The English Speech Sounds
主讲：梁慧
The importance of phonetic study
1) Phonetics is the science of speech sounds,It deals with the sound
system of a language,A language consists of three important
elements,namely,speech sounds,vocabulary and grammar,Speech
sound is the material form on which word and grammar rely for
existence,Divorced from speech sound,word and grammar are non-
existent,So the first step in studying any spoken language is to
determine the phonemes,(Basic sounds)
2) As a means of communication by word of mouth,language is used in
oral speech and in reading aloud,Therefore,in order to make oneself
easily understood while expressing one’s own or other people’s
thoughts in any language,one must be able to pronounce sentences
in that language quite correctly,One must have good pronunciation in
order to be able to understand other people easily when they speak or
read aloud,This is proved by the well-known fact that the better we
pronounce a foreign language,the easier we understand it when we
hear it,
Conceptions of phonetic
AHD,The American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language
KK:A Pronouncing Dictionary of American,1956
----John Samuel Kenyon & John Albert Knott
DJ,English Pronouncing Dictionary,1963
----Daniel Jones
RP,English Pronouncing Dictionary--,Received
Pronunciation”
IPA,International Phonetic Alphabet,1888
----International Phonetic Association
To have a good pronunciation means,
1.To pronounce correctly all the speech
sounds of the language and all the
combinations in their proper order not only
in isolated words,but also in sentences
2,To pronounce sentences fluently at the
sped required by the situation,with correct
stresses,linking of sounds,rhythm,pauses
and intonation,
The organs of speech
Nasal cavity ------鼻腔
Mouth cavity------口腔
Tongue------舌
Lips------唇
Teeth------齿
The teeth ridge-------齿龈
The hard palate ------硬腭
The soft palate ------软腭
uvula ------小舌
Pharynx ------咽头
Larynx------ 喉头
The vocal cords------ 声带
Windpipe ------气管
The classification of
Speech sounds
The organs of speech are capable of
making many different kinds of speech
sounds,From the practical standpoint,
speech sounds are generally divided into
Vowels and Consonants,
☆ Vowels are sounds produced without
obstruction of the air stream in the mouth,In
producing them there is vibration of the vocal
cords,so all vowels are voiced,
In English there are twenty vowels in all,
☆ Consonants are sounds produced by some
form of obstruction of the air passage and be
either voiced or voiceless,
There are twenty-eight consonants in English,
The English Phonetic
/i:/,/i/,/e/,/?/ /a:/,/?:/,/?/,/u:/,/u/,
/?/,/?:/,
/?/ /ei/,/ai/,/?i/,/?u/,/au/,/i?/,/??/,
/u?/ /p/,/b/,/t/,/d/,/k/,/g/
/f/,/v/,/Θ/,/e/,/s/,/z/,/?/,/?/,/h/
/?/,/?/,/tr/,/dr/,/ts/,/dz/,/m/,/n/,/ ?/
/r /,/j/,/w/
Vowels
General Remarks on the Vowels
The English vowels are divided into two
large groups,
? Monophthongs (pure vowels)
? Diphthongs
Monophthongs,
There are twelve monophthongs, They may be
classified according to the following principles,
1)The height of the raised part of the tongue,we distinguish open
vowels,half-open vowels,half-close vowels and close vowels,
2)The part of the tongue raised, we distinguish front,back and central
vowels,
3)The length of the vowel,we distinguish long vowels and short ones,
4)The position (or shape) of the lips,we distinguish rounded vowels and
unrounded ones,
5)The degree of tenseness,we distinguish tense vowels and lax vowels,
The Front Vowels
? There are four front vowels in English,
/i:/,/i/,/e/,/?/,
/i:/ is a long,close front vowel,It is unrounded
and tense,
/i/ is a short,half-close front vowel,It is
unrounded and lax,
/e/ is a short,half-open,unrounded front vowel,
It is a lax,
/?/ is a short,open,unrounded front vowel,It is
a lax,
Example and practice
/i:/ e,me evening ; ee,see week
ea,sea leave; i,machine police
/i/ i,ship pig; y,happy daddy
ui,build guilty; ie,field shield
/e/ e,twelve second; a,any many
ea,heavy breakfast ie,friend
/?/ a,land matter family
The Back Vowels
? There are five back vowels in English,
/a:/,/?:/,/?/,/u:/,/u/,
/a:/ is a long,open,unrounded back vowel,
/?:/ is a long,half-open,rounded back vowel,It
is slightly tense,
/?/ is a short,open,rounded,lax back vowel,
/u:/ is a long,close,rounded,tense back vowel,
/u/ is a short,half-close,rounded,lax back vowel,
Example and practice
/a:/ ar,hard farmer ; a,class glass
al,half calf
/?:/ or,short corn ; ore,more before
oor,door floor
/?/ our,four pour ; a,wash what o,stop hot
au,autumn daughter; al,call walk
/u:/ u,blue ruler ; oo,moon food
/u/ u,put ; oo,foot good ; oul,could would
The central Vowels
? There three central vowels in English,
/?/,/?:/,/?/,
/?/ is a short,half-open,unrounded central
vowel,It is a lax one,
/?:/ is a long,half-close and half-open,
unrounded,tense central vowel,
/?/ is a short,half-open,unrounded,lax central
vowel,It only occurs in unstressed syllables,
Example and practice
/?/ u,sun hungry ; o,son another
ou,enough couple double young
/?:/ er,term certainly ; ir,first third
ur,turn Thursday ; or,work word
ear,learn early
/?/ a,away woman ; e,student broken
er, over matter
Diphthongs
There are eight diphthongs,They are
divided into three groups,
three with a glide towards /i/
two with a glide towards /u/
three with a glide towards /?/
The closing Diphthongs
? There are five closing diphthongs in English,
/ei/,/ai/,/?i/,/?u/,/au/
/ei/ begins with /e/ and glides smoothly to /i/
/ai/ glides from /a/ to /i/, It is smooth and
loudness becomes less as it progresses,
/?i/ glides from a position between /?/ and /?:/
to /i/,
/?u/ starts with /?:/ and then glides away to /u/
with the lips getting slightly rounded,
/au/ starts with /a/ and then glides away to /u/
with the lips getting slightly rounded,
Example and practice
/ei/ a,take gate; ay,stay say ; ea,great
/ai/ i,side nice; ie,tie die ; y,by shy
/?i/ oi,toilet boil noise ; oy, boy toy
/?u/ o,not most ; oa,boat coat
ow,blow know
/au/ ou,house mouse ; ow,now brown
The Centring Dighthongs
? There are three centring diphthongs,
/i?/,/??/,/u?/
/i?/ glides from /i/ to /?/,The lips are
spread throughout,
/??/ glides from a point between /e/ and
/?/, The lips are spread,
/u?/ starts from /u/ and glides to /?/,
/i?/ ea,idea real ; ear, dear near
ere, here ; e, hero zero
/??/ air,chair hair ; are,careful dare
ear, pear wear ; ere,there where
/u?/ ure,sure ; ua, usually
Example and practice
Consonants
Classification of Consonants
? Consonants may be classified
according to following rules,
1) The work of the vocal cords
2) Place of articulation
3) Manner of articulation
Work of the Vocal Cords
? Voiced consonants,they are produced
with the vibration of the vocal cords,
? Voiceless consonants,they are produced
without the vibration of the vocal cords,
Place of Articulation
? 1) bi-labial （双唇音）
? 2) labio-dental （唇齿音）
? 3) dental （齿音）
? 4) alveolar （齿龈音）
? 5) post-alveolar （后齿龈音）
? 6) palato-alveolar （硬腭齿龈音）
? 7) palatal （硬腭音）
? 8) velar （软腭音）
? 9) glottal （喉音）
Manner of Articulation
? 1) plosives （ 爆破音）
? 2) fricatives （摩擦音）
? 3) affricates （破擦音）
? 4) nasals （鼻音）
? 5) lateral （边音） （舌侧音）
? 6) frictionless continuant （无摩擦延续音）
? 7) semi-vowels （ 半元音）
Manner of Articulation,
1) Plosives
? There are three pairs of plosives,
1) bilabial----/p/,/b/
2) Alveolar----/t/,/d/
3) Velar----/k/,/g/
The sound/b,d,g/are voiced plosives,
They are unaspirated and weak
The sound/p,t,k/ are voiceless ;polsives,
They are usually aspirated and strong,
Example and practice,
? /p/ is voiceless,bilabial,plosive,
aspirated strong,
? /b/ is voiced,bilabial,plosive,
unaspirated,weak,
Practice,
pat bat paper labor
map bobby robber
? /t/, voiceless,alveolar,plosive,aspirated,
strong,
? /d/, voiced,alveolar,plosive,unaspirated,
weak,
Practice,
ten dad tight tide
writer rider wetting wedding
? /k/, voiceless,velar,plosive,aspirated,
strong,
? /g/, voiced,velar,plosive,unaspirated,
weak,
Practice,
could good cot got
week leek ankle angle
Manner of Articulation,
2)Fricatives
? There are nine consonants of fricatives,
/f/,/v/,/Θ/,/e/,/s/,/z/,/?/,/?/,/h/
They have the common feature,
For all of them the lungs push air through
a narrow passage where it causes friction of
various kinds,
Example and practice,
? /f/,voiceless,labio-dental,fricative,
usually aspirated,strong,long,
? /v/,voiced,labio-dental,fricative,usually
unaspirated,weak,short,
Practice,
a half sniff a brief love
a stiff glove a safe move
a brave bluff a grave grief
? /Θ/, voiceless,dental,fricative,
aspirated strong,long,
? /e/, voiced,dental,fricative,
unaspirated,weak,short,
Practice,
think this thief these
thing within something other
? /s/, voiceless,alveolar,fricative,aspirated,
strong,long,
? /z/, voiced,alveolar,fricative,unaspirated,
weak,short,
Practice,
place plays coarse cause
bus buzz race raise
false falls niece knees
? /?/, voiceless,palato-alveolar,
fricative,aspirated,strong,long,
? /?/, voiced,palato-alveolar,
fricative,unaspirated,weak,short,
? /h/, voiceless,glottal,fricative
Practice,
/?/ sh,ship wash; ss/s,sure sugar
-tia-,-tie-,-tio-,partial initial nation
-cia-,-cie-,-cio-,social conscious
-sion, pension discussion omission
/?/ -sure,-zure,leisure treasure
-sion,decision confusion
-ge,garage
/h/ h,heat hot ; wh-,who whole
Manner of Articulation,
3)Affricates
? There are three pairs of affricates in English,
1) /?/,/?/,the air passage is completely
blocked by raising the soft palate and raising
the tip of the tongue to touch the back part of
the teeth ridge
2) /tr/,/dr/,are articulated by raising the tongue
tip to touch the back part of the teeth ridge,
3) /ts/,/dz/,are articulated with the tongue tip
raised to touch the back part of the teeth
ridge,
Example and practice,
? /?/,palato-alvealar,affricate,voiceless,aspirated,
strong,long,
? /?/,palato-alveolar,affricate,voiced,unaspirated,
weak,short,
Practice,
/?/,ch,tch,church chair match
t+ure,t+eous,nature picture
t+ion,question suggestion
/?/,g,gentle age giant ; j,just joke
dg(e),ridge edge judge
? /tr/,post-alveolar affricate,voiceless,
aspirated,strong,long,
? /dr/,post-alveolar affricate,voiced,
unaspirated,weak,short,
Practice,
treat drain true drug
trace draw train drop
? /ts/,alveolar affricate,voiceless,aspirated,
strong,long,
? /dz/,alveolar affricate,voiced,unaspirated,
weak,short,
Practice,
/ts/,-ts,-tes,lets fists bites
/dz/,-ds,-des,beds spends divides
Manner of Articulation,
4)Nasals
? There are three nasal consonants in English,
/m/,/n/,/ ?/,
In articulating all nasal consonants the
soft palate is lowered and at the same
time the mouth passage is blocked at
some point so that all the air is pushed
out of the nose,
/m/ the mouth passage is completely blocked by
closing the lips and the air passes through the nose,
/n/ the mouth passage is completely blocked by
pressing the tongue-tip against the teeth ridge,and
sides of the tongue against the sides of the palate,
The air passes through the nose,
/ ?/ the mouth is blocked by the back of the tongue
pressed against the soft palate,The soft palate is
lowered and all the air passes through the nose,
Example and practice,
? /m/, voiced bilabial nasal
? /n/, voiced alveolar nasal
? / ?/, voiced velar nasal
Practice,
/m/,m/mm,meat summer
-mb,lamb thumb
-mn,autumn solemn
/n/,n/nn,night sunny funny
kn-,know knife kneel
gn,sign design
/ ?/, -ng,sing spring ; n-,sink anger uncle
Manner of Articulation,
5) Lateral
? There is only one lateral in English,
/l/,the tongue-tip slightly touches the
teeth ridge while the sides of the tongue
are lowered to form a rather wide passage,
The air passes at the sides of the tongue
without friction,
☆ English people use two different /l/
sounds,the clear /l/ and dark /l/,
Example and practice,
? /l/ is a voiced alveolar lateral consonant,
Practice,
leave fill late field
millon belt telling hold
Note,the letter l is silent in a number of words,
e.g,talk walk half should folk
Manner of Articulation,
6)Frictionless continuant
? There is one frictionless continuant,
/r/
When /r/ is articulated the tip of the
tongue is held near to the back part of
the teeth ridge,but not touching it; the
back rims of the tongue are touching the
upper molar; the central part of the
tongue is lowered,so that the tongue has
a curved shape,
Example and practice,
? /r/ is a voiced post-alveolar friction
less continuant,（无摩擦延续音）
practice,
/r/,r,red bread very
rh,rhyme rhythm
wr,write wrong
Manner of Articulation,
7)Semi-vowels
? There are two semi-vowels in English,
/j/,/w/
They are quick,smooth,non-friction glide
towards a following vowel sound,
/j/ is a quick glide from the position of
the vowel /i:/ or /i/ to any other vowel,
/w/ is a quick glide from the vowel /u:/ or
/u/ to the following vowel sound,
Example and practice,
? /j/ is a voiced unrounded palatal semi-vowel,It is very
short and weak,
? /w/ is a voiced,rounded,labio-velar semi-vowel,It is
short and weak,
Practice,
/j/, y,yes yield ; i,e,opinion hideous
Note,/ju/ is frequently spelt with u,ue,ui,ew,eu and eau,
e.g,unit due suit few beauty
/w/, w,week swim; wh,when which
qu,quick quality; -gu-, language,distinguish
Note,the letter w is silent in the group wr,
e.g., write two answer sword
How to recite Phonetic
transcription,
? 巧记 48个国际音标
单元音共十二，四二六前中后。
双元音也好背，合口集中八个整。
辅音共计二十八，八对一清又七浊,
四个连对也包括。有气无声清辅音,
有声无气浊辅音，发音特点应掌握。
主讲：梁慧
The importance of phonetic study
1) Phonetics is the science of speech sounds,It deals with the sound
system of a language,A language consists of three important
elements,namely,speech sounds,vocabulary and grammar,Speech
sound is the material form on which word and grammar rely for
existence,Divorced from speech sound,word and grammar are non-
existent,So the first step in studying any spoken language is to
determine the phonemes,(Basic sounds)
2) As a means of communication by word of mouth,language is used in
oral speech and in reading aloud,Therefore,in order to make oneself
easily understood while expressing one’s own or other people’s
thoughts in any language,one must be able to pronounce sentences
in that language quite correctly,One must have good pronunciation in
order to be able to understand other people easily when they speak or
read aloud,This is proved by the well-known fact that the better we
pronounce a foreign language,the easier we understand it when we
hear it,
Conceptions of phonetic
AHD,The American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language
KK:A Pronouncing Dictionary of American,1956
----John Samuel Kenyon & John Albert Knott
DJ,English Pronouncing Dictionary,1963
----Daniel Jones
RP,English Pronouncing Dictionary--,Received
Pronunciation”
IPA,International Phonetic Alphabet,1888
----International Phonetic Association
To have a good pronunciation means,
1.To pronounce correctly all the speech
sounds of the language and all the
combinations in their proper order not only
in isolated words,but also in sentences
2,To pronounce sentences fluently at the
sped required by the situation,with correct
stresses,linking of sounds,rhythm,pauses
and intonation,
The organs of speech
Nasal cavity ------鼻腔
Mouth cavity------口腔
Tongue------舌
Lips------唇
Teeth------齿
The teeth ridge-------齿龈
The hard palate ------硬腭
The soft palate ------软腭
uvula ------小舌
Pharynx ------咽头
Larynx------ 喉头
The vocal cords------ 声带
Windpipe ------气管
The classification of
Speech sounds
The organs of speech are capable of
making many different kinds of speech
sounds,From the practical standpoint,
speech sounds are generally divided into
Vowels and Consonants,
☆ Vowels are sounds produced without
obstruction of the air stream in the mouth,In
producing them there is vibration of the vocal
cords,so all vowels are voiced,
In English there are twenty vowels in all,
☆ Consonants are sounds produced by some
form of obstruction of the air passage and be
either voiced or voiceless,
There are twenty-eight consonants in English,
The English Phonetic
/i:/,/i/,/e/,/?/ /a:/,/?:/,/?/,/u:/,/u/,
/?/,/?:/,
/?/ /ei/,/ai/,/?i/,/?u/,/au/,/i?/,/??/,
/u?/ /p/,/b/,/t/,/d/,/k/,/g/
/f/,/v/,/Θ/,/e/,/s/,/z/,/?/,/?/,/h/
/?/,/?/,/tr/,/dr/,/ts/,/dz/,/m/,/n/,/ ?/
/r /,/j/,/w/
Vowels
General Remarks on the Vowels
The English vowels are divided into two
large groups,
? Monophthongs (pure vowels)
? Diphthongs
Monophthongs,
There are twelve monophthongs, They may be
classified according to the following principles,
1)The height of the raised part of the tongue,we distinguish open
vowels,half-open vowels,half-close vowels and close vowels,
2)The part of the tongue raised, we distinguish front,back and central
vowels,
3)The length of the vowel,we distinguish long vowels and short ones,
4)The position (or shape) of the lips,we distinguish rounded vowels and
unrounded ones,
5)The degree of tenseness,we distinguish tense vowels and lax vowels,
The Front Vowels
? There are four front vowels in English,
/i:/,/i/,/e/,/?/,
/i:/ is a long,close front vowel,It is unrounded
and tense,
/i/ is a short,half-close front vowel,It is
unrounded and lax,
/e/ is a short,half-open,unrounded front vowel,
It is a lax,
/?/ is a short,open,unrounded front vowel,It is
a lax,
Example and practice
/i:/ e,me evening ; ee,see week
ea,sea leave; i,machine police
/i/ i,ship pig; y,happy daddy
ui,build guilty; ie,field shield
/e/ e,twelve second; a,any many
ea,heavy breakfast ie,friend
/?/ a,land matter family
The Back Vowels
? There are five back vowels in English,
/a:/,/?:/,/?/,/u:/,/u/,
/a:/ is a long,open,unrounded back vowel,
/?:/ is a long,half-open,rounded back vowel,It
is slightly tense,
/?/ is a short,open,rounded,lax back vowel,
/u:/ is a long,close,rounded,tense back vowel,
/u/ is a short,half-close,rounded,lax back vowel,
Example and practice
/a:/ ar,hard farmer ; a,class glass
al,half calf
/?:/ or,short corn ; ore,more before
oor,door floor
/?/ our,four pour ; a,wash what o,stop hot
au,autumn daughter; al,call walk
/u:/ u,blue ruler ; oo,moon food
/u/ u,put ; oo,foot good ; oul,could would
The central Vowels
? There three central vowels in English,
/?/,/?:/,/?/,
/?/ is a short,half-open,unrounded central
vowel,It is a lax one,
/?:/ is a long,half-close and half-open,
unrounded,tense central vowel,
/?/ is a short,half-open,unrounded,lax central
vowel,It only occurs in unstressed syllables,
Example and practice
/?/ u,sun hungry ; o,son another
ou,enough couple double young
/?:/ er,term certainly ; ir,first third
ur,turn Thursday ; or,work word
ear,learn early
/?/ a,away woman ; e,student broken
er, over matter
Diphthongs
There are eight diphthongs,They are
divided into three groups,
three with a glide towards /i/
two with a glide towards /u/
three with a glide towards /?/
The closing Diphthongs
? There are five closing diphthongs in English,
/ei/,/ai/,/?i/,/?u/,/au/
/ei/ begins with /e/ and glides smoothly to /i/
/ai/ glides from /a/ to /i/, It is smooth and
loudness becomes less as it progresses,
/?i/ glides from a position between /?/ and /?:/
to /i/,
/?u/ starts with /?:/ and then glides away to /u/
with the lips getting slightly rounded,
/au/ starts with /a/ and then glides away to /u/
with the lips getting slightly rounded,
Example and practice
/ei/ a,take gate; ay,stay say ; ea,great
/ai/ i,side nice; ie,tie die ; y,by shy
/?i/ oi,toilet boil noise ; oy, boy toy
/?u/ o,not most ; oa,boat coat
ow,blow know
/au/ ou,house mouse ; ow,now brown
The Centring Dighthongs
? There are three centring diphthongs,
/i?/,/??/,/u?/
/i?/ glides from /i/ to /?/,The lips are
spread throughout,
/??/ glides from a point between /e/ and
/?/, The lips are spread,
/u?/ starts from /u/ and glides to /?/,
/i?/ ea,idea real ; ear, dear near
ere, here ; e, hero zero
/??/ air,chair hair ; are,careful dare
ear, pear wear ; ere,there where
/u?/ ure,sure ; ua, usually
Example and practice
Consonants
Classification of Consonants
? Consonants may be classified
according to following rules,
1) The work of the vocal cords
2) Place of articulation
3) Manner of articulation
Work of the Vocal Cords
? Voiced consonants,they are produced
with the vibration of the vocal cords,
? Voiceless consonants,they are produced
without the vibration of the vocal cords,
Place of Articulation
? 1) bi-labial （双唇音）
? 2) labio-dental （唇齿音）
? 3) dental （齿音）
? 4) alveolar （齿龈音）
? 5) post-alveolar （后齿龈音）
? 6) palato-alveolar （硬腭齿龈音）
? 7) palatal （硬腭音）
? 8) velar （软腭音）
? 9) glottal （喉音）
Manner of Articulation
? 1) plosives （ 爆破音）
? 2) fricatives （摩擦音）
? 3) affricates （破擦音）
? 4) nasals （鼻音）
? 5) lateral （边音） （舌侧音）
? 6) frictionless continuant （无摩擦延续音）
? 7) semi-vowels （ 半元音）
Manner of Articulation,
1) Plosives
? There are three pairs of plosives,
1) bilabial----/p/,/b/
2) Alveolar----/t/,/d/
3) Velar----/k/,/g/
The sound/b,d,g/are voiced plosives,
They are unaspirated and weak
The sound/p,t,k/ are voiceless ;polsives,
They are usually aspirated and strong,
Example and practice,
? /p/ is voiceless,bilabial,plosive,
aspirated strong,
? /b/ is voiced,bilabial,plosive,
unaspirated,weak,
Practice,
pat bat paper labor
map bobby robber
? /t/, voiceless,alveolar,plosive,aspirated,
strong,
? /d/, voiced,alveolar,plosive,unaspirated,
weak,
Practice,
ten dad tight tide
writer rider wetting wedding
? /k/, voiceless,velar,plosive,aspirated,
strong,
? /g/, voiced,velar,plosive,unaspirated,
weak,
Practice,
could good cot got
week leek ankle angle
Manner of Articulation,
2)Fricatives
? There are nine consonants of fricatives,
/f/,/v/,/Θ/,/e/,/s/,/z/,/?/,/?/,/h/
They have the common feature,
For all of them the lungs push air through
a narrow passage where it causes friction of
various kinds,
Example and practice,
? /f/,voiceless,labio-dental,fricative,
usually aspirated,strong,long,
? /v/,voiced,labio-dental,fricative,usually
unaspirated,weak,short,
Practice,
a half sniff a brief love
a stiff glove a safe move
a brave bluff a grave grief
? /Θ/, voiceless,dental,fricative,
aspirated strong,long,
? /e/, voiced,dental,fricative,
unaspirated,weak,short,
Practice,
think this thief these
thing within something other
? /s/, voiceless,alveolar,fricative,aspirated,
strong,long,
? /z/, voiced,alveolar,fricative,unaspirated,
weak,short,
Practice,
place plays coarse cause
bus buzz race raise
false falls niece knees
? /?/, voiceless,palato-alveolar,
fricative,aspirated,strong,long,
? /?/, voiced,palato-alveolar,
fricative,unaspirated,weak,short,
? /h/, voiceless,glottal,fricative
Practice,
/?/ sh,ship wash; ss/s,sure sugar
-tia-,-tie-,-tio-,partial initial nation
-cia-,-cie-,-cio-,social conscious
-sion, pension discussion omission
/?/ -sure,-zure,leisure treasure
-sion,decision confusion
-ge,garage
/h/ h,heat hot ; wh-,who whole
Manner of Articulation,
3)Affricates
? There are three pairs of affricates in English,
1) /?/,/?/,the air passage is completely
blocked by raising the soft palate and raising
the tip of the tongue to touch the back part of
the teeth ridge
2) /tr/,/dr/,are articulated by raising the tongue
tip to touch the back part of the teeth ridge,
3) /ts/,/dz/,are articulated with the tongue tip
raised to touch the back part of the teeth
ridge,
Example and practice,
? /?/,palato-alvealar,affricate,voiceless,aspirated,
strong,long,
? /?/,palato-alveolar,affricate,voiced,unaspirated,
weak,short,
Practice,
/?/,ch,tch,church chair match
t+ure,t+eous,nature picture
t+ion,question suggestion
/?/,g,gentle age giant ; j,just joke
dg(e),ridge edge judge
? /tr/,post-alveolar affricate,voiceless,
aspirated,strong,long,
? /dr/,post-alveolar affricate,voiced,
unaspirated,weak,short,
Practice,
treat drain true drug
trace draw train drop
? /ts/,alveolar affricate,voiceless,aspirated,
strong,long,
? /dz/,alveolar affricate,voiced,unaspirated,
weak,short,
Practice,
/ts/,-ts,-tes,lets fists bites
/dz/,-ds,-des,beds spends divides
Manner of Articulation,
4)Nasals
? There are three nasal consonants in English,
/m/,/n/,/ ?/,
In articulating all nasal consonants the
soft palate is lowered and at the same
time the mouth passage is blocked at
some point so that all the air is pushed
out of the nose,
/m/ the mouth passage is completely blocked by
closing the lips and the air passes through the nose,
/n/ the mouth passage is completely blocked by
pressing the tongue-tip against the teeth ridge,and
sides of the tongue against the sides of the palate,
The air passes through the nose,
/ ?/ the mouth is blocked by the back of the tongue
pressed against the soft palate,The soft palate is
lowered and all the air passes through the nose,
Example and practice,
? /m/, voiced bilabial nasal
? /n/, voiced alveolar nasal
? / ?/, voiced velar nasal
Practice,
/m/,m/mm,meat summer
-mb,lamb thumb
-mn,autumn solemn
/n/,n/nn,night sunny funny
kn-,know knife kneel
gn,sign design
/ ?/, -ng,sing spring ; n-,sink anger uncle
Manner of Articulation,
5) Lateral
? There is only one lateral in English,
/l/,the tongue-tip slightly touches the
teeth ridge while the sides of the tongue
are lowered to form a rather wide passage,
The air passes at the sides of the tongue
without friction,
☆ English people use two different /l/
sounds,the clear /l/ and dark /l/,
Example and practice,
? /l/ is a voiced alveolar lateral consonant,
Practice,
leave fill late field
millon belt telling hold
Note,the letter l is silent in a number of words,
e.g,talk walk half should folk
Manner of Articulation,
6)Frictionless continuant
? There is one frictionless continuant,
/r/
When /r/ is articulated the tip of the
tongue is held near to the back part of
the teeth ridge,but not touching it; the
back rims of the tongue are touching the
upper molar; the central part of the
tongue is lowered,so that the tongue has
a curved shape,
Example and practice,
? /r/ is a voiced post-alveolar friction
less continuant,（无摩擦延续音）
practice,
/r/,r,red bread very
rh,rhyme rhythm
wr,write wrong
Manner of Articulation,
7)Semi-vowels
? There are two semi-vowels in English,
/j/,/w/
They are quick,smooth,non-friction glide
towards a following vowel sound,
/j/ is a quick glide from the position of
the vowel /i:/ or /i/ to any other vowel,
/w/ is a quick glide from the vowel /u:/ or
/u/ to the following vowel sound,
Example and practice,
? /j/ is a voiced unrounded palatal semi-vowel,It is very
short and weak,
? /w/ is a voiced,rounded,labio-velar semi-vowel,It is
short and weak,
Practice,
/j/, y,yes yield ; i,e,opinion hideous
Note,/ju/ is frequently spelt with u,ue,ui,ew,eu and eau,
e.g,unit due suit few beauty
/w/, w,week swim; wh,when which
qu,quick quality; -gu-, language,distinguish
Note,the letter w is silent in the group wr,
e.g., write two answer sword
How to recite Phonetic
transcription,
? 巧记 48个国际音标
单元音共十二，四二六前中后。
双元音也好背，合口集中八个整。
辅音共计二十八，八对一清又七浊,
四个连对也包括。有气无声清辅音,
有声无气浊辅音，发音特点应掌握。
