rules for pronouncing english

7/27/2019 Rules for Pronouncing English

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Pronouncing /s/Pronouncing (ed)

Pronouncing /t/

Pronouncing (ing)

Pronouncing (the)

Pronouncing /r/

Pronouncing 's'

Regular plural nouns (e.g. names, parents) and 3rd person present simple verbs (e.g. she

sings, he learns, it runs) all end in 's' but there are three different ways of pronouncing this

letter.

verbs nounswishes buses

udges watches

closes experiences

verbs nounsumps parents

bites cuffs

drinks maths

verbs nounssings clothes

needs mums

loves names


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Voiced and unvoiced sounds

If a sound is voiced it means that there is a vibration in your throat

when you say the sound. If place your hand over your throat and saythe sound /z/ or/m/, for example, you can feel yourthroat vibrate

or buzz.

When you say an unvoiced sound, on the other hand, like /s/ or/t/,

you can't feel any buzz orvibration in your throat.

Rules for pronouncing 's'

Here are some rules about how you pronounce the final 's':

If the word ends with the sounds

the final s is pronounced

If the word ends with any other voicless consonant, for example:


If the word ends with any other voiced consonant, for example:


How to Pronounce -ed in English

The past simple tense and past participle of all regular verbs end in -ed. For

example:

base verb

(v1)

past simple

(v2)

past participle

(v3)

work worked worked


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In addition, many adjectives are made from the past participle and so end in -ed. For

example:

I like painted furniture.The question is: How do we pronounce the -ed?

The answer is: In 3 ways - /Id/ or /t/ or /d/

If the base verb ends in one

of these sounds:

example

base verb*:

example

with -

ed:

pronounce

the -ed:

extra

syllable?

unvoiced /t/ want wanted /Id/ yes

voiced /d/ end ended

unvoiced

/p/ hope hoped

/t/

no

/f/ laugh laughed

/s/ fax faxed

/S/ wash washed

/tS/ watch watched

/k/ like liked

voicedall other sounds,

for example...

play played

/d/allow allowed

beg begged

* note that it is the sound that is important, not the letter or spelling. For example,

"fax" ends in the letter "x" but the sound /s/; "like" ends in the letter "e" but the sound

/k/.

Exceptions

The following -ed words used as adjectives are pronounced with /Id/:

aged blessed crooked

dogged learned naked

ragged wicked wretched

So we say:
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_wanted.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_wanted.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_hoped.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_hoped.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_played.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_played.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_played.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_hoped.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_wanted.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_d.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_t.wavhttp://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed_id.wav


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an aged man /Id/ a blessed nuisance /Id/ a dogged persistance /Id/ a learned professor - the professor, who was truly learned /Id/ a wretched beggar - the beggar was wretched /Id/

But when used as real verbs (past simple and past participle), the normal rules apply

and we say:

he aged quickly /d/ he blessed me /t/ they dogged him /d/ he has learned well /d/ or /t/

The glottal stop //

In both British and American varieties of English, a /t/ which comes at the end of a

word or syllable can often be pronounced as a glottal stop // (a silent gap produced

by holding ones breath briefly) instead of a /t/. For this to happen, the next sound

must not be a vowel or a syllabic /l/. So football can be /fbl/ instead of /ftbl/,

and button can be / bn/ instead of /btn/. But a glottal stop would not be used for

the /t/ sounds in bottle or better because of the sounds which come afterwards.

Examples and Observations:

"Glottalization is a general term for any articulation involving a simultaneousconstriction, especially a glottal stop. In English, glottal stops are often used in this

way to reinforce a voiceless plosive at the end of a word, as in what?"

(David Crystal,A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Blackwell, 1997)

"We often make this stop--it's the sound we make when we say 'uh-oh.' In somelanguages, this is a separateconsonantsound, but in English we often use it with d,t, k, g, b orp when one of those sounds happens at the end of a word orsyllable. . . .

We close the vocal cords very sharply and make the air stop for just a moment. We

don't let the air escape.

"This glottal stop is the last sound of these words:

o words: light . . . flight . . . put . . . take . . . make . . . trip . . . reporto multisyllable words: stoplight . . . apartment . . . backseat . . . assortment . . .

workload . . . upbeat

o phrases: right now . . . talk back . . . cook the books . . . hate mail . . . faxmachine . . . back-breaking
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You also hear it in words and syllables that end in t+ avowel+ n. We don't say the

vowel at all, so we say the t+ n: button . . . cotton . . . kitten . . . Clinton . . . continent

. . . forgotten . . . sentence."

(Charlsie Childs, Improve Your American English Accent. McGraw Hill, 2004)

"Nowadays younger speakers of many forms ofBritish Englishhave glottal stops atthe ends of words such as cap, cat, and back. A generation or so ago speakers ofBBC

Englishwould have regarded such a pronunciation as improper, almost as bad as

producing a glottal stop between vowels in the London Cockney pronunciation of

butter. . .. In America nearly everybody has a glottal stop in button and bitten . . .."

(Peter Ladefoged, Vowels and Consonants: An Introduction to the Sounds of

Languages, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. Blackwell, 2005)

/r/

RP is non-rhotic, which means that the letterris usually "silent", unless it is followed

by a vowel. Here's how it works:

In words like car, tower, inform andfirst, r is silent(ris not followed by avowel).

In words like red,foreign,print, r is pronounced(ris followed by a vowel). R is also pronouncedat the end of a word, if the next word starts with a vowel,for example: number eight,far away. Most RP speakers also insert an rin phrases like: the idea(r) of,Africa(r) and

Asia, law(r) and order. This ris not in the spelling; they just use it to separate

two vowels.

The following pairs sound exactly the same in RP: or/awe, court/caught,sore/saw,

farther/father,formerly/formally. In General American, they all sound different.

How to Pronounce "the" in English

Normally, we pronounce "the" with a short sound (like "thuh"). But when "the" comes

before a vowel sound, we pronounce it as a long "thee".

vowel sound we write we say

A the apple thee apple
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E the egg thee egg

I the ice-cream thee ice-cream

O the orange thee orange

U the ugli fruit thee ugli fruit

It is important to understand that it is what we say that matters, not what we write. It

is the sound that matters, not the letter used in writing a word. So we use a long

"thee" before a vowel sound, not necessarily before a vowel. Look at these cases:

we write with we say with

the house consonant (h) thuh house consonant sound

the hour consonant (h) thee our vowel sound

the university vowel (u) thuh youniversity consonant sound

the umbrella vowel (u) thee umbrella vowel sound

Emphatic the [thee]When we wish to place emphasis on a particular word, we can use "emphatic the"

[thee], whether or not the word begins with a consonant or vowel sound. For example:

A: I saw the [thuh] President yesterday.

B: What! The [thee] President of the United States?

A: Yes, exactly.

Pronunciation of the /-ing/ ending in English

words with the -ing ending similar words and expressions putting put in king kin madding

madden anything any thin helping help in calling call in wing win rowing row in knowing

know win know when morning more nan costing cost in
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I hope youve noticed that with the correct pronunciation of the // sound you feel thevibration in your nose. Sentences with examples that show the importance of the right

and clear pronunciation of this sound.

We charge no roaming fees. We charge no Roman fees.

Im aiming for my day off. Im amy for my day off.

Are you wedding? Are you wait Ann?

I dont like this taxing. I dont like this taxi.

Gorges got a degree in accounting Gorges got a degree in accountee.

I can feel the sting. I can feel the steam.

Word Stress in English

Word stress is yourmagic key to understanding spoken English. Native speakers of

English use word stress naturally. Word stress is so natural for them that they don't

even know they use it. Non-native speakers who speak English to native speakers

without using word stress, encounter two problems:

1. They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those speakingfast.

2. The native speakers may find it difficult to understand them.In this lesson we look at the most important aspects of word stress, followed by a

short quiz to check your understanding:

Understanding Syllables for Word Stress What is Word Stress? Why is Word Stress Important? Where do I Put Word Stress? Word Stress Rules Word Stress Quiz

Rules of Word Stress in English

There are two very simple rules about word stress:

1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If youhear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is

true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary

stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long

words.)

2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
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Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to

put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions.

It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.

1 Stress on first syllable

rule example

Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble

Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

2 Stress on last syllable

rule example

Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN

There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with

a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress

the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we

stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words

export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether

the stress is on the first or second syllable.

3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)

rule example

Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic

Words ending in -sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion

For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put thestress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another

example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.

4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)

rule example

Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and

-gy

deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy,

geOLogy

Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical


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5 Compound words (words with two parts)

rule example

For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird, GREENhouse

For compound adjectives, the stress is on the

second part

bad-TEMpered, old-

FASHioned

For compound verbs, the stress is on the second partto underSTAND, to

overFLOW

Sentence Stress in English

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Likeword stress, sentence stress canhelp you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast.

Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember that word

stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain

words within a sentence.

Most sentences have two types of word:

content words structure words

Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that

carry the meaning or sense.

Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that

make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or

"structure".

If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand

the sentence.

If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the

sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.

Imagine that you receive this telegram message:

Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE

Click here to hear
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This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence. But you

probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants you

to selltheircarfor them because they have goneto France. We can add a few words:

Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE

Click here to hear

The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the messagemore correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make one complete,

grammatically correct sentence. But the information is basically the same:

Content Words

Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE.

Structure Words

Click here to hear

In our sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, France) are accentuated orstressed.

Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds "music" to the

language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at which we

speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each stressed word is the

same.

In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables between

CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR and between CAR and

GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on the stressed words. To do this, we

say "my" more slowly, and "because I've" more quickly. We change the speed of the

small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same.

syllables

2 1 3 1

Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE.

beat beat beat beat
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t1 t1 t1 t1

Sentence Stress Rules >

See also:Word Stress

I am a proFESsional phoTOgrapher whose MAIN INterest is to TAKE SPEcial,

BLACK and WHITE PHOtographs that exHIBit ABstract MEANings in their

photoGRAPHic STRUCture.

Rules for Sentence Stress in English

The basic rules of sentence stress are:

1. content words are stressed2. structure words are unstressed3. the time between stressed words is always the same

The following tables can help you decide which words are content words and which

words are structure words:

Content words - stressed

Words carrying the meaning Example

main verbs SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY

nouns CAR, MUSIC, MARY

adjectives RED, BIG, INTERESTING

adverbs QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER

negative auxiliaries DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T

Structure words - unstressed

Words for correct grammar Example

pronouns he, we, they
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prepositions on, at, into

articles a, an, the

conjunctions and, but, because

auxiliary verbs do, be, have, can, must

Exceptions

The above rules are for for what is called "neutral" or normal stress. But sometimes

we can stress a word that would normally be only a structure word, for example to

correct information. Look at the following dialogue:

"They've been to Mongolia, haven't they?"

"No, THEY haven't, but WE have.

Note also that when "be" is used as a main verb, it is usually unstressed (even though

in this case it is a content word).

To make progress with sentence stress fast, try the world's #1 pronunciation program,

Pronunciation Power.

Linking in English

When we say a sentence in English, we join or "link" words to each other. Because of

this linking, the words in a sentence do not always sound the same as when we say

them individually. Linking is very important in English. If you recognize and use

linking, two things will happen:

1. you will understand other people more easily2. other people will understand you more easily

There are basically two types of linking:

consonant > vowelWe link words ending with a consonant soundto words beginning with a

vowel sound

vowel > vowelWe link words ending with a vowel soundto words beginning with a vowel

sound

In this lesson we look at:

Understanding Vowels and Consonants
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Linking Consonant to Vowel Linking Vowel to Vowel

Understanding Vowels & Consonants

for Linking

To understand linking, it is important to know the difference between vowel sounds

and consonant sounds. Here is a table of English vowels and consonants:

vowels a e i o u

consonants b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z

The table shows the letters that are vowels and consonants. But the important thing in

linking is the sound, not the letter. Often the letter and the sound are the same, but notalways.

For example, the word "pay" ends with:

the consonant letter "y" the vowel sound "a"

Here are some more examples:

though know

ends with the letter h w

ends with the sound o o

uniform honest

begins with the letter u h

begins with the sound y oVowels and Consonants | Consonant to Vowel | Vowel to Vowel

Linking Consonant to Vowel

When a word ends in a consonant sound, we often move the consonant sound to the

beginning of the next word if it starts with a vowel sound.

For example, in the phrase "turn off":

We write it like this: turn off
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We say it like this: tur noff

Remember that it's the sound that matters. In the next example, "have" ends with:

the letter "e" (vowel) the sound "v" (consonant)

So we link "have" to the next word "a" which begins with a vowel sound:

We write it like this: Can I have a bit of egg?

We say it like this: Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?

Linking Vowel to VowelWhen one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel

sound, we link the words with a sort ofW orY sound.

If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound:

oo

|

o

We write it like this: too often who is so I do all

We say it like this: tooWoften whoWis soWI doWall

If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound:

oo

|

--

We write it like this: Kay is I am the end she asked

We say it like this: KayYis IYam theYend sheYasked

To really understand linking you might like to try a pronunciation program like

Pronunciation Powerwhich comes on CD-rom and is available for all levels.

Informal Contractions

Informal contractions are short forms of other words that people use when speaking

casually. They are not exactly slang, but they are a little like slang.

For example, "gonna" is a short form of "going to". If you say "going to" very fast,

without carefully pronouncing each word, it can sound like "gonna".

Please remember that these are informal contractions. That means that we do not use

them in "correct" speech, and we almost never use them in writing. (If you see themin writing, for example in a comic strip, that is because the written words represent
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the spoken words or dialogue.) We normally use them only when speaking fast and

casually, for example with friends. Some people never use them, even in informal

speech.

It is probably true to say that informal contractions are more common in American

English.

Also note that, unlike normal contractions, we do not usually use apostrophes (') with

informal contractions when written.

Listed below are some common informal contractions, with example sentences. Note

that the example sentences may be a little artificial because when we use a contraction

we may also use other contractions in the same sentence, or even drop some words

completely. For example:

What are you going to do? >> Whatcha going to do? >> Whatcha gonna do?

or

Do you want a beer? Do you wanna beer? D'you wanna beer? D'ya wanna beer? Ya wanna beer? Wanna beer?

These informal contractions are not "correct" English. Do not use them in a written

exam, for example, except in appropriate situations.

ain't = am not/are not/is notI ain't sure.

You ain't my boss.

ain't = has not/have notI ain't done it.

She ain't finished yet.

gimme = give meGimme your money.

Don't gimme that rubbish.

Can you gimme a hand?

gonna = going toNothing's gonna change my love for you.

I'm not gonna tell you.

What are you gonna do?

gotta = (have) got aI've gotta gun.


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I gotta gun.

She hasn't gotta penny.

Have you gotta car?

gotta = (have) got toI've gotta go now.

I gotta go now.We haven't gotta do that.

Have they gotta work?

kinda = kind ofShe's kinda cute.

lemme = let meLemme go!

wanna = want toI wanna go home.

wanna = want aI wanna coffee.

whatcha = what are youWhatcha going to do?

whatcha = what have youWhatcha got there?

ya = youWho saw ya?

Choosing between American and British

pronunciation

by Tomasz P. Szynalski

Tomasz P. Szynalski, Antimoon.com

Different kinds of English have different pronunciation. For example, the

pronunciation (the accent) of British English is different from the pronunciation of

American English.

The most frequently learned kinds of English in the world areAmerican English and

British English.

Sample recordings of General American (GenAm) pronunciation

American pronunciation


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In the context of language learning, American pronunciation means General

American (GenAm) pronunciation. This is the pronunciation used by educated

Americans, on television and on radio. It is described in dictionaries of American

English, such as the Merriam-Webster and Random House dictionaries.

Most Americans and Canadians speak something similar to General American.Whether you're in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle or Toronto, you will

generally hear the same accent. There are some regional differences, but they are

usually very small. The only major exception is the South of the US (especially

outside of big cities), which has its own distinct accent.

General American pronunciation is rhotic, which means that the letterris always

pronounced.

Sample recordings of British pronunciation (RP)

British pronunciation

When people talk about learning British pronunciation, they usually think ofReceived

Pronunciation (RP). This is the pronunciation that you will learn at a British language

school; it is also the model taught in coursebooks and dictionaries from publishers

like Oxford and Longman.

In the UK, only a small percentage of people speak something similar to RP. "Normal

people" only speak it in the southeast of Englandin the area near Oxford,

Cambridge, Brighton and London (excluding working-class Londoners, who speak

Cockney or Estuary). Elsewhere RP is spoken only by upper-class people, academics,actors, TV personalities, politicians and English teachers.

"Normal" Britons usually speak with their local accents, which are often quite

different from RP, and can be very hard to understand to untrained ears. Sometimes

cities that are only 20 km apart have very different accents. (The British Library has

an interactive map of the UK which lets you listen to someexamples of British

accentsfrom various areas.)

RP is non-rhotic, which means that the letterris usually "silent", unless it is followed

by a vowel. Here's how it works:

In words like car, tower, inform andfirst, r is silent(ris not followed by a vowel). In words like red,foreign,print, r is pronounced(ris followed by a vowel). R is also pronouncedat the end of a word, if the next word starts with a vowel, for

example: number eight,far away.

Most RP speakers also insert an rin phrases like: the idea(r) of,Africa(r) and Asia,law(r) and order. This ris not in the spelling; they just use it to separate two vowels.

The following pairs sound exactly the same in RP: or/awe, court/caught,sore/saw,

farther/father,formerly/formally. In General American, they all sound different.

Which one should you choose?
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/


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To choose between American and British pronunciation, you need to answer two

questions:

1. which one will be more useful to you?2. which one will be easier to learn for you?

On the first question, you should remember that whether you choose General

American or RP, you will be understood by all English speakers, because everyone

familiar with both of these accents from TV and movies. So the objective usefulness

of GenAm and RP is about the same. Still, if you know you're going to be talking

mainly to people who have a particular accent, you may want to learn a similar accent

(or you may decide that it is better to stand out).

For example, if you are planning to move to England, or if you have many English

friends, you may want to learn RP. Of course, the accent of most Britons is quite

different from RP, so you will probably stand out anyway. (Speakers of GenAm will

have a much better chance of blending in with Americans, as there are fewer regionaldifferences in the US.)

The second question is more tricky. Here, the most important thing are your

individual circumstances, such as:

Whether you simply prefer one of the accents (for example, because it sounds morepleasant, more sexy, more intelligent, more powerful, etc. to you). If you want to get

results, you have to be excited about learning English pronunciation. The more

attractive your goal seems to you, the more motivation you will have.

Which accent you find easier to imitate. Sometimes people find they have a knackfor one, but not the other.

Which accent your friends are learning. It is easier to learn if you can talk thingsthrough with your friends.

Which accent your teacher speaks. (Same reason as above.) Whether you are interested in science or computing. GenAm is more frequently used

in those fields and if you are interested in them, you will hear it more often and will

find it easier to learn.

If the above questions don't point to an obvious choice, take a look at this table, which

compares the more objective advantages of each accent:

General American (GenAm) Received Pronunciation (RP)

If you speak it, you will beunderstood by all English

speakers.

If you speak it, you will be understood byall English speakers.

You have a better choice ofmovies, TV shows and video

games to learn the accent from.

America's media industry makes

a larger amount of interesting,

funny and exciting content than

Although American English dominates themedia, there are plenty of well-known

British actors and movies full of British

pronunciation (Harry Potter, Lord of the

Rings).


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Britain's.

The Web has more GenAmcontent(YouTube videos,

podcasts, etc.) than RP content.

There are at least 10 times morespeakers of GenAm than of RP. If

you have pronunciation

questions, it is easier to find a

speaker of GenAm (or something

close to GenAm) than of RP.

The best English dictionaries are made inBritain and focus on RP. (They also have

information on American pronunciation,

but it is not always accurate, so if youchoose American English, you will have to

consult American dictionaries, too.)

People in Britain are neutraltowards speakers of American

English.

Americans love RP. If you speak RP inAmerica,people will think you are

intelligentand the opposite sex will take

more interest in you.

My choice of General American pronunciation

My reasons for choosing American pronunciation were personal. I wanted to learn the

same kind of English as my two best friends in high school, who were also the best

English learners. I also wanted to be different from "average" students (most people in

Poland try to learn RP), and I wanted to annoy my teachers, many of whom viewed

RP as some kind of "gold standard". If I had been studying RP, I simply would not

have had so much fun on a social level.

Even though my reasons were personal, American English turned out to be a good

choice. RP may be the king of schools, coursebooks and dictionaries, but most

popular, real-world content (movies, TV series, podcasts, Web videos, etc.) featuresAmerican speakers. Because I was learning American English, I could practice my

pronunciation while watching my favorite TV shows and playing my favorite video

games. If I had chosen RP, I would have still had some fun content to learn from, but

my options would have been more limited.

The importance of learning about the otheraccent

Whichever accent you choose,you should have some knowledge about both accents.

Let's suppose you want to speak pure RP. You don't want to have an American accent

at all. Should you pay attention to the American pronunciations in your dictionary?


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Yes, you should. First of all,you need to understand both British and American

English, since both are widely used. Even if you want to speak RP, it is good to know

how words are pronounced in General American. It helps you understand American

speech.

Secondly,you ought to be aware of the systematic differences between RP andGenAm because you will be learning words from Americans as well as Britons.

Consider what happens if you (a student of RP) hear a new English word on an

American TV channel. Let's suppose this word is nuke, pronounced /nu:k/. If youknow nothing about American pronunciation, you may assume that the word is

pronounced the same way in RP, and you may learn to say it like that.

However, if you had some basic knowledge of American phonetics, you would know

that many words which have the sound /ju:/ in RP, have /u:/ in GenAm (for

example: new, due). Because nuke is one of such words, the pronunciation /nu:k/ is

not correct in RP. The correct pronunciation is /nju:k/.

If you pay attention to both British and American pronunciations in your dictionary,

you will eventually develop a type of intuition about these things. For most words,

you'll be able to tell how to pronounce them in your accent, even if you have only

heard them from speakers of the other accent. For other words, you'll know that you

just have to look them up to be sure.

How to Speak in a British Accent 1

Understand that in most British accents speakers don't roll their R is(except

those from the West Country, Scotland, Northumbria, Northern Ireland, and

parts of Lancashire), but not all British accents are the same, ie: a Scottish accent

varies greatly from an English accent.

2

Don't attempt to learn more than one accent at a time . Since Estuary English

sounds very different to a "Geordie" accent, you'll get confused very easily.

3

Please pay attention to the tones and emphasis used throughout spoken sentencesby the British. Do sentences generally end on a higher note, the same, or lower? How

much variation is there in tone throughout a typical sentence? There is a huge

variation between regions with tonality. British speech, especially RP, usually varies

much less within a sentence than American English, and the general tendency is to go

down slightly towards the end of a phrase. However, Liverpool and north-east

England are notable exceptions!

4

Pronounce Uin stupidand in dutywith the ewsound. Avoid the oo as in an

American accent; thus it is pronouncedstewpid, notstoopid, etc. In the standard

English accent, theA (for example, infather) is pronounced at the back of the mouth

with an open throat - it sounds like "Arh". This is the case in pretty much all British
http://www.wikihow.com/Speak-in-a-British-Accenthttp://www.wikihow.com/Speak-in-a-British-Accent


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accents, but it's exaggerated in RP. In southern England and in RP, words such as

"bath", "path", "glass", "grass" also use this vowel. However, in other parts of Britain

"bath", "path", etc. sound like "ah".

5

Get a British person to say well known sentences: "How now brown cow" and

"The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain" and pay close attention. Rounded mouthvowels in words such as "about" in London, are usually flattened in Northern Ireland.

6

Notice that two or more vowels together may prompt an extra syllable. For

example, the word "road" would usually be pronounced rohd, but in Wales and with

some people in Northern Ireland it might be pronounced ro.ord.

7

Enunciate on heavy consonant words. Pronounce that Tin "duty" as T: not as the

AmericanD as doody so that duty is pronounced dewty or a softerjooty. Pronounce

the suffix -ingwith the G. This way it sounds like -ingrather than -een. But

sometimes it is shortened to in as in lookin.

The words human beingare pronounced hewman beingoryooman been incertain areas, though it could be pronounced hewman bee-in.

8

Drop the Ts. With some accents, Ts aren't pronounced at all, especially in words with

two Ts grouped together. So battle might be pronouncedBa-ill, catching the air

behind the back of the tongue at the end of the first syllable before expelling it on

pronunciation of the second syllable. This is known as theglottal stop.

People with Estuary English, RP, Scottish, Irish and Welsh accents doconsider it lazy and rude to drop the Ts, and this feature doesn't exist, but in

almost all accents it's accepted to do it in the middle of words in casual

contexts and almost universal to put a glottal stop at the end of a word.)

Addition from an American theatre specialist: Americans do glottal stops allthe time,"bu-on" for button, "mou--ian" for mountain). However, it is

considered by Brits that people with chav or Cockney accents do glottal stops.

9

Observe that His always pronounced. The "H" is pronounced in the word "herb,"

in contrast to American erb.

10Realize that some words require the eesound to be pronounced as in the word

been. In an American accent, this is often pronounced bin. In an English accent, been

is the more common pronunciation, but "bin" is sometimes heard in casual speech

where the word isn't particularly stressed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop

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