English Pronunciation for Icelanders
English Pronunciation for Icelanders
English Pronunciation for Icelanders
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7<br />
1.2 TENSE VOWELS<br />
1 5<br />
There are five tense vowels (excluding diphthongs) in RP.<br />
They are normally longer than the lax vowels, and we always<br />
write them with the length mark (:).<br />
Tense vowels can be unchecked.<br />
Keyword<br />
RP tense vowels. Listen and repeat (record your answers)<br />
FLEECE sea seed seen seat I<br />
PALM,START,BATH shah car card calm cart A<br />
THOUGHT,NORTH law four lord lawn walk O<br />
GOOSE blue rude moon hoot U<br />
NURSE stir heard burn shirt E<br />
Variations<br />
1 In most accents other than RP and the South of England, BATH words have the<br />
TRAP vowel. These are words like fast, grass, path, dance<br />
2 In the United States, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and the South-West of<br />
England, START NORTH and NURSE have an r-sound following the vowel. In RP,<br />
the South-East of England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa,<br />
the r is usually missing.<br />
3 In Scotland, FOOT and GOOSE have the same vowel. Since FOOT is a difficult<br />
vowel <strong>for</strong> <strong>Icelanders</strong>, you may prefer the Scottish pronunciation!<br />
Here are some more examples of tense vowels. Notice the<br />
different spellings.<br />
FLEECE<br />
Listen and repeat (record your answers)<br />
I steam feed be magazine piece receive meal<br />
PALM,START,BATH A ma far pass part heart calm half laugh*<br />
THOUGHT,NORTH<br />
GOOSE<br />
NURSE<br />
*Note on tape <strong>for</strong> American accents.<br />
O horse saw daughter fault all talk water door<br />
board four*<br />
U glue crew feud moon who move through juice shoe<br />
E err earth bird turn word worse journey colonel*