5

Speaking Skills

“Our accent and our speech generally show what part of the country we come from and what sort of background we have.”

 

–Ralph W. Emerson

5.1 Introduction

Despite being a small minority, the speakers of English in India are those individuals who lead India’s economic, industrial, political, professional and social life. English is no longer a second language for them rather it is a medium in which a great number of interactions take place. In recent years, English has gained a lot of importance among the educated class, particularly the youth, who appears to be using it as a mother tongue and not as a foreign or a second language. Young Indians “think of English as an empowering skill, like Windows, and are comfortable mixing it with their mother tongue.” (Gurcharan Das) This has led to the usage of the language such as Hinglish (Hindi + English), Tamlish (Tamil + English), Benglish (Bangla + English), etc. Mixing English with mother tongues has been going on since pre-independence days. In spite of the great stress on good English in higher circles in India, the accent varies greatly from those learning pure English to those learning Indian-language-tinted speech. All native languages of India lack the sound /ʒ/ and substitute it with /dʒ/ or /z/. Subcontinentals do not differentiate between /v/ and /w/ and ‘wine’ is pronounced as ‘vine’. In some parts of the Northern India, people tend to double the consonants whenever they are spelled double like, ‘happy,’ ‘butter,’ ‘little’ and many more. South Indians curl their tongue more on the sounds /l/ and /n/, Biharis substitute /dʒ/ for /z/ and in Bhojpuri, all instances of /ʃ/ are spoken as /s/. The following lines of Kamla Das from her poem “An Introduction” express the way and pattern of English speaking in India:

…. The language I speak

Becomes mine, mine alone. It is half English, half

Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,

It is as human as I am human ….

The problem arises when these people face interviews, attend conferences or seek higher jobs in their own country as well as in other countries where use of such language is considered faulty and a sign of incomplete or poor education. The youngsters who get so much used to speaking English with regional pull find themselves at a loss to understand what the correct pronunciation is and how it can be acquired.

The fact is there is nothing like correct pronunciation as the pronunciation of English varies not only in India due to regional languages but also among the English-speaking countries such as America, Australia, Canada, Scotland, Britain and Northern Ireland. One particular accent called ‘Received Pronunciation’ (RP) has been accepted as ‘accepted’ or ‘standard’ pronunciation. ‘Accepted’ or ‘standard’ pronunciation is clearly understood by the people whereas ‘unaccepted’ pronunciation creates ambiguity. For example, those who cannot differentiate between /dʒ / and /z/ will not be able to pronounce ‘Siege’ and ‘Seize’ clearly. To acquire standard English pronunciation, fluency and accent, you should have knowledge of basic phonetics—English sounds, word accent, weak forms and intonation.

5.2 IPA Symbols of ‘Received Pronunciation’

5.2.1 ‘Received’ or ‘Accepted Pronunciation’

Received pronunciation (RP), popularly known as ‘the Queen’s English’ or ‘BBC English,’ is the accent of Standard English in England. The early use of the term can be found in H. C. Wyld’s A Short History of English (1914) and in Daniel Jones’s An Outline of English Phonetics. The word ‘received’ conveys its original meaning of ‘accepted’ or ‘approved.’ Traditionally, ‘RP’ was the everyday speech in the families of Southern England where menfolk were educated at well-known public boarding schools. Received pronunciation is an accent or a form of pronunciation, rather a dialect or a form of vocabulary. Sometimes, it is referred to as ‘Oxford English’ as well. This is not because it was traditionally the common speech of the city of Oxford, but specifically of the Oxford University and the production of dictionaries gave Oxford University prestige in the matters of language. The versions of the Oxford English Dictionary give ‘RP’ guidelines for each word.

 

A Chart of IPA Symbols

5.2.2 IPA Symbols

Effective speaking is difficult without the knowledge of basic English sounds. There are 44 sounds in English—20 vowels sounds and 24 consonant sounds. These sounds are represented by International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols, which are used to transcribe sounds, words and sentences of any language phonetically. The symbols and the transcription of words are conventionally written within the slashes to distinguish them from the rest of the text.

5.2.2.1 English Consonants

Consonants are produced when the speech organs form an obstruction to the stream of breath. English consonants can be categorized as ‘voiced’—articulated with simultaneous vibration of the vocal cords—/d/, /b/, /g/, /dʒ/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /j/, /w/, /r/ (all vowels are voiced) and ‘voiceless’—articulated without simultaneous vibration of the vocal cords—/p/, /t/, /k/, /tʃ/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /h/.

1. /p/ Generally represented by the spellings—p, pp, ph—pin, map, period, partial, poor, pale, happy, sloppy, copper, dipper, shepherd.
2. /b/ Generally represented by the spellings—b, bb—bid, bear, obey, tribe, bread, shrub, blind, bulb, beam, ribbon, rubber, dubbed, clubbed.

   Comparison of /p/ and /b/:

    

   Pill – Bill	Pulp – Bulb	Simple – Symbol
   Peach – Beach	Played – Blade	Pore – Bore
   Cup – Cub	Pack – Back	Patter – Batter
   Rope – Robe	Lap – Lab	Pull – Bull
   Pest – Best	Pin – Bin	Palm – Balm

    

3. /t/ Generally represented by the spellings—t, tt—team , tribe, obtain , take, trade, atlas, truth , matter, butter, bitter, chatter, litter.
4. /d/ Generally represented by the spellings—d, dd —sad, cried, afraid, garden, badly, demand, drive, dozen, middle, sudden, shudder, plodded.

   Comparison of /t/ and /d/:

    

   Ton – Don	Hit – Hid	Water – Warden
   Built – Build	Tin – Din	Bet – Bed
   Ten – Den	Plot – Plod	Latter – Ladder
   Let – Led	Writer – Rider	Height – Hide
   Metal – Medal	Petal – Pedal	Shutter – Shudder
   Tore – door	Two – Do	Dose – Toes

    

5. /k/ Generally represented by the spellings—k, c, ck, ch, cc, qu, x—keen, kite, cut, can, thick, sick, Chemist, cholera, account, accuse, question, queen, taxi, box.
6. /g/ Generally represented by the spellings—g, gg, gh, x—gate, green, beg, grass, greet, beggar, ragging, ghost, aghast, exist, example.

   Comparison of /k/ and /g/:

    

   Class – Glass	Bicker – Bigger	Rusk – Rug
   Lacked – Lagged	Crew – Grew	Came – Game
   Echo – Ego	Coal – Goal	Lack – Lag
   Leak – League	Cot – Got	Tack – Tag

    

7. /tʃ/ Generally represented by the spellings—ch, s + ion, t + ure—chair, choice, charm, catch, batch, question, suggestion, feature, torture, fixture.
8. /dʒ/ Generally represented by the spellings—j, g, dg, gg, di, dj—jump, jug, germ, urgent, huge, judge, ridge, suggest, suggestive, soldier, adjust, adjoining .

   Comparison of /tʃ/ and /dʒ/:

    

   Choke – Joke	Larch – Large	Batch – Badge
   Lunch – Lunge	Perches – Purges	Chest – Jest
   Cheer – Jeer	Chin – Gin	Char – Jar

    

9. /m/ Generally represented by the spellings—m, mm—manner, matter, mustard, smoke, commit, community, drummer, slimmer, trimmer.
10. /n/ Generally represented by the spellings—n, nn—run, knit, sign, needle, sneeze, conduct, banner, running, fanning, sunny.

    Comparison of/m/ and /n/:

     

    Maim – Name	Simmer – Sinner	Some – Son
    Seem – Scene	Met – Net	Mock – Knock
    Melt – Knelt	Mum – Nun	Boom – Boon
    Dim – Din	Same – Sane	Mere – Near
    Scream – Screen	Deem – Dean	Gleam – Glean
    Moon – Noon	Smack – Snack	Sum – Sun

     

11. /ŋ/ Generally represented by the spellings—ng, nk, nc, nch, nx—thing, finger, language, think , ankle, uncle, anchor, anxiety, anxious.

    Comparison of /n/ and /ŋ/:

     

    Thin – Thing	Banner – Banger	Mountain – Mounting
    Kin – King	Sin – Sing	Run – Rung
    Din – Ding	Ran – Rang	Pin – Pang
    Ban – Bang	Clan – Clang

    Comparison of /ŋ/ and /ŋg/:

     

    Longing – Longest

    Singer – Finger

    Comparison of /ŋ/ and /ŋk/:

     

    Thing – Think

    Bang – Bank

    Hang – Hank

     

12. /f/ Generally represented by the spellings—f, ff, gh, ph—fat, file, father, offer, offence, laughter, rough, photo, trophy.
13. /v/ Generally represented by the spellings—v, f, (only ‘of ’) ph (only ‘nephew’)—vain, vein, vanish, canvas, vowels, believe, very, silver.

    Comparison of /f/ and /v/:

     

    Fail – Veil	Few – View	Fairy – Vary
    Fear – Veer	Focal – Vocal	Fast – Vast
    Surface – Service	Belief – Believe	Fine – Vine

    Comparison of /f/ and /p/:

     

    Fat – Pat	Fail – Pale	Fast – Past
    Fall – Pall	Feel – Peel	Four – Pour
    Fool – Pool	Fill – Pill

    Comparison of / b/ and /v/:

     

    Bat – Vat	Best – Vest	Bent – Vent
    Buy – Vie	Bold – Volt	Ban – Van
    Bane – Vein	Beer – Veer

     

14. /θ/ Generally represented by the spelling—‘th’—thin, thought, through, threw, ethics, bath, cloth, faith, length, method.
15. /ð/ Generally represented by the spelling—‘th’—that, this, these, them, they, either, neither, leather, brother, although, thence.

    Comparison of /θ/and /ð/:

     

    Thigh – Thy

    Ether – Breather

    Comparison of /t/ and /θ/:

     

    Tank – Thank	Tick – Thick	Tree – Three
    Trust – Thrust	Taught – Thought

    Comparison of /d/ and /ð/:

     

    Day – They	Dare – There	Dose – Those
    Dense – Thence	Load – Loathe	Ladder – Leather
    Dine – Thine	Den – Then

     

16. /s/ Generally represented by the spellings—s, ss, sc, c, x—see, same, loss, dress, scene, ascent, fancy, icy, tax, exercise.
17. /z/ Generally represented by the spellings—z, zz, s, ss, x—zeal, graze, craze, dazzle, puzzle, flimsy, reason, hesitation, scissors, dessert, exaggerate, example.

    Comparison of /s/ and /z/:

     

    Seal – Zeal	Cease – Seize	Niece – Knees
    Once – Ones	Fancy – Pansy	Peace – Peas
    False – Falls	Sip – Zip	Price – Prize

    Comparison of / dʒ/ and /z/:

     

    Sedge – Says	Jest – Zest	Gauge – Gaze
    Jones – Zones	Junk – Zink	Budge – Buzz
    Siege – Seize	Rage – Raise

     

18. /ʃ/ Generally represented by the spellings—sh, ch, sch, sci, s, ss, ti, ce, ci—shall, sharp, machine, moustache, schedule, schlep, conscience, conscious, Asian, sugar, pressure, assure, national, essential, ocean, oceanarium, special, crucial.

    Comparison of /s/ and /ʃ/:

     

    Sip – Ship	Ass – Ash	Suit – Shoot
    Soar – Shore	Sun – Shun	Same – Shame
    See – She	Save – Shave	Seer – Sheer
    Soap – Shop	Said – Shade	Self – Shelf
    Mess – Mesh

     

19. /ʒ/ Generally represented by the spellings—si, s, z, ge—revision, decision, confusion measure, pleasure, visual, usual, seizure, azure, garage, sabotage, prestige,

    Comparison of /ʒ/ and /ʃ/:

     

    Pleasure – Pressure

    Vision – Fission

    Comparison of/z/ and /ʒ/:

     

    Bays – Beige

    Caesar – Seizure

    Composer – Composure

     

20. /h/ Generally represented by the spellings—h, wh—hat, heat, hatred, ahead, happy, herbal, house, hairy, whose, whole, who.
21. /l/ Generally represented by the spellings—l, ll—let, lime, light, lesson, lean, glass, canal, royal, resolve, allow, hill, yellow, fellow.
22. /r/ Generally represented by the spellings—r, rr, rh, wr—race, rude, brave, radio, carry, hurry, carrier, arrive, rhyme, rhythm, rhea, rhetorical, write, wrought, wrinkle, wring.

    Comparison of / l/ and /r/:

     

    Lush – Rush	Light – Right	Lighter – Writer
    Lake – Rake	Lies – Rise	Alive – Arrive
    Light – Right	Late – Rate	Lice – Rice
    Low – Row	Lain – Rain	Load – Road
    Lead – Read	List – Wrist

     

23. /j/ Generally represented by the spellings—y, i, eau, eu, ew, ewe, ieu, iew, u, ue—yet, yesterday, year, onion, opinion, beauty, eulogize, euthanasia, new, dew, ewe, lieu, review, unit, universe, value, argue.
24. /w/ Generally represented by the spellings—w, wh, u, q + u—west, waist, winter, when, where, language, linguist, equal, square, question.

    Comparison of / w/ and / v/:

     

    Wail – Veil	West – Vest	Wet – Vet
    Wine – Vine	Worse – Verse	Whim – Vim
    Why – Vie

5.2.2.2 English Vowels

Vowels are produced by the free movement of breath through the mouth. There are two types of vowels in English—pure vowels or monothongs and diphthongs.

Pure Vowels

1. /iː/: Represented by the spellings—ay, e, ea, ee, ei, eo, oe, ey, i, ie, ae—quay, legal, be, bead, read, deed, see, perceive, seize, people, peon, foetus, foetal, key, geyser, unique, police, achieve, aegis, aesthetic.
2. /l/: Represented by the spellings—a, ai, e, ee, ei, ey, i, ia, ie, o, u, ui, y—village, captain, pretty, ticket, coffee, foreign, storey, miss, marriage, ladies, women, busy, build, city.

   Comparison of /I/&:

    

   Hit – Heat	Fit – Feet	Bit – Beat
   Dip – Deep	Lid – Lead	Pick – Peak
   Sill – Seal	Chit – Cheat	Did – Deed
   Lip – Leap	Chick – Cheek	Knit – Neat
   Grin – Green	Nil – Kneel	Fill – Feel
   Sit – Seat	Ship – Sheep	Live – Leave

    

3. /e/: Represented by the spellings—a, ai, ay, e, ea, ei, eo, ie, u, ue—many, said, says, bend, best, pleasure, wealth, leisure, leopard, friend, lieutenant, bury, guess.
4. /æ/: Represented by spellings—a, ai—rat, matter, gap, ban, fan, man, damp, plait, plaid.

   Comparison of /e/ &/æ/:

    

   Bet – Bat	Peck – Pack	Bed – Bad
   End – And	Men – Man	Beg – Bag
   Bend – Band	Led – Lad	Lend – Land
   Dead – Dad	Beck – Back	Said – Sad
   Pen – Pan	Pet – Pat	Vet – Vat
   Kettle – Cattle	Guess – Gas	Merry – Marry

   Comparison of /e/, /æ/, /i/ & /iː/:

   
5. : Represented by the spellings—o, oo, ou, u—woman, wolf, look, took, hood, hook, would, should, pull, full.
6. /u:/: Represented by the spellings—oo, u, ou, ui, ew, ue, wo—soon, boon, jute, rude, coupon, group, fruit, bruise, flew, grew, blue, true, two.

   Comparison of &/u:/

    

   Pull – Pool	Full – Fool	Soot – Suit
   Shook – Shoot	Would – Wooed	Stood – Stool
   Could – Cool	Look – Loot	Good – Goose
   Took – Tool	Cook – Coolie	Nook – Noon
   Foot – Food	Put – Pooh!

    

7. : Represented by the spellings—a (after ‘w’), au, o, ou, ow—watch, water, because, cauliflower, college, cobweb, cough, trough, knowledge.

   Comparison of &:

    

   Put – Pot	Good – God	Could – Cod
   Shook – Shock	Nook – Knock

    

8. : Represented by the spellings—a, ar, au, aw, oa, oar, oor, or, ore, ou, our—ball, call, warn, warden, caught, caution, shawl, laws, broad, boar, floor, shortage, store, thought, course.

   Comparison of &:

    

   Boon – Born	Fool – Fall	Shoe – Shaw
   Shoot – Short	Pool – Paul

   Comparison of &

    

   Cot – Caught	Not – Naught	Pot – Port
   Cock – Cork	Spot – Sport	Chock – Chalk
   Stock – Stork	Lost – Lord	Bomb – Born
   Don – Dawn	Hock – Hawk	Rot – Wrough

    

9. /ʌ/: Represented by the spellings—o, oe, oo, ou, u—son, month, does, flood, blood, young, double, must, fuss.
10. : Represented by the spellings—ear, er, ir, or (preceded by ‘w’), our, ur—search, heard, perk, perfect, bird, shirt, word, work, journey, journal, nurse, church.

    Comparison of /ʌ/ &

     

    Hut – Hurt	Cut – Curt	Shut – Shirt
    Puck – Perk	Bud – Bird	Thud – Third
    Such – Search	Ton – Turn	Gull – Girl
    Luck – Lurk	Bun – Burn	Thud – Third
    Mutter – Murmur	Fun – Fern

     

11. : Represented by the spellings—a, ar, e, er, i, o, or, ou, ough, our, re, u, ur, ure—about, cassette, beggar, circular, problem, mother, sensible, polite, comfort, famous, thorough, neigbour, metre, suggest, surmount, measure.
12. : Represented by the spellings—a, al, ar, au, uar, ear, er—pass, task, calm, balm, car, farm, laugh, aunt, guard, heart, sergeant.

    Comparison of , , &

    

Diphthongs:    A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds. Two dots (ː) are never used in diphthongs. The following diphthongs are used in English:

1. /el/: Represented by the spellings—a, ai, ay, e, ea, ei, ey—bake, sake, vain, faith, train, tray, hay, clay, fete, great, break, weight, veil, grey, they.
2. : Represented by the spellings—o, oa, oe, ou, ow, eau, ew, oo—go, home, boat, foam, toe, foe, mould, soul, slow, show, flow, plateau, beau, sew, brooch.
3. : Represented by the spellings—i, is, ais, ei, eye, ie, uy, y, ye—like, bike, hike, high, island, aisle, either, neither, eye, lie, die, buy, guy, try, dry, bye, dye.
4. : Represented by the spellings—ou, ow—house, round, found, clown, town, down, brown.
5. : Represented by the spellings—oi, oy, uoy—toil, noise, boil, soil, coin, joy, employ, buoy.
6. : Represented by the spellings—e, ea, ear, eer, eir, eo, ere, ia, ier, io, iou, iu—serious, period, idea, area, fear, rear, cheer, steer, weird, theory, theorem, sphere, here, India, fierce, pierce, impious, harmonium, gymnasium.
7. : Represented by spellings—a, ae, air, ar, are, ear, eir, ere—Mary, scary, aerobics, aerospace, fair, pair, scarce, care, share, fear, tear, their, heir, there, compere.
8. : Represented by spellings—oor, our, u, ua, ue, uou, ure—poor, moor, tour, gourd, jury, fury, usual, visual, cruel, fuel, tortuous, pure, procure, cure.

   Comparison of sounds – /ei/and /e/:

    

   Taste – Test	Late – Let	Gate – Get
   Date – Debt	Raid – Red	Mate – Met
   Pate – Pet	Bait – Bet	Eight – Ate
   Cane – ken	Bade – Bed	Tail – Tell
   Say – Said	Bale – Bell

/el/
Tail	Tile	Toil
Fail	File	Foil
Cane	Kinetic	Coin
Lane	Line	Loin
Bale	Bile	Boil

Beer	Bear	Boor
Pierce	Pears	Poor
Dear/Deer	Dare	Doer
Sheer	Share	Sure
Tear (n)	Tear (v)	Tour
Here	Hair/ Hare	–
Fear	Fare/ Fair	–
Spear	Spare	–
Cheer	Chair	–

and
Buy – Boy	Try – Troy	Ally – Alloy
Tie – Toy	Isle – Oil	Bile – Boil
Vice – Voice

and
Goat – Got	Note – Not	Own – On
Wrote – Rot	Road – Rod	Hope – Hop
Soak – Sock	Coat – Cot

and
Now – No	Bout – Boat	Howl – Whole
Gout – Goat	Out – Oat	Doubt – Dote
Foul – Foal

and /el/
Pair – Pay	There – They	Dare – Day
Hair – Hay	Rare – Ray	Bare – Bay
Stare – Stay

5.3 Phonetic Transcription Using Ipa Characters

5.3.1 What is Phonetic Transcription?

The word, ‘phonetic’ means ‘using special symbols to represent each different speech sound’ and ‘transcription’ refers to ‘something that is represented in writing.’ International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used to represent the sounds of English language and is often useful in describing pronunciation patterns or transcribing the words phonetically. Phonetic transcription is, thus, a kind of alphabetical writing in which each phonetic alphabet represents each sound. English pronunciation cannot be understood by letters; therefore, knowledge of phonetic symbols along with an ability to transcribe them according to sounds may be very helpful in acquiring correct pronunciation along with understanding it. Every good dictionary contains correct pronunciation together with the spelling of a word. Nowadays, these dictionaries are available on CD ROMs as well as online and a learner can not only read the correct pronunciation of the word but may also have a direct access to the audio.

5.3.2 Purpose of Transcription

The purpose of phonetic transcription is to represent the pronunciation of a word, phrase or sentence unambiguously. Most of the dictionaries provide pronunciation of individual words. Phonetic transcription helps in correcting pronunciation and it enables us to compare the sounds of different languages as well as different varieties of the same language.

5.3.3 Guiding Principles for Correct Pronunciation/Transcription

English pronunciation creates a lot of problems for the non-native speakers. Some of these hurdles can be overcome, if we understand some guiding principles related to correct pronunciation, which will automatically lead to correct phonetic transcription of words as well:

5.3.3.1 Silent Letters

1. b is silent in a word when it is preceded by‘m’ or followed by ‘t’ at the final position:

➙ b is also silent in: subtle/sʌtl/, plumber/plʌmə/, bomber/bɒmə/, redoubtable/ridaʊtəbl/.

2. d is silent in a word when it is followed by ‘j’ or ‘g’ and in some other words like:

3. p is silent in a word when it is followed by ‘s,’ ‘t’ or ‘n’ at the initial position and in some other words such as:

➙ p is also silent when it is followed by ‘t’ at the final position in the word: receipt/risiːt/.

4. g is silent when it is followed by ‘m’ or ‘n’ in the same syllable:

➙ g is not silent when it is followed by ‘m’ or ‘n’ in different syllables:

5. h is silent when it is preceded by ‘g’ and at the final position:

6. k is silent in a word when it is followed by ‘n’ at the initial position:

7. l is silent in a word when it is followed by ‘k’ or ‘m’ and in some modal auxiliaries:

8. n is silent after ‘m’ when both of them occur in the same syllable:

➙ When combination of ‘n’ and ‘m’ occurs in two different syllables both the letters are pronounced:

9. t is silent when it occurs between‘s’ and ‘l’ and ‘s’ and ‘en’ or followed by ‘en’ in some words :

➙ t is silent before ‘ch’ in most of the words:

➙ t is also silent in many words of French origin:

10. w is silent at the final position. It is also silent at the initial position when it is followed by ‘r’ or sometimes when followed by ‘h’:

11. s is silent before ‘l’:

5.3.3.2 Pronunciation of the Suffixes

1. Word endings —s, es, ’s—are pronounced/s/after/p/,/k/,/t/,/f/and/θ/:

➙ -s, -es, ’s—are pronounced/z/ after/s/,/z/,/ʃ/,/Ʒ/,/ʧ/and/ʤ/:

➙ -s, -es, ’s—are pronounced/z/after the rest of the sounds:

2. Word endings—-d, -ed—are pronounced/id/after/t/and/d/:

➙ -d, -ed—are pronounced/t/after/p/,/k/,/f/,/θ/,/ʧ/,/s/,/ʃ/:

➙ -d, -ed—are pronounced/d/after the rest of the sounds:

3. Word endings—-cial, -sial and -tial—are pronounced/ʃl/:

4. Word ending—-cian—is pronounced/ʃn/:

5. Word endings—-cious and—tious—are pronounced/ʃəs/:

6. Word ending—-stion—is pronounced/stʃən/:

7. Word ending—-age—is pronounced/idʒ/:

8. Word ending—-ate—is pronounced/ət/ in adjectives:

➙ However, in verbs—-ate—is pronounced/eit/:

9. Word ending—-tain—is pronounced/tein/in verbs:

➙ -tain—is pronounced/tən/,/tin/or/tn/ elsewhere:

10. Word endings—-ance and -ence are pronounced/əns/whereas endings—-ant and -ent are

11. Word endings—est and -et are pronounced/ist/and/it/, respectively when they occur in an unstressed syllables:

5.3.3.3 Spelling Sequence

1. ‘ng’:

➙ Spelling sequence ‘ng’ is pronounced as /ŋ/ at the final position:

➙ ‘ng’ is pronounced / ŋ/ at the medial position also if the word has been derived from a verb:

➙ ‘ng’ is pronounced/ ŋ/ only when the plural maker ‘s’ is added to nouns ending in / ŋ/:

➙ ‘ng’ at the medial position are pronounced as /ŋg/if the words are not derived from verbs:

➙ The sound / ŋ/ does not occur at the initial position. It occurs at the final position only after the short vowels: /i/, /e/, , /æ/ and /ʌ/:

2. ‘th’: Spelling ‘th’ is pronounced /θ/ or /ð/ but in English names it is pronounced as /t/:

3. ‘ch’: Spelling ‘ch’ may be pronounced /tʃ/, /k/ or /ʃ/:

4. ‘ss’: Spelling ‘ss’ may be pronounced /s/, /z/ or /ʃ/:

5.3.3.4 Letters

1. ‘r’:

➙ r is silent when it is preceded by a vowel:

➙ r is pronounced when it follows a vowel:

➙ r is also silent at the final position:

➙ r is pronounced at the final position in phrases or compound words when the first element ending with ‘r’ is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound:

2. ‘g’: ‘g’ may be pronounced/g/,/dʒ/or/ʒ/:

3. ‘t’: ‘t’ may be pronounced as/t/,/tʃ/or/ʃ/:

4. ‘s’: is pronounced as/s/,/z/or/ʃ/:

5.3.3.5 Double Consonants

All double consonants except ‘cc’ are pronounced as single consonant sounds:

‘cc’ may be pronounced as/ks/when followed by ‘e,’ ‘i,’ or ‘y’ or/k/when followed by the rest of the letters:

5.3.3.6 Sounds

1. /θ/ and /ð/:

➙ Many words have sound/θ/but with suffixes ‘s/es’ /θ/becomes/ð/:

➙ Some words have/θ/sound but their derivatives have/ð/sound:

2. /j/:

➙ /j/does not occur at the final position and after/dʒ/, /tʃ/and/r/:

➙ /j/does not occur after/l/when it is preceded by a consonant:

➙ /j/is pronounced when/l/is preceded by an accented vowel:

Task

Transcribe the following words using IPA symbols:

Woman, bright , raise, address, deserve, palm, design, indict, twelfth, once, women, flower, waist, grams, fragile, cloud, aim, sheep, like, chalk, acquire, career, hurt, oblige, flake, authority, short, rhyme, record (v), single, thumb, deserve, wives, berth, guide, crowd, savage, mother, young, shoes, coil, long, tomb, title, cyst, relate, scarce, army, apple, home, clear, choice, boat, day, foot, give, saw, tour, good, slapped, bouquet, doubt, murder, gaining, liberate, coffee, pudding, school, applaud, polite, chapter, virtue, bird, family, wealth, hurry, hate, crawl, queen, running, single, wives, savage, export (v), battle, pool, shout.

5.4 IPA Transcription of Words Often Mispronounced

The following is the IPA transcription of words which are often mispronounced:

 

Ability /əbɪlətɪ	Academic /ækədemɪk/
Academician /əkædəmɪfn	Accept /əksept/
Accommodation /əkɒmədeɪIʃn	Adequate /ædɪkwət/
Advantage /ədvɒaːntɪdʒ	Advantageous /ædvənteɪIdʒəs/
Advertise /ædvətɒɪz	Advertisement /ədvɜ:tɪsmənt/
All /əaːl	Always /əaːlweɪz/
Analysis /ənæləsɪs	Analytical /ænəlɪtɪkl/
Apology /əpɒləIdʒɪ	Apple /æpl/
Assistance /əsɪstəns	Association /əsəʊʃIʃɪeɪIʃn/
Atmosphere /ætməsfɪə	Balcony /bælkənɪ/
Bear /beə	Birthday /bɜaːθdeɪ/
Breakfast /brekfəst	Breath /breθ/
Breathe /briaːð	Bowl /bəʊʃl/
Buffalo /bʌfələʊʃ	Calcium /kælsɪəm/
Calendar /kælɪndə	Call /kəaːl/
Captain /kæptɪn	Career /kərɪə/
Carrier /kærɪə	Cassette /kəset/
Celebrity /səlebrətɪ	Character /kærəktə/
Choreography /kɒrɪɒgrəfɪ	Cigarette /sɪgəret/
Clarity /klærətɪ	Colleague /kɒliaːg/
Committee /kəmɪtɪ	Compare /kəmpeə/
Compere /kɒmpeə	Competition /kɒmpətɪIʃn/
Competitive /kəmpetətiv	Competitor /kəmpetɪtə/
Concept /kɒnsept	Confusion /kənfjuːn/
Continue /kəntɪnjuː	Continuous /kəntɪnjʊʃəs/
Correspond /kɒrəspɒnd	Correspondence /kɒrəspɒndəns/
Crèche /kreIʃ	Cricket /krɪkɪt/
Crush /krʌIʃ	Data /deɪtə/
Demonstrate /demənstreɪt	Determination /dɪtɜːmɪneɪIʃn/
Determine /dɪtɜːmɪn	Develop /dɪveləp/
Dialogue /dɒɪəlɒg	Direction /dərekIʃn/
Director /dərektə	Dramatic /drəmætɪk/
Echo /ekəʊʃ	Embarrass /ɪmbærəs/
Enough /ɪnʌf	Enthusiasm /ɪnθjuːzɪæzəm/
Envelop /ɪnveləp	Envelope /envələʊʃp/
Environment /invɒɪrənmənt	Ethics /eθɪks/
Exact /ɪgzækt	Example /ɪgzɒːmpl/
Except /ɪksept	Expect /ɪkspekt/
Executive /ɪgzekjətɪv	Extempore /ekstempərɪ/
Faculty /fækltɪ	Formality /fəːmælətɪ/
Garage /gærɒːʒ	Gigantic /dʒɒɪgæntɪk/
Government /gʌvənmənt	Guarantee /gærənti:/
Guardian /gɒːdɪən	Hair /heə/
Hare /heə	Heart /hɒːt/
Here /hɪə	Indecisive /ɪndɪsɒɪsɪv/
Interrogative /ɪntərɒgətɪv	Leisure /leʒə/
Loose /luːs	Lose /luːz/
Loss /lɒs	Maroon /məruːn/
Measure /meʒə	Memento /məmentəʊʃ/
Memory /memərɪ	Menace /menəs/
Mutual /mjuːtIʃʊʃəl	Negative /negətɪv/
Observe /əbzɜ ːv	Obvious /ɒbvɪəs/
Olympic /əlɪmpɪk	Omelette /ɒmlət/
Onion /ʌnjən	Opportunities /ɒpətjuːnətɪz/
Oven /ʌvn	Pain /peɪn/
Pan /pæn	Parents /peərənts/
Patriotism /peɪtrɪətɪzəm	Patron /peɪtrən/
Pen /pen	People /piːpl/
Photograph /fəʊʃtəgrɒːf	Photographer /fətɒgrəfə/
Photography /fətɒgrəfɪ	Pizza /piːtsə/
Plumber /plʌmə	Police /pəliːs/
Political /pəlɪtɪkl	Pollution /pəluːIʃn/
Positive /pɒzətɪv	Posture /pɒstIʃə/
Potential /pətenIʃl	Precious /preIʃəs/
Preference /prefrəns	Pretty /prɪtɪ/
Priority /prɒɪɒrətɪ	Privacy /prɪvəsɪ/
Pronunciation /prənʌnsɪeɪIʃn	Psychological /sɒɪkəlɒdʒɪkl/
Psychologist /sɒɪkɒlədʒɪst	Psychology /sɒɪkɒlədʒɪ/
Quality /kwɒlətɪ	Question /kwestIʃən/
Quiet /kwɒɪət	Quite /kwɒɪt/
Receipt /rIsiːt	Repetition /repətIIʃn/
Resume (n) /rezjumeI	Resume (V) /rIzuːm/
Said /sed	Saturday /sætədeI/
Says /sez	Secretary /sekrətrI/
Sewing machine /səʊʃiŋ məIʃiːn	Shepherd /Iʃepəd/
Shoulder /Iʃəʊʃldə	Soldier /səʊʃldʒə/
Success /səkses	Suggestion /sədʒestIʃən/
Thorough /θʌrə	Tortoise /təːtəs/
Vehicle /viːəkl	Village /vIlIdʒ/
Wallet /wɒlIt	Want /wɒnt/
Wool /wʊʃl	Wednesday /wenzdeI/

5.5 Word Stress

“Give me the right word and the right accent and I will move the world.”

 

–Joseph Conrad. (a personal record)

Word stress is the key to understand spoken English. Native speakers of English use it naturally. When non-native speakers talk to native speakers, both of them find it difficult to understand each other. The situation becomes worse when the inhabitants speak fast, fluent and conversational English. Especially in a multilingual country like India where so many languages are spoken with so much variation in accent, it is very difficult to acquire standard accent. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that word stress is an important feature of spoken English. Complete and correct pronunciation means both articulating the sounds correctly and placing the stress at the right place.

5.5.1 What is a Syllable?

To understand word accent, we should first know what is a syllable? A sound is the smallest unit of spoken English. The combination of sounds makes a syllable and the combination of syllables makes a word. Each syllable has one vowel sound and may have one or more consonant sounds. A word can have one, two, three or more syllables. Syllabic division is marked by a hyphen (-):

• Monosyllabic words:
• Disyllabic words:
• Three syllabic words:
• Words with four or more syllables:
• Consonants, ‘m,’ ‘n,’ and ‘l’ have sonority compared to that of some vowels. They are called syllabic consonants and they function as syllables in words such as:

5.5.2 What is Word Stress?

In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force, strength or emphasis. We accentuate on a particular syllable, that is, all the syllables combined into a word are not uttered with the same degree of prominence. We say one syllable very loudly and all the other syllables very softly or quietly. The following points should be kept in mind regarding word stress:

1. One word, one stress. One word cannot have two stresses. If you have heard two stresses, you have heard two words, not one.
2. Stress is always placed on a syllable.
3. Stress is marked by a vertical bar (′) above and before the syllable.
4. Vowel sounds, /I/ and /ə/ are weak sounds. Syllables with these sounds are generally not stressed:

    

   provide	disdain
   abroad	merry
   contain	below
   obtain	sentence

5.5.3 Ascertaining Word Stress Using Parts of Speech

Use of word stress reveals grammatical relationship between words. There are many words in English like ‘absent,’ ‘present’ and ‘rebel’ which may be used as noun/adjectives as well as verbs. In these words stress is placed on the first syllable when the word is used as a noun or an adjective and on the second syllable when the word is used as a verb. For example:

 

Noun/Adjective	Verb
′absent	ab′sent
′addict	ad′dict
′conduct	con′duct
′contrast	con′trast
′decrease	de′crease
′desert	de′sert
′export	ex′port
′import	im′port
′object	ob′ject
′permit	per′mit
′present	pre′sent
′record	re′cord

5.5.4 Word Stress Related to Prefixes

Weak prefixes—a-, de-, be-, dis-, mis-, re-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, pre-, un-—are not stressed in a word. Words with these prefixes are stressed on the root word:

a-: a′ghast, a′rise, a′lone, a′far

de-: de′mand, de′fuse, de′clare, de′generate

be-: be′neath, be′low, be′cause, be′come

dis-: dis′miss, dis′able, dis′own, dis′colour

mis-: mis′shapen, mis′lead, mis′conduct, mis′deed

re-: re′gain, re′call, re′new, re′vise

il-: il′legal, il′lerate, il′logical, il′legitimate

im-: im′movable, impo′lite, im′perfect, imma′ture

in-: in′active, in′accurate, in′capable, in′discipline

ir-: ir′rational, ir′radiate, ir′regular, irre′coverable

pre-: pre′caution, pre′pare, pre-′book, pre′amble

un-: un′sound, un′do, un′comfortable, un′like

5.5.5 Word Stress in Compound Words

1. Compound words ending in ‘-ever,’ ‘-self ’ or ‘-selves’ take primary stress on the second element:

 

him′self	how′ever
her′self	what′ever
my′self	who′ever
your′self	when′ever
them′selves	which′ever

2. Compound words with two nouns take stress on the first element:

3. Compound words with an adjective plus a noun take stress on the second element:

4. Compound adjectives with a numeral plus a noun take stress on the second element:

5.5.6 Word Stress Related to Suffixes

1. Word endings—ette, -ee, -eer, -ier, -aire, -ean, -een, -oo, -ese, -ique, -esque, -eum, -eur, -ental, -illa, -iety, -escent,—carry stress on them:

2. Words ending in suffixes—ial, -ian, -ion, -ious,- eous, -uous, -ic, -ics, -ive, -graphy, -grapher, -logy, -meter, -metry, -sophy, -cricy,- cracy, -gamy,- nomy, -phony, -pathy, -tomy, -logist, -sopher, -sophist, -scopy,- nomer, -nomist, -ical, -ially , -ically, -itive, -iative,-utive, -ative, -atory—are stressed on the syllable preceding the suffix:

3. Disyllabic verbs ending in—ate—are stressed on the last syllable while verbs with three or more syllables take stress on the third syllable from the end:

➙ Adjectives and nouns ending in ‘ate’ with more than two syllables are stressed on the third syllable from the end:

4. Disyllabic verbs ending in ‘-ise’ or ‘-ize’ are stressed on the last syllable; verbs with three or four syllables are stressed on the third syllable from the end, whereas the verbs with five or six syllables are stressed on the fourth syllable from the end:

5. Words ending in suffixes—ity, -fy, -icy and -crat—are stressed on the third syllable from the end:

5.5.7 Shifting of Stress

1. Stress shifts from the first syllable to the second, the third, the fourth syllable as the longer words are derived from the shorter ones:

2. The inflexional suffixes—-d, -ed, -s, -es, -ing—and derivational suffixes—-age, ance, -en, -er, -ess, -ful, -hood, -ice, -ish, -ive, -less, -ly, -ment, -ness, -or, -ship, -ter, -ure, -zen, -y—do not affect the stress:

 

re′late – re′lated	′fade – ′ faded
′pass – ′passed	sub′mit – sub′mitted
com′pose – com′poses	di′sease – di′seases
′mass – ′masses	′edge – ′edges
′write – ′writing	′ask – ′asking
′take – ′taking	′think – thinking
′Carry – ′carriage	′marry – ′marriage
ap′pear – ap′pearance	at′tend – at′tendance
′fast – ′fasten	′dark – ′darken
′work – ′worker	′suffer –′sufferer
′waiter – ′waitress	′host – ′hostess
′beauty – ′beautiful	′duty – ′dutiful
′father – ′fatherhood	′brother – ′brotherhood
′coward – ′cowardice	′three – ′thrice
′fever – ′feverish	′white – ′whitish
sug′gest – sug′gestive	a′buse – a′busive
′home – ′homeless	′job – ′jobless
′certain – ′certainly	′former – ′formerly
ar′range – ar′rangement	a′chieve – a′chievement
′dark – ′darkness	′good – ′goodness
col′lect – col′lector	′elevate –′elevator
′friend – ′friendship	′citizen – ′citizenship
′laugh – ′laughter	′gang – ′gangster
e′xpose – e′xposure	′city – ′citizen
′greed – ′greedy	wealth – ′wealthy

Task

Mark primary stress in the following words:

limit(v), waiter, stupidity, rational, courteous, donation, fortunate, professional, management, repent, monkey, trouble, dissolve, minimum, parliament, grandmother, reason, seldom, fluently, precious, familiar, article, office, philosophy, romantic, translate, marginal, subtle, agree, prism, journey, surprise, digest, register, object, (n), perfect, behaviour, umbrella, admirable, inflation, postpone, angular, geographic, produce, equality, supplement, logical, official, rainbow, explanation, horizontal, annual, resonant, appropriate, vicinity, self-study, outcry, record (n), sentence, familiar, article, understand, transport, argument, contrast, frustrate, basement, tomato, factory, invention, popular, product, engineering, terrorists, allow, capacity, velocity, digital, artistic, fortunate, academician, career, record, contemplate, matches, anxious, politician, collect, disclose, than, severe, veteran, placard, haggard, lagoon, ransack.

5.6 Weak Forms in English

Sound is the smallest unit of spoken English. The combination of sounds makes syllables; some of them are stressed while some are unstressed. Similarly, in connected speech some words are stressed while some are not. Sometimes choice of the syllables receiving primary accent depends upon the message the speaker wants to convey. In English language prominent syllables occur at regular breaks in spite of the weak syllables occurring between them. This arrangement of weak and strong syllables imparts rhythm in speech.

5.6.1 What are Weak Forms?

English is very different in refinement and style as it has special, reduced ‘weak’ forms for many ‘function’ words, such as pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles and auxiliary verbs. ‘Weak forms’ are the reduced pattern of their ‘strong forms.’ As the words indicate ‘strong forms’ are pronounced strongly with emphasis in such a way that they stand out of the rest while the weak forms are uttered weakly or neutrally in a flow. Most of the words, in English, have at least one stressed syllable; hence, they have no separate strong or weak forms. All words, which do have distinct strong and weak forms, are monosyllables and are usually function words. The main words with weak forms in ‘RP’ are: a, am, an, and, are, as, at, be, been, but, can, could, do, does, for, from, had, has, have, he, her, him, his, me, must, of, shall, she, should, some, than, that, the, them, there, to, us, was, we, were, who, would, you.

5.6.2 Use of Weak Forms

‘Weak’ forms are used in various styles of speech in most of the cases. First, their use adds to the general fluency of a speaker’s English. However, it cannot be ignored that ‘weak’ forms are one of the major reasons for the non-native speakers to have difficulty in understanding conversational English spoken fluently by the native speakers. A good knowledge of the use of ‘weak’ forms, can be extremely helpful in understanding listening comprehensions, conversations and interactions and attaining fluency in spoken English. All these factors finally lead to the overall development of communication skills.

5.6.3 Use of ‘Function’ Words in Strong Forms

These ‘function’ words are used in strong forms only in exceptional circumstances:

1. When a ‘function’ word is stressed, emphasized or ‘cited:
   • I said a journey to Delhi not from Delhi.
2. When these words occur at the end of a sentence or a phrase:
   • What are you looking for?
   • I know what I am.
3. When these words are uttered individually: ‘and,’ ‘for,’ ‘than,’ ‘been’, etc.
4. When the words like ‘have,’ ‘had’ ‘do,’ etc., are used as full verbs rather auxiliary verbs:
   • He does not do his work on time.
   • I don’t have anything with me.
   • I have had my lunch.
5. When ‘that’ is used as a determiner not as a conjunction or ‘there’ is used as an adverb not as an empty subject:
   • That book is mine.
   • I went there to meet my old friend.

5.6.4 Strong and Weak Forms of the ‘Function’ Words

From the above-cited examples, it may be clearly observed that there is a pattern in changing the function words into weak forms. All the words which begin with the sound /h/—her, his, he, has, have, had, who—retain /h/ only at the initial position in a sentence, otherwise ‘/h/’ is not pronounced. In the words ending in ‘r’—were, are, her, for, sir, there—/r/ is pronounced when the word following them begins with a vowel sound. Moreover, long sounds /i:/ and /u:/ change into /I/ and /Ʊ—/, respectively and the sounds – /æ/, /e/, /3:/, /^/, /a:/, /eI/, /e∂/ and /Ʊ/ – are replaced by /∂/.

Task

Transcribe the following underlined words in weak forms using IPA symbols:

1. Tell him the truth.
2. Do you know the fact?
3. He is going to the station.
4. I will come in an hour.
5. I told you that I couldn’t leave.
6. Harry is an honest worker.
7. He wants to have a cake.
8. I have just finished doing it.
9. She was the first one to leave.
10. Remember me to them.
11. I am going to do it now.
12. This is very true.
13. Can you present her with a bouquet?
14. He said that he was joking.
15. I would love to have a cup of tea.
16. He has gone to take a test.

5.7 Intonation

5.7.1 What is Intonation?

Intonation is the ‘music’ of a language, and is perhaps the most important element of a correct accent. When we speak, our vocal cords vibrate and the frequency of vibration decides the pitch of the voice. Sometimes, the pitch rises and sometimes it falls or remains level. The way the pitch of the voice varies forms intonation of a language. In other words, intonation is the word used for some pattern in speech which is related to rise and fall of the voice in speaking, affecting the meaning of what is being said.

5.7.2 Patterns of Intonations

Broadly speaking variation in tone may be of four types:

1. Falling Tone [] Pitch changes from a higher level to a low level.
2. Rising Tone [] Pitch rises from a low level to a high level.
3. Falling–rising Tone [ˇ] Pitch falls and rises.
4. Rising–falling Tone [^] Pitch rises and falls.

The degree of change in the pitch depends upon the intention of the speaker or on the message to be communicated. Intonation is marked on the syllable on which the pitch rises or falls through the above-mentioned symbols.

5.7.3 Purpose of Intonation

Intonation is used with a purpose to convey the moods or the attitudes of the speaker to the listener. It indicates some grammatical forms such as interrogative sentences, orders or statements. The correct use of intonation keeps the speaker as well as the listener in tune with each other while the wrong use of intonation affects such harmony. The following moods and attitudes are generally conveyed by the use of the four intonations:

5.7.3.1 Falling Tone

The falling tone conveys the mood of casualness, aloofness, lack of interest and indifference. Sentences, which are uttered with this tone, are:

1. Definite and complete statements:

   I ’don’t ’feel ’like doing it.

   The ’book is ’not interesting.

2. Wh-questions asked casually:

   ’When did you do it?

   ’Why are you calling him?

3. Commands:

   ’Shut the door.

   ’Don’t for’get to take it from him.

4. Invitations:

   Come ’over for a cup of coffee.

   Why ’don’t you ’come and stay with us?

5. Exclamations:

   What a ’beautiful scene!

   ’How nice of you!

6. All question tags forcing the listener to agree:

   You’ll do it, won’t you?

   It ’isn’t wrong, is it?

7. Greetings (Cheerful and hearty):

   Good morning.

   Good day.

5.7.3.2 Rising Tone

The rising tone conveys interest, concern, politeness, courtesy, surprise and encouragement. The following tone groups are generally used in rising tone:

1. Yes/No questions:

   Has he come?

   Are you ’ready for the show?

2. Statements proposed to ask questions:

   He ’isn’t doing it?

   You ’don’t ’want to help him?

3. Polite requests:

   ’Pass me the’ book, please.

   ’Please ’come and help me.

4. Commands which sound like requests:

   ’Close the door.

   ’Don’t ’call me at late ,hours.

   ’Do ’come in and sit down.

5. Wh-Questions asked to show concern or friendliness:

   ’How is your son?

   ’What will you do now?

6. Repetition of Wh-questions (repeating the listener’s question or asking him/her to repeat certain information):

   What did I ,say?

   (It costs two thousand rupees.) How ,much?

7. To show courtesy:

   After you, ’ma’am.

   ’Do come in ’sir.

8. To encourage someone:

   That’s O.K.

   ’Don’t lose heart.

9. Question tags seeking listener’s confirmation:

   You’re coming with me. Aren’t you?

   He’ll ’finish it to day. Won’t he?

10. Greetings (Done as a duty):

    Good evening.

    Good bye.

5.7.3.3 Falling–rising Tone

The falling–rising tone conveys doubt, reservation on the part of the speaker and polite inquiries. The following tone groups are generally used in falling–rising tone:

1. Incomplete statements:

   If you ’don’tˇ finish it…

   If he ’doesn’t beˇhave…

2. Statements intended to be a correction of the information:

   He ’teaches ’French. ˇGerman.

   He ’can’t ’speak ’Englishˇ fluently.

3. Sentences expressing warning, reproach or concern:

   ˇCareful.

   You should have ’shared it with yourˇ brother.

4. Statements showing a kind of reservation on the part of the speaker:

   He isˇ good. (but no one likes him.)

   I’ll ’do it toˇmorrow. (not today)

5.7.3.4 Rising–falling Tone

The rising–falling tone conveys enthusiastic agreement, wonder, appreciation or sarcasm. The following tone groups are generally used in rising–falling tone:

1. Statements showing enthusiastic agreement:

   It was ter^rific.

   Of ^course.

2. Questions showing indignation, suspicion or mockery:

   ’Will you be ’able to ^do it?

   ’What is he ^doing?

3. Exclamations showing sarcasm or irony:

   ’How ^ clever of you!

   Oh, ^ really.

   Good ^morning.

4. Imperatives expressing haughtiness:

   ’Go and ’break your ^ head.

   ’Come and ’see the ^ result.

Task

Mark intonation in the following sentences:

1. May God bless you!
2. When are you coming back?
3. Stop doing that.
4. May I please borrow your car?
5. We saw him yesterday.
6. He sings well. Doesn’t he?
7. Are you leaving for Mumbai today?
8. You don’t want to come with me?
9. How can you say a silly thing like that?
10. Can you prepare my assignment, please?
11. I am fond of chocolate cake.
12. Where does he live?
13. This is my new office.
14. I am satisfied.
15. You can drive the car, can’t you?
16. Give me the money.
17. Are you sure he will help me?
18. What a nice weather!
19. Many happy returns!
20. When is the wedding?