МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

ИВАНОВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

Факультет романо-германской филологии

Кафедра английского языка

Графика и орфография английского

ЯЗЫКА

для студентов 1 курса исторического факультета

специальности «Международные отношения»

Иваново

Издательство «Ивановский государственный университет»

2011

LESSON 1

Pronouncing Guide

Accented syllable [xk'sentId 'sIlqbl] Affix ['xfIks] Closed syllable ['klquzd 'sIlqbl] Compound ['kPmpaund] Consonant ['kPnsqnqnt] Consonant letter ['kPnsqnqnt 'letq] Consonant phoneme ['kPnsqnqnt 'fqunJm] Derivative ['dIrIvqtIv] Digraph ['daIgrRf] Diphthong ['dIfTPN] Disyllabic words ['dIsI'lxbIk 'wE:d] Double letter ['dAbl 'letq] Doubled letter ['dAbld 'letq] Doubling ['dAblIN] Etymological doubling ["etImq'lPGIkql 'dAblIN] Final position ['faInl 'pqzISqn] Grapheme [grx'fJm] Graphic equivalent ['grxfIk I'kwIvqlqnt] Graphic system ['grxfIk 'sIstIm] Graphical rule ['grxfIkql 'rHl] Homograph ['hPmqugrRf] Homophone ['hPmqfqun] Inflexional form [In'fleksqnl 'fLm] Initial form [I'nISql 'fLm] Suffix ['sAfIks] Syllable ['sIlqbl] Syllable boundary ['sIlqbl 'baundqrI] Syllabic consonant [sI'lxbIk 'kPnsqnqnt] Trigraph ['traIgrRf]

Initial position [I'nISql pq'zISqn] Letter ['letq] Letter combination ['letq "kPmbI'neISen] Medial position ['mJdjql pq'zISqn] Monograph ['mPnqgrRf] Monophthong ['mPnqfTPN] Monosyllable ['mPnq"sIlqbl] Morpheme ['mLfJm] Non-final syllable ['nPn'faInl 'sIlqbl] Open syllable ['qupqn 'silqbl] Orthography [L'TPgrqfI] Phoneme ['fqunJm] Polygraph ['pPlIgrRf] Polysyllable ['pPlI"sIlqbl] Polysyllabic word ['pPlIsI'lxbIk 'wE:d] Prefix ['prJfIks] Pronounce [prq'nauns] Pronunciation [prq"nAnsI'eISqn] Root word ['rHt 'wE:d] Root vowel ['rHt 'vauql] Single letter ['sINgl 'letq] Silent letter ['saIlqnt 'letq] Sound combination ['saund "kPmbI'neISqn] Sound value ['saund 'vxljH] Spelling ['spelIN] Triphthong ['trIfTPN] Unaccented syllable ['Anxk'sentId 'sIlqbl] Vowel ['vauql] Vowel letter ['vauql 'letq] Vowel phoneme ['vauql 'fqunJm]

The Nature of English Spelling

It is rather difficult to acquire perfection in English spelling as it is highly irregular in comparison with the spelling of other languages. The total number of graphemes in Modern English is 144, including 26 single letters and 118 letter combinations – digraphs, trigraphs and polygraphs. They are used to represent the 46 phonemes of the language. Each phoneme is expressed by a certain fixed number of graphemes, which are called its graphic equivalents.

Some of the sources of difficulty in English spelling are as follows:

The total number of phonemes in English is 46. To represent these phonemes we have only 26 letters in the alphabet. It is quite obvious from the number of phonemes and letters to represent them that a one-to-one correspondence is impossible.

In present-day English spelling a grapheme may be used to represent several different phonemes, that is to say it may have several sound values.

i [aI] nice, library [I] British, linguistic [J] regime, unique

ch [C] chalk, teach [S] chauffeur, machine [k] school, epoch

A grapheme may sound both as a vowel and a consonant. Consider the pronunciation of the letter y in the words yes [jes], yellow ['jelou], and type ['taIp], city ['sItI].

The same phoneme, on the other hand, is often represented by different letters and letter combinations, i.e. different graphemes.

[J] be [bJ] see [sJ] mean [mJn] believe [bI'lJv] receive [rI'sJv]

police [pq'lJs] key [kJ] people ['pJpl] amoeba [q'mJbq] Caesar ['sJzq]

Some phonemes, for instance [T], are never represented by a single letter, whereas some letters, such as x, when not initial never represent a single phoneme.

Time for fun: Read “A Spelling Rhyme” written by an English teacher.

It’s easy: should and would and could

All rhyme with stood and wood and good.

But then we find another – mould

Which rhymes instead with bold and gold.

Thought, bought and fought all rhyme with sort,

But so do caught and taught (and taut).

Light, might, night, sight, tight, height but wait

For neigh and sleigh and eight and weight.

Though, bough and cough are not enough,

There’s also dough and rough and tough.

I haven’t even mentioned ‘through’,

Or ‘ought’ and ‘brought’ because I threw

My pencil at the teacher’s head

And with a naughty laugh I fled.

2. The relation existing between the number of phonemes in a word pronounced and the number of letters in its spelling is rather complex. In many words in English the number of phonemes and the number of letters used to represent these phonemes in spelling correspond: be [bJ] (2/2), not [nPt] (3/3), club [klAb] (4/4), etc. But in the majority of cases the number of phonemes and the number of letters in a word are at variance. Sometimes, though very rare, there are more phonemes in a word than there are letters in its spelling: box [bPks] ¾. But far more often the number of letters in the spelling of a word is greater than the number of phonemes in the same word pronounced: day [deI] 3/2, father ['fRDq] 6/4, course [kLs] 6/3.

3. Many words contain silent letters, i.e. the letters that are written but not pronounced. We write debt, knight but say [det] and [naIt]. Consider also the silent letters in calm [kRm], answer ['Rnsq], comb [kqum].

4. Very often a phoneme is represented differently and different phonemes are spelled alike in the same position and surroundings. It is no wonder that the words like delicate ['delIkIt], habit ['hxbIt], rocket ['rPkIt], minute ['mInIt], on the one hand, and lose [lHz] – close [klquz], wood [wud] – blood [blAd], laughter ['lRftq] – daughter ['dLtq], on the other hand, present problems for spellers and readers.

5. Very often words pronounced identically may be represented in spelling in different ways (homophones). Compare, for instance, the prepositionto, the numeraltwo, and the adverbtoo. The result is that written English makes many distinctions that are not apparent in spoken English and that is a constant source of spelling difficulties.

6. Numerous homographs, i.e. words spelled alike but pronounced differently, also account for the difference between the way English is written and the way it is spoken. Compare, for instance, lead [lJd] ‘вести, приводить’ and lead [led] ‘свинец’.

7. English spelling is so complex that English people often say they ought to simplify it. But they also say they would be sad to lose the historical evidence in their words. Difficulties are rooted in the language itself. Any language is to undergo many changes in its history. Not always the phonetic transformations in English words have been reflected in their spelling. Besides a lot of borrowings from Latin and Greek appeared in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A mass of words came into English from French. Most of them are with English people today and they form an essential part of their literary, scientific and even everyday vocabulary. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and many other languages have contributed to the English language.

e.g. ph [f], que [k], ae [J], ch [C], [S] and [k], etc.

Exercise 1. A sound in the English language (phoneme) may be represented in spelling:

1. by the letters of the alphabet (simple graphemes);

2. by letter combinations (complex graphemes).

There are as many graphemes in a word as there are sounds in it. There are generally more letters in a word than sounds.

Count the number of phonemes, graphemes and letters in the following words:

Sea, treasure, table, high, chair, back, thin, car, mother, bear.

Home assignment: Read the notes thoroughly; work with a dictionary:

1) write out the translation of all the terms in the pronouncing guide;

2) find your own examples to illustrate the difficulties in English spelling;

3) find the words with the following number of letters and sounds 3/2, 4/2, 4/4, 5/5, 6/5, three examples per each pair.