|
1-
The pronunciation of "a" and "an"
A is always uttered "∂ " in fluent speech, and
it is used before
consonant sounds.
a fire / an F
a mouse / an M
a liar / an L
a radio / an R
Vowels that take "a":
Say a uniform/university/union / usual /European.
( when U is
uttered as it is in the alphabet, it is a consonant sound.)
Say an umbrella /
unusual. ( When U is not uttered as it is in the
alphabet.)
Words can take a or an
: a hotel or an hotel, a historian or an historian. If
such
words are used with an , then h is not
pronounced or is pronounced softly.
H is not pronounced at all in a few words:
e.g. an heir, an honest, an honour, an hour.
Some common abbreviations(
depending on their first letter) are preceded by a:
a B.A. ( a bachelor of Arts). or by an : an I.Q.( an
Intelligence Quotient).
The
pronunciation/ ei / instead of / ∂
/
for a is often used when we are speaking
with special emphasis, with or without a pause.
He still refers to his record- player
as 'a / ei / gramaphone.'
2-
Tne pronunciation of " the"
The
is pronounced /  ∂/
before consonant sounds: the day, the key.
The is pronounced / i:
/ before vowel sounds: the end, the hour.
3- Nouns distinguished by
pronunciation: /s / /z/ /
f / / v / /  /
/
When the ending is pronounced
with no 'voice', it is a noun; when it is
pronounced 'hard', it is a
verb. Sometimes this difference is reflected in the
spelling:
/s/ and /z/:
abuse/abuse, advice/advise, house/house,
use/use
/f/ and /n/:
belief/ believe, proof/prove, shelf/shelve
//
and //
: cloth/ clothe, teeth/ teethe
Exceptions: /s/ only in
practice (noun)/practise (verb) and licence
(noun)/license (verb).
And note words like associate,
graduate, and estimate where the pronunciation
of the noun is different from that of the
verb:
Ali is a university
graduate/gr d t
I
graduated/grdu t
from the Faculty of Education.
|
