PRONUNCIATION from A [eI*]

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

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Workshop - LETTERS du JOUR -Workshop

PRONUNCIATION from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

Rocco Dal Vera University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

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PRONUNCIATION AUTHORITIES CONSULTED ......................................................................................................................3 INDEX TO LETTER DU JOUR ...................................................................................................................................................8

Letter du Jour A .....................................................................................................................................................11 [oe]/a, as in HAD.......................................................................................................................................................................11 [A]/ah, as in FATHER ...............................................................................................................................................................12 [O]/aw, as in LAWYER ..............................................................................................................................................................13 [eI*]/ay as in HAY ......................................................................................................................................................................13

Letter du Jour B......................................................................................................................................................17 [b]/b, as in BUBBLE ..................................................................................................................................................................17

Letter du Jour C .....................................................................................................................................................19 [tS]/ch, as in CHURCH ..............................................................................................................................................................19

Letter du Jour D .....................................................................................................................................................22 [d]/d, as in DREADED ..............................................................................................................................................................22

Letter du Jour E ......................................................................................................................................................25 [i]/ee as in HEED ......................................................................................................................................................................25 [E]/e as in HEAD.......................................................................................................................................................................26

Letter du Jour F ......................................................................................................................................................28 [f]/f as in FLUFF .......................................................................................................................................................................28

Letter du Jour G .....................................................................................................................................................30 [g]/g as in GIGGLE ...................................................................................................................................................................30

Letter du Jour H .....................................................................................................................................................33 [h]/h as in HOW .......................................................................................................................................................................33 [?j]/hy as in HUGE ...................................................................................................................................................................34

Letter du Jour I ......................................................................................................................................................36 [I]/i, as in HID ..........................................................................................................................................................................36 [?]/?, the "schwa", or neutral vowel.......................................................................................................................................37 [aI*]/i@, as in HIGH ......................................................................................................................................................................37

Letter du Jour J ......................................................................................................................................................40 [dZ]/j, as in JUDGE....................................................................................................................................................................40

Letter du Jour K .....................................................................................................................................................42 [k]/k, as in COOK .....................................................................................................................................................................42

Letter du Jour L ......................................................................................................................................................44 [l,:]/l, as in LULL.......................................................................................................................................................................44

Letter du Jour M ....................................................................................................................................................47 [m]/m, as in MAMMAL ............................................................................................................................................................47

Letter du Jour N .....................................................................................................................................................49 [n]/n, as in NANNY ..................................................................................................................................................................49 [N]/ng, as in SINGING ..............................................................................................................................................................49

Letter du Jour O .....................................................................................................................................................52 [oU*]/oh, as in HOE ....................................................................................................................................................................52 [aU*]/ow, as in HOW ..................................................................................................................................................................53 [OI*]/oi, as in HOIST ..................................................................................................................................................................53 [?]/o, as in HOT........................................................................................................................................................................54

Letter du Jour P ......................................................................................................................................................56 [p]/p, as in POPULAR ...............................................................................................................................................................56

Letter du Jour Q .....................................................................................................................................................59 Letter du Jour R .....................................................................................................................................................60 [r]/r, as in REWRITE.................................................................................................................................................................60 [?]/UR and [,,]/ur, as in MURMUR ["m?m,,] ...........................................................................................................................62 Letter du Jour S ......................................................................................................................................................66 [s]/s as in SERIOUSNESS ..........................................................................................................................................................66 [S]/sh, as in SHUSH ..................................................................................................................................................................68 Letter du Jour T .....................................................................................................................................................70 [t]/t, as in TOTALITY ...............................................................................................................................................................70 [T]/th, as in THING, & [D]/th, as in THIS................................................................................................................................72 Letter du Jour U .....................................................................................................................................................74 [u]/u, as in PRUNE....................................................................................................................................................................74 [U]/uu, as in PUT ......................................................................................................................................................................75 [?]/u, as in HUT .......................................................................................................................................................................75 Letter du Jour V .....................................................................................................................................................77 [v]/v, as in VALVE....................................................................................................................................................................77 Letter du Jour W ....................................................................................................................................................79 [w]/w, as in WITCH, & []/hw, as in WHICH .........................................................................................................................79 Letter du Jour X .....................................................................................................................................................81 Letter du Jour Y......................................................................................................................................................82 [?]/ee, as in EASY......................................................................................................................................................................82 [j]/y, as in YOU.........................................................................................................................................................................83 Letter du Jour Z ......................................................................................................................................................85 [z]/z, as in ZONES.....................................................................................................................................................................85 [Z]/zh, as in AZURE ..................................................................................................................................................................85 WORDS THAT CHANGE WITH USE.........................................................................................................................................87 GLOSSARY FOR LETTER DU JOUR ..........................................................................................................................................90

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

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Workshop - LETTERS du JOUR -Workshop P RONUNCI ATI ON from A [eI*] to Z

[zi]

Some pronunciations in the following section may strike you as so foreign that they just don't seem right. What if you are convinced the pronunciation dubbed "standard" is wrong? How did we pick standard

pronunciation? The following respected sources are used. There are 35 of them because each has certain strengths and many sources disagree. Pronunciation can be a contentious subject. Both Rocco and Bob (and almost every other actor) have at some time experienced shock in finding that our assumptions about "proper" speech are not necessarily shared by

the experts. In fact most of the words listed were chosen because they

gave us a jolt when we found out how they should be said.

Table LdJ .1 Pronunciation A uthorities

PRONUNCIATION AUTHORITIES CONSULTED

English Pronouncing

The Oxford English

The Oxford A merican

Dictionary, Daniel J ones

Dictionary, Sir A gustus

Dictionary

Henry Murray, et al., eds.

NBC Handbook of

A Dictionary of Modern

Merriam Webster's 9th New

Pronunciation, Eugene,

English Usage, H. W. Fowler Collegiate Dictionary

Ehrlich

A Dictionary of the English Speak With Distinction,

Ten Thousand Words: How

Language, J oseph Worcester Edith W. Skinner

to Pronounce Them,

J osephene Turck Baker

The Century Dictionary,

Webster's Collegiate

18,000 Words Often

William Whitney, Benjamin Dictionary

Mispronounced, W. H. P.

Smith

Pfyfe

The New Century

Desk-Book of 25,000 Words Webster's New International

Dictionary, H. G. Emery, K. Frequently Mispronounced, Dictionary

G. Brewster, eds.

Frank Vizetelly

Everyday Errors in

Common Errors in English The A merican College

Pronunciation, J ohn

and How to A void Them,

Encyclopedic Dictionary

Gilmartin

A lexander Witherspoon

A Pronouncing Dictionary The Winston Dictionary

Webster's Third New

of A merican English, J ohn

Internatiuonal Dictionary

Kenyon, Thomas Knott

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

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Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary

Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary

There is No Zoo in Zoology, and Other Beastly Mispronunciations, Charles Elster

The A merican Heritage Dictionary

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

Webster's New World Dictionary

The New York Times Everyday Reader's Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, and Mispronounced Words, Lawrence Urdang, ed. Shakespeare's Names, Helge K?keritz

The Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language Webster's New World Guide to Pronunciation, William Chisholm

Shakespeare's Pronunciation, Helge K?keritz

Note that charts refer to PREFERRED or STANDARD (the most elevated or

cultured of pronunciations) and to NON-STANDARD. They do not refer to RIGHT

and WRONG nor to CORRECT and INCORRECT pronunciation. What if it sounds

British to your ear? Some pronunciations may, but they are actually based on a

dialect called Elevated Standard. That is a stage dialect we will cover more fully

in Chapter 5. We assume that all actors wish to know the preferred

pronunciation of a word, and then make their own choices, depending on

different contexts they are in and characters they are playing. If you're doing a

voice-over for a medical video, you will want to say "respiratory" [rI."spaI*?*.r?.?tO?*.r?],

"cerebral" ["sE.r?.br?:], and "bulimia"[bju."lI.mI.?] in order to sound authoritative and

credible - even though many doctors don't say them that way. But, if those

words come up in an "After-School Special", the more commonly heard

pronunciation will probably be the better choice. Remember, good speech is

not about showing off, it is what communicates most effectively under the

circumstances. Good speech is what works.

The following workshop section has two primary goals:

A Workshop - Pronunciation from A [eI*] to Z [zi]

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1. to provide the tools for you to adjust toward a neutral, non-regional sound - when you wish to do so. Most student actors begin their studies with at least broadly regional, and possibly narrowly dialectal speech. 2. to assist you in eliminating common problems and stumbling blocks associated with each sound.

If you can adjust these influences at will, you have a much better chance at mastering all language. Instead of layering every other dialect on top of your own, thus creating a potentially hopeless muddle, you can start clean, without distraction. Instead of forcing each character to employ your own articulation style, you have choice. You can use as many or as few of your own speech tendencies as you wish.

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