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The American Accent Guide A COMPREHENSIVE COURSE on THE SOUND SYSTEM of AMERICAN ENGLISH by BEVERLY A. LUJAN, M.S. ccc/sip Speech- Language Pathologist Edited by C. J. S. Wallia, Ph. D. Editor, IndiaStar Review of Books Instructor, Publishing & Editing Program, U.C. Berkeley extension Berkeley, California USA ISBN 0-9634139-6-1 © Copyright 2006 Lingual Arts P.O. Box 522168 Salt Lake City, Utah 84152 All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this manual or accompanying audio materials may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, audio dubbing or otherwise, without prior written permission from Lingual Arts, Inc. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO MY MOTHER My deepest gratitude to those who contributed their talent and support in this endeavor. First and foremost to T.C. Van Ausdal and her abundant talents and skills. Other contributors included Jan D. Mayer, Rob Ronald, Rod Burkholz, Brent Marshall, Christine Thurmond, Amy Norris, Nathan Martinez, Dennis Misurell, Mark Cantor, Rebecca Waddups, Adam Blackwell, Ron Carpenter, Jeff Hansen, Mike Maughn, Laura Bedore, and Milan Claudio. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Beverly A. Lujan, M.S. - ccc/sip Beverly Lujan is from a bilingual family and has always had a great interest in diverse cultures and languages. She brings particular sensitivity to the problems that non-native speakers sometimes have in speaking the English language clearly and effectively. Beverly studied Linguistics at San Diego State University and attained BS and MS degrees in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Utah. Her research, teaching, and work in American English speech have focused on the problems of non-native speakers and of speech/ language-challenged individuals. She has been a practicing speech therapist for over 18 years, counseling hundreds of non-native speakers of English in Utah from 26 countries around the world. She taught American English pronunciation to international students at Hawthorne University. She founded the Lingual Arts School in Salt Lake City that has conducted courses and seminars on accent modification for corporate, government and educational clients. As a clinical supervisor at the University of Utah, she mentored graduate students to provide training in assessment and instruction on accent reduction. She also taught English speaking skills in the public school system. She is certified by ASHA (The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association) and is a member of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). Ms. Lujan developed The American Accent Guide as a direct result of her experience in teaching English to non-native speakers. The exercises contained in the Guide were developed as part of her work in the field. Beverly A. Lujan offers speech evaluation and personalized speech coaching for individuals, educational, and corporate clients. See details at the end of this book. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION xi THE PROGRAM xi APPLICATION xi, THE PREMISE xi, THE DIALECT xii THE APPROACH xii, THE LAYOUT xiii Suggestions for the Student xv Explanatory Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . xix Glossary ... . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx SECTION 1 OVERVIEW OF AMERICAN ENGLISH SPEECH PATTERNS INTONATION & STRESS 1.1 INTONATION 1.1 STRESS 1.2 AT THE WORD LEVEL 1.2 BEYOND THE WORD LEVEL 1.4 FALLING AND RISING INFLECTION 1.5 Questions 1.5 PRIMARY STRESS AND FINAL INFLECTION 1.6 STRESS FOR EMPHASIS 1.7 Stress for Emphasis and Final Inflection 1.7 RHYTHM 1.8 Reductions 1.9 Linking 1.9 Practicing Rhythm and Stress 1.10 SECTION 2 THE ENGLISH VOWELS INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS 2.1 THE IPASYMBOLS FOR VOWELS 2.1 PRODUCTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS 2.2 LENGTHS OF VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS 2.3 THE SIMPLE VOWELS 2.4 THE SCHWA VOWEL 2.4 IAI THE STRESSED SCHWA (up) 2.5 lal THE UNSTRESSED SCHWA (YJ2on) 2.5 Iii (bee) 2.6 /I (bit) 2.7 Contrast: li/- /II 2.8 Contrast: /1/- IA! 2.9 v The COMPREHENSIVE American Accent Guide THE SIMPLE VOWELS (Continued) hi (bgt) 2.9 Contrast: hi-I /\1 2.10 lrel (bgt) 2.11 Contrast: hl- lrel 2.12 Contrast: Ire I - 1/\1 2.12 101 (bgll) 2.14 Contrast: 10/- lre/ 2.15 Contrast: 101- 1/\1 2.16 I'J I (QMght) 2.17 Contrast: I'J 1- 1/\1 2.18 lul (book) 2.18 Contrast: lul - IAI 2.19 lul (soon) 2.20 Contrast: lu/- lul 2.21 larl (athIT) 2.21 ,2.24 IArI (hgr.) 2.21 Contrast: IAr/- letl 2.23 Contrast: IArI - Ior I 2.23 THE DIPHTHONGS 2.25 leII (bflit) 2.25 Contrast: I el - I ell 2.26 larl (bitg) 2.28 Contrast: I all - I rei 2.29 loul (Qwg) 2.29 Contrast: loul - 101 2.30 laul (out) 2.31 Contrast laul - loul 2.32 I'JII (bQJi.) 2.32 BONUS EXERCISES 2.31 MINIMAL PAIRS - Vowels/Dipthongs 2.33 SECTION 3 WORD STRESS STRESS AND MEANING 3.1 COMPOUND WORDS 3.1 TWO-PART VERBS 3.2 Two-Part Verbs as Idioms 3.4 PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES 3.5 PREFIXES AND WORD STRESS 3.5 SUFFIXES AND WORD STRESS 3.7 Meanings Determined by Stress on the Suffix 3.7 SUFFIXES AND STRESS PLACEMENT 3.8 PROPER NAMES, TITLES, TIMES 3.21 Abbreviations 3.22 Times and Dates 3.22 BONUS EXERCISE 3.23 Practice Word Lists:, ABBREVIATIONS 3.23 COMMON PREFIXES 3.23 COMPOUND WORDS 3.24 VERB & NOUN-STRESS PATTERNS 3.25 Two - Three Syllable Words 3.25 Three - Four Syllable Words 3.25 Three - Five Syllable Words 3.26 VI SECTION 4 THE RHYTHM OF AMERICAN ENGLISH IDENTIFYING SPEECH RHYTHM 4 .1 REDUCED FORMS AND RHYTHM 4.3 REDUCING FUNCTION WORDS 4.4 Simplifying Vowels 4.4 The English Articles 4.4 Underlying Rules for Use of Articles 4.5 Simplifying Consonants 4.10 BONUS EXERCISES 4.14 REDUCED WORD GROUPS 4.15 Combining Consonants 4.15 Linking with the Tapped t 4.16 Common Two-Word Reductions 4.16 BONUS EXERCISES 4.18 Omissions of hand t 4.19 CONTRACTED FORMS . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. 4.20 BONUS EXERCISES 4.23 REDUCED SEGMENTS WITH CONTRACTED FORMS 4.2. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 4.26 Conversational Exercise 4.28 SECTION 5 THE AMERICAN ENGLISH CONSONANTS: The Stops & The Continuants INTRODUCTION 5.1 THE IPA SYMBOLS FOR CONSONANTS 5.1 CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS 5.2 Tongue Tip Placement 5.3 Use of Voice for Consonants 5.3 Aspiration 5.3 /p, bl It, dl Ik, gl THE STOP CONSONANTS........ 5.5 INITIAL STOP CONSONANTS 5.5 FINAL STOP CONSONANTS 5.6 MIDDLE STOP CONSONANTS 5.7 Middle t, d 5.7 The Glottal Stop 5.7 The Tapped t 5.8 LINKING: STOP CONSONANTS - VOWELS 5.9 LINKING: CONSONANTS - CONSONANTS 5.10 THE SUFFIX -ed 5.11 Stop Consonants + Suffix -ed 5.11 Contrast: Voiceless -ed - 'Voiced -ed 5. 12 Linking: Suffix -ed - Vowels 5.12 Linking: Suffix -ed - Consonants 5.l3 BONUS EXERCISES 5.13 MINIMAL PAIRS - FINAL STOP CONSONANTS 5.16 SILENT SPELLINGS - p, b t, d k, g 5.17 Vll The COMPREHENSIVE American Accent Guide THE CONTINUANT CONSONANTS 18, '01 (thin, then) 5.18 Contrast: 181- It! 5.19 Contrast 1'01- Idl 5.20 Contrast 181- Isl 5.21 Contrast 1'01- Izl 5.22 Sound Clusters 18,'01 5.22 PRACTICE WORDS 5.24 BONUS EXERCISES 5.25 If, v] 5.26 Contrast If I - Ivl 5.26 Contrast If. vi - 18,'01 5.27 Suffix -s, Suffix -ed 5.27 Contrast: Ivl -/bl 5.28 Irregular Plurals Ilvzl 5.29 PRACTICE WORDS 5.29 BONUS EXERCISE 5.30 SECTION 6 THE AMERICAN ENGLISH CONSONANTS: The Sibilants Is, zl 6.1 IJ, 31 (share, rouge) ItS, d31 (0air,jam) 6.2 INITIAL SIBILANT SOUNDS 6.3 151 BLENDS 6.5 FINAL SIBILANT SOUNDS 6.6 Contrast: Isl - Izl 6.6 Contrast: If!- Itf! 6.8 Contrast: Itf/ - Id31 6.8 Contrast: 131- Other Sibilant Sounds 6.9 STOP CONSONANTS + S 6.10 Suffix -s 6.10 Contrast: Suffix - s Voiceless - Suffix -S Voiced 6.11 CONSONANT CLUSTERS WITH Isl 6.14 Contrast Isl Clusters 6.14 Ipsl - Ibzl 6.11 Iksl - Igzl 6.12 Iksl - Iskl 6.12 Itsl - Idzl 6.13 Suffixes: -es 6.15 -ize 6.16 -tion,- sion, -cian 6.17 -cial, -tial 6.17 -cious, -tious, -xious 6.17 -sian, -sion 6.18 -geous, gious 6.18 -est 6.19 -ist 6.19 Vlll THE SIBILANT SOUNDS (Continued) SIBILANTS + Suffix -ed 6.18 Contrast: I-stl - I-zdl Linking Sibilants - Other Sibilants 6.21 Linking Sibilants + Suffix -ed - Vowels 6.22 Conversational Exercise 6.23 Silent Spellings of S 6.24 Spelling "ch" Pronounced If I 6.24 MINIMALPAIRS- FINALSIBILANTSOUNDS 6.24 SECTION 7 THE AMERICAN ENGLISH CONSONANTS: The Glides & The Nasals Irl 7.1 Irl BLENDS 7.2 Contrast Irl Blends: Voiceless - Voiced 7.3 MIDDLE Irl BLENDS 7.4 FINAL //rl BLENDS 7.5 Contrast: Irtl -/rdl Contrast Irsl -lrzI More Practice Words - Irl Blends 7.6 BONUS EXERCISES 7.6- /1/ 7.8 THE CLEAR III 7.8 LONG VOWEL + III 7.8 III BLENDS 7.9 Contrast III Blends: Voiceless - Voiced 7.10 FINAL III 7.10 A final consonant + III THE BACK III I 7.11 Contrast: III -I rl 7.12 Contrast: III Blends - Irl Blends 7.12 The Suffix -ly 7.13 Conversational Exercise - Sounds Irl & III SilentI 7.14 MORE PRACTICE WORDS - Irl & III 7.14 BONUS EXERCISES 7.14 Iwl 7.15 Contrast: Ivl - Iwl 7.16 BONUS EXERCISE 7.17 Ijl (yet) 7.17 Contrast Ij/- Id31 7.17 Ihl 7.19 Silent h 7.19 BONUS EXERCISE 7.19 IX The COMPREHENSIVE American Accent Guide THE NASAL SOUNDS Iml, Inl 7.20 Contrast: Iml - Inl 7.20 Contrast: Voiceless - Voiced Endings 7.21 Contrast: III - I nl 7.21 !r) I (si!JJ:} 7.22 Contrast: Inl - IrJI 7.22 Contrast: Ink! - IrJI 7.23 . Contrast Suffix Endings -s, -d 7.23 The Suffix - ing 7.24 Contrast Endings -nking - nging 7.24 BONUS EXERCISE 7.24 SECTION 8 MORE ON STRESS AND INTONATION INTONATION AND MEANING 8.1 Polite Tones 8.1 Mildly Rising Inflection 8.2 Sharply Rising Inflection 8.3 Swinging pitch inflection 8.3 Sharply Falling Inflection 8.4 VARIATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS 8.5 Yes/No Question Form with Falling inflection 8.5 Declarative Form with Rising Inflection 8.5 wh Questions with Rising Inflection 8.5 VARIATIONS IN STRESS 8.5 Stress on Descriptive Words 8.7 Degrees of Stress 8.8 Conversational Exercise 8.8 Stress with Lower Pitch 8.9 PRACTICING STRESS FOR EMPHASIS 8.10 CLARIFYING AND EXPLAINING 8.10 INTONATION AND PAUSES . 8.12 MESSAGES THAT REQUIRE PAUSES 8.13 Addressing the Listener by Name 8.13 Responses beginning with Yes or No 8.14 Messages with Tag Forms 8.14 PAUSES IN LONGER SENTENCES 8.16 Compound sentences 8.16 Parenthetical Statements 8.17 STATING OPTIONS 8.18 Two Options 8.18 Conversational Exercise 8.18 More than Two Options 8.19 STATING ITEMS OR SEQUENCES 8.19 Indefinite Listings or Choices 8.20 Conversational Exercise 8.20 DESCRIPTIONS, DIRECTIONS or INSTRUCTIONS 8.21 Conversational Exercises - Putting it All Together... ... 8.21 BONUS EXERCISES 8.20 x