English as an Additional Language/Pronunciation

Pronunciation

Consonants

The symbols used for consonants are shown in the following table. Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the left is voiceless, the one to the right voiced.

	Bilabial	Labio- dental	Labio- velar	Dental	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	p b				t d			k g
Affricate						tʃ dʒ
Nasal	m				n			ŋ
Fricative		f v		θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ		(x)	h
Approximant			(ʍ) w		ɹ		j
Lateral approximant					l

/p/: pit
/b/: bit
/t/: tin
/d/: din
/k/: cut
/ɡ/: gut
/tʃ/: cheap
/dʒ/: jeep
/m/: map
/n/: nap
/ŋ/: bang
/f/: fat
/v/: vat

/θ/: thin
/ð/: then
/s/: sap
/z/: zap
/ʃ/: she
/ʒ/: measure
/x/: loch, Chanukah (often replaced by /-k/ and /h-/, respectively)
/h/: ham
/ʍ/: whine (also written /hw/, often replaced by /w/)
/w/: we
/ɹ/: run (often written /r/ in broad transcription)
/j/: yes
/l/: left

Vowels

Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation is the prestige British accent, sometimes referred to as BBC English. It is used as the standard in most media within Great Britain.

Full vowels

Full vowels are those that appear in stressed syllables.

Monophthongs	Front	Back	Front	Central	Back
Monophthongs	Short		Long
Close	ɪ	ʊ	iː		uː
Mid	ɛ	ʌ		ɜː	ɔː
Open	æ	ɒ		ɑː

/ɪ/: bid
/ʊ/: good
/ɛ/: bed (sometimes transcribed /e/)
/ʌ/: bud
/æ/: bat (sometimes transcribed /a/)
/ɒ/: pot

/iː/: bead
/uː/: booed
/ɜː/: bird (sometimes transcribed /əː/)
/ɔː/: bought, board
/ɑː/: father, bard

Diphthongs	to /ɪ/	to /ʊ/	Centring
Diphthongs	Closing		Centring
Starting close			ɪə ʊə
Starting mid	eɪ ɔɪ	əʊ	ɛə
Starting open	aɪ	aʊ

/eɪ/: bay
/ɔɪ/: boy
/əʊ/: toe
/aɪ/: buy (sometimes transcribed /ʌɪ/)
/aʊ/: cow

/ɪə/: beer
/ʊə/: boor (falling out of use in British English; often replaced by /ɔː/)
/ɛə/: bear (sometimes transcribed /ɛː/)

Reduced vowels

Reduced vowels occur in unstressed syllables.

/ɪ/: roses
/ə/: Rosa’s, runner
/l̩/: bottle
/n̩/: button
/m̩/: rhythm

General American

General American is the standardized accent of the United States, and is the dialect most commonly used in spoken media there.

Full vowels

Monophthongs	Front	Central	Back	Front	Central rhotacized	Back
Monophthongs	Checked			Free
Close	ɪ		ʊ	i		u
Close-mid				e		o
Open-mid	ɛ	ʌ			ɝ	ɔ
Open	æ					ɑ

/ɪ/: bid
/ʊ/: good
/ɛ/: bed
/ʌ/: bud
/æ/: bad

/i/: bead
/u/: booed
/e/: bayed
/o/: bode
/ɝ/: bird
/ɔ/ or /ɑ/: bought
/ɑ/: body, pod, father

Note: the vowels /e/ and /o/ are usually diphthongal, so the transcriptions /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ are also often used.^[1]

Diphthongs	to /ɪ/	to /ʊ/	Rhotacized
Diphthongs	Closing		Rhotacized
Starting close			ɪɹ ʊɹ
Starting mid	ɔɪ		ɛɹ ɔɹ
Starting open	aɪ	aʊ	ɑɹ

/ɔɪ/: boy
/aɪ/: buy, thigh
/aʊ/: bout, cow

/ɪɹ/: beer, here
/ʊɹ/: boor, manure (often replaced by /ɝ/, sometimes by /ɔɹ/ in American English)
/ɛɹ/: bear, air
/ɔɹ/: bore (sometimes phonemicized /oɹ/)
/ɑɹ/: bar

Reduced vowels

/ɨ/: roses (for many Americans merged with /ə/)
/ə/: Rosa’s
/ɚ/: runner
/l̩/: bottle
/n̩/: button
/m̩/: rhythm

General Australian

Full vowels

Monophthongs	Front	Central	Back	Front	Central	Back
Monophthongs	Short			Long
Close	ɪ		ʊ	iː	ʉː
Mid	e		ɔ	eː	ɜː	oː
Open	æ	a		æː	aː

/ɪ/: bid
/ʊ/: good
/e/: bed
/ɔ/: pot
/æ/: bat
/a/: bud

/iː/: bead
/ʉː/: booed
/eː/: bared
/ɜː/: bird
/oː/: bought, board
/æː/: bad
/aː/: father, bard

Diphthongs	to unrounded	to rounded	Centring
Diphthongs	Closing		Centring
Starting close			ɪə ʊə
Starting mid	oɪ	əʉ
Starting open	æɪ ɑe	æɔ

/oɪ/: boy
/əʉ/: toe
/æɪ/: bay
/ɑe/: buy
/æɔ/: cow

/ɪə/: beer
/ʊə/: tour (falling out of use in Australian English; often replaced by disyllabic /ʉːə/ or monophthongal /oː/)

Reduced vowels

/ə/: roses, Rosa’s, runner
/l̩/: bottle
/n̩/: button
/m̩/: rhythm

References

↑ Roca, Iggy & Johnson, Wyn (1999). Course in Phonology. Blackwell Publishing.

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[1] Roca, Iggy & Johnson, Wyn (1999). Course in Phonology. Blackwell Publishing.