Inconsistencies of English Language: Effect of Mismatches between Spelling and Pronunciation of Words on the Spoken Communication in English

Citation: Ayuba HASSAN (2018). Inconsistencies of English Language: Effect of Mismatches between Spelling and Pronunciation of Words on the Spoken Communication in English. Yobe Journal of Language, Literature and Culture (YOJOLLAC), Vol. 6. Department of African Languages and Linguistics, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria. ISSN 2449-0660

INCONSISTENCIES OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE: EFFECT OF MISMATCHES BETWEEN SPELLING AND     PRONUNCIATION OF WORDS ON THE SPOKEN COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

Ayuba HASSAN

Abstract

It is observed by linguists that the inconsistency between spelling and pronunciation of some words in English creates difficulties for teachers, students of English and those who want to be fluent in the spoken English. This paper, strategies for overcoming English spelling-pronunciation problems and discusses the inconsistencies of letters-vowels, letters-consonants, consonants clusters and the problem of silence by letters –sounds in certain words. Also, it provides some practice activities which could help in minimizing the difficulties of English pronunciation among the teachers and students so that effective spoken English communication could be well achieved.

1.0 Introduction

Effective spoken English communication depends largely on a speaker’s mastery and proper application of the knowledge of the inconsistencies between the letters and the speech sounds (consonants and vowels). This is justified by the fact that the letters and speech sounds are two different linguistic items even though sometimes, similarities may be found in terms of form (spelling) and pronunciation between one letter and its correspondent phoneme particularly consonant. For instance, the letter, b and the consonant, /b /, the letter, p and the consonant /p/, the letter, d and the consonant, /d/, the letter, m and the consonant, /m/. Every English words is commonly written with some of the letters, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. But, its correct pronunciation depends on how it is phonetically transcribed using phonemes such as/ m, n, k, h, i, e, ¶.L,q,ð./.For instance, the word “know” is pronounced /n ᴐ:/without the letter “k” and the last letter, w is assimilated by the vowel, / ᴐ:/. Besides, the position of a letter-consonant in a word influences its pronunciation. Hassan & Sani (2012) stated that “some consonants become different sounds in some words based on the position they appear in a word”. In addition, Onuigbo (1990) pointed out that “h” does not occur at the end of a word, and does not pronounce at the beginning of a word and is not pronounced in the words like, vehicle, exhibit and exhaust”. All these are among the inconsistencies of English spelling-pronunciation which confuse the teachers and learners of English that results to their poor pronunciation. Accordingly, it is clearly known by linguists that most of the English words have mismatches in terms of their orthography and pronunciation. Meaning, they are not pronounced based on their alphabetic written form. Therefore, this results to the inefficient pronunciation among the learners of English as a second language. The inconsistency between spelling and pronunciation of some English words occur as a result of the parental nature of English from different languages. This is justified by Lyons (1981) that “English language derived most of its words from Greek and Latin. In view of this, the writer of this paper, identified some of these mismatches matches between the spelling and pronunciation of the English words which consists of letters-vowels mismatches, letters-consonants mismatches, letters- consonants cluster mismatches and the problem of silence by some letters in certain words.

1.1 The Spoken English:

Spoken English refers to the use of English verbally in a spoken speech. The spoken form of communication is said to be the most essential and frequent in any language. This is adequately captured in Barber (1993) that “speech is the primary form of language. Speech is learned before writing”. Equally, Attah (1999) believed that “ the spoken form of communication is believed to rank first among the skills of language. Besides, Yule (1985) asserted that “a very large number of the languages found in the world today used only in spoken form. They do not have a written form. Many Nigerians like to acquire fluent English pronunciation.” However, the need for the acquisition of the fluent pronunciation by Nigerian speakers of English suffers seriously from the mismatches between the spelling and pronunciation of words. Hassan (2008) asserted that “many words in English are not pronounced in the way they are spelt”.

2. 1 Mismatches between Spelling and Pronunciation of Some English Words

2.1.1 The letter, a, sounds /¶/ in the following words:

No.	WORD	PRONUNCIATION
i.	About	/əbaut/
ii.	Again	/əgein/
iii.	Man	/mən/
iv.	And	/ənd/
v.	Agenda	/əˈʤendə/
vi.	Against	/əˈgeinst/
vii.	Abate	/əˈbeit/
viii.	Aback	/əˈbæk/
ix.	Abandon	/əˈbændən/
x.	Above	/əˈbʌv/

2.1.2 The letter, u sounds /Л/ as in the words:

No.	WORD	PRONUNCIATION
i.	Cut	/kʌt/
ii.	Luck	/lʌk/
iii.	Run	/rʌn/
iv.	Cup	/kʌp/
v.	Bud	/bʌd/
vi.	Nut	/nʌt/
vii.	Utter	/ʌtə(r)/
viii.	Pun	/pʌn/
ix.	Hug	/hʌg/
x.	Duck	/dʌk/

2.1.3 The letter o/oo sounds /Л/ as in the following words:

No.	WORD	PRONUNCIATION
i.	Blood	/blʌd/
ii.	Flood	/flʌd/
iii.	Bloody	/blʌdli/
iv.	Come	/kʌm/
v.	Done	/dʌn/
vi.	One	/wʌn/
vii.	Bloodless	/blʌdləs/
viii.	Bloodied	/blʌdiːd/
ix.	Love	/lʌv/
x.	Lovely	/lʌvli/

2.1.4 The letter, c sounds / s/ as in the following words:

No.	WORD	PRONUNCIATION
i.	Ice	/aɪs/
ii.	City	/ˈsɪti/
iii.	License	/ˈlaɪsns/
iv.	Fence	/fens/
v.	Peace	/piːs/
vi.	Dance	/dæns/ or /dɑːns/ (both accepted)
vii.	Hence	/hens/
viii.	Cite	/saɪt/
ix.	Cell	/sel/
x.	Cellophone	/ˈseləfeɪn/

2.1.5 The letter, s sounds / z / as in the following words:

No.	WORD	PRONUNCIATION
i.	Digs	/dɪgz/
ii.	Pgs	/pɪgz/
iii.	Noises	/nɔɪzɪz/
iv.	Result	/rɪˈzʌlt/
v.	Prison	/ˈprɪzn/
vi.	Husband	/ˈhʌzbənd/
vii.	Sins	/sɪnz/
viii.	Easy	/ˈiːzi/
ix.	Thousand	/ˈθaʊzənd/
x.	Disease	/dɪˈziːz/

2.1.6 The letter, x sounds / gz/ as in the following words:

No.	WORD	PRONUNCIATION
i.	Examination	/ɪɡˌzæmɪˈneɪʃən/
ii.	Example	/ɪɡˈzæmpəl/
iii.	Exhibit	/ɪɡˈzɪbɪt/
iv.	Exact	/ɪɡˈzækt/
v.	Exhaust	/ɪɡˈzɔːst/
vi.	Exaggeration	/ɪɡˌzædʒəˈreɪʃən/
vii.	Exactly	/ɪɡˈzæktli/
viii.	Exciting	/ɪkˈsaɪtɪŋ/
ix.	Examine	/ɪɡˈzæmɪn/
x.	Exemplify	/ɪɡˈzæmplɪfaɪ/

2.1.7 The case of combination letters which are represented by a single consonant “Ph” is pronounced /f / as in the following words:

i. Phonology - - / fnᴐlʤi /

ii. Phrase - - / freiz /

iii. Physics - - / fiziks /

iv. Phylum - - / failm /

v. Phase - - / feiz /

vi. Phantom - - / fæntm /

vii. Photo start - - / futstæt /

viii. Physical - - / fizikl /

ix. Pheasant - - /feznt /

x. Phonic -   / fᴐnik /

2.1.8 “Kn” is pronounced / n / as in the following words:

i. Know - - / nᴐ: /

ii. Knock - - / nᴐk/

iii. Knew - - / nuj:/

iv. Knowledge - - / nᴐlidʤ /

v. Knife - - / naïf /

vi. Knee - - / ni: /

vii. Knock - - / næk /

viii. Knob - - / nᴐb /

ix. Knotty - - / nᴐti /

x. Knoll - - / nᴐl /

2.1.9 “Wr” is pronounced / r/ as in the following words:

i. Write - - / rait /

ii. Wrap - - / ræp /

iii. Wring - - / ri η /

iv. Wren - - / ren /

v. Wrench - - / ren ʦ /

vi. Wrinkle - - / ri η /

vii. Wrapper - - / ræp(r)/

viii. Writer - - / rait(r) /

ix. Writing - - / raitin η /

x. Wrong - - / rᴐ η /

2.2 The Mismatches of Silence

2.2.1 / b / is silent in the words such as

i. Comb - - / kᴐm /

ii. Jamb - - /ʤæm /

iii. Womb - - / wu:m /

iv. Subtle - - / sЛ tl /

v. Dumb - - / dЛm /

vi. Doubt - - / dЛt /

vii. Bomb - - / bᴐm /

viii. Bomber - - / bᴐm(r) /

ix. Bombshell - - / bᴐm⌡eil /

2.2.2 / p / is silent as in the words such as:

i. Cupboard - - / kЛbd /

ii. Psalm - - / sa:m /

iii. Pneumonia - - / nju:muni /

iv. Receipt - - / risi:t /

v. Psychology - - / saik ᴐlʤi /

2.2.3 / t / is silent as in the words such as:

i. Listen - - / lisn /

ii. Castle - - / ka:s l /

iii. Listening - - / lisnin η /

iv. Christmas - - / krisms /

v. Listened -  / lisned /

2.2.4 / h / is silent as in the words such as:

i. Hour - - / au(r))

ii. Honest - - / ᴐnist /

iii. Which - - / wi ʦ /

iv. Vehicle - - / vi: kl /

v. Honour - - / ᴐn /

2.2.5 / l / is silent as in the words such as:

i. Talk - - / tᴐ:k /

ii. Chalk - - / ʦ ᴐ:k

iii. Walk - - / wᴐ:k /

iv. Could - - / ku:d /

v. Would - - / wu:d /

3.1 Guidelines for Effective English Pronunciation

Here, teachers should explain the guideline one by one to the students and engage them in practical drill on each of the guidelines.

Guideline a: Letter-vowel mismatch:

The letter, a, sounds /¶/ in some word.

The letter, u sounds /Л/ in some words.

The letter o/oo sounds /Л/ in the some words.

The letter, c sounds / s/ in some words.

The letter, s sounds / z / in some words.

The letter, x sounds / gz/ in some words.

Guide line b: The case of combination of letters which are     represented by a single consonant.

            “Ph” is pronounced /f /.

“Kn” is pronounced / n /.

“Wr” is pronounced / r/.

Guideline c: The mismatches of silence

/ b / is silent in some words.

/ p / is silent as in some words.

/ t / is silent as in some words.

/ h / is silent in some words.

/ l / is silent in some words.

4.1 Strategies for Effective English Pronunciation

Strategy one: Listening to the pronunciation of English native speakers pronunciation over radio, on television and so on.

Strategy two: Listening to the recorded pronunciation of English native speakers several times.

Strategy three: Listen to the English native speakers recorded pronunciation and repeat after them.

Strategy four: Check the spelling and pronunciation of the problem words from a Standard English dictionary.

Strategy five: Ask the teachers of English after checking the words when it is needed.

5.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, it could be clearly said that efficiency in the English pronunciation could be well achieved by the teachers and students of English as well as those who want to improve their spoken English through the mastery of the inconsistencies of English letters-speech sounds and proper application in a spoken discourse.

References

Attah, O.M., (1999). Practice in spoken English. Maiduguri: University Press

Barber, Ch., (1993). The English language. India: Replica Pvt     Limited.

Hassan, A. (2008) Oral English for Schools and Colleges. Kano:   Samarib Publishers Ventures Ltd.

Hassan, A. & Sani, K.(2012). An introduction to English sounds Pattern. Kano: Citizen Printing Press.

Lyons, J. (1891). An introduction to language and linguistics. India: Replica Printing Press Ltd.

Jowitt, D. (1991). An introduction to Nigerian English usage. Britain:

Longman Nigeria. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

Yule, G. (1985). The study of language, second edition. New York: Tong         Printing Press.