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Written Text VS. Spoken Text


WRITTEN 

 is organized by punctuation and the visual arrangement of words on a page.



SPOKEN 

is governed by time (rhythm, phrasing and pauses) and by melody (pitch, intonation and inflection).


ELEMENTS OF WRITTEN ENGLISH ARE SEEN 

letters of the alphabet 

words 

sentences


ELEMENTS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH ARE HEARD

vowel, diphthong, and consonant sounds 

syllables 

phrases or rhythmic thought groups.


The individual speech sounds of any language are defined by how the breath, whether voiced or voiceless, is used in making the sound. A voiced sound is produced with vibration of the vocal folds; a voiceless sound is produced without vibration. In Spoken English:


A Vowel Sound


• Is made with an open, uninterrupted flow of air, the breath flowing through the mouth only: an oral sound. French, by contrast, contains four vowel sounds made with the breath flowing through the mouth and the nose simultaneously: nasalized vowels.


• Is a single sound, involving no movement or change of the articulators during the creation of the sound. Therefore, vowels are PURE sounds.


• In most languages, including English, is always a voiced sound.




Every Vowel Sound


• Is made with the tip of the tongue resting behind and touching the back of the lower front teeth. The front, middle or back of the tongue arches to various heights, from high to low in the mouth, to create distinct, pure vowel sounds.


• Is made with a RELAXED LOWER JAW.


• Is made with the soft palate raised. This prevents the vibrated breath from escaping into the nasal passage, assuring that it flows through the oral cavity, or mouth, only.



The following words each contain a single vowel sound:


we   bit   death   plaid   flood    do   should    law    dog   calm


The same vowel sound can be represented by several different spellings:

see=sea seize deceive key=quay machine Caesar phoenix


There are (15) fifteen pure vowel sounds in well-spoken English.



A Diphthong Sound


• Is made by movement of the articulators that can be seen, heard and felt by the speaker.


• Is a blend of two vowel sounds into a single phonetic unit.


• Is perceived as one sound.



Some words that contain a single diphthong sound:


day date great=grate I=eye Tie=Thai no=know=Noh now




The same spoken diphthong sound can be represented by several spellings:


Bo=bow=beau doe=dough




The same spoken diphthong sound can be represented by several spellings:


Bo=bow=beau doe=dough



There are (10) ten diphthong sounds in well-spoken English.




A Triphthong Sound


• Is a blending of three vowel sounds to form one sound comprising one syllable.


Some words that may contain a triphthong and may be pronounced as one syllable:

hire  fire  flower-flow'r=flour


The same spoken triphthong sound is represented by several spellings:


liar=lyre   our=hour


There are (2) two triphthong sounds in well-spoken English.



A Consonant Sound

• Is made with a stopped, impeded or interrupted breath, either through the mouth (oral) or through the nose (nasal).

• May be VOICED (vibration through the vocal folds) or VOICELESS (no vibration through the vocal folds). These are also known as breathed or whispered consonants.

• May have stationary articulators during the formation of the sound itself or moving articula-tors forming the sound.


Some words that contain a single consonant sound:


be abbey is  of show thigh thy egg off chew whey who  now  issue


The same spoken consonant sound can be represented by several spellings:

no=know pneumonia gnome mnemonic


There are 26 consonant sounds in well-spoken English.


An Affricate Sound

• Is comprised of a stop-plosive and a fricative consonant blended together so closely as to seem like a single sound;

• Is considered part of the plosive family of consonant sounds.


Some words that contain a single affricate sound:


cheese  June



The same affricate consonant sound can be represented by several different spellings:


cello kitchen nature gent soldier judge religion exaggerate


There are two affricate consonant sounds in well-spoken English.




Skinner, Edith. Speak with Distinction. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.

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