Make the sound
Vowel grid reference: 1
This vowel is short. ►)   1   Part your lips and drop the lower jaw a little.
,VD    2   Relax your tongue and allow the tip to rest just behind your bottom front teeth. If you look in a mirror, you should be able to see the middle of the tongue move up and forward.
3   The lips do not need to spread for this sound, but some speakers do spread their lips slightly, and that's okay.
When do I use this sound?
Spelling	Examples
i	in, sit, pick
a + ge	village, cabbage, manage
y	myth, hymn, symbol
ui	building, biscuit
There is also a table with examples of when this sound is found in unstressed syllables in the appendix on page 143.
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Section B: The sounds of English
Now try it!
BS-87
i
Say each of these words and sentences aloud. Then compare your pronunciation with the model on tracks 85-87.
A    ship        bit split        wo/ngn       village        rubbish manage
trick        building       dish        hymn him silly hill
B    1   Bill did the dishes while Milly nibbled biscuits on the picnic blanket in the middle of their big garden.
2 It would have been simpler if we'd picked a different route. This one is a little hilly.
3 The incredibly big ship was sinking into the tiny little river, so luckily it was a silly sight instead of a disastrous one.
C Bias
A typical pig has a big head, hooved toes and a massive snout which they use to dig into soil to find food. Pigs are omnivores who eat plants and animals though these days in captivity they are fed a diet of special feed enriched with vitamins and minerals. Domestic pigs have become quite popular, and the pot-bellied pig is the celebrity favourite of the moment. If you call someone 'a pig', it suggests that they are dirty or a bit messy, probably because pigs like to roll in mud to keep cool, but in actual fact pigs are very clean.
Am I doing something wrong?
X   Many speakers will swap this vowel for its similar, longer partner /i:/, making the same sound in the words 'kit' and 'sheep'.
y  Lower the tongue slightly. Check in the mirror that you aren't pushing the sides of the tongue against the top molars. Always remember to keep this vowel short.
Watch the DVD to see and hear the difference between the two sounds.
Try these exercises:
1 In a mirror, try swapping between the SHEEP and KIT vowels quickly. Look for the movement of your tongue.
eeeee-i-eeeee-i-eeeee-i-eeeee-i-eeeee-i
i:   i    i:   i    i:   i    i:   i    i: i
II       Then compare your own sound to the one on the audio track.
2 Now try swapping between some words which have the vowel sounds, like 'sheep'and 'kit' or:
green-bit green-bit green-bit
been-bin been-bin been-bin
Then compare your own pronunciation to the speaker on the audio track. Keep repeating these until you are able to place the correct vowel sound.
X   Some speakers spread the lips too much. The lips should only be very slightly spread.
Check in a mirror to see that your lips are in the correct grid position (see page 53). Remember, what you think you are doing and what you are actually doing may be different.
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