English Pronunciation for Communication -- An Introduction

English Pronunciation for Communication is a compulsory course offered to the

first year English majors with an aim to help the students to improve their English
pronunciation and intonation for more effective communication. The students will
undergo intensive training in the pronunciation of individual phonemes in English, in
the rhythmic patterns of the English language and in the patterns and functions of
English intonation, so that the students will be able to communicate more effectively
with good pronunciation and intonation.
To have good pronunciation means 1) to pronounce correctly all the individual
speech sounds in English; 2) to pronounce correctly the speech sounds in their
combinations in isolated words as well as in sentences; ) to spea! fluently with
correct rhythm, including the correct placement of stresses and pauses and the
transition of sounds according to the conte"t; and #) to spea! with appropriate
intonation according to the conte"t.
$efore we attain good pronunciation, it is essential that we should perceive the
differences between the sounds in the new language. This is what the present course
sets out to do% drills of listening and discrimination come before all attempts at
performance. &s most of the students have already gone over some practice in English
pronunciation, we will concentrate on some of the difficult sounds. &nd as we all !now
that English rhythm is new and difficult to most of us, we will pay special attention to
the training of the features that are re'uired for the appropriate rhythm. The use of
correct intonation also forms an important part of the course.
(uch a perceptual approach re'uires from the learner only the minimum of
theoretical !nowledge. )or this reason, the theoretical commentary in this course is
restricted to essentials. )or more detailed theoretical information, such as might be
needed by an instructor or a more advanced student, the user is referred to the
following boo!s% &n *ntroduction to the +ronunciation of English ,&.-. .imson,
1/01), $etter English +ronunciation ,2.3. 45-onnor, 1/60) and English +honetics and
+honology ,+. 7oach, 1/8).
1. English phonemes: discrimination and pronunciation
-orrect discrimination of English phonemes is the first step towards the correct
pronunciation. The students need to learn the correct discrimination and pronunciation
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of the English consonants and vowels.
English Consonants
There are 2# consonants in English. These consonants may be classified according
to the following% 1) place of articulation, 2) manner of articulation, and ) voicing, i.e.
voiced or voiceless.
&ccording to the place of articulation we may distinguish the following types of
consonants%
1) bilabial ,two lips)
2) labio9dental ,top teeth:bottom lip)
) dental ,tongue tip:top teeth)
#) alveolar ,tongue tip:tooth ridge)
;) post9alveolar ,tongue tip:hard palate)
6) palate9alveolar ,tongue mid:hard palate)
0) palatal ,tongue mid:hard palate)
8) velar ,tongue bac!:soft palate)
/) glottal ,not locali<ed)
&ccording to the manner of articulation we can distinguish%
1) stops ,or plosives)
2) fricatives
) affricates
#) nasals
;) lateral,s)
6) semi9vowels
*t will be useful if we place the English consonants on a chart. 4n the following
chart, the different places of articulation are arranged from left to right and the manner
of articulation is arranged from top to bottom. =here there is a pair of consonants with
the same place and manner of articulation but differing in whether they are voiced or
voiceless, the voiceless one is placed to the top of the voiced.
2
+lace of articulation
>anner of articulation
$ilabial ?abio9
3ental
3ental &lveolar +alato9
alveolar
+alatal @elar .lotal
+losive p
b
t
d
!
o
)ricative f
v

s
<
_
_
h
&ffricate t_
d_
Aasal
m n _
?ateral
l
&ppro"imant
w r j
English Vowels
There are 21 vowels in English among which 12 are pure vowels and 8 are diphthongs. &
diphthong is a glide from one vowel to another within one syllable.
The English pure vowels can be classified according to%
1) the height of the raised part of the tongue,
2) the part of the tongue raised,

) the position of the lips.

The chart in the te"tboo! is often used to describe the English pure vowels. *n the chart, the front
vowels are to the left, and the bac! vowels to the right, the close vowels are upmost and the open
ones at the bottom. Those in the circle are rounded vowels while those in the s'uare are unrounded
ones ,(ee te"tboo!). The chart below is also a description of the English pure vowels.

&ccording to the classification, :i%: is a close, front and unrounded vowel, :u%: a close, bac! and
rounded vowel, :: an open, front unrounded vowel and : : an open, bac! and rounded vowel.
The eight English diphthongs can be divided into three groups% three with a glide towards : _:
,:e_:, :a_:, :_:), two with a glide towards :_: ,:_:, :a_:), and three with a glide towards :: ,:_:, :e:, :_:). The
first element of an English 3iphthong is strong, clear and distinct. The second element is rather
wea! and unclear.
2. Stress of English words and sentences: asic rules and functions
The students need to learn the concept about words stress and sentence stress.
*n some languages, every syllable is given about the same length while in others,
syllables vary in length. *n English, strong beats are called stress.
*n words of more than one syllable, one of them will receive more stress than the
others. (tressed syllables are those that are mar!ed in the dictionary as stressed.
(tressed syllables are usually longer, louder, and higher in pitch.
#
*n English, stressed syllables are usually long syllables with clear vowel sounds.
The word BbananaB, for e"ample, has syllables. (yllable 1 is not stressed and so is
short. (yllable 2 is stressed and so is long with a clear vowel sound. (yllable is not
stressed and so is also short.
*n conclusion, stressed syllables are strong syllables and unstressed syllables are
wea! syllables. (tressed syllables are usually long, have a pitch change and have full
vowel sounds while unstressed syllables are short and often have a reduced vowel
sound.
*n an English utterance, stressed words give information to the listener and
unstressed words join the information words together. -orrect pronunciation of
stressed and unstressed words is thus e"tremely important for effective communication
in English.
*nformation words in a sentence are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
They give information about who, what, when, where, why, and how. They e"press the
main idea or content of the phrase or sentence. They carry the message and therefore
usually stressed. Cnstressed words are usually function words li!e articles, pronouns,
possessives, prepositions, au"iliary verbs, and conjunctions. These words connect the
information words to form grammatical sentences.
*f you stress all the words in an utterance, you may sound unpleasant or even
cause misunderstanding because you are giving too much information, and English
spea!ers usually stress all words only when they are impatient or angry.
!. English rh"thmic patterns: asic features and functions
The students need to learn about the concept of the rhythmic patterns in English.
-orrect pronunciation of the individual English sounds is important in
communication, but the way the sounds are organi<ed is often more crucial for
understanding. The rhythm of English, for e"ample, is one of the two major organi<ing
structures that native spea!ers rely on to process speech.
7hythm can be found everywhere in life% the sound of a cloc!, the beating of the
heart, the stro!es of a swimmer, and of course in poetry and music. $ut rhythm in
language is less familiar because it is less obvious. The rhythm of a language is
characteri<ed by the timing pattern of successive syllables. *n some languages, every
syllable is given about the same length while in others, syllables vary in length. *n
English, strong beats are called stress 99 the heart of the rhythmic pattern.
Every language in the world has its own rhythmic patterns. English is very
different from -hinese in its rhythmic patterns. )rom what we learned in the previous
;
units, we !now that English depends on the correct pronunciation of stressed and
unstressed or wea!ened syllables recurring in the same phrase or sentence in the
e"pression of ideas. *n another word, variation of words or syllables that have strong
stress with those that have wea!er or reduced stress is typical and contributes to the
rhythm of English. =hen English spea!ers are spea!ing, therefore, they usually%
a. ma!e some parts of words stronger and clearer than other parts
b. join parts of the words together
c. arrange words into groups and join them together
d. ma!e some words stronger and clearer than other words.
*f a -hinese E)? learner fails to follow the rules and say all English words in a
sentence in a strong way, English spea!ers may
a. not understand what he says, or
b. thin! that he is impolite or angry.
>isunderstanding may arise or communication may brea! down because of that.
(o, for more effective communication, we need to master the rhythm of English.
*n conclusion, rhythm in English speech is based on stress. & rhythm unit is
formed by a stressed syllable, together with unstressed syllables which may come
before that stress and:or after it.
The importance of learning the stress and rhythmic patterns of English is
emphasi<ed from the very beginning of the course ,the focus of Cnit 4ne of the
te"tboo!) with the purpose that students should be able to learn how to pronounce the
words and sentences with appropriate stress and rhythm in order to improve the
fluency in English.
E"ercises in Cnits 1, 8, /, 11, 11 and 12 provide e"tensive training in English
stress and rhythm.
#. English intonation: structures$ functions and use
=e call the melody of language intonation. *ntonation refers to the total pattern of
pitch changes, i.e., the rising and falling of the voice when a person is spea!ing, within
an utterance. *ntonation is another important element of spo!en English. *t is the
English intonation which ma!es English sound really English.
*ntonation ma!es speech meaningful. English intonation adds the meaning of an
utterance in two ways%
&. *t shows the relationship of words within and between sentences;
$. *t tells something about the feeling of the spea!er.
*n other words, different pitches may indicate different meanings for the same
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utterance. 3ifferent pitches help us e"press our feelings% happiness, sadness, surprise,
annoyance, anger, and so on. *n listening to the meaning of an utterance, therefore, we
listen to how spea!ers tal! as well as to what they say. The D4= and =D&T together
give us the meaning of an English utterance.
=e now see the importance to use the appropriate intonation patterns when we
spea!. 4therwise, we may be sending messages using intonations that contradict what
we want words to say. *ntonation patterns that disagree with the content of the
utterance may indicate doubt, sarcasm, or confusion.
English has two basic intonation patterns% rising and falling. =hen they go
together, they can ma!e a falling9rising tone.
*ntonation units are also called intonation9groups, tone groups or tone9units. &n
intonation unit usually corresponds to a sense group ,or word group). &n intonation
unit may contain several syllables, some of them stressed and some unstressed. The
last stressed syllable is usually a mar!er of the highest importance and has the focus
stress. 4n this syllable, there ta!es place a change of pitch, either an upward or
downward movement, or a combination of the two.
& nucleus refers to the syllable in an intonation unit which carries ma"imal
prominence. )or e"ample, this is the normal way of saying the following sentence%
* am =7*ting a ?ETter to him A4=.
There are ten syllables in this sentence among which three are stressed syllables.
The last stressed syllable is A4=. (o we say that A4= has the focus stress, and is the
tonic syllable and therefore is the nucleus of the intonation unit. The nucleus is the
essential part of the intonation unit. *t is still present even if the unit consists of a single
syllable, as is the case with many sentence words li!e yes, no, why, etc.
Tail, Dead E +re9head of an intonation unit%
&ny syllable or syllables that may follow the nucleus in an intonation unit are
called the BtailB. *n the sentence B* am =7*ting a ?ETter to himB, the nucleus of this
intonation unit is on the tonic syllable B?ETB. There are three unstressed syllables after
the nucleus. These syllables are called the BtailB of this intonation unit.
The part of an intonation unit that e"tends from the first stressed syllable up to the
nucleus ia called the BheadB of the intonation unit. *n the sentence B* am =7*ting a
?ETter to himB, the BheadB of this intonation unit is made up of three syllables%
Bwriting aB.
&ny unstressed syllable or syllables that may precede the BheadB, or the BnucleusB
if there is no head, are called the Bpre9headB. *n the sentence B* am =7*ting a ?ETter
to himB, B* amB comprises the Bpre9headB of this intonation unit.
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(o if you analy<e the following sentence, we will come up with the structure of an
intonation unit li!e this%
* am =7*ting a ?ET ter to him.
+ D A T
+ F +re9head
D F Dead
A F Aucleus
T F Tail
)ollowing are the important functions of English intonation%
&. The attitudinal function
*ntonation is used to convey our feelings and attitudes. )or instance, the same
sentence can be said in different ways, which might be labeled BhappyB, BgratefulB,
BangryB, BboredB, and so on. Csually, intonation units with high heads sound more
lively, interesting than those with low heads. & few generalisations are often made
here% the falling intonation is said to be more often associated with completeness and
definiteness; the rising intonation is more often associated with incompleteness and
uncertainty or 'uestioning; The falling9rising is said to have feelings of hesitation,
contrast, reservation or doubt.
$. The accentual function
The location of the tonic syllable is of considerable linguistic importance. The
most common position for this is on the last information word of the intonation unit.
)or contrastive purpose, however, any word may bear the tonic syllable.
-. The grammatical function
(ome sentence may be ambiguous when written, but this can be removed by the
use of intonation. &n often cited e"ample is the sentence BThose who sold quickly
made a profit". This sentence can be said in at least two different ways%
a. & profit was made by those who sold 'uic!ly.
b. & profit was 'uic!ly made by those who sold.
&nother e"ample is the use of rising tone in statements. The sentence BThey5re
going to have a picnicB is usually said as a statement li!e this%
The sentence serves as a 'uestion here.
The intonation used in 'uestion9tags can have a rising tone or a falling tone%
=hen it has a falling tone, as in ,a), the spea!er is comparatively certain that the
information is correct, and simply as!ing for conformation, while the rising tone in ,b)
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is said to indicate a lesser degree of certainty, so the spea!er is as!ing for information.
3. The discourse function of intonation
*n speech, people often use intonation to focus the listener5s attention on aspects of
the message that are most important. (o the placement of nucleus or tonic stress
depends on the Binformation contentB% the more predictable a word5s occurrence is in a
given conte"t, the lower its information content is. )or e"ample, people would say%
The telephone5s ringing.
The !ettle5s boiling.
*n speech, people often use the falling tone to indicate new information and rising
tone ,including falling9rising) to indicate BsharedB of BgivenB information.
+eople also use intonation to indicate to others that they have finished spea!ing
and that another person is e"pected to spea!.
Cnits 191; deals with the intonation patterns, structures, functions and uses of
English intonation.
%. &ist of contents for the te'too(
Cnit 1 $asic -oncepts% (yllables, (tress E 7hythm
Cnit 2 -onsonants% (tops
Cnit -onsonants% )ricatives and &ffricates
Cnit # -onsonants% Aasals, &ppro"imants E ?iteral,s)
Cnit ; @owels% )ront @owels E -entral @owels
Cnit 6 @owels% $ac! @owels
Cnit 0 @owels% 3iphthongs
Cnit 8 (tressed (yllables E Cnstressed (yllables
Cnit / (tressed =ords E Cnstressed =ords in a (entence
Cnit 11 (trong )orms and =ea! )orms
Cnit 11 ?in!ing
Cnit 12 7hythm of English (peech
Cnit 1 Types of *ntonation in English
Cnit 1# *ntonation Cnits of English
Cnit 1; )unctions E Cses of English *ntonation
Cnit 1 is a general introduction to the basic concept about English stress and
rhythm which is believed to be able to help the students to form a good habit from the
very beginning in their way of pronunciation.
Cnits 2 to 0 focus on the pronunciation of the individual phonemes in English,
/
including both vowels and consonants.
(tudents are re'uired to do intensive practice in stress and rhythm when they are
learning Cnits 8 to 12.
Cnits 1 to 1; focus on the structure and use of English intonation.
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