Sounds of English (British English)

BBC Learning English | Pronunciation Tips

The sounds of English

Learning the sounds

Short vowels

Short vowel / i /

Short vowel / ʊ /



Short vowel / ʌ /



Short vowel /ɒ /



Short vowel /ə /



Short vowel /e /



Short vowel / æ /

Long Vowels

Long vowel /iː/

Long vowel /uː/



Long vowel /ɑː /



Long vowel /ɔː/



Long vowel /ɜː/

Diphthongs (double vowel sounds)

8 Diphthongs

Diphthong / ɪə / near, here, weary

Diphthong /ʊə / poor, jury, cure



Diphthong / aɪ / price, high, try



Diphthong /ɔɪ / choice, boy



Diphthong / əʊ / goat, show, no




Diphthong / eə / square. fair, various




Diphthong / aʊ / mouth, now




Diphthong / eɪ / face, day, break

24 Consonants

[Voiceless consonants]

Voiceless Consonant Sound / p / - pen, copy, happen

Voiceless Consonant Sound /t / - tea, tight, button




Voiceless Consonant Sound / tʃ / -church, match, nature




Voiceless Consonant Sound / k / -key, clock, school




Voiceless Consonant Sound /f / -fat, coffee, rough, photo




Voiceless Consonant Sound / θ / -thing, author, path




Voiceless Consonant Sound / s / -soon, cease, sister




Voiceless Consonant Sound / ʃ / -ship, sure, national

Voiced consonants

Voiced Consonant Sound / b / - back, baby, job




Voiced Consonant Sound /d / - day, ladder, odd




Voiced Consonant Sound / dʒ / -judge, age, soldier




Voiced Consonant Sound / g / - get, giggle, ghost




Voiced Consonant Sound /v / -view, heavy, move




Voiced Consonant Sound / ð / -this, other, smooth




Voiced Consonant Sound / z / -zero, music, roses, buzz




Voiced Consonant Sound / ʒ / -pleasure, vision

Other Consonant Sound

Other Consonant Sound /m / -more, hammer, sum




Other Consonant Sound /n / -nice, know, funny, sun




Other Consonant Sound /ŋ / -ring, anger, thanks, sung




Other Consonant Sound / h / -hot, whole, ahead




Other Consonant Sound / l / -light, valley, feel




Other Consonant Sound / r / -right, wrong, sorry, arrange




Other Consonant Sound / w / -wet, one, when, queen




Other Consonant Sound / j / -yet, use, beauty, few

The Phonetic Chart

There are 44 Sounds in English

12 Pure Vowels

8 Diphthongs

24 Consonants

4.2.2 Alveolar

Alveolar Stops

Alveolar stops are formed by the tip and blade of the tongue forming a full closure against the teeth ridge. The sound is produced when the closure is abruptly released so that the air escapes as a puff or air. The alveolar stops occur as a pair, i.e. with a Fortis and Lenis realisation. The fortis stop /t/ is never voiced, and there is generally a devoicing of the lenis sound as well when it is not surrounded by other voiced sounds. Devoicing is therefore most common in the end position of a word. The lenis stop will generally have a marked lengthening effect on the preceding sound(s).


/ t /

as in




/ d /

as in

Chapter 5 (page -18)

Chapter 5 (page -17) The classification and Description of speech sounds II

The classification and Description of speech sounds II : Vowels

English Phonetics , Learn English , Learn English Pronunciation ,

English phonetics and phonology

4.2.1 Bilabial

Bilabial Stops

Bilabial stops are produced by the lower lip forming a closure with the upper lip, so that the air cannot escape. The sound occurs when the closure is abruptly released as a puff of air. The stop sounds occur in a pair, i.e. one Fortis and one Lenis realisation. The Fortis stop /p/ is never voiced, and there is generally a degree of devoicing of the Lenis sound as well when it is not surrounded by other voiced sounds. Devoicing is therefore most common in the end position of a word. The lenis stop will generally have a marked lengthening effect on the preceding sound(s).


/ p /

as in




/ b /

4.2 Stops

Stops

Stop sounds are produced with complete oral closure which is released quickly so as to end in an explosion or puff of air. If the release takes place slowly, the explosion ends in friction. This is regular for the Palatoalveolar sounds, but incidental for the Alveolar sounds. The stop sounds have regularly one voiced and one unvoiced variant, the first being strongly Fortis, the latter Lenis. Preceding sounds are therefore noticeably affected by following stops, lengthened when followed by Lenis stops, shortened when followed by Fortis stops. Learners must pay particular attention to this phenomenon.



P b

4.1.3 Velar

The Velar Nasal

Production of the velar nasal: The vocal cords vibrate, and the velum is lowered so that the air escapes through the nose. The back of the tongue is raised so as to form a closure on the velum.

Pronunciation of


as in

4.1.2 Alveolar

The Alveolar Nasal

Production of the alveolar nasal /n/ : The vocal cords vibrate, and the velum is lowered so that the air has to escape through the nose. The tip and front of the tongue form a complete closure against the teeth ridge throughout the production phase.

Pronunciation of

/n/

as in

4.1.1 Bilabial

The Bilabial Nasal

Production of the bilabial nasal /m/ : The vocal cords vibrate, and the velum is lowered so that the air escapes through the nose. The lips form a complete closure throughout the production phase.

Pronunciation of

/m/

as in

/maI/ /ti:m/ /ru:mi/

4.1 Nasals

Nasals

Nasal sounds are formed with complete oral closure, lasting throughout the production phase. This means that the air has to be let out through the nose. The quality of the sound, however, relates to the mouth closure, and definitions are therefore based on lip and tongue positions. In Standard British English there are three nasal phonemes. Diagramme

4. Consonants

Consonants

The diagramme shows the 24 consonant phonemes of Standard British English, divided into four groups. The groups are arranged according to degree of closure of the vocal organs. The Nasals and Stops are produced with complete oral closure, the Fricatives with sufficient closure to cause audible friction, whereas Approximants, though produced with narrowing of the vocal organs, are still open enough for friction not to occur. The groups will be treated individually in the teaching units section.

It is important to note that some consonants come in pairs, others do not. If there is no pair, the consonant in question is always voiced. If there is a pair, there is one voiced and one unvoiced variant. Unvoiced consonants are pronounced with far greater force than voiced consonants, and therefore termed Fortis. The voiced form is termed Lenis. This distinction, called the Fortis/Lenis contrast, plays a far greater role than voicing. Of still greater importance is the fact that a fortis consonant tends to cut the length of the preceding sound(s), whereas a lenis consonant tends to lengthen. Language learners should take great care to observe and practice this phenomenon.

Click the group to go directly there or Next to follow the course structure.

3. Teaching Units

Teaching Units

The diagramme lists the six groups of sounds that will be described in this course. Two of these belong to the vowel category, i.e. monophthongs and diphthongs, four are consonants. Note that the term vowel is used here for stable sounds (monophthongs). Click the group label to go to that particular group, or use the Next button to follow the course structure.

Consonants -- Sounds produced with varying forms of hindrance or constriction in the vocal organs.

Vowels - Stable sounds that are produced with open vocal tract and which retain their quality without

noticeable change throughout their production phase.

diphthongs -- Glides; vowel-like sounds that noticeably change during their production/realisation.

Nasals --- Sounds produced with full oral closure but lowered velum so that the air is released

through the nose.

Stops --- Sounds produced with full oral closure and raised velum. The air is released through the mouth after sudden

opening of articulator (lips or tongue).

Fricatives -- Sounds produced with audible friction through narrow opening of the mouth

Approximants --- Sounds released through narrowing of the mouth without audible friction.

2. Survey of Symbols

Survey of transcription symbols

The diagramme shows the 44 phonemes of Standard British English
The diagramme is organised in the following sequence: Long vowels (5), Short vowels (7), Diphthongs (8),
Stops (8), Fricatives (9), Nasals (3), and Approximants (4)
Click a button to hear the sound represented by the symbol
Each sound is treated individually in the Teaching Units, in the sections on Consonants,Vowels,
and Diphthongs.

1. Sound production

The Vocal Organs

Speech is produced by the vocal organs. Every language has a definite set of speech sounds, and every sound can be described with reference to the vocal organ that is used to produce it. In this way sounds occurring in different languages can be compared, and foreign language learners can be helped to overcome pronunciation problems that arise from differences between languages. Knowledge of how the vocal organs function to produce the various sounds of a language will make near-native sound production possible.

Speech is produced by air from the lungs being processed or modified by all speech organs above the lungs: the glottis, pharynx, nose, tongue, and lips. The individual sound is identified by the closure or narrowing of these organs. If we see the tongue as the active articulator, the place which does not move can be called the passive articulator. Labels refer to the place where the closure or narrowing occurs, which means that the name normally refers to the passive articulator.


The speech sounds often have their names from the Latin name of the vocal organ:

Nasal sounds: through nose (velum down)

Oral sounds: through mouth (velum up)Stops: full oral closure

Fricatives: partial oral closure (friction)
Approximants: narrowing (no friction)
Labial: from labium, lip(s) active
Dental: from dentes, teeth active
Alveolar: Alveoles, teeth ridge active
Palatal: Palate, hard palate active
Velar: Velum, soft palate active
Glottal: Glottis, vocal cords active

Chapter 4 (page -16)

ܔܢܜܔThE ClAsSiFiCaTiOn aNd dEsCrIpTiOn oF SpEeCh sOuNdS
1 : cOnSoNaNtS(๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 4 (page -15)

ܔܢܜܔThE ClAsSiFiCaTiOn aNd dEsCrIpTiOn oF SpEeCh sOuNdS
1 : cOnSoNaNtS(๏̯͡๏)
..........................................................................................................................

Chapter 4(page -14)

ܔܢܜܔThE ClAsSiFiCaTiOn aNd dEsCrIpTiOn oF SpEeCh sOuNdS
1 : cOnSoNaNtS(๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 4 (page -13)

ܔܢܜܔThE ClAsSiFiCaTiOn aNd dEsCrIpTiOn oF SpEeCh sOuNdS
1 : cOnSoNaNtS(๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 4 (page -12)

ܔܢܜܔThE ClAsSiFiCaTiOn aNd dEsCrIpTiOn oF SpEeCh sOuNdS
1 : cOnSoNaNtS(๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 4 (page -11) The classification and Description of speech sounds 1 : Consonants

ܔܢܜܔThE ClAsSiFiCaTiOn aNd dEsCrIpTiOn oF SpEeCh sOuNdS
1 : cOnSoNaNtS(๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 3 (page -10)

Chapter 3 (page -9)

ܔܢܜܔThE OrGaNs oF SpEeCh (๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 3 (page -8)

ܔܢܜܔThE OrGaNs oF SpEeCh (๏̯͡๏)

More Info

Chapter 3 (page -7)

ܔܢܜܔ tHe oRgAnS Of sPeEcH (๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 3. The organs of speech (page -6)

ܔܢܜܔ tHe oRgAnS Of sPeEcH (๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 2 (page -5)

ܔܢܜܔInTrOdUcToRy rEmArKs (๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 2. Air-stream mechanism (page -4)

ܔܢܜܔAiR-StReAm mEcHaNiSm(๏̯͡๏)

Chapter 1. Introductory Remarks (page -3)

ܔܢܜܔInTrOdUcToRy rEmArKs (๏̯͡๏)

Index 1