English phonology

English has many ways to pronounce words. Pronunciation changes over history and between the many dialects (local ways of speaking). Even so, the basic phonology (sound system) is similar in many places. Dialects often differ in syllables (units of sound with one vowel sound), in where they place stress (the strong part of the word). Some consonant sounds, such as stop consonants (sounds like p, t, k made by stopping air), affricates (sounds like ch, j made by stop + release), and fricatives (sounds like f, v, s made by friction) can also be different across dialects.

There is research on prestige speech (more formal) and standard speech (more common). In practice, these often mean Received Pronunciation (England), General American (United States), and General Australian (Australia).

Many dialects grow on their own, so they slowly become different from one another.

Phonetic notation and representation of sounds

The IPA writes sounds with special symbols. Each symbol is one sound.

  • tʃ = "ch" as in chip
  • dʒ = "j" as in jam
  • ʃ = "sh" as in sheep
  • ʒ = "zh" as in measure
  • /x/ = "kh" in German Bach or Scottish loch.[1]
  • /z/ = "z" in zoo
  • æ = short "a" in cat
  • ɒ (RP) = short "o" in British hot
  • aʊ = "ow" in now
  • ʊə (RP) = "oo-uh" in British tour

Sound system overview

English has many vowel sounds and about two dozen consonant sounds. The exact set changes by dialect. For example, the vowel in the LOT set is /ɒ/ in Received Pronunciation (RP) but /ɑ/ in General American (GA).[2]

Consonants

Most dialects use the 24 consonant sounds below. The sound /x/ is less common in English.[3]

Sound Example Sound Example
p pen b bed
t ten d dog
k cat ɡ go
tʃ chip dʒ jam
f fan v van
θ thin ð this
s sit z zip
ʃ she ʒ measure
h hat x loch' (Scottish/German)
m man n no
ŋ sing l leg
ɹ (r) red j (y) yes
w wet

Consonant examples

Sound Key word Sound Key word
tʃ chip dʒ jam
ʃ ship ʒ measure
θ thin ð this
ŋ sing x loch'

Vowels

Wells lexical sets (RP and GA)

John C. Wells made a list of vowel sets that show the pronunciation in Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA).[4] A vowel can be a monophthong (one clear sound, like /i/ in bit), a diphthong (a glide between two sounds, like /aɪ/ in my), or a triphthong (a glide between three sounds, like /aʊə/ in hour). English uses all three types, and different accents may show them in different ways. In the table, a set means a group of words that share the same main vowel sound across many words, for example the KIT set includes words like bit, ship, milk. The RP and GA columns give simple word examples. The IPA column shows the sound symbol, and the last column shows how to say it in plain words.

Set RP (example) GA (example) IPA Pronunciation
KIT bit bit ɪ short i as in bit
DRESS bed bed e ~ ɛ short e (somewhere between e in bed and eh)
TRAP cat cat æ flat a as in cat
STRUT cut cut ʌ mid uh as in cut
LOT hot hot (often ɑ) ɒ ~ ɑ RP rounded o in hot vs. GA ah in father
FOOT put put ʊ short oo as in put
FLEECE see see i ~ iː long ee as in see
GOOSE two two u ~ uː long oo as in two
FACE day day eɪ ay as in day
GOAT go go əʊ ~ oʊ oh as in go (RP starts more central)
PRICE my my aɪ eye
CHOICE boy boy ɔɪ oy as in boy
MOUTH now now aʊ ow as in now
NURSE bird bird ɜː ~ ɝ RP long ir as in bird / GA er
COMMA final a in sofa same ə weak uh (schwa) as in sofa

Vowel phonemes in three accents

The next three tables show the vowel phonemes (basic sound units) in Received Pronunciation, General American, and General Australian.[5][6][7] In the RP and Australian tables, short means the vowel is said more quickly, and long means it is held a little longer. In the GA table, lax means the tongue and lips are more relaxed, and tense means they are tighter and the sound is usually a bit longer. These tables show how vowel sounds differ across accents by using different example words.

Received Pronunciation
Short Long
i (bit) ii (beet)
e (bet)
a (cat) aa (cart)
o (cot) oo (caught)
u (pull) uu (pool)
ə (collect) əə (curl)
General American
Lax Tense
i (bit) ii (beet)
e (bet) ei (bait)
a (cat) aa (father)
ʌ (cup) ɑ (lot)
o (thought) ou (boat)
u (put) uu (boot)
General Australian
Short Long
i (bit) ii (beet)
e (bet) ee (bear)
a (cat) aa (cart)
o (cot) oo (caught)
u (pull) uu (pool)
ə (comma) əə (bird)

Stress, rhythm, and intonation

  • Stress: One part of a word is strong. In a sentence, new or important ideas are stressed.
  • Rhythm: A pattern of strong and weak beats.
  • Intonation: The rise and fall of voice. Yes/no questions rise at the end. Wh- questions and statements fall at the end.

Speaking grammar

Passive voice

The passive voice is used when the focus is on the object of the action (the thing acted on), not the agent (the doer). Form: be + past participle.

  • A lot of trash is left in summer.
  • The road was closed.
  • The problem is not going to be solved soon.

Essential adjective (relative) clauses

Adjective clauses (also called relative clauses) give information about a noun. They begin with pronouns such as who, that, which.

  • The bird that sings is a wren.
  • The man who wrote the book is here.
  • The family whose house burned moved.

Gerund phrases

A gerund is a verb + -ing used as a noun. A gerund phrase is a group starting with a gerund.

  • Reading books helps learning.
  • He enjoys swimming in the pool.

Modals of past possibility

Modals are helping verbs like may, might, could. For the past, use may have / might have / could have + past participle.

  • They might have left.
  • He could have been wrong.
  • She may not have known.

Pronunciation conventions

Linking with final t

  • Before a vowel, the sound /t/ can become a quick /d/: what about → wha-dabout.
  • Before a consonant, hold the tongue for /t/ but do not release: right now → right‿now.
  • Before you/your, /t/ becomes soft like /t͡ʃ/ (ch): what you → wha-chu.

Final -s endings

  • After voiced consonants (for example b, d, g, v, z), say /z/ (z): dogs, bees.
  • After voiceless consonants (for example p, t, k, f, s), say /s/ (s): cats, books.
  • After words ending in s, sh, ch, x, z, or ge, add /ɪz/ (iz): wishes, boxes.

Linking with you/your after /t/, /d/, /z/

  • /t/ → /t͡ʃ/ (ch): what you → wha-chu.
  • /d/ → /d͡ʒ/ (j): did you → didju.
  • /z/ → /ʒ/ (zh): how’s your → how-zhur.

References

  1. ↑ Rogers, Henry (2000). The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics. Pearson. p. 20. ISBN 9781317877769.
  2. ↑ Roach, Peter (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 99–100. ISBN 9780521717403.
  3. ↑ Rogers, Henry (2000). The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics. Pearson. p. 20. ISBN 9781317877769.
  4. ↑ Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge University Press.
  5. ↑ Roach, Peter (2004). "British English: Received Pronunciation". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 34 (2): 239–245. doi:10.1017/S0025100304001768.
  6. ↑ Cruttenden, Alan (2014). Gimson's Pronunciation of English (8th ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781444183092.
  7. ↑ Cox, Felicity; Fletcher, Janet (2017). Australian English Pronunciation and Transcription. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316639269.

Further reading

  • Bacsfalvi, P. (2010). "Attaining the lingual components of /r/ with ultrasound for three adolescents with cochlear implants". Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. 3 (34): 206–217.
  • Ball, M.; Lowry, O.; McInnis, L. (2006). "Distributional and stylistic variation in /r/-misarticulations: A case study". Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics. 20 (2–3).
  • Cercignani, Fausto (1981). Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Crystal, David (1969). Prosodic Systems and Intonation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Fudge, Erik C. (1984). English Word-stress. London: Allen and Unwin.
  • Gimson, A.C. (1962). An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. London: Edward Arnold.
  • Halliday, M.A.K. (1970). A Course in Spoken English: Intonation. London: Oxford University Press.
  • Kingdon, Roger (1958). The Groundwork of English Intonation. London: Longman.
  • Locke, John L. (1983). Phonological Acquisition and Change. Academic Press.
  • O'Connor, J. D.; Arnold, Gordon Frederick (1961). Intonation of Colloquial English. London: Longman.
  • Pike, Kenneth Lee (1945). The Intonation of American English. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
  • Wise, Claude Merton (1957). Applied Phonetics. Prentice-Hall.

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