
 
 <v. 
 
 . tl- /?/?
 
 THE SOUNDS OF 
 SPOKEN ENGLISH 
 
 A MANUAL OF EAR TRAINING 
 FOR ENGLISH STUDENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER RIPPMANN 
 
 NEW YORK 
 E. P. BUTTON G? CO.
 
 NOTE 
 
 As the title of this book is ambitious, and the 
 sub-title may not suffice to indicate its limitations, 
 it is well to warn the reader that he will find no 
 exhaustive treatment of English speech sounds. 
 That would have required knowledge greater than 
 mine, and more space than was at my disposal. 
 The little book is an attempt to gain fellow-workers 
 in a field which is unduly neglected, yet full of 
 promise. Fascinating indeed are the problems 
 afforded by the speech of those around us ; per- 
 plexing often, stimulating to further inquiry. 
 
 It was in teaching the pronunciation of foreign 
 languages that I first realised how important it is 
 to acquire a knowledge of the sounds of the mother 
 tongue. Before the learner can acquire the fresh 
 habits of speech peculiar to the foreign language, 
 his teacher must know clearly what distinguishes 
 the new sounds from those familiar in the mother 
 tongue, for only then can the foreign pronunciation 
 be imparted in a methodical way. It has been 
 shown convincingly that it is vain to trust altogether 
 to imitation, however correct and clear may be the 
 pronunciation of the teacher. 
 
 The book may therefore be useful to the teacher 
 of foreign languages; but it is intended also for a 
 
 2038636
 
 vi Note 
 
 larger circle. In our Training Colleges, noted for 
 earnest work, the importance of the spoken language 
 has long been felt, and much attention has been 
 devoted to the cultivation of the voice. My object 
 has not been to write on voice production, though 
 occasional reference to the subject has been made. 
 It has not been my aim to say how the language 
 ought to be spoken, to improve upon the ordinary 
 speech of our day, but to represent it to the best 
 of my ability, and to enable others to distinguish 
 speech sounds when they hear them. If it be 
 desirable to improve upon our speech, its present 
 condition and tendencies must first be determined. 
 
 The difficulties of the undertaking have been con- 
 siderable; I confess that I have often given my 
 impressions rather than the well-substantiated results 
 of observation. I am confident that particularly 
 those who have had no phonetic training will regard 
 as slipshod somo of the pronunciations which I state 
 to be usual. I can only ask them to put aside all 
 preconceived notions of what is " correct," and to 
 listen carefully to the unconstrained speech of their 
 friends. If they still find that the facts do not bear 
 out what is here stated, they will do me a service 
 by sending me their corrections. 
 
 The learned critic who chances to take up this 
 book may feel offended that I should have treated 
 phonetics in so conversational a tone, and disap- 
 pointed at finding little or nothing with which he is 
 not well acquainted. My endeavour has been to 
 put things very simply, and to make the beginner 
 in phonetics hear for himself. It is only a first
 
 Note vii 
 
 step ; but I am not without hope that some will be 
 induced to take a second step and a third, until the 
 number of students is far larger than at present. 
 The teachers in our schools have had scant oppor- 
 tunities for ear-training, and the mother tongue has 
 sadly suffered. 
 
 I have been much encouraged in my work by 
 the generous help of friends ; to Prof. A. T. Baker, 
 Mr W. Osborne Brigstocke, Principal A. Burrell, 
 Dr E. E. Edwards, Miss E. Fogerty, Mr W. W Greg, 
 Dr H. F. Heath, Dr R. J. Lloyd, Mr R B. McKerrow, 
 and Prof. G. C. Moore Smith, I am much indebted 
 for useful and suggestive criticisms. 
 
 LONDON WALTER RIPPMANN 
 
 1st November 1905 
 
 I am glad to say that it has not been necessary 
 to make any far-reaching changes in the later 
 editions. That the book has aroused interest 
 is evident ; and if its readers have not agreed with 
 it in every detail, that is what I fully anticipated and 
 even desired, for its object was to render students 
 more critical in their consideration of the spoken 
 language. To make a dogmatic pronouncement on 
 all points would have been misleading. 
 
 This book has now been supplemented by a volume 
 of Specimens of English, in which I have given, in the 
 phonetic transcription, a number of passages ranging 
 in style from the careful and elevated to the col- 
 loquial and familiar. 
 
 May 1913 W ' &'
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 SBOT. PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION ..... 1 
 
 1. Purpose of the Book .... 1 
 
 2. Different Ways of Approaching the Subject of 
 
 Spoken English ..... 2 
 
 3. Standard Speech ..... 3 
 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH .... 6 
 
 4. Breathing ...... 6 
 
 6. Good Air ...... 7 
 
 8. The Vocal Chords ..... 9 
 
 7. Voice ...... 12 
 
 8. The Velum ; Nasalising . . . ,14 
 
 9. The Mouth Passage ; Vowel and Consonant 16 
 
 10. Continuants . . . . . .17 
 
 11. Stops 17 
 
 12. Place of Closure or Narrowing . . .18 
 
 13. The Epiglottis ..... 18 
 
 14. Good Hearing ..... 19 
 16. Shouting ...... 20 
 
 16. THE REPRESENTATION OF SPEECH SOUNDS . 20 
 
 17. The Inadequacy of the Spelling ; its Causes . 21 
 
 18. Spelling Reform ..... 23 
 
 19. The Need of a Phonetic Alphabet . .24 
 
 20. The Sounds of Standard English . . . 24 
 THE SOUNDS CONSIDERED SEPARATELY . . 28 
 
 21. Stops ...... 28 
 
 22. Lip Stops . .... 29
 
 x Contents 
 
 SCOT. 
 
 23. The Tongue and its Parts . 
 
 24. Teeth Stops . 
 
 25. Front and Back Stops 
 
 26. Continuants ; Lip Continuants 
 
 27. Lip Teeth Continuants 
 
 28. Teeth Continuants . 
 
 29. The Hushing Sounds . . 
 
 30. The Hissing Sounds . . 
 81. The Lisping Sounds . . 
 
 32. The Liquids ; the r Sounds . . 
 
 33. The; Sounds 
 
 34. Front and Back Continuants 
 
 35. The h Sounds 
 
 36. Vowels . 
 
 37. The a Sounds . 
 88. a and 9 
 
 39. The Front Vowels , se and g 
 
 40. ai and au , , , 
 
 41. Middle and Close e . . . 
 
 42. The i Sounds 
 
 43. The Back Vowels ; Open o . 
 
 44. Middle and Close o . , . 
 
 45. The u Sounds . . . 
 
 46. SOUNDS IN CONNECTED SPEECH . 
 
 47. Strong and Weak Forms . . 
 
 48. Unstressed Lax i . . , 
 
 49. Assimilation . . . 
 
 50. Simplification of Consonant Groups 
 61. Stress of the Word . 
 
 52. Sonority ; the Syllable . . 
 
 53. Stress of the Sentence ; Scanning , 
 64. Stress . .
 
 Contents 
 
 MCT. 
 
 65. Pitch ...... 88 
 
 CONCLUSION . . . t * . 89 
 
 56. Importance of Ear-Training. * . ,89 
 
 57. Public Speaking ..... 80 
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 I. Exercises . . . . . 93 
 
 II. Lists of Words with Phonetic Transcription . 97 
 
 A. General 98 
 
 B. Proper Names . . 111 
 
 III. On the Teaching of Reading - . .120 
 
 IV. Diagrams . . . . .121
 
 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH. 
 
 Plate 1J1. in A. v. Ltischka's ' Der Schlundkopf des Alenschen.' reproduced, by permistion of 
 the Publithers. Afessrs H. Laupp <t Co., Tubingen.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THAT a book dealing with English pronunciation 1 
 in quite a simple way should yet be intended for 
 English readers rather than for foreigners may 
 seem to require some explanation. "Have I not 
 been talking English all my life 1 " the reader may 
 ask ; " why should I concern myself with the pro- 
 nunciation of my mother tongue ? " If he is quite 
 satisfied with the way in which he speaks, and needs 
 no help in teaching others to speak, then this little 
 book is indeed superfluous for him ; but experience 
 has shown that there are many who are groping about 
 in darkness, anxious for light on the subject. It is 
 above all the teacher who is constantly brought face 
 to face with some difficulty on the part of a pupil. 
 He realises that something is wrong in the pronuncia- 
 tion of a word, but he cannot clearly tell where the 
 fault lies ; he trusts that improvement will follow if 
 he repeatedly utters the word correctly pronounced 
 and gets the pupil to say it after him. To his distress 
 the pupil still says the word in the old way, and 
 at last the teacher gives up in despair. When a 
 foreign language is attempted, the difficulties become 
 even more apparent; but these we do not propose 
 to consider here, except in so far as they throw 
 light on our immediate subject, the pronunciation 
 of English.
 
 a The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 2. There are several ways of approaching the question. 
 We may turn our attention mainly to the require- 
 ments of the public speaker clergyman, actor, 
 singer, lecturer, reciter, or politician ; this is the 
 province of the teachers of elocution. It must be 
 confessed that these have rarely had a scientific 
 training ; in many cases they base their teaching 
 on their own experience as reciters and on what 
 their powers of observation have enabled them to 
 learn from their pupils; and they frequently hand 
 on traditions obtained from their own teachers, 
 which may have nothing but old age to recommend 
 them. It is to be feared that the majority of those 
 professing to teach elocution are little better than 
 quacks ; and by no one is this more readily acknow- 
 ledged than by the few who have made an earnest 
 study of the art of public speaking and singing. 
 
 The physicist considers the production of sounds 
 from another point of view ; he measures the waves 
 of sound with delicate instruments. The physiologist, 
 again, studies the organs of speech in a state of health 
 and sickness. 
 
 From all these the phonetician derives assistance. 
 His concern is the spoken language generally. He 
 seeks to ascertain how sounds are produced, and how 
 they are represented in writing ; he traces the changes 
 which sounds undergo according to time and place 
 he attempts to determine the standard of speech for 
 his own time and his own surroundings ; he considers 
 how the pronunciation is best imparted to the young 
 and to foreigners. 
 
 When the reader has come to the end of this little
 
 The Aim of the Phonetician 3 
 
 book, he will see how complicated these problems are, 
 and how much yet awaits solution ; he may also have 
 acquired some interest in these problems and desire 
 to give his help. Such help is urgently needed ; the 
 number of serious students is distressingly small, and 
 real progress can only be made if their number grows 
 considerably. 
 
 Keference has been made to the question of stan- 3. 
 dard speech ; it is convenient to discuss this at once, 
 as the standard selected naturally affects the way in 
 which the subject of English pronunciation is treated. 
 
 It is generally agreed that there are two principal 
 types of English speech : Southern English, of which 
 Dr H. Sweet is the best known exponent ; and 
 Northern English, which Dr E. J. Lloyd has 
 described in an excellent book. Southern English 
 may be defined as the English spoken in London. The 
 definition will at once strike the reader as requiring 
 some modification for what form of English is not 
 spoken in London? and the dialect (or rather set of 
 dialects) peculiar to London and known as "cockney" 
 is certainly not to be set up as the standard. 
 
 The object of speech is to communicate what is in 
 the mind of the speaker to others ; the more ade- 
 quately it attains this end, the better it is. If there 
 is anything in the manner of speech which attracts 
 attention to itself (for example, " talkin' " in place of 
 " talking," or " 'ot " for " hot "), then our attention 
 is distracted from the subject discussed ; we say 
 that such faulty speech " jars " upon us. The same 
 is true if the pronunciation is indistinct, or the voice
 
 4 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 pitched too high, or if the speaker stammers ; we 
 then suffer from the strain of listening, and again the 
 object of speech, to communicate thought, is not 
 attained with the least amount of effort. It follows 
 naturally from what has been said that it is our duty 
 towards our fellows to speak in such a way that no- 
 thing jars on their ear, nothing strains their attention. 
 To retain certain peculiarities of speech which we 
 know to differ from general usage is nothing short 
 of rudeness. In a great man we may overlook it, in 
 acknowledgment of the services he has rendered to 
 mankind ; but we who are in a humbler position 
 must endeavour to render it as easy and pleasant as 
 possible for others to follow what we say. 
 
 We are now able to give a better definition of 
 standard speech as considered in this book : it is that 
 form of spoken English which will appear to the 
 majority of educated Londoners as entirely free from 
 unusual features. This speech will be acceptable not 
 only in London, but throughout the south of England ; 
 there is reason to believe that it is spreading ; and 
 nowhere will it be unintelligible or even objection- 
 able. 
 
 It must be confessed, that on some points there 
 is uncertainty, 1 and these will be discussed later. 
 Language is always changing, and the younger 
 generation does not speak exactly as the older 
 
 1 It might be thought that reference to a dictionary would 
 be sufficient to settle disputed points. However, it may be 
 said that no dictionary not even the familiar Webster or 
 the great Oxford English dictionary, now in course of publica- 
 tion can be implicitly trusted in matters of pronunciation.
 
 Standard Speech 5 
 
 generation does. The standard of to-day will no 
 longer be the standard a hundred years hence. 
 Nevertheless, it is well to inquire what may be re- 
 garded as the best speech of our own day, with a 
 view to conforming to this speech and teaching its 
 use to our pupils. 
 
 The question may here be raised whether we are 
 to rest content with the standard speech as here 
 defined, or should strive to improve it, for instance 
 by aiming at simple vowels instead of diphthongs, 
 or by carefully uttering consonants which are now 
 commonly dropped. Even if it be desirable, it may 
 well be doubted whether it is possible, so subtle are 
 the changes in our pronunciation, and so uncon- 
 sciously are they performed. There is a deep- 
 seated tendency to economy of effort, which it 
 would be idle to ignore. 
 
 It must always be remembered that the phone- 
 tician is primarily concerned with the question how 
 people actually speak ; the determination of this 
 must needs precede any attempt to decide how 
 people ought to speak. 
 
 In the following pages we shall consider the 
 organs of speech, the various classes of sounds, and 
 how these are produced. Then we inquire into their 
 combination to form words, and the combination of 
 words in sentences. Incidentally we notice collo- 
 quial tendencies, the requirements of public speaking, 
 and other topics arising naturally from our subject.
 
 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH 
 
 For speaking we need breath. 
 
 In ordinary breathing we take about the same 
 time to draw the breath into the lungs as to let it 
 out. In English speech we use only the breath which 
 is let out; and when we are speaking we accord- 
 ingly draw it in quickly and let it out slowly. This 
 requires careful adjustment; if we are not careful, 
 our breath gives out in the middle of a sentence. 
 This is one of the things that jar, and must be 
 avoided. 
 
 The more breath we can draw in (or inhale) at 
 once, the longer we can use it for speech as we let 
 it cut (or exhale it). It is therefore to our advan- 
 tage to grow accustomed to taking deep breaths, 
 and thus to increase the capacity of the lungs. 
 
 "Deep breaths " expresses exactly what is wanted. 
 The lungs are like two elastic bellows. We may 
 expand them only a little ; we can expand them a 
 great deal. The student should make himself 
 familiar with the shape of the lungs. They occupy 
 the chest, which is a kind of box with elastic 
 sides and bottom. The sides are held out by the 
 ribs, and when the two sets of ribs are drawn apart, 
 the sides of the box are made larger. The bottom 
 of the box (called the diaphragm) is not flat, but 
 rounded, bulging upwards when the lungs are empty
 
 Breathing 7 
 
 When, however, the diaphragm contracts so that 
 breath is drawn into the lungs to their full capacity, 
 it becomes practically flat. If at the same time 
 we extend the ribs, then we have a considerably 
 increased space for the lungs. Often, however, there 
 is the less satisfactory kind of breathing in which 
 the ribs are not sufficiently active. The descending 
 diaphragm then presses on the soft parts underneath, 
 and this in turn leads to a pushing forward of the 
 abdomen. 1 
 
 Good breathing is essential not only for the singer 
 or the public speaker ; it is essential for every 
 teacher and for every pupil. It is necessary for 
 good speech, and it is necessary for good health. 
 The teacher should ascertain as soon as possible 
 whether his pupils are breathing well ; a simple test 
 is to determine how long they can hold their breath. 
 They should certainly all be able to do so for forty 
 seconds, and should gradually learn to emit a vowel 
 sound for at least thirty seconds without a pause, 
 and with uniform pitch and volume. Breathing 
 exercises should form a regular part of the pupils' 
 physical training, and the teacher should make a 
 point of drawing the instructor's special attention to 
 pupils whose breathing appears defective. 
 
 The teacher should also make sure that the air 5. 
 breathed is the best procurable under the conditions; 
 
 1 Another defective method of breathing consists in raising 
 the shoulders for the purpose of increasing the capacity of the 
 lungs. The shoulders should, however, not be moved at all in 
 breathing.
 
 8 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 he must never relax in his care that the ventilation 
 is good. The results of recent research have not yet 
 been sufficiently taken to heart, and much weariness 
 and ill-health are still due to quite avoidable causes. 
 It may be laid down as an absolute necessity that 
 there should be a pause of at least five minutes in 
 the winter, and at least ten in the summer between 
 consecutive periods of teaching, the periods them- 
 selves not exceeding fifty minutes, even in the case of 
 the oldest pupils of school age. During the interval 
 the doors and windows should be thrown wide open, 
 and the room flushed with fresh air. The floor 
 should be either of hard wood treated with "dustless 
 oil " or of cork linoleum. The blackboard should be 
 wiped with a damp cloth, in order to prevent the 
 chalk from vitiating the air. In this way the 
 microbes and particles of dust will be sensibly 
 reduced in number, and the proportion of oxygen 
 in the air will remain satisfactory. 
 
 The seats and desks must be of such a kind that 
 the pupils will naturally assume positions favourable 
 for good breathing. They must be graduated in 
 size; the seats must have suitably curved backs; 
 and there must be some adjustment by which the 
 edge of the desk will overhang the edge of the seat 
 when the pupils are writing, whereas there is a clear 
 space between them when the pupil stands. This 
 may be obtained either by making the desk as a 
 whole, or the lid of it, move forward and backward ; 
 or by making the seat movable. It is not the place 
 here to enter into further details with regard to 
 these important matters ; it must suffice to remind
 
 Good Air and a Good Posture 9 
 
 the teacher that unceasing perseverance is required. 
 Gently, but firmly, he must insist that his pupils 
 hold themselves well; not stiffly, of course, nor 
 without variety of position. To sit rigidly means a 
 great strain for a child l ; and it is very desirable that 
 pupils should have frequent opportunities of changing 
 their posture, and especially of resting against the 
 back of the seat. 
 
 It will often be found that a few minutes given to 6. 
 breathing exercises in the middle of a lesson will 
 serve to freshen the pupils. An excellent set of 
 exercises is given in Dr Hulbert's Breathing for Voice 
 Production (publ. by Novello), which teachers will 
 do well to read and to put into practice. 2 Many of 
 the throat troubles of which teachers complain are 
 directly due to bad breathing and bad ventilation. 
 
 Singing and speaking in chorus, if heartily done 
 by all, may be regarded as admirable breathing 
 exercises, apart from their use in other respects. 
 
 A few words with regard to chorus work may be 
 useful to the teacher. If well carried out, it can 
 be of great service. The individual is encouraged 
 to speak up well ; it is often found that the class 
 speaking in chorus is better in pronunciation than 
 the majority of those composing it. When a child 
 speaks alone, self-consciousness may make it hesitate 
 or prevent it from raising its voice. But the chorus 
 
 1 The custom of insisting on tightly-folded arms is not to be 
 encouraged. 
 
 3 The exercises suggested by Mr Burrell in Clear Speakino 
 and Good Reading (p. 16 and foil.) are also recommended.
 
 io The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 work must be guided with care and used with 
 moderation. Nothing could surely be more objec- 
 tionable than the monotonous sing-song into which 
 the reading of a class is almost sure to degenerate 
 if all or nearly all their reading is in chorus. The 
 teacher will guard against this by making the pupils 
 
 Epiglottis. 
 
 Left Tocal 
 chord. 
 
 This diagram re- 
 presents a vertical 
 section through the 
 larynx, the hinder 
 part of which Is re- 
 moved, showing 
 the narrowing 
 through which 
 the breath has 
 to pass. 
 
 Right vocal 
 chord. 
 
 feel what they read, and thus insisting on expressive 
 and therefore interesting speech. 
 
 Cases of mouth-breathing, usually due to adenoid 
 growths, cannot be cured by the teacher ; but it is 
 his duty to take the earliest possible notice of such 
 a case, and to ensure that those in charge of the 
 child are warned of the danger incurred by delay 
 in consulting a medical man.
 
 The Vocal Chords 
 
 ii 
 
 The breath on leaving the lungs passes through 
 the windpipe and in ordinary breathing there is 
 nothing in its way. In speaking, however, there 
 is often something in its way : a beautiful con- 
 trivance, capable of the most varied and delicate 
 adjustment, and known as the vocal chords. They 
 are situated where, in a man, we see the " Adam's 
 apple." 
 
 The accompanying illustration will serve to ex- 
 plain their nature. It will be seen that the vocal 
 
 View of the voeai 
 ehords opened to 
 their widest extent, 
 showing the windpipe 
 to its bifurcation. 
 
 chords spring from both sides of the wind-pipe. They 
 are really rather of the nature of flexible ridges or 
 shallow flaps than cords. By means of muscles acting 
 on certain cartilages they can be brought closely or 
 lightly together. They consist of a soft fleshy part 
 at one end, and a harder cartilaginous part at the 
 other. 
 
 The position of the vocal ehords, in other words 
 the nature of the glottis (i.e. the opening between 
 the vocal chords), modifies the breath in many ways. 
 
 When they are apart, in what we may call the 
 rest position, the breath passes through unhindered.
 
 12 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 When we want a particularly large supply of breath, 
 as in blowing, we keep them still more apart. When 
 we wish to " hold our breath," we close them firmly. 
 When we wish to " clear our throat," we press them 
 together and then let the breath come out in jerks ; 
 if this is done violently and (as a rule) unintention- 
 ally, a cough is produced ; sometimes we do it 
 slightly before the opening vowel of a word spoken 
 emphatically (this is commonly the case in German, 
 and is known as the "glottal stop"). 
 
 We may also close only the fleshy ends, and leave 
 the cartilaginous ends open; then we speak in a 
 whisper. 
 
 7. If we neither leave the vocal chords apart nor 
 bring them together quite closely, but let them 
 touch lightly, then the air as it passes out will 
 make them vibrate ; and breath accompanied by 
 this vibration is voice 1 in the narrower application 
 of the word. In ordinary speech this vibration is 
 an essential part of all vowels and of many conson- 
 ants. They are accordingly called voiced 2 sounds ; 
 those produced without vibration of the vocal chords 
 are voiceless. 3 
 
 The vibration can be felt in several ways. Utter 
 a long s and then a long z (the sounds at the beginning 
 of seal and zeal respectively), again long s, again long z, 
 and so on ; at the same time put your fingers to your 
 throat, or put your hands to both ears, or lay your 
 hand on the top of your head, and you cannot fail 
 
 1 Also called tone. a Or, toned. 
 
 3 Or, untoned, breathed.
 
 Voiced and Voiceless Sounds 13 
 
 to notice the vibration every time you utter z. Try it 
 also with fvfvfv, etc., and with the sounds written 
 s in sure and z in azure, and the sounds written th in 
 thistle and th in this. Then proceed to p and b, t and d, 
 k and g (as in go). Lastly, utter a long ah with full 
 voice, and then whisper the same sound softly. 
 Ascertain in each case which sound is accompanied 
 by vibration of the vocal chords. 
 
 Utter a long / and suddenly separate the lower 
 lip from the upper teeth, and nothing more will be 
 heard ; but utter a long v and again suddenly 
 separate the lip from the teeth, and you will hear 
 the " voice," with a sound like the [o] described in 
 38. (It is the sound uttered when we hesitate in 
 our speech, and is usually represented in writing by 
 er . . . er.") 
 
 It is important that the vibration should be good. 
 If it is slow, the pitch will be low ; if it is quick, the 
 pitch will be high. But whatever the pitch, the 
 vibration must be uniform. To practise this, dwell 
 on various voiced sounds for a long time, emitting 
 the breath slowly and regularly. 
 
 Only the voiced sounds can be produced with 
 varying pitch ; they are musical, the rest are noises. 
 Notice, in church for instance, how the tune is 
 carried by the voiced sounds ; the voiceless ones 
 seem to break the course of the tune. 
 
 When the vocal chords are short they vibrate 
 more quickly than when they are long, and quicker 
 vibrations give a higher pitch. This explains why 
 the average pitch of a woman's voice is higher than 
 that of a man. When a boy's voice " breaks," this
 
 14 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 is due to certain changes affecting his vocal chords ; 
 it is important that the voice should not be subjected 
 to any excessive strain when it is in this stage. 
 
 Certain affections of the throat interfere with the 
 action of the vocal chords, and they become incapable 
 of vibrating; then we "lose our voice." When we 
 "lower the voice," we make the vibrations slower, 
 and lower the pitch. When we "drop the voice 
 to a whisper," we are intentionally preventing 
 them from vibrating. This much diminishes the 
 carrying power of the voice, and we thereby ensure 
 that our words are heard only by those who are 
 quite close. A peculiar variety is the " stage aside," 
 when the actor tries to convey the impression that 
 his words are not heard by those near him, yet 
 desires them to be heard by the spectators, many of 
 whom are much farther away. This is a very loud 
 whisper; it naturally requires a considerable effort 
 and is very tiring. 
 
 8, The breath which has passed between the vocal 
 chords and issues from the windpipe passes 
 through the mouth, or through the nose, or through 
 both. This is rendered possible by a soft movable 
 flap which can at will be made to close the way 
 through the nose, or hanging loosely to leave 
 both passages open. Take a small mirror and look 
 at the inside of your mouth, standing so that as 
 much light as possible falls into it ; you will see this 
 flap, the velum, hanging down with a kind of V in 
 the centre, the lower extremity of which is known 
 as the wnda. Still watching your mouth, inhale
 
 Through the Mouth and through the Nose 15 
 
 through the nose and exhale through the mouth ; 
 see how the velum moves as you do this. After a 
 little while try to move the velum, closing and open- 
 ing the nose passage, without uttering a sound and 
 without breathing. 
 
 In French there are four nasal vowels (occurring in 
 un Ion vin blanc) in which the velum hangs loose, and 
 breath passes through nose and mouth. In standard 
 English such vowels do not exist, but another form 
 of nasal vowel, producing a "twang," is sometimes 
 heard in many forms of what may be called dialect 
 speech. The Londoner is often careless about 
 closing the nose passage, and some breath is allowed 
 to pass out by that way so as to be perceptible to 
 the ear in the form of friction, and to impair the 
 quality of the vowels. The " nasal twang " is very 
 noticeable in some forms of American English. 
 
 The nasalising tendency may also be observed 
 in untrained singers and public speakers ; it is 
 undoubtedly a means of increasing the carrying 
 power of the voice, and of reducing the effort of 
 making oneself understood by a large audience. The 
 same effect can, however, be produced by training 
 the muscles of the chest by means of breathing 
 exercises, and with more agreeable results to the ear. 
 
 Pupils who show a tendency to nasalising can be 
 cured by frequent exercises in uttering the mouth 
 (or oral) vowels. 
 
 It is, however, maintained by some teachers of voice pro- 
 duction that the best vowel sounds are produced when the 
 velum does not quite prevent the passage of air through the
 
 1 6 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 In producing a nasal consonant (such as m), we 
 stop the breath somewhere in the mouth (e.g. at the 
 lips when we utter m), and let it pass out through 
 the nose. 
 
 A cold in the nose often prevents the breath from 
 passing through it; and this renders it impossible 
 to produce the nasal consonants m, n, and ng (as in 
 sing), the kindred sounds b, d, and g being sub 
 stituted for them. A similar difficulty is experienced 
 by children with adenoid growths. This is commonly 
 called "speaking through the nose"; it is just the 
 reverse. 
 
 9. In speaking, as a rule, the passage to the nose is 
 closed and the breath finds its passage through the 
 mouth. The shape of this passage can be modified 
 in many ways, because several organs of speech are 
 movable. 
 
 The lower jaw can be moved up and down. 
 
 The lips can be closed, or kept lightly touching, 
 or the lower lip may touch the upper teeth ; or the 
 lips may be apart, assuming various shapes, from a 
 narrow slit to a large or small circle. They may 
 also be thrust forward, protruded. 
 
 The tongue is capable of an even greater variety 
 of position. Again watch the inside of your mouth 
 by means of your little mirror. Say e (as in he), a 
 (as in father), o (as in who), and observe the move- 
 ments of your tongue; then make the same move- 
 ments, but without uttering the sounds. You will 
 soon feel how your tongue moves, without needing 
 to look at it. This consciousness of the muscular
 
 Vowel and Consonant 17 
 
 action of your tongue is valuable, and you must 
 take pains to develop it. Watch the movements 
 of your tongue as you utter other vowel sounds; 
 they will be treated systematically in due course. 
 
 By means of these movable organs of speech the 
 mouth passage assumes various forms ; it may still 
 be wide enough to leave a free course for the 
 breath, or it may be quite narrow, or it may be 
 closed at some point. 
 
 If the passage is free, the result is a vowel; if 
 not, it is a consonant. 1 
 
 If the passage is so narrow at some point that the 10. 
 breath cannot pass through without rubbing or 
 brushing, we have a continuant (sometimes called 
 a fricative). Thus when we say / or v, the breath 
 passes out through the teeth; the only difference 
 between the two sounds being that in saying v, the 
 breath is also engaged in setting the vocal chords 
 vibrating. Say e (as in he) and gradually raise the 
 tongue still further, thus narrowing the passage ; 
 you will reach a point when you no longer produce 
 a vowel, but a continuant, namely the sound heard 
 at the beginning of yes. These sounds are called 
 continuants, because we can prolong them at will ; 
 indeed, we can dwell 011 them until no more breath 
 is left in the lungs. 
 
 If the passage is closed altogether at some point, we 11. 
 have a stop ; the breath is stopped. Say hope or wit 
 or luck and notice how in each case there is a closure 
 
 1 This definition has its drawbacks, as will be seen later. 
 B
 
 1 8 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 at the end. Stops consist of two parts : the closing 
 of the passage, and the subsequent opening of it; 
 this opening resembles a little explosion, and stops are 
 accordingly sometimes called plosives or explosives. 
 Observe that the ear does not require to perceive both 
 the closure and the opening ; one is enough to give 
 the impression of the sound. When you say hope or 
 wtt or luck, you need only hear the olosing of the 
 passage ; you can leave your mouth shut, yet to the 
 ear the word will seem complete. (The sound will, 
 however, carry further if you open the passage again ; 
 and in public speaking it is therefore to be recom- 
 mended.) Similarly, in uttering the words pain, tell, 
 come, only the opening of the passage is audible ; yet 
 the ear is satisfied. In the middle of a word like 
 night-time, carefully pronounced, we hear both the 
 closure and the opening ; and the interval between 
 the two gives our ear the impression that there are 
 two /'s. 1 In quick speech, however, the closure is 
 usually inaudible in such words or, more correctly, 
 the sounds overlap. 
 
 The narrowing or closing of the passage may be 
 effected at various points. The lips may be partially 
 or completely closed ; the lower lip may be pressed 
 against the upper teeth ; different parts of the tongue 
 may be pressed against the teeth, or the gums, or 
 the palate. Pass your finger along the roof of your 
 mouth, and notice that only the front of it is hard ; 
 we distinguish the hard palate and the soft palate. 
 
 When we are eating or drinking, the food passes 
 1 Consider what happens in the case of such words aa 
 vintner, lampman.
 
 Hearing 19 
 
 down the gullet, behind the windpipe. To prevent 
 food entering the windpipe, which causes a choking 
 sensation and coughing, there is the epiglottis (see 
 the diagram on p. 10), a cartilaginous flap which 
 covers the top of it ; this flap is raised when we are 
 breathing. Hence the wisdom of the rule, not to 
 speak while you are eating. 
 
 In order that speech may have its full effect, it is 14 
 necessary that the hearer should hear well ; this is 
 by no means so common as is generally supposed. 
 The importance of testing the eyesight is now recog- 
 nised ; but the hearing is usually neglected. Atten- 
 tion must be drawn to this matter, as teachers often 
 regard pupils as inattentive and dull and reprimand 
 them, when they are really hard of hearing. The 
 teacher's mistake is to some extent pardonable, be- 
 cause the defect is easily overlooked, especially as a 
 pupil may hear badly in one ear and not in the other, 
 and thus seem inattentive only when the teacher 
 happens to be standing on the side of his defective 
 ear. Further, it is a defect which often varies in 
 intensity from day to day, according to the pupil's 
 general condition of health. These considerations 
 point to the urgent necessity of instituting an in- 
 spection of the hearing in our schools. The teacher 
 can himself apply the simple test of seeing at what 
 distance the pupil is able to hear whispered double 
 numbers, such as 35, 81 ; each ear should be tested 
 separately, a cloth being pressed against the other. 
 The teacher will note down the two distances for 
 each pupil, and will probably be surprised at the
 
 20 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 variations observed. It is clear that defective hear- 
 ing should constitute a strong claim for a front seat in 
 the class-room, more so than defective eyesight, which 
 can usually be rectified by the use of suitable spectacles. 
 It is hardly necessary to point out that lack of 
 cleanliness in the ears may interfere with the hear- 
 ing, and that carelessness with regard to the teeth 
 may lead to their loss and to defects of speech, 
 apart from other unpleasant consequences. It is 
 clear that anything in the nature of tight-lacing 
 renders good breathing impossible ; and the fashion 
 of letting the hair cover the ears is also to be dis- 
 couraged, as rendering the hearing more difficult. 
 In men, tight collars and belts often interfere with 
 the breathing. 
 
 15. Lastly, teachers (particularly male teachers) require 
 to be warned against shouting ; this only tires them 
 and irritates the nerves of their pupils, while the 
 same object can be achieved by careful articulation. 
 Where it is used " to keep the class in order," the 
 teacher should earnestly consider how it is that 
 others can keep order without shouting ; usually 
 his difficulties in maintaining discipline are due to 
 ill-health, overstrain, or general incapacity. 
 
 When the throat is relaxed, a gargle with some 
 astringent will be found a simple remedy ; a solution 
 of alum in water may be recommended for this pur- 
 pose, or a bit of borax may be held in the cheek. 
 
 16. From a very early time the attempt has been made 
 to represent the spoken language by means of signs.
 
 The Representation of Sounds 21 
 
 Picture writing is a primitive and clumsy expedient. 
 It was a great step forward when signs were used to 
 represent syllables, a still further improvement when 
 a separate sign was used for each separate sound. 
 
 At first writing was roughly phonetic, in other 
 words, one sign was intended to represent one sound 
 (or set of sounds), and one only; and this is still 
 what is required of an ideal alphabet. It is a com- 
 monplace remark that the English alphabet largely 
 fails to fulfil this requirement. The same sign repre- 
 sents different sounds (sign, sure, easy) ; the same sound 
 is represented by different signs (catch, foil, queen, 
 l&ck). Some signs are superfluous (c, x) ; some- 
 times a sound is written, but not pronounced (lam&, 
 knee) ; sometimes two signs, which separately ex- 
 press two sounds, when used together designate a 
 third sound altogether different from these two (ch 
 in chat and rich). 
 
 How are we to explain this bewildering state of 17, 
 things ? 
 
 It is due to two causes the natural development 
 of the language, and the pedantic interference of the 
 learned. 
 
 Language is constantly changing. The rate of 
 change is not perhaps always the same, but change 
 there always is. As we have seen above, the older 
 generation and the younger do not speak exactly 
 alike. Now the changes in the spoken language are 
 gradual, and quite unconscious; but a change in the 
 recognised spelling of words is something tangible. 
 It conflicts with a habit we have acquired.
 
 22 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 In mediaeval times, when there was no printing, 
 no daily paper, no universal compulsory education, 
 there was a good deal of freedom in the spelling, 
 and people wrote very much as they pleased 
 phonetically, if they were not spoilt by "a little 
 knowledge." But the invention of printing and the 
 dissemination of learning changed all this. A uni- 
 form spelling came to be recognised; the nation 
 acquired the habit of regarding it as correct, and 
 would tolerate no deviation from it. Though it 
 represents the pronunciation of a former age, we still 
 use it ; and we are quite upset when we read the spel- 
 lings labor, center, therefor, nay even when two words 
 are, contrary to our usage, run together, as in forever. 
 
 When our spelling received its present form not 
 only was the language very differently pronounced, 
 but the pedantic had already been able to wreak 
 their wicked will on it. Thus the " learned " men 
 of mediaeval France spelled parfaict, though the c of 
 Latin perfection had developed into the t of parfait, 
 and they did not pronounce the c which they intro- 
 duced into the spelling. The word passed into 
 English, and here also the c was at first only written ; 
 later on it came to be pronounced. The " learned " 
 similarly introduced a ft into the French words douter 
 and dette (because of the Latin dubitare and debita), 
 but had the good sense to drop it ; we have it still 
 in doubt and debt, though we leave it unpronounced. 
 In later times we find something similar : the learned 
 force us to spell philosophy with ph and not /. 
 The word comes from Greek through Latin ; the 
 Greeks pronounced the ph actually as p plus h at the
 
 English Spelling 23 
 
 time when the Romans took to spelling Greek words 
 in their language, and these continued to spell ph 
 even when the Greeks no longer pronounced p plus 
 h, but/, as we do now. 
 
 The subject of spelling reform is not within the 18. 
 scope of this book; but it presents itself naturally 
 to all who take an intelligent interest in the lan- 
 guage. It seems probable that much good will 
 be achieved by the Simplified Spelling Society 
 (44 Great Russell Street, London, W.C. ; annual 
 subscription from Is.), which has been recently 
 established and will undoubtedly profit by the ex- 
 perience of the sister society in the United States. 
 Such spellings as wel, ful, tlw, thru, bred, adiv, will 
 surely commend themselves as soon as the eye of 
 the man in the street has been made familiar 
 with them and the etymological sentimentalist has 
 realised the astounding weakness of his arguments. 
 
 However distant may be a complete reform, it is 
 certainly helpful to be conscious of the evil; only 
 thus can we neutralize some of its bad effects. The 
 most obvious of these is the lack of ear training 
 in our schools, where the mother tongue has been 
 learnt on the basis of the written and not the spoken 
 language. The only method for teaching English 
 reading and writing which can commend itself to the 
 student of the language no less than to the student 
 of childhood is the method identified with the name 
 of Miss Dale. Apart from the sympathy and love 
 of children pervading all her work, it is of unusual 
 importance because she has solved the problem of
 
 24 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 starting from the spoken language, while avoiding 
 all phonetic symbols. 
 
 19. It is, however, convenient for the student of phon- 
 etics to have a set of generally accepted signs ; other- 
 wise he would be unable to express in writing the 
 pronunciation in such a way that other students 
 could understand what he meant. Without phonetic 
 symbols the designation of sounds becomes awkward. 
 It was one of Miss Dale's many happy thoughts to 
 connect sounds and their written form with definite 
 words, for instance the "moon oo " and the "fern er"; 
 but however suitable that is for the little ones, it is 
 inconvenient for the grown-up student. 
 
 There are many phonetic alphabets ; all else being 
 equal, the one most widely used is clearly the most 
 valuable. We have therefore chosen for this book 
 the alphabet of the Association phonetique Inter- 
 nationale, which is already well known in England 
 owing to its use in a number of books for elementary 
 instruction in French, German, and even Latin. It 
 will commend itself to the student by its great sim- 
 plicity. What will really present difficulty is rather 
 the determination of the actual nature of the spoken 
 word, than the representation of the sounds when 
 once determined. 
 
 20. We now give the sounds occurring normally in 
 standard English, and their phonetic signs; the 
 signs for consonants which are likely to be un- 
 familiar are enclosed.
 
 Signs for the Consonants 
 
 Consonants. 
 
 b 
 
 as in 
 
 bat rabble 
 
 tab 
 
 P 
 
 m 
 
 as in 
 
 as in 
 
 pat apple 
 man hammer 
 
 tap 
 
 lamb 
 
 d 
 
 as in 
 
 dab bidden 
 
 bad 
 
 t 
 n 
 
 as in 
 as in 
 
 tap bitten 
 nut winner 
 
 pat 
 tun 
 
 g 
 k 
 
 as in 
 as in 
 
 gut waggle 
 cat tackle 
 
 tug 
 tack 
 
 D 
 
 as in 
 
 singer 
 
 sing 
 
 w 
 
 as in 
 
 wit 
 
 
 leave 
 
 * 
 
 as in 
 
 when 
 
 V 
 
 as in 
 
 van never 
 
 f 
 
 as in 
 
 fan stiffer 
 
 leaf 
 
 
 
 as in 
 
 this leather 
 
 clothe 
 
 
 
 as in 
 
 thistle Ethel 
 
 cloth 
 
 z as in zeal easel lose 
 s as in seal lesson lease 
 
 3 asm 
 
 leisure rouge 
 
 
 \ 
 
 as in 
 
 shed ashes dash 
 
 
 
 
 
 j 
 
 as in 
 
 yes 
 
 T as in red very 
 
 1 as in lip pallor pitt 
 
 h as in hot 
 
 1 It ia doubtful whether thus can be called a sound of stan- 
 dard English ; see 31.
 
 26 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Vowels. 
 
 Attention should be paid to the signs for these, as many 
 are unfamiliar. The examples given will convey only 
 a general idea of the sounds, which are discussed in 
 detail in 36 and foil. The sign i indicates length, 
 and ' half length. 
 
 i: is the first vowel sound J in bead. 
 
 I is the vowel sound in bit. 
 
 ei is the first vowel sound l in braid. 
 
 e is the vowel sound in bet. 
 
 e: is the first vowel sound in fairy. 
 
 SB is the vowel sound in bat. 
 
 a is the first vowel sound l in bout, bite. 
 
 a: is the first vowel sound in father. 
 
 01 is the first vowel sound in glory. 
 
 o is the vowel sound in pot. 
 
 o is the first vowel sound x in boat. 
 
 u: is the first vowel sound l in rude. 
 
 U is the vowel sound in put. 
 
 91 is the vowel sound in burn. 
 
 Q is the second vowel sound in better. 
 
 A is the vowel sound in but. 
 
 1 It ia most important that you should not confuse sound 
 with letter. Thus in lead we have the letters e and a, which 
 represent vowels in bed and bad ; but the e in bead has quite 
 a different value from the e in bed. The two letters ea in bead 
 together represent two sounds which are described in 42,
 
 Signs for the Vowels 27 
 
 The following sentences written in the conventional 
 and the phonetic spelling will give some idea of the 
 use of this alphabet for representing connected speech 
 as spoken (a) very carefully, (6) quite colloquially. 
 
 For purposes of convenience the I and tr are not used in 
 ordinary transcript, as there is no danger of confusion. 
 
 (a) The serious student of phonetics soon grows 
 So si 9 rjas stjuwdontW fo'netiks 2 suwn grouz 
 
 interested in the subject, and every fresh speaker 
 interested in So SAbdsikt, send evri frej spijke 1 
 
 presents new materials for study. 
 pri'zents njuw ma'tii'riolz fo stAdi. 
 
 (i) Did you hear what he told me last night? 
 hi9 wot i toul mi lais nait? 
 
 1 In the Specimens of English the diphthongs here represented 
 by [uw] and [ij] are simply printed [u:] and [i:]. 
 
 2 Observe that the accent [ ' ] precedes the stressed syllable. 
 In the Specimens of English the vowel of the stressed syllable 
 is printed in this type.
 
 THE SOUNDS CONSIDERED SEPARATELY 
 Consonants stops. 
 
 21. The sounds which present least difficulty to the 
 student are the stops, in producing which the flow 
 of breath is completely checked. We have already 
 seen in 1 1 that every stop, strictly speaking, consists 
 of three parts, the closing and the opening of the 
 passage and the pause between, and that only the 
 closing or only the opening need be heard for the 
 ear to distinguish the sound. The interval between 
 the closure and the opening may be noticeable, in 
 which case we call the consonant double. 
 
 Stops may be voiced or voiceless, that is, they 
 may be produced with or without vibration of the 
 vocal chords (see 7). 
 
 Stops may be produced by stopping the breath at 
 some point in the mouth and then letting it burst 
 through the obstacle ; these are oral stops. 
 
 The breath, stopped at some point in the mouth, 
 may be allowed to pass out through the nose ; the 
 sounds thus produced are called nasal. l 
 
 Utter the following sounds, and determine whether 
 they are voiced or voiceless, oral or nasal : 
 
 [p, g, n, t, b, k, m, d, T).] 2 
 
 1 For the sake of convenience the nasal sounds, in producing 
 which the breath does not also pass out through the mouth, 
 i.e. which are not nasal vowels (see 8), are included under 
 "stops." 
 
 2 Sounds in phonetic transcript are enclosed in square 
 brackets. 
 
 38
 
 Lip Stops 29 
 
 According to the place of articulation we dis- 
 tinguish lip l stops, point 2 stops, front (palate) 3 stops 
 and back (palate) 4 stops. 
 
 Lip stops. When the breath is stopped at the 22. 
 lips, three different sounds may be produced. 
 
 1. [p], when there has been no vibration of the 
 vocal chords. 
 
 In precise or emphatic speech, sufficient breath 
 escapes after the opening of the passage to give the 
 effect of [h] 5 ; thus Pay, pay/ 6 [p h ei, p h ei]. This 
 occurs mostly before accented vowels, and sometimes 
 finally 7 : I hope [ai houp h ]. 8 
 
 [p] is written p or pp ; rarely ph (as in a common 
 pronunciation of diphtheria [dipflii'ria], for which see 
 27). 
 
 Notice the spelling of hiccough [hikAp]. 
 
 2. [b], when there has been vibration of the vocal 
 chords. 
 
 [b] is written b or bb. 
 
 3. [m], when the velum is lowered and part of the 
 breath passes out through the nose. (Generally speak- 
 
 1 Also called labial. 2 Also called dental. 3 Also called palatal. 
 
 4 Also called velar (from velum, for which see 8) and more 
 usually, but less accurately, guttural. 
 
 8 An oral stop followed by [h] is called an aspirate. Aspi- 
 rates are common in German, but practically unknown in 
 standard French. 
 
 6 Examples in the conventional spelling are printed in italics. 
 
 T i.e. at the end of a word, before a pause. 
 
 8 When the aspiration is strongly marked, it forms a charac- 
 teristic of the speech of the lower middle class in London and 
 some home counties.
 
 30 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 ing, this sound is voiced ; but when it is immediately 
 followed by a voiceless sound, it may be partly voiced, 
 then voiceless (phonetic sign : m). Then lamp is 
 strictly [Isemmp]. We may say : [m] is unvoiced or 
 devocalized before a voiceless stop.) Notice the 
 difference in length of [m] in lamb, hammer, glum, 
 moon ; in which of these words is it short ? 
 
 In comfort, triumph the [m] is often labiodental : the 
 breath is stopped by the upper teeth and lower lip, 
 not by both lips. 
 
 In prism, schism the m may have syllabic value ; 
 it then does the work usually performed by a vowel. 
 We say [prizam] or [prizm], where [m] is the sign 
 for syllabic m. 
 
 [m] is written m or mm. 
 
 23. In the production of the lip stops the tongue plays 
 no part, except by leaving a free passage ; but it is 
 active in the production of the stops we next have 
 to consider. This is therefore the right place to give 
 the names by which we designate the various parts 
 of the tongue. We distinguish 
 
 the point, 
 
 the blade (above and behind the point when the 
 tongue lies flat), 
 
 the front (yet further behind), and 
 
 the back ; also 
 
 the ridge or dorsum (an imaginary line drawn 
 along the middle of the top of the tongue from end 
 to end), and 
 
 the rim (running all round the edge of the tongue 
 when it lies flat).
 
 Point Stops 3 1 
 
 When the narrowing or closure of the passage is 
 made by the front rim of the tongue, we say it is of 
 apical formation ; when it is made by the surface of 
 the tongue behind the front rim, we say it is of dorsal 
 formation. 
 
 Point stops. 1 The breath is stopped by the action 24 
 of the point of the tongue touching the teeth (in 
 which case we have true dentals) or the upper gums 
 (this is known as alveolar articulation, "alveoli" 
 being the learned word for the gums). In English 
 the point of the tongue rarely touches the teeth ; 
 usually it touches the upper gums, sometimes the 
 hard palate (this should be avoided), in which case 
 it approaches [k]. See the diagram on p. 126. 
 
 Hence in careless speech at last sometimes becomes 
 [Vklaist]. 2 Little children are heard to say [ikl] for 
 little ; compare also the change from Latin tremere to 
 French craindre. 
 
 Three different sounds may be produced with this 
 stoppage : 
 
 1. [t], when there has been no vibration of the 
 vocal chords. 
 
 In precise or emphatic speech, sufficient breath 
 escapes after the opening of the passage to give the 
 effect of [h]; thus take it! [t h eik it]. This occurs 
 mostly before accented vowels, and sometimes finally ; 
 he sent me such a charming note [hi sent mi sAtJ 
 t$a:miT) nout h ]. 3 
 
 1 The point stops are also called teeth or dental stops. 
 8 On the other hand, in Somerset dean, clod are sometimes 
 pronounced with [tl-]. * See footnote 8 on page 29.
 
 32 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 In certain kinds of uneducated southern English 
 speech [t] is occasionally dropped between vowels, 
 in such words as vxUer, butter. 
 
 [t] is written t or ti; d in the ed of verbs after 
 voiceless sounds, as in stopped [stopt] ; rarely th, in 
 words of foreign origin. 
 
 2. [d], when there has been vibration of the vocal 
 chords. 
 
 [d] is written d or dd. 
 
 3. [n], when the velum is lowered and the breath 
 passes out through the nose. (Generally speaking, 
 this sound is voiced ; but when it is immediately 
 preceded or followed by a voiceless sound, it may 
 become voiceless (n) in part. Then sneer is strictly 
 [snnio], hint [hinnt].) Notice the difference in length 
 of [n] in mine, awn, manner, an, name ; in which of 
 these words is it long] 
 
 In month, anthem the [n] is a true dental : the 
 tongue touches the teeth. 
 
 In listen, open we may have syllabic n [n]. Compare 
 what was said about syllabic m in 22. 
 
 [n] is written n or nn. 
 
 25. Front and back stops. The breath is stopped by 
 some part of the ridge of the tongue meeting 
 the front or hard palate, giving front stops ; or 
 the back or soft palate, giving back stops. 
 Say [ku] and then [ki]; now whisper them. In 
 which case is the closure more forward in the 
 mouth? Compare with these the place of closure 
 when you say [ka].
 
 Front and Back Stops 33 
 
 From these examples it will be seen that the 
 effect for the ear is very much the same, and we 
 shall here make use of the same signs for front and 
 back stops. 
 
 In cockney, speech there is a distinct tendency to 
 make the closure so far forward that the [k, g] are 
 perceptibly modified. (This pronunciation is sug- 
 gested by the spelling gyarden, kyind, employed by 
 those who try to represent cockney speech.) The 
 " palatalizing " tendency is not to be encouraged ; a 
 more effective [k] is produced by distinctly back- 
 ward articulation. Slight variations in the place of 
 closure due to the place of articulation of neigh- 
 bouring sounds in a word are inevitable. 
 
 Three different sounds may be produced with this 
 stoppage. 
 
 1. [k], when there has been no vibration of the 
 vocal chords. 
 
 In precise or emphatic speech, sufficient breath 
 escapes after the opening of the passage to give the 
 effect of [h] ; thus come, come I [k h Am, k h Am]. This 
 occurs mostly before accented vowels, sometimes 
 finally, give him a good shake I [giv im 9 gud Jeik 11 ]. 1 
 
 [k] is written c, k, ck, cc (as in accuse [eTrjuwz]), 
 ch (as in chord [ko:d]), q (as in queen [kwijn]) ; [ks] 
 as ks, cc, x, xc. 
 
 2. [g], when there has been vibration of the vocal 
 chords. 
 
 Sometimes [g] is pronounced with the tip of the 
 
 1 See footnote 8 on page 29. 
 O
 
 34 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 tongue so that it sounds like [d] ; thus glory becomes 
 dlory [dloiri]. The way in which [1] is produced 
 (see 33) explains this. 
 
 [g] is written g and gg\ rarely gh (as in ghost 
 [goust]). For [ks] and [gz] written x see 30. 
 
 3. [D], when the velum is lowered and the breath 
 passes out through the nose. (Generally speaking, 
 this sound is voiced; but when it is immediately 
 followed by a voiceless sound, it may be at first 
 voiced, then voiceless [g] ; the [rj] may be unvoiced 
 (see 23, 3) before a voiceless stop. Then length is 
 strictly [lerjijfl] r [l e DDk#]-) Notice the difference 
 in length of [T>] in sing, singer, drink, bang ; in which 
 of these words is it short ? 
 
 [T)] is written ng, as in long [torj], and n before g, 
 k, or x, as in longer [lorjge], lank [laegk], lynx [lipks]. 
 What does ng represent in singer 1 in jwgvr'( in 
 English 1 
 
 The " dropping of g " is really an incorrect term. 
 There is no [g] in the ending -ing [19] ; l what does 
 take place is the substitution of [n] for [g]. This 
 occurs in baby speech, in vulgar speech, and in the 
 speech of some sections of society. It is on no 
 account to be tolerated. 
 
 The opposite mistake is made only by the un- 
 educated, who pronounce kitchen as [kitjii)], chicken 
 as [tjikii)], and sudden as [sAdii)]. 
 
 Notice the substitution of this sound by the un- 
 educated for the unfamiliar palatal nasal [p] in 
 
 1 In standard English ; in certain dialects the ending -ing 
 is always pronounced
 
 Lip Continuants 35 
 
 Boulogne [buloji], the uneducated [bulorjj^and for 
 the equally unfamiliar nasal vowel [a] in the French 
 word continent [kotina], the uneducated [kontinoi}]. 
 
 For [n] becoming [m] or [g] by assimilation, see 
 49. 
 
 Consonants continuants. 
 
 It will be seen that the articulations of these 26. 
 sounds are more difficult to analyse than those of 
 the stops. There is, roughly speaking, only one 
 way of closing a passage entirely; but there are 
 various ways of closing it partially. 
 
 The continuants usually go in pairs, one being 
 voiceless, the other voiced. 
 
 Lip continuants. The breath passes between the 
 two lips (hence the term bilabials) ; the tongue is in 
 a position somewhat closer than the [u] position, i.e. 
 bunched up at the back (see 43), and we may there- 
 fore call these sounds lip-velar continuants. 
 
 The voiced sound [w] is that commonly used in 
 standard English, whether the spelling be w or wh. 
 In northern English and in Scotch the voiceless [AI] 
 is used where the ordinary spelling has wh. 
 
 It is very doubtful whether [&.] has a right to be 
 regarded as a normal sound in standard English. 
 It is taught by professors of elocution, and is 
 therefore commonly heard at recitals and also at 
 amateur theatricals. On the regular stage it is by 
 no means the rule, and in the pulpit it is probably 
 the exception. If it comes naturally to pupils, who 
 bring it with them from the North, they need not 
 be interfered with ; there is certainly no good reason 
 
 1 The educated commonly say [buloun] ; [buloin] is also heard.
 
 36 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 why it should be forced on speakers of southern 
 English, who generally produce a grossly exagge- 
 rated and quite ludicrous travesty of the northern 
 sound. Which do you use yourself 1 ? If [AY], is it 
 natural to you, or acquired? Do the rest of your 
 family use it? Any of your friends? What pro- 
 portion of children in your class? 
 
 It may be noted that after voiceless sounds [AY] 
 sometimes takes the place of [w], even in standard 
 English; twenty is pronounced [twenti] or [tAienti] 
 and swim [swim] or [sAiim]. Sometimes also the 
 sound [AY] is heard in where pronounced with great 
 emphasis, in the case of speakers who do not ordi- 
 narily use it. 
 
 It should be noted that these sounds are not con- 
 tinuants in the strict sense of the term, for the lips 
 are gradually brought nearer and gradually drawn 
 apart. The sounds do not continue in the same 
 position at all ; hence they have been described as 
 "gliding," not "held." 
 
 The word conquer is sometimes pedantically pro- 
 nounced [korjkwo] instead of [korjke] ; but it is the 
 rule to sound the [w] in conquest. Compare liquor 
 [like], exchequer [eks'tjeke]. 
 
 A w has often influenced a following a. Consider 
 the following cases : 
 
 was, warm, squabble, quality, quack, quarrel, qua/, 
 wasp, water, waft, walk, swallow. 
 
 27. Lip teeth continuants. The breath passes be- 
 tween the lower lip and the upper teeth (also 
 between the interstices of the upper teeth); the
 
 Lip Teeth Continuants 37 
 
 sounds produced in this way are also called labio- 
 dentals. 
 
 The voiceless sound [f] is usually written / or ff, 
 also ph (in words taken from Greek) ; note also the 
 gh in laugh, etc. 
 
 Notice our reluctance to pronounce phth [f#], as 
 shown in the dropping of ph in phthisis, and the 
 frequent substitution of p for ph in diphtheria, 
 diphthong, naphtha, ophthalmia, which is, however, 
 avoided by careful speakers. 
 
 The voiced sound [v] is usually written t>. 
 
 Sounds very like [f, v] can be produced with 
 both lips. Though they do not ordinarily occur 
 in Engb'sh, it will be good practice for you to 
 produce them. 
 
 When [v] is final, it is not voiced to the end, but 
 passes into whispered [v] (symbol y), which sounds 
 very much like voiceless [f] ; in other words, the 
 vocal chords cease to vibrate before the breath 
 ceases to pass between the lower lip and the upper 
 teeth. We may say : final [v] is devocalised. 
 
 Observe thief, but thieves and to thieve ; loaf, but 
 loaves ; shelf, but shelves and to shelve. 
 
 The ph in nephew is pronounced [v], but [f] is 
 heard in dialects. 
 
 Point continuants. We have seen above ( 24) 28. 
 that in English the tongue, as a matter of fact, 
 rarely touches the teeth in the case of point 
 stops. Similarly the narrowing of the passage which 
 leads to the production of point continuants (except
 
 38 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 is not necessarily between the tongue and the 
 teeth ; in some cases it is indeed a good deal farther 
 back. 
 
 The point continuants include : 
 
 1. The hushing, hissing, 1 and lisping sounds, and 
 the r sounds, in which the place of articulation is 
 along the middle line of the mouth (medial forma- 
 tion); and 
 
 2. The I sounds, the narrowing for which is be- 
 tween the side rim or rims of the tongue and the 
 side teeth (lateral formation). 
 
 The r sounds and the I sounds are sometimes called 
 liquids. 
 
 29. The hushing sounds. For the production of the 
 sh sounds the passage is narrowed between the blade 
 (see 23) of the tongue and the hard palate. A broad 
 current of air is broken against the edge of the teeth. 
 There is some friction between the tongue and the 
 gums, but that against the front teeth is more 
 noticeable. 
 
 Watch a Frenchman uttering these sounds, and 
 see what he does with his lips. Do you use your 
 lips in the same way? 
 
 The voiceless [J] is usually written sh ; also s after 
 consonants (as in tension [tendon], censure [senja]). 
 It is written ss, c or t before a front vowel (e or t), 
 (as in passion [psejan], capricious [ke'prijos], station 
 [steijon]). In all these cases [J] arose from [sj]. 
 
 1 The hashing and hissing sounds are also called sibilants.
 
 The Hushing Sounds 39 
 
 Observe the colloquial pronunciation of this year 
 as [SiJ J9i] ; six years [sik$ jaiz]. 
 
 The combination [tj] is very common, and is usually 
 written ch or tch. In some cases it arises from [tj], 
 when / follows the chief accent of the word and 
 precedes either a front vowel (e or i) or u l which 
 goes back to [jui] (as in righteous [raitjos], nature 
 [neitjo]). The combination [kj] similarly goes 
 back to [ksj] in anxious [seijkjas] (notice anxiety 
 [ser)(g)'zai9ti]). Luxury is [Lvk$ori], but luxurious is 
 [log'zuirias] or [Igg'zjuirios], sometimes [leg'suirios]. 
 
 The pronunciation of associate as [Vsousieit], 2 
 officiate as [o'fisieit], instead of [o'soujieit, o'fijieit], is 
 pedantic ; [pro'pisieit] is also faulty for [pro'pijieit]. 
 
 The voiced [3] standing alone between vowels is 
 not common in English, being found only where s 
 is followed by a front vowel, or by u which goes 
 back to [ju:]. Here the development is from [sj] 
 to [zj] and then to [3]. Examples are vision [vison], 
 measure [me^o]. The spelling z is found only in 
 azure [8639] or [eisjo], sometimes [aesjuo]. 
 
 Observe the careless pronunciation of as usual as 
 [863 juwsuol], praise ye the Lord as [preis jij So lo:d]. 
 India rubber is generally pronounced [indso rAbo]. 
 
 On the other hand, the combination [ds] is quite 
 common. This is written j (as in jet [dset]), g before 
 e or i (as in gem [dsem], gin [dsin], age [eids] ; 
 observe also gaol [dseilj), and sometimes dg (as in 
 
 1 See also 45. 
 
 'Some speakers say (Vsoujieit] but [e'sousieijen], 
 [i'nAnJieit] but
 
 40 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 edge [eds]). It is spelled ch in ostrich, sandwich, 
 Greenwich, Harwich, Woolwich, and in spinach. 
 
 What is the value of ng in the following words : 
 hang, longing, lounging, language, engage, hunger, hinge ? 
 
 30. The hissing sounds. Distinguish clearly the voice- 
 less [s] as in seal&nd the voiced [z] as in zeal. Compare 
 the manner of production of the hissing and the 
 hushing sounds : utter [$] and [s]. (Why will these 
 show the distinction more clearly than [3] and [z] T) 
 You will find that the breath is more widely diffused 
 when you utter [J] ; in producing [s] your tongue 
 forms a narrow channel and the breath is. thus 
 directed against a point. See the diagram on p. 126. 
 The usual spelling of both voiceless [s] and voiced 
 [z] is s. Notice that 
 
 1 . The s of inflections is [z] after a voiced sound : 
 compare fills [filz], glances [glamsiz], dogs [dogz), faces 
 [feisiz], but hits [hits], cats [ksets], 
 
 2. The final s of some words of one syllable is [z] : 
 as, has, is, his, was ; but this, us. 
 
 3. Sometimes the verb has [z], the substantive or 
 adjective [s] : 
 
 use (j'uwz] use [juws] 
 
 diffuse [di'fjuwz] diffuse [di'fjuws] 
 
 close [klouz] close [klous] 
 
 lose [luwz] loose [luws] 
 
 (Notice the difference in the length of the vowel.) 
 1 Many pronounce [tj] in sandwich, [ds] in sandwiches.
 
 The Hissing Sounds 41 
 
 4. Notice also that we have 
 
 w w 
 
 in reserve in research 
 
 disease disobey 
 
 dissolve dissolvent, dissolute 
 
 presumption presuppose 
 
 Find other examples (there are many). How do 
 you pronounce disarm 1 
 
 5. x represents [ks] 
 
 in exercise, excellent, and in extra, exceed, express, extol, 
 but [gzj in exert, examine, anxiety, exult, exonerate, ex- 
 orbitant, exotic. 
 
 Do you agree with this statement ? 
 
 Try to find a rule for the pronunciation of x. 
 
 In exile both pronunciations of x may be heard, 
 [ks] being perhaps the more common. 
 
 For the dropping of h in compounds with ex- see 
 47. 
 
 The voiceless [s] is usually written 5, but also ss, 
 and c or sc before e and i (as in city, scene, but not in 
 sceptic [skeptik]). 
 
 Say which of the sounds [$, 3, t$, ds, s, z] occur in 
 the following words : 
 
 church, machine, ledger, leisure, seizure, cease, ease, 
 scissors, chisel, lesion, legion, singe, excessive, example. 
 
 Notice that final [z] is unvoiced towards the end ; 
 thus is is strictly [izz] ; compare what was said about 
 final [v] in 27. Is she often becomes [13$!] or [iji]. 
 
 The term lisping is given to various mispronun- 
 ciations of the s sounds. It may be due to a lasting
 
 4 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 or a passing malformation of the teeth, palate, or 
 tongue, 1 or it may be simply a bad habit. A slight 
 habitual lisp is often heard, and parents and friends 
 have been known foolishly to encourage a child in 
 the belief that the lisp is " pretty " ; it is important to 
 drive this idea out of the child's head. The treat- 
 ment of lispers is varied; generally they can pro- 
 duce the right sound after some experimenting. 
 When the right sound has been found and distin- 
 guished by the child, the rest is entirely a matter of 
 perseverance. There must be frequent repetition in 
 many combinations. The exercises should be practised 
 sparingly at first, and gradually increased, otherwise 
 the strain may be too great and interfere with the 
 child's regular work. 
 
 31. The lisping sounds. Distinguish clearly the 
 voiceless [0] as in thistle, and the voiced [S] as in this. 
 Compare the manner of production of the lisping and 
 the hissing sounds : utter [6] and [s]. You will find 
 that in the case of [6] the breath is not passing 
 through a narrow channel, and issues between the tips 
 of the upper teeth and of the tongue. The tongue may 
 be between the teeth, and the sounds are accordingly 
 sometimes called interdental ; but this is by no means 
 essential. Our English lisping sounds are usually 
 formed between the point of the tongue and the 
 back of the front upper teeth ; part of the tongue 
 fills up the small gap between the teeth, without 
 advancing beyond their back surface. 
 
 1 In a great many cases lisping is due to an over-long 
 tongue; or the tongue may be "tied," in which case the 
 ligature is easily cut
 
 The Lisping Sounds 43 
 
 Which of the following words have [0] and which 
 have [5] 1 
 
 thorn, thou, bath*, baths*, bathe*, then, think, clothe*, 
 cloth*, with, father, thump, lethal, leather, lath, lathe, 
 lithe, loath*, loathe*, breath*, breathe*, heathen, heath, 
 heaths, wreathe*, wreath*, wreaths*, seethe, truth*, 
 truths*. 
 
 What do you notice with regard to the words 
 marked with an asterisk ? Of what does it remind 
 you in connection with the hissing sounds ? 
 
 Notice that final [5] is unvoiced or whispered to- 
 wards the end ; compare what has been said about 
 final [v] and final [z]. 
 
 A fault, common especially in bad southern 
 English, and found almost invariably in baby speech, 
 is the substitution of [v, f] for [5, ff]. The baby says 
 [fAm] for [#Am], the cockney [nafirjk] for [nA0ir)], 
 [feva] for [fe5a]. This fault should on no account be 
 tolerated ; the child (we are of course not referring 
 to the baby) can produce the lisping sounds without 
 difficulty. It need only be told to place the tongue 
 between the teeth. When once the difference in the 
 manner of production of [f] and [6] is known, the 
 child can also hear the difference; all that is now 
 required is perseverance. 
 
 In careless speech [h] is sometimes substituted for 
 [6], thus / think so becomes [ai hirjk sou]. This also 
 has its parallel in baby speech, e.g. [huge] for sugar. 
 
 The liquids. This designation comprises the r 32. 
 sounds and the I sounds.
 
 44 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 The sounds written r are extremely varied, and 
 are likely to give some trouble to the student. He 
 should in the first place ascertain from his friends 
 (we are assuming that these speak standard English) 
 whether they notice anything peculiar about his r. 
 If they do not, it is probable that he uses the 
 untrilled r. (The phonetic sign for this is [a], but it 
 is customary to use [r], unless exceptional accuracy 
 be desired.) 
 
 This sound is produced by allowing the breath to 
 pass between the raised point of the tongue and the 
 ridge of the upper gums. 1 When the breath makes 
 the tip of the tongue vibrate, we have the trilled or 
 rolled [r]. Can you roll your r? Does anyone you 
 know habitually do so ? Have you noticed whether 
 Frenchmen or Germans ever do it ? 
 
 Another kind of r is that produced at the back of 
 the mouth, by the help of the uvula (see 8), and 
 called the throat r or uvular r (phonetic sign : [R]), 
 as distinguished from the tongue or teeth r (lingual 
 or dental r). It is not a normal sound in standard 
 English, but is occasionally found. It used to be 
 frequent in Durham and Northumberland (the 
 "Northumbrian burr"), but is dying out there now. 
 
 Notice that after [t] and [d] the narrowing for [r] 
 is particularly small, and therefore the friction of the 
 breath particularly noticeable. Say such words as 
 dry, drink, droll, try, trill, trap, and carefully observe 
 the nature of the [r]. Notice also that after voiceless 
 
 1 The baok of the tongue may also be raised to some extent ; 
 how does this explain the substitution of [w] for [r] which is 
 sometimes heard ?
 
 The R Sounds 45 
 
 sounds the [r] often becomes voiceless [r], as in 
 praise, try, increase. Sometimes tried almost sounds 
 like chide, because the passage of the breath is not 
 stopped and the vocal chords have not begun to 
 vibrate. Try to utter a voiceless [r] by itself; 
 practise the series [r r r r r]. 
 
 There is also a peculiar variety of r found after g, 
 as in great, green, grass. This r is a kind of palatal 
 blade continuant, and its use should be avoided, as 
 it is generally held to be affected. 
 
 In standard English the written r is only pro- 
 nounced initially (as in red), between a consonant and 
 a vowel (as in bread, angry), and between vowels, the 
 second of which is not only written, but actually 
 pronounced (as in very). 1 
 
 It is not pronounced between a vowel and a con- 
 sonant (as in arm, lord), nor when it is final in the 
 spelling or followed by a vowel which is only written 
 and not actually pronounced (as in bar, bare). Its 
 place is in many cases taken by the neutral vowel 
 [9] (see 38). 
 
 Observe that a final r is pronounced when the 
 next word begins with a vowel. (Is there anything 
 like this in French ?) Thus we say better [beta], but 
 [betar 9n bete] ; ever [eva], but [for ever end eva] ; 
 here [hia], but [hi j r an fteia] ; stir up [starr Ap], but 
 [sta: Sa faia]. There is, however, nowadays a ten- 
 dency to leave even this r unpronounced. 
 
 The fact that such words as better have two forms, 
 
 1 The rule may also be stated thus : r is only heard when a 
 vowel follows in the same or the next word. " Vowel " must 
 here be taken to include [j].
 
 46 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 * 
 
 with and without [r], has led to the addition of [r] 
 when there is no justification for it. Even educated 
 people are often heard to pronounce the idea of it as 
 [Si aidiar 9v it] ; The India Office sometimes becomes 
 [Si indjar ofis]; china ornaments becomes [tjainar 
 omamants] ; and clergymen have been known to say 
 [vik'toijar aua kwijn]. Similarly, in vulgar speech 
 [Sa winder iz oupan], [pa'pair az gon aut], etc., are 
 quite common. 
 
 There is an affected pronunciation of this [a] 
 which makes it approximate to a deep [a]; the 
 comic papers represent my dear fellow as " my deah 
 fellah " to indicate the speech of a swell. 
 
 The substitution of [w] for [r] is a mannerism 
 which should not be tolerated ; it is the result of a 
 bad habit, not of any defect of the organs of speech. 
 
 When a word contains the letter r twice, careless 
 speakers incline to drop one of them; February 
 becomes [febjuari], temporarily [temparili], library 
 [laibri], literary [litari], supernumerary [sjuwpanjuw- 
 meri], contemporary [kantempari]. Veterinary usually 
 becomes [vetanri] or [vetnari]. 
 
 33 In order to produce the sound of [1], we let 
 the breath pass out between the side rims of the 
 tongue and the side gums and teeth ; the point of 
 the tongue touches the roof of the mouth somewhere 
 along the middle line. 
 
 Utter [1J with the point of the tongue drawn 
 back as far as possible ; then utter [1] several times, 
 gradually bringing the point of the tongue forward, 
 until it eventually touches the teeth. You will
 
 The L Sounds 47 
 
 notice a difference in the quality of the sound : the 
 sound is " dark " l when the tongue is farther back, 
 " clear " when it is forward in the mouth. Notice 
 that when the tongue is drawn back, it is bunched 
 up behind. In standard English the [1] is frequently 
 pronounced with the tongue fairly back in the 
 mouth ; the " darkness " of the [1] is particularly 
 noticeable when it comes at the end of a word. 2 
 
 Excessive withdrawal of the tongue tip is not to 
 be encouraged in children ; they should rather 
 practise the " clear " [1], though they need not go so 
 far as actually to " let the tongue touch the teeth." 
 This is, however, a good rule, and if instilled in 
 the children will do something to counteract any 
 tendency to " darkness " of the [1]. It is not likely 
 that they will acquire the habit of actually touching 
 the teeth when they say [1] ; but a sufficiently "clear" 
 [1] can be obtained if the point of contact is at the 
 upper gums, and even a little farther back than 
 that. It should be noted that the [1] may be " dark," 
 even when the point of the tongue touches the teeth, 
 if the back of the tongue is raised. 
 
 In cockney speech the [1] is sometimes lost, through 
 no contact taking place ; tail is pronounced [tsejo] or 
 something similar, with a very open [o] (see 43) in 
 place of [1], and after consonants also the final I, as 
 in giggle, is very liable to disappear. This recalls the 
 treatment of final r in standard English. In careless 
 speech the [1] also disappears in only and in all right. 
 
 x The term "dark" here implies a deep and obscure reson- 
 ance, with little friction. 
 
 2 Contrast the [1] of will and willing (where its position 
 between front vowels leads to forward formation).
 
 48 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Colonel is pronounced [kernel] ; the older spelling 
 corond explains this. 
 
 Notice that when [1] comes next to a voiceless 
 sound, it may become partly or wholly voiceless [\]. 
 Thus dear becomes [kjiie], halt [ho]t]. The friction 
 becomes noticeable then; try to utter [J] and 
 observe this. The voiceless sound is the familiar 
 Welsh 22. 
 
 In bubble, riddle, etc., we may have syllabic I [}]. 
 Compare what was said about syllabic m in 22, 
 and about syllabic n in 24. 
 
 The I is not pronounced in calf, half, sake, 1 balk, 
 caulk, chalk, falcon* folk, stalk, talk, walk, yolk, almond, 
 alms, balm, calm, palm, psalm, qualm, salmon, solder, 
 should, would, could (where it is not etymologically 
 justified) ; golf is usually [golf], but also [gof] 3 , and 
 rarely [goif]. 8 
 
 It was said above that for [1] we let the breath 
 pass out at both sides of the mouth; but, as a 
 matter of fact, most people let it out only on one 
 side. On which side does it pass out in your own 
 case? Is the same true of your whole family! 
 Ascertain which is the usual side in the case of 
 friends. 
 
 Front continuants. Watch with your mirror 
 what the tongue does when you utter the word he. 
 You see that it rises in front. Kaise it a little more, 
 until the passage becomes quite narrow ; the vowel 
 
 1 Some pronounce this word 
 a Some pronounce this word 
 1 These are modifications of the Scotch form of the word.
 
 Front Continuants 49 
 
 will pass into the sound which we have at the 
 beginning of yes [jes], and which we also have in 
 sue [sju:w], for which see 45. As a rule the 
 friction is very slight, and indeed hardly perceptible 
 to the ear ; but in the slowly uttered, deliberate yes 
 the friction can often be heard very distinctly. The 
 sound is also noteworthy as being, like [w] and [j], 
 "gliding," not "held" (see 26, 32). In careless 
 speech it sometimes passes into [3] after [d] ; during 
 is pronounced [dsuwriT)] instead of [djuwrir)], the 
 dew becomes [dsuw], it made you start [it mei 
 sta:t]. Soldier is regularly pronounced 
 not [souldjo] ; and verdure, grandeur, have both pro- 
 nunciations, [djs] being preferred by careful speakers. 
 After voiceless sounds, as in Tuesday, tube, [j] 
 occasionally passes into the corresponding voiceless 
 [9], which is the consonant sound in the German 
 ich ; and sometimes it even becomes [$], compare the 
 careless pronunciation of don't you know [dountjanou], 
 last year [la:s tjio], he'll meet you [hijl mijtju] ; / shall 
 hit you is in vulgar speech [ai $9! itjo]. For this 
 development in unstressed syllables, see 45. 
 
 Back continuants. When we utter the vowel 
 sound of who the back of the tongue is raised ; if we 
 raise it a little higher, there is friction, and we 
 obtain the back continuants. These do not normally 
 belong to standard English. The voiceless [x] is, 
 however, not uncommon in the pronunciation of 
 words taken from Scotch, Welsh, or German ; even 
 in such words [k] is generally substituted. The 
 Scotch loch is pronounced [lox] or [lok] ; the German 
 D
 
 50 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Hoch(heimcr) is always spelt and pronounced hock 
 [hok]. In Scotch [x] occurs normally. 
 
 Throat r (uvular r). This sound, which does not 
 normally belong to standard English, has been 
 referred to in 32. 
 
 35. The h sounds. We considered the glottis (the 
 interval between the vocal chords) in 6. We saw 
 that when it is quite open, the breath passes through 
 without producing any audible sound. When, how- 
 ever, the glottis is somewhat narrowed, the breath 
 brushes past the vocal chords, and an h is produced ; 
 this we may call a voiceless glottal continuant. 1 
 
 Now there may be various kinds of glottal [h]. 
 The passage between the vocal chords may be more or 
 less narrow, and it may remain uniform or gradually 
 grow narrower or wider. The current of breath may 
 be strong or weak ; it may be of uniform force, or 
 gradually grow stronger or weaker. When there is 
 a strong current of breath, and the opening is very 
 narrow, we call it " wheezing." 
 
 In standard English the A is a glottal continuant 
 only when there is precise and emphatic utterance. 
 Ordinarily it is produced in the mouth passage. 
 When we say ha, the vocal chords are not drawn 
 together until the vowel is sounded; the mouth, 
 
 1 [h] is described as voiceless ; but it may also be produced 
 with voice. We have seen that the vocal chords consist of a 
 fleshy and a cartilaginous part : it is possible to let the former 
 vibrate, while the latter is left open, and the breath passing 
 through produces [h]. Try to utter this sound.
 
 The H Sounds 51 
 
 however, gets into position for uttering the vowel a 
 little before the time, and the breath as it passes 
 through produces an h sound. In [ha] then, we 
 practically have a voiceless [a] followed by the 
 ordinary voiced [a] ; in he, a, voiceless [i] followed by 
 the ordinary [i] vowel; in who, a voiceless [u] fol- 
 lowed by the ordinary [u]. Whisper these words, 
 and also hay and hoe ; and after each, whisper the 
 [h] only. Notice that the ear detects an actual 
 difference in these h sounds. 
 
 A good deal depends on the current of breath 
 with which the [h] is uttered. In standard English 
 the current does not keep on growing in volume 
 until the vowel is sounded ; it distinctly diminishes 
 before the vowel appears. This may be graphically 
 represented by the signs [ < h > ]. 
 
 If the current of breath does not diminish in this 
 way, but starts weakly and does not reach its 
 maximum force until the vowel is reached, the ear 
 does not receive the impression of a distinct [h]. 
 This sound may be written [h < ] or simply [ < ]. 
 This (the " soft breath ") precedes initial vowels 
 in standard English ; it is the sound which in 
 cockney speech commonly represents the more 
 distinct [ < h > ] ; those who use it are said to " drop 
 their h's." Conscious of the defect, they often prefix 
 a full, even an exaggerated [h] to words which have 
 no h. It need hardly be said that carelessness in 
 the use of h is not to be tolerated. It is interesting 
 to note that no h is ever dropped in the speech of 
 Americans, except in the weak forms of he t him, for.
 
 52 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 [h] occurs in standard English only before stressed 
 vowels. Initial h before unstressed vowels is only 
 pronounced when preceded by a pause. 
 
 Notice that : 
 
 1. Written h is not pronounced in heir, honest, 
 honour, hour, and words derived from these- 
 
 It is now pronounced in standard English in herb, 
 hospital, humble, humour (a fair number of educated 
 speakers still pronounce this word without [h]). 
 
 2. It is regarded as correct to say a history, but an 
 historical novel ; a habit, but an habitual action ; many, 
 however, pronounce the h in both cases. 
 
 3. Certain words drop the h when they occur in 
 an unstressed position in the sentence ; this is a 
 regular feature of standard colloquial speech, and 
 does not convey the slightest suggestion of vulgarity, 
 It must be recognised that such words have two 
 forms, weak and strong, according as they are used 
 without or with emphasis. Compare the following 
 sentences : 
 
 Tom has been there. Has he though ? 
 torn oz bijn (bin) Seie. haez i Sou ? 
 
 ' I gave her a book. What, to her t 
 
 ai geiv or 9 buk. wot, tu he: ? 
 
 Find as many words having strong and weak 
 forms as you can by observing the ordinary speech 
 of those around you. Then compare the list given 
 in 47. 
 
 For the dropping of h in the second part of com- 
 pound words, see 47.
 
 The Vowel Sounds 53 
 
 VOWELS 
 
 We have considered the sounds produced when the 36 
 passage through which the breath passes is closed 
 (stops) or narrowed (continuants) ; we now have 
 to consider the sounds produced when the passage is 
 wide enough for the breath to pass through without 
 audibly brushing against the sides. These sounds 
 are the vowels. 
 
 "Voice," produced by the vibration of the vocal 
 chords, may be said to give body to the vowel ; the 
 shape of the passage through which the breath passes 
 determines the features that distinguish one vowel 
 from another, i.e. its quality. The shape of this 
 passage is capable of almost infinite variation, which 
 leads to a corresponding variety of resonances, and 
 these determine the quality of the vowels. 
 
 Picture to yourself the inside of the mouth, and 
 consider how the cavity may become larger or smaller, 
 according as you separate or draw together the jaws; 
 see what a difference it makes if you raise the tongue 
 at the back, or in the middle, or in the front ; bear 
 in mind that the position of the lips may also modify 
 the sound, as you will notice if, for instance, you 
 utter [u] as in who, first with the lips forming a long 
 narrow slit, and again with the lips forming a very 
 small circle (of the same size as the end of a lead 
 pencil). 
 
 Of the well-defined vowels that which is articulated 37 
 with least effort is [a]. 1 It is the earliest vowel 
 
 1 The " neutral " vowel [a], for which see 38, requiree less 
 effort.
 
 54 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 sound uttered by the baby, before it has acquired 
 control over the muscles of the tongue. It is also 
 common as an interjection. Utter it, and watch the 
 tongue with your mirror; you will see that the 
 middle of the tongue ridge is slightly raised. The 
 opening of the mouth is generally larger than in the 
 case of the other vowels. See the diagram on p. 125. 
 
 Utter the standard English sound of a in hat, 
 for which the sign is []. Say several times [a as] 
 and watch the tongue as you do so ; you will see 
 that it moves forward and is a little higher in front 
 and lower at back for [se]. The opening of the 
 mouth is often quite as large for [ae] as for [a]. 
 
 Now try to produce the sound which lies between 
 the two, with the tongue occupying an intermediate 
 position ; you will obtain the sound [a], which is the 
 northern English vowel in hat, and the vowel in the 
 French word chat ; in standard English it occurs only 
 as the first part of the diphthongs in bite [bait] and 
 b&ut [baut]. 1 This [a] is sometimes called the "clear" 
 a sound. See the diagram on p. 123. 
 
 Next, draw the tongue a little back, and you will 
 obtain a variety of [a] which is " dark " and has a 
 suggestion of the vowel in all [oil]. This sound is 
 commonly substituted for the " pure " or " neutral " 
 [a] in cockney speech, so that fast is made to sound 
 like [foist], park like [po:k]. 
 
 This " darkening " of the a sound should not be 
 permitted; in order to counteract it, it may be 
 advisable to make the class utter [a] singly and in 
 
 1 Notice the faulty tendency to raise the tongue too high in 
 uttering the first part of this diphthong ; see 40.
 
 The A Sounds 55 
 
 chorus, until they are quite clear as to the nature of 
 the required sound. 
 
 It is sometimes found that precise speakers, through 
 an excessive desire to avoid any suspicion of cockney 
 leanings in their speech, substitute [a] for [a], saying, 
 for instance, [faiSe] in place of [fa:5o] ; it is parti- 
 cularly ladies of real or would-be refinement who 
 commit this mistake. A mistake it is, like every 
 other deviation from what is generally recognised 
 by the educated. 
 
 In other cases the " clear " pronunciation of a is 
 often heard, e.g., in glass, bath, past, answer, demand, 
 grant, everlasting. Both [a] and [se] occur, particu- 
 larly in the speech of ladies. What is the American 
 pronunciation of halfl 
 
 In standard English there is practically no short 
 [a], 1 but only the long [a:], which should be neither 
 " dark " nor " clear." If we analyse it carefully, we 
 often find 2 that it is not a single vowel of uniform 
 value, only the first part being " pure " [a], the rest 
 being a faint variant ; but for practical purposes we 
 may regard it as uniform in quality, as in good 
 speech it is a pure long vowel. 
 
 There is a short sound closely akin to it (in 38. 
 position, but not in sound), which we have in but, 
 much, etc., and for which the sign is [A]. The back 
 
 1 However, there ia a pronunciation of are, intermediate 
 between the emphatic [dl] and the unstressed [a], which may 
 be described as short [a]. The a in the unstressed prefix 
 trans-, and the second a of' advantageous also have the sound 
 of [a] sometimes. 2 Especially when it is final.
 
 56 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 of the tongue is raised a little in the production of 
 this sound, and sometimes the front also ; and in con- 
 sequence there are several varieties of it. It occurs 
 only in syllables having some stress ; we have [A] 
 in teacup, unfit, until; but not in welcome, which 
 is not felt to be a compound. When it is unstressed, 
 it becomes the dull vowel [9] ; unstressed but is [bat]. 
 Observe the vulgar pronunciation of just as 
 
 The dull vowel [9] occurs very commonly in ordi- 
 nary speech ; most unstressed syllables contain this 
 vowel or the variety of [i] mentioned below. It is 
 found, for instance, in the italicised syllables of 
 vowel, variety, carpenter, ordinary. The long [9:] is 
 variously written ; we have it in fern, fir, 1 fur, word. 
 (In northern English there is some variety in the [9], 
 according to the written vowel which it represents.) 
 Notice the precise and the ordinary pronunciation of 
 such words as paternal, polite, potato. The uneducated 
 often insert [9] in such words as Henry [henori], um- 
 brella [Amb9rela] ; and sometimes they substitute [i] 
 for [e], as in miracle, wrongly pronounced [mirikj], 
 philosopher, wrongly pronounced [fi'losifa], and in 
 oracle, pigeon. 
 
 The letters e, i, and y in unstressed syllables 
 represent a very laxly articulated sound, for which 
 the sign [i] is used in this book. It varies some- 
 what in different speakers; several sounds inter- 
 mediate between the open [i] and the middle [e] may 
 
 1 Many cultivated people pronounce girl as [g9l]; but [g9'l] 
 in to be preferred. Clerk, sergeant have [as], not [9;] ; also 
 Derby, Berkshire, Hertfordshire.
 
 Front Vowels 57 
 
 be heard. This serves to explain the uncertainty of 
 spelling in such cases as ensure and insure, enquire 
 and inquire. 
 
 Sometimes the vowel disappears altogether, as in 
 business, medicine, venison. 
 
 The letter o in unstressed syllables preceding the 
 chief stress is usually [9], but in precise speech an 
 o-sound is heard in such words as conceive, official, 
 possess. After the chief stress [o] is rarely heard ; but 
 epoch [ijpok] and other uncommon words keep the [o]. 
 
 The front vowels. Utter the word he and notice 39. 
 what the tongue does. You can do so by looking into 
 your mirror, or by putting a finger just inside your 
 front upper teeth, or by whispering the sound, and 
 feeling what happens. 
 
 You mil generally find that you can analyse vowels 
 best if you whisper them, because the "voice" does not 
 interfere with your appreciation of the mouth resonances. 
 By this time your muscular consciousness (see 9) should 
 be considerably developed, and you should be conscious of 
 what your tongue, lips, etc., are doing, without having 
 recourse to a mirror. 
 
 You will find that you are raising your tongue very 
 high in front : [a] and [i] are extremes ; in the one 
 case the front of the tongue is practically as low 
 as it can be, in the other it is raised as high as pos- 
 sible. You might raise the tongue farther, but the 
 resulting sound would not be a vowel. The passage 
 would be too narrow, there would be friction, and a 
 continuant would be the result (see 34). 
 
 Utter a pure [a] and gradually raise the front of
 
 58 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 the tongue until you reach [i]. You may either keep 
 your vocal chords vibrating all the time, or you may 
 whisper the sounds ; but see that the tongue moves 
 slowly and steadily. You will realise that very many 
 sounds lie between [a] and [i] ; as they are all pro- 
 duced with the raising of the front of the tongue, 
 they are called front vowels. 
 
 We have already noticed clear [a], and have met 
 with [ae], which is the vowel sound in hat [hset]. 
 When unstressed the [se] gives place to [a] ; that 
 [Saet] becomes [Sat]. 
 
 The uneducated sometimes substitute a closer 
 sound (the middle e) for [se] ; they say [k<?b] for 
 cab, [ket$] for catch, [#enks] for thanks, [berjk] for 
 bank. The same mistake may also be heard in the 
 pronunciation of carriage, radish, January. In any, 
 many the first vowel is always []. What is it in 
 manifold 1 
 
 The sound [se] is only found short. There is 
 a kindred long sound [si], as in fair, for which 
 the tongue is rather higher. It is often called the 
 open [s], [ae] being a still more open sound. 
 
 A difference in the formation of [aej and [si] must 
 be noticed ; it is not confined to this pair of vowels. 
 In uttering a vowel sound we may adjust the articula- 
 tions so favourably that the resulting sound is clear 
 and decided; this may be called tense articulation, 
 producing tense vowels. If we do not trouble to 
 adjust the articulations carefully, if we have lax 
 articulation, we obtain lax vowels. In standard
 
 The E Sounds 59 
 
 English we do not articulate tensely, except in 
 precise and emphatic speech. (Notice how tensely 
 the French and the Germans articulate their accented 
 long vowels.) In teaching children the terms tight 
 and loose may be used. 
 
 The articulation of [ei] is relatively tense, that of 
 [ae] is lax. For [e] see the diagram on p. 123. 
 
 Notice that [e\] is always followed by a more or 
 less distinct [9] ; there is [Seie], Mary is [ms:(9)ri]. 
 Consider the value of -ear- in bear and bearing. 
 
 There is a vulgar pronunciation of / dare say as 
 [ai desei], instead of [ai deio sei]. 
 
 The diphthongs in bite and bout are pronounced by 40. 
 the uneducated in many ways not permissible in 
 standard English. The first element should be "clear" 
 [a]. A "pure" [a] would not be offensive here, 
 though it is much less common ; J but any pushing 
 forward of the tongue beyond the [a] limit, any 
 substitution of [ae] for [a], is not to be tolerated. 
 The nasalising of these diphthongs adds to the un- 
 pleasant effect. Probably the best means of counter- 
 acting these tendencies is to insist on [ai] and [au] ; 
 if the pure [a] has been practised, as was suggested 
 above, it will form a stepping-stone to the acquisition 
 of good diphthongs. 
 
 There is a common tendency to substitute [a] for 
 [ai] before r, e.g. in fire. This should be avoided. 
 
 The ending -ile in agile, docile, fertile, futile, hostile, 
 
 1 It is heard on the stage and in public speaking generally ; 
 in ordinary conversation it suggests the speech of a foreigner, 
 especially if the [a] element of the diphthong is lengthened,
 
 60 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 puerile is pronounced [ail], and not [il] as used to be 
 the case, and as is common in the United States. 
 
 41. The next sounds in the series, obtained by raising 
 the tongue a little higher than for [g], are " middle " 
 [e] and "close" [e]. The vowel in pen, get, fell is 
 usually the middle [e] ; some speakers (perhaps 
 mostly ladies) use the close [e] here, but the very 
 close [e], heard in French 4tt, is not found in standard 
 English. For ordinary purposes the sign [e] may 
 serve to designate both [e] and [e], as they are so 
 closely connected. When unstressed, the [e] gives 
 place to [9] ; thus unstressed them is [5am]. Notice 
 that 'em really goes back to the old form hem. 
 
 For [e] see the diagram on p. 122. 
 
 Observe the colloquial tendency to pronounce get 
 as [git]. Pretty is correctly pronounced [priti]. 
 
 A fairly close [e] is in standard English the first 
 element of the diphthong in laid, tame, late, etc. 
 There is not one uniform vowel sound in these 
 words; pronounce aid quite slowly, and you will 
 notice that the tongue rises before the consonant is 
 reached. The diphthong is long when a voiced 
 sound follows it, short before a voiceless sound. 
 Thus laid [leid] is longer than late [leit]. Test this 
 statement by finding other words containing the 
 diphthong, and pronouncing them to yourself or 
 getting others to pronounce them. What is the 
 quantity of the [ei] when the diphthong is final ? 
 
 In vulgar speech the first element of the diphthong 
 tends to [a], sometimes almost to [o].
 
 The I Sounds 61 
 
 Again, against are pronounced with [e] or [ei]. 
 In always [ei], [i] and [9] may be heard. 
 
 The vowel in says and said is short [sez, sed], as 
 also in ate [et]. The pronunciation of -ain as [ein] 
 in such words as fountain, captain, bargain, is a 
 pedantic affectation. 
 
 How do you pronounce villain, curtain ? 
 
 Two front vowels remain to be considered, the 42. 
 t sounds. Say bid and bead. You recognise that 
 one is longer than the other; are they otherwise 
 the same 1 ? Say bid and repeat it with the same 
 vowel drawn out ; then say bead, and repeat it with 
 the vowel shortened. If you are careful in each 
 case to change only the length, and not the quality 
 of the vowel, you will perceive that the vowels in 
 bid and in bead are different. 
 
 The vowel in bid is laxly articulated and is known as 
 the open [i]. In unstressed syllables (see 38) it is 
 often very open indeed, and when it is final, as in very, 
 the tongue is raised very little higher than for close or 
 even middle e. The sign for this sound is [e A ] or 
 [i T]. (Here A means more close, T more open.) Can 
 you hear any difference between the two vowels of lily 1 
 
 The great phonetician Ellis remarked that the 
 pronunciation of the i in six is the touchstone of 
 foreigners, especially of those belonging to the 
 Romance nations ; they usually articulate it too 
 tensely. Ask a Frenchman to say fini, and compare 
 his sounds with those in finny.
 
 62 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Notice the frequent cockney pronunciation of -y as 
 [ei], e.g., in windy [windi]. 
 
 Often [a] is substituted for this sound, as in unity, 
 ability, pronounced [juwnoti, e'biloti], also in April, 
 visible ; but this is avoided by some speakers. 
 
 The [i] in the diphthongs [ai] and [oi], as in buy, 
 boy, is very low. 
 
 In bead we have not a single vowel, but a kind of 
 diphthong. If you utter it slowly, you will find 
 that the tongue does not remain in a uniform 
 position, but rises a little towards the end, the 
 sound becoming closer. It may begin close, in 
 which case the further rising reduces the passage so 
 much that we have [j] ; bead in this case is [bijd]. 
 Or the vowel may begin fairly open and rise to 
 the close position ; then bead is [biid]. 1 When the 
 diphthong is followed by a voiceless sound, it is 
 shortened; beat [bijt] [blit] is shorter than bead. 
 Compare also seed, seat, sit; feed, feet, Jit. Careful 
 speakers pronounce been like bean, not like bin ; most 
 speakers, however, use the shortened form in 
 ordinary speech. 
 
 For [i] see the diagram on p. 122. 
 
 In dear, fear, etc., we have a rather open vowel, of 
 varying length, followed by [o] ; we may write [dig], but 
 strictly it is [dio, di'9] and sometimes [duo]. Before 
 [r], as in dearest, the [9] becomes faint or disappears. 
 Standard English contains no [i] as close as the French 
 [i] and the German [i:]. Convince yourself of this 
 by asking foreigners to pronounce words containing 
 these sounds, in their own language or in English. 
 
 1 The first part is still more open in a common vulgar pro- 
 nunciation of tea, please.
 
 Front Vowels 63 
 
 Notice the frequent pronunciation of ear, year, as 
 [J9i], and that of dear as [djoi]. 
 
 We are now able to give the whole series of vowels 
 from [i] to [a] occurring in standard English. 
 
 close i (diagram, p. 122) 
 
 \ 
 
 open i 
 
 \ 
 
 close e (diagram, p. 122) 
 
 V 
 
 middle e 
 
 \ 
 
 open e (diagram, p. 123) 
 v 
 
 more open ae 
 
 \ 
 
 clear a (diagram, p. 123) 
 
 \ 
 
 a (diagram, p. 125) 
 
 It will be good practice for you to utter this series 
 of sounds, from [a] to [i] and vice versa, and long as 
 well as short. 
 
 The raising of the tongue for the [i] sounds is best 
 seen if the upper and lower teeth are kept well apart. 
 
 The back vowels. When the front vowels have 43. 
 been carefully differentiated, the back vowels will 
 be found to present little difficulty. Owing to the
 
 64 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 fact that the back of the tongue does not admit of 
 so much variety of movement as the front of the 
 tongue, the number of sounds in the series [a] to [u] 
 is smaller than in the series [a] to [i]. 
 
 You will see that there is some resemblance between 
 the sounds of the two series. Thus we had a lax [ae] 
 and a tense [si] in the front vowels ; and there are 
 corresponding open o sounds when the tongue is 
 raised a little at the back. 
 
 The articulation of these sounds is often unsatis- 
 factory owing to the lower jaw not being moved 
 down sufficiently, the teeth being hardly separated. 
 The back vowels gain in quality (cp. 36) if they are 
 produced with lip rounding. The opening is large in 
 the case of the sounds in which the tongue is only 
 slightly raised; as it rises higher, the opening of the 
 lips grows smaller, until for [u] it is only the size of 
 the end of an ordinary lead pencil. This lip rounding 
 is rare with southern English speakers who have not 
 had special voice training ; they usually bring together 
 or separate the lips without rounding. 
 
 The short vowel sound in not, what, etc., is a laxly 
 articulated, open [o], much more open than any o in 
 French or German, with the front of the tongue even 
 lower than for [a]. It is lengthened a little before 
 a voiced final consonant, as in dog [dog]; but it 
 should never be made quite long. The pronunciation 
 [gold] for God is detestable. Before ss [s], st [st], 
 sp [sp], th [&], and /, ff, or ph [f], the long sound is 
 occasionally heard. Determine whether in the follow- 
 ing words you use the long or the short sound : loss,
 
 Back Vowels 65 
 
 lost, froth, cross, cough, soft, coffee, off, officer, cloth, moss, 
 gospel. Extend the inquiry to your friends. 
 
 When the short [o] is in an unstressed syllable it 
 either disappears entirely (as in lesson, where the [n] is 
 syllabic, see 24), or it may become [9], as in minor 
 [maina], or it may become the sound [6], which will 
 be explained in 44. Thus October is [ok'touba] or 
 [ok'touba] ; connect is [ko'nekt] only in precise speech, 
 but usually [ko'nekt] or [ko'nekt]. 
 
 The long [o] in law, laud, lord is rather tensely 
 articulated, certainly not so laxly as the short [o]. 1 
 Before voiceless sounds the vowel is somewhat 
 shortened, as in short (compare shawl and shot). It 
 is in standard English the only sound of stressed or 
 (or oar) before a consonant; 2 there is no difference 
 in sound between laud and lord, fought and fort, stalk 
 and stork, cawed and cord. It is true that some 
 speakers try to make a distinction. The long [01] is 
 not a simple long vowel, but really a diphthong 
 of which the second element is [o] 3 ; and in words 
 containing a written r, these precise speakers some- 
 what lengthen the [9] element. Thus they will say 
 [lo: e d] for laud, and [lo:9d] for lord. It may be added 
 that they generally do so only if the distinction has 
 been spoken about, and they have expressed their 
 firm belief in its existence; then, for a while, the 
 [0:9] may be heard. A simple test, which the student 
 should apply to his friends, is that of asking them 
 
 1 For [o;] see the diagram on p. 125. 
 8 Exceptions are borrow, etc., work, attorney, etc. 
 3 To pronounce this [a] distinctly in such words as law, saw, 
 is a mistake. 

 
 66 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 to write down the word he utters. If he says [foit], 
 meaning fought, most people will write down fort, 
 because the sound gives them no guidance, and the 
 substantive is likely to occur to them first. Similarly, 
 if he says [lo:d], meaning laud, they will write down 
 lord. 1 
 
 The word lore, which hardly occurs in ordinary 
 speech, is often pronounced [loia] in order to dis- 
 tinguish it from law, the [o] sound being much more 
 distinct than in law, more, bore, etc. Consider the 
 value of -ore- in more water, and in more ink. 
 
 There is much variation in the pronunciation of 
 the words daunt, flaunt, gaunt, gauntlet, haunch, haunt, 
 jaundice, jaunt, launch, laundry, paunch, saunter, staunch, 
 taunt, vaunt. The general tendency seems to be in 
 favour of [o:], not [ai]. 
 
 When unstressed, the sound is often shortened to 
 [o] or [6] 2 ; thus autumnal becomes [o'tAmnol] or 
 [o'tAmnol] ; or when stressed is [o:], unstressed [o] or 
 [6] or [el. 
 
 A variety of the open [o], not equally open in all 
 speakers of standard English, is the first element in 
 the diphthong found in boy [boi]. The pronunciation 
 [boi 2 ] is also heard. 
 
 1 It is absurd to speak of fort and caught, morn and damn as 
 " cockney " rimes ; they are perfectly good rimes in standard 
 English ; and a southern Englishman only shows ignorance by 
 speaking of them as bad. Considering, however, that standard 
 English is by no means universal, the would-be poet is advised 
 to avoid these rimes. 
 
 a For [o] see the note on p. 68.
 
 The O Sounds 67 
 
 In vulgar speech [oi] sometimes becomes [ai] ; thus 
 boil is pronounced [bail]. Only in choir (also written 
 quire) is this pronunciation current in good speech. 
 
 Utter the sound usually called " long o" and found 44. 
 in bode, boat, etc, ; you will observe that the sound is 
 not uniform, as the tongue rises a little before the 
 consonant is reached. 1 Indeed the action of the 
 tongue is quite similar to what we noticed in the 
 case of [ei] in 41 ; and also to [i:j] or [ni] in 42, 
 where, however, it is less obvious to the ear. The 
 diphthongal character of the " long o " is so essential, 
 that when a stranger merely says [oinoi] for oh no / 
 we at once recognise that he is not English. 
 
 The first element of this diphthong is a middle [o], 
 sometimes a fairly close [o] ; in standard English the 
 [o] is never so close as in French [o] or in German 
 [o:]. 2 (Watch foreigners when theyutter these sounds; 
 notice how tensely they articulate, and how much 
 more they round their lips than we do.) In cockney 
 speech the first element is pronounced with the 
 tongue lower and raised in front. The second is a 
 M sound ; place a finger against the interval between 
 the upper and lower teeth, and notice how they are 
 brought a little closer towards the end of the diph- 
 thong. Observe also the action of the lips. The 
 diphthong is longer before voiced than before 
 voiceless continuants ; verify this statement by say- 
 
 1 In the case of this diphthong as well as in that in name, 
 pail, etc. (see 41), untrained singers usually betray themselves 
 by passing too soon to the second part of the diphthong. 
 
 8 For [o] see the diagram on p. 124.
 
 68 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 ing, or getting others to say, bode and boat, goad and 
 goat, robe and rope, brogue and broke, 
 
 In syllables that are weakly stressed, the first 
 part of the diphthong becomes [o], [6] l or even [o], 
 the second part disappearing altogether. Thus fellow 
 is in precise speech [feloiu], but in ordinary speech 
 [felo, felo], and in careless (but not necessarily 
 vulgar) speech [felo]. 2 In " ladies' speech " the [6u] 
 occurs even in stressed syllables, and may then be 
 confidently described as a sign of affectation. 
 
 The prefix pro-, when stressed, is generally pro- 
 nounced [prou]. In process and progress [pro] is 
 sometimes heard; in the substantives project and 
 produce it is the rule. 
 
 45. The u sounds are clearly parallel to the i sounds. 
 In both cases we have a laxly articulated short sound, 
 and a diphthong in which the tongue rises towards 
 the end. 
 
 The short sound in would, look, etc., is open, and 
 the sign for it is [u]. Do you notice any difference 
 in the length of the vowel sound in the words should 
 and put, pull and cook t Observe others, if you are 
 uncertain in your own case. (You will sometimes 
 find it hard to determine what is your natural, in- 
 stinctive way of pronouncing a word, when once 
 
 1 [6] is [o] pronounced with the whole body of the tongue 
 more forward than usual. To the ear it gives an effect like 
 that of French eu or German 6 ; but for these sounds the lips 
 are rounded. 
 
 2 The pronunciations [wind9, pita] for window, pillow are, 
 however, avoided by educated speakers.
 
 The U Sounds 69 
 
 you have grown accustomed to watching your own 
 speech.) 
 
 When this [u] is unstressed it becomes [ii] 1 or [9], 
 or is dropped altogether. Thus helpful becomes 
 [helpful, helpfel], and should becomes [$iid, Jad, 
 Jd, $t]. 
 
 The vowel sound in who is not uniform. (See 
 what was said about the corresponding i sound in 
 42). It may begin as close [u] 2 , in which case the 
 further rising towards the end reduces the passage 
 so much that we have [w] ; who in this case is 
 [huiw]. Or the vowel may begin fairly open and 
 rise to the close position; then who is [hum]. 
 When the diphthong is followed by a voiceless 
 sound, it is somewhat shortened; hoot is [huwt] 
 or [huut] ; compare root with rude. A half-long 
 vowel is now generally heard in room ; some speakers 
 make it quite short. 
 
 In unstressed syllables the first element is 
 shortened and often becomes [ii]; thus July is 
 [dsiiw'lai]. 
 
 Before [9] the diphthong loses its second element ; 
 cruel is [krual]. When the [o] represents a written 
 r, the first element often changes to a vowel with 
 lower tongue position. Thus poor is pronounced 
 [pU9, poa], and some educated speakers of southern 
 English even say [po:], riming with door, floor ; but 
 
 1 [ii] is [u] pronounced with the whole body of the tongue 
 more forward than usual To the ear it gives an effect like 
 that of French u or German ii ; but for these sounds the lips 
 are rounded. 
 
 a For [a] see the diagram on p. 124.
 
 yo The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 this can hardly be considered standard English. 
 Notice also the various pronunciations of your, sure. 
 Before spoken [r], as in poorest, enduring, the [9] 
 becomes very faint or disappears. 
 
 The so-called " long u " in such words as due, dew, 
 dude consists of three parts. The second and third 
 are the vowel sounds in do, which have just been 
 discussed ; the first is [j], which after voiceless sounds 
 tends to become the voiceless [9] and even [J], as 
 was mentioned in 34. Thus tune is in ordinary 
 speech [tjuwn], and often [t9uwn] ; in careless speech 
 it may even become [tjuwn]. 
 
 The -ture in nature, creature, forfeiture, etc., is 
 generally pronounced [tje] l ; the pronunciation [tjo] 
 or [tjii] sounds affected in ordinary speech. Venture 
 is usually [ventje], sometimes [venjo], [ventjo], or 
 [ventjii]. Censure is always [senjo], 
 
 In allude, *allusion, lute, lucent, luminous, *flute, 
 salute, *absolute, *absolution, dissolute, *dissolution, 
 * superstition, *Susan both [uw] and [juw] may be 
 heard ; [uw] is probably more common in the words 
 marked with an asterisk. Precise speakers prefer 
 [juw] in all the words given. In assume, presume 
 [juw] is regularly heard. As a rule [j] is not 
 inserted after [r], [J], [3], or consonant plus [1]. 
 
 Notice the pronunciation of casual [ksesual] 
 or [kaeswel], sensual [senjuol], usual [juwsual] or 
 ], visual [vizjugl]. Educate is [edjukeit] or 
 ; careful speakers prefer the former. 
 
 As the " long u " begins with a consonantal sound 
 1 See also 29.
 
 Back Vowels 71 
 
 it is correct to say a uniform, a university, a union, 
 a European, a eulogy. To write an before such words 
 is a gross mistake. 
 
 We find the [u] element changed in unstressed 
 syllables ; thus value becomes [vaeljti], regular becomes 
 [regjiila, regjola], and, very colloquially, [regie]. 
 
 We are now able to give the whole series of 
 vowels from [u] to [a] occurring in standard English : 
 
 ii close u (diagram, 
 
 / P- 124) 
 
 open u 
 
 / 
 close o (diagram, p. 124) 
 
 / 
 5 middle o 
 
 / 
 open o (diagram, p. 125) 
 
 / 
 dark a 
 
 Practise this series, as was suggested in 42, in 
 connection with the [i] to [a] series.
 
 THE SOUNDS IN CONNECTED SPEECH 
 
 46. Let us take a familiar nursery rime as an 
 example of simple conversational English; it will 
 serve to give us some idea of the problems which 
 have to be considered when we deal with the sounds 
 of connected speech. This is the rime : 
 
 sir) 9 SOT) av sikspgns | e pokit ful 9v rai | fo:r on 
 tM.eo.ti blaekbgidzz | beikt in 9 pai | wen 59 pai waz 
 oupnd | 89 bgjdzz bi'gaen t9 sir) | wozn(t) Sset 9 
 deinti dij | t9 set bi'fo: 89 kit). 
 
 47. Pedantically precise speech is as much out of 
 place in the nursery as vulgar speech ; therefore we 
 do not say, sirj ei SOTJ ov siksp^ns. 
 
 Notice that the following words have strong and 
 weak forms, a weak form being regularly used when 
 they are not stressed : 
 
 weak strong 
 
 a, an . 
 the . 
 
 has 
 have . . 
 had . 
 is 
 are 
 
 9, 9n 
 Sa (befon 
 Si (before 
 haz, 1 az, 
 hav, 1 av, 
 had, 1 9d, 
 iz, z, s 
 a(r), e(r) 
 
 
 
 r 
 we:a(r) 
 
 ; consonants) 
 vowels) 
 z 
 
 V 
 
 d 
 
 . haez 
 . haev 
 . haed 
 . i'z 
 . a:9, a: 
 
 were . 
 cau 
 shall . 
 will . 
 could 
 should 
 
 W9(r) 
 k9n, kn . 
 
 /9l, 9l, 1 . 
 91,1 . . . 
 
 kad. 
 Jad.Jd.Jt, d . . 
 
 wa:(r), 
 . keen 
 . Jffil 
 . wil 
 . kud 
 . Jud 
 
 1 These forms are found, for instance, at the beginning of 
 questions ; thus have you been there ? is [hav ju bijn Sea]. 
 They are also found after vowels, e.g., I had done so, [ai had 
 din sou]. 
 72
 
 Strong and Weak Forms 
 
 73 
 
 weak strong 
 
 would 
 
 wad, ad, d 
 
 
 
 wud 
 
 must 
 
 
 mas(t) 
 
 
 
 
 mAst 
 
 do 
 
 
 du . 
 
 
 
 
 duw 
 
 does 
 
 
 daz, dz 
 
 
 
 
 dAZ 
 
 he 
 
 
 hi/i 
 
 
 
 
 *j 
 
 she 
 her 
 
 
 Mri, 1 <>(i 
 
 ) 
 
 
 
 Jij 
 na:(r) 
 
 him 
 
 
 im . 
 
 
 
 
 him 
 
 his 
 
 
 IZ . 
 
 
 
 
 hiz 
 
 we 
 
 
 wi . 
 
 
 
 
 wij 
 
 us 
 
 
 as . 
 
 
 
 
 AS 
 
 you 
 
 
 ju, ja 
 
 
 
 
 juw 
 
 them 
 
 
 Sam, (am) 
 
 
 
 Gem 
 
 your 
 
 
 jii(r), jo(r), ja(r 
 
 
 
 ju:a(r) 
 
 of 
 
 
 9V . 
 
 
 
 ov 
 
 from 
 
 
 from, frm 
 
 
 
 from 
 
 to 
 
 
 ta (before consc 
 
 riant 
 
 ) 
 
 tu 
 
 for 
 
 
 fa(r), fr . 
 
 
 
 fo(r) 
 
 and 
 
 
 and, nd, an, n 
 
 
 
 send 
 
 but 
 
 
 bat . 
 
 
 
 bAt 
 
 (n)or 
 
 
 (n)o(r), (n)e(r) 
 
 
 
 (n)o;(r) 
 
 some 
 
 
 sam, sm . 
 
 
 
 8Am 
 
 The use of strong forms for weak ones in ordinary 
 conversation is undoubtedly a fault, and should be 
 avoided ; much of the unnatural reading aloud in our 
 schools is due to this cause. Foreigners who have 
 lived long in England often fail in this respect when 
 they have overcome almost all other difficulties. It 
 is also not uncommon in the speech of colonials. 
 
 Notice [pens], but [sikspans]. 
 
 A word which forms the second part of a com- 
 pound often changes in pronunciation, a weaker form 
 being substituted. Compare penny and halfpenny, 
 board and cupboard, come and welcome, day and yester- 
 day, ways and always, fast and breakfast, mouth and 
 Portsmouth, land and England, ford and Oxford. 
 
 The first letter of the second part is sometimes 
 1 See the note on p. 72.
 
 74 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 dropped ; thus the w in housewife (case for needles, 
 etc.) [hAzif], Greenwich, Harwich, Woolwich, Norwich, 
 Keswick, Warwick is no longer pronounced, nor the 
 h in shepherd, forehead, Clapham, Sydenham, and in 
 many words beginning with ex-, e.g., exhale?- exhaust, 
 exhibit, exhilarate, exhort. The dropping of h in 
 neighbourhood is vulgar. 
 
 Sometimes there is a change in the first part of a 
 compound word. Compare half and halfpenny, three 
 and threepence, fore and forehead, break and breakfast. 
 
 The stress of compounds like sixpence is discussed 
 below (" blackbirds "). 
 
 48. In pocket the second vowel is not middle [], but a 
 very laxly articulated variety of [i], with the tongue 
 only a little higher than for close [e] ; see 38. In 
 the speech of elocutionists the middle [] often ap- 
 pears here. They tell of the [garden ov ijd<?n], 
 just as they succeed in pronouncing [devil] instead 
 of [devol], thus avoiding all offence; for [devel] is 
 said by common people, but [devil] only by the 
 polite. 
 
 Notice that in four-and-twenty the r is pronounced, 
 as it comes between vowels ; but it is mute in before 
 the King, where it comes before a consonant, as in 
 the word forth. See 32. 
 
 49. In and the d is dropped. Here it might be a case 
 of assimilation ; that is to say the t which imme- 
 
 1 When contrasted with inhale, this word is also pro- 
 nounced [eksheii].
 
 Assimilation 75 
 
 diately follows, and which is closely akin to it, might 
 have changed it to [t], and the two would have 
 fallen together. 
 
 In sit down, do you utter both [t] and [d]1 If 
 you speak naturally, you probably say [sidaun] or 
 [sitaun]. What is your pronunciation of hold tight, 
 less zeal f 
 
 In cupboard none but the absurdly precise pro- 
 nounce the [p]. 
 
 Assimilation of consonants is common in English, 
 and the more colloquial the speech is, the more 
 assimilation you are likely to find. Assimilation 
 reduces the number of movements which have to be 
 made, and thus represents a saving of trouble ; and 
 in colloquial speech we incline to take as little 
 trouble as possible. 
 
 The general rule is, that when two sounds come 
 together, those movements of articulation which are 
 common to both are executed once only. Thus in 
 don't, 1 the stopping of the passage for [n] also does 
 duty for [t] ; it is the opening of the passage which 
 constitutes the ft]. In stamp the closure for fm] 
 also does duty for fp]. In witness the closure for ft] 
 remains for fn], which merely requires the opening 
 of the nose-passage and vibration of the vocal chords. 
 
 Utter the word dean, and observe whether you 
 produce the fk] in the same way as in keen ; probably 
 you will find that for the fk] of dean you open the 
 
 1 The change in the quality of the vowel ia interesting ; 
 possibly don't preserves the old pronunciation of the vowel 
 in do.
 
 76 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 closure only at the sides, leaving the centre of the 
 tongue in contact, ready for the production of [1]. 
 See whether anything similar happens when you say 
 the word atlas. 
 
 Sometimes a voiced sound makes a neighbouring 
 sound voiced, or a voiceless sound makes a neighbour- 
 ing sound voiceless. Examples in the nursery rime 
 are [baidzz] and [beikt]; find similar examples of 
 the s of the plural J and the ed of the past participle, 
 and determine in each case whether the final sound 
 is voiced or voiceless. Try to find pairs like lagged 
 and lacked, bids and bits. 
 
 Utter the words apt, act, and notice carefully 
 when you make the closure for [t] ; probably it is 
 earlier than you would have thought. Do you make 
 the [n] closure in open before or after the [p] 
 opening 1 
 
 In compound words, and in neighbouring words 
 which belong closely together, assimilation is com- 
 mon. When one word ends in a voiceless sound and 
 the other begins with a voiced sound, or vice versa, it 
 is usually the second which prevails. Observe 
 cupboard [kAbad], raspberry [raizbari], blackguard 
 [blaegaid], bedtime [betaim], hold tight [houltaitj. 
 
 Consider the pronunciation of observe, obstacle, 
 gooseberry, absolve, absolute. 
 
 In careless speech [hoiju] is heard for [ho:sju], 
 [laedbru grouv] does duty for Ladbroke Grove, and 
 [hasijn] for has seen. Is she is regularly pronounced 
 [i3 Ji], or [iji] in quick conversation. 
 
 The nasals frequently change to suit the place of 
 
 1 Strictly speaking the s of the plural was always voiced in the 
 older language, and it is in cats, tips that we have assimilation.
 
 Assimilation 77 
 
 articulation of the following sound, as in congress 
 [korjgres], congregation [korjgri'gei$9n], anchor, concave, 
 conclusion, concowrse, concrete, syncope, tranquil, unctuous, 
 pincushion [pirjku$9n], infamous [imfomos], Holland 
 Park [holompaik] ; or of the preceding sound, as in 
 second single [sekrjsirjgal], captain [kaepm], open the 
 door [oupm 59 do:], cup and saucer [kApmso:s9J. 
 The examples from pincushion onwards occur only 
 in distinctly careless speech. 
 
 The change of [s] to [z] in house, houses [haus, 
 hauziz], shows a different kind of assimilation. 
 
 The dropping of din fow-and-twenty might also be 50, 
 due to the desire to simplify a group of consonants ; 
 and this will seem the more likely explanation if we 
 notice that the d of and is generally dropped before 
 a consonant, but kept before a vowel. Compare you 
 and Ida, bread and butter if you drop the d in the first 
 instance, or utter it in the second, you are equally 
 wrong. Such simplifying is fairly common in educated 
 speech ; most people drop the t in often, and the p in 
 empty (where it has no etymological justification), and 
 jumped ; in colloquial speech don't know is [dAnou]. 
 In quite careless speech you may notice consonants 
 dropped in such words as acts, insects, but this is 
 clearly a licence which cannot be permitted in the 
 class-room. Indeed these groups of consonants should 
 be articulated with great care. Nothing so quickly 
 gives an effect of slovenly speech as the slurring of 
 consonants, where it is not generally adopted. 
 
 In ordinary speech numerous instances occur of
 
 78 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 this tendency to simplify groups of consonants, d 
 and / being the sounds most frequently dropped. 
 
 d is not pronounced in handkerchief [haer)kat$if], 
 handsome [hsensom], Windsor [winza], Cruildford 
 [gilfa'd], Ingoldsby[ir)gQ\zbi], ) Wednesday [wenzdi] 1 
 The d in friends, grandfather is also often 
 dropped ; and, in very careless speech, the d of 
 such words as old, cold, child, thousand, kindness, 
 landlord. 
 
 t is not pronounced in christen [krisan], glisten 
 [glisan], hasten [heisan], listen [lisan], moisten 
 [moisan], apostle [o'posal], bustle [bAsal], castle 
 [ka:sal], epistle [i'pisal], gristle [grisal], hustk 
 [hAsal], ostler [osla], pestle [pesal], rustle [FASO!], 
 thistle [0isol], trestle [tresol], whistle [wisol], 
 wrestle [resol], *Westbourne [wesban], * West- 
 minster [wesminste], Christmas [krismas], chestnut 
 [tjesnot], coastguard [kousgaid], often [oifan], 
 soften [so: fen], mortgage [moigids], * directly 
 [di'rekli], * 'exactly [i'gzsekli], postpone [pous'poun], 
 waistcoat [weiskot, wesket], bankruptcy [baegk- 
 repsi]. 
 
 In very careless speech the t of such words as 
 slept, swept, wept is dropped; also in acts, facts, 
 insects, sects. 
 
 Notice the French rosbif, Ufteck. 
 
 th is not pronounced in asthma [aesme], isthmus 
 [ismas] and (carelessly) in depths. 
 
 p is not pronounced in empty [emti], jumped 
 
 1 The first d is sometimes heard in the pronunciation of this 
 word.
 
 Consonant Groups Simplified 79 
 
 tempt [temt], attempt [e'temt], contempt 
 [kan'temt], peremptory [per'emtari], symptom 
 [simtem], 1 sapphire [saefaia], Sappho [ssefou]. 
 c is not pronounced in corpuscle [koi'pAsol], miiscle 
 [niAsal], victuals [vitlz], indict [in'dait]. 2 
 
 So many educated speakers say [a:st] for asked, 
 that this pronunciation must be regarded as no longer 
 incorrect. 
 
 What is the usual pronunciation of next station ? 
 
 In careful speech the simplifications marked with 
 an asterisk are avoided, as also such pronunciations 
 as [ail dsAssij] for I'll just see, [difikl kwestjnz] for 
 difficult questions. The omission of [k] in the pro- 
 nunciation of arctic and antarctic and of [g] in recognise 
 is generally regarded as faulty. 
 
 Unfamiliar groups of consonants at the beginning 
 of words are simplified by dropping the first sound ; 
 notice the simplification of 
 
 bd in bdellium; 
 
 chth in chthonian; 
 
 gn in gnaw, gneiss, gnome, gnostic ; 
 
 gz (x) in Xerxes [zo:ksijz], Xenophon ; 
 
 kn in knee, knit, know, etc. ; 
 
 mn in mnemonic; 
 
 phth in phthisis [0aisis], also [taisis] ; 
 
 1 It should, however, be noted that in passing from [m] to 
 [t] there is a transitional sound or "glide" which has the 
 value of a faint [p]. 
 
 2 The c in victuals and indict has no etymological justifica- 
 tion, as may be seen from the middle English spelling (mtaille, 
 endtte).
 
 So The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 pn in pneumatic, pneumonia ; 
 
 ps in psalm, pseudo-, Psyche, psychic [saikik], 
 
 psychology, etc. ; 
 pi in ptarmigan, Ptolemy ; 
 sw becomes s in sword (observe also answer) ; 
 wr in wreck, write, etc. 
 
 Similarly, an unfamiliar group at the end of a 
 word is simplified, usually by dropping the last 
 sound ; notice 
 
 In in kiln (some do not drop this n) ; 
 
 mb in bomb, catacomb, climb, comb, dumb, hecatomb, 
 
 lamb, limb, plumber, succumb, tomb ; 
 mn in autumn, column, condemn, contemn, hymn, 
 
 limn, solemn. 
 
 (The opposite tendency is found in vulgar speech, 
 where [vaimint] is said for vermin, [draund] for 
 drown.) 
 
 Observe drachm [drsem], yacht [jot], impugn 
 [im'pjuwn], physiognomy [fizi'onomi], diaphragm 
 [daiofraem], paradigm [paeradaim], phlegm [flem], 
 sign [sain], feign, reign, foreign, benign. 
 
 51. In [rai] we have a diphthong. It is worth noting 
 that the English diphthongs [ai, au, oi, ei, ou], etc., 
 all have the stress on the former element 
 
 Blackbirds and Hack birds : in the spelling we dis- 
 tinguish these by writing the first as one word, the 
 second as two. What difference is there in the 
 sounds t If you listen carefully, you will find that 
 the second vowel in the compound word is just a
 
 Stress of the Compound Word 81 
 
 little shorter than in birds standing alone, and that 
 in blackbirds the opening of the closure for [k] is not 
 heard, while in black birds it may be audible. The 
 chief difference, however, lies in the stress of the 
 compound word. Blackbirds is an example of 
 descending stress [ > ], black birds is pronounced with 
 level stress [ = ], perhaps with ascending stress [ < ]. 
 Take the following compound words or groups, 
 and classify them according to their stress : 
 
 Sixpence, rainbow, good morning, looking glass, moon- 
 shine, bravo ! twenty-four, twenty-four men, High Street, 
 London Road, waterspout, right of way, undo, Mr Jones, 
 Park Lane, season ticket, sunflower, Hongkong, steel pen, 
 Chinese, hallo ! bill of fare, earthquake, sea wall, Bond 
 Street, Grosvenor Square, fourteen, Hyde Park. 
 
 Try to deduce some rules from these examples. 
 It has been said that level stress contrasts, and 
 uneven stress unites the ideas expressed by the com- 
 pound words ; do you agree with this 1 
 
 Notice what difficulty our level stress gives to the 
 German ; he will utter steel pen, Hyde Park, etc., 
 with descending stress. Do so yourself, and observe 
 how strange it sounds. 
 Notice the difference in stress of 
 Substantive or Adjective Verb 
 
 absent to absent 
 
 accent to accent 
 
 consort to consort 
 
 converse to converse 
 
 desert to desert 
 
 prefix to prefix 
 
 present to present
 
 82 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Substantive Verb 
 
 proceeds to proceed 
 
 produce to produce 
 
 project to project 
 
 protest to protest 
 
 rebel to rebel 
 
 record to record 
 
 refuse to refuse 
 
 Substantive Adjective 
 
 compact compact 
 
 instinct instinct 
 
 minute minute 
 
 Some words of two syllables have the stress on 
 the first or the second syllable according to their 
 place in the sentence. Consider the accent of the 
 italicised words in the following sentences : They 
 sat outside. An outside passenger. Among the 
 Chinese. A Chinese lantern. His age is fifteen. I 
 have fifteen shillings. Some fell by the wayside. A 
 wayside inn. Try to find a rule governing these 
 cases. 
 
 The stresses in a sentence are considered in 54. 
 
 When would be pronounced as voiceless [M] by 
 some, hardly by a southern English nurse saying 
 the rime ( 46). Notice how the tongue movesforward 
 as the [n] passes over into the [8] in when the. 
 
 Was is in the weak form because it is quite 
 unstressed ; but notice : [ws:9 ju riiali 5e:9 ? jes, ai 
 woz].
 
 Syllables 83 
 
 In opened, observe carefully how the consonants 52. 
 are articulated, and put their action down in 
 writing. 
 
 How many syllables are there in opened, bubbles, 
 chasms, mittens 1 
 
 Probably you have no difficulty in understanding 
 and answering this question, but if asked to describe 
 a syllable you might hesitate, for it is not easy. 
 
 Utter [a] and then [t]; which carries farther, 
 which has greater fulness of sound or sonority ? If 
 you wished to attract the attention of some one, and 
 were only allowed to utter one of these two sounds, 
 you would prefer [a] without hesitation. Why is [a] 
 more sonorous than [t]? Because, whereas [t] is 
 only a brief noise, in [a] the current of breath is 
 rendered musical by the vibration of the vocal 
 chords, and has a free passage through the wide 
 open mouth. Indeed [a] is the most sonorous of all 
 sounds. It is clear that voiced sounds are more 
 sonorous than voiceless, vowels than consonants, 
 continuants than stops. The liquids and nasals 
 stand between vowels and consonants in point of 
 sonority ; they are voiced and with either a fair pas- 
 sage through the mouth or a free passage through 
 the nose. A good deal naturally depends on the 
 force and the pitch of the sounds ; a whispered [a] 
 may not carry so far as a forcible [sj. 
 
 Now if a sound with good carrying power has for 
 its neighbours sounds that do not carry far, it helps 
 them to be heard ; notice how such weakly sonorous 
 sounds as [t] or [p] occurring in the words of a song 
 are quite clearly heard at the other end of a large
 
 84 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 concert hall. They are carried along by the full sound- 
 ing vowels, as the greater volume of air employed 
 causes more pressure, and hence a more forcible 
 and louder release. It is the sounds of greater 
 sonority that carry the syllable, which term is also 
 applied to a vowel standing alone, or beside other 
 vowels of practically equal sonority. In English, 
 the syllable is generally carried by vowels; some- 
 times also by liquids and nasals, which are then 
 called syllabic. 1 
 
 Rules for dividing words into syllables are given 
 in most grammars, and are required for writing and 
 printing ; but they do not always represent the 
 actual state of things. When a consonant comes 
 between two vowels, it really belongs to both 
 syllables. In leaving we pronounce neither lea-ving 
 nor leav-ing. 
 
 From the phonetic point of view we may think of 
 words and groups of words as consisting of a series 
 of sounds of varying sonority. We may indicate 
 the sonority very roughly by lines; if we connect 
 their top ends, we shall obtain a curve. Thus the 
 word sonority might be represented as follows (no 
 attempt is here made at scientific accuracy). 
 
 sonority 
 
 1 For syllabic m see 22 ; for syllabic n, 24 ; for syllabic
 
 Stress of the Sentence 85 
 
 The curves will represent a series of waves ; and 
 each of these waves is a syllable. 
 
 Began : notice the quality of the vowel in the 
 first, unstressed syllable of this word. It is higher 
 than any real sound, and is very laxly articulated. 
 It occurs also in before, enough, inquire; find other 
 words in which it occurs. Is it the same sound as 
 the second vowel in lily 1 
 
 To sing: read the sixth b'ne quite naturally and 
 see whether you say [to] or [tu] ; get friends to read 
 it, and find out what they say. 
 
 When you wish to ascertain how a friend pronounces 
 some particular sound, do not tell him what this sound is, 
 or he may pronounce it not naturally, but in what he 
 believes, or has been told, is " the correct pronunciation." 
 
 Try to ascertain the pronunciation of these sen- 
 tences: What are you going to do to-morrow morn- 
 ing 1 Tm going to answer letters. 
 
 Wasn't that: was is here in the strong form ( 47); 
 are weak forms found at the beginning of a sen- 
 tence ? Notice the syllabic [n] ; also the simpli- 
 fication of the group of consonants by the omission 
 of [t]. What is the weak form of that ? When is it 
 used? 
 
 The remaining words present nothing of special 
 interest. 
 
 We may now consider the stress of the sentence. 53. 
 For this purpose it is sufficient to consider the most 
 sonorous part of each syllable, generally speaking a 
 vowel. We may distinguish stress and absence of
 
 86 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 stress, which we can designate by the signs / and x ; 
 extra strong stress will be //, and secondary stress \ . 
 The first line of Sing a Song of Sixpence, will then 
 run: 
 
 // x / x // \ 
 
 Here " sing " and " six " have the strongest stress ; 
 "song" has ordinary stress. 
 
 Secondary stress is given to that syllable of a 
 
 word which is stressed, but has not the chief stress ; 
 
 thus the stresses in energetic may be written \ x / x . 
 
 The nursery rhyme then shows the following 
 
 stresses : 
 
 // x / x // \ 
 x II * I * II 
 II x \ x // \ 
 // \ x // 
 // x / x // \ 
 x // x / x // 
 // x / x // x / 
 
 X // X / X // 
 
 Perhaps you do not read the poem in this way ; 
 mark the stresses for yourself, without looking at 
 the book. 
 
 Accept no statements without verifying them. 
 
 53A. It will have struck you that you have really been 
 scanning the poem. Hitherto you may have done 
 it by means of the signs - and w , taken from 
 Latin prosody, where they stand for "long" and 
 " short." Consider the question which of these two 
 systems of scansion is the more accurate and the 
 more convenient
 
 Scanning 87 
 
 It may also strike you that in reading the poem 53fi 
 we do not make a pause at the end of each word ; 
 and of course we do not read it "all in one breath." 
 How many breaths do you require for reading it 
 slowly 1 for reading it quickly ? What guides you 
 in finding places for your pauses ? Take any dozen 
 lines of prose and read them aloud ; notice where 
 you pause for breath. The words which are read 
 together in one breath are called a breath group. 
 After considering several passages from this point 
 of view, you will realise that good reading depends 
 to some extent on the choice of suitable places for 
 taking breath. Let your friends read to you, and 
 observe how they manage their breath. 
 
 We have spoken several times of stress, and you 54. 
 have probably followed without difficulty. What is 
 stress? Utter the series of sounds ['atata], then 
 [a'tata], and [ata'ta]. * You use more force for the 
 stressed than for the unstressed vowels, that is to 
 say, you put more breath into them. Place your 
 hand close in front of your lips as you say the 
 above sounds, and you will notice a distinct in- 
 crease of breath as the stressed syllable is uttered. 
 
 We use this stress for purposes of emphasis ; gene- 
 rally speaking, we expend more breath on those 
 syllables of a word, or words of a sentence, which 
 are more important for the meaning. We may say 
 that English sentence stress is guided by logical 
 considerations. Is this equally true of French? of 
 German? Has anything struck you about the 
 1 The mark ' precedes the stressed syllable.
 
 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 stress in French, or in English as spoken by a 
 Frenchman t 
 
 55. Stress, due to force of breath, is not the only 
 means of accentuation at our disposal. We can 
 also produce various effects by changing the pitch 
 of the voice. When the pitch of a voice hardly 
 varies at all, we consider it monotonous. Certain 
 clergymen have acquired the habit of reading the 
 Church service in monotone ; consider whether this 
 has any advantage or disadvantage. When there is 
 very great and regular or monotonous variation of 
 pitch in a voice, we call it a " sing-song." 
 
 In standard speech there is moderate variation of 
 pitch ; it becomes considerable only in dramatic and 
 oratorical declamation, when a skilled use of pitch 
 variations may produce a deeply moving or highly 
 stirring effect, somewhat resembling that produced 
 by song. 
 
 Observe the pitch changes in ordinary speech. The 
 most obvious case is the rise of pitch in questions, in 
 contrast with the tendency to lower the pitch in a 
 statement. Even though we have the same order 
 of words as in a statement, this change of pitch alone 
 suffices to show that a question is being asked. Say : 
 You are going out and You are going out f Try to say 
 Are you going out ? with the same falling pitch as in 
 You are going out, and observe the strange effect. 
 Determine the changes of pitch in such questions 
 as : Is your brother tall or short ? Is your uncle's house 
 in the town or in the country ? Notice that joy or any 
 great excitement leads to the use of a higher pitch 
 than usual.
 
 Pitch 89 
 
 Sometimes the pitch may rise or fall, or rise and 
 fall, or fall and rise during the utterance of a single 
 vowel. Say No in a doubtful, a questioning, a 
 decided, and a threatening tone, and observe the 
 pitch. If you wish to represent it roughly, you 
 may use \ for fall in pitch, / for a rise, A f r a 
 rise and fall, V f r a fell an d risa 
 
 We have devoted our attention mainly to standard 56. 
 English as it is spoken in ordinary life, because it is 
 important to train the ear so that it perceives the 
 sounds and ceases to be misled by the conventional 
 spelling. Only when we can hear what sounds our 
 pupils actually utter, only when we have a fair idea 
 of the way in which they produce these sounds, are 
 we in a position to correct what is faulty in the 
 mother tongue, or to impart the sounds of a foreign 
 language with any prospect of success. Hints have 
 been given as to some of the faulty tendencies likely 
 to be found ; the teacher whose ear has been trained 
 in the manner here suggested will be able to add to 
 their number without difficulty, and probably with 
 growing interest. In this respect every county 
 presents its own problems, and many still require 
 to be recorded; every teacher can help by con- 
 tributing his own observations. 
 
 No observer can fail to be struck by the different 
 degrees of care with which most individuals speak 
 English under different circumstances. In their talk 
 among themselves children, especially young boys, 
 are often extremely careless ; at home we find 
 various degrees of care, much depending on the
 
 90 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 example set by the parents and the influence of 
 governesses and nurses. In talking to educated 
 strangers, we are usually careful in our pronuncia- 
 tion. If we occupy a position which makes it 
 necessary to speak to large numbers, we must be 
 particularly careful, and that in several respects : 
 the voice must be pleasant, carry far, and have 
 good staying power. 
 
 57. A pleasant voice is to a certain degree a natural 
 gift ; it depends on the quality of the vocal chords, 
 the shape of the roof of the mouth, and so on. Many 
 voices are spoilt by bad habits, such as excessive 
 nasalising, or very high pitch. The teacher of elo- 
 cution often gives valuable criticism and help here. 
 Listen attentively to any criticisms which your friends 
 make about your voice. 
 
 The voice of a public speaker (which includes the 
 class teacher and college lecturer no less than the 
 clergyman, actor, or politician) must carry far. His 
 words must penetrate to every hearer, even in a large 
 hall. If there is any straining to catch his words, 
 those words will not produce their best effect. The 
 chief requirement is not loudness, but distinctness. He 
 must articulate more carefully than in ordinary 
 conversation : unstressed vowels will have greater 
 importance and be less reduced, consonants will 
 never be slurred over. The stressed vowels are the 
 most important of all because they are the most 
 sonorous sounds and help the others (see 52) ; he 
 will let the vocal chords vibrate longer for them, to 
 reinforce their value, and he will produce them in
 
 Public Speaking 91 
 
 such a way that they give their characteristic sound 
 most clearly. For this purpose he will find it best 
 to articulate more tensely (this applies also to the 
 consonants) than in ordinary speech ; and a distinct 
 rounding of the lips for the back vowels will enable 
 him to add to their value. He will prefer to keep 
 the tongue point well forward in the mouth for [1]. 
 This and other hints he may obtain from the teacher 
 of elocution. 
 
 However pleasant a voice may be, and however 
 far it may carry, it will yet be of little use if it tires 
 soon ; it must have staying power. This again is to 
 some extent a natural gift ; the throat may be con- 
 stitutionally weak. Training, however, can do very 
 much to improve the powers of endurance. Above 
 all, good breathing is essential; hints have been 
 given in 4 how this may be assured, and the teacher 
 cannot be recommended too warmly to give from 
 15 to 25 minutes every morning to breathing exer- 
 cises ; he will be amply repaid for the time spent in 
 that way by the greater ease with which he gets 
 through his teaching, and by the inevitable improve- 
 ment in his general health. It has also been pointed 
 out above that bad ventilation and dust are calculated 
 to interfere with his voice. Another suggestion may 
 be helpful : to keep the tongue as forward in the 
 mouth as possible. The average tongue position in 
 many southern English teachers is too far back in 
 the mouth, and this is found to lead to serious fatigue ; 
 it may indeed be regarded as one of the main causes 
 of "teachers' sore throat." 
 
 It is in giving advice on the management of the
 
 92 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 voice for public speaking that trustworthy teachers 
 of elocution are most helpful. When they make 
 dogmatic statements as to how a sound or word is 
 or should be pronounced, their guidance is not equally 
 satisfactory, and the student is earnestly recom- 
 mended always to test their statements himself. 
 The same request is addressed to him with regard 
 to the present book ; if it arouses interest, there is 
 no harm if it also arouses opposition.
 
 APPENDIX 1 
 Exercises. 
 
 1. How is -ions pronounced in gracious, bilious, 
 victorious 1 
 
 2. How is -ion pronounced in motion, onion, criterion, 
 vision, and Ionian] 
 
 3. How is -ial pronounced in labial, judicial, martial, 
 partiality ? 
 
 4. What difference in pronunciation, if any, do 
 you make between hire and higher, lyre and liar, 
 cure and (s)kewer, alms and armsl 
 
 5. Consider the value of oar in roar and in roaring, 
 and the value of air in pair and in pairing. 
 
 6. Determine the vowel sounds corresponding to 
 the italicized letters in child, children; woman, 
 women ; read (infinitive), raid (past participle) ; say, 
 says; drann, dreamed; leap, leaped; hear, heard; 
 can, can't ; do, don't ; gentleman, gentlemen. 
 
 7. Write in transcript the words italicized : 
 
 a. I have learned much from this learned man. 
 
 b. He has aged a good deal. He is aged. 
 
 c. I used to use it ; you used it too. 
 
 Try to account for the pronunciation of used in the 
 sense of " was accustomed " (see 49). 
 
 8. Transcribe your pronunciation of halfpenny, 
 
 08
 
 94 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 twopence, threepence. Show the difference between the 
 English and the French pronunciation of franc, and 
 between the English and the German pronunciation 
 of mark. 
 
 9. A waiter was heard to remark pathetically that 
 he never could tell whether a customer wanted " cold 
 lamb" or "cold ham." What caused his uncertainty"? 
 
 10. The pronunciation of the children of Walworth 
 attending the Church schools has given much con- 
 cern to Canon Horsley, who says that in their speech 
 "I've been to take her home" becomes "binter tiker 
 rome," "Oh, shake hands" becomes "ow shy cans," 
 and "I've been having a game" becomes "binnavina- 
 gime." Consider the pronunciation suggested by this 
 rough transcription, transcribe it more carefully, and 
 comment on such features of the Walworth dialect 
 as it illustrates. 
 
 11. You are familiar with the term "allitera- 
 tion," and know that it is a favourite device of cheap 
 journalism. Criticise the alliteration in the following 
 scare-lines: CITY CLEEK CHASED. THIEF 
 TAKEN. SOLICITOE SHOT. 
 
 12. Mention words in which the following letters 
 are written but not sounded : b, g, gh, k, I, m, n, t, w. 
 
 13. Comment on the following statement: "The 
 letters I and r are called trills, because there is a 
 vibration in the sounds, or in some part of the vocal 
 apparatus by which we pronounce them." 
 
 14. Consider this statement : "The ai in fair, ea in 
 lead, ie in field, ei in receive, are none of them true 
 diphthongs; they are more or less clumsy ways of 
 showing the length of an elementary vowel-sound."
 
 Exercises 95 
 
 15. " English has two e sounds, as in fed, feed, and 
 four u sounds, as in but, pull, fur, fool." Do you 
 agree with this? 
 
 16. Why does crystal look nicer than kristle, which 
 represents the same sounds? Account for such 
 spellings as Edythe, Smythe, Whyte. 
 
 17. Say quickly but distinctly : 
 
 She sells sea-shells in a salt-fish shop. 
 
 Is Stephen Smith's son a smith too? 
 
 How many houses had Harry Hall ? 
 
 Long and loudly little Lily laughed. 
 
 The skilled dentist extracted the three teeth. 
 
 Do you want the thick thread or the thin ? 
 
 In silence he sat on the sands by the silvery sea. 
 
 A boat is floating over the ocean. 
 
 With a loud shout he came out of the house. 
 
 The first question Charles asked was strange. 
 
 Three grey geese in the green grass grazing. 
 
 18. Discuss the old-fashioned form of address 
 "mine host." Do you say "an historical novel"? 
 "a (or an) hotel at Folkestone"? How do you 
 pronounce "the Grand Hotel"? Transcribe your 
 pronunciation of "I gave her her hat." 
 
 19. What is the derivation of ventriloquist 1 Does 
 the term correctly indicate the way in which ventri- 
 loquists produce their sounds? Which sounds do 
 you think most likely to give them difficulty ? 
 
 20. In the French of the 12th century / under 
 certain circumstances became a vowel; thus altre 
 became autre and chevals became chevaus. How do 
 you explain this change ? Point to a similar change 
 in English.
 
 96 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 21. How would you teach a foreigner to pronounce 
 the English th sounds? 
 
 22. Little children say pease for please, gamma or 
 gran-ma for grandma, dess for dress, locking for stocking. 
 Illustrate the tendency shown in these examples from 
 the speech of grown-up people. 
 
 23. Comment on the little child's pronunciation of 
 tsain for chain, fee for three, noder for another, and 
 bafyoom for bathroom. 
 
 24. Consider carefully the question, why the 
 pronunciation of a foreign language presents diffi- 
 culties; draw on any foreign language you know 
 for illustrations. 
 
 25. The Latin camera is our chamber, numerus our 
 number, Latin humtiis our humble, Latin similare our 
 (re)semble. Account for the b in the English words. 
 
 26. Consider the value of ure in sure, pure, nature, 
 figure. 
 
 27. What light is thrown on the pronunciation of 
 the past by the following quotations : 
 
 (a) While he, withdrawn, at their mad labour smiles, 
 And safe enjoys the Sabbath of his toils. (Dryden.) 
 
 (b) Dreading even fools, by flatterers besieg'd, 
 And so obliging that he ne'er oblig'd. (Pope.) 
 
 (c) Contemplate is bad enough, but bdlcony makes me sick. 
 (Rogers. ) 
 
 (d) The dame, of manner various, temper fickle, 
 
 Now all for pleasure, now the conventicle. (Colman.) 
 () There is little doubt that in the pronunciation of successor 
 the antepenultimate accent will prevail. (Walker.) 
 
 (_/) To ketch [catch] him at a vantage in his snares. 
 (Spenser. ) 
 
 (g) Yet he was kind, or, if severe in aught, 
 
 The love he bore to learning was in fault. (Goldsmith.)
 
 Exercises 97 
 
 28. Determine which sounds are represented by 
 ea in the following words : bear, beard, bread, bead, yea, 
 create, realm, leap, leapt, hearken; and by eo in the 
 following words : yeoman, people, leopard, re-open. 
 
 29. Determine which sounds are represented by 
 oi in the following words : boil, heroic, choir, tortoise, 
 turquoise, coincide ; and by ou in the following words : 
 south, southern, mourn, journal, though, thought, uncouth. 
 
 30. Determine which sounds are represented by g 
 in the following words : gem, goal, gaol, gill, gibberish, 
 fatigue, gnaw ; and by ough in the following words 
 trough, through, thorough, sough, cough, rough, plough, 
 lough. 
 
 31. A character in one of Miss Braddon's novels 
 says : " Supernumery it's no use, I don't think 
 anybody ever did know how many syllables there 
 are in that word." What is it that leads to the 
 shortening of this word in uneducated speech ? 
 Mention similar cases of shortening. 
 
 APPENDIX II 
 Lists of Words with Phonetic Transcription. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The accent shows that the following syllable has the chief 
 stress. 
 
 As these lists are intended for the use of English 
 students, it has been thought sufficient to let [e] 
 represent the first vowel sound and [i] the second 
 vowel sound in very. 
 
 The variation in length of [ij] and other diph- 
 thongs and of [m, n, 1], etc., has not been indicated. 
 G
 
 98 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Words which have occurred in the text of the 
 book are not repeated here. 
 
 When two pronunciations are given, both may be 
 considered as common ; the first is generally to be 
 preferred. If, however, a pronunciation is enclosed 
 in brackets, it is to be regarded as faulty. 
 
 A. General 
 
 abdomen, aeb'douman 
 
 ('sebdomen) 
 
 ab initio, 'seb i'nijiou, -jou 
 abscission, aeb'si59n 
 acacia, a'keija 
 accent (subst.), 'aeksent, 
 
 'aeksent; (verb) aek'sent 
 acclimatize, 'aeklimotaiz, 
 
 e'klaimetaiz 
 accolade, 'aekoleid 
 accoutre, o'kuwte 
 acetic, 9'sijtik, -se- 
 acoustics, 9'kaustiks 
 
 (e'kuwstiks) 
 acrobat, 'sekrobaet 
 adage, 'aedids 
 adept, 'sedept, 9'dept 
 adieu, 9'djuw 
 ad infinitum, 'aed infi'nait- 
 
 9m 
 
 admirable, 'aedmirebl 
 admiration, aedmi'reijgn 
 ad nauseam, 'sed 'nojsiaam, 
 
 -jsam 
 
 ado, 9'duw 
 adult, 'asdAlt, 9'dAlt 
 ad valorem, aed vg'loirem 
 
 advantageous, aedvgn- 
 
 advertisement, 
 
 mgnt 
 aegis, 
 
 aegrotat, i'groutaet 
 aerated, 'e:9reitid 
 aerial, e'erigl, 
 aerie, 'siri, 'iigri 
 aeronaut, 'e:rono:t 
 aesthetics, ij's#etiks 
 
 (e's^etiks) 
 
 a fortiori, 'ei fo:'$jo:rai 
 again, 9'gen, 9'gein 
 against, 9'genst, g'geinst 
 aged (adj.), 'eidsid 
 aggrandizement, 9'graen- 
 
 dizmgnt 
 aghast, g'gaist 
 agile, 'aedsail 
 ague, 'eigjuw 
 aisle, 'ail 
 albeit, 'oilbijit 
 algebra, 
 alibi, 'aelibai 
 alienate, 'eiljgneit 
 allegiance, 9'lijd39ns
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 abdo-biz 
 
 allegro, a'legrou, -leig- 
 allot, 9'lot 
 alloy, a'loi 
 ally, alai 
 
 almanac, 'oilmansek 
 also, 'oflsou, 'olsou 
 always, 'o:lwiz, -waz, -weiz 
 amateur, 'semata:, 'aema- 
 amenity, a'meniti [t$ua 
 among, a'mAT) (a'mor)) 
 anaemic, a'nijmik 
 anarchist, 'senakist 
 anarchy, 'aenaki, 'aenaiki 
 anchovy, aen'tjouvi 
 anemone, o'nemani 
 angina, sen'dsaina 
 anglice, 'aerjglisi 
 ant, 'aent ('a:nt) 
 antipodes, ffin'tipodijz 
 antique, sen'tijk 
 antithesis, aen'ti^isia 
 aorist, 'eiorist 
 aperture, 'aspa'tja 
 aphasia, a'feizja 
 apophthegm, 'aepoflem 
 apotheosis, sepo^i'ousis, 
 apparatus, sepa'reitas [apo- 
 apparent, a'peirant, -paar- 
 a priori, 'ei pri'o:rai 
 apropos, 'sepropou 
 arch-, usually a:tj 
 archangel, 'aikeindsal 
 archetype, 'aikitaip 
 archi-, 'aiki-, 'a:kj- 
 archives, 'aikaivz 
 arid, 'sand 
 arras, 'aaras 
 
 artificer, ai'tifiso 
 artiste, 'aitijst, -ist 
 asafoatida, 'aesa'fetide 
 askance, a'skaens, -a:ns 
 aspirant, e'spairant 
 assignee, sesi'nij 
 atoll, 'astol, a'tol 
 attorney, a'taini 
 avalanche, 'aevalamj 
 awkward, 'o:kwad 
 awry, a'rai 
 ayah, 'aja 
 aye (always), 'ei 
 aye (yes), 'ai 
 baboo, 'ba:buw 
 bacillus, ba'silas 
 bagatelle, 'bsegatel 
 bakshish, 'baek^JJ 
 balcony, 'baelkani 
 ballet, 'bselei 
 balsam, 'boilsam 
 basalt, 'baasolt, ba'soilt 
 bass (voice), 'beis 
 because, biTcoiz, bi'koz 
 bedizen, bi'daizan 
 begone, bi'gon 
 belligerent, be'lidsarant 
 betroth, bi'trouS 
 bicycle, 'baisikl ('bai- 
 
 'saikl) 
 
 bigot, 'bigat 
 bijou, 'bijsuw 
 billet-doux, 'bilei'duw 
 bison, 'baisan 
 bitumen, TDitjuman, 
 
 bi'tjuwman 
 bizarre, bi'za: 
 
 go
 
 ioo The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 blancmange, ble'mon(d)3 
 blithe, 'blaiS 
 blouse, T)lauz (Taluwz) 
 boatswain, 'bousen 
 bodega, bo'dijga 
 bombast, 'bombaest, 
 
 'bombast 
 
 bona fide, 'boun9 'faidi 
 booth, 'buwS 
 borough, T)AT9 ('bArou) 
 bouquet, bu'kei 
 bourn, 'bom, 'buian 
 bravado, bra'veidou, 
 
 bra'vaidou 
 
 brazier, 'breisa, 'breizja 
 breeches, 'britjiz, 'brij- 
 brougham, Tmisam, 
 
 'brouam Cbroum) 
 brusque, 'brusk, 'brAsk 
 buffet, 'bufei 
 bulwark, 'bulwak 
 bureau, 'bjuirou, bju'rou 
 burgher, 't>9ig9 
 
 cabal, ko'bael 
 cachet, 'kaejei 
 cadi, 'keidi 
 caesura, si'zjuire 
 cambric, 'keimbrik 
 campanile, ksempe'nijli 
 canon, 'kaenjen 
 cantata, kaen'tajto 
 cantonment, kaen'tuwn- 
 
 mont, -'ton- 
 caoutchouc, 'kautjuk 
 cap-a-pie, 'kaepapij 
 capitalist, 'kaepitolist 
 
 caprice, ke'prijs 
 capuchin, 'kaepjutjin 
 carouse, ke'rauz 
 cashier, ke'Jiio 
 casino, ka'sijnou 
 cathedra, 'kfflflidro (kg' 
 
 cauliflower, 'koliflaus 
 celibate, 'selibot 
 'cello, 'tjelou 
 centenary, 'sentenri, 
 
 sen'tenori 
 
 cere (-cloths, -ments), 'siio- 
 chagrin, Ja'grijn, Je'grin 
 chalybeate, kae'libjet 
 chamois (leather), 'Jaemi 
 chaperon, 'Jaeporoun 
 charade, Je'rard, Ja'reid 
 charivari, 'Jaerij'vairij 
 charlatan, 'Jailoton, -asn 
 chastisement, 'tjaestizmgnt 
 chauffeur, 'Joufa 
 chaunt, 'tjamt 
 chauvinist, 'Jouvinist 
 chic, 'Jik 
 
 chimera, kai'migra, M- 
 chiro-, 'kairo- 
 chivalric, Ji'vaelrik 1 also 
 chivalrous, 'Jivalras J-with 
 chivalry, 'Jivalri Jtji- 
 choir, 'kwaia 
 choleric, 'kolarik 
 chough, 'tjAf 
 cicala, si'kaila 
 cicerone, sisa'rouni 
 cinque, 'sipk 
 circuit, 'saskit
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 blanc-debau 
 
 circumstance, 'saikamstans 
 clandestine, klsen'destin 
 clematis, 'klemetis, (kli- 
 
 'meitis) 
 clique, 'klijk 
 coalesce, koua'les 
 cobalt, 'koubolt 
 cochineal, 'kotjinijl 
 cognisant, Tcognisant 
 coign(e), 'koin 
 coincide, kouin'said 
 colonel, 'kainal 
 combat, combatant, com- 
 
 bative have 'kAm- or 
 
 'kom- 
 
 comely, 'kAmli 
 commentary, 'komantri 
 comparable, 'komprabal 
 comrade, 'kAmrid, 'komrid 
 conch, 'korjk 
 condign, kan'dain 
 condolence, kan'doulans 
 conger, 'korjge 
 congeries, kon'dseriijz, 
 
 -'dsij- 
 conjure (sleight of hand), 
 
 'kAndsQ 
 conjure (implore), kon - 
 
 connoisseur, koni'sai, 
 
 koni'sjuia 
 
 consignee, konsi'nij 
 Consols, ken'solz 
 constable, 'kAnstobl/ kon- 
 
 stabl 
 construe, 'konstruw, kan- 
 
 'struw 
 
 contagion, 
 
 contemplate, 'kontempleit 
 
 (kan'templeit) 
 contemplative, kon'tem- 
 
 plativ 
 contents, 'kontents, kan'- 
 
 tents 
 
 contumacy, 'kontjumasi 
 contumely, kan'tjuwmili 
 conversazione, konvasaet- 
 
 si'ouni 
 
 corollary, ka'roleri, 'kor- 
 corps, 'koi [elari 
 
 coterie, 'koutarij 
 cotillon, ko'tiljan 
 counterfeit, 'kauntafit 
 courteous, 'koitjas/kaitjas 
 
 ('kaitjes) 
 courtesy, 'kaitasi 
 courtier, 'koitja 
 covetous, 'kAvitas 
 covey, 'kAvi 
 coxswain, 'koksan 
 cozen, 'kAzan 
 crayon, 'krejan 
 croup, 'kruwp 
 cui bono, 'kai loounou 
 cuirass, kwi'rses, kju- 
 cuisine, kwi'zijn 
 cuneiform, Tcjuwniifoim 
 cupola, Tijuwpola 
 cynosure, 'sainosjua, 
 
 'sainojua, 'sino- 
 
 dais, 'deis 
 
 dandelion, 'daendilaion 
 
 debauch, di'boitj 
 
 101
 
 102 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 debonair, 'debaneia 
 debris, 'debri 
 decade, 'dekad, 'dekeid 
 decadence, 'dekedans 
 decease, di'sijs 
 decorous, 'dekares, di- 
 
 'koiras 
 
 dei gratia, dijai 'greijiei 
 demesne, di'mein 
 demise, di'maiz 
 demonstrate, 'demanstreit 
 demy (paper), di'mai 
 depot, 'depou ('dijpou) 
 derelict, 'deralikt 
 desiderate, di'sidareit 
 design, di'zain 
 designate, 'dezigneit, 
 
 'des- 
 
 desist, di'zist 
 desuetude, 'deswitjuwd 
 diaeresis, dai'i: a rasis 
 diapason, daia'peizan 
 didactic, di'daektik 
 dilatory, 'dilat(a)ri 
 dilettante, dili'teenti 
 diocese, 'daiosis 
 dis- (before voiced sounds), 
 
 diz-; (before voiceless 
 
 sounds), dis- 
 dishabille, 'disabijl 
 disputant, 'dispjutont 
 distich, 'distik 
 divan, di'vasn ('daivan) 
 divers, 'daivais 
 diverse, di'vais 
 divisible, di'vizibl 
 docile, 'dousail, 'dosail 
 
 doctrinal, 'doktrinal, dok- 
 
 'trainal 
 doge, 'douds 
 dolorous, ' 
 domicile, 'domisail 
 douche, 'duj, 'duwj 
 doughty, 'dauti 
 dramatis personae, ' 
 
 rnoti* pei'sounij 
 draught, 'dra:ft 
 drollery, droubri 
 dromedary, ' 
 drought, 'draut (droit) 
 dubiety, djuw'baieti 
 ducat, 'dAkat 
 ductile, 'dAktail 
 duteous, 'djuwtjss 
 
 ('djuwtjas) 
 
 dynasty, 'dinasti, 'dainasti 
 dysentery, 'disantri 
 
 eau de Cologne, 'ou di 
 
 ka'loun 
 
 eohelon, 'ejalon 
 eclat, 'ekla:, e'kla: 
 e'en, 'ijn 
 e'er, 'e\9 
 effete, e'fijt 
 eglantine, 'eglantain 
 either, 'ai?5a, 'ijSa 
 elicit, i'lisit 
 elite, e'lijt 
 elixir, i'liksa 
 emaciated, i'meijieitid 
 embrasure, em'breise 
 enervate, 'enaiveit 
 enunciate,
 
 Wordlist: 
 
 debon-ghoul 
 
 envelope, 'onveloup, 'en- 
 
 veloup 
 
 environs, en'vaireoz 
 epaulet, 'epolet 
 epitome, i'pitomi 
 epoch, 'ijpok ('epok) 
 equerry, 'ekwari, e'kweri 
 erase, i'reis 
 erasure, i'reis9 
 ere, 'e:9 
 
 escheat, es'tjijt 
 eschew, es'tjuw 
 esoteric, eso'terik 
 espionage, 'espionids 
 evasive, i'veisiv 
 exchequer, eks't$ek9 
 excise, 'eksaiz, ek'saiz 
 excuse (verb), eks'kjuwz, 
 
 (subst.) eks'kjuws 
 expert, 'eksp9it 
 expletive, ek'splijtiv 
 exquisite, 'ekskwizit 
 extant, ek'staent, 'ekstant 
 extempore, ek'stemperi 
 extirpate, 'ekstoipeit 
 extraordinary, ek'stro:- 
 
 dnari, 'ekstre'oidinari 
 exude, eg'zjuwd, -ks- 
 eyot, 'aiet 
 
 facade, f9'sa:d, fg'seid 
 facile, 'fsesil 
 facsimile, fsek'simili 
 fakir, fg'kii9, 'feiki9 
 falchion, 'foiljgn 
 fanatic, fo'ncetik 
 farinaceous, faeri'nei$as 
 
 fealty, 'fijglti 
 fecund, 'fijkAnd, 'fe- 
 feod, 'fjuwd 
 feoff, 'fef 
 fetish, 'fijtij, 'fe- 
 finance, fi'nsens 
 financier, fi'naenj9, -sJ9 
 finesse, fi'nes 
 fissure, 'fij9 
 flaccid, 'flseksid 
 flamboyant, flaem'boJ9nt 
 fluor, 'flui9 
 foetid, 'fetid 
 forfeit, 'foifit 
 fragile, 'frsedsail 
 franchise, 'frsen(t)$aiz, -Jiz 
 frigate, 'frig9t 
 frontier, 'frontii9, 'frAn- 
 fuchsia, 'fjuwjg 
 fugue, 'f juwg 
 furlough, 'fgilou 
 furore, f ju'roiri 
 futile, 'fjuwtail 
 
 gala, 'geil9 
 
 gallant (polite), gglaent 
 gambol, 'gaembl 
 gaol, 'dseil 
 garish, 'geirij 
 gaseous, gsesjgs, geisjgs 
 gauche, 'gouj 
 gauge, 'geids 
 generic, dse'nerik 
 gesture, d5est$9 
 gewgaw, 'gjuwgoi 
 geyser, 'gaisg, 'geis9 
 ghoul, 'guwl 
 
 103
 
 104 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 gibberish, 'gibarij 
 gibbet, 'dsibit 
 gibbous, 'gibas 
 
 gig. 'gig , 
 
 gigantic, ds 
 
 gill (of fish), 'gil; (of 
 
 liquid), 'dsil 
 gillyflower, 'dsiliflaua 
 gimlet, 'gimlit 
 
 gi m P> 'gi m P 
 
 gist, 'dsist 
 
 gizzard, 'gizad 
 
 glacial, 'gleijal 
 
 glacier, 'gleija, 'glaesja, -ia 
 
 gladiolus, gla'daialas, 
 
 glaedi'oulas 
 glamour, 'glaema 
 goitre, 'goita 
 gondola, 'gondola (gon- 
 
 gosling, 'gozlip 
 gouge, 'guwds, 'gauds 
 gourd, 'gu:od,'go:d [gre 
 gravamen, grae'veimen, 
 greasy, 'grijzi, 'grijsi 
 groat, 'grout ('groit) 
 gross, 'grous 
 guerdon, 'goidon 
 guillotine, 'gilotijn 
 gunwale, 'gAnol 
 gutta-percha, ' 
 gyves, 
 
 halberd, 'haelbad 
 halcyon, 'haelsjon 
 hautboy, 'houboi 
 heifer, 'hefa 
 
 heigho, lieihou 
 heinous, 'heinos 
 hemorrhage, 'hemorids 
 heroine, 'heroin 
 heroism, 'heroizm 
 heterogeneous, hetero- 
 
 hiatus, hai'eitos 
 hierarch, 'haiarask 
 hirsute, hei'sjuwt 
 hosier, 'housa, 'houzja 
 housewife (case for 
 
 needles, etc.), 'hAzif 
 hussar, hu'zaj, hA'za: 
 hussy, ' 
 hygiene, ' 
 hygienic, haidsi'enik, 
 
 hidsi'ijnik 
 
 hymeneal, haimi'niial 
 hyperbole, hai'paiboli 
 hypochondriacal, haipo- 
 
 kon'draiakl, hipo- 
 hypotenuse, hai'potanjuws 
 hyssop, 'hisap 
 
 identical, ai'dentikl 
 idiosyncrasy, idio'sipkrasi 
 idyll, 'aidil 
 illustrative, 'ilastreitiv, 
 
 i'lAstrativ 
 imbecile, 'imbisijl, -il 
 imbroglio, im'brouljou 
 impious, 'impias 
 indecorous, in'dekaras 
 indict, in'dait 
 indissoluble, indi'soljubl 
 inexorable,in'egzarabl,-eks-
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 interesting, 'intrastirj 
 interlocutor, in'ta:lokjuwta 
 interstice,in't9 : stis, 'intastis 
 intestine, in'testin 
 inundate, 'inAndeit 
 inveigh, in'vei 
 inveigle, in'vijgl 
 inventory, 'invantri 
 investiture, in'vestitja 
 irascible, i'rsesibl 
 irrefragable, i'refragabl 
 irrefutable, i'refjutabl 
 irreparable, i'reparabl 
 irrevocable, i'revakabl 
 isolate, 'aisoleit 
 italics, i'taeliks (ai'tseliks) 
 itinerary, i'tinarari 
 
 eune 
 jeopardy, ' 
 jocose, dso'kous 
 jocund, ' 
 j(o)ust, 
 
 kopje, Tcopi 
 
 laboratory, laebratri, 
 
 la'boratri 
 
 lamentable, 'laemantabl 
 landau, 'Isendo: 
 lapel, la'pel 
 lath, 'la:0 
 laudanum, 'lodnam 
 laurel, 'loral 
 legend, 'ledsand ('lijdsan 
 legislature, 'ledsislatja 
 leisure, 'lesa ('lijsa) 
 leopard, 'lepad 
 
 gibber-mauso 
 
 lev^e, 'levi 
 
 libertine,'libatain,-tijn,-tin 
 
 lichen, 'laikan, 'litjan 
 
 lien, laian, liian, lijn 
 
 lieu, 'luw 
 
 lieutenant, lef'tenant, lif- 
 
 lineament, linjamant 
 
 liqueur, li'ka:, li'kjuia 
 
 liquor, 'lika 
 
 liquorice, 'likaris 
 
 litre, 'lijta 
 
 livelong, 'laivlorj, 'livlorj 
 
 loath, 'lou^ 
 
 loathe, 'Iou5 
 
 loathsome, 'loutfsam, -5- 
 
 longevity, lon'dseviti 
 
 longitude, 'londsitjuwd 
 
 lough, 'lok 
 
 lowering (looking sullen), 
 
 'lauarirj 
 
 ludicrous, 'luwdikras 
 lugubrious, lu'guwbrias 
 luxurious, la'gzuirias 
 luxury, lAkJari 
 machination, maeki'neijan 
 magi, 'meidsai 
 mahlstick, 'moilstik 
 malinger, ma'lirjger 
 manoeuvre, ma'nuwve 
 manse, 'maens 
 margarine, 'maidsarijn 
 marigold, 'maerigould 
 marquee, mai'kij 
 marquis, 'maikwis 
 masquerade, maeska'reid 
 massage, 'msesais 
 mausoleum, mo:so'Ji;om 
 
 105
 
 106 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 medicament, 'medikamant, 
 
 me'dikemant 
 mediocre, 'mijdiouka 
 mediocrity, mijdi'okriti 
 meerschaum, 'miiajam 
 melancholy, 'melagkali 
 memoir, 'memwa: 
 menagerie, mi'nasdsari 
 menu, 'menju, ma'nuw 
 Messrs, 'mesoz 
 metallurgy, 
 
 metamorphosis, meta- 
 
 'moifosis 
 
 metathesis, mi'tietfosis 
 metre, 'mijta 
 mezzotint, 'metsotint 
 miasma, mai'aBzma, mi- 
 millenary, mi'lenari 
 minatory, 'mainatari 
 miniature, 'miniatja, -tJ9 
 minute (adj.), mai'njuwt, 
 
 mi- 
 
 mirage, mi'rais 
 misanthrope, 'misanflroup 
 miscellany, mi'selani 
 mischief, 'mistjif 
 morose, ma'rous 
 
 myth, ' 
 mythology, 
 
 naive, 'neiv 
 naivet^, 'neivtei 
 nauseate, 'no;$jeit 
 nauseous, 'uoijjas, 'noises 
 ne'er, 'ne:9 
 neither, ' 
 
 nicety, 'nais(9)ti 
 niche, 'nitj 
 nomenclature, no'men- 
 
 noose, 'nuwz, 'nuws 
 norse, 'no:s 
 nuncio, 
 nuptial, ' 
 
 oasis, ou'eisis 
 obeisance, o'beisgns 
 obese, o'bijs 
 obligatory, 'obligotri, 
 
 oTaliggtri, obli'geitori 
 obloquy, 'obkkwi 
 obsequies, 'obsikwiz 
 obtuse, ob'tjuws 
 occult, o'kAlt 
 octopus, 'oktgpos, ok- 
 
 'tOUp9S 
 
 oligarchy, 'oligaiki 
 omniscient, om'nijgnt, -si- 
 onerous, 
 
 onomatopeia, 
 operative, 'oparativ, 
 
 'opareitiv 
 
 orchestral, oi'kestral, 'o:ki 
 ordeal, oi'diial 
 organization, oigani- 
 
 'zeijan, -nai- 
 orison, 'orizan, -s- 
 ormolu, 'oimaluw 
 ornate, a'neit 
 osier, 'ouse 
 oust, 'aust 
 
 pageant, 'peidsant,
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 palaver, pa'laiva 
 palfrey, 'po:lfri ('paelfri) 
 panacea, psena'siia 
 panegyric, pseni'dsirik 
 pan(n)ier, 'psenje 
 papyrus, pa'pairas 
 paradigm, 'pseradaim 
 paraffine, 'paerafin 
 pariah, 'peirja 
 parochial, pa'roukjal 
 parvenu, 'paivanju 
 pastel, pse'stel, 'psestal 
 pastille, pae'stijl, 'psestil 
 patent, 'peitant ('psetant) 
 pathos, 'peifos 
 patois, 'paetwai 
 patrimony, 'psetrimoni 
 patron, 'peitren 
 patronage, 'psetranids, 
 
 'peitranids 
 patronize, 'psetranaiz, 
 
 'peitranaiz 
 peccavi, pe'keivai 
 pedagogue, 'pedagog 
 pedagogy, 'pedagodsi, -gi 
 perquisite, 'paikwizit 
 petard, pi'taid 
 phaeton, 'feitan 
 phalanx, 'feilseT)ks, 
 
 'fselse^ks 
 
 phlegmatic, fleg'msetik 
 piazza, pi'setsa 
 piquant, 'pijkant 
 pique, 'pijk 
 
 piteous, 'pitj as ('pitjes) 
 placard, 'plaekosd 
 plaid, 'plajd, 'pleid 
 
 medic-puiss 
 
 plait, 'plaet 
 plebiscite, 'plebisait 
 plenary, 'plijnari 
 plenteous, 'plentjas 
 
 ('plenties) 
 plethora, 'pleflera 
 plethoric, 'ple^arik 
 plover, 'plAve 
 poignant, 'poinjant 
 poignard, 'ponjed 
 pomade, po'meid, po'maid 
 pommel, 'pAmal 
 pongee, 'pondsi 
 porpoise, 'po:pas 
 posthumous, 'postjumas 
 potsherd, 'potfaid 
 precedence, pri'sijdans 
 precedent, 'president 
 predatory, 'predatri 
 prelate, 'prelat 
 prelude, 'preljuwd 
 premature, 'prematjua, 
 
 'prijmatjua 
 
 premier, 'prijmja ('premja) 
 premise Tsubst.), 'premis 
 premise (verb), pri'maiz 
 presage, 'presids 
 prescience, 'prejans, -ei- 
 prestige, pre'stijs 
 primer, 'prima, 'praima 
 pristine, 'pristain, 'pristin 
 privacy, 'praivasi, 'privasi 
 profligacy, 'profligasi 
 prophecy, 'profiisi 
 prophesy, 'profisai 
 puisne, 'pjuwni 
 puissant, 'pwijsent 
 107
 
 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 pumice, 'pAmis 
 purloin, pai'loin 
 purport, 'pa: pat 
 
 quagmire, Tiwaegmaia 
 quandary, 'kwondari,-'d e:ri 
 quarantine, 'kworantijn 
 quay, 'kij 
 queue, 'kjuw 
 quiescent, kwai'esant 
 quinine, kwi'nijn 
 quoif, 'koif 
 quoit, 'koit 
 quoth, 'kwoufl 
 
 ragged, 'rsegid 
 ranch(e), 'ra:n(t)J 
 rancour, 'raegka 
 rapier, 'reipiia 
 rapine, 'rsepin, 'rsepain 
 rase, 'reiz 
 
 rations (army), 'rsejnz 
 recluse, riTduws 
 recondite, 'rekandait 
 reconnaissance, ri'kona- 
 
 sons 
 
 reconnoitre, reka'noita 
 redolent, 'redalant 
 regicide, 'redsisaid 
 regime, re'sijm 
 reindeer, 'reindio 
 remonstrate, ri'monstreit 
 renaissance, ri'neisans 
 rendezvous, 'rondivuw 
 repertoire, 'repaitwa: 
 replica, 'replika 
 requiem, 'rekwiam 
 
 reredos, rirados 
 reservoir, 'rezavwa: 
 resin, 'rezon, 'rozon 
 resonance, 'rezanans 
 respite, 'respit 
 restaurant, 'restoroij 
 reveille, ri'vseli 
 reverie, 'revari 
 rhetoric, 'retarik 
 rheum, 'ruwm 
 rhythm, 'riSm 
 rhythmical, 'ri^mikal 
 ribald, 'ribald, 'riboild 
 rouge, 'ruw5 
 routine, ru'tijn 
 rowlock, ' 
 ruse, 'ruwz 
 
 sachet, 'ssejei 
 saga, 'saiga 
 salient, 'seiljant 
 saline (substA sa'lain 
 saline (adj.), seilain 
 sample, 'saimpl, 'ssempl 
 sarcophagus, saiTcofagas 
 satiety, sa'taiati 
 satire, 'ssetaia 
 satyr, 'saeta 
 scallop, 'skolap 
 scathe, 'skeiS 
 scenic, 'sijnik 
 sceptic, 'skeptik 
 schedule, 'Jedjul ('skedjul) 
 schism, 'sizm 
 scimitar, 'simita 
 scintillate, 'sintileit
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 pumi-tourn 
 
 scion, 'saian 
 scone, 'skoun ('skon) 
 scourge, 'skaids 
 sedative, 'sedativ 
 sedentary, 'sedantri 
 seigneury, 'sijnjari 
 semi-, semi 
 senile, 'sijnail 
 seraglio, si'rcnljou 
 serviette, 'saivjet 
 sheikh, 'jijk 
 shortlived, 'Joitlivd 
 siesta, si'esta 
 signer, 'sijnjoi 
 simile, 'simili 
 sinecure, 'sainikjua 
 skein, 'skein 
 ski, 'skij ('Jij) 
 sleight, 'slait 
 sloth, 'slou0 
 slough, 'slau ('slAf) 
 sloven, 'slAvan 
 sluice, 'sluws 
 sobriquet, 'soubrikei 
 
 soourn, 
 
 solace, 'solas 
 
 solecism, 'soulisizm, 'sol 
 
 soliloquy, sa'lilakwi, so- 
 
 sonorous, 'sonaras, sa'tio:rs 
 
 sough, 'sAf 
 
 souse, 'saus 
 
 southerly, 's 
 specie, 'spijji 
 species, 'spijjijz 
 stalwart, 'stolwat 
 stevedore, 'stijvadoi 
 stoep, 'stuwp 
 
 strategic, 
 
 strychnine, 'striknijn, 
 
 'striknin 
 suave, 'sweiv 
 suavity, 'swseviti 
 subaltern, 'sAbaltam 
 subsidence, 'sAbsidns 
 succinct, SAk'sipkt 
 suflfragan, 'sAfragan 
 suite, 'swijt 
 surfeit, 'sa:fit 
 surveillance, se'veilans 
 swarthy, 'swo:5i, -6i 
 sybarite, 'sibarait 
 synagogue, 'sinagog 
 syncope, 'sipkapi 
 
 technique, tek'nijk 
 telegraphy, 'teligrafi, ti'le- 
 
 grafi 
 
 tenable, 'tijnabl, 'tenabl 
 tenet, 'tijnit, 'tenit 
 tepid, 'tepid 
 termagant, 'teimagant 
 thorough, '^Ara, 'c'Arou 
 thraldom, '0ro:ldoui 
 thresh, '^raej 
 thyme, 'taim 
 tinsel, 'tinsal 
 tirade, ti'reid 
 tissue, 'tiju 
 tonsure, ' 
 tontine, 'tontiin 
 toothed, 'tuw&t 
 tornado, to:'na:dou 
 tortoise, 'toitas ('to:toiz) 
 tournament, 'tuianamant 
 IOQ
 
 no The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 toward, to:d, tu'woid 
 trait, 'trei 
 
 transient, 'trsenzjant 
 transition, traen'sisan 
 treatise, 'trijtis 
 tribunal, trai'bjuwnal, tri- 
 tribune, 'tribjun 
 trilogy, 'triladsi 
 trio, 'trijou 
 tripartite, 'tripaitait 
 triptych, 'triptik 
 trophy, 'troufi 
 troth, 'troufl, 'tro0 
 trough, 'trof 
 trow, 'trou 
 tryst, 'trist, 'traist 
 turbine, 'to:bain 
 turquoise, 'taikoiz, 
 
 'taikwoiz 
 
 tyrannic, tai'rsenik, ti- 
 tyranny, 'tironi 
 tyrant, 'tairant 
 tyro, 'tairou 
 
 ubiquity, ju'bikwiti 
 ukase, ju'keis 
 uncouth, An'kuw0 
 undulatory, 'Andjulatri 
 unison, 'juwnisan 
 untoward/Antuwo:d,-to:d 
 upholster, Ap'houlste 
 usurp, ju'zoip 
 
 vagary, ve'gsiri 
 valet, Vaelit 
 valiant, 'vaeljant 
 valise, vo'lijz, va'lijs 
 
 vase, 'va:z ('voiz) 
 vehement, 'vijimant 
 vehicle, 'vijikl 
 vermicelli, vo:mi'seli 
 vertigo, 'veitigou 
 vice-gerent, 'vai 
 vice versa, 'vaisi'veise 
 vignette, vi'njet 
 vilify, 'vilifai 
 virago, vi'reigou 
 viscount, 'vaikaunt 
 visor, 'viza 
 
 viva voce, 'vaiva'vousi 
 vouchsafe, 'vaut$'seif 
 
 wainscot, 'weinsket 
 walrus, 'wolros 
 wassail, 'wsesti 
 weir, 'wi:9 
 
 wharfinger, 'woifindsg 
 wind, 'wind (poetry : 
 
 'wind, Vaind) 
 windlass, 'windlas 
 wiseacre, 'waizeika 
 worsted (wool), 'wustid 
 worsted (defeated), 'w9i- 
 
 stid 
 
 wrath, 'ro:^ 
 wroth, 'rou# 
 
 yea, 'jei 
 yeoman, 'joumgn 
 
 zealot, 'zel9t 
 zealous, 'zelas 
 zenith, 'zeni#, 
 zoology,
 
 Wordlist ; 
 
 toward- Beth 
 
 B. Proper Names. 
 
 Aberga ven n y , 'aebaga' veni 
 Abinger, 'aebindsa 
 Aeneas, ij'nijaes 
 Aeneid, 'ijniid 
 Aeschylus, 'ijskilas 
 Aetna, 'etna 
 Afghan, 'aefgaen 
 Aflalo, a'flailou 
 Ailsa, 'eilza 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, 'elks la 
 
 Ja'pel 
 
 Albany, 'o:lbani 
 Alcester, 'oilsta 
 Alma-Tadema, 'aelma 
 
 'taedima 
 
 Almondbury, 'aimbari 
 Alnwick, 'sBnik 
 Alpha, 'aelfa 
 Ambrosia, aem'brouzja 
 Ameer, 'aemiia 
 Anabasis, a'naebasis 
 Anchises, aeg'kaisijz 
 Anstruther, 'aensta, 
 
 Antrobus, 'aentrebos 
 Aphrodite, aefro'daiti 
 Apocrypha, o'pokrife 
 Areopagus, aeri'opogas 
 Argyll, ai'gail 
 Arion, a'raion 
 Aristophanes,aeri'stofanijz 
 Armada, ai'maido, 
 
 ai'meida 
 Armitage, 'ai 
 Ate, 'eiti 
 
 Athenaeum, aefli'nijam 
 Athene, o'^ijni 
 Athens, 'ae^onz, -inz 
 Athlone, ae^loun 
 Auchinleck, 'aeflik 
 Ava, 'a:v9 
 
 Baal, T)ei9l 
 Bacchanal, 'baekanal 
 Bacchus, 'baekos 
 Baden-Powell, T>eid9n- 
 
 'pouol 
 
 Bagehot, Isaedsat, 'baegat 
 Balcarres, bael'kaeris 
 Balfour, TD-aelfoi 
 Bastille, 'baestijl 
 Beaconsfield, 'bijkanzfijld, 
 
 Ibekonzfijld 
 Beauchamp, 'bijtjam 
 Beauclerc, Tx>uklei9, 
 
 Beaufort, 'boufoit, -fat 
 Beaulieu, 'bjuili, 'bouli 
 Beaumont, 'boumont, 
 
 'boumont 
 Beethoven, Ibeithouvan, 
 
 'beitouvgn 
 
 Belle w, Tjelju (bi'luw) 
 Bellingham, Tbelindsam 
 Belvoir, 'bijva 
 Berkeley, l>a:kli 
 Berkshire, 'baikjg 
 Bertie (surname), Tjaiti 
 Bessborough, 'bezbara 
 Bethphage, 'be^fagij 
 in
 
 ii2 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Buenos Ayres, bju'ijnos, 
 'bjuinos, 'eirijz (e:z, aiaz) 
 Burghclere, ba:'kls:a 
 Burghersh, 'ba:ga:J 
 Burghley, 'ba:li 
 Bury, 'beri 
 -bury, beri, ban, bri 
 Bysshe, 'bij 
 
 Byzantine, bai'zaentain, 
 bi'zaentin 
 
 Cadiz, Tceidiz 
 Cadogan, ka'dAgan 
 Caedmon, 'keidmon 
 Cairo, 'kairou 
 Caius (College), 'kijz 
 Calais, 'kaslei, 'kaelis 
 Calderon, Tjoildaran 
 Callaghan, 'kaelahsen 
 Calliope, ka'laiopi 
 Callirrhoe, ka'liroui 
 Cam, 'kaem 
 
 Cambridge, 'keimbrids 
 Campagna, kaem'pamja 
 Campden, 'ksemdan 
 Canaan, 'keinan 
 Candace, kaen'deisi 
 Capell, 'keipal 
 Carew, 'keiri, ka'ruw 
 Carlyon, kai'laian 
 Carmichael, ka'maikal 
 Carnegie, ka'negi, ka'negi 
 Castlerea (-reagh), 
 
 kaisal'rei 
 Catholic, 'kaefolik 
 Cavau, 'kaevan 
 
 Bethune, 'bijton, 
 Bezant, 'bezant, bi'zsent 
 Bigelow, 'bigalou 
 Bispham, 'bispham, 
 
 'bizpam 
 
 Blenheim, 'blenam 
 Blom(e)field, 'bluwmfijld 
 Blount, 'blAnt 
 Boanerges, boua'naidsijz 
 Boer, Tiuia, 'bouo 
 Boleyn, 'bulen, 'bulin 
 Bolingbroke, 'bolinbruk, 
 
 Tjouligbruk 
 Bompas, 'bAmpes 
 Bootes, bo'outijz 
 Borghese, boi'geizi 
 Borrowes, 'bxrouz 
 Bosanquet, 'bousarjkit 
 Botticelli, boti'tjeli 
 Boucicault, 'buwsikou 
 Boughey, T3ouwi 
 Boughton, 'bautan, 'boitan 
 Boulger, 'bouldsa 
 Bourchier, 'bautja 
 Bourke, 'ba:k 
 Brabazon, 'brsebazan 
 Breadalbane, bri'oilban, 
 
 bri'dselban 
 Brechin, 'brijkin 
 Bridlington, 'bridlirjtan, 
 
 'ba: listen 
 Broke, 'bruk 
 Brougham, 'bruiam 
 Broughton, 'broitan 
 Buccleugh, ba'kluw 
 Buchan, 'bAkan 
 Buchanan, bju'kaenan
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 Beth- Demo 
 
 Chalfont, 'tjaifant 
 Champlain, Jaem'plein 
 Chandos, 'Jaendos 
 Charlemagne, 'Jailamein 
 Charon, 'keiron 
 Charteris, 'tjaitaz 
 Cheetham, 'tjijtam 
 Chersonese, 'kaisonijs 
 Cheshire, 't$e$a 
 Chetwode, 'tjetwud 
 Cheyne, 'tjeini 
 Chicago, Ji'kajgou 
 Chichele, 'tjitjali 
 Chisholm, 'tjizam 
 Chiswick, 'tjizik 
 Cholmeley, Cholmonde- 
 
 ley, Chomley, 'tjAmli 
 Chrysostom, 'krisastam 
 Cincinnati, sinsi'nseti 
 Cirencester, 'sairenseste, 
 
 'sisesta, 'sizite, 'sisto 
 Claverhouse, 'kleivoz 
 Clough, 'klAf 
 Cochrane, 'kokran 
 Cockburn, 'kouban 
 Codes, 'koklijz 
 Cocytus, ko'saitos 
 Coke, 'kuk 
 Colclough, 'koukli 
 Colquhoun, ko'huwn 
 Combe, 'kuwm 
 Compton, 'kAmton, 'kom- 
 
 ten 
 
 Connaught, 'konat 
 Constable, TfAnstobol 
 Conyngham, ' 
 Corkran, 'kokran 
 
 Cortes, 'koitijz 
 Couch, 'kuwtj 
 Courthope, 'ko:t9p 
 Cousens, 'kAzonz 
 Co wen, 'kouan, 'kauan 
 Cowper, 'kuwpa, 'kaupa ; 
 
 (poet) 'kuwpa 
 Cozens - Hardy, 'kAzanz- 
 
 Tiaidi 
 Creighton, Crichton, 
 
 'kraitan 
 Croat, 'krouset 
 Cromartie, 'krAmoti 
 Crombie, 'krAmbi, 'krombi 
 Cromwell, 'kromwal 
 Cupar, 'kuwpa 
 Cymric, Tdmrik, 'kAmrik 
 Czar, 'zai 
 
 Czarewitch, 'zairivitj 
 Czarina, za'rijno 
 Czech, tjek 
 Czerny, 'tjami 
 
 Dalbiac, 'do:lbiaek 
 Dalgleish, 'daelgliji 
 Dalhousie, dal'hauzi 
 Dalmeny, 'daelmijni 
 Dalziel, 'deial 
 Damocles, 'dsemoklijz 
 Darius, da'raias 
 Dauphin, 'do:fin 
 Deborah, 'debara 
 Delhi, 'deli 
 Delilah, di'laila 
 Demosthenes, di'mos- 
 ^anijz 
 
 "3
 
 ii4 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Demy (Magdalen College, 
 
 Oxford), di'mai 
 Denbigh, 'denbi 
 Derby, 'dcr.bi 
 Deuteronomy, djuwta- 
 
 Dives, 'daivijz 
 Donegal, doni'goil 
 Donoghue, 'dAnahuw 
 Doughty, 'dauti 
 Drogheda, 'drohada 
 Dvofak, 'dvoisak 
 
 Ecclesiastes, iklijzi'aestijz 
 Edinburgh, 'edinbAra, -bra 
 Eisteddfod, ais'teSvod 
 Elcho, 'elkou 
 Elgin, 'elgin 
 Elizabethan, eliza'bijflan 
 Elysian, e'lizjan 
 Elysium, e'lizjam 
 Elzevir, 'elziva:, -via 
 Euripides, ju'ripidijz 
 Europe, 'jusrap 
 European, juro'piian 
 Exmouth, 'eksmafl 
 
 Faust, 'faust 
 Faustus, 'foistas 
 Fe(a)therstonhaugh, 
 
 'feSastanho: 
 Fildes, 'faildz 
 Folkestone, 'foukstan 
 Foulis, 'faulz 
 Fowey, 'foi 
 Froude, 'fruwd 
 Gaelic, 'gselik (Scotland), 
 
 'geilik (Ireland) 
 
 Gairdner, 'gcr.dne 
 Galway, 'go:lwei 
 Gawain, 'gaewein 
 Geddes, 'gedis 
 Geikie, 'gijki 
 Geoffrey, 'dsefri 
 Geoghegan, 'geigau 
 Giaour, 'dsaua 
 Gibraltar, dsi'broilta 
 Giffen, 'dsifan 
 Glamis, 'glaimz 
 Glasgow, 'glsesgou 
 Gloucester, 'glosta 
 Gomme, 'gom 
 Goschen, 'goujan 
 Gough, 'gof 
 Greaves, 'greivz 
 Greenwich, 'grinids 
 Grosvenor, 'grouvna 
 Guildford, 'gilfad 
 Gye, 'gai 
 
 Hades, 'heidijz 
 Haigh, 'heig 
 Hamish, 'heimij 
 Harcourt, 'ha:kat 
 Harlech, 'hailik 
 Hastings, 'heistipz 
 Hawarden, 'haidan, 
 
 'heiwoidan 
 
 Haweis, 'ho:wis, 'hois 
 Headlam, 'hedlam 
 Hebe, 'hijbi 
 Heneage, 'henids 
 Hercules, 'ha:kjulijz 
 Hermione, ha'maioni 
 Herodotus, he'rodatas
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 Herschell, 'hasjel 
 Hertford, 'ha:fad 
 Hervey, 'haivi 
 Hobart, 'hAbat 
 Holmes, 'houmz 
 Holyhead, 'holihed 
 Hopetoun, 'houptan 
 Horace, 'bores 
 Hough, 'hAf 
 
 Houghton, 'hoiten/hautan 
 Huguenot, 'hjuwganot 
 Huish, 'hjuwij 
 Ian, i;an 
 Iddesleigh, 'idsli 
 Ingelow, 'indsalou 
 lona, ai'ouna 
 Iroquois, 'irokwas 
 Israel, 'izraal 
 Ithaca, 'itfaka 
 Iveagh, 'aivi 
 Ixion, i'ksaian 
 Jairus, dsa'airas 
 Jaques ("As you like it"), 
 
 'dseikwiz 
 Jean, 'dsijn 
 
 Jerusalem, dsi'ruwsalam 
 Jervaulx (Abbey), 
 
 Jervis, 'd 
 
 Jervois, ' 
 
 Jeune, ' 
 
 Johannesburg, dso'haenis- 
 
 boig 
 
 Kaiser, 'kaiza 
 Kearsarge, 'ki:asa:g 
 Kedleston, 'kelsan ; (Der- 
 
 byshire), 'kedelstan 
 
 Demy- Ley 
 
 Keighley, 'kijli, 'kaili, 
 
 Keightley, 'kijtli 
 
 Keith, 'kij0 
 
 Keogh, Keough, K'Eogh, 
 
 Kehoe, Tcjou 
 Ker, 'kai, ka:, kea 
 Keswick, 'kezik 
 Keynes, 'keinz 
 Khedive, ke'dijv 
 Kirkby Stephen, 'ka:bi 
 
 'stijvan 
 
 Kirkcudbright, ka'kuwbri 
 Knollys, Knowles, 'noulz 
 Koran, 'koiran, koi'raen, 
 
 koi'ram 
 Kough, 'kjou 
 
 LafFan, 'laefan, la'fsen 
 Lama, 'la: ma 
 Laocoon, lei'oukoon 
 Lares, 'leirijz 
 Lascelles, 'laesalz 
 Lathom, 'lei^am 
 Layard, 'leiad 
 Leamington, 'lemirjtan 
 Lefevre, la'fijva 
 Lehmann, 'leiman 
 Leicester, 'lesta 
 Leigh, 'lij 
 Leighton, 'leitan 
 Leitrim, 'lijtrim 
 Leominster, 'lemsta 
 Le Queux, la'kjuw 
 Leveson-Gower, 'Ijuwsan- 
 
 'gos 
 Ley, 'lij
 
 n6 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Leys (school), 'lijz 
 Lisle, 'lail 
 
 Llandudno, laen'didnou 
 Llewellyn, lu'elin 
 Lochiel, lo'kijl 
 Loughboro, 'lAfbara 
 Lovibond, 'lAvband 
 Lugard, lu'gaid 
 Luke, 'luwk, 'ljuwk 
 Lymington, 'limirjtan 
 Lyons, 'laianz 
 Lyveden, livdan 
 
 M'Gee, M'Ghee, ma'gij 
 Machiavelli, maekja'veli 
 Mackay, M'Kay, ma'kai 
 Mackenzie, ma'kenzi, 
 
 ma'kerji 
 
 Maclean, maldein 
 MacLehose, 'maekalhouz 
 Macleod, maTflaud 
 Macmahon, mak'mam 
 MacManus, mok'ma&nas 
 Macnamara, maskno'maira 
 Macneill, mok'nijl 
 Maconochie, m9'koT)ki 
 Macquoid, mo'koid 
 Magdalen(e) (College), 
 
 'moidlin 
 Magna Charta, 
 
 'ka:t9 
 
 Magrath, mg'gra: 
 Maguire, mo'gwais 
 Mahan, ma'haen, main 
 Maharajah, maho'raid 
 Mahomet, ma'homit 
 Mahoney, 'maini 
 
 Mainwaring, ' 
 Majendie, ' 
 Malet, 'maelit 
 Maori, 'maiori 
 Marazion, msera'zaion 
 Marioribanks/maitJbaeTjks 
 Marlborough, 'moilbara 
 Marseillaise, 'mcusa'leiz 
 Marylebone, 'maeriban 
 Masham, 'maejam/maesam 
 Massachusetts, maesa- 
 
 't^uwsits 
 Mather, 'mseSa 
 Maughan, 'mo:n 
 Maurice, 'moris 
 Medici, 'meditji 
 Meiklejohn, ' 
 Melhuish, 'meli^ 
 Menpes, 'mempis 
 Mentone, men'touni 
 Menzies, 'mirjiz, 'mer)iz 
 Meux, 'mjuwz, 'mjuwks 
 Micheldever, 'mitjaldeva 
 Milan, 'milan, mi'laen 
 Millard, mi'la:d, 'milod 
 Mivart, 'maivat 
 Mohun, 'muwn 
 Moleyns (de), 'mAlinz 
 Molyneux, 'mAlinjuw 
 Momerie, 'mAmari 
 Monck, 'mAT)k 
 Monckton, 'mArjktan 
 Monro(e), man'rou 
 Montaigne, mon'tein 
 Morant, mo'ra6nt 
 Moule, 'muwl, 'moul 
 Mowbray,'moubri,muwbri
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 Naas, 'neis 
 
 Napier, 'neipjd, 'neipiio 
 Neil, 'nijl 
 Nemesis, 'nemesis 
 Nepean, ni'pijn 
 Nereid, 'nijriid 
 Newnes, 'njuwnz 
 Newquay, 'njuwkij 
 Nice, 'nijs 
 Nigel, 'naidsal 
 Nineveh, 'ninivi, -vo 
 Nirvana, nes'vama 
 Northcote, 'noi 
 
 Oban, 'oubon 
 O'Callaghan, o'kaelahan 
 Oceania, ouji'einjo 
 Oceanic, ouji'aenik 
 Odysseus, o'disjuws 
 Odyssey, 'odisi 
 Ogilvy, 'ougolvi 
 Ohio, o'haiou 
 O'Meara, o'maire 
 Omega, 'oumego 
 Orion, o'raian 
 Orpheus, 'o:f juws 
 Osbourne, 'ozban 
 Ottawa, 'otewa: 
 Oudh, 'uwd 
 Ouless, 'uwlis 
 Ouse, 'uwz 
 Outram, 'uwtrem 
 Paget, 'psedsit 
 Palgrave, 'po:lgreiv 
 Pall Mall, 'pel'mel, 'psel 
 
 'msel 
 Paraguay, 'pserogwai 
 
 Lejrs-Punjab 
 
 Paton, 'peiten 
 Pegram, 'pijgram 
 Pembroke, 'pembruk 
 Penelope, pe'nelopi 
 Penicuik, 'peuikuk 
 Pennefather, 'penife^a 
 Penrhyn, pen'rin 
 Pentateuch, 'pent9tjuwk 
 Pepys, 'pijps 
 Perowne, pa'roun 
 Persephone, pa'sefoni 
 Persia, 'pa: Jo 
 Petrie, 'pijtri 
 Pharaoh, 'fs:rou 
 Philippi, fi'lipai 
 Pigott, 'pigat 
 Pinero, pi'nsjrou 
 Pirbright, 'paibrait 
 Pirie, 'piri 
 Pleiades, 'plaiadijz 
 Poe, 'pou 
 Pole, 'puwl 
 
 Pole CaFew, puwl'keiri 
 Ponsonby, 'pAnsonbi 
 Pontefract, 'pontifraekt, 
 
 pAmfrit (cakes) 
 Powell, 'poual 
 Powis, Powys, 'pouwis 
 Powlett, 'poilit 
 Praed, 'preid 
 Prometheus, pro'mij 0juws 
 Prowse, 'prauz 
 Psyche, 'saiki 
 Pugh, 'pjuw 
 Puleston, 'pilston 
 Pulteney, 'poultni 
 Punjab, peu'dsaib, -o:b 
 117
 
 n8 The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 Pyramid, 'piramid 
 Pythagoras, pai'flaegaraes 
 
 Quixote, 'kwiksat 
 
 Rajah, 'raidje 
 Raleigh, 'ro:li, 'raeli 
 Ralph, 'reif, 'rself, 'ra:lf 
 Rayleigh, 'reili 
 Reay, 'rei 
 Rehan, 'reian 
 Renaissance, ri'neisans 
 Reuter, 'roita 
 Reynard, 'renaid 
 Rheims, 'rijmz 
 Rhodesia, rou'dijzja 
 Rhys, 'rijs 
 Romney, 'rAmni 
 Rothesay, 'ro0si 
 Rouse, 'ruwz, 'raus 
 Rowton, 'roitan 
 Roxburgh, 'roksbaro 
 Ruthven, 'riven 
 
 Sacheverell, sae'Jevaral 
 St Clair, 'sigkleia 
 St John, 'sindsan 
 St Leger, sant'ledsa, 
 
 'silandja 
 St Maur, 'simo: 
 St Neots, sa'nijts 
 St Paul, sant'po:! 
 St Roch, sant'rouk 
 Salisbury, 'sojlzbari 
 Saltoun, 'soiltaun 
 Sandys, 'saendz 
 
 Sanhedrin, 'saenhedrin 
 Sassenach, 'saesenaek 
 Saunders, 'samdoz 
 Scone, 'skuwn 
 Scrymgeour, 'skrimdsa 
 Searle, 'sa:! 
 Selous, sa'luws 
 Seneca, 'seneka 
 Seton, Setoun, 'sijtan 
 Severus, si'vijras 
 Shaughnessy, 'Joinasi 
 Sherbourne, 'Ja:ban 
 -shire, Je (Jia) 
 Shrewsbury, 'Jruwzbari, 
 
 'Jrouzbari 
 Sikh, 'sijk 
 Slough, 'slau 
 Somers, 'sAinaz 
 Somerset, 'sAmeset 
 Sophocles, 'sofaklijz 
 Southwark, 'sASak 
 Southwell, 'sAtJal 
 Sphynx, 'sfipks 
 Stagirite, 'staedsirait 
 Stan ton, 'stamtan 
 Stour, 'stuia 
 Strachan, 'Jtrom 
 Stranraer, straen'raa 
 Symonds, Symons/simanz 
 
 Teignmouth, 'ti 
 Telemachus, te'lemakas 
 Terpsichore, tai'psikori 
 Thames, 'temz 
 Theobald/^ibald,'(9ijobo:ld 
 Theseus, 'tfijsjuws 
 Thorold, '
 
 Wordlist : 
 
 Thucydides, flju'sididijz 
 Tighe, 'tai 
 Tintagel, tin'taedsal 
 Tollemache, 'tolmaej 
 Towcester, 'toista 
 Toynbee, 'toinbi 
 Trafalgar, tra'faelga, 'trse- 
 
 f9lga: 
 
 Tredegar, tri'dijga 
 Trefusis, tri'fjuwsis 
 Treloar, tri'loia 
 Trevelyan, tri'viljan, tri- 
 
 'veljan 
 
 Troubridge, 'truwbrids 
 Tynemouth, 'tinma0 
 Tyrwhitt, 'tint 
 
 Urquhart, ' 
 Uruguay, 'j 
 Uttoxeter, 'Aksita 
 
 Valparaiso, vselpa'raizou 
 Vanbrugh, 'vaenbra 
 Van Dyck, vsen'daik 
 Vaughan, 'vo:n 
 Vavasour, 'vaevasa 
 Venezuela, veniz'weile 
 Vezin, 'vijzin 
 
 Pyra-Zuid 
 
 Victor, 'fi:eto:r 
 Villiers, 'vilaz 
 Vinci, 'vintji 
 
 Waldegrave, Voilgreiv 
 Walhalla, vael'haeto 
 Waugh, 'wo: 
 Weguelin, 'wegelin 
 Wemyss, 'wijmz 
 Wesleyan, 'wezlian 
 Willard, wi'lcnd 
 Wolseley, 'wulzli 
 Worcester, 'wuste 
 Wylie, Wyllie, Vaili 
 
 Xenophon, 'zenafon 
 Xerxes, 'za:ksijz 
 
 Yeames, 'jeimz 
 Yeatman, 'jeitmon 
 Yonge, 'JAT) 
 Yosemite, jo'semiti 
 
 Zenana, zi'na:n9 
 Zeus, 'zjuws 
 Zouche, 'zuwj 
 Zuider Zee, 'zaida 'zei 
 
 The above lists must be regarded as an experiment. It 
 is not to be expected that the selection of words and in 
 some cases the pronunciation indicated mil commend 
 themselves to all readers. Suggestions and criticisms are 
 earnestly invited, so that it may be possible to improve 
 the lists in subsequent editions. 
 
 119
 
 izo The Sounds of Spoken English 
 
 APPENDIX III 
 On the Teaching of Reading. 
 
 THOUGH the teaching of reading does not strictly 
 come within the scope of this book, a few hints may 
 be given on the subject. 
 
 For the first stages the student is referred to the 
 wholly admirable work of Miss Dale, based through- 
 out on a careful study of the spoken language. 
 
 Later on it is important that the pupils should be 
 able to read aloud with distinct articulation and an 
 agreeable voice. Far the most helpful book is Mr 
 Burrell's " Clear Speaking and Good Heading " (pub- 
 lished by Longmans). He dwells on the importance 
 of good breathing and a good posture, and gives suit- 
 able exercises for ensuring both. He condemns all 
 that is affected or stagy ; indeed his whole book is 
 an eloquent plea for quiet and restraint. He rightly 
 advises the teacher to listen carefully to good speakers, 
 avoiding (as a rule) those of his own profession. In 
 dealing with phonetics he hardly appreciates the 
 advantages attaching to a thorough study of the 
 language as it is actually spoken ; but we can re- 
 commend without reserve the later chapters of his 
 book (vi. The Heading Lesson; vii. Reading and 
 Reciting ; viii. Specimen Lessons in Recitation ; ix. 
 On the Higher Study of Reading and Speaking).
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 
 THE following diagrams serve to show the position 
 of the tongue in the formation of some of the 
 vowels. 
 
 Observe the different shapes of the mouth passage 
 through which the breath passes. 
 
 (These diagrams were originally prepared by 
 Dr R. J. Lloyd.)
 
 122 
 
 Appendix IV.
 
 Appendix IV. 
 
 123 
 
 This diagram represents the vowel [a]. In northern 
 English It Is found In words like pat ; In southern 
 English it Is the first part of the diphthong In hov*e 
 [haas], bite (bait).
 
 124 Appendix IV.
 
 Appendix IV.
 
 126 
 
 Appendix IV. 
 
 The following diagrams are the result of ex- 
 periments with an artificial palate, covered with 
 fine powder. When certain sounds are uttered, 
 the tongue touches the palate and some of the 
 powder is removed. What is black in the diagrams 
 indicates those parts of the hard palate which are 
 touched by the tongue. 
 
 These diagrams show where the tongue touches the palate In 
 the production of [J] and [s] respectively. 
 
 English -word toe 
 
 French word tit fa) 
 
 These diagrams are by Mr Dumvllle, and are taken from his Elements of French 
 Pronunciation and Diction. They illustrate the manner of production of the 
 English and the French [t]. It will be noticed that In the case of the English 
 sound the tongue Is farther back than in the case cf the French sound.
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 TDENBCLL AND SPEARS 
 
 EDINBURGH
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 m L9-Series 444
 
 A 000 031 901 2