THIS WEEK’S NOW HEAR THIS!
Consonant Sounds
Most
of the 24 American English sounds occur in other languages, so there are only a
few sounds that most non-native speakers will actually need to learn to
make. In most cases, the speaker makes
the sounds correctly some of the time but needs to learn to produce these
sounds more consistently. Sometimes
the problem is not because the speaker doesn’t know how to make a particular
sound but it is because the spelling is misleading. If you learned to read English before you learned to speak it,
for example, you might pronounce the letter d in “education” as a D sound
rather than a J sound.
Consonant
sounds are described by 1) where (place) they are produced (both lips, tongue
tip on teeth, etc.) and 2) how (manner) they are produced (complete stop,
etc.) All consonant sounds can also be
described as 3) voiced or unvoiced.
When air passes by the vocal folds and causes them to vibrate,
sound is produced. A consonant that is
made this way is called a voiced sound and the vibration can be felt by
putting your fingers on the front of your throat. When air passes by the vocal folds without vibrating them, the
sound of exhaled air gives the consonant sound an unvoiced quality. When you put your fingers on the front of
your throat, you won’t feel any vibration.
Y is a nice easy
sound—there’s no contact between your tongue tip and the roof of your
mouth. If you touch the roof of your
mouth, you may make a J sound.
Instructions to make this sound: Does your tongue start
flat and high in your mouth, moving downward as you lower your jaw? Be sure your tongue tip stays down and does
not touch the roof of your mouth.
Common Problems: Using a J sound so “yellow” sounds like
“Jello.” Not pronouncing the Y sound so
“year” sounds like “ear.”
Common Spellings: U as in “United States,” Y as in
“young,” I as in “senior”
Listen:
yesterday curious about yesterday
United States popular in the United States
The mayor of New York visits Yosemite
annually.
Do unions usually negotiate regularly?
(NEXT WEEK: OW)