spanish-speaking
people tend to leave out the schwa and shorten the L, and Chinese speakers
usually leave it off entirely.
One way
to avoid the pronunciation difficulty of a final L, as in call, is to
make a liaison when the next word begins with a vowel. For example, if you want
to say I have to call on my friend, let the
liaison do your work for you; say [I have to kälän my friend].
85
When
you learn to pronounce the L correctly, you will feel its similarity with T, D,
and N. Actually, the tongue is positioned in the same place in the mouth for
all four sounds- behind the teeth. The difference is in how and where the air
comes out. (See the drawings in Exercise 5-1.)
The
sound of both T and D is produced by allowing a puff of air to come out over
the tip of the tongue.
The
sound of N is nasal. The tongue completely blocks all air from leaving through
the mouth, allowing it to come out only through the nose. You should be able to
feel the edges of your tongue touching your teeth when you say nnn.
With L,
the tip of the tongue is securely touching the roof of the mouth behind the
teeth, but the sides of the tongue are dropped down and tensed. This is where L
is different from N. With N, the tongue is relaxed and covers the entire area
around the back of the teeth so that no air can come out. With L, the tongue is
very tense, and the air comes out around its sides. At the beginning it's
helpful to exaggerate the position of the tongue. Look at yourself in the
mirror as you stick out the tip of your tongue between your front teeth. With
your tongue in this position say el several times.
Then, try saying it with your tongue behind your teeth. This sounds
complicated, but it is easier to do than to describe. You can practice this
again later with Exercise 5-3. Our first exercise, however, must focus on
differentiating the sounds.
For
this exercise, concentrate on the different ways in which the air comes out of
the mouth when producing each sound of L, T, D, and N. Look at the drawings
included here, to see the correct position of the tongue. Instructions for
reading the groups of words listed next are given after the words.
A puff
of air comes out over the tip of the tongue. The tongue is somewhat tense.
86
N
Nasal
Air
comes out through the nose. The tongue is completely relaxed.
L
Lateral
Air
flows around the sides of the tongue. The tongue is very tense. The lips are not rounded!
|
1. |
At
the beginning of a word |
|||
|
|
law |
gnaw |
taw |
daw |
|
|
low |
know |
toe |
dough |
|
|
lee
knee |
tea |
D |
|
|
2. |
In
the middle of a word |
|||
|
|
belly |
Benny |
Betty |
|
|
|
caller |
Conner |
cotter |
|
|
|
alley |
Annie's |
|
at
ease |
|
3. |
At
the end of a word |
|||
|
A |
hole |
hold |
hone |
hoed |
|
|
call |
called |
con |
cod |
|
B |
fill |
full |
fool |
fail |
|
|
fell |
feel |
fuel |
furl |
Repeat
after me, first down and then across.
87
T Look
at group 3, B. This exercise has three functions:
1.šš Practice final els.
2.šš Review vowels sounds.
3.šš Review the same words with the staircase.
Note Notice
that each word has a tiny schwa after the el. This is to encourage your tongue
to be in the right position to give your words a "finished" sound.
Exaggerate the final el and its otherwise inaudible schwa.
Y Repeat
the last group of words.
Once
you are comfortable with your tongue in this position, let it just languish
there while you continue vocalizing, which is what a native speaker does.
V Repeat again:
fillll, fullll, foollll, faillll, feellll, fuellll, furllll.
I hope
that you're asking a question like this about now. Putting all of those short
little words on a staircase will reveal exactly how many extra sounds you have
to put in to make it "sound right." For example, if you were to
pronounce fail as [fal], the sound is too abbre-viated
for the American ear-we need to hear the full [fayәlә].
Repeat
after me.
88
This
time, simply hold the L sound extra long. Repeat after me.
As you
work with the following exercise, here are two points you should keep in mind.
When a word ends with an L sound, either (a) connect it to the next word if you
can, or (b) add a slight schwa for an exaggerated [lә]
sound. For example:
(a)
enjoyable asšš
[enjoyәbәlәz]
(b)
possiblešššššššš
[pasәbәlә]
Note Although
(a) is really the way you want to say it, (b) is an interim measure to help you
put your tongue in the right place. It would sound strange if you were to always
add the slight schwa. Once you can feel where you want your tongue to be, hold
it there while you continue to make the L sound. Here are three examples:
|
Call |
|
|
|
caw |
[kä] |
(incorrect) |
|
call |
[cälә] |
(understandable) |
|
call |
[källl] |
(correct) |
You
can do the same thing to stop an N from becoming an NG.
|
Con |
|
|
|
cong |
[käng] |
(incorrect) |
|
con |
[känә] |
(understandable) |
|
con |
[kännn] |
(correct) |
89
Pause
the CD, and find and mark all the L sounds in the familiar paragraph below; the
first one is marked for you. There are seventeen of them; five are silent.
Afterwards, check An-swer Key, beginning on page 193.
Hello,
my name is______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to
learn,
but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick
up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the
only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or
peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention
to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase.
I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and
they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on
and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do
you think? Do I?
Once
you've found all the L sounds, the good news is that very often you don't even
have to pronounce them. Read the following list of words after me.
|
1. |
would |
could |
should |
|
2. |
chalk |
talk |
walk |
|
3. |
calm |
palm |
psalm |
|
4. |
already |
alright |
almond |
|
5. |
although |
almost |
always |
|
6. |
salmon |
alms |
Albany |
|
7. |
folk |
caulk |
polka |
Before
reading about Little Lola in the next exercise, I'm going to get off the
specific subject of L for the moment to talk about learning in general.
Frequently, when you have some difficult task to do, you either avoid it or do
it with dread. I'd like you to take the opposite point of view. For this
exercise, you're going to completely focus on the thing that's most difficult:
leaving your tongue attached to the top of your mouth. And rather than saying,
"Oh, here comes an L, I'd better do something with my tongue," just
leave your tongue attached all through the entire paragraph!
Remember
our clenched-teeth reading of What Must the Sun Above Wonder About?, in
Chapter 3? Well, it's time for us to make weird sounds again.
90
You
and I are going to read with our tongues firmly held at the roofs of our
mouths. If you want, hold a clean dime there with the tongue's tip; the dime
will let you know when you have dropped your tongue because it will fall out.
(Do not use candy; it will hold itself there since wet candy is sticky.) If you
prefer, you can read with your tongue between your teeth instead of the
standard behind-the-teeth position, and use a small mirror. Remember that with this
technique you can actually see your tongue disappear as you hear your L sounds
drop off.
It's
going to sound ridiculous, of course, and nobody would ever intentionally sound
like this, but no one will hear you practice. You don't want to sound like this:
lllllllllll. Force your tongue to make all the various vowels in spite of its
position. Let's go.
Leave a little
for Lola!
Now
that we've done this, instead of L being a hard letter to pronounce, it's the
easiest one because the tongue is stuck in that position. Pause the CD to
practice the reading on your own, again, with your tongue stuck to the top of
your mouth. Read the following paragraph after me with your tongue in the
normal position. Use good, strong intonation. Follow my lead as I start
dropping h's here.
Little
Lola felt left out in life. She told
herself that luck controlled her and she truly believed
that only by loyally following an exalted leader
could she be delivered from her solitude. Unfortunately,
she learned a little late that her life was
her own to deal with. When she realized it, she was already
eligible for Social Security and she had lent her lifelong
earn-ings to a lowlife in Long Beach. She lay on
her linoleum and slid along the floor in
anguish. A little later, she leapt up and laughed.
She no longer longed for a leader to tell her how
to live her life. Little Lola was
finally all well.
In our
next paragraph about Thirty Little Turtles, we deal with another aspect
of L, namely consonant clusters. When you have a dl combination,
you need to apply what you learned about liaisons and the American T as well as
the L.
Since
the two sounds are located in a similar position in the mouth, you know that
they are going to be connected, right? You also know that all of these middle
Ts are going to be pronounced D, and that you're going to leave the tongue
stuck to the top of your mouth. That may leave you wondering: Where is the air
to escape? The L sound is what determines that. For the D, you hold the air in,
the same as for a final D, then for the L, you release it around the sides of
the tongue. Let's go through the steps before proceeding to our next exercise.
91
Exercise 5-10: Dull versus ~dleššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššššš
CD 3Track 35
Repeat
after me.
|
laid |
Don't
pop the final D sound. |
|
ladle |
Segue
gently from the D to the L, with a "small" schwa in-between. Leave
your tongue touching behind the teeth and just drop the sides to let the air
pass out. |
|
lay
dull |
Here,
your tongue can drop between the D and the L. |
Repeat
the following lists.
|
|
üll |
äll |
æwl |
ell |
ale |
oll |
eel |
dl |
|
1. |
bull |
ball |
bowel |
bell |
bale |
bowl |
Beal |
bottle |
|
2. |
|
hall |
howl |
hell |
hail |
hole |
heel |
huddle |
|
3. |
|
hauled |
howled |
held |
hailed |
hold |
healed |
hurtle |
|
4. |
pull |
pall |
Powell |
pell |
pail |
pole |
peel |
poodle |
|
5. |
wool |
wall |
|
well |
whale |
whole |
wheel |
wheedle |
|
6. |
full |
fall |
foul |
fell |
fail |
foal |
feel |
fetal |
|
7. |
Schultz |
shawl |
|
shell |
shale |
shoal |
she'll |
shuttle |
|
8. |
tulle |
tall |
towel |
tell |
tale |
toll |
teal |
turtle |
|
9. |
|
vault |
vowel |
veldt |
veil |
vole |
veal |
vital |
|
10. |
you'll |
yawl |
yowl |
yell |
Yale |
|
yield |
yodel |
|
11. |
|
call |
cowl |
Kelly |
kale |
cold |
keel |
coddle |
92
To hear
the difference between [dәl] and [dәәl],
contrast the sentences, Don't lay dull tiles and Don't ladle
tiles.
Repeat
the following paragraph, focusing on the consonant + әl
combinations.
Thrdee
Liddәl Terdәl
Zinә Bäddәlә Bäddәl
Dwäder
A bottle
of bottled water held 30 little turtles. It
didn't matter that each turtle had to rattle a metal ladle
in order to get a little bit of noodles, a total
turtle delicacy. The problem was that there were many turtle
battles for the less than oodles of noodles. The littlest
turtles always lost, because every time they thought about grappling
with the haggler turtles, their little turtle
minds boggled and they only caught a little bit of noodles.
**********
**********
**********
We've
already practiced strong intonation, so now we'll just pick up the speed. First
I'm going to read our familiar paragraph, as fast as I can. Subsequently,
you'll practice on your own, and then we'll go over it together, sentence by
sentence, to let you practice reading very fast, right after me. By then you
will have more or less mastered the idea, so record yourself reading really fast
and with very strong intonation. Listen back to see if you sound more fluent.
Listen as I read.
Hello, my
name is__________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot
to learn,
but I
hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although
the only way to get it is to practice all of the
time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more
than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's
like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot
of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is
to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
+ Pause
the CD and practice speed-reading on your own five times.
V Repeat
each sentence after me.
V Record
yourself speed-reading with strong intonation.
The
last reading that I'd like you to do is one along with me. Up to now, I have
read first and you have repeated in the pause that followed. Now, however, I
would like you to read along at exactly the same time that I read, so that we
sound like one person reading. Read along with me.
93
In the
next chapter, we'll be working on a sound that is produced deep in the throat-the
American R. In Chapter 3, we studied two tense vowels, æ and ä,
and the completely neu-tral schwa, ә. The æ sound has
a tendency to sound a little nasal all on its own, and when other vowels are
nasalized as well, it puts your whole voice in the wrong place. This is an
opportune moment, then, to go into the quality of your voice. In my
observation, when people speak a foreign language, they tense up their throat,
so their whole communication style sounds forced, pinched, strained,
artificial, or nasal. The foreign speaker's voice is also generally higher
pitched than would be considered desirable. To practice the difference between
high pitch and lower pitch, work on uh-oh. In addition to pitch, this
exercise will let you discover the difference between a tinny, nasal tone and a
deep, rich, mellifluous, basso profundo tone. The tilda (~) is used to indicate
a nasal sound.
Pinch
your nose closed and say œ. You should feel a high vibration in
your nasal passages, as well as in your fingers. Now, continue holding your
nose, and completely relax your throat-allow
an ah sound to flow from deep in your chest. There should be no
vibration in your nose at all. Go back and forth several times. Next, we
practice flowing from one posi-tion to the other, so you can feel exactly when
it changes from a nasal sound to a deep, rich schwa. Remember how it was
imitating a man's voice when you were little? Do that, pinch your nose, and
repeat after me.
|
Nose |
Throat |
Chest |
||||||||
|
ãæ |
> |
ãæ |
> |
ãä |
> |
ä |
> |
ә |
> |
ә |
Here,
we will practice the same progression, but we will stick with the same sound, æ.
|
Nose |
Throat |
Chest |
||||||||
|
ãæ |
> |
ãæ |
> |
æ |
> |
æ |
> |
æ |
> |
æ |
As you
will see in Chapter 12, there are three nasal consonants, m, n, and ng.
These have non-nasal counterparts, m/b, n/d, ng/g. We're going to practice
totally denasalizing your voice for a moment, which means turning the nasals
into the other consonants. We'll read the same sentence three times. The first
will be quite nasal. The second will sound like you have a cold. The third will
have appropriate nasal consonants, but denasalized vowels. Repeat after me.
|
Nasal |
Clogged |
Normal |
|
Mãry
might need money. |
Berry
bite deed buddy. |
Mary
might need money. |
Now
that you have moved your voice out of your nose and down into your diaphragm,
let s apply it.
A
Lät of Läng, Hät Wälks in the Gärden. John was not
sorry when the boss called off the walks in the garden. Obviously, to him, it
was awfully hot, and the walks were far too long. He had not thought that
walking would have caught on the way it did, and he fought the policy from the
onset.
94
American
English, today-although continually changing-is made up of the sounds of the
various people who have come to settle here from many countries. All of them
have put in their linguistic two cents, the end result being that the easiest
way to pronounce things has almost always been adopted as the most American. R is
an exception, along with L and the sounds of [æ] and [th], and is one of
the most troublesome sounds for people to acquire. Not only is it difficult for
adults learning the language, but also for American children, who pronounce it
like a W or skip over it altogether and only pick it up after they've learned
all the other sounds.
The
trouble is that you can't see an R from the outside. With a P, for instance,
you can see when people put their lips together and pop out a little puff. With
R, however, everything takes place behind almost closed lips-back down in the
throat-and who can tell what the tongue is doing? It is really hard to tell
what's going on if, when someone speaks, you can only hear the err sound,
especially if you're used to making an R by touching your tongue to the ridge
behind your teeth. So, what should your tongue be doing?
This
technique can help you visualize the correct tongue movements in pronouncing
the R. (1) Hold your hand out flat, with the palm up, slightly dropping the
back end of it. That's basically the position your tongue is in when you say ah [ä],
so your flat hand will represent this sound. (2) Now, to go from ah to the er, take
your fingers and curl them up slightly. Again, your tongue should follow that
action. The sides of your tongue should come up a bit, too. When the air passes
over that hollow in the middle of your tongue (look at the palm of your hand),
that's what creates the er sound.
Try it
using both your hand and tongue simultaneously. Say ah, with
your throat open (and your hand flat), then curl your tongue up (and your
fingers) and say errr. The tip of the tongue should be
aimed at a middle position in the mouth, but never touching, and your throat
should relax and expand. R, like L, has a slight schwa in it. This is what
pulls the er down so far back in your throat.
Another
way to get to er is to go from the ee sound
and slide your tongue straight back like a collapsing accordion, letting the
two sides of your tongue touch the insides of your molars; the tip of the
tongue, however, again, should not touch anything. Now from ee, pull your
tongue back toward the center of your throat, and pull the sound down into your
throat:
Since
the R is produced in the throat, let's link it with other throat sounds.
95
Repeat
after me.
[g],
[gr], greek, green, grass, grow, crow, core, cork, coral, cur, curl, girl,
gorilla, her, erg, error, mirror, were, war, gore, wrong, wringer, church,
pearl
While
you're perfecting your R, you might want to rush to it, and in doing so,
neglect the preceding vowel. There are certain vowels that you can neglect, but
there are others that demand their full sound. We're going to practice the ones
that require you to keep that clear sound before you add an R.
Refer
to the subsequent lists of sounds and words as you work through each of the
directions that follow them. Repeat each sound, first the vowel and then the [әr],
and each word in columns 1 to 3. We will read all the way across.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
[ä]
+ [er] |
[häәrd] |
hard |
|
|
[e] + [әr] |
[heәr] |
here |
|
|
[ε]
+ [әr] |
[shεәr] |
share |
|
|
[o] + [әr] |
[moәr] |
more |
|
|
[әr]
+[әr] |
[wәrәr] |
were |
|
We will
next read column 3 only; try to keep that doubled sound, but let the vowel flow
smoothly into the [әr]; imagine a double stairstep that cannot be
avoided. Don't make them two staccato sounds, though, like [hard]. Instead,
flow them smoothly over the double stairstep: Hääärrrrd.
Of
course, they're not that long; this is an
exaggeration and you're going to shorten them up once you get better at the
sound. When you say the first one, hard, to get your jaw
open for the [hä], imagine that you are getting ready to bite into an
apple: [hä]. Then for the er sound, you would
bite into it: [häerd], hard.
x Pause
the CD to practice five times on your own.
From a
spelling standpoint, the American R can be a little difficult to figure out.
With words like where [wεәr] and were [wәr],
it's confusing to know which one has two different vowel sounds (where)
and which one has just the [әr] (were). When
there is a full vowel, you must make sure to give it its complete sound, and
not chop it short, [wε + әr].
For
words with only the schwa + R [әr], don't try to introduce another vowel
sound before the [әr], regardless of spelling. The
following words, for example, do not have any other vowel sounds in them.
96
|
Looks like |
Sounds
like |
|
word |
[wәrd] |
|
hurt |
[hәrt] |
|
girl |
[gәrl] |
|
pearl |
[pәrl] |
The
following exercise will further clarify this for you.
The
following seven R sounds, which are represented by the ten words, give people a
lot of trouble, so we're going to work with them and make them easy for you.
Repeat.
|
1. |
were |
[wәrәr] |
|
|
2. |
word |
[wәrәrd] |
|
|
3. |
whirl |
[wәrrul] |
|
|
4. |
world/whirled |
[were
rolled] |
|
|
5. |
wore/war |
[woәr] |
|
|
6. |
whorl |
[worul] |
|
|
7. |
where/wear |
[wεәr] |
|
1.šš Were is pronounced with
a doubled [әr]: [wәrәr]
2.šš Word is also doubled,
but after the second [әr], you're going to put your tongue in place for
the D and hold it there, keeping all the air in your mouth, opening your throat
to give it that full-voiced quality (imagine yourself puffing your throat out
like a bull-frog): [wәrәrd], word. Not
[wәrd], which is too short. Not [wordә], which is too strong at the
end. But [wәr'әrd] word.
3.šš In whirl the R
is followed by L. The R is in the throat and the back of the tongue stays down
because, as we've practiced, L starts with the schwa, but the tip of the tongue
comes up for the L: [wәrrәlә], whirl.
4.šš World/whirled, like 5 and 7, has
two spellings (and two different meanings, of course). You're going to do the
same thing as for whirl, but you're going
to add that voiced D at the end, holding the air in: [wәrrәl(d)], world/whirled.
It should sound almost like two words: wére rolled.
5.šš Here, you have an
[o] sound in either spelling before the [әr]: [woәr], wore/war.
6.šš For whorl, you're
going to do the same thing as in 5, but you're going to add a schwa + L at the
end: [woәrәl], whorl.
7.šš This sound is
similar to 5, but you have [ε] before the [әr]: [wεәr], where/wear.
97
The
following words are typical in that they are spelled one way and pronounced in
another way. The ar combination frequently sounds like
[εr], as in embarrass [embεrәs].
This sound is particularly clear on the West Coast. On the East Coast, you may
hear [embærәs].
Repeat
after me.
|
embarrass |
stationary |
Larry |
|
vocabulary |
care |
Sarah |
|
parent |
carry |
narrate |
|
parallel |
carriage |
guarantee |
|
paragraph |
marriage |
larynx |
|
para~ |
maritime |
laryngitis |
|
parrot |
barrier |
necessary |
|
apparent |
baritone |
itinerary |
|
parish |
Barren's |
said |
|
Paris |
library |
says |
|
area |
character |
transparency |
|
aware |
Karen |
dictionary |
|
compare |
Harry |
many |
|
imaginary |
Mary |
any |
|
Common
Combinations |
|
ar |
|
par |
|
bar |
|
mar |
|
lar |
|
kar |
|
war |
|
har |
|
sar |
|
nar |
|
gar |
|
rar |
Don't
think about spelling here. Just pronounce each column of words as the heading
indi-cates.
|
|
әr |
är |
εr |
or |
eer |
æwr |
|
1. |
earn |
art |
air |
or |
ear |
hour |
|
2. |
hurt |
heart |
hair |
horse |
here |
how
're |
|
3. |
heard |
hard |
haired |
horde |
here's |
|
|
4. |
pert |
part |
pair |
pour |
peer |
power |
|
5. |
word |
|
where |
war |
we're |
|
|
6. |
a
word |
|
aware |
award |
a
weird |
|
|
7. |
work |
|
wear |
warm |
weird |
|
|
8. |
first |
far |
fair |
four |
fear |
flower |
|
9. |
firm |
farm |
fairy |
form |
fierce |
|
|
10. |
rather |
cathartic |
there |
Thor |
theory |
11th
hour |
|
11. |
murky |
mar |
mare |
more |
mere |
|
|
12. |
spur |
spar |
spare |
sport |
spear |
|
|
13. |
sure |
sharp |
share |
shore |
shear |
shower |
|
14. |
churn |
char |
chair |
chore |
cheer |
chowder |
98
|
15. |
gird |
guard |
scared |
gored |
geared |
Gower |
|
16. |
cur |
car |
care |
core |
kir |
cower |
|
17. |
turtle |
tar |
tear |
tore |
tear |
tower |
|
18. |
dirt |
dark |
dare |
door |
dear |
dour |
|
19. |
stir |
star |
stair |
store |
steer |
|
|
20. |
sir |
sorry |
Sarah |
sore |
seer |
sour |
|
21. |
burn |
barn |
bear |
born |
beer |
bower |
Repeat
after me.
The Hurly
Burly Mirror Store at Vermont and Beverly
featured hundreds of first-rate minors. There
were several mirrors on the chest of drawers,
and the largest one was turned toward the door in order
to make the room look bigger. One of the girls who worked
there was concerned that a bird might get hurt by
hurtling into its own reflection. She learned by trial
and error how to preserve both the mirrors
and the birds. Her earn-ings were proportionately
increased at the mirror store to reflect her
contribution to the greater good.
× Pause
the CD to practice reading out loud three times on your own.
Pause
the CD and go through our familiar paragraph and find all the R sounds. The
first one is marked for you.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's
a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily, although
the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I
use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more
than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like
walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I
could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well
and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
V Check
your answers with the Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
99
After
three to six months, you're ready for the follow-up analysis. If you're
studying on your own, please contact toll-free (800) 457-4255 or www.americanaccent.com šfor a re-ferral to a qualified telephone
analyst. The diagnostic analysis is designed to evaluate your current speech
patterns to let you know where your accent is standard and nonstandard.
Think the United Auto Workers can beat Caterpillar Inc. in their bitter
contract battle? Before placing your bets, talk to Paul Branan, who can't wait
to cross the picket line at Caterpillar's factory in East Peoria. Branan,
recently laid off by a rubber-parts plant where he earned base pay of $6.30 an
hour, lives one block from a heavily picketed gate at the Cat complex. Now he's
applying to replace one of 12,600 workers who have been on strike for the past
five months. "Seventeen dollars an hour and they don't want to work?"
asks Branan. "I don't want to take another guy's job, but I'm hurting,
too."
|
1. |
saw, lost, cough |
5. |
shine, time, my |
9. |
some, dull,
possible |
13. |
how, down, |
|
|||||||||||
|
2. |
can, Dan, last |
6. |
sit, silk, been |
10. |
tooth, two, blue |
|
around |
|
|||||||||||
|
3. |
same, say, rail |
7. |
seat, see, bean |
11. |
look, bull,
should |
14. |
appoint, avoid, |
|
|||||||||||
|
4. |
yet, says, Paris |
8. |
word, girl,
first |
12. |
don't, so, whole |
|
boil |
|
|||||||||||
|
|
A |
|
B |
|
C |
|
D |
|
E |
|
F |
||||||||
|
1. |
parry |
1. |
bury |
1. |
apple |
1. |
able |
1. |
mop |
1. |
mob |
||||||||
|
2. |
ferry |
2. |
very |
2. |
afraid |
2. |
avoid |
2. |
off |
2. |
of |
||||||||
|
3. |
stew |
3. |
zoo |
3. |
races |
3. |
raises |
3. |
face |
3. |
phase |
||||||||
|
4. |
sheet |
4. |
girl |
4. |
pressure |
4. |
pleasure |
4. |
crush |
4. |
garage |
||||||||
|
5. |
two |
5. |
do |
5. |
petal |
5. |
pedal |
5. |
not |
5. |
nod |
||||||||
|
6. |
choke |
6. |
joke |
6. |
gaucho |
6. |
gouger |
6. |
rich |
6. |
ridge |
||||||||
|
7. |
think |
7. |
that |
7. |
ether |
7. |
either |
7. |
tooth |
7. |
smooth |
||||||||
|
8. |
come |
8. |
gum |
8. |
bicker |
8. |
bigger |
8. |
pick |
8. |
Pig |
||||||||
|
9. |
yes |
9. |
rate |
9. |
accent |
9. |
exit |
9. |
tax |
9. |
tags |
||||||||
|
10. |
wool |
10. |
grow |
10. |
player |
10. |
correct |
10. |
day |
10. |
tower |
||||||||
|
11. |
his |
11. |
me |
11. |
shower |
11. |
carry |
11. |
now |
11. |
neater |
||||||||
|
12. |
late |
12. |
next |
12. |
ahead |
12. |
swimmer |
12. |
towel |
12. |
same |
||||||||
|
13. |
glow |
|
|
13. |
collect |
13. |
connect |
13. |
needle |
13. |
man |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
14. |
Kelly |
14. |
finger |
|
|
14. |
ring |
||||||||
|
1. |
Who
opened it? |
||||
|
2. |
We
opened it. |
||||
|
3. |
Put
it away. |
||||
|
4. |
Bob
ate an orange. |
||||
|
5. |
Can
it be done? |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
1. |
Who(w)oup'n
dit? |
||||
|
2. |
We(y)oup'n
dit. |
||||
|
3. |
Pü di dә way. |
||||
|
4. |
Bä bei d'
nornj. |
||||
|
5. |
C'n't
be dәn? |
||||
|
1. |
Write
a letter to |
Betty. |
|
||
|
|
|
||||
|
2. |
Ride
a ledder d' |
Beddy. |
|
||
|
|
|
||||
|
3. |
tatter |
tattoo |
|
||
|
4. |
platter |
platoon |
|
||
|
5. |
pattern |
perturb |
|
||
|
6. |
critic |
critique |
|
||
|
|
|
||||
|
7. |
bet |
bed |
|
||
100
In the
first six chapters of the American Accent Training program, we covered the
concepts that form the basis of American speech-intonation, word groups, the
staircase, and liai-sons, or word connections. We also discussed some key
sounds, such as [æ], [ä], and [ә] (Cat? Caught? Cut?), the El,
the American T, and the American R. Let's briefly review each item.
You've
learned some of the reasons for changing the pitch (or saying a word louder or
even streeetching it out) of some words in a sentence.
1.šš To introduce new information (nouns)
2.šš To offer an opinion
3.šš To contrast two or more elements
4.šš To indicate the use of the negative
contraction can't
For
example:
|
New
information |
Opinion |
|
He bought a car. |
It feels like mink, but I think it's rabbit. |
|
Contrast |
Can't |
|
Timing
is more important than technique. |
He can't do it. |
You've
also learned how to change meaning by shifting intonation, without changing any
of the actual words in a sentence.
I
applied for the job (not you!).
I applied
for the job (but I don't think I'll get it).
I
applied for the job (not I applied myself to the job).
I
applied for the job (the one I've been dreaming about for years!)
I
applied for the job (not the lifestyle!).
When
you have a verb/preposition combination, the stress usually goes on the
preposition: pick up, put down, fall in, and so
on. Otherwise, prepositions are placed in the valleys of your intonation. It's
f'r you., They're fr'm LA.
When
you have initials, the stress goes on the last letter: IBM, PO Box,
ASAP, IOU, and so on.
101
Through
liaisons, you learned about voiced and unvoiced
consonants-where they are lo-cated in the mouth and which sounds
are likely to attach to a following one. You were also introduced to glides.
|
1. |
Consonant
and Vowel |
Put
it on. |
[Pudidan.] |
|
2. |
Consonant
and Consonant |
race
track |
[raystræk] |
|
3. |
Vowel
and Vowel |
No other |
[No(w)other] |
|
4. |
T and
Y |
Put
you on |
[Puchü(w)än] |
|
|
D and
Y |
Had you? |
[Hæjoo?] |
|
|
S
and Y |
Yes,
you do. |
[Yeshu
do.] |
|
|
Z and
Y |
Is
your cat? |
[Izher
cat?] |
This
lesson was an introduction to pronunciation, especially those highly
characteristic sounds, [æ], [ä] and [ә].
|
[æ] |
The
jaw moves down and back while the back of the tongue pushes forward and the
tip touches the back of the bottom teeth. Sometimes it almost sounds like
there's a Y in there: cat [kyæt] |
|
[a] |
Relax
the tongue, open the throat like you're letting the doctor see all the way to
your toes: aah. |
|
[ә] |
This
sound is the sound that would come out if you were pushed (lightly) in the
stom-ach: uh. You don't need to put your mouth
in any particular position at all. The sound is created when the air is
forced out of the diaphragm and past the vocal cords. |
T is T,
a clear popped sound, when it is at the top of the staircase.
|
|
at
the the beginning of a word, table |
|
|
|
||
|
|
in a
stressed syllable, intend |
|
||||
|
|
in ST,
TS, TR, CT clusters, instruct |
|
||||
|
|
replaces
D after unvoiced consonants, hoped [hopt] |
|
||||
|
T is
D, a softer sound, when it is in the middle of the staircase |
|
|||||
|
|
in an
unstressed position between vowels, cattle [caddie] |
|||||
T or TT,
and D or DD are held, (not pronounced with a
sharp burst of air) when they are at the bottom of the staircase.
šš at the end of a word, bought
[bä(t)]
102
T is
held before N.
ššš unstressed and followed by -ten or -tain,
written [wri(tt)en]
T is
held before N.
ššš swallowed by N, interview [innerview]
The El
is closely connected with the schwa. Your tongue drops down in back as if it
were going to say uh, but the tip curls
up and attaches to the top of the mouth, which requires a strong movement of
the tip of the tongue. The air comes out around the sides of the tongue and the
sound is held for slightly longer than you'd think.
The
main difference between a consonant and a vowel is that with a consonant there
is contact at some point in your mouth. It might be the lips, P; the tongue
tip, N; or the throat, G. Like a vowel, however, the R doesn't touch anywhere.
It is similar to a schwa, but your tongue curls back in a retroflex movement
and produces a sound deep in the throat. The tongue
doesn't touch the top of the mouth. Another way to
approach it is to put your tongue in position for ee, and then
slide straight back to eeer. Some people are
more comfortable collapsing their tongue back, like an accordion instead of
curling it. It doesn't make any difference in the sound, so do whichever you
prefer.
Now you
need to use the techniques you've learned so far and to make the transference
to your everyday speech. In the beginning, the process is very slow and
analytical, but as you do it over and over again, it becomes natural and
unconscious. The exercises presented here will show you how. For example, take
any phrase that may catch your ear during a conver-sation-because it is
unfamiliar, or for whatever other reason-and work it though the practice
sequence used in Review Exercise 1.
Take
the repeated phrase in the following application steps. Apply each concept
indicated there, one at a time and in the sequence given. Read the sentence out
loud two or three times, concentrating only on the one concept. This means that
when you are working on liaisons, for instance, you don't have to pay much
attention to intonation, just for that short time. First, read the phrase with
no preparation and record yourself doing it.
To have a friend, be a friend.
Pause
the CD and go through each step using the following explanation as a guide.
103
You
want to figure out where the intonation belongs when you first encounter a
phrase. In this example friend is repeated, so a good reason for intonation
would be the con-trast that lies in the verbs have and be:
To have
a friend, be a friend.
The
pause in this case is easy because it's a short sentence with a comma, so we
put one there. With your own phrases, look for a logical break, or other hints,
as when you have the verb to be, you usually pause
very slightly just before it, because it means that you're introducing a
definition:
A (pause) is B.
Cows(pause) are
ruminants. To have a friend,(pause) be a friend.
Figure
out which words you want to run together. Look for words that start with vow-els
and connect them to the previous word:
To hava
friend, be(y)a friend.
Label
these common sounds in the sentence:
Tә
hævә friend, be ә friend.
Work
with it, making it into a D or CH, holding it back or getting rid of it
altogether, as appropriate. In this phrase, there are no Ts, but the D is held:
To have
a frien(d), be a frien(d).
Mark
all the Rs.
To have
a friend, be a friend.
Tә
hævә frεn(d),(pause) be(y)ә
frεnd(d).
T Practice
the sequence of steps a couple of times and then record yourself again; place
your second recording right after the first one on your tape. Play them both
back and see if you hear a strong difference.
104
Pause the CD and
go through the same steps with "Get a better water heater!"
|
1. |
Intonation |
Get a
better water heater! |
|
2. |
Word groups |
Get a better
water heater! (pause) |
|
3. |
Liaisons |
Geta better
water heater! |
|
4. |
[æ], [a],
[ә] |
Getә
better water heater! |
|
5. |
The American T |
Ged a bedder
wadder heeder! |
|
6. |
The American R |
Get a better
water heater! |
|
7. |
Combination of
Concepts 1-6 |
Gεdә
bεddr wädr heedr! |
Pause the CD and
apply the steps to your own sentences.
|
1. |
Intonation |
______________________ |
|
2. |
Word groups |
______________________ |
|
3. |
Liaisons |
______________________ |
|
4. |
[æ], [a],
[ә] |
______________________ |
|
5. |
The American T |
______________________ |
|
6. |
The American R |
______________________ |
|
7. |
Combination of
Concepts 1-6 |
______________________ |
Are you
shy? Does doing this embarrass you? Are you thinking that people will notice
your new accent and criticize you for it? In the beginning, you may feel a
little strange with these new sounds that you are using, but don't worry, it's
like a new pair of shoes-they take a while to break in and make comfortable.
Nevertheless, I hope that you are enjoying this program. Adopting a new accent
can become too personal and too emotional an issue, so don't take it too
seriously. Relax. Have a good time. Play with the sounds that you are making.
Whenever a word or phrase strikes your fancy, go somewhere private and comfort-able
and try out a couple of different approaches, styles, and attitudes with it-as
you are going to do in the next exercise. If possible, record yourself on tape
so you can decide which one suits you best.
Repeat the
following statement and response expressing the various feelings or tone indi-cated
in parentheses.
|
anger |
I told you it
wouldn't work! ! |
I thought it
would! |
|
excitementš |
I told you it
wouldn't work! ! |
I thought it
would! |
|
disbelief |
I told you it
wouldn't work? |
And I thought it
would? |
|
smugness |
I told you it
wouldn't work. |
I thought it would. (I-told-you-so
attitude) |
105
|
humor |
I
told you it wouldn't work. |
I
thought it would |
|
sadness |
I
told you it wouldn't work. |
I
thought it would. |
|
relief |
I
told you it wouldn't work. |
Whew!
I thought it would. |
|
resignation |
I
told you it wouldn't work. |
I
thought it would. |
V Pause
the CD and repeat the statement using three other tones that you'd like to try.
|
your |
choice |
I
told |
you |
it |
wouldn |
't |
work!! |
I |
thought |
it |
would! |
|
your |
choice |
I
told |
you |
it |
wouldn |
't |
work!! |
I |
thought |
it |
would! |
|
your |
choice |
I
told |
you |
it |
wouldn |
't |
work!! |
I |
thought |
it |
would! |
Now
that you've run through a couple of emotions and practiced speaking with both
meaning and feeling, try having some two-word conversations. These are pretty
common in day-to-day situations.
Repeat
the following statements and responses expressing the various feelings.
|
1. |
Really? |
(general
curiosity) |
Maybe. |
(general
potential) |
|
2. |
Really? |
(avid
curiosity) |
Maybe. |
(suggestive
possibility) |
|
3. |
Really? |
(boredom) |
Maybe
|
(equal
boredom) |
|
4. |
Really? |
(laughting
with disbelief) |
Maybe. |
(slight
possibility) |
|
5. |
Really? |
(sarcasm) |
Maybe. |
(self
justification) |
|
6. |
Really? |
(sadness) |
Maybe. |
(equal
sadness) |
|
7. |
Really? |
(relief) |
Maybe. |
(hope) |
|
8. |
Really? |
(coy
interrogation) |
Maybe. |
(coy
confirmation) |
|
9. |
Really? |
(seeking
confirmation) |
Rilly! |
(confirmation) |
+ Pause
the CD and try three on your own.
|
10. |
Really?
(your choice) |
Maybe.
(your choice) |
|
11. |
Really?
(your choice) |
Maybe.
(your choice) |
|
12. |
Really?
(your choice) |
Maybe.
(your choice) |
Repeat
the following statements and responses expressing the various feelings.
|
1. |
Who
did it? (curiosity) |
I
don't know. (ignorance) |
|
2. |
Who
did it? (interrogation) |
I don't
know. (self-protection) |
|
3. |
Who
did it? (anger) |
I
don't know. (insistence) |
106
|
4. |
Who
did it? (repeating) |
I
don't know. (strong denial) |
|
5. |
Who
did it? (sarcasm) |
I
don't know. (self-justification) |
|
6. |
Who
did it? (sadness) |
I
don't know. (despair) |
|
7. |
Who
did it? (relief) |
I
sure don't know. (blithe ignorance) |
|
8. |
Whooo
did it? (coy interrogation) |
I
don't know. (sing-song) |
|
9. |
Who
did it? (annoyance) |
I
don't know. (equal annoyance) |
|
10. |
Who
did it? (laughing with disbelief) |
I
don't know. (laughing ignorance) |
|
11. |
Who
did it? (surprise) |
I
dunno. (sullenness) |
|
12. |
Who
did it? (your choice) |
I
don't know. (your choice) |
Rәshәz
әfensәv әgεnst rebәlz in thә
brεikәway reejәnәv Chechnyә iz entering ә
nyu fεiz. än thә
wәn hænd, Rәshәn forsәzr teiking fül
kәntrol әv thә Rәshәn kæpәdәl
Gräzny, әnd Mäskæo sez thә wor seemz tә be
trning in its feivr. än thee
әthr hænd, thә rebәlz küd be reetreeding
Gräzny jәst tә fight әnәthr day-enshring ә
läng grrilә wor. Thә for-mәnth känflikt täpt
thee әjendә tәdäy during Sεkrәtεry
әv State Mædәlin älbräit's täks with
ækting Rәshәn prezәd'nt Vlædәmir Putin,
älbräit then left fr Kro(w)εishә,
әbæot which will hear more shortly. Bәt frst, we trn tә
thә Wrldz Nenet Shevek in Mäskæo.
olbräit
εn Pu-tin met feu longer thεn plennd tәday-feu nillee
three äwεz. äftә thεә toks, olbrait kold
thε meeting intens, bәt plεznt, εn ofeud this
εsεsmεnt εf Rәshәz εkting prezidεnt.
I
fæond him ә very well informd persәn. Heez
äveeәslee ә Rәshәn paytreeәt әn
älso sәmwәn who seeks a normәl pәzishәn fr
Rәshә within thә West-әn he strәck me
әzә präblәm sälvr
~ ~
Russia's
offensive against rebels in the breakaway region of Chechnya is entering a new
phase. On the one hand, Russian forces are taking full control of the Russian
capital Grozny, and Moscow says the war seems to be turning in its favor. On
the other hand the rebels could be retreating Grozny just to fight another day-ensuring
a long guerilla war. The four-month conflict topped the agenda today during
Secretary of State Madeline Albright's talks with acting Russian president
Vladimir Putin. Albright then left for Croatia, about which we'll hear more
shortly. But first, we turn to the World's Nennet Shevek in Moscow.
"Albright
and Putin met for longer than planned today-for nearly three hours. After the
talks, Albright called the meeting intense, but pleasant, and offered this
assessment of Russia's acting president."
"I
found him a very well informed person. He's obviously a Russian patriot and
also someone who seeks a normal position for Russia within the West-and he
struck me as a problem solver."
107
Here
we are reprising the exercise from Exercises 1-24 to 1-37. To review, an
adjective and a noun make a descriptive phrase, and the second word is
stressed. Two nouns make a compound noun, or set phrase, and the first
word is stressed. Repeat the following sen-tences. Copy your descriptive
phrases and set phrases (Ex. 1-31). You will continue using these word
combinations throughout this series of exercises.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Descriptive
Phrase |
Set
Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a short nail. |
It's
a fingernail. |
|
2. |
It's
a chocolate cake. |
It's
a pancake. |
|
3. |
It's
a hot bath. |
It's
a hot tub. |
|
4. |
It's
a long drive. |
It's
a hard drive. |
|
5. |
It's
the back door. |
It's
the backbone. |
|
6. |
There
are four cards. |
It's
a card trick. |
|
7. |
It's
a small spot. |
It's
a spotlight. |
|
8. |
It's
a good book. |
It's
a phone book. |
|
9. |
It's
a ___________ |
It's
a ___________ |
|
10. |
It's
a ___________ |
It's
a ___________ |
|
11. |
It's
a ___________ |
It's
a ___________ |
Pause
the CD and put an accent mark over the word that should be stressed. Check the
Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
|
1. |
They
live in Los Angeles. |
11. |
We
like everything. |
|
2. |
Give
me a paper bag. |
12. |
It's
a moving van. |
|
3. |
Is
that your lunch bag? |
13. |
It's
a new paper. |
|
4. |
7-11 is a convenience
store. |
14. |
It's
the newspaper. |
|
5. |
Lucky's
is a convenient store. |
15. |
The
doll has glass eves. |
|
6. |
Do
your homework! |
16. |
The
doll has eyeglasses. |
|
7. |
He's
a good writer. |
17. |
It's
a high chair. |
|
8. |
It's
an apple pie. |
18. |
It's
a highchair. (for babies) |
|
9. |
It's
a pineapple. |
19. |
It's
a baseball. |
|
10. |
We
like all things. |
20. |
It's
a blue ball. |
108
When
you modify a descriptive phrase by adding an adjective or adverb, you
maintain the original intonation pattern and simply add an additional stress
point.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Descriptive
Phrase |
Modified
Descriptive Phrase |
|
1. |
It's a short nail. |
It's a really short nail. |
|
2. |
It's a chocolate cake. |
It's a tasty chocolate cake. |
|
3. |
I took a hot bath. |
I took a long, hot bath. |
|
4. |
It's a hard drive. |
It's a long, hard drive. |
|
5. |
It's the back door. |
It's the only back door. |
|
6. |
There
are four cards. |
There
are four slick cards. |
|
7. |
It's a little spot. |
It's a little black spot. |
|
8. |
It's a good book. |
It's a really good book. |
|
9. |
It's a __________________ |
It's a __________________ |
|
10. |
It's a __________________ |
It's a __________________ |
|
11. |
It's a __________________ |
It's a __________________ |
When
you modify a set phrase, you maintain the same pattern, leaving the new
adjective unstressed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Set
Phrase |
Modified
Set Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a fingernail. |
It's
a short fingernail. |
|
2. |
It's
a pancake. |
It's
a delicious pancake. |
|
3. |
It's
a hot tub. |
It's
a leaky hot tub. |
|
4. |
It's
a hard drive. |
It's
an expensive hard drive. |
|
5. |
It's
the backbone. |
It's
a long backbone. |
|
6. |
It's
a card trick. |
It's
a clever card trick. |
|
7. |
It's
a spotlight. |
It's
a bright spotlight. |
|
8. |
It's
a phone book. |
It's
the new phone book. |
|
9. |
It's
a |
It's
a |
|
10. |
It's
a |
It's
a |
|
11. |
It's
a |
It's
a |
109
You
should be pretty familiar with the idea of a set phrase by now. The next step
is when you have more components that link together to form a new thing-a
three-word set phrase. Combine three things: finger +
nail + clipper. Leave the stress on the first word: fíngernail clipper. Although
you are now using three words, they still mean one new thing. Write your
own sentences, using the word combinations from the previous exercises.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two-Word
Set Phrase |
Three-Word
Set Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a fingernail. |
It's
a fingernail clipper. |
|
2. |
It's
a pancake. |
It's
a pancake shop. |
|
3. |
It's
a hot tub. |
It's
a hot tub maker. |
|
4. |
It's
a hard drive. |
It's
a hard drive holder. |
|
5. |
It's
the backbone. |
It's
a backbone massage. |
|
6. |
It's
a playing card. |
It's
a playing card rack. |
|
7. |
It's
a spotlight. |
It's
a spotlight stand. |
|
8. |
It's
a phone book. |
It's
a phone book listing. |
|
9. |
It's
a _______________ |
It's
a _______________ |
|
10. |
It's
a _______________ |
It's
a _______________ |
|
11. |
It's
a _______________ |
It's
a _______________ |
Repeat
the following sentences. Write your own sentences at the bottom, carrying over
the same examples you used in the previous exercise.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Modified
Description |
Modified
Set Phrase |
3-Word
Set Phrase |
|
|
1. |
a really
short nail |
a
long fingernail |
a fingernail
clipper |
|
2. |
a big
chocolate cake |
a
thin pancake |
a pancake
shop |
|
3. |
a long,
hot bath |
a
leaky hot tub |
a hot
tub maker |
|
4. |
a long,
boring drive |
a new
hard drive |
a hard
drive holder |
|
5. |
a broken
back door |
a
long backbone |
a backbone
massage |
|
6. |
four
slick cards |
a new
playing card |
a playing
card rack |
|
7. |
a small
black spot |
a
bright spotlight |
a spotlight
stand |
|
8. |
a well-written
book |
an
open phone book |
a phone
book listing |
|
9. |
|
a
blind salesman |
a blind
salesman |
|
|
|
(He
can't see.) |
(He
sells blinds.) |
|
10. |
|
a
light housekeeper |
a lighthouse
keeper |
|
|
|
(She
cleans the house.) |
(She
lives in a lighthouse.) |
|
11. |
|
a
green houseplant |
a greenhouse
plant |
|
|
|
(It's
a healthy houseplant.) |
(It's
from a greenhouse.) |
110
|
12. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
|
13. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
|
14. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
It's a |
_______________
. |
Notice
where there are patterns, where the words change, but the rhythm stays the same
(straw-cutting tools, woodcutting tools, bricklaying
tools). Read the story aloud.
Once
upon a time, there were three little pigs.
They lived with their kind old mother
near a large, dark forest.
One day, they decided to build their own houses.
The first little pig used straw. He took his straw-cutting
tools and his new lawnmower, and
built a little straw house.
The second little pig used
sticks. He took his woodcutting tools and
some old paintbrushes and built a small wooden
house. The third
little pig, who was a very hard worker,
used bricks. He took his bricklaying
tools, an expensive mortarboard, and
built a large brick house. In the forest,
lived a big bad wolf.
He wanted to eat the three
little pigs, so he went to the flimsy
straw abode and tried to blow it down. "Not by
the hair of my chinny chin chin
!" cried the three little porkers.
But the house was not very strong,
and the big bad beast blew it down. The three
little pigs ran to the rickety wooden
structure, but the big bad wolf
blew it down, too. Quickly, the three
little piggies ran to the sturdy brick dwelling
and hid inside. The big bad wolf huffed
and he puffed, but he couldn't blow the strong brick
house down. The three
little pigs laughed and danced and sang.
One of
the most fascinating things about spoken English is how the intonation prepares
the listener for what is coming. As you know, the main job of intonation is to
announce new information. However, there is a secondary function, and that is
to alert the listener of changes down the road. Certain shifts will be dictated
for the sake of sentence balance. Set phrases and contrast
don't change, but the intonation of a descriptive phrase will
move from the second word to the first, without changing the meaning.
The stress change indicates that it's not the end of the sentence, but rather,
there is more to come. This is why it is particularly important to speak in
phrases, instead of word by word.
When
we practiced Goldilocks and the Three Bears the
first time, on page 34, we had very short sentences so we didn't need sentence
balance. All of the underlined descrip-tive phrases would otherwise be stressed
on the second word, if the shift weren't needed.
There
is a little girl called Goldilocks.
She is walking
through a sunny forest
and sees a small house. She knocks on the
door, but no one answers. She goes
inside to see what's there. There are three
chairs in the large room.
Goldilocks sits on the biggest
chair. It's too high for her
to sit on. She sits on the middle-sized
one, but it's is too low. She
sits on the small chair and it
is just right. On the table, there are three bowls of porridge.
She tries the first one, but it
is too hot to swallow.
The second one is too cold,
and the third one is just right,
so she eats it all. After that, she goes upstairs
to look around. There are three beds in
111
the bedroom. She sits down on the biggest
one. It's too hard to sleep on. The middle-sized
bed is too soft. The little one is just right,
so she lies down and
falls asleep.
In the meantime,
the family of three bears comes
home - the Papa bear, the Mama bear, and the
Baby bear. They look around and say, "Who's
been sitting in our chairs and eating our porridge?" Then they run upstairs and say, "Who's
been sleeping in our beds?" Goldilocks
wakes up when she hears all the noise and is
so scared that
she runs out of the
house and never comes back.
When
you continue to modify a set phrase, you maintain the original intonation
pattern and simply add an additional stress point.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Modified
Set Phrase |
Remodified
Set Phrase |
|
|
1. |
It's a short fingernail. |
It's a really
short fingernail. |
|
|
2. |
It's a banana pancake. |
It's a tasty
banana pancake. |
|
|
3. |
It's a leaky hot
tub. |
It's a leaky
old hot tub. |
|
|
4. |
It's a new hard
drive. |
It's a brand
new hard drive. |
|
|
5. |
It's a long backbone. |
It's a long,
hard backbone. |
|
|
6. |
It's a wrinkled playing
card. |
It's a wrinkled,
old playing card. |
|
|
7. |
It's a bright spotlight. |
It's a bright
white spotlight. |
|
|
8. |
It's the new phone
book. |
It's a new
age phone book. |
|
|
9. |
It's a
_______________ |
It's a
_______________ |
|
|
10. |
It's a
_______________ |
It's a
_______________ |
|
|
11. |
It's a
_______________ |
It's a
_______________ |
|
In
short phrases (#1 and #2), ~teen can be thought of
as a separate word in terms of intona-tion. In longer phrases, the number + ~teen becomes
one word. Repeat after me.
|
1. |
How old
is he? |
2. |
How
long has it been? |
3. |
How old
is he? |
|
|
He's
fourteen. [fortéen] |
|
Fourteen years. |
|
He's
fourteen years old. |
|
|
He's
forty. [fórdy] |
|
Forty
years. |
|
He's
forty years old. |
112
When
you continue to modify a set phrase, you maintain the original intonation
pattern and simply add an unstressed modifier.
|
|
|
|
|
Three-Word Set Phrase |
Modified Three-Word Set Phrase |
|
|
1. |
It's
a fingernail clipper. |
It's
a new fingernail clipper. |
|
2. |
It's
a pancake shop. |
It's
a good pancake shop. |
|
3. |
He's
a hot tub maker. |
He's
the best hot tub maker. |
|
4. |
It's
a hard drive holder. |
It's
a plastic hard drive holder. |
|
5. |
It's
a backbone massage. |
It's
a painful backbone massage. |
|
6. |
It's
a playing card rack. |
It's
my best playing card rack. |
|
7. |
It's
a spotlight bulb. |
It's
a fragile spotlight bulb. |
|
8. |
It's
a phone book listing. |
It's
an unusual phone book listing. |
|
9. |
It's
a _______________ . |
It's
a _______________ . |
|
10. |
It's
a _______________ . |
It's
a _______________ . |
|
11. |
It's
a _______________ . |
It's
a _______________ . |
Repeat
after me.
Once upon a time, there was a cute little
redhead named Little Red
Riding Hood. One day, she told her mother that she wanted
to take a well-stocked
picnic basket to her dear old grandmother
on the other side of the dark, scary
Black Forest. Her mother warned her not to talk to
strangers - especially the dangerous big bad wolf. Little Red
Riding Hood said she would be careful, and left. Halfway there,
she saw a mild-mannered hitchhiker.
She pulled over in her bright red sports car and
offered him a ride. Just before they got to the freeway turnoff
for her old grandmother's
house, the heavily bearded
young man jumped out and ran away. (Was he the
wolf?) He hurried ahead to the waiting grandmother's
house, let himself in, ate her, and jumped into her bed to
wait for Little Red Riding Hood.
When Little Red Riding Hood
got to the house, she was surprised, "Grandmother, what big eyes you
have!" The wolf replied, "The better to see you
with, my dear..." "But Grandmother, what big ears you
have!" "The better to hear you with, my
dear..." "Oh, Grandmother, what big teeth you
have!" "The better to eat you with!"
And the wolf jumped out of the bed to eat Little Red
Riding Hood. Fortunately for her, she was a recently
paid-up member of the infamous
National Rifle Association so she
pulled out her brand new shotgun
and shot the wolf dead.
113
Repeat
after me, then pause the CD and write your own phrases, using the same order
and form.
|
1. |
It's
a pot. |
noun |
|
2. |
It's new. |
adjective |
|
3. |
It's
a new pot. |
descriptive
phrase (noun) |
|
4. |
It's brand
new. |
descriptive
phrase (adjective) |
|
5. |
It's
a brand new pot. |
modified
descriptive phrase |
|
6. |
It's
a teapot. |
two-word
set phrase |
|
7. |
It's
a new teapot. |
modified
set phrase |
|
8. |
It's
a brand new teapot. |
modified
set phrase |
|
9. |
It's
a teapot lid. |
three-word
set phrase |
|
10. |
It's
a new teapot lid. |
modified
three-word set phrase |
|
11. |
It's
a brand new teapot lid. |
modified
three-word set phrase |
|
1. |
š_______________ |
noun |
|
2. |
š_______________ |
adjective |
|
3. |
š_______________ |
descriptive
phrase (noun) |
|
4. |
š_______________ |
descriptive
phrase (adjective) |
|
5. |
š_______________ |
modified
descriptive phrase |
|
6. |
š_______________ |
two-word
set phrase |
|
7. |
š_______________ |
modified
set phrase |
|
8. |
š_______________ |
modified
set phrase |
|
9. |
š_______________ |
three-word
set phrase |
|
10. |
š_______________ |
modified
three-word set phrase |
|
11. |
š_______________ |
modified
three-word set phrase |
|
1. |
š_______________ |
1. |
š_______________ |
|
2. |
š_______________ |
2. |
š_______________ |
|
3. |
š_______________ |
3. |
š_______________ |
|
4. |
š_______________ |
4. |
š_______________ |
|
5. |
š_______________ |
5. |
š_______________ |
|
6. |
š_______________ |
6. |
š_______________ |
|
7. |
š_______________ |
7. |
š_______________ |
|
8. |
š_______________ |
8. |
š_______________ |
|
9. |
š_______________ |
9. |
š_______________ |
|
10. |
š_______________ |
10. |
š_______________ |
|
11. |
š_______________ |
11. |
š_______________ |
114
Now,
let's dissect a standard paragraph, including its title, as we did in Review
Exercise 1. First-in the boxes in
the first paragraph, decide which is a descriptive phrase, which is a set
phrase, and where any additional stress might fall. Remember, descriptive
phrases are stressed on the second word and set phrases on the first. Use one
of your colored markers to indicate the stressed words. Second-go
through the paragraph and mark the remaining stressed words. Third-put
slash marks where you think a short pause is appropriate. Lis-ten as I read the
paragraph.
ךš Pause the CD and do the written exercises
including intonation, word groups, liaisons, [æ], [ä], [ә], and the American T.
|
1. |
Two-word
phrases, intonation and phrasing |
|
|
Ignorance
on Parade |
|
|
You
say you don't know a proton from a crouton? Well, you're not the only one. A
recent nationwide survey funded by the National Science Foundation shows
that fewer than 6 percent of American adults can be called
scientifically literate. The rest think that DNA is a food additive,
Chernobyl is a ski resort, and radioactive milk can be made safe by boiling.*
Judith Stone / 1989 Discover
Publications |
|
2. |
Word
Connections |
|
|
Ignoran
sän Parade |
|
|
You
say you don't know a proton from a crouton? Well, you're not the only one. A
recent nationwide survey funded by the National Science Foundation shows
that fewer than 6 percent of American adults can be called scientifically
literate. The rest think that DNA is a food additive, Chernobyl is a
ski resort, and radioactive milk can be made safe by boiling. |
|
3. |
[æ],
[ä], [ә] |
|
|
Ignәrәnce
än Pәrade |
|
|
You
say you don't know a proton from a crouton? Well, you're not the only one. A
recent nationwide survey funded by the National Science Foundation shows
that fewer than 6 percent of American adults can be called scientifically
literate. The rest think that DNA is a food additive, Chernobyl is a ski
resort, and radioactive milk can be made safe by boiling. |
|
4. |
The
American T |
|
|
Ignorants
on Parade |
|
|
You
say you don't know a proton from a crouton? Well, you're not the only one. A
recent nationwide survey funded by the National Science Foundation
shows that fewer than 6 percent of American adults can be
called scientifically literate. The rest think that DNA is a food
additive, Chernobyl is a ski resort, and radioactive milk can be made
safe by boiling. |
115
Here,
go over each topic, point by point.
|
1. |
Two-word phrases, intonation and phrasing |
|
|
a proton
from a crouton? (contrast) Well,
you're not the only one. (contrast) A
recent nationwide survey (modified descriptive
phrase) National
Science Foundation (modified set phrase) 6 percent of American adults
(descriptive phrase with sentence balance) scientifically
literate (descriptive phrase) The rest
think (contrast) DNA
(acronym) food additive
(set phrase) ski resort (set
phrase) radioactive milk
(descriptive phrase) Ignorance
on Parade(stop) You
say you don't know a proton from a crouton? (pause) Well,(pause) you're
not the only one.(pause) A
recent nationwide survey (pause) funded
by the National Science Foundation (pause)
shows that fewer than 6 percent of American adults (pause) can
be called scientifically literate.(stop) The rest
think(pause) that
DNA is a food additive,(pause) Chernobyl
is a ski resort,(pause) and
radioactive milk(pause) can
be made safe by boil-ing. |
|
2. |
Word
Connections |
|
|
Ignoran
sän Parade |
|
|
You sa(y)you don(t)knowa proton
froma crouton? Well, you're no(t)the(y)only one.
A recen(t)nationwidesurvey
funded by the NationalSci(y)ence
Foundation showzthat fewer thansix percen'v'merica nadults can
be calledscientifically literate. The ressthink that Dee(y)εNA(y)iza foo
dadditive, Chernobyliza ski resort, and radi(y)o(w)active
milk can be madesafe by boiling. |
|
3. |
[æ],
[ä], [ә] |
|
|
Ignәrәnce
än Pәrade |
|
|
You say you dont
know ә protän frәm ә crootän?
Well, yer nät thee(y)only
wәn. ә resәnt nashәnwide srvey fәndәd
by thә Næshәnәl Sci(y)әns
Fæondashәn showz thәt fewәr thәn 6 preen
әv әmerәcәn әdәlts cәn be
cälld sci(y)әntifәklee
liderәt. Thә rest think thәt Dee Yeh
Nay(y)izә food æddәtv,
Chrnobl izә skee rәzort, әn radee(y)o(w)æctәv
milk cәn be made safe by boiling. |
116
|
4. |
The
American T |
|
|
Ignorants
on Parade |
|
|
You say you don(t) know
a proTon from a crouTon? Well, you're nä(t) the only
one. A recen(t) nationwide survey
funded by the National Science Foundation shows tha(t) fewer
than 6 percen of American adulTs can be called scienTifically liderә(t). The
ress think tha(t) DNA is a
food addidive, Chernobyl is a ski resor(t), and
radioakdiv milk can be made safe by boiling. |
|
5. |
Combined |
|
|
Ignәrәn
sän Pәrade |
|
|
You sa(y)you
don(t)no wә protän frәmә crootän?(stop)Well,(pause)yer
nät thee(y)only wәn.
(pause)ә reesәn(t)
nashәnwide srvey(pause)fәndәd
by thә Næshәnәl Sci(y)әns
Fæondashәn(pause)shoz thә(t)
fewәr thәn 6 prcenә vәmerәcә
nәdәlts(pause)cәn be
cälld sci(y)әntifәklee
liderәt.(stop)Thә ress
think(pause)thә(t) Dee
Yeh Nay(y)izә foo
dæddәtv,(pause)Chrnobә
lizә skee rәzort,(pause)әn
raydee(y)o(w)æctәv
milk(pause)cәn be
made safe by boiling. |
117
I'd
like you to consider words as rocks for a moment. When a rock first rolls into
the ocean, it is sharp and well defined. After tumbling about for a few
millennia, it becomes round and smooth. A word goes through a similar process.
When it first rolls into English, it may have a lot of sharp, well-defined
vowels or consonants in it, but after rolling off of a few million tongues, it
becomes round and smooth. This smoothing process occurs when a tense vowel
becomes reduced and when an unvoiced consonant becomes voiced. The most common
words are the smoothest, the most reduced, the most often voiced. There are
several very common words that are all voiced: this, that, the,
those, them, they, their, there, then, than, though. The
strong words such as thank, think, or thing,
as well as long or unusual words such as thermometer or theologian,
stay unvoiced.
The
sound of the TH combination seems to exist only in English, Greek, and
Castillian Spanish. Just as with most of the other consonants, there are two
types-voiced and un-voiced. The
voiced TH is like a D, but instead of being in back of the
teeth, it's 1/4 inch lower and forward, between the
teeth. The unvoiced TH is like an S between the teeth. Most people tend to
replace the unvoiced TH with S or T and the voiced one with Z or D, so instead
of thing, they say sing, or ting, and
instead of that, they say zat or dat.
To
pronounce TH correctly, think of a snake's tongue. You don't want to take a big
relaxed tongue, throw it out of your mouth for a long distance and leave it out
there for a long time. Make only a very quick, sharp little movement. Keep your
tongue's tip very tense. It darts out between your teeth and snaps back very
quickly-thing, that, this. The tongue's
position for the unvoiced TH is similar to that of S, but for TH the tongue is
extended through the teeth, instead of hissing behind the back of the teeth.
The voiced TH is like a D except that the tongue is placed between the teeth,
or even pressed behind the teeth. Now we're ready for some practice.
118
I'm
going to read the following paragraph once straight through, so you can hear
that no matter how fast I read it, all the THs are still there. It is a
distinctive sound, but, when you repeat it, don't put too much effort into it.
Listen to my reading.
The throng
of thermometers from the Thuringian Thermometer
Folks arrived on Thursday. There were a thousand thirty-three
thick thermometers, though, instead of a thousand
thirty-six thin thermometers, which was three thermometers
fewer than the thousand thirty-six we
were expecting, not to mention that they were thick
ones rather than thin ones. We thoroughly
thought that we had ordered a thousand thirty-six,
not a thousand thirty-three, thermometers, and asked the
Thuringian Thermometer Folks to reship the thermometers;
thin, not thick. They apologized for sending only a
thousand thirty-three thermometers rather
than a thousand thirty-six and promised to replace the
thick thermometers with thin thermometers.
th =
voiced (17)šššššššš th = unvoiced (44)
As I
was reading, I hope you heard that in a lot of places, the words ran together,
such as in rather than. You don't have to
go way out of your way to make a huge new sound, but rather create a smooth
flowing from one TH to the next by leaving your tongue in an anticipatory
position.
As
mentioned before (see Liaisons, page 63), when a word ends in TH and the next
word starts with a sound from behind the teeth, a combination or composite
sound is formed, because you are anticipating the combination. For example: with-lemon;
not with lemon.
The
anticipation of each following sound brings me to the subject that most
students raise at some point-one that explains their resistance to wholly
embracing liaisons and general fluency. People feel that because English is not
their native tongue, they can't anticipate the next sound because they never
know what the next word is going to be.
Accurate
or not, for the sake of argument, let's say that you do construct sentences
entirely word by word. This is where those pauses that we studied come in
handy. During your pause, line up in your head all the words you want to use in
order to communicate your thought, and then push them out in groups. If you
find yourself slowing down and talking...word...by...word, back up and take a
running leap at a whole string of words.
Now,
take out your little mirror again. You need it for the last exercise in this
chapter, which follows.
119
In
order to target the TH sound, first, hold a mirror in front of you and read our
familiar paragraph silently, moving only your tongue. It should be visible in
the mirror each time you come to a TH. Second, find all of the THs, both voiced
and unvoiced. Remember, a voiced sound makes your throat vibrate, and you can
feel that vibration by placing your fingers on your throat. There are ten
voiced and two unvoiced THs here. You can mark them by underscoring the former
and drawing a circle around the latter. Or, if you prefer, use two of your
color markers. Pause the CD to mark the TH sounds. Don't forget to check your
answers against the Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's
a lot
to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I
should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily,
although the only way to get it is to practice all of
the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation
more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's
like walking down a staircase. I've been talk-ing to a lot of
Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen
well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Feeling
confident? Good! Try the following tongue twisters and have some fun.
1.šš The sixth sick Sheik's sixth thick sheep.
2.šš This is a zither. Is this a zither?
3.šš I thought a thought. But the
thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought.
If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought,
I wouldn't have thought so much.
120
There
are two sounds that look similar, but sound quite different. One is the tense
vowel [u], pronounced ooh, and the other is
the soft vowel [ü], whose pronunciation is a combination of ih and uh. The [u]
sound is located far forward in the mouth and requires you to round your lips.
The [ü] is one of the four reduced vowel sounds that are made in the
throat: The most tense, and highest in the throat is [ε], next, slightly
more relaxed is [i], then [ü], and deepest and most relaxed is the neutral
schwa [ә]. For the reduced semivowel schwa + R, the
throat is relaxed, but the tongue is tense.
Look
at the chart that follows and repeat each word. We are contrasting the sound
[u] (first column)-a strong,
nonreducible sound, ooh, that is made far forward in the mouth, with the
lips fully rounded-with the reduced
[ü] sound in the second and fourth columns.
|
|
u |
ü |
|
u |
ü |
|
1. |
booed |
book |
11. |
Luke |
look |
|
2. |
boo |
bushel |
12. |
nuke |
nook |
|
3. |
cooed |
could |
13. |
pool |
pull |
|
4. |
cool |
cushion |
14. |
pooch |
put |
|
5. |
food |
foot |
15. |
shoe |
sugar |
|
6. |
fool |
full |
16. |
suit |
soot |
|
7. |
gooed |
good |
17. |
shoot |
should |
|
8. |
who'd |
hood |
18. |
stewed |
stood |
|
9. |
kook |
cook |
19. |
toucan |
took |
|
10. |
crew |
crook |
20. |
wooed |
would |
121
The
lax vowels are produced in the throat and are actually quite similar to each
other. Let's practice some lax vowels. See also Chapter 11 to contrast with
tense vowels. Remember to double the vowel when the word ends in a voiced
consonant.
|
|
e |
i |
ü |
ә |
әr |
|
1. |
end |
it |
|
un~ |
earn |
|
2. |
bet |
bit |
book |
but |
burn |
|
3. |
kept |
kid |
could |
cut |
curt |
|
4. |
check |
chick |
|
chuck |
church |
|
5. |
debt |
did |
|
does |
dirt |
|
6. |
fence |
fit |
foot |
fun |
first |
|
7. |
fell |
fill |
full |
|
furl |
|
8. |
get |
guilt |
good |
gut |
girl |
|
9. |
help |
hit |
hook |
hut |
hurt |
|
10. |
held |
hill |
hood |
hull |
hurl |
|
11. |
gel |
Jill |
|
jump |
jerk |
|
12. |
ked |
kill |
cook |
cud |
curd |
|
13. |
crest |
crypt |
crook |
crumb |
|
|
14. |
let |
little |
look |
lump |
lurk |
|
15. |
men |
milk |
|
muck |
murmur |
|
16. |
net |
knit |
nook |
nut |
nerd |
|
17. |
pet |
pit |
put |
putt |
pert |
|
18. |
pell |
pill |
pull |
|
pearl |
|
19. |
red |
rid |
root |
rut |
rural |
|
20. |
said |
sit |
soot |
such |
search |
|
21. |
shed |
shin |
should |
shut |
sure |
|
22. |
sled |
slim |
|
slug |
slur |
|
23. |
stead |
still |
stood |
stuff |
stir |
|
24. |
It's
stewed. |
Iťd
stick. |
It
stood. |
It's
done. |
It's
dirt. |
|
25. |
stretch |
string |
|
struck |
|
|
26. |
tell |
tip |
took |
ton |
turn |
|
27. |
then |
this |
|
thus |
|
|
28. |
|
thing |
|
thug |
third |
|
29. |
vex |
vim |
|
vug |
verb |
|
30. |
wet |
wind |
would |
was |
word |
|
31. |
yet |
yin |
|
young |
yearn |
|
32. |
zen |
Zinfandel |
|
result |
deserve |
122
|
Tense Vowels |
||
|
Sound |
Symbol |
Spelling |
|
εi |
[bāt] |
bait |
|
ee |
[bēt] |
beat |
|
äi |
[bīt] |
bite |
|
ou |
[bōut] |
boat |
|
ooh |
[būt] |
boot |
|
ah |
[bāt] |
bought |
|
ä+e |
[bæt] |
bat |
|
æ+o |
[bæot] |
bout |
|
Lax Vowels |
||
|
Sound |
Symbol |
Spelling |
|
eh |
[bεt] |
bet |
|
ih |
[bit] |
bit |
|
ih+uh |
[püt] |
put |
|
uh |
[bәt] |
but |
|
er |
[bәrt] |
Bert |
We've
discussed intonation in terms of new information, contrast, opinion, and
negatives. As you heard on p. 3, Americans tend to stretch out certain
one-syllable words ... but which ones? The answer is simple-when a
single syllable word ends in an unvoiced consonant, the vowel is on a single
stairstep-short and sharp. When the word ends in a
voiced conso-nant, or a vowel, the vowel is on a double stairstep. (For
an explanation of voiced and unvoiced consonants, see page 62.) You can also
think of this in terms of musical notes.
Here
you are going to compare the four words bit, bid, beat,
and bead. Once you can distinguish these four, all of the rest are easy.
Repeat.
|
|
single |
double |
|
tense |
beat |
bead |
|
lax |
bit |
bid |
Note You
may hear tense vowels called long vowels, but this can cause
confusion when you are talking about the long, or doubled vowel before a voiced
consonant. Use the rubber band to distinguish: Make a short, sharp snap for the
single note words (beat, bit) and a longer, stretched out loop for the double
note words (bead, bid).
Read
each column down. Next, contrast the single and double tense vowels with each
other; and the single and double lax vowels with each other. Finally read all
four across.
|
Tense Vowels |
|
Lax Vowels |
|||
|
1. |
beat |
bead |
● |
bit |
bid |
|
2. |
seat |
seed |
● |
sit |
Sid |
|
3. |
heat |
he'd |
● |
hit |
hid |
|
4. |
Pete |
impede |
● |
pit |
rapid |
|
5. |
feet |
feed |
● |
fit |
fin |
|
6. |
niece |
knees |
● |
miss |
Ms. |
|
7. |
geese |
he's |
● |
hiss |
his |
|
8. |
deep |
deed |
● |
disk |
did |
|
9. |
neat |
need |
● |
knit |
(nid) |
|
10. |
leaf |
leave |
● |
lift |
live |
Note Bear
in mind that the single/double intonation pattern is the same for all final
voiced and unvoiced consonants, not just T and D.
123
Let's
practice tense and lax vowels in context. The intonation is marked for you.
When in doubt, try to leave out the lax vowel rather than run the risk of
overpronouncing it: l'p in place of lip, so it doesn't sound like
leap. Repeat:
|
Tense |
Lax |
|
|
|
1. |
eat |
it |
I eat
it. |
|
2. |
beat |
bit |
The beat
is a bit strong. |
|
3. |
keys |
kiss |
Give
me a kiss for the keys. |
|
4. |
cheek |
chick |
The
chick's cheek is soft. |
|
5. |
deed |
did |
He did
the deed. |
|
6. |
feet |
fit |
These
shoes fit my feet. |
|
7. |
feel |
fill |
Do
you feel that we should fill it? |
|
8. |
green |
grin |
The
Martian's grin was green. |
|
9. |
heat |
hit |
Last summer,
the heat hit hard. |
|
10. |
heel |
hill |
Put
your heel on the hill. |
|
11. |
jeep |
Jill |
Jill's
jeep is here. |
|
12. |
creep |
crypt |
Let's
creep near the crypt. |
|
13. |
leap |
lip |
He
bumped his lip when he leaped. |
|
14. |
meal |
mill |
She
had a meal at the mill. |
|
15. |
neat |
knit |
He
can knit neatly. |
|
16. |
peel |
pill |
Don't
peel that pill! |
|
17. |
reed |
rid |
Get
rid of the reed. |
|
18. |
seek |
sick |
We
seek the sixth sick sheik's sheep. |
|
19. |
sheep |
ship |
There
are sheep on the ship. |
|
20. |
sleep |
slip |
The
girl sleeps in a slip. |
|
21. |
steal |
still |
He
still steals. |
|
22. |
Streep |
strip |
Meryl
Streep is in a comic strip. |
|
23. |
team |
Tim |
Tim is
on the team. |
|
24. |
these |
this |
These are
better than this one. |
|
25. |
thief |
thing |
The thief
took my thing. |
|
26. |
weep |
whip |
Who weeps
from the whips? |
In the
time you have taken to reach this point in the program, you will have made a
lot of decisions about your own individual speech style. Pronunciation of
reduced sounds is more subjective and depends on how quickly you speak, how you
prefer to express yourself, the range of your intonation, how much you want to
reduce certain vowels, and so on.
124
The
letter I in the unstressed position devolves consistently into a schwa. Repeat.
|
~ity |
[әdee] |
chemistry |
hostility |
opportunity |
|
~ify |
[әfái] |
chronological |
humanity |
organization |
|
~ited |
[әd'd] |
clarity |
humidity |
partiality |
|
~ible |
[әbәl] |
commodity |
humility |
physical |
|
~ical |
[әcәl] |
community |
identity |
pitiful |
|
~imal |
[әmәl] |
communication |
imitation |
politics |
|
~ization |
[әzāsh'n] |
complexity |
immaturity |
positive |
|
~ication |
[әcāsh'n] |
confident |
immigration |
possible |
|
~ination |
[әnāsh'n] |
confidentiality |
immunity |
possibility |
|
~ifaction |
[әfәcāsh'n] |
contribution |
incident |
president |
|
~itation |
[әtāsh'n] |
creativity |
individuality |
principle |
|
|
|
credit |
infinity |
priority |
|
ability |
|
critical |
insecurity |
psychological |
|
accident |
|
cubicle |
instability |
publicity |
|
accountability |
curiosity |
institute |
qualify |
|
|
activity |
|
difficult |
investigation |
quality |
|
adversity |
|
dignity |
invisible |
quantity |
|
America |
|
disparity |
invitation |
radical |
|
analytical |
|
diversity |
janitor |
reality |
|
animal |
|
Edison |
Jennifer |
rectify |
|
applicant |
|
editor |
legalization |
resident |
|
application |
electricity |
liability |
responsibility |
|
|
article |
|
eligibility |
Madison |
sacrifice |
|
astronomical |
eliminated |
maturity |
sanity |
|
|
audible |
|
engineer |
medicine |
security |
|
auditor |
|
episode |
mentality |
seminar |
|
authority |
|
equality |
majority |
seniority |
|
availability |
evidence |
maximum |
severity |
|
|
beautiful |
|
experiment |
Michigan |
sensitivity |
|
brutality |
|
facility |
minimum |
similar |
|
calamity |
|
familiarity |
minority |
skeptical |
|
California |
|
feasibility |
modify |
superiority |
|
candidate |
|
flexibility |
Monica |
technical |
|
capacity |
|
Florida |
monitor |
testify |
|
celebrity |
|
foreigner |
municipality |
typical |
|
charity |
|
formality |
nationality |
uniform |
|
Christianity |
fraternity |
naturalization |
unity |
|
|
clinical |
|
gravity |
necessity |
university |
|
clerical |
|
heredity |
negative |
validity |
|
chemical |
|
hospitality |
nomination |
visitor |
125
In the
following example, you will see how you can fully sound out a word (such as
to), reduce it slightly, or do away with it altogether.
1.ššš ... easier tū(w)әnderstand.
2.ššš ... easier tü(w)әnderstand.
3.ššš ... easier tә әnderstand.
4.ššš ... easier tәnderstand.
5.ššš ... easier dәnderstand.
Each of
the preceding examples is correct and appropriate when said well. If you have a
good understanding of intonation, you might be best understood if you used the
last ex-ample.
How
would this work with the rest of our familiar paragraph, you ask? Let's see.
Go
through the paragraph that follows and find the three [ü]'s and the five
to seven [u]'s. Remember that your own speech style can increase the
possibilities. With "to" before a vowel, you have a choice of
a strong [u], a soft [ü], a schwa, or to telescope the two words and
eliminate the vowel entirely. Pause the CD to mark the [ü] and [u] sounds.
The first one is marked for you. Remember to check Answer Key, beginning on
page 193.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's
a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I
shüd pick up on the American intonation pattern
pretty easily, although the only way to get it is
to practice all of the time. I ūse the up and down, or peaks and valleys intonation
more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too.
It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a
lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to
understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing
is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
126
How
fast can you say:
|
How
much wood |
hæo
mәch wüd |
|
would
a wood chuck chuck, |
wüdә
wüdchәk chәk |
|
if a
woodchuck |
ifә
wüdchәck |
|
could
chuck |
cüd chәck |
|
wood? |
wüd |
|
|
|
|
How
many cookies |
hæo
meny cükeez |
|
could
a good cook cook, |
cüdә
güd cük cük |
|
if a
good cook |
ifә
güd cük |
|
could
cook |
cüd cük |
|
cookies? |
cükeez |
In the
following two exercises, we will practice the two vowel sounds separately.
Repeat
after me.
Booker
Woolsey was a good cook. One day, he took a good
look at his full schedule and decided that he could
write a good cookbook. He knew that he could, and
thought that he should, but he wasn't sure that he ever would.
Once he had made up his mind, he stood up, pulled up a table, took
a cushion, and put it on a bushel basket of sugar
in the kitchen nook. He shook out his writing hand and put
his mind to creating a good, good cookbook.
Repeat
after me.
A true
fool will choose to drool in a pool to stay cool.
Who knew that such fools were in the schools, used tools,
and flew balloons? Lou knew and now you do,
too.
127
There
are certain sounds in any language that are considered nonsense syllables, yet
impart a large amount of information to the informed listener. Each language
has a different set of these sounds, such as eto ne in Japanese, em in
Spanish, eu in French, and um in English. In this particular
case, these are the sounds that a native speaker makes when he is thinking out
loud-holding the floor, but not yet committing to actually speaking.
The
top eight are the most common non-word communication sounds. They can all be na-salized
or not, and said with the mouth open or closed. Intonation is the important
factor here. Repeat after me.
128
When
pronounced correctly, V shouldn't stand out too much. Its sound, although
notice-able, is small. As a result, people, depending on their native language,
sometimes confuse V with B (Spanish, Japanese), with F (German), or with W (Chinese,
Hindi). These four sounds are not at all interchangeable.
The W is
a semivowel and there is no friction or contact. The B, like P, uses both lips
and has a slight pop. American tend to have a strong, popping P. You can check
your pro-nunciation by holding a match, a sheet of paper, or just your hand in
front of your mouth. If the flame goes out, the paper wavers, or you feel a
distinct puff of air on your hand, you've said P not B. B is the voiced pair of
P.
Although
F and V are in exactly the same position, F is a hiss and V is a buzz. The V is
the voiced pair of F, as you saw in Chapter 2 (p. 62). When you say F, it is as
if you are whispering. So, for V, say F
and simply add some voice to it, which is the whole difference between fairy and very, as you
will hear in our next exercise. (The F, too, presents problems to Japanese, who
say H. To pronounce F, the lower lip raises up and the inside of the lip very
lightly touches the outside of the upper teeth and you make a slight hissing
sound. Don't bite the outside of your lip at
all.)
Note In
speaking, of is reduced
to [әv].
Repeat
the following words and sounds after me.
|
|
P |
B |
F |
V |
W |
|
1. |
Perry |
berry |
fairy |
very |
wary |
|
2. |
pat |
bat |
fat |
vat |
wax |
|
3. |
Paul |
ball |
fall |
vault |
wall |
|
4. |
Pig |
big |
fig |
vim |
wig |
|
5. |
prayed |
braid |
frayed |
|
weighed |
|
6. |
poi |
boy |
foil |
avoid |
|
|
7. |
pull |
bull |
full |
|
wool |
|
8. |
purr |
burr |
fur |
verb |
were |
129
Repeat
after me, focusing on V and W.
When revising
his visitor's version of a plan for a very well-payed
avenue, the VIP was advised to reveal
none of his motives. Eventually, however,
the hapless visitor discovered his knavish views
and confided that it was vital to review
the plans together to avoid a conflict. The VIP was
not convinced, and averred that he would have
it vetoed by the vice president. This quite vexed the visitor, who
then vowed to invent an indestructible paving
compound in order to avenge his good name. The VIP found himself
on the verge of a civil war with a visitor
with whom he had previously conversed
easily. It was only due to his insufferable vanity that
the inevitable division arrived as soon as it did. Never
again did the visitor converse with the vain
VIP and they remained divided forever.
Underline
the five V sounds in this paragraph. The first one is marked for you. Don't
forget "of."
Hello, my
name is________________. I'm taking American Accent Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the
Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only
way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the
up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying
attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've
been talking to a lot
of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand.
Anyway, I could go on and
on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good.
Well, what do you think? Do I?
130
The
sound of the letter S is [s] only if it follows an unvoiced consonant.
Otherwise, it becomes a Z in disguise. When an S follows a vowel, a voiced
consonant, or another S, it turns into a [z]. The following exercise will let
you hear and practice S with its dual sound. There are many more Z sounds in
English than S sounds.
Under
Contrast, in the list that follows, notice how the voiced word is drawn out and
then repeat the word after me. Both voiced and unvoiced diphthongs have the
underlying struc-ture of the tone shift, or the double stairstep, but the shift
is much larger for the voiced ones.
|
Contrast |
||
|
|
S |
Z |
|
1. |
price |
prize |
|
2. |
peace |
peas |
|
3, |
place |
plays |
|
4. |
ice |
eyes |
|
5. |
hiss |
his |
|
6. |
close |
to
close |
|
7. |
use |
to
use |
|
8. |
rice |
rise |
|
9. |
pace |
pays |
|
10. |
lacey |
lazy |
|
11. |
thirsty |
Thursday |
|
12. |
bus |
buzz |
|
13. |
dust |
does |
|
14. |
face |
phase |
|
15. |
Sue |
zoo |
|
16. |
loose |
lose |
|
|
|
|
|
|
price |
prize |
|
|
S |
Z |
|
nouns |
books |
waxes |
|
|
maps |
pencils |
|
|
months |
dogs |
|
|
hats |
trains |
|
|
pops |
oranges |
|
|
bats |
clothes |
|
|
bikes |
windows |
|
|
laughs |
washes |
|
verbs |
thanks |
arrives |
|
|
eats |
comes |
|
|
takes |
goes |
|
|
speaks |
lunches |
|
contractions |
it's |
there's |
|
|
what's |
he's |
|
|
that's |
she's |
|
possessives |
a
cat's eye |
a dog's
ear |
131
Repeat
the S sounds in the paragraph below.
Sam, a
surly sergeant from Cisco, Texas, saw
a sailor sit silently on a small seat
reserved for youngsters. He stayed for several minutes,
while tots swarmed around. Sam asked the sailor
to cease and desist but he sneered in his face.
Sam was so incensed that he considered
it sufficient incentive to sock the sailor. The sailor
stood there for a second, astonished, and then strolled
away. Sam was perplexed, but satisfied, and the tots
scampered like ants over to the see-saw.
Repeat
the Z sounds in the paragraph below.
A lazy
Thursday at the zoo found the zebras grazing on zinnias,
posing for pictures, and teasing the zookeeper, whose
nose was bronzed by the sun. The biggest zebra's
name was Zachary, but his friends called him Zack. Zack
was a confusing zebra whose zeal for reason
caused his cousins, who were naturally unreasoning,
to pause in their conversations. While they browsed, he
philosophized. As they grazed, he practiced zen. Because
they were Zack's cousins, the zebras said
nothing, but they wished he would muzzle himself at times.
As
mentioned on page 84, like sounds follow naturally. If one consonant is voiced,
chances are, the following plural S will be voiced as well. If it's unvoiced,
the following sound will be as well. In the past tense, S can be both voiced
[z] and unvoiced [s] in some cases.
The
following will explain the differences between four expressions that are
similar in ap-pearance but different in both meaning and pronunciation.
|
|
Meaning |
Example |
Pronunciation |
|
S |
Past
action |
I
used to eat rice. |
[yūst
tu] |
|
|
To be
accustomed to |
I am
used to eating rice. |
[yūs
tu] |
|
Z |
Present
passive verb |
Chopsticks
are used to eat rice. |
[yūzd
tu] |
|
|
Simple
past |
I
used chopsticks to eat rice. |
[yūzd] |
Used
to, depending on its position in a sentence,
will take either a tense [ū] or a
schwa. At the end of a sentence, you need to say, ... more
than I used tooo; in the middle of a sentence you can say, He
usta live there.
132
Go
through the paragraph and underline all of the [s] sounds. The first,
[æksent] is marked for you. Next, circle all of the [z] sounds, no matter
how the word is written (is = [iz], as = [æz], and so on.)
Hello, my
name iz_______________. I'm taking American æksent Training.
There's a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily, although
the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I
use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I
used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking
down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately,
and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on
and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good.
Well, what do you think? Do I?
T Practice
reading the paragraph three times on your own, concentrating on strong Zs.
Build
up the following sentence, adding each aspect one at a time.
Always
be a little kinder than necessary.
1.šš
Intonation
Always
be a little kinder than necessary.
2.š Word Groups
Always
be a little kinder(pause) than necessary.
3.šš Liaisons
Always
be(y)a little kinder tha(n)necessary.
4.š [æ][ä][ә]
äweez
be ә littәl kinder thәn
necәssary.
5.šš The American T
Always
be a liddle kinder than necessary.
6.šš The American R
Always
be a little kindәr than necessεry.
7.šš Combination of concepts 1
through 6
äweez
be(y)ә liddәl
kindәr(pause) thә(n)necәssεry.
133
Write
your own sentence, and then build it up, adding each aspect one at a time.
|
1. |
Intonation |
|
|
________________________________ |
|
2. |
Word Groups |
|
|
________________________________ |
|
3. |
Liaisons |
|
|
________________________________ |
|
4. |
[æ] [a] [ә] |
|
|
________________________________ |
|
5. |
The American T |
|
|
________________________________ |
|
6. |
The American R |
|
|
________________________________ |
|
7. |
Combination of concepts 1 through 6 |
|
|
________________________________ |
134
In this
chapter, we tackle tense and lax vowels. This is the difference between [ā], tense, and
[ε], lax, [ē], tense,
and [i], lax. We will start with tense vowels.
Don't
pay attention to spelling or meaning. Just remember, if you are in the ä column, they all have the same ah
sound. Repeat.
|
|
æ |
æo |
ä |
i |
ā |
ē |
ū |
ōū |
|
1. |
at |
out |
ought |
I'd |
ate |
eat |
ooze |
own |
|
2. |
bat |
about |
bought |
bite |
bait |
beat |
boot |
boat |
|
3. |
cat |
couch |
caught |
kite |
cane |
keys |
cool |
coat |
|
4. |
chat |
chowder |
chalk |
child |
chair |
cheer |
choose |
chose |
|
5. |
dad |
doubt |
dot |
dial |
date |
deed |
do |
don't |
|
6. |
fat |
found |
fought |
fight |
fate |
feet |
food |
phone |
|
7. |
fallow |
fountain |
fall |
file |
fail |
feel |
fool |
foal |
|
8. |
gas |
gown |
got |
kite |
gate |
gear |
ghoul |
go |
|
9. |
hat |
how |
hot |
height |
hate |
heat |
hoot |
hope |
|
10. |
Hal |
howl |
hall |
heil |
hail |
heel |
who'll |
hole |
|
11. |
Jack |
jowl |
jock |
giant |
jail |
jeep |
jewel |
Joel |
|
12. |
crab |
crowd |
crawl |
crime |
crate |
creep |
cruel |
crow |
|
13. |
last |
loud |
lost |
line |
late |
Lee |
Lou |
low |
|
14. |
mat |
mountain |
mop |
might |
mate |
mean |
moon |
moan |
|
15. |
gnat |
now |
not |
night |
Nate |
neat |
noon |
note |
|
16. |
pal |
pound |
Paul |
pile |
pail |
peel |
pool |
pole |
|
17. |
rat |
round |
rot |
right |
rate |
real |
rule |
role |
|
18. |
sat |
sound |
soft |
sight |
sale |
seal |
Sue |
soul |
|
19. |
shall |
shower |
shawl |
shine |
shade |
she |
shoe |
show |
|
20. |
slap |
slouch |
slop |
slide |
slade |
sleep |
slew |
slow |
|
21. |
stag |
stout |
stop |
style |
stale |
steal |
stool |
stole |
|
22. |
strap |
Stroud |
straw |
stride |
straight |
stream |
strew |
stroll |
|
23. |
tap |
town |
top |
type |
tape |
team |
tool |
told |
|
24. |
that |
thou |
thar |
thine |
they |
these |
|
though |
|
25. |
thang |
thousand |
thought |
thigh |
thane |
thief |
|
throw |
|
26. |
van |
vow |
volume |
viper |
vain |
veal |
voodoo |
vote |
|
27. |
wax |
Wow! |
wash |
wipe |
wane |
wheel |
woo |
woe |
|
28. |
yank |
Yow! |
yawn |
yikes |
Yale |
year |
you |
yo |
|
29. |
zap |
Zowie! |
zombie |
xylophone |
zany |
zebra |
zoo |
Zoe |
135
Go
through the subsequent paragraph and mark all the tense vowels, starting with [ā] (there are 12 here). The first one is name
[nεim], not [nεm]. The first [ē] sound (14) is the American.
The same 5 [æ] sounds can be found as in Exercise 3-2 on page 74,
plus the [œo] of sound. Pause the CD to do the marking. Check your
answer in the Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
Hello, my
nāme is_______________. I'm
taking American Accent Training. There's a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on thē Ameri-can intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it
is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks
and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying
attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've
been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell
me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and
on, but the important thing is to listen well and sæond good.
Well, what do you think? Do I?
Tense
vowels use the lips and jaw muscles.
As we
saw in Chapter 8, these are the lax vowels.
|
|
e |
i |
ü |
ә |
әr |
|
1. |
end |
it |
|
un~ |
earn |
|
2. |
bet |
bit |
book |
but |
burn |
|
3. |
kept |
kiss |
could |
cut |
curt |
|
4. |
check |
chick |
|
chuck |
church |
|
5. |
debt |
did |
|
does |
dirt |
|
6. |
fence |
fit |
foot |
fun |
first |
|
7. |
fell |
fill |
full |
|
furl |
|
8. |
get |
gill |
good |
gut |
girl |
|
9. |
help |
hit |
hook |
hut |
hurt |
|
10. |
held |
hill |
hood |
hull |
hurl |
|
|
|
Soft vowels are
subtle variations of sound using the throat muscles. |
|
e slightly tease bet i more
relaxed bit ü even more
relaxed put ә throat is
completely relaxed but |
136
Again,
go over this paragraph and mark the lax vowels, starting with [ε]. The
first one (of about 12 possible) is in hello or American. The first [i]
sound (of 9 to 22) may be found in is. (The numbers are
approximations because you may have already reduced the [ε] of hello
and the [i] of is into schwas.) Pause the CD to do the marking. Check your
answer in the Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
Hello, my
name is________________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily, although
the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I
use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more
than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like
walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I
could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well
and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Repeat
the following paragraph and words after me.
Sāy, Rāy,
tāke a tack. A high-tack tack? No, Rāy, a high-tech tack, eight high-tech
tacks, tāke them. Then find a wāy to māke
a plāce for the tacks on the dāy bed. Hey, you lāy the tacks on the pāper
plāce mat on the tāble, not on the dāy bed, Rāy. At
your āge, why do you always māke the sāme
mistākes?
|
late |
lack |
let |
tāke |
tack |
tech |
mate |
mat |
met |
|
hāil |
Hal |
hell |
fāte |
fat |
fetch |
cane |
can |
Ken |
Repeat
the following paragraph and words after me. Boldfaced elements represent the
[ē] sound. The [i] is only marked with underscoring.
People
who pick peaks weekly seem to need to appear
deep in order to be distinguished
from mere pea pickers. Peter, a champion peak
picker, thought he'd be even neater if
he were the deepest peak picker in Peoria,
Phoenix, and New Zealand. On his peak peak picking
week, though, Peter, a peak picker's peak picker,
realized that he was not deep. This is not easy
for a peak picker to admit and it pitched Peter
into a pit of peak picking despair. He
was pitiful for six weeks and then lifted himself
to hitherto unrevealed personal peaks.
eat /
itšššššš sheep / shipššššššš seat / sitššššššš neat / nitššššššš feet / fitššššššš sleep / slip
137
In
Chapter 1 we studied compound nouns (Ex. 1-24 to 1-37) and complex verb tenses
(Ex. 1-38). Now, we are going to put them together and practice the intonation
of some complicated sentences.
No
matter how complex the verb gets, remember to follow the basic Dogs eat bones
intona-tion, where you stress the nouns. For the noun intonation, stick
with the basic set phrase or description rule. Let's build up one
complex noun for the subject, and another one for the object, starting with The
millionaires were impressed by the equipment.
|
Subject |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Object |
|||
|
The millionaires |
|
|
|
|
|
the equipment. |
|||||
|
The elderly millionaires |
|
|
|
eavesdropping
equipment. |
|||||||
|
The elderly
Texas millionaires |
|
electronic
eavesdropping equipment. |
|||||||||
|
The two elderly
Texas millionaires...sophisticated electronic eavesdropping
equipment. |
|||||||||||
|
The
two elderly Texas millionaires were impressed by the sophisticated
electronic |
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
eavesdropping
equipment. |
||||||
The two
elderly Teksәs millyәnair zwerim presst by the
sәfistәkaydәdәlektränik
ēvzdräppiŋә kwipmәnt.
zәrim
prest
1.šš
The two elderly Texas millionaires're impressed by
the sophisticated electronic eavesdropping equipment.
zwәrim
prest
2.šš
The two elderly Texas millionaires were impressed by the sophisticated
electronic eavesdropping equipment.
zәr
beeyingim prest
3.šš
At the moment, the two elderly Texas millionaires're
being impressed by the sophis-ticated electronic
eavesdropping equipment.
zәl
beeyim prest
4.šš
The two elderly Texas millionaires'll be impressed by the sophisticated
electronic eavesdropping equipment.
zәd
beeyim prest
5.šš
The two elderly Texas millionaires'd be impressed by the sophisticated
electronic eavesdropping equipment if there were more practical
applications for it.
zәdәv
binim prest
6.šš
The two elderly Texas millionaires'd've been impressed by
the sophisticated elec-tronic eavesdropping equipment if there
had been more practical applications for it.
zәdәv
bin so im prest
7.šš The two elderly
Texas millionaires thaťve been so impressed by the sophisticated
electronic eavesdropping equipment are now researching a new program.
138
zәv
binim prest
8.š šThe
two elderly Texas millionaires've been impressed by the sophisticated
elec-tronic eavesdropping equipment for a long time now.
zәd
binim prest
9.šš The two elderly
Texas millionaires'd been impressed by the sophisticated electronic
eavesdropping equipment long before the burglary was thwarted. [thwordәd]
zәlәv
bin thәrә lee(y)im prest
10.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires'll've
been thoroughly impressed by the sophisti-cated electronic eavesdropping
equipment by the time I've done my presentation.
zädә bee(y)im
prest
11.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
ought to be impressed by the sophisticated elec-tronic eavesdropping
equipment.
shüd
bee(y)im prest
12.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
should be impressed by the sophisticated elec-tronic eavesdropping
equipment.
shüdn
beetoo(w)im prest
13.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
shouldn't be too impressed by the sophisticated electronic eavesdropping
equipment.
shüdәv
binim prest
14.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
should've been impressed by the sophisticated electronic
eavesdropping equipment.
shüdnnәv bin
thæ dim prest
15.šš Given the circumstances, the two elderly Texas
millionaires shouldn'ťve been that impressed by the sophisticated
electronic eavesdropping equipment.
cüdee zәlee bee(y)im
prest
16.šš We
think that the two elderly Texas millionaires could
easily be impressed by the sophisticated electronic eavesdropping
equipment.
cüdn
bee(y)im prest
17.šš No matter what we did, the two elderly Texas
millionaires couldn't be impressed by even the most sophisticated electronic
eavesdropping equipment.
cüdәv
binim prest
18.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires could've
been impressed by the sophisticated electronic eavesdropping equipment,
but we're not sure.
cüdnnәv
binim prest
19.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
couldn'ťve been impressed by the sophisticated electronic
eavesdropping equipment, because they left after 5 minutes.
myt bee(y)im
prest
20.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
might be impressed by the sophisticated elec-tronic eavesdropping
equipment this time around.
mydәv
binim prest
21.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
might've been impressed by the sophisticated electronic
eavesdropping equipment, but they gave no indication one way or the other.
139
mәss
bee(y)im prest
22.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
must be impressed by the sophisticated elec-tronic eavesdropping
equipment because they are considering a huge order.
mәsdәv
binim prest
23.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
must have been impressed by the sophisticated electronic
eavesdropping equipment because they ordered so much of it.
cәn bee(y)im
prest
24.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
can be impressed by the sophisticated electronic
eavesdropping
equipment because they don't know much about surveillance.
cæn(t)
bee(y)im prest
25.šš The two elderly Texas millionaires
can't be impressed by the sophisticated elec-tronic eavesdropping
equipment because they invented most of the state of the art technology
currently available.
Pause
the CD and build up your own compound nouns, both subject and object.
|
Subject |
Object |
|
_______________________________ |
________________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
|
_______________________________ |
_______________________________ |
140
Using
your compound nouns from Ex. 11-8, choose a verb and put it through all the
changes. Remember that it helps to have a verb that starts with a vowel. Add
explanatory words to round out the sentence, complete the thought, and support
the verb.
|
eat |
1. |
|
|
ate |
2. |
|
|
are
eating |
3. |
|
|
will
eat |
4. |
|
|
would
eat |
5. |
|
|
would
have eaten |
6. |
|
|
that
have eaten |
7. |
|
|
have
eaten |
8. |
|
|
had
eaten |
9. |
|
|
will
have eaten |
10. |
|
|
ought
to eat |
11. |
|
|
should
eat |
12. |
|
|
should
not eat |
13. |
|
|
should
have eaten |
14. |
|
|
should
not have |
15. |
|
|
could
eat |
16. |
|
|
could
not eat |
17. |
|
|
could
have eaten |
18. |
|
|
could
not have |
19. |
|
|
might
eat |
20. |
|
|
might
have eaten |
21. |
|
|
must
eat |
22. |
|
|
must
have eaten |
23. |
|
|
can
eat |
24. |
|
|
can't
eat |
25. |
|
141
Listen
to the following excerpt, and compare the two versions.
Forty
years after the end of World War II, Japan and the U.S. are again engaged in
conflict. Trade frictions, which began as minor irritants in an otherwise
smooth relationship in the 1960s, have gradually escalated over the years.
The
conflict is more dangerous than it appears because its real nature is partially
hidden. It masquerades as a banal and sometimes grubby dispute over widgets
with the stakes being whether American or Japanese big business makes more
money.
In
truth, the issue is strategic and geopolitical in nature. Japan is once again
challeng-ing the U.S., only this time the issue is not China or the Pacific, but
world industrial and technological leadership and the military and economic
powers which have always been its corollaries.
*By
permission of U.S. News and World Report
Fordee yir
zæftr(pause)thee(y)end'v
wrl dwor too,(pause)J'pæn'n thә US(pause)ärә
genin gεij din(pause)cänfl'ct.(pause)Trәid
fr'ksh'nz,(pause)w'ch b'gæn'z mynr
rirrәt'nts(pause)in'n
әtherwise(pause) smooth
r'lεish'nship in the näinteen siksdeez(pause)h'v
græjәlee(y)εscәladәd(pause)dover
thә yirz.
Thә
känfl'k d'z mor dεinjer's thәni dәpirz
b'kәzәts ree(y)әl
nεichyr'z pärshәlee h'dd'n. It mæskerεid
zәzә bәnälәn sәmtäimz grәbee
d'spyu dover wij'ts withthә stεiks be(y)ing
wεtherә mεrәkәner Jæpәneez
big bizn's mεiks mor mәnee.
In truth,
thee(y)ishu(w)iz
strәteejәkәn jee(y)opәlidәkәlәn
nεichyer. Jәpænәz wәn sәgεn chælәnjing
thә you(w)ess, only this täim,
thee(y)ishu(w)iz nät Chäinә
or thә Pәs'fәk, bәt wr rolld'in dәsstree(y)l'n
tεknәläjәkәl leedershipәn the milәtεree(y)әnεkәnämәk
pæwrz w'ch h'väweez bi n'ts korәlεreez.
You've
seen many examples of illogical spelling by now, and the letter A is a major
con-tributor. A can be:
Note People
who speak Chinese frequently pronounce [a], [æ] and [ε] the same.
The common denominator of the three sounds is [ε]. When a Chinese speaker
says mate, mat, met, it can sound like met,
met, met. If this happens to be your case, in order to say
common words like make and man correctly,
first practice putting them on the stairsteps and drawing them out. Don't be
afraid to exaggerate. You can even draw them out with a final unvoiced
consonant.
|
[æ]
cat |
[ä]
part |
[ä]
make |
[ә]
final |
[ε]
parallel |
|o] war |
142
|
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
|
|
æ |
æo |
u |
i |
ee |
ü |
ε |
a |
ә |
ä |
r |
är |
o |
i |
oi |
|
1 |
back |
bow |
booed |
Bic |
beak |
book |
beck |
bake |
buck |
Bach |
Burke |
bark |
boat |
bite |
point |
|
2 |
black |
blouse |
blued |
bliss |
bleed |
books |
bled |
blade |
blood |
block |
blurred |
blarney |
bloat |
blight |
boy |
|
3 |
brad |
browse |
brood |
brick |
breed |
brook |
bread |
break |
brother |
brought |
fir |
far |
broke |
bright |
broil |
|
4 |
pat |
about |
boot |
pit |
peak |
put |
pet |
paid |
putt |
pot |
pert |
part |
post |
pike |
boil |
|
5 |
cat |
couch |
coot |
kit |
parakeet |
cookie |
kept |
Kate |
cut |
caught |
curt |
cart |
coat |
kite |
coin |
|
6 |
cad |
cowed |
cooed |
kid |
keyed |
could |
Keds |
okayed |
cud |
cod |
curd |
card |
code |
cried |
coil |
|
7 |
fat |
found |
food |
fit |
feet |
foot |
fed |
fade |
fun |
fog |
first |
farm |
phone |
fight |
Foyt |
|
8 |
flack |
flower |
fluke |
flick |
fleet |
put |
fleck |
flake |
flood |
father |
flurry |
tar |
flow |
flight |
Floyd |
|
9 |
fragile |
frown |
fruit |
frill |
free |
fructose |
French |
afraid |
from |
frog |
further |
farther |
fro |
fright |
Freud |
|
10 |
fallow |
foul |
fool |
fill |
feel |
full |
fell |
fail |
fuss |
fall |
furl |
Carl |
photo |
file |
foil |
|
11 |
gas |
gout |
gooed |
give |
geek |
good |
get |
gate |
gun |
gone |
gird |
guard |
goad |
guide |
goiter |
|
12 |
catch |
couch |
cool |
kick |
key |
cook |
ketch |
cake |
come |
calm |
Kirk |
carp |
coal |
kind |
coy |
|
13 |
lack |
loud |
Luke |
lick |
leak |
look |
lecture |
lake |
luck |
lock |
lurk |
lark |
local |
like |
lawyer |
|
14 |
mallet |
mound |
mood |
mill |
meal |
wooden |
men |
main |
mother |
mom |
murmur |
march |
mobile |
mile |
Des Moir |
|
15 |
pal |
Powell |
pool |
pill |
peel |
pull |
pell |
pail |
puck |
pock |
pearl |
park |
pole |
pile |
poison |
|
16 |
sand |
sound |
soon |
sin |
seen |
soot |
send |
same |
some |
sawn |
sir |
sorry |
sewn |
sign |
soil |
|
17 |
satin |
mountain |
gluten |
mitten |
eaten |
wouldn't |
retina |
latent |
button |
gotten |
certain |
carton |
potent |
tighten |
ointment |
|
18 |
shad |
shout |
shoed |
Schick |
sheet |
should |
shed |
shade |
shun |
shop |
insured |
sharp |
show |
shy |
|
|
19 |
shack |
shower |
shooed |
shiver |
chic |
shook |
chef |
shake |
shuck |
shock |
shirt |
shark |
shows |
shyster |
|
|
20 |
shallow |
shower |
shoot |
shift |
sheep |
sugar |
shell |
shale |
shut |
shot |
sure |
shard |
shown |
shine |
|
|
21 |
chance |
chowder |
choose |
chin |
cheek |
|
chest |
change |
chuck |
chalk |
churn |
charge |
chose |
child |
choice |
|
22 |
tack |
towel |
two |
tick |
teak |
took |
tech |
take |
tuck |
talk |
turkey |
tarp |
toke |
tyke |
toy |
|
23 |
that |
thousand |
through |
this |
these |
|
then |
they |
the |
thought |
third |
cathartic |
though |
thigh |
thyroid |
|
24 |
had |
how'd |
who'd |
hid |
he'd |
hood |
hen |
hate |
hud |
hod |
heard |
hard |
hoed |
hide |
hoi
polloi |
|
25 |
hat |
about |
hoot |
hit |
heat |
foot |
heck |
Hague |
hut |
hot |
hurt |
heart |
hotel |
height |
Hoyle |
|
26 |
value |
vow |
review |
villain |
reveal |
|
vegetable |
vague |
vug |
von |
verve |
varnish |
vote |
vile |
avoid |
|
27 |
whack |
wow |
wooed |
wick |
weak |
would |
wed |
weighed |
what |
walk |
word |
harm |
woke |
white |
woi |
143
Thә prezәdәnt
tәmärrou näidiz әxpectәdiniz stεidәv
thә yoonyәn mesәj tә prәpouz fedrәl
sәbzәdeez tә help lou(w)inkәm fæmleez
ouvrkәm thә sou-käld dijәdәl dәväid.
Izidә nәpropree(y)әt yusәv gәvrmnt fәnz tә
hændæot kәmpyudrz әn prәväid innernet
æksεs tә thouz hu cæn(d)әford it; әnd if
nät, why nät. Will bәgin with Mr. Keez.
I think this iz
әnәthәr keis whεer pälәtishәnz try
dә jәmpän thә bændwægәn әv
sәmthing thæťs going än in thee(y)әcänәmee,
sou evreebәdeez gәnnә think thәt they
ækchәlee hæv sәmthing tә do with thә
rәzәlt when they dont. Thεrz nou need fr this. Wiräl
reddy seeing æot thεr prәpouzәlz fr thә
distrәbyushәn әv free PeeCees, nät beis dän
sәm pälәtishәn meiking ә judgment әn
spending tæxpeiyer mәnee, bәt beis dän thә
self-intrst әv thouz hu(w)är involvd inә nyu world, ә nyu world
әn which p'rtisәpeishәn iz thә kee dә
präfit- әnd in which thεr iz ækchәlee ә
sträng insentiv әmәng thouz hu prtisәpεidin thә
präivәt sektәr tә giv æksεss tә
indәvijәls sou thæt they c'n impruv their
äpәrtyunәdeez fr präfit, fr infәrmeishn
shεring. Thæts whәts älredee bin going än-it will
kәntinyu. Thεr iz nou need fr thә gәvәrmәnt
tә prәtend thæt it needs tә teik leedership hir. I
think thæts jәst pәlidәkәl päsjuring.
Senәdәr
Mә(k)kein.
I bәleev th't wee
du hæv ә präblәm. æn thædiz thәt
thεrizә growing gæp bәtween thә hævz
әnd hæv-näts in әmεrәkә, thouz
thәdr εibl dә tεik pärdin this infәrmeishn
teknälәjee әn thouz th't hævnt. Wee took ә
mεijәr step forwәrd when wee dәsaidәd dә
wäi(y)r evree skool әn
lybrεree in әmerikә tә thee(y)innәrnet. Thætsә
güd prougrәm. Wee hæv tә hæv step tu, three,
әn four, which meenz güd әkwipmәnt, güd
teechәrz әnd güd clæssroomz. No, I wüdn du(w)it d'rektlee. Bәt
thεrz läts әv weiz th'chyu kәn inkerәj
korpәreishnz, who in their own self-intrest, wüd wänt tә
prәvaid... wüd rәseev tæks benәfits, wüd
rәseev kredit, әnd mεny әthәr weiz fr beeing
invәlvd in thә skoolz, in әpgreiding thә
kwälәdee әv әkwipmәnt th't thei hæv,
thә kwälәdee әv thә styudәnts әnd
thεrby prәvaiding ә mәch-needed well-treind
wәrkfors.
Thæng kyu. Mr.
Forbz.
The president tomorrow
night is expected in his State of the Union message to propose federal
subsidies to help low-income families overcome the so-called digital divide. Is
it an appropriate use of government funds to hand out computers and provide
Internet access to those who can't afford it, and if not, why not? We'll begin
with Mr. Keyes.
"I think this is
another case where politicians try to jump on the bandwagon of something that's
going on in the economy, so everybody's gonna think that they actually have
something to do with the result when they don't. There's no need for this.
We're already seeing out there proposals for the distribution of free PCs, not
based on some politician making a judgment and spending taxpayer money, but
based on the self-interest of those who are involved in a new world, a new
world in which participation is the key to profit-and in which there is
actually a strong incentive among those who participate on the private sector
to give access to individuals so that they can improve their opportunities for
profit, for information sharing. That's what's already been going on-it will
continue. There is no need for the government to pretend that it needs to take
leadership here. I think that's just political posturing."
Senator McCain.
"I believe that we
do have a problem. And that is that there is a growing gap between the haves and have-nots in America, those that
are able to take part in this information technology and those that haven't. We
took a major step forward when we decided to wire every school and library in
America to the Internet. That's a good program. We have to have step two,
three, and four, which means good equipment, good teachers, and good
classrooms. No, I wouldn't do it directly. But there's lots of ways that you
can encour-age corporations, who in their own self-interest, would want to
provide ... would receive tax benefits, would receive credit, and many other
ways for being involved in the schools, in upgrading the quality of equipment
that they have, the quality of the students, and thereby providing a
much-needed well-trained workforce."
Thank you. Mr. Forbes.
144
We now
turn to the three consonants whose sound comes out through the nose-M, N, and
the NG combination. They each have one thing in common, their sound is blocked
in the mouth in one of three locations. Two of them, N and NG, you can't even
see, as with R, so they're hard to pick up on.
[m] is
the easiest and most obvious. Like [b], the lips come together, the air can't
get out, so it has to come out through the nose.
[n] is
in a position similar to [t], but it can't be at all tense. It has to be
completely relaxed, filling the whole mouth, touching the insides of all the
teeth, leaving no room for the air to escape, except by the nose.
[ng] is
back in the throat with [g]. The back of the tongue presses back, and again,
the air comes out through the nose.
145
We are
going to contrast nasals with regular consonant sounds. Repeat after me.
|
|
Initial |
Middle |
Final |
|||
|
m/b |
me |
bee |
llama |
lobber |
ROM |
rob |
|
n/d |
kneels |
deals |
Lana |
lauder |
Ron |
rod |
|
ng/g |
long
eels |
geese |
longer |
logger |
wrong |
log |
Here
we will focus on the final sounds. Repeat after me.
|
M |
N |
NG |
|
rumә |
runә |
rungə |
|
sum/some |
sun/son |
sung |
|
bum |
bun |
bung |
|
turn |
ton |
tongue |
|
dumb |
done |
dung |
|
psalm |
sawn |
song |
We
will read the following paragraph. Repeat after me.
The
young King Kong can sing along on anything in the kingdom, as long as he can
bring a strong ringing to the changing songs. He can only train on June
mornings when there is a full moon, but June lends itself to singing like
nothing else. Ding Dong, on the other hand, is not a singer; he cannot sing for
anything. He is a man often seen on the green lawn on the Boston Open, where no
one ever, ever sings.
Find
and mark the final [n] and [ng] sounds.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's
a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily, although
the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I
use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more
than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like
walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot
of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to
understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing
is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
146
There
are five consonant sounds that are produced in the throat: [h] [k] [g] [ng]
[er]. Because R can be considered a consonant, its sound is included here. For
pronunciation purposes, however, elsewhere this book treats it as a semivowel.
Here
we will read across the lists of initial, middle, and final consonants.
|
|
Initial |
Middle |
Final |
|
[h] |
haw |
reheat |
|
|
|
hood |
in
half |
|
|
|
he'll |
unhinge |
|
|
|
hat |
unheard
of |
|
|
[k] |
caw |
accident |
rink |
|
|
could |
accent |
rack |
|
|
keel |
include |
cork |
|
|
cat |
actor |
block |
|
[g] |
gaw |
regale |
rug |
|
|
good |
ingrate |
hog |
|
|
geese |
agree |
big |
|
|
gat |
organ |
log |
|
[ng] |
Long
Island |
Bronx |
wrong |
|
|
a
long wait |
inky |
daring |
|
|
Dang
you! |
larynx |
averaging |
|
|
being
honest |
English |
clung |
|
[r] |
raw |
error |
rare |
|
|
roof |
arrow |
air |
|
|
real |
mirror |
injure |
|
|
rat |
carbon |
prefer |
147
The
letter X can sound like either KS or GZ, depending on the letter that follows
the X and where the stress falls.
|
[ks] |
excite |
[εksäit] |
|
Followed by the
letter C or other unvoiced consonants |
extra |
[εkstrә] |
|
exercise |
[εksersiz] |
|
|
experience |
[εkspiree(y)әns] |
|
|
except |
[әksεpt] |
|
|
|
execute |
[εksekyut] |
|
|
excellent |
[εksәlәnt] |
|
[gz] |
example |
[әgzæmpəl] |
|
Followed by a
vowel and usually stressed on the second syllable |
exist |
[әgzist] |
|
exam |
[әgzæm] |
|
|
exert |
[әgzrt] |
|
|
examine |
[әgzæmәn] |
|
|
|
executive |
[әgzεkyudәv] |
|
|
exit |
[εgzit] |
|
|
exactly |
[әgzæklee] |
Repeat
after me.
"Help!"
hissed the harried intern. "We have to hurry!
The halfwit who was hired to help her home
hit her hard with the Honda. She didn't have
a helmet on her head to protect her, so she has
to have a checkup ahead of the others."
The computer
cursor careened across the screen, erasing key characters
as it scrolled past. The technician was egually confused
by the computer technology and the complicated key-board,
so he clicked off the computer, cleaned off his desk,
accepted his paycheck, and caught a taxicab
for the airport, destination Caracas.
The
Wizard of Og
|
There
was a man named... |
Og |
|
Who
was his best friend? |
Dog |
|
Where
did he live? |
Bog |
|
What
was his house made of? |
Log |
|
Who
was his neighbor? |
Frog |
148
|
What
did he drink? |
Eggnog |
|
What
did he do for fun? |
Jog |
|
What
is the weather in his swamp? |
Fog |
The
stunning woman would not have a fling with the strong young
flamingo trainer until she had a ring on her finger. He
was angry because he longed for her. She inquired if he were hungry,
but he hung his head in a funk. The flamingo trainer banged
his fist on the fish tank and sang out, "Dang it, I'm
sunk without you, Punkin!" She took in a long, slow
lungful of air and sighed.
War
is horrible. During any war, terrible things occur.
The result is painful memories and disfiguring scars
for the very people needed to rebuild a war-torn
country. The leaders of every country must learn
that wars are never won, lives are always lost, and
history is doomed to repeat itself unless we all decide to live
in harmony with our brothers and sisters.
Pause
the CD and go through the paragraph and mark the [h], [k], [g], [ng], and [r]
sounds.
Hello, my
name is_______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's
a
lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should
pick up on the Ameri-can intonation pattern pretty easily, although
the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I
use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more
than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's
like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a
lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to
understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing
is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
149
After a
year, you're ready for the final analysis. If you're studying on your own,
please contact toll-free (800) 457-4255 or www.americanaccent.com for a
referral to a qualified telephone analyst. The diagnostic analysis is designed
to evaluate your current speech pat-terns to let you know where your accent is
standard and nonstandard.
150
The Nasdaq composite index on Monday suffered its biggest loss in three
weeks after a wave of selling slammed Internet and other tech shares in Asia
and Europe overnight-suggesting many investors are increasingly
nervous about tech shares' current heights. The Nasdaq index ended down 141.38 points,
or 2.8%, at 4,907.24, though it recovered from a morning sell-off that took it
down as much
as 209 points from Friday's record high. Biotechnology stocks were particularly
hard hit. The broader market was also lower, though the Dow Jones industrial
average managed to inch up 18.31 points to 9,947.13.
|
1. |
law,
job, collar |
5. |
China,
dime, fly |
9. |
won,
color, Florida |
13. |
about,
now, |
|||||||||||||||||
|
2. |
class,
chance, last |
6. |
if,
is, been |
10. |
new,
blue, through |
|
down |
|||||||||||||||||
|
3. |
name,
date, way |
7. |
eve,
ease, bean |
11. |
good,
put, could |
14. |
joy,
royal, |
|||||||||||||||||
|
4. |
ten,
many, says |
8. |
worm,
third, hard |
12. |
won't,
know, go |
|
deploy |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
A |
|
B |
|
C |
|
D |
|
E |
|
F |
|
||||||||||||
|
1. |
pat |
1. |
bat |
1. |
apparition |
1. |
abolition |
1. |
lap |
1. |
lab |
|
||||||||||||
|
2. |
fat |
2. |
vat |
2. |
a
rifle |
2. |
arrival |
2. |
life |
2. |
live |
|
||||||||||||
|
3. |
stink |
3. |
zinc |
3. |
graces |
3. |
grazes |
3. |
dice |
3. |
dies |
|
||||||||||||
|
4. |
sheer |
4. |
girl |
4. |
mesher |
4. |
measure |
4. |
dish |
4. |
deluge |
|
||||||||||||
|
5. |
ten |
5. |
den |
5. |
latter |
5. |
ladder |
5. |
ought |
5. |
odd |
|
||||||||||||
|
6. |
cheer |
6. |
jeer |
6. |
nature |
6. |
major |
6. |
etch |
6. |
edge |
|
||||||||||||
|
7. |
thing |
7. |
the |
7. |
author |
7. |
other |
7. |
breath |
7. |
breathe |
|
||||||||||||
|
8. |
core |
8. |
gore |
8. |
lacking |
8. |
lagging |
8. |
snack |
8. |
snag |
|
||||||||||||
|
9. |
yet |
9. |
rice |
9. |
access |
9. |
example |
9. |
box |
9. |
bogs |
|
||||||||||||
|
10. |
wolf |
10. |
prance |
10. |
association |
10. |
refract |
10. |
way |
10. |
bar |
|
||||||||||||
|
11. |
her |
11. |
my |
11. |
actual |
11. |
arrive |
11. |
down |
11. |
mutter |
|
||||||||||||
|
12. |
lice |
12. |
not |
12. |
behind |
12. |
climber |
12. |
ball |
12. |
name |
|
||||||||||||
|
13. |
plants |
|
|
13. |
reflect |
13. |
innate |
13. |
muddle |
13. |
ran |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
14. |
alive |
14. |
singer |
|
|
14. |
wrong |
|
||||||||||||
|
1. |
Sue
arranged it. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2. |
She
organized her office. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
3. |
Get
your report done. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
4. |
Where
did you put it? |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
5. |
She's
your usual television star. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
1. |
soo(w)әrεinj
dit |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2. |
shee(y)orgәnizdr
räfәs |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
3. |
gεcher
r'port dәn |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
4. |
wεrjә
püd't |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
5. |
shezhier
yuzhәwəl
tεlәvizhәn stär |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
1. |
Get a better water
heater. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2. |
Gedda
bedder wädr heedr. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
3. |
alter |
later |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
4. |
intern |
enter |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
5, |
data |
deter |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
6. |
metal |
metallic |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
7. |
let |
led |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
CD 5
We will
be reviewing the concepts that form the basis of American speech-intonation,
word groups, the staircase, and liaisons, as well as pronunciation. Let's
briefly review each item in order. This time around, there will be no
explanation.
Review
Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band Practice with Nonsense Syllables
|
||||||||||||
|
1. |
blah blah
blah |
1. |
blah
blah blah |
1. |
blah blah
blah |
1. |
blah blah
blah |
|||||
|
2. |
ding ding
ding |
2. |
ding
ding ding |
2. |
ding ding
ding |
2. |
ding ding
ding |
|||||
|
|
A |
|
B |
|
C |
|
D |
|||||
|
1. |
duh duh duh |
1. |
duh
duh duh |
1. |
duh duh
duh |
1. |
duh duh
duh |
|||||
|
2. |
X Y Z |
|
|
2. |
unconcerned |
2. |
including |
2. |
educate |
|||
|
3. |
8 9 10 |
|
|
3. |
He
sells fish. |
3. |
He's selfish. |
3. |
Softball
game |
|||
|
4. |
Cows give
milk. |
4. |
We
like Bob. |
4. |
I think
so. |
4. |
Bring me
some. |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Review Exercise 1-2; Noun Intonation |
||||||||||||
|
|
|
1. |
Cats eat fish. |
|
6. |
Ed
found a job. |
|
|
||||
|
|
|
2. |
Boys like
toys. |
|
7. |
Max cut
his finger. |
|
|
||||
|
|
|
3. |
Lou lost
his mind. |
8. |
Mary flew
a kite. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
4. |
Gail
earned a fortune. |
9. |
Rick
passed the test. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
5. |
Betty
grows tomatoes. |
10. |
Our car
lost a wheel. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Review
Exercise 1-3: Noun and Pronoun Intonation
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
1. |
Patrick
speaks French. |
1. |
He speaks
it. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
2. |
The neighbors
sold their car. |
2. |
They sold
it. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
3. |
The police
chased the felon. |
3. |
They chased
him. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
4. |
The housekeeper
did some laundry. |
4. |
She did
some. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
5. |
The architect
and I designed a house. |
5. |
We designed
one. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Review Exercise 1-4: Sentence Intonation Test |
||||||||||||
|
|
|
1. |
They
took it. |
6. |
Sam
called him. |
|||||||
|
|
|
2. |
Mary
had a baby. |
7. |
The
dogs howled at the moon. |
|||||||
|
|
|
3. |
Louis
talked on the phone. |
8. |
Did
you order any? |
|
||||||
|
|
|
4. |
We
forgot about it. |
9. |
We
noticed her. |
|
||||||
|
|
|
5. |
She
had one. |
10. |
The
books fell on the floor. |
|||||||
Review
Exercise 1-6: Pitch and Meaning Change
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
1. |
He looks like Bob. |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2. |
He looks like
Bob, but he's not. |
|
|||||||||
|
|
3. |
He knows Bob,
but he doesn't trust him. |
|
|||||||||
|
|
4. |
He can't trust
him. He can't do it. |
|
|||||||||
151
1.šššš Convey the information that it is Bob. +
2.šššš Convey the opinion that he only resembles
Bob. +
3.šššš Convey the different feelings that someone
has about Bob. +
4.šššš Convey the fact that trust is a problem
with Bob. +
|
Question: |
How was it? |
|
|
Answer: |
1. |
It was pretty expensive.
It was pretty expensive. |
|
|
2 |
It was sort of funny.
It was sort of funny. |
|
|
3. |
It was kind of rude.
It was kind of rude. |
|
|
4. |
It was a little late.
It was a little late. |
1.šššš Her boyfriend almost never sends
her flowers, but mine does.
2.šššš Her boyfriend almost never sends
her flowers, but her sisters always do.
3.šššš Her boyfriend almost never sends
her flowers, but every once in a while he does.
4.šššš Her boyfriend almost never sends
her flowers, no matter what!
5.šššš Her boyfriend almost never sends
her flowers, but he planted a lot in her garden.
6.šššš Her boyfriend almost never sends her
flowers, but he never forgets Mother's Day!
7.šššš Her boyfriend almost never sends her flowers,
but he showers her with other gifts.
1. Indicate that her
boyfriend prefers live plants to cut ones. (5) +
2. Indicate that her
sisters are attentive to her horticultural needs. (2) +
3. Indicate that her
boyfriend gives her non-floral presents. (7) +
4. Indicate that my
boyfriend is good in the flower department. (1) +
5. Indicate that it is a
true rarity for her boyfriend to send flowers. (4) +
6. Indicate that there
is actually a slim chance that he might send flowers. (3) +
7. Indicate that her
boyfriend remembers to send flowers to his mother. (6) +
Pause the CD and
translate Her boyfriend almost never sends her flowers into your native
language.
Normal intonationš
__________________________________
Changed intonation _________________________________
1.šššš How do you know ?
2.ššš How do you know?
3.ššš How do you know?
4.ššš How do you know?
1.šš
__________________________________________________
2.š š__________________________________________________
3.šš š__________________________________________________
152
4.ššš _________________________________________________________
5.ššš ______________________________________________________
6.ššš ______________________________________________________
7.ššš ______________________________________________________
Think the United Auto
Workers can beat Caterpillar Inc. in their bitter contract battle? Before
placing your bets, talk to Paul Branan, who can't wait to cross the picket line
at Caterpillar's factory in East Peoria. Branan, recently laid off by a
rubber-parts plant where he earned base pay of $6.30 an hour, lives one block
from a heavily picketed gate at the Cat complex. Now he's applying to replace
one of 12,600 workers who have been on strike for the past five months.
"Seventeen dollars an hour and they don't want to work?" asks Branan.
"I don't want to take another guy's job, but I'm hurting, too."
On a separate piece of
paper, draw a staircase and put each word where it belongs.
Think the United Auto
Workers can beat Caterpillar Inc. in their bitter contract battle?
Before placing your bets, talk to Paul Branan, who can't wait to
cross the picket line at Caterpillar's factory in East Peoria.
Branan, recently laid off by a rubber-parts plant where he
earned base pay of $6.30 an hour, lives one block from a heavily
picketed gate at the Cat complex. Now he's applying to
replace one of 12,600 workers who have been on strike for
the past five months. "Seventeen dollars an hour and
they don't want to work?" asks Branan. "I don't want to
take another guy's job, but I'm hurting, too."
Review
Exercise 1-19: Spelling and Numbers
|
|||
|
CEO |
See Eee Oh |
Catch |
See Ei Tee See Aitch |
|
ATM |
Ei Tee Em |
Nate |
En Ei Tee Eee |
|
IRS |
Ai Are Ess |
|
|
|
BMW |
Bee Em Dubbayou |
Area Code |
213 |
|
JFK |
Jay Eff Kay |
Zip Code |
90291 |
|
M&M |
emanem |
Date |
9/15/88 |
Review
Exercise 1-20: Sound/Meaning Shifts
|
|||
|
icy |
I see. |
attic |
a tick |
|
achy |
a key |
comedy |
committee |
|
history |
his tree |
paradise |
pair of dice |
|
interest |
in trust |
selfish |
sell fish |
|
orange |
arrange |
underwear |
under where? |
|
eunuch |
unique |
ambulance |
unbalanced |
Review
Exercise 1-21: Squeezed-Out Syllables
|
|||
|
actually |
[ækchully] |
finally |
[finelee] |
|
business |
[bizness] |
general |
[genr'l] |
|
comfortable |
[c'mfťb'l] |
interest |
[intr'st] |
|
different |
[difr'nt] |
natural |
[næchr'l] |
|
every |
[evree] |
orange |
[ornj] |
|
favorite |
[favr't] |
probably |
[präblee] |
|
family |
[fæmlee] |
separate |
[sepr't] |
|
vegetable |
[vejt'b'l] |
several |
[sevr'l] |
153
Review
Exercise 1-22: Syllable Patterns
|
|||||
|
1 |
la! |
la-a... |
|
|
|
|
|
cat |
dog |
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
2 |
la-la |
la-la |
|
|
|
|
|
a dog |
hot dog |
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
3 |
la-la-la |
la-la-la |
la-la-la |
la-la-la |
|
|
|
Bob's hot dog |
a hot
dog |
a hot
dog |
hot dog
stand |
|
|
|
|||||
|
4 |
la-la-la-la |
la-la-la-la |
la-la-la-la |
|
|
|
|
Spot's a
hot dog. |
It's
a hot dog. |
Bob
likes hot dogs. |
|
|
|
|
la-la-la-la |
la-la-la-la |
la-la-la-la |
|
|
|
|
It's
my hot dog. |
a hot
dog stand |
lighthouse
keeper |
|
|
|
|
Adjectivešššššššššššššš |
Noun
and Adjective |
|
1. |
It's black. |
It's a black cat. |
|
2. |
It's scrambled. |
It's
a scrambled egg. |
|
3. |
It's fast. |
It's
a fast car. |
|
1. |
confrontšššššššššššššš __ |
8. |
He like red ones.ššššššš __ |
15. |
European |
|
|
2. |
detailššššššššš ššššššššš__ |
9. |
He bought me one.ššš __ |
16. |
with dignity |
|
|
3. |
a blind datešššššššš __ |
10. |
It's very nice.šššššššššššš __ |
17. |
popcorn machine |
|
|
4. |
my date bookššššš __ |
11. |
Jim likes hot
rods.ššššš __ |
18. |
a mortarboard |
|
|
5. |
consequenceššššššš __ |
12. |
lakešššš ššššššššššššššššššššššš_ |
19. |
robin redbreast |
|
|
6. |
consequentialšššššš __ |
13. |
daysššššššššššššššššššššššššš __ |
20. |
telescope |
|
|
7. |
Will needs a car. __ |
14. |
It's your
birthday?šššš __ |
21. |
telescopic |
_ |
|
|
Noun |
Adjective |
|
1. |
It's
a cat. |
It's
black. |
|
2. |
It's
an egg. |
It's
scrambled. |
|
3. |
It's
a car. |
It's
fast. |
|
|
Adjective
Noun |
Adverb
Adjective |
|
1. |
It's a black cat. |
It's
dark black. |
|
2. |
It's a scrambled egg. |
It's
totally scrambled. |
|
3. |
It's a fast car. |
It's
too fast. |
Snow White
was a beautiful princess. On the castle
wall, there was an enchanted mirror
owned by an old woman-a wicked
witch! "Mirror,
mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" When the mirror an-swered,
"Snow Whitet," the young girl
was banished from her glorious castle to live
in the dark woods. She met seven dwarves,
and they lived in a small hut. The evil witch
tried to kill the poor girl with a
poisoned apple, but she was saved by a handsome
prince. They had a beautiful wedding
and lived happily ever after.
154
|
|
Noun |
Noun/Adj. |
Set
Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a cat. |
It's wild. |
It's
a wildcat. |
|
2. |
It's
an egg. |
It's
a timer. |
It's
an egg timer. |
|
3. |
It's
a car. |
It's
a crash. |
It's
a car crash. |
Our mailman loves junk
food. At dinnertime, he has potato
chips and a hot dog. He puts
some soy sauce on his eggplant,
but it gives him a stomachache. For
dessert, he has a watermelon, a grapefruit,
and some ice cream. Afterwards,
he leaves the dinner table and
goes to the bookshelf in his bedroom. He
takes down a notebook and
does his homework. He puts
a clean pillowcase on his
pillow, covers up with the bedspread, and
goes to dreamland.
|
|
Descriptive Phrase |
Set Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a black cat. |
It's
a wildcat. |
|
2. |
It's
a scrambled egg. |
It's
an egg timer. |
|
3. |
It's
a fast car. |
It's
a car crash. |
|
|
Descriptive
Phrase |
Set
Phrase |
|
1. |
a rocky garden |
a rock garden |
|
2. |
a gilded cage |
a bird cage |
|
3. |
melted butter |
a butter knife |
|
4. |
tomato soup |
tomato sauce |
|
5. |
a baby goat |
a scapegoat |
Review Exercise 1-33: Nationality Intonation Quiz
|
1. |
a French guy |
4. |
a french fry |
7. |
French-Canadian |
|
2. |
a French
restaurant |
5. |
french toast |
8. |
a French teacher |
|
3. |
French food |
6. |
a french horn |
9. |
a french door |
|
|
Set Phrase |
Descriptive
Phrase |
|
|
A French
teacher... |
A French teacher... |
||
|
|
...teaches
French. |
|
...is from
France. |
|
A French
book... |
A French book
... is on any subject, |
||
|
|
...teaches the
French language. |
|
but it came from
France. |
|
French
food... |
A French restaurant... |
||
|
|
...is croissants
for breakfast. |
|
...serves
croissants for breakfast. |
155
|
1. |
a dark room |
11. |
a chemistry set |
21. |
a police station |
|
2. |
a darkroom |
12. |
a chemical reaction |
22. |
a radio station |
|
3. |
an antique shop |
13. |
a sixth sense |
23. |
orange juice |
|
4. |
an antique dealer |
14. |
six cents |
24. |
a guitar case |
|
5. |
an antique chair |
15. |
a sixth grader |
25. |
an electric guitar |
|
6. |
a new video |
16. |
the sixth grade |
26. |
trick photography |
|
7. |
the video store |
17. |
long hair |
27. |
a photo-op |
|
8. |
a coffee table |
18. |
a hairdresser |
28. |
a wedding ceremony |
|
9. |
hot coffee |
19. |
a haircut |
29. |
a beautiful ceremony |
|
10. |
a coffeepot |
20. |
the wrong station |
30. |
a wedding cake |
1.ššš The schoolkids took the subway
downtown for their field trip on urban living.
2.ššš Our local sheriff had a bumper
sticker on his back bumper.
3.ššš The homeowners thought they had to
pay property taxes to the federal government.
4.ššš There were small tremblers after the
earthquake in San Francisco.
5.ššš The Geology Club went on a camping
trip to Mount Hood.
6.ššš The award ceremony at the Hilton
Hotel lasted for two hours.
7.ššš Bob Smith took his surfboard out
on a stormy day near Diamond Head.
8.ššš The boy scouts pitched their pup
tents on the mountaintop in the pouring rain.
9.ššš It's a little late to ask the
babysitter to stay over night.
10.ššš The sixth graders were
reading comic books and drinking chocolate milk.
|
erode |
1. |
The |
floods |
erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
eroded |
2. |
The |
floods |
eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәroudәd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
are eroding |
3. |
The |
floods |
're eroding the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zrrәrouding th' mæon(t)nz |
|
will erode |
4. |
The |
floods |
'll erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәlәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
would erode |
5. |
The |
floods |
'd erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәdәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
would have eroded |
6. |
The |
floods |
'd've eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәdәvәroudәd
th' mæon(t)nz |
|
that have eroded |
7. |
The |
floods |
thaťve eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәdәvәroudәd
th' mæon(t)nz |
|
have eroded |
8. |
The |
floods |
've eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәvәroudәd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
had eroded |
9. |
The |
floods |
'd eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәdәroudәd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
will have eroded |
10. |
The |
floods |
'll've eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zәlәvәroudәd
th' mæon(t)nz |
|
ought to erode |
11. |
The |
floods |
ought to erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'd |
zädә eeroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
should erode |
12. |
The |
floods |
should erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
shüdәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
should not erode |
13. |
The |
floods |
shouldn't erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
shüdnnәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
should've eroded |
14. |
The |
floods |
should've eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
shüdәvәroudәd
th' mæon(t)nz |
|
should not have |
15. |
The |
floods |
shouldn't've eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
shüdnnәvәroudәd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
could erode |
16. |
The |
floods |
could erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
cüdәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
could not erode |
17. |
The |
floods |
couldn't erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
cüdnnәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
could have eroded |
18. |
The |
floods |
could've eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
cüdәvәroudәd
th' mæon(t)nz |
|
could not have |
19. |
The |
floods |
couldn'ťve eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
cüdnnәvәroudәd
th' mæon(t)nz |
|
might erode |
20. |
The |
floods |
might erode the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
mydәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
might have |
21. |
The |
floods |
mighťve eroded the mountains. |
th' |
fl'dz |
mydәvәroudәd
th' mæon(t)nz |
156
|
must erode |
22. |
The floods must
erode the mountains. |
th' fl'dz
mәsdәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
must have |
23. |
The floods
musťve eroded the mountains. |
th' fl'dz
mәsdәvәroudәd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
can erode |
24. |
The floods can
erode the mountains. |
the fl'dz
kәnәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
can't erode |
25. |
The floods can't
erode the mountains. |
the fl'dz kæn(d)әroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
present |
1. |
It erodes
them. |
idәroudz'm |
|
past |
2. |
It eroded
them. |
idәroud'd'm |
|
continuous |
3. |
It's eroding
them. |
itsәrouding'm |
|
future |
4. |
It'll erode
them if it keeps up. |
idәlәroud'm |
|
present
conditional |
5. |
Iťd
erode them if it kept up. |
idәroud'm |
|
past
conditional |
6. |
Iťd've
eroded them if iťd kept up. |
idәvәroud'd'm |
|
relative
pronoun |
7. |
The
one that's eroded them is quite odd. |
the
wәnthәtsәroud'd'm (is...). |
|
present
perfect |
8. |
It's eroded
them for eons. |
itsәroud'd'm |
|
past
perfect |
9. |
Iťd
eroded them before the last ice age. |
idәroud'd'm |
|
future
perfect |
10. |
Iťll've
eroded them by the end of the millennium. |
idәlәvәroud'd'm |
|
obligation |
11. |
It
ought to erode them. |
idädә
eeroud'm |
|
obligation |
12. |
It
should erode them. |
it
sh'dәroud'm |
|
obligation |
13. |
It shouldn't
erode them. |
it
sh'dnnәroud'm |
|
obligation |
14. |
It
should have eroded them. |
it
sh'dәvәroud'd'm |
|
obligation |
15. |
It
shouldn'ťve eroded them. |
it
sh'dnnәvәroud'd'm |
|
possibility/ability |
16. |
It
could erode them. |
it
c'dәroud'm |
|
possibility/ability |
17. |
It couldn't
erode them. |
it
c'dnnәroud'm |
|
possibility/ability |
18. |
It
could have eroded them. |
it
c'dәvәroud'd'm |
|
possibility/ability |
19. |
It
couldn't have eroded them. |
it
c'dnnәvәroud'd'm |
|
possibility |
20. |
It
might erode them. |
it
mydәroud'm |
|
possibility |
21. |
It might
have eroded them. |
it
mydәvәroud'd'm |
|
probability |
22. |
It
must erode them. |
it
mәss dәroud'm |
|
probability |
23. |
It
must have eroded them. |
it
mәsdәvәroud'd'm |
|
ability |
24. |
It can
erode them. |
it
c'nәroud'm |
|
ability |
25. |
It can't
erode them. |
it cæn(d)әroud'm |
On a separate piece of
paper, write the Review Exercise as on pages 38-40.
|
1. |
The floods
erode the mountains every day. |
2. |
The floods
eroded th' mountains for centuries. |
|
|
th' flәd
zәroud th' mæon(t)n
zεvree day |
|
th' flәd
zәroudәd th' mæon(t)nz fr
sen chrreez |
|
3. |
The floods're
eroding the mountains right now. |
4. |
The floods'll
erode th' mountains if this keeps up. |
|
|
th' flәd
zrr'rouding th' mæon(t)nz räit næo |
|
th' flәd
zәlәroud th' mæon(t)nz if
this keep sәp |
|
5. |
The floods'd
erode the mountains if this kept up. |
6. |
The floods'
d've eroded th' mountains if it'd kept up. |
|
|
th' flәd
zәdәroud th' mæon(t)nz if
this kepdәp |
|
th' flәd
zәdәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz if
id kepdәp |
157
|
7. |
The floods thaťve
eroded the mountains are over. |
8. |
The floods've
eroded the mountains over the years. |
|
|
th' flәd
zәdәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)n
zrrovr |
|
th' flәd
zәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)n
zovr th' yirz |
|
9. |
The floods'd
already eroded the mountains |
10. |
The floods'll've
totally eroded th' mountains |
|
|
before the last
ice age. |
|
by the next ice
age. |
|
|
th' flәd
zәdäreddy әroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
th' flәd
zәlәv toudәlee(y)әroud'd
th' mæon(t)nz |
|
|
b'for th'
læssdice age |
|
by th' nex dysage |
|
would erode |
5. |
The floods'd
erode the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zәdәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
had eroded |
9. |
The floods'd
eroded the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zәdәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
would have
eroded |
6. |
The floods'd've
eroded the mountains. |
th' |
flәd zәdәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
that have eroded |
7. |
The floods
thaťve eroded the mountains. |
th' |
flәd zәdәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
will erode |
4. |
The floods'll
erode the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zәlәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
would erode |
5. |
The floods'd
erode the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zәdәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
would have
eroded |
6. |
The floods'd've
eroded the mountains. |
th' |
flәd zәdәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
have eroded |
8. |
The floods've
eroded the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
had eroded |
9. |
The floods'd
eroded the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zәdәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
will have eroded |
10. |
The floods'll've
eroded the mountains. |
th' |
flәd zәlәvәroud'd th' mæon(t)nz |
|
would erode |
5. |
The floods'd
erode the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zәdәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
ought to erode |
11. |
The floods ought
to erode the mountains. |
th' |
flәd
zädә eeroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
can erode |
24. |
The floods can
erode the mountains. |
the |
flәdz
c'nәroud th' mæon(t)nz |
|
can't erode |
25. |
The floods can't
erode the mountains. |
the |
flәdz cæn(d)әroud th'
mæon(t)nz |
|
I can
tell you. |
[I
k'n tell you] |
positive |
|
I can't
tell you. |
[I kæn(t)tell you] |
negative |
|
I can
tell you. |
[I kææn
tell you] |
extra positive |
|
I can't
tell you. |
[I kæn(t)tell
you] |
extra negative |
I
saw him. + I saw him again. + I saw him
at work again. + I think I saw him at work again. + I
really think I saw him at work again. + I really think
I saw him at work again in the yard. + I really think I saw him
at work again in the yard behind the house.
On a separate piece of
paper, build up your own sentences.
|
Nouns |
Verbs |
||
|
an
accent |
[æks'nt] |
to
accent |
[æksεnt] |
|
a
contract |
[käntræct] |
to
contract |
[k'ntrækt] |
|
an
insert |
[insert] |
to
insert |
[insert] |
|
an
object |
[äbjekt] |
to
object |
[әbjεct] |
|
progress |
[prägr's] |
to
progress |
[pr'gress] |
158
|
Nouns/Adjectives |
Verbs |
||
|
alternate |
[ältern't] |
to
alternate |
[älternεit] |
|
estimate |
[est'm't] |
to
estimate |
[est'mεit] |
|
separate |
[sepr't] |
to
separate |
[seperεit] |
1.ššš Would you please alternate
seats with the other alternate?
2.š ššThey
signed a contract in order to contract
their services.
3.ššš Who could object to progress?
4.ššš The unidentified
flying object progressed slowly across the
night sky.
5.ššš We need a written estimate in order to estimate the payment.
1.
__________________________________________________ .
2.š
__________________________________________________ .
3.š
__________________________________________________ .
|
To |
Looks
Like... |
Sounds
Like... |
|
unvoiced |
The
president hoped to veto the bill. |
[th' prezәdnt
houptә veetou th' bill] |
|
|
Deposit
it to my account, please. |
[d'päz'di(t)t' myә kæon(t), pleez] |
|
voiced |
Their
boss told them to wait. |
[thεr bäss
toldәmdә wεit] |
|
|
The
coach showed us how to pitch. |
[the coch
showdәs hæodә pitch] |
|
At |
Everyone
stared at the mess. |
[everyone
stεrdә(t)th' mess] |
|
unvoiced |
Stay
at my house for a while. |
[stayә(t) my hæos
frә while] |
|
voiced |
Jim
looked at his watch impatiently. |
[jim lük
d'diz wätchim pεish'ntlee] |
|
|
He's
at his brother's. |
[heez'diz brәthrz] |
|
It |
They
said it took too long. |
[they sedi(t)tük too läng] |
|
unvoiced |
Do
you think it turned out? |
[dyu thing kit turn dæot] |
|
voiced |
Let's
keep it in perspective. |
[lets keepidin perspekd'v] |
|
|
Can
we keep it for another day? |
[kwee keepi(t) frә n'ther day] |
|
For |
This'll do
for now. |
[thissәl du fr næo] |
|
|
The
students all worked for hours. |
[th' studn
tsäll wrkt frhæwrz] |
|
From |
We
learned it from the coach. |
[we lrn di(t) frm th' coch] |
|
|
The
tourists came from all over. |
[the trrists
came frәmällovr] |
|
In |
We
made it just in time. |
[we meidit
jәsdin time] |
|
|
The
place was in an uproar. |
[th' pleiswәzinәnәp
roar] |
|
An |
It
was an odd remark. |
[it
wәzәnäd rәmärk] |
|
|
He's
an open book to me. |
[heezә
noupәn bük tә me] |
|
And |
Everyone
sat and chatted for a while. |
[evreewәn
sæ(t)n chædәd
frә wyәl] |
|
|
It
was getting later and later. |
[it w'z gedding leidr'n leidr] |
|
Or |
We
had two or three options. |
[we hæd tu(w)r three(y)äpsh'nz] |
|
|
No
one could see or hear anything. |
[nou w'n küd see(y)r hirenny
thing] |
159
|
Are |
The neighbors
are complaining again. |
[th' neibrzr k'mplay
ningә gen] |
|
|
Whose shoes are
these? |
[hooz shoozr
theez] |
|
Your |
The door's on
your left. |
[th' door
zänyr left] |
|
|
Are you on your
way yet? |
[är yu(w)änyr
way yet] |
|
One |
There's another
one later. |
[therzә nәthr
w'n leidr] |
|
|
One of them is
outside. |
[w'n'v'm'z
æo(t)side] |
|
The |
The other one's
in here. |
[thee(y)әthr w'n
zin hir] |
|
|
Did he pass the
test? |
[didee
pæss th' test] |
|
A |
Let's take a
cab. |
[lets
teikә cæb] |
|
|
What's the
tallest building in America? |
[wts th'
täll'st bilding inәmerәkә] |
|
Of |
Would you like a
piece of pie? |
[Jläikә
peesә pie] |
|
|
They'll be gone
for a couple of weeks. |
[thell be
gän frә couplә weeks] |
|
Can |
Do you think you
can do it? |
[dyu thing kyu
k'n du(w)'t] |
|
|
Can you believe
it?! |
[k'new b'leevit] |
|
Had |
We think he'd
never done it before. |
[we thing keed
never dәnit b'for] |
|
|
They'd always
done it that way. |
[they
däweez dәnit thæt way] |
|
Would |
Why would he
tell her? |
[wy woody teller] |
|
|
I don't know if
he'd agree. |
[äi dou nou
if heedә gree] |
|
Was |
Who was on the
phone? |
[hoo w'zän
th' foun] |
|
|
The drummer was
off beat. |
[th' drәmr
w'zäf beet] |
|
What |
Let's see what
he wants. |
[let see
wәdee wänts] |
|
|
Who knows what
it is? |
[hoo nouz w'd'd'z] |
|
Some |
Some
of it got in my eyes. |
[s'm'v't
gädin my äiz] |
|
|
Somebody
took my place. |
[s'mb'dee
tük my pleis] |
Review
Exercise 1-54: Intonation and Pronunciation of "That"
|
Relative Pronoun |
The grapes that
he bought were sweet. |
[th' greips
the dee bät wr sweet] |
|
Conjunction |
We hope that
you'll be there. |
[we houp the
chüll bee there] |
|
Demonstrative |
Don't do that! |
[doun(t)du
thæt] |
|
Combination |
I know that
you'll like that car that you bought. |
[äi nou
the chüll like thæt cär the chew bät] |
Think
the United Auto Workers can beat Caterpillar
Inc. in their bitter contract battle? Before
placing your bets, talk to Paul Branan, who can't wait to
cross the picket line at Caterpillar's factory in East Peoria.
Branan, recently laid off by a rubber-parts plant
where he earned base pay of $6.30 an hour, lives one
block from a heavily picketed gate at the Cat complex. Now
he's applying to replace one of 12,600 workers who have been on strike
for the past five months. "Seventeen dollars an hour and
they don't want to work?" asks Branan. "I don't want to
take another guy's job, but I'm hurting, too."
Th'nk
th' Unit'd Auto Wrkrs c'n beat Cat'pill'r Inc. 'n their b'tter contract
battle? B'fore plac'ng y'r bets, talk t' Paul Bran'n, who
can't wait f cross th' p'cket line 't Cat'pill'r's factry 'n
East Peoria. Bran'n, rec'ntly laid off by' r'bb'r-parts
plant where he 'rned base pay'v $6.30'n hour, l'ves w'n
block fr'm' heav'ly p'ck't'd gate 't th' Cat complex. Now
hes 'pplying t' r'place w'n'v 12,600 wrkrs who h've b'n on strike f'r
th' past five m'nths. "Sev'nteen doll'rs 'n hour 'nd
they dont want t' work?" asks Bran'n. "I dont want
t' take 'n'ther guys job, b't I'm h'rting, too."
160
|
Statement |
Birds lay
eggs. |
|
Clauses |
As we all
know, birds lay eggs. |
|
Listing |
Birds lay
eggs, build nests, and hunt for food. |
|
Question |
Do birds lay
eggs? |
|
Repeated
Question |
Do birds lay
eggs?!! |
|
Tag Question |
Birds lay
eggs, don't they? |
|
Tag Statement |
Birds lay
eggs, DON'T they! |
|
Indirect Speech |
He asked
if birds laid eggs. |
|
Direct Speech |
"Do
birds lay eggs?" they inquired. |
|
1. |
There's
none left. Is there! |
|
6. |
She
had to do it, ______ |
? |
|
2. |
That
was fun, __________ |
! |
7. |
She'd
rather do it, _____ |
? |
|
3. |
You
don't have a clue, ___ |
! |
8. |
She'd
better do it, _____ |
! |
|
4. |
He
wouldn't forget, _____ |
? |
9. |
She'd
never do it, _____ |
? |
|
5. |
They
can do it over, _____ |
? |
10. |
She'd
never done it, ___ |
? |
Buddy.šš Buddy forgot.š ššššHe
said OK, buddy forgot.šššššššššššš He said
OK, but he forgot.
1.ššš I think he's on his way.
________________________________
2.ššš He put it in an umbrella stand.
__________________________
3.ššš We bought it in Italy. _________________________________
1.ššš Nick Clark hopes to put ten dollars down.
_____________________
2.ššš But Tom makes so much juice.
_____________________________
3.ššš Bob's dog got some bones.
_________________________________
1.ššš Can you see it through to the end?
_______________________________
2.ššš Be available for the other opportunity in
my office. __________________
3.ššš He always wants to offer to go over it
again. ________________________
1.ššš We're glad that your homework's done.
___________________________
2.ššš Would you help me with this? __________________________________
3.ššš Do you miss your old friends?
__________________________________
4.ššš Where's your brother?
_________________________________________
Think
the United Auto Workers can beat Caterpillar Inc. in their bitter contract
battle? Before placing your bets, talk to Paul Branan, who can't
wait to cross the picket line at Caterpillar's factory in
East Peoria. Branan, recently laid off by a rubber-parts plant
where he earned base pay of $6.30 an hour, lives one block from a
heavily picketed gate at the Cat complex. Now he's
applying to replace one of 12,600 workers who have been on strike for
the past five months. "Seventeen dollars an hour and they
don't want to work?" asks Branan. "I don't want to
take another guy's job, but I'm hurting, too."
161
Think
the(y)Unite däuto Workers can beat Caterpillr rinc.
in their bitter contract battle? Before placing your bets, talk
to Paul Branan, who can't wait to cross the picket ly n't
Caterpillar's factree yineest Pe(y)ori(y)a. Branan,
recently lay däff bya rubber-parts plant wheree(y)earned base
pay'v $6.30(y)a næ(w)er,
live zw'n block froma heavily picketed gate a(t)the Cat
complex. Nowee zapplying to replace w'n'v 12,600 workers who(w)v
binän strike for the past five months. "Seventeen
dollar sa næ(w)er and they don't
want to work?" asks Branan. "I don't wan(t)to take
another guy's job, b'dime hurting, too."
|
Stressed |
Unstressed |
|
||
|
that |
thæt |
th't |
thәt |
We
think th't we can get there in time. |
|
than |
thæn |
th'n |
thәn |
It's harder
th'n she thought. |
|
as |
æz |
'z |
әz |
It
was'z flat'z a pancake. |
|
at |
æt |
't |
әt |
We jumped't
the chance. |
|
and |
ænd |
'nd |
әnd |
The speaker
went on'n on. |
|
have |
hæv |
h'v |
hәv |
How
h'v you been? |
|
had |
hæd |
h'd |
hәd |
I
wish we h'd been there. |
|
can |
cæn |
c'n |
cәn |
Let
me know if you c'n be there. |
|
|
æ |
ä |
ә |
ou |
a |
ε |
|
1. |
ask |
often |
under |
over |
April |
ever |
|
2. |
back |
ball |
bunch |
both |
baby |
bend |
|
3. |
cap |
cop |
cup |
cope |
cape |
kept |
|
4. |
dash |
dot |
does |
don't |
date |
desk |
|
5. |
fast |
fall |
fun |
photo |
fail |
fell |
Think
thә United äuto Workers
can beat Cæterpillar Inc. in their bitter contract battle?
Before placing your bets, talk to Paul Branan, who can't wait to
cross the picket line at Caterpillar's factory in East Peoria.
Branan, recently laid off by a rubber-parts plant where he earned base
pay of $6.30 an hour, lives one block from a heavily
picketed gate at the Cat complex. Now he's applying to
replace one of 12,600 workers who have been on strike for
the past five months. "Seventeen dollars an hour and they
don't want to work?" asks Branan. "I don't want to
take another guy's job, but I'm hurting, too."
Fæst Dæncing Næncy
We plan
to have a dance on the last Saturday in January.
It's the last chance for a dance. We practice at a
dance class with Max and Nancy. Max dances
fast, but Nancy dances best. We are happy about
the dance, but Max is sad that Sally can't dance.
Her ankle is in a cast!
Päul's Täll
Däughter
Tom
watches Paul's tall daughter play softball
and volleyball. Paul's daughter is called Molly.
Molly starts playing softball in March and
ends in August. She plays volleyball in October. Tom
is Molly's godfather. They have a lot in common.
Tom bought Molly a ball. When Molly saw
the ball, she tossed it in the air. "Thanks a lot, Tom!"
162
S'nday
'n M'nday
Monday
is such a wonderful day. But Sunday
is much more wonderful than Monday! We have
so much fun on Sunday, and we must run on Monday.
What trouble ... Doug must run on Sunday
and Monday. Doug has no fun.
paternalšššššššššššššššššš patternššššššššššššššššš critiquešššššššššššššššššššššš critic
1.ššššš Tell Tina's tailor to
take two tucks in the top of Tim's trousers
tomorrow.
2.ššššš We try and try, but Todd
still tells us to try harder.
3.ššššš Terry had a tingling in her
toes until the doctor took her temperature.
|
1. |
What
a totally naughty little daughter! |
[wәdә
toudәlee nädee liddle dädr] |
|
2. |
Matty
got a little cottage in the city. |
[mædee
gädә liddle cäd'j in th' siddee] |
|
3. |
Letty
bought a lot of bottles for Katie. |
[lεdee
bädә lädә bädlz fr keidee] |
|
1. |
Matt got
to put Jim's pet rat back in the cage. |
[mæ(t)gä(t)t' pü(t) jimz
pe(t)ræ(t)bæck in th' keij] |
|
2. |
Pat
set the date with Kate. |
[pæ(t)se(t)th' dei(t)with kei(t)] |
|
3. |
It's
not what they went for. |
[its nä(t)wә(t) they wen(t) for] |
|
1. |
Whitney
saw lightning on the mountain. |
[wi(t)nee
sä li(t)ning än the mæon(t)n] |
|
2. |
He
was certainly a frightening accountant. |
[he
w'z sr(t)nlee(y)әfri(t)ning
әkæon(t)n(t)] |
|
3. |
That
was a rotten way to shorten the curtain! |
[thæt w'z'rä(t)n weid' shor(t)n th' kr(t)n] |
|
1. |
We
had twenty interviews on May 22. |
[we
hæd twenny innerviewzän may twenny sek'nt] |
|
2. |
They
don't even want a percentage. |
[they
doe neev'n wänә prsen'j] |
|
3. |
We
took advantage of the interruption. |
[we
tükәd væn'j'v the(y)innerәpshәn] |
|
1. |
But
he said that it's OK. |
š[bәdee sed thәdit sou kei] |
|
2. |
It's
not what you want, but it's what you get. |
[its
nät wәchew wänt,
bәdits wәchew get] |
|
3. |
What
a way to get what he wants! |
[wәdә
weidә get wәdee wänts] |
|
paw |
pod |
pot |
bah |
bawd |
bought |
|
par |
pard |
part |
bar |
bard |
Bart |
|
pall |
palled |
palt |
ball |
balled |
Balt |
|
Beginning |
Middle |
|
|
End |
|
|
||||
|
lab |
nab |
tab |
dab |
Ellie |
any |
Eddie |
bill |
bin |
bit |
bid |
|
lot |
not |
tot |
dot |
caller |
Conner |
cotter |
sill |
sin |
sit |
sid |
|
lie |
night |
tie |
die |
alley |
Annie's |
at
ease |
bowl |
bone |
boat |
bode |
163
|
1šššš šbill |
2š bullššššššššššššššššššššššš 3šššš poolšššššššššššššššššššš 4šššš bail |
||||||
|
|
bi-ә-lә |
|
bü-ә-lә |
|
pū-(w)ә-lә |
|
bay-(y)ә-lә |
|
5 |
bell |
6 |
peel |
7 |
Buell |
8 |
pearl |
|
|
bε-ә-lә |
|
pee-(y)ә-lә |
|
byū-(w)ә-lә |
|
pr-rә-lә |
|
1 |
bill |
2 |
bull |
3 |
pool |
4 |
bail |
|
|
bi-әlll |
|
bü-әlll |
|
pū-(w)әlll |
|
bay-(y)әlll |
|
5 |
bell |
6 |
peel |
7 |
Buell |
8 |
pearl |
|
|
bε-әlll |
|
pee-(y)әlll |
|
byū-(w)әlll |
|
pr-iәlll |
1 call
himšššššššššššššš [cällim]šššššššššššššššššššššššš 2
visiblešššššššššššš [vizәbәlә]
|
1. |
would |
could |
should |
|
2. |
chalk |
talk |
walk |
|
3. |
already |
always |
almost |
Let
Larry's little lily leaves fall off.
Bill
still calls Ellie all the time. He'll really
be glad when she calls back, but it may be a while. He slowly
dials the telephone for the twelfth time. Trill,
trill, trill. No luck. Well, Ellie will
feel ill when Bill is in the hospital He might fall
from the windowsill. "Ellie? Hello! Are you well?"
Saved by the bell!
|
|
üll |
ell |
æwl |
ell |
ale |
oll |
eel |
dl |
|
1. |
bull |
ball |
bowel |
bell |
bale |
bowl |
Beal |
bottle |
|
2. |
pull |
pall |
Powell |
pell |
pail |
pole |
peel |
poodle |
|
3. |
full |
fall |
foul |
fell |
fail |
foal |
feel |
fetal |
I'd
rather have a frontal lobotamy than a bottle in front of me, chortled
the gentle little man, or was it the little gentleman?
But anyway, it'll take a battle to test his mettle. What'll
he do to get a handle on the whole kit and caboodle? I don't want
to meddle, but what if he flies off the handle again? Out of
luck, that's what!
Repeat
the paragraph from Review Exercise 1-55 as quickly as possible.
Repeat
the paragraph from Review Exercise 1-55 along with me.
[g],
[gr], Greg, grin, grand, gray, cray, care, core, corner, curl, girl, urban,
her, earn, earth, world, were, word
164
|
|
är |
εr |
or |
eer |
er |
|
1 |
[ä] + [er] |
[ε] +
[әr] |
[o] + [әr] |
[e] + [әr] |
[әr] +
[әr] |
|
2 |
[häәrd] |
[shεәr] |
[moәr] |
[heәr] |
[wәrәr] |
|
3 |
hard |
share |
more |
here |
were |
|
1. |
were |
[wәrәr] |
3. |
world/whirled |
[were rolled] |
5. |
where/wear |
[wεәr] |
|
2. |
word |
[wәrәrd] |
4. |
wore/war |
[woәr] |
|
|
|
|
embarrass |
character |
any |
vocabulary |
said |
paragraph |
|
Paris |
necessary |
says |
parallel |
guarantee |
area |
|
|
әr |
är |
εr |
or |
eer |
æwr |
|
1. |
earn |
art |
air |
or |
ear |
hour |
|
2. |
hurt |
heart |
hair |
horse |
here |
how're |
|
3. |
were |
far |
where |
wore |
we're |
power |
Roy's car will
arrive around three in the afternoon. Gary
will rest before they ride around
the ranch to-gether in the Ford. Gary's a
grape grower in Northern California,
and Roy's a rancher in Southern Califor-nia.
They were friends in Paris at the Sorbonne
for four years. Roy and Gary had
an orange grove and an apple orchard
in Barstow, but the oranges were horrible
and the apple trees were worse. They roamed
around Europe for several years
until Gary's marriage. He married Sarah
in Bakersfield and had four children: Rachel,
Rudy, Randy, and Harry. Harry was a fairly
rude boy and he created rather a lot of trouble
between Gary and Sarah. Gary ordered
Harry to shape up or forget working
in the yard for extra money. Harry said
he was sorry and the group became friends
again. After a long separation, Gary heard
from his friend, Roy. Roy was driving through
Fresno and wanted to get together with Gary's
family. Every-one gathered around the fireplace
to wait for Gary's old friend. Gary, Sarah,
Rachel, Rudy, Randy, and Harry are
sitting in a row near the garage. Roy's
car will arrive around three in the
afternoon.
|
|
Descriptive
Phrase |
Modified
Description |
|
1. |
It's
a black cat. |
It's
a dark black cat. |
|
2. |
It's
a scrambled egg. |
It's
a totally scrambled egg. |
|
3. |
It's
a fast car. |
It's
a really fast car. |
|
|
Set
Phrase |
Modified
Set Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a wildcat. |
It's
a fierce wildcat. |
|
2. |
It's
an egg timer. |
It's
a plastic egg timer. |
|
3. |
It's
a car crash. |
It's
a catastrophic car crash. |
|
|
Two-Word
Set Phrase |
Three-Word
Set Phrase |
|
1. |
It's
a wildcat. |
It's
a wildcat preserve. |
|
2. |
It's
an egg timer. |
It's
an egg timer bell. |
|
3. |
It's
a car crash. |
It's
a car crash report. |
165
|
Modified
Description |
Modified
Set Phrase |
Three-Word
Set Phrase |
|
|
1. |
a dark black cat |
a fierce wildcat |
a wildcat preserve |
|
2. |
a totally scrambled egg |
a plastic egg timer |
an egg timer bell |
|
3. |
a really fast car |
a catastrophic car crash |
a car crash report |
|
|
Modified
Set Phrase |
Remodified
Set Phrase |
|
1. |
It's a fierce wildcat. |
It's an astonishingly
fierce wildcat. |
|
2. |
It's a plastic egg
timer. |
It's an old
plastic egg timer. |
|
3. |
It's a catastrophic car
crash. |
It's a truly
catastrophic car crash. |
|
1. |
How old is she? |
2. |
šHow long has it been? |
3. |
How old is she? |
|
|
She's thirteen.
[thirtéen] |
|
Thirteen yéars. |
|
She's thirteen
years old. |
|
|
She's thirty, [thírdy] |
|
Thirty years. |
|
She's thirty
years old. |
|
Three-Word Set Phrase |
Modified Three-Word Set Phrase |
|
|
1. |
It's a wildcat
preserve. |
It's a new wildcat
preserve. |
|
2. |
It's an egg timer
bell. |
It's a loud egg timer
bell. |
|
3. |
It's a car crash
report. |
It's a graphic car
crash report. |
A tired young hiker was
striding through the thick, dark forest when he came upon a gnarled old
crone standing before a small stone hut in a sunny little
clearing. "My poor old stomach is really very empty,"
he thought. "I hope this old landlady can spare a little food."
Sensing what he was about to say, she snapped, "No! I have barely
enough for myself!" "My good woman," he said,
"On the contrary! I'd like to cook you a sumptuously rich dinner...of
rock soup!" She was naturally very suspicious, but
she let him in. He boiled some clear, fresh water, added three
clean rocks, and hung the dented old kettle in the old
fireplace. He tasted the mysterious liquid concoction. "This
is truly delicious," he declared, "but it would be so
much better with just one little vegetable." She
begrudgingly gave him a small limp carrot and two dry
onions. "Yum," he said happily. "But if only ..."
Bit by bit, he cajoled the lonely housewife into making a savory stewpot.
The two of them sat down, smiled at each other, and enjoyed a
fabulous dinner together.
|
1. |
It's a house. |
6. |
It's a lighthouse. |
|
2. |
It's old. |
7. |
It's an old lighthouse. |
|
3. |
It's really old. |
8. |
It's a really
old lighthouse. |
|
4. |
It's an old house. |
9. |
He's a lighthouse
keeper. |
|
5. |
It's a really
old house. |
10. |
He's an old
lighthouse keeper. |
|
|
|
11. |
He's a really
old lighthouse keeper. |
This is the thing
that they told them about this Thursday. This
thing or that thing? This thing. Actually, there
are two of them. Both of these things were with
the three other things there in the theater.
They're worth three thousand dollars. Ruth
and her mother think that they are worth
more than that, though, unless they break, and then
they are worthless. Altogether worthless to them.
That would bother Ruth's brother, mother and father
on their birthday, the thirtieth of this month.
Ruth, Ethel, and Beth have a rule of thumb about
birthdays, which is to stay together, through thick
and thin, whether it's worth it or not. And that's the
thing.
166
|
Noun |
Verb
| Noun Bob Studies English |
Pronoun
| Verb | Noun - He studies English |
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
Rule
A: Descriptive Phrases |
|
|
|
|
|
pretty
good |
a
good shot |
|
a pretty
good shot |
|
|
really
long |
a
long talk |
|
really very
long |
|
|
fairly
rubbery |
a
rubber hose |
|
a long
rubber hose |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rule
B: Compound Nouns |
|
|
|
|
|
a snapshot |
|
|
a snapshot
collection |
|
|
a talkshow |
|
|
a talkshow
host |
|
|
a rubber
band |
|
|
a rubber
band box |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
a
good snapshot |
|
|
a
good snapshot collection |
|
|
a
funny talkshow |
|
|
a
funny talkshow host |
|
|
a
cheap rubber band |
|
|
a
cheap rubber band box |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
a really
good snapshot |
|
a really
good snapshot collection |
|
|
|
a super
funny talkshow |
|
a super
funny talkshow host |
|
|
|
a very
cheap rubber band |
|
a very
cheap rubber band box |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rule
C: Descriptive Phrases with Sentence Balance |
|||
|
|
The
Great Wall |
|
pretty
good |
|
|
|
The Great
Wall of China |
|
a
pretty good shot |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
seventeen |
|
|
fourteen |
|
|
seventeen dollars |
fourteen
years |
||
|
|
seventeen
dollars an hour |
fourteen
years old |
||
|
|
seventeen
dollars and ten cents an hour |
fourteen
and a half years old |
||
Rule
2: Old Information
|
|
|
||
|
Pronoun
| Verb | Pronoun - He studies it |
Noun
| Verb | Pronoun | Bob studies it |
|||
Rule 3: Contrast |
|
|
|
|
|
We
need a red pen (new information) |
We
need a red pen (not a blue one) |
|||
I
should go jogging. (new info)-I should go
jogging ... (opinion indicating the opposite) pretty good
(new info)-pretty good (just
OK); I think so (confident)-I think
so (not sure)
Rule
5: Negation (Can't)
|
|||||
|
I can
do it. |
[I
k'n do it] |
(positive) |
I can
do it. |
[I kææn
do it] |
(extra positive) |
|
I
can't do it. |
[I kæn(t)do it] |
(negative) |
I
can't do it. |
[I kæn(t) do
it] |
(extra negative) |
|
|
u |
ü |
u |
ü |
|
|
soon |
book |
Luke |
look |
|
|
cooed |
could |
wooed |
would |
|
|
shoed |
should |
tool |
took |
167
|
e |
i |
ü |
ә |
әr |
|
held |
hill |
hook |
hug |
her |
|
bet |
bit |
book |
but |
burn |
|
kept |
kiss |
could |
cut |
curt |
|
Tense Vowels |
Lax Vowels |
||
|
beat |
bead |
bit |
bid |
|
seat |
seed |
sit |
Sid |
|
heat |
he'd |
hit |
hid |
|
Tense |
Lax |
|
|
|
1. |
even |
if |
Even if it's raining,
they'll go. |
|
2. |
bean |
been |
We've been growing beans. |
|
3. |
deal |
dill |
You made a deal
for dill pickles. |
|
similar |
typical |
president |
episode |
beautiful |
ability |
|
animal |
chemistry |
experiment |
security |
technical |
monitor |
You
could've pushed, you could've pulled. You
should've pushed and pulled, by hook or by crook,
to take a good look at that book. It stood a full
foot tall, propped up on the cushion at the Book Nook.
Now, I'm all shook up, sugar!
As a rule,
you and Sue Woo are truly too cool-if
only you knew how cool you two choose to be
at school or at the movies. Lou blew his cool on Tuesday
while perusing the newspaper for the truth about who flew
the coop from the boot camp, including the lieutenant.
Who knew the truth?
|
P |
B |
F |
V |
W |
|
Perry |
berry |
fairy |
very |
wary |
|
pat |
bat |
fat |
vat |
wax |
|
Paul |
ball |
fall |
vault |
wall |
1.š Peter picked a peck of pickled
peppers.
2.š It's important to provide
perfect principles for young people.
3.š Hopscotch, lollipops,
hoolahoops, and popsicles keep a little nipper
happy.
4.š Laptop computers put
payroll, payables, and spreadsheets at our fingertips.
5.š It's impossible to predict population
patterns.
168
|
1. |
Betty bought
a bit of better butter. |
1. |
What were
the women doing in the woods? |
|
2. |
Ben believes
Bill broke Bob's box. |
2. |
How would
I know? |
|
3. |
Billions
of bagels are being baked in Brooklyn. |
3. |
When was
Willy's worst weekend? |
|
4. |
Babies
babble and blow bubbles. |
4. |
Why would
we wear warm wool? |
|
5. |
Bananas
come from Cuba. |
5. |
Where were
we when we woke up? |
|
1. |
Fred forgot to fry
fish on Friday. |
1. |
It's evident
that Vera was very valuable. |
|
2. |
Few friends fail
to fight. |
2. |
Cliff Claven
was available for every version. |
|
3. |
Freedom fighters
fight for freedom. |
3. |
The navy revoked
his visa for obvious reasons. |
|
4. |
Only a fool feeds
fugu to friends. |
4. |
Beavers give
the environment very valuable dams. |
|
5. |
Feel free to laugh
if it's funny. |
5. |
Caves leave
me cold, but I love to dive. |
|
s |
z |
s |
z |
|
ice |
eyes |
dust |
does |
|
ace |
A's |
race |
rays |
|
fleece |
fleas |
muscle |
muzzle |
It's so silly
to see Sally sell seashells at the seashore.
Sally and her sister, Sue, can sell seventy-six
apiece every Saturday and Sunday in August and September,
but their price must decrease or their sales will sink.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
was a bear.š Fuzzy Wuzzy
had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was
he!
|
|
æ |
æo |
ä |
i |
a |
e |
u |
ou |
|
1. |
ask |
out |
ought |
I'm |
ape |
eel |
oops |
own |
|
2. |
bake |
about |
boss |
bike |
bathe |
bean |
boost |
both |
|
3. |
camp |
cow |
cough |
kind |
case |
keep |
coop |
code |
|
e |
i |
ü |
ә |
әr |
|
wed |
which |
would |
what |
work |
|
bet |
bit |
book |
but |
burn |
|
kept |
kiss |
could |
cut |
curt |
invendә
1.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers invent a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme once a
season.
invenәdә
2.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers invented a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme last
year.
zәrinvending
3.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers're inventing a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
again.
zәlinvendә
4.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers'll invent a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme if
they aren't afraid of being caught and sent to prison.
zәdinvendә
5.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers'd invent a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme if
they weren't afraid of being caught and sent to prison.
zәdәvinvenәdә
6.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers'd've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
if they hadn't been afraid of being caught and sent to prison.
zәdәvinvenәdә
7.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers thaťve invented a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme are languishing in Club Fed at the moment.
169
zәvinvenәdә
8.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
for the tenth year in a row.
zәdinvenәdә
9.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers had invented a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
long be-fore multilevel marketing became popular.
zәlәvinvenәdә
10.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers'll've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
by the time they get back from checking their off-shore bank accounts.
zädә invends
11.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers ought to invent a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme to handle the overflow cash from their many nefarious enterprises.
shüdin vendә
12.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers should invent a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
to stash their ill-gotten gains.
shüdnnin
vendә
13.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers shouldn't invent a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme in this anti-crime climate.
shüdә
vinvendә
14.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers should've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme while they were in the witness protection plan.
shüdnnәvin
venedә
15.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers shouldn't've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme while they were being monitored by the FBI.
cüdin vendә
16.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers could invent a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
once a year for a hundred years and never run out of ideas.
cüdnnin
vendә
17.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers couldn't invent a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme even if their lives depended on it.
cüdә
vinvenәdә
18.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers could've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme if they'd had a laptop and a bank account.
cüdn*nәvin
venәd suchә
19.ššš Even those wily old lighthouse
keepers couldn't've invented such a highly lucrative money-launder-ing
scheme without outside help.
mydin vendә
20.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers might invent a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
unless they're kept under house arrest.
mydәvin
vendәdә
21.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers might've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering scheme
while they were waiting for trial.
mәssdin
vendә
22.ššš The wily
old lighthouse keepers must invent a lot of highly lucrative money-laundering
schemes.
mәssdәvin
vendәdә
23.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers must've invented a highly lucrative money-laundering
scheme while they were out on parole.
cәnin vent
24.ššš The wily old lighthouse
keepers can invent hundreds of highly lucrative money-laundering
schemes.
170
kændin
vendεnee
25.šš The wily old lighthouse keepers
can't invent any more highly lucrative money-laundering schemes.
Review Exercise 11-8: Your Own Compound Nouns
On a separate piece of
paper, build up your own compound nouns, both subject and object, as on page
140.
Review Exercise 11-9: Your Own Compound Nouns and Complex Verbs
On a separate piece of
paper, write out your own sentences as on page 141.
|
Initial |
Middle |
Final |
||||
|
m/b |
more |
bore |
summing |
subbing |
jam |
jab |
|
n/d |
nine |
dine |
Anna |
adder |
pawn |
pod |
|
ng/g |
bring each |
geese |
singer |
cigar |
ring |
rig |
|
M |
N |
NG |
|
rumә |
runә |
rungә |
|
some |
son |
sung |
|
hum |
hun |
hung |
Some young
men wanted to fling a ring along the
rim of the fountain, but we told them to clam
up and clear. up their game. One was a well-mannered
young man with the name Dan Wang. He
said, "Yes, ma'am."
|
|
Initial |
Middle |
Final |
|
h |
how |
rehire |
|
|
k |
cow |
accent |
sink |
|
g |
go |
regard |
drag |
|
ng |
bring in |
thanks |
sing |
|
r |
row |
mirror |
car |
|
[ks] |
|
[gz] |
|
|
excite |
[εksäit] |
example |
[әgzæmpәl] |
|
extra |
[εkstrә] |
exactly |
[әgzæklee] |
|
except |
[әksεpt] |
examine |
[әgzæmәn] |
|
excellent |
[εksәlәnt] |
exit |
[εgzit] |
Dr. Baxter's
exact experience was such that when
the good doctor traveled to the Sahara,
he inhaled the arid air, picked up his
still packed bags, and headed for the bar.
It was time to examine the sorry situation, which was exactly
the case with Dr. Igor Baxter, an English
historian with a peg leg and a unquenchable
thirst for Mexican rum. Baxter
had had a pair of strange experiences
in the area, but he was still game to accomplish his
goal in the exiled purgatory of the great, dry
Sahara. When he saw that his patients were
to be camels, however, he packed up and took
off for green England, without a single pang
of regret.
171
No matter what language
you speak, you will have different sounds and rhythms from a native speaker of
American English. These Nationality Guides will give you a head start on what
to listen for in American English from the perspective of your own native
language. In order to specifically identify what you need to work on, this
section can be used in conjunction with the diagnostic analysis. The analy-sis provides
an objective rendering of the sounds and rhythms based on how you currently
speak, as well as specific guidelines for how to standardize your English; call
(800) 457-4255 for a private consultation.
Each section will cover intonation, word
connections, word endings, pro-nunciation, location of the language in the
mouth, as
well as particular difficulties to work through, and solutions to common
misperceptions.
Most adult students rely
too heavily on spelling. It's now your job to listen for pure sound, and
reconcile that to spelling-not the other way around. This is the same path that
a native speaker follows.
As you become familiar
with the major characteristics and tendencies in American English, you will
start using that information in your everyday speech. One of the goals of the
diagnostic analysis is to show you what you already know, so you can use the
information and skills in English as transfer skills, rather than newly learned skills. You will learn more
readily, more quickly, and more pleas-antly-and you will retain the information
and use the accent with less resistance.
Read all the nationality
guides-you never know when you'll pick up some-thing useful for yourself.
Although each nationality is addressed individually, there are certain aspects
of American English thaťre difficult for everyone, in this order:
1.šš Pitch changes and meaning shifts of
intonation
2.šš Regressive vocalization with a final voiced
consonant (bit/bid)
3.šš Liaisons
4.šš R&L
5.šš æ ä
ә (including the æo in ow)
6.šš Tense & lax vowels (i/ē
and ü/ū)
7.šš Th
8.šš B&V&W
Ideally, you would have
learned intonation before you learned grammar, but since that didn't happen,
you can now incorporate the intonation into the gram-mar that you already know.
When you first start listening for intonation, it sounds completely random. It
shifts all around even when you use the same words. So, where should you start?
In basic sentences with a noun-verb-noun pattern, the nouns are usually
stressed. Why? Because nouns carry the new information. Natu-rally, contrast
can alter this, but noun stress is the default. Listen to native speakers and
you will hear that their pitch goes up on the noun most of the time.
You will, however, also
hear verbs stressed. When? The verb is stressed when you replace a noun with a
pronoun. Because nouns are new information and pronouns are old information-and we don't stress old
information-the intona-tion shifts over to the verb. Intonation is the most
important part of your accent. Focus on this, and everything else will fall
into place with it.
Intonation
Liaisons
Word endings
Pronunciation
Location in the mouth
š Particular difficulties
Nouns generally
indicate new in-formation and are stressed.
Pronouns
indicate old
information and are unstressed.
172
In English, a pitch
change indicates the speaker's intention. In Chinese, a pitch change indicates
a different word.
The four "ma"
tones of Mandarin Chinese
1. Say the four ma's.
2.š Write them out with the appropriate arrows.
3. Replace the stressed
word in a sentence with each of the four ma's.
4. Decide which one
sounds best.
5. Put the stressed
word back in the sentence, keeping the tone.
There are several
immediately evident characteristics of a Chinese accent. The most notable is
the lack of speech music, or the musical intonation of English. This is a
problem because, in the English language, intonation indicates meaning, new
information, contrast, or emotion. Another aspect of speech music is phrasing, which tells if it is a
statement, a question, a yes/no option, a list of items, or where the speaker
is in the sentence (introductory phrase, end of the sentence, etc.). In
Chinese, however, a change in tone indicates a different vocabulary word.
In English, Chinese
speakers have a tendency to increase the volume on stressed words, but
otherwise give equal value to each word. This atonal volume-increase will sound
aggressive, angry, or abrupt to a native speaker. When this is added to the
tendency to lop off the end of each word, and almost no word connec-tions at
all, the result ranges from choppy to unintelligible.
In spite of this
unpromising beginning, Chinese students have a tremendous advantage. Here is an
amazingly effective technique that radically changes how you sound. Given the
highly developed tonal qualities of the Chinese language, you are truly a
"pitch master." In order for you to appreciate your strength in this
area, try the four ma tones of Mandarin Chinese. (Cantonese is a little more diffi-cult since
it has eight to twelve tones and people aren't as familiar with the differ-entiation.)
These four tones sound identical to Americans - ma, ma, ma, ma.
Take the first sentence
in Exercise 1 -5 It sounds like rain and replace rain with ma1. Say It sounds like ma 1. This will sound
strangely flat, so then try It sounds like ma2. This isn't it either, so go on to It sounds like ma3 and It sounds like ma4. One of the last two will
sound pretty good, usually ma3. You may need to come up with a combination of ma3 and ma4, but once you have the
idea of what to listen for, it's really easy. When you have that part clear,
put rain
back in
the sen-tence, keeping the tone:
It sounds like ma3. It sounds like rain3.
If it sounds a little
short (It
sounds like ren), double the sound:
When this exercise is
successful, go to the second sentence, It sounds like rain and do the same thing:
It ma3 like rain. It sounds3 like rain. Then,
contrast the two:
It sounds like rain3. It sounds3 like rain.
From this point on, you
only need to periodically listen for the appropriate ma, substituting it in for
words or syllables. You don't even need to use the rubber band since your tonal
sophistication is so high.
173
The main point of this
exercise is to get you listening for the tone shifts in English, which are very
similar to the tone shifts in Chinese. The main difference is that Americans
use them to indicate stress, whereas in Chinese, they are fully different words
when the tone changes.
A simple way to practice
intonation is with the sound that American chil-dren use when they make a
mistake-uh-oh. This quick note shift is completely typical of the pattern, and once you
have mastered this double note, you can go on to more complex patterns. Because
Chinese grammar is fairly similar to English grammar, you don't have to worry
too much about word order.
Liaisons
All of the advantages
that you have from intonation are more than counterbal-anced by your lack of word connections. The reason for this is
that Chinese char-acters (words or parts of words) start with consonants and
end with either a vowel or a nasalized consonant, n or ng. There is no such thing as a final t, l, or b in Chinese. To use an
example we've all heard of, Mao Tse Tung. This leads to sev-eral
difficulties:
●ššššššš No word endings
●ššššššš No word connections
●šššššš No distinction between final voiced or
unvoiced consonants.
It takes time and a
great deal of concentration, but the lack of word endings and word connections
can be remedied. Rather than force the issue of adding on sounds that will be
uncomfortable for you, which will result in overpronunciation, go with your
strengths - notice how in speech, but not spelling, Americans end their words with
vowel sounds and start them with consonants, just as in Chinese! It's really a
question of rewriting the English script in your head that you read from when
you speak.
Liaisons or word connections will force the final
syllable to be pronounced by pushing it over to the beginning of the next word,
where Chinese speakers have no trouble - not even with l.
|
Written English |
Chinese
Accent |
American (with
Liaisons) |
|
Tell him |
teo him |
tellim |
|
Pull it out |
puw ih aw |
pü li dout |
Because you are now
using a natural and comfortable technique, you will sound smooth and fluid when
you speak, instead of that forced, exaggerated speech of people who are doing
what they consider unnatural. It takes a lot of correction to get this process
to sink in, but it's well worth the effort. Periodically, when you speak, write
down the exact sounds that you made, then write it in regular spelling, so you
can see
the
Chinese accent and the effect it has on meaning (puw ih aw has no meaning in
English). Then convert the written English to spoken American (pull it out changes to pü li dout) to help yourself rewrite
your English script.
When you don't use
liaisons, you also lose the underlying hum that con-nects sentences together.
This coassonance
is like
the highway and the words are the cars that carry the listener along.
The last point of
intonation is that Chinese speakers don't differentiate be-tween voiced and
unvoiced final consonants - cap and cab sound exactly the
Goal
To get you to use your
excellent tone control in English.
Chinese characters
start with consonants and end with either a vowel or a nasalized consonant (n or ng).
Goal
To get you to rewrite
your English script and to speak with sound units rather than word units.
174
same. For this, you will
need to go back to the staircase. When a final consonant is voiced, the vowel
is lengthened or doubled. When a final consonant is unvoiced, the vowel is
short or single.
Additionally, the long a before an m is generally shortened
to a short ε. This is why the words same and name are particularly difficult, usually
being pronounced sem and nem. You have to add in the second half of the sound. You need nay + eem to get name. Doubled vowels are
explained on page 3.
|
Goal For you to hear the
actual vowel and consonant sounds of English, rather than a Chinese
perception of them. |
Pronunciation The most noticeable
nonstandard pronunciation is the lack of final /. This can be corrected by
either liaisons, or by adding a tiny schwa after it (luh or lә) in order to position
your tongue correctly. This is the same solution for n and ng. Like most other
nationalities, Chinese students need to work on th and r, but fortunately, there are no
special problems here. The remaining major area is [ā], [ε], and [æ], which sound the same. Mate, met, mat sound like met, met, met. The [ε] is the
natural sound for the Chinese, so working from there, you need to concentrate
on Chapters 3 and 11. In the word mate, you are hearing only
the first half of the [εi] combination, so double the vowel with a clear
eet sound at the end (even
before an unvoiced final consonant). Otherwise, you will keep saying meh-eht or may-eht. |
|
|
|
a |
It frequently helps to
know exactly how something would look in your own language - and in Chinese,
this entails characters. The characters on the left are the sounds needed for
a Chinese person to say both the long i as in China and the long a as in made or same. Read the character,
and then put letters in front and in back of it so you are reading half
alphabet, half character. An m in front and a d in back of the first character
will let you read made. A ch in front and na in back of the second character will produce China. It's odd, but it
works. |
|
|
L |
A word that ends in ~ail is particularly
difficult for Chinese speakers since it contains both the hard [εi]
combination and a final / (Chapter 5). It usually sounds something like feh-o. You need to say fail as if it had three
full syllables - fay-yә-lә. |
|
|
u, v, f, w |
Another difficulty may
be u,
v, f, and
w. The point to remember
here is |
|
fay |
that u and w can both be considered
vowels
(i.e.,
they don't touch anywhere in the mouth), whereas v and/are consonants (your upper teeth
touch your lower lip). m, as in
too or use should be no problem.
Similar to m, but with a little
push of slightly rounded lips is w, as in what or white. The letters / and v
have basically the same sound, but / is unvoiced and v is voiced. Your lower
lip should come up a little to meet your top teeth. You are not biting down
on the outside of your lip here; the sound is created using the inside of your
lower lip. Leave your mouth in the same position and make the two sounds,
both voiced and unvoiced. Practice words such as fairy, very, and wary. |
|
175
|
|
There
is another small point that may affect people from southern mainland China
who use / and n interchangeably. This can be corrected
by working with l words and
pinching the nose shut. If you are trying to say late and
it comes out Nate, hold your nose closed and the air
will be forced out through your mouth. |
|
æ |
The æ
sound doesn't exist in Chinese, so it usually comes out as ä or ε, so last
sounds like lost or name
sounds like nem. You need to work
on Chapter 3, which drills this distinctively American vowel. |
|
ä |
Because
of spelling, the ä sound
can easily be misplaced. The ä sound
exists in Chinese, but when you see an o, you
might want to say [o], so hot sounds like hoht
instead of haht. Remember, most
of the time, the letter o is pronounced ah. This
will give you a good reference point for whenever you want to say ä instead of [o]; astronomy, cäll, läng, prägress, etc. |
|
o |
Conversely,
you may pronounce the letter o as ä or ә
when it should be an o, as in only,
most, both. Make sure that the American o sounds
like ou: ounly, moust, bouth. |
|
ә |
The
schwa is typically overpronounced based on spelling. Work on Chapter 1,
Intonation, and Chapter 3, Pronunciation. If your intonation peaks are strong
and clear enough, then your valleys will be sufficiently reduced as well.
Concentrate on smoothing out and reducing the valleys and ignore
spelling! |
|
ü |
The
[ü] sound is generally overpronounced to ooh. Again,
spelling is the culprit. Words such as smooth, choose,
and too are spelled with 2 o's
and are pronounced with a long u sound, but other
words such as took and good are
spelled with 2 o's but are pronounced halfway between ih and uh; [tük]
and [güd]. |
|
i |
In
most Chinese dictionaries, the distinction between i and ē is
not made. The ē is generally indicated by [i:], which causes problems
with final consonants, and the i sound is overpronounced to eee.
Practice these four sounds, remembering that tense
vowels indicate that you tense your lips or tongue, while lax
vowels mean that your lips and tongue are relaxed and the
sound is produced in your throat. Unvoiced final
consonants (t, s, k, p, ch, f) mean that the
vowel is short and sharp; voiced final consonants
(d, z, g, b, j, v) mean that the vowel is doubled. Work
on Bit or Beat? Bid or Bead? in Chapter 8. |
|
r |
Chinese
speakers usually pronounce American r as ä at the end of a
word (car sounds like kaaah)
or almost a w in the beginning
or middle (grow sounds like gwow).
The tongue should be curled back more, and the r produced
deep in the throat. |
|
th |
If
you pronounce th as t or d (depending
if it's voiced or unvoiced), then you should allow your tongue tip to move
about a quarter of an inch forward, so the very tip is just barely between
your teeth. Then, from this position you make a sound similar to t or d. |
|
n |
Chinese
will frequently interchange final n and ng. The
solution is to add a little schwa at the end, just like you do with the el. This
will make the tongue position more apparent, as you can see on page 89. |
|
sh |
Some
people pronounce the sh in a
particularly Chinese-sounding way. It seems that the tongue is too curled
back, which changes the sound. Make sure that the tongue is flat, the tongue
tip is just at the ridge behind the top teeth, and that only a thin stream of
air is allowed to escape. |
Final
Consonants One of the defining characteristics of Chinese speech
is that the final consonants are left off (hold sounds
like ho). Whenever possible, make a liaison
with the following word. For example, hold is
difficult to say, so try hold on = hol dän. Pay particular attention to Chapter 2.
|
t |
American
English has a peculiar characteristic in that the t sound
is, in many cases, pronounced as a d. Work
on Chapter 4. |
176
Chinese,
like American English, is located in the back of the
throat. The major difference between the two languages is that
English requires that the speaker use the tongue tip a great
deal: l, th; and
final t, d, n, l.
Although
Chinese and Japanese are both Asian languages and share enormously in their
written characters, they are opposites in terms of intonation, word-endings,
pronunciation, and liaisons. Whereas the Chinese stress every word and can
sound aggressive, Japanese speakers give the impression of stressing no words
and sounding timid. Both impressions are, of course, frequently entirely at
odds with the actual meaning and intention of the words being spoken. Chinese
speakers have the advantage of knowing that
they have a tonal language, so it is simply a question of transferring this
skill to English.
Japanese,
on the other hand, almost always insist that the Japanese language "has no
intonation". Thus, Japanese speakers in English tend to have a picket
fence intonation | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . In reality, the Japanese
language does express all kinds of information and emotion through intonation,
but this is such a prevalent myth that you may need to examine your own beliefs
on the matter. Most likely, you need to use the rubber band extensively in
order to avoid volume increases rather than on changing the pitch.
One of
the major differences between English and Japanese is that there is a fixed
word order in En-glish-a verb grid-whereas in Japanese, you can move any word
to the head of a sentence and add a topic particle (wa or ga). Following
are increasingly complex verbs with adverbs and helping verbs. Notice that the
positions are fixed and do not change with the
additional words.
|
|
auxiliary |
negative |
perfect
auxiliary |
adverb |
passive |
continuous |
main verb |
|||
|
Draw! |
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Draw! |
||
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He draws. |
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He |
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draws. |
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He does draw. |
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He |
does |
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draw. |
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He is drawing. |
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He |
is |
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drawing. |
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He is not
drawing. |
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He |
is |
not |
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drawing. |
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He is not
always drawing. |
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He |
is |
not |
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always |
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drawing. |
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He is not
always being drawn. |
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He |
is |
not |
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always |
being |
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drawn. |
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He has not
always been drawn. |
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He |
has |
not |
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always |
been |
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drawn. |
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He has not
always been being drawn. |
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He |
has |
not |
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always |
been |
being |
drawn. |
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He will not
have always been being drawn. |
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He |
will |
not |
have |
always |
been |
being |
drawn. |
||
177
Whereas
the Chinese drop word endings, Japanese totally overpronounce them. This is
because in the katakana syllabary, there are the five vowels sounds, and then
consonant-vowel combination. In order to be successful with word connections,
you need to think only of the final consonant in a word, and connect that to
the next word in the sentence. For example, for What time is it? instead
of Whato täimu izu ito? connect the two í's, and
let the other consonants move over to connect with the vowels, w'täi
mi zit? Start with the held t in
Chapter 4 and use that concept for the rest of the final consonants.
Written
Englishššššššš The
only way to get it is to practice all of the time.
American
accentšššššš Thee(y)only
way dә geddidiz dә præctisällәv th' time.
Japanese
accentššššššš Zä
ondee weh tsu getto itto izu tsu pudäctees odu obu zä taimu.
|
æ |
The æ
doesn't exist in Japanese; it usually comes out as ä, so last
sounds like lost. You need to
raise the back of your tongue and drop your jaw to produce this sound. Work
on Chapter 3, which drills this distinctively American vowel. |
|
ä |
The ä sound is
misplaced. You have the ä sound,
but when you see an o, you want to say o, so hot sounds
like hohto instead of haht.
Here's one way to deal with it. Write the word stop
in katakana - the four characters for su + to + hold
+ pu, so when you read it, it sounds like stohppu.
Change the second character from to to
to: su + ta + hold + pu, it will sound
like stop. This will give you a good
reference point for whenever you want to say ä instead of o; impossible,
call, long, problem, etc. |
|
o |
You
may pronounce the letter o as ä or ә when
it should be an o, as in only,
most, both. Make sure that the American o sounds
like ou: ounly, moust, bouth. This
holds true for the diphthongs as well - oi sounds
like ou-ee. |
|
|
tounšššššššššš toneššš ššššššššššššššššššnoutšššššš noteššššššššššššššššššššš houmšššš home ounliššššššššš onlyššššššššššššššššššššš coulšššššš coalššššššššššššššššššššš joukšššššš joke |
|
|
Another
way to develop clear strong vowels instead of nonstandard hybrids is to
understand the relation between the American English spelling system and the
Japanese katakana sounds. For instance, if you're having trouble with the
word hot, say ha, hee, hoo,
heh, hoh in Japanese, and then go back to the first one and
convert it from ha to hot by
adding the held t (Chapter 4). Say
hot in Japanese, atsui, then
add an h for hatsui and
then drop the -sui part, which will leave hot. |
|
ә |
The
schwa is typically overpronounced, based on spelling. Concentrate on
smoothing out and reducing the valleys and ignore
spelling! |
|
ü |
Distinguishing
tense and lax vowels is difficult, and you'll have to forget spelling for ū and ü.
They both can be spelled with oo or ou, but
the lax vowel ü should sound much closer to i or uh. If
you say book with a tense vowel, it'll sound
like booque. It should be
much closer to bick or buck. |
|
i |
Similarly,
you need to distinguish between e and i, as
in beat and bit, on
page 123. Also, tone down the middle i in the multisyllabic words on page
125; otherwise, similar [sim'lr] will
sound like [see-mee-lär]. Most likely, you overpronounce the lax vowel i to eee,
so that sit is mispronounced as seat.
Reduce the lax i almost to a schwa; sit should
sound like s't. In most Japanese dictionaries,
the distinction between i and ē is
not made. Practice the four sounds - bit, beat, bid,
bead - remembering that tense vowels indi-cate
that you tense your lips or tongue, while lax vowels mean
that your lips and tongue are relaxed and the sound is produced in your
throat. Unvoiced final consonants
(t, s, k, p, ch, f) mean that the vowel is short and sharp; voiced
final consonants (d, z, g, b, j, v) mean
that the vowel is doubled. Work on Bit or Beat? Bid or Bead? in Chapter 8. |
|
toun |
tone |
nout |
note |
houm |
home |
|
ounli |
only |
coul |
coal |
jouk |
joke |
178
|
|
single ššššššdouble |
|
|
tense |
beat |
bead |
|
lax |
bit |
bid |
|
|
Betty
bought a bit of |
|
I
need a lot of time. |
|
|||||||
|
|
I
bought a bike. |
|
my
motto |
|
|||||||
|
|
Could
he show him? |
|
meeting |
|
|||||||
|
|
We
ought to go. |
|
I'm
not on time. |
|
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|
|
The Japanese r is a
consonant. This means that it touches at some point in the mouth. Japanese
speakers usually trill their rs (tapping the
ridge behind the top teeth), which makes it sound like a d to
the American ear. The tongue should be curled back, and the r produced
deep in the throat - not touching the top
of the mouth. The Japanese pronunciation of r is
usually just an ä at
the end of a word (car sounds like caaah)
or a flap in the beginning or middle (area sounds
like eddy-ah) |
||||||||||
|
L |
Japanese
speakers often confuse the el with r or d, or
drop the schwa, leaving the sound incomplete. |
||||||||||
|
th |
The th sound
is mispronounced s or z,
depending if it is voiced or unvoiced. |
||||||||||
|
v |
v is
mispronounced either as a simple bee, or if
you have been working on it, it may be a combination such as buwee).
You need to differentiate between the four sounds of p/b/f/v.
The plosives b/p pop out; the
sibilants f/v slide out. b/v are
voiced; f/p are unvoiced. b/v are
the least related pair. The root of the
problem is that you need a good, strong/first. To the American ear, the way
the Japanese say Mount Fuji sounds like Mount
Hooji. Push your bottom lip up with your finger so that it
is outside your top teeth
and make a sharp popping sound. Practice these sounds: |
||||||||||
|
F |
V |
B |
F |
V |
B |
|
|||||
|
fat |
vat |
bat |
ferry |
very |
berry |
|
|||||
|
face |
vase |
base |
effort |
ever |
Ebber |
|
|||||
|
fear |
veer |
beer |
foul |
vowel |
bowel |
|
|||||
Once
you have the/in place, simply allow your vocal cords to vibrate and you will
then have a v.
|
|
unvoiced |
voiced |
|
|
|
plosive |
P |
B |
|
|
|
sibilant |
F |
V |
|
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|
w |
The w is
erroneously dropped before ü, so would
is shortened to ood. Since you can
say wa, wi, wo with no problem,
use that as a starting point; go from waaaaa,
weeeeeeee, woooooo to wüüüüü.
It's more a concept problem than a physical one. |
|||
|
n |
Japanese
will frequently interchange final n and ng. Adding
the little schwa at the end will clear this up by making the tongue position
obvious, as on page 89. |
|||
|
z |
z at
the beginning of a word sounds like dz. (zoo sounds
like dzoo). For some reason, this is a tough
one. In the syllabary, you read ta, chi, tsu, teh, toh for
unvoiced and da, ji, dzu, de, do for voiced. Try
going from unvoiced sssssue to zzzzzzzoo,
and don't pop that d in at the last
second. |
|||
179
si The si combination
is mispronounced as shi, so six comes
out as shicks. Again, this is a syllabary prob-lem.
You read the s row as sa, shi, su, seh,
soh. You just need to realize that since you already know
how to make a hissing s sound, you are
capable of making it before the i sound.
Japanese
is more forward in the mouth than American English, and
more like Spanish except there is much less lip
movement.
Spanish-speaking
people (bearing in mind that there are 22 Spanish-speaking countries) tend to
have strong intonation, but it's usually toward the end of a phrase or sentence.
It is very clear sometimes in Spanish that a person is taking an entire phrase
pattern and imposing it on the English words. This can create a subtle shift in
meaning, one that the speaker is completely unaware of. For example,
|
Spanish |
English with a Spanish
Pattern |
Standard
English Pattern |
|
Quiero comer álgo. |
I want to eat sόmething. |
I want to éat something. |
This is
a normal stress pattern in Spanish, but it indicates in English that either you
are willing to settle for less than usual or you are contrasting it with the
possibility of nothing.
Spanish
has five pure vowels sounds-ah, ee, ooh, eh,
oh-and Spanish speakers consider it a point of pride that
words are clearly pronounced the way they are written. The lack of the concept
of schwa or other reduced vowels may make you overpronounce heavily in English.
You'll notice that I said the concept of schwa-I think
that every language has a schwa, whether it officially recognizes it or not.
The schwa is just a neutral vowel sound in an unstressed word and at some point
in quick speech in any language, vowels are going to be neutralized.
In
Spanish, there are strong liaisons - el hombre sounds
like eh lombre, but you'll
probably need to rewrite a couple of sentences in order to get away from
word-by-word pronunciation. Because consonant clusters in Spanish start with an
epsilon sound (español for Spanish,
especial for special), this habit carries
over into English. Rewriting expressions to accommodate the difference will
help enormously.
|
With
Epsilon |
Rewritten |
With
Epsilon |
Rewritten |
|
I estudy |
ice
tudy |
excellent
espeech |
excellence
peech |
|
in espanish |
ince
panish |
my especialty |
mice
pecialty |
|
their
eschool |
theirss
cool |
her
espelling |
herss
pelling |
In
Spanish, words end in a vowel (o or a), or the
consonants n, s, r, l, d. Some
people switch n and ng (I käng
hear you) for either I can
hear you or / can't hear you. Another
consequence is that final consonants can get dropped in English, as in short (shor) or
friend (fren).
With
most Spanish speakers, the s is almost always
unvoiced, r is trilled, l is too
short and lacks a schwa, d sounds like a
voiced th, and b and v are
interchangeable. Spanish speakers also substitute the ä sound when-ever
the letter a appears, most often for œ,
ä and ә. Bear
in mind that there are six different pronunciations for the letter a as on
page 142. Knowing these simple facts will help you isolate and work through
your difficul-ties.
180
In
Spanish, an s always sounds like an s. (In
some countries, it may be slightly voiced before a voiced consonant such as in mismo.)
In English, a final ~s sounds like z when it
follows a voiced consonant or a vowel (raise [raz], runs [rәnz]).
The most common verbs in English end in the z sound-is, was, does,
has, etc. Double the preceding vowel and allow your vocal
cords to vibrate.
|
Beri
bara bira |
Betty
bought a bit of |
ai
nira lara taim |
I
need a lot of time. |
|
Ai!
Caracol! |
I
caught a cold. |
mai
marou |
my motto |
|
Curi
du it? |
Could
he do it? |
mirin |
meeting |
|
ui
ara gou |
We
ought to go. |
aim
naran taim |
I'm
not on time. |
In
Spanish, r is a consonant. This means that it touches
at some point in the mouth. Spanish speakers usually roll their rs (touching
the ridge behind the top teeth), which makes it sound like a d to the
Ameri-can ear. The tongue should be curled back, and the r produced
deep in the throat-not touching the top
of the mouth. The Spanish pronunciation of r is
usually the written vowel and a flap r at the
end of a word (feeler is pronounced like feelehd)
or a flap in the beginning or middle (throw sounds
like tdoh). In
English, the pronunciation of r doesn't change if
it's spelled r or rr.
You may
have found yourself wondering how to pronounce asked or hoped;
if you came up with as-ked or ho-ped,
you made a logical and common mistake. There are three ways to pronounce
the -ed ending in English, depending what the previous letter
is. If it's voiced, -ed sounds like d:
played [pleid]. If it's unvoiced, -ed sounds
like t: laughed [læft]. If
the word ends in t or d, -ed sounds
like әd: patted [pædәd].
The t at the
end of a word should not be heavily aspirated. Let your tongue go to the t position,
and then just stop. It should sound like [hät], not
[hä], or [häch], or [häts].
The
Spanish d in the middle and final positions is a
fricative d (coda and sed). If you
are having trouble with the English th, substitute
in a Spanish d. First, contrast cara and cada in
Spanish, and then note the similarities between cam and caught
a, and cada and father, cadaššššš fatheršššššššššššššššš beidšššššš bathe
The
letters z and c in most
Spanish-speaking countries sound like s in
English (not in Andalusia, how-ever). The z and c from
Spain, on the other hand, is equivalent to the American unvoiced th. When
you want to say both in English, say bouz with an
accent from Spain.
bouzššššš bothšššššššššššššššššš šgracias
grathiasššššššššššššš uizšššššššš with
In most
Spanish-speaking countries, the y and ll sounds
are equivalent to the American y, as in yes or in
liaisons such as the(y)other one.
Jes, I
jelled at jou jesterday can be heard in some countries such as
Argentina.
hielo šyellow (not jello) ies šyes iu šyou
Because
of spelling, the ä sound
can easily be misplaced. The ä sound
exists in Spanish, but it is repre-sented with the letter a. When
you see the letter o, you pronounce it
[o], so hot sounds like hoht instead
of haht. Remember, most of the time, the letter o is
pronounced ah. You can take a sound that already exists
181
|
|
in Spanish, such as jaat (whether it means
anything or not) and say it with your native accent - jaat with a Spanish accent
more or less equals hot in English.This will give you a good reference point
for when-ever you want to say ä instead of o; astronomy, call,
long, progress, etc. Focus on Chapter 3, differentiat-ing æ, ä, ә. |
||||||
|
|
jaat |
hot |
caal |
call |
saa |
saw |
|
You may pronounce the
letter o
as ä or ә when it really should be
an o, as in only, most, both. Make sure that the
American o
sounds
like [ou], ounly, moust, bouth. This holds true for the diphthongs as well - oi sounds like ou-ee.
Ounli only
joup hope nout note
|
æ |
The æ sound doesn't exist in
Spanish, so it usually comes out as ä, so last sounds like lost. You need to work on
Chapter 3, which drills this distinctively American vowel. |
|
ә |
The schwa is typically
overpronounced, based on spelling. Work on Chapter 1 Intonation and Chapter 3
Pronunciation. If your intonation peaks are strong and clear enough, then
your valleys will be sufficiently reduced as well. Concentrate on smoothing
out and reducing the valleys and ignore spelling! |
|
ü |
The [ü] sound is
generally overpronounced to ooh. Again, spelling is the culprit. Words such as smooth, choose and too are spelled with two o's and are pronounced
with a long u sound, but other words such as took and good are spelled with two o's but are pronounced
halfway between ih and uh; [tük] and [güd]. |
|
i |
Spanish speakers
overpronounce the lax vowel i to eee, so sit comes out as seat. In most Spanish dictio-naries,
the distinction between i and ē is not made. Practice the four sounds - bit, beat,
bid, bead - remembering that tense vowels indicate that you tense your lips
or tongue, while lax vowels mean that your lips and tongue are relaxed and the sound is produced
in your throat. Unvoiced final consonants (t, s, k, p, ch, f) mean that the vowel is short and
sharp; voiced
final
consonants (d, z, g, b, j, v) mean that the vowel is doubled. Work on Bit or Beat?
Bid or Bead? in Chapter 8. Reduce the soft [i] to a schwa; sit should sound like s't. |
|
|
single |
double |
|
tense |
beat |
bead |
|
lax |
bit |
bid |
|
|
Also, watch out for
cognates such as similar, pronounced [see-mee-lär] in Spanish, and [sim'lr] in American
English. Many of them appear in the Middle "I" List on page 125. |
|
||||||
|
l |
The Spanish l lacks a schwa,
leaving the sound short and incomplete to the American ear. Contrast similar
words in the two languages and notice the differences. |
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
v |
A Spanish speaker
usually pronounces v and b the same (I have trouble with my bowels instead of I have trouble with my
vowels). You need to
differentiate between the four sounds of p/b/f/v. The plosives b/p pop out; the sibilants
f/v slide out. b/v are voiced; f/p are unvoiced, b/v are the least related pair. Push
your bottom lip up with your finger so that it is outside your top teeth and
make a sharp popping sound. Practice these sounds: |
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182
|
F |
V |
B |
F |
V |
B |
|
fat |
vat |
bat |
ferry |
very |
berry |
|
face |
vase |
base |
effort |
ever |
Ebber |
|
fear |
veer |
beer |
foul |
vowel |
bowel |
Once you have the/in
place, simply allow your vocal cords to vibrate and you will then have a v.
|
|
unvoiced |
voiced |
|
|
|
plosive |
P |
B |
|
|
|
sibilant |
F |
V |
|
|
|
n |
The final n is often mispronounced
ng - meng rather than men. Put a tiny schwa at
the end to finish off the n, menə, as explained on page
89. |
|||
|
w |
The w sound in Spanish can
sound like a gw (I gwould do it). You need to practice g in the throat and rounding your
lips for w. You can also substitute in a Spanish u, as in will [uil]. |
|||
|
h |
The Spanish h is silent, as in hombre, but Spanish speakers
often use a stronger fricative than Americans would. The American h is equivalent to the
Spanish j, but the air coming out shouldn't pass through a constricted throat -
it's like you're steaming a mirror - hat, he, his, her, whole, hen, etc. In some
Spanish-speaking countries, they is fricative and in others it is not. Also,
there are many words in which the h is completely silent, as in hour, honest, herb, as well as in liaisons
with object pronouns such as her and him (tell her sounds like teller). |
|||
|
ch |
In order to make the ch sound different from
the sh,
put a
t in front of the ch. Practice the
difference between wash [wäsh] and watch [watch], or sharp [sharp] and charm [chärm]. |
|||
|
p |
The American p is more strongly
plosive than its Spanish counterpart. Put your hand in front of your mouth -
you should feel a strong burst of air. Practice with Peter picked a peck
of pickled peppers. |
|||
|
j |
In order to make a
clear
j
sound, put a d in front of the j. Practice George [djordj]. |
|||
There was a woman from
Spain who used to say, "Es imposible que se le quite el acento a
uno," pronouncing it, "Esh imposhible que se le quite el athento a
uno." In her particular accent, s sounded like s, which would transfer
quite well to standard American English. What it also means is that many people
claim it is impos-sible to change the accent. For clarification, see page v.
Spanish is very far
forward with much stronger use of the lips.
Of the many and varied
Indian dialects (Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi, etc.), there is a common intonation
transfer to English-sort of a curly, rolling cadence that flows along with
little relation to meaning. It is difficult to get the average Indian student
to change pitch. Not that people are unwilling to try or difficult to deal
with; on the contrary, in my experience of working with people from India, I
find them incredibly pleasant and agreeable. This is part of the problem,
however. People agree in concept, in principle, in theory, in every aspect of
the
183
matter,
yet when they say the sentence, the pitch remains unchanged.
I think
that what happens is that, in standard American English, we raise the pitch on
the beat, Indians drop their pitch on the beat. Also, the typical Indian voice
is much higher pitched than Americans are accus-tomed to hearing. In
particular, you should work on the voice quality exercise on page 94.
Of the
three options (volume, length, pitch), you can raise the
volume easily, but it doesn't sound very good. Since volume is truly the least
desirable and the most offensive to the listener, and since pitch has to be
worked on over time, lengthening the stressed word is a good stopgap measure.
Repeating the letter of a stressed word will help a lot toward changing a
rolling odabah odabah odabah intonation to
something re-sembling peaks and valleys.
The oooonly
way to geeeeeeedidiz to prœœœœœœœœœktis
all of the time.
One
thing that works for pitch is to work on the little sound that children make
when they make a mistake, "uh-oh!" The first sound is on a distinctly
higher level than the second one, and since it's a nonsense syllable, it's
easier to work with.
Since
so much emotion is conveyed through intonation, it's vital to work with the
various tone shifts, Intonation and Attitude, as seen
on page 128.
It's
necessary to focus on placing the intonation on the correct words (nouns,
compound nouns, de-scriptive phases, etc.), as well as contrasting, negating,
listing, questioning, and exclaiming.
Intonation
is also important in numbers, which are typically difficult for Indian
speakers. There are both intonation and pronunciation between 13 and 30. The
number 13 should sound like thr-teen, while 30
sounds like thr-dee; 14 is for-teen, and 40
is for-dee
Liaisons
shouldn't be much of a problem for you once the pattern is pointed out and
reinforced.
One way
to have an accent is to leave out sounds that should be there, but the other
way is to put in sounds that don't exist in that language. Indians bring a rich
variety of voiced consonants to English that contribute to the heavy, rolling
effect.
|
t |
For
the initial t alone, there are eight varieties,
ranging from plosive to almost swallowed. In American English, t at
the top of a staircase is a sharp t, and
t in the middle is a soft d. Indians
tend to reverse this, using the plosive British t in
the middle position (water) and a t-like
sound in the beginning. (I need
two sounds like I need
doo). The solution is
to substitute your th - it will sound
almost perfect (7 need thoo sounds just like
I need two). Another way is
to separate the t from the rest of
the word and whisper it. T + aim = time. Bit by bit, you can bring the
whispered, sharply plosive t closer to the
body of the word. A third way is to imagine that it is actual ts, so
you are saying tsäim, which will come
out sounding like time. |
|||||
|
|
|
T |
D |
T |
D |
|
|
|
|
tennis |
Dennis |
ten |
den |
|
|
|
|
time |
dime |
to |
do |
|
|
|
The
final t is typically too plosive, and should be
held just at the position before the air is expelled. |
|||||
|
p |
This
is similar to the initial t, in that you
probably voice the unvoiced p so it sounds
like a b. Start with the m, progress
to the b, and finally whisper the p sound. |
|||||
|
M |
B |
P |
M |
B |
P |
|
men |
Ben |
pen |
mull |
bull |
pull |
|
mail |
bail |
pail |
mossy |
bossy |
possible |
|
met |
bet |
pet |
mile |
bile |
pile |
184
|
æ |
The æ
sound usually sounds like ä. You
might refer to the last class, but it will sound
like the lost doss. You should raise
the back of your tongue, and make a noise similar to that of a lamb. |
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
ä |
Because
of spelling, the ä sound
can easily be misplaced. The ä sound
exists in the Indian languages, but is represented with the letter a. When
you see the letter o, you pronounce it o, so John sounds
like Joan instead of Jahn.
Remember, most of the time, the letter o is pronounced
ah. You can take a sound that already exists in your
language, such as tak (whether it means
anything or not) and say it with your native accent - tak with
an Indian accent more or less equals talk in
English.This will give you a good reference point for whenever you want to
say ä instead
of o; astronomy, call, long, progress, etc. Focus on
Chapter 3, differentiating œ, ä,
ә. |
|||||||||
|
|
haat |
hot |
|
caal |
call |
|
saa |
saw |
|
|
|
o |
You
may pronounce the letter o as ä or әwhen it
really should be an o, as in only,
most, both. Make sure that the American o sounds
like ou, ounly, moust, bouth. This
holds true for the diphthongs as well - [oi] sounds like ou-ee. |
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
ounli |
only |
|
houp |
hope |
|
nout |
note |
|
|
|
r |
Indians
tend to have a British r, which means that
it is either a flap at the beginning or middle of a word or it is reduced to ä at the end of a
word. You need to understand that the American r is not
a consonant (i.e., it doesn't touch at any two points in the mouth) - it is
much closer to a vowel in that the tongue curls back to shape the air flow. |
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
th |
The
American th, both voiced and unvoiced, usually
sounds like a d when said by an Indian speaker, thank
you sounds like dank you. Also
you must distinguish between a voiced and an unvoiced th. The
voiced ones are the extremely common, everyday sounds - the,
this, that, these, those, them, they, there, then; unvoiced
are less common words - thing, third, Thursday, thank, thought. |
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|
|
||||||||||
|
v |
Indians
usually reverse v/w: These were reversed ==> Dese
ver rewersed. It should be a simple thing to simply reverse them
back, but for some reason, it's more problematic than that. Try substituting
in the other word in actual sentences. |
|||||||||
|
|
He
vent to the store. |
He
closed the went. |
|
|
||||||
|
|
I'll
be back in a vile. |
It
was a while attack. |
|
|
||||||
|
Think
of the w, a "double u",
as a "single u"; so in place of the w in want,
you'd pronounce it oo-änt. There
can be NO contact between the teeth and the lips for w, as
this will turn it into a consonant. Feel the f/v consonants,
and then put oo~ in place of the w
(oo~ile for while). Conversely,
you can substitute ferry for very so
that it won't come out as wary. Because of the
proximity of the consonants, / and v are frequently interchanged in English (belief/believe,
wolf/wolves). Consequently, It was ferry difficult is
easier to understand than It was wary difficult. Practice
Ex. 9-1 to distinguish among p/b,f/v and w. |
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|
F |
V |
W |
|
|
F |
|
V |
W |
||
|
fence |
vent |
went
(oo-ent) |
|
first |
|
verse |
worse
(oo-rs) |
|||
|
face |
vase |
waste
(oo-aste) |
|
file |
|
vile |
while
(oo-ile) |
|||
|
l |
The l is
too heavy, too drawn out, and is missing the schwa component. |
|
||||||||
Far
forward and uttered through rounded lips.
185
Russian
intonation seems to start at a midpoint, and then cascades down. The
consequence is that it sounds very downbeat. You definitely need to add a lilt
to your speech-more peaks, as there're already plenty of
valleys. To the Russian ear, English can have a harsh, almost metallic sound
due to the perception of nasal vibrations in some vowels. This gives a clarity
to American speech that allows it to be heard over a distance. When Russian
speakers try to imitate that "loudness" and clarity, without the
American speech music, instead of the intended pronunciation, it can sound
aggressive. On the other hand, when Russians do not try to speak "loud and
clear," it can end up sounding vaguely depressed.
Word
connections should be easy since you have the same fluid word/sound boundaries
as in American English. The phrase [dosvedänyә] sounds like dos
vedanya, whereas you know it as do svedanya. It
won't be difficult to run your words together once you realize it's the same
process in English.
Although
you have ten vowels in Russian, there are quite a few other vowels out there
waiting for you.
|
æ |
The
[æ] sound doesn't exist in Russian, so last is
demoted to the lax ε, lest. In the same way,
Russian speakers reduce actually to ekchually,
or matter to metter. Drop
your jaw and raise the back of your tongue to make a noise like a goat: æ! Work
on Chapter 3, which drills this distinctively American vowel. |
||||||||
|
ä |
The [ä] sound exists in Russian, but is
represented with the letter a. Bear in mind
that there are six different pronunciations of the letter a, as
you can see on page 142. Because of spelling, the ä sound can easily be misplaced. When you
see the letter o, you pronounce it o, so job sounds
like jobe instead of jääb.
Remember, most of the time, the letter o is
pronounced ah. Take a sound that already exists
in Russian, such as baab (whether it
means anything or not) and say it with your native accent, baab
with a Russian accent more or less equals Bob in
English. This will give you a good reference point for when-ever you want to
say ä instead
of o; biology, call,
long, problem, etc. Focus on Chapter 3, differentiating
œ, ä, ә. |
||||||||
|
o |
Conversely,
you may pronounce the letter o as ä or ә
when it really should be an o, as in
only, most, both (which are exceptions to the spelling
rules). Make sure that the American o sounds
like [ou], ounly, moust, bouth. This holds true
for the diphthongs as well - oi should sound
like ou-ee. |
||||||||
|
|
toun |
tone |
|
nout |
note |
|
houm |
home |
|
|
|
ounli |
only |
|
coul |
coal |
|
OK |
oukei |
|
|
ә |
The
schwa is often overpronounced to ä, which
is why you might sound a little like Count Dracula when he says, I vänt
to säck your bläd instead
of I wänt to sәk your blәd. Don't
drop your jaw for the neutral schwa sound; it's like the final syllable of
spasiba [sp'sibә], not [sp'sibä]. Similarly, in
English, the schwa in an unstressed syllable is completely neutral;
famous is not [fay-moos], but rather [fay-m's]. |
||||||||
|
ü |
Distinguishing
tense and lax vowels is difficult, and you'll have to forget spelling for u and ü.
They both can be spelled with oo or ou, but
the lax vowel ü should sound much closer to i or uh. If
you say book and could with
a tense vowel, it'll sound like booque and cooled.
It should be much closer to bick or buck. |
||||||||
|
i |
Similarly,
you need to distinguish between ee and í, as
in beat and bit (page
123), as his big sister is mispronounced
as heez beeg seester or with the [y],
hyiz byig systr. Frequently, Russian speakers trans-pose
these two sounds, so while the lax vowel in his big sister is
overpronounced to heez beeg seester, the
tense vowel in She sees Lisa, is relaxed to shi
siz lissa. Also, tone down the middle i in
the multisyllabic |
||||||||
186
|
|
words on page 125; otherwise,
similar
[sim'lr]
will sound like [see-mee-lär]. |
|
-Õ |
Russian speakers often
mispronounce the final -y as a short -i, so that very funny sounds like verә
funnә. Extend the final sound out with three e's: vereee funneee. |
The Cyrillic r is a consonant. This
means that it touches at some point in the mouth. Russian speakers usually roll
their rs
(touching
the ridge behind the top teeth), which makes it sound like a d to the American ear. The
American r
is not
really a consonant anymore-the tongue should be curled back, and the r produced deep in the
throat-not
touching
the top of the mouth. The Russian pronunciation of r is usually the written vowel and a
flap r at the end of a word (feeler sounds like feelehd) or a flap in the
beginning or middle (throw sounds like tdoh).
|
ÂÜÒÉ ÂÁÒÁ ÂÉÒÁ |
Betty bought a bit of |
ÁÉÎ ÉÒÁ ÌÁÒÁ ÔÁÉÍ |
I need a lot of time. |
|
ÁÉ ÂÁÒÁ ÂÁÉË |
I bought a bike. |
ÍÁÉ ÍÁÒÏÕ |
my motto |
|
ÕÜÉÒÁ ÓÜËÅÎ |
Wait a second. |
ÍÉÒÉÎ |
meeting |
|
ÕÉ ÁÒÁ ÇÏÕ |
We ought to go. |
ÁÉÎ ÎÁÒÁÎ ÔÁÉÍ |
I'm not on time. |
|
À× ÇÁÒÁ ÐÜÉÒÁ ÇÜÒÉÔ |
You've got to pay to get it. |
ÂÀÒÁÆÌÉ |
beautifully |
|
|
Another major point
with the American r is that sometimes the preceding vowel is pronounced, and sometimes it
isn't. When you say wire, there's a clear vowel plus the r - wyr; however, with first, there is simply no
preceding vowel. Iťs frst, not feerst, (Ex. 6-2 and 6-3). |
|
t |
At the beginning of a
word, the American t needs to be more plosive - you should feel that you are "spitting
air." At the end of the word, it is held back and not aspirated. |
|
eh |
One of the most
noticeable characteristics of a Russian accent is the little Õ that is slipped in with the eh sound. This makes a sentence such
as Kevin
has held a cat sound like Kyevin hyes hyeld a kyet. This is because you are using the
back of the tongue to "push" the vowel sound out of the throat. In
English, you need to just allow the air to pop through directly after the
consonant, between the back of the tongue and the soft palate: kæ, not
kyæ. |
|
h |
Another strong
characteristic of Russian speech is a heavily fricative h. Rather than closing
the back of the throat, let the air flow unimpeded between the soft palate
and the back of your tongue. Be sure to keep your tongue flat so you don't
push out the little Õ mentioned above. Often, you can
simply drop the h to avoid the whole problem. For I have to, instead of I hhyef to, change it to I y'v to. |
|
V |
The v is often left
unvoiced, so the common word of sounds like oaf. Allow your vocal cords
to vibrate. |
|
sh |
There are two sh sounds in Russian, Û
and Ý. The second one is
closer to the American sh, as in ÝÉÕÚ for shoes, not ÛÕÚ. |
|
th |
You may find yourself
replacing the voiced and unvoiced th sounds with tld or s/z, saying dä ting or zä sing instead of the thing. This means that your
tongue tip is about a half inch too far back on the alveolar ridge (the gum
ridge behind the teeth). Press your tongue against the back of the teeth and try
to say dat.
Because
of the tongue position, it will sound like that. |
|
-ing |
Often the -ing ending is not
pronounced as a single ng sound, but rather as n and g, or just n. There are three nasals,
Ô (lips), n (tongue tip and alveolar ridge),
and ng
(soft
palate and the back of the tongue). It is not a hard consonant like g, but rather a soft
nasal. |
187
The
French are, shall we say, a linguistically proud people. More than working on
accent or pronunciation; you need to "believe" first. There is an
inordinate amount of psychological resistance here, but the good thing is that,
in my experience, you are very outspoken about it. Unlike the Japanese, who
will just keep quiet, or Indians, who agree with everything with sometimes no
discernible change in their speech patterns, my French students have quite
clearly pointed out how difficult, ridiculous, and unnatural American English
is. If the American pattern is a stairstep, the Gallic pattern is a fillip at
the end of each phrase.
Hello, my name is
Pierre. I live in Paris.šššššš Allo, my
name is Pierre. I live in Paree. I ride
the subway.
The
French either invented liaisons or raised them to an art form. You may not realize,
though, that the rules that bind your phrases together, also do in English.
Just remember, in French, it is spelled ce qu'ils disent,
but you've heard it pronounced colloquially a thousand times, skidiz!
|
th |
In
French, the tee aitch is usually
mispronounced s or f, as
in sree or free for three. |
|
r |
The
French r is in the same location as the American
one, but it is more like a consonant. For the French r, the
back of the tongue rasps against the soft palate, but for the American r, the
throat balloons out , like a bullfrog. |
|
æ |
The æ
sound doesn't exist in French, so it usually comes out as ä or ε;
consequently, class sounds like class,
and cat sounds like ket.
The in- prefix, however, sounds like a
nasalized æ. Say in in French, and
then denasalize it to œd. Work on Chapter 3, which drills
this distinctively American vowel. |
|
Ü |
The
schwa is typically overpronounced, based on spelling. Work on Chapter 1, for
the rhythm patterns that form this sound, and Chapter 3, for its actual
pronunciation. If your intonation peaks are strong and clear enough, then
your valleys will be sufficiently reduced as well. Concentrate on smoothing
out and reducing the valleys and ignore spelling! |
|
ü |
The ü
sound is generally overpronounced to ooh, which
leads to could being mispronounced as cooled.
Again, spelling is the culprit. Words such as smooth,
choose, and too are spelled with
two o's and are pronounced with a long É sound, but other words
such as look and took are
spelled with two o's but are
pronounced halfway between ih and uh;
lük and tük. Leuc and queue
with a French accent are very close. |
|
|
French
speakers overpronounce the lax vowel i to eee,
so sit comes out like seat.
Reduce the soft i to a schwa; sit should
sound like s't. In most French dictionaries, the
distinction between i and ē is
not made. Practice the four sounds - bit, beat, bid,
bead - remembering that tense vowels indicate
that you tense your lips or tongue, while lax vowels mean
that your lips and tongue are relaxed, and the sound is pro-duced in your
throat. Unvoiced final consonants
(t, s, k, p, ch, f) mean
that the vowel is short and sharp; voiced final
consonants (d, z, g, b, j, v) mean that the
vowel is doubled. Work on Bit or Beat? Bid or Bead? in Chapter 8. |
|
|
single |
double |
|
tense |
beat |
bead |
|
lax |
fait |
bid |
188
|
|
Also, watch out for
cognates such as typique/typical, pronounced [teepeek] in French, and [tip'kl] in
American English. Many of them appear in the Middle "I" List on
page 125. |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ä |
Because of spelling,
the ä sound can easily be misplaced. The ä sound exists in
French, but is represented with the letter a. When you see the letter o, you pronounce it o, so lot sounds like loht instead of laht. Remember, most of the
time, the letter o is pronounced ah. You can take a sound that already exists in French,
such as laat (whether it means anything or not) and say it with your native accent -
laat with a French accent
more or less equals lot in English.This will give you a good reference point
for whenever you want to say ä instead of o; astronomy, call,
long, progress, etc. Focus on Chapter 3, differentiating æ, ä, ә. |
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
haat |
hot |
|
coal |
call |
|
saa |
saw |
|
|
o |
On the other hand, you
may pronounce the letter o as ä or ә when it really should
be an o,
as in
only,
most, both. Make sure that the American o sounds like [ou], ounly, moust, bouth. This holds true for
the diph-thongs as well - oi sounds like o-u-ee. |
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
ounli |
only |
|
loun |
loan |
|
nout |
note |
|
|
h |
French people have the
most fascinating floating h. Part of the confusion comes from the hache aspiré, which is totally
different from the American aitch. Allow a small breath of air to escape with
each aitch. |
||||||||
|
in~ |
The nasal combination in~ and ~en are often pronounced
like œñ and äñ, so interesting [intr' sting] sounds like æñteresting, and enjoy [εnjoy]
and attention
[әtεnshәn]
sound like äñjoy and ätäñseeõn. |
||||||||
Very far forward, with
extensive use of the lips.
Germans have what
Americans consider a stiff, rather choppy accent. The great similarity between
the two languages lies in the two-word phrases, where a hόt dog is food and a hot dόg is an overheated chihuahua. In
German, a thimble is called a fingerhut, literally a finger hat, and a red hat would be a rote hut, with the same intonation
and meaning shift as in English.
German word connections
are also quite similar to American ones. Consider how In einem Augenblick actu-ally is pronounced ineine maugenblick. The same rules apply in
both languages.
|
j |
A salient
characteristic of German is the unvoicing of j, so you might say 7 am Cherman instead of 7 am German. Work with the other
voiced pairs (p/b, s/z, klg) and then go on to ch/j while working with J
words such as just, Jeff, German, enjoy, age, etc. |
|
|
W |
Another difference is
the transposing of v and w. When you say Volkswagen, it most likely comes out Folksvagen. It works to rewrite
the word as Wolksvagen, which then will come out as we say Volkswagen. A Germany student was
saying that she was a wisiting scholar, which didn't make much sense - say
wisiding
with
a German accent - it'll sound like visiting in American English. |
|
|
th |
In
German, the tee aitch is usually
pronounced t or d. |
|
|
r |
The
German r is in the same location as the American
one, but it is more like a consonant. For the German r, the
back of the tongue rasps against the soft palate, but for the American r, the
throat balloons out, like a bullfrog. |
|
|
æ |
The æ
sound doesn't exist in German, so it usually comes out as ä or ε, so class
sounds like class, You need to work
on Chapter 3, which drills this distinctively American vowel. |
|
|
ә |
The
schwa is typically overpronounced, based on spelling. Work on Chapter 1, for
the rhythm patterns that form this sound, and Chapter 3, for its actual
pronunciation. If your intonation peaks are strong and clear enough, then
your valleys will be sufficiently reduced as well. Concentrate on smoothing
out and reducing the valleys and ignore spelling! |
|
|
ü |
The ü
sound is generally overpronounced to ooh, which
leads to could being mispronounced as cooled.
Again, spelling is the culprit. Words such as smooth,
choose, and too are spelled with
two o's and are pronounced with a long u sound,
but other words such as look and took
are spelled with two o's but are
pronounced halfway between ih and uh;
lük and tük. |
|
|
i |
German
speakers overpronounce the lax vowel i to eee,
so sit comes out like seat.
Reduce the soft z to a schwa; sit should
sound like s 't. In most German dictionaries, the
distinction between i and ē is not made. Practice the four sounds -
bit, beat, bid, bead - remembering that tense
vowels indicate that you tense your lips or tongue, while lax
vowels mean that your lips and tongue are relaxed, and the
sound is pro-duced in your throat. Unvoiced final
consonants (t, s, k, p, ch, f) mean that the
vowel is short and sharp; voiced final consonants
(d, z, g, b, j, v) mean that the vowel is doubled. Work on
Bit or Beat? Bid or Bead? in Chapter 8. |
|
|
|
single |
double |
|
tense |
beat |
bead |
|
lax |
bit |
bid |
|
|
Also,
watch out for words such as chemical/Chemikalie, pronounced
[kemikäleeeh] in German, and [kεmәkəl] in American English. Many of them
appear in the Middle "I" List on page 125. |
||||||||
|
ä |
Because
of spelling, the ä sound
can easily be misplaced. The ä sound
exists in German, but is repre-sented with the letter a. When
you see the letter o, you pronounce it
[o], so lot sounds like loht
instead of laht. Remember, most
of the time, the letter o is pronounced ah. You
can take a sound that already exists in German, such as laat
(whether it means anything or not) and say it with your native accent -
laat with a German accent more or less equals lot in
American English. This will give you a good reference point for whenever you
want to say ä instead
of o; astronomy, call, long, progress, etc.
Focus on Chapter 3, differentiating œ,
ä, ә. |
||||||||
|
|
haat |
hot |
|
caal |
call |
|
saa |
saw |
|
|
o |
German
speakers tend to use the British o, which sounds
like εo rather than the
American ou. Make sure that the American o, in only,
most, both, sounds like ou, ounly,
moust, bouth. This holds true for the diphthongs as well - oi sounds
like o-u-ee. |
||||||||
|
|
ounli |
only |
|
houp |
hope |
|
nout |
note |
|
190
While
English is a stress-timed language, Korean is a syllable-timed language. Korean
is more similar to Japanese than Chinese in that the pitch range of Korean is
also narrow, almost flat, and not rhythmical. Many Korean speakers tend to
stress the wrong word or syllable, which changes the meaning in English (They'll
sell fish and They're selfish.)
Korean speakers tend to add a vowel to the final consonant after a long
vowel: b/v (babe/beibu and wave/weibu),
k/g (make/meiku and pig/pigu), and d
(made/meidu.) Koreans also insert a vowel after sh/ch/j
(wash/washy, church/churchy, bridge/brijy), and into consonant
clusters (bread/bureau). It is also common
problem to devoice final voiced consonants, so that dog can be
mispronounced as either dogu or dock. All
this adversely influences the rhythm patterns of spoken English. The different
regional intonation patterns for Korean interrogatives also affect how
questions come across in English. In standard Korean, the intonation goes up
for both yes/no questions and wh questions
(who?, what?, where?, when?, why?); in the Kyungsang dialect, it drops for
both; and in the Julia dialect, it drops and goes up for both. In American
English, the intonation goes up for yes/no, and
drops down for wh questions.
Unlike
Japanese or Chinese, word connections are common in Korean. The seven final
consonants (m, n, ng, l, p, t, k) slide over when
the following word begins with a vowel. Although a t between
two vowels in American English should be voiced (latter/ladder sound
the same) a frequent mistake Korean speakers make, however, is to also voice k or p between
two vowels, so back up, check up, and weekend
are mispronounced as bagup, chegup, and weegend; and cap is
sounds like cab is. Another liaison
problem occurs with a plosive consonant (p/b, t/d, k/g) just
before a nasal (m, n, ng)-Koreans often
nasalize the final consonant, so that pick me up and pop
music sound like ping me up and pom
music.
|
l/r |
At
the beginning of a word or in a consonant cluster, l and r are
confused, with both being pronounced like the American d, which
can be written with the letter t (glass or grass
sound like either gurasu or gudasu,
and light or right sound like raitu
or daitu). The final r is
usually dropped (car/kaa). |
|
f |
The
English f does not exist in Korean, so people
tend to substitute a p. This leads to
words such as difficult sounding like typical
to the American ear. When a Korean speaker says a word from the F
column, it's likely to be heard by Americans as being from the P column. |
|
F |
P |
F |
P |
F |
P |
|
difficult |
typical |
coffee |
copy |
half
and |
happen |
|
calf |
cap |
deaf |
tape |
Steph |
step |
|
left |
leapt |
cough |
cop |
laugh |
lap |
|
often |
open |
fat |
pet |
informant |
important |
|
stuff |
stop |
after |
apter |
fossil |
possible |
|
enough |
and
up |
friend |
planned |
free |
pre~ |
|
æ |
The
exact œ sound doesn't exist in Korean;
it's close to ε, so bat sounds
like bet. You need to raise the back of your
tongue and drop your jaw to produce this sound. Work on Chapter 3, which
drills this distinctively American vowel. |
|
ä |
The ä sound is
misplaced. You have the ä sound
when you laugh hahaha |
191
|
o |
You
may pronounce the letter o as ä or ә
when it really should be an o, as in
only, most, both. Make sure that the American o sounds
like ou: ounly, moust, bouth. This
holds true for the diphthongs as well - oi sounds
like o-u-ee. |
|||||||||||
|
toun |
tone |
nout |
note |
houm |
home |
|
||||||
|
ounli |
only |
coul |
coal |
jouk |
joke |
|
||||||
|
ә |
The
schwa is typically overpronounced, based on spelling. Concentrate on smoothing
out and reducing the valleys and ignore spelling! |
|
||||||||||
|
ü |
Distinguishing
tense and lax vowels is difficult, and you'll have to forget spelling for u and ü.
They both can be spelled with oo or ou, but
the lax vowel ü should sound much closer to i or uh. If you
say book with a tense vowel, it'll sound
like booque. It should be
much closer to bick or buck. |
|
||||||||||
|
i |
Similarly,
you need to distinguish between e and i, as in
beat and bit, as on
page 123. Tone down the middle i in multisyllabic
words, as on page 125, otherwise, beautiful [byood'fl]
will sound like [byoo-tee-fool]. Most likely, you overpronounce the lax vowel
z to eee, so sit is
overpronounced to seat. Reduce the soft i to a
schwa; sit should sound like s
't. In most Korean dictionaries, the distinction between
i and ē is
not made. Practice the four sounds - bit, beat, bid,
bead - remembering that tense vowels indicate
that you tense your lips or tongue, while lax vowels mean
that your lips and tongue are relaxed and the sound is produced in your
throat. Unvoiced final consonants
(t, s, k, p, ch, f) mean that the vowel is short and sharp; voiced
final consonants (d, z, g, b, j, v) mean
that the vowel is doubled. Work on Bit or Beat? Bid or Bead? in Chapter 8. |
|
||||||||||
|
|
single |
double |
|
|||||||||
|
tense |
beat |
bead |
|
|||||||||
|
lax |
bit |
bid |
|
|||||||||
The
Korean r is a consonant. This means that it touches at some point in the mouth.
Korean speakers usually trill their rs
(tapping the ridge behind the top teeth), which makes it sound like a d to the
American ear. The tongue should be curled back, and the r produced
deep in the throat-not touching the top
of the mouth. The Korean pronunciation of r is
usually just an ä at the
end of a word (car sounds like caaah)
or a flap in the beginning or middle (area sounds
like eddy-ah).
|
|
Betty
bought a bit of |
|
I
need a lot of time. |
|
|
I
caught a cold. |
|
my
motto |
|
|
Could
he do it? |
|
meeting |
|
|
We
ought to go. |
|
I'm
not on time. |
192
|
1. |
Sam sees Bill. |
11. |
He sees
him. |
|
2. |
She wants
one. |
12. |
Mary wants
a car. |
|
3. |
Betty likes
English. |
13. |
She likes
it. |
|
4. |
They play
with them. |
14. |
They eat
some. |
|
5. |
Children play
with toys. |
15. |
Len and Joe
eat some pizza. |
|
6. |
Bob and I
call you and Bill. |
16. |
We call
you. |
|
7. |
You and Bill
read the news. |
17. |
You read
it. |
|
8. |
It tells
one. |
18. |
The news
tells a story. |
|
9. |
Bernard works
in a restaurant. |
19. |
Mark lived
in France. |
|
10. |
He works
in one. |
20. |
He lived
there. |
Hello,
my name is_________. I'm taking American Accent Train-ing. There's a lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up
on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way
to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down,
or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been
paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a
staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell
me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the
important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
|
1. la |
1.3d |
1.4d |
1.4c |
1.4b |
13. 3b |
|
2. 1b |
2.4f |
2. 4d |
2. 4b |
2. 4b |
14. 3b |
|
3.3d |
3. 2a |
3. 3b |
3. 2a |
3. 4a |
15. 4b |
|
4. 4d |
4. 2b |
4. 3c |
4. 2b |
4. 3c |
16. 4c |
|
5.3d |
5.3d |
5. 3b |
5. 3bcd |
5.4b |
17. úÁ |
|
6.4e |
6.4f |
6. 2a |
6. úÁ |
6. 4f |
18. 4d |
|
7. 4d |
7. 3b |
7. 2a |
7.4b |
7.3d |
19. 4b |
|
8. 2a |
8.3d |
8. 3b |
8.3d |
8. 4f |
20. 4c |
|
9. 2a |
9. 4e |
9. 3b |
9. 4d |
9. 4d |
21. 4b |
|
10.3Ó |
10. 4f |
10. 4d |
10. 4c |
10. 4e |
|
|
11. 4f |
11. 4b |
11. 3b |
11.4a |
11. 3c |
|
|
12. 4e |
12. 4e |
12. 3c |
12. 4b |
12. 3b |
|
|
1. |
a chairman |
8. |
the Bullet train |
15. |
a dump truck |
|
2. |
a phone book |
9. |
a race car |
16. |
a jellyfish |
|
3. |
a house key |
10. |
a coffee cup |
17. |
a love letter |
|
4. |
a baseball |
11. |
a wristwatch |
18. |
a thumbtack |
|
5. |
a door bell |
12. |
a beer bottle |
19. |
a lightning bolt |
|
6. |
the White House |
13. |
a high chair |
20. |
a padlock |
|
7. |
a movie star |
14. |
a hunting knife |
|
|
|
1. |
The White House |
21. |
convenience store |
41. |
a doorknob |
|
2. |
a white house |
22. |
convenient store |
42. |
a glass door |
|
3. |
a darkroom |
23. |
to pick up |
43. |
a locked door |
|
4. |
a dark room |
24. |
a pickup truck |
44. |
ice cream |
|
5. |
Fifth Avenue |
25. |
six years old |
45. |
I scream. |
|
6. |
Main Street |
26. |
a six-year-old |
46. |
elementary |
|
7. |
a main street |
27. |
six and a half |
47. |
a lemon tree |
|
8. |
a hot dog |
28. |
a sugar bowl |
48. |
Watergate |
|
9. |
a hot dog |
29. |
a wooden bowl |
49. |
the back gate |
|
10. |
a baby blanket |
30. |
a large bowl |
50. |
the final year |
|
11. |
a baby's blanket |
31. |
a mixing bowl |
51. |
a yearbook |
|
12. |
a baby bird |
32. |
a top hat |
52. |
United States |
|
13. |
a blackbird |
33. |
a nice hat |
53. |
New York |
|
14. |
a black bird |
34. |
a straw hat |
54. |
Long Beach |
|
15. |
a greenhouse |
35. |
a chairperson |
55. |
Central Park |
|
16. |
a green house |
36. |
Ph.D. |
56. |
a raw deal |
|
17. |
a green thumb |
37. |
IBM |
57. |
a deal breaker |
|
18. |
a parking ticket |
38. |
MIT |
58. |
the bottom line |
|
19. |
a one-way ticket |
39. |
USA |
59. |
a bottom feeder |
|
20. |
an unpaid ticket |
40. |
ASAP |
60. |
a new low |
1.šš He's a
nice guy.
2.šš He's an American guy from San
Francisco.
3.šš The cheerleader needs a rubber
band to hold her ponytail.
4.šš The executive asst. needs a paper
clip for the final report.
5.šš The law student took an English
test in a foreign country.
6.š šThe
policeman saw a red car on the freeway in Los Angeles.
7.šš My old dog has long ears
and a flea problem.
8.šš The new teacher broke his coffee
cup on the first day.
9.šš His best friend has a broken cup
in his other office.
10. Let's
play football on the weekend in New York.
11. "Jingle
Bells" is a nice song.
12. Where
are my new shoes?
13. Where
are my tennis shoes?
14. I
have a headache from the heat wave in South Carolina.
15. The newlyweds
took a long walk in Long Beach.
16. The little
dog was sitting on the sidewalk.
17. The famous
athlete changed clothes in the locker room.
18. The art
exhibit was held in an empty room.
19. There
was a class reunion at the high school.
20. The headlines
indicated a new policy.
21.
We got on line and went to americanaccent dot com.
22. The stock
options were listed in the company directory.
23. All
the second-graders were out on the playground.
1.šš You need to insert a
paragraph here on this newspaper insert.
2. ššHow can you object to this object?
3.šš I'd like to present you with
this present.
4.šš Would you care to elaboreit
on his elabor't explanation?
5.šš The manufacturer couldn't recall if
there'd been a recall.
6.šš The religious convert wanted
to convert the world.
7.šš The political rebels wanted
to rebel against the world.
8.šš The mogul wanted to record a new record for his
latest artist.
9.šš If you perfect your
intonation, your accent will be perfect.
10.šš Due to the drought, the fields didn't
produce much produce this year.
11.šš Unfortunately, City Hall wouldn't permit them to
get a permit.
193
12.šš Have you heard that your associ't
is known to associeit with gangsters?
13.šš How much do you estimeit that the
estim't will be?
14.šš The facilitator wanted to separeit
the general topic into sepr't categories.
1.ššš I'd like to have it at eight, if at all
possible.
[äidläiktәhævidәdεitifәdällpäsәbәl]
2.ššš I'm afraid it's back-ordered. [äim'freiditsbækordrd]
3.ššš Let's go over it again.
[letsgowouvrridәgεn]
4.ššš Try to put it off for another hour.
[träidәpwüdidäff
frrәnәthrræwr]
5.ššš Talk it over with the other operator.
[täkidouvrwiththeeyәthrräprräydr]
6.ššš The accounts have all been updated.
[theeyәkæontsәvällbinәpdεidәd]
7.ššš Send them a fax about the problem.
[sendәmәfæksәbæo(t)thәpräblәm]
8.ššš Don't even think about it!
[douneevәnthingkәbæodit]
9.šš šWe
hope he'll OK it. [wehoupiloukεiyit]
10.šš He'll really put you on the spot if you make
a mistake.
[hillrileepwüchoowänthәspädiŕiumεikәmistεik]
|
1. isn't he |
8. |
will you |
15. |
hadn't we |
22. |
did I |
|
2. can't he |
9. |
doesn't he |
16. |
wouldn't we |
23. |
will I |
|
3. does she |
10. |
don't we |
17. |
hasn't it |
24. |
don't you |
|
4. didn't they |
11. |
haven't we |
18. |
could you |
25. |
aren't you |
|
5. do you |
12. |
didn't we |
19. |
won't you |
26. |
didn't you |
|
6. is it |
13. |
didn't we |
20. |
shouldn't he |
27. |
did you |
|
7. aren't I |
14. |
hadn't we |
21. |
shouldn't he |
28. |
isn't it |
|
1. |
ree donly |
6. |
se lit |
|
2. |
fä
läff |
7. |
ta kout |
|
3. |
fällo
wә pän |
8. |
fa dә way |
|
4. |
cә min |
9. |
sik so |
|
5. |
cä lim |
10. |
eh may |
|
1. |
busine
sdeal |
6. |
someplan
znee dluck |
|
2. |
credi(t)check |
7. |
che(ck)cashing |
|
3. |
the
topfile |
8. |
let(t)themma(k)conditions |
|
4. |
sellnine
newcars |
9. |
hadthe |
|
5. |
sitdown |
10. |
bothdays |
|
1. |
go(w)εnywhere |
6. |
do(w)äi |
|
2. |
so(w)änest |
7. |
I(y)æskt |
|
3. |
through(w)är |
8. |
to(w)open |
|
4. |
you(w)är |
9. |
she(y)äweez |
|
5. |
he(y)iz |
10. |
too(w)äffen |
|
1. |
dijoo |
6. |
tisshue |
|
2. |
hoozhier |
7. |
gâcher |
|
3. |
jesjer |
8. |
wherzhier |
|
4. |
jesjer |
9. |
c'ngræjәlätionz |
|
5. |
misshue |
10. |
hæjer |
Hello, my
name is_________. I'm taking American Accent
šTraining. There's
a lot to learn, but I hope to make it
as šenjoyable as
possible. I should pick up on the(y)American
šintonation pattern pretty(y)easily,
although the(y)only way toš get it is to practice
all of the time. I(y) use the(y) up
and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation
more than I(y)used to.
I've šbeen paying attention
to pitch, too. It's like walking
down ša staircase. I've been
talking to(w) a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to(w)understand.
Anyway, I could go(w) on and on,
but the(y) important thing is
to listen šwell and
sound good. Well, what do you think? Do(w) I?
Hәllo,
my name is_________. I'm taking әmerәcәn æcsәnt
Training.
There's ә lät tә learn, bәt I hope tә
make әt әs әnjoyәbәlәs
pässәbәl. I should pick әp än the
әmerәcәn әntәnashәn pættern
pretty easәly, äәlthough
the only way tә get әt әs tә præctәss
äәll әv thә time.
I use the әp әnd down, әr peaks әnd
vælleys, intәnashәn more thәn I used to. I've
been paying әttenshәn tә pitch, too. It's like wälking
down ә staircase. I've been talking to ә
lät әf әmerәcәns lately, әnd they
tell me thәt I'm easier tә әnderstænd. Anyway,
I could go än әnd än, bәt the important
thing әs tә lissәn weәll
әnd sound good. Weәll, whәt
dә yә think? Do I?
Hello, my
name is_________. I'm taking American Accen(t)
Training.
There's a lo(t) to learn, bud I hope
to make id as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the
American intonation paddern priddy easily, although the only way
dә geddidis dә practice all of the time. I use
the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I
use(t)to. I've been paying attention to pitch,
too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking
to a läddәv Americans la(t)ely,
and they tell me the dime easier dә understand. Anyway,
I could go on and on, bu(t) the impor(t)n(t) thing
is dә lissen well and sound good. Well, wha(d) do you think?
Do I?
194
|
l. |
I'd
like to have it at eight, if at all possible. |
|
|
[äidläiktәhævidәdεitifәdällpäsәbәl] |
|
2. |
I'm
afraid it's back-ordered. |
|
|
[äim'
freiditsbækordrd] |
|
3. |
Let's
go over it again. |
|
|
[letsgowouvrridәgεn] |
|
4. |
Try
to put it off for another hour. |
|
|
[träidәpwüdidäff
frrәnәthrræwr] |
|
5. |
Talk
it over with the other operator. |
|
|
[täkidouvrwiththeeyәthrräprräydr] |
|
6. |
The
accounts have all been updated. |
|
|
[theeyәkæontsәvällbinәpdεidәd] |
|
7. |
Send
them a fax about the problem. |
|
|
[sendәmәfæksәbæo(t)thәpräblәm] |
|
8. |
Don't
even think about it! |
|
|
[douneevәnthingkәbæodit] |
|
9. |
We
hope he'll OK it. |
|
|
[wehoupiloukεiyit] |
|
10. |
He'll
really put you on the spot if you make a mistake. |
|
|
[hillrileepwüchoowänthәspädifiumεikәmistεik] |
Hello, my
name is_______. I'm taking American Accent
Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable
as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way
to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the
up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used
to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking
down a stair-case. I've been talking to a lot
of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier
to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important
thing is to listen well and sound good. Well,
what do you think? Do I?
Hello, my
name is_______. I'm taking American Accent
Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable
as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to
get it is to practice all of the time. I use the
up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more
than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's
like walking down a stair case. I've been talking to
a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier
to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but
the important thing is to listen well and sound good.
Well, what do you think? Do I?
|
1. |
Los Angeles |
11. |
everything |
|
2. |
paper
bag |
12. |
moving van |
|
3. |
lunch bag |
13. |
new paper |
|
4. |
convenience
store |
14. |
newspaper |
|
5. |
convenient
store |
15. |
glass
eyes |
|
6. |
homework |
16. |
eyeglasses |
|
7. |
good writer |
17. |
high chair |
|
8. |
apple
pie |
18. |
highchair |
|
9. |
pineapple |
19. |
baseball |
|
10. |
all things |
20. |
blue ball |
Hello, my
name is______. I'm taking American Accent
Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable
as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get
it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and
down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used
to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking
down a stair-case. I've been talking to a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing
is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
Hello, my
name is_________. I'm taking American Accent
Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable
as possible. I shüd pick up on the American in-tonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to
practice all of the time. I ūse
the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used
tū. I've been paying attention to pitch, tū.
It's like walking down a stair-case. I've been talking tū
a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier tū
understand. Anyway, I cüd
go on and on, but the important thing is to listen
well and sound güd. Well, what do you think?
Dū I?
Hello, my
name is_________. I'm taking American Accent
Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as
enjoyable
as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily,
although the only way to get it is to practice all of the
time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys,
intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch,
too. It's like walking down a stair-case. I've been
talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier
to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important
thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think?
Do I?
Hello, my
name iz_______. I'm taking American Acsent
Training.
There'z a lot to learn, but I hope to make it az enjoyable
az possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty eazily, although the only way to get
it iz to practise all of the time. I uze the up and
down, or peaks and valleyz, intonation more than I used
to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking
down a stair-case. I've been talking to a lot of Americanz
lately, and they tell me that I'm eazier to understand. Anyway,
I could go on and on, but the important thing iz to listen
well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do
I?
Hello, my
name is______. I'm taking
әmerәcәn æksәnt
Training.
Thεre's ә lot tә learn, bәt I hope
tә make it әs εnjoyәbəl әs possәbәl. I should
pick әp on the
әmerәcәn intәnashәn
pættern pritty easәly,
although the only way tә gεt it is
tә præctәs all әv thә time. I use the
up әn dæon, or peaks әn vælleys,
intәnashәn more thәn I used
to. I've bin paying
әttεnshәn tә pitch, too.
it's like walking
dæon ә stεrcase. I've bin talking to
ә lot әv әmεrәcәns lately,
әnd thay tεll me thәt I'm easier
to әnderstænd. εnyway, I could go on
әnd on, bәt the import'nt thing is to listən wεll әnd sæond good.
Wεll, whәt d' you think? Do I?
Hello, my
name is______. I'm taking American Accent
Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable
as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get
it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down,
or peaks and valleys, intonation more than
I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch,
too. It's like walking down a stair-case.
I've been talking to a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important
thing is to listen well and sound good.
Well, what do you think? Do I?
Hello, my
name is______. I'm taking American Accent
Training.
There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make
it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American
intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only
way to get it is to practice all of the
time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys,
intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention
to pitch, too. It's like walking down a stair-case.
I've been talking to a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important
thing is to listen well and sound good. Well,
what do you think? Do I?
195
|
1. |
a box car |
4. |
a crab
cake |
|
2. |
a baby-sitter |
5. |
a tea cup |
|
3. |
a palm
tree |
6. |
a bottle
opener |
|
1. |
a dark
room |
16. |
the
sixth grade |
|
2 |
a
darkroom |
17. |
long hair |
|
3. |
an
antique shop |
18. |
a hairdresser |
|
4. |
an
antique dealer |
19. |
a
haircut |
|
5. |
an antique
chair |
20. |
the
wrong station |
|
6. |
a new
video |
21. |
a police
station |
|
7. |
the video
store |
22. |
a
radio station |
|
8. |
a coffee
table |
23. |
orange
juice |
|
9. |
hot coffee |
24. |
a
guitar case |
|
10. |
a
coffeepot |
25. |
an
electric guitar |
|
11. |
a chemistry
set |
26. |
trick
photography |
|
12. |
a
chemical reaction |
27. |
a photo-op |
|
13. |
a sixth
sense |
28. |
a wedding
ceremony |
|
14. |
six
cents |
29. |
a beautiful
ceremony |
|
15. |
a sixth
grader |
30. |
a wedding
cake |
1.š The schoolkids took the subway
downtown for their field trip on urban living.
2.š Our local sheriff had a bumper
sticker on his back bumper.
3.š The homeowners thought they had
to pay property taxes to the federal government.
4.š There were small tremblors after
the earthquake in San Francisco.
5.š The Geology Club went on a camping
trip to Mount Hood.
6.š The award ceremony at the Hilton
Hotel lasted for two hours.
7.š Bob
Smith took his surfboard out on a stormy day near
Diamond Head.
8.š The boy scouts pitched their pup
tents on the mountaintop in the pouring rain.
9.š It's a little late to ask the baby-sitter
to stay over-night.
10. The sixth
graders were reading comic books and drinking chocolate milk.
1. Would
you please alterneit seats with the
other altern'ť?
2. They
signed a contract in order
to contract their services.
3. Who
could object to progress?
4. The
unidentified flying object progressed
slowly across the night sky.
5.š We need a written estim't in order
to estimeit the payment.
|
1. |
We
think he's got to get over it. |
|
|
wethingkeezgädәgedovrrit |
|
2. |
Does
anyone know how to get a line of credit? |
|
|
dәzeneewәnnohæodәgedәlynәkredәt |
|
3. |
They
should try to show them how to use the Internet. |
|
|
thayshüdtrydәshowәmhæodәyuzthee(y)inrnet |
|
1. |
is
there |
6. |
didn't
she |
|
2. |
wasn't
it |
7. |
wouldn't
she |
|
3. |
do
you |
8. |
hadn't
she |
|
4. |
would
he |
9. |
would
she |
|
5. |
can't
they |
10. |
had
she |
1.š I thing kee zä ni zway.
2.š He pü di di n' n'mbrella stand.
3.š We bä di di nid'lee.
1.š Ni(k)Clar kopest' pu(t)tendollar
zdown.
2.š Bu(t)Tommake(s)so
muchjuice.
3.š Bob zdo(g)go(t)somebones.
1. Can
you see(y)it through to the(y)end?
2. Be(y)available
for the(y)other opportunity(y)in my(y)office.
3. He(y)always
wants to(w)offer to go(w)over it
again.
1.š We're glad the cher homework's done.
2.š Wüjou help me with this?
3.š Do you missher old friends?
4.š Where zhier brother?
|
1. |
They took it. |
6. |
Sam called
him. |
|
2. |
Mary had a baby. |
7. |
The dogs
howled at the moon. |
|
3. |
Louis talked
on the phone. |
8. |
Did you order
any? |
|
4. |
We forgot about
it. |
9. |
We noticed
her. |
|
5. |
She had one. |
10. |
The books
fell on the floor. |
Think
the United Auto Workers can beat Caterpillar Inc. in their
bitter contract battle? Before placing your bets, talk to Paul Branan,
who can't wait to cross the picket line at Caterpillar's factory
in East Peoria. Branan, recently laid off by a rubber-parts
plant where he earned base pay of $6.30 an hour, lives one
block from a heavily picketed gate at the Cat complex.
Now he's applying to replace one of 12,600 workers who
have been on strike for the past five months. "Seventeen
dollars an hour and they don't want to work?" asks
Branan. "I don't want to take another guy's job, but I'm
hurting, too."
Think
thә Unidәd ädo Workers cәn beat
Cædәpillar Inc. in their bidder cäntræct bædәl?
Bәfore placing your bets, tälk tә Päl Brænәn,
who cæn't wait tә cräss thә pickәt line
әt Cædәpillar's fæctory in East Peoriә.
Brænәn, resәntly laid äff by ә rәbber-pärts
plænt where he earned base pay әf $6.30 әn hæor,
lives wәn bläck frәm ә heavәly pickәdәd
gate әt thә Cæt cämplex. Næo he's
әpplying tә rәplace wәn әf twelve thæosand
six hәndrәd workers who hәve been än strike for
thә pæst five mәnths. "Seventeen
dällrs әn hæor әnd they don't wänt tә
work?" æsks Brænәn. "I don't
wänt tә take әnәthr guy's jäb,
bәd I'm hurding, too."
196
[ā] 75, 135, 137, 142, 162
[ä] 71-72, 75-76, 102, 135, 142-143, 162
[æ]
71, 74-76, 94, 102, 135,š 137, 142-143, 162
[b]š 129, 168
[ch] 64
[d] 65,
77, 86, 163
[ē]
135, 137
[ε]
75, 98, 122, 136-137, 142, 162, 165
[ә]
72, 76, 88, 92, 102, 117, 122, 125, 136, 142-143, 162
[a] 72
[f]š 129, 168
[g]š 147
[h] 147
[ī] 86, 118, 135, 143, 177
[i] 117,
122-125, 136, 143
[j] 65
[k] 147
[1]
85-93, 103
[m] 145,
171
[n] 86,
145, 171
[ng] 145,
149, 171
[ō]
71, 75, 135, 142-143
[p] 129,
168
[r] 83,
95-99, 103, 122, 136,š 143, 164, 147, 149
[s] 65,
131, 169
[sh] 65
[t] 64-65,
77, 86, 102, 118
[th] 118,
166
[ū]
121, 127, 135, 143
[ü]
121, 122, 127, 136, 143
[v] 129-130,
168
[w] 63,
129, 168
[x] 148
[y] 63-66
[z] 65, 131,
169
ā 75, 135, 137, 142, 162
ä 71, 72, 75, 76, 102, 135, 142, 143, 162
æ 71,
74-76, 94, 102, 135, 137,š 142, 143, 162
Acronyms
17
American
D 65, 77, 86, 163
Rule 1-Top
of the Staircase 78
Rule 2-Middle
of the Staircase 79
Rule 3-Bottom
of the Staircase 79
Rule 4-'Held
T' Before N 80
Rule 5-The
Silent T 81
American
R 83, 95, 103, 122, 143, 147, 149, 164
American
speech music 1 See also Intonation
Analysisšš x, 100, 150
Answer
Key 193
Attitude
15, 105-107, 128
B or V 129,
168
Bit or
Beat? 123, 168
Can't 8,
41, 72, 101, 158
Cat?
Caught? Cut? 71
Chinese 173
Clichés 26
Colloquial reductions 68
Complex Verbs 35-41, 138,
157, 161, 169
Compound
Nouns 23-29, 108, 138, 154, 165, 169
Confirmation
58, 161
Consonant
chart viii, 62
Consonants
60, 62
Nasals 145
Throaty 147
Unvoiced
viii, 3, 62, 69
Voiced
viii, 3, 62, 84, 69
Contractions
81
Can't 8,
41, 72, 101, 158
Tag
Endings 58
Contrast 8, 12, 28,
101, 155, 158
D 65, 77, 86, 163
Descriptive phrases 24,
28, 108, 155, 165
Diagnostic analysis x,
100, 150
ē 135, 137
ε 75,
98, 122, 136-137, 142, 162, 165
El 85,
103
Emotions
7, 15, 105-107, 128
F or V 129,
168
Four-word
phrases 112, 166
French 12,
188
G 147
German 12,
189
Glides 64
See also Liaisons
Glottal
consonants 147, 171
Goldilocks
34, 111
Grammar
in a Nutshell 35, 138, 169
H 147, 171
[i]86, 118,
135, 143, 177
[i] 117,
122-125, 136, 143
Indian 183
Inflectionš 10
Intonation
1, 4, 14, 100
Attitudeš 128
Adjective
23, 154
American
speech music1
Attitude 105-107, 128
Can't 8, 41, 72, 101, 158
Complex verbs 35-41, 138,
158, 161, 169
Compound nouns 23-29,
108, 138, 154, 165, 169
Confirmation 58
Contrast 8, 12, 28,
101, 155, 158
Descriptive phrases 24,
28, 108, 155, 165
Four-word
phrases 112, 166
Goldilocks
34, 111
Grammar
in a Nutshell 35, 138, 169
Little
Red Riding Hood 113
Nationality
30, 155 See Nationality Guides New information 5, 8
Non-verbal 128
Nonsense syllables 4,
5, 151
Noun stress 5, 23, 36,
101, 151, 154, 156
Phrasing
58
Pronoun
stress 6, 37, 151, 157
Query 58
Question
7
Reduced
sounds 48, 68, 84, 121, 125
Rhetorical
questions 7
Rubber
band 4, 15, 43
Sentence
balance 111
Set
phrases 25-28, 109, 155, 165
Spelling
17, 60, 153, 161
Staircase
intonation 3, 5, 16, 70
Statement
7, 161
Stress
Syllable
Count 19, 154
Word
Count 23, 154
Tš 78-82
Tag endings 56, 58
Texas millionaires 138
Three
Little Pigs 111
Three
types of 4
Three
word phrases 109, 166
Transitions
of adjectives and verbs 45, 159
Transitions
of nouns and verbs 44, 158
Two-word
phrases 24, 29, 34, 108, 154, 165
Verbs 35,
138, 169
Wily old
lighthouse keeper 169
Word
groups 58
[j] 65
Japanese
12,š 177
K 147-148,
171 Korean 191
L 85-93,
103, 163
Compared
with T, D, and N 86, 163
Lax vowels vii, 48-55,
117, 121, 122, 123, 135, 136, 169
Liaison staircases 70
Liaisons 59-70, 89,
102, 161
Colloquial reductions 68
Consonants 60, 62
Glides 64
Liaison staircases 70
197
Miracle Technique 46,
159
Numbers 17, 153
Rule 1 :
Consonant /Vowel 60
Rule 2: Consonant
/ Consonant 61
Rule 3: Vowel/Vowel
63
Rule 4:
T, D, S or Z + Y 64
Sound
groups 2, 46
Spelling
59
Vowel 64
Little
Match Girl 28
Little
Red Riding Hood 112
Long vowels
See Tense vowels
í 145, 171
Middle I
List 125, 168
Miracle Technique 46,
159
Modifiers 110-114
N 86, 145, 171
NG 145,
149, 171
Nasal
consonants 94, 145, 179
Nationality
30, 155
Nationality
Guides 172
Chinese 173
Japanese
177
Spanish 180
Indian 183
Russian 186
French 188
German 189
Korean 191
Negatives
Can't 8,
41,72, 101, 158
New information 5, 8
Non-verbal intonation
128
Nonsense syllables 4,
8, 151
Noun
stress 5, 8, 23, 35, 44,45,101,138,151
Numbers 17,
153
Oš 71, 75, 142, 162
OIš 143
OW 135,
143
Old
information 6
Opinion 8
P 129,
168
Personality
15
Phrasing
2, 56, 58
Pitch 4,
9
Pretty 9,
152
Pronoun
stress 6, 37, 151, 157
Pronunciation
vii-ix See also Symbols
American
D 77
American
R 95
Bit or
Beat? 123
Cat?
Caught? Cut? 71
El 85
L Compared
with T, D, and N 86
Lax
vowels 46, 121, 122, 135, 136
Long
vowels 123
Middle I
List 125
Miracle Technique 46
Nasal consonants 145
S or Z? 131
Schwa [Ü] 72
Semi-vowels 46
Silent L 90, 164
Silent T 81, 163
Spelling
17, 59
Tense
vowels vii, 46, 123, 135
Throaty
consonants 147
V as in
Victory 129
Question
7, 58, 161
Question
intonation 7
Rhetorical
7
Tag 56,
58
R, American
83, 95-99, 103, 122, 136, 143, 147, 149, 164
Radio
clip 107, 144
Reduced
sounds Consonants 84
Vowels 48-55,
68, 84, 121, 125, 159 See Lax vowels
Reverse
phonetics 46, 159
Review 101,
151
Rock
Soup 166
Rhetorical
questions 7
Rubber
band 4, 15, 43, 151
Russian 186
S or Z? 65,
131
Schwa [ә] 72, 76, 88,
92, 102, 117, 122, 125, 136, 142-143, 162 Semi-vowels vii, 46
Sentence balance 111
Set phrases 25-29,
108, 155, 165
Silent L 90
Silent T
81
Single
word phrases 23
Soft
vowels See Lax
vowels
Sound
groups 2
Sound/meaning
shifts 18
Snow
White 154
Spanish 180
Speech
analysis x, 100, 150
Speech
music 1
Speed
reading 93, 164
Spelling
17, 59, 153
Squeezed-out
syllables 18, 153
Staircase
intonation 3, 5, 16, 70
Statement
7, 161
Stories
Goldilocks
34, 111
Little
Match Girl 28
Little
Red Riding Hood 113
Snow
White 154
Rock
Soup 166
Three
Little Pigs 111
Ugly
Duckling 25
Stress
Syllable
count intonation 19, 154
Word
count intonation 23, 154
Syllables
Nonsense
4, 8, 151
Stress 19,
154
T, American
64-65, 77, 86, 102, 118, 163
Th 118,
166
Tag
endings 56, 58, 161
Tandem
Reading 93, 164
Tense
vowels vii, 46, 123, 135, 137, 169
Texas
Millionaires 138
Three
Little Pigs 111
Three-word
phrases 109, 165
Throaty
consonants 147, 171
Tongue
twisters 120
Transitions
of adjectives and verbs 45, 159
Transitions
of nouns and verbs 44, 158
Translation
11, 152
Two-word
phrases 24-34, 108, 155, 165
ü
121, 122, 127, 136, 143, 168
ū 121, 127, 135, 143, 168
Ugly
Duckling 25
Unvoiced
consonants vii, 3, 62, 69, 83
V as in
Victory 129, 168
Variable
stress 13
Verbs 35,
138, 169
Voice
quality 94
Voiced
consonants 3, 62, 69, 83, 84
Vowel Chart vii, 46,
73
Vowels vii, 60
Lax 48-55, 68, 84,
117, 121, 122, 123, 125, 135, 136, 159-160
Liaisons 63
Long See
Tense
Reduced
See Lax
Short
See Lax
Tense
vii, 123, 135, 137
Vowel
chart vii, 46, 73
W 63,
129, 168 See also Liaisons
Wily old
lighthouse keeper 169
Word
count intonation patterns 23, 154
Word
groups 56-57
Word
connections 59-70, 102 See also Liaisons
Y 63-66 See
also Liaisons
X 148,
171
Z or S?
65, 131-132,169
198