Chapter 3 · English · 2 questions in the paper · 7 min read
Phonetics
What the syllabus asks for 2
- Phonemes (vowels and consonants)
- Syllables and stress (word and sentence)
Phonetics carries about 2 of the 16 English questions (our estimate), and the official model paper shows exactly what they look like: "The word 'procrastination' has its stress on the … syllable" and "Which of the following pairs have the same initial vowel sound? (ago, alone)". Both are answerable with a short rule set and a little practice reading phonetic values aloud.
- The 44 phonemes of Received Pronunciation: 20 vowels (12 pure + 8 diphthongs) and 24 consonants.
- Same-sound and different-sound word pairs (initial vowel, final consonant, silent letters).
- Number of syllables and the syllable that carries the primary stress.
- Stress shift between noun and verb, and sentence stress on content words.
3.2 Phonemes (vowels and consonants)
English spelling is not phonetic, so we count sounds, not letters. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that changes meaning (ship /ʃɪp/ versus sheep /ʃiːp/ — the pair is a minimal pair).
Vowels (20). Twelve monophthongs (single, steady sounds): short /ɪ e æ ʌ ɒ ʊ ə/ and long /iː ɑː ɔː uː ɜː/. Eight diphthongs (glides): /eɪ aɪ ɔɪ aʊ əʊ ɪə eə ʊə/. Examples:
| Sound | Words | Sound | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| /iː/ | seat, feel, key | /ɪ/ | sit, inn, village |
| /e/ | bed, head, said | /æ/ | cat, apple |
| /ɑː/ | car, father, calm | /ʌ/ | cup, up, love |
| /ɒ/ | hot, on, watch | /ɔː/ | all, caught, door, more |
| /ʊ/ | put, foot, good | /uː/ | food, blue, rule |
| /ɜː/ | bird, learn, her | /ə/ | ago, alone, sofa (schwa) |
| /eɪ/ | day, break, eight | /aɪ/ | my, high, buy |
| /ɔɪ/ | boy, coin | /aʊ/ | now, owl, house |
| /əʊ/ | go, home, boat | /ɪə/ | here, ear, beer |
The schwa /ə/ is the commonest vowel sound in English and occurs only in unstressed syllables: ago /əˈgəʊ/ and alone /əˈləʊn/ begin with the same sound, while owl /aʊl/ and all /ɔːl/, inn /ɪn/ and eel /iːl/, up /ʌp/ and on /ɒn/ do not. Vowel length matters: bit /ɪ/ versus beat /iː/; pull /ʊ/ versus pool /uː/.
Consonants (24). Plosives /p b t d k g/; fricatives /f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h/; affricates /tʃ dʒ/; nasals /m n ŋ/; liquids /l r/; glides /j w/. Voiceless versus voiced pairs: /p b/, /t d/, /k g/, /f v/, /θ ð/, /s z/, /ʃ ʒ/, /tʃ dʒ/. - /θ/ (voiceless) in thin, think, bath; /ð/ (voiced) in this, then, bathe. - /ʃ/ in ship, nation, sure; /ʒ/ in vision, measure, pleasure; /tʃ/ in chair, ture; /dʒ/ in jug, general, badge. - /ŋ/ in sing, think; /h/ in hat; /j/ in yes, use. - Silent letters: k in knife, know; b in climb, comb, doubt, debt; w in write, answer; p in psychology, pneumonia; g in gnat, sign; h in hour, honest; l in walk, calm; t in listen, castle; n in autumn, column. - The same letter can give different sounds: c in cat /k/ and city /s/; s in sun /s/ and rose /z/; -ed is /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after /t d/ (wanted); -s is /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/ (cats, dogs, buses).
3.3 Syllables and stress (word and sentence)
A syllable has one vowel sound: beau-ti-ful (3), ed-u-ca-tion (4), com-mu-ni-ca-tion (5), pro-cras-ti-na-tion (5). Count vowel sounds: the-ater is 3, name is 1.
Word stress is the syllable pronounced louder, longer and higher. Rules of thumb: - Words ending -tion, -sion, -ic, -ical, -ity, -ify, -ian, -ious stress the syllable before the ending: edu-CA-tion, pro-cras-ti-NA-tion, eco-NOM-ic, ca-PA-ci-ty, pho-TOG-ra-pher. - Words ending -graphy, -logy, -ate, -ment (long words): pho-TOG-ra-phy, bi-OL-o-gy, ECO-no-my → e-CON-o-my. - Two-syllable nouns and adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable (TAble, PREsent, REcord); two-syllable verbs on the second (preSENT, reCORD, deCIDE). Stress shift marks the change of word class: a PREsent / to preSENT; an INcrease / to inCREASE; a REcord / to reCORD; an OBject / to obJECT. - Compound nouns are stressed on the first part (BLACKboard, GREENhouse); compound adjectives and verbs on the second (bad-TEMpered, underSTAND). - Prefixes are generally unstressed (re-TURN, un-HAPpy); suffixes -ful, -less, -ness, -ing do not move the stress (BEAUtiful).
Sentence stress. In connected speech, content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, negatives, question words) carry the stress; function words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries, pronouns, conjunctions) are weak and their vowels reduce to /ə/. I want to go to the market. Stress changes the focus: I didn't steal the money (I did something else) versus I didn't steal the money (another money). Intonation: a falling tune for statements, wh-questions and commands; a rising tune for yes/no questions and uncertain lists (the last item of a list falls).
Count sounds, not letters (knife starts with /n/, hour with a vowel, so an hour). -ed has three sounds. Pairs that look alike do not sound alike: cough, though, through, tough, thought. The stress of a long word follows its ending, not its beginning.
Formula and fact sheet
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| RP phonemes | 20 vowels (12 + 8) + 24 consonants = 44 |
| schwa | /ə/, unstressed only |
| -tion words | stress on the syllable before |
| noun / verb pair | PREsent / preSENT |
| sentence stress | content words, not function words |
| /θ/ vs /ð/ | thin vs this |
Chapter summary
- English has 44 phonemes in RP; a silent letter adds no sound.
- Words ending in -tion, -ic, -ity stress the preceding syllable.
- Two-syllable nouns take first-syllable stress, verbs second.
- Weak function words reduce to schwa; content words carry sentence stress.
Practice questions
Set A — Recall (12 questions)
- The number of vowel phonemes (including diphthongs) in Received Pronunciation isa5b12c20d24
- The number of consonant phonemes in English isa21b24c26d20
- The number of syllables in "beautiful" isa3b4c2d5
- The word "procrastination" has its primary stress on the ___ syllable.a2ndb3rdc5thd4th
- Which pair has the same initial vowel sound?aup, onbago, alonecinn, eeldowl, all
- Which word contains the voiceless /θ/ sound?athinbthiscthendbathe
- Which word contains the /ʃ/ sound?achairbmeasurecjudgedship
- In which word is the letter "b" silent?abubblebrubbercclimbdbring
- Which word contains a diphthong?abitbbedccutdboy
- The noun "present" is stressed on theasecond syllablebfirst syllableceither syllabledneither syllable
- In a sentence, stress usually falls onacontent wordsbarticlescprepositionsdauxiliaries
- Which word has the long vowel /uː/?aputbfootcfooddgood
Answers and explanations — Set A
1. (c) — 12 monophthongs + 8 diphthongs.
2. (b) — 24 consonant phonemes.
3. (a) — beau-ti-ful.
4. (d) — pro-cras-ti-NA-tion; stress falls before -tion.
5. (b) — both begin with the schwa /ə/.
6. (a) — thin has /θ/; this, then, bathe have /ð/.
7. (d) — ship /ʃ/; measure has /ʒ/; chair /tʃ/; judge /dʒ/.
8. (c) — climb /klaɪm/.
9. (d) — boy /ɔɪ/.
10. (b) — noun: PREsent; verb: preSENT.
11. (a) — content words carry the stress.
12. (c) — food /fuːd/; put, foot, good have /ʊ/.
Set B — Understanding (6 questions)
- In "photographer" the primary stress is on thea1st syllableb2nd syllablec3rd syllabled4th syllable
- The number of syllables in "communication" isa4b6c5d3
- Which word contains the /ʒ/ sound?avisionbviciouscvisitdvivid
- The words "ship" and "sheep" differ inaa consonantba vowelcstressdnumber of syllables
- In "psychology" the silent letter isaybscldp
- The word "economy" has primary stress on thea1st syllableb3rd syllablec2nd syllabled4th syllable
Answers and explanations — Set B
1. (b) — pho-TOG-ra-pher: the stress is on the second syllable, as in pho-TOG-ra-phy.
2. (c) — com-mu-ni-ca-tion.
3. (a) — vision /ˈvɪʒn/; vicious has /ʃ/.
4. (b) — /ɪ/ versus /iː/: a minimal pair.
5. (d) — the initial p is not pronounced: /saɪˈkɒlədʒi/.
6. (c) — e-CON-o-my.