PHONETICS

FIRST LECTURE I: WHAT

IS PHONETICS AND ITS
?TYPES
 ?WHAT IS PHONETICS

• Phonetics ( from the Greek word phone= sound/voice)

is the study of speech sounds.

• It is a fundamental branch of linguistics and itself has

three different aspects/ fields.

• Aspects of Phonetics
1- Articulatory phonetics

Describes how vowels and consonants are produced or

articulated in various parts of the mouth and throat.

 ?WHAT IS PHONETICS

2- Acoustic phonetics:-
A study of how speech sounds are
transmitted: when sound travels through the
air from the speaker’s mouth to the hearer’s
ear it does so in the form of vibrations in the
air.
3- Auditory phonetics:-
A study of how speech sounds are perceived:
looks at the way in which the hearer’s brain
decodes the sound waves back into the
vowels and consonants originally intended by
the speaker.
 SEGMENTAL PHONETICS

• The actual sound produced, such as a

simple vowel or consonant sound is called
phone.
• The term segment may be defined as:
“ any discrete units that can be identified,
either physically or auditory, in the stream of
speech”
Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break * •
.a word up into its individual sounds
* For example:
- C a t ( 3 segments) /c/ /a/ /t/

- Purple ( 4 segments) /p/ /ur/ /p/ /l/

* Segments are called “ discrete” because they are

separate and individual, such as consonants and

vowels, and occur in a distinct temporal order.

Other units, such as tone, stress, and sometimes

secondary articulation such as nasalization, are

termed suprasegmental.
 PHONETICS VS. PHONOLOGY

* Phonetics is that branch of linguistics which

deals with the study of speech sounds or
phonemes in general.
It is concerned with the production, transmission
and reception of the sounds of human speech.

• Phonology is concerned with the functional

properties of speech sounds.
 ?What are Phonemes

* Phonemes are the smallest units of speech

sound. They are not meaningful by themselves.
But they can bring about change in meaning.
Phonemes are combined into larger meaningful
units called morphemes.
The Air Stream Mechanism and the Organs of
Speech

Lung air is used for the articulation of most

speech sounds of most of the languages.
The air that flows out of our mouth is modified
in the production of speech sounds by the action
of speech organs.
The organs involved in the production of speech
:can be divided into three groups
The respiratory system. This comprises the .1
.lungs, the muscles of the chest and the wind pipe
The phonatory system. This comprises the .2
.larynx
The articulatory system. This comprises the .3
nose, the teeth, the tongue, the roof of the mouth
.and the lips
 THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

The respiratory system consists of the lungs and the wind

pipe (the trachea). As the walls of the lungs contract, the
air is pushed out from the lungs. The air which goes out
through the wind pipe is made use of in the production of
.speech sounds
:Respiration involves two processes
i. Inspiration. It is the taking in of the air from outside
into the lungs
ii. Expiration. It is the throwing out of the air from the
.lungs into the outer atmosphere
Since the expiratory lung air is the basis of the articulation of
most speech sounds, the air stream is called pulmonic air stream
.mechanism
:There are three air stream mechanisms
i. Pulmonic air stream mechanism
ii. Glottalic air stream mechanism
.iii. Velaric air stream mechanism
Of these three, the pulmonic air stream mechanism is the most
important. This is due to the fact that a very large percentage of
speech sounds in all the languages is produced using this kind of
.air stream mechanism
The air is drawn into the lungs or pushed out of
them by the movement of the walls of the lungs.
.This movement is caused by the respiratory muscles
When the air stream mechanism is used to draw air
in, it is called ingressive and
when it is used to push air out, it is called
.aggressive
All sounds in the English language are produced by
.the use of pulmonic air stream mechanism
The closed glottis makes use of the air in the
pharynx and acts as the initiator for glotalic air
stream mechanism. This is also known as
.pharyngeal air stream mechanism

The air in the mouth is set in motion by the

velaric air stream mechanism. The back of the
tongue is the initiator. It is also known as the oral
.air stream mechanism
 The Phonatory System .2
• There is a box made up of a cartilage at the top
of the wind pipe. It is called larynx. Adams
Apple is its front. The larynx encloses a pair of
folds made of static tissues call Vocal Chords.
They are small lip-like folds. The vocal chords
can be held together or kept wide apart. Glottis is
the small opening between the vocal chords. It
can be closed or open by bringing the vocal
chords together or keeping them apart.
In the production of certain speech sounds, the vocal chords
are wide apart and the glottis is open so that air passes out
through it freely without any friction. The speech sounds thus
produced with the glottis wide open are called voiceless
.sounds
’E.g. the first sound in the word ‘pill’ and ‘king

During the production of certain sounds, the vocal chords are

closely held together and as the air from the lung is pushed
.out, they vibrate producing the sound called voiced sounds
/Eg. The sounds like /z/ and / ʒ
 The articulatory system .3
This consists of the pharynx and the oral cavity and the
nasal cavity. They are used in articulation is bringing
together or near each other of two organs in the
production of speech. Articulators can be :classified
into two categories
i. the passive articulators and
.ii. the active articulators
• The passive articulator is not movable during the
production of the sound- all the roof of the mouth is
passive ( the teeth- the alveolar ridge - the palate
“hard and soft” )
• The active articulators move towards the passive
organs of speech during the production of a sound
( lower lip – tongue)
 ORGANS OF SPEECH

Lungs .1
.Larynx: It is commonly called Adam’s apple .2
Pharynx: - immediately above the larynx .3
The roof of the mouth: is divided into .4
:three broad areas
.i. Alveolar ridge (alveolum)
.ii. Hard palate
.iii Soft palate (velum)
The tongue:-It can be divided in the following .5
:parts
.i. The tip
.ii. The blade
.iii. The front
.iv. The back
.v. The root
.The teeth .6
.The lips .7
 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH
( ARTICULATORS)
• The main articulators
1- The lips
These are those fleshy bits right in front of your
face. You smile with them, and you use them to
shape the letters that are going to pop out. These
bits of muscle won’t help differentiate a / b/ sound
from a/p/ sound ( one is voiced, the other is
voiceless), but they do help in distinguishing /b/
from a /v/ ( one is a bilabial ( two-lipped)
consonant, the other is a labiodental consonant).
Upper lip and lower lip
 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH
( ARTICULATORS)
2- The teeth (Upper and Lower)

They act in two ways to create sound. The

first is to act with the lips to create
labiodental (bottom lip+ teeth) consonants,
the /v/ or /f/ sounds in English, and the
second is to create dental ( between the
teeth) consonants ( such as ‘th’ sound / / in
‘thin’ or / / in ‘though’).
3- The tongue

Is, of course, a very important articulator and it can

be moved into many different places and different

shapes. It is usually divided into different parts,

though there are no clear dividing lines within the

tongue. These parts are: tip, blade, front, back,

and root.
 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH
( ARTICULATORS)
4- The alveolar Ridge
Right behind the upper teeth is a ridge of
tightly skin-covered bone we call the
alveolar ridge. This point of articulation is
important for all alveolar consonants, when
the tongue goes up to tap, glide along, or
curl behind that ridge.
5- The palate and velum
At the back of the oral cavity lies the palate and
velum, sometimes distinguished as the hard and
soft palate, but more often just as the palate and
the velum. This is the rest of what is commonly
known as the mouth that continues back to the
uvula. In this whole cavity, palatals and velars are
created.
 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH
( ARTICULATORS)
6- The Glottis
This is the opening between the vocal cords, and is
located in the larynx ( the “voice box”), at the
bottom of the throat-tube just past the tongue
called the pharynx. The glottis is used in creating
glottal consonants.
THE ORGANS OF SPEECH
( ARTICULATORS)
THE SOUNDS OF ENGLISH AND THEIR
REPRESENTATION
• In English, there is no one to one relation
between the system of writing and the system of
pronunciation.

• English alphabet contains only 26 letters but in

(Standard British) there are approximately 44
speech sounds

• To represent the basic sound of spoken lgs. Use a

set of phonetic symbols called the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
THE SOUNDS OF ENGLISH AND THEIR
REPRESENTATION
• The chart below contains all of the IPA symbols
used to represent the sounds of the English
language. This is the standard set of phonemic
symbols for English ( Received Pronunciation ‘RP’
and similar accent)
• The colon / : / represents longer duration in
pronunciation and is found in long vowels such as
/ i:/ , / a: /, / u:/ etc.
 ENGLISH SOUNDS

• Sounds can be classified into two major

categories: Consonants and Vowels.
• Consonants are pronounced by stopping the air
from flowing easily through the mouth, especially
by closing the lips or touching the teeth with the
tongue.
• They can be classified according to three
ways
1- Voiced and unvoiced / voiceless
2- place of articulation
3- manner of articulation
 CONSONANTS

• Voiced and unvoiced/ voiceless

- Voiced consonants require the use of the
vocal cords to produce their signature
sounds; voiceless consonants do not. Both
types use the breath, lips, teeth, and upper
palate to further modify speech.
- VC involve a vibration of the vocal cords
that you can feel when you place your hand
on your throat.
- Unvoiced consonant sound is one where the
vocal cords do not vibrate.
1- /p/ - /b/
- /p/ voiceless
- is spelled p or pp
- pen /pen/ – push /pʊʃ/ - shop /ʃɒp/ - repeat /rɪˈpiːt/
- Happy /ˈhæpɪ/ – stopping /stɒpɪ/ - apple /ˈæpl/–
appendix /əˈpendɪks/ - appeal /əˈpiːl/
- Note-
• p is silent at the beginning of view words
(Psychology)
• The word cupboard is pronounced / k b d/ not p.
• Ph is pronounced / f/ ( phone- photo-autograph
• /b/ is voiced and spelled b or bb.
For example
- big /bɪɡ/ - – best /best/– robber/ˈrɒbə(r)/ -
verb /vɜːb/
• /b/ is silent at the end of few words
• climb /klaɪm/– comb /kəʊm/- thumb /θʌm/– bomb
/bɒm/
• book – baby – bank /bæŋk/– bread /bred/–
bought /bɔːt/– boot /buːt/– buy /baɪ/–
black /blæk/– beard /bɪəd/– back /bæk/– bake /beɪk/– job
/dʒɒb/
•
2-/t/ and /d/
* /t/ is usually spelled t or tt
t – tea /tiː/– till /tɪl/– ten /ten/– top /tɒp/–
twenty /ˈtwenti/– water /ˈwɔːtə(r)/– bit /bɪt/
– complete /kəmˈpliːt/– eat /i:t/– eight /eɪt/–
Suit /suːt/.
tt- better /ˈbetə(r)/– bottle /ˈbɒtl/– battle /ˈbætl/– little /ˈlɪtl/
- /t/ is sometimes spelled ed in past tenses.
• stopped /stɒpt/– washed /wɒʃt/– walked /wɔːkt/
• /t/ is spelled th in a few names
• Thailand /ˈtaɪlænd/or /ˈtaɪlənd/– Thames /temz/–
Thomas /ˈtɒməs/
* /d/ is spelled d or dd
Day /deɪ/ - deep /diːp/ – do /duː/ –
door /dɔː(r)/ – did /dɪd/ – food /fuːd/–
good /ɡʊd/ – head /hed/ – ready /ˈredi/–
wide /waɪd/ – ride /raɪd/ – send /send/–
add /æd/ – address /əˈdres/ – ladder
/ˈlædə(r)/– middle /ˈmɪdl/ - muddle /ˈmʌdl/
____________________________________________________
3- /k/ and /g/
• /k/ how to pronounce this sound:
- Stop the air with the back of your tongue against
the top of your mouth
- Move your tongue to release the air.
- /k/ is usually spelled c, k, or ck and sometimes
ch.
c / car – careful – clean – colour – fact
K/ keep – desk – like – walk – key
Ck/ back – black – tick – pocket
Ch/ school – stomach – chemist - architect
/kw/ is spelled qu. quick - quiet – quarter – queen
/ ks/ is often spelled x : - fax – taxi – text

Note:- The letter k is silent in a few words, e.g.

know – knee – knife
------
/ g/ is usually spelled g or gg
- garden – girl – glass – go – ago – hungry – ghost -
egg – bigger -
/gz/ is sometimes spelled x:- exam – exactly
Note:- the letter g is silent in some words :
Sign – high – bought –
- There is usually no /g/ sound in words like :
Sing – singing – sitting
- Some words have a silent u after g :
guess – guest – dialogue
4- /f/ and / v/
- /f/ is usually spelled f or ff, and sometimes ph or
gh
F= feel – café – leaf
Ff= off – coffee – suffer – offer
Ph= phone – autograph
gh= laugh – enough – rough
/ v/ is usually spelled v
very – travel – every – leave – five – village

Note:- in the name Stephen, ph is pronounced

as /v/
5- /s/ and /z/
- /s/ is usually spelled s, ss, or c, and sometimes sc.
S= sit – sister – bus – see – sky
Ss= class – glasses – dress – fussy
C= city – circle – pencil – place – pronounce
Sc= science – scissors –
Note: the letter x is usually pronounced /ks/
Six- next
if it is followed by these letters ( e ) (y ) (i ), it is
pronounced /s/
Policy, receive, exercise
/z/ is usually spelled s or z and sometimes ss or zz
S= gives – easy – husband – roses – sisters
Z= zoo – zero – size
Ss = scissors
Zz= jazz
6- / θ/ and / ð/
/ θ/ is spelled th.
Thin – thank – thirty – theatre – thumb –
Thursday – thirsty – three – month – mouth –
south – north – both – something.
*/ ð/ is spelled th
This – that – these – those – they – father – mother
– brother – weather – without – breathe (v)
7- / ʃ / and / ʒ/
/ ʃ / is usually spelled sh
Shop – fashion – cash – fresh – wash – mushroom
But it is spelled in different ways
C= ocean
ch= machine
Ci= delicious – special
S = sugar – sure
Ss= Russia
Ti= international
• / ʒ/ is usually spelled si or s
Television – Asia – usually – leisure – beige –
azure- pleasure – vision

8- /tʃ/ and /dʒ/

/tʃ/is usually spelled ch, t, or tch
Ch = church – chips – choose – March – which
T = future – question –nature
Tch= catch – watch – kitchen – match
/dʒ/ is spelled j, g,ge,dge
J= jam – jacket – jeans – job – jet
g= general
ge= age - large- orange
dge= judge, fridge, bridge
di = soldier
9- /m/, /n/ and / ŋ/
/m/ is usually spelled m, mm, but sometimes mb or
mn
m= more, me, lemon, swim, film, some,
sometimes
mm= hammer, summer,
mb= comb,
mn= autumn
/n/ is spelled n, but sometimes nn or kn
n= new, now, one, gone, sun,
nn= dinner, sunny, funny
kn= knew, know, knife

/ŋ/ is spelled ng
The letter n is pronounced /ŋ/ if there is a /k/ or /g/
after it
nk is always pronounced /ŋk/
/ŋ/ = evening – long – sing – singer – thing- ring,
/ŋk/ thanks – bank – uncle – think
/ŋg/= angry – finger – hungry – longer - single
10- / h/ unvoiced from h, but sometimes from wh
h= hat – help – how – behind
wh= who – whose – whole
A few words begin with a silent letter h
e.g hour – honest

11- /l/ from l or ll (voiced)

l= learn – leave – language- alone
ll= tall – well- yellow
It is sometimes at the end of some words e.g
People – simple – uncle- little
- It is silent in some words
- Half – talk - could
12- /r/ is r or rr or wr
r= red – really – right – room
rr= ferry – sorry – arrange
wr= wrap – wrist- write – wrote – wrong
13- /w/ and /j/
/w/ is from w.wh
w= week – warm- well- windy- away- swim –wet
Wh= what – white – where- which
One – language – question- quiet – square
Who - / h/ not / w/
/ j/ is in y but has different spelling in some words
/ju:/ is often spelled u or ew
y= yes – yesterday – year – young
/ju:/ usual – student – university- new – view –
interview – beautiful
HOW TO PRONOUNCE THE ENDING -ED

• how do we pronounce the -ed ?

• The past simple tense and past participle of
all regular verbs end in -ed.
For example: work, worked, worked
:The answer is, in 3 ways •
• /ɪd/ decided- recommended – wanted- admitted –
suggested – hated – intended –ended –started
• /t/stopped – laughed – promised – walked –
finished- watched
• /d/ allowed – cried – enjoyed – cleaned- imagined
-
CONSONANT DIGRAPHS
Consonant digraphs

Consonant digraphs are groups of two consonants •

that make a single sound. Examples of consonant
:digraphs are
• ch as in chat
sh as in ship
th as in thick
wh as in what
ph as in phone
ck as in sock
 THE PLACE OF ARTICULATION

Place of articulation refers to the location where the

constriction or obstruction of the vocal cords/ tract
occurs, as well as to the active or passive articulator(s)
involved in the production of the consonant.
1- Bilabial
Bilabial consonants occur when you block/constrict •
.airflow out of the mouth by bringing your lips together
:English contains the following three bilabial consonants •
“p/ as in “purse” and “rap/ •
“b/ as in “back” and “cab/ •
• /w/ as in “wet” and “howard”
“m/ as in “mad” and “clam/ •
Labio-Dental -2 •
• Labio-dental consonants occur when you
block/constrict airflow by curling your lower lip
back and raising it to touch your upper row of
teeth.
• English contains the following two labio-dental
sounds:
• /f/ as in “from” and “calf“
• /v/ as in “vine” and “have
Dental -3 •
• Dental consonants occur when you block/constrict
airflow by placing your slimy tongue against your
upper teeth.
• English contains the following two labio-dental
sounds:
• /θ/ as is “thick” and “bath“
• /ð/ as in “the” and “rather”
Alveolar •
• The alveolar ridge is where your teeth meet your gums.
You create Alveolar consonants when you raise your tongue
to the alveolar ridge to block or constrict airflow.
• The English alveolar consonants are as follows:
• /n/ as in “no” and “man“
• /t/ as in “tab” and “rat“
• /d/ as in “dip” and “bad“
• /s/ as in “suit” and “bus“
• /z/ as in “zit” and “jazz“
• /l/ as in “luck” and “fully”
• /r/ as in read and risk.
• Alveo-palatal or Post-Alveolar
When you retract your tongue back just a bit from the
alveolar ridge, the sounds change enough to be
recognized as distinct consonants.
So post-alveolar consonants are those that occur when
the tongue blocks or constricts airflow at the point just
beyond the alveolar ridge.
• The post-alveolar English consonants are as follows:
• /ʃ/ as in “shot” or “brash”
• /ʒ/ as in “vision” or “measure”
• /tʃ/ as in “chick” or “match”
• /dʒ/ as in “jam” or “badge“
• Palatal
The roof of your mouth is the hard palate. You may
know it as “the place that burns like hell when I eat
pizza that is too hot.”
You create Palatal consonants when you raise the
tongue to this point and constrict airflow.
• English has only one palatal consonant:
• /j/ as in “yes” and “bayou”
 • Velar
Behind your hard palate you have the velum or soft
palate. Unlike the bony hard palate in front of it, this
consists of soft, mucousy tissue.
You make Velar Consonants when you raise the back of
your tongue to the velum to block or restrict airflow.
:English has the following velar consonants •
• /ŋ/ as in “going” and “uncle” (note that the ‘n sound’
in these words is NOT made at the alveolar ridge,
which is why it is distinct from /n/).
• /k/ as in “kite” and “back“
• /g/ as in “good” and “bug“
• Glottal
The glottis is actually two vocal folds (i.e. vocal
cords). It acts as a sort of bottle cap to your
windpipe.
Inhale and then hold your breath for a few seconds
while keeping your mouth open. What you are
actually doing to keep the air from expelling out of
your lungs by closing your glottis.
• Glottal consonants aren’t actually consonants; they just
play consonant roles in the language. In English, the
following things happen at the glottis:
• /h/ as in “hi” and “Bahamas.” Say these words and
notice how you’re not actually constricting or blocking
airflow for this /h/ sound. You’re just exhaling a little bit
harder than you would for a normal vowel sound
in transition to the following vowel sound.
• /?/ – This is actually the culprit behind many of the
“silent syllables” we discussed in the first lesson. For
example, in the phrase “wha(t) time is it?” the /t/ in
“what” is dropped and the vowel sound before it is
closed at the glottis.
• Labial ( Bilabial / Labiodental)
• Coronal (interdental ‘dental’ / alveolar /
alveopalatal)the front of the tongue makes
contact with an upper articulator near the front of
the mouth/ the sides of the tongue are also
involved.
• From the word corona –means a ring.
• Dorsal ( palatal / velar) the back of the tongue.
 MANNER OF ARTICULATION

• Refers to the way in which the obstruction inside the

oral cavity is made.
• on other words, it refers to the way airflow is controlled
in the production of a phone (i.e. a linguistic sound).
• The consonants can be classified into :
1- Stops/ plosives ,
2- fricatives
3- affricates
4- nasals
5- lateral
6- approximants / glide
 PLOSIVE/ STOPS -1

• The aireflow from the lungs is completely blocked

at some point, then released.
• The sounds ( /p/- /b/ - /t/ - /d/ - /k/ and /g/)
PLOSIVES/ STOPS -1
FRICATIVES -2
• There are four types of fricatives:
1- Labio-dental ( /f/ - /v/)
• 2- dental / interdental ( / θ / - /ð / )
3- Alveolar ( / s / - / z / )
4- Alveo-palatal or post-alveolar(/ ʃ
/-/ʒ /)
5- Glottal /h/
AFFRICATES -3
NASALS -4
 NASALS

• Three types of Nasals

- Bilabial ( /m /)
- Alveolar / n/
- Velar / ŋ /
 LATERAL -5

• / l / is voiced , alveolar ,lateral

 APPROXIMANTS / GLIDES -6

• involve the articulators approaching each other but

not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory
precision to create turbulent airflow.
• like palatal /j /

• Bilabial /w/

• Alveolar / r /
• Classify or describe the following consonant
- manner of place of Voicing
articulation articulation

• / t/

- / p/

- /ŋ/

- /dʒ/
Manner Place Voicing Sounds
/t /
 VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

• Vowels

Vowels are made by opening the mouth and letting air

come out freely. Dictionaries say that there are 20 vowels
sounds in English.
• They are phonemes that are produced without any
appreciable constriction or blockage of airflow in the
vocal tract. Vowel letters consist of a, e, i, o, and u. But
there are many kinds of vowels based on their sounds
when we spell them.
Track10.cda

1- Monophthongs
• Also known as pure and stable vowels because the
monophthongs articulated as one sound just like the
original form of the letter.
Short vowels
1- / i / / ɪ / Hit, ship, sit
2- /e/ Pen, bed, head
3- /æ/ Glad , cat , bat
4- /ʊ/ Should, book, foot
5- / ɒ / hot, rock, sock
6- / ʌ / cut, study, double
7- / ə / sofa, again, banana
• Long vowels
1- / i: / see, sheep, bean, key, scene, receive, grief ,
people, key, kilo
2- /u:/ boot, blue, lose, fruit, shoe
3- / ɔː / talk, four, horse, water, saw, bought,
caught.
4- / a: / car, father, garden, farm, arm, aunt
5- / ɜː / bird, turn, learn, world, term, nurse
/ i: / see, sheep, bean, key, scene, receive, grief ,
people, kilo

/ i / / ɪ / Hit, ship, sit, busy

• /e/ Pen, bed, head, friend, again, any

• Pen --- pin

• Bed --- bid
• Dead --- did
• Set --- sit
• Lest --- list
• Fell --- fill
• /ʊ/ Should, book, foot, would, could, should, full,
sugar, push
• /u:/ boot, blue, lose, fruit, shoe , music

• /æ/ Glad , cat , bat , map, traffic

• The cat in the flat sat happily on the mat

• / a: / car, father, garden, farm, arm, aunt, laugh,

half, heart, clerk
• 2. Diphthongs
They are two-part vowel sounds consisting of transition from one
vowel to another in same syllable.

The diphthong is a sound formed by two vowels that are articulated

like a single syllable. They are vowel glides. Usually it begins with a

vowel, then moves on to other vowels as we spell out the syllable.

1- /aɪ/ Sight, eye, die

2- /aʊ/ Mouse, house, town

3- /ɔɪ/ Toy, boy, join

4- /eɪ/ Make, lake, beak

5- /ʊə/ Fur, poor, cure
6- /əʊ/ so, boat, know
7- / iə/ Near, here, ear
8- /eə/ Air, square, pair
• / iə/ moves from / i/ to / ə /
- ea real
- ear ear, earing, fear, beard, clear, hear,
nearly, year, near.
- eer jeer, cheers.
- ere here, we’re
- Hear/ here
- The house is clearly here.
• /eə/ moves from / e / to/ ə/
• air air , chair , fair, stair, hair,
• are care, square, stared
• ear wear. tears
• ere where
• aer aeroplane
• Stairs / stares
• Bear / bare
• Where is the chair ?
• The aeroplane is on the air.
• /eɪ/ moves from /e/ to /i/
• a age, came, plane, table
• ai rain , wait
• ay day, play, say
• ey grey
• ea break , great
• eigh eight, weight
• I had to wait eight days.
• /aɪ/
• i like, time, white
• ie die, lie
• y dry, July, why, my
• igh high, night, right, bright
• uy buy
• I like looking at the bright sky
• /ɔɪ/ moves from / ɔ/ to /ɪ/
• oi coin, point, voice, avoid, joint
• oy boy, enjoy, toy, annoy
---------------------------------------------------------------
/əʊ/
• o no, cold, post, close, drove, home, phone.
• ow know, low, show, slow.
• oa boat
• oe toe
• /aʊ/
• ow how, now, vowel , brown, crown, town,
flowers,
• ou loud, mouth, sound, house, shout, count,
out, about
• --------------------------------------------
• /ʊə/
• u during/ˈdjʊərɪŋ/, cure
• ou tourist, Europe
• oo poor
CLASSIFICATION OF VOWEL SOUNDS

• The classification of vowels is based on 4 four

major aspects:
1- tongue height
According to the vertical position of the tongue
( high vowels, also referred to as close; low
vowels, also referred to as open and;
intermediate – close-mid and open-mid)
2- Frontness vs backness of the tongue
According to the horizontal position of the highest
part of the tongue
3- Lip rounding
Whether the lip are rounded ( O shape) or spread
( no rounding) when the sound is being made.
4- Tenseness of the articulators
Refers to the amount of muscular tension around
the mouth when creating vowel sounds. Tense and
lax are used to describe muscular tension.
Close

Half –close

Half – open

Open
- Front Vowels ( /i: / , /ɪ / , /e/, /æ/)

The front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate up to the
height of the close position. )

- Central vowels
The central part of the tongue is raised towards the adjoining part of
the soft palate and the hard palate to a point between half-open and
half-close position. The lips are spread.

- Back Vowels
- The back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate to a point
near the close position. The lips are rounded.
According to the position of the lips
- English front and central vowels are always
unrounded.
- English back vowels / u/, / u:/, / ɒ /, / ɔː / are rounded.
• Vowel tenseness
- Tense vowels
We need to give more effort and use more muscle to
articulate this kind of vowel. And also, our tongue
slightly goes to a higher position and doing its job for
more duration than the lax vowels.
e.g. / i: /, /u:/ ,/ ɔː / ,/ a: / , / ɜː / ( they are variable in
length, and often longer than lax vowels.
• Lax vowels
Produced with very little muscular tension.
This kind of vowel needs consonants to follow it.
They do not occur alone at the ends of the word.
Lax vowels are also shorter than tense vowels.
All short vowels are lax
Back vowel Central Front Vowels
vowels
/ u: / boot /i:/ see, High/ close
vowels
/ u / book /ɪ/ sit, pin (tongue body is
raised )
Mid vowels
/ ɔː / / ə / sofa /e/ bet, pen (tongue body is
bought intermediate)
/ ɜː / bird

Low/ Open
/ a: / father / ʌ / under /æ/ bat, fan vowels
(tongue body is
/ ɒ / sock lowered)
• Criteria
1- Height – how high or low the tongue is in the mouth when
producing the vowel
e.g.
/ i:/ - /a/you will feel your tongue goes up and down

2- Backness- how far front or back the tongue is when producing the
vowel
/ i:/ - / u:/ the tongue is moving forward and backward ( front –
central – back)
3- roundedness – Are the lips rounded when producing the vowel?
/ i:/ - /u:/
4- tenseness
/i:/ tense /e/ lax-
• Classify the vowels
- / u:/ high - back – rounded – tense
- / æ/
- /ʌ/
- /ɒ/
• Classify the vowels
- / u:/ high - back – rounded – tense
- / æ/ low – front – unrounded – lax
- / ʌ / low – central– unrounded – lax
- / ɒ / low – back – rounded – lax