In the previous chapter, we saw one letter and its pronunciations. In that chapter, we found that some consonant letters are pronounced or silent. Some letters have multiple pronunciations. This is very true of all the vowels, but also for some consonants (such as ‘c’ and ‘g’ which have multiple pronunciations).
We have already seen in the preface that English has 26 letters and 44 significant sounds which in technical language are called phonemes and the system itself is called phonology. Each language has its own phonological system. In this chapter we will see the phonological system of English and all the phonemes, as well as their role in English phonology.
The English language has 12 vowels, 8 diphthongs, and 24 consonants.
Vowels
The vowels are those significant sound (vowel phonemes) where outgoing air goes out easily. It is not stopped at any point nor do any organs restrict the outward flow of air. Vowels can be oral or nasal, but English only has oral vowels. All the vowels are voiced, which means the vocal cords are close by and outgoing air makes them vibrate to create the sound. Vowels can occur independently without any consonant.
The vowels in English are divided into three parameters:
- Place in the mouth
- Tongue height
- Position of the jaw
Front Central Back
High i: u:
High Mid I ǝ u
Mid e ǝ: ᴧ ᴐ
Low ꬱ a ᴐ:
While pronouncing the front vowels, the lips are spread, when pronouncing the central vowels, the lips are in neutral position, and while pronouncing the back vowels, the lips are rounded. Only when /ᴧ/ is pronounced, though it is a back vowel, are the lips in neutral position and not rounded.
Front Vowels: They are called front vowels because they are spoken with the tip or front of the tongue. The jaw slowly opens to give a different height to the tongue like
/I:/ in be, beat, complete, conceive, , key, mean, teen, theme, seat.
/I/ in bit, begin, city, fix, logic, hit, photography, tin, sit.
/e/ in bet, clever, head, health, let, pen, said, set, spelling, threat, test.
/ꬱ/ in at, and bat, clap, dam, fact, gather, has land, man, nanny, sad, sand.
In the pronunciation of these sounds, the tip or front of the tongue is involved and the jaw opens the mouth and the tongue moves downward.
Central Vowels: Vowels are pronounced with the middle of the tongue in central vowels. The middle of the tongue is raised near the middle of the palate, and that is why these vowels are called the central vowels. In such cases, the jaw is in neutral position, i.e. the jaw is neither open nor closed. Examples:
/ǝ/ in along, other, mother, burrow, sphere, favor.
/ǝ:/ in earth, err, curt, her, hurt, girl, mirth, shirt, sir, thorough.
/a/ in arm, charm farm, father, heart, master, smart.
Back Vowels: In the back vowels, the back of the tongue is raised towards the back of the palate i.e. towards the soft palate. The lips are rounded and the jaw moves from a closed to open position. Examples:
/u:/ in cool drool, fool, food, proof, ooze smooth, suit, foot, put, rule.
/u/ in foot, put, should, woman.
/ᴐ/ in audible, autumn, cot, fall, flaw, got, ought, rot, yacht.
/ᴐ:/ in applaud, broad, cork, caught, sauce, ward.
There is one more back vowel which is not rounded and has the symbol as /ᴧ/, as in
bus, but, button, cut, hut, gut, such.
Diphthong
In a Diphthong two vowels come together, one of which is sonorous and can be clearly heard, it is also called a strong vowel and the other vowel is a weak vowel and cannot be clearly heard. There are two types of Diphthongs: a falling one and a rising one. When the first vowel can be clearly heard, it is called a falling diphthong. When the second vowel can be more clearly heard, it is called a rising diphthong. Examples:
Falling Diphthong:
/ei/ in day, date, tale, tail.
/ai/ in find, I, die, kite, right.
/au/ in cow, crown, brown, fowl, sound.
/ǝu/ in coal, don’t, dough, no, so.
/ᴐi/ in oil, boy, choice, coy, soy, voice.
Rising Diphthong:
/iǝ/ in cheer, near, tier, jeer.
/eǝ/ in chair, lair, bear.
/uǝ/ in poor, sure, cure.
Consonants
Consonants are those sounds in which the outgoing is either stopped in the mouth at some point or some obstacle is created in the airstream which is going out of the mouth. Consonants may be either oral or nasal, or they may be voiceless or voiced. Consonants can be classified according to their place of production or the manner in which they are produced.
Consonant Stops: When outgoing air is completely stopped at some point, we get stop consonants. They are both oral and nasal. They are as follows:
Voiceless stops bilb. alveol velar
/p/ /t/ /k/
All the voiceless stops are aspirated in beginning of the word. This peculiarity is in seen only a spoken word and not written
pot /phᴐt/ taught /thᴐt/ cot /khᴐt/
Voiced stops /b/ /d/ /g/
bought /bᴐt/, dot /dᴐt/, got /gᴐt/
Nasal voiced stops /m/ /n/ /ŋ/
ram /rꬱm/, ran /rꬱn/, rang /rꬱŋ/
Fricatives: While pronouncing fricatives, the passage in the mouth is made so narrow with the help of some vocal organs that the outgoing air has to brush through the vocal organs by creating friction in it. The outgoing air creates friction, hence these sounds are called fricatives. Fricatives are both voiceless and voiced.
vl /f/ /θ/ /s/ /ʃ/
Fought /fᴐt/, thought /θᴐt/ sought /sᴐt/, shot /ʃᴐt/
Vd /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ʒ/ /h/
Move /mu:v/, mother /mǝðǝ:/, maze /meiz/, visual /viʒual/, hymn /him/
Affricates: Affricates are made of a combination of stops and fricatives. Outgoing air is at first stopped and then slowly released to create a narrow aperture to let the air go. We find only the palatal affricates in both voiceless and voiced types.
vl /tʃ/
church /tʃu:tʃ/
Vd /dʒ/
judge /dʒǝdʒ/
Lateral: Laterals are the consonant in which outgoing air is stopped by the tip of tongue and the air is released from its sides.
vd /l/
lust /lust/
Trill: While pronouncing a trill in British English, the lips are rounded, the tip of the tongue. In US the tip of the tongue raps against the teeth ridge.
/r/ rust, /rǝst/
Semi Vowels: In this, the outgoing air stream the organs come so close together that the outgoing air has to push itself out of the mouth.
/w/ /y/ Wet /wet/ yet /yet/
Here, while speaking the /w/, the raised lips are rounded and the tip of the tongue is involved while the lips are spread and the middle of the tongue is raised. This is to make the passage very narrow at the palate, so that outgoing air can barely go out.