Difference between revisions of "Sounds of English"

Latest revision as of 13:57, 21 June 2023

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, 30^th
• 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/ (le son souligné en e.g. fête, bête, lait, aime, pouvaient). Since the distinction is not considered phonemic, the standard transcription is /e/ though the sound is closer to /ɛ/ than it is to /e/ (qui est, strictu sensu, le son de fée, pourrai, pouvez, aimer).

• 7, 10, 12, F, L, M, N, S, X, zed
• health, wedding, nephew, elementary /ˌel ɪ men tri/
• says, said

/ə/

• The most common vowel sound in English (also the most central vowel) (quite lax) uh... (French "euh" is very similar, but with rounded lips)

• around, about, above, across, ago, asleep, etc.
• perpetual, residual, science, electric, elegant, woman, sermon
• to ^{weak form}, them ^{weak form}, that ^{weak form}, a, the ^{weak form}
• -ous (famous, gelatinous, disastrous)
• -er (safer, cheaper, etc.)
• -able, -ible (understandable, comfortable ¹, legible, incredible)
• -ate (in ADJ and N): chocolate (n.) /tʃɑː klət/, corporate (adj.), conglomerate (adj.), associate (n.), etc.
• Some transcribe the sound of the suffix -ion as /ən/, though most dictionaries simply use "syllabic" /n/. More terminology wars... :) e.g. nation, ration, consideration, fashion /fæʃ n/, etc.

¹ Most commonly the first schwa is dropped entirely. kʌmf təbl / kʌmf ə təbl, cf. "comfy" :)

/æ/

• bad, faster, fastest, that ¹
• laughter ^{US + parts of UK}, draught ^{US + parts of UK} (fr. courant d'air)
• forbade: (hapax?)

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.

Diphthongs

/eɪ/

• A, H, J, K, 8
• they, grey
• take, plane, fate
• main, rain, paid, said /səd/
• day, way, say, says /səz/
• weigh, neighbour, freight
• vein
• aviation, (un)able, Asia (/eɪ ʒə/)

/ɑɪ/

• I, Y, 5, 9
• rice, mice
• guide, quite quiet /kwɑɪt kwɑɪ ət/, choir /kwɑɪ ər/
• kind, mind, behind
• light, sight, sigh, height
• align, benign, sign

/əʊ / oʊ/

• O, 0, (zero)
• close, clothes /kləʊðz/, chose, chosen
• though, although, thorough /θɜː roʊ/ ^US /θʌ rə/ ^UK, borough /bɜː roʊ/ ^US /bʌ rə/ ^UK
• own, grow, known, flown
• soap, foam

/ɑʊ/

• 1000
• out, about, around, announce, pounce
• how, now, power, tower, town

/ɔɪ/

• noisy, oil
• toys, boys
• poignant /ˈpɔɪnyənt/

/eə/

• Mostly UK. North American English (NAME) is usually /er/
• there, where
• hair, pair
• share, care
• heir

/ʊə/

• Mostly UK. North American English (NAME) is usually /ʊr/
• poor ¹, tour (guide)
• sure ¹, (al)lure

¹ both "poor" and "sure" can be pronounced with ɔː i.e. ʃɔː, pɔː

/ɪə/

• Mostly UK. North American English (NAME) is usually /ɪr/
• dear, near
• here
• beer, peer, tier

Consonants

Most consonants are paired: at each position one can make two sounds (one voiced, one unvoiced). For example:

• Nasal consonants — m, n, ŋ — liquids —r, l — and glides — w, j (why, yellow) — are all voiced.
• Syllabic n and l are roughly equivalent to /ən/, /əl/. (fashion, bottle)

A "flap" /ɾ/ or /t̮/ is often used for intervocalic "t" after a stressed syllable outside of England (Australia, NZ, US, ...). The sound is made in the same place as the /d/ but with a quicker flap of the tongue (hence the name). It is voiced.

• battle ˈbæt̮l, butter bʌt̮ər, bottle ˈbɑt̮l, subtle ˈsʌt̮l, better ˈbɛt̮ər...

Accents of North American English

Part I

Part II

Part III

Accents of English

Some comparisons