BHASHYAMENG: 2013

PRONUNCIATION RULES

PRONUNCIATION RULES

Plural Marker(-s) Rule

There are three ways of pronouncing the plural suffix ‘s’.

If the word ends in one of the voiceless sounds – (/p/, /t/, /k/, /θ/, /f/) then the plural marker ‘s’ attached to it is pronounced /s/.

caps - /kæps/ books- /bʊks/

bats - /bæts/ maths- /mæθs/

laughs- /lɑ:fs/ tips - /tɪps/

If the word ends in one of the voiced sounds (/b/, /d/, /ɡ/, /ð/, /v/, /n/, /m/, /l/, /r/) or any vowel sounds (which are also voiced) then the plural marker ‘s’ attached to it is pronounced /z/.

tubs / tʌbz/

rooms / ru:mz /

bags / bæɡz/

wells /welz/

swords / sɔ:dz/

If the word ends with sibilants, (voiceless /s/, /ʃ/,/tʃ/ and their voiced counterparts /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/) then the plural marker ‘s’ attached to it is pronounced /Iz/.

badges / bædʒIz/

boxes / bɒksIz/

wishes / wɪʃIz/

faces / feɪsIz/

Past Tense Marker (-ed) Rule

If a verb ends in a voiceless sound except /t/ i.e, if it ends in (p, t, k, f, s, θ, ʃ or tʃ) then –ed is pronounced /t/.

picked / pɪkt/

coughed / kɒft/

washed / wɒʃt/

latched / lætʃt/

briefed / bri:ft/

If a verb ends in a voiced sound except /d/ i.e., if it ends in /b/, /ɡ/,/ð/, /v/, /n/, /m/, /l/, /r/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/) or a vowel, then the past tense (-ed) is pronounced /d/.

dined / daɪnd/

boiled / bɔɪld/

mobbed / mɒbd/

bathed / beɪðd/

If a verb ends in either /t/ or /d/ then –‘ed’ is pronounced /Id/.

funded / fʌndɪd/

fitted / fɪtɪd/

repeated / rɪ:pi:tɪd/

guarded /ɡɑ:dɪd/

The smallest unit of speech is a phoneme (/p/ in pot, /b/ in bat). A unit higher than the sound unit i.e, (phoneme) is a syllable. A syllable is a unit of sound consisting of a vowel and/or one or more consonant sounds that can be produced in one effort. A word is made up of either one syllable, two or three or more syllables. For example say the words ‘friend’, ‘beauty’, ‘decision’, and ‘technology’ aloud. You will find that you say the first word in one flow of breath, the second in two, the third in three and the fourth in four. Hence, ‘friend’ is monosyllabic, ‘beauty’ is disyllabic, ‘decision’ is trisyllabic and ‘technology’ is polysyllabic. Remember that every syllable has a vowel as its nucleus and it may or may not be preceded or followed by one or more consonants. Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter and its stress patterns. This ‘syllable’ is important when we deal with the rules of aspiration and word accent.

A word that consists of a single syllable is called a monosyllabic (like friend).

A word that consists of two syllables is called disyllabic (like beau-ty).

A word that consists of three syllables is called trisyllable (like de-ci-sion)

A word that consists of more than three syllables is called polysyllable

(like hos-pi-ta-li-ty)

Monosyllabic	Disyllabic	Trisyllabic	Polysyllabic
Aim Art Best Bag Calm Cloud Dawn Dust Dare Earth Earn Friend Film Game Heart Knight Town Temple	Action Answer Better Business City Dollar English Foreign Garden Healthy Interest Jealous Kitchen Letter Measure Nation System water	Accident Argument Beautiful Character Company Confidence Educate Excellent Family Glorious Holiday Industry Instrument Library Memory Moderate Ornament popular	Benevolent Caterpillar Democratic Encyclopedia Economically Fragmentation Gynecologist Hospitality Infrastructure Jurisdiction Laboratory Manufacture Nationality Optimistic Parliamentary Reinforcement Satisfaction Technology