English Phonetics: Vowels and Consonants

Posted on Dec 23, 2024 in Latin

English Vowel Phonemes: 12 Pure Vowels, 8 Diphthongs

Long Vowels

  • /iː/: ee (feet), ea (read), e (me), ie (piece), ei (receive), i (police), ae (anemia), ey (key)
  • /ɑː/: a (castle), ar (far), au (aunt), oi (reservoir), al (half), ah (hurrah), er (derby), ear (heart), uar (guard), azaar (bazaar)
  • /ɔː/: or (fork), ou (course), au (sauce), al (also), all (talk), alk (talk), aw (law), wa (war), oo (door), ean (Sean)
  • /uː/: oo (moon), o (do), ew (chew), u (June), ue (blue), ou (soup), ui (fruit), oe (shoe), wo (two)
  • /ɜː/: er (person), ir (bird), ur (nurse), ear (learn), or (word), our (journey), eu (milieu), onel (colonel)

Short Vowels

  • /ɪ/: i (skill), y (pity), e (pretty), ee (coffee), a (orange), ie (movie), u (busy), ui (guilty), ea (guinea), ai (captain), ome (women)
  • /e/: e (bed), ea (bread), a (many), eo (leopard), ue (guess), iend (friend), aid (said)
  • /æ/: a (cat), i (meringue), ai (plaid), ave (have)
  • /ɒ/: o (stop), a (want), ou (cough), au (sausage), one (gone), owled (knowledge), eaucr (bureaucracy)
  • /ʊ/: u (bull), oo (book), oul (could), o (wolf)
  • /ʌ/: u (duck), o (mother), ou (country), oo (blood), oes (does)
  • /ə/: a (machine), e (violet), i (possible), o (polite), u (autumn), ar (collar), er (father), or (doctor), our (colour), ate (intimate), ough (borough)

Diphthongs

  • /eɪ/: a (make), ai (train), ay (play), ea (break), ei (eight), ey (grey), auge (gauge)
  • /aɪ/: i (five), igh (high), ight (light), y (dry), ie (pie), ei (height), uy (buy), ye (eye)
  • /ɔɪ/: oi (oil), oint (point), oy (boy)
  • /əʊ/: o (old), oa (soap), ou (soul), ow (know), oe (toe), ew (sew)
  • /aʊ/: ow (now), ou (round), ough (bough)
  • /ɪə/: ear (dear), eer (beer), ere (here), ier (pier), ia (pianist), ea (idea), eir (weir)
  • /eə/: ai (chair), are (care), ear (bear), ere (there), eir (heir), ayor (mayor)
  • /ʊə/: oor (poor), our (tour), ur (jury), ure (sure), urop (Europe), aluer (valuer)

Triphthongs

  • /aɪə/: ire (tired), ie (quiet), ighe (higher), yre (tyre), ia (liar), io (ion), yer (dyer)
  • /aʊə/: our (flour), ower (flower)
  • /ɔɪə/: oya (royal), oyer (employer), oyous (joyous)
  • /eɪə/: ayer (player), ayonnaise (mayonnaise)
  • /əʊə/: ower (slower)

English Consonant Phonemes: 21 Pure, 3 Semi-Vowels

Manner of Articulation

Plosive (/p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, /g/), Fricative (/f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /h/, /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/), Affricate (/tʃ/, /dʒ/), Nasal (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/), Lateral (/l/), Approximant (/r/, /j/, /w/)

Point of Articulation

Bilabial (/p/, /b/, /m/, /w/), Labiodental (/f/, /v/), Dental (/θ/, /ð/), Alveolar (/t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, /s/, /z/), Post-alveolar (/r/), Palato-alveolar (/tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/), Palatal (/j/), Velar (/k/, /g/, /ŋ/), Glottal (/h/)

Voicing

Voiceless (/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /h/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/), Voiced (/b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /w/, /r/, /j/, /ð/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/)

Activity of Nasal Cavity

Oral, Nasal (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/)

Other Consonants

ñ, r, x, j

Plosives

Characterized by a closure in the mouth, followed by a release of compressed air, creating a ‘plosion’ sound.

  • /p/: p (pen, open, lip), pp (apple)
  • /b/: b (bat, about, crab), bb (rubber, ebb)
  • /t/: t (ten, motor, boat), tt (attack, butt), ed (faced), ght (fighter, night), acht (yacht)
  • /d/: d (day, under, end), dd (ladder, add), ld (could)
  • /k/: c (cold, local, epic), cc (account), k (king, poker, park), ck (neck, rocket), qu (quite, inquire, cheque), ch (chrome, archaic, ache), lk (walker, talk), elt (celt)
  • /g/: g (go, regret, bag), gg (dagger, egg), gh (ghost)

Affricates

Complex sounds made of two parts: a plosive followed by a fricative.

  • /tʃ/: ch (church, teacher, march), tch (kitchen, Dutch), tu (nature), c (cello), cz (Czech), sti (question)
  • /dʒ/: j (join), ge (gentle, danger, village), dge (judge), gi (gin), oldier (soldier)

Fricatives

Produced by forcing air through a narrow channel, creating friction.

  • /f/: f (far, prefer, life), ff (offer, staff), ph (photo, cipher, Ralph), gh (laughter, tough), lf (halfway, half)
  • /v/: v (very, navy, live), vv (navvy), ph or f (Stephen, of)
  • /θ/: th (three, author, bath)
  • /ð/: th (that, gather, bathe)
  • /s/: s (summer, ask, house), ss (essay, pass), sc (scissors), c (city, acid, rice), ps (psycho), st (listen), sch (schism)
  • /z/: Lexical verbs in the third person singular present tense, inflected with the -s morpheme, and regular plural forms.
  • /ʃ/: sh (sheep, fisher, push), ch (chef, machine, douche), s (sugar), ss (Russia), sch (schist), ti (nation), si (Asia), ce (ocean), ci (special)
  • /ʒ/: su (usual), si (vision), ge (beige), quation (equation)
  • /h/: h (hall, rehab), wh (who)

Note: Endings like -tion, -tian, -tial are often pronounced with /ʃ/, while endings like -sian, -sion, -sure, -sual are often pronounced with /ʒ/.

Nasals

Produced by air flowing through the nose.

  • /m/: m (man, woman, ham), mm (summer), lm (palmy), mn (autumn), mb (bomber, bomb)
  • /n/: n (nose, any, man), nn (dinner, Lynn), kn (knee), gn (gnu, reign)
  • /ŋ/: ng (singer, song), nk (ink), nx (lynx), nc (sanction), nch (bronchial)

Lateral

Produced by air flowing along the sides of the tongue. There are two allophonic variants: “dark l” (at the end of a word or before a consonant, e.g., bell) and “clear l” (at the beginning of a word or before a vowel, e.g., lips).

  • /l/: l (leg, clear, owl), ll (Lloyd, silly, bill)

Approximants

Sounds that are phonetically similar to vowels but function phonologically as consonants. They never appear in the final position in non-rhotic accents.

  • /r/: r (red, very), rr (marry), wr (write), rh (rhythm)
  • /w/: w (well, reward), wh (what, nowhere), o (one), u (queen)
  • /j/: y (yes), u (use, duty), ew (ewe, new), eu (Europe, queue), eau (beauty), i (onion)