TIL

ENGLISH PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY
Pronouncing the letters

let-u

Daniel Jones. Edited by Peter Roach, James Hartman and Jane Setter. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Scanned by Maung Kan Tun and edited by U Kyaw Tun, M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.). Not for sale. Prepared for students of TIL Computing and Language Center, Yangon, MYANMAR.

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Pronounce_u
U | UE | UI | UOU | UY

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letter U

p555. The vowel letter [u] has several strong pronunciations linked to spelling. 'Short' pronunciations include /ʌ/ and /ʊ/.

UKT: One of the first problem faced by a Myanmar ESL learner is pronouncing the letters [ut] in <put> /pʊt/ and <but> /bʌt/. The corresponding sounds in Burmese-Myanmar are /ʊt/ and /ʌt/.

'Long' pronunciations include /uː/ and /juː/. In 'short' pronounced /ʌ/, the [u] is generally followed by a consonant letter which ends the word, or a double consonant before another vowel. Words containing /ʊ/  which end with a consonant sound often have two consonant letters finally, a notable exception being <put> /pʊt/, e.g.:

vowel-sound /ʌ/
<tub>  /tʌb/
<tubby>  /ˈtʌb.i/

vowel-sound /ʊ/
<bull>  /bʊl/
<bully>  /ˈbʊl.i/

UKT: While keeping in mind that there are no {ba.thut} and {la.thut} spellings in Myanmar, if we could transliterate <tub> as . However, the transliteration of <bull> as is unsatisfactory. Transliteration into is a possibility.

The 'long' pronunciations usually mean the [u] is followed by a single consonant letter and then a vowel, e.g.:

vowel-sound /uː/
<tube>  /tjuːb/  (US)  /tuːb/
<tubing>  /ˈtjuː.bɪŋ/  (US)  /ˈtuː-/
<supervise>  /ˈsuː.pə.vaɪz/  (US)  /-pɚ-/

In word initial position, the 'long' pronunciation is almost always pronounced /juː/, e.g.:

<unique>  /juːˈniːk/
<useful>  /ˈjuːs.f^əl/

However, there are exceptions to these guidelines, e.g.:

<study>  /ˈstʌd.i/
<sugar>  /ˈʃʊg.^əʳ/  (US) /-ɚ/
<truth>  /truːθ/

When [u] is followed by [r], the strong pronunciation is one of several possibilities:
/jʊə , jɔː (US) jʊr/ , /ʊə , ɔː (US) ʊr/ , /ɜː (US) ɝː/ , or /ʌ (US) ɝː/ , e.g.:

vowel-sound /jʊə , jɔː/ (US) /jʊr/
<cure>  /kjʊəʳ , kjɔːʳ/  (US)  /kjʊr/

vowel-sound /ʊə , ɔː/ (US) /ʊr/
<plural>  /ˈplʊə.r^əl , ˈplɔː-/  (US)  /ˈplʊr.^əl/

vowel-sound /ɜː/ (US) /ɝː/
<burn>  /bɜːn/  (US)  /bɝːn/

vowel-sound /ʌ/ (US) /ɝː/
<hurry>  /ˈhʌr.i/  (US)  /ˈhɝː.i/

In weak syllables

The vowel letter [u] is realised as one of /jə/, /jʊ/, /ə/ or /ʊ/ in weak syllables, e.g.:

vowel-sound /jə/
<failure>  /ˈfeɪ.ljəʳ/  (US)  /ˈfeɪl.jɚ/

vowel-sound /jʊ/
<accurate>  /ˈæk.jə.rət , -jʊ/  (US)  /-jɚ.ət, -jʊ.rət/

vowel-sound /ə/
<status>  /ˈsteɪ.təs/  (US)  /-stæt̬əs/

vowel-sound /ʊ/
<July>  /ʤʊˈlaɪ/

It may also result in a syllabic consonant, e.g.:

<hopeful>  /ˈhəʊp.fəl , -fʊl/  (US)  /ˈhoʊp-/

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letters UE

p556. The vowel digraph [ue] is most commonly pronounced as /juː/ or /uː/. The /j/ sound is not always present in US English where it is found in British English. In general, the /j/ is dropped in US English where it appears in British English following an alveolar consonant such as /t/ {ta.}, /d/ {da.} or /n/ {na.}, e.g.:

vowel-sound /juː/ or /uː/
<cue>  /kjuː/
<due>  /djuː/  (US)  /duː/

UKT: Compare the pronunciation of <due> with:
  • <Tuesday> /ˈʧuːz.deɪ/ (US) /'tuːz-} - Refer to "Pronouncing the letter T"
Note that from IPA representation [Tue] of /ˈʧuː-/, <Tuesday> in Myanmar script would be beginning with {chu:} NOT {tyu:}.

Another possible pronunciation is /juː.ə/ or /jʊə/, e.g.:

<dual>  /ˈdjuː.əl , djʊəl/  (US)  /ˈduː.əl/

In addition

Other sounds are associated with the digraph [ue], e.g.:

vowel-sound /weɪ/
<suede> /sweɪd/

vowel-sound /e/
<guess>  /ges/

vowel-sound /uː.ɪ/
<suet> /ˈsuː.ɪt/
<bluest>  /ˈbluː.ɪst/

UKT: Compare <suet> with:
<suit> /suːt, sjuːt/ (US) /suːt/
<sweat> /swet/

vowel-sound (silent)
<league>  /liːg/

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letters UI

p556. There are several pronunciation possibilities for the vowel digraph [ui]. The most common is likely to be /uː/, e.g.:

vowel-sound /uː/
<fruit>  /fruːt/

A similar pronunciation is /juː/ in British English, realised as /uː/ in US English, e.g.:

<nuisance>  /ˈnjuː.s^ənts/  (US)  /ˈnuː-/
<suit>  /sjuːt , suːt/  (US)  /suːt/

In addition

Other sounds are associated with the digraph [ui], e.g.:

vowel-sound /wiː/
<suite>  /swiːt/

vowel-sound /wɪ/
<linguist>  /ˈlɪŋ.gwɪst/

vowel-sound /ɪ/
<build>  /bɪld/

vowel-sound /aɪ/
<guide> /gaɪd/

vowel-sound /u.ɪ/
<fruition>  /fruˈɪʃ.^ən/

vowel-sound /uː.ɪ/
<ruin>  /ˈruː.ɪn/

It should also be noted that [ui] may follow [q], producing the sound /kwɪ/ or /kwaɪ/.

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letters UOU

p570. The vowel letter combination [uou] has only one possible pronunciation: /ju.ə/ , e.g.:

vowel-sound /ju.ə/
<ambiguous>  /æmˈbɪg.ju.əs/

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letters UY

p572. The vowel digraph [uy] has two possible pronunciations /aɪ/ and, at the end of words where it is usually preceded by the letter [q], /wi/, e.g.:

<buy>  /baɪ/
<soliloquy>  /səˈlɪl.ə.kwi/

An exceptional case is the word <Gruyère>, borrowed from French.

<Gruyère>  /ˈgruː.jeəʳ , gruˈjeəʳ/  (US) /gruˈjer/

UKT notes

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