What is pronunciation?

Pronunciation refers to the proper way that words are spoken so that they can be clearly understood. Pronunciation has several features such as articulation, stress, intonation, and patterns that impact how we pronounce words and sentences.

 

Pronunciation features include:

 

Articulation

The movement of the tongue, lips, and mouth to produce speech sounds.

 

Word stress

Emphasizing a particular syllable in a word, making it sound louder, longer, and often higher in pitch than other syllables. For example, in the word "banana," the stress is on the second syllable: ba-NA-na.

 

Sentence stress

Emphasizing certain words in a sentence to give a specific meaning.

 

Connected speech

This is the way sounds and words can change when spoken together in a natural, flowing sentence, rather than being pronounced in isolation. This includes features like linking, elision, assimilation, and intrusion.

 

Linking

This is the connection of the last sound of one word to the first sound of the next word. For example, "turn off" can sound like "tur-noff" as the /n/ sound links to the /ɒ/ or /ɔː/ sound.

 

Elision

This is the removal of a sound which makes it easier and faster to say some words when using connected speech. For example, "next door" might be pronounced "neks door," with the /t/ sound in "next" being removed.

 

Assimilation

This is when a sound changes to become more like a following sound in connected speech. For instance, "one boat" is often pronounced "wum-boat,"  The /n/ sound changes to an /m/ sound before the /b/ sound. This is because b is a lip sound (labial sound), and m is also a lip sound, so we use the m sound instead of n sound because it is more similar to the following sound.

 

Intrusion

This is when we add an extra sound between two words in connected speech to make the connection easier or smoother. This is usually done by adding a /j/ or a /w/ sound. For example, in "go on," a /w/ sound might be inserted: "go-won"; or in "I agree," a /j/ sound might appear: "I-ya-gree."

TIP: **In pronunciation alphabet (the IPA), the y-sound is written as a /j/**

 

Tools for pronunciation include:

The International Phonetic Alphabet (the IPA)

Mouth diagrams

 

Pronunciation is not accent

Pronunciation

Pronunciation requires proper and clearly understandable articulation of sounds and words, as well as the correct use of stress, intonation, and other pronunciation features and patterns. Accent is the distinct influence of a native language (or a regional variation) on your pronunciation.

Accent

Accent does not impact intelligibility (understanding) of spoken language as long as the language is pronounced properly according to standard patterns. You CAN have an accent and still have perfect pronunciation.