LESSON 1 – INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA) but

• IPA is a set of symbols representing the sounds of the
love
English language.
• sun
Each symbol represents a particular sound.
➢ One symbol represents one sound.
➢ Each speech sound has a distinct symbol.
[ʌ] blood
• In 1888, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was luck
invented in order to have a system in which there was a fun
one-to-one correspondence between each sound in
language and each phonetic symbol.
• Someone who knows the IPA knows how to pronounce any box
word in any language knock
• IPA was first published in 1888 by the International chop
Phonetic Association, founded by a group of French
language teachers.
➢ The goal of this organization: to create a system
[ɒ] watch
lock
for transcribing the sounds of all the languages.
• The phonetic script for English was created in 1847 and rob
used as a model for IPA.
• The smallest unit of a language is called phoneme. above
➢ There are 48 phonemes in English.
hasten
o Therefore, there are 48 IPA symbols to
record the 48 sounds. victor

PURPOSES OF STUDYING IPA

[ə] piston
1. Aids in the correct pronunciation of words. carol
2. Provides a way to read, spell and memorize English words alive
as foreign language learners.
3. Promotes learner autonomy by looking up words in
dictionaries. book
should
TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING:
pull
•
•
Total number of English IPA Symbols: 48
Total number of consonants: 28 [ʊ] cook
• Total number of vowels: 2 put
• Classification of speech sounds: Vowels and Consonants look

SHORT VOWELS

bet
antenna
enema
[ɛ] majestic
meadow
any
SCHWA SOUNDS
bin • Not prominently heard because it is overpowered by the
consonant sound/letter.
pigeon • A weak vowel sound in an unstressed syllable.
inch • The schwa is only found in unstressed syllables.
[I] mystery
• All English vowels have a schwa sounds such as:

click
dim

bat
national
lamp
[æ] bank
hag
add

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 LONG VOWELS DIPHTHONG VOWELS

beat boy
amoeba joy
breathe foil
[i] amnesia [ɔɪ] oyster
cathedral oily
need employ

burn silent
nurse sight
heard kind
[ɜ] third [aɪ] pride
purge flight
turn my

jaw bout
law endow
pawn cloud
[ɔ] yawn [aʊ] mouth
thought plough
talk house

chew
coup
boot
[u] coupon
soothe
fruit

bath
fast
hard
[ɑ] barn
farther
car

bake
bathe
sachet
[e] steak
soiree
fake

DIPHTHONGS
• Also known as “gliding” vowels
• A single sound produced when two vowels are paired
together in a sequence.
➢ One is dominant in duration and stress
➢ One is reduced in duration and stress
• A vowel sound in which the tongue changes position to
produce the sound of two vowels.
• While we produce diphthongs, the tongue moves from one
vocalic position to another.
• Basically, a diphthong is a combination of vowel sounds.
• 2 vowel sounds joined in a syllable to form 1 speech sound

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 CONSONANT SOUNDS Cash
Quick
Puffy
Phrase
[k] Cricket

[f] Feign
Kick

Fete Girl
Green
Village
Vintage
[g] Grass

[v] View
Flag

Development Bag
Bubble
Path
Think
[b] Build

[θ] Cloth
robe

bath
Door
Day
There
Those [d] Drive
[ð] Thee feed
that
Amazement
Meaning
Zoo
Crazy [m] Many
[z] Zenith Meat
nose
Nemesis
Haunting
Television
Delusion [n] nausea
[ʒ] Measure nest
garage
Road
Splash Roses
Chef [r] River
[ʃ] Shop Ring
cash
Wall
Hinder Walk

[h]
Hitch
Height
[w] Wine
world
heal
Seize
Chimney Plots

[ʈʃ]
Chalk
Church
[s] Maps
sister
chaste
Time
Joy Train

[dʒ]
Juggle [t] Tow
Graduate tap
stage
Yoke
Usual
Bank
Thing [j] Yell
[ŋ] Sink Youth
think
Light
Live
Palpitation
Cap
[l] Laugh

[p] Purpose Feel

oppose

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