Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Handout #11
Rev. 2-12-2015
ENGLISH SPEECH SOUNDS
CONSONANTS
I. HOW ARE THEY MADE?
SOUND
FROM
NOSE
m, n, ng
SOUND FROM MOUTH
OPEN
VOWELS
NOT
VOWELS
see below
SOME CLOSURE
SOME FRICTION*
Semivowels
FRICTION
y, w,
wh
th, f, s, sh
th, v, z, zh
h, r
STOP AND
FRICTION
TOGETHER
ch, j
CLOSURE
STOP
OTHER
p,t, k, b, d, g
l
Voiceless sounds are shown in bold italics
* friction – neither complete closure nor completely open
II. WHERE ARE THEY MADE?
LIPS
m, w, wh, b, p
RIDGE BEHIND TEETH
n, z, s, t, d
TEETH
th, th, f, v
PALATE, MID- OR WHOLE MOUTH
all vowels, r, y, sh, zh, ch, j, l, h, l
BACK
ng, k, g
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Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Handout #11
Rev. 2-12-2015
SHORT AND LONG VOWELS
Front of mouth (from higher to lower)
Mid
Back (from higher to lower)
ē (we)
i (in)
i-e (five)
e (egg)
a-e (cake)
a (apple)
ə (called schwa in the dictionary. A
reduced vowel not explicitly taught by
Laubach)
ū (music)
oo1 (room)
oo2 (wood)
o-e (nose)
au (caught)
aw (law)
o (olive)
u (up)
Many English vowels, including some of the above, are formed in movement. Which vowels move depends on the dialect
spoken. The sounds that move the farthest are called diphthongs (not on the chart, because Laubach treats them
differently). The chart words for the diphthongs are the vowels in boy and mouth. Vowels written as combined with “r,”
such as in horn, near, and farmer, are also classified as separate vowels.
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Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Handout #11
Rev. 2-12-2015
CHART OF CONSONANTS*
Sound
/ /
h
Key
Word
hand
w
wings
wh
whistle
m
man
b
bird
p
pan
th2
th1
mother
the
thanks
d
dish
t
tent
n
neck
v
valley
Voicing/
Type
voiceless
continuant
voiced
continuant
semi-vowel
voiceless
continuant
voiced
nasal
continuant
voiced
stop
unvoiced
stop
voiced
continuant
unvoiced
continuant
voiced
stop
unvoiced
stop
nasal
voiced
continuant
voiced
continuant
Notes
[arranged from front of mouth]
Tongue in the position of the following vowel. Is a strong exhalation of breath with no
friction anywhere.
Lips forward and rounded. The same as /oo/, but with friction. No actual closure in
mouth.
Lips forward and rounded. Heavy puff of air. The same as /w/, but with friction. No
actual closure in mouth. Missing in half of American dialects.
Lips together, nasal version of /b/ and /p/
Stop air with lips together; open with small puff of air at beginning of word, no puff at
end, voiced version of /p/
Stop air with lips together; big puff of air at beginning of word but no puff at end,
voiceless version of /b/
Tongue touches both upper and lower teeth, voiced version of /th1/
Tongue touches both upper and lower teeth, unvoiced version of /th2/
Lips and teeth slightly parted. Stop air with tongue tip touching ridge on roof of mouth
just behind upper teeth. Tongue drops as breath is expelled. Voiced version of /t/
Lips and teeth slightly parted. Stop air with tongue tip touching ridge on roof of mouth
just behind upper teeth. Tongue drops as breath is expelled. Unvoiced version of /d/
Lips and teeth slightly parted. Tongue tip touching ridge on roof of mouth just behind
upper teeth. Nasal version of /t/ and /d/.
Lower lip touching upper teeth lightly. Voiced version of /f/
* The first column indicates sounds, not spellings; they are shown as spelled in the Laubach books. Included are sounds that are
expressed as letters (q and x) but that are not linguistically significant.
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Literacy Council of Montgomery County, MD
Sound
/ /
Key
Word
f
fish
z
zipper
zh
leisure
s
snake
sh
shop
l
leg
y
yells
j
jumping
ch
children
r
river
g
girl
k
ng
cup
kicking
ring
kw
ks
quarter
box
Voicing/
Type
unvoiced
continuant
voiced
continuant
voiced
continuant
unvoiced
continuant
unvoiced
continuant
voiced
continuant
voiced
continuant
semi-vowel
voiced affricate
(stop plus
continuant)
voiceless affricate
(stop
plus continuant)
voiced
continuant
voiced
stop
unvoiced
stop
voiced
nasal
continuant
combination
combination
Handout #11
Rev. 2-12-2015
Notes
[arranged from front of mouth]
Lower lip touching upper teeth lightly. Unvoiced version of /v/
Teeth close but not touching. Tongue flat and tip down. Continuant. Voiced version
of /s/
Lips forward and pouched. Teeth close but not touching. Tongue grooved, tip down.
Voiced version of /sh/. Does not occur at beginning of word
Teeth close but not touching. Tongue flat and tip down. Unvoiced version of /z/
Lips forward and pouched. Teeth close but not touching. Tongue grooved and tip
down. Continuant. Unvoiced version of /zh/.
Tongue tip touches ridge on roof of mouth just behind upper teeth. Air comes out
along the sides of the tongue.
Lips drawn back, teeth close together. Same as /ee/, but with friction. No actual
closure anywhere in mouth
Lips forward. Start with tongue tip up in the position of /d/, then lower as breath is
expelled as in /zh/. Said as a unit. Voiced equivalent of /ch/.
Lips forward. Start with tongue tip up in the position of /t/, then lower as breath is
expelled as in /sh/. Said as a unit. Voiceless equivalent of /zh/.
Lips parted and rounded. The back of the tongue is humped up against the back of
the mouth, but does not touch anywhere. Front part of tongue points slightly
backward.
Tongue tip touching back of lower teeth. Air stopped with hump of back of tongue at
the back of the mouth cavity. Voiced equivalent of /k/
Tongue tip touching back of lower teeth. Air stopped with hump of back of tongue at
the back of the mouth cavity. Unvoiced equivalent of /g/
Nasal version of /g/ and /k/
/kw/, the sound of qu, is the combination of the sounds of /k/ followed by /w/
/ks/, the sound of x, is the combination of the sounds of /k/ followed by /s/
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