TOPIC THREE: ENGLISH SPEECH

Specific objectives
By the end of the topic, the learner should be able to:
a. Identify speech organs and their role in the production of speech
b. Recognize and produce accurately the consonant and vowel sounds used in English speech
c. Interpret the phonemic transcription of words and sentences
d. Detect pronunciation problems in pupils’ speech and carry out remedial activities
e. Identify the stressed syllables in words and sentences, interpret the stress marks in written
texts and dictionaries and use stress correctly in their own speech
f. Distinguish and produce basic intonation patterns of English
g. Identify and address special needs in speech.

CONTENT: SPEECH ORGANS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

The organs in the diagram above play an important role in the production of speech as explained
below:
Lungs – Speech requires some sort of air source. We produce speech sounds by forcing air
upwards from the lungs, an acton that is used in normal breathing.
The Vocal Cords
These are folds of tissue which act as a valve to prevent the entry of foreign bodies into the wind
pipe and lungs and to confine air into the lungs. They partially close the larynx in speech; they
vibrate as air passes through them to produce voiced sounds- all vowels and some consonants;
when fully open, there is no vibration and this leads to the production of voiceless sounds-
consonants.
The Tongue
Its movement within the mouth plays an essential part in production of speech sounds. To
produce vowel sounds the tongue assumes different positions to change the shape of the mouth
cavity. To produce consonant sounds, it blocks – partially or fully- the flow of air at different
points in the mouth.
The Lips
Their movement contributes to the production of both vowel and consonant sounds. For vowels,
the lips open at varying degrees, while for consonants, the lips are partially closed or fully closed
then suddenly opened for passage of air.
The Teeth
Though fixed, the space between the two sets of teeth play an important part in articulation of
sounds because of the movement of the lower jaw. Placing the tongue against the teeth accounts
for the production of some consonants.
The Roof of the Mouth
It contributes to the production of sounds when various parts of the tongue are placed against it
or near it. It has three main parts: the alveolar ridge, just behind the upper teeth, the hard palate/
the bony arch of the mouth, the soft palate or velum- which can be raised or lowered to some
extent.
The Nasal Cavity
This is the space behind the nose and above the mouth cavity. Sounds like /m/ and /n/ are
produced by air passing through this cavity when its passage out of the mouth is blocked.
SOUNDS OF ENGLISH
The English language has 44 distinct sounds from an alphabet of 26 letters. It is important for the
English teacher to master and practice the production of these sounds for effective teaching
purposes.
1. Vowel Sounds and Symbols
/a/ as in hat (short vowel) /i:/ as in meet
/a:/ as in farm (long vowel) /o/ as in hot
/e/ as in get /^/ as in cup
/ ə/ as in ago ( the chwa) /o:/ as in sort
/ɜː/ as in firm /ʊ/ as in pull

/i/ as in pin / ʊ:/ as in pool

2. Diphthongs Sounds and Symbols

/ai/ as in my, eye, write /au/ as in now, shout

/ei/ as in say, make, way /eə / as in air, there, fair
/ɪə / as in ear, here, near /ɔɪ/ choice, boy, toy
/əʊ/ goat, show, no, sew / ʊə/ as in pure, tour, sure

3. Consonant Sounds and Symbols

/b/ as in bell /m/ as in man /z/ as in his
/d/ as in dog /n/ as in net /ʃ/ as in she
/f/ as in fill /p/ as in pin /∫ / as in measure
/g/ as in get /r/ as in rat / tʃ/ as in chin
/h/ as in hat /s/ as in sat /dʒ/ as in jack
/j/ as in you /t/ as in tap / θ/ as in path
/k/ as in cat /v/ as in very / ð / as in this
/l/ as in lip /w/ as in wet / ŋ/ as in sing
Note that in some cases the same consonant sound can be represented by different letters e.g. /z/
can be represented by the letter s as in does. At other times the sound /z/ is represented by the
letter z as in size. Likewise, the same applies to /k/ which is represented by the letter c as in cat.

Consonants are produced by partial or total blocking of the airflow from the lungs by the other
speech organs. The sounds are mainly made by the friction of the air passing through a
constricted passage or its sudden release as the obstruction is removed. The Received
Pronunciation (RP) accent has 24 different consonant sounds which are classified according to:
the point of articulation, the manner of articulation, and whether they are voiced or unvoiced.

Manner of Points of articulation

articulation
Bila Labio- Dental Alveolar Palato- Palatal Velar Glottal
bial dental alveolar
Stops or p, b t, d k, g
plosives
Affricates t∫, dʒ

Fricatives f, v Ө, ð s, z ∫, ʒ h

Nasals m n ŋ
Laterals l
Semi- vowels w r j
or frictionless
Consonants

Points of Articulation
This refers to the point in the mouth where airflow is obstructed for the production of consonant
sounds.
i) bilabial is the point between the two lips
ii) labio-dental is the point between the upper teeth and the lower lip
iii) dental is the point between the tongue and the back of the upper teeth
iv) alveolar is the point between the tongue and the alveolar ridge
v) palatal-alveolar is the point between the tongue and the area between the alveolar ridge
and the hard palate
vi) palato is the point between the tongue and the hard palate
vii) velar is the point between the tongue and the soft palate (velum)
viii) glottal is the point in the glottis - the space in the larynx between the vocal cords.

The Manner of Articulation

This refers to the way in which the sound is produced, that is, what actually happens at the point
of articulation.
i) stops/plosives are sounds produced when airflow is completely blocked for a moment
at the point of articulation and then suddenly released by either the lips parting or the
tongue moving away. The sudden escape of air causes the sound.
ii) fricatives are sounds produced due to a small gap left at the point of articulation. The
turbulence of air passing through the gap produces the sound which often has a
hissing or buzzing quality.
iii) affricates are sounds which begin as plosives but the tongue withdraws gradually so
that they end up as fricatives and are perceived as single sounds e.g. /t/+ /ʃ/ = /tʃ/ as
in church.
iv) nasals are sounds produced when the tongue completely blocks the airflow at the
point of articulation while the velum is lowered allowing air to pass through the nasal
cavity and out of the nose.
v) laterals – These sounds are produced when the tongue blocks airflow in the centre of
the mouth but is lowered at the sides to allow air to pass there. /l/ is the only lateral
sound in English.
vi) Semi-vowels- These sounds are also called frictionless consonants and their
articulation falls between vowels and consonants e.g. /w/, /r/, /j/ as in was, rain and
young respectively.
Voicing
Voicing is caused by the vibration of the vocal cords in the partially closed glottis. The voiced
consonant sounds are perceived to be stronger or more emphatic than unvoiced consonant
sounds.
 Voiceless Voiced

Plosives p, t, k b, d, g

Affricates tʃ

Fricatives f, ʃ , s, v, ʒ, z

Vowels
Pure vowels are voiced sounds that are produced with the open mouth. There is no obstruction of
air within the mouth cavity. The vibration is at the glottis/vocal cords.
Vowels are distinguished by:
i. the position of the body of the tongue along a front to back axis namely; front, central and
back
ii. the position of the body of the tongue in relation to the roof of the mouth namely; open,
close and intermediate.
There are two types of vowels; long (:) and short vowels as indicated in the diagram below:
Diphthongs
These are blends of two pure vowels. In their production, there is a smooth glide from one to the
other so that they are perceived as single sounds in speech.
/ai/ as in price /au/ as in mouth
/ei/ face /eə / as square
/ɪə / as weary /ɔɪ/ noise
/əʊ/ though / ʊə/ cure

Phonemic Transcription
This refers to the relationship between sounds and spellings in English. The English language
has more irregular spellings and irregular sets of sounds than Kiswahili and mother tongue.
Examples of words with same vowel sound but different spelling
Go /gəʊ /
Low /ləʊ/
Hope /həʊp/
Coat /kəʊt/
 Though /ðəʊ /
Sew /səʊ/

Examples of words with same letter but different sounds

/ æ/ cat /kæt/
/ɒ/ want /wɒnt/
/ɔː/ talk /tɔːk/
/ə/ and /ənd/
/ɑ: / banana /bənɑ:nə /

These irregularities in normal spellings of words and the fact that English has 44 distinct sounds
(phonemes) from an alphabet of only 26 letters means that there is need for an alternative way of
presenting pronunciation in written form, in which there is a symbol for every different
phoneme and that the symbols are consistent. Generally, all consonant symbols are the same in
many text books. However, there is a variation in the symbols used for vowels and diphthongs. It
is therefore advisable to refer to the dictionary transcription key so as to find out what the
symbols represent. For the purposes of this course, use the dictionary to check the correct
transcription and Kenya Institute of Curriculum recommended Books.