The vowel sounds /e/ and /æ/

X III. Listen to the sound / e/ on its own. Look at the mouth diagram to see how to make this long vowel sound.

The tongue is in the front part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is raised to the hard palate but not so high as for / ı /. The air passage is rather wide, the jaw is lowered and the distance between the upper and lower teeth is wider than in pronouncing /ı /. The lips are loosely spread.

XIV. Listen and repeat. Distinguish between the phonemes / ı/ and /e/.

Pin – pen, bin – Ben, tin – ten, pig – peg, Bill – bell, chick – cheques.

XV. Read these examples of the sound / e /.

men	death	check	end	lemon	sweat
head	red	shelf	bury	leisure	measure
met	friend	leg	ready	burier	friendship
set	said	bell	test	many	press

X VI. Listen to the sound / æ /. Look at the mouth diagram to see how to make this short vowel sound.

The mouth is more open than for /e/. The tongue is in the front part of the mouth. The front of the tongue is rather low. The air passage is wider than for the English /e/. The jaw is lowered.

XVII. Read these examples of the sound /æ /.

mad	bag	ham
sang	back	has
pan	can	tram
hat	cash	stand
bank	catch	match

XVIII. Listen to the sounds / e / and / æ / in contrast and repeat.

X – axe, pen – pan, men – man, said – sad, beg – bag, bread – Brad.

XIX. Read the contrasted sounds / e / and / æ /. Transcribe the words.

ten - tan den - dad

bet - bat let - land

pen - pan set - sand

sex - sacks teg - tag

dead - Dad mess - mass

mesh - mash deb - dab

XX. Read the following sentences. Mind the right articulation of the sounds / e / and / æ /.

1. It’s best to rest, said the vet to the pet.

2. Ted met his best friend and they went to test the bell.

3. The fat cat sat on the man’s black hat.

4. Check if the burier is ready.

5. Many men have hats on their heads.

6. Can Sam measure cash in that black bag?

XXI. Listen to the dialogue (Sound Right 7.1). Intone it. Learn and reproduce it, paying attention to the pronunciation of the sounds / e / and / æ /.

7.1

- Get a pet, Pat.

- Alan, I’ve got a pet. I’ve got a cat!

- That terrible black cat outside?

- Terrible?

- That smelly cat?

- Alice is an elegant cat.

- Mm. Well, perhaps that cat at the back isn’t Alice.

- Alice! Puss-puss! Alice! Alice, you haven’t met Alan. Puss-puss!... Now Alan, this is

Alice.

- Yes, Pat (sniffs). Yes, that’s Alice.

XXII. Learn the following graphical rules:

• Vowel / e / is represented in spelling by:

3. the letter “e” in closed accented syllables (red)

4. the digraphs “ea” before “d”, “th” (bread, weather), “s” /ʒ/ (pleasure, measure);

in words: heavy, pleasant, peasant, health, wealth, meant, breakfast, weapon, any, many, says, said and some other such like.

“ie” (friend)

“ei” + /3/ (leisure)

letter “u” (bury)

• Vowel / æ / is represented in spelling by:

  1. the letter “a” in closed syllables (bag, glad)

Note: A number of disyllabic words with the accented letter “a” in an open syllable fall under this rule (family, cavity, palate).

XXIII. Find Ukrainian equivalents to the proverbs and sayings, learn them:

/ e /

4. Many men, many minds.

5. Better to do well than to say well.

6. Better late than never, but better never late.

7. All is well that ends well.

8. Better an egg today, that a hen tomorrow.

/ æ /

2. No living man all things can.

3. Who chatters to you will chatter of you.

XXIV. Learn the following tongue twisters:

/ æ /

Swan, swim over the sea

Swim, swan, swim

Swan swam back again

Well swum, swan.

The vowel sounds /α:/ and /۸ /.

X XV. Listen to the sound / α: / on its own. Look at the mouth diagram to see how to make this long vowel sound.

The blade of the tongue is very low down in the mouth, it is retracted. The tip of the tongue is also retracted from the lower teeth. The back of the tongue is slightly raised towards the soft palate. The jaw is considerably lowered. The lips are neutral.