Post on 24-May-2015
Practicing minimal pairs
By Claudita Cárdenas
True or false?• English speakers use twelve pure vowels
• Vowels are differentiated from the consonants by their position of the tongue and the lips
• Lip positions for vowel production can be rounded and neutral
• While vowels are produced with the help of many organs, consonants depend only on the position of the tongue and the lips
• The position of the tongue and the lips allow for a great amount of variation enabling us to voice many more than the familiar five vowels.
• English has eight diphthongs
• Vowels can be produced by raising the tongue high, keeping it in the middle or low in the mouth
• Vowels can be produced alone and may be short or long
• Vowels are classified into close, mid and open vowels
VOWELS
CLOSE VOWELS• Lips spread, tongue tense. Sides of the tongue
touch upper molars (key. cheese, scene, police, people)
• Lips spread loosely, tongue more relaxed. Sides of tongue may touch upper molars (rhythm, sieve, hit, sausage)
• Lips rounded, tongue relaxed, gorilla noise (book, good, woman, push, pull)
• Lips rounded, tongue tense, use a rising and falling intonation (food, rude, true, who, fruit)
To make the sound /i:/, smile and open your mouth a little. /i:/ is a long sound. It comes in the words feet and seat.
To make the sound /ɪ/, open your mouth a little more. /ɪ/ is a short sound. It comes in the words fit and sit.
feet fit
seat sit
steal still
feel fill
jeans gins
beans bins
team Tim
cheap chip
peach pitch
leave live
THE SOUNDS /i:/ AND /ɪ/
A necklace of brown glass ______
a.Beads
b.Bids
She broke her _______ falling down the stairs
a. Heap
b. Hip
Those shoes don’t _______ her _______.
a.feet, fit
b.Fit, feet
He made a ____ of $150 for the painting
a.Bead
b.Bid
Everytime he wants to play, he begins to ______; he’s really sick
a.Whiz
b.Wheez
He’s so brilliant. He’s a _____ at mathematics
a.Whiz
b.Wheez
This is the football _______
a.Peach
b.Pitch
She _______ for her gun
a.Reached
b.Riched
Diane’s ___________ her lollipop
a.Leaking
b.Licking
There are 52 _______ in a year
a.Weeks
b.Wicks
The tap ______ all day, we have to get it fixed
a.Licks
b.Leaks
My parents in law are ______ enough to buy an airplane
a. Reach
b. Rich
Her face is as soft as a _______
a.Peach
b.Pitch
A candle _______ is string, cord, or wooden object that holds the flame of a candle.
a.Week
b.Wick
That _______ of rubish stinks
a.Hip
b.Heap
MID VOWELS
• Lips loosely spread, tongue tenser than for i: (egg, left, said, head)
• Lips relaxed and neutrally spread, as though you were completely exhausted (about- paper- banana, nation)
• Lips relaxed and neutrally spread (shirt, her, word, further)
• Lips loosely rounded (fork, call, snore, taught)
OPEN VOWELS
• Lips neutrally open (hat, attack, antique)
• Lips neutrally open (run, uncle, front, nourish, does)
• Tongue in the fully open position, Lips neutrally open (far, part, class, half)
• Tongue in the fully open position, lips lightly rounded (dog, often, cough, want)
Which word sounds different?
• Debt
• Fret
• Treat
• sweat
Which word sounds different?
• Mother
• Bother
• Brother
• Another
Which word sounds different?
•Hot •Knot•Taught•What
Which word does not rhyme with the others
• Through
• Sew
• Due
• Do
VOWELS
- the same letters can have different vowel sound:
Soup couple bought
/u:/ /ʌ/ /ɔ:/
-different letters can have the same vowel sound:
Soup boots suit
/u:/ /u:/ /u:/
Cross out the word which does not contain the vowel sound on the left.
/e/ bread woman eggs many
/ʌ/ enough brother sugar much
/ɒ/ onion coffee lot what
/ɜ:/ shirt pork world university
/i:/ cheese tea wine magazines
/ɑ:/ car carrots half aren´t
/ɪ/ buildings little birds milk
/u:/ shampoo look fruit two
4. Listen and circle the symbol that matches the sound of the underlined letters.
• Bus /ʊ/ /ʌ/• Tall /ɑ:/ /ɔ:/• Word /ɜ:/ /ɔ:/• Good /ʊ/ /ɔ:/• Park /æ/ /ɑ:/• Shop /ʌ/ /ɒ/• Apples /æ/ /ə/• Blue /ʊ/ /u:/• Cigarette /ʌ/ /ə/
To make the sound /u:/,
make your lips very
round and hard.
make the sound long.
/u:/ /ʊ/. Practise making
the sounds
To make the sound /ʊ/,
open your lips a little and make them a little
round. Keep the sound short.
THE SOUNDS /ʊ/ AND /u:/
Full Fool
Pull Pool
Look Luke
Soot Suit
Now you…
• Teacher
• Kitchen
• Work
• Cinema
• Who
• Book
• Five
• Away
• Car
• Study
• Ball
• Hot
• Pen
• Cat
• Hit
• See
• Boy
• Bed
• Onion
• Sugar
• Say
• Birds
• Look
• Wine
• Carrots
• Now
• Word
• Tall
• Park
• Good
• Key
• Apple
Complete the statements with the appropriate word
sheep
hit
eel
sieve
leave
ship
heat
ill
receive
live
Match the similar words
• Sheep
• Receive
• Leave
• Heat
• Eel
• ill
• Live
• Hit
• Sieve
• Ship
ANSWER
• Sheep
• Heat
• Eel
• Receive
• Leave
• Ship
• Hit
• ill
• Sieve
• live
The tornado was so devastating that whole cities were wiped off the ________
a.Mop
b.Map
She must be a whiz! Are you telling me that she can ____ at the age of 2?
a.Add
b.Odd
What she ______ in beauty, she makes up for brains
a.Lacks
b.Locks
A _______ is a bundle of coarse yarn, a sponge, or other absorbent material, fastened at the end of a stick or handle for washing floors
a.Mop
b.Map
The documents of the new exports policies are quintessential for the company. That’s why they are under ____ and key
a.Lack
b.Lock
When we are in need for a _____ they don’t show up
a.Cab
b.Cob
I can’t believe that Luren let the ______ out of the bag. Everybody was in shock.
a.Cot
b.Cat
Do you know how to grill corn on the ____?
a.Cab
b.Cob
That _____ is a nightmare! Firs, I couldn’t sleep and second, my
whole body was aching the next day
a.Cat
b.Cot
Choose the ______ word out?
a. add
b. odd