常見發音錯誤 Common pronunciation errors: consonant clusters

A group of two or more consonant sounds before or after a vowel sound is called a consonant cluster.

For example:

• /b/ + /l/ in ‘black’
• /d/ + /r/ and /ŋ/ + /k/ in ‘drink’

Many HK Chinese candidates mispronounce them (often dropping the second sound of the cluster) because Cantonese does not have them.

So, ‘black’ becomes “back” (by dropping the /l/ sound), ‘free’ becomes “fee” (dropping the /r/ sound), and ‘drink’ becomes “jing” (by dropping the /r/ and /k/ sounds). Sometimes, sounds are replaced with alternative sounds. For example, ‘stretch’ becomes “scratch” (by replacing /t/ with /k/) and shifting the vowel /e/ to /æ/ (another pronunciation error often made by HK Chinese candidates).

These errors are likely to limit the candidate’s Pronunciation band score to 5 (or lower depending on the severity and frequency) because they can cause comprehension problems for the listener.

Test yourself

• Ask an English speaker to listen to you say a word on the left or right and tell you which word they hear you say (left or right).
• Pay particular attention to the second table showing mispronunciations of past tense regular (-ed) verbs.

EXAMPLES (consonant cluster on the left; mispronunciation on the right):