EXERCISES
Written exercises
Unit 4 – Exercise 1
Explain the similarities and the differences between the following pairs of phonemes: /g/ – /ŋ/; /f/ – /s/; /ᵭ/ – /ʒ/
- Answers
-
- /g/-/ŋ/: from an articulatory point of view, /g/-/ŋ/ are similar in both the manner and the point of articulation, that is, both phonemes are stops, and they are also both velar, as well as both of them being also voiced.
However, for the production of /g/ the lower palate is raised, which means that the air escapes through the oral cavity, producing a plosive oral sound, whereas for the production of /ŋ/ the soft palate is lowered and a nasal sound is released instead.
- /f/-/s/: from an articulatory point of view, these sounds are similar in their manner of articulation, since both are fricative; both of them are also oral and voiceless.
The difference between them lies in the point of articulation and the articulators involved in their production.
Whereas for /f/ the lower lip touches the front upper teeth, it is the tip and blade of the tongue that are involved in the production of /s/, for which they touch the alveolar ridge.
- /ð/-/ʒ/: from an articulatory point of view, both sounds are similar in that they are both fricative, oral and voiced.
The difference between them lies in the point of articulation: the production of /ð/ involves the tip of the tongue touching the back of the upper front teeth, whereas the production of /ʒ/ is a little more complex, with the front of the tongue touching the hard palate, while the rims are in contact with the upper teeth, and the tip and blade with the alveolar ridge.
For further information, please see Unit 4 in English pronunciation for speakers of Spanish. From theory to practice, or the Sound Bank in the Multimedia Lab.
Unit 4 – Exercise 2
Read aloud the following words given in broad transcription and then write them out in ordinary spelling.
|
1. /ˈjuːʒwəl/ |
5. /ˈnɪəli/ |
9. /sɑːm/ |
13. /jʌŋ/ |
17. /θɪŋk/ |
|
2. /məʊst/ |
6. /ˈrɪŋɪŋ/ |
10. /ˈɔːtəm/ |
14. /rɪˈzɪst/ |
18. /ˈpӕdl/ |
|
3. /ˈkɑːpɪt/ |
7. /hjuːʤ/ |
11. /wɔːk/ |
15. /bɔːt/ |
19. /ˈmɪdl/ |
|
4. /sniːz/ |
8. /nɜːs/ |
12. /saɪn/ |
16. /ˈaɪlənd/ |
20. /ʤӕz/ |
- Answers
-
1. usual
5. nearly
9. psalm
13. young
17. think
2. most
6. ringing
10. autumn
14. resist
18. paddle
3. carpet
7. huge
11. walk
15. bought
19. middle
4. sneeze
8. nurse
12. sign
16. island, Ireland
20. jazz
Unit 4 – Exercise 3
Classify the words given in spelling into four columns, according to whether they contain the sounds /ʃ, ʧ, s, ʤ/. Please note that there is one word which does not fit in any column.
|
urge |
lunch |
lounge |
nation |
sure |
|
patience |
Russian |
shirt |
ocean |
machine |
|
picture |
amuse |
precious |
chaos |
jacket |
|
station |
jug |
furniture |
joy |
charm |
- Answers
-
/ʃ/
/ʧ/
/s/
/ʤ/
nation
lunch
patience
urge
sure
picture
bus
lounge
patience
jacket
precious
jug
Russian
furniture
chaos
joy
shirt
charm
station
ocean
machine
precious
station
The odd one out is the word 'amuse' /ə'mjuːz/.
Unit 4 – Exercise 4
Mixed consonant sounds. In the following series of words, find which one is the odd one out — i.e. circle the word that contains a consonant sound which is different from the others in the series.
Transcribe both sounds: give the one which is common to three words first, and then the odd one out.
|
1. |
cite |
sight |
kite |
site |
|
2. |
almanac |
almond |
almighty |
almost |
|
3. |
war |
warp |
wrap |
wart |
|
4. |
edge |
dig |
jelly |
jug |
|
5. |
think |
tooth |
breathe |
thunder |
|
6. |
shoe |
vision |
mission |
assure |
|
7. |
place |
plays |
pace |
price |
|
8. |
barked |
baked |
backed |
bagged |
|
9. |
rice |
rise |
raze |
raise |
|
10. |
sugar |
suggest |
sudden |
assume |
|
11. |
listened |
heard |
talked |
viewed |
|
12. |
pleasure |
sure |
leisure |
treasure |
|
13. |
jumped |
walked |
shouted |
looked |
|
14. |
mashes |
makes |
matches |
matters |
- Answers
-
- /s / – /k / kite
- /l / – /–/ almond
- /w / – / -/ wrap
- / ʤ / – /g/ dig
- / θ/ – /ð / breathe
- / ʃ/ – /ʒ/ vision
- /s / – /z / plays
- / t/ – /d / bagged
- /z / – /s / rice
- /s / – /ʃ / sugar
- /d / – / t/ talked
- /ʃ / – /ʒ / sure
- /t / – /d/ shouted
- /z / – /s/ makes
Unit 4 – Exercise 5
Transcribe the following sentences.
- Actually, I fetched the children from the church.
- The carriage could be in danger by the bridge, suggested the soldier.
- In the evening, the nuns sang the hymns and listened to the bells ringing.
- A paddle of milk lay on the floor.
- After travelling round the world she arrived by ferry from far away.
- Yes, the new yellow yacht belongs to that young man in the queue.
- The queen’s language was quick and quite witty.
- Answers
-
- ˈӕkʧʊәli ∣ aɪ feʧt ðә ˈʧɪldrn̩ frɒm ðә ʧɜːʧ ∣∣
- ðә ˈkӕrɪʤ kәd biː ɪn deɪnʤә baɪ ðә brɪʤ ∣ sʌˈʤestɪd ðә ˈsәʊldjә ∣∣
- ɪn ðiː ˈiːvnɪŋ ∣ ðә nʌnz sӕŋ ðә hɪmz әnd ˈlɪsn̩d tә ðә belz ˈrɪŋɪŋ ∣∣
- ә ˈpӕdl̩ әv mɪlk leɪ ɒn ðә flɔː ∣∣
- ˈɑːftә ˈtrӕvl̩ɪŋ raʊnd ðә wɜːld ʃiː әˈraivd baɪ ˈferi frɒm fɑːr әˈweɪ ∣∣
- jes ∣ ðә njuː ˈjelәʊ jɔːt bɪˈlɒŋz tә ðӕt jʌŋ mӕn ɪn ðә kjuː ∣∣
- ðә kwiːnz ˈlӕŋgwɪʤ wәz kwɪk әnd kwaɪt ˈwɪti ∣∣
Unit 4 – Exercise 6
Homophones. Identify pairs of homophones —i.e. words that are pronounced in the same way but spelt differently— in the list provided below. Give all the possible spellings (a number in brackets indicates how many there are).
For example: /siːn/ scene, seen.
|
1. /wɒt/ |
4. /θrəʊn/ |
7. /raɪt/ |
10. /wɜːld/ |
13. /meə/ |
|
2. /greɪz/ |
5. /saɪt/ |
8. /rest/ |
11. /heɪl/ |
14. /səʊ/ |
|
3. /veɪl/ |
6. /ˈsiərɪəl/ |
9. /lɔː/ |
12. /ˈmedl/ |
15. /meɪd/ |
- Answers
-
- /wɒt/what, watt
- /θrəʊn/ thrown, throne
- /raɪt/ (4)write, right,rite, wright
- /wɜːld/world, whirled
- /meə/mayor, mare
- /greɪz/graze, greys
- /saɪt/ (3)sight, site, cite
- /rest/rest, wrest
- /heɪl/hail, hale
- /səʊ/ (3)so, sew, sow
- /veɪl/veil, vale
- /'siərɪəl/cereal, serial
- /lɔː/law, lore
- /ˈmedl/medal, meddle
- /meɪd/made, maid
Unit 4 – Exercise 7
English consonant clusters in word-final position tend to be problematic for Spanish speakers. Look at the following words and write their broad transcription.
What would a native speaker of English understand if we pronounced the word-final clusters incompletely?
Could any of these words be mistaken for others?
|
apt |
bulbs |
deduct |
elect |
fund |
|
grasp |
hundredth |
past |
rhythm |
salts |
|
solved |
twelfhs |
warmth |
worked |
worlds |
- Answers
-
Word
Transcription
apt
/æpt/
bulbs
/bʌlbz/
deduct
/dɪˈdʌkt/
elect
/ɪˈlekt/
fund
/fʌnd/
grasp
/ɡræspt/
hundredth
/ˈhʌndrədθ/
past
/pæst/
rhythm
/ˈrɪðm/
salts
/sɒlts/
solved
/sɒlvd/
twelfths
/twelfθs/
warmth
/wɔːmθ/
worked
/wɜːkt/
worlds
/wɜːldz/
Posible confusions:
- apt → app, at
- bulbs → bulb
- fund → fun
- grasp → grass
- hundredth → hundred
- past → pass
- salts → salt
- solved → solve
- twelfths → twelve, twelfth
- warmth → warm
- worked → work
- worlds → worlds, whirls
Unit 4 – Exercise 8
Practise with the following words containing s-clusters. Say them aloud taking special care not to insert a vowel before the initial /s/.
|
star |
street |
spear |
slide |
scattter |
snob |
|
smile |
swing |
squeak |
skate |
sphere |
In connected speech, words beginning with s-clusters are often preceded by articles or other words ending in a vowel (a star, we swing). This makes s-clusters easier to pronounce in context than in isolation.
Practice with the words again, this time linking the s-cluster to a preceding article/ pronoun (e.g. a, I, we, etc.) to avoid inserting an extra vowel before it.
TIP! Imagine, for instance, that a star /ə stɑː/ is a single word pronounced /əˈstɑː/. Try to avoid pronunciations like /ə esˈtɑː/.
Audio Exercises
Unit 4 – Exercise 1
Stops.
/p b t d k g m n ŋ ʔ/.
Listen and repeat each word.
|
1. |
initial /p t k/ |
pear |
tin |
cow |
planning |
topic |
|
2. |
initial /b d g/ |
big |
done |
gold |
butter |
debit |
|
3. |
medial /p, t, k/ |
ample |
attack |
|
clapping |
tomato |
|
4. |
medial /b, d, g/ |
rabbit |
daddy |
migrant |
husband |
middle |
|
5. |
final /p, t, k/ |
cup |
doubt |
cock |
gasp |
date |
|
6. |
final /b, d, g/ |
cab |
dead |
bag |
lobe |
road |
|
7. |
initial /m, n/ |
mist |
new |
mean |
niece |
medal |
|
8. |
medial /m, n, ŋ/ |
amber |
grand |
think |
simmer |
annex |
|
9. |
final /m, n, ŋ/ |
climb |
known |
ring |
hymn |
button |
|
10. |
glottal /ʔ/ |
matter |
butter |
letter |
what |
fountain |
Unit 4 – Exercise 2
Stops.
/p b t d k g m n ŋ/.
Listen and repeat each minimal pair.
|
1. |
pack, back |
cap, cab |
|
2. |
tale, dale |
court, chord |
|
3. |
ankle, angle |
frock, frog |
|
4. |
mighthy, nightie |
system, cistern |
|
5. |
mountain, mounting |
thins, things |
|
6. |
sinning, singing |
banner, banger |
Unit 4 – Exercise 3
Stops.
/p b t d k g m n ŋ/.
Identification.
Identify the stop sound in each of the following words: initial (1-5), medial (6-10), final (11-15)
Unit 4 – Exercise 4
Stops.
/p b t d k g m n ŋ/.
Production.
After hearing the number, pronounce the word carefully, paying special attention to all the stop sounds.
When you hear the word, repeat it again carefully.
|
1. |
paddle /ˈpædl̩/ |
|
|
2. |
book /bʊk/ |
|
|
3. |
credit /ˈkredɪt/ |
|
|
4. |
heard /hɜːd/ |
|
|
5. |
cattle /ˈkætl̩/ |
|
|
6. |
grab /grӕb/ |
|
|
7. |
mandarin /ˈmӕndərɪn/ |
|
|
8. |
needle /ˈniːdl̩/ |
|
|
9. |
link /lɪŋk/ |
|
|
10. |
butter /ˈbʌtə/ |
Unit 4 – Exercise 5
Fricatives.
/f v ɵ ᵭ s z ʃ ʒ h/.
Listen and repeat each word.
|
1. |
initial /f v / |
fair |
vamp |
fox |
verb |
French |
|
2. |
medial /f v/ |
office |
civil |
after |
beaver |
advance |
|
3. |
final /f v/ |
graph |
valve |
cough |
give |
laugh |
|
4. |
initial /ɵ ð/ |
thank |
that |
three |
then |
thunder |
|
5. |
medial /ɵ ð/ |
author |
another |
nothing |
together |
wealthy |
|
6. |
final /ɵ ð/ |
death |
bathe |
faith |
smooth |
clothe |
|
7. |
initial /s z/ |
sea |
zip |
city |
zoom |
celery |
|
8. |
medial /s z/ |
dancer |
music |
wizard |
whistle |
busy |
|
9. |
final /s z/ |
ice |
please |
fox |
dress |
scissors |
|
10. |
initial /ʃ ʒ/ |
shade |
genre |
shampoo |
||
|
11. |
medial /ʃ ʒ/ |
cushion |
measure |
fashion |
measure |
leisure |
|
12. |
final /ʃ ʒ/ |
brush |
rouge |
splash |
beige |
wish |
|
13. |
initial and medial /h/ |
heart |
high |
ahead |
perhaps |
Unit 4 – Exercise 6
Fricatives.
/f v ɵ ᵭ s z ʃ ʒ h/.
Listen and repeat each minimal pair.
|
1. |
fine, vine |
infest, invest |
define, divine |
half, halve |
belief, believe |
|
2. |
mouth, mouth (v) |
teeth, teethe |
sooth, soothe |
||
|
3. |
ceasing, seizing |
race, rays |
sue, zoo |
decease, disease |
sauce, saws |
|
4. |
mesher, measure |
dilution, delusion |
|||
|
5. |
censer, censure |
fist, fished |
sake, shake |
person, Persian |
Iris, Irish |
|
6. |
fizzy, fishy |
cherries, cherish |
zone, shown |
whizzes, whishes |
was, wash |
|
7. |
first, thirst |
infuse, enthuse |
roof, Ruth |
fort, thought |
|
|
8. |
cupboard, covered |
curb, curve |
banish, vanish |
marble, marvel |
dub, dove |
Unit 4 – Exercise 7
Fricatives.
/f v ɵ ᵭ s z ʃ ʒ h/.
Identification.
Identify the fricative sound in each of the following words: initial (1-5), medial (6-10), final (11-15).
Unit 4 – Exercise 8
Fricatives.
/f v ɵ ᵭ s z ʃ ʒ h/.
Production.
After hearing the number, pronounce the word carefully, paying special attention to all the fricative sounds.
When you hear the word, repeat it again carefully.
|
1. |
anyhow /ˈenɪhaʊ/ |
|
2. |
invest /ɪnˈvest/ |
|
3. |
sleep /sliːp/ |
|
4. |
other /ˈʌᵭə/ |
|
5. |
shrew /ʃruː/ |
|
6. |
monthly /ˈmʌnɵli/ |
|
7. |
laungh /lɑːf/ |
|
8. |
live /laɪv/ |
|
9. |
fizzy /ˈfɪzi/ |
|
10. |
feather /ˈfeðə/ |
Unit 4 – Exercise 9
Affricates.
/ʧ ʤ/.
Listen and repeat each word.
|
1. |
initial /ʧ ʤ/ |
chilly |
gin |
channel |
jelly |
champion |
|
|
2. |
medial /ʧ ʤ/ |
teacher |
legion |
voucher |
patchwork |
suggest |
kitchen |
|
3. |
final /ʧ ʤ/ |
fetch |
cage |
reach |
Norwich |
itch |
Unit 4 – Exercise 10
AAffricates.
/ʧ ʤ/.
Listen and repeat each minimal word pair.
|
1. |
riches, ridges |
etch, edge |
choke, joke |
searching, surging |
leech, liege |
|
2. |
mashed, marched |
cash, catch |
sherry, cherry |
fuchsia, future |
dish, ditch |
|
3. |
marshy, Margie |
bash, badge |
shell, gel |
cashing, cadging |
languish, language |
|
4. |
lesion, legion |
pleasure, pledger |
version, virgin |
Unit 4 – Exercise 11
Affricates.
/ʧ ʤ/.
Identification.
Identify the affricate sound in each of the following words: initial (1-4), medial (5-8), final (9-12).
Unit 4 – Exercise 12
Affricates.
/ʧ ʤ/.
Production.
After hearing the number, pronounce the word carefully, paying special attention to all the affricate sounds.
When you hear the word, repeat it again carefully.
|
1. |
search /sɜːʧ/ |
|
2. |
jargon /ˈʤɑːgn̩/ |
|
3. |
punctual /ˈpʌnʧʊəl/ |
|
4. |
digest /daɪˈʤest/ |
|
5. |
nature /ˈneɪʧə/ |
|
6. |
emerge /ɪˈmɜːʤ/ |
|
7. |
choice /ʧɔɪs/ |
|
8. |
digital /ˈdɪdʒɪtl̩ / |
|
9. |
actual /ˈӕkʧʊəl/ |
|
10. |
century /ˈsenʧri/ |
Unit 4 – Exercise 13
Approximants
/ l r j w/.
Listen and repeat each word.
|
1. |
initial /l, r/ |
lake |
ring |
leaf |
write |
rug |
|
2. |
initial /j, w/ |
yell |
wet |
you |
wish |
watch |
|
3. |
medial /l r/ |
block |
fold |
carry |
fellow |
children |
|
4. |
medial /j, w/ |
onion |
choir |
hallelujah |
queen |
tortilla |
|
5. |
final /l, r/ |
girl |
candle |
table |
Unit 4 – Exercise 14
Approximants.
/ l r j w/.
Listen and repeat each minimal pair-and triples.
|
1. |
lap, rap |
bloke, broke |
alive, arrive |
laughed, raft |
belly, bury |
|
|
2. |
you, jew |
yet, jet |
use, juice |
yacht, jot |
||
|
3. |
good, wood |
got, what |
guest, west |
gun, one |
||
|
4. |
yes, chess |
yellow, cello |
York,chalk |
year,cheer |
use,choose |
|
|
5. |
vine, wine |
visor, wiser |
vary,wary |
|||
|
6. |
raced, waist |
array, away |
rag, wag |
overrate, overweight |
rail, whale |
rude, would |
|
7. |
rear, year |
strewing, stewing |
screw, skew |
rank, yank |
drooping, duping |
drew, due |
|
8. |
flew, few |
flume, fume |
lard, yard |
leer, year |
let, yet |
|
|
9. |
late, rate, weight |
click, crick, quick |
lake, rake, wake |
lays, raise, ways |
||
|
10. |
clue, crew, cue |
law, raw, your |
let, ret, yet |
lot, rot, yacht |
Unit 4 – Exercise 15
Approximants.
/l r j w/.
Identification.
Identify the approximant sound in each of the following words: initial (1-5), medial (6-10), final (11-15).
- Answers
-
1. would /w/
2. rude /r/
3. yellow /j/
4. war /w/
5. lunatic /l/
6. quite /w/
7. regular /l/
8. new /j/
9. quick /w/
10. during /r/
11. label /l̩/
12. castle /l̩/
13. people /l̩/
14. camel /l̩/
15. all /l/
Unit 4 – Exercise 16
Approximants.
/ l r j w/.
Production.
After hearing the number, pronounce the word carefully, paying special attention to the approximant sounds.
When you hear the word, repeat it again carefully.
|
1. |
triple /ˈtrɪpl̩/ |
|
2. |
play /pleɪ/ |
|
3. |
rarely /ˈreəli/ |
|
4. |
yellow /ˈjeləʊ/ |
|
5. |
quote /kwəʊt/ |
|
6. |
dune /djuːn/ |
|
7. |
wolf /wʊlf/ |
|
8. |
quality /ˈkwɒlɪti/ |
|
9. |
quest /kwest/ |
|
10. |
wine /waɪn/ |
Unit 4 – Exercise 17
Challenging words.
Production.
After hearing the number, pronounce the words carefully.
When you hear the word, repeat it again carefully.
|
1. therewith |
2. machine |
3. question |
4. ancient |
5. fortune |
|
6. digestion |
7. language |
8. literature |
9. scissors |
10. smoothly |
|
11. thistle |
12. clothes |
13. deterioration |
14. unfortunately |
15. decision |
|
16. challenge |
17. adjective |
18. equivocal |
19. hypothesis |
20. mutual |
|
21. sixth |
22. usually |
23. statistics |
24. ethnicity |
25. provocatively |
|
26. regularly |
27. February |
28. particulary |
29. rural |
30. situation |
|
31. disadvantage |
32. truth |
33. vocabulary |
34. squirrel |
35. specifically |
|
36. Wednesday |
37. Ireland |
38. athlete |
39. distinguish |
40. rarity |
Unit 4 – Exercise 18
(word-final consonant clusters): Say the following words aloud, taking special care to pronounce every element of the final consonant clusters.
Then listen to the recording and say the word again, correcting any mistakes you’ve made.
TIP! Remember that in real communication incomplete consonant clusters may easily lead to misunderstandings.
|
1. stopped |
2. housed |
3. clothes |
4. robbed |
|
5. knives |
6. lungs |
7. charged |
8. texts |
|
9. roughed |
10. blinked |
11. pigs |
12. hurled |
|
13. cracks |
14. travelled |
15. mixed |
16. strength |
|
17. trained |
18. lamps |
19. oaths |
20. edged |
|
21. twelfh |
22. sniffed |
23. watched |
Unit 4 – Exercise 19
(word-initial s- clusters): Listen and repeat the following words with initial s- clusters.
Be careful not to insert a vowel before each cluster.
|
1. slim |
2. special |
3. square |
|
4. spear |
5. strong |
6. skin |
|
7. scream |
8. smile |
9. splash |
|
10. snail |
11. swan |
12. spring |
Unit 4 – Exercise 20
(English consonants not present in Spanish) [contrastive]: The following pairs of words illustrate the difference between English consonants /ʃ ʒ ʤ v ð ŋ ɹ z/ and the Spanish consonants for which they are most commonly mistaken.
For each pair of words, listen carefully and repeat, paying special attention to the difference in consonant quality.
|
Spanish |
English |
|
/s/ |
/ʃ/ |
|
sal |
shall |
|
ases |
ashes |
|
/s/ |
/ʒ/ |
|
mesa |
measure |
|
esa |
Asia |
|
/ʧ/ |
/ʤ/ |
|
chal |
gel |
|
hachar |
ajar |
|
/b/ |
/v/ |
|
visa |
visa |
|
Eva |
ever |
|
/d/ |
/ð/ |
|
Aida |
either |
|
boda |
bother |
|
/n/ |
/ŋ/ |
|
sin |
sing |
|
pan |
pang |
|
/r/ |
/ɹ/ |
|
red |
red |
|
corran |
current |
|
/s/ |
/z/ |
|
deis |
daze |
|
su |
zoo |
Unit 4 – Exercise 21
(English consonants not present in Spanish): The following words all contain an English consonant which is not present in Spanish. For each word, listen carefully and fill in the gap with the sound you hear.
Then check your answers, listen again and repeat each word after you hear it.
|
1. əˈ__eɪmd |
5. ˌ__enəˈfəʊbiə |
9. ˈfren__i |
13. ɪˈ__ekt |
|
2. prɪˈ__ent |
6. klæ__ |
10. əˈbæ__ |
14. __ens |
|
3. ˈʌ__ə |
7. ˈɔː__əl |
11. __ɔːlt |
15. ˈsɪ__ə |
|
4. ˈ__endə |
8. ˈple__ə |
12. ˈbæ__ən |
16. ˈvɪ__ən |
- Answers
-
1. /ʃ/ ashamed 5. /z/ xenophobia 9. /z/ frenzy 13. /ʤ/ eject
2. /v/ prevent 6. /ŋ/ clang 10. /ʃ/ abash 14. /ð/ thence
3. /ð/ other 7. /r/ oral 11. /v/ vault 15. /ŋ/ singer
4. /ʤ/ gender 8. /ʒ/ pleasure 12. /r / barren 16. /ʒ/ vision
Unit 4 – Exercise 22
(syllabic consonants): Listen and repeat the following words which contain syllabic consonants.
|
1. awful |
2. rhythm |
3. cotton |
4. whistle |
5. hospital |
|
6. altruism |
7. London |
8. table |
9. seven |
10. cattle |