Pronunciation:
The English language is a difficult one to pronounce as
well as to spell. This arises from two causes. The English language has some
sounds not generally found in other languages, such as w and th.
As has already been pointed out, the alphabet fits the language very badly.
Careful lexicographers indicate no less than seven sounds of a, five of
e, three of i, four of o and six of u, as shown in
the following table:
ā as in āle
[Ia] as in
sen[Ia]te
ă as in ăm
á as in ásk
[a:] as in
[a:]ll
ä as in fäther
(a) as in fin(a)l
ē as in
ēve
ĕ as in ĕnd
[Ie] as in ev[Ie]nt
ẽ as in
fẽrn
(e) as in prud(e)nce
ī as in īce
[Ii] as
in [Ii]dea
ĭ as in pĭn
ō as in ōld
[Io] as
in [Io]pen
ŏ as in ŏdd
ô as in ôrb
ū as in ūse
[Iu] as in [Iu]nite
ŭ as in ŭp
[u:]
as in r[u:]de
[u=] as in f[u=]ll
û as in ûrn
In addition to these there are diphthongs, combinations of
vowel sounds pronounced as one syllable, such as
ou as in out
oi as
in oil
There are also a number of digraphs or combinations of
vowels or consonants which have but one sound, such as
ai as in rain
eo
as in people
ou as in soup
ou as in
soul
ph as in phalanx
ch as in
chorus or chair
C has two sounds, hard before a, o,
and u, as in cat, cot, and cut, and soft before
e, i, and y, as in cell, city, and
cycle.
G has two sounds, hard before a, o,
and u, as in gate, gone, and gun, soft before
e, i, and y, as in gem, gin, and
gyve, although it is sometimes hard before i as in
girl.
Ch is sometimes soft as in chair and
arch, and sometimes hard as in choir.
[14]Th has two sounds, soft, or surd, as in
thin and death, and hard, or sonant, as in then and
smooth.
S has two sounds, soft, or surd, as in soft
and this, and hard, or sonant, as in has and wise.
We have, therefore, twenty-six letters with which to
express fifty or more sounds, not counting the digraphs and diphthongs.
Correct pronunciation depends upon three things, correct
sounding of the letters, correct division into syllables, and correct placing
of the accent.
A syllable is the smallest separately articulated, or
pronounced, element in speech, or one of the parts into which speech is broken.
It consists of a vowel alone or accompanied by one or more consonants and
separated by them, or by a pause, from a preceding or following vowel. This
division of words into syllables is indicated in dictionaries by the use of the
hyphen thus: sub-trac-tion, co-or-din-ate. It will be observed
that in the first of these examples the vowels are all separated by consonants,
while in the second two of them are separated by a pause only.
The English language has the further peculiarity of using
l and n as vowels in syllabication, as in middle
(mid-dl) and reck-on (reck-n).
The division of words into syllables for pronunciation is
generally, but not always, the same as that which should be followed in case
the word has to be divided typographically. As these text-books are intended to
help the apprentice as a speaker and writer of English as well as a printer, it
is worth while to give some attention to syllabication for pronunciation before
proceeding to discuss typographical division.
Two letters forming a diphthong or digraph are not to be
separated. Coin-age (oi diphthong) but co-in-ci-dence
(oi not a diphthong). Excess (ss digraph, pronounced
practically like a single s) gives ex-cess-es, ex-cess-ive, etc.
Whether or not the letters thus occurring together form a diphthong or digraph
will depend on the derivation of [15]the word, thus in cat-head (verb), a
nautical term, th is not a digraph but in ca-the-dral th
is a digraph, as is usually the case with these two letters. You would not say
cat-hed-ral.
Two vowels, or a vowel and a diphthong, coming together
but sounded separately belong to separate syllables.
A-or-ta, co-op-er-ate, but
coop-er-age, moi-e-ty.
Do not end a syllable with
(a) c or g when soft,
en-ti-cing, but dic-tion, wa-ges but wag-on.
(b) t, s, z, c,
sc, g, and d, when followed by i or e giving
the sound of sh; ra-tion-al, o-cean, re-gion,
as-cen-sion.
(c) d, s, t, and z
when followed by u giving the sound of ch, sh, zh,
or j, cen-sure, sei-zure, na-ture,
ver-dure.
Do not begin a syllable with
(a) x with the sound of ks or
gs, anx-ious, ex-act-ly.
(b) r preceded by a or e;
par-ent, av-er-age, but by exception, pa-rent-al.
(c) Single l, n, or v,
followed by i with the sound of y consonant; fol-io
(fol-yo), gen-ius (gen-yus), sav-ior
(sav-yor).
Prefixes and suffixes are generally separated,
yel-low-ish, eat-able, pre-lude. This last word is
sometimes pronounced prel-ude and this pronunciation has some dictionary
support, but it is objectionable.
A consonant or digraph between two sounded vowels usually
joins the following vowel, rea-son, no-ti-fy, mo-ther.
When two or three consonants capable of beginning a
syllable come between two sounded vowels they may all be joined to the
following vowel.
(a) When the preceding vowel is long and
accented; en-a-bling, He-brew, i-dler.
(b) When the following vowel is an accented
syllable; o-blige, re-dress.
When two or three consonants capable of beginning a
syllable come between two sounded vowels one may be joined to the preceding
vowel.
(a) When the vowel is short; tab-let,
res-cue, mus-ket.
(b) When the consonants are st,
str, or sp, if either the preceding or following vowel is
accented; mis-tress, aus-tere, oys-ter,
sus-pect.
When a consonant is doubled (not forming a digraph) the
two are generally separated; beg-gar, bril-liant,
cun-ning.
The old-fashioned method of oral spelling by syllables
m-a-s-mas-t-e-r-ter-master will be found extremely useful in teaching
correct syllabication. It is recommended that constant use be made of it in
spelling drill. |
