Phonetics Class # 1 Chapter

The phonetic alphabet  There are 26 English letters in English.  How many sounds are there?  Nearly 40 sounds (consonants & vowels)

The Phonetic Alphabet  Orthographic inconsistencies In-class work: try to write down some words which show the following orthographic inconsistencies: –Different letters represent the same sound. –The same letters represent different sounds. –A combination of letters represents a single sound. –A single letter represents more than one sound. –Some letters may stand for no sound at all in certain words.

The Phonetic Alphabet  Orthographic inconsistencies Different letters may represent the same sound: Different letters may represent the same sound: e.g., see, sea, scene, receive, thief, machine e.g., see, sea, scene, receive, thief, machine The same letters may represent different sounds: The same letters may represent different sounds: e.g., sign, pleasure, resign; e.g., sign, pleasure, resign; charter, character; charter, character; A combination of letters may represent a single sound: A combination of letters may represent a single sound: e.g., lock, that, book, shop, apple A single letter represents more than one sound A single letter represents more than one sound e.g., box, use Some letters may stand for no sound at all in certain words: Some letters may stand for no sound at all in certain words: e.g., know, doubt, though, island

The Phonetic Alphabet  What is a phonetic alphabet? –A phonetic alphabet used to symbolize the sounds found in all languages –Features of the phonetic alphabet:  Each symbol consistently represents only one sound;  Each sound is represented by only one symbol;  The number of sounds equals the number of symbols. * The symbols are enclosed in brackets [ ] to indicate that the transcription is phonetic (e.g., this [ð ]).

Phonetic alphabet for English pronunciation (p239) Consonants (24) 1. pea, pit, tip, spit, appear [p] [p] 2. bee, ball, globe, amble, brick, bubble [b] [b] 3. tea, tag, pat, stick, stuffed [t] [t] 4. deed, dip, card, drop, loved, batted [d] [d] 5. me, lamb, smack, ample, [m] [m] 6. knee, neat, nap, design, snow, know [n] [n] 7. fee, feet, laugh, philosophy, coffee [f] [f] 8. veal, vest, dove, gravel, average [v] [v]

Phonetic alphabet for English pronunciation (p239) Consonants (24) 9. sea, seal, soap, psychology, packs, descent, peace [s] [s] 10. zeal, zip, roads, kisses, Xerox, design [z] [z] 11. key, kill, kit, character, critique, exceed [k] [k] 12. guard, bag, longer, designate, Pittsburgh [g] [g] 13. heal, who, hat, hole, whole [h] [h] 14. leaf, feel, mild, applaud [l] [l] 15. read, fear, Harris, carp [ r ] [ r ] 16. you, yes, use, youth [ j ] [ j ]

Phonetic alphabet for English pronunciation (p239) Consonants (24) 17. wait, swim, queen, with [w] [w] 18. think, through, teeth, faith [ θ ] (theta) [ θ ] (theta) 19. the, their, mother, thus, weather [ð ] (eth) [ð ] (eth) 20. shy, mission, nation, sure [ š ] (s-wedge) [ š ] (s-wedge) 21. measure, vision, casualty, decision [ž] (z-wedge) [ž] (z-wedge) 22. sing, think, finger, singer, link [ ŋ ] (n-tail) [ ŋ ] (n-tail) 23. chill, choke, match, feature, [ č ] (c-wedge) [ č ] (c-wedge) 24. judge, George, region, Jill [ ǰ ] (j-wedge) [ ǰ ] (j-wedge)

Phonetic alphabet for English pronunciation (p239) Vowels (15) 1. beat, we, believe, people, money, feel [i] [i] 2. bit, consist, injury, business [ I ] (capital-i) [ I ] (capital-i) 3. late, bait, great, they, [e] [e] 4. bet, reception, says, guest, bury [ ɛ ] (open-e) [ ɛ ] (open-e) 5. boot, who, duty, through [u] [u] 6. put, could, foot [ U ] (capital-u) [ U ] (capital-u) 7. boat, grow, though, over [o] [o] 8. bore, bought, caught, wrong, core [ ɔ ] (open-o) [ ɔ ] (open-o)

Phonetic alphabet for English pronunciation (p239) Vowels (15) 9. bat, laugh, anger, rally [ æ ] (ash) [ æ ] (ash) 10. h o t, p o t, f a ther, h o nor, h o spital [ a ] [ a ] 11. b u t, t ou gh, m o ther, an o ther, o ven [ ʌ ] (wedge) [ ʌ ] (wedge) 12. a mong, sof a [ Ə ] (schwa) [ Ə ] (schwa) 13. bite, island, rice, slight [ aj ] [ aj ] 14. loud, brown, doubt, flower [ aw ] [ aw ] 15. boy, joy, annoy [ ɔ j ] [ ɔ j ]

 International Phonetic Alphabet –To download IPA fonts, go to then go to computing in menu on bottom, then “Fonts in cyberspace”, then select “SIL fonts”, then “SIL IPA93”