Introduction Chapter I

Chapter II. British English pronounciation and dialects
Don’t always say ‘r’
In GB English you only pronounce /r/ if it is before a vowel sound, so you do say it in ROCK, PRETTY & COVERING, but you don’t say it in WORK, HARD or MOTHER. In American English you say all the written ‘r’s, so WORK, HARD & MOTHER, so it’s one of the main differences between most British and American accents.
Touch the teeTH
There are two fricative TH sounds in English: voiceless /θ/ in TEETH, THANKS & BATH, and voiced /ð/ in THE, BROTHER & BATHE. In GB English they are both made with the tongue touching behind the teeth, but in some accents they’re replaced with /f/ and /v/, like in London.
12 vowels = 12 tongue positions
GB English has 12 mouth positions for vowel sounds, here goes: /i ɪ e æ ə ɜ ʌ ɑ u ʊ ɔ ɒ/. It’s really important to put the tongue in a different place for each of these, as many sounds are only subtly different – like the vowel sounds in SHIP and SHEEP. There isn’t actually much difference in the length of these two sounds, but the tongue is always further forward in SHEEP.
Oh No!
On top of the 12 basic vowels, there are a further 7 double vowels (diphthongs): /eɪ, ɔɪ, aɪ, əʊ, aʊ, ɪə, eə/, perhaps the hardest one is the /əʊ/ sound in OH, NO, GO & SHOW. Northern accents might say [nɜː] or [nɒʊ], cockney would be more like [naʊ], and really posh speakers would start toward the front [nɛʊ], but in standard GB English, it starts in the middle, you [nəʊ].
Mind
In normal everyday speech we tend to join everything together in English. Sometimes consonants change andbecome silent. When a word begins with a vowel sound it joins onto the previous word: “move_it_along!” Sometimes if one word ends with a vowel sound and the next one starts with a vowel sound, we add /r/, just to make sure we can join, “is that_your_idea(r)_of_a joke?”. No, it really happens, listen again slowly.
Not too much stress
You probably have enough stress in your life, so don’t stress every syllable in English – half of them are weak (the underlined ones in this sentence). It’s essential, though, to find the main stress in every sentence or speech unit – and really stress it by making it longer, louder and normally higher:

A John! How are you?

B David! I’m fine, how are you?

The bold, underlined syllable is the main stress in each part, it’s also where the intonation pattern begins (see next point).

Nice and high
GB English intonation is fairly flat until the main stress, then it tends to go high and fall. There are three intonation patterns: falling YES, rising YES, and fall-rising YES, these show our attitude to our words, you can hear them in this conversation:
A | John | How are you? |
B | David | I’m fine | How are you? |
A | Actually | there’s something I need to tell you |
B | OK | shall we go and grab a coffee? |
A | Yes | somewhere private | would be best | where you can sit down |
B | I don’t much like the sound of this
2.2.1 One syllabic words
All /ɔːl $ ɒːl/
1.There are 3 words in this word
2.There are 2 sounds in this word
3.there is a syllabus in it.
4.There is a vowel sounds (a- hard vowel).
According to the horizontal movement of the tongue: a- front vowel
According to the vertical movement of the tongue: a- open
According to the position of the lips: a- neutral position of lips
According to the quantitative features: a- short vowel, monophthong.
5.There are 2 consonants in this word l,l- Lateral,alveolar,sonant

6.This is one syllabic word and there is no reduction in it.

2.Or/ə; strong ɔː; $ ər/ strong ɔːr/
1.There are 2 letters in this word
2.there are 2 sounds in this word
3.there is a syllabus in it
4.there is a vowel sound(o-hard vowel)
According to the horizontal movement of the tongue: a- front vowel, 0- back,
i-front
According to the vertical movement of the tongue: o- open
According to the position of the lips: , o- rounded position,
According to the quantitative features: , o- long vowel
5.There is a consonant sound r- post-alveolar, approximan
6.This is one syllabic word and there is no reduction in it.


2.2.2. Two syllabic word

2.1.Wedding/ˈwedɪŋ/

1.there are 7 letters in this word
2.there are 5 sounds in this word.
3.there two syllables in it
4.there are two vowels(e,i soft vowels)
According to the horizontal movement of the tongue: e- front, i-front
According to the vertical movement of the tongue: e-mid-open, i- open
According to the position of the lips: e- neutral, i- spread position
According to the quantitative features: e- short vowel, monophthong, i- short, diphthong.
5.there are 4 consonants(w,d,n,g)
n- alveolar, nasal
d- alveolar, plosive
w- bilabial, approxim
g- velar, plosive
6.there isnt reduction.
2.2womanˈwʊmən/
1.there are 5 letters in it
2.there are 5 sounds in the word
3.there are 2 syllables in it
4.there are 2 vowels((a- hard vowel, 0- hard vowel,).
cording to the horizontal movement of the tongue: a- front vowel, 0- back,
According to the vertical movement of the tongue: a- open, o- open,
According to the position of the lips: a- neutral position of lips, o- rounded position,
According to the quantitative features: a- short vowel, o- long vowel, monophthongs.
5.there are three consonants(w,m,n)

w- bilabial, approximano

m- bilabial, nasal,
n- alveolar, nasal.
6.there are qualitative reduction in rhe second syllabus