Pronunciation of "i"

The pronunciation of "i" can change depending on the surrounding sounds and their spelling, e.g. in the sequences "ir" and "-ire", or in words with a silent or 'magic' "-e".

Ex. 1 Put the following words into categories depending on the pronunciation of the letter "i", sometimes including adjacent letters.

terrine, bin, girth, dire, fir, bicycle, machine, dirt, diner, birth, bring, live (adj.), mind, poutine, mine, sir, dinner, pride, smirk, ski, fire, right, hire, kiss, spine, Ireland, lips, sire, live (v.), pig, whip

1. /ɪ/ 2. /iː/, 3. /aɪ/, 4. /aɪə/ 5. /ɜː/

Ex. 2 How do we pronounce these noun suffixes?

1. "-sion": conclusion, vision, precision, television   2. "-ssion": concussion, passion, session

3. "-shion": fashion 4. "-tion": fraction, nation, probation, ration

Key

1. 1. /ɪ/ bin, bring, dinner, kiss, lips, live (v.), pig, whip 2. /iː/ machine, poutine, ski, terrine, 3. /aɪ/ bicycle, diner, live (adj.), mind, mine, pride, right, spine 4. /aɪə/ dire, fire, hire, Ireland, sire 5. /ɜː/ birth, dirt, fir, girth, sir, smirk

2. "-sion" /-ʒən/; "-ssion", "-shion" and "-tion" /ʃən/

I looked up a few words in the Cambridge Dictionary at https://dictionary.cambridge.org/.