Sound Palaver: Differences In The Pronunciations Of "ate, earth, health"

#1 · ,

Quote from Sunday on ,
Today’s topic takes us back to oral English. We will thus make it as practical as possible. You know, the best way to learn the art of speaking and pronunciation is to constantly practise it.

It is good to master grammatical rules, vocabulary development and show competence in writing. But it is also very important to be able to speak English well. Many a time, you are what you speak, as you can be rated based on the way you articulate your expressions.

Unfortunately, many of us often take pronunciation for granted when we are speaking. We do not care whether we say manna or manner; sheer or cheer; his or hiss; fat or fart; and cop or cup. The words in each pair have similar spellings but they exhibit differences in pronunciations. But do you always observe them – the differences?

Here are the three words we are considering today: ate, earth and health. Now, let’s go truly practical. I want you to pronounce the three. Have you done so? Did you pronounce them differently or all are just ET, ET ET? I suspect that ‘ET’ is the song that a lot of people sing whenever they are saying all the three:

ate – ET

earth – ET

health – still ET!

No! They should be pronounced differently. In ‘ate’, which is the past tense form of ‘eat’, all we have is the vowel E /e/ and consonant T /t/. This makes the articulation relatively simple. So, not many casualties are generally recorded here. In the other two words, however, there are phonological landmines that only too few people escape.

First, note that, in ‘earth’, there is no E /e/ that you have in ‘ate’. Besides, there is no T in its pronunciation, although it is present in the spelling. Rather, what we have is the long form of the low A (ERR), plus the thither sound TH, which we have in month, length, three etc. As a result, the pronunciation of ‘earth’ is not ET, but something like ERRTH. The lesson: stop pronouncing it the way you do ‘ate’.

This takes us to the third term – ‘health’. Based on what we have said concerning ‘ate’ and ‘earth’, can you pronounce it again? Or you are still saying ET when you mean ‘health’? That shouldn’t be anymore!

One thing with ‘health’ is that it begins with a consonant H, which is not silent. This means that it must sound when you are pronouncing the word. This is the first major difference between ‘health’ and ‘earth: its pronunciation starts with H /h/, but ‘ate’ starts with the vowel E (as in egg and eliminate). Note, however, that the H in ‘health’ is followed by vowel E, as you also have in ate, web, mechanic, slept and eradicate.

Like, ‘earth’, there is also the TH tither sound in ‘health’. What then is the difference between its pronunciation and that of each of the other two? First, it does not have the T that ends the articulation of ‘ate’. Second, it also starts with consonant H, which is absent in ‘earth’. So, in pronouncing ‘health’, you shouldn’t throw away the H that starts it. The ‘h’ is not a silent letter, as you have in hungry and hour. It is like the ones you have in home, house and handsome. So, whenever you are pronouncing ‘health’, let the h sound properly, and do not end it with T.

Today’s topic takes us back to oral English. We will thus make it as practical as possible. You know, the best way to learn the art of speaking and pronunciation is to constantly practise it.

It is good to master grammatical rules, vocabulary development and show competence in writing. But it is also very important to be able to speak English well. Many a time, you are what you speak, as you can be rated based on the way you articulate your expressions.

Unfortunately, many of us often take pronunciation for granted when we are speaking. We do not care whether we say manna or manner; sheer or cheer; his or hiss; fat or fart; and cop or cup. The words in each pair have similar spellings but they exhibit differences in pronunciations. But do you always observe them – the differences?

Here are the three words we are considering today: ate, earth and health. Now, let’s go truly practical. I want you to pronounce the three. Have you done so? Did you pronounce them differently or all are just ET, ET ET? I suspect that ‘ET’ is the song that a lot of people sing whenever they are saying all the three:

ate – ET

earth – ET

health – still ET!

No! They should be pronounced differently. In ‘ate’, which is the past tense form of ‘eat’, all we have is the vowel E /e/ and consonant T /t/. This makes the articulation relatively simple. So, not many casualties are generally recorded here. In the other two words, however, there are phonological landmines that only too few people escape.

First, note that, in ‘earth’, there is no E /e/ that you have in ‘ate’. Besides, there is no T in its pronunciation, although it is present in the spelling. Rather, what we have is the long form of the low A (ERR), plus the thither sound TH, which we have in month, length, three etc. As a result, the pronunciation of ‘earth’ is not ET, but something like ERRTH. The lesson: stop pronouncing it the way you do ‘ate’.

This takes us to the third term – ‘health’. Based on what we have said concerning ‘ate’ and ‘earth’, can you pronounce it again? Or you are still saying ET when you mean ‘health’? That shouldn’t be anymore!

One thing with ‘health’ is that it begins with a consonant H, which is not silent. This means that it must sound when you are pronouncing the word. This is the first major difference between ‘health’ and ‘earth: its pronunciation starts with H /h/, but ‘ate’ starts with the vowel E (as in egg and eliminate). Note, however, that the H in ‘health’ is followed by vowel E, as you also have in ate, web, mechanic, slept and eradicate.

Like, ‘earth’, there is also the TH tither sound in ‘health’. What then is the difference between its pronunciation and that of each of the other two? First, it does not have the T that ends the articulation of ‘ate’. Second, it also starts with consonant H, which is absent in ‘earth’. So, in pronouncing ‘health’, you shouldn’t throw away the H that starts it. The ‘h’ is not a silent letter, as you have in hungry and hour. It is like the ones you have in home, house and handsome. So, whenever you are pronouncing ‘health’, let the h sound properly, and do not end it with T.