ENGLISH PHONETICS - 1

 

E N G L I S H   P H O N E T I C S

                         Notes: 1

Speech sounds:

  ( no air no sound)

Speech sounds are two types:

         1) Vowels

          2) Consonants

 1) VOWEL SOUNDS:

      * no closure,no narrowing ,and no friction in the air passage.

      *Vocal cords vibrate to produce sounds.

      * air stream comes from the lungs freely

Total No : 20

  2) Consonant sounds:

        * sounds are produced by friction.

        * voiceless or voiced

 Total No : 24

         Before going further , let us know ;

 A FEW SPECIAL SIGNS FOR FUTURE HELP

        SIGNS                MEANINGS

1)     /    /             Phonetic bar

 2) /  '   /               Stressed sound

 3)/,    /                Undressed sound

 4) :                      Make vowel sound long

         

  T H E      I N T R O D U C T I O N  O F                S P E E C H   O R G A N S:

The gift of the God:

The best sound system to produce any kind of sound.

            

 1) Trachea:

         * Through which air stream is sent from the lungs.

  2) Larynx :

         * the top of the trachea where vocal cords are set.

 3) Glottis:

         * where musical note is produced

  4) The palate: 

         * the roof of the mouth 

         * separates from the nasal cavity.

         * divided into three parts: 

                                    a) teeth ridge

                                     b) hard palate

                                      c) soft palate

 5) Teeth:

          *lower teeth are of little use.

 6) Lips

          * used in various movements

 7) Tongue:

          * the most important of the organs of speech.

           * four sections

                a) Tip and blade

                b) front 

                 c) back

                  d) root 

VOWELS WITH THE PHONETIC SYMBOLS

 a)  P U R E   V O W E L S:

1)    /i:/

This vowel is produced by the front body of the tongue which remains close to the hard palate, and with spread lips. The front of the tongue rises to the highest position. As;

    seed /si:d/             seek /si:k/      leave /li:v/

    feed  /fi:d/           meet /mi:t/   leaf /li:f/

    each / I:tʃ/             eat /i:t/        eel / li:l/                   

    2) /I/ 

    /i/ is longer but /I/ is shorter. This vowel takes place at the same place of the tongue. A little lower than /i:/ as ;

     lid/lɪd/      inn/ɪn/     if /ɪf/       fill/fɪll/

3) /e/ 

This vowel sound is also produced at the same place of tongue like /i:/ and /I/. Mouth remains wide open. Let's try:

  ten/ten/        men/men/    any/ ˈenɪ/ 

get/get/          dead/ded/     pen /pen/

  4)  /æ/ 

 This is also a front vowel, a little lower than /e/ and the mouth remains in between open and half open position.  Let's do;

tan /tæn/         pan /pæn/   ant /ɑænt/

act/ækt/          bat /bæ/       dad /dæd/

5) /a:/ 

 To be frankly, 'doctor's ahhh'

The sound comes from the back of the soft palate and tongue remains in the lowest position and also the mouth remains wide open.

Let us check;

  ask/ɑːsk/        card/kaːd/        bark /bɑːk/

   car/kɑː/          far/fa:/          farce/fa:rs/

6) / ɒ/

* This vowel rises the back of the tongue a little towards   the soft palate. It is produced with the slightest rounded lips. Let's examine:

   lock/lɒk/   odd/ɒd/  not/nɒt/

7)/ɔː/

Nearly, like /ɒ/ in quality. The only difference is that it is a long vowel . Let's check: 

 cord/kɔːd/    caught/kɔːt/  order/ɔːd(r)

 8)  / ʊ/

 The back of the tongue remains a little higher than /ɔː/ sound. And also, it is produced with rounded lips. Do try:

 Put /pʊt/   would/wʊd/  look/lʊk/

 9) /u:/

 This simple or pure vowel is produced at the back part of the tongue, which gets the highest position under the soft palate, and lips rounded. It is a long back vowel. Let's check:

 two/tuː/  luke/lu:k/   ooze/ u:z/

10) /ʌ/

 In producing this vowel sound , the mouth remains fairly wide open. It is a central vowel. Let's check the following words:

   but/bʌt/ up/ʌp/  cup/kʌp/

11)/ɜː/

  It is also another central vowel.It is a long vowel. It has a distinctive quality.It is produced with the keeping of teeth together and with the wearing of a smile on the face. Let's examine:

bird/bɜːd/ earn/ɜːn/ fur/fɜː/

12) /ə/

In English, this is the commonest vowel. In many cases it is so obscure that the hearing organization fails to catch its sound, especially between consonants. We will learn about this next time. This is one of the most important central vowels produced with half-closed and half-open mouth. Let's check:

banana/bənɑːnə/ above/əˈbʌv/     adore/ədɔ/

             

    D I P H T H O N G S

A diphthong is the mixed sound of vowels. The sound of a vowel starts its own sound and ends  with another. British R.P. has 8 different types of diphthongs.

1) /əʊ/

 To get /əʊ/sound, we should start our sound journey with /ɜː/ ,not /ə/ and finish it with /ʊ/. Let's test:

go/gəʊ/  load/ləʊd/  dote/dəʊt/

2) /ɑʊ/

 For /ɑʊ/, we should start with /ʌ/ and finish with /ʊ/ sound. Let's check:

cow/kaʊ/ now/naʊ/ doubt/daʊt/

 3) /eɪ/

Sound begins with /e/ and finishes with /ɪ/,and not with /i/. Let's do:

aim/eɪm/ late/leɪt/ paper/peɪpə/

4) /aɪ/

Sound is produced with /ʌ/ and finished with /ɪ/. Let's us check:

rice/raɪs/ ice/aɪs/ like/laɪk/

5) /ɔɪ/

Loud /ɔː/ becomes less loud and ends with /ɪ/. Let's try:

 boy/bɔɪ/ oil/ɔɪl/ avoid/əvɔɪd/

6)/ɪə/

From /ɪ/ to /ə/

 ear/ɪə/   bear/bɪə/  near/nɪə/

7) /eə/

It glides smoothly from/æ/ to /ʌ/. Let's try:

 air/eə/ dare/deə/ hair/heə/

8) /ʊə/

For this diphthong,/ʊ/ sound slows down to /ə/. Let's make:

poor/pʊə/  pure/pjʊə/  our/aʊə/

               C O N S O N A N T S

In English, consonants have the greatest contribution to the formation of  English. Actually consonants are the formats of sound.Today we have already introduced the SMS language in which we use only consonants and the receiver can easily understand our purposes. Examples: plz>please;pctr> picture etc.

In dealing with consonants we must know consonants are made by the certain interruption of air stream which comes from lungs.

R.P. has 24 consonant sounds.

1. /f/ and /v/

These are produced by lower lip and upper teeth which come close and air goes through the mouth forcebly. /f/ is a strong and long sound , whereas /v/ is a weak and short sound.

Let's us practise;

    fat/fæt/            vat/væt/

    fast/fɑːst/         vast/vaːst/

    fan/fæn/          van/væn/

    few/fjuː/           view/vjuː/

    safe/seɪf/         cave/keɪv/

    life/laɪf/             five/ faɪv/

2. /θ/and /ð/

These are dental sounds. Tongue tip comes close to the cutting - edge of upper teeth. /θ/ is strong but /ð/ is weak. Let's check tongue-teeth action.

       three/θriː/       thirst/θɜːst/

       thief/θiːf/         thin/θɪn/

       that/ðæt/        they/ðeɪ/

       this/ðɪs/         these/ðiːz/

       author/ɔːθə/   further/fɜːðə/

       mouth/maʊθ/  smooth/smuːð/

3. /s/ and /z/

These are produced by teeth and alveolar ridge. /s/ is a strong and longer friction sound while /z/ is a mild friction sound. Let's check:

     said /sed/     zed/zed/

    bus/bʌs/        buz/bʌz/

    ass/æs/         as/æz/

    racing/reɪsɪŋ/ raising/reɪziŋ/

4. /ʃ/ and /ʒ/

These are produced by the tip of the tongue and back of the alveolar ridge./ʃ/ is strong but /ʒ/ is weak sound. Let's check:

    ship/ʃɪp/   shirt/ʃɜːt/

   shirt sleeves/ˈʃɜːtsliːvz/

measure/meʒə/ closure/kləʊʒə/

      harsh/hɑːʃ/    lease/liːʃ/

      erasure/ɪreɪʒə/   

      garage/ gærɑːʒ/

5) /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ :

These are the three phonemes that are called nasal consonants. In producing /m/ , lips are closed and air is passed through the nose. The /n/ is produced by pressing the teeth of the tongue to the alveolar ridge, an uneven swelling area a little above the teeth. The /ŋ/ is a voiced sound and is is produced by the back of the tongue pressed against the soft palate and air stream is passed through the nose. Either in /m/ and /n/ or /ŋ/ are produced by lowering the soft palate a little.                 Let's check:

marry/mæri/  mask/mɑːsk/   most/məʊst/

him/hɪm/   limp/limp/  mine/maɪn/

no/nəʊ/    nob/nɒb/    nip/nɪp/   nihilism/nauhɪlɪzəm/   ninth/naɪnθ/

sing/sɪŋ/  sang/sæŋ/   song/sɒŋ/

bring/brɪŋ/   bang/bæŋ/

anchor/æŋkə/    anchorage/æŋkərɪdʒ/

6) /tʃ/ and /dʒ/:

These two consonants are specially mixed up with /ʃ/ and /ʒ/. When these sounds are produced, the tip of the tongue is gone a little further from the alveolar ridge, and air is released with friction. /tʃ/ is a strong sound, but /dʒ/ is articulated with a weak one. Let's check:

change/tʃeɪndʒ/    cheap/tʃiːp/  check/ tʃek/

reach/ riːtʃ/    french/frentʃ/   pitch/pitʃ/

jeer/dʒɪə/     jest/dʒest/   jug/dʒʌg/

juice/dʒuːs/  cage/keɪdʒ/ age/eɪdʒ/

7) /l/ :

The / l/ is called a lateral consonant. During its production, the blade of the tongue is firmly made a pressure to the teeth ridge and air stream is freely passed in a parallel way by the  sides of the tongue. Let's try:

 love/ lʌv/   please/pliːz/   believe/ bɪliːv/

bell/ bel/ sell/ sel/ self/self/

8) /j/ ː

Among three smooth non-functional gliding consonants / j/, /w/ and /r/, /j/ is smooth and quick and produces the sound like / i:/ or /ɪ/. We make the phonetic transcription of yes as /jes/. So , it is called a semi-vowel. Let's try more glides:

Yard/jɑːd/      yam/jæm/    yaw/jɔː/

Union/ ju:njən/  unique/juːniːk/

view/vjuː/  music/mjuːzɪk/

9) / w/:

This is another consonant . It glides from the vowel /u:/ or / ʊ/ . In producing this sound, lips must be rounded. This consonant is more complex than /j/. But not so hard. It will be easier if we start this consonant with /uː/ or /ʊ/ and end with /ɔː/. Now let's try:

Sweet/ swi:t/     sweat/ swet/

where/ weə/      wool/ wʊl/

highway / haɪweɪ/

10) /r/

Though called it third gliding consonant, it unlikes /j/ and /w/.

It is a frictionless consonant. It is produced with a curved tongue which is close to the hard palate for friction like,  but no friction takes place. The air stream flows quietly in between from a narrowing shape which is made by tongue tip and palate. Let's examine:

run/ run/     hurry/ hʌrɪ/  rear/reə/

pray/preɪ/   deprive/ dɪpraɪv/

draw/ drɔː/  true /truː/

END OF PHONETICS PART -1

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