Module : 4

Speaking Skills (Grammar and

Vocabulary)

SYLLABLES: STRUCTURE,
STRONG
AND WEAK FORMS OF WORDS
 Syllables

 Syllables are the Phonological building blocks of

words. There is at least one syllable in a word.
Whenever we speak a word, it spontaneously breaks
into syllables.
 We generally know that Syllable is a unit of
pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or
without surrounding consonants, forming the whole
or a part of a word.
Go – 1 syllable; Ta-ble – 2 syllable; Au-di-tor – 3
syllables; He-li-cop-ter – 4 syllables.
 STRUCTURE

 The nucleus of a syllable is a vowel sound. The consonant

or consonant cluster (more than one consonant sound
coming together) that comes before the nucleus is known
as the releasing factor. The consonant or consonant
cluster that comes after the nucleus is known as the
arresting factor.
For example, the word ‘hut’ /hʌt/ has a single syllable. /h/
acts as the releasing consonant, /ʌ/ acts as the nucleus
and /t/ acts as the arresting factor. /h/ and /t/ are
consonant sounds and /ʌ/ is a vowel sound. The
structure of ‘hut’ can be denoted through the formula
CVC in which the letter C represents ‘consonant sound’
and the letter V represents ‘vowel sound’.
The structure is illustrated below:
C V C
h ʌ t
 The structure is illustrated below:
C V C
h ʌ t
 However, there can be other structures too.
For example, the word ‘eye’ is only one speech sound, a
diphthong (vowel) /aɪ/. There are no accompanying
consonants, only the vowel is there as the nucleus.
The word ‘he’ /hi/ has a CV structure and the word
‘it’ /ɪt/ has a VC structure.
 Strong and Weak forms of words

 English is a rhythmic language. Stressed syllables

occur at regular interval of time. To maintain the
rhythm and to convey the message more effectively,
certain syllables are weakened. Lexical words such as
conjunctions, pronouns, prepositions, articles are
usually weakened. Content words such as nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs are usually emphasised
in the connected speech. Because these content
words are usually the words which convey new
information thereby they are given more emphasis.
 You may notice how conjunctions, articles and prepositions, are
weakened to maintain the rhythm and beauty of the language

 Bread and butter

 Ladies and gentlemen
 Half an hour
 About an art
 Took over an hour
 Went up
 Got up at o’ clock
Some words are spoken with strength and sometimes they are uttered
in a rather casual, weak way. The strong form is apparent when they
are spoken with a weak vowel. For ex: The word ‘a’ is spoken
sometimes as /eɪ/ (strong form) and sometimes as /ə/ (weak form).
We can see it in the course of a conversation.
A spot is here (eɪ spatiz hɪə). The word ‘a’ has been pronounced as ‘ey’
with a strong verb.
I saw a man (aɪ sɔ: ə mæn). The word ‘a’ has been pronounced with a
weak verb, without any special emphasis.
 Sequence of tenses
i. Some of the future expressions can be in the simple present tense or present
continuous tense.
I play tomorrow.
The plane is about to take off.
The batsman is going to hit as six.
ii. Verbs of perception, verbs of appearance, verb of states of mind and verbs of
possession are usually not used in the present continuous tense.
I am knowing you.(Incorrect)
I know you. (correct)
iii. Some other verbs too are not used in this tense eg: cost, deserve, owe, lack, etc.
He is owing me fifty thousand rupees. (Incorrect)
He owes me fifty thousand rupees. (correct)
iv. In a complex sentence, if two actions take place in the past one after the other, the
earlier one is generally expressed in the past perfect, and the latter, in simple past.
The tycoon had expired before the physician arrived.
v. Sometimes, if two actions take place in the past one after the other, both the clauses
can be expressed in the simple past. The use of the word ‘when’ suggests the order of
the events.
When the hunter left the forest, all the animals came out of hiding.
vi. If something was happening in the past, and if something else took place in
between, past continuous is used for the action already going on, and simple past for
the intervening happening.
I was sipping tea when the city corporate came in.
vii.If two actions were taking place simultaneously in the past, both can be
expressed in the past continuous.
Ted was strumming a guitar, Fiona was dancing.
viii. The past tense is used with it is time or it is high time.
It is time they did something about the leaking tap.
ix. There is a subtle difference between the use of if I become and if I became.
Bothe these structures suggest an action in the present or the future tense.
However, when the verb is in the past form, the probability is less; when the
verb in the present form, the probability is greater.
If I become chief minister, I will link all the rivers. (said by a candidate
contesting for the post of chief minister)
If I became chief minister, I would link all the rivers. (said by a child in school)
x. If the structure of the subordinate clause is if + Subject + were + Noun /
Pronoun / Adjective.... Or were + subject + Noun / Pronoun / Adjective..., the
structure in the main clause is Subject + would + 1st form of verb
If I were a doctor, I would treat patients free.
Were I a doctor, I would treat patients free.
xi. If the reporting clause is in the past tense, usually the reported speech in
indirect narration is put in the past tense.
The little lad told the cat that he had been living in a boat.
 Prefixes and suffixes
Prefix Example
A- abed
Ambi- ambivalent
Amphi- Amphitheatre
An- anaerobic
Anglo- Anglo-Saxon
Ante- Antediluvian
Anti- antiwar
Arch- archenemy
Astro- astronomy
Auto- automobile
Be- becalm
Bi- Bilabial
Bio- Biodata
Circum- circumscribe
Co- cosponspor
Suffix Example
-able excitable
-arian disciplinarian
-al theatrical
-cycle recycle
-ed endangered
-dox orthodox
-ern eastern
-ess lioness
-fill fulfil
-hood childhood
-ing going
-ity ability
-ive expensive
-ency dependency
-let coverlet
-nym homonym
-ness likeness
 Spelling rules
 The spelling rules where we all should aware as follows below:
Rule 1: C always softens to /s/ when followed by E, I, or Y.
Otherwise, C says /k/
Rule 2: G may soften to /j/ only when followed by E, I or Y.
Rule 3: English words do not end in I, U, V, or J.
Rule 4: A E O U usually say their names at the end of a syllable.
Rule 5: I and Y may say /I/ or /i:/ at end of a syllable.
Rule 6: When a one-syllable word ends in a single vowel Y, it
says /i:/
Rule 7: Where I and Y may say long /e/
a. Y says long /e/ only in an unstressed syllable at the end of a
multi-syllable word.
b. I says long /e/ with a silent final E, at the end of a syllable,
and at the end of foreign words
Rule 8: I and O may say /ī/ and /ō/ when followed by two consonants.
Rule 9: AY usually spells the sound /ā/ at the end of a base word.
Rule 10: When a word ends with the phonogram A, it says /ä/.
A may also say /ä/ after a W or before an L.
Rule 11: Q always needs a U; therefore, U is not a vowel here.
Rule 12: Silent Final E Rules
12.1 The vowel says its name because of the E.
12.2 English words do not end in V or U.
12.3 The C says /s/ and the G says /j/ because of the E.
12.4 Every syllable must have a written vowel.
12.5 Add an E to keep singular words that end in the letter S from looking
plural.
12.6 Add an E to make the word look bigger.
12.7 TH says its voiced sound /TH/ because of the E.
12.8 Add an E to clarify meaning.
12.9 Unseen reason.
Rule 13: Drop the silent final E when adding a vowel suffix only if it is allowed by
other spelling rules.
Rule 14: Double the last consonant when adding a vowel suffix to words ending in
one vowel followed by one consonant only if the syllable before the suffix is
accented.
This is always true for one-syllable words.
Rule 15: Single vowel Y changes to I when adding any ending, unless the ending
begins with I.
Rule 16: Two I’s cannot be next to one another in English words.
Rule 17 : TI, CI, and SI are used only at the beginning of any syllable after the first
one.
Rule 18: SH spells /sh/ at the beginning of a base word and at the end of the
syllable. SH never spells /sh/ at the beginning of any syllable after the first one,
except for the ending -ship.
Rule 19: To make a verb past tense, add the ending -ED unless it is an irregular
verb.
Rule 20: -ED, past tense ending, forms another syllable when the base word ends
in /d/ or /t/. Otherwise, -ED says /d/ or /t/.
Rule 21 : To make a noun plural, add the ending -S, unless the word hisses or
changes; then add -ES. Occasional nouns have no change or an irregular
spelling.
Rule 22 : To make a verb 3rd person singular, add the ending -S, unless the
word hisses or changes; then add -ES. Only four verbs are irregular.
Rule 23: Al- is a prefix written with one L when preceding another syllable.
Rule 24: Ful is a suffix written with one L when added to another syllable.
Rule 25: DGE is used only after a single vowel which says its short (first)
sound.
Rule 26: CK is used only after a single vowel which says its short (first) sound.
Rule 27: TCH is used only after a single vowel which does not say its name.
Rule 28: AUGH, EIGH, IGH, OUGH. Phonograms ending in GH are used only
at the end of a base word or before the letter T.
The GH is either silent or pronounced /f/.
Rule 29: Z, never S, spells /z/ at the beginning of a base word.
Rule 30: We often double F, L, and S after a single vowel at the end of a base
word. Occasionally other letters also are doubled.
Rule 31: Schwa Rules 31.1Any vowel may say one of the schwa sounds, /ŭ/ or
/ĭ/, in an unstressed syllable or unstressed word.
31.2: O may also say /ŭ/ in a stressed syllable next to W, TH, M, N, or V.
31.3: AR and OR may say their schwa sound, /er/, in an unstressed syllable.
 Minimal pairs
 Although there are a number of definitions of minimal pairs, probably
the easiest to understand is that a minimal pair is pair of words in
which only one sound differs, the rest of the sounds are identical. For
example: ‘pin’ and ‘bin’ = /pɪn/ and /bɪn/. The only phonetic difference
is that of initial consonant sounds /p/ and /b/
Below is given a table of minimal pairs with stated variations:
æ-ʌ i-ɪ e–æ
ankle - uncle sheep-ship bed-bad
ɑ: - ɔ: eɪ -æ ə: - ɔ:
far-four cape-cap work- walk

ʃ-s S–z ʃ - tʃ
ship-sip sip-zip shoes-choose

t -ɵ s-ɵ d – dh
tank-thank sink-think day-they
 Word final consonant  Another word with the
cluster same word
1./pt/- kept 1.inept
2./kt/- fact 2.tact
3./gz/- pigs 3.wigs
4./vz/- knives 4.wives
5./ʃt/- washed 5.dashed
6./mp/ - lamp 6.cramp
7./ŋk/- think 7.sink
8./ns/- dense 8.fence
9./lt/- kilt 9.hilt
10./lk/- silk 10.milk