Difference between revisions of "Decoding the letter U"
(→As /ʌ/: un+vowel) |
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Ending in "logue": | Ending in "logue": | ||
* analogue - catalogue - dialogue - epilogue - monologue - prologue | * analogue - catalogue - dialogue - epilogue - monologue - prologue | ||
+ | |||
+ | With [[magic e]]: | ||
+ | *fugue - vogue | ||
In American English the following spellings are also used: | In American English the following spellings are also used: |
Revision as of 03:00, 28 August 2016
cure /kjʊər/ |
nurse /nɜːrs/ |
cute /kjuːt/ |
strut /strʌt/ |
The letter U (lowercase u, pronounced /juː/), as most vowel letters in English, had initially four main pronunciations; however in Received Pronunciation they are currently eight and in General American there are seven.
- So-called “short u”, IPA phoneme /ʌ/, as in strut, run, running or hurryBrE
- So-called “long u”, with two possibilities
- IPA phonetic sequence /juː/, as in cute, student, assume, or assuming
- IPA phoneme /uː/, as in rule, ruling, conclusion or flu
- Long "ur" monophthong (short vowel spelling), IPA phoneme /ɜː/, as in nurse, fur, furry or hurryAmE
- Long vowel "ur" spelling, with two possibilities and several sounds
- With /j/
- Without /j/
- Traditional pronunciation, as in sure, tourist: IPA phoneme /ʊə/BrE or /ʊ/AmE
- Newer pronunciation IPA phoneme /ɔː/BrE (sure, tourist) or /ɜː/AmE (sure)
U also can be pronounced /ʊ/ as in full and /w/ as in quit, plus other, less common pronunciations, sometimes in combination with other letters, and, of course, it can be used as schwa. There are some helpful rules (to be taken with the habitual pinch of salt).
It is also very much one of those cases in which teachers, whichever their preferences might be, need to point out the differences between RP (/juː/) and American (/uː/) pronunciations regarding, particularly with words like due or nude. This is also explained at "Yod dropping"" in the IPA phonetic sequence /juː/ article.
As /juː/ or /uː/
æ | ɑː | |
trap | father - start | |
e | eɪ | eə |
dress | face | square |
ɪ | iː | ɪə |
kit | fleece | near |
ɒ | əʊ | ɔː |
lot | goat | taught |
ʊ | uː | ʊə |
foot | goose | mature |
juː | jʊə | |
cute | cure | |
ʌ | ə | ɜː |
strut | comma | nurse |
aɪ | aʊ | ɔɪ |
price | mouth | choice |
Normal sound: /b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, z/ | ||
ʃ | tʃ | ŋ |
show | church | sing |
ʒ | dʒ | j |
usual | judge | you |
θ | ð | s |
think | that | see |
IPA | Stress |
---|---|
ˈ | Primary stress hotel /həʊˈtel/ |
ˌ | Secondary stress understand /ˌʌndərˈstænd/ |
IPA | Syllabification |
---|---|
. | nitrate /ˈnaɪ.treɪt/, night-rate /ˈnaɪt.reɪt/ |
See main articles IPA phoneme /uː/ and IPA phonetic sequence /juː/.
The letter U can represent the sounds /juː/ or /uː/ depending on the previous consonant.
Always /juː/
Initially and after /b, f, g, h, k, m, p/ and /v/ the letter U sounds /juː/
- Initially /juː/: unit - unite - university
/bjuː/ | /fjuː/ | /gjuː/ | /hjuː/ | /kjuː/ | /mjuː/ | /pjuː/ | /vjuː/ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"u" + magic e | distribute | refuse | legume | huge | cube - excuse | amuse - mute | compute | ovule (of plants) |
"u" + consonant + vowel | distribution | confusion - future | argument | human - humor | accumulate - Cuba - occupy | community - music - stimulate | computer |
Exception
- as /uː/: recuperate
Depending on the accent
After /d, n, s, t, θ/ and /z/ U sounds /juː/ in Received Pronunciation and /uː/ in General American
/djuː/ or /duː/ | /njuː/ or /nuː/ | /sjuː/ or /suː/ | /tjuː/ or /tuː/ | /θjuː/ or /θuː/ | /zjuː/ or /zuː/ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"u" + magic e | dude - introduce - reduce | nude - nuke | assume - consume | attitude - substitute - tube - tune | presume - resume | |
"u" + consonant + vowel | duty | nutrition | consumer | opportunity - student - tuna | enthusiasm |
Exceptions
- Always /juː/: annual - manual - menu
Always /uː/
After /dʒ, l, r, ʃ/ and /tʃ/ U represents /uː/.
/dʒuː/ | /luː/ | /ruː/ | /ʃuː/ | /tʃuː/ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"u" + magic e | June | conclude | rude - rule | chute - parachute | |
"u" + consonant + vowel | conclusion - illuminate | imprudent | actuate | ||
"u" in the last syllable | flu | truth |
Exceptions:
- /juː/: volume
As /ʊ/
See main article IPA phoneme /ʊ/.
- "u" + final consonant: put;
- "u" + two consonants: bull - bullet - bush - cushion - full - pull - push
As /ʌ/
See main article IPA phoneme /ʌ/.
- "u" + final consonants: bun - but - cup - discuss - fun - just - lunch - much - run - sun - up
- "u" + double consonant: butter - funny - runny - suffer - summer - sunny - tummy
- "u" + two consonants: hungry - judge - number - public - trumpet - uncle - under
- "u" + single consonant: study
- The prefix "un": unable - unemployed - unusual
As /w/
See main article IPA phoneme /w/.
- with "g": anguish - distinguish - Guatemala - language - linguistics - Nicaragua /ˌnɪkəˈrɑːgwə,AmE ˌnɪkəˈræɡjʊəBrE/ - Paraguay - penguin - Uruguay
- with "q": acquire - consequence - equal - equipment - quality - quarter - question - quick - quickly - quiet - quite - quote - request - require - requirement
- with "s": persuade - suite
As schwa
See main article Schwa.
- as "-ure": figure /ˈfɪɡər/,BrE /ˈfɪɡjər/AmE
- as "-ture": adventure - creature - feature - future - nature - picture - structure - temperature
- others: minuscule - molluscBrE/molluskAmE - opossum - Saturday - supply - support - virus
Silent U
- Antigua /ænˈtiːɡə/ - buoy - guarantee - guard - guardian - guess - guide - Guinea /ˈgɪnɪ/ - Guinnes /ˈgɪnɪs/ - guilty - guitar
See also "Silent ue" and "ui as /ɪ/" below.
Others
- As /ɪ/: business - busy - lettuce - minute (60 seconds)
Combined with vowels
As "ue"
- As /uː/: blue - issue - tissue - sue - true
- As /juː/: argue - continue - due - revenue - Tuesday - value
Silent "ue"
- antique - cheque - colleague - conquer - league - technique - tongue - unique
Ending in "logue":
- analogue - catalogue - dialogue - epilogue - monologue - prologue
With magic e:
- fugue - vogue
In American English the following spellings are also used:
- analog - catalog - dialog - epilog - monolog - prolog
As "ui"
See main article Pronunciation exercises: "ui".
- as /uː/: bruise - cruise - fruit - juice - lawsuit - suit - suitable - suitcase;
- as /ɪ/: biscuit - build - built - circuit;
Combined with "r"
See also as schwa above.
As /ɜː/
See main article /ɜː/.
- blur - burn - curb - curl - curling - curly - furniture - hurt - surgeon - Thursday - turn - urban - urgent
As /ʌ,BrE ɜːAmE/
- currency - current - hurry
As /jʊə/
- cure - pure - secure
As /ʊə/
- mature
As /ʊə/ or /ɔː/
- assure - ensure - insure - sure[1]
As /e/
- bury
Homophones
See main article Homophone.
- blue - blew; bury - berry; flu - flew; sun - son
Heteronyms
See main article Heteronym.
- minute: 60 seconds /ˈmɪnɪt/, very small /maɪˈnjuːt/
Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1
Preconceived ideas and other interferences from L1 obviously interfere in many cases with how students perceive - and pronounce - sounds/words in English. The following sections aims to point out some of the most typical difficulties teachers and students may encounter regarding pronunciation.
Spanish
See Pronunciation exercises: /uː/ vs /ʊ/#Spanish
See also
- Vowel
- Pronunciation exercises: /ʌ/ vs /æ/
- Pronunciation exercises: /uː/ vs /ʊ/
- Pronunciation exercises: "au"
- Pronunciation exercises: "eu"
- Pronunciation exercises: "ou"