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...Welcome to our Blog on English  Phonetics and Phonology... Here you'll find many activities about: Sentence Stress, Word Stress, Connected Speech, Intonation, Vowel Sounds and Consonant Sounds.

ENJOY IT.

KAREN ANDREA GÓMEZ

ANGIE LORENA RINCÓN

WENDY ESTEFANIA ZARATE

Sentence stress

 THE FOCUS RULES

RULE # 1

The stressed syllable of a focus word is extra long, extra clear and has a pitch change.

Examples: 1. I love my dog

                    2. You look great


ACTIVITY

RULE # 2
The focus word in sentence is usually a content word.

LIST OF CONTENT WORDS 

Content Words	Examples
Nouns	John, room, answer, Selby
Adjectives	happy, new, large, grey
Main verbs	search, grow, hold, have
Adverbs	really, completely, very, also, enough
Numerals	one, thousand, first
Interjections	eh, ugh, phew, well
Yes/No answers	yes, no (as answers)
wh question words	Who, why where
Function Words	Examples
Prepositions	of, at, in, without, between
Pronouns	he, they, anybody, it, one
Determiners	the, a, that, my, more, much, either, neither
Conjunctions	and, that, when, while, although, or
Modal verbs	can, must, will, should, ought, need, used
Auxilliary verbs	be (is, am, are), have, got, do
Particles	no, not, nor, as

RULE # 3

At the beginning of a conversation, the last content word in a clause or sentence is usually the focus word. 

Examples: 1. What’s the problem?

                    2. I lost my key

                    3. I want a coffee


ACTIVITY

RULE # 4

After a conversation begins, the new thought in each sentence is the focus word.

Example: I bought a car

                  What kind of car?

                  It is a sport car

                  What color the car is?

                  It is red.

ACTIVITY

RULE # 5

When there is a disagreement or a correction, the word that corrects the information from the previous statement is the new focus word.

Examples: 1. A: Madrid is the capital of Germany

                       B: no, it’s the capital of Spain

                   2. A: Madrid is the capital of Germany

                       B: no, Berlin is the capital of Germany




ACTIVITY

RULE # 6

When a speaker feels strongly or wants to correct something that was said before, a structure word may be emphasized.

Example: A: I think she’s either scared or excited

                  B: Maybe,   she’s sacred and excited 


ACTIVITY

Word Stress

RULES OF WORD STRESS

RULE # 1:  stress in two-syllable words:

Except for verbs, two-syllable words are usually stressed on the first syllable.

Examples: 1. answer

                       2. conduit

                       3. dealer

RULE # 2:  stress in words that end in –tion, -sion, and –cian:

For words that end in –tion, -sion, or –cian, the stressed syllable comes just before the –tion, -sion, or –cian.

Examples:  1. articulation

                        2. celebration

                        3. commission

RULE # 3: Stress in words that end in –ic and  –ical:

*For words that end in -ic, the stressed syllable comes just before the –ic.

* For words that end in –ical, the stressed syllable comes just before the –ical.

Examples: 1. analytic                    1. classical

                       2. anesthetic               2. ecumenical

                       3. energetic                 3. vertical

RULE # 4: Pronouncing two clear vowels together:

When two vowels are next to each other in a word, but in separate syllables, they are both clear. Usually, the second clear vowel has the stress, so it is longer.

Examples: 1. real

                       2. realign

                       3. society

RULE # 5: Stress in two-syllable nouns and verbs

When a two-syllable word can be used as a noun or a verb, the verb form is usually stressed on the second syllable.

Examples:     Noun                             Verb

                         1. confine                     confine        

                         2. conscript                 conscript

                         3. contact                     contact

RULE # 6: Stress in two-word verbs

Some verbs are made up of two words. These two-word verbs are commonly stressed on the second syllable.

Examples:     Noun                           Verb

                        1. letdown                     let down

                        2. shutout                    shut out

                        3. takeover                  take over

RULE # 7: Stress in compound nouns

English often combines two nouns to make a new word, called a compound noun. For example, the words “house” and “boat” can be combined to form a new noun. Compound nouns are pronounced as a single word, whit the stress on the first part.

Examples: 1.overpass

                       2.longtime

                       3. output

ACTIVITY

Consonant Sounds

CONSONANT SOUNDS

These are the symbols for the sounds of English. The sounds are organised into the following different groups:

• Voiced, Bilabial, Stop: 

                  /B/ : BALL - TABOO- RUB

• Voiceless, Bilabial, Stop:

                  /P/ : POT- HAPPY - TOP

• Voiceless, Lingua Alveolar, Stop:

                  /T/ : TELEPHONE - ATTACK - LOOT

• Voiced, Lingua Alveolar, Stop:

                  /D/ : DEER - RADAR - BLEED

• Voiceless, Lingua Velar, Stop:

                  /K/ : COW - PEEKING - WAKE

• Voiced, Lingua Velar, Stop:

                  /G/ : GOOSE - AGO - FLAG

• Voiceless, Labiodental, Fricative:

                  /F/ : FOOD - LIFE - THIEF

• Voiced, Labiodental, Fricative:

                  /V/ : VOICE - WAIVER - ABOVE

• Voiceless, Lingua Dental, Fricative:

                  /θ/ : THING -BOTH - WITH

• Voiced, Lingua Dental, Fricative:

                  /ð/ : THAT - WITHER -SMOTH

• Voiceless, Lingua Alveolar, Fricative:

                /S/ : SOAP - ASSUME - MISS

• Voiced, Lingua Alveolar, Fricative

                 /Z/ : ZIPPER - BUZZER - NOSE

• Voiceless, Lingua Palatal, Fricative:

                 /ʃ/ : SHOE - FISHING - WISH

• Voiced, Lingua Palatal, Fricative:

                 /ʒ/ : VISION - PLEASURE

• Voiceless, Glotal, Fricative:

                 /H/ : HAPPY - HELLO - HOW

• Voiceless, Lingua Alveolar, Affricate:

                 /tʃ/ : CHOP - CATCHER - WATCH

• Voiced, Lingua Alveolar, Affricate:

                 /dʒ/ : JOB - JUST - LARGE

• Voiced, Bilabial, Nasal:

                 /M/ : MASK - AMOUNT - CALM

• Voiced, Lingua Alveolar, Nasal:

                 /N/ : PIN - NO - TEN

• Voiced, Lingua Velar, Nasal:

                 /ŋ/ : SINGER - RING - FINGER

• Voiced, Lingua Alveolar, Liquid:

                 /L/ : LATE - FALL - BALLON

• Voiced, Lingua Palatal, Liquid:

                 /R/ : ROPE - FAR - RED

• Voiced, Bilabial, Glide:

                 /W/ : WISH - AWHILE - WINDOW

• Voiced, Lingua Palatal, Glide:

                 /J/ : YELLOW - YES

Reference: http://www.esltower.com

ACTIVITIES:ACTIVITY 1

RULES HOW TO PLAY

Roll the dice and advance according to the number that shows on the dice. When a player lands on a space she or he has to decode the phonetic symbol first  by reading the word and then by trying to spell the word. If correct, the player advances after the other player has taken a turn. If wrong the player looses a turn . If a player lands on a box with instructions, she or he follows the instructions. If the instruction is  – START AGAIN, the player goes back to start. If it is GO FORWARD, she or he advances according to the instruction. The first person to get to finish wins.

ACTIVITY 2

Sound differentiation crossword:

ACTIVITY 3

Homonyms:

Vowels And Diphthongs

VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1

Find the word that corresponds to the phonetic transcription.

ACTIVITY 2

Find the word the phonetic sign:

ACTIVITY 3


Fill in the gap with the vowel sound in each word.

ACTIVITY 3


Fill in the gap with the double vowel sound in each word.

ACTIVITY 4

Full in the puzzle with the words respresented by the phonetics simbols below.

Intonation

INTONATION

    Diferent Tones

 Rise                                                                                                                     Fall

                      

                                 

Level                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                            Fall rise                                                                                                           

Rule #1: When the question  has some auxiliary, the question rise,  for example:

    

         (Rise)

Do you like oysters?                                 Yes, I like                           

            

                      (Rise)

Do you speak french?                              Yes, I speak french

                                           (Rise)

Did you get a letter  this morning?        Not, I didn’t

Rule #2: When the question is with Wh, the question fall, for example:

                                        

                                     (Fall)

When are you going  to home?

(Fall)

Who’s the man in the blue suit?

                                        

                                    (Fall)

Who’s tom getting to Paris?

Rule #3:  If the qustion is asked and the answer is specific, it falls rise, for example:

         

         (Fall rise)

Was Susan at the meeting?                       Non she was ill

                                    

                                 (Fall rise)

Are you going to the party tonight?         No, because I am going to work

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1

Complete the following sentences and indicate if it rises with black, it falls with blue and with pink if it falls rise 

        you like coffee?                                                    Not, I don’t

          will you get there?                                             I´ll stay a week

            are you            ?                                                I’m going to shop with my uncle

      Bob?                                                                         No, he’s my friends

            you going to the clubnight?                            No, I am going to cancel

              you in town                 ?                                  Not, I was in field yesterday

                are your books?                                           My books was in the library

            got  you a new umbrella ?                              yes, I have got a new umbrella

ACTIVITY 2

ACTIVITY 3

See the following video and complete the table bellow

Questions	Type of  intonation