Pronunciation Focus Lesson Twenty-One (Consonant Lesson Nine: Mote and Note)

Transcription

1 1 Pronunciation Focus Lesson Twenty-One (Consonant Lesson Nine: Mote and Note) M and N are known as nasal consonants. This is because when we pronounce them, air flows out through the nose rather than the mouth. How the sounds are made (the manner of articulation): As we learned in the last lesson, the velum is that part of the roof of the mouth that is found at the back of the mouth, close to the throat. It is soft and muscular, and it can move. In Latin, velum means sail or curtain, and indeed the velum functions like a curtain. When we swallow, the velum draws up and closes off the passageway to the nose to prevent food or fluids from going up into the nose. The velum is also drawn closed when we pronounce most of the other sounds of English, since these sounds involve air flowing out through the mouth rather than the nose. But when we pronounce the nasal consonants (M, N and NG), the velum stays open so that air can flow up and out through the nose. At the same time, we move parts of our mouth to prevent air from flowing out through the mouth. So all of the air flows out through the nose. Where the sounds are made (the place of articulation): M is a bilabial consonant. The word bilabial means both lips. We make this sound pressing the top and bottom lip together, as we do when we pronounce B and P. For all these sounds (B, P, and M), the tongue stays out of the way, simply resting along the floor of the mouth its usual position when our mouths are relaxed. N is an alveolar consonant. This means we make this sound pressing the tip of our tongue against the roof of the mouth just behind the upper front teeth, as we do when we pronounce D and T. For all these sounds (N, D and T), our mouths are slightly open, leaving some space between our upper and lower teeth.

2 2 Experiments. The purpose of these experiments is to help you become aware of the way in which air and sound flow out through your nose when you pronounce the M and N nasal sounds. First, simply make a long humming MMM sound, and then a long NNN sound. Then, for the sake of comparison, make a long hissing SSS sound. For M and N, all the air should flow out through your nose; by contrast, for S, all the air should flow out through your mouth. Do this again: MMM, then NNN, then SSS. But this time use one finger to hold one nostril shut. With only one nostril open, you should become more aware of the air flowing out for M and N. If you pinch your nose and hold both nostrils shut, you won t be able to breathe out at all, and you won t be able to make any sound at all, either! For S, whether you hold one or both nostrils shut, it won t make any difference. Using thumb and index finger, grab the edge of a sheet of paper, placing your thumbs about two inches apart. Then hold the edge of the paper directly under your nose. Make these three sounds again: MMM, then NNN, then SSS. For M and N, you should be able to feel your breath flowing out against the paper, and you should be able to feel the paper vibrate between your fingers or against your nose. Again, for S, having the paper there won t make any difference. One last time, say MMM, then NNN, then SSS. As you do so, lightly press your fingers against your face on either side of your nose. For M and N, you should be able to feel the bone vibrating under your fingertips. For S, you won t feel any vibration at all. Note: For all of these experiments, you will feel more vibrations around the nose if you hum at a higher musical pitch. For lower musical pitches, the vibrations tend to stay around your vocal cords, around your throat, and may even drop into your chest. Experiment with a variety of musical pitches to see what differences you may notice. The main point of this lesson is that playing with the musical, humming quality of M and N can make your speech much more expressive.

3 3 M, B and P. As noted above, we make the M sound with upper and lower lip pressed together in much the same position used for B and P. To recall the position for B and P, say Bad and Pad. You should tuck in your lips a little bit to cover your teeth as you press them lightly together. Remember also to build up some air pressure behind your closed lips before you release the stop with a little burst of air. Now say Mad, using the same position for your lips, tucking them in a little bit to cover your teeth. Exaggerate the M sound, saying something like MMMad. During the triple MMM, use the same kind of energy you did to get a little explosion out of B and P, but now use the energy to get a feeling of vibration in your lips and teeth. Imagine that you re pushing the energy forward to send a signal out into the space in front of you. Now practise combining M and B. This will help you get the sense of pushing the vibration from your vocal cords forward into your teeth and lips and then out into the world. Use double MM or triple MMM to give you enough time to feel the vibration before you send it out. ember humble embarrass ambitious Before B or P, the prefixes un- (as in unfit ) and in- (as in inform ) become im- or em-, since the position of the lips is much the same. Practise these words, again using double or triple M s. imbalanced imperfect imbibe impose not balanced not perfect to drink in to place on or in

4 4 N, D and T. As noted above, we make the N sound with the tip of the tongue pressed up against the roof of the mouth just behind the upper front teeth in much the same position used for D and T. To recall the position for D and T, say Done and Tonne. Remember to build up some air pressure behind your tongue before you release the stop with a little burst of air. Now say None, using the same position for your tongue. Exaggerate the N sound, saying something like NNNone. During the triple NNN, use the same kind of energy you did to get a little explosion out of D and T, but now use the energy to get a feeling of vibration in your tongue and upper front teeth. Imagine that you re pushing the energy forward to send a signal out into the space in front of you. Now practise combining N and D. This will help you get the sense of pushing the vibration from your vocal cords forward into your tongue and teeth and then out into the world. Use double NN or triple NNN to give you enough time to feel the vibration before you send it out. ending thunder indeed condone Before D or T, prefixes get spelt with an N, since the position of the tongue is much the same. Practise these words, again using double or triple N s. indecent intolerant induce entrap not decent not tolerant to lead in to trap in

5 5 In general, whatever letter follows, when M or N fall at the end of a syllable, you will do well to practise doubling the length of M or N. Here are some more words to practise: Practise double MM am-bitious am-phibian im-prove am-nesia em-pathy Practise double NN sin-cere an-tique in-quire fan-tastic en-vious Verb tenses and plurals Recall that nabbed is pronounced nabd and that napped is pronounced napt. That s because the voiced consonant B goes together with voiced D, and the voiceless consonant P goes together with voiceless T. Recall also that since B is a voiced consonant, the preceding vowel gets its full length, but that since P is voiceless, it clips the preceding vowel short and raises the musical pitch. Much the same thing happens for M and N. Before the D sound, M and N get their full length; you might even say they get double the length. In contrast, before the T sound, M and N get clipped short, and the musical pitch goes up. Practise these contrasting pairs. [SCROLL DOWN]

6 6 Full or double length before D Clipped short with higher pitch before T slammed cramped crampt dimmed limped limpt condemned condemd dreamt succumbed succumd bumped bumpt bombed bomd stomped stompt spend combined contained owned band hundred spent pint restraint don t pant hunter [SCROLL DOWN]

7 7 Since M and N are both voiced consonants, S after M or N always gets pronounced as a Z sound. clams clamz plans planz thumbs thumz stuns stunz times timez lines linez Nonetheless, words that end in nce are pronounced with an S sound. Such words sound almost exactly the same as words that end in nts. In both sorts of words, the N sound is fairly short in comparison to the relatively long NZ or NDZ sound Short Short Long Long NS NTS NNZ NDZ dance plants plans dunce runts runs wince squints pins pounce mounts pounds pints wines finds fence rents lens lends

8 8 A similar comparison can be made between NCH and NGE words. Short N branch lunch pinch Long NN strange lunge hinge Finally, words that end in MP show a fairly short M sound in comparison to words that end in M alone or MB. In words of the second type, the B is always silent. Short M damp hemp dump limp romp Long M dam hem thumb limb womb