PHONETICS

A. Introduction to Phonetics
B. English Sounds
C. English Pronunciation
D. Stress. Intonation & Pronunciation
E. Common Errors in Pronunciation
F. Silent and non-silent Letters
G. Syllables and Structure
H. Word Stress PHONETICS- III
I. Spelling Rules and Words Often Misspelt

C. Syllables and Structure

A syllable is a basic unit of pronunciation that consist of an uninterrupted sound that can be
used to make up words. It means s syllable is a unit of a word having one vowel sound.The
number of vowel sounds in a word decides the number of sullables. So a word has many
syllables as there are vowel sounds.
For example: Word ‘syllable’ is divided into three parts: /sil.e.bal/. Hence three vowel sounds
can be found: /i/, /e/, /e/. Hence ther are three syllables in the word ‘syllable’.
Types of Syllables
The number of vowel sounds in a word indicates the number of syllables. Based on the number
of syllables available in a word, syllables can be categorized as-

1. Monosyllable: A word consisting of only one syllable.

Ex: Eye Train Cold Text
2. Disyllable: It is a linguistic form or word consisting of two syllables.
Ex: la-dies - ladies
beg-gar - beggar
ce-real - cereal
fin-ger - finger

3. Polysyllable: It is a linguist form or word consisting of two syllables.

Ex: dic-tion-ary - dictionary
Re-la-tion - relation
a-li-en - alien
de-pen-da-bi-li-ty - dependability
cre-a-tion - creation

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Syllabic Structure:
While denoting the syllabic structure of a word, ‘C’ is used for consonant sound and ‘V’
is used for vowel sound.
Ex:
Hope CVC
Meet CVC
Enter VC-CVC
Syllable CVC-V-CVC
Texts CV-CCCC
At VC
Pie CV
Address V-CCVC
Ability V-CV-CV-CV
Bear CVC
Advocate VC-CV-CVC
College CV-CVC
Spray CCCV

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MCQ:
1. How is the number of syllables in a word determined?
a. By counting the number of consonant sounds.
b. By counting the number of vowels and consonant.
c. By counting the number of vowel sounds.
d. By counting the number of letters in the word.

2. Which of the following words is an example of a disyllable?

a. Syllable
b. Creation
c. Eye
d. Relation
3. What type of word consists of more than two syllables?
a. Monosyllable
b. Disyllable
c. Polysyllable
d. Trisyllable

4. In the syllabic structure of a word, what does ‘C’ represent?

a. consonant sound

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 b. vowel sound
c. number of letters
d. accentuation

5. What is the syllabic structure of the word “advocate”?

a. CVC-V-CVC
b. VC- CVC
c. V-cv-cvc
d. VC-CV-CVC

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WORD STRESS
English is an accent based language, and that in a word not all the syllables are pronounced
with equal emphasis.

Eg., ‘produce(N) - pro’duce(V) a’go

‘Record (N) - Re’cord (N) a’bove A ‘bout

WORD STRESS RULES

There are two very simple rules about word stress:

1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two
stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be
a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main
[primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.

Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the
stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try
to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.

.A. Stress on First Syllable

Rule Examples

Most 2-syllable NOUNS PRESent EXport

CHIna TAble

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 Rule Examples

Most 2-syllable ADJECTIVES PRESent SLENder

CLEVer HAPpy

B. Stress on Last Syllable

Rule Examples

Most 2-syllable VERBS present exPORT

deCIDE beGIN

There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in
stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a
noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes
a verb (to offer).

More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs
depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.

C. Stress on Penultimate Syllable (penultimate = second from end)

Rule Examples

Words ending in -ic GRAPHic geoGRAPHic

geoLOGic

Words ending in -sion and -tion television reveLAtion

For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For
example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is
CONtroversy and conTROversy.

D. Stress on Ante-penultimate Syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)

Rule Examples

Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy deMOcracy dependaBIlity

photography geOLogy

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 Rule Examples

Words ending in -al CRItical geoLOGical

..E. Compound words (words with two parts)

Rule Examples

For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird

GREENhouse

For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part bad-TEMpered

old-FASHioned

For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part underSTAND

overFLOW

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MCQ
1. What is word accent or word stress in English?
a. The way words are pronounced in a monotone manner.
b. The relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word.
c. The rhythm and intonation of a sentence.
d. The pronunciation of consonants in stressed syllables.

2. What is the primary factor that determines the stressed syllable in a word.
a. The consonant sound in a syllable
b. The length of a word
c. The presence of consonant clusters
d. The vowel sound in the syllable

3. Which type of vowel is never stressed in English?

a. Long vowels
b. Short vowels
c. Schwa sound
d. Dipthongs
.

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4. In the word “photography,” where is the main stress in compound nouns in English?
a. First syllable
b. Second syllable
c. Third syllable
d. Fourth syllable

5. What is the general rule for word stress in compound nouns in English?
a. The main stress on the first word.
b. The main stress on the last word.
c. The main stress on the middle word.
d. The main stress is evenly distributed across all words

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D. Spelling Rules and Words Often Misspelt

SPELLINGS

 Spellings are originated as transcriptions of the sounds of spoken language

according to the alphabetic principle.
 Though spelling is often perceived as an indicator of intelligence and literacy in
traditionl elementary education, it cannot be considered as reflection of
intelligence in modern times.
 Learning to spell is never ending process. It helps English learners to avoid
confusion and to get good understanding and impression in communication.

SPELLING RULES

1. Every word has at least one vowel syllable.

Ex: cat, boy
2. Every syllable has one vowel sound.
Ex: cat /caet/
3. If ‘c’ is followed by the letters ‘e’, ‘r’ or ‘y’, c will sound as /s/ otherwise ‘c’ will sound as
/k/.
Ex: cinema ‘c’ sounds as /s/
central cycle
cat ‘c’ sounds as /k/ clip

4. ‘G’ sounds /g/ when it is followed by the letters ‘e’, ‘r’, ‘y’.
Ex: gentleman ‘g’ sounds as ‘j’= /dz/

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 giraffe
gym
gun ‘g’ sounds as /g/ gang green

5. ‘Q’ is always followed by ‘u’.

Ex: queen quality

6. Double the consonants ‘f’, ‘I’ and ‘s’ at the end of one syllable word has just one vowel.
Ex: stiff spell pass

7. If any word ends with ‘e’, ‘e’ is not pronounced.

Ex: site /sait/
Mate /mait/

8. If a word ends with ‘ck’, it sounds as /k/.

Ex: back /bael/

9. The first letter of all proper nouns should be written in uppercase.

Ex: Linshika
Pavgada

10. Words do not end with ‘v’ of ‘j’.

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MCQ:

1. Which is the correct spelling?

a) Acomodate
b) Accommodate
c) Accomodate
d) Acommadate

2. Which is the correct spelling?

a) Definately
b) Definately
c) Definietely
d) Definitely

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3. Which is the correct spelling?
a) Independant
b) Independent
c) Indipendent
d) Independent

4. Which is the correct spelling?

a) Recieve
b) Receive
c) Recieve
d) Receeve

5. Which is the correct spelling?

a) Occurrance
b) Occurance
c) Occurrence
d) Occurrence

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mail to: gnanaschoolofcommunication@gmail.com @GNANA School of Communication