1 a p as in pip – if the vocal cords were to vibrate, the sound would be b; the point of

obstruction is the lips.

b θ as in thin – ð with vibration; obstruction at teeth.

c n as in nose – obstruction at alveolar ridge.

2

PLACE

a p: bilabial plosive

b ð: dental fricative

c n: alveolar nasal

3 m: voiced d: voiced b: voiced g: voiced t: voiceless th (thy): voiced th (thigh): voiceless

A voiced bilabial nasal is m. A voiceless alveolar stop is t.

6 Learner English by Swan and Smith (2001) is a good source of information on comparative phonology.

7 b/v = ban/van; bat/vat; berry/very; best/vest; boat/vote; curb/curve; robe/rove …

t/θ = tie/thigh; tin/thin; taught/thought; tree/three; true/threw; fate/faith; boat/both …

ʧ/ʤ = chest/jest; chin/gin; choke/joke; etch/edge; rich/ridge …

8 The exercise is designed to contrast s and θ. One possible exploitation might be as a discrimination exercise – the words in the exercise are read aloud in a random order and the learners simply have to indicate if the word they hear contains s or θ by saying (or writing) ‘one’ or ‘two’. (This is often called a ‘minimal pairs test’.) Once learners seem familiar with the distinction, they could then practise the exercise in pairs, one saying the word and the other identifying the sound.

9 a This activity contrasts the commonly confused consonant sounds: ʃ, ʧ, ʤ and j, as in show, choke, joke, and yolk, respectively. The focus is on both production and recognition.

b This activity focuses on sequences of two or more consonants, known as consonant clusters. These can be particularly problematic for speakers of languages that have few such clusters, or whose language permits certain combinations but not others. (The study of the permitted sound combinations in a language is called phonotactics.) The activity focuses on both recognition (i.e. listening to the recorded sounds) and production.

c This activity focuses on the consonant sounds that indicate the past tense of regular verbs. Since these also occur in clusters, and since they have an important effect on meaning, they merit attention. The activity focuses both on recognition (listening) and production (repetition and personalization).