English Pronunciation for Hebrew Speakers

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Areas of Difficulty for Hebrew Speakers
Consonants:

I.              /s/ vs. /z/:

Hebrew speakers of English often tend to devoice the /z/ in plural nouns. There are three morphophonemic rules that determine the pronunciation of the plural marker ‘-s’. They are:

·      When the –s is preceded by a voiceless consonant, it is pronounced /s/
·      When the –s is preceded by a voiced consonant, it is pronounced /z/
·      When the –s is preceded by a sibilant, it is pronounced /Iz/

Now practice examples of each of the above rules:

cats            boats    kicks    lofts     rats      fats      coats    pots    
dogs          loads    girls     leaves  rods     fads     codes   pals
judges        beaches            leashes             churches          marshes 

II.            /t/:

Pronounce the /t/ sound in word-initial, medial, and final position. Be sure to aspirate it in word-initial position and in consonant clusters. Do not touch the upper teeth with the blade of your tongue. Make sure that the tip of your tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge.

Tackle        tangle               tango               tickle                trace
Between    automatic         fleeting            instigate           litigate
Want          lint                   flint                  stunt                mart
Stand         strand              start                 stride               stake

III.         /d/:

Pronounce the /d/ sound in word-initial, medial, and final position. Do not aspirate this sound in word-initial position and in consonant clusters, and do not touch the upper teeth with the blade of your tongue. Make sure that the tip of your tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge.

Dollar        dealer               denigrate          dissuade          diligent
Murder      harder              glider               adult                bladder
Stride         crowd              broad               scrod               greed
                              Strand        blind                bland               blonde             scald

IV.          /s/ vs. /z/:

Hebrew speakers tend to devoice the English /z/ and pronounce it as /s/. Practice pronouncing the following minimal pairs, paying special attention to the /z/ in different positions:

Sue/zoo     seal/zeal           sink/zinc          sip/zip              sing/zing

Bus/buzz   muscle/muzzle             brace/braise                 grace/graze

V.            Final /z/:

Hebrew speakers of English tend to devoice the English /z/ in word final position.  Practice pronouncing the /z/ in the following words.  Be sure not to pronounce it as /s/:

browse      close    because            cause   raise     braise   pays     lays 
maize         amaze  raise                 graze    blaze    freeze   seize    days

VI.          /w/ vs. /v/:

Distinguish between the two sounds in the following minimal pairs. When you pronounce the /v/, be sure to bite your lower lip with your upper teeth:

Wail           West                wine                went                weal         wile veil                  vest                  vine                 vent           veal           vile

VII.       /th/:

When you pronounce this sound, touch the upper teeth with the blade of your tongue. Practice pronouncing this sound in different phonological environments as follows:

therapy                  third     thick    thin      theme   thistle   thank   thirst
anthropology         birthday           misanthrope     anther  bathroom
birth           mirth    breath  bath     froth sloth        hearth breadth

VIII.     ‘-ed’ deletion:

Pronounce the final ‘-ed’ in the following words clearly. Be sure you do not delete it when you pronounce these words:

Wanted      waited     rated     situated     narrated     hated     mated
Guided      waded      padded         loaded  raided  handed     graded        

IX.          Initial /p/:

Hebrew speakers often pronounce this aspirated consonant in word initial position as an unaspirated consonant. Remember to aspirate this sound in word initial position in the following words:

Paint          pencil   posture            pastel               point    police   polite
Ponder       peel      pesky               petrified           pants    puzzle  poise
Pounce      pound  pent                 painter             past      peek     peep           

X.            /t/ vs. /th/:

Hebrew speakers often have difficulty distinguishing between the /t/ & /th/. Touch the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue when you pronounce the /t/, and touch the back of your upper teeth with the blade of your tongue when you pronounce the /  /.

tank           tick      tree      bat       pat       clot      Burt     fort     fraught 
thank         thick    three    bath     path     cloth    birth     forth   froth 

XI.          /r/:

Hebrew speakers of English pronounce the English /r/ in word initial position as /h/, because in Hebrew the /r/ is a glottal sound. Pronounce the /r/ in word initial position clearly by raising the tip of your tongue towards the alveolar ridge, but be sure not to touch it.

research     rehearsal          restrain            remain             reproach
rebuild       restore             remnant           reasonable       rooster
roasted       rephrase           reminisce         repressed         remonstrate

XII.       /t/ vs. /tS/

Hebrew speakers tend to have difficulty discriminating between these consonants.  Distinguish between these sounds in the following minimal pairs:
time           till        bat       tin        lat        hat       tide
chime         chill     batch    chin     latch     hatch    chide

Vowels:            
I.   /^/ vs. /a:/:
Practice pronouncing the following minimal pairs, distinguishing between the above vowels:

curt                       hurt                  bird                  herd                 Bert      cart                 heart                Bard                hard          Bart

II. /^/ vs. /ou/:
Practice pronouncing the two vowels in the following minimal pairs carefully:

curt           herd                 bird      must    first      mud     bust     
court         hoard               board   most    forced  mode   boast

III. /au/:
Hebrew speakers often have difficulty pronouncing this diphthong in English. They sometimes pronounce it as /^/. Be sure to pronounce this sound clearly in the following words, making the transition from /a:/ to /u/:

scowl                    howl                foul                  browse            house mouse               frown              mound             astound      brown  

IV.  /  / 
Hebrew speakers tend to pronounce this vowel as /a:/.  Pronounce this vowel in the following words as clearly as you can:

brag          frat       embarrassed    brat      last       fast      mast     haggle
haggard    blast     scald                grand   grant    scant    plant    gland

V.  /I/ vs. /^/ 
When you pronounce these vowels, try not to substitute /I/ for /^/ and vice versa. Distinguish between these vowels in the following minimal pairs:

list            gist      mist     hint      wrist    kill       nil        mill      silk
lust           just      must    hunt     rust      cull      null      mull     sulk
       

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