TOPIC 3:

SYMBOLS &
TRANSCRIPTION
Consonants & Vowels
Diphthongs & Triphthongs
Transcription & Correct Pronunciation
SHAZNI BAHARI
Faculty of Education, Humanities and Arts
Kolej Universiti Poly-Tech MARA
CAN YOU READ THIS?

/ɪŋlɪʃ ɪz ə kreɪzɪ lӕŋgwɪʤ/

 ENGLISH IS NOT PHONETICALLY CONSISTENT

Some languages are "phonetic".

That means you can look at a
written word and know how to
pronounce it. Or you can hear a
word and know how to spell it.
With phonetic languages, there
is a direct relationship between
the spelling and the sound.

https://www.facebook.com/thelanguagenerds
/videos/1875948315853595/?v=187594831
5853595
It is important to understand
that English is not a phonetic
language. So we often do not
say a word the same way it is
spelled.
 01
CONSONANTS & VOWELS
 CONSONANTS

A consonant is a speech sound made when AIR IS OBSTRUCTED

while passing through the vocal cords. When sounding out a
consonant, the tongue, teeth, and lips can interrupt the air flow. The
majority of letters in the alphabet are consonant letters. Most
consonant letters have only one sound and rarely sound like their
names.
Do You Remember This?

Let’s pronounce together!

 PRACTICE 1: Symbol Sounds
Write the phonetic symbol for the initial sound in each of the following words:

1. jam 9. euro
2. thyme 10. whale
3. pneumonia 11. who
4. knock 12. change
5. civic 13. shy
6. phone 14. zero
7. ghost 15. thus
8. photo 16. three
 VOWELS

Vowels have long and short sound, and long vowels sound like their
letter names.

A vowel is a speech sound made by the vocal cords. A vowel sound

comes from the lungs, through the vocal cords ~ the passage of air
through the vocal cords is NOT obstructed. It is also a type of letter
in the alphabet. The letters of the English alphabet are either vowels
or consonants or both. All English words have vowels.
 Do You Remember This?

Let’s pronounce these monophthongs together!

 PRACTICE 2: Symbol Sounds
Write the phonetic symbol for the underlined sound in each of the following words:

1. jam 9. three
2. hurt 10. cheap
3. knock 11. car
4. civic 12. rob
5. euro 13. pool
6. who 14. first
7. zero 15. alive
8. thus 16. pants
Vowels, unlike consonants, exhibit a
great deal of dialect variation

blood banana

can’t tomato

Try this!
Let’s see the different ways of pronouncing these words.
 PRACTICE 3: Transcribe
Transcribe the following words into phonetic symbols:

1. spot 9. mobbed
2. lab 10. sunny
3. smart 11. lose
4. awful 12. food
5. laughed 13. foot
6. even 14. barrel
7. with 15. machine
8. that 16. angle
 (cont.) PRACTICE 3: Transcribe
17. watch 26. judged
18. church 27. yes
19. wished 28. father
20. award 29. vision
21. bring 30. mission
22. egg 31. shoe
23. think 32. dark
24. school 33. debt
25. cute 34. plumber
 02
DIPHTHONGS & TRIPHTHONGS
 DIPHTHONGS

Diphthong is a vowel sound in which the tongue changes position to

produce the sound of two vowels.
(Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary)

There are 8 diphthong sets commonly used in English.

Do You Remember This?

Let’s pronounce together!

 Basically…

/ʌ/ /aɪ/
/aʊ/
/e/ /eɪ/
/eə/ e fu l! Do n’t get
Car ols
/ə/ /əʊ/ the symb
/ɪ/ /ɪə/ wrong!
/ɒ/ /ɔɪ/
/ʊ/ /ʊə/
 PRACTICE 4: Transcribe
Transcribe the following words into phonetic symbols:

1. bear 9. light
2. sure 10. tow
3. coil 11. weight
4. fear 12. plow
5. found 13. lair
6. steak 14. joy
7. loan 15. though
8. cry 16. break
 TRIPHTHONGS

Triphthong is a monosyllabic speech-sound sequence perceived as

being made up of three differing vowel qualities.
(Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary)

There are 5 triphthong sets commonly used in English.

 Basically…

/aɪ/ /aɪə/
/aʊ/ /aʊə/
ing schwa (ə)
/eɪ/ /eɪə/ Add a
makes it
ng!
/əʊ/ /əʊə/ triphtho
/ɔɪ/ /ɔɪə/
 PRACTICE 5: Transcribe
Transcribe the following words into phonetic symbols:

1. lower 9. shower
2. power 10. slower
3. royal 11. liar
4. mayor 12. tower
5. fire 13. higher
6. layer 14. giant
7. tire 15. flower
8. employer 16. flour
/hɪəz ə ʧeklɪst ɒv wʌt wɪ hӕv lɜ:nt səʊ fa:(r)/:

Consonants
Vowels
Diphthongs
Triphthongs
Transcription
PRACTICE 6: Correct Pronunciation
Transcribe the following words into phonetic symbols:

1. women 9. softener
2. receipt 10. raspberry
3. buffet 11. caramel
4. pronunciation 12. almond
5. resume (n.) 13. gnome
6. promotion 14. divorce
7. data 15. suite
8. coupon 16. mortgage
(cont.) PRACTICE 6: Correct Pronunciation
17. colonel 26. colleague
18. onion 27. gourmet
19. climber 28. calmer
20. reign 29. vegetable
21. thumb 30. psycho
22. bowl 31. gadget
23. restaurant 32. condemning
24. castle 33. Wednesday
25. chaos 34. listening
 PRACTICE 7: Transcribe!
Transcribe the following sentences into RP:

1. /δə tʃɪldrən a: seləbreɪtɪŋ δeə bɜ:θdeɪ wɪθ ʌδɜ:(r) ϳʌŋgə ʤenəreɪʃən/

2. /haʊ naʊ braʊn kaʊ/

3. /ə nϳu: wɜ:d ɪz ӕdəd tʊ δə dɪkʃənərɪ evrɪ tu: aʊəz/

THAT’S ALL,
FUTURE LINGUISTS!