1. Identify the sounds in the following words. How many sounds can you find in each word?

Try and rewrite the words using the phonetic symbols.

1) added - /d.d/ 2) project - /pdkt/ 3) man -/m n/ 4) king -/k / 5) duck -/d k/ 6) come -/k m/ 7) here -/h r/ 8) chocolate -/t k l t/ 9) comfortable -/k m f r t b l/ 10) environment -/ n v a j r n m n t/ 11) technology -/t k n l d I/ 12) bear -/ b r/ 13) computer -/k m p j u t r/ 14) English -/ g l / 15) Manager -/ m n d r/

4 Sounds 7 Sounds 3 Sounds 3 Sounds 3 Sounds 3 Sounds 3 Sounds 6 Sounds 11 Sounds 12 Sounds 9 Sounds 3 Sounds 9 Sounds 6 Sounds 7 Sounds

2. What do you understand by the term schwa? Explain what you have understood with the help of examples? Schwa is the name for the most common sound in English. It is a weak, unstressed sound and it occurs in many words. It is often the sound in grammar words such as articles and prepositions.Getting the schwa sound correct is a good way of making your pronunciation more accurate and natural. The phonemic symbol for this sound is [].Any vowel letter can be pronounced as schwa and the pronunciation of a vowel letter can change depending on whether the syllable in which it occurs is stressed or not. The sound schwa does not only represent a single letter. In some words it is the sound of several letters or even a whole syllable. The Best examples to explain what Schwa sounds like are follows like the 'a' in about [bat]

like the 'e' in taken [tekn] like the 'i' in pencil [pnsl] like the 'o' in eloquent [lkwnt]

like the 'u' in supply [spla] like the 'y' in sibyl [sbl]

3. How many sounds do we have in English? Ans: 44 sounds 4. 'Put'and 'Cut'are spelt in a similar fashion but pronounced differently. Could you explain why? Cut is pronounced as /kt/ Put is pronounced as /pt/ And why exactly this difference? I could not find a solid answer for this, people point out on varying dialects and sounds, and the evolution of Language. Its not necessary that two words which are supposed to sound same, sound different. 5. Could you explain connected speech? When we speak naturally we do not pronounce a word, stop, then say the next word in the sentence. Fluent speech flows with a rhythm and the words bump into each other. To make speech flow smoothly the way we pronounce the end and beginning of some words can change depending on the sounds at the beginning and end of those words. These changes are described as features of connected speech. 6. Why does 'Who is' sound as who(w)iz is connected speech? Ans. When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel, another sound, a /w/ or /j/ can be added depending on the particular sounds to make a smooth transition. This is a type of linking (Vowel to Vowel Linking). Here, in this example, who ends with vowel sound and is begins with a vowel sound. So, the sound /w/ is added to make a smooth transition. 7. Why does Visit us sound as 'Visi tas'?

Ans. When one word ends with a consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound there is a smooth link between the two. This type is known as consonant to vowel linking. Here, visit ends with consonant sound and us begins with a vowel sound. So, there is a smooth link between these two words

8.Based on the lessons you have accessed, write a brief note on what you have understood about pronunciation in English. Ans. There are 26 letters in the English alphabet but there are many more sounds in the English language. This means that the number of sounds in a word is not always the same as the number of letters. The word 'CAT' has three letters and three sounds but the word 'CATCH' has five letters but still only three sounds. If we write these words using sound symbols, we can see exactly how many sounds they have. CAT is written /k t/ CATCH is written /k / 9. What is linking /r/?

Ans. In standard British English (RP) the letter 'r' after a vowel sound at the end of word is often not pronounced. However, when the following word begins with a vowel the /r/ sound is pronounced to make a smooth link. An Example is: ca(r) (no r in pronunciation) The car is here (r is pronounced and links to the following word) 10. What are voiceless and voiced sounds? Please explain this with the help of examples. Ans. The following sounds are usually voiceless: These next sounds are described as voiced but are only fully voiced when they are between other voiced sounds. The short vowel sound is pronounced slightly differently before a voiced sound. In English, some consonants are voiced like /v/ and some are voiceless like /f/. You cant see the difference, you might be able to hear the difference, but you can definitely feel the difference. When making voiced sounds, throat vibrates When making voiceless sounds, its just air coming through the mouth. For Example, 1. Van and Fan 2. Pull and Bull 3. Tin and Din

The following sounds are usually voiceless: p t k f The following sounds are usually voiced b d g