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English is not a phonetic language.
The way, style or spelling of a word doesn’t tell the
sounds to make.
For writing we need letters.
But for speaking we need sounds.
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English has 26 Alphabets.
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English has 5 Vowels a, e, i, o, u.
And 21 Consonants.
Each vowel and consonants have their own
sounds.
5 vowels individually or with different
combinations with each other make 20
Sounds.
21 Consonants with different combinations
make 24 Sounds.
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There are 3 types of vowel sounds.
◦ Long Vowel Sound
◦ Short Vowel Sound
◦ Diphthong Vowel Sound
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a short English vowel is noticeably shorter
than a long vowel
an English short vowel is made with only one
mouth position
one mouth position is represented by one IPA
symbol (every sound /mouth position has a
different IPA symbol)
the weak vowel schwa is the most common
vowel in English.
The IPA for English short vowels are: /ɪ/, /e/,
/æ/, /ʌ/, /ʊ/ , /ɒ/, /ə/
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Examples
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/ɪ/ – fit /fiːt/, pick /piːk/, difficult /ˈdɪ.fɪ.kəlt/
/e/ – pet /pet/, sent /sent/, attention /əˈten.ʃən/
/æ/ – pat /pæt/, flat /flæt/, family /ˈfæ.mə.li/
/ʌ/ – cut /kʌt/ jump /dʒʌmp/, cover /ˈkʌ.vər/
/ʊ/ – put /pʊt/, book /bʊk/, cushion /ˈkʊ.ʃən/
/ɒ/ – pot /pɒt/, dog /dɒg/, hospital /ˈhɒs.pɪ.təl/
/ə/ – about /əˈbaʊt/, system /ˈsɪs.təm/, complete
/kəmˈpliːt/.
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English long vowels have two dots like this –
/:/ after the vowel symbol. If it has /:/ after
it, you know it’s a long vowel!
English long vowels are noticeably longer
than short vowels.
distinguishing between short and long vowels
is very important in English because they
mean different words. eg ship and sheep, shit
and sheet, wick and week and so on.
an English long vowel is only one symbol in
the IPA because it is one mouth position.
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Examples
◦ /i:/
week /wi:k/, feet /fi:t/, media /ˈmiː.di.jə/
/ɑ:/ hard /ha:/, park /pa:k/, article /ɑː.tɪ.kəl/
/ɔ:/ fork /fɔ:k/, walk /wɔ:k/, August /ɔːˈɡʌst/
/ɜ:/ heard /hɜ:d/, word /wɜ:d/, surface /ˈsɜː.fɪs/
/u:/ boot /bu:t/, group /gru:p/, beautiful
/ˈbjuː.tɪ.fəl/
When you look at the English Vowel Sounds IPA
symbols in the dictionary one symbol by itself
is a short single vowel, two dots like this /:/
after a vowel symbol mean that it is a long
single vowel.
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English diphthong vowels have two IPA
symbols because they are made up of two
mouth position.
in other words, diphthong vowels are two
short vowels joined together, they are also
called double vowels.
many non-native speakers make some
English diphthong vowels as single vowels
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Examples
◦ /eɪ/
place /pleɪs/, late /leɪt/,
dangerous /ˈdeɪn.dʒə.rəs/
◦ /oʊ/ home /hoʊm/, phone /foʊn/, global /ˈɡloʊ.bəl/
◦ /aʊ/ mouse /maʊs/, brown /braʊn/,
accountant /əˈkaʊn.t̬ənt/
◦ /ɪə/ clear /klɪə/, fear /fɪə/, career /kəˈrɪə/
◦ /eə/ care /keə/, wear /weə/, declare /dɪˈkleə/
◦ /ɔɪ/ boy /bɔɪ/, toy /tɔɪ/, enjoyable /ɪnˈdʒɔɪ.jə.bəl/
◦ /aɪ/ find /faɪnd/, bite /baɪt/, tiger /ˈtaɪ.ɡə/
◦ /ʊə/ tour /tʊə/, pure /pʊə/, mature /məˈtʃʊə/
When you look at the English Vowel Sounds IPA
symbols in the dictionary one symbol by itself
is a short single vowel, two dots like this /:/
after a vowel symbol mean that it is a long
single vowel and two vowel symbols, one after
the other means a double or diphthong vowel.