English sounds and their pronunciation. Pronunciation of English vowels. Changes in the new transcription variant

People mainly learn English in order to communicate with foreigners in a given situation. However, if your pronunciation is at a low level and you often confuse stresses, then no communication will work.

At the same time, many people are sure that the rules of pronunciation in English do not need to be taught, as this is a waste of time. But even wide vocabulary and voluminous knowledge in grammar is not enough for you to fully communicate.

Let's talk about the pronunciation of English words. Yes it's hard. It is sometimes very difficult to copy their speech. Ah, so I want to immediately, in English, say something like that, but no, not so fast. Our language is not as soft, not as varied in terms of sound effects as English. It has over 50 sounds. And what about them? How to remember? But everything is not as scary as it seems. After all, all sounds are formed with the help of our mouth, which means that this is real. I have often seen how beginners in learning a language, finding literature in which the pronunciation of all English words is given in Russian letters, were wildly delighted. Yes, I do not argue, it facilitates the work at first, and this technique has the right to exist. And since my site, after all, is designed for those, you will find all new words not in transcription, but in Russian letters, and this will make your life easier at first. Although I am not a supporter of this method, I do it, one might say, at the request of the working people.

But what will you do when you come across an unfamiliar, previously unseen word. You will, of course, use a dictionary. And in the dictionary ... Fathers! Why, this is not to be read by a mere mortal. Except English letters, there are some other icons nearby. In short, read this nonsense yourself. But take your time. These icons, as you know from school, are called transcription. She, if you know her, greatly facilitates the reading of the word. Even in Russian there is such a transcription, because. because in our mother tongue the spelling and pronunciation of the words are far from the same. Therefore, we learn a lot of rules in order to be literate. And in English, you just need to deal with these signs, otherwise you will not be able to pronounce a single word correctly. And I advise you to arm yourself English-Russian dictionary and match words with transcription as needed. It is necessary to gradually develop the skill of reading through transcription. And you will soon appreciate this knowledge, begin to read and pronounce words correctly.

Theoretical phonetics of English

Theoretical phonetics in English incorporates generalized information about the parts of the phonetic structure of the English word. It explains the interaction of acoustic and writing speech. Phonetics pays attention not only to the sound aspects, but also to the articulatory apparatus of a person.
When studying the theoretical phonetics of the English language, a person is faced with the following topics:
1. Phonemes of the English language. Distinctive features phonemes.
2. Cardinal type vowels.
3. Articulatory abilities of sounds.
4. Correct interpretation of the phoneme.
5. Ways of carrying out the phonetic analysis of the word.
6. Phonological schools.
7. System of vowel sounds.
8. The system of consonant sounds.
9. What are alloforms.
Enough long time is given to the method of performing phonetic analysis of words. With the help of analysis, sounds are divided into consonants and vowels, and their classification is made. Special attention

Phonetic features of the English language in examples

The first thing you need to master in phonetics is transcription. English is a rather unusual language, in which there are a lot of rules for pronunciation of words and letter combinations. And the first step in learning this is transcription.

The English alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, while the Russian alphabet is based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Hence all the difficulties: in English there are practically no sounds that would be similar to Russian. For example, diphthongs are common in English (two vowels in one syllable): source, joy, team.

In order to pronounce these words correctly, you must know the diphthongs and read the transcription /ɔɪ/ and /aʊ/, as well as English phonetics, pronunciation, sounds, transcription of the alphabet.

Interesting video about diphthongs:

in pronunciation English sounds very easy to get confused. For example, the word "lead" (lead) is read as "lead". Here two vowels are combined into one sound. But the word "break" (break) is pronounced like "break", and here it is already necessary to pronounce two sounds.

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In order not to get lost in the peculiarities and subtleties of pronunciation, we recommend that you always check with the dictionary. In addition, a great tool is Google translator, which reads everything English words respecting intonation, stress and correct pronunciation.

Vowel Sounds - Vowel Sounds

In English there are long and short sounds, while in Russian all vowels are pronounced equally. So sometimes the whole meaning of the word can change from the length of the pronunciation of the sound:

Port (port) - pronounced /pɔːt/

Pot (pot) - pronounced short / pot /

Wheel (wheel) - pronounced /ˈwiːl/, while

Will (will) - will sound like a short /wɪl/

Therefore, in order to learn how to communicate correctly, you need English transcription and pronunciation of sounds in English.

After all, forgetting to lengthen one vowel sound in a conversation, you will talk about “ports” instead of “peas”, and all “wheels” will be replaced by “freedom”. That is why phonetics is very important in learning English, and the pronunciation of English sounds must be listened to and studied in any case.

And here are the vowels or Vowel Sounds, as well as the pronunciation of sounds in English, the table, which is located below:

Learn more about what dash, colon, parentheses, and other symbols mean.

You can see another option English transcription and if it needs to be printed or copied for editing in "Microsoft Word"
English transcription

Pronunciation of English sounds.

Pronunciation of English vowels.

The pronunciation of English sounds is represented by Russian letters, you should understand what to convey the correct English pronunciation using the Russian alphabet is not possible.

• ɑː long, deep a
• ʌ short vowel a, as in the Russian word to run.
• ɒ = ɔ - short, open about
• ɔː - long o
• зː - long vowel ё, as in the Russian word hedgehog.
• æ - open e
• e - like e in the word these
• ə - unclear unstressed sound, similar to e
• iː - long and
• ɪ - short, open and
• ʊ \u003d u - short u, pronounced with a slight rounding of the lips.
• uː - long y pronounced without much rounding of the lips.

Two-vowel sounds

Pronunciation of English consonants.

• p - p
• b - b
• m - m
• f - f
• v - in
• s - with
• z - z
• t - resembles a Russian sound tpronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• d - resembles a Russian sound dpronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• n - resembles a Russian sound npronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• l - resembles a Russian sound l, pronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• r is a very hard sound pronounced without vibration of the tongue. Corresponds to the sound p in the word lot
• ʃ - soft Russian sh
• ʒ - soft Russian zh, as in the word yeast.
• tʃ- h
• ʤ - similar to the Russian sound j (voiced h)
• k - k
• h - breath, reminiscent of a weakly pronounced sound x
• ju - long yu in the word southern
• je - the sound e in the word spruce
• jɔ - sound ё in the word Christmas tree
• jʌ - sound i in the word pit
• j - resembles the Russian sound й before vowels. Occurs in combination with vowels.

English consonants that do not have approximate equivalents in Russianː

• w - formed with rounded lips (as in a whistle). It looks like a sound delivered with only lips. In translation, it is denoted by letters in or y ː W illiams - Williams, Williams.
• ƞ - Open your mouth and say n without closing your mouth.
• ɵ - Move the slightly flattened tip of the tongue between the teeth and pronounce Russian with
• ð - Push the slightly flattened tip of the tongue between the teeth and say Russian

Starting to learn English, many neglect the study of transcription, considering it a waste of time. However, correct pronunciation is one of the main goals in learning a foreign language.

Where to start?

Pronunciation of individual sounds. Words in English are read differently than they are written, so studying transcription will be the most effective approach to learning the language. In order to learn English sounds independently, it is recommended to go through the study of each sound of the English language separately.

All sounds of English

Reasons to learn the sounds of English

1. When studying transcription - you learn the rules of reading. Having analyzed only about a hundred words, you can build logical chains, determine the main patterns of pronunciation of sounds. Over time, you will be able to pronounce words correctly without special efforts. Learning the Rules Doesn't Eliminate the Need to Listen English speech. It is important to develop both auditory and visual memory.
2. By reading aloud you improve your pronunciation skills. The lack of correct pronunciation will become an obstacle in overcoming the language barrier, and subsequently will cause the development of the complex during communication. Incorrect pronunciation can change the meaning of a word or sentence.

Intonation. In working on intonation, it is important to listen to foreign speech. Regularly use audio lessons in teaching, repeat after the speaker, try to feel the intonation. Memorize short poems and dialogues. In order to hear yourself from the outside, use a voice recorder, and then work on your mistakes.

The English language is becoming more and more widespread every day. Today he speaks most of population of the planet, which automatically makes it an international language of communication. In addition to the American continents, it is studied in Europe and Asia. Australia, being part of the former British Empire, has long recognized English as its official language. If in Western Europe American and British English are studied by children from the very early age, then in Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries it is treated very mediocrely. The school curriculum casually goes through the most frequent words, while the children are not really explained the rules for their use. All this makes people learn on their own, which is much more difficult. Today we will analyze how the vowels of the English alphabet are used in words. They affect the quality of pronunciation and perception of the language.

The consonants of the English alphabet are the basis of all words. The total number of letters is 26, of which 20 are consonants, and there are only 6 vowels in English. Despite such a meager number, they can take various forms pronunciation, as a result, from 6 letters, about 20-24 sounds are obtained. All vowels and consonants are listed in the table below:

As you can see in the picture, the vowels in the English alphabet are highlighted yellow. A transcription is written next to each letter, thanks to which you can learn how to pronounce this or that letter correctly. The need for transcription has always been due to the fact that it is simply impossible to explain the correct pronunciation using the example of the Russian language. If in Russian one letter is equated to one sound, then most of the vowels in the English alphabet are pronounced using a combination of two phonemes.

The last letter "Yy" can be a vowel or a consonant, depending on the type of syllable. This should be taken into account when reading and morphemic analysis of words. Which sound will determine this or that letter depends on its position in the word and syllable.

Types of syllables in the English alphabet

At the lessons of the Russian language, everyone studied an unshakable rule: how many vowels in a word, so many syllables in it. This also applies to the English language, which greatly simplifies its learning. For example, take the word "octopus", which means "octopus". Oc-to-pus - three vowels and three syllables. The example is remarkable in that it has everything we need: open and closed syllables.

open syllable

This concept means a syllable that ends in a vowel or consists of one vowel:

1. A [hey] - indefinite article, consisting of one letter, is an open syllable. Therefore, the article is read as indicated in the transcription.
2. Rules (rules) - consists of two syllables, but only the first is open. Therefore, "u" is read as in transcription, and "e" practically disappears from the word during pronunciation.
3. Far (far) - the syllable is closed. Therefore, instead of [hey], a long [a] is pronounced.

Consonants and their combinations often change the phonetic meaning of vowels in the English alphabet, forming non-syllables of different types.

Closed syllable

Book, cook, root, meet, flat, and other words where a consonant closes a syllable are words with closed syllables. In the examples listed above, "oo" is read as Russian "u", "a" instead of [hey] is read as Russian "a".

Vowels of the English alphabet: reading features

You already know that there are far fewer vowels in the English alphabet than their sounds. What else can affect the quality of pronunciation of phonemes besides the type of syllable in a word? We will look at a few basic rules that will help you start pronouncing words correctly and improve your reading skills in a foreign language.

1. The presence of the letter "R" in the word. If a letter is present in an open syllable, it is practically unreadable and merges with the adjacent vowel. This produces a sound similar to the Russian "e". If the letter is in a closed syllable, then it affects the duration of the pronunciation of the vowel: long sounds become short and vice versa.
2. stress. If the accent falls on the letters "a", "o" or "u", then their pronunciation is practically not performed. They are read casually, the duration of emphasis on these sounds is extremely short. The result is again a sound similar to the Russian "e". For example, the combination sofa-bed (sofa bed) is pronounced together, its transcription looks like [‘soufǝbǝd]. If the accent falls on "i", "e" or "y", they are pronounced like the Russian "i". For example: city, enemy.
3. Pronunciation speed. When speaking quickly, it may turn out that the stress in the word is not recognized at all. This results in the fact that a long vowel shortens the length of its pronunciation or disappears from the word altogether. All pronouns in English are pronounced with short vowels, although the rules are to speak with long phonemes.
4. Weak and strong forms. Short vowels are automatically considered weak, since they cannot take on stress, but in combination with other letters they can form new sounds. Weak short forms are mainly expressed in particles, articles and pronouns. In full-fledged words, strong long phonemes are much more common.

The most incomprehensible for a Russian-speaking person in the study of the vowels of the English alphabet is the analysis of diphthongs. The combination of two sounds for the pronunciation of one letter is new to the Russian language. For a general understanding, it is worth noting that all diphthongs are pronounced briefly, but their position in the word relative to consonants and the type of consonants themselves matter. Before deaf sounds like "f", "h", "s", "t" and others, diphthongs practically disappear from sound pronunciation and become very short.

For a better understanding of speech and the rules of its origin, it is recommended to read texts in English with automatic voice acting. Special courses or films with subtitles will do.

The English (British) pronunciation system has 44 sounds, which are divided into 24 consonants and 20 vowels, including 8 diphthongs. The following table lists individual English sounds and their corresponding English transcription marks, as well as examples of words in which they are pronounced.

Table of English sounds:

Classification of English sounds

In accordance with the mechanics of education, English sounds are primarily divided into vowels and consonants phonemes. The pronunciation of vowels is associated with active vibration of the vocal cords and the free passage of exhaled air through all organs of speech. Consonants, on the contrary, are formed by overcoming various barriers, cracks and passages formed by the muscles of the vocal apparatus when the air stream exits.

Let us consider in more detail the classification of the sounds of the English language according to individual signs of articulation (the position of the speech organs when pronouncing sounds) and their comparison with Russian sounds.

English consonants

When pronouncing consonant sounds, the air on its way encounters various barriers formed by the active organs of speech: tongue, lips, teeth and alveoli.

If the organs of speech close in such a way that they completely block the passage for air, then we pronounce stop consonant. These consonants are also called explosive, since a small explosion is heard when the organs of speech are opened.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ t ] , [ d ] , [ k ] , [ g ]
stop plosive English sounds

[ P ], [ b ], [ t ], [ d ], [ to ], [ G ]
occlusive explosive Russian sounds

If air passes out through the nasal cavity, then such occlusive sounds are called nasal.

[ n ] , [ m ] , [ ŋ ]
nasal occlusive English sounds

[ n ], [ m ]
nasal occlusive Russian sounds

If the organs of speech do not close completely, but leave a narrow passage - a gap for air, then we pronounce slotted consonant.

[ θ ] , [ ð ] , [ ʃ ] , [ ʒ ] , [ s ] , [ z ] , [ h ] , [ f ] , [ v ] , [ w ] , [ r ] , [ j ] , [ l ]
slotted english sounds

[ with ], [ h ], [ f ], [ in ], [ w ], [ sch ], [ well ], [ l ]
slotted russian sounds

Among the consonants are occlusive-slotted sounds. They are called so because the opening of the barrier in them is slow; the complete obstruction goes into the gap.

[ tʃ ] , [ dʒ ]
occlusive-slit english sounds

[ c ], [ h ]
occlusive-slit Russian sounds

An obstruction to the path of exhaled air can be formed by various organs of speech. If the lower lip approaches the upper, then there are labial consonants.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ m ] , [ w ]
labial english sounds

[ P ], [ b ], [ m ]
lip-labial Russian sounds

If the lower lip touches the upper teeth, then such consonants are called labiodental.

[ f ] , [ v ]
labio-dental English sounds

[ f ], [ in ]
lip-tooth Russian sounds

If the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth, then it is pronounced interdental consonant. There are no such sounds in Russian.

[ θ ] , [ ð ]
interdental English sounds

Russian consonants [ t ], [ d ], [ n ], [ l ] - dental, as the end of the tongue rises to the inner surface of the upper teeth. English consonants [ t ] , [ d ] , [ n ] , [ l ] , [ ŋ ] - alveolar, as the tip of the tongue touches or rises to the alveoli.

[ k ] , [ p ] , [ s ] , [ t ] , [ f ] , [ h ] , [ tʃ ] , [ ʃ ] , [ θ ]
voiceless consonants in English

[ to ], [ P ], [ with ], [ t ], [ f ], [ X ], [ h ], [ w ], [ sch ]
voiceless consonants of the Russian language

[ b ] , [ v ] , [ g ] , [ d ] , [ z ] , [ l ] , [ m ] , [ n ] , [ r ] , [ ʒ ] , [ dʒ ] , [ ð ]
voiced consonants in English

[ b ], [ in ], [ G ], [ d ], [ well ], [ h ], [ l ], [ m ], [ n ], [ R ], [ c ]
voiced consonants of the Russian language

English vowel sounds

To classify English vowels, the various positions of the tongue relative to the hard palate are considered, as well as which part of the tongue is involved in articulation and how high the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate.

Distinguish front vowels, when the tip of the tongue rests against the base of the lower teeth, and the back of the tongue comes quite close to the hard palate: the English vowel [ i:] and Russian [ and ].

If the tongue is pulled back and the tip of the tongue is lowered and the back of the tongue is raised to the soft palate, we pronounce back vowel sounds: English sound [ a:] and Russian sounds [ about ], [ at ].

According to the position of the lips rounded and undestroyed vowel sounds. For example, when pronouncing the Russian sound [ at] lips rounded and pushed forward: [ at] is a rounded vowel. When pronouncing [ and] lips slightly stretched, but not pushed forward: sound [ and] is an unrounded vowel.

The quality of a vowel depends on the tension of the muscles of the organs of speech: the more intense the articulation, the more distinct and brighter the sound. Accordingly, vowels are distinguished tense and relaxed. For example, the English vowel [ i:] is pronounced with more tension than [ i ] .

Pronunciation of English sounds

Referring to the contents of our guide to English phonetics, for each of the English sounds you will find detailed description features of its pronunciation and articulation, ways of writing and sound examples, as well as comparisons with other sounds and their Russian counterparts.