English language

Sounds

Vowels

Notes:

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It is the vowels that differ most from region to region.

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Where symbols appear in pairs, the first corresponds to the sounds used in North American English, the second corresponds to English spoken elsewhere.

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• North American English lacks this sound; words with this sound are pronounced with {{IPA|/?/}} or {{IPA|/?/}}. According to The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1998), this sound is present in Standard Canadian English.
• Many dialects of North American English don't have this vowel. See cot-caught merger.
• The North American variation of this sound is a rhotic vowel.
• Many speakers of North American English don't distinguish between these two unstressed vowels. For them, roses and Rosa's are pronounced the same, and the symbol usually used is schwa {{IPA|/?/}}.
• This sound is often transcribed with {{IPA|/i/}} or with {{IPA|/?/}}.
• The letter U can represent either /u/ or the iotated vowel /ju/.

Consonants

This is the English Consonantal System using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

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• The velar nasal {{IPA|}} is a non-phonemic allophone of /n/ in some northerly British accents, appearing only before /g/. In all other dialects it is a separate phoneme, although it only occurs in syllable codas.
• The alveolar flap {{IPA|}} is an allophone of /t/ and /d/ in unstressed syllables in North American English and increasingly in Australian English. This is the sound of "tt" or "dd" in the words latter and ladder, which are homophones in North American English. This is the same sound represented by single "r" in some varieties of Spanish.
• In some dialects, such as Cockney, the interdentals /?/ and /ð/ are usually merged with /f/ and /v/, and in others, like African-American Vernacular English, /ð/ is merged with /d/. In some Irish varieties, /?/ and /ð/ become the corresponding dental plosives, which then contrast with the usual alveolar plosives.
• The sounds {{IPA|/?/, /?/, and /?/}} are labialized in some dialects. Labialization is never contrastive in initial position and therefore is sometimes not transcribed.
• The voiceless velar fricative /x/ is used only by Scottish or Welsh speakers of English for Scots/Gaelic words such as loch {{IPA|/l?x/}} or by some speakers for loanwords from German and Hebrew like Bach {{IPA|/bax/}} or Chanukah /xanuka/, or in some dialects such as Scouse (Liverpool) where the affricate is used instead of /k/ in words such as docker {{IPA|/d?kx?/}}. In most speakers, the sounds and are used instead.
• Voiceless w {{IPA|}} is found in Scottish, Irish, some upper-class British, some eastern United States, and New Zealand accents. In all other dialects it is merged with /w/.

Voicing and Aspiration

Voicing and aspiration of stop consonants in English depends on dialect and context, but a few general rules can be given:

Related Topics:
Voicing - Aspiration - Stop consonant

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• Voiceless plosives and affricates (/{{IPA|p}}/, /{{IPA|t}}/, /{{IPA|k}}/, and /{{IPA|t?}}/) are aspirated when they are word-initial or begin a stressed syllable and are not part of a consonant cluster - compare pin and spin .
• In some dialects, aspiration extends to unstressed syllables as well.
• In other dialects, such as Indian English, most or all voiceless stops may remain unaspirated.
• Word-initial voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects.
• Word-terminal voiceless plosives may be unreleased or accompanied by a glottal stop in some dialects (e.g. many varieties of American English) - examples: tap , sack .
• Word-terminal voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects (e.g. some varieties of American English) - examples: sad , bag . In other dialects they are fully voiced in final position, but only partially voiced, in initial position.

See also

International Phonetic Alphabet for English

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