Popular errors in English among IT professionals. Part 2: Pronunciation

My article “Popular Mistakes in English among IT Professionals” gathered a lot of comments with useful additions. And I decided to release the second part, now dedicated to Pronunciation .

1) The pronunciation of the following words causes a number of difficulties or awkward situations , so it makes sense to learn how to pronounce them correctly. Some of these words can be grouped to facilitate memorization.

• group [ɡr uː p] - not an OU, but a long U.
• fact [fækt] factor [ˈfæktər]. , , “ ”.
• key — , , [kiː]
• service [ˈsɜːrvɪs] notice [ˈnoʊtɪs] — .
• JSON — , [ˈdʒeɪ sən]
• enter [ˈentər] delete [dɪˈliːt], event [ɪˈvent], evil [ɪvl]
• hundred [ˈhʌndrəd] G D hungred. .
• to accept [əkˈsept], acceptable. - , .
• receipt — [rɪˈsiːt] recipe [ˈresəpi]
• item [ˈaɪtəm], , .
• X-ray [ˈeks reɪ] X-men [ˈeks men]. ( ), .
• header [ˈhedər], .
• purchase [ˈpɜːrtʃəs] — .
• scheme — .

2) For the Russian language is characterized by stunning voiced consonants, if they are in the end of the sentence (to Dr. sounds like to t ). However, this habit of Russian-speaking students leads to a distortion of the meaning in English, since in English the voiced consonant at the end of the word must be pronounced as voiced , and in no case be stunned.

• blog [ˈblɒ ɡ ] vs block [blɒ k ]
• bag vs back
• bugs [bʌ ɡz ] vs bucks [bʌ ks ]
• eggs vs ex
• big
• dig

3) Having seen the letter a , English learners want to pronounce it as [ʌ] , but very often it is pronounced as [æ] , and with the sound [ʌ] the meaning completely changes.

• ban [bæn] — , vs bun [bʌn] —
• fan [fæn] — , vs fun [fʌn] —

Also noteworthy is the word plan, planning , which is also unfairly like to pronounce with the sound ʌ, but should be [pl æ n].

4) Russian-speaking students are accustomed in Russian to soften consonants if they are followed by vowels (ball - “m” is soft, pronounced [m], flax - [e]). In English, consonants are NOT softened . Often you can hear the word opportunity, ability, where “l” and “t” are pronounced as [e], [t] (in Russian). To cope with this difficulty, one can imagine that after “l” comes “s” , and not “and”. (ebony). Also worth remembering that [p], [t], [k] pronounced with the breathy[ph], [th], [kh] - add a subtle sound [h]. For example:

• opportunity [ɑːpərˈtjuːnəti]
• possibility
• probability
• ability
• necessity
• likely, unlikely
• medicine

5) The combination of letters ch usually gives the sound Ch - [tʃ] :

• channel, challenge, church, chase, chain, cheer, charity, charming, chance etc.

However, in some cases, ch is pronounced as K - [k] :

• character, technical, chemistry, chemical, archive, architect, archeology, hierarchy, charisma, echo, chaos [ˈkeɪɑːs], anchor, stomach, monarchy

In rare cases, ch is pronounced as Sh - [ʃ] :

• chef [ʃef], chivalry, chagrin

6) In general, there are a lot of long and difficult to pronounce words in English that you want to know.

• acquaintances [əkweɪntənsəz] - familiar
• circumstances [ˈsɝːkəmˌstænsəz] - circumstances
• consequences [ˈkɑːnsəˌkwensəz] - consequences
• subsequently [ˈsʌbsɪkwəntli] - subsequently
• conscience [ˈkɑːnʃəns] - conscience
• conscious [ˈkɑːnʃəs] - conscious

7) In many words there are letters that are NOT pronounced :

• L is not pronounced in salmon [ˈsæmən], almond [ˈɑːmənd], half, palm, talk, walk, calm, etc.
• Scene [siːn], scenario, science, scent, muscles - SC combination reads as S
• T is not pronounced in listen, hustle, wrestle, Christmas, moisten, fasten, etc.
• Often can be pronounced in two ways - either with or without T
• H is not pronounced honest, hour, heir, etc.
• K is not pronounced in knock, knees, know, knowledge, knife, knot, knit, knight, etc.
• P is not pronounced in the words psychology, psychiatrist, pseudo, pneumonia, etc.
• B is not pronounced thumb, numb, bomb, climb, doubt, subtle, plumber, lamb, comb, dumb, debt, etc.

Thank you for the attention! I will be glad to answer any questions.