Pronunciation exercises on
the schwa sound and the tonic accent

Limericks are short poems.

They are funny - if you like that type of humour!

I will use them here because they are good examples of the typical rhythm of spoken English.

There once was a lady from Niger,

Who went for a ride on a tiger.

They came back from the ride

With the lady inside,

And a smile on the face of the tiger.

First listen to the teacher who will read the limerick for you. Then, in the text, underline the syllables where you hear the tonic accent.

The tonic accent means they are stressed by being said with a lot of energy.

There once was a lady from Niger,
Who went for a ride on a tiger.
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside,
And a smile on the face of the tiger.

You have to underline the syllable with the schwa sound, also called the neutral e, and which is written ə in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). This is a very weak sound, said with very little energy. Yes, it's difficult to hear!

An example of the schwa: the "e" in "the book".

There once wəs ə lady frəm Nigə,
Who went fə ə ride on ə tigə.
They came back frəm thə ride
With thə lady inside,
ən ə smile on thə face əf thə tigə.

When you've done both exercises (this one on the schwa and the first one on the tonic accent) practice saying the Limerick aloud in time with your teacher. Do not "repeat afterwards" as that brings in an element of memorisation, but speak at the same time so that your voice is naturally guided by the other voice - just as if you were learning to sing a song.

Now, it's your turn to play !!!

There once was a lady from Ryde,

Who ate a green apple and died.

The apple fermented

Inside the lamented

And made cider inside her inside.

There once was a fellow from Lyme,

Who married three wives at a time.

When asked, "Why a third?"

He said, "One's absurd,

And bigamy, Sir, is a crime!"

There once was a fellow from Ryde,

In a funeral procession was spied.

When asked who was dead,

He giggled and said:

"I don't know. I just came for the ride."

There was an old man from Darjeeling,

Who got on a bus bound for Ealing.

It said on the door,

"Do not spit on the floor"

So he carefully spat on the ceiling.

There was a young lady from Tottenham,

Who had no manners, or else she'd forgotten 'em.

At tea at the vicar's,

She tore off her knickers.

Because, she explained, she felt hot in 'em.