The pronunciation of English
The recommended reading on which much of the course is based is The Pronunciation of English by Katalin Balogné Bérces and Szilárd Szentgyörgyi.
I also recommend Background to English Pronunciation by Ádám Nádasdy. The Practice Book in English Phonetics and Phonology by the same author will be used in class extensively.
CUBE is an extremely useful site, though it primarily uses a different sort of transcription. To access the transcription we use in class set SYSTEMS to 'trad' in CUBE.
Also check out Geoff Lindsey's channel!
The course will involve pronunciation and transcription practice. The grade you receive at the end of the course will be based on the end-term test (50%) and three short quizzes done during the course (50%). Of the three quizzes you may miss one; if you do all three, the mark of the worst one will be disregarded.
In line with general policy, three absences are tolerated; excuses (papers from doctors etc.) are neither required nor accepted.
Slides and other relevant material will be uploaded after class.
Topics covered:
6 March -- Introduction: what is pronunciation and what are the typical problems it involves? Slides
13 March -- Introduction to English consonants: The liquids: r-dropping, clear l/dark l. Slides
20 March -- Laryngeal features: voice and aspiration. Slides
27 March -- Introduction to English vowels. Slides
3 April -- Quiz on consonants -- R-influence on vowels: breaking and broadening; Vowel Shift and its environments. Handout on Breaking & Broadening (for slides see previous); Slides on Vowel Shift
10 April -- Letter-to-sound rules: Graphic position & Laxing rules 1. Slides; handout
17 April -- Letter-to-sound rules: Graphic position & Laxing rules 2. (see slides above)
24 April -- Quiz on vowels -- Word stress. slides 1; handout 1; solutions to ex1; handout 2; solutions to ex2; handout 3; solutions to ex3
8 May -- Word stress and endings; Slides; handout 4 with solutions
15 May -- Quiz on stress -- further practice; minor features of consonants, yod-dropping.
22 May -- Test