English Sounds
How many vowel sounds are there in English?
There are 20 vowel sounds in English (12 monophthongs + 8 diphthongs).
What symbols are used in phonetic transcription?
Special phonetic symbols from the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).
What organ of speech produces voice?
The larynx (vocal cords).
How many letters are there in the English alphabet?
26 letters
What is a phoneme?
A phoneme = the smallest sound unit that distinguishes meaning.
Give an example of a diphthong.
Example: [aɪ] in time, [eɪ] in name.
What is the main purpose of phonetic transcription?
ex. The main purpose of phonetic transcription is to show the exact pronunciation of words using special phonetic symbols, because English spelling often does not match the way words are pronounced.
What is articulation?
ex. Articulation = the process of shaping sounds using speech organs.
How many sounds are there in English? (vowels, consonants)
About 44 sounds (20 vowels + 24 consonants).
Give an example of minimal pairs.
ex: pin [pɪn] vs bin [bɪn].
What is the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants?
Voiced consonants use vocal cords (e.g. [b], [d]), voiceless ones don’t (e.g. [p], [t]).
Transcribe the word “cat”.
cat → [kæt]
Which speech organs are active?
Active organs: tongue, lips, soft palate, lower jaw.
Give an example where the number of letters and sounds is different
ex. night (5 letters, 3 sounds [naɪt]).
What is the difference between a sound and a phoneme?
Sound = physical speech realization, phoneme = abstract unit in the system.
Which consonant pairs in English are the same except for voicing? Give three examples
[p]–[b], [t]–[d], [k]–[g]
Transcribe the word “through”
through → [θruː]
Name two exercises for breathing practice.
ex. Exercises: deep breathing with diaphragm, reading tongue twisters aloud.
What is a digraph? Give an example
Digraph = two letters = one sound, e.g. sh → [ʃ], ch → [tʃ]
How do phonemes change meaning in words?
ex. changing phoneme → new word (e.g. bat vs cat).
Explain the difference between short and long vowels with examples.
Long vowels are pronounced longer (e.g. ship [ɪ] vs sheep [iː]).
Explain why phonetic transcription is important in learning English
ex. Because spelling does not always show pronunciation, transcription shows exact sounds.
Explain the role of the tongue in articulation.
The tongue changes its position to form vowels and consonants (e.g. high, low, front, back).
Why is English considered a non-phonetic language?
Because the spelling and pronunciation often don’t match (e.g. knight).
Explain allophones with an example.
Allophones = variants of the same phoneme (e.g. [p(h)] in pin vs [p] in spin)