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Sentences to practise R

Bring three lorries round to the front.

Raise the retail price.

The rusty rod was wrapped in a rotting rag.

The story concerned a marriage arrangement inNorwich.

The river runs under the railway bridge.

Carry the dress round to the rest room.

The grain was really very brown.

The mourners preceded the funeral carriage.

The rope broke sending them sprawling into the drink.

It's really rather a curious reason.


The S Sound

Description

This sound is known as an Alveolar Fricative. Z as in zoo is formed in the same way but is voiced.

Left, the normal formation of S. Right, the alternative described below

 

To form this sound

1. The soft palate is raised to prevent the passage of air through the nose. The tip and the blade of the tongue are raised to make very light contact with the alveolar ridge. The sides of the tongue are held against the upper side teeth. The air is forced along a narrow channel down the centre of the tongue and causes friction, which is audible, between the tongue and the alveolar ridge. The teeth are held very slightly apart and passage of the air over the cutting edge of the upper front teeth is an important feature of the sound.

2. Although the method described in 1 is the most common, many speakers form a perfectly acceptable variety of S by placing the tip of the tongue behind the lower teeth and humping the tongue to bring the blade in light contactwith the alveolar ridge.

 

MAIN FAULTS

Labio-dental S

Some speakers make an additional contact with the upper front teeth and the lower lip.

 

TH substitution

This is where there is direct substitution of a perfectly normal TH sound in place of S.

 

Dental S

Instead of bringing the tip of the tongue in light contact with the alveolar ridge, the tip of the tongue is placed on the hinder part of the upper front teeth.

 

Lateral S

The tip of the tongue makes firm contact with the alveolar ridge, while the sides of the tongue arelowered allowing the air to escape laterally.

 

'Whistly' S

This is caused by excessive tension on the tongue, with a consequent increase in the tightness of the channel down which the air is forced.

 

Other problems

If there is any serious irregularity in the teeth, particularly the upper front ones, it is likely that the S sound will be faulty. For example, dentures may cause the sound to be slightly muffled since there is an increased bulk at the alveolar ridge and the cutting edge of the teeth may not be sharp enough.

Gaps in the front teeth also tend to influence the quality of S produced.

 

CORRECTION

1. S is a difficult sound to make and requires fine adjustments in the tongue. The tip of the tongue should only make very light contact with the alveolar ridge. Study carefully the description (at the beginning of this section) of

Forming S - method 1

how this sound is formed. It is most important to identify where the sound is formed.



2. If particular difficulty is experienced in making S, both methods of formation should be tried to see which one produces the more satisfactory result.

3. It is important that the speaker should keep relaxed during the exercises, since any undue anxieties may express themselves in tension in the tongue.

4. Care should be taken not to build up too much air pressure in forming this sound.

5. The sound should not be unduly sustained - the aim should be to produce a short, sharp sound.

 


Date: 2015-12-24; view: 990


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The English R Sound | FORMING S - METHOD 2
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