The Alphabet

The Alphabet

Czech pronunciation very closely mirrors Czech spelling. The same is true of German. This cannot, however, be said of English. A written word may not always give you all the clues as to how it is pronounced. This is particularly the case with proper names. How would you pronounce these place names in the UK?

1.Worcester 2.Leicester 3.Gloucester 4.Nottingham 5.Edinburgh

What about these first names?

6.Hugh 7.Seona 8.Ian 9.Geoffrey 10.Ewan

And how would they be pronounced by a native speaker of English? (Answers at the bottom)

Knowing how to spell in English is an essential skill. If you ask for directions to a place, you may want to check the spelling. The college of Cambridge University, pronounced /kiːz/, is spelled Caius. The college pronounced /mɔ:dlɪn/ is spelled Magdalene College, Cambridge, but Magdalen College, Oxford. Alternatively, those not familiar with a Czech name may ask you to spell it aloud in English. You may need to spell your name, for example, or the place where you were born. This is why it is vital to know exactly how to say the letters of the alphabet and to be able to spell quickly and correctly.

The letters of the alphabet can be grouped according to the vowel sounds which they contain.

/eɪ/ A H J K /eɪ/ /eɪʧ/ /ʤeɪ/ /keɪ/

/iː/ B C D E G P T V /biː/ siː/ diː/ /iː/ /ʤiː/ /piː/ /tiː/ /viː/

/e/ F L M N S X Z /ef/ /el/ /em/ /en/ /es/ /eks/ /zed/

/aɪ/ I Y /aɪ/ /waɪ/

/Əʊ/ O /Əʊ/

/uː/ Q U W /kjuː/ /juː/ /dʌb(Ə)ljuː/

/ɑː/ R /ɑː/

How many letters are pronounced with initial aspirated sounds? What are they?

Which letters have no consonant sounds, that this, they are only a monophthong or a diphthong?

If you speak of several letters of one kind eg two Ks, the final letter s is pronounced /z/. Only Fs is /efs/. If you say the letter s as /s/ not /z/, the meaning changes. /keɪz/= Ks /keɪs/=case; /ɑːz/=Rs /ɑːs/= arse (Cz. prd_l); /piːz/=Ps/peas /piːs/=peace; aɪz/= Is/eyes /aɪs/=ice.

The affricate /ʧ/ and fricative /s/ + s become /IZ/ Hs=/eɪʧIz/ Ss = /esIz/ Xs = /eksIz/

Note that the US alphabet ends in /zi:/ not /zed/. Canadian English has retained (kept) the English pronunciation. To help you remember the alphabet, take a look at this commercial from Canada. Zellers is a store which claims to stock everything from A to Z.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7jFFJ8ifgj8

or http://www.pubzone.com/images/nr_images/Zellers_AtoZ_mpg.cfm

Every letter is formed by multiple, identical items whose name begins with that letter. For example, C is made up of cup cakes, F of forks, P of pillows and so on.

Answers

1./wʊstƏ/ 2./lestƏ/ 3./glɒstƏ/ 4./nɒtIŋƏm/ 5./edInbrƏ/

6. hju:/ 7. /ʃƏʊnƏ/ 8./ɪƏn/ 9. /ʤefri/ 10./jʊƏn/