The document defines key linguistic terms related to pronunciation including accent, dialect, pronunciation, twang, and slang. It then provides details on the articulators involved in pronunciation and guidelines for practicing pronunciation. The bulk of the document is dedicated to defining and providing examples of English vowel and consonant sounds, with a focus on sounds that commonly cause issues for non-native speakers such as the American T. It also covers concepts like stress, tone, intonation, and liaisons that impact pronunciation.

2. DEFINITION OF TERMS
 Accent
In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation of a particular individual,
location, or nation.
Accents typically differ in:
a) quality of voice,
b) pronunciation of vowels and consonants,
c) stress, and
d) prosody.
Although grammar, semantics, vocabulary, and other language characteristics
often vary concurrently with accent, the word 'accent' refers specifically to the
differences in pronunciation, whereas the word 'dialect' encompasses the
broader set of linguistic differences. Often 'accent' is a subset of 'dialect'.

3. DEFINITION OF TERMS
 Dialect – a regional variety of language distinguished by features of
vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and
constituting together with them a single language.
 Pronunciation – refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the
manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct
pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect.
A word can be spoken in different ways by various individuals or groups,
depending on many factors, such as: the area in which they grew up, the
area in which they now live, if they have a speech or voice disorder, their
ethnic group, their social class, or their education.
 Twang – exaggerated nasality in speech (as in some regional dialects).
 Slang – the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered
standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more
acceptable when used socially.

4.  Tongue
 Teeth
 Lips
 Throat
 Jaw
 Diaphragm
 Mouth
 Palette
4A C C E N T N E U T R A L I Z A T I O N R E V ( 1 ) 2 / 6 / 1 2
ACCENT ARTICULATORS

5. TIPS ON PRACTICING PRONUNCIATION
 Listen well to distinguish the different sounds.
 Watch the mouth movements carefully.
 Mimic or shadow the mouth positions.
 Open your mouth when pronouncing the sounds.
 Don’t be afraid to make mistakes when practicing. Remember
to fix those errors as soon as you recognize them.
 Don’t get frustrated when you don’t get it right after series of
trials. Learning a new accent or neutralizing your sound
takes a lot of patience and determination.
A C C E N T N E U T R A L I Z A T I O N R E V ( 1 ) 2 / 6 / 1 2 5

6. VOWELS

7. VOWEL SOUNDS
a - mat, gag, tabulate
ā - fatal, aorta, maintenance
ä - father, star, calm
aú - hour, now, county
e - bet, best, terrible
ē - clean, feel, treason
i - tip, fulfill, active
ī - site, stride, buy, knight
o - bother, cost, stop
ō - bone, know, grocery
ó - walnut, four, core
ói - coin, destroy, employed
ü - rule, youth, union
ú - pull, wood, book,
curable, fury
ә - american, collide,
mother
әr - further, merger
әl - table, culture bird bird

8. CONSONANTS

9. THE BIG FOUR
Plosives
speech sound
produced by
complete closure of
the oral passage
and subsequent
release
accompanied by a
burst of air.
P vs. F
Fricatives
A consonant, such
as f or s in English,
produced by the
forcing of breath
through a
constricted
passage. Also
called spirant.
B vs. V

10. PLOSIVES
p, b, t, d, k, and g
FRICATIVES
f, v, th, dh, s, z, sh, zh, and h

11. CONSONANT SOUNDS
b - baby, rib
d - did, adder
g - go, big, gift
j - job, gem, edge,
join, judge
k - kin, cook, ache
p - pepper, lip
t - tie, attack, late,
later, latter
ch - chin, nature
f - fifty, cuff
s - source, less
sh - shy, mission,
machine, special
th - thin, ether
th - then, either
v - vivid, invite
z - zone, raise
zh - vision, measure

12. CONSONANT SOUNDS

13. The American T
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14. TH
(SOFT TH, NON-VOICED TH, VOICELESS TH)
14A C C E N T N E U T R A L I Z A T I O N R E V ( 1 ) 2 / 6 / 1 2

15. SOFT OR UNVOICED TH
Like an S between the teeth
Most people replace this with a T sound
 Example:
 Thing becomes ting
15A C C E N T N E U T R A L I Z A T I O N R E V ( 1 ) 2 / 6 / 1 2

16. thirty
thrifty
thorough
thanks
think
forth
seventh
birth
breath
Seth
teeth
broth
path
Perth
theater
thousand
thumb
faith
thrall
thorn
thought
math
beneath
thirst
thrill
thief
Elizabeth
ethereal
ethyl
Ethics
moth
myth
worth

17. TH
(HARD TH, VOICED TH)

18. HARD OR VOICED TH
Like a D
Instead of being in back of the teeth, it’s ¼ inch lower and forward between the
teeth
Most people replace this with a Z or D sound
 Example:
 That becomes Dat/Zat

19. feather
farther
gathering
either
neither
smooth
whether
slither
other
hither
smother
thy
worthy
Netherworld
thou
weather
then
thee
them
this
that
those
these
there
they
them
together
brother
father
mother

20. T – TH EXERCISE
Bat
Bate
Clot
Heart
Noting
Tan
Tank
Tat
Bath
Bathe
Cloth
Hearth
Nothing
Than
Thank
That

21. Ten
Ticket
Toot
Tough
Treat
Tree
Wit
Write
Then
Thicket
Tooth
Though
Threat
Three
With
Writhe

22. The thirty-three thankful thieves thought that they
thanked the other thirty-three thankful thieves
throughout Thursday.
Three thin thieves thought a thousand thoughts.
Now if three thin thieves thought a thousand
thoughts how many thoughts did each thief
think?

23. FIVE RULES OF THE AMERICAN T
1. Plosive T or Top of the staircase.
2. Unstressed T or Middle of the staircase.
3. Held T or Bottom of the staircase.
4. Held T before N
5. Silent T

24. PLOSIVE T OR TOP OF THE STAIRCASE
If T is at the beginning of the word, or if it is placed in a STRESSED syllable, it is
pronounced with a popping T sound.
Example:
Stop touching Ted’s toes.

25. Time
intent
pertain
content
contract
Atone
turtle
retain
pretend
curtail
subtract
attend
Intention
Trust
PLOSIVE T OR TOP OF THE STAIRCASE

26. UNSTRESSED T OR MIDDLE OF THE
STAIRCASE
An unstressed T in the middle of a staircase between 2 vowel sounds = soft D
sound.
Example:
Betty bought a bit of bitter butter.

27. UNSTRESSED T OR MIDDLE OF THE
STAIRCASE
better
meeting
letters
greetings
bitter
committee
butter
bottom
thirty
greater
pretty
notify
cities
quarterly
totals
articles

28. HELD T OR BOTTOM OF THE
STAIRCASE
T is HELD at the end of a word.
Tongue does the T position, but the air is not released.
Example:
She hit the hot hut with her hat.

29. HELD T OR BOTTOM OF THE
STAIRCASE
seat
sheet
set
pest
state
post
unit
account
best
met
count
internet
connect
most
management
agreement

30. HELD T BEFORE N
T & N are very close in the mouth. No need to pop the T. Make a sharp upward
sliding T sound, then quickly drop for the N sound.
Example:
The cotton curtain is not in the fountain.

31. HELD T BEFORE N
mountain
button
cotton
certainly
bitten
kitten
forgotten
written
consultant
sentence
martin
curtain

32. THE SILENT T
T & N are so close in the mouth that the T can simply disappear.
Example:
He had a great interview.

33. THE SILENT T
center
twenty
interrupt
printers
interview
internet
represented
international
disadvantage
interfered
representative
intercept
interstate
percentages

34. WHAT IS PITCH?
“Pitch is the highness or lowness of your
tone.”

35. PITCH
Low Pitch – used in statements, narration, end, conclusions, and
questions that start with the 5W’s and 1 H.
“What is your name?”
“What seems to be the problem?”
High Pitch – suspended tone used after questions or in series.
“Are you going to see her tonight?”
“I’m going to see her, have dinner and then go dancing”.
Extra High Pitch – used to express emotions such as excitement,
fear, etc.
“Oh my God! He’s going to see me tonight!”

36. WHAT IS TONE?
“Tone, in linguistics, is a variation in the
pitch of the voice while speaking.”
“It is shown or heard in how something is
being said.”

37. WHAT IS INTONATION?
“Intonation, is the variation of the TONE of
the voice while speaking.”

38. Intonation patterns:
1.Statement
2.Question
3.Surprise
4.Disbelief
5.Sarcasm
6.Teasing
A C C E N T N E U T R A L I Z A T I O N R E V ( 1 ) 2 / 6 / 1 2 38

39. STRESS
Stress is the emphasis placed on a syllable in a word
or on a word in a sentence.
There are two types of stress:
Word stress
- Deals with the syllable that will be prominent
in a word.
Phrase stress
- Deals with the words that will be prominent in
a string of words.

40. CHARACTERISTICS OF STRESSED AND
UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES
Do you know the differences between stressed syllables and unstressed
syllables?
Look at the chart below first.
So, when you say a word more than one syllable, remember to make the
stressed syllable louder, longer, clearer, and higher pitched.
Loudness
Vowel
Length
Vowel
Clarity
Pitch
Stressed
syllables loud long full high
Unstressed
syllables quiet short reduced low

41. WORD STRESS
NOUN
record
address
protest
convict
object
subject
addict
VERB
record
address
protest
convict
object
subject
addict

42. PHRASE STRESS
Read the following phrases. Stress on the
appropriate word.
An American customer
A Filipino teacher
A Japanese product
An Italian teacher
Spanish food

43. PHRASE STRESS
I didn’t steal your tuna sandwich.
I didn’t steal your tuna sandwich.
I didn’t steal your tuna sandwich.
I didn’t steal your tuna sandwich.
I didn’t steal your tuna sandwich.
I didn’t steal your tuna sandwich.

44. LIAISONS
Connection of words that allow us to speak in sound
groups.
 Not pronounced one by one.
 End of a word attaches to the beginning of the next word.

45. LET’S PRACTICE!
The dime.
The dime easier.
They tell me the dime easier.
They tell me the dime easier to understand.
They tell me that I am easier to understand.

46. LIAISING PATTERNS
1. Consonant/Vowel
2. Consonant/Consonant
3. Vowel/Vowel
4. T, D, S, or Z + Y

47. LIAISON RULE 1:
CONSONANT/VOWEL
Words are connected when a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word
starts with a vowel sound, including the semivowels W and Y.
My name is..
Hold on
[my naymiz]
[hol don]

48. CONSONANT/VOWEL EXERCISE
1. read only
2. fall off
3. follow up
4. come in
5. call him
6. sell it
7. take out
8. fade away
9. 6-8 (six eight)
10.MA

49. LIAISON RULE 2:
CONSONANT/CONSONANT
Words are connected when a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word
starts with another consonant that is in a similar position.
Get tired
Half full
Meant to be
Ge(t) tired
Hæ(f) full
Men(t) uh be

50. CONSONANT/CONSONANT EXERCISE
1. Business style
2. credit check
3. the top file
4. sell nine new cars
5. sit down
6. some plans need luck
7. check cashing
8. let them make conditions
9. had the
10. both days

51. LIAISON RULE 3: VOWEL/VOWEL
When a word ending in a vowel sound is next to one beginning with a vowel
sound, they are connected with a glide between the two vowels.
What’s a glide?
It’s either a slight [y] or [w] sound.
The position of your mouth from the
vowel sound will determine the glide.

52. FOR EXAMPLE:
Go away.
I also need the other one.
The apple.
Go(w)away.
I(y)also need thee(y) other
one.
Thee (y) apple.

53. VOWEL/VOWEL EXERCISE
1. go anywhere
2. so honest
3. through our
4. you are
5. he is
6. do I?
7. I asked
8. to open
9. she always
10. too often

54. LIAISON RULE 4: T, D, S, OR Z + Y
When the letter or sound of T, D, S or Z is followed by a word that starts with Y, or
its sound, both sounds are connected.
T + Y = CH
D + Y = J
S + Y = SH
Z + Y = ZH
Actually
Graduation
Insurance
Casual

55. LIAISON RULE 4: T, D, S, OR Z + Y
More Examples:
T + Y = CH
Don't you like it?
D + Y = J
Did you like it?
Z + Y = ZH
Who's your friend?
[Donchoo like it?]
[Didja like it?]
[Hoozhier friend?]