The Sounds of English and Their Representation

The Sounds of English and Their Representation
In English, there is no one-to-one relation between the system of writing and the system of pronunciation. The alphabet which we use to write English
has 26 letters but in (Standard British) English there are approximately 44 speach sounds. The number of speech sounds in English varies from dialect
to dialect, and any actual tally depends greatly on the interpretation of the researcher doing the counting. To represent the basic sound of spoken
languages linguists use a set of phonetic symbols called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The chart below contains all of the IPA symbols
used to represent the sounds of the English language. This is the standard set of phonemic symbols for English (RP and similar accents).
[ ] - small capital letter I

[ ] - 'epsilon' -- a Greek letter
[ ] - sometimes called 'upsilon'
[ ] - 'ash'; digraph a-e -- usually just "digraph"
p b t d k g [ ] - script A
f v s z [ ] - open O
[ ] - 'caret'
m n h l r w j
[ ] - 'eng' (right-tail n)
[ ] - 'eth'
[ ] - 'theta'
[ ] - 'schwa'
The colon / : / represents longer duration in pronunciation and is found in long vowels such as / i: /, / a: /, / u: /, etc.
Vowels and Consonants (en/bg)

Classifying the Vowels Sounds of English
The classification of vowels is based on four major aspects:
1. Tongue height - according to the vertical position of the tongue (high vowels, also referred to as close; low vowels, also referred to as open;
2.
3. intermediate - close-mid and open-mid)
4. Frontness vs. backness of the tongue - according to the horizontal position of the highest part of the tongue.
5. Lip rounding - whether the lips are rounded (O-shape) or spread (no rounding) when the sound is being made.
6. Tenseness of the articulators - refers to the amount of muscular tension around the mouth when creating vowel sounds. Tense and lax are used
to describe muscular tension.
Front vowels Central vowels Back vowels

(tongue body is pushed forward) (tongue body is neutral) (tongue body is pulled back)
High/close vowels / / see / / boot
(tongue body is raised) / / sit / / book
Mid vowels
/e/ bait* /o/ boat*
(tongue body is / / sofa**, / / bird
/ / bet / / bought***
intermediate)
Low/open vowels / / under**
/ / bat / / father, / / sock(BrE)
(tongue body is lowered)
*In some American accents (especially Californian English), vowel sounds in words such as bait, gate, pane and boat, coat, note are not consider
diphthongs. American phonologists often class them as tense monophthongs (/e/ and /o/).
**/ / is used in unstressed syllables, while / / is in stressed syllables. The vowel / / used to be a back vowel, and the symbol was chosen for this
reason. This is no longer a back vowel, but a central one.
***A considerable amount of Americans don't have the deep / / in their vocabulary, they pronounce bought, ball, law with the deep / / sound.
See also: IPA vowels chart
According to the position of the lips:
 English front and central vowels are always unrounded.

 English back vowels / /, / , /o/, / / are rounded (/ / vowel is unrounded).
Vowel Tenseness:
 Tense vowels (produced with a great amount of muscular tension): / /, / /, / /, / /, / /. Tense vowels are variable in length, and often
longer than lax vowels.
 Lax vowels (produced with very little muscular tension): / /, / /, / /, / /, / /, / /, / /. Lax vowels are always short.
Classifying the Consonants Sounds of English According to the Manner and Place of Articulation
According to the manner of articulation (how the breath is used) the consonants are: stops, also known as
plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, laterals, and approximants. Nasals, laterals and approximants are
always voiced; stops, fricatives and affricates can be voiced or unvoiced.
Stops During production of these sounds, the airflow from the lungs is completely blocked at some point, then released. In English, they are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/,
/Plosives/ and /g/.
The flow of air is constricted, but not totally stopped or blocked. In English, these include /f/, /v/, / /, / /,
Fricatives
/s/, /z/, / /, / /, and /h/.
These sounds begin like stops, with a complete blockage of air/closure of the vocal tract, and end with a restricted flow of air like fricatives. English has
Affricates
two affricates - the / / sounds of "church" and the / / of "judge".
Nasals Nasals are sounds made with air passing through the nose. In English, these are /m/, /n/, and / /.
Laterals Lateral consonants allow the air to escape at the sides of the tongue. In English there is only one such sound - /l/
In the production of an approximant, one articulator is close to another, but the vocal tract is not narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is
Approximants
produced. In English, these are /j/, /w/ and /r/. Approximants /j/ and /w/ are also referred to as semi-vowels.
According to the place of articulation (where in the mouth or throat the sound is produced) the consonants are:
Bilabial: with both lips /p/, /b/, /m/

Labiodental: between lower lip and upper teeth /f/, /v/
Dental/Interdental: between the teeth / /, / /
Alveolar: the ridge behind the upper front teeth /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, /r/
Alveo-palatal (or post-alveolar): it is the area between
the alveolar ridge and the hard palate / /, / /, / /, / /
Palatal: hard palate, or 'roof' of the mouth' /j/
Velar: the soft palate or velum /k/, /g/, / /
Glottal (laryngeal): space between the vocal cords /h/

The Sounds of English and Their Representation

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The Sounds of English and Their Representation

[ ] - small capital letter I

Vowels and Consonants (en/bg)

The classification of vowels is based on four major aspects:

Front vowels Central vowels Back vowels

See also: IPA vowels chart

According to the position of the lips:

 English front and central vowels are always unrounded.

Bilabial: with both lips /p/, /b/, /m/

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