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Revision as of 21:27, 19 September 2017
Vowels
Vowels are always voiced (which means the vocal cords vibrate when the sound is made).
ˈvaʊəlz ər 'ɔːlwəz 'vɔɪst
Long "pure" vowels
/ɑ:/
- R, star, car, far
- father, bother, bottle
- clerk UK
/i:/
- B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, Z US
- sea, tea, seem, feet, key
/u:/
- Q, U, W
- choose, use,
/ɜːr/
- 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
/ʌ/
- sun, but, mud, uncle
- son, won, 1, brother, other, another, above
- flood, blood
/ʊ/
- Look!, a good cookbook
- put, push, pull
- woman /'wʊmən/
/ɪ/
- 6, him, this
- been, again
- below, behind, between, beneath, bemoan, belabor, besmirch, etc.
- women /'wimin/, electric, elegance /'elɪɡəns/
/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.)
- 7, 10, 12, F, L, M, N, S, X, Zed
- health, wedding, nephew, elementary /ˌelɪˈmentri/
- 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, ago, asleep, etc.
- perpetual, residual, comfortable1, science, electric, elegant, woman, sermon
- -ous (famous, gelatinous, disastrous)
- -er (safer, cheaper, 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 /ˈfæʃn/, etc.
1 Most commonly the first schwa is dropped entirely. ˈkʌmftəbl / 'kʌmfətəbl
/æ/
- bad, faster, fastest, that1
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/
/ɑɪ/
/əʊ / oʊ /
/ɑʊ/
/eə/
/ʊə/
Consonants
Most consonants are paired: at each position one can make two sounds (one voiced, one unvoiced). For example:
| Voiced | Unvoiced |
|---|---|
| b | p |
| d | t |
| z | s |
| ʒ | ʃ |
| g | k |
