QUESTIONS IN THIS LIST WILL BE ASKED BY YOUR INSTRUCTOR

1. Can you tell between voiced and voiceless consonants?

• Voiced (Lenis) consonants: Vocal folds vibrate (dây thanh quảng rung). ; Ex: b, d, g
• Voiceless (Fortis) consonants: Vocal folds don’t vibrate. ; Ex: p, t, k
2. What is the nature of the syllable (âm tiết) ? The structure of ONSET and CODA?
Phonetically, syllables are usually described as consisting of a center which has little or no
obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively loud. Before and after this center, there
will be greater obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound

The structure of ONSET and CODA

Minimum syllable:
Ex: a single vowel
An onset: one or more consonants preceding a center of the syllable ( a vowel)
A coda: one or more consonants following a center of the syllable ( a vowel)
Rhyme: peak ( vowel) and coda (optional) may have no coda : “me”

The structure of English syllable :

Zero onset: begin with 1 vowel : apple
An onset: begin with 1 consonant: bar
An onset cluster: begin with 2 more consonants
=>maximum 3

Zero coda : end with 1 vowel : area

A coda: end with 1 consonant : except (h, w, j ,r)
An onset cluster: end with 2 more consonants
=>maximum 4

3. Why does the word better have the syllable boundary like this /′bet.∂/ but not like this
/′be.t∂/?
Because a short vowel cannot occur at the end of a syllable.
Priority right-hand vowel : Ưu tiên những phụ âm bên phải
Những nguyên âm ngắn (I, ^, e bướm, u, e) ko thể kết thúc âm tiết, phải có phụ âm đi theo
4. The stress pattern of the compound adjective ‘blond-haired’ is /blɒnd - ˈherd/
When placed in the phrase ‘a ′blond-haired ′girl’, its stress pattern becomes
/blɒnd - ˈherd/. What is this called?

This is called “stress-shift” as the stress on a final-stressed compound tends to move to a

preceding syllable if the following word begins with a strongly stressed syllable.
(Ex: bad-′tempered -> a ′bad-tempered ′teacher)
 Vì do âm “a” yếu hơn nếu đứng cùng với noun phare. Còn khi ko có a/an thì âm 2 có xu hướng
mạn hơn nên nhấm âm 2
Nằm trong cụm danh từ thì dịch chuyển dấu nhấn.
5. Which English sounds are always weak and never stressed when appearing in syllables or
words?

Sounds like the /ə/ vowel (schwa), neutralised /i/, neutralised /u/ (i ,u, ə) and 5 syllabic
consonants (l,n,m,ŋ,r) are always weak.
6. What are function words and content words? Which tend to be weakened in spoken
English?
• Function words: auxiliary verbs (do does) , prepositions ( in, on, at), articles (a, an,
the ) conjunctions: don’t have a specific meaning in the dictionary
(Từ chức năng: bao gồm trợ động từ, giới từ, mạo từ, liên từ)
• Content words: main verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs : strong syllable
(Từ nội dung: động từ chính, danh từ, tính từ, trạng từ)
• Function words tend to be in weak forms. ( a, an, the)
7. What are FOUR cases of the neutralised /i/ found in English words? Examples?
• (1)In word-final position in words spelt with final ‘y’ or ‘ey’ (after one / more consonant
letters) ; Ex: happy, early, valley, alley, smiley
In morpheme-final position when such words have suffixes begin with vowels ; Ex:
happier, earlier, easiest, hurrying
• (2) In a prefix like ‘re’, ‘pre’, ‘de’ if it precedes a vowel and is unstressed ; Ex: replay;
preorder, deactivate
• (3) In the suffixes spelt ‘iate’, ‘ious’ when they have 2 syllables ; Ex: appreciate, hilarious
• (4) In the following words when unstressed: ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘me’, ‘we’, ‘be’ and the word ‘the’
when it precedes a vowel ; Ex: the apple
8. Revise stress rules and patterns of verbs and nouns. (w10-slide10)
2-syllable words

VERBS & ADJECTIVES ~ ADVERBS & PREPOSITIONS

(1) Second syllable of the verb strong => stress
Ex: apply, arrive, attract
(2) Final weak /ə/ => first stress
Ex: enter, open,
(3) Final syllable unstressed if contains /əʊ/
Ex:: Follow, borrow
(4) 2 syllabic simple adjectives are same rule
Ex: lovely, cor’rect, hollow, a’live
 NOUNS
Second syllable contains a short vowel => first stress (otherwise 2nd) ;
Ex: money, larynx, product, design, balloon

3-syllable words
VERBS
(1) âm cuối mạnh thì nhấn ngay âm cuối
Ex: entertain, introduce
(2)âm cuối yếu, nhấn âm trước âm cuối
Ex: encounter, determine
(3)nhấn âm 1st nếu âm 2nd & 3rd yếu
Ex: parody, compliment

NOUNS
(1) Nếu âm cuối yếu và kết thúc = âm /əʊ/ ;nhấn âm trước nó
Ex: potato, disaster, mimosa, synopsis
(2) Nếu âm 2nd & 3rd yếu, nhấn 1st đầu
Ex: quantity, cinema, emperor
(3)TH 3 âm tiết mà âm cuối mạnh nhưng vẫn nhấn âm đầu
Ex: intellect
ADJECTIVES
3 âm tiết dù âm cuối mạnh nhưng vẫn nhấn âm đầu.

9. Read these sentences. Notice the pronunciation of 'that'.

"Can you see that girl?" demonstrative sense -> STRONG (đát)
"I strongly believe that he'll be able to make ends meet." relative clause -> WEAK (đợt)
10. Read these sentences. Notice the pronunciation of 'to'.
"Listen to me, please." WEAK do nằm giữa (tơ)
"Who were you talking to when I arrived? STRONG: end of a clause (tu), đối kháng cũng
(tu), nhấn mạnh vd: listen to me mạnh vì nghĩa là hãy nghe bên tui này.
11. These words are simple and compound nouns: ′jonquil, ′protest, ′record, ′produce, ′roof
timber, ′teacup (or alike). Where is the primary stress possibly placed on those words?
• Compound nouns mà có 2 từ ghép lại thì thường nhấn âm đầu.
• Mấy từ có gạch nối cuối là ED thì nhấn âm có ED (ADJ-N-ED) vd: heavy-‘handed
• Number-noun: nhấn âm cuối Ex:Three-‘wheeler.
• Compound mang chức năng là ADV phương hướng thì nhấn âm không phải phương hướng:
Ex: head’first, down’stream
12. These words are verbs: ′menace, fes′toon, de′test, pro′tect, pro′duce, de′sert (or alike).
Where is the primary stress possibly placed on those words?
 • Some words have ‘prefix + stem’ structure, stress is places on the 2nd syllable of the
verb ; but on the 1st syllable of the noun / adjective
13. What is a simple word? What is a complex word? What is a compound word?
• Simple word : not composed of more than one grammatical unit ( đơn vị ngữ pháp bao
gồm từ , cụm từ, mệnh đề). Và phải là từ gốc ( don’t have affix(prefix and suffix).
Ex: care
Single-syllable word
• Complex word: being composed of two grammatical units each, and also three
Ex: care -> careful, careless
• Compound word: made of two (or occasionally more) independent English words (kết hợp
đơn vị độc lập để thành từ mới)
Ex: foot + ball = football
14. What are TWO main reasons for learning about English weak forms?
• (1) “all strong-form” pronunciation is unnatural & foreign-sounding (bản chất tự nhiên, tính
tự nhiên của TA, nghe nó lạ, không giống TA)
• (2) weak forms is the signature of (Br) English ; speakers who are not familiar with weak
forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who use weak forms -> need to
learn weak forms to understand what they hear. (vì đa số họ dùng function words dưới dạng
weak forms)
15. In what cases prepositions and other function words must be said with their strong forms?
4 case:
• (1) At the end of a sentence / clause ;
Ex: I don’t want to.
• (2) Being contrasted with another word / co-ordinated use of prepositions (đối kháng);
Ex: The letter’s from him, not to him. ; I travel from and to London a lot.
• (3) Purpose of emphasis ;
Ex: You must tell me the truth.
• (4) Being cited or quoted (trích dẫn) ;
• Ex: You shouldn’t put “and” at the end of a sentence.
16. What is stress-timed rhythm?
• Stress-timed rhythm implies that stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively
regular intervals. (nhịp điệu đc tính trên dấu nhấn của từ, dấu nhấn ở những chữ
content word)
17. Divide a certain sentence into feet (rhythm).
• ‘Drama ‘is an ‘art that is ‘traditionally ‘performed in a ‘theatre.
18. What is sound linking? linking /w/? linking /j/?
Là đọc nối 2 chữ.
/w/ quờ trước là u sau là nguyên âm khác (vowel)
/j/ dờ trước là I sau là nguyên âm khác
 • Sound linking is to link words together in special ways to produce connected speech
without gaps between words. ; Ex: linking r : four eggs ; intrusive r : Formula A
• Linking /w/: /u/ & /∂/ ; “wet” ; Ex: the orange, win, he opens
• Linking /j/: /i/ & /∂/ ; “yet” ; Ex: the apple, student, the end
• when the next word begins with a vowel, Some native English speakers who don’t
pronounce the final ‘r’ will add it
• When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel, a /j/ sound
is added to link the words.
• When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel, a /w/ is
added to link the words
19. What is sound elision? Why does it happen in English consonant clusters?
Elision: Lượt bỏ âm trong TA, để ta nói TA dễ dàng hơn. Có 4 quy tắc mà chỉ cần nhớ
quy tắc 3, loại bỏ chùm âm phức tạp.
Vd: smartphones đọc nhanh thì âm /t/ bị mất, student’s engagement chữ t mất ;những vấn
đề về âm là đặc trưng TA giao tiếp nhanh.
• Sound elision is the eliding (=omission, deletion) of the sound that would otherwise be
present ; typical of rapid & casual speech ;
Ex: /phteit∂u/ potato, police, sixth’s, scripts
• Sound elision happens in English consonant clusters (Sixth’s) because no normal English
speaker would ever pronounce all the consonants. ; to speak easier
Ex: acts
20. What is sound assimilation? How many types? Examples?
• Sound assimilation: (đồng hóa âm, làm 1 âm bên cạnh giống với 1 âm nào đó / âm chủ) the
alteration of a speech sound to make it more similar to its neighbors
• 2 types:
Progressive assimilation(đồng hóa âm hướng tới): C final -> C initial ; Ex: ten men=>
tem men
Regressive assimilation(đồng hóa âm hướng lui): C final <- C initial ; Ex: admit: ab
mit, eight boy: eip boy
21. What are FIVE popular intonation tones of English?
• Tone 1: FALL (down tone)
• Tone 2: RISE (up tone)
• Tone 3: LEVEL (across tone)
• Tone 4: RISE-FALL (up-down tone)
• Tone 5: FALL-RISE (down-up tone)

22. What does each tone aim to express?

• FALL tone: Sự kết thúc, Không nói gì thêm nữa, Các câu hỏi WH question, Ra lệnh,
Chắc chắn, trả lời câu hỏi yes no ; there is nothing more to be said.
• RISE tone: Muốn 1 người nào đó chú ý, Liệt kê, Chỉ đường, Khuyến khích, động viên;
• LEVEL tone: (giọng ngang ngang): Ngụ ý việc này xảy ra thường xuyên, không hứng thú,
chán nản, Liệt kê (monotonous)
• FALL-RISE tone: Chừng chừ, Nghi ngờ, REQUESTING: đòi ai đó làm gì, Ngụ ý sẽ nói
gì đó tiếp theo,
• RISE-FALL tone: Bất ngờ, Ấn tượng, Chấp nhận, Không chấp nhận.
• • FALL tone: End, Say no more, WH questions, Command, Sure, answer yes no questions;
there is nothing more to be said.
• • RISE tone: Want someone's attention, List, Directions, Encourage, encourage;
• • LEVEL tone: (horizontal voice): Indicates this happens often, uninteresting, bored, List
(monotonous)
• • FALL-RISE tone: Wait, Doubt, REQUESTING: ask someone to do something, Indicates to
say something next,
• • RISE-FALL tone: Surprise, Impression, Acceptance, Disapproval.