SPEECH EXAM

• Vowel sounds in English can be classified into vowels, consonants, and diphthongs
• Vowels are voiced sounds produced without obstruction of the oral cavity or constriction of the breath stream
• Vowel sounds include /u/, /ɔ/, /ʌ/, & /ʊ/
• /u/:

  • Long sound
  • Front of tongue: high
  • Lips: rounded
  • Tongue portion: back
• Words to practice for /u/: food, blue, smoother, mute, ooze, bloom, cube, shoot, rune, rude, school, root, tooth, YouTube, fool
• Graded Speech Drill #1 for /u/:

  • Words: student, group, through
  • Sentence: They were far apart enough that is why they had their own social groups
• Graded Speech Drill #2 for /u/:

  • Words: food, cool, hood
  • Sentence: It's kind of like making your mouth water when you see food
• Graded Speech Drill #3 for /u/:

  • Words: prove, suit, June
  • Sentence: If we prove right in our judgments, that would bear out in how events transpire
• /ɔ/:

  • Long sound
  • Front of tongue: middle
  • Lips: slightly rounded
  • Tongue portion: back
• Words to practice for /ɔ/: ought, long, before, caught, morning, also, thought, always, alternative, talk, already, daughter, walk, accord, sought
• Graded Speech Drill #4 /ɔ/:

  • Words: ought, caught, talk
  • Sentence: Normally, that ought to be a sure sign to someone like me that I really ought to forget about it
• Graded Speech Drill #5 /ɔ/:

  • Words: thought, always, also
  • Sentence: His religious and political beliefs are not always separable from each other
• Graded Speech Drill #6/ɔ/:

  • Words: morning, before, alternative
  • Sentence: A morning-glory vine hanging from a guy wire stirs, like a heavy curtain, in the cool morning breeze
• /ʌ/:

  • Short sound
  • Front of tongue: middle
  • Lips: slightly open
  • Tongue portion: central
• Words to practice for /ʌ/: upper, bus, hustle, tub, judge, bustle, fun, money, Sunday, sun, shut, luck, under, love, Monday
• Graded Speech Drill #7 for /ʌ/:

  • Words: upper, tub, fun
  • Phrase: fun in the sun
  • Sentence: Children clowned around with a jester at a fun workshop on April Fool's Day
• Graded Speech Drill #8 for /ʌ/:

  • Words: hustle, bustle, Sunday
  • Phrase: hustle and bustle
  • Sentence: When the couple steps into the impressive entrance hall they should have no problem leaving behind the hustle and bustle of life outside
• Graded Speech Drill #9 for /ʌ/:

  • Words: judge, money, shut
  • Phrase: Dropping all my money
  • Sentence: The judge held that the trust ended as soon as the money was paid into court
• /ʊ/:

  • Short sound
  • Front of tongue: high
  • Lips: rounded
  • Tongue portion: back
• Words to practice for /ʊ/: good, should, cook, wood, push, woman, would, put, insurance, book, pull, neighborhood, look, took, sugar
• Graded Speech Drill #10 for /ʊ/:

  • Words: good, wood, book
  • Phrase: get a good look
  • Sentence: It's the doing of the good deed that is important, not the thanks you receive
• Graded Speech Drill #11 for /ʊ/:

  • Words: pull, cook, sugar
  • Phrase: pour sugar in it
  • Sentence: Cover pan and cook 10 minutes, until dumplings are puffed up and cooked through
• Graded Speech Drill #12 for /ʊ/:

  • Words: woman, insurance, neighborhood
  • Phrase: kids in the neighborhood
  • Sentence: My insurance required a second opinion, so we drove to San Francisco, where they also did the surgery