ty endings.

Status
Not open for further replies.

EuroTeacher

New member
Joined
Dec 15, 2011
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
South Korea
Hi.

I'm a new teacher who recently did a Cambridge CELTA.

As part of the course it was mandatory to learn (and teach) the phonetic script (British English). I've kind of got to grips with it (as when I started my course I was an almost complete beginner).

Anyway, soon I have to teach students the difference between the endings of some of the numbers (which they regularly mispronounce) - for example; thirteen and thirty.

Upon putting 'thirty' into the Cambridge dictionary and looking at the phonetic transcription I notice that the ending is coming up as /i/ - this isn't a sound that was covered on the CELTA course (although I was told that there were 44 sounds in total and we 'learnt all 44'). So for the past 2 months I've been teaching my students the same. Now I'm faced with an 'extra' sound.

I guess the sound in question is somewhere between the long /i:/ sound in 'eat' and the short /ɪ/ sound in 'it'. So i'm initially wondering why this sound isn't shown on the Cambridge English official phonetic chart (and various others). As I guess having stated that there are 'only 44 sounds' I've now got to kind of say.........oh by the way, there's another.

Thanks for any insight.

* Yes, I also know this sound is on the end of lots of adjectives too (naughty etc.) Which makes it's 'omission' even more baffling.

 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
Hi.

I'm a new teacher who recently did a Cambridge CELTA.

As part of the course it was mandatory to learn (and teach) the phonetic script (British English). I've kind of got to grips with it (as when I started my course I was an almost complete beginner).

Anyway, soon I have to teach students the difference between the endings of some of the numbers (which they regularly mispronounce) - for example; thirteen and thirty.

Upon putting 'thirty' into the Cambridge dictionary and looking at the phonetic transcription I notice that the ending is coming up as /i/ - this isn't a sound that was covered on the CELTA course (although I was told that there were 44 sounds in total and we 'learnt all 44'). So for the past 2 months I've been teaching my students the same. Now I'm faced with an 'extra' sound.

I guess the sound in question is somewhere between the long /i:/ sound in 'eat' and the short /ɪ/ sound in 'it'. So i'm initially wondering why this sound isn't shown on the Cambridge English official phonetic chart (and various others). As I guess having stated that there are 'only 44 sounds' I've now got to kind of say.........oh by the way, there's another.

Thanks for any insight.

* Yes, I also know this sound is on the end of lots of adjectives too (naughty etc.) Which makes it's 'omission' even more baffling.
If "phonetic script (British English)" is based on IPA, and uses only those symbols needed for British English, then yes, since a /i:/ is a lengthened /i/, a /i/ would, in your system be a shortened /i:/
But does the Cambridge Dicitonary use "phonetic script (British English)" or does it use IPA?
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
/i/ (as in 'happy') and /u/ as in (to Africa') do not appear on some charts of English phonemes, because they are not phonemes. No minimal pairs exist for /i/ - /i:/, /ɪ/ - /i/, /ʊ/ - /u/, or /u/ - /u:/
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top