.
Coursebooks rarely mention all of the hidden pronunciation practices in English
THE COMPLEXITY OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
To pronounce English like proficient speakers, there are surprisingly many things to know. Some are more obvious than others. Most learners of English, if asked to say what is required, would probably be very quick to highlight the way they should pronounce particular sounds that they struggle with. They are also likely to appreciate that mispronunciations can result not just from unfamiliarity of individual sounds but also from the unreliability of English spellings, as illustrated in this blog in posts like 29. Illogical Vowel Spellings and 155. Silent Consonants.
Some of the less obvious pronunciation needs are considered elsewhere within this blog. The need to do more than just convert letters into sounds is highlighted in 125. Stress and Emphasis. The important relation between word stress and vowel sounds is highlighted in 202. Some Strategies for Learning English, #3. Comprehension problems caused by weakly pronounced words like and are the focus of 144. Words that are Often Heard Wrongly. Various other features are listed in 91. Pronunciation in Reading Aloud.
This post offers further examples of less obvious pronunciation needs. I call them “secrets” because, apart from their tendency not to be obvious, they are not always highlighted in English coursebooks. Some depend on surrounding context, some are linked to the grammar and/or meaning of the word(s) they apply to.
.
CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES
1. Consonants next to Change-Inducing Sounds
There are various ways in which the normal pronunciation of a consonant can change under the influence of a sound before or after it. Three such changes detailed in 91. Pronunciation in Reading Aloud (#6) are (a) end consonants transferred to the start of the next word when the latter begins with a vowel (e.g. goe-s up); (b) an end consonant and the same consonant at the start of the next word combined into one long sound (e.g. ca-n n-ever); and (c) weakening of p,b,t,d,k and g before other consonants or at the end of a sentence.
Another type of change is complete transformation into a different consonant in order to become more like, or even the same as, a neighbouring one. One subtype of this tendency, often mentioned at elementary level, relates to the -s and -ed endings, which vary in their pronunciation according to the kind of sound just before them. The -s ending is only pronounced /s/ after “voiceless” consonant sounds (/p, t, k, f/), matching its own voiceless status. This happens, for example, in stops, hates, checks and laughs.
After vowel and all other consonant sounds except /s, ∫, t∫, z, dʒ/, -s is pronounced /z/. Illustrative words are knows, sides, leagues, fills, thins, comes, thrives and robs. After the exceptions, -s is pronounced like the verb is, as in tenses, sentences, sixes, wishes, fetches, amazes and impinges.
In a similar way, -ed is pronounced as voiceless /t/ after the voiceless consonant sounds /s, ∫, t∫, p, k, f/ (missed, traced, rushed, tipped, linked, stuffed). It becomes voiced /d/ after vowel sounds and all other consonant sounds except /t, d/ (judged, seemed, viewed, revised, begged). After the exceptions, –ed is pronounced as the separate syllable /id/ (treated, eroded). For further “secrets” of -ed, see 291. Subtleties of “-ed”.
The other subgroup of consonants that undergo a complete change in certain situations is not linked to a particular position within words. The consonants are found both inside words and, more commonly, at the end. The main ones are /n, t, d, k/. There are fewer other sounds that can change them, and the changes are not compulsory. However, the usual reason for making the change is the same: ease of pronunciation.
As an example, the “t” in football is often pronounced /p/. This is easier to say before the /b/ of -ball because both sounds are made with the lips, unlike /t/. In a similar but more subtle way, the “x” in example is pronounced /gz/ rather than the /ks/ common elsewhere because the next sound /ɑ:/ is “voiced” like /gz/ and unlike /ks/.
Other examples of this sort of change (technically called “assimilation”) are:
INSIDE WORDS
coNform pronounced as coMform
enviroNMent pronounced as enviroMment (single long /m/)
whiTeboard pronounced as whiPeboard
weDnesday pronounced as WeNnsday (with a dropped “e”)
paiNkiller pronounced with /ŋ/
AT THE END OF WORDS
thaT question pronounced as thaK question
teN people pronounced as teM people
harD work pronounced as harB work
cuT price pronounced as cuP price (single long /p/)
a hundreD grams pronounced as a hundreG grams (single long /g/)
itS shape pronounced as itSH shape (single long /∫/)
.
2. Adjectives in a List
I was told at school that two adjectives in a list before a noun need to be separated by a comma. However, this is not always the case: it depends on the kind of information that the second adjective is giving about the noun. Consider the combination yellow taxi. If there is no rule about the colour of taxis in an area, so that the colours vary quite randomly, then describing one as yellow would probably just be saying what it looked like, i.e. naming a characteristic. However, if there is a law saying that all taxis of a particular type have be black and all others have to be yellow, then yellow would probably be naming the type of taxi, i.e. classifying (see 283. Lesser-Known Features of Adjectives, #4).
This difference affects the use of commas in an adjective list in that a comma should be added before a characteristic-naming adjective, but not before a classifying one. Thus, a familiar, yellow taxi means a taxi that is familiar and yellow, whereas a familiar yellow taxi means a taxi of the yellow kind that is familiar. Similarly, a visible, red giant means a giant that is red and visible, while a visible red giant means a red giant (a type of star) that is visible.
The relevance of all this to pronunciation is more than just the link between commas and pausing. Classifying adjectives are usually pronounced with slightly more emphasis than characteristic-naming ones and, at the end of an adjective list, with no slight pause after them.
.
NON-CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES
Sometimes it is not a word’s context that gives it a surprising pronunciation but rather its own form or meaning.
3. Compound Words
Compounds are mostly made by joining smaller words together, as in afternoon, homework, lookalike and whiteboard. There is often a problem differentiating such combinations from common word partnerships that are not compounds, such as high rise, town hall and straight ahead (see 26. One Word or Two?). In writing, the difference is shown by the spacing between the two words. In speech, the differentiator is pronunciation.
The relevant pronunciation feature here is word stress, the variable strength with which syllables are pronounced. Syllables pronounced with maximum stress are said to be “stressed”. They are less common than other syllables, but one – no more, no less – is needed in most words (see 125. Stress and Emphasis).
This means that when two syllables are written as different words, both must be stressed, but when they are written as a single word, one (usually the second) must lose its stress. Thus, the two nouns work time comprise two stressed syllables, whereas the compound noun DAYtime contains just one (capitalised).
Sometimes, two words have both a compound and a non-compound use, the meaning as well as the pronunciation changing in each case. Many phrasal verbs are like this, becoming their related noun as compounds. For example, CUT BACK, a verb with dual stress, becomes cutback, a noun with stress on cut (for more examples, see 249. Action Noun Endings). Other combination types include may + be, some + times and every + day (see 26. One Word or “Two?).
.
4. “-ing” Words before a Noun
In the phrase rising sun, rising is an adjective-like participle, but in meeting room, meeting is a noun-like gerund (see 71. Gerund and Participle Uses of “-ing”). Gerunds used like meeting tend to be slightly emphasized. This can clarify the intended meaning of ambiguous combinations like growing plants (see 124. Structures with a Double Meaning 1, #1).
.
5. Multi-Use Spellings
English is full of spellings that represent more than one word. Some, known as “homonyms”, cannot be differentiated by pronunciation, but others, known as “homographs”, can (see 11. Homonyms and Homographs). Some homographs are differentiated just by their stress: for example, in-crease and up-set with their first styllable stressed are nouns (a typical correspondence), and verbs otherwise.
Elsewhere, stress combines with vowel pronunciation to show a difference. Present is shown as a noun rather than verb by saying pre- with both stress and /e/ rather than /i/; object is shown as a noun rather than verb by saying ob- with both stress and /ɒ/ rather than /ә/. In other cases again, vowel pronunciation is the only clue: estimate is a verb when ending /eit/ and a noun with /әt/. Animate and consummate go from verbs to adjectives (for more examples, see 172. Multi-Use Suffixes, #4).
.
6. Phrasal versus Prepositional Verbs
Phrasal verbs, like turn on, and prepositional ones, like depend on, differ grammatically (see 139. Phrasal Verbs), but the difference is not always visible:
(a) To survive, these people turn/depend on electricity.
However, the pronunciation of the second word (here on) can be a clue: always weak in prepositional verbs, often strong (slower with stress) in phrasal verbs.
.
7. Preposition-like Prefixes
Various preposition spellings are occasionally attached to the start of a longer word so as to add either their basic preposition meaning – e.g. in-form, offside, overcoat – or a more exotic one – e.g. overpopulated, outlast, update (see the end of 146. Some Important Prefix Types). Sometimes, the addition contains the main stressed syllable within the word (outfit, overheads, underpass), sometimes it does not (in-demand, outweigh, overdo). The first kind of stress is especially associated with nouns.
Sometimes, however, stress indicates other word class differences. For example, uphill is an adjective (an uphill struggle), uphill an adverb (went uphill).
.
8. “-teen” versus “-ty”
Showing and recognising the difference between -teen and -ty, as in 16 versus 60, is a common problem. The main difference seems to be the presence or absence of “n”. In reality, however, this /n/ is often hard to hear (see section 2 above), and the main differentiator is the vowel before it: strong /i:/ in -teen, weak /i/ in -ty (see 67. Numbers in Spoken English, #8).
.
9. Two Surprising Vowel Pronunciations
The letter “o” is very often pronounced rather illogically like “u” in cut. Indeed, this happens so frequently that it could almost be considered an alternative logical pronunciation. Common examples are other, month and comfortable. For more, see 29. Illogical Vowel Spellings.
Also surprising but common is –age pronounced like -idge, as in advantage, image and village. For numerous other examples, see 135. French Influences on English Vocabulary, #3.
guinlist 