A PROJECT REPORT ON

THE SOUND OF ENGLISH

SUBMITTED BY:-

BARSHA PRIYADARSANI PATI

REGD NO:- 231704290022

Academic Year-2023-26
Under the esteemed Guidance of
Prof. SUKANYA MISHRA
Department of English

SCHOOL OF PARAMEDICS
BHUBANESWAR CAMPUS
CENTURION UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT,
BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA
APRIL, 2024
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my profound and sincere gratitude to Prof.SUKANYA MISHRA, Department

of , ENGLISH, Bhubaneswar Campus, who guided me into the intricacies of this project
nonchalantly with matchless magnanimity.

I thank Prof. Monali Mishra, Head of the Dept. of Department of BPT, SoPAHS,
Bhubaneswar Campus and Prof. Soumya Jal, Dean, School of Paramedics, Bhubaneswar
Campus for extending their support during Course of this investigation.

I would be failing in my duty if I don’t acknowledge the cooperation rendered during

various stages of image interpretation by Prof. Sukanya Mishra.

I am highly grateful to Prof. Sukanya Mishra, who evinced keen interest and
invaluable support in the progress and successful completion of my project work.

I am indebted to my parents for her constant encouragement, co-operation and help.

Words of gratitude are not enough to describe the accommodation and fortitude which she
has shown throughout my endeavor.

Name of the Student: BARSHA PRIYADARSANI PATI

Signature of the Student:

Registration No: 231704290022

Place: Bhubneswar Campus

Date:
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “THE SOUND OF ENGLISH” submitted for the

“Minor Project” of 2nd semester Bachlor of Physiotherapy is my original work and the project

has not formed the basis for the award of any Degree / Diploma or any other similar titles in

any other University / Institute.

Name of the Student: BARSHA PRIYADARSANI PATI

Signature of the Student:

Registration No: 231704290022

Place: Bhubneswar campus

Date:
 DEPAETMENT OF PHYSIOTHERAPY
, SCHOOL OF PARAMEDICS BHUBNESWAR CAMPUS

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report Performance “THE SOUND OF ENGLISH" is the

bonafide work of “BARSHA PRIYADARSANI PATI The Sounds of English The Sounds of

English” who carried out the project work under my supervision. This is to further certify to the

best of my knowledge, that this project has not been carried out earlier in this institute and the

university. Certified that the above mentioned project has been duly carried out as per the norms

of the college and statutes of the university.

Dean of the School

Signature of the Signature Head of The
Supervisor Department of Paramedics
 The Sounds of English
In the English alphabet there are 26 letters, but these letters produce 44 sounds. For this reason,
one letter is used to produce more than one sound. In order to know the correct pronunciation
certain symbols denoting these sounds have been devised and standardized. By learning these
symbols you will be able to find the correct pronunciation of any word in a standard dictionary.
These symbols will also help you to go through the book with guidance for correct pronunciation of
words and conversations. These sounds are classified into two types:

These sounds are classified into two types:

❖
What is a Vowel Sound?
There are only 5 vowel letters in English (a,e,i,o,u), but the sounds indicated by these 5 letters
are 20. A vowel sound is produced when the air comes out of the mouth freely without any
blockage or closure in the mouth cavity by the tongue, teeth, lips, etc.

The vowel sounds are of two types:-

Single vowel sounds: When these sounds are produced, the tongue remains in the same
position even when the sound is prolonged. They consist of one sound only and are called
pure vowels as in ‘sit’, ‘pot’, ‘heat’, etc. (the underlined letters indicate the single vowel
sounds)

What is a Vowel Sound?

There are only 5 vowel letters in English (a ,e ,I ,o ,u), but the sounds indicated by these 5
letters are 20. A vowel sound is produced when the air comes out of the mouth freely without
any blockage or closure in the mouth cavity by the tongue, teeth, lips, etc.

The vowel sounds are of two types:-

Single vowel sounds: When these sounds are produced, the tongue remains in the same
position even when the sound is prolonged. They consist of one sound only and are called
pure vowels as in ‘sit’, ‘pot’, ‘heat’, etc. (the underlined letters indicate the single vowel
sounds)
Double vowel sounds: These vowel sounds are a combination of two single vowel sounds and
in pronouncing them the tongue moves from one position to another. For instance, in the
word ‘light’ the sound of ‘i’ is a combination of the vowel sounds /a:/ as in ‘art’ and /i/ as in
‘it’. The words ‘hair’, ‘toy’ and ‘poor’ also contain double vowel sounds.

❖What is a Consonant Sound?

A consonant sound is one in which the air stream coming out of the lungs is modified in the
mouth cavity by some blockage created by the tongue, lips, etc. When you say the sound of
‘p’ as in ‘pen’ a blockage is created in the outgoing breath by closing both the lips and thus, a
consonant sound is produced.
VOWEL SOUNDS:-

NOTE: The vowel sounds from 1 to 12 are single vowel sounds and
those from 13 to 20 are double vowel sounds.
CONSONANT SOUNDS:
NOTE: This sound is pronounced like the /z/ sound but it is modified
by moving the tip of the tongue from the back of the teeth further
backwards (towards the teeth ridge).
 ❖
Organs of Speech:
In order to know how to produce the various sounds of English correctly, you must be familiar
with the speech organs that are used to produce them. The English speech sounds are
produced with the help of different organs or parts of the mouth. These are lips, teeth, teeth
ridge, tongue, the roof of the mouth cavity (consisting of the hard palate and the soft palate
at the back), uvula (the soft hanging part at the extreme end of the roof of the mouth), vocal
cords (two muscle strips placed horizontally at the top of the windpipe).
Sounds are produced when you breathe out air from the lungs and this air stream is modified
by the movable speech organs. For example, the lower jaw moves so that the lower lip
touches the upper teeth when the sound ‘v’ is produced.

The tip of the tongue moves up to touch the teeth ridge and create a blockage for air which
comes out from both sides of the tongue to produce the sound ‘l’. This is how the sounds are
produced with the help of organs in the mouth cavity.
 ❖Voiced and Voiceless Sounds:
The vocal cords vibrate to produce a buzzing sound which is also called the ‘voiced sound’ for
example, the sound of the letter ‘j’ in the word ‘jam’ (phonetic symbol /dʒ/).

Some other voiced sounds are /b/, /j/, /g/, /v/, /z/, etc. The other type of sounds where the
vocal cords do not vibrate are called voiceless sounds e.g. /p/, /t/, /f/, /s/, etc. We can feel
the difference between the two types of sounds by touching our throat and feeling the
presence or absence of vibrations in voiced and voiceless sounds, respectively.
 REFERENCES:
✓ https://www.dei.ac.in/dei/books/files/pdf/spokenEnglish/Chapters/Section1/Spoke
nEnglish-Sec1-Lesson1.pdf
✓ https://timeforphonics.co.uk/what-are-the-44-phonemes-in-the-english-language/
✓ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_phonology
https://www.dvusd.org/cms/lib/AZ01901092/Centricity/Domain/3795/Sound_Spelling_Cha
rt.pdf

ASSESSMENT

Internal:

SL NO RUBRICS FULL MARK MARKS OBTAINED REMARKS

Understanding the relevance, scope and

1 10
dimension of the project

2 Methodology 10
 3 Quality of Analysis and Results 10

4 Interpretations and Conclusions 10

5 Report 10

Total 50

COURSE OUTCOME (COs) ATTAINMENT

➢ Expected Course Outcomes (COs):

(Refer to COs Statement in the Syllabus)

_____________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________
___

_____________________________________________________________________________
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➢ Course Outcome Attained:

How would you rate your learning of the subject based on the specified COs?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LOW HIGH

➢ Learning Gap (if any):

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

➢ Books / Manuals Referred:

_____________________________________________________________________________
___

_____________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________
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Date: Signature of the Student

➢ Suggestions / Recommendations:
(By the Course Faculty)

_____________________________________________________________________________
___

_____________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________
___

_____________________________________________________________________________
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Date: Signature of the Faculty

The 44 Sounds (Phonemes) of English
A phoneme is a speech sound. It’s the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another.
Since sounds cannot be written, we use letters to represent or stand for the sounds. A grapheme is the
written representation (a letter or cluster of letters) of one sound. It is generally agreed that there are
approximately 44 sounds in English, with some variation dependent on accent and articulation. The 44 English
phonemes are represented by the 26 letters of the alphabet individually and in combination.

Phonics instruction involves teaching the relationship between sounds and the letters used to represent them.
There are hundreds of spelling alternatives that can be used to represent the 44 English phonemes. Only the
most common sound / letter relationships need to be taught explicitly.

The 44 English sounds can be divided into two major categories – consonants and vowels. A consonant
sound is one in which the air flow is cut off, either partially or completely, when the sound is produced. In
contrast, a vowel sound is one in which the air flow is unobstructed when the sound is made. The vowel
sounds are the music, or movement, of our language. The 44 phonemes represented below are in line with
the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Consonants

Sound Common Spelling alternatives

spelling
/b/ b bb
ball ribbon

/d/ d dd ed
dog add filled
/f/ f ff ph gh lf ft
fan cliff phone laugh calf often
/g/ g gg gh gu gue
grapes egg ghost guest catalogue

/h/ h wh
hat who

/j/ j ge g dge di gg
jellyfish cage giraffe edge soldier exaggerat
e
/k/ k c ch cc lk qu
kite cat christmas acclaim folk bouquet
q(u) ck X
queen back box
/l/ l ll
leaf spell

/m/ m mm mb mn lm
monkey summer climb autumn palm

/n/ n nn kn gn pn
nest funny knight gnat pneumonia

/ng/ ng n ngue
ring sink tongue

©DSF Literacy Resources – This document may be reproduced for educational purposes
/p/ p pp
pig happy
/r/ r rr wr rh
robot carrot wrong rhyme

/s/ s ss c sc ps st
sun mess circus science psychology listen
ce se
rice horse
/t/ t tt th ed
tap batter thomas tapped
/v/ v f ph ve
van of stephen five
/w/ w wh u o
web why quick choir

/y/ y i j
yo-yo opinion hallelujah

/z/ z zz s ss x ze
zebra buzz has scissors xylophone maze
se
cheese

Digraphs

Sound Common Spelling alternatives

spelling
/zh/ s si z
treasure division azure
/ch/ ch tch tu ti te
cheese watch future question righteous
/sh/ sh ce s ci si ch
shark ocean sure special tension machine
sci ti
conscience station
/th/ th
(unvoiced) thongs

/th/ th
(voiced) feather

©DSF Literacy Resources – This document may be reproduced for educational purposes
 Short vowels

Sound Common Spelling alternatives

spelling
/a/ a ai
cat plaid

/e/ e ea u ie ai a
egg bread bury friend said many
eo ei ae ay
leopard heifer aesthetic say
/i/ i e o u ui y
igloo england women busy build hymn
ie
sieve
/o/ o a ho
orange swan honest

/u/ u o oo ou
mug monkey flood trouble

/oo/ oo u ou o
book bush could wolf

Long vowels
/ā/ ai a eigh aigh ay et
snail baby weigh straight hay croquet
ei au a-e ea ey
vein gauge cake break they
/ē/ ee e ea y ey oe
bee me seat lady key phoenix
ie i ei eo ay
brief ski receive people quay
/ī/ i y igh ie uy ye
spider fly night pie buy rye
ai is eigh i-e
aisle island height kite
/ō/ oa o-e o oe ow ough
boat bone open toe low though
eau oo ew
beau brooch sew
/ü/ oo ew ue u-e oe ough
moon screw blue flute shoe through
ui o oeu ou
fruit who manoeuvre croup
/y//ü/ u you ew iew yu eue
(2 sounds) uniform you few view yule queue
eau ieu eu
beauty adieu feud

©DSF Literacy Resources – This document may be reproduced for educational purposes
 /oi/ oi oy uoy
coin boy buoy
/ow/ ow ou ough
cow shout bough

/ә/ er ar our or i e
ladder dollar honour doctor dolphin ticket
(Schwa u ur re eur
sound) cactus augur centre chauffeur

‘R’ controlled vowels

/ã/ air are ear ere eir ayer

chair square pear where their prayer

/ä/ ar a au er ear
car bath laugh sergeant heart
/û/ ir er ur ear or our
bird term burn pearl word journey
yr
myrtle
/ô/ aw a or oor ore oar
paw ball fork door more board
our augh ar ough au
four taught war bought sauce

/ēә/ ear eer ere ier

ear steer here pier

/üә/ ure our

cure tourist

Tricky Graphemes

There are some letters that are used to write down sounds already represented by other
graphemes. For example we use the letter c to represent the /k/ sound (already represented
by the grapheme ‘k’) and the /s/ sound (already represented by the grapheme ‘s’).

Letter
c /k/ as in cat, cot, cup /s/ as in city, cycle, cents

x /k//s/ as in box, fox, fix /g//z/ as in example, exam /z/ as in xylophone

q(u)* /k//w/ as in queen /k/ as in bouquet, marquis, cheque

* the q is always paired with the letter u.

©DSF Literacy Resources – This document may be reproduced for educational purposes