‫‪Introduction‬‬

‫الصوتيات فى اللغة اإلنجليزية هى أساس نطق الكلمات بطريقة صحيحة‪ ،‬ولكى ننطق بطريقة صحيحة البد من معرفة‬
‫والصوتيات فى اللغة اإلنجليزية تنقسم إلى ‪ English Phonetics basics .‬أساسيات األصوات فى اللغة اإلنجليزية‬
‫أصوات ساكنة وأصوات متحركة‪ .‬واألصوات الساكنة ال تشكل فى معظم األحيان مشكلة فى النطق كما سنرى أما األصوات‬
‫المتحركة فالبد من معرفتها جيداً والتدريب عليها حتى ننطقها بطريقة صحيحة‪ .‬ورغم أن الحروف المتحركة فى اللغة‬
‫إال أنها تشكل أساسيات النطق بطريقة صحيحة وذلك لإلختالف الدقيق‪ i,e,o,u,a   ‬اإلنجليزية هى خمسة أحرف فقط وهى‬
‫‪.‬جداً فى نطقها فضالً عن أنها تنقسم إلى عدة أفرع بناء على تركيبها معا ً أو طولها أو قصرها‬

‫وهو ما يسمى‪ native people ‬ولكل صوت رمز فى القاموس لكى ُينطق بطريقته التى ينطقها بها أهل اللغة األساسية‬
‫وسندرس فى هذا الكورس تلك الرموز والتى تشكل أساسيات علم األصوات فى اللغة اإلنجليزية لكى ‪transcription ‬‬
‫‪.‬نتعلم النطق بطريقة صحيحة‬

‫أصوات ساكنة‪ .‬واألصوات المتحركة‪ consonants ‬أصوات متحركة و‪ vowels ‬صوتيات اللغة اإلنجليزية تنقسم إذن إلى‬
‫تنقسم إلى أصوات بسيطة وأصوات مركبة كما سيأتى ذكره‪ .‬بعد الشرح المكتوب هناك فيديو مدرج فى أخر المقالة للشرح‬
‫‪ ‬السماعى وكيفية تطبيق هذه األصوات‬
Human language:

A complex system of exchanging information, for passing messages through words

Phonemes:

The smallest sound unit in a given language

Phonetics:

The study of the sounds of language

Voiced sounds:

Sounds which causes vibration in the vocal cords

Voiceless sounds:

Sounds which doesn’t cause vibration in the vocal cords

- We describe sounds according to:

1- voicing: whether the sound is voiced or voiceless
2- position: where in the mouth the sound is produced
3- manner of articulation: how the air moves in the mouth
4- oral or nasal: whether the air gets out through the mouth or the nose

Consonants
a) plosives

Consonant sounds in which the air is stopped in the mouth and then
released quickly

bilabial alveolar Velar

Definition A sound made A sound made by the tip of the A sound in which the back of
by both lips tongue touching the alveolar the tongue is raised to touch
ridge (teeth ridge) the Velum (soft palate)
Voiced /b/ /d/ /g/
voiceless /p/ /t/ /k/
 P pen, copy, happen , please, purple, help , put, pot,pan panda,
pants, penguin, peach, pencil
B back, baby, job, book, noble, web , baby, bad, ball, bank
T tea, tight, button , ten, autumn, hit,table, tail, tall, tape, taxi,
tea, teach
* the small boy looked at the coat - goat

D day, ladder, odd, dish, widow, red, dad, dance, dark, desert,
dinner
K key, clock, school , king, kitchen, kite, kid, kind,
C as in coat-call
Cc as in account- accuse- accurate
Q as in quick- question
Ch as in chorus- charcater
G get, giggle, ghost, goal, goat, game
The voiced B sound (IPA symbol: b) can be found in English words such as bring, bubble, boy,
lab, rob, and bicycle.bug

The voiceless P sound (IPA symbol: p) can be found in English words such as jump, pop,

top, puppy, purple, tip, and pray.

1) The big puppy barks.

2) The boy was happy.
3) Ride your bicycle to the top.
4) Bob should stop at the library.
5) We ate purple blueberry pie.
6) Do you have a pin 📌, sara?
7) Throw the trash into the bin

The voiceless (unvoiced) T sound (IPA symbol: t) can be found in English words such

as it, got, hat, toy, top, late, and butter.
The voiced D sound (IPA symbol: d) can be found in English words such as dad, do, did,
sad, said, and made.
1) Get it down
2) It was hot today.
3) What did she do at the top.
4) Did it stop at the bottom?
 5) Dan and Tina had a date on Tuesday.

The voiceless (unvoiced) K sound (IPA symbol: k) can be found in English words such as cat,
kid, black, box, cake, quit, and chorus

The voiced G sound (IPA symbol: g) can be found in English words such

as girl, go, egg, big, single, and dog.

1) The dog can lick the girl.

2) Kick the big green ball.
3) The big cake cooled in the kitchen.
4) The school chorus will sing for the queen in England.
5) Get a clean fork from the sink.
6) Please be quiet so I can ask you a quick question.
7) I think I like to speak the English language.
8) The kitten is in black the box.
9) Bring Kate the bigger egg.
10) He quickly corrected the group.

Let's practice
Practice the voiceless K sound

There are six spellings of the K sound: k, ck, c, ch, x, qu/que.

k spelling

- kid

- kitten

- like

- bake

- thinking

ck spelling
  back

 ducks

 sick

 truck

 black

c spelling

(If C is followed by the letters E or I, the word will usually be pronounced with an S sound: city,
face.)

 cart

 cup

 cat

 cool

 caught

x spelling

The x spelling can be pronounced in two different ways:

 K + S sound = fix, fox, next, box

 G + Z sound = example, exist

ch spelling - These words are a challenge.

(The most common pronunciation for the ch spelling is the CH sound as in China. We will study
this sound in a later lesson.)

In these words, the ch spelling is pronounced with a K sound.

 chorus

 choir
  ache

 chaos

 school

qu/que spelling - These words are more difficult.

The qu / que spelling is pronounced as a K + W sound.

8) quit

9) quiet

10) quick

11) question

12) queen

When the que spelling is at the end of the word it is pronounced as only a K sound.

6) antique

7) unique

Turning to the g sound

G spelling

 go

 good

 great

 big

 bigger

 egg

 again

ng spelling
You can learn more about the ng pronunciation in this lesson: The Nasal Sounds: M, N, and NG.

 anger

 finger

 language (note: The second g in language is a j sound)

gue spelling - These are challenging words.

When the gue spelling is at the end of the word, it is usually pronounced as a G sound only.

 league

 dialogue

Some words do not follow the rule.

 argue (g + vowel sound)

When the gue spelling is in the middle or beginning of a word, it is pronounced as a g +

vowel sound.

 guerrilla
 guest
Some Silent letters
K / knee - knight – kneel – knock - knot-
know- knife -knowledge
T/ castle
W/ write - wrong – answer- wrestle - two
L / calm - could - would- should

# Langauge tip:
Of (ov) but off (of)

 The role of a teacher

 The love of mother
 Turn the lights off, please!

The First dialogue:

Wife: Hi. Hi Sweetie. I’m home. Um, I’m home!

Husband: Oh, hi honey. Welcome home. How was you day? [ Well . . . ]
That’s good.
Wife: It was terrible. The company is going to lay off about 50 people, and I
might be one of them.

Husband: Oh, that’s nice.

Wife: That’s nice? You’re not even listening.

Husband: What?

Wife: So, what did I tell you?

Husband: Um, you said that the company . . . something about 60 employees,
um . . . and you might be one of them . . . or something like that.

Wife: No, that’s not what I said. [ Oh? ] The problem is you never listen.
Never! So look. I bought you this book. Here. Read it.

Husband: What? Now what? Big Egos, Little Ears: Getting Your Husband
Out of the Clouds. What’s this? What? And you paid $35 dollars for it?

Wife: No. YOU did. I used YOUR credit card.

Husband: Oh, whatever. Um, so, what great secrets does the book contain that
I don’t know already?

Wife: Okay. First of all . . . .

Husband: Okay. I know, I know. I know what you’re going to say.

Wife: No, you DON’T know. The first thing is not to interrupt and think you
know what I’m going to say. Hold your tongue for once and give me a chance
to share my feelings before you come up with some witty response.

Husband: Okay. I got it . . . I think.

 Wife: I hope. Number two. Show me that you’re listening. Stop checking
Facebook while I’m talking to you, turn off the TV, look me in the eyes.
Anything to show me that you’re paying attention.

Husband: Right. Uh, so what’s for dinner?

Wife: Tsk . . . see!

Husband: [ Laughing ] I’m sorry. I’m just joking.

Wife: It’s not funny. It’s not funny!! So QUIT LAUGHING!! And don’t tell
me what to do to fix my problems either. Most of the time, I don’t need
solutions. I just need you to listen to my feelings.

Husband: Okay. I guess I haven’t listened enough, [ No. You don’t listen very
much. ] and I haven’t shown much empathy [ No. ] And, well, how about if I
read a couple of chapters and then we talk about it? Is that okay?

Wife: Yeah. That would be nice. Thank you.

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences

Lay off (verb): fire, let someone go from a company
- The company often lays off people after the
- Christmas season because business slows down.
-
Employees (noun): workers
- Our store laid off three employees because they didn’t listen to and follow
company policy on several issues.
- Contain (verb): include, have
- Why doesn’t this job agreement contain more information on paid vacations?
 - Interrupt (verb): break or stop the action of something
- Problems in relationships happen when one person interrupts another.
-
Hold your tongue (verb): be quiet, a polite way to tell someone to shut up

- I couldn’t hold my tongue when Ashley lied about our relationship.

-
Witty (adjective): funny, clever, intelligent
- My brother thinks he is really witty, but he only listen to his own ideas and no
one else.
-
Tsk (interjection): a feeling of impatience or disapproval
- Tsk. I can’t believe you don’t treat your wife better.
-
Empathy (verb): the ability to understand a person’s feelings
- People can develop greater empathy for others when they listen without trying
to give advice.

End
Second dialogue
Man: Honey, the basketball game is about to start. And could you bring some chips and a bowl of ice cream?
And . . . uh . . . a slice of pizza from the fridge.

Woman: Anything else?

Man:Nope, that's all for now. Hey, hon, you know, they're organizing a company basketball team, and I'm thinking
about joining. What do you think?

Woman: Humph

Man: "Humph" What do you mean "Humph." I was the star player in high school.

Woman: Yeah, twenty-five years ago. Look, I just don't want you having a heart attack running up and down the
court.

Man:So, what are you suggesting? Should I just abandon the idea? I'm not that out of shape.

Woman: Well . . . you ought to at least have a physical before you begin. I mean, it HAS been at least five years
since you played at all.
 Man:Well, okay, but . . .

Woman: And you need to watch your diet and cut back on the fatty foods, like ice cream. And you should try eating
more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Man: Yeah, you're probably right.

Woman: And you should take up a little weight training to strengthen your muscles or perhaps try cycling to build up
your cardiovascular system. Oh, and you need to go to bed early instead of watching TV half the night.

Man: Hey, you're starting to sound like my personal fitness instructor!

Woman: No, I just love you, and I want you to be around for a long, long time.

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences

 fridge (noun): short for "refrigerator"
- I think we need to buy a new fridge. The old one just doesn't cool properly.
 hon (pronoun): short for "honey"
- Hon. Could you wake me up early tomorrow morning?
 Humph: a word showing disbelief
- Humph. There's no way you can lift all that weight!
 abandon (verb): in this case, "give up" the idea
- They had to abandon the plan to build a house due to a financial crisis.
 out of shape (idiom): in poor physical condition
- I have to start exercising because I'm so out of shape.
 physical (noun): a medical examination
- She had to have a physical before she joined the track team.
 cut back on (phrasal verb): to reduce
- I have to cut back on the fatty foods I've been eating.
 take up (phrasal verb): begin or start
- He has decided to take up cooking in his spare time.
 cardiovascular system (noun): your body`s blood circulation system including your heart, veins, and
arteries
- Running at least 30 minutes a day helps improve your cardiovascular system.

b) fricatives
Consonant sounds in which the air is released through a narrow opening in
the mouth causing friction
 Labio- dental alveolar Alveolo- Glottal
dental palatal
Definition The upper The tip of the The tip of the The tongue Produced at
teeth tongue is between tongue is raised touches the the glottis
touch the the upper and towards the alveolar ridge and (vocal cords)
lower lip lower teeth teeth ridge the hard palate
Voiced /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ʒ/ -
Voiceless /f/ /θ/ /s/ /ʃ/ /h/
Notes Words with The suffix “s” the sound /ʒ/ is The sound /h/
grammatical only found in is only found
-when it is added to
words ending with a medial & final
function spelt with in initial &
“TH” are voiceless sound position as in : medial
pronounced /ð/ then the “s” must television- position as in:
like :the-those be voiceless mirage Heart-behind
Ex. Cats
Ordinal numbers -but if the word
but it never But it never
like forth and fifth ends with a voiced occurs in initial occurs in final
end in the sound sound then the “s” position of position of
/θ/ must be voiced English words English words
Ex. Dogs

Exception:
If the word already
ends in an “s”
adding a suffix to it
becomes “iz”
Ex. Roses--/rəuziz/
Dresses--/dresiz/

c) affricates
Consonant sounds made by stopping the air in the mouth, then releasing it
slowly with friction (an affricate is composed of a plosive and a fricative)

Alveolo-palatal
Definition The blade of the tongue touches the teeth ridge and hard palate
Voiced /dʒ/
voiceless /tʃ/

s/d suffixes
-S or -es -ed
1- after voiced sounds the –s is 1- after voiced sounds the –ed
pronounced /z/ is pronounced /d/
Ex. Boys : /b ɔjz/ Ex. Played : /pleid/

2- after voiceless sounds the –s is 2- after voiceless sounds the –

pronounced /s/ ed is pronounced /t/
Ex. Hats : /hæts/ Ex. Looked : /lukt/

3- after alveolar and alveolo-palatal 3- after alveolar plosives ( /t/ -

fricatives ( /s/ - /z/ - /ʒ/ -/ʃ/ ) and d/ ) the –ed is pronounced /id/
affricates the –s is pronounced /iz/ Ex. Seated : /si:tid/
Ex. Roses /rəuziz/

d) Continuants

nasal oral
Bilabial Alveolar Velar Lateral Post-
alveolar
 definition The lips The tip of the the back the air The tip of
are closed tongue of the escapes the tongue
touches the
and the air tongue continuously is raised
alveolar ridge
is released and doesn’t is raised out of the towards
gradually allow the air to the mouth the back of
through to escape velum around the the teeth
the nose through the (soft sides of the ridge
mouth. At the palate) tongue
same time
the soft
palate is
lowered to
allow air to
escape
gradually
through the
nose

Voiced /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /r/

Voiceless All continuants are voiced
notes the In the received
sound / pronunciation
(RP) the
ŋ/ is
sound /r/ is
never never
found in pronounced
initial before a
position consonant or
of a silence. It is
only
word
pronounced if
a vowel sound
follows it.

Vowels
 Vowels are sounds made by letting the air come freely out of the mouth, and
by moving the tongue slightly.
 All vowels are voiced, oral, continuants
 The method used to describe vowels is to state the highest point of the
tongue in the mouth.
 Describing vowels
Close: the tongue moves up high into the mouth

Open: the tongue moves down

Front: the tongue moves forward

Back: the tongue moves backwards

Vowels chart

Front Numbe vowe Tongue lips Notes example

vowels r l Position s
1 /i:/ Close Spread - see, heat
2 /i/ Close Spread Slightly lower and hit, sitting
further to the back
than /i:/
 3 /e/ Between Neutrally The lips are spread met, bed
half close open slightly wider than
& half- for /i/
open
4 /æ/ Between Neutrally - cat, black
half-open open
& open

Back 5 /ɑ:/ Between Neutrally In the received A: Pass

vowels the centre open pronunciation
& the back (R.P.)there is no ar: hard
at FULLY /r/ sound after the
OPEN vowel /ɑ:/ ear: heart
position although the
spelling usually al: calm
includes the r
6 /ɔ/ Open rounded - O:Pot

A:want
7 /ɔ:/ Between rounded In the received Or: Form
half open pronunciation
& half (R.P.)there is no Our: Court
close /r/ sound after the
vowel /ɔ:/ Au:
although the Haughty
spelling usually
includes the r Al: talk
 8 /u/ Between Closely Words with “oo”: put,
close & rounded could
half close Pronounced /u:/ if
followed by an l or
n

Pronounced /u/ if
followed by a
plosive (except t
and p)
9 /u:/ close Closely Higher and further blue,
rounded back in the mouth food
than the vowel /u/

Central 10 / ʌ/ Raised just Neutrally some irregular cup,

vowels above the open verbs have the luck
fully open alternation of /i/
position - /æ/ - / ʌ/
ex:
sing-sang-sung
ring-rang-rung
11 / ə: / Between Neutrally In the received turn, learn
half close spread pronunciation
and half (R.P.)there is no
open /r/ sound after the
vowel / ə: /
although the
spelling usually
includes the r

This rule applies to

these three
vowels:
/ ə: /-/ɔ:/- /ɑ:/
 12 /ə/ Between In neutral It is a weak vowel Mother,
half close position which never Actor,
and half occurs in accented color
open (stressed) syllables

Often referred to
as a weak or
reduced vowel

This rule applies to

these three
vowels:
/ ə/-/i/-/u/

Diphthongs
A change from one vowel sound into another within a single syllable

The change is always from a strong vowel into a weak vowel.

Weak (reduced) vowels are: /i/-/u/-/ə/

Diphthongs
centring closing
Diphthongs which end in the Diphthongs which end in a close
central unstressed vowel /ə/ unstressed vowels ( /i/ - /u/ )

Ending in / ə/ : Front closing Back closing

Ending in /i/ Ending in /u/
/iə/ : fear, hear /ei/ : bay, stay /au/ : round, tower
/eə/ : rare, hair /ai/ : buy, right /əu/: bow, so
/uə/ : cure, more / ɔi/ : boy, going

The sound /r/ never occurs after

centring diphthongs

Semi-vowels / glides

 Consonant sounds ( /j/ - /w/ ) which occur only before vowel sounds
 They are called glides because /j/ is a glide from /i/ or /i:/ into a full vowel ex.
Yet, year, use
 And /w/ is a glide from /u/ or /u:/ into a full vowel ex. Wet, where, weather
 /j/ is like the vowels /i/ & /i:/ .the tongue and lips are in the same position
 /w/ is like the vowels /u/ & /u:/ . the tongue and lips are in the same position