ENGLISH

PRONUNCIATION

PRONUNCIATI
ON PRACTICE 2
1. INTRODUCTION OF SPEECH SOUND
 2. RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION
PREFACE

Pronunciation is the problem that needs solution in learning english as a

foreign language. the english word has a different pronunciation from its spelling.
this is unique that requires practice to practice the english phonemes used in the
words. the incorrect pronunciation of the english words affects the hearer's
misunderstanding to catch the messages conveyed in communication.

The pronunciation of English involves the production of individual or

isolated sounds and the utterance of words, phrases, and sentences with correct
spelling and stressing and/or rhytm intonation.

Problems faced by the Indonesians learning English are concerned with

the ear, the matter of making foreign sounds, the distribution of the sounds,
certain attributes about sounds, fluency, and the relation between pronunciation
and conventional spelling. Therefore, they should overcome the problems by
deeply understanding the theory of phonology and practicing to pronounce the
words correctly.

The Writer

Group 9
 LIST of CONTENTS

PREFACE ...................................................................................................... i

LIST of CONTENTS ..................................................................................... ii

INTRODUCTION

A. Introduction of Speech Sound .................................................................. iii

B. Received Pronunciation ............................................................................ iii

EXPLANATION

A. Introduction of Speech Sound .................................................................. 1

1. Consonant ...................................................................................... 1
2. Vowel ............................................................................................. 5
3. Intonation ....................................................................................... 7
B. Received Pronunciation ............................................................................ 9
1. Consonant Sounds ......................................................................... 9
2. Vowel Sounds ................................................................................ 11
3. Diphthongs ..................................................................................... 12

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. v

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION

A. Speech Sound
In the sound system of English pronunciation there are many ways in
which each individual is caused by various factors, such as the origin, early
influences, and social environments. Therefore, many experts argued English
detailed description of one form of pronunciation of the English language,
which at least can be easily understood by the user environment English,
although not standard. The pronunciation shape termed the "Received
Pronunciation", which means 'pronunciation can be widely understood'.
In actual fact, there are a number of alternative pronunciations for
thousands of words in the English language, all of which could be called true.
For those who are not English speakers, pronunciation most suitable way to
learn is known as "Slower Colloquial", how pronunciation between formal
forms of pronunciation used in conversations between people who have been
familiar. How is a way that can be used all the time.
English pronunciation involves the production of each sound and
pronunciation of words, phrases, and sentences with spelling, emphasis and /
or correct intonation. In addition, there are ways on how to read the word
correctly called 'phonetic transcription' (phonetic transcript), which is defined
as a kind of alphabetic writing where each letter represents a sound. The aim
is to provide a phonetic transcript information to the clear and unambiguous
language learners, for example, the sound of which is to be used on a word or
phrase , and in what order to use the sound.

B. Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation, often abbreviated to RP, is an accent of spoken
English. Unlike other UK accents, it's identified not so much with a particular
region as with a particular social group, although it has connections with the
accent of Southern England. RP is associated with educated speakers and
formal speech. It has connotations of prestige and authority, but also of
privilege and arrogance. Some people even think that the name 'Received
Pronunciation' is a problem - if only some accents or pronunciations are
'received', then the implication is that others should be rejected or refused.
When writing his pronouncing dictionary in 1916, phonetician Daniel
Jones described RP as the accent "most usually heard in everyday speech in
the families of Southern English persons whose menfolk have been educated
at the great public boarding schools". Although this description would raise a
few eyebrows today, RP is still the accent generally represented in
dictionaries which give pronunciations, and it's also used as a model for the
teaching of English as a foreign language.
Perhaps for this reason, RP is often thought of as an unchanging accent; a
standard against which other accents can be measured or judged. Some
people don't even think of it as an accent at all, but rather a way of speaking
without an accent. Speaking without an accent, though, would be like
painting without a colour! In fact, there is considerable variation within
groups of people who are said to speak RP, the term is differently interpreted
by different people, and RP itself has changed considerably over time.
 EXPLANATION

A. Introduction of Speech Sound

1. CONSONANT
Any consonants can be described by three ways.
a) According to the position of glottis they are considered whether
they are voiced or voiceless.
b) According to the stricture involved in articulation, Plosive,
affricate, nasal, fricative. are labels given to consonants.
c) According to their places of articulation. Consonants can be
described as Bilabial, Velar, Alveolar, Palato-Alveolar, Labio-
dental, Dental, Palatal, and Glottal.

There are twenty-four distinctive consonants in English. Six of the English

Consonants are plosives, two are affricates, three are nasal, nine are fricative,
one is lateral and three are approximants. Let’s discuss the consonants in
detail.

a. Plosives Consonants
A plosive Sound is produced with a structure of complete closure
and sudden release. During their articulation, the soft palate is raised,
thereby shutting off the nasal passage. When the oral closure is released,
the air escapes with a small explosive noise /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/ are
plosive sounds.
During the articulation of /t/ the tip of the tongue makes a firm
contact with the alveolar ridge Vocal cords are kept wide apart. Thus /t/ is
a voiceless alveolar plosive. /d/ it is articulated like /t/ except that vocal
cords vibrate. /d/ is a voiced alveolar plosive.
During the articulation of /k/, the back tongue comes in firm
contact with soft palate. Vocal cords are kept wide. When the back of the
tongue is removed suddenly from the soft palate. Thus /k/ is a voiceless
 velar plosive. /g/ is articulated like /k/ except that vocal cords vibrate.
Thus /g/ is a voiced velar plosive. They can occur initially, medially and
finally in the words.
Example :
 /p/ Pack /pæk/, sport /spͻ:t/, ship /ʃɪp/.   
 /b/ Bag /bæg/, subject /sʌbʤɪkt/, mob /mɒb/.
 /t/ Till /tɪl/, certain /’sӡ:tn/, put /pʋt/.
 /d/ Doll /dɒl/, medal /medl/, pad /pæd/.
 /k/ Cap /kæp/, skin /skɪn/, back /bæk/.    
 /g/ Game /geɪm/, sugar /’ʃʋgə(r)/, big /bɪg/. .

b. Affricate sounds
Affricates are consonants sounds produced with a stricture of
complete closure and slow release is /ʤ/ and /ʧ/ are affricative sounds.
During the articulation of /ʧ/ the tip of the tongue make a firm contact with
alveolar ridge and the hard palate. Both separated slowly and air escapes
with friction. Vocal cords are wide apart. So /ʧ/ is a voiceless palato-
aveolar affricate consonant, /ʤ/ is like /ʧ/ except that the vocal cords
vibrate. So it a voiced Palato-alveolar affricate consonant.
Example:
 /ʧ/ chess /ʧest/, picture /’pɪkʧe(r), snatch /snæʧ/.  
 /ʤ/ joy /ʤͻɪ/, enjoy /ɪn’ʤͻɪ/, age /eɪʤ/.

c. Nasal sounds
A nasal sound is articulated with a stricture of complete oral
closure. During their articulation, soft palate is lowered thereby shutting of
oral passage so air comes through nasal passage. i.e. /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ are three
distinctive nasal consonants in English.
During the articulation of /m/, the two tips make a firm constant
with each other, there by soft palate is lowered. The vocal cords vibrate
producing voice. So /m/ is a voiced bilabial nasal.
 During the articulation of /n/, the tongue touches to alveolar ridge
and the soft palate is lowered. The vocal cords vibrate producing voice. So
/n/ is a voiced alveolar nasal consonant.
During the articulation of /ŋ/, the back of the tongue touches soft
palate. And the soft palate is lowered. The vocal cords vibrate producing
voice. So // is a voiced Velar nasal consonant.
Example :
 /m/ minimum /’mɪnɪməm/, complete /kəm’pli:t/,
Shame /ʃeɪm/.   
 /n/ native /’neɪtɪv/, snail /sneɪl/, sudden /’sʌdn/.  
 /ŋ/ finger /’fɪŋgə(r), young /jʌŋ/.

d. Fricatives sounds
Fricatives sounds are articulated with a stricture of close
approximation. i.e. /f/, /v/, //, /ð/. /d/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ӡ/ /h/ are nine distinctive
fricatives consonants in English.
During the articulation of /f/ the lower lip is brought very near the
upper front teeth in such a way that there is a very narrow gap between
them. The lung-air escapes through this narrow gap with audible friction.
Vocal cords are wide apart. So /f/ is voiceless libio-dental fricative. /v/ is
like /f/ except that the vocal cords vibrate producing voice. It is voiced
libio-dental fricative.
During the articulation of // the tip of the tongue makes a light
contact with the upper front teeth. The vocal cords are wide apart. So // is
voiceless dental fricative. /ð/ is like // except that Vocal cords vibrate
producing voice. So /ð/ is voiced dental fricative.
During the articulation of /s/ the tip and blade of the tongue are
brought near the teeth-ridge. The vocal cords are wide apart. So /s/ is a
voiceless alveolar fricative. /z/ is like /s/ except that Vocal cords vibrate
producing voice. So /z/   is a voiced alveolar fricative consonant.
 During the articulation of /ʃ/ and /ӡ/ an active articulator the tip and
blade of the tongue and the front of the tongue are brought very near the
teeth ridge and hard palate. So /ʃ/ is a voiceless palato alveolar. /ӡ/ is a
voiced palato alveolar. During the articulation of /h/ the air from the lungs
escapes through a narrow glottis with audible frication. /h/ is thus a
voiceless glottal fricative.
Example:
 /f/ Fat /fæt/, reflex /’ri:fleks/, safe /seɪf/
 /v/ Visit /’vɪzɪt/, never /’nevə(r)/, save /seɪv/.
 // Think /θiŋk/, either /’aɪθə(r)/, earth /ӡ:θ/
 /ð/ That /ðæt/, other /’ʌðə(r)/, write /raɪt/.
 /s/ seek /si:k/, upset /ʌp’set/, truss /trʌs/
 /z/ zone /zəʋn/, whizzy /’wɪzi/, utilize /’ju:təlaɪz/.
 /ʃ/ Shape /ʃeɪp/, commission /kə’mɪʃn/, cash /kæʃ/.  
 /ӡ/ measure /’meӡə(r)
 /h/ Hat /hæt/, behind /bɪ’haɪnd/.

e. Laterals sounds
A lateral sound is articulated with a stricture of complete closure in
the centre of the vocal tract. /l/ is lateral sound. During the articulation of
/l/ the soft palate is raised so as to shut off nasal passage of air. The tip of
the tongue makes a firm contact with the alveolar ridge. Vocal cord
vibrates producing voice. /l/ is thus a voiced alveolar consonant.
Example:
 /l/ last /la:st/, slam /slæm/, soil /sͻɪl/

f. Approximants sounds
Approximant Sounds are articulated with a structure of open
approximation. There are three approximants in English: /r/, /j/, /w/.
 During the articulation of /r/ the tip of the tongue goes near the
teeth ridge. The vocal cords vibrate producing voice. So /r/ a voiced post
alveolar approximant.
During the articulation of /j/ the front tongue is raised up to
between front close and front half-close. The vocal cords vibrate
producing voice. So /j/ is voiced palatal approximant.
During the articulation of /w/, lower lips and Soft palate goes up
shutting down nasal. Lips are rounded and vocal cords vibrate. So /w/ is a
voiced lebio-velar approximant.
Example:
 /r/ reach /ri:ʧ/, dry /draɪ/ 
 /j/ year /jiə(r)/, sure /ʃͻ:(r)/   
 /w/ wait /weɪt/, sweet /swi:t/. 

Table Consonant Place and Manner of Articulation

Plosives Affricates Nasal Fricatives Lateral Approximants
Bilabial p, b m w
Labio-dental f, v
Dental Ɵ, ð
Alveolar t, d n s, z l r
Palatal ʧ, ʤ ʃ, ӡ j
Velar k, g ŋ
Glottal h
Sounds that bold are voiced

2. VOWEL
Vowels are normally made with the air stream that meets no
obstruction in the mouth, pharyngeal and nasal cavities.
On the articulatory level the description of vowels notes changes:
a. In the stability of articulation
b. In the tongue position
c. In the lip position
d. In their length
A. The stability of articulation
All English vowels are divided into 3 groups: monophthongs,
diphthongs, diphthongoids.
 Monophthongs are vowels the articulation of which is almost
unchanging. They are /i/, /e/, /æ/, /a:/, /o/, /o:/, /ʋ/, /ʌ/, /ə:/, /ə/.
 In the pronunciation of diphthongs the organs of speech glide from
one vowel position to another within one syllable. The starting
point, the nucleus, is strong and distinct. They
are : /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /oɪ/, /ɩə/, /eə/, /ʋə/, /αʋ/, /əʋ/.
 In the pronunciation of diphthongoids the articulation is slightly
changing but the difference between the starting point and the end
is not distinct as it is in the case of diphthongs. They are /i:/, /u:/
B. Tongue position
 The tongue may move forward, backward, up, down, thus changing
the quality of vowels.
a) When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth and the front
part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate a front vowel is
pronounced. They are /i:/, /e/, /æ/
b) When the tongue is in the front part of the mouth but slightly
retracted and the part of the tongue nearer to the centre than to
front is raised, a front-retracted vowel is pronounced. It is /i/
c) When the front of the tongue is raised towards the back part of
the hard palate the vowel is called central. They are /ʌ/, /ə:/ /ə/.
d) When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth and the back
of it is raised towards the soft palate a back vowel is
pronounced. They are /a:/, /o/, /o:/, /u:/
e) When the tongue is in the back part of the mouth but is slightly
advanced and the central part of it is raised towards the front
part of the soft palate a back-advanced vowel is pronounced. It
is /u/.
  Moving up and down in the mouth the tongue may be raised to
different high towards the roof of the mouth.
a. When the front or the back of the tongue is raised high towards
the palate the vowel is called close. They are /i:/, /I/, /u/, /u:/.
b. When the front or the back of the tongue is as low as possible
in the mouth open vowels are pronounced. They are /æ/, /a:/,
/o/, /o:/.
c. When the highest part of the tongue occupies the position
intermediate between the close and the open one mid vowel are
pronounced. They are /e/, /ʌ/, /ə:/, /ə/.
C. Lip Position
 When the lips are neutral or spread the vowels are called
unrounded.
They are /i:/, /i/, /e/, /æ/, /a:/, /ʌ/, /ə:/, /ə/.
 When the lips are drawn together so that the opening between them
is more or less round the vowel is called rounded.
They are /o/, /o:/, /u/, /u:/.
D. Vowel Length
All English vowels are divided into long and short vowels.
 Long vowels are /i:/, /a:/, /o:/, /u:/, /ə:/
 Short vowels are /i/, /e/, /o/, /u/, /ʌ/, /ə/.

3. INTONATION
English has intonation patterns such as ‘rising intonation’ and ‘falling
intonation’. Rising intonation means the pitch of the voice increases over
time, while falling intonation means that the picth decreases with time.
a. Rising Intonation
The kinds of utterances that are generally pronounced by rising
intonation are as follows:
1. The statement intended to be ‘encouraging’
Example:
 1) I will not drive so fast .
2) This is so bad .
2. The statement intended as ‘questions’
Example:
1) You came here yesterday ?
2) You love her ?
3. Yes-No questions
Example:
1) Have you attended the lesson ?
2) Is she your teacher ?
4. Tag-question after commands
Example:
1) Open the door, will you ?
2) Come to my office tomorrow, will you ?
5. Greeting and saying ‘good bye’
Example:
1) Good afternoon
2) Good bye
6. Exclamation related to questions
Example:
A: I will come to your house.
B: Really?
b. Falling Intonation
Falling intonation is used in the following utter-ances:
1. Complete statement
Example:
1) She is a good teacher .
2. WH-questions
Example:
1) Who is you teacher ?
 3. Strong Commands
Example:
1) Don’t be late .

B. Received Pronunciaton
Received Pronunciation (RP) is the standard accent of Standard English
in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship
in other European languages between their standard varieties and their
regional forms. RP is defined in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as
"the standard accent of English as spoken in the south of England", although
it can be heard from native speakers throughout England and Wales. Peter
Trudgill estimated in 1974 that 3% of people in Britain were RP speakers.
Although there is nothing intrinsic about RP that marks it as superior to
any other variety, sociolinguistic factors have given Received Pronunciation
particular prestige in parts of Britain. It has thus been the accent of those with
power, money and influence since the early to mid 20th century, though it has
more recently been criticised as a symbol of undeserved privilege. Since the
1960s, a greater permissiveness towards allowing regional English varieties
has taken hold in education and the media in Britain; in some contexts
conservative RP is now perceived negatively.
It is important not to confuse the notion of Received Pronunciation – a
standard accent – with the standard variety of the English language used in
England that is given names such as "Standard English", "the Queen's
English", "Oxford English" or "BBC English". The study of RP is concerned
exclusively with pronunciation, while study of the standard language is also
concerned with matters such as grammar, vocabulary and style.
1. CONSONANT SOUNDS
Consonants are sounds produced by some form of obstruction of
the air passage and may be either voiced or voiceless. There are twenty-
eight consonants in English.
 Is consonant sounds or letters (letters alive or dead) in the
production of air that does not come out smoothly through the mouth and
throat, but encountered resistance or narrowing so that sounds of friction.
Consonants can be grouped according to (A) the point of articulation, and
(B) the manner of articulation.
A. According to the point of articulation
1. Labial, which sounds to the point of articulation of the lips.
Divided labial, bilabial, which sounds articulated by the two lips
(/p/, /b/, /m/), and labio-dental, the sound between the lower lip
with upper teeth (/f/, /v/).
2. Dental, which sounds articulated by the tip of the tongue to the
front teeth (/θ/, /δ/).
3. Alveolar, namely sounds articulated by the tip of the tongue to
the gums (/t/, /d/).
4. Palato-alveolar, which sounds articulated by the tongue body
with palate (/ʧ/, /ʤ/).
5. Palate, which sounds articulated by the front of the tongue to the
front of the palate (/j/).
6. Velar, which sounds articulated by the back of the tongue to the
back of the palate (/k/, /g/, /ŋ/).
7. Glottal, the sound produced in the glottis.
B. According way of articulation
1. Plosive, the sound produced by closing the air cavity completely
(/p/, /b/).
2. Affricate, which resembles a plosive sound separation organs but
do not be too quick articulator (/ʧ/, /ʤ/).
3. Nasal, mouth fully enclosed, rear ceiling kept low so that air
freely passes through the cavity (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/).
4. Lateral, obstacle lies in the middle of the mouth, air freely exit
(/l/).
 5. Approximents, consonant sounds that resemble rolled but only
consist of only one swift motion (/r/).
6. Fricative, the sound of the air cavity is formed by narrowing the
air thus causing the release of hiss sound (/f/, /v/, /θ/, /δ/, /s/, /z/,
/∫/, /ӡ/, /h/).
7. Semi-vowel, the sound produced by the rapid displacement of the
vocal organs of speech covered to some other vowel.

2. VOWEL SOUNDS
The organs of speech are capable of making many different kinds
of speech sounds. From the practical point of view, speech sounds are
generally divided into vowels and consonants. Vowels are sounds
produced by air stream in the mouth. In producing vowels there is
vibration of vocal cords. So all vowels are voiced. In English there are
twenty vowels in all.
Vocal defined as 'vowel in the formation of air out through the
throat and mouth, without restriction and constriction so that no friction is
heard'. There are 12 vowels in English are divided into three groups; front
vowel (/i:/, /i/, /e/, /æ/), the middle vowel (/:/, //, //), and back vowels
(/a:/, /‫כ‬/ ,/‫כ‬:/, /u/, /u:/). The vocal division depends on the tongue and lips.
Lip position include: closed-wide lips, the lips neutral, open-rounded lip,
and the lip-rounded closed.
No. Symbol Word Phonetic Transcription
1. /i:/ : see /si:/ 7. /I/ : sit /sIt/
2. /e/ : get /get/ 8. /æ/ : mat /mæt/
3. /a:/ : car /ka:/ 9. /‫כ‬/ : lot /l‫כ‬t/
4. /‫כ‬:/ : saw /s/:‫כ‬ 10. /u/ : put /put/
5. /u:/ : too /tu:/ 11. // : shut /∫t/
6. // : another /nδ/ 12. /:/ : fur /ƒ:/
3. DIPHTHONGS
Diphthong is the sound made by the removal of one vowel position
to another vowel position. In phonetics, a diphthong is represented by a
sequence of two letters, the first one shows the start position and the
second indicates the direction of movement. Diphthongs are grouped into
two, namely closed diphthongs (/ei/, /‫כ‬u/, /ai/, /au/, /‫כ‬i/) and diphthongs
middle (/i/, /e/, /‫כ‬/, /u/).
No. Symbol Word Phonetic Transcription
1. ei : day /dei/ 6. i : here /hi/
2. ‫כ‬u : go /g‫כ‬u/ 7. e : there /δe/
3. ai : high /hai/ 8. ‫כ‬ : shore /∫‫כ‬/
4. au : now /nau/ 9. u : tour /tu/
5. ‫כ‬i : boy /b‫כ‬i/
 CONCLUSION

In studying a foreign language, especially English, should be well

understood that the sound system is different from the language of Indonesian.
There are some sounds in English that are not found in the Indonesian language,
be it in the form of vocals, consonants, diphthongs and various other forms of
sound. In addition, the Indonesian strain (stress), the duration (length) and
intonation (intonation) does not affect the meaning of a word or phrase.
Due to these differences, English language learners often face difficulties
caused by many things different hearing sensitivity, the problem how to generate
foreign sounds in our speech organs, sound distribution problems, and problems
of fluency. These problems can be overcome by trying to explore more
phonological theories, diligently opened the dictionary to find out how to
pronounce a word and pronounce exercise and train hearing by listening to native
speakers, both directly and through the tape .
In learning English, can pronounce words, phrases, and sentences
correctly, proper speech produced by speakers of English is the primary goal. It
becomes important because errors in English pronunciation will lead into a false
sense of the word anyway. As a result, we want to convey the message that would
be unacceptable to clear. Based on the description, it is important to introduce the
pronunciation of the English language correctly from the beginning to the English
language learner. Thus, it can be expected emergence of learners who are able to
master the ways of the correct pronunciation in English so finally can speak the
English language fluently and accurately.
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Ampa, Andi Tenri. 2008. New Horizons In English Pronunciation. Lembaga

Perpustakaan dan Penerbit Unismuh. Makassar.

Anonim. 2014. Dialect levelling and received pronunciation. http://www.u
niversalteacher.org.uk/lang/rp.htm dikutip pada 14 April 2014
pukul 21:15.

Anonim. 2007. RP dan BBC English. www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/rpan
dbbc.shtml dikutip pada 14 April 2014 pukul 22:00.

Anonim. 2014. Received pronunciation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recei
ved_Pronunciation dikutip pada 14 April 2014 pukul 22:30.

Hingu, Sukhadev. 2013. The classification and description of speech sound

I consonant of english. http://snhingubama.blogspot.com/2013/0
5/the-classification-and-description-of.html dikutip pada 14 April
2014 pukul 23:30.

Nordquist, Richard. 2014. Received pronunciation. http://grammar.about.c
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2014 pukul 20:40.