24.

[lJ] sinqer, thing

To make the [I)] sound, start with the mouth slightly open. Then breathe through the nose. If you have a mirror in front of you, you wilt see that the back of the tongue rises and the soft palate comes down to meet it, effectively blocking off the passage of air to the mouth. Now vibrate the vocal cords so that you produce a sound. That sound will be [IJ]. To produce [nk], you release the barrier at the back of the mouth immediately after the [I)] so that the air now escapes through the mouth in the [k] sound. losl is formed in the same way, only the second sound is voiced and hardly any air escapes through the mouth.

-----------

PRACTICE

A. [v! (no ls! sound)

(a) sing sang sung song

bring bang bung belong

ding nng ting young/among
dang rang tang
dung rung tongue harangue/meringue
dong wrong tong (b) All the present participles ('we're singing') and gerunds ('I like talking']

stretching sitting calling tinkling

winding watching darkening beginning

spreading weeping ringing getting

(c) These '<nger' words (N.B. all derived from verbs ending in '<ng']

singer ringer coathanger

bringer banger hanger-on

B. [Vk]

(a) Here are just a few of the many words that end in [tjk]. A good exercise is to go through the alphabet, thinking of all the possible combinations of letters and sounds, and then look them up in the dictionary to see if they exist, e.g. bink (no), brink and blink (yes).

ink pink bank sank bunk

drink think rank stank drunk

mink ZII1C drank thank junk

monk punk trunk

(b) In the middle of a word. Despite spelling these are all pronounced [tjk].

ankle Manx anchor length gangster

uncle anxious conquer strength ([g 1 becomes [k] because

tinkle han( d)kerchief banquet amongst of following voiceless consonant)

c. loel

(a) before:

'a': kangaroo, nightingale, Hungary, Bengal, engage. '0': Mongolia, mango, tango, angostura.

'u': singular, angular, fungus, language, penguin.

'I' : England, English and words that end in '<le ': angle, single, jungle, etc. 'r": congratulate, hungry, angry, mongrel.

(b) some words before '-er' (N.B. not derived from verbs)

e.g. finger, linger, hunger, conger eel, fishmonger, ironmonger

(c) comparatives and superlatives of the three adjectives long, strong, young:

long strong young

longer stronger younger

longest strongest youngest

52

DIALOGUE 24. A king and a song

INGRID: There once was a kingMUNGO: King of England?

INGRID: No. This king's kingdom was far-flung, stretching along the banks of every winding river, spreading into all the angles of the world.

MUNGO: He must have been a very strong king. The strongest! Did everything belong to him?

INGRID: Almost everything. One evening he was sitting on the bank of his longest river, watching the sun sink behind the weeping willows-

MUNGO: And the nightingales calling from the darkening branches.

INGRID: Only they weren't nightingales. They were two monks ringing a tinkling bell, singing a sad lingering song in a strange tongue no longer known among the younger subjects of his far-flung kingdom.

MUNGO: It's beginning to be interesting. But I'm getting hungry. Can you bring me something to eat and drink, do you think, Ingrid?

53

25. More rhythm: consecutive stresses

Most of the time, in English speech, stressed syllables are separated by one or more unstressed ones. But every now and then there will be two stressed syllables, one straight after the other. There was a pair in Jane's telegram in Unit 13. 'PLEASE MEET', she wrote, and when the Post Office clerk read it, he had to hang on to the first word until it was time, strictly in accordance with the rhythm, to move on to the next. You will have done the same thing in the third and sixth lines of 'Jack and Jill':

... To fetch a pail of wa-ter. ... And Jill came tumbling af-ter.

In ordinary speech, 'water' and 'after' each have only one stressed syllable, but rhythm overrides everything, especially in nursery rhymes, and so we have to say: 'wa-a-a-ter'. If, when you were doing Exercise B of Unit 13, you repeated the groups of phrases several times without a break, you will have found yourself saying 'a delicious and mouth-watering pineapple', followed immediately by 'a nice ripe pear'-·-in fact, doing exactly what we're going to concentrate on in this unit.

Note that if you are holding on to an open vowel ('a grey horse') or a vowel before a voiced consonant ('a beige carpet'), you can lengthen the vowel sound almost indefinitely. However, if the vowel is followed by a voiceless consonant sound and therefore must be short, either

(a) you will have to lengthen the consonant sound: 'a nice-ce-ce person',

or (b) if the consonant sound is not one of those that can be continued indefinitely ([ f], [s], [J], etc.) but a 'plosive ' ([p], [t), [k], etc.), you win get your speech organs in position to say the sound and only let go when the rhythm tells you to ('take two', 'top teeth').

PRACTICE

A. Two consecutive stresses.

long walk tall man

brown dog bright sun

blue sky main road

green grass fresh fruit

black cat whole cake

B. Now try the same pairs of words, this time in sentences. In each sentence there should be at least one stressed syllable, apart from the two consecutive ones. Before you begin, decide which syllables you are going to stress. Then repeat each sentence at least twice, slowly at first and then a little faster.

She went for a long walk. I've bought a brown dog. He's looking for a tall man. I love the bright sun.

What a wonderful blue sky.

We'll drive by the main road. Let's sit on the green grass. You must eat some fresh fruit. A pretty little black cat.

They finished the whole cake.

C. Go through the sentences again, stressing only the two consecutive stressed syllables:

We went for a long walk. I've bought a brown dog.

Unless you can say the unstressed words very fast you will probably have to slow the two stressed ones down quite a lot.

54

DIALOGUE 25. All dressed up like a dog's dinner

SAM: Jack, for Pete's sake! Who's that girl all dressed up like a dog's dinner-red hat, red dress, red gloves-ah1 but what's this'? Blue shoes!

JACK: Take that back, Sam Boyd. Dog's dinner indeed!

SAM: You're quite right! My dog hates raw meat! He'd have ten fits if 1 gave him a red mess like that for dinner!

JACK: It's her best dress. To impress you, you rude creature! She's sweet, rich, clever-dnd a good cook!

SAM: Lord save us, the man's mad! Don't say you're in love with the red maiden? JACK: Yes, Sam. f am. What's more-we're engaged. This time next week we'll be man and wife.

SAM: I did really put my big foot in it, didn't I? All I can say now is-s-good luck, old man!

HN8C ~ C."

55

26. [1] lace/sail

Lay the from part of your tongue along the alveolar ridge, with the tip of the tongue touching the gums just where the teeth join them. Contract the tongue, drawing in the sides so that air can pass on either side. If you suck in air, you will feel it on the sides of your tongue. Now push the air out of your mouth, at the same time vibrating your vocal cords so that you produce a voiced sound. There are, in fact, two [I] sounds in English, but they are not phonemic, i.e. it makes no difference to meaning which one you usc. The [I] you have just made (the 'clear' [1]) occurs before a vowel (like, lost, sailing, hollow). The other [1] sound (the 'dark' [ID occurs before a consonant sound (called, build) or at the end of a word (full, middle, chapel). To make the dark [I j, keep the front of your tongue against the alveolar ridge but try to say a long [u:]. You will feel the back of your tongue rising. Note that a great many words that end in dark [I] have an [uj sound immediately before (Mabel, unable, fatal).

PRACTICE
A.
(a) clear [1]
love laugh element
life leg eleven
look Lord alone
lots limp along
(b) dark [t]
all pool curl
full foal snarl
sell growl aisle
(c) silent 'l'
half calm
calf palm
halfpenny [hci-] almond (d) As large as life.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Let sleeping dogs lie.

sleep actually
slip yellow
slope silly
sloppy gorilla
table build
marvel field
careful gold talk chalk walk

could should would

folk yolk Suffolk

English ticklish quickly lonely

[Ii]

failure million

also wealthy although

colonel salmon

Live and let live.

Love me little, love me long. Little things please little minds.

B. (a) Do you really like living in a lighthouse all alone?

I absolutely love living in a lighthouse all alone.

(b) Do you lead a delightfully social life on Hollywood Boulevard?

Naturally, I lead ...

(c) Have you ever lain in a sleeping bag on a lonely island in a total eclipse?

I've frequently lain ..

(d) Does it look as if the long platform is actually parallel to the railway lines?

It certainly looks

C. Do you know where the stress comes in the names of these creatures?

monkey giraffe butterfly crocodile rhinoceros

leopard porcupme donkey tiger nightingale

101~8In? ~lq?Z 1:)OJ~?d FJllJnbs ~U?Alj

;;J;lZll~dW!lj:) ;;JSI01l91 lllEljd;)J5l sruua iododdiq pl~Z!I

gorilla spider kangaroo mosquito canary

A1BUBJ 011 I) bs our 091B8u~1 ropjds BlU108

56

lizard hippopotamus elephant tortoise chimpanzee

hyena squirrel peacock zebra alligator

;;JIB8U11lj8Ju 1;)8n A;;J1U9P ;;JU!dn:)19d P1Bd9;)1

SOl;}:)9U1ljl ;}gpO:)9l:l Agl;:JHl).q ;}JHu!8

A;11u9W '.J :S.1<JMS'UV

DIALOGUE 26. A lovely little lion

BILLY: I love wild life in its natural element. Look at all your lovely animals, Lucy.

Lots and lots.

Lucy: Eleven, actually.

BILLY: And look! Here's a lovely little lion-a real live black lion asleep on the lawn. Lucy: That's a leopard, actually.

BILLY: I don't believe it! Leopards are yellow. Look, Lucy, he's laughing! Do

animals understand the English language?

Lucy: Leave him alone, Billy. He's licking his lips. BILLY: Would you like a lettuce leaf, little lion? Lucy: Billy, be careful-Oh Lord!

BILLY: Let go! Help, Lucy, he's got my leg!

Lucy: Actually, that's how I lost my left leg. You wouldn't listen, you silly fool.

Well, let's limp over and look at the gorillas.

57

27. [r] run

Though in a number of languages [l] and [r] are not phonemic, in English they are, and it is important to distinguish clearly between them, both when listening and when speaking. When pronouncing [r] there is no gap on either side of the tongue. In fact, the tongue lies relaxed on the bottom of the mouth with only the tip raised towards the alveolar ridge. Now move the tip rapidly downwards so that it just brushes very briefly against the ridge and resumes its former position, at the same time expelling a little air and vibrating the vocal cords. This is a 'flapped' [r]. There is only one flap. Very often there is no flap at all (,fricative' [r]). The tongue lies still.

[rJ is only pronounced before a vowel sound, not before a consonant nor at the end of a word: 'harm', 'bird', 'poor', 'there', 'later'.

---_ .. ----_._----

PRACTICE

A.

(a) roar run red

rare Rome rage

rubbish crying carry (w)rong
rabbit drowning worry (w)rite
nver Freddie mirror (w)rist
really angry tomorrow (w)rap r"~l\.f J.VV.l

nee

silent 'r'

final position before consonant before silent 'e'

car poor harm fierce there pure N. B. i(r)on

fur later bird short shore fire i(r)onmonger

ncar prefer turn pearl care here i(r)oning

(b) Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal rudely ran. Aurora Borealis.

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Red as a beetroot.

Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run. Ring--a-ring 0' roses.

Right as rain.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

B. [rJI[I/ contrast. Which is slhe saying?

( ) I b collect h b f

a must remern er to t t e papers e ore tomorrow.

correc

(b) Glamour. l! h r f Grammar IS a selves or

(c) The p!lott signalled that he was coming alongside. plra e

(d) I'm afraid I didn't bring the li.ghht suitcase.

ng t

( ) M lodger's I"

e y , a so icitor.

Roger s

C. Here are a few minimal pairs with II] and [rJ for you to practise. There are lots and lots How many can you think up?

flog bleed belly laughed clash alive

frog breed berry raft crash arnve

long fly list glow glean led
wrong fry wrist grow green red
---_.
5.J;:>j'POl (;:1) 14:iJu (p) dllWd (J) reurunuf (q) ]JdllOJ (n) -0 :SJJMSUV
58 DIALOGUE 27. The respective merits of frogs and rabbits

ROGER: My rabbit can roar like a rhinoceros. BARRY; Rubbish! Rabbits don't roar, Roger.

ROGER: You're wrong, Barry. My rabbit's an Arabian rabbit. They're very rare.

When he's angry he races round and round his rabbit run. And if he's in a real rage he rushes on to the roof and roars.

BARRY: How horrid! Really, I prefer my frog. I've christened him Fred. ROGER; Freddie Frog! How ridiculous!

BARRY; An abbreviation for Frederick. Well, you remember when I rescued him from the river last February? He was crying like a canary. He was drowning.

ROGER: Really, Barry! Frogs don't drown.

59

28. Consonant sounds followed by [r]

Here we have some of the phonemes we have practised, followed immediately by [r]. Once you have mastered the individual sounds of these pairs, you should have no difficulty in pronouncing the two sounds together. Be careful not to roll your [r]-·pronounce it nearer to [w] than [rrrr].

When the first sound is voiceless, as in [tr], [Ir], [Or], etc., the air is expelled on the [r] and the following vowel, not on that first voiceless consonant itself.

PRACTICE

A.

(a) cram creek crew grove

gram Greek grew drove

tram freak true shrove

dram shriek through trove

pram treacle shrew throve

(b) Work your way through the consonant sounds, putting {rJ and the same vowel after each consonant (e.g, prat, brat, trat, drat, etc.} just for practice. You can look the words up in a dictionary to see if they actually exist!

thrift drift shrift

crumble grumble

(c) Some longer words miserable unfruitful incredible

unprofitable unshrinkable undrinkable

untraceable unbreakable ungrateful

unanswerable immeasurable unthreadable

B. (a) Which is slhe saying?

blessed goes cave
breast grows crave
chain quick blink
drain crick brink flows froze

cheese trees

Jack track

junk drunk

quest crest

Jaw draw

(b) What are the missing words?

1. Water is carried by the local ...

2. There's too much ... in the cities for my liking.

3. I'm afraid ... is not my favourite food.

4. Only ... men arc allowed in the sanctuary.

5. Why don't we ... the figs for a change?

C. Mark the stressed syllables and underline the stronger stress in each word group.

train crash brick wall train driver huge great crate

dreadful dream breathe properly up front pretty frightened

fresh fruit incredibly brave windscreen broken crates

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) l~llJ lfS?ll WI!?lP (njpE?lp

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)j;)E1l ~S;);)lP ~ZOlj :lAE;) Sh\Ola' ISE;)lq (I!) ·S :SJdM~'UV

60

DIALOGUE 28. A dreadful train crash

PRUE: Weren't you in that train crash on Friday, Fred? FRED: Oh Prue, it's like a dreadful dream.

PRUE: A tractor-isn't that right?-crossing a bridge with a trailer of fresh fruit crashed through the brick wall in front of the train?

FRED: Yes. The train driver's a friend of my brother's. I was travelling up front with him. I was thrown through the windscreen on to the grass, but he was trapped under a huge great crate. I could hear him groaning.

PRUE: Fred! How grim!

FRED: I was pretty frightened, Prue, I can promise you! I crawled through the broken crates and tried to drag him free. His throat was crushed. He couldn't breathe properly, but he managed a grin.

PRUE: How incredibly brave!

61

29. Consonant clusters

Now we have groups of two, three and sometimes four consecutive consonant sounds with no vowel sound in between, e.g. [str], [ksp].

These 'consonant clusters', as they are called, are not difficult. Remember that in all languages the tendency is to pronounce things with the least amount of effort. So keep your lips and tongue and jaw as relaxed as possible-in some cases only the smallest movement is needed to slip from one sound to the next.

With words beginning with r s] + a consonant, be careful not to put an [e) sound before the [s], Get the [s] right, hold on to it for a moment, then go on to the next sound.

PRACTICE
A.
extra exchange mixed mixture picture
c-..-v+rnr'r"\£l,. expect taxed fixture adventure
1r.,;Al-.lvJ.ll1"...-
extr(a)ordin( a)ry explode boxed texture Christian
smashed switched sergeant managed arranged
crashed watched agent salvaged exchanged
rushed hatched pageant damaged singed
strawb( e )rry Pebble Beach couldn't acknowledge Kingston
ras(p )b( e )rry probably wouldn't nickname amongst
blackb(e)rry veg( e) table oughtn't bacon B. Listen to the dialogue, How many syllables are there in each of the following words?

1. twenty-sixth

2. extremely

3. dangerous

4. extraordinarily

5. sergeant

6, strawberries 7, blackberry

8, headquarters 9, suspiciously

10. vegetables

II, emergency

12. transmitter

13. explosion

14. sufficient 15" shouldn't

C. Mark the stressed syllables and then underline the strongest stress in each group of words.

this extremely dangerous mission an extraordinarily stupid sergeant the village store

mashed potatoes

his emergency transmitter

a large blackberry and apple pie

----------------:---------'-

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Z'L Z '9 Z '<; s 'v £ '£ £ 'z £ 'I 'S :S.J;lMSUV

62

DIALOGUE 29: Two tricky problems

PARKER: There we were, the 26th Division, on this extremely dangerous mission, with only an extraordinarily stupid sergeant in charge.

MRS PARKER: If I managed to reach the village store before closing time, I wonder if Mrs Pecksmith would exchange the strawberries for a blackberry and apple pie ... Just a sergeant, dear?

PARKER: The message came through from headquarters that we were to proceed to what we called Pebble Beach and examine a fishing boat that was behaving suspiciously.

MRS PARKER: That was a strange way for a fishing boat to behave ... I could make the stuffed chicken stretch further with masses of mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables.

PARKER: The sergeant couldn't remember which switch to switch on his emergency transmitter. There we were, approaching the suspicious boat and suddenly there was an explosion like a ... like a . . .

MRS PARKER: Like an earthquake, dear? ... Then with a large blackberry and apple pie and whipped cream-there should be sufficient.

PARKER: Strictly speaking, the sergeant shouldn't have been in charge. I remember, the explosion split my trousers.

MRS PARKER: Well, go and change them, dear. The children will be here any minute.

63

30. Weak forms (1)

As we saw in Unit 13, to maintain the rhythm of speech in English, stressed syllables must be spoken at regular intervals of time and the unstressed syllables fitted into the gaps between the stresses. How is this possible if you're speaking at a reasonable speed? Well, we saw in Unit 12 that the vowels in unstressed syllables are often reduced to a rapid 'shwa' and sometimes even vanish altogether. In Unit 13 we looked briefly at groups of words that are not 'telegram words' and therefore usually have no stress. Here and in the next 2 units we shall consider these in more detail.

Note that the normal pronunciation is [;)1 (the 'weak' form) and that the vowels in these words are only given their full value (the 'strong' form) if they are at the beginning or end of a sentence, or are being specially stressed (e.g. Are you coming, too? I hope you are. You are kind).

A. Weak forms (shwa)

B. Strong forms (full value)

<1, an

I swallowed a fly.

An alligator bit him.

You say a book,a child. but an apple, an elephant.

am

[orn] ['rn]

What am I doing? I'm singing a song.

What am I to do?

Am I serious? Yes, I'm afraid I am!

and

[;,m] ['n] [ond]

Bread an(d) butter.

Over an(d) over an(d) over again.

Trifle or jelly') Trifle and jelly, please! And she's a gossip ...

Where are my glasses? Her cakes are awful!

They are mine, they are, they are! Are you alone?

as

[n]

I'm as happy as a king. Well, as far as I can see.

As I pour it on, you stir it.

As I was saying before you interrupted.

I got it at a cheap shop. We're here at last'

He is selling it-s-but at a price. What are you staring at?

'But me no "buts".'

But for me, you would all be dead.

I'm ugly but intelligent!

They say they are, but they're not.

can

[bnl [kn]

If you can do it, so can I. r can see a star.

Can I come too? Mother says I can.

could

[kod] [kd]

She said she could come. I'm so angry I could swear.

Could you possibly help me') There! I told you I could!

do

[d;)] [d']

When do we begin? D'you understand?

Do look at that funny man! What do you do all day long?

does [doz] [dz]

What time does it arrive? What does 2 and 2 make?

Does it work? Of course it does! Oh, she does look nice!

C. Listen to the tape. The speakers are speaking very fast. What are they saying?

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'lj:JU;)l::llB ssorcdoq mq QSllilu3 IE rradxo UB ill,I 'J :S.l<lMSUV

64

DIALOGUE 30. What a boring book you're reading!

JONATHAN: What are you doing, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH: What am I doing? I'm reading. What does it look as though I'm doing? JONATHAN: What are you reading?

ELIZABETH: A book, silly. What do you think? You can see I'm reading a book. JONATHAN: I wish I could have a look at it. Do you think I could have a look at it,

Elizabeth? Elizabeth, is it an interesting book?

ELIZABETH: Yes, a very interesting book. But an adult book. O.K., come and have a look at it and then go away and leave me alone.

JONATHAN: But what an awful book! It looks as boring as anything. How can you look at a book like that? What does it say?

ELIZABETH: Jonathan! You're an awfully boring and annoying little boy! Go away!

65

31. Weak forms (2)

Here is the second batch of words that are pronounced with a 'shwa' sound instead of having the full value of their vowels. Notice that on the whole these words are:

(i) articles (a. an, the),

(ii) personal pronouns (us, them, etc.), (iii) prepositions (at, to, for, etc.),

(iv) auxiliary verbs (am, are, have, etc.),

(v) modal verbs (shall, should, must, can, etc.).

Notice also that in the case of some of them, particularly 'and' and 'must' and 'of', the final consonant is nearly always elided: 'and' is nearly always pronounced [an]; 'must' and 'of' are usually pronounced [mos] and [d] before a consonant.

When you're practising sentences or phrases, give the stresses exaggerated emphasis. This will make the unstressed words seem weak by comparison even if you're speaking fairly slowly and not weakening as much as a native speaker would. Keep the rhythm in mind all the time.

~~~---.---- -----------------~

tor

I fJ] [fr]

from

[Irorn] [frm]

had

[hod] [dd] [d]

have

[hJVI [Jv! [v]

has

[hoz] [s] [z]

is

[L] [sl

must

[mos] [most ]

not

[not] [nt]

of

[av] [J] [v]

shall

[Iul] fJl] [II

should

[Jd]

some [sam] Ism]

A. Weak forms (shwa)

B. Strong forms (full value)

Lm doing it for fun. He's training for a race,

What did you do that for? For he's a jolly good fellow!

I wonder where they came from') Guess where I got it from,

Had I finished this one last week? Yes, I think you had,

Have you two met before')

No, I don't think we have,

Has it stopped raining yet?

He has got it, I know he has.

Is this what you're looking for? She says she isn't, but she is,

Must you make so much noise') I must say, it's not bad!

Oh, not again! I told you not to ' Raining? I hope not!

What's it all in aid of?

Of the examples he gave, not one.

Shall I say you're out?

If you don't, I shall!

Should we call a doctor?

I think we should,

Some people have all the luck!

I made these myself. Do have some.

They came from Africa,

I'm speaking from experience.

You'd better put it back,

Tell me, what had they done?

We've put a frog in his bed! Why have you got a coat on')

Charles has bought a car. What's he done now?

Fhats Concorde going over. She's a very good secretary,

I must go and buy a paper. Everyone must have a present

I don't believe a word of it. They haven't finished yet

I bought a pound of apples. Lots of people do it.

What shall we do if it rains') I'll tell your mother I

You should look where you're going. [ should think that's all right.

They stole some money. We ate some chocolate.

C. Listen to the tape. What are the speakers saying?

poustuu JII.,no'( J10J:lq )j:){~q Jq IU 'UBJ I SB )j:J!nh SB aq ll.I 'i!U!41 rood 'nl), pBl] \JlJS ,\r.PIJ1S:l,( :luoi! JII.Bl[ pjnoqs I ·uo i!U!UJ;) s,ljlJqBz!l3 M.olj cos pUB 0;) isnf ILl (:» 'B:lllOJ :llUOlj SPUdllJ ll:lljl JO JUlOS ;)U1;)uuq :llB U:llPlllj:l :lljl ·S:lljJIM.pU!?S JlUOS J)jBUl pUB 0;) isrun I (q)

'\omps If? ,{ddr.lj l,USI :llj pIElJ!? Ul,I inq os ,(1).S 1,US:lOP JH 'U!?ljlBUOr UlOlJ lJ1Pl!? pBlj :l1l..J (c) 'J :SJilMSUV

66

nll!l()GIU: ":l1l \A/h'!::ll+ h~u!O\ vO •• ...I .............. A.: ... L R.1I"",LeI7

_ • ..-.. "" .... I. lII'W HUll. UUY<[;i J' lUI YUlle VVlllI IVlau .

SERENA: Barnabas, what have you done with that packet of biscuits?

BARNABAS: Well, there's a sort of an alligator in a cage over there. He looked sort of hungry.

SERENA: Barnabas, you didn't ... ? But you must never feed an animal in a cage.

I should think you've given it a bit of a stomach ache.

BARNABAS: He's been brought here from America.

SERENA: And anyway, I bought those biscuits for tea. What shall I tell Mother? BARNABAS: I wish I'd got some cake for him as well, Serena. He's a nice alligator. SERENA: But, my goodness, what have you done with little Mabel? Where's she

gone?

BARNABAS: Well, she's ... sort of ... gone. He did look so sad so far from America, and very hungry.

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32. Weak forms (3)

Here is the third and last group of words that have their normal pronunciation with a 'shwa' [~J sound. Remember that the purpose of weakening the vowel sound is to make it possible for the word to be said more rapidly. Try to keep the unstressed syllables in each group exactly the same length as you speak, e.g.:

The: one that was at the top

5d ! WAn I 5d' I WdZ I d' I Od ! top

~ ~

(longer) (longest)

(louder) (loudest)

(higher) (highest)

Practise saying all the words with weakened vowels with the centre of your lips together, to prevent yourself from being led astray by the spelling. Listen to yourself and make sure that all the weakened vowel sounds are the same-d, on, am, cz, ot, etc-and all of them 'shwa'!

A. Weak forms (shwa)

B. Strong forms (full value)

than [5;;mJ

My sister's prettier than yours:

It's easier than I expected"

(not really possible)

that

[5;}t] [5;)']

He said that I could have it. Tell her that I shan't be coming.

That's the man who shot him.

That book belongs to me. I know that.

the [o;} ]

The tiger ate the hunter.

They dragged the body into the house.

Are you the William Shakespeare?

My dear, they had the most awful row.

them ro~m] (5m]

Tell them I'm just coming. She gave them each a pound.

Don't give it to us, give it to them.

'Them as asks no questions, hears no lies!'

there [()~l [5;)rj

Is there a party tonight?

There's a burglar in my bedroom!

Look, there he is, over there! There goes my last penny.

to

[ta]

I went to London to see the Queen. I wanted to go to the cinema.

Who are you giving those flowers to? They got up to all kinds of mischief.

us

[;)s]

He told us to come back later. What do you want us to do?

So you told the Joneses, but not us!

He's not going with you, he's coming with us.

was

[woz]

It was a dark and stormy night. I looked, but no one was there.

Was there any left in the bottle? I told you there was.

They were telling us about it. Hundreds of people were drowned.

Were you talking to me?

I didn't know where you were.

would

[wd] [wod]

I'd like to have a word with you. Well, what would you have done?

Would you mind controlling your dog? Yes, I jolly well would!

Where are you going?

What have you done with it?

You think you know everything. No one was talking to you.

your U;:Jj

Could you buy one on your way home? Don't put your hands in your pockets.

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Your apples are rather small, -

I wouldn't like to be in your shoes!

DIALOGUE 32. There's nowhere to go in the jungle

CHRIS: Hi, Pete. All set for the final scene? Hey, what's the matter? You look as pale as a glass of vodka!

PETE: Barry and John have gone. Just upped and gone. While you were looking for the lake. I tried to stop them but there was nothing at all I could do-nothing that any of us could do.

CHRIS: What do you mean, gone? There's nowhere to go. In the middle of a Bolivian jungle? How would they get out?

PETE: They said there was a man who'd take them to the river--for an enormous fee-and that anything was better than dying of heat and mosquito bites in a South American jungle.

CHRIS: The miserable bastards! Well, go and get your camera, Pete. And the rest of the crew. We can survive without them. And I hope there's an alligator waiting for them at the river!

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33. [I] bit, bid

This is a very relaxed sound. The tongue lies with no tension on the bottom of the mouth, the lips are relaxed, slightly spread. It's probably best to close your mouth, make sure that there is no tension anywhere, then open your lips until you can just get one finger between them, open the teeth a fraction so that you can't get much more than a finger nail between them and then, without tensing up, say the sound you hear on the tape. To make doubly sure that you aren't tensing up at all, keep your fingers on your throat, just above your Adam's apple. Keep the vowel sound short.

PRACTICE

A.

(a) big pig fig

(b) primitive ministry antiquity distinguishing Mississippi

dig ng wig

din S111 wm

You can go through all the consonant sounds just .0 practise. It doesn't matter if you're not making actual words.

six sinking ships

bin pm thin

thick -skinned twin sisters stinking rich unsolicited gift British history

Isn't it a little bit thin?

a picnic in the hills

the Sicilian Fishing Industry fish and chips

(c) There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.

If the cap fits, wear it. As pretty as a picture.

As fit as a fiddle. Little pitchers have big ears.

B. Some deceptive spellings
misses watches wanted added sacred aged
freezes fixes fitted faded crooked learned
washes wages waited weeded wicked beloved
believe kitchen poet silliness mischief anemone
before women perfect mattress handkerchief recipe
refuse English earnest limitless sieve catastrophe
private pnvacy cottage cabbage college passenger
fortunate palace village damage privilege messenger
deliberate purchase marnagc courage orange
busy biscuit hymn Monday vineyard pretty
minute building idyllic birthday sovereign
lettuce circuit physics holiday I

C. Here are some British place names that contain the [IJ sound. Some are fairly straightforward, but some of them are deceptive. You will have to listen carefully.

Hitchen Denbigh Hadleigh Wensleydale

Chiswick Uist Bicester King's Lynn

Ipswich Salisbury Gullane Inverbervie

Edinburgh Bideford Chipstead Manchester

Lewes Dorset Plymouth Kirkcudbright

Lincoln Swansea Inverary Merthyr Tydfil

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DIALOGUE 33. Busy in the kitchen

BILLY: Mummy! Are you busy?

MOTHER: Yes. I'm in the kitchen.

BILLY: Can I go swimming in Chichester with Jim this morning?

MOTHER: Jim?

BILLY: Jim English. He's living with Mr and Mrs Willis in the village-Spring

Cottage.

MOTHER: Isn't it a bit chilly to go swimming?

BILLY: What's this? Can I pinch a bit of it?

MOTHER: Oh, Billy, you little pig! It's figgy pudding. Get your fingers out of it!

BILLY: Women are so silly! I only dipped a little finger in.

MOTHER: Well, it's a filthy little finger. Here, tip this chicken skin into the bin and I'll give you a biscuit.

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