Giáo trình thực hành Ngữ âm học và âm vị học tiếng Anh (tái bán lần thứ 3): Phần 1

By: PETER ROACH

E>UC MINH
(dich va chu giai)

NGO AM VA AM VI HOC
TIENG ANH
■

,

■

A

-GIAO TRiNH TH T/C HANH-

English Phonetics and Phonology
A practical CHfff ~ --------,
NG DAI H O C PH ENIKAA
TRUNG TAM
TIN - THU VIEN

THONG

.222%%%
T hi rd E ditio n

TRUO NG U~ H O C PHENIKAA

TRUNG TAM THONG TIN· THU VIEN

So : ..... J..11.~~-

.

2019 | PDF | 290 Pages

NHA

XUT BAN THANH NIEN



Mu• c Lu• c
Preface to the third edition
Loi noi ddu

:

5

List of symbols

7

How to use this hook
Cdch st d u n g sach·

9

Chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet (revised 1993, updated 1996)

Introduction
Gidi h ie

J

12
,

15

2 The production of speech so undo,
SI! h1nh thanh ca ngt am

23

3 Long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs
Nguyen am da i, nhi trng am va tam t rn g am

36

4 Voicing and consonants
A m hit thanh vu cc phu

46

am

5 The phoneme

59

A m vi
6 Fricatives and affricates

Am
7

xci t vii

am

72

t cfc x d t

Nasals and other consonants
Am mi va c ac phu am k hac

83

8 The syllable

Am

•

96

t i e't

9 Strong and weak syllabics
Cdc dm tiet manh vi yeu

108

10 Stress in simple wordo,
T ro n g i m t ro n g c c ic n '{ cfoH gidn

122

11 Complex word stress
T ro n g am ci a tu plc tap

L~S

12 W cak forms
Ci: d qn g ye'u

145

13 Problems in phonemic analysis
C t c v an de trong vie&c phan tich
14 Aspects of connected speech
C cic kh fa c c,mh Cl {(! noi dm

156

am vi
172

I.90

15 I nto na ti o n 1
N gi? ctiea 1
1 6 I ntona ti o n 2

;

204

Ngdie 2
1 7 I nto na ti on 3
N gt diu 3

2 15

18 Functions of intonation l
C/ 11J:c n d ng czfa ng t?

2.ll

dif u I

19 Functions of intonation 2
C huc nang cii a n g z7 c1ifu 2

:. 243

20 .Further areas of study in phonetics ancl phonology

C cic linh vc ng h i en cr ch1yen s au ho ve ng ? d m hoc va d m vi hoc

.,. .. 256

Recorded exercises
Cde bi tip doe ghi am

268

Answers i:o writte.n exercises
Dci/1 ci1' cii a ccic bai t(i.p vie't

3 00

Answers to recorded exercises
fJci/J ci n c1:ia ccic b a i t(i.JJ dul;lc ghi d m

:;..

31 0


5

Preface to the third edition
Loi noi dau
Th e s econ d ed itio n o f th is b oo k was
p ub lis h ed in 1 9 9 1 , an d s in ce th en a n u mb er
o f irh p o rtan t b o o k s an d p ap ers in th e field
h av e ap p eared . My firs t tas k , th erefore, h as

b ee n
to
u p d ate
tho rou g h ly
th e
reco mmen d ation s for furth er read in g an d ,
wh ere p o s s ib le, to in co rpo rate s o me n ew
id eas . [ h av e tried to avo id reco mmen d ing
wo rk s wh ich are n o lo ng er in p rin t, alth ou gh
th is h as n o t alway s b een p o ss ib le. Th e
s tructu re o f th e b oo k remain s v irtu ally
u n ch ang ed ex cep t th at I h av e mov ed th e
d is cu s s io n o f d is tin ctiv e featu res fro m
Ch ap ter 2 0 to Ch ap ter 1 3 , an d s h o rten ed it. I
feel it n o w fits mo re n atu rally with th e
d is cms io n o f o th er, p h o n o lo g ical iss u es in
th at ch ap ter, wh ich I h av e s imp lified a little.
I h av e g iv en up th e u s e o f th e n ame Received
Pron u n cia tio n (RP) for th e accen t d es crib ed
ir. th e b o o k : it is a term which I h av e alway s
d is lik ed , an d I h av e ch os en to refer in s tead
to BBC p r o n u n cia tio n . I h av e attemp ted to
imp rov e th e treatmen t o f wo rd s tress , an d
h av e ad d ed s o me mo re mo d ern id eas ab o u t
th e an aly s is o f in to n atio n .

Sin ce th e p u b licatio n o f th e s eco n d
ed itio n , I h av e wo rk ed o n th e 1 5 th ed itio n
o f th e Da n iel Jo n es En g lis h Pr ono u n cing
Dictio nar y ·(Jon es, 1 9 9 7 ; ed ited an d rev is ed

by Ro ach an d Hartman ), an d I h av e mad e a
n u mb er o f ch an g es to tran s crip tion s in th e
p res en t b oo k in o rd er lo av o id d is ag reemen ts
with wh at I wou ld reg ard as a co mp an io n
v o lu me. I h av e mad e a larg e n u mb er o f mino r
ch an g es to th e tex t in an attemp t to mak e it
clearer to read , and I h av e remov ed a n u mb er
o f errors . I wis h I co u ld b eliev e th at I h av e
remov ed all o f th em. Th e reco rd ed ex ercis es

An ban lan th& hai duoc xuat ban vao
nam 1991, va ke tu d6, da ra ddi vo so
quyen sach va bai bao quan trong viet
ve linh vuc ny. Do vay, nhiem vu dau
ti@n ca toi la cap nhat day du nhung
bai gioi thieu de cac ban doc them, va
neu c6 the la ket hop them mot so quan
niem moi. Toi ding luon luon co.gfog
tranh gioi thieu den nhung cuon sach
khong con dudc xuat ban nl a. C au truc
cua quy€n sach nay hilu nhu duqc gia
nguyen ven, ngoai tr& vi@c t i da dua
muc thao luan nhung net dc biet tu
C huong 20 len C huong 13 va c6 rut ngfo
mot it. Toi nghi nhu the muc thao luan
nay se thich hop tu nhien hon voi muc
thao luan cac van de am vi hoc khac
nhau trong chuong nay. Toi cung da phan
no gian luoc muc tho luan nay. Toi
da tho i kh6 ng dung ten go i Rece iv ed

Pronunciation (Phat am chua'n) de' goi
giong n6i duqc mo ta trong quy€n sach,
vl do la ten goi ma t6i thuong khong
may LIU thfch, thay vao d6 toi da chon
ten goi BBC pronunciation (Phat am theo
giong n6i cua dai BBC ). No luc hien nay
cl a toi la cai tien each di'jt trong am,
va dua them vao nhieu quan niem moi
ve cach phan tich ngl dieu.
Ke' tu khi phat hanh an ban tht hai,
toi da nghien cuu ve an ban th 15 cl a
quyen sa ch D a n i el Jo n es E n g l i s h
P ron o un ci ng D i ct i on a r y (Tu die'n phat am
ti€ng Anh Daniel Jones (Jones, 1997;
Roach & Hartman) chinh st a va tai ban),
va toi da thay d6i nhieu ve cach phien
am trong quyen sach hi n tai de tranh
nhung khac bi@t voi nhung phien am toi
se de cap den trong quyen sach di kem.
Toi ding co nhieu thay d6i nho ve phan
bai viet de cac ban doc de doc hon, dong
tho'i chinh sda nhdng loi trong cac bai


6

have been kept unchanged in order to retain
continuity with the earlier editions, and these
a,e now also available on audio CD.

viet nay. Toi rnong r~ng toi khong bcl
sot mot loi nao. Cac bai tap thu am duoc
giO' nguyen de· c6 Sl/ lien tuc vo i cac an
ban trl/cJC do, va hien nay chung con
duoc ghi am tren CD.

In the previous editions I thanked the
many people who had given me help, and I
remain grateful to all of them. This third
edition has had the benefit of advice from
many more people who have used the book
for teaching or study and who have
suggested improvements. I would like to
thank everyone who has helped me in this
way, although there are too many for me to
name all of them. Takeshi Shimaoka and
Hiroshi Miura translated the book into
Japanese, and passed on to me many
valuable observations as a result of their
careful work. Snezhina Dimitrova has given
me very useful feedback from her
experience with using the book. At the
University of Reading my colleagues Erik
Fudge, Paul Kerswill and Linda Shockey
have provided me with helpful advice and
ideas. I am grateful to Jane Setter for helpful
advice and discussion on many points. She
and James Hartman were co-editors of the
15th edition of the Daniel Jones English
Pronouncing Dictionary, and their

collaboration has also been helpful in the
revision of the present book. I would like to
thank Mickey Bonin of Cambridge
University Press for his editorial work and
guidrnce. I remain grateful, as ever, to my
wife Helen, who has helped in the work of
revising the liook and supported me while I
was trying to finish the work.

Trong cac an ban truoc, toi da g&i
loi cam on den rat nhieu ngudi da tan
tinh giup do toi, va toi van luon biet on
ho. Quyen an ban th@ ba nay lai nhan
duoc loi khuyen htu ich cla nhieu nguoi
khac nO'a, bao gom nhtng nguoi da st
dung quyen sach cho vi@c giang day
hoac nghien ctu, va ho da de xuat nhieu
cai tien. Toi xin cam on tat ca nhCtng
ngua i da giup do to i, cho du to; kh6 ng
the ke het ten cac ban ra day. Takeshi
Shimaoka va Hiroshi Miura dich quyen
sach nay ra tie ng Nhat, va da glli den
cho ti nhieu loi nhan xet co gia tri rut
ra tu cong viec nghien cuu rat can than
cLla ho. Snezhina Dimitrova da phan h6i
cho t6i nhung thong tin rat hC1u fch sau
kh i co st dung quyen sa ch nay. Tc) i
truing Dai hoc Reading, cac dong
nghiep ca toi nhu Erik Fudge, Paul
Kerswill va Linda Shockey da dong gop

nhieu Idi khuyen va y kien dang quy.
T6i cung biet on Jane Setter da co loi
khuyen va binh luan huu (ch ve nhieu
diem trong sach. Co va James Hartman
la d6ng chu bien cua an ban Daniel Joes
English Pronuoncing Dictionary thlf 15,
va ho cling c6 SL/ cqng tac dang nghi
nhan trong vi@ec chinh sta quyen sach
hi@n th' i nay.


7

List of symbols
1 Sy mbols for ph one me s
I

as in 'pit' p t

i:

as in 'key' ki:

e

as in 'pet' pet

a:

as in 'car ka:

re

as in 'pat' pet

3:

as in 'core' k:

,\

as in 'putt' pxt

u:

as in 'coo' ku:

D

as in 'pot' pot

3:

as in ' cur' k3:

0

as in 'put' pot

0

as in 'about, upper'
as in 'bay' be,

0U

as in 'go' gau

as in 'buy' ba ,

au

as in 'cow' kau

abat, Apa

eI
a,
JI

a

as in 'peer' p1a

ca

as in 'pear' pea

0a

as in 'poor' pua

p

as in 'pea' pi:

b

as in 'bee' bi :

t
k

as in.'toe' tau
as in 'cap' kep

d

asin ' doe' dau

g

as in 'gap' g a p

f

as in 'fat' fret

V

as in 'vat' vaet

8

as in ' thing' 8 1 0

ii

. as in ' this' h1s

s

as in 'sip' sip

z

as in 'zip' zip

.r

as in ' ship' J1p

3

h

as in 'hat' hat
as in 'map' map

m

as in 'measure' me3a
as in ' led' led
as in 'red' red

n

as in ' nap' nap

r

!)

as in 'hang' hen

w

as in 'yet' jet

w

as in 'wet' wet

d3

as in·' gin' d3mn

f

-

• as in 'boy' b

as in 'chin' tJm


8

2 Non-phonemic symbols
as i n 'react ', 'h ap py ' ri ekt,hae pi
u

as i n 't o each ' t u i:tf

?

g l o ttal s t o p

asp i rat i on, as i n 'p i n ' p"mn
s y llab i c co n son an t , as i n 'b u t t o n ' bA tn
s ho rt en ed v o w el , as i n 'mi s s ' m i s

s y llab l e d i v i s i on, as i n 'd i ffer' duf·a

3 Stress and intonation
t o n e-un i t b ou n d ary

II

p au s e

p ri mary s t res s , as i n 'op en ' 'a o pa n

s econd ary s t res s, as i n 'i ce cream' ,a 1 s 'kri m
Ton es :

,fall
,ri s e

.fall-ri s e
.ri s e fall l ev el
s t ress ed s y llab l e i n h ead, h i g h p i tch , as i n 'p l eas e ,d o
s t res s ed s y llab l e i n h ead, l o w p i t ch, as i n ,p l eas e d o
s t ress ed s y llab l e i n t ai l , as i n ,my •t u rn

t

ex t ra p it ch h ei g h t , as i n

t ,my

t u rn


9

H o w t o u s e t hi s bo o k

Cach s& dung sach
D i eu d au t i n can n h o v e .q u y en s ach

Th e fi rs t t h in g t o rememb er ab o u t t h i s
n ay l a no d u ; c v i &t t h an h g i ao t ri n h . Sach
b oo k i s t h at i t i s i n t en d ed t o b e a co ur s e. It i s
d esign ed t o b e read fro m b egin n i ng t o en d , ' d u @c b i en s o an d e d o c t u d au d en cu 6'i,
an d i s t h erefo re d i fferen t fro m a referen ce v a v i v ay , k h ac v o i s ach t h am k h ao . D oi
b oo k . Mo s t read ers o f the b ook are ex p ect ed t u on g ch d y eu cd a s ach n ay la s i n h v i en ,
eit h er t o b e s t ud y i n g i n a co lleg e o r h o ac g i ao v i en d an g d ay t i en g A n h . C6
u n i v ers it y , o r t o b e p ract i s i n g E n g l i s h t h e ph an n ho m d o c g i a n hu s au :
l a n g u a g e t e a c h e rs . T h e re a d e rs ca n b e
d i vid ed i nt o g ro u p s as fo llo w s :

•

•

Tntac h e' t , h o la (a) s i n h v 1en d L)n g

Fi rst l y , t h ey w i ll b e eith er (a) s tud en t s
u s i ng t h e co ur s e un d er t h e d i rection o f a
t u t o r i n ch arg e o f t h ei r co ur s e, o r (b )
w o rk i n g t h ro u g h t h e co u rs e as
i nd i v i d u al s .

•

Second l y , t h ey w ill b e ei t h er (a) n at i v e
s p eak ers o f a l angu ag e o t h er t h an
En g l i s h , o r (b ) n at i v e s p eak ers o f E n g lis h .

•

T h u h ai , h o l a n g u oi 116 t i e'.n g A n h (a)
p h i b an n g u , h o ac (b ) b an n g @.

Fi n ally, t h ey w i ll b e ei t h er (a) t each ers
o f E n g lis h (o r b ei n g t rain ed t o b e s uch ),
o r (b ) s tud en t s o f En g lish o r l i n gui s t i cs
an d p h on et i cs .

•

Sau cun g , h o l a (a) g i ao v i @n t i en g
A n h (h o ac d an g d ud c d ao t ao t h an h
g i ao v i @n t i eng A n h ), h o ac (b ) s i n h
v i en h o c t i e'.n g A n h , n g 6 n n g Ct h o c v a
n g u a m h o c.

g i ao t ri n h d u 6'i s u h u o n g d an ci a g i ao
v i en p h u trach mo n h o c, h o ac (b ) t u
mi n h n gh i en cu u.

T h e co ur s e i s i n t en d ed t o b e u s ed by all
o f t h es e g ro u p s (i f y o u mu lt i p l y t h em
t o g e t h e r y o u g e t e i g h t ca t e g o ri e s , an d y o u
s h o u l d b e ab l e t o p l ace y o u rs el f i n o n e o f
t h e m ); m o s t o f t h e m at e ri a l i n t h e co u rs e h a s
at s o me t i me o r o th er b een u s ed b y p eo pl e
o f all ei gh t cat ego ri es , b u t it i s n eces s ary t o
u s e t h e co u rs e d i fferen tly i n t h es e d i fferen t
ci rcu mst an ces .

G i ao t ri n h du o c b i en s o an ch o t at ca
cac d o i t uo n g t ren (n eu n h an cac n h o m
t ren lai t h i s e co t am lo ;;t i d o'i t u c,1n g , v a
b an s e
x ac d i n h d u o c m i n h t h u o c m o t
t ro n g t am lo ai d6 ). Ph an lo n g i ao t ri n h
n ay d a d u o c n g udi t h u o c t at
t am l o ai
d 6 i t ug n g tr@n s t d u n g b an g cach n ay
h ay cach k h ac, n h u ng cun g can d u n g g i ao
tri n h n ay t h eo n h u ng cach k h ac n h au .

E ach ch ap t er i s fo llo w ed by s h o rt
ad d it i o n al s ect i on s , w h i ch y o u may ch o o s e
n o t t o u s e. Fi rs t l y, t h ere i s a s ectio n o f n o t es
o n p ro b l ems an d fu rt h er read in g : t h i s t ells
y o u h o w y o u can g o fu rt h er i n s t u d y i n g t h e
areas d is cu s s ed i n t h e ch ap t er. Seco n d l y ,
w h ere rel ev an t , t h ere are b ri ef n o t es fo r
t each ers abou t p ro _nun cfat ion t each in g an d

Sau mo i ch u ong l a n h d n g p h an b o
s u n g n g an ma b an co t h € t uy y k h 6 n g
d o c. T ru c h et , co mo t ph an g h i ch u v e
n h u n g v an d e v a t ai l i eu d o c t h em c h i
d an b an cach n gh i en cu u t h em n h Ci n g
lin h v u c t h ao l u an t ro n g ch lf dng d 6 . T h Ct
h ai , d n d i c6 l i en qu an , s e co n h u n g g hi
ch a n g an ch o g i ao v i en n o i v e v i ec d ay

tu

ca


10
the use of the taped practice material.
Finally, there are some written exercises
which test your understanding of the material
in the chapter. Answers to the questions are
given near the end of the book.

phat am va viec dung tai lieu ghi am
thtc hanh. Cui cung, co mot so bai tap
viet kiem tra kha nang hieu bai hoc trong
c huong. Bap an nam gan cuoi sach.

the course includes recorded material
(available on audio CD and on cassette)
which comprises practical exercise material.
There are 1 9 Audio Units (AU) which
correspond to Chapters 2-20 of this book.
When there is a relevant recorded exercise
the following symbol is placed in the margin
, with a reference to the exercise: O AU 1, Ex
1 indicates Audio Unit 1, Exercise I. If you
are a non-native speaker of English, every
unit ought to be relevant to you, although
the relevance of any particular exercise will

depend on your particular native language.
If you are a native speaker of English, only
some of the exercises will be relevant: those
on intonation are the most likely to be worth
studying. The CD version of the material can
be used in a domestic CD player or personal
CD stereo, and also on a computer with a CD
drive.. The cassette version was designed for
use in a language laboratory, but such a
facility is hard to find these days. However,
the cassettes can be used conveniently in
an ordinary cassette recorder. The material
is the same in both cases. The way in which
this book is designed for students using the
course under the direction of a tutor is as
follows:

Giao trinh c6 nln7ng tai li~u ghi am
Ire n CD va cassette, bao go m bai tap
thuc hanh. Co bai nghe tuong ung voi
cac chuong 2-20 trong sach. Khi co bai
tap ghi am lien quan thi ngoai le se co
bi&u tuong sau tham chi@u den bai tap
do: OAU 1: Ex 1, chi Audio Unit 1, bai
tap 1. Neu ban la nguoi noi tieng Anh
phi ban ngu, moi bi nghe deu lien quan
den ban, du mtc do lien quan CLJa mot
bai tap cu the con phu thuoc ngon ngd
Ill!;! de CLJ the CLJa ban. Neu ban la nguoi
noi ti@ng Anh ban ngd, chi c6 mot so

bi tap nghe la co lien quan: nhL7ng bai
nghe ve ngu dieu co the la dang nghien
cuu nhat. Phan tai lieu tr@n CD co the
hoc bang may hat CD gia dinh hoac may
hat CD ca nhan, hoac 6 dia CD tren may
tinh. Phan tai lieu tren cassette duoc bi@n
soan de dung trong phong lab, nhung hien
nay nhung phLfdng tien nhtJ v~y kh6 tim.
Tuy nhien, bang cassette co the dung mot
cach thuan tien bang may cassette thong
thuong. Tai lieu tr@n CD va tren cassette
la giong nhau. PhLfo'ng each ma giao trinh
nay dLfQc bien soan cho sinh vie,i hoc
voi su huong dan cua giao vien nhu sau:

i)

All the students in the class read a
chapter of r11is book.

i)

Ta't ca sinh vien trong lop doc mot
chuong sach.

ii) The students then have a class with the
tutor in charge of this part of their course.
This provides an opportunity to discuss
the material in the chapter, and for the
tutor to check if difficult points have been

understood, to provide additional
explanation and examples if necessary
and possibly to recommend further
reading.

ii) Sau d6, sinh Vien hoc voi giao vien
phu trach mon hoc. Nhu vay, se co
dip de giao vin va sinh vien thao
luan bai hoc trong chuong, va de giao
vien kiem tra xem sinh 'vien da .hieu
nhung diem kh6 hay chua, giai thich
them va cung cap them vi du neu can
thiet, va co the la gioi thieu tai lieu
doc them.
.

iii) If the students are not native speakers of
English it is expected that they will then
have a session working on the Audio Unit
corresponding to the chapter they have

iii) Neu sinh vi@n khong phai la ngudi
noi tieng Anh ban ngu, thi ho nen co
mot bu&i hoc bai nghe tuong (ng vo i
chuong ho vt a doc va thao luan xong.


11

read and discussed.

iv) The group then goes on to the next
chapter.
If you are working through the course
individually you will of course arrange your
own way of proceeding; the only important
point here is that it would not be advisable
to use the Audio Units without first reading
the relevant chapters in the book.
The book begins with Chapter l which is
an introduction, and there is no Audio Unit
corresponding to this. Please read the
Introduction, whichever category you come
into, since it explains the purpose of the
course and pre.sents a number of basic points
that are important for understanding the
material that follows.

iv) C ac sinh vien buoc sang chuong ke
tiep.
Neu ban tu hoc g,ao trlnh nay hien
nhien ban se tu sap xep cach tie'n tri€n
viec hoc cua ban. Dieu quan trong duy
nhat o day la khong nen.hoc bai nghe
kh, chlla doc chuong sach tuong ung.

Quyen sach bat dau tu C huong 1 la
phan gioi thieu, va khong co bai nghe
tuong ung voi chuong nay. C ho d u ban
thuoc loai doc gii nao, xin hay doc phan

gioi thieu, boi vi no giai thich muc tieu
cl a quyen sach va gioi thieu mot so
diem can ban quan trong d hiu nhung
chlldng sau.


/

I

Tr ill

Ta por Fl a p

I

v

4 Btv

B

ill

0

I

Velar

Uvular

df

cf

Palatoalveolar

Alveolar lateral

Palatal

r>cntal/alvcolar

cf

J

Dental

I

Bilabial

6

Voice d implosive s

(Pos t)alveolar

Bilabial

0

Clic ks

CON S ON ANT S ( N ON -P U LMONI C)

'
=j=

o

L

[

t

I

'k
l
I

l I

-l I

T

k

Pa la ta l

f
I
r
s z[ f 3 $z/€

t d
n
r
-

Alve ola r Posta lve ola Re tro fle x

I

I

L

UJ•·

Ve la r

Uvular

s'

k'

t'

p'

'

Alveolar fricative

Velar

Dental/alveolar

Ailabial

Ex amples :

Ejec tive s

Where s y mb o ls ap p ear in p airs. lh e on e lo th e rig h t rep resen ts a v o iced co n son an t. Sh ad ed areas d eno te articulatio n s ju d g ed imp o s s ib le.

Appro xima nt
La te ral
appro ximnnt

.veral
frica tive

Fric a tive

I

Ip b

Na sa l

Plosive

Bila bia l /La biode nla ll Denta l

CONSONANTS ( PVLMONI C)

,
0

~

....

....

-

::r

~

n

~ (I)

- ....-·

~

_. 0
:::,

Q. "'tJ
5

2 ­
;-

C t
"'C ._

­

~

0

0 3

_. (I)

­-......

C. :::,

(D

tn

5.

-m ....

(D

....

er

Q

l> n
- Q
::r
"'C

IE


13
SUPRAS EGMENTA LS

VOWELS

Front

y

1

Clos e

B ack

Central

l~

IY

U

Primary s tres s
scccfndary stress

UI•U

founo't1[on

e (f,-- 5 e--Y 0

Clos e-mid

..,

.• . € ce-~G-A :)

Open-mid

~

I

Long

e:

Half-long

e•

Extra-short

e

V

Minor (fo ot) gro up

ae

a »cl a

Open

Major (inlonation) group

0

Where symbols appear in pairs , the one
to the right repres ents a rounded vowel.

Syllable break

Ji .zekt

Linking ( a bsence of a brea k)
TONES AND WORD ACCENTS
CONTOUR

LEVEL

O T H E R S Y M BO L S

.N

M

V o itelc!IS lab ial- vt.lnr f r ic ativ e

w

Vo iced lab ial- v elar approxi mant

cZ
1

Voiced labial- palatal approximant

fj

l{
H

e,. or 7

A lv eo lr,.p al:u al f ricativ es

S i mult ancnu~

J

:a n d

X

V o iceless cp ig lon al fric u tiv c

~

Voiced i:-pi~lottal fru;.i tive

?

Epiglonal plosive

DIACRITICS
n

A ffr icates an d d o u b le ar1ic u latio n s
can be rep r ese n ted b y two symbols
jo ined b y a tie ba r if necessary.

1).

Voiceles s

Voiced

1

(

a.

.-.

As pirated
More rounded
Less rounded

9

Advanced

u

e
e

Relrackxl

Centralized

Syllabic

'\,

..

Breathy voiced
Creaky voiced

V

j

y
Ii'

Linguolabial
labiali, c

Palatalized

Velarized
Pharyngcalizcd

!§

e
n
'

Falling

\J

High

.J

Mid

e -1

low

e

'-

risin g

,,-1

Low

Ris ing­
falling

ri si ng

,1.

Downstcp

7

Global ris e

t

Ups lcp

~

Global fall

Dental

u

Lamina!

n

'

...

Rais ed

e

~

Lowered

e

Apical

0

d ~

Velarized or pharyngealized

l)

M

di
t d
t1 d'

1

,

t

M

d

t d
t d
u

Cl

0

Nas alized

e

Nas al releas e

de

L a t e ra l rc lc: 1sc

d'

No audible release

d

t
!

=

voice d a 1ve o1ur fri cat i ve )

-voiced bilabial appro, imant)

T

e

Rhoticity

Retracted tongue root
erd"
____
__,.__.t:.._ __

--

e"

1

! d

Non-s yllabic

-

Ris ing

e

b a..
b a
(w

....,.

e,,, /1

Extra
low

~

X

Mid-centralized

-- -

d

s t ~
th d "
-w
2

V

X

'
~

kp

High

Diacritics may be placed above a symbol with a descender, e.g.

V

h

e
e -I

e,,' -I
e J

'

A lv co l:u' later al n ap

Exira
high

Advanced tongue root

e
e...
-4

J

- ·-

- - - - - - - -- - -

-


14

CHUONG 1
accent / 'a:ksant/ (n)

comparatively /bm' pa:ratrvh/ (adv)
consistency /k.m' srstansr/ (n)
convention I bn' venJn/ (n)
de facto / ,der' fa:ktau/
dialect / 'daralekt/ (n)

estuary /'cst.fuari/ (n)

linguistics /lrl)' gw1st1b/ (n)
phonetics /fa' neHks/ (n)
phonology /fo' nld31/ (n)
pitch / pTtJ/ (n)

preliminary /prr' lrmmarr/ (adj)
regulate / 'regjulert/ (v)
relative /' relat1v/ (adj)
represe.nt /, repn' zent/ (v)

sociolinguistic I, saus1auhl)' gw1st1k/ (adj)
speech /spi:tJI (n)
speech sound /'spi:tJ ,saund/

universally /ju:nr' v3:sah/ (adv)

gi ong (Anh,

My, Nam, Bdc, ... )

tU

.qr nluit qudn
u
thtc hi@n, thutc hzu
phU
cila srJng
ngrJn ngt7 h(lc

ngil am hoc
@ m v i hoc

cao do, ctong do
s<1 kluJi, klu fi d d u

chi phoi, tdc dong
tlf
thii' hifn

ngon ng hoc xa hi
lr ii noi, ngon ng? noi

ngil cim , c1 m thanh cil a ngiJn
ng?
ph6 bie n, ph6 quit, rang rai


15

1. Introduction
1. Gioi thie• u
Co le ban muon biet muc dich cl a
You p rob ab ly wan t to ... ,o w wh at th e
p u rp o s e o f th is co urs e is , an d wh at y o u can quyen giao trinh nay la gi va ban co th€
ex p ect to learn fro m it. An imp o rtan t p u rp o s e mong dgi dieu gi khi hoc no. Muc dich
o f th e co u rs e is to ex p lain h o w En g lis h is quan trong cda quyen giao trinh nay la
p ronoun ced in th e accen t n o rmally ch o s en giai thich cach phat am tieng Anh theo
as th e s tan d ard for p eo p le learnin g th e giong thudng dugc chon lam ti@u chun
En g lish s po k en in En g land . If th is was th e cho nhung nguoi dang hoc tieng Anh
o n ly th in g th e co u rs e d id , a mo re s u itab le duc,c n6i a Anh. Neu day la dieu duy
title
wo u ld
h av e
b een
"En g lis h nhat ma quyen giao trinh nay da lam thl
Pron un ciatio n ".
Ho wev er,
at
th e mot tua de thich h<;1p hdn le ra se la "Cach
phat am tieng Anh". Tuy nhien, v6i trinh
co mp arativ ely ad v an ced lev el at wh ich th is
cou rs e is aimed it is u s u al to p res en t th is do tuong doi cao ma giao trinh nay nham
in formatio n in th e co n tex t o f a g en eral den, thong tin nay thuong dLlc;ic trlnh bay
th eo ry abo u t s p eech s oun d s an d h o w th ey theo gia thuyet noi chung ve ngd a 111 Vil
are u s ed in langu ag e: this th eo retical con tex t cach chung duoc dung trong ng6n ngC!;
ngu canh theo gia thuyet nay duoc goi
is called p h o n etics an d p h o n o lo gy. Wh y is
it n ecess ary to learn th is th eo retical la n gu am h oc va am vi h oc . Ti! i sao
b ack g rou n d ? Th e s ame q u es tio n aris es . in hoc kien tht c theo ly thuyet nay lai can

conn ectio n with g rammar: at lo wer lev els o f thiet? Cau hi tuong t! nhu the nay phat
s tu d y on e is con cerned s imp ly with s ettin g sinh gan lien voi ngt phap: voi trinh do
o u t ho w to form g rammatical s en ten ces , b u t hoc thap hon, m(>t nguoi chi quan tam
p eop le wh c are g o ing to wo rk with th e toi vi@c bat dau hoc cach thnh lap cac
lan g u ag e , · n ad v an ced lev el as teach ers cau theo ngu phap, nhLlng nlu7ng ngLIOi
or
re s e a rc h e rs
n eed
th e
d eep er se lam vi@c voi ngon ng@ nay } trinh do
u nd ers tan d in g p rov id ed by th e s tu d y o f cao nhut cac giao vien va nha nghien
g rammatical th eo ry an d related areas o f CULi dn pha i co S L,i hie\ , bie't sau hon
lin gu is tics . Th e th eo retical material in th e bang cach nghien ct u ly thuyet ve ngd
p res en t cou rs e is n eces s ary for any o n e wh o phap va cac linh Vl./C co lien quan ci a
ngon ngd hoc. Tai lieu mang tinh lj
n eed s to u n d ers tan d th e p rin cip les
t
huyet trong quyen giao trinh nay dn
regu latin g th e u s e o f s o u nd s in s p o k en
t
hiet cho bat c(( ai dn hie'u dLIQ'C cac
En g lis h .

nguyen tac dieu hoa cach dung cac am
trong tieng Anh noi.

Th e n atu re o f p h o n etics an d p h ono logy
will b e ex p lain ed as th e cou rs e p rog ress es.
b u t o n e o r two b as ic id eas n eed to b e
in trod u ced at th is in trodu cto ry s tag e. In an y

langu ag e we can id en tify a s mall n u mb er o f
reg u larly u s ed s o und s (v o wels an d
co n s on an ts ) th at we call pho nem es ; for
ex amp le, th e v o wels in th e wo rd s 'p in ' and
'p en ' are d iffe_ren t p h o n emes, an d s o are th e

Ban chat cda ngd am hoc va am vi
hoc se dLtQ'c gia i thich khi quyen sach
nay tiep tuc, nhung mot hoac hai y ca
ban
phai duoc gioi thieu giai doan
dau. Trong bat c& ngon ng& nao chung
ta deu c6 the nhan biet mot so luong
nho cac am duqc dung thuong xuyen
(nguyen am va phu am) ma chung ta goi
la am vi (phoneme); vi du, ca C nguye 11

can


16
consonants at the beginning of the words 'pet'
and ' bet' . Because of the notoriously
confusing nature of English spelling it is
particularly important to learn to think of
English pronunciation in terms of phonemes
rather than letters of the alphabet; one must
be aware, for example, that the word 'enough'
begins with the same vowel phoneme as that
at the beginning of 'inept' and ends with the

same consonant as ' stuff'. We often use
special symbols to represent speech sounds;
using the symbols chosen for this course, the
word 'enough' would be written (tra ns cri bed)
as mnA f. A list of the symbols is given on p.
ix, and the International Phonetice Alphabet
(IPA) on which the symbols are based is
reproduced on p.ix ,x .

The first part of the course is mainly
concerned with identifying and describing
the phonemes of English. Chapters 2 and 3
deal with vowels and Chapter 4 with some
consonants. After this preliminary contact
with the practical business of how some
English sounds are pronounced, the fifth
chapter looks at the phoneme and at the use
of symbols in a theoretical way, while the
corresponding Audio Unit revises the
material of Chapters 2-4. After the phonemes
of English have been introduced, the rest of
the course goes on to look at larger units of
speech such as the syllable and at aspects of
speech such as s tres s (which could be
roughly described as the relative strength of
a syllable) and i nto na ti o n (the use of the
pitch of the :voice to convey meaning). It
would be a mistake to think that phonemes
are studied first because they are the most
important aspect of speech; the reason is

simply that, in my experience, courses which
begin with matters such as stress and
intonation and deal with phoneme\ later are
found more confusing by the students who
use them. You will have to learn a number of
technical terms; you will find that when they
are introduced in order to be defined or
explained, they are printed in bold type. This
has already been done in this Introduction
in the case of, for example, pho nem e,

am trong tu 'pin' va 'pen' la cac am vi
khac nhau, va cac phu am o dau cac tf
'pet' va 'bet' cuh'g vay. Vl b_an cha't trong
cach vi et ting Anh co ting la kho hi@u
cho nen di@u dc biet quan trong la phai
hoc tu du ve cach phat am ting Anh i:J
di! ng am vi thay vi & dang mau tu CLla
bang ch Ct ca i; chang han, mot nguoi phai
biet rang tu 'enough' bat dau voi am vi
nguyen am giong nhu am vi o du tu
' inept' va ket thuc voi phu am tuong tu
nhu 'stuff'. Chung ta thLlo'ng dt', ng cac ky
hi@u dac bi@t d& trinh bay pg am; bang
cach dung cac ky hieu da duoc chon
cho quyen giao trinh nay, tu 'enough' se
dLl<;lc Viet (phien am) la IIl A f. Danh sach
cac ky hieu duoc trinh bay ci trang ix va
bang ngu am quoc te (IPA) chtta cac ky
hieu dLl<;lc trlnh bay (1 trang ix,x.

Phan dau tien cla quyen giao trlnh
nay chi yeu ban ve vi ec nhan biet va
mieu ta cac am vi cla tieng Anh. ChLlong
2 va 3 de cap den cac nguyen am va
chuong 4 d cap den phu am. Sau phan
tiep xic so bo vo i cach phat am ctla
mot so am tieng Anh, chLlo'ng 5 xem xet
am vi va each dung cac ky hieu theo
gia thuyet, mac du phan Audio Unit tuong
Ling 6 11 lc)i noi dung CLla cac clulong tt'I.
2 den 4. Sau khi gioi thieu cac am vi
cua tieng Anh, phan con lai cia quyen
giao trinh nay se tiep tuc xem xet cac
don vi I6'i 116i Ion hon chJng han nhu am
tit va xem xet cac khia qnh ctla lo"i
noi chang han nhu tron g am (duoc rreu
ta dai khai la CLl6' ng do tuong doi cua
am tiet) va n gu di@u (dung cuong do cia
giong n6i de' chuyen tai y nghia). Se that
sai lam khi nghi rang am vi dug n gh i en
CL/LI trlfoc vi chu ng la khia Cc) nh quaI1
trong nhat cia loi noi; ly do don gin la,
theo kinh nghiem cua toi, cac sach giao
trlnh bit du voi cac va'n de nlut trong
am va ngd dieu roi sau do de cap den
am vi de gay nham lan cho cac hoc vi@n
st dung chung. Ban se phai hoc mot so
thuat ngu ky thuat; ban se tha'y ding khi
chung d uo c gioi thieu
dLl<;lc dinh nghia

hay giai thfch, chung dLl(jc in dam. Vi
du, trong phan Gioi thieu nay la am v i,

de


17

pho neti cs an d pho no l og y . Ano th er ng u am hqc v a am v j hqc. Mo t q u i vo e
k h ac can p h ai n h o la k h i cac tu d u @c
conv en tion to rememb er is th at wh en wo rd s
u s ed as ex amp les are g iv en in s p elling form, • d u n g lam v i d u d u o c n eu o d an g ch in h
th ey are en clo s ed in s in g le q u o tes (s ee for ta, ch u n g d u o c dt tron g d au tu ich d an
ex amp le ' p in ' , ' p en ' , etc.). Dou b le q u o te d o n v i du ' p in ' , ' p en ' v .v .). Dau trich d an
mark s are us ed wh ere q u o te mark s wo u ld k ep d uo c d u n g o n o i cac d au trich d an
n o rmally b e u s ed ; s ee, for ex amp le, "En g lis h thuon g d u o c s t d u n g , v i d u " Cach p h at
am tien g Anh " a tren .
Pron u n ciatio n " ab ov e.
Cac n go n n gu co cac g ion g h ay frq n g
Lang u ag es h av e d ifferen t a ccents : th ey
a
m
(accen t) k h a c n h au : ch u n g d u q c
are p rono un ced d ifferen tly b y p eo p le fro m
d ifferen t g eog rap h ical p laces, fro m d ifferen t n h u ng n gu d i o cac v mn g d ia ly , cac tan g
s o cial clas s es, o f d ifferen t ag es an d d ifferen t lop xa h o i, d o tu 6 i v a n en tan g g iao d u c
k h ac n h au ph at am th eo cach k h ac n h au .
ed u catio n al b ackg rou n d s . Th e wo rd "accen t"
is o ften co n fu s ed with di al ect. We u s e th e T l " accen t" th u on g b i n h am lan v o i tu
wo rd "d ialect" to refer to a v ariety o f a "di a l ect" (phu o n g n g a). Ch un g ta d un g

lang u ag e wh ich is d ifferen t fro m o th ers n o t tu " d ialect" d e ch i mt lo ai n g o n n g @
k h ac v d i n h u n g n go n n g a k h ac k h o n g
ju s t in p ronu n ciatio n b u t als o in s u ch matters
n h u n g v an
as v o cab u lary , g rammar an d wo rd -o rd er. ch i cacl p h at am ma co n
Differen ces o f accen t, o n th e o th er h an d, are d e n h u tu v u ng , n g u p h ap v a trat tu tu .
M.'.)t k h ac, s t! k h ac b iet v e g ion g ch i la
p ron u n ciation d ifferen ces o n ly .
s u k h ac b iet v e cach p h at am.

a

Th e accen t th at we co n cen trate o n an d
Gio n g ma chu n g ta tap trun g v o v a
u s e as o u r mod el is th e o n e th at is mo s t o ften d u n g lam mau la g io n g th µo n g d u c;1c d @
reco mmen d ed for foreig n learners s tudy in g
n g h i s t d un g d o i v o i n h u n g h cc v ien n u o c
Britis h Eng lis h . It h as for a lo n g time b een ngcfiii d an g h o c tin g An h g io n g An h . TLI
id en tified b y th e n ame R ecei v ed lau no d a d u o c n h an ra q u a ten "C a ch
P ro nunci a ti o n (u s u ally . abb rev iated to its phat a m ti@u chua n" (th u on g v i&t tat b an g
in itials , RP) , b u t this n ame is o ld -fas hio n ed each d un g cac ch u cai d au la RP), n h Ltn g
an d mis lead in g . Sin ce it is mos t familiar as ten n ay d a Ii th ' i v a s ai lech . Vi n o la
th e ar.cen t u s ed b y mo s t an n ou n cers an d g io n g q u en th uo c n h at d u c;1c d u n g b cJi cac
n ews read ers o n BBC an d Britis h p h at th an h v ien tren d ai BBC v a cac k en h
in d ep en d en t telev is io n b road cas tin g tru y en h in h d o c lap cu a An h n en ten
ch an n els, a p referab le n ame is BBC du c;lc Lia ch u 6 n g h o n la "C.i ch phat il ft l
pro nunci a tio n. Th is s hou ld n o t b e tak en to cua dai BBC ". Dieu n ay k h o n g c6 n g h Ta
mean th atth eBBCits elfimp o s es an " o fficial" ran g b an th an BBC ap d at mo t g io n g
accen t - ind iv id u al b road cas ters all h av e " ch in h th u c" - v l cac p h at th an h v ien
th eir o wn p ers o n al ch aracteris tics, an d an d eu co d ac d iem rien g cu a h o , v a s o

in creas in g n u mb u o f b road cas ters with lu o n g cac p h at th an h v ien g ion g Xco t­
Sco ttis h . Wels h an d Iris h , accen ts are len , XL/ Wales v a Ai len d u q c s Lr d 1,1n g
emp lo y ed . Ho wev er, th e accen t d es crib ed n g ay can g tan g . Tu y n h ien , g io n g d u o c
h ere is typ ical o
ilflE~~~ J:a d d ay la g ion g d i€ n h ln h cL1a
En g lis h accen t, al LJ,.U;;u;...i..:;....i;1...U:.1;J..IJ.L...tlq;ir:t:.C:...,_.,ULJ,
~
;-i; 1 t th an h v ien n o i g io n g An h , v a
o r con s is ten cy i#
pg pp4t1 « e ien dth b au 1ch
th es e s p eak ers .
'hl Jl{:- 1, a p h at th an h cu a n h u n g p h at
0
So : ....
.th an h v n n ay .

pkg#gr#fr "}e%.

to

1r o e

A'

..l.rrH.1.b ...

Th is cou rs e is n o t written for p eop le wh o
wis h to s tud y American p ron un ciatio n . Th e
p ronu n ciatio n o f En g lis h in No rth America
is d ifferen t fro m mo s t accen ts fou n d in

Giao trinh n ay k h on g d an h ch o n h Ctn g
n g u o i mu o n h o c cach p h at am k i€ u My .
Cach p h at am tieng An h & Bac My k h ac
v 6'i h au h et cac g io n g a An h . Ngo ai ra,


18
Britain. There are exceptions to this - you
can find accents in parts of Britain that sound
American, and accents in North America that
sound English. But the pronunciation that
you are likely to hear from most Americans
does sound noticeably different from BBC
pronunciation.
In talking about accents of English, the
foreigner should be careful about the
difference between England and Britain;
there are many different accents in England,
but the range becomes very much wider if
the accents of Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland (Scotland and Wales are included in
Britain and with Northern Ireland form the
United Kingdom) are taken into account.
Within the accents of England, the distinction
that is most frequently made by the majority
of English people is between N o rthern and
So uthern. This is a very rough division, and
there can be endless argument over where
the boundaries lie, but most people on

hearing a pronunciation typical of someone
from Lancashire, Yorkshire or other counties
further north would identify it as "Northern" .
This course deals almost entirely with BBC
pronunciantion. There is, of course, no
implication that other accents are inferior or
less pleasant-sounding; the reason is simply
that BBC is the accent that has always been
chosen by British teachers to teach to foreign
learners, and is the accent that has been most
fully described and has been used as the
basis for textbooks and pronouncing
dictionaries.

A term which is widely found nowadays
is Es tua ry Eng lis h, and many learners of
English have been given the impression that
this is a new accent of English. In reality
there is no such accent, and the term should
be used with care. The idea originates from
the sociolinguistic observation that some
people in public life who would previously
have been expected to speak with a BBC
(or RP) accent now find it acceptable to speak
with some characteristics of the accents of
the London area (the estuary referred to is
the Thames estuary), such as glottal stops.

c6 nhli'ng trlfctng hop ngoai le - ban co
th€ thay cac giong i.'J nhang VL)ng mien

cua Anh phat am giong My, va nhli'ng
giong 8 Bac My phat am giong Anh.
Nhung cach phat am ma ban co th€ nghe
tu hau ht nhtng ngudi My c6 am ra't
khac voi cach phat am cia phat thanh
vien dai BBC.

ve

Khi n6i
cac giong trong ting Anh,
ngudi nuoc ngoai nen luu y
khac nhau
gili'a Eng l a nd v a Bri ta i n; c6 nhi~·- giong
khac nhau o England, nhung pham vi nay
tr} nen rong hon nhieu neu tinh den cac
giong Xc6' tlen, x (( Wales va Bac Ai-len
(Xcot len v a XU Wales dt/Q'c bao g6m trong
Britain va cung voi Bac Ai-len tao than]
Vuong quoc Anh). Vi cac giong cia
England, su khac bi@t nay von thung
do da so nguoi Anh t,;10 ra la gida mien
Bfr v a mien Nam. Day la ranh gii rat
ro ret va luon co su bat dong ve vi@c
ranh gioi nam d dau va hu ht moi
nglfcti nghe cach phat am di&n hinh cia
mot nguoi aer r !Lr Lancashire, Yorkshire
hay nhL7ng dia hat khac xa hon deu s@
nhan ra do la giong " mien Bac" . Giao
trinh nay chi yeu de cap den cach plat

am theo giong cia dai BBC. Di nhien, a
day khong ngu
rang nhung giong khac
la giong thap kem hay kh nghe; ly do
don gian la vl BBC la gio ng luon duoc
cac giao vien Anh chon de day hoc vi@n
nuoc ngoai v a la giong duoc mi@u ta
day du nhat va da du;c dung lam co
cho hu het cac sach giao khoa v a tt
di€n phat am.

su

so

Mot thuJt nga dttQ'c !1 111 thay rong rai
nga y nay la Es tua ry Eng lis h v a nhieu
ngL/oi hoc tie'ng Anh co an tuong ra ng
day la giong tie' ng Anh moi. Trong tlutc
te, kh6ng c6 giong nhu the, va thuJt ngC/
nay nen d ug c dung mot cach can thin.
Y tuong nay ba"t ngu6n W cu9c quan siit
ngon ng xa hoi ma mot so nguoi trong
ddi hoat dong cho xa hoi v6n truoc d6
duoc cho la noi voi giong BBC (hay RP)
hi@n thay rang co the chap nhan duoc
khi noi co mot so dac diem cla cac
giong vung Luan Don (estuary duoc am

19

which would in earlier times have caused
comment or disapproval.

chi den la ct a song Thames), chang han
nhu am tac thanh hau, trong nhdng thdi
ky dau da gay phan d6i hay bat dong.

If you are a native speaker of English and
your accent is different from BBC you should
try, as you work through the course, to note
what your main differences are for purposes
of comparison. I am not, of course, suggesting
that you should try to change your
pronunciation! If you are a learner of English
you are recommended to concentrate on
BBC initially. though when you have
worked through the course and become
familiar with this you will probably find it an
interesting exercise to listen analytically to
other accents of English, to see if you can
identify the ways in which they differ from
BBC and even to learn to pronounce some
examples of different accents yourself.

Neu ban la ngudi ban ngu n6i tieng
Anh va giong cda ban khac voi giong
BBC , khi doc qua quyen sach nay, ban
nen ghi chi nhung su khac bi@t chinh

cda minh la gl de so sanh. Di nhien, o
day khong de nghi ban nen co gang thay
d6i cach phat am ci a minh! Neu ban la
ngudi hoc tieng Anh, ban dau ban nen
tap trung vao giong BB C , mac du khi doc
qua quyen sach nay va quen thuoc voi
giong, ban se thay no la bai tap ly tho
de nghe cac giong khac cua tieng Anh,
de xem ban co the nhan ra cac giong
khac vdi BBC nhu the no va tham chi
vi d u v e
IL! hoc cach phat am mot
cac giong khac nhau.

so

Notes on problems and further reading
The recommendation to use the name BBC pronunciation rather than RP is new to this
edition of the book, and is not universally accepted. It is used in the Daniel Jones English
Pronouncing Dictionary (15th edition; edited and revised by P. Roach and J. Hartman,
1997), in Trudgill (1999) and in Ladefoged (2000); for discussion, see the Introductions to
the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (Wells, 2000; pp. xiii, and the I5th Edition of the
Daniel Jones English Pronouncing Dictionary (p. v). In the original English Pronouncing
Dictionary of 1917, by the way, the term used was Public School Pronunciation (PSP).
Where other writers have used the term RP in discussion of standard accents, I have left the
term unchanged. Other writers have suggested the name GB (General British) as a term
preferable to RP; I do not feel this is satisfactory, since the accent being described belongs
to England, and citizens of other parts of Britain are understandably reluctant to accept that
this accent is the standard for countries such as Scotland and Wales. The BBC has an excellent
Pronunciation Unit, but most people are not aware that it has no power to persuade

broadcasters to use particular pronunciations: BBC broadcasters only use it on an optional
basis, and the Corporation obliges the Pronunciation Unit to charge a fee for their advice.

I feel that if we had a completely free choice of model accent it would be possible to find
more suitable ones: Scottish and Irish accents, for example, have a much more straightforward
relationship between spelling and sounds than does BBC, and have simpler vowel systems,
and would therefore be easier for most foreign learners to acquire. However, the majority of
English teachers would be reluctant to learn to speak in the classroom with a different
accent, so it seems this is not a practical possibility.

For inlroductory reading on the choice of English accent, see O' Connor (1980: 5-6):
Brown (1990: 12-13): Cruttenden (1994: Chapter 7). For a discussion of the status or RP, see
Abercrombie ( 1965). For those who want to know more about British accents, a simple
troduction is Hughes and Trudgill (1996); more advanced works are Trudgill (1999) and
lkes and Docherty (1999). Undoubtedly the major work on accents of English is Wells
), which is a very valuable source of information (see especially pp. 117-18 and 279­
RP).


20
Much of what has been written on the subject of, " Estuary English" has been in minor or
ephemeral publications. A valuable collection of such works has been made available by J.
C. Wells on the Internet. See . ac.uk/home/estuary

A problem area that has received a lot of attention is the choice of symbols for rexesenting
English phonemes. In the past, many different conventions have been proposed and students
have often been confused by finding that the symbols used in one book are different from
the ones they have learned in another. The symbols used in this book are in most respects
those devised by A. C. Gimson for his Introduction to the Pronunciation of English (the
latest version of which is the revision by Cruttenden; see Cruttenden, 1994). These symbols

are now used in almost all modern works on English pronunciation published in Britain, and
can therefore be looked on as a de facto standard. Although good arguments can be made for
some alternative symbols, the advantages of having a common set of symbols for
pronunciation teaching materials and pronunciation entries in dictionaries are so great that
it would be very regrettable to go back to the confusing diversity of earlier years. The
subject of symbolisation is returned to in Section 5.2 of Chapter 5.

Notes for teachers
Pronunciation teaching has not always been popular with teachers and language-teaching
theorists. and in the 1970s and 1980s it was fashionable to treat it as a rather outdated
activity. It was claimed, for example, that it attempted to make learners try lo sound like
native speakers of Received Pronunciation, that it discouraged them through difficult and
repetitive exercises and that it failed to give importance to communication. A good example
of this attitude is to be found in Brown and Yule (1983: 26-7). The criticism was misguided,
I believe, and it is encouraging to see that in recent years there has been a significant
growth of interest in pronunciation teaching and many new publications on the subject. No
pronunciation course that I know has ever said that learners must try to speak with a perfect
RP accent. To claim this mixes up mo del s with go a l s : the model chosen is BBC (RP). but the
goal is normally to develop the learner' s pronunciation sufficiently to permit effective
communication with native speakers.
")

Pronunciation exercises can be difficult, of course, but if we eliminate everything difficult
from language teaching, we may end up doing very little beyond getting students to play
little communication games. It is, incidentally, quite incorrect to suggest that the classic
works on pronunciation and phonetics teaching concentrated on mechanically perfecting
vowels and consonants: Jones ( 1956, first published 1909), for example, writes ' Good'
speech may be defined as a way of speaking which is clearly intelligible to all ordinary
people. ' Bad' speech i s a way of talking wh.ch is difficult for most people to understand ...
A person may speak with sounds very different from those of his hearers and yet be clearly

intelligible to all of them, as for instance when a Scotsman or an American addresses an
English audience with clear articulation. Their speech cannot be described as other than
' good' (pp. 4-5).

Much has been written recently about I nterna ti o na l Englis h, with a view to defining
what i s used in common by the millions of people around the world who use English as a
foreigg language (Crystal, 199.7: Jenkins, 2000). This is a different goal from tat of this
book. which is describing a specific accent. The discussion of the subject in Cruttenden
(1994: Chapter 13) i s recommended as a survey of the main issues, and the concept discussed
there of M i ni mum Genera l I ntel li g i bi l i ty is a useful contribution to the International
English debate.


21
Th ere are man y d ifferen t an d well-tried meth o d s o f teach ing an d tes tin g p ronun ciatio n,
s o me o f wh ich are u s ed in this b oo k . I d o n o t feel th at it is s u itab le in this b oo k to g o in to a
d etailed an alys is o f class roo m meth o d s, b u t th ere are s ev eral ex cellen t treatmen ts o f th e
s u b ject; s ee, for ex amp le, Ken wo rth y (1 9 8 7 ); Dalto n an d Seid lho fer (1 9 9 4 ); Ce Ice-Mu rcia
et al. (l 9 96). At a mo re ad v an ced lev el, Iou p an d Weinb erg er ( 1 9 8 7 ) is a co llectio n o f
p ap ers o n Interlanguage Phonology th at is relev an t to th e s tud y o f learners ' p rob lems .

2 '


22

CHUONG 2
ai rfl o w / 'eo fl u / = flo w o f ai r

l u 6 n g kh i

alv eol ar ri d g e / a: l v r ,;JU I;} 'n d 3 , a: l ' v r;JJ ;J-/

11urJ u r iin g

art i cu l ato r/ a: ' t rkj u l ert ;J/ (n )

bo p h a n cdu a m

b ack v o w el I 'b a: k 'v au ;Jf/

n g u yen iim (han g ) s a u

b i l abi al s ou n d / ' b a1 ' l e1 b r;}f ' s au n d /
card i n al v o w el / k a: d rn l ' v au ;JV

n g u yen a m ch u
cl o s e vo w el / k f;Ju s 'v au ;JV

n g u yen a m h f;!p ld o n g

cl o s e-mi d / ' k f;Ju s ,mrd / (adj )

n rla h f;!p ld 6 n g

con t o id / ' knnt :ird / (n )

a m t o p h u a m tin h

d en t al s o u n d / d en t! ' s au n d/

a m r iin g

fri ct i o n / frrkJ n/(n )
fri cti o n n o i s e/ frrkJ n ,n :irz/

r

fro n t v o w el / frx n t 'v au l/
h ard p al at e /'h a: d 'p al t/

l abio d en t al s o und / l erb i ;:i u ,d en tl 's au n d/
l ary n x / 'l a: rrl) k s / (n )
l i p -ro u n d i n g / lr p , rau n d rry'
n as al cav i t y / n erzl ' k aev o t /
n as al s oun d / n erzl ' s au n d/
o p en v o w el / ' a 5 p a n ' v au o l /
o p en -mi d / ' ;m p ;Jn ,mrd / (adj )
p al at e / ' p ael at / (n )
p h aryn x / 'fa: rr!J ks / (n )
p h on eti ci an / , fo u n ;J' t rJ n / (n )

referen ce s y s t em/ refrn n s s rs t ;:i m/
s o ft pa l at e /'s ft 'p el t/
s p re a d / s p re d / (a d j )
V a.ri abl e / ' v e;:irr;:i b l/ (n )

v e l u m / ' v i : l a m / (n )
v o cal ap p arat u s /'v au k l ,ap a' rert as /

vo cal t ract /'v au k l , t ra: k t/
t

v o c o i d / ' v a u k o 1 d / (n )

a m (h a i) m 6 i

st m a s d t
t i @ n g xa t
n g u yen a m (h a ng ) t rurJc
n g r;H: ciln g
a m m o i l' iin g

t h an h q u d n
S lf

tr im m rJi

kh o an g m iii
a m m iii

n g u yen a m r i}n g/m iJ
n rla r i}nglm iJ
g c (v o m m i @ n g )

yet hdu
nh d n g il iim h 9 c ·

h f t h ong t h a m ch i eult h a m
kh d o

n ga c m em
d et m o i
b i@n to

n ga c m em
b i} m d y p h d t a m
dur)ng d d n t h an h
a m t o ' n g u yen a m t i n h


23

2 The production of speech sounds

2 . St; h1nh thanh cua ngu am
be

2.1 Articulators above the larynx

2 .1 Ca c
pha n pha t a m phia tr@n
tha nh qua n

All th e s ou n d s we mak e wh en we s p eak
are th e res u lt o f mu s cles con tractin g . Th e
mu s cles in th e ch es t th at we u s e for b reath in g
p rodu ce th e flo w o f air th at is n eed ed for
almo s t all s p eech s o u n d s ; mu s cles in th e
lary nx p rodu ce man y d ifferen t mo d ification s
in th e flo w o f air fro m th e ch es t to th e mo u th .

After p as s in g th ro ugh th e larynx , th e air go es
th rough wh at we call the v o ca l tra ct, wh ich
en d s at th e mo u th and n o s trils . Here th e air
fro m th e lung s es cap es in to th e atmo s ph ere.
We h av e a larg e an d co mp lex s et o f mu s cles
th at can p rod u ce ch ang es in th e s h ap e o f th e
v o cal tract, an d in o rd er to learn h o w th e
s o u n d s o f s p eech are p rod u ced it is
n ecess ary to b eco me familiar with th e
d ifferen t p arts o f th e v o cal tract. Th es e_
d ifferen t p arts are called a rti cul a to rs , an d
th e s tu d y 'of th em is called a rti cul a to ry
pho neti cs .

Ta't ca cac am chung ta t<}O ra khi
n6i deu la ket qua ci a vi@c co rut co.
Cac c d i:J ngt!c ma chung ta di':1ng d€ thi:J
tao ra ludng khf dn thie't cho hfo- nhu'
mqi ngu am; cac C d trong thanh quan
tao ra nhieu thay d6i khac nhau trong
lu6ng khf tu ngt!c den mi~ng. Sau khi di
qua thanh quan, lu6ng khf qua qua d u on g
d i n th anh ket thuc o mieng va 16 mLii.
0 day, khong khf tu phoi thoat ra ngoai
khf quye'n. C hung ta co mqt bq c d Ion
va phuc t<}p co the' t<,1.O ra cac thay d6i i:J
hinh dang cl a duong dan thanh, va de
biet cac ngu am tao ra nhu the no, ban
can phi quen thuoc voi cac bo phan
khac nhau cua duong d~n thai1h. NhCtng

bo phan nay duoc goi la b} phan ph at
am , va viec nghien cuu chung dugc goi
l a n gu am h o c p h a t am .

Hlnh 1 la s d d6 thuong duc;1c dung
Fig . 1 is a d iag ram th at is u s ed freq u ently
in th e s tu d y o f p h o n etics. It rep res en ts th e trong vi~c nghien CULi ngu am hoc. N6
h u man h ead , s een fro m th e s id e, d is p lay ed tu@ng trung cho dau nguoi, nhin tu phfa
as th o u gh it h ad b een cu t in h alf. Yo u will ben, duc trinh bay nhu the no duoc cat
ed to lo o k at it carefu lly as th e articu lato rs ra lam doi. Ban se can phai xem so do
~ d es crib ed , ·an d yo u will o ften fin d it nay mot cach can than khi cac bo phan
•I to h av e a mirror an d a g ood lig h t ca'u am dudc mi eu ta va ban thuong
s o th at y o u can lo o k at th e in s id e o f t huong se thay ht u (ch khi co mot cai
guong va mot den t6t de ban co the' nhln
1o u th .

vao ben trong mieng cua minh.

at am


24

i) The pha ry nx is a tube which begins
just above the larynx. His about 7 cm long in
women and about 8 cm in' men, and at its top
end it is divided into two, one part being· the
back of the mouth and the other being the
beginning of the way through the nasal
cavity. If you look in your mirror with your

mouth open, you can see the oack of the
pharynx.

i) H.iu la m(lt o'ng bi t dfo ngay ben
tren thanh quan. N6 dai khoang 7 C!ll o
plw nt va khoang 8 cm a nam gioi, va Ci
dau tren cl a no, no duc chia lam d6i,
mot phan nam o phia trong cung ci a
mieng va phan con lai nam o dau doan
di qua khoang mui. Nea ban nhin vao
guong voi mieng ha ra, ban co the ihy
phia trong cuing cl a hau.

ii) The v el um or s o ft pa l a te is seen in
the diagram in a position that allows air to
pass through the nose and through the mouth.
Yours is probably in that position now, but
often in speech it is raised so that air cannot
escape through the nose. The other important
thing about the velum is that it is one of the
articulators that can be touched by the
tongue. When we make the sounds k and g
the tongue is in contact with the lower side
of the velum, and we call these v el a r
consonants.

ii) Vom mi@ng mem duoc nhin thay
trong Sd d6 d 111Qt "' tr. cho phep kh6ng
khi di qua mui vs qua mi ng. Co le vom
mieng mem ci a 'an hien gio nam o vi

trf d6, nhung lh•lcillg. th] khi n6i no duoc
nang cao de kong khi khong th& thoat
qua mui. bieu quan trong khac ve vom
mieng mem la 116 ia m(>t trong nhClng b(>
phan cau am ma luoi co the cham toi.
Khi chung ta n6i am k va g , luoi tiep
xuc voi pfia duoi cua vom mieng mem
va chung ta goi nhung am nay la phu
am vom mem.

iii) The hard palate is often called the
"roof of I.he mouth" . You can feel its smooth
curved surfaee with your tongue.

iii) Vom mi@ng cung thuong dugc goi
la "vom mieng". Ban co the' dung luai
cam nhan be mat cong nlan ca no.

iv) Till.! :Jlveolar ri dg e is between the
top front eeh and the hard palate. You can
feel il.5 shap1; with your tongue. Its surface is
rea I ly rnu ch rougher than it feels, and is
covered w Jl h little ridges. You can only see
these 1f you have a mirror small enough to
go inside your mouth (such as those used by
denLi.ts Sounds made with the tongue
touc h1ng here (such as t and d) are called
alveolar

iv) Nu'ou rang nam giua ham rang tren

va vom mi@ng cung. Ban co the cam
nhan hinh dang cl a no bang each dung
ludi. Be mat ci a no that ra tho nham
hon nhieu so voi cam nhan cl a ban va
duoc phi bang cac chm nh6. Ban chi
c6 the' tha'y nhung chd m nay neu ban
c6 mc'it cai gudng nho du de dua vao
trong mieng (chang han nhu cai guong
nha si st dung). Am thanh do luoi t,;10 r,
khi cham vao day (chang han nhu t ,.
d) du(Jc go i I.a am lqi.

v) [he to ngue is, of course, a very
important articulator and it can be moved
into mauy different places and different
shapes. It is usual to divide the tongue into
difLrent parts, though there are no clear
dividing lines within the tongue. Fig. 2 shows
,he tongu'-· on a larger scp l e wirh these parts
shown· lip, blade, t ·out, bjlck and root. (This
u,c uf the word "front" often'seems rather

v) Lu'oi, dT nhien, la m(lt b(l phar
am ra't quan trong va no co the di ch
de'n nhi@u vi tri khac nhau va c6
hinh dang khac nhau. Thuong th1
ta chia luoi thanh nhung phn ''
m<)c ch) khong co dun
rang ben trong luoi. t-'
theo m(lt ph,;1m vi I

duoc minh hoa:
luoi truoc, mat '
luai. (Thoat '
thuong c6 ve

slr.rn gc al fir st.)


25
vi) The teeth (upper and lower) are
usually shown in diagrams like Fig. l only at
the front of the mouth, immediately behind
the lips. This is for the sake of a simple
diagram, and you should remember that most
speakers have teeth to the sides of their
mouths, back almost to the soft palate. The
tongue ls in contact with the upper side teeth
for many speech sounds. Sounds made with
the tongue touching the front teeth are
called denta l.

v i) Rang (ham t r@n v a ham duoi)
t huong duoc m inh hqa t rong c ac st d6

giong nhu hlnh 1 chi

a phfa truoc mieng,

ngay phia s au m i. Viec m inh hoa nhu
t he la de c ho s o do don gian, v a ban

nen nho rang hu het m oi nguoi n6i deu
c o rang
hai ben m ieng, ·nam s au t rong
c ung den v om m i@ng m m . Ludi t iep x uc
v di ham rang t r@n de t ao ra nhi€u ngCI
am . C ac am dLlc;I C t i:} O ra k hi luoi t iep
x uc v oi ham rang t ren duoc goi la am

a

ran g.

fro nt

tip

Fig.2 Sub-divisions of the tongue

H inh 2 C ac phn c hia nh

c ia luoi

vii) The lips are important in speech.
They can be pressed together (when we
produce the sounds p, b) , brought into contact
with the teeth (as in f, v) , or rounded to
produce the lip-shape for vowels like u:.
Sounds in which the lips are in contact with
each other are called bila bial, while those
with lip-to-teeth conta.ct arc called

l a bi o denta l.
The seven articulators described above
are the main ones used in speech, but there
are three other things to remember. Firstly,
the larynx (which will be studied in Chapter
4) could alsq be described as an articulator
- a very complex and independent one.
Secondly, the ja w s are sometimes called
articulators~ certainly we move the lower jaw
a lot in speaking. But the jaws are not
articulators in the same way as the others,
because they cannot themselves make
contact with other articulators. Finally,
although there is practically nothing that we
can do with the no s e and the nasa l ca v i ty ,
they are a very important part of our
equipment for making sounds (what is
s o m eti ac s called our v o ca l ...- t"a t•s ),

v i) M6i thi quan t rong t rong loi noi.
C hung c o t he duoc ep lai v oi nhau (k hi
c hung t a t i:} O ra dm p, b), dua v ao t iep
x uc v oi rang (nhu t rong f, v ) hoac 1:t 111
t ron d€ li:} O ra hinh dang m oi c ho ca c
nguy en am nhu u: . C ac am dt./ c;I C li)O ra
k hi hai m i t iep x uc v oi nhau dugc goi
la am moi, tr ong k hi nhung am duoc t ao
ra k hi m oi t iep x uc v oi rang dLIQ c goi la

am moi ran g.

Bay bo phan c au am du; c m ieu t a o
t ren la nhung t hanh phfo c hinh dt.1c;1c
dung t rong loi noi, nhung c o ba bo phan
k hac
nho. T h(t nha' t la, t hanh quan
(s e dugc nghien c t u o c huong 4) c ung
c6 t he duoc m ieu t a la bo phan cau am
- day la m ot bo phan doc lap va rat
phuc t o;1 p. T hu hai la, h am doi k hi dLI Qc
goi la bo phan c au am ; c hic c han c hung
t a c d dong ham dudi nhieu k hi noi
c huy en. N hung ham k hong phai la bo
phan c au am t heo c ac h giong nhu nhCt ng
t ha nh phan k hac , v i ban t han c hung
k hong t iep x uc v di c ac bo phan cau am
k hac. C uoi c ing la, m ac du c hang c o gi
dac bi&t
c hung t a lam v oi m ui v a
k hoang m ui, nhung c hung la mot t hanh

can

de

.

'