--> IPA

International Phonetic Alphabet.

Alphabet developed in 19th century to accurately represent the
pronunciation of languages.
Aim of IPA is to provide a unique symbol for each distinctive sound in a
language i.e. every sound or phoneme that serves to distinguish one word
from another.

* Phoneme 
The smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word from another, as the
element 'p' in 'tap' separates that word from 'tab', 'tag' and 'tan'.

IPA creator's intent was to standardize the representation of spoken

language, thereby sidestepping the confusion caused by the inconsistent
conventional spelling used in every language.
IPA is still used in learning some foreign languages and is even used by
some of the non-English speakers.
The IPA provides a standard and unambiguous way of writing and
pronunciation of words which can be helpful while learning a language like
English which has very irregular spellings.

* Syllable

Word or part of word that contains one vowel sound.

We can count the number of syllables in word, by counting the number of
vowel sounds.
For example, 'mat' has one syllable whereas 'mattress' has two syllables.

Word-->Phrases-->Clause-->Sentences

* Phonology
Defined as the study of sound patterns and their meanings, both within
across languages.
Ex. of phonology is the study of different sounds and the way they come to
together to form speech or words.
* Morphology
In linguistics, morphology is the study of words and how they are formed and
their relationship to other words in the same language. 
It analyses the structure of words and parts of words such as stems, root words,
prefixes and suffixes. 

* Syntax
Set of rules, principles and processes that govern the structure of sentences
in a given language, usually including word order.

* Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning.

* Hermeneutics
Theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of
biblical text, wisdom literature and philosophical texts. 

The 26 alphabet are not enough in English speaking

List
List 1 List 2 List 3

cat acclaim the

fall chemistry then 

cake cut thick

about rock thin

master queen that

bat kid cough

call class trough

take account stuff

ago chariot sun

chemical son

psychology but

Alphabet 'a' in father is 'aa' and not 'ae' as in normal conversations.

We can see that in List 1, there are different sounds of 'a'.
Similarly in List 3, 'th' is 'da' and also 'tha' ;'gh' is 'fa' and 'ff' is also 'fa' ;'u' and
'o' are pronounced as 'aa'.

Aspirated sounds Non aspirated Sounds

When a puff of air is required to When no or a little puff is

make sound, then it is required to make a sound, then
aspirated. it is non aspirated.

Example-  Say 'stop' and we will notice that sound of 'p' varies every time and
sometimes extra stress is required, then it is aspirated.
  Allophones

Allophones are a kind of phoneme that changes its sound based on how a
word is spelled.
They are known as non contrastive units.

Phonemes are represented in slashes, for example- /h/

Example of allophones-
The letter 't' in 'tar' makes different sound as compared to the sound made in
'stuff'.

Difference between Phoneme and Allophones--

Allophones Phonemes

They are linguistically non

Phonemes are linguistically
significant and non contrastive
significant units which can
units that do help in pronouncing
produce change in meaning of the
the words but do not produce a
words, also they are a set of
change in the meaning of the
sounds (which are allophones).
words.

Example- /t/ is a phoneme. When we say stop, then the sound is unaspirated [t]
but when we say top, then the sound of 't' is aspirated, symbolized as [tʰ]. So [t]
and [tʰ] are allophones of same phoneme and even if we interchange them then it
will only produce a change in pronunciation not in meaning of the words.

*Dental sounds
Sounds made with the tongue touching the front teeth.
For example-- /d/, /n/, /t/, /l/

*Nasal sounds
 Sounds in which airstream passes through the nose as a result of the
lowering of soft palate at the base of the mouth.
Fpr example-- /m/, /n/ etc

Transcription

Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of langauge

in written form.

* Phonemic Transcription
Involves representing speech using just a unique symbol for each phoneme
of the language. When we transcribe phonemically, we are not representing
actual sounds but abstract mental constructs. It is also known as broad
transcription.

* Allophonic Transcription

A transcription which includes some allophonic detail but is closely linked to

the phonemic structure of an utterance is called an allophonic transcription.
It is also know as a narrow transcription.

There are 44 sounds in English                                                                         

             Vowels - 20 sounds                                                                                 
                            Consonants - 24 sounds

We use symbols in IPA to prnounce the words correctly.

If you draw two dots in front of the letter (i:), then you have to drag the
sound of the letter.

Different sound of 'a'

 Hat -->  'aay'
Hate -->  'aae'

* Diphthongs
When two vowels come together and glide over each other in a word, they
are called diphthongs.
For example - 'ai' sound in fine.

* Monophthongs
The word monophthong shows that a vowel is spoken with one tone and one
mouth position.
For example - 'ee' sound in teeth.

* Triphthongs
Very rarely, the nucleus of a single syllable may contain three vowel sounds
that glide together quickly, these sounds are called triphthongs.
For example - 'ee-oo-uh' sound in pure.