Where the spelling is u, the pronunciation differs according to whether the vowel is short or long, followed or not by r, and strong or weak.

2. The “strong” pronunciation is regularly

ʌ, as in cup (short U), or

juː, as in music (long U).

3.Less frequently, it is ʊ,as in push(especially before sh, l)

4.In the case of expected juː, jʊә, jʊ, the j drops out as follows:

·after the consonant sounds ʧ, ʤ, ʃ, r, j, as in jury, rude;

· sometimes in BrE, and always in AmE, after l,θ, s, z, as in assume;

· usually in AmE, but not in BrE, after t, d, n, as in tune.

5. Note the exceptional words buzy, business, bury.

6. The weak pronunciation is:

jʊ ( jә) as in stimulus;

ә, as in album, Arthur;

jә, as in failure.

In the ending –urethe vowel is usually weak. Note also minute (noun), where

the BrE vowel sound is ɪ rather than ә.

7. u also forms part of the digraphs au, eu, ou, ue, ui, uy.

ueSpelling-to-sound

1. Where the spelling is the digraph ue, the pronunciation is regularly

juː, as in cue

uː, as in blue.

2. ueis not a digraph in duet, cruel, pursuer.

uiSpelling-to-round

1. Where the spelling is the digraph ui,the pronunciation is regularly

juː, as in nuisance

uː, as in fruit.

2. Less frequently, the pronunciation is

ɪ, as in build, biscuit

aɪ, as in guide

3. Note the exceptional case suite swiːt

Ui is not a digraph in fluid, tuition, nor in quick, quite.

Uy Spelling-to-sound

In the rare cases where the spelling is the digraph uy, the pronunciation is regularly aɪ, as in buy.

V Spelling-to-sound

Where the spelling is v, pronunciation is regularly v, as in very.

V is also occasionally written vv, as in skivvy, ph, as in Stephen, and f in the single word of.

Voiced and voiceless

1. Voiced sounds are produced with the vocal folds vibration – opening abd closing rapidly, producing voice. Voiceless sounds are made with the vocal folds apart, allowing the air to pass freely between them.

2. The sounds p, t, k,ʧ, f, s, h, θ, ʃ are normally voiceless, while the remaining English sounds are classified as voiced.

3. There is a difficulty with this classification, since it refers to phonemes – yet in reality a given English phoneme may have both voiced and voiceless allophones. For example, in AmE the voiceless phoneme “t” includes the voiced allophone t̬, which is so noticeable that LPD gives it a separate symbol

4. Another difficulty arises with b, d, g, v, z, ʤ, ð, ʒ. It is only when they are between other voiced sounds that these consonants are reliably voiced. In other position there is often little or no actual vibration of the vocal folds during their production. Hence they are sometimes classified as lenis rather than as voiced. The corresponding term for p, t, k,ʧ, f, s, h, θ, ʃ is fortis, rather than voiceless.

5. A devoicedlenis does not sound quite like a fortis. Quite apart from differences such as those described in the notes at aspiration and clipping, b, d, g, etc. have less articulatory force than p, t, k. This may be due to the vocal folds, which in the case of a devoiced lenis sound probably remain in the narrowed “whisper” configuration, distinct from their wide open configuration for a true voiceless sound.

W Spelling-to-sound

Where the spelling is w,

· either the pronunciation is w, as in swim, away

· the w forms part of one of the digraphs aw, ew, ow, as in few.

W is always silent in wr at the beginning of a word or stem, as in wreck, rewrite; also in the exceptionally spelled words two, answer.

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 947