English speech is proclaimed interethnic. With its help, citizens living in all parts of the globe communicate. The vowel letters of the English alphabet are a significant phonetic branch that helps to gain skills in the formation of speech units. The alphabet contains 26 characters, 6 of which are vowels.
They are easily distinguished among consonants. First, vowels are components of the alphabet that are drawn and sung. They are pronounced smoothly, unhindered.
Formation of foreign speech units
Despite the fact that vowel components are a minority in the English alphabet, they give rise to more than two dozen sound variations. The sound that a symbol produces when read is determined by its position in the word. The sound can vary depending on the combination of symbols that include a vowel. The reading is influenced by the type of syllable in which the vowel is placed - open or closed. In Russian speech, each element makes one sound. In a foreign alphabet, components give rise to double sound. To read them rationally and accurately, it is necessary to resort to transcription.
The vowel symbols of the English alphabet are: a, e, i, o, u. The symbol y refers to both categories.
Transcription of vowels in the English alphabet
Symbols are reproduced differently, based on the type of syllable in which combinations of elements are placed. To determine how one reads, focus on the transcription. This is a rational sound enclosed in square brackets.
| Symbol | Pronunciation | Russian version |
| a | Hey | |
| e | viscous and | |
| i | ah | |
| o | OU | |
| u | viscous yu | |
| y | ah |
Criteria for the sound of vowels of the English alphabet
In English, reading principles differ from Russian-language principles.
Principles
- The impact on the sound is expressed by the symbol “r” and the variation of part of the words.
In the open parts, the vowels of the English alphabet combined with “r” create an indifferent pronunciation. In closed parts they are pronounced at length.
- If the part in which the vowel is located comes under pressure, it becomes very short and may not sound at all.
- If the part is not stressed, then the length is shortened when spoken.
English vowels in open syllables
- Foreign language “a” is available in the form of an independent speech unit - the article.
In this case, the symbol is located in the open part, chanted [hey].
- The characters located in the open parts are pronounced as indicated in brackets.
The consonant symbols of the English alphabet and their combinations can radically change the reading of vowels.
Vowels in closed parts
A syllable ending with a consonant element is considered closed. The vowel particle of the alphabet, which is located under pressure, is followed by one or two consonant symbols. In closed parts, vowels are pronounced abruptly.
Inherent features of reading vowels in foreign speech
There are fewer vowels in the English alphabet. The reading option is formed by some indicators.
- The location of the "r" symbol in a word.
If it is in the open part, then it is not pronounced, or a connection occurs with adjacent consonants. The result is a pronunciation that is consonant with the Russian pronunciation of “e”. If it is located in closed parts, it affects the length of vowels: it either lengthens or shortens them.
- Emphasis.
If the letters “o”, “u”, “a” fall under stress, then they do not sound when reading, or are pronounced blurry and unclear. If the letters “e”, “i”, “y” fall under stress, then they are pronounced as “i”.
- Strong and weak variations.
Shortened vowels are called weak; they do not fall under stress, but in conjunction with other symbols they give birth to new sounds. Weak variations exist in additional particles, pronouns, and articles. There are powerful variations in nouns and verbs.
Consonant components of the English alphabet
The consonants of the English alphabet are divided into two categories: voiced and voiceless. Voiced sounds are pronounced in speech units, both as self-sufficient sounds and in combinations with some other symbols. For example, when (when), wh combination. The voiced category includes: sz, b, d, j, l, m, n, ng, r, th.
The following are considered deaf: ch, f, k, p, s, sh, t, th.
Interesting facts about English characters
- The alphabet element x generates two sounds – [x], [s].
- The English alphabet is 7 characters smaller than the Russian one.
- The most frequently used elements in foreign words are e and t. The least commonly used element of the alphabet is q.
- The dot i is called tittle, which means “miniature drop”.
- The English alphabet element "y" can be both a vowel and a consonant.
The vowels and consonants of the English alphabet have distinctive features. In order to rationally pronounce foreign words, it is necessary to consider phonetic requirements and transcription. She demonstrates how vowels are pronounced in syllables and symbol clusters.
The sounds that represent are 44 English phonemes, which are divided into two categories: consonants and vowels. Since sounds cannot be written down, graphemes (letters or combinations of letters) are used to convey sounds in writing.
English alphabet
There are 26 letters in the English language. The standard one starts with the letter a and ends with the letter z.
When classifying alphabetic characters, the following are distinguished:
- 5 pure vowels: a, e, i, o, u;
- 19 pure consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z;
- 2 semivowels: y, w.
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- Download the dictionary in PDF and MP3 formats, educational tables and audio recordings of all phrases
Features of English consonants
A consonant combination is a set of two or three consonant letters that, when pronounced, retain the original sound. Such sets occur either at the beginning or at the end of a word. For example, the word brave, in which both “b” and “r” are pronounced, is the initial combination. In the word bank “-nk” is the final combination.
Classification:
- The starting combinations are classified into sets with "l", "r", and "s". In "l" the combination ends with "l". An example would be the letters “bl” in the word blind. In the same way, the final sound in “r” is combined with “r” when “br” and “cr”, for example, in the words bridge, crane. On the contrary, in “s” it begins with s, “st” and “sn” - stap, snail.
- The final combinations are grouped into sets with "s", "l" and "n": -st, -sk, -ld, -nd, -nk. Examples: first, desk, gold, sand, sink.
Digraphs
Consonant digraphs refer to a set of consonants that form a single sound. Some digraphs appear both at the beginning and at the end of a word - “sh”, “ch” and “th”. There are also strict initial and final digraphs – “kn-” and “-ck”.
Examples of digraphs:
| Ch- | -ch |
| Kn- | —ck |
| Ph- | -sh |
| Sh- | -ss |
| Th- | -th |
| Wh- | -tch |
| Wr- |
Features of digraphs:
Table of pronunciation of English consonants
| b | b | bag, band, cab | bag, band, cab |
| d | d | dad, did, lady, odd [ɒd] | grandfather, did, lady, od |
| f | f, ph, sometimes gh | fable , fact , if [ɪf], off [ɒf], photo , glyph | fable, fact, if, of, foutou, glyph |
| g | give, flag | giv, flag | |
| h | hold, ham | hold, ham | |
| j | usually represented by y, but sometimes by other vowels | yellow,yes,young,neuron,cube | yelow, ees, iyang, n(b)yueron, k(b)yu:b - the sound j is similar to the vowel sound i:. |
| k | k, c, q, que, ck, sometimes ch | cat, kill, queen, skin, thick [θɪk], chaos | kat, kil, qui:n, sik, keyos |
| l | l | lane, clip, bell, milk, sould | lane, clip, white, milk, sould – has two sound options: clear /l/ before a vowel, “darkened” /ɫ/ before a consonant or at the end of a word |
| m | m | man, them [ðem], moon | men, zem, mu:n |
| n | n | nest, sun | nest, san |
| ŋ | ng | ring, sing, finger [ŋ] is sometimes followed by the sound [g]. [ŋ] if "ng" is at the end of a word or a related word (sing, singer, thing), in "-ing", which translates verbs into participles or gerunds. [ŋg], if “ng” is not at the end of a word or in related words, also in comparative degrees (longer, longest). |
/ring/, /sing/, /finge/ |
| p | p | pen, spin, tip, happy | pen, spin, type, happy |
| r | r | rat, reply, rainbow, | rat, ripple, rainbow - movement of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, but without touching it |
| s | s, sometimes c | see, city, pass, lesson | si:, pa:s, lesn |
| ʃ | sh, si, ti, sometimes s | she [ʃi:], crash, sheep [ʃi:p], sure [ʃʊə], session, emotion [ɪməʊʃn], leash | shi:, crash, shi:p, shue, session, imeshn, li:sh |
| t | t | taste, sting | taste, sting |
| tʃ | ch, sometimes t | chair [ʧɛə], nature teach beach | t ch e, ne t ch, ti: t ch, bi: t ch |
| θ | th | thing [θɪŋ], teeth, Athens [æθɪnz[ | t sing, ti: t s, et sins - voiceless fricative |
| ð | th | this [ðɪs], mother | d zis, ma d ze – voiced fricative |
| v | v, sometimes f | voice, five, of [ɔv] | voice, five, ov |
| w | w, sometimes u | wet, window, queen | u in et, u in indeu, ku in i:n – [w] similar to |
| z | z | zoo, lazy | zu:, lazy |
| ʒ | g, si, z, sometimes s | genre [ʒɑːŋr], pleasure, beige, seizure, vision | genre e, plezhe, beige, si:zhe, vision |
| dʒ | j, sometimes g, dg, d | gin [ʤɪn], joy [ʤɔɪ], edge | gin, joy, edge |
English vowels
Each English vowel is pronounced in three ways:
- like a long sound;
- like a short sound;
- as a neutral vowel sound (schwa).
There are 5 vowels in the English alphabet, but sometimes y becomes a vowel and is pronounced like i, and w replaces u, for example in the digraph ow.
Rules for reading vowels
Short vowels, which are characterized by a "short" sound, occur when a word contains one vowel, either at the beginning of a word or between two consonants. For example, if, elk, hop, fan. The typical short vowel pattern is consonant+vowel+consonant (CGS).
Words are taught as families, which represent groups of words with a common pattern, such as the pattern “-ag” – bag, wag, tag or “-at” – cat, bat, hat.
vowels:
| Sound | Letter | Examples |
| [æ] | a | rag, sag, ram, jam, gap, sap mat |
| [ɛ] | e | hen, pen, wet, bet, let |
| [ɪ] | i | pig, wig, dig, pin, win, tin, tin, bit |
| [ɒ] | o | hop, pop, top, hot, pot, lot |
| [ʌ] | u | bug, lug, tug, hut, but, cut |
vowels:
| Sound | Writing | Examples |
| A | ai, ay, a+consonant+e | name, mail, gray, ace |
| E | e, ee, ea, y, ie ,ei, i+consonant+e | he, deep, beast, dandy, thief, receive, elite |
| I | i, i+gn, igh, y, i+ld, i+nd | mine, sign, high, sky, wild, kind |
| O | o+consonant +e, oa, ow, o+ll, ld | tone, road, note, know, roll, bold |
| U | ew, ue, u+consonant+e | few, due, tune |
The vowel sound in unstressed syllables is expressed with a shortened neutral sound ("schwa"), the phonemic symbol /ə/, especially if no syllabic consonants are used.
For example:
- a in about, around, approve, above [ə bʌv];
- e in accident, mother, taken, camera;
- i in, family, lentil, officer pencil;
- o in memory, common, freedom, purpose, London;
- u in supply, industry, suggest, difficult, succeed, minimum;
- and even y in sibyl;
- schwa appears in function words: to, from, are.
Features of vowel sounds in English
Vowels are classified as monophthongs, diphthongs or triphthongs. A monophthong is when there is one vowel sound in a syllable, a diphthong is when there are two vowel sounds in a syllable.
Let's take a closer look:
- Monophthongs – pure and stable vowels, the acoustic characteristics (timbre) of which do not change during the time they are pronounced.
- - a sound formed by a combination of two adjacent vowels in one syllable. Technically, the tongue (or other parts of the vocal apparatus) moves when pronouncing a vowel sound - the first position is stronger than the second. In diphthong transcription, the first character represents the starting point of the body of the tongue, the second character represents the direction of movement. For example, you should be aware that in the letter combination /aj/, the body of the tongue is in the lower central position represented by the symbol /a/, and immediately begins to move up and forward to the position for /i/.
- Diphthongs are often formed when individual vowels work together in fast conversation. Usually (in the speaker’s speech) the body of the tongue does not have time to reach the /i/ position. Therefore, the diphthong often ends closer to /ɪ/ or even to /e/. In the diphthong /aw/, the body of the tongue moves from the low central position of /a/, then moves up and back to the position of /u/. Although there are also single diphthongs, which are heard as separate vowel sounds (phonemes).
- There are also triphthongs in English.(combinations of three adjacent vowels), including three sound types, for example, fire /fʌɪə/, flower /flaʊər/. But in any case, all diphthongs and triphthongs are formed from monophthongs.
Pronunciation table for simple English vowel sounds
All vowel sounds are formed from only 12 monophthongs. Each, regardless of spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these sounds.
The table shows examples of simple English vowels with pronunciation in Russian:
| [ɪ] | pit, kiss, busy | pete, kitty, bisi |
| [e] | egg, let, red | eg, years, ed |
| [æ] | apple, travel, mad | apple, travel, med |
| [ɒ] | not, rock, copy | note, rock, mine |
| [ʌ] | cup, son, money | cap, san, mani |
| [ʊ] | look, foot, could | bow, foot, cool |
| [ə] | ago, away | hey, hey |
| be, meet, read | bi:, mi:t, ri:d | |
| [ɑ:] | arm, car, father | a:m, ka:, fa:d ze |
| [ɔ:] | door, saw, pause | to:, from:, to:z |
| [ɜ:] | turn, girl, learn | te:n, gyo:l, le:n |
| blue, food, too | blue:, fu:d, tu: |
Diphthong pronunciation table
| day, pain, rein | dei, pein, rein | |
| cow, know | kou, know | |
| wise, island | Visa, Island | |
| now, trout | naw, trout | |
| [ɔɪ] | noise, coin | noiz, coin |
| [ɪə] | near, hear | nee, hie |
| [ɛə] | where, air | uh, uh, uh |
| [ʊə] | pure, tourist | p(b)yue, tu e rist |
Learning transcription of English words
Let's look at some features of English transcription:
There are a large number of videos online to listen to, and you can also practice using exercises.
The phonetic system of many European languages is generally the same and has a certain structure.
Of course, intonation plays a big role in the pronunciation of vowels in English words. There are certain rules for leading it up and down, as well as for individual turns, for example, there is and there are.
However, the phonology of the English language has an orderly presentation of English letters and their corresponding phonemes in the proper way.
Let's try to process and structure the existing extensive material for compact and easy assimilation, applying the principle of comparative studies - comparison with the phonetics of the Russian language where possible.
There are 6 vowels in English:
If you look closely at the capital and uppercase versions of the same word, you will notice that vowels such as O and U have identical spellings.
Transcription of vowels in English
Absolutely everyone who has encountered the study of English phonetics experiences difficulties in correctly understanding the transcription of vowel sounds.
The fact is that in the transcriptional embodiment the pronunciation of English vowels is not similar to, for example, identical Russian vowels. This circumstance is explained primarily by the different history of origin.
Thus, the system of English vowel phonemes goes back to diphthong combinations of sounds.
Graphically, a transcribed sound is indicated by enclosing it in either square brackets () or slashes (/ /)
Let's look at the transcription of English letters:
| Letter | Designated sound |
| — A a | |
| — E e | * |
| —I i | |
| — O o | |
| — U u | |
| — Y y |
The sign “:” after a vowel sound denotes the so-called longitude. This means that the sound must be pronounced in a somewhat drawn-out manner.
Read also
Rules for reading vowels in English
However, the table above does not yet indicate that all sounds represented by the five English letters are transcribed in the same way.
As you know, there are only six vowel letters, but there are much more sounds that can graphically represent these letters - about 24.
No homework. No cramming. No textbooks
From the course “ENGLISH BEFORE AUTOMATION” you:
- Learn to write competent sentences in English without memorizing grammar
- Learn the secret of a progressive approach, thanks to which you can reduce English learning from 3 years to 15 weeks
- You will check your answers instantly+ get a thorough analysis of each task
- Download the dictionary in PDF and MP3 formats, educational tables and audio recordings of all phrases
Long vowels in English, examples
There are much more long vowel sounds in the language. For the most part, they are pronounced in monophthongs - the articulation does not change throughout the entire duration of the sound.
As already mentioned, in transcription such vowels are indicated by the sign “:”.
For example:
- Good
- Arduous
It is believed that reading in English is a rather complex skill for the simple reason that the English language does not have a rigid system of reading rules and letters, in particular vowels, can be read differently depending on their position in a word or in a syllable.
In this publication I will cover the rules for reading vowels in English with examples.
English vowels and reading features
There are a total of 6 vowel letters in the English alphabet. But the sounds they convey are many times greater - there are 20 of them in total (including long vowels).
Vowels:
- A – hey
- E – and
- I – ah
- O – oh
- U – yu
- Y – y
The English language is characterized by the presence of diphthongs.
Diphthongs- these are sounds, when pronounced, one vowel sound transforms into another, that is, they are essentially pronounced as two sounds.
For example, word in word home vowel o reads as " OU", that is, it essentially forms two sounds [əʊ]. The same thing with the word house, where the letter combination « ou" reads like "ay" and gives double sound.
Don't confuse diphthongs with two-letter combinations. For example, in the word head two vowels stand in a row, but the letter combination « ea" reads like "uh" that is, we get a single sound [e].
Thus, vowels in English can be read both as in the alphabet and convey a whole range of other sounds.
Rules for reading English vowels and vowel combinations
For convenience, I will provide tables for each letter with examples, descriptions and reading in Russian. In Russian, of course, it is impossible to convey the exact reading of this or that sound, but I will write approximately.
For correct reading, it is important to know such concepts as closed and open syllables.
Closed syllable in English it is a syllable that ends with a consonant letter. For example, ma p,pe n, ba g, bea d and so on.
Open syllable- a syllable that ends in a vowel letter. For example, so e,pa y, bik e and so on.
Please note that the syllable must end with a vowel or consonant, and not a sound. That is, if in English at the end of a word there is e silent, then the syllable is considered open.
Letter A
Letter E
| Sound in transcription and reading it in Russian | Examples |
| In a closed syllable - [ e] - uh | Red, vet, set, tell |
| In an open syllable - - And long | Meter, complete |
| At the end of words e not readable in English, but affects word reading | Table, plate, take For example, the words cap and cape - in the first case we read “cap”, since the syllable is closed, in the second case “cape”, since the syllable is open |
| In short monosyllabic words, these are mainly functional parts of speech, e at the end of a word is read if it is the only vowel in the word and gives that is And long | He, she, we, me, be |
| In an open syllable followed by r – diphthong – ia | Here, sphere, sev er e |
Letter I
Letter O
Letter U
Letter Y
These are the basic rules for reading vowels in English. But do not forget that there are a large number of exceptions to each of these rules.
In subsequent publications I will cover the rules for reading consonants and letter combinations of vowels and consonants.
