English Pronunciation Rules

English Pronunciation Rules

adapted from Arnold & Hansen: Englische Phonetik § 6.3,

(translated, corrected and expanded by J. Fanning; version 2006-05-04)

(N.b.: Many of the rules are stated in a telegram-like note style, not in grammatically complete utterances.)

SPELLING rules are impracticable & fairly chaotic, but PRONUNCIATION rules are reasonable.

N.b.: for many or most of these rules exceptions can be found (10% irregular: commonest words!), but

that is no reason not to learn them together with the most important exceptions.

6.3.1. PHONEME LEVEL

6.3.1.1. vowel graphemes

6.3.1.1.1. simple vowel graphemes

UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES USUALLY REDUCED

A1: ‹a, o, u› : .?.; ‹e, i, y› : .H. (sometimes interchangeable)

less often .T.

final ‹-y›: .h.

‹-ite› usually .`Hs., but graphite .Hs.

‹-ate›: verbs usually .dHs.; adjectives & nouns: .?s.+.Hs.

A2: .m. & .k. often syllabic (but not between nasals or ‹nasal + stop› and ‹nasal›)

final ‹e› (if not the only vowel grapheme of a word: be, he, we, she): silent

except Greek: acme, catastrophe, facsimile, Hermione, Hebe, Phoebe

  .!zjlh+ j?!szrsq?eh+ e?j!rHl?kh+ g29!l`H?mh+ !gh9ah+ !eh9ah.

PRONUNCIATION OF STRESSED SIMPLE VOWEL GRAPHEMES DEPENDS ON 3 FACTORS:

a) number of following unstressed syllables

b) closed/open syllable

c) whether before ‹r› or other grapheme

A3: simple vowel grapheme in tonic syll.: USUALLY short if followed by ≥2 unstressed

camera, delicate, elegant, cinema, liberty, opera

nation - national, legal - legacy, mile - military, nylon - cylinder, colon - colony

(except ‹u›, or others before ‹r› in closed syll.: cf. A5; humorou,s article, vertical,

circumstance,)

also in most derivatives (except ‹-al› adjectives?) long vowels incl. diphthongs remain:

nationhood, legally, silently, fatefully, livelihood

problem: sapient: .!rdHoi?ms. (2 syll.?) or .!rzoH?ms. (3 syll.)

For all other cases: distinction closed/open relevant

N.b.: What applies here is not the strict synchronic phonological concept of open or closed syllables, but

basically whether syllables were phonologically open or closed in an earlier stage of language history,

with words that entered the language later being assimilated to the rule according to SPELLING.

closed: ends in consonant grapheme

if only consonant graphemes follow (not, fish, adopt, win)

if before next vowel there follow at least 2 simple consonant graphemes (doctor, wonder,

uncle, starve, party) or double consonant (letter, hopping, hammer, starring) or compound

consonant grapheme (badge, hatchet)

n.b. ‹th› often counts as simple, ‹x› (.jr.+ .fy.) as compound! (i.e. the phoneme/grapheme

distinction is important here, but not pedantically observed)

open: vowel grapheme ends word (no), is followed by another vowel (poet) or by only single consonant

before next vowel grapheme (whether pronounced or not: here graphemes are meant, and not

phonemes!) (note, hoping, parents, stare)

Open or closed, following ‹r› is a special case (fat - far, fate - fare)

n.b ‹rr› acts like ‹r› if it is doubled (star - starred - starring, prefer - preferring, abhor - abhorred) or

final (err, whirr, burr) cf. A5

otherwise like double consonant (carry, berry, mirror, lorry, hurry)

A4-7: basic rules for simple tonic vowel graphemes

A4: closed, except before simple or doubled ‹r›: short monophthongs

fat, ban, add, actor, latter, hammer; Albert, Alfred: .z.

(but: Alton, Aldeburgh, Aldred, Aldine etc.: .N9.)

after .v. except before .j+ f+ M., ‹a› = .P.: what, want, quarrel

pet, ten, fetch, rest, else, letter, edge

bit, gym, fish, hymn, winter, bitter

pot, odd, adopt, doctor, bottle, hop(ping), sorry, lorry

esp. next to ‹m,n,v,w›, ‹o› = .U.: among, Monday, month, son, ton, won

cut, luck, much, summer, uncle (historical ‘minim problem’)

esp. between labials .a+ o+ e. & .k.+ .R., ‹u› = .T.: bull, bullet, pull, pulpit, full, bush, push, butcher,

pudding, put

but: bulb, puddle, put (= golf term): .U.

but: ‹a› = .@9. before ‹ff, ss, th›, often before ‹f, s, n›+‹cons.› (esp. ‹ft, sk, sp,st›)

(except after .v.): staff, class, pass, bath, after, ask, grasp, past, dance, branch, command, grant

and before ‹lf, lv, lm› with silent ‹l›: calf - calves, half - halves, calm, palm

‹a› before other ‹l+cons.› with silent ‹l›, esp. ‹lk› and ‹ll›, ‹a› often = .N9.: fall, tall, talk, walk,

false, salt

cf. also A6, a-d!

A5: closed before simple or doubled ‹r›: long monophthongs

‹ar› = .@9.: far, start, farm, starve, star(ring)

after .v. ‹a› = .N9.: war, wart, warm, ward, wharf, quarter

‹er, ir, yr, ur› = .29.: her, term, verse, prefer(ring), fir, fur, bird, circus, stir(ring), cur, hurt, burn,

occur(ring)

but: .@9.: clerk (analog. to bark, dark), Derby, Cherwell, sergeant

(but American: clerk .jk29qj., Derby .c29qah.

‹or› = .N9.: nor, short, horse, corner, abhor(ring)

after .v. ‹or› = .29.: word, work, worm, worth, world

but: .N9.: worn (from wore - open syll.)

(n.b.: GA is rhotic, i.e. the ‹r› is pronounced where it is not in British RP, also in rule A7 and

elsewhere)

A6: open except before ‹r›: pronounced like alphabet names

.dH+h9+`H(also ‹y›)+?T+it9.9

chaos .!jdHPr., fate, name, late(r), nation, ache, be, neon .!mh9Pm.. scene, Pete(r), eve, cry, giant,

bite, write(r), pilot, no, poet, note, moment, hope - hoping, duel, cute, consume, humour, student

(after .q+ R+ cY+ cons.+k.+ ‹u› = .t9.: rule, chute, June, flu)

(also sometimes after .r.: super)

also:

a) before ‹cons.›+(‹-le› as syllabic Z4ÿ\ or ‹r+vowel›) (esp. 2-syll. words):

table, title, cycle, noble, able; acre, April, hatred, metre, negro, secret, cypress, cobra

cf. idle .`H. - fiddle .H.

b) ‹a› before ‹-nge› & ‹-ste›: arrange, change, strange; haste, taste, waste

c) ‹i› before ‹-ld, -nd, gh (silent), -gn = .m.›: child, mild, wild; bind, find, grind, wind (vb.= turn

etc.) .v`Hmc.; high, bright, light, night; sign

but also: wind (n.= air blowing & vb.= take s.o.'s breath away by hitting): .vHmc.

d) ‹o› before ‹-l(l), ld, lt, lk = .j.›: control, roll, toll; cold, bolt, folk, yolk

but: ‹ o› before ‹-ll-‹ = .P.: hollow, follow, folly, holly, Molly

e) esp. next to ‹m,n,v,›, ‹o› = .t9.: lose, move, prove; but: wove .v?Tu.

A7: open before ‹r›: centring diphthong or triphthong, except ‹or› = .N9q.

(GA tends to monophthong or diphthong, respectively; RP also if the ‹r› is pronounced)

‹ar› = .d?q.: fare, compare, Mary, parents, various, stare - staring

‹er› = .H?q.: here, severe, zero, serious

but: .d?q.: ere, there, where; .29.: were

‹ir, yr› = .`H?q.: wire, tyre, tired, tyrant, fire - firing, sire

‹ur› = .iT?q.: pure, secure, fury, during, cure - curing

.T?q. (after .q+ R+ cY+ cons.+k.): rural, sure, jury, plural; but Jewry .t9.

‹or› = .N9q.: core, lore, o

A8: the most important exception to rules A4-7 for simple tonic vowel graphemes:

even in open syll., simple tonic vowel grapheme is short if the following vowel grapheme

stands for .H. (GA: .?.) and the word is not derived from another with a long or diphthongal

stem vowel:

epic, lyric, topic; malice, crevice; arid, rapid, vivid, solid; promise, perish, finish, polish; limit,

spirit, profit, granite, palace, preface, garage .!fzqHcY. (older pronunciations: .f?!q@9Y+

!fzq@9cY., damage, senate, planet, minute

but long: whitish < white; Polish < Pole; grimy < grime;

(minute (adj.=very small) .l`H!mit9s. – here the ‹i› is not tonic!)

and not before ‹-y›: baby (< babe), Mary

(but: evil)

also ‹i› = .H. before ‹cons.+e/i+vowel›: hideous, pigeon, trivial, civilian, familiar, sufficient,

position, religious, (delirious?), Sirius (as opposed to serious!)

type HAVE: give, live (vb. .kHu.; but also live adj. .k`Hu.), gone, shone;

esp. next to ‹m,n,v,w›, ‹o› = .U.: done, none, some, glove, love, shove

type LEMON: manor, metal, seven, pivot, model, novel, proper, sugar

(regular: even .!h9u?m., demon .!ch9l?m., modal .!l?Tc?k. !)

6.3.1.1.2.: double vowel graphemes: usually long monophthongs (centring diphthongs before ‹r›)

‹ee› = .h9.: tree, see, agree, referee, deep, meet

‹eer› = .H?q.: beer, career, peeress

‹oo› = .t9.: too, zoo, food, pool, room, root, spoon, balloon

 .T.: good, hood, stood, wood, foot, soot, wool; esp. in ‹ook›: book, cook, hook , look, shook,

took

but: .U.: blood, flood

‹oor› = .T?q.: boor, moor, poor

but: .N9.: door, floor

6.3.1.1.3.: compound vowel graphemes (tonic): long vowels, closing diphthongs

(centring diphthongs or triphthongs before ‹r›)

n.b.: open/closed not relevant here

n.b.: contingent .q.

Do not confuse compound vowel graphemes with combinations of simple ones: create

.jqh!-dHs., quiet .!jv`H-?s., poet .!o?T-Hs., fluid .!ekt9-Hc.

‹ae›: .h9.: aether, Caesar, encyclopaedia

‹aer›: .d?.: aerial, aerodrome, aeronaut, aeroplane

‹ai, ay›: .dH.: aim, rain, afraid; day, may, play; but: again(st) .d.

‹air›: .d?q.: air, hair, pair, dairy, fairy

‹au, aw›: .N9.: autumn, cause, sauce, saw, straw, dawn, lawn

but .@9.: aunt, draught, laugh

‹ea›: .h9.: sea, tea, beast, beat, meal, repeat, lead (vb,)

but .d. esp in ‹ead›: bread, dead, dread, lead* (n. = metal), spread;

also: breast, breath, death, deaf, feather, health, heaven, heavy,

jealous, leather, measure, weapon, weather (all common)

except: .h9.: bead, lead* (vb.), read* (inf.)

‹ear›: .H?q.: clear, fear, tear* (from the eye), appear, weary, Peter Pears*

but .d?q.: bear, pear*, swear, tear* (in cloth, or vb.)

but: .29q. before ‹cons.›: early, earnest, earth, learn, pearl, search

except: beard .H?q., heart .@9q.

‹ei, ey›: .dH. esp. in ‹-ey, eigh(t), eign, ein›: grey, they, convey, obey,; eight

freight, neighbour, weigh, weight, feign, reign; rein, skein, , vein

.h9. esp. after ‹c›: ceiling, conceit, deceive, receive;

also: seize, Sheila

‹eir›: .d?q.heir, their, Eire

but: .H?q.: weir, weird

‹eu, ew›: .it9.: feudal, neutral; few, new

.t9. after .q+ sR+ cY+ i+ cons.+k.: rheumatism, drew, chew, jewel, yew, blew

‹eur, ewr›: .iT?q.: Europe, liqueur; .T?q. after .cY+ cons.+k.: Jewry, pleurisy

‹ie›: .h9. inside word: brief, chief, field, niece, piece, priest, thief

but: friend .d.; sieve .rHu. (!)

.`H. at end: die, pie, tie (also pl. & part.: ties, tied)

‹ier›: .H?q.: cashier, cavalier, fierce, pierce

‹oa›: .?T.: boat, coal, coat, load; but: broad; boa; cocoa

‹oar›: .N9q.: boar, board, hoarse, roar

‹oe›: .h9.:Croesus, Oedipus, phoenix, subpoena, oesophagus

(many just ‹e› in AmE)

at end .?T.: doe, foe, hoe, Joe, roe, toe, woe

but .t9.: canoe, shoe

‹oi, oy›: .NH.: oil, avoid, voice, boy, toy, employer, royal

‹ou(gh), ow›: LEARN!!

.@T.: house, loud, noun, sound, cow, how, brown, crown, south, wound

(participle of wind), slough (but other meaning .rkUe.)

.?T.: esp. in ‹oul›: mould, poultry, soul; also: bowl, flow,

grow(th/n), know, owe; but: knowledge; foul, fowl; though

.N9.: ought, bought, fought, sought, thought etc.

but .@T.: doughty, drought

.U. (not ‹ow›): country, couple, double, southern(!), touch, tough,

trouble, young

.t9.: (‹ou› esp. in words from Fr.): douche, group, rouge, route,

soup; also wound (inf. & n.), you, youth, through

‹our›: .N9q.: pour, four, your, course, court, mourn, source

.29q. only before ‹cons.›: adjourn, courteous, journal, journey,

scourge

‹ui›: .it9.9 nuisance, (suit)

.t9. after .q+ cY+ cons.+k.: fruit, recruit, juice, sluice

In unstressed pos., they are often .?+ H+ h.: labour, nervous, foreign; mountain, guinea, money

but: autumnal .N9., feudality .it9., narrow .?T.

6.3.1.2.: consonants (incl. sonorants) and semivowels:

mainly unproblematic

‹c›, ‹g›: always hard .j.+.f. except before ‹e, i, y›

call, cat, cool, copper, cut, class, cry, fact, music; success, accessory, occasion, occupy

gas, gate, good, gum, glad, great, elegant, big; dagger, foggy, egg

but: exaggerate, suggest .cY.

exceptions ‹c› hard before ‹e› = soccer, celt(ic)

(but Celtic .!rdksHj. football club!)

‹g› hard before ‹e, i, y›: (mainly Germanic words, some Greek before ‹y›) forget, together, finger

(!), , hunger, begin, giddy, gift, girl, give, gynaecology; eager, target, tiger, gill (other meaning:

.cY.!; n.b. gyroscope, gymnasium .cY.)

(otherwise .f. before ‹e, i, y› written ‹gu› as in Fr.: guess, guest, plague vogue, disguise, guide,

guilty, guy

soft before ‹e, i, y› also before ‹ae, oe› = .h9.: cellar, place, since, cipher, circus, city, ceiling,

cease, Caesar, cycle, cynic, mercy; success, accessory,

general, George, change, giant, gin, ginger, gym, gypsum, misogynist

‹sc› = .r. before ‹e, i, y,›, except sceptic (Amer. skeptic), otherwise .rj.

‹ci› = .RH. esp before tonic: speci'ality; also: appreciate, social, associate

.rH. esp. in ‹-ciation›: association, pronunciation

otherwise .R.9 ancient, physician, special, suspicious; also: ocean

‹s›, ‹th›

initial ‹s›always fortis, initial ‹th› usually fortis;

medial ‹s› & ‹th› (esp. between vowels) usually lenis;

final ‹s› & ‹th› usually fortis:

.r. sail, set, sing, summer, skill, sleep, smile, swim; .S. thank, thing, third, three

but "functionals" ‹th-› = .C.: the, this, those, they, them, their, than, that, there, though, thus;

.r. bus, gas, yes, etc., etc.; .S. path, bath, earth, mouth(n.), north, worth, health, fifth, month &

derivatives: earthen, Elizabethan, filthy, healthy;

but: northern, southern, worthy all .C. !

but: Lat./Gk. ‹-es› .h9y.: series, species, Socrates, Gyges, bases (pl. of basis), crises;

also "functionals" .y.: as, has, his, is, was; (but: this, us .r.!!)

booth, smooth, bequeath, betroth, mouth (vb.) (most verbs ‹-the›: cf. below)

n.b. some nouns ‹-th› change from fortis to lenis in the plural (compare German

archiphonemes, also ‹-f›): path(s), mouth(s), oath(s), youth(s)

only 1 ‹-se› changes like this: house(s)

but not after silent ‹r›, short vowels or consonants (or in rare plurals!): births, fourths,

girths, moths, deaths, smiths, fifths, lengths, months; (faiths, growths)

.y.: busy, cousin, easy, music, present, season;

esp. after prefixes ending in vowels before tonic: de'sire, de'sign, pre'serve, re'semble, re'sign

(but fortis in ‹dis-› & ‹mis-›: dismiss, disappoint; also after prefixes ending with consonant:

consider, insist, subside)

.C.: brother, either, father, mother, other, together, weather

fortis .r., .S. inside some not completely anglicized loan words, esp. ‹-sis, -sity, -sive,-sy›:

analysis, basis, crisis, curiosity, university, decisive, exclusive, hypocrisy, fantasy (?), episode,

isolate, philosophy, author, method, pathos, sympathy

‹th› = .s. in some words to be learned, particularly names: Anthony (RP; but GA = .S.!), Mathilda,

Thames, Theresa, Thomas, Thom(p)son, thyme

‹-se›,

verb ending on lenis: house, use, close, mouse; not paired: choose, lose, rise

noun/adj. on fortis: house, use, close, mouse; not paired: case, concise,

goose, loose

but vb./sb. both .,r.: purpose, crease; vb. only .,r.: cease

‹-the› always lenis

verb ending on lenis: bathe, breathe, clothe; loathe, seethe

(cf. also bequeath, betroth, mouth*)

noun/adj. on fortis: bath, breath, cloth; mouth

6.3.1.2.3. ‹x›: .jr.9 box, six, ox(en), exercise, exhibition, explanation, expect, explain

except immediately before vowel with main or secondary stress, then /gz/: exact, examine,

example, executive, exist, examination; also before silent ‹h›: exhaust, exhibit

but ‹-xc-›: except, excite .jr.

n.b. xylophone, xenon .y.

6.3.1.2.4. ‹ng›:

a) ‹-ng› = .M., also in derivatives except comparative/superlative of adj.:

hang, king, ring, young, sing(ing/er), long(ish), slang(y), strong(ly)

longer (person who longs!)

b) ‹ng› = .Mf. in comp./superl. of adj.: longer, -est etc.; but cunning(er): .M. !

also before ‹a, o, u, l, r› (sometimes before ‹e›) in words not derived from stems in

‹-ng›: bungalow, Hungary, Congo, language, finger, angle, single, England, singular, angry,

congress, linger, (war-, iron-, fish-)monger

c) ‹ng› = .mcY. in words in ‹-nge› & derivatives, also often in other words before ‹e, i, y›:

change(s/d/ing), orange, revenge, singe, strange(r); angel, danger, ginger, passenger, engine;

also: stingy

n.b., be prepared for rare surprises, e.g.:

OED: singer2 (!rHmcY?'q(). [f.  v. + -1.] One who or that which singes: 1875 K

Dict. Mech. 2187/1 Singer, an apparatus through which cotton or woolen goods are passed to relieve

them of their fluff, preparing them for the dyer.

6.3.1.2.5. silent consonants and semivowels

‹kn-› .m.: knee, knife, knock, knot, know

‹gn-› .m.: gnat, gnaw, gnome, gnu, gnostic (but agnostic .zf!mPrsHj.)

‹wr-› .q.: wrong, wrap, wreck, wretched, write, wrought, Wriothesley

‹wh-› .g. in who, whole, whore & compounds & derivatives;

otherwise .v. why, when, where, whop(per), whoopie, whiz

‹-gm, -gn› .l.+ .m. qdrodbshudkx: paradigm (but paradigmatic .,,cHf!lz,.), phlegm, feign, foreign,

sign (and derivatives)

‹-alf,- alv, alm, alk, olk›: ‹l› silent (‹a› mostly = .@9.) calf, half, calves, halves, calve, halve, salve*

(but salve .rzku., salvation .rzk!udH,.)

Lincoln, calm, napalm, palm, Holmes, Malcolm, salmon .!rzl?m., chalk, talk, walk, folk, yolk

‹-gh(-)› before ‹t› & final, usually silent: bought, caught, daughter, delight, eight, fight etc. etc.; bough,

dough, high, plough, sigh, through, weigh

but: .e.: cough, enough, laugh, rough, tough

‹-mb, -mn› and derivatives: ‹b› & ‹n› silent: bomb(er/ing), climb(er/ing), comb, dumb, lamb, numb(er)

(but number, timber, tumble: ‹b› not silent!); autumn (but autumnal), column, condemn(s/ed/ing),

damn, hymn, solemn

‹h-› silent in a few words esp. derived from French: heir, honest, honour also often in unstressed syll.:

prohi'bition (but pro'hibit!), exhibit, vehicle, Birmingham

‹r› in BE only pronounced before a pronounced vowel!

3-consonant rule: middle one in cluster of 3 consonants is usually elided, i.e. silent

Christmas, postman, bustle, castle, thistle, postpone, handsome, Windsor, sandwich; also .s. in

often .!Pemÿ., soften, fasten, hasten, listen

(n.b. more precise rule in Davis Ch 5)

6.3.2. MORPHEME LEVEL

6.3.2.1. ‹-ed›

.,c. after vowel, sonorant or lenis: loved, pleased, rubbed, called (but learned/learnt)

.,s. after fortis: fetched, hoped, passed

.Hc. after .c+ s.: decided, ended, hinted, wanted

also certain participial adjectives: aged, learned, naked, ragged, rugged, wicked, wretched

also in posttonic ‹-edly, -edness›: fixedly, markedness ; but: astonishedly, determinedly (postposttonic

here!)

6.3.2.2. ‹-(e)s›

.,y. after vowel, sonorant or lenis: dogs, girls, boys, loves, rubs, calls, Tom's

.,r. after fortis: cats, rocks, Jack's

.Hy. after .r+ y+ R+ Y+ cY+ sR.: buses, houses, bushes, matches, bridges, Rose's, chooses, fetches

but not after .S+ C.: months, moths, clothes, paths