Pronunciation Lesson 3.pptx.pdf

1. Pronunciation: Lesson 3
By @EasyEnglishwithJames

3. The Schwa Sound
“The schwa is an unstressed vowel sound which is the most common
vowel sound in English and is represented by the symbol above.”
/ə/

4. The most common sound
in ENGLISH!
Schwa is the most common sound in the English language. It
occurs only in unstressed syllables and getting it correct helps
spoken English to sound more natural and fluent.

5. The phonemic symbol for
schwa is:
Any vowel letter can be pronounced as schwa andthe
pronunciation of a vowel letter can changedepending on whether
the syllable in which it occursis stressed or not.
ə
The tongue and lips and jaw position are in your resting, relaxed position. Just exhale some air with
voice to make a weak ‘uh’.

6. 1. Notice how common the Schwa sound ə is…
I’ve got a new car
I’m not going to an old theatre
Me and you/him and her/this and that
This is from me and it’s for you
She told THEM that her house was
bigger.
/ə/
/əm/ /m/
/ən/
/frəm/
/ə/
They are all over there.
/ən/ /ən/
/fə/
/ðəm/
/ə/
/ən/ /ə/
/ən/
/ˈəʊvə/
/wəz/

7. Schwa Sound Spellings
The schwa can be spelt with any
of the 5 English vowel letters
<a,e,i,o,u>
<a> annoy, sofa
<e> persist, water
<i> council
<o> collide, motor
<u> survive, collumn

8. thousand /ˈθaʊ.zənd/
atlas /ˈæt.ləs/
salad /ˈsæ.ləd/
amount /əˈmaʊnt/
about /əˈbaʊt/
around /əˈraʊnd/
SCHWA EXERCISE – THE LETTER ‘A’ AS SCHWA

9. item /ˈaɪ.təm/
perhaps /pəˈhæps/
develop /dəˈve.ləp/
The… /ðə/
SCHWA EXERCISE – THE LETTER ‘E’ AS SCHWA

10. pencil /ˈpen.səl/
cousin /ˈkʌ.zən/
mention /ˈmen.ʃən/
permission /pəˈmɪʃ.ən/
SCHWA EXERCISE – THE LETTER ‘I’ AS SCHWA

11. confirm /kənˈfɜːm/
combine /kəmˈbaɪn/
purpose /ˈpɜː.pəs/
famous /ˈfeɪ.məs/
Obtain /əbˈteɪn/
Obliterate /əˈblɪtəreɪt/
SCHWA EXERCISE – THE LETTER ‘O’ AS SCHWA

12. focus /ˈfoʊ.kəs/
virus /ˈvaɪ.rəs/
August /ˈɔː.ɡəst/
supply /səˈplaɪ/
Suspect /səsˈpɛkt/
SCHWA EXERCISE – THE LETTER ‘U’ AS SCHWA

13. syringe /səˈrɪndʒ/
vinyl /ˈvaɪ.nəl/
Methyl /ˈmɛθəl/
pyjamas /pəˈdʒɑː.məz/
SCHWA EXERCISE – THE LETTER ‘Y’ AS SCHWA

14. D o c t o r
T o m o r r o w
S u m m e r
P r o t e c t
P u p i l
M e a s u r e
B a n a n a
D i f f i c u l t
L e v e l
W i z a r d
S u r v i v e
T h e a t r e
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/ /ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
Where is the Schwa?

15. 1. It’s for you
2. It takes a lot of time
3. How about a cup of tea?
4. What are you doing tonight?
5. What time will you arrive at Victoria
6. I was gonna tell you.
8. A man an’ a woman
7. The leisure centre is closed for
a private function.
10. Financial support for free internet.
9. The book is about pronunciation.
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/
/ə/ /ə/
/ə/ /ə/
/ə/
/ə/ /ə/
/ə/
/ə/ /ə/ /ə/
/ə/ /ə/ /ə/
/ə/ /ə/ /ə/
/ə/ /ə/ /ə/ /ə/
/ə/ /ə/ /ə/ /ə/
Where is the Schwa?

16. The Schwa in Function
Words
Many function words (prepositions, auxiliary verbs, articles etc.)
are pronounced with a schwa sound when weak, and a different
vowel sound when strong.

17. FOR
Who is this card for? /fɔː/
It’s for me. /fə/
ARE
Where are they? /ɑː/
Are you sure you told them to come? /ə/

18. The Schwa in –er, -or
words.
In most British English accents (but not all) words that end in the
suffixes –er and –or all end with a Schwa sound. This is one big
difference between American accents and British accents.

19. Doctor
Bigger
Larger
Actor
Better
Giver
Receiver
Super
How many more can you think
of?

20. TH
There are two TH sounds in English (Voiced and Unvoiced/Voiceless). They are
very rare sounds and are not found in many other languages around the
world.
In English, however, they are EXTREMELY COMMON! So if you want perfect
pronunciation, you simply MUST master these two sounds!

21. /ð/
Voiced Voiceless
/θ/
brother
them
this
weather
feather
Thursday
bathe
theatre
thanks
bath
another
father
bath
thinking
mythical

22. TH PRACTICE TONGUE TWISTERS
Father, mother, sister, brother - hand in hand with one
another.
/ð/ /ð/ /ð/ /ð/
/ð/

23. TH PRACTICE TONGUE TWISTERS
Three thin thieves thought a thousand thoughts.
Now if three thin thieves thought a thousand
thoughts how many thoughts did each thief
think?
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/

24. TH PRACTICE TONGUE TWISTERS
/θ/
Is this the thing? - Yes, this is the thing.
/ð/ /ð/ /ð/ /ð/ /θ/

25. TH PRACTICE TONGUE TWISTERS
/θ/
Thirty thousand thoughtless boys thought they
would make a thundering noise. So the thirty
thousand thumbs thumbed on the thirty
thousand drums.
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/
/ð/
/ð/
/ð/

26. TH PRACTICE TONGUE TWISTERS
/θ/
The thirty-three thankful thieves thought that
they thanked the other thirty-three thankful
thieves throughout Thursday.
/ð/
/ð/
/ð/ /ð/
/θ/
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/
/θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/ /θ/
/θ/ /θ/
/ð/

27. ULTIMATE TH TONGUE TWISTER
I was thinking a thought but then the thought I thought was thinking
was not the thought I thought I was thinking so the thinking I was
thinking about was not the right thinking so I thought I’d think about
other thoughts another Thursday.