PHONETICS

Phonetics is the systematic study of speech sounds and their production,

audition, andperception. It is the branch
oflinguisticsthatdealswiththespeechsoundsandtheircombination, description and
representation by written symbols. It is the systematic studyof speech
soundsoflanguage.Phoneticscandealwiththespeechsoundsofanylanguage.

SpeechSounds

In English, there are twenty-six letters but forty-four sounds (44) the sounds of
English aredivided into two main categories; the vowels and the consonants. All
these are represented byspecific symbols. The sourceofsymbols is the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a system
oftranscriptionwhichattemptstorepresenteachsoundofhumanspeechusingsymbols.

VOWELS

Avowel sound is unobstructed in articulation asit is produced without

friction.Ofthe20vowelsounds,12arepure
vowelsoundsorsinglesoundsandarecalledmonophthongs; while 8 are vowel glides
from an initial soundtoafinalsoundandarecalleddiphthongs.

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PureVowelsOrMonophthongsExamples
/ɪ/ kill,fill
/iː/ feel, meet
/e/ bet,set

/æ/ cat,mat

/ɑː/ car,park

/ɒ/ pot,cot

/ɔː/ Ball, fall

/ʊ/ put,good

/uː/ shoot,root

/ʌ/ cut,but

/ɜː/ heard,bird

/ə/ about,around

DIPHTHONGS
A diphthong is a combination of two pure vowel sounds which changes its quality in
asyllable. A diphthong always occupies one syllable. Diphthong is not two vowels but
onevowelsoundleadstoanothervowelsound.

Diphthongs Examples
/eɪ/ day,play
/aɪ/ fly, tie
/əʊ/ go,no
/aʊ/ cow, now
/ɔɪ/ oil, boil
/ɪə/ fear,dear
/eə/ fare,hare
/ʊə/ sure,poor

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CONSONANTSOUNDS
Consonant sounds are the sounds which are produced with obstruction of air.
Thereare 24 consonant sounds in English according to the RP of England and
productionoftheminvolvessomefriction.Theyaregivenbelowwithexamples.

Consonants Examples

/p/ pen,copy,happen
/b/ back,baby,job
/t/ tea,tight,button
/d/ day,ladder,odd
/k/ key,clock,school
/g/ get,giggle,ghost
/tʃ/ church, match, nature
/dʒ/ judge,age,soldier
/f/ fat,coffee,rough,photo
/v/ view,heavy,move
/θ/ thing,author,path
/ð/ this,other,smooth
/s/ soon,cease,sister
/z/ zero,music,roses,buzz
/ʃ/ ship, sure,national
/ʒ/ pleasure,vision
/h/ hot,whole,ahead
/m/ more,hammer,sum
/n/ nice,know,funny,sun
/ŋ/ ring,anger,thanks ,sung
/l/ light,valley,feel
/r/ right,wrong,sorry,arrange
/j/ yet,use,beauty,few
/w/ wet,one,when,queen

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THREETERMLABEL
Usually,consonantsounds canbedescribedin termsof thefollowing:
1. Placeofarticulation
2. Mannerofarticulation
3. Voiceofarticulation
ThePlaceofArticulation

Thisreferstothearticulatorsthatareinvolvedintheproductionofaparticularsound.Thesearedividedintoe
ighttypes:

Bilabial: Bilabial sounds are those sounds made bythe articulation ofthe lips against
eachother.ExamplesofsuchsoundsinEnglisharethefollowing:[b], [p],and[m].

Labiodentals: Labiodentals sounds are those sounds made bythe articulation ofthe
upperteethtowardsthelowerlip.ExamplesofsuchsoundsinEnglishare thefollowing:[f],[v].

Dental: Dental sounds are those sounds made by the articulation

ofthetipofthetonguetowardsthebackoftheteeth.Thesounds[θ]
[ð]arepronouncedwithadentalarticulation.

Alveolar: Alveolar sounds are those sounds made by the articulation of the tip of the
tonguetowards the alveolar ridge, the ridge of cartilage behind the teeth. Examples of such
soundsinEnglisharethefollowing:[t],[d],[s],[z],[n],[l]

Alveo-Palatal: Alveo-palatal sounds are those sounds made by the articulation of the front
ofthetonguetowardstheareabetweenthealveolarridgeandthehardpalate.ExamplesofsuchsoundsinEng
lish arethe following [ʒ],[ʃ],[tʃ],[dʒ]

Palatal: Palatal sounds are those sounds made by the articulation of the body of
thetonguetowardsthehardpalate.AnexampleofsuchasoundinEnglishis[j].

Velar:Velarsoundsarethosesoundsmadebythearticulationofthebodyofthetonguetowardsthevelu
m.ExamplesofsuchsoundsinEnglishare thefollowing:[k],[g]

Glottal:Glottalsoundsarethosesoundsmadeattheglottis.AnexampleofglottalsoundinEnglishisthe
[h].

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TheManner of Articulation

Thisreferstohow a soundisproducedandthewayinwhichtheair-
streamismodifiedasitpassesthroughthevocalfolds/cords.Theseareofseventypes:

Plosive:It
isformedbyablockageofthevocaltract,followedbyanexplosivereleaseofair.Examplesofplosive
sinEnglishare , , , , , .

Fricative:Itisformedbyslightcontactbetweenarticulators,allowingturbulentairflow.
ExamplesoffricativesinEnglishare[θ],[ð], , ,,
, , [h].
,

Affricate:Itisformedbyablockageofthevocaltract,
likeplosive,followedbyagradualreleaseofturbulentair,likeafricative.ExamplesofaffricatesinEngli
share [tʃ][dʒ]

Nasal:
Itisformedbytheloweringofthevelum,allowingairtoflowthroughthenasalcavity.Examplesofnasalsi
nEnglishare[m],[n],[ŋ].

Approximant (laterals and glides): It is formed

bytheconstrictionofthevocaltract,butwithnoblockageoftheairflow.Examplesof
approximantsinEnglishare[l],[r],[j],[w]

Tap:Itisformedbyaquickcontactbetweenarticulators. ,forexample,thereisthetap[r],wh
ichcanbefoundinthemiddleofwords suchasladder,andbutter.

Trill:Itisformedbytherapidvibrationofthetonguetipbyacurrentofair.Forexample,invarietieso
fBritishandScotsEnglishitisalsoknownas"rolled r”[r]

Voice ofArticulation:
Voice of Articulation can be divided into two-voiced and voiceless.
Voiced:Voicedsounds are produced when the vocal cordsvibrate in the larynx. Voiceless:
Voiceless sounds areproducedwithoutthevibrationofthevocalcords.

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THREE-TERMLABELSFOROFCONSONANTSSOUNDS

Manner of Examples
Consonant Voice Placeofarticulation
Articulation
pin,spi
/p/ voiceless bilabial plosive
n

big,ab
/b/ voiced bilabial plosive
out

/t/ voiceless alveolar plosive tank,act

/d/ voiced alveolar plosive danger,adapt

/k/ voiceless velar plosive king,speaker

/g/ voiced Velar plosive gone,begin

/tʃ/ voiceless alveopalatal affricate church,batch

/dʒ/ voiced alveopalatal affricate jar,bridge

/f/ voiceless labio-dental fricative fill,farm

/v/ voiced labio-dental fricative vow,vine

/θ/ voiceless dental fricative thick,eighth

/ð/ voiced dental fricative then,weather

/s/ voiceless alveolar fricative size,sum

/z/ voiced alveolar fricative zoo,desert

/ʃ/ voiceless palatoalveolar fricative sheep,cash

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/ʒ/ voiced palato-alveolar fricative measure,provision

/h/ voiceless glottal fricative home,behold

nasa
/m/ voiced bilabial man,calm
l
/n/ voiced alveolar nasal know,canal

/ŋ/ voiced velar nasal ring,English

/l/ voiced alveolar lateral love, life

/r/ voiced postalveolar lateral red,great

/j/ voiced unroundedpalatal glide yellow.Beauty

/w/ voiced rounded–palatal glide water,wonder

EXERCISES
I. Givefiveexamplesforeachofthefollowingsounds.
Sounds Examples
/ʊ/
/ɪ/
/ʌ/
/ ə/
/ɒ/
/ɜː/
/e/ _

II. Identify and write the phonetic script of the underlined diphthongs
inthe followingwords.
Words Sounds

B
i
t

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 e
T
e
a
r
T
o
y
A
r
o
u
n
d
D
a
r
e
Gold _

III. Give oneexamplefor each of thefollowing

sounds:Sound Example
/d/

/p/
/f/
/j/
/ʃ/
/dʒ/

IV. Identify the sound and write the phonetic script of the
underlinedsoundinthefollowingwords.

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 Word Sound
a) chat
b) rest
c) thin
d) ship
e) leisure
f) judge
g) laugh
h) cathartic
i) brother
j) singing
k) yacht

V. Transcribethefollowingwords
a) Fish
b) Oath
c) Zero
d) Water
e) Forget
f) Hair
g) Idea
h) Bag
i) Phonetics
j) English
k) Manual
l) Food
m) Car
n) Machine
o) Judge
p) Measure
q) Kitchen

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