Introducing English Linguistics
Charles F. Meyer
Chapter 7: the sounds of English
Sounds
Consonants in English
Place of Articulation
Plosives (Stops)
bilabial labio-dental inter-dental
alveolar alveo-palatal palatal
velar
p (pat)
b (back)
t (tack)
d (dark)
k (kick)
g (get)
Fricatives
bilabial labio-dental inter-dental
f (five)
v (vice)
 (thin)
ð (this)
alveolar alveo-palatal palatal
s (sip)
z (zip)
ʃ or š (ship)
ʒ or ž (measure)
velar
Affricates
bilabial labio-dental inter-dental
alveolar alveo-palatal palatal
ʧ or č (church)
dʒ or ǰ (judge)
velar
Nasals
bilabial labio-dental inter-dental
m (more)
n (none)
alveolar alveo-palatal palatal
ŋ (hang)
velar
Approximants
bilabial labio-dental inter-dental
w (wet)
alveolar alveo-palatal palatal
r (ripe)
l (like)
y (yet)
velar
Vowels in English
Vowel Chart
Diphthongs in English
/aɪ/ fight
/aʊ/ house
/ɔɪ/ boy
Definition of Diphthongs
“In each of the diphthongs above, the tongue changes position as
each part of the diphthong is articulated. In the case of /ɔɪ/, for
instance, the tongue is initially positioned in the lower back part of
the mouth and then ‘glides’ to the upper front of the mouth. This
feature of diphthongs explains why in the American tradition of
transcription, the three diphthongs above are transcribed,
respectively, as /ay/, /aw/, and /ɔy/. The sounds /y/ and /w/,
sometimes referred to as glides (or semi-vowels), are used to
reflect the gradual transition between vowels inherent in
diphthongs.” (Meyer 2009)
Sound Systems of Some Select Languages
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Portuguese
Spanish
French
Russian
Farsi
Arabic
Mandarin
Vietnamese