Difference between revisions of "Sounds of English"
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− | <p>The precise realisation of this form varies. In South Africa the sound is closer to /e/, while in the US it is closer to /ɛ/. (<i>f<u>ê</u>te, b<u>ê</u>te, l<u>ait</u>, <u>ai</u>me pouv<u>aient</u></i>). Since the distinction is not considered phonemic (since the long "A" sound is realized as the diphthong /eɪ/), the standard transcription is /e/ though the sound is closer to /ɛ/ than /e/ (<i>f<u>ée</u>, pourr<u>ai</u>, pouv<u>ez</u>, aim<u>er</u></i>.) </p> | + | <p>The precise realisation of this form varies. In South Africa the sound is closer to /e/, while in the US it is closer to /<span style="color:#060;font-weight:bold;">ɛ<span>/. (<i>f<u>ê</u>te, b<u>ê</u>te, l<u>ait</u>, <u>ai</u>me pouv<u>aient</u></i>). Since the distinction is not considered phonemic (since the long "A" sound is realized as the diphthong /eɪ/), the standard transcription is /e/ though the sound is closer to /ɛ/ than /e/ (<i>f<u>ée</u>, pourr<u>ai</u>, pouv<u>ez</u>, aim<u>er</u></i>.) </p> |
<ul> | <ul> |
Revision as of 22:30, 27 August 2020
Contents
Vowels
Vowels are always voiced (which means the vocal cords vibrate when the sound is made).
vaʊ əlz ər ɔːl wəz vɔɪst
Long "pure" vowels
/ɑ:/
- R, star, car, far
- father, bother US, bottle US, knowledge US
- clerk UK, bath UK, laughter UK, draught UK
/i:/
- B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, Z US
- he, she, me, we
- sea, tea, seem, feet, (-)teen, key
- apostrophe, Socrates, catastrophe /kə tæ strə fi/ ; suffix-final "y" (as in stormy, safety, slowly) is also pronounced with a shorter /i/
/u:/
- 2, Q, U, W, you
- choose, use
- new, flew, grew, knew, true, blue
- to strong form, through
/ɔː/
- 4, 40
- door, floor, shore, store (US /ɔːr/ )
- daughter, caught, thought, fought
- law, saw, lawyer /ˈlɔː jər/
- fluorine, chlorine
- sort, sword (US /ɔːr/ )
/ɜː/
- first, third, 30, 30th
- shirt, clerk, certification, learn
- Some people sometimes pronounce words like sure & pure with this sound rather than ʃʊr, pjʊr, (myself included).
Short vowels
/ɒ/
- primarily UK. various US accents substitute a low back vowel, usually /ɑ:/, but sometimes ɔ:. Short ʌ in high frequency functional words like what and of.
- what UK 1
- bottle ˈbɒ tl, throttle ˈθrɒ tl
- shot, spot, lots, of UK 1, pots, across
- knowledge ˈnɒl ɪdʒ
US 1 = ʌ in what and of, ɑ: in the other examples.
/ʌ/
- 1, 100
- sun, but, mud, uncle
- son, won, brother, other, another, above
- flood, blood
- tough, rough, enough /ɪ nʌf/
/ʊ/
- Look!, a good cookbook
- put, push, pull
- woman /wʊ mən/
/ɪ/
- 6, 15, 16, 50, 60, him, this, finish, minute (n.)
- been, again
- below, behind, between, beneath, bemoan, belabor, besmirch, etc.
- women /wɪ mɪn/, electric /ɪ lek trɪk/, elegance /el ɪ ɡəns/, enough /ɪ nʌf/
- -age 1, -e(d)ge /ɪdʒ/ (village, marriage, storage, baggage, luggage, mortgage /mɔː ɡɪdʒ/, college, knowledge)
1 Exceptions include more recent borrowings from French, e.g. garage /ɡə rɑːʒ/ US /ɡær ɪdʒ/ UK, fuselage /fjuː sə lɑːʒ/, triage, montage, etc.
/e/
The precise realisation of this form varies. In South Africa the sound is closer to /e/, while in the US it is closer to /ɛ/. (fête, bête, lait, aime pouvaient). Since the distinction is not considered phonemic (since the long "A" sound is realized as the diphthong /eɪ/), the standard transcription is /e/ though the sound is closer to /ɛ/ than /e/ (fée, pourrai, pouvez, aimer.) </p>
1 Most commonly the first schwa is dropped entirely. kʌmf təbl / kʌmf ə təbl, cf. "comfy" :)
<p>1 As a demonstrative pronoun / determiner that is pronounced /ðæt/, as a relative pronoun, that is usually pronounced /ðət/, though it may be dropped entirely.</p>
<p>1 both "poor" and "sure" can be pronounced with ɔː i.e. ʃɔː, pɔː</p>
<p>Most consonants are paired: at each position one can make two sounds (one voiced, one unvoiced). For example:</p>
/ə/
/æ/
Diphthongs
/eɪ/
said /səd/says /səz//ɑɪ/
/əʊ / oʊ/
/ɑʊ/
/ɔɪ/
/eə/
/ʊə/
/ɪə/
Consonants
Voiced
Unvoiced
θ
think
ð
that, brother
b
big
p
pig
v
even Stephen
f
enough phonetics
d
stewed
t
cooked
z
reads
s
writes
ʒ
pleasure
ʃ
sure
dʒ
badge, joke
tʃ
batch, choke
g
agree
k
cake, second(s), chemistry