English Language Communication Skills

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IntroductionLanguage

Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols which permit all people in a givenculture, or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate orinteract.

Components of a Language

i. Grammar

It is the study of the classes of words, their inflections, and their functions andrelations in the sentence.

Sentence is a group of words strung together keeping complete meaning or asentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop(.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicateand a subject.

ii. Syntax

Syntax means chain and choice.Chain is the structure of sentence i.e. the arrangement of words in sentences,

clauses, and phrases, and the study of the formation of sentences and the relationshipof their component parts.

Choice is the vocabulary.

iii. Semantics

Semantics is the study of the meanings.There are two types of meanings:

a) Connotative meaning is the emotions and associations connected to aword.

b) Denotation meaning refers to the literal meaning of a word, the"dictionary definition”.

iv. Phenology

Sir Abul Latif Definition: It is the study of sounds of a single language, theircomparison and contrasts in a systematic way.

Merriam-Webster Definition: The science of speech sounds including especially thehistory and theory of sound changes in a language or in two or more related languages.

v. Phonetics

Sir Abul Latif Definition: It is the study of sounds of all the world language, theircomparison and contrasts in a systematic way.

Merriam-Webster Definition: It is the system of speech sounds of a language orgroup of languages.

English Language Communication Skills

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Phonology of English Language

English has 44 sounds (phonemes); 24 consonant and 20 vowel sounds.

Vowels

A sound made without any such restrictions in the airflow.The 20 vowel sounds may be divided into 12 monothongs or 'pure' vowel sounds,

and 8 diphthongs.

Vowels

Sr. No. Phonetic Symbol Examples

1 i: fleece /fliːs/

2 I rabbit /rabIt/

3 e ten /ten/

4 æ trap /trap/

5 a: cart /ca:t/

6 ʌ strut /strʌt/

7 ɔ: board /bɔ:d/

8 ɒ lot /lɒt/

9 ʊ good /gʊd/

10 u: suit /su:t/

11 ɜ: skirt /skɜ:t/

12 ə again /əgain/

13 aI time /taIme/

14 aʊ now /naʊw/

15 eI wait /weIt/

16 əʊ road /rəʊd/

17 ɔI boy /bɔI/

18 Iə near /nIə/

19 eə hair /heə/

20 ʊə pure /pʊə/

English Language Communication Skills

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Consonants

Sounds made with a certain amount of temporary block of the airflow through themouth.

Some consonants involve the vibration of the vocal cords, they are voicedconsonants and others have no vocal cord vibration, they are called voiceless.

There are three sounds (p, t, and k) at the beginning of words (e.g., “pat,” “top,”“key”) pronounced with an accompanying forceful expulsion of air, these sounds are calledaspirated sounds. Such sounds are not aspirated at the end of words or in combinationwith certain consonants (e.g., in “spot,” “stop”).

Consonents

Sr. No. Phonetic Symbol Examples

1 p pink / pɪŋk/

2 b bear / /beə(r)/

3 t ten / ten/

4 d day / deɪ/

5 k kick / kɪk/

6 g go / ɡəʊ/

7 tʃ choice / tʃɔɪs/

8 dʒ jump / dʒʌmp/

9 f fast /fɑːst/

10 v valve /vælv/

11 θ throw /θrəʊ /

12 ð this /ðɪs/

13 s sing /sɪŋ/

14 z zebra /zebrə/

15 ʃ shine /weIt/

16 ʒ leisure /li ʒʊI /

17 h hot /hɒt/

18 m lamb /læm/

19 n no /noʊ/

20 ŋ pink /piŋk/

21 l cool /kʊl/

22 r red /red/

23 j yes /jes/

24 w wood /wʊd/