Unit 2 – Exercise 1
Take a deep breath. Now, try and say /a/ as in Spanish “casa”, or /ɑ:/ as in English “car”. How long can you hold it for?
Now try making it on an ingressive airstream. Can you notice any differences?
Now try and say the alphabet, in English or Spanish, on a normal egressive airstream but without taking in any breath. How far can you reach?
Now try the same, but on an ingressive airstream. Again, what differences can you notice? Practice ingressive and egressive speech with different vowels, and observe yourself in a mirror. Listen to the example.
You can hold the vowel sound /ɑ:/ for longer time when you pronounce it on an eggressive airstream, as the air flows out naturally, than on an ingressive one; you can see this more easily when reciting the alphabet or counting, as you will reach further.
Unit 2 – Exercise 6
Glottal stops are typical of Cockney English. Listen to the following sequence with normal /t/ pronunciation first, and then with the /t/ phonemes replaced by glottal stops. Then, you try both.
Now, listen and repeat.
Unit 2 – Exercise 3
To produce a creak, or creaky voice, say a long vowel, such as /ɑ:/, sustain it for a while and then go down the scale as low as you can make it; if you go a little lower, you will feel your voice creaking. Then try and pronounce the following whole sequence in this voice. Listen and repeat.
Unit 2 – Exercise 2
Press your hand on your larynx while you pronounce a voiced sound like /z/ or /v/. Now try and feel the contrast by pronouncing their voiceless counterparts /s/ and /f/. Listen and repeat as many times as you need.
Unit 2 – Exercise 5
Try and pronounce a prolonged /m/ sound. Can you feel the air coming out of your nose?
Now, ‘close’ your nose and notice what happens.
Now try and pronounce a prolonged /ɑ:/ sound, and close your nose again suddenly; what happens now?
The /m/ sound is a nasal sound and the /ɑ:/ sound is an oral sound: by ‘closing’ your nose, you are blocking the column of air on its way out through it, so that voice is no longer audible in the production of a nasal sound, whereas blockage of the nose does not affect the production of an oral sound, since the column of air comes out of the body through the mouth.