Each vowel (“a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, “u”) has several possible pronunciations.

Look at the word “carpenter”again. What phonetic symbol is used to represent the first consonant sound in the word? It is a “k”. The pronunciation key tells you that the correct sound is the same sound as in kin, cook, ache. Say these words out loud and pay attention to the sound that the letters in bold print make. This sound is the one you need to make the first sound in the first syllable of “carpenter”. What sound does the “a” in carpenter make? It looks like this: ä and is pronounced like the “a” in “father” or “cart”. Look at the next letter, an “r”. This consonant has only one sound, as in red or car.

What sound does the first “e” make? The upside-down “e” symbol “?” represents a very common sound in English. Say the word banana and listen to the sounds the vowels make. This is the sound represented by the “?”. It sounds a bit like “uh”.

Notice also that there is a second set of phonetic symbols for the word “carpenter”. This shows that there are two acceptable pronunciations for this entry word. In the second pronunciation, the middle syllable “p?n” has been replaced by an “m”.

5. ACCENT MARKS

Notice the position of a mark (´) next to ´kar-p?n-t?r. This is called an accent mark and tells you to put a little more stress on the syllable that follows the accent mark than on the other syllables. You say CARpenter. It is not pronounced carPENter or carpenTER.

Exercise 10

A)

Check the pronunciation by reading the phonetic symbols for each of the following words.. Do you say them correctly? Many Canadians don’t. Be sure to check your answers by pronouncing these words for your instructor.

genuine

preferable

chunk

milk

film