2. Basic Comprehensibility
Key tips
/i/ and /ɪ/ are different phonemes in English. If you mix them up, you can change the meaning of the word.
/i/ and /ɪ/ are sometimes called "long i" and "short i" but the difference is not one of duration (length), but of the tenseness of the tongue. Sometimes "long i" can be shorter than "short i"
Russian speakers are likely to have more trouble pronouncing /ɪ/ comprehensibly than /i/
Common spelling patterns
i: kit, this, winner, give
ui: guilty, building
y: system, gym, symbol
_CC: kitty, innocent, bitten, winter
Exception: The word been uses /ɪ/ or /ɛ/ in American English but /i/ in British English The word women has /ɪ/ as the first vowel
Exercises
Pronounce the material in these exercises out loud, slowly and accurately. Make sure to clearly enunciate the sound. When it becomes easier at the speed you’re at, increase the speed. Remember: don’t sacrifice accuracy for speed!
Word lists/ɪ/ it, is, in, if, its, with, this, his, him, which, big, did, live, give, think, list, little, still, children, city, system, business, within, women, history, different, interest, since, political, civil, million, film, building, including
"-itt-" (2e ɪ - wordlist - itt.m4a): this spelling pattern often represents /ɪ/: Bitten, mitten, sitting, hitting, spitting, smitten, written, kitty
Contrastive pairs ɪ/i leave/live, leaf/lift, sit/seat, seek/sick, beet/bit, meet/mitt, kitty/Keating, feet/fit, sheep/ship, Pete/pit, list/least, bean/bin, feel/fill, steal/still, each/itch, he’s/his, slip/sleep, cheap/chip, deal/dill, feel/fill, mill/meal, seal/sill, real/rill, keel/kill, pill/peel, heal/hill
Phrases/ɪ/ fish sticks, spring picnic, a little bit, sit in, drink milk, big city, a quick hint, fish and chips, so it begins, children’s film, this thing, little kittens, kindred spirits, witnessing it, mixed tricks, it's lit, innocent kid, winter trip, hit it!
Phrases /ɪ/ vs /i/ still asleep, no big deal, very ill, these things, feeling ill, see a film, is she, it's me, just beat it, very filling
Sentences/ɪ/
Tim is visiting Berlin with his big sister Cynthia
Quitting drinking was difficult for him in the beginning
Jim Smith had to sit in an informal interview
The history of cities in the middle ages is interesting
Is it Phil who is visiting for dinner?
Cindy and Hilda are busy women but they manage to keep fit
Sentences /ɪ/ vs /i/
/ɪ/ is underlined while /i/ is bolded
In this city they eat such little meat, not including beef, chicken or fish.
It's a pity that Pete had to sit out and didn’t even compete
Hilda was last seen leaving the city and going to the village inn
Eating the minty sweets lifts my spirits but leaves a weird steel aftertaste
I hid in the pit so the alligator didn’t see me
I couldn’t eat the beans anymore so I threw the tin into the bin
I had to deal with Bill feeling really ill
The VC pitch deck was for a product called Mississippi peach willow tea.
Annotate, read, monologue!
Below you’ll find a text with a large number of /ɪ/ & /i/. See if you can find them all! You can print out the PDF if that makes it easier.
Identify all the instances of these features, then check your answers with the other PDF. Next, read it out loud, taking care to pronounce the sounds correctly.
Finally take some of the words and use them while monologuing, imagining you are speaking to a friend!