Written Exercises

Unit 4

Consonants

Unit 4 – Exercise 1

Explain the similarities and the differences between the following pairs of phonemes: /g/ – /ŋ/; /f/ – /s/; /ᵭ/ – /ʒ/

/g/-/ŋ/: from an articulatory point of view, /g/-/ŋ/ are similar in both the manner and the point of articulation, that is, both phonemes are stops, and they are also both velar, as well as both of them being also voiced. However, for the production of /g/ the lower palate is raised, which means that the air escapes through the oral cavity, producing a plosive oral sound, whereas for the production of /ŋ/ the soft palate is lowered and a nasal sound is released instead.

/f/-/s/: from an articulatory point of view, these sounds are similar in their manner of articulation, since both are fricative; both of them are also oral and voiceless. The difference between them lies in the point of articulation and the articulators involved in their production. Whereas for /f/ the lower lip touches the front upper teeth, it is the tip and blade of the tongue that are involved in the production of /s/, for which they touch the alveolar ridge.

/ð/-/ʒ/: from an articulatory point of view, both sounds are similar in that they are both fricative, oral and voiced. The difference between them lies in the point of articulation: the production of /ð/ involves the tip of the tongue touching the back of the upper front teeth, whereas the production of /ʒ/ is a little more complex, with the front of the tongue touching the hard palate, while the rims are in contact with the upper teeth, and the tip and blade with the alveolar ridge.

For further information, please see Unit 4 in English pronunciation for speakers of Spanish. From theory to practice, or the Sound Bank in the Multimedia Lab.

Unit 4 – Exercise 2

Read aloud the following words given in broad transcription and then write them out in ordinary spelling.

1. /ˈjuːʒwəl/ 5. /ˈnɪəli/ 9. /sɑːm/ 13. /jʌŋ/ 17. /θɪŋk/
2. /məʊst/ 6. /ˈrɪŋɪŋ/ 10. /ˈɔːtəm/ 14. /rɪˈzɪst/ 18. /ˈpӕdl/
3. /ˈkɑːpɪt/ 7. /hjuːʤ/ 11. /wɔːk/ 15. /bɔːt/ 19. /ˈmɪdl/
4. /sniːz/ 8. /nɜːs/ 12. /saɪn/ 16. /ˈaɪlənd/ 20. /ʤӕz/

1. usual 5. nearly 9. psalm 13. young 17. think
2. most 6. ringing 10. autumn 14. resist 18. paddle
3. carpet 7. huge 11. walk 15. bought 19. middle
4. sneeze 8. nurse 12. sign 16. island, Ireland 20. jazz

Unit 4 – Exercise 3

Classify the words given in spelling into four columns, according to whether they contain the sounds /ʃ, ʧ, s, ʤ/. Please note that there is one word which does not fit in any column.

urge lunch lounge nation sure
patience Russian shirt ocean machine
picture amuse precious chaos jacket
station jug furniture joy charm

/ʃ/ /ʧ/ /s/ /ʤ/
nation lunch patience urge
sure picture bus lounge
patience jacket precious jug
Russian furniture chaos joy
shirt charm station
ocean
machine
precious
station

The odd one out is the word 'amuse' /ə'mjuːz/.

Unit 4 – Exercise 4

Mixed consonant sounds. In the following series of words, find which one is the odd one out — i.e. circle the word that contains a consonant sound which is different from the others in the series. Transcribe both sounds: give the one which is common to three words first, and then the odd one out.

1. cite sight kite site
2. almanac almond almighty almost
3. war warp wrap wart
4. edge dig jelly jug
5. think tooth breathe thunder
6. shoe vision mission assure
7. place plays pace price
8. barked baked backed bagged
9. rice rise raze raise
10. sugar suggest sudden assume
11. listened heard talked viewed
12. pleasure sure leisure treasure
13. jumped walked shouted looked
14. mashes makes matches matters

  1. /s / – /k / kite
  2. /l / – /–/ almond
  3. /w / – / -/ wrap
  4. / ʤ / – /g/ dig
  5. / θ/ – /ð / breathe
  6. / ʃ/ – /ʒ/ vision
  7. /s / – /z / plays
  8. / t/ – /d / bagged
  9. /z / – /s / rice
  10. /s / – /ʃ / sugar
  11. /d / – / t/ talked
  12. /ʃ / – /ʒ / sure
  13. /t / – /d/ shouted
  14. /z / – /s/ makes

Unit 4 – Exercise 5

Transcribe the following sentences.

  1. Actually, I fetched the children from the church.
  2. The carriage could be in danger by the bridge, suggested the soldier.
  3. In the evening, the nuns sang the hymns and listened to the bells ringing.
  4. A paddle of milk lay on the floor.
  5. After travelling round the world she arrived by ferry from far away.
  6. Yes, the new yellow yacht belongs to that young man in the queue.
  7. The queen’s language was quick and quite witty.

  1. ˈӕkʧʊәli ∣ aɪ feʧt ðә ˈʧɪldrn̩ frɒm ðә ʧɜːʧ ∣∣
  2. ðә ˈkӕrɪʤ kәd biː ɪn deɪnʤә baɪ ðә brɪʤ ∣ sʌˈʤestɪd ðә ˈsәʊldjә ∣∣
  3. ɪn ðiː ˈiːvnɪŋ ∣ ðә nʌnz sӕŋ ðә hɪmz әnd ˈlɪsn̩d tә ðә belz ˈrɪŋɪŋ ∣∣
  4. ә ˈpӕdl̩ әv mɪlk leɪ ɒn ðә flɔː ∣∣
  5. ˈɑːftә ˈtrӕvl̩ɪŋ raʊnd ðә wɜːld ʃiː әˈraivd baɪ ˈferi frɒm fɑːr әˈweɪ ∣∣
  6. jes ∣ ðә njuː ˈjelәʊ jɔːt bɪˈlɒŋz tә ðӕt jʌŋ mӕn ɪn ðә kjuː ∣∣
  7. ðә kwiːnz ˈlӕŋgwɪʤ wәz kwɪk әnd kwaɪt ˈwɪti ∣∣

Unit 4 – Exercise 6

Homophones. Identify pairs of homophones —i.e. words that are pronounced in the same way but spelt differently— in the list provided below. Give all the possible spellings (a number in brackets indicates how many there are). For example: /siːn/ scene, seen.

1. /wɒt/ 4. /θrəʊn/ 7. /raɪt/ 10. /wɜːld/ 13. /meə/
2. /greɪz/ 5. /saɪt/ 8. /rest/ 11. /heɪl/ 14. /səʊ/
3. /veɪl/ 6. /ˈsiərɪəl/ 9. /lɔː/ 12. /ˈmedl/ 15. /meɪd/

1. /wɒt/ what, watt 4. /θrəʊn/ thrown, throne 7. /raɪt/ (4) write, right, rite, wright 10. /wɜːld/ world, whirled 13. /meə/ mayor, mare
2. /greɪz/ graze, greys 5. /saɪt/ (3) sight, site, cite 8. /rest/ rest, wrest 11. /heɪl/ hail, hale 14. /səʊ/ (3) so, sew, sow
3. /veɪl/ veil, vale 6. /'siərɪəl/ cereal, serial 9. /lɔː/ law, lore 12. /ˈmedl/ medal, meddle 15. /meɪd/ made, maid

Unit 4 – Exercise 7

English consonant clusters in word-final position tend to be problematic for Spanish speakers. Look at the following words and write their broad transcription.

What would a native speaker of English understand if we pronounced the word-final clusters incompletely?

Could any of these words be mistaken for others?

apt bulbs deduct elect fund
grasp hundredth past rhythm salts
solved twelfhs warmth worked worlds

Word Transcription
apt /æpt/
bulbs /bʌlbz/
deduct /dɪˈdʌkt/
elect /ɪˈlekt/
fund /fʌnd/
grasp /ɡræspt/
hundredth /ˈhʌndrədθ/
past /pæst/
rhythm /ˈrɪðm/
salts /sɒlts/
solved /sɒlvd/
twelfths /twelfθs/
warmth /wɔːmθ/
worked /wɜːkt/
worlds /wɜːldz/

Posible confusions:

  • apt → app, at
  • bulbs → bulb
  • fund → fun
  • grasp → grass
  • hundredth → hundred
  • past → pass
  • salts → salt
  • solved → solve
  • twelfths → twelve, twelfth
  • warmth → warm
  • worked → work
  • worlds → worlds, whirls

Unit 4 – Exercise 8

Practise with the following words containing s-clusters. Say them aloud taking special care not to insert a vowel before the initial /s/.

star street spear slide scattter snob
smile swing squeak skate sphere

In connected speech, words beginning with s-clusters are often preceded by articles or other words ending in a vowel (a star, we swing). This makes s-clusters easier to pronounce in context than in isolation. Practice with the words again, this time linking the s-cluster to a preceding article/ pronoun (e.g. a, I, we, etc.) to avoid inserting an extra vowel before it.

TIP! Imagine, for instance, that a star /ə stɑː/ is a single word pronounced /əˈstɑː/. Try to avoid pronunciations like /ə esˈtɑː/.

Second revised edition

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