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Language and Linguistics

English Phonology

Modern English has about 35 main phonemes, though English speakers use about 35-45 different sounds

Main vowel phonemes in English:

 

In English, unstressed vowels tend to be pronounced as the mid-central vowel.

English consonant sounds:

Examples of consonant sounds:

[ p ]: pat, Peter, put, pat

[ b ]: bat, beat, boat

[ t ]: time, tower, tell

[ d ]: dime, dice, date

[ k ]: came, cramp, clock, kick

[ g ]: game, go, grass

[ f ]: fat, file, fast

[ v ]: vat, vile, vast

[ θ ]: thigh, thin, thick

[ ð ]: thy, this, that, those

[ s ]: sap, soup, sound,

[ z ]: zap, zone, zipper

[ ʃ ]: shore, sure, shine

[ ʒ ]: the sound of the "s" in "measure," "treasure," "pleasure"

[ h ]: ham, home, hate

[ tʃ ]: chump, chair, church

[ dʒ ]: jump, job, jeep

[ m ]: man, month, mint

[ n ]: nun, nose, no

[ ŋ ]: the final sound in words ending in -ing, like "boxing," "coming," "going"

[ l ]: lamp, loud, low

[ r ]: ramp, road, run

[ w ]: world, water, wink

[ y ]: you, yes, yesterday

[ ʔ ] : the sound of the "t" in American pronunciations of words like "mountain," "satin," "satan"

[ ɾ ] : the sound of the "t" in American pronunciations of words like "cater," "waiter," "later"

 

References and Links:

International Phonetic Association and International Phonetic Alphabet

Interactive IPA Chart with Sounds

International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet (chart of symbols with sounds)

Typing IPA Phonetic Symbols

 

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Last updated: October 4, 2018 12:30