Detailed Study Notes on English Phonetics and Pronunciation

University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi

Course Information

  • Institution: University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi

  • Department: College of Arts, Sciences, and Education

  • Course Title: IO-ENG: English for Specific Purposes

  • Instructor: Asst. Prof. Geraldine F. Ajero, MAEngEd, LPT

Class Introduction

  • Instructor Greeting: How are you feeling today?

  • Instructor’s Signature: G. Ajero

Lesson Overview

Lesson Objectives

  1. Understand Phonemes

    • Categorize the 44 sounds of English into vowels and consonants.

  2. Demonstrate Pronunciation

    • Practice pronunciation using tongue twisters.

Understanding Phonemes

Definition of Phoneme

  • Phoneme:

    • A speech sound and the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another.

Graphemes

  • Grapheme:

    • A letter or group of letters used to represent a sound in a writing system.

    • Can vary based on spelling rules and may be inconsistent.

    • There are 44 phonemes of English represented by the 26 letters of the alphabet individually and in combination.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

  • IPA:

    • Stands for International Phonetic Alphabet.

    • A system of symbols that precisely represents speech sounds, regardless of spelling.

    • Eliminates spelling confusion by using one symbol per sound.

    • The 44 phonemes of English are represented by 44 IPA symbols.

Distinction between Graphemes and IPA

Category

Grapheme

IPA

Use

Used in everyday writing and spelling.

Used in linguistics and pronunciation guides. (e.g., dictionaries)

Types of Sounds

Vowels vs. Consonants

  • Vowel Sound:

    • Formed when the airflow is unobstructed during sound production.

  • Consonant Sound:

    • Involves an airflow that is cut off, either partially or completely, during sound production.

Types of Vowels

Monophthongs vs. Diphthongs

  • Monophthongs:

    • A single vowel sound without glide (e.g., /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/).

  • Diphthongs:

    • A combination of two vowel sounds that glide from one to another (e.g., /ai/, /au/).

Monophthongs Breakdown

  • Short Monophthongs:

    • /a/: as in bat and laugh

    • /e/: as in medical and bread

    • /i/: as in sit and lip

    • /o/: as in hot and orange

    • /u/: as in shut and cut

  • Long Monophthongs:

    • /ā/: as in day and eight

    • /ē/: as in beet and sleep

    • /ī/: as in pie and sky

    • /ō/: as in boat and row

    • /ū/: as in hue and chew

Common vs. Less Common Diphthongs

  • More Common Diphthongs:

    • /ai/: as in kite and time

    • /au/: as in house and now

    • /oi/: as in boy and coin

    • /ei/: as in cake and say

    • /ou/: as in go and boat

  • Less Common Diphthongs:

    • /ie/: as in beer and here

    • /ea/: as in air and bear

    • /ua/: as in tour and sure (noted to be more common in British English).

R-Controlled Vowels

  • R-Controlled Vowels:

    • /ar/: as in car, far, star

    • /er/: as in her, fern, serve

    • /ir/: as in bird, first, dirt

    • /or/: as in corn, fork, storm

    • /ur/: as in turn, burn, fur

Additional Vowel Characteristics

  • Vowel Valley:

    • Describes the articulation of vowel sounds where the tongue gradually drops, and the mouth opens wider, leading to the formation of the low middle vowel /o/. The mouth starts to close, and the tongue rises towards the roof as back vowels are articulated (e.g., key, sit, play, bed, cat, pie, fox, cup, call, vote).

Consonants

Definition and Characteristics

  • Consonant Sound:

    • Produced when airflow is partially or completely obstructed.

Types of Consonants

By Manner of Articulation

  1. Plosives:

    • Air is completely blocked and then released.

    • Examples:

      • /p/ - as in pat

      • /b/ - as in bat

      • /t/ - as in top

      • /d/ - as in dog

      • /k/ - as in cat

      • /g/ - as in go

  2. Fricatives:

    • Air flows through a narrow space, creating friction.

    • Examples:

      • /f/ - as in fun

      • /h/ - as in hat

      • /s/ - as in sun

      • /v/ - as in van

      • /z/ - as in zip

      • /th/ - as in think

      • /th/ - as in this

      • /sh/ - as in shop

      • /zh/ - as in treasure

  3. Affricates:

    • A mix of stop plus fricative sounds.

    • Examples:

      • /ch/ - as in chair

      • /j/ - as in jam

  4. Nasals:

    • Air passes through the nose.

    • Examples:

      • /m/ - as in mat

      • /n/ - as in nose

      • /ng/ - as in song

  5. Approximants:

    • Air flows around the tongue.

    • Examples:

      • /l/ - as in lake

      • /r/ - as in run

  6. Glides (Semi-vowels):

    • Similar to vowels with slight constriction.

    • Examples:

      • /w/ - as in water

      • /wh/ - as in whale

      • /y/ - as in yes

Summary of Types of Consonants by Articulation

  • Manner of Articulation: Stops, Liquids, Nasals, Glides, Affricates, Fricatives.

  • Place of Articulation: Dental, Alveolar, Bilabial, Labiodental, Post-Alveolar, Palatal, Velar, Glottal.

  • Voicing: Voiced and voiceless sounds are distinguished based on vocal cord vibration.

IPA Pronunciation Charts

Vowel Sounds IPA Breakdown

Short Vowels

Long Vowels

Diphthongs

e ɪ ɒ ʊ

ɜ: i: ɔ: u: ɑ:

æ ʌ ə ɪə eə ʊə eɪ ɔɪ aɪ aʊ əʊ

Consonant Sounds IPA Breakdown

Consonants

p b t d

f v θ ð s

k g ʈʃ dʒ

ʃ ʒ r j w l

m n ŋ

h z

Copyright Information

  • Modification, Reproduction, or Distribution in Any Form is Strictly Prohibited

  • Author: Geraldine F. Ajero, MAEngEd, LPT