Phonetics - Vowel & Consonant Sounds
Basic Sounds of English Language
A phoneme is any one of the sets of smallest units of speech in a language that distinguishes one word from another.
A phoneme is represented between slashes ( /b/, /k/, /s/, etc.).
The English alphabet has twenty-six letters and these represent forty-four distinct sounds of English.
For example, ‘c’ in ‘car’, ‘k’ in ‘kite’, ‘cc’ in ‘occasion’, and ‘ch’ in ‘chemist.’
There are twenty distinct vowel sounds in English.
These twenty vowels are further classified as pure vowels and diphthongs.
The first twelve sounds are called pure vowels and the remaining eight diphthongs.
There are twenty-four distinct consonants in English
During the production of vowel sounds, the air from the lungs comes out in an unrestricted manner in a rather continuous stream. There is no closure of the air passage or friction between any speech organs.
During the production of a pure vowel, its quality does not change. In the production of a diphthong, on the other hand, one sound position glides to another, as a result of which the quality of the vowel changes. For example, /i:/ is a pure vowel as in ‘feet’, whereas /aI/ is a diphthong as in ‘fight’.
Consonants are distinguished from vowels by their manner of production. While pronouncing consonants, the air passage is either completely or partially closed and the air passes through the speech organs with audible friction.
Most dictionaries include the phonetic transcription or the representation of a word in terms of its phonemes or sounds. Such a transcription alone can tell us how to pronounce a word.
Vowel Sounds
IPA symbols Words
Sl. No. Initial Middle Final
1. /i:/ easy field see
2. /Ι/ it hill duty
3. /e/ enemy step —
4. /æ/ apple man —
5. /ɑ:/ art mask car
6. /ɒ/ office cross —
7. /ɔ:/ all born saw
8. /Ʊ/ — book to
9. /u:/ ooze fool true
10. /^/ under sun —
11. /ɜ:/ earth bird stir
12. /ə/ about police maker
13. /eɪ/ eight snail say
14. /əƱ/ old hope so
15. /aɪ/ idea bite buy
16. /aƱ/ out sound cow
17. /ɔɪ/ oil noise boy
18. /ɪə/ ear hear mere
19. /eə/ air hairy share
20. /Ʊə/ — cured poor
The first twelve sounds are called pure vowels and the remaining eight diphthongs
Consonant Sounds
Words
Sl. No. IPA symbols Description Initial Middle Final
1. /p/ unvoiced, oral pen speak leap
2. /b/ voiced, oral bet about nib
3. /t/ unvoiced, oral time better beat
4. /d/ voiced, oral day adorn said
5. /k/ unvoiced, oral call echo ask
6. /g/ voiced, oral gate ago league
7. /tʃ/ unvoiced, oral church butcher attach
8. /dʒ/ voiced, oral judge adjust age
9. /f/ unvoiced, oral five after enough
10. /v/ voiced, oral vine averse nerve
11. /q/ unvoiced, oral thin, atheist oath
12. /ð/ voiced, oral then other clothe
13. /s/ unvoiced, oral some biscuit cots
13. /s/ unvoiced,oral some biscuit cots
14. /z/ voiced, oral zoo dozen buzz
15. /ʃ/ unvoiced, oral shape ashamed bush
16. /ʒ/ voiced, oral genre pleasure mirage
17. /h/ unvoiced, oral hat behave ah
18. /l/ voiced, oral lottery along bottle
19. /m/ voiced, nasal mat among balm
20. /n/ voiced, nasal nest sound bin
21. /ŋ/ voiced, nasal — hanging sing
22. /r/ voiced, oral rest screech ever
23. /w/ voiced, oral want question —
24. /j/ voiced, oral university student —
The sound represented by the letter ‘r’ is pronounced only when it is followed by a vowel sound in the same word or when the word immediately following it begins with a vowel sound. For example, in ‘heart’, it will not be pronounced, whereas in ‘real’, it will be. Similarly, in expressions such as ‘the mother of Ram’, ‘remember it’, and ‘later on’, it will be pronounced because it is followed by words beginning with vowel sounds /ə/, /i/, and /ɒ/.
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