ARTICULATION

The elementary sounds of the English language should be known, understood, and practiced.

Vowels in Unaccented Syllables

The sound of the vowel may be "obscured" through the accent falling upon another syllable.

a. This sound is neither ā, ě, nor Ĭ. It is the initial element of the a sound without the vanishing portion. The symbol (*) indicates by the downward stroke that the vanishing portion of a is cut off.

ǎ.-This sound occurs most frequently in final or initial syllables closed by a consonant. In formal speaking the sound is ǎ, but in colloquial speech it is allowably obscured to become almost or quite the same as à in so'fà.

For i, o, and u in unaccented syllables, and also for vowel correlatives, see Dictionary.

In the following exercise give the voiced consonant and then its correlative voiceless consonant.

Note

that the articulative position for each pair is the same.

Many common articulation difficulties find representation in the following familiar exercises.

Troublesome consonantal combinations should be practiced until they slip "trippingly on the tongue. Sentences arranged for vowel practice should be repeated more slowly.

A The amiable aëronaut aided in aërial entertainment.

B

Bl

Br

DE

A big black bug bit a big black bear.

A bleak breeze blighted the bright broom blossoms.
Bring a bit of buttered brown bran bread.

Dick dipped a tippet in the dipper and dripped it.
Peevish, feeble freemen feebly fight for freedom.
The fading flowers breathe forth fresh fragrance.
Eight great gray geese grazing gayly into Greece.
Glassy gray-green glaciers gleam in glowing light.
H Henry Hingham has hung his harp on the hook where
he hitherto hung his hoop.

J Jacob, give Joe Jim Gile's gilt gig whip.

K Curtis Kirkham Kames cruelly kept the kite while his cousin Catharine Kennedy cried.

L

The laurel-crowned clown crouched cowering.

Lucy likes light literature.

The cat ran up the ladder with a lump of raw liver in her mouth.

Ld The old cold scold sold a school coal-scuttle.

M Masses of immense magnitude move majestically.

Ng Answer echoes: dying, dying. (Prolong suggestively.) Nz A noisy noise annoys an oyster.

P

Cut the pulpy pumpkin and put it in a pipkin.

Pluma placed the pretty pewter platter on a pile of plates.

St

Str

Sts

A rural ruler truly rural.

Around the rough and rugged rocks the ragged rascal

ran.

She says she shall sew a sheet.

Some shun sunshine. Do you shun sunshine?
She sells sea shells. Shall she sell sea shells?

Should such shapely sashes shabby stitches show?

The slow snail's slime.

Sam Slick sawed six, slim, sleek, slender saplings for sale.

The soldiers winced whilst the shells burst in the midst
of the tents.

Through the street the strident stripling strides.
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts,

With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts,
He thrusts his fists against the posts
And still insists he sees the ghosts.

Th Six thick thistle sticks.

Ths He adds fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, eighths, ninths, tenths, elevenths, and twelfths.

Fourths; four - ths; fourth - th - s,
Sixths; six - th - s; six - th - s, sixths.

fourths.

Ths Beneath the booths the youths found baths, cloths, laths, moths, sheaths, paths, and wreaths.

Tw

V

If one of the twines of a twist do untwist,

The twine that untwisteth, untwisteth the twist.

A vile vagabond ventured to vilify a venerable veteran.

W Five wise wives weave withered withes.

Wh What whim led White Whitney to whittle, whistle, whisper, and whimper, near a wharf, where a floundering whale might wheel and whirl?

v'dst; st; ts; r'dst; t; b'dst; rns; k'dst; n'dst Thou lov'dst nature's wildest haunts; thou wander'dst through the deepest forests, climb'dst the loftiest mountains, explor'dst the deepest caverns, linger❜dst by the noisiest streams, look'dst upon the ocean, and listen'dst to its roar.

Gitche Manito and the Warriors. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow .