While the SGT Keefe is giving good advice, he’s not helping.

I know there’s not always an English speaker around to help.

While English is very irregular, it does have some rules. Keep in mind that almost all the rules in English have exceptions, but I will try to help you with good “guesses”.

Notice if the word seems to have meaningful prefixes or suffixes that you have seen before. It is very rare that the sound of a prefix or suffix might vary; say that part as you have heard it before.

Examples:

Prefixes: pro- anti- sub- mani- super- con- inter- intra-

(notice that having heard these before you will not make mistakes with those that are familiar)

Suffixes: -tion -sion -ary -ative -ing

There are a few suffixes that have almost identical sounds:

-ar, -er, -ir, -or, -ur – If you hear a small difference, that’s ok.

And other suffixes like that:

-ous, -us, -ace, -ice

They have almost identical sounds because they are not emphasized or “stressed”: few people pay attention to pronouncing the vowel they see; they sort of say “uh” for the vowel.

If separating a prefix or suffix leaves you with just one or two letters, it is very likely that the word has fooled you. After taking off such “affixes”, what is left is usually called a “root”, with a meaning that is basic to the larger word. Very few “roots” are one or two letters; most are longer. You may have cut off too much and thought it was an affix. Maybe the affix is only 1 or 2 letters, and the root is larger.

Sometimes an entire word behaves like an affix, in which case we usually say the larger word is a compound word.

The root of a word USUALLY retains its pronunciation inside or outside a larger word. You may recognize MOST roots, and you know how to say them. Sometimes a root does not stand as a word, itself, but you recognize it as familiar from other words built from that root.

Example:

disintegration – after “dis”, the rest of the word has its usual pronunciation.

militaristic – you probably know the sound of “military”.

pronunciation – WARNING – do you see that the beginning of the word is spelled differently from “pronounce”? This is a clue that the sound is a little different also!

business – again, do you see that the “y” of “busy” has been replaced by “i”? Another clue to a different pronunciation!

bronchial – if you know a little biology, you see most of the root, “bronchus”, so you know how to pronounce the “ch” here, like the letter “k”.

auditorium – has a standard suffix, “-um”, and a common root, “audit”, and another standard suffix, “-ory”, slightly modified, giving you a clue as to the small change in pronunciation from “ory”. The suffix “um” comes from Latin, so don’t ask me its meaning, except I think it makes something into a noun.

When words are put together to make compound words, each word part USUALLY keeps the sound it had as a simple word.

Examples:

superstructure – do you see the two words inside? The whole word is pronounced EXACTLY as the two simple words, together.

layover – two simple words, put together with no change in pronunciation.

Sometimes a compound word troubles the reader because you think you see a small word inside that really is not there. The mistake is that you have mentally separated the parts of the word in the wrong way. The more confusing, the more likely you have to divide the word differently.

Example:

posthole – you may think that “pos” or “thole” is a word, but what remains is even more confusing! Just split it differently, and it should be clearer how to pronounce it:

post hole

Using these general rules, especially recognizing the root portion of a word and pronouncing the root correctly, will usually give you a method of pronouncing the larger words.

Also, when the root is understood by the speaker, it is usual to put the emphasis (the stronger sound) on the root, and let the affixes receive less stress.

One IMPORTANT EXCEPTION: If the root has no long vowel sounds, but an affix DOES have a long vowel sound, the long vowel usually receives the emphasis.

The long vowel sounds are “a” as in “aim”, “e” as in “ear”, “i” as in “ice”, “o” as in “ode”, and “u” as in “use” .

Example of the exception:

Information – the “a” is long, so it receives the emphasis, and the root, “inform”, does not.

Vowel pairs may have one sound or two sounds together.

But, there are always some exceptions to the rule and the sounds!

aa ae ai <- these pairs have one sound, long "a" ao - one sound, mostly from non-English names, like Paolo. au - one sound, like "aw" ea ee <- both sound like long "e", the "e" as in "eel". ei <- usually has the sound of long "i" because the combination is often from German words. Example: feisty eo <- long "e" followed by "o" eu <- long "u", as in "feud" ia <- an "i" followed by "a". Note: the "i" may be "short" or "long". ie <- long "e" io <- can combine with a preceding "c", "s", or "t" for a unique sound followed by "o" or "uh", or may be "i" followd by "o". iu <- usually sounds like an understressed "i" followed by "u" oa, oe <- "o", except in words taken directly from other languages. oi <- one sound, as in "boil" oo <- one sound, but it varies with the word Exceptions: coop (short for cooperate) coopt (also spelled co-opt) coordinate, and related words. ou <- one sound, which varies with whether is it stressed or not. ua <- one sound, like "wa", or two sounds, like "ooh-a" ue <- one sound ui <- one sound, which varies with the word Examples: built, fruit, guide Exception: intuit uo <- two sounds uu <- two sounds if pronounced correctly: long "u" then short "u"; often pronounced as long "u" alone. "h", if it follows another consonant, almost always changes that sound to something very different. "h" combines in this way with "c", "g", "p", "s", "t", and "w" In English words, "qu" has the sound of "kw" if at the beginning or middle of words, or "k" if at the end of words. If you see a word that does not lend itself to this kind of analysis, it is VERY likely that the entire word is from a different language. Consider that possibility, and if, necessary, ask a well-educated person "What language is this one word in?" The answer sometimes helps you pronounce it! Examples: discotheque - Because this is French, the "th" is pronounced like "t". zeitgeist - Because this is German, the "g" is a hard "g", not the soft "j" of English, and the sound of the "ei" combination is a bit unusual for English.

American English evolved in isolation from other dialects, due to America’s physical remoteness and the fact that at the time, cross-Atlantic communications were very slow and infrequent. The “correct” spelling is the one that is regarded as such by linguistic authorities in the country concerned. In America, this is usually considered to be Webster’s Dictionary, whereas in England it is the Oxford Dictionary. It was actually envisaged at one point that British English would adopt the -or spelling for words of Latin origin, but keep the -our spelling for words of French origin. In Australia, both are considered acceptable, and while -our is much more common, some media outlets have always used the -or spelling.

Hon, you probably can’t because there are so many words that even English speakers as a first language cannot even hope to pronounce. Just don’t worry about it, if a word or two get mixed up just ask for the correct pronunciation from whomever you are speaking, they should be glad to help.

Jesteele, I am a she, I am a female Vietnam Veteran and proud of it!

Check the American Heritage Dictionary. It is free and they have a computer voice that will pronounce the word for you. It is a little mechanical and the inflection is not perfect but it is free. Merriam Webster on line also offers a subscription which also entitles you to a word pronouncer.

Finally I would look into a program like Dragon Speaking (approximate name) which is normally used for transcribing speech to computer words. If it a has a reverse function, you might be able to listen to whole sentences.

if you know how to spell it (or even if you don’t), http://www.m-w.com has audio pronunciations for most words

there are basic phonetic rules but English is the hardest language to learn, in part because for every rule, they say there are a thousand exceptions.

Well, you can’t can you.

You have to hear the word first, not just read it.

.

www.bartleby.com/61

has phonic dictionary you may find useful.good luck