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COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Sanjay Kumar, Currently Associate Professor
of English at JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU), Jaipur Pushp Lata, Currently Head, Department of
Languages, BITS, Pilani
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Chapter: 7Chapter: 7
Basics of PhoneticsBasics of Phonetics
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Importance of English Language Skills
Speak so that others Listen to you attentively
Write so that others Read your ideas effortlessly
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Importance
Gain fluency in language
Express yourself precisely and accurately
Distinguish between the words conveying different shades of meaning
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Basics of Phonetics
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Learning Objectives
Learn how to correctly produce vowel and consonant sounds
Understand what a syllable is and how words are divided into different syllables
Get to know the rules of word stress and intonation in English Language
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Reasons for Incorrect Pronunciation
Lack of sufficient exposure
Mother tongue interference
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Received Pronunciation (RP) 44 sounds in English language 26 alphabets only
For instance, pronounce the following words Cat Keen Occasion Chemistry
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Contd
/ k/ sound comes for –c in cat, k in keen, cc in occasion and ch in chemistry
Examples Chemist and character “ch” gives/ k/ Whereas Chest and cheese “ch” gives /tʃ/
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Contd
Alphabets are different from sounds
IllustrationA tourist visits an art gallery in Delhi
and asks the manager:Tourist: I want genu -wine (genuine)
an-tee-cue (antique) of Lord Buddha.
Manager: I could not get you sir, will you please tell me again?
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Transcription
International Phonetic Alphabet symbols
Putting standard symbols for standard sounds is known as transcription
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Sounds
1. Vowels
2. Consonants
20 vowel sounds 12 are pure vowels and eight of them are diphthongal glides
“In phonetics when there is a glide from one vowel sound to the other vowel sound it is called diphthong”
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Classification of Sound in English
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Vowels
Pure Vowels
Diphthongs
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/l/Initial Position each, eat, Medial Position these, seed, seen, cream, dream, Final Position pea, key, see
/i/Initial Position it, in, is, intelligent, Medial Position silk, thick, fill, slip, sip, hit, bit Final Position duty, beauty, lonely, promptly, quickly
/e/Initial Position enter, exit, empire, entire, Medial Position bed, dead, head, any, many, said, fell,Final Position does not occur in the final position
/æ/Initial Position axe, actor, apple, at, anMedial Position band, man, sad, fan, mass (v), rank, sad Final Position does not occur in the final position
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/ʌ/
Initial Position utter, under, understand, undo
Medial Position bus, dull, dust, gun, hunt, munch
Final Position does not occur in the final position /:/
Initial Position art, answer, aunt
Medial Position bar, card, farm, hard, large, march, fast, mass (N)
Final Position car, jar, mar /ɔ/
Initial Position office, oxygen, order,
Medial Position hot, bottle, dog, fond, lock, not, pot, solve
Final Position does not occur in the final position / ɔ :/
Initial Position all, awkward, ought
Medial Position ball, call, hall, corn, morning
Final Position saw, raw, claw
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/u/
Initial Position does not occur in the initial position
Medial Position book, cook, room, took, wood
Final Position does not occur in the final position /u:/
Initial Position does not occur in the initial position
Medial Position rule, approve, groove, suit
Final Position sue, new, you, shoe, two /З:/
Initial Position early, earn,
Medial Position third, murder, surface, turn /ə/
Initial Position about, effort, ago, allow, ahead
Medial Position sentence, liberty,
Final Position doctor, terrible
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Diphthongs /u/sound, mouth, out, round, allow, cow, town, now, down,
mouse, doubt, house
/Iə/ here, appear, period, mere, cheer, career, dear, near
/ə/ wear, there, air, chair, fair, pair, air, share
/uə/ cruel, poor, sure, tour, actual, fuel, virtuous
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/eɪ/mail, fail, train, age, may, say, pray, jail, aim
/ɪ/ ice, fine, pipe, nice, write, rival, type, cry, dry
/ɔi/ spoil, loin, boil, choice, noise, oil, point, boy, toil, toy
/əu/ roll, blow, home, bone, nose, rope, both, open, go, no, so,
bold
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Consonants
24 consonant sounds
1. /p/: pit, spill, keep
2. /s/: sound, pistol, cross
3. /z/: zap, zing, maze, gaze
4. /∫ /: she, nation, shout
5. /ʒ/: measure, measure
6. /h/: harm, house
7. /w/: we, wicked, watch
8. /r /: run, ruin, craze
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Contd
9. /j/: yes, yell, yesterday
10. /l/: left, relate, detail
11. /b/: bit, imbibe, jumble
12. /t/: tin, after, what
13. /d/: din, lead, order
14. //: then, feather, wreath
15. //: thin, thank, wrath
16. /k/: cut, character, leak
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Contd
17. /g/: gut, girl, eager
18. /ɩ∫/: cheap, nature, watch
19. /dʒ/: jeep, jealous, judge
20. /m/: map, remind, mime
21. /n/: nap, near, line
22. /ŋ/: bang, song, bring, singing
23. /f/: fat, feather, half
24. /v/: vat, wave, velvet
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Write the sound for the underlined part of the word.
Example:
occasion = / k /
1) Curious 6)Trunk
2) Boat 7) Approve
3) Dishonest 8) Aware
4)Tragedy 9) Exploit
5) Birds 10) Dearth
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Solution
1) /ɩəs/ 6) / ŋ/
2) /ʊ/ 7) / u:/
3) / ɒ/ 8) / ə/
4) /dʒ/ 9) / ɔɪ/
5) / z/ 10) / θ/
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Recap
You have learnt
Difference between sounds and alphabets
How to pronounce vowel and consonant sounds
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Thank You!!!