A-F 117 The English Sound System.pdf

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ANGLO-PEDIA Anglo-File 117: The English Sound System The following exercises are designed to help you with the recognition and production of English sounds. As a language that has been derived from many other languages, English has one of the richest collection of sounds. This means that you are likely to come across several sounds that do not exist in your mother tongue. Regular practice will help you to become familiar with these sounds, and will improve both your listening comprehension and your pronunciation. Work through the recordings in the following way: 1. Listen to each section several times until your ears have become familiar with the sound(s). 2. Repeat each section several times. 3. Do the dictation exercises at the end of selected sections. An answer key at the back of the booklet will enable you to check your dictation exercises. CONTENTS: Section 1: Vowels and diphthongs: short vowels long vowels diphthongs Section 2: Vowels & diphthongs: Minimal pairs (distinguishing two sounds from each other) Section 3: Consonants: Minimal pairs (distinguishing two sounds from each other) Section 4: Consonant clusters: 2 consonants following each other SP, ST, SK, SM, SN, SL, KS, KT, FT Regular verbs ending in sound /t/ Regular verbs ending in sound /d/ Plural nouns / third person singular verbs ending in sound /s/ Plural nouns / third person singular verbs ending in sound /z/ Section 5: Special sounds 5a. Contractions 5b. Weak forms Section 6: Phonetic links 6a. Consonant to vowel 6b. Consonant to consonant 6c. Vowel to vowel

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INDEX SECTION 1: VOWELS & DIPHTHONGS Tracks 1 - 6: Short vowels: /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ /Λ/ Tracks 7 - 11: Long vowels: /a:/ /з:/ /i:/ /o:/ /u:/ Tracks 1 2 - 18: Diphthongs: /au/ /ai/ /ei/ /oi/ /∂u/ /e∂/ /i∂/ SECTION 2: VOWELS & DIPHTHONGS: MINIMAL PAIRS Track 19: Sounds /a/ & /a:/ Track 20: Dictation 1 Track 21: Sounds /e/ & /з:/ Track 22: Dictation 2 Track 23: Sounds /i/ & /i:/ Track 24: Dictation 3 Track 25: Sounds /o/ & /o:/ Track 26: Dictation 4 Track 27: Sounds /u/ & /u:/ Track 28: Dictation 5 Track 29: Sounds /a/ & /Λ/ Track 30: Dictation 6 Track 31: Sounds /a/ & /e/ Track 32: Dictation 7 Track 33: Sounds /a:/ & /з:/ Track 34: Dictation 8 Track 35: Sounds /e/ & /ei/ Track 36: Dictation 9 Track 37: Sounds /o:/ & /∂u/ Track 38: Dictation 10 Track 39: Sounds /u:/ & /∂u/ Track 40: Dictation 11 SECTION 3: CONSONANTS: MINIMAL PAIRS Track 41: Sounds /s/ & /sh/ Track 43: Sounds /sh/ & /ch/ Track 45: Sounds /s/ & /th/ Track 47: Sounds /t/ & /th/ Track 49: Sounds /m/ & /n/ Track 51: Sounds /y/ & /j/ Track 53: Sounds /b/ & /v/ Track 55: Sounds /w/ & /v/ Track 57: Sounds /l/ & /r/ Track 59: Sounds /d/ & /th/ Track 61: Sounds /h/ & /vowel/ Track 63: Sounds /s/ & /z/ Track 65: Sounds /p/ & /b/ Track 67: Sounds /t/ & /d/ Track 69: Sounds /k/ & /g/ Track 71: Sounds /f/ & /v/

Track 42: Dictation 1 Track 44: Dictation 2 Track 46: Dictation 3 Track 48: Dictation 4 Track 50: Dictation 5 Track 52: Dictation 6 Track 54: Dictation 7 Track 56: Dictation 8 Track 58: Dictation 9 Track 60: Dictation 10 Track 62: Dictation 11 Track 64: Dictation 12 Track 66: Dictation 13 Track 68: Dictation 14 Track 70: Dictation 15 Track 72: Dictation 16

SECTION 4: CONSONANT CLUSTERS Track 73: SP, ST, SK, SM, SN, SL, KS, KT, FT Track 74: Regular verbs ending in sound /t/ Track 75: Regular verbs ending in sound /d/ Track 76: Plural nouns / third person singular verbs ending in sound /s/ Track 77: Plural nouns / third person singular verbs ending in sound /z/ SECTION 5: SPECIAL SOUNDS Track 78: Contractions Track 79: Weak forms SECTION 6: PHONETIC LINKS Track 80: Consonant to vowel Track 81: Consonant to consonant Track 82: Vowel to vowel Track 83: Dictation 28

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Section 1: VOWELS & DIPHTHONGS Short vowels Sound 1: /a/ Sound 2: /e/ Sound 3: /i/ Sound 4: /o/ Sound 5: /u/ Sound 6: /Λ/

at, as, and, had, bank, sang, drank ex, egg, end, pen, said, rest, bread, friend it, ill, his, this, live, built, busy on, off, opt, hot, want, prompt put, bush, would, could, should, book up, us, other, cup, rough, just, blood

Long vowels Sound 1: /a:/ Sound 2: /з:/ Sound 3: /i:/ Sound 4: /o:/ Sound 5: /u:/

art, aunt, car, heart, half, calm, laugh early, sir, her, firm, heard, word, skirt, turn ease, see, key, sheep, read, field, please all, law, war, port, source, hall, fault, bought zoo, who, suit, moon, cruise

Diphthongs Sound 1: /au/ Sound 2: /ai/ Sound 3: ei/ Sound 4: /oi/ Sound 5: /∂u/ Sound 6: /e∂/ Sound 7: /i∂/

out, hour, now, how, loud, south, found ice, high, buy, white, find, flight aim, ace, pay, main, lane, weight, paint, great oil, boy, join, point, choice, noise own, old, low, so, boat, rode, cold, most, close air, fair, rare, spare, there ear, beer, fear, here, clear

Section 2: MINIMAL PAIRS 1. /a/ hat cat lad pack lack mass have cap shack hash

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/a:/ heart cart lard park lark mars half carp shark harsh

Dictation 1: Listen and write down the words you hear. 2. /e/ bed ten Len Head Wed Weld Gem Ben Best

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/з:/ bird turn learn heard word world germ burn burst

Dictation 2: Listen and write down the words you hear.

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3. /i/ grin fit dip ship sit bit fill live sin gin

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/i:/ green feet deep sheep seat beat feel leave seen Jean

Dictation 3: Listen and write down the words you hear. 4. /o/ pot cot fox cod wok

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/o:/ port court forks cord walk

Dictation 4: Listen and write down the words you hear. 5. /u/ full pull foot soot goods

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/u:/ fool pool food suit goose

Dictation 5: Listen and write down the words you hear. 6. /a/ bag mad fan sang batter hat track match cap ankle

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/Λ/ bug mud fun sung butter hut truck much cup uncle

Dictation 6: Listen and write down the words you hear. 7. /a/ had bag land can pan mat marry

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/e/ head beg lend Ken pen met merry

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pat than

pet then

Dictation 7: Listen and write down the words you hear. 8. /a:/ farm barn star hard dart heart bath pass

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/з:/ firm burn stir heard dirt hurt birth purse

Dictation 8: Listen and write down the words you hear. 9. /e/ & pen tell men fell edge shed pepper let wet get test debt

/ei/ pain tail main fail age shade paper late wait gate taste date

Dictation 9: Listen and write down the words you hear. 10. /o:/ law jaw bought called ball tore torn snore hall saw shore

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/∂u/ low Joe boat cold bowl toe tone snow hole so show

Dictation 10: Listen and write down the words you hear. 11. /u:/ Boot cooled Sue shoe room

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/∂u/ boat cold so show Rome

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moon rule mood rude soup

moan role mode rode soap

Dictation 11: Listen and write down the words you hear. Section 3: CONSONANTS 1. /s/ see sell said save sock saw so Sue

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/sh/ she shell shed shave shock shore show shoe

Dictation 1: Listen and write down the words you hear. 2. /sh/ ship sherry shoes sheep share wash cash wish

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/ch/ chip cherry choose cheap chair watch catch which

Dictation 2: Listen and write down the words you hear. 3. /s/ & sick sink seem sing pass mouse worse

/th/ thick think theme thing path mouth worth

Dictation 3: Listen and write down the words you hear. 4. /t/ tin tank tick tree team fort part

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/th/ thin thank thick three theme fourth path

Dictation 4: Listen and write down the words you hear.

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5. /m/ seem them rum team deem dim moon mail

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/n/ seen then run teen dean din noon nail

Dictation 5: Listen and write down the words you hear. 6. /j/ yet use yak yeti yam yolk year yes

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/dj/ jet juice Jack Jetty jam joke jeer Jess

Dictation 6: Listen and write down the words you hear. 7. /b/ best boat bat berry ban bet

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/v/ vest vote vat very van vet

Dictation 7: Listen and write down the words you hear. 8. /w/ wet west whale worse wire wine wheel

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/v/ vet vest veil verse via vine veal

Dictation 8: Listen and write down the words you hear. 9. /l/ low light lip law lead

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/r/ row right rip raw read

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list alive collect long Lice

wrist arrive correct wrong rice

Dictation 9: Listen and write down the words you hear. 10. /d/ & dare den Dan Dough Breed Wordy

/th/ there then than though breathe worthy

Dictation 10: Listen and write down the words you hear. 11. starting with /h/ hand hall hear high hate harm hill his hold hat hair

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starting with a vowel sound and all ear eye eight arm ill is old at air

Dictation 11: Listen and write down the words you hear. 12. /s/ Sue said sip rice loose race once

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/z/ zoo zed zip rise lose raise ones

Dictation 12: Listen and write down the words you hear. 13. /p/ pit pat port pull pride rope tap cup

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/b/ bit bat bought bull bride robe tab cub

Dictation 13: Listen and write down the words you hear.

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14. /t/ two ten town train site heart plate bat set

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/d/ do den down drain side hard played bad said

Dictation 14: Listen and write down the words you hear. 15. /k/ could cot coat cave leak pick lock ankle

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/g/ good got goat gave league pig log angle

Dictation 15: Listen and write down the words you hear. 16. /f/ fan ferry fail feel fine leaf safe proof

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/v/ van very veil veal vine leave save prove

Dictation 16: Listen and write down the words you hear. Section 4: CONSONANT CLUSTERS SP: ST: SK: SM: SN: SL: KS: KT: FT:

Spain, spend, spoon, star stay, stand, steal, must, rest sky, skirt, school, ask, task smile, smell, smart, smooth snack, snore, snow slow, sleep, slim accept, accident, excuse, export, occident fact, duct, sect, soft, gift, theft

Regular verbs ending in sound /t/: /pt/ stopped, hoped, helped, dropped /kt/ worked, walked, thanked, asked /sht/ washed, pushed, finished, rushed /cht/ watched, matched, switched, coached

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/st/ /ft/

danced, kissed, produced, missed laughed, bluffed, staffed, coughed

Regular verbs ending in sound /d/: /bd/ robbed, described, grabbed /gd/ begged, nagged, mugged, jogged /djd/ changed, aged, merged, damaged /zd/ raised, organised, surprised /vd/ arrived, lived, saved, shaved /md/ seemed, dreamed, bombed, filmed /nd/ listened, happened, joined, learned /ld/ called, installed, spelled, sailed Plural nouns / third person singular verbs ending in sound /s/: /ps/ stops, hopes, helps, drops /ks/ works, walks, thanks, asks /fs/ laughs, bluffs, coughs, graphs /ts/ lights, seats, boats, gates /ths/ months, breaths, baths Plural nouns / third person singular verbs ending in sound /z/: /bz/ robs, describes, grabs, labs /gz/ begs, mugs, jogs, dogs /vz/ arrives, lives, saves, leaves /thz/ clothes, breathes, bathes /dz/ needs, rides, roads, guards /mz/ seems, dreams, bombs, films /nz/ listens, happens, joins, spoons /lz/ calls, installs, spells, hills Section 5: SPECIAL SOUNDS 5a. Contractions Verb ‘to be’: Verb ‘to have’: Future ‘will’: Would & had:

I’m, you’re, he’s, she’s, it’s, we’re, they’re, there’s I’ve, you’ve, he’s, she’s, it’s, we’ve, they’ve, there’ve I’ll, you’ll, he’ll, she’ll, we’ll, they’ll, there’ll I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, we’d, they’d, there’d

Question words plus ‘is: Who’s this?, What’s that?, Where’s she?, When’s dinner?, Why’s that?, How’s this? Negatives: isn’t, aren’t, wasn’t, weren’t, don’t, doesn’t, didn’t, won’t, can’t, mustn’t, shouldn’t wouldn’t, haven’t, hasn’t, hadn’t 5b. Weak forms: When these words are part of a sentence, the vowel sound in them is reduced to the semi-vowel ∂. Articles: a book, an egg, the door Connectives: Tom and me, but why? Prepositions: bag of rice, from five to six, at home Pronouns: tell him, show her, sell them, with us Auxiliary and modal verbs: It was raining. He has left. We have finished. They had stopped. Does he know? He can go. We must leave. Others: Some tea? That way. As soon as possible. More than ten.

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Section 6: PHONETIC LINKS: 6a. Consonant to Vowel: Words beginning with a vowel are often linked to the final consonant of the word before them: Examples: Past eight = pas teight Put it on = pu ti ton Read it = rea dit team eleven = tea meleven Soon after = Soo nafter sleep early = slee pearly Rob Anderson = Ro bAnderson with Alan = wi thAlan black out = bla kout dig in = di gin large egg = la gegg much energy = mu chenergy half asleep = ha fasleep live alone = li valone dress up = dre sup his own = hi sown fresh apples = fre shapples catch all = ca tchall full application = fu lapplication our idea = ou ridea 6b. Consonant to consonant: Same consonant sounds link up and make a stronger sound: for example This soup, black car, and down, light top, seem mad, full length, half five 6c. Vowel to vowel: If the end of a word and the beginning of the next word are both vowel sounds, then the two sounds are linked by adding the sound /w/ or the sound /j/ between them. The /w/ link: /u:/ Two (w) hours, Do (w) it. You (w) ought to. no (w) entry /∂u/ Low (w) impact, go (w) early, /au/ now (w) and then, how (w) easy

Who (w) are you?

The /j/ link: /i:/ we ( j ) all, free ( j ) entry, the ( j ) end /ai/ my ( j ) arm, I ( j ) am /ei/ say ( j ) it. They ( j ) ask.

Dictation 28: Listen and write down the sentences you hear. They include contractions, weak forms and phonetic links.

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ANSWER KEY Vowels & diphthongs Dictation 1: heart, cat, lad, park, lack, mass, half, cap, shark, harsh Dictation 2: bird, turn, learn, head, wed, world, gem, burn, best Dictation 3: green, feet, dip, sheep, sit, bit, feel, live, seen, Jean Dictation 4: pot, court, fox, cod, walk Dictation 5: full, pool, foot, suit, goods Dictation 6: bug, mud, fan, sang, batter, hut, truck, match, cap, uncle Dictation 7: head, bag, land, Ken, pan, mat, merry, pat, then Dictation 8: firm, burn, star, hard, dart, hurt, birth, pass Dictation 9: pain, tell, men, fail, age, shed, paper, late, wet, gate, taste, debt Dictation 10: low, jaw, bought, cold, ball, toe, tone, snow, hall, saw, show Dictation 11: boot, cooled, so, shoe, room, moan, rule, mood, rode, soup Consonants Dictation 1: Dictation 2: Dictation 3: Dictation 4: Dictation 5: Dictation 6: Dictation 7: Dictation 8: Dictation 9: Dictation 10: Dictation 11: Dictation 12: Dictation 13: Dictation 14: Dictation 25: Dictation 16:

she, sell, said, shave, shock, saw, show, shoe chip, cherry, shoes, sheep, chair, wash, cash, which thick, think, seem, sing, pass, mouth, worse thin, tank, think, tree, theme, fourth, part seem, then, ran, team, deem, din, noon, mail jet, juice, Jack, yeti, yam, joke, year, yes vest, boat, bat, very, ban, vet vet, west, whale, worse, via, vine, wheel low, right, rip, law, read, list, arrive, correct, long, rice dare, then, than, though, breed, wordy and, all, here, high, eight, harm, hill, is, old, hat, air zoo, said, zip, rise, lose, race, once pit, pat, bought, bull, pride, rope, tap, cup, rib do, ten, down, train, side, hard, plate, bad, set good, got, coat, gave, leak, pig, log, ankle van, very, fail, veal, fine, leaf, save, proof

Dictation 28: 1. You can see all of them. 3. There are some cups over there. 5. We haven’t had any rest. 7. She’s been to our house twice. 9. It was harder for some of us. 11. These are the very latest. 13. There were only four of them. 15. We didn’t see the no-entry sign. 17.Let’s go earlier this time. 19.I’ll catch up with them. 21. We aren’t sure if there’s a way. 23. Do you always laugh so easily? 25. It’ll mean hours of extra work.

2. He won’t be able to do it. 4. They’ll get in touch with us. 6. It’s hardly a new act. 8. You must accept that it’s true. 10. There were signs to show the way. 12. We all knew as much as he did. 14. He’s an old friend of ours. 16. My arm is beginning to ache. 18. They went out two hours ago. 20. Does he know how far we’re from that place? 22. It’ll be better to wait a bit. 24. Did you have any trouble finding us?

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