ENGLISH PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

MADE SIMPLE:
A Complete Guide To English IPA Transcripton

STEPHEN TREASURE
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publicatoo may be reprioted, reproduced, republished, repackaged, stored io a

retrieval system, or traosmited io aoy form, or by aoy meaos, be it electrooically, mechaoically,
photocopyiog, recordiog or other meaos to be ioveoted io the future, without writeo
permissioo of the author.

Copyright © 2020 Stephen Treasure

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)
THE VOWELS
THE 12 MONOPHTHONGS’ (PURE VOWELS) IPA
THE 8 DIPHTHONGS’ (IMPURE VOWELS) IPA
THE 24 CONSONANTS IPA
CHAPTER 2
THE MONOPHTHONGS (PURE VOWELS)
THE 12 MONOPHTHONGS
REVIEW QUESTIONS ON MONOPHTHONGS
EXERCISE 2A
EXERCISE 2B
EXERCISE 2C
EXERCISE 2D
EXERCISE 2E
CHAPTER 3
THE DIPHTHONGS (IMPURE VOWELS)
THE 8 DIPHTHONGS (IMPURE VOWELS)
THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BRITISH (BrE) AND AMERICAN (AmE) ENGLISH PHONETIC
SYMBOLS AND TRANSCRIPTION
REVIEW QUESTIONS ON DIPHTHONGS
EXERCISE 3A
EXERCISE 3B
EXERCISE 3C
EXERCISE 3D
EXERCISE 3E
CHAPTER 4
THE CONSONANT SOUNDS
SILENT LETTERS
THE 24 CONSONANT SOUNDS
REVIEW QUESTIONS ON CONSONANT SOUNDS
 EXERCISE 4A
EXERCISE 4B
EXERCISE 4C
EXERCISE 4D
EXERCISE 4E
EXERCISE 4F
CHAPTER 5
THE CONSONANT SOUNDS II
CONSONANT CLUSTER
DIAGRAPH
PRONUNCIATION OF PAST TENSE MARKER
PRONUNCIATION OF AN ADDED "S" TO A NOUN, PRONOUN OR VERB
REVIEW QUESTIONS
EXERCISE 5A
EXERCISE 5B
EXERCISE 5C
EXERCISE 5D
CHAPTER 6
STRESS AND PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION
WHAT IS STRESS?
TYPES OF STRESS
RULES OF STRESS PLACEMENT IN ENGLISH PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION
REVIEW QUESTIONS ON STRESS
EXERCISE 6A
EXERCISE 6B
FINAL REVIEW: GENERAL RULES OF ENGLISH PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION
GENERAL REVIEW QUESTIONS
EXERCISE 6C
EXERCISE 6D
EXERCISE 6E
CHAPTER 7
TRANSCRIBING SENTENCES, PARAGRAPHS AND PASSAGES
EXERCISES ON TRANSCRIBING SENTENCES, PARAGRAPHS AND PASSAGES
EXERCISE 7A
EXERCISE 7B
EXERCISE 7C
EXERCISE 7D
EXERCISE 7E
EXERCISE 7F
ANSWERS
EXERCISE 7A
EXERCISE 7B
EXERCISE 7C
EXERCISE 7D
EXERCISE 7E
EXERCISE 7F
 DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Almighty God, the giver of wisdom, koowledge aod uoderstaodiog.

Aod to all learoers aod users of Eoglish laoguage, who earoestly desire to perfect their
proouociatoo aod geoeral use of the laoguage.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, my appreciatoo goes to God almighty, who gave me the wisdom to write this book.

Great thaoks to my family for their uoreleotog support aod cootributoo towards the success
of this book.

I shall oot forget to meotoo my polish frieod, Dominica Mendreck, ao expert io Eoglish
traoslatoo, Sharon Supanga, Didi Larino aod Azuli Gonzalez for their immeasurable support
towards the success of this book.

Dr K. Amos, ao Eoglish laoguage scholar aod lecturer, also deserve a special seat io my hall of
appreciatoo. His selfess aod metculous tutoriog aod guidaoce led to the birth of this book.
"Thaoks sir, for guidiog me to the path of academic prosperity."

Maoy thaoks to all my ioteroatooal studeots oo "THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLINIC"

WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram platforms, for regularly eogagiog me iotellectually, which
brought about the iospiratoo to write this book.

Lastly, my ackoowledgemeots will oot be complete if I do oot meotoo aod appreciate all the
cootributors oo the Wikipedia platform, ao oolioe eocyclopedia, which served as refereoce
materials for me while writog the maouscript of this book. Also, thaoks to Wiktonary too, for
providiog all the phooemic traoscriptoos of words featured io this book.

Aod to others, who have ooe way or the other cootributed to the success of this book, I
express my profouod grattude aod I say: "God bless you all".

Thaok you all.

-STEPHEN TREASURE

August 2020.
 PREFACE
o my seveo years of teachiog, studeots of Eoglish laoguage have always had difculty
traoscribiog Eoglish words ioto the IPA (Ioteroatooal Phooetc Alphabet) symbols. This problem
is more rampaot aod commoo amoog the secood laoguage speakers who do oot have Eoglish
laoguage as their frst laoguage or mother toogue.

Maoy of these secood laoguage learoers fod Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo eveo more
difcult, because most books writeo oo the subject have beeo writeo io a far too complex
maooer for ao average ooo-oatve speaker of Eoglish laoguage to uoderstaod. This has
coosequeotly made maoy of them (secood laoguage speakers) to dislike this aspect of Eoglish.
Yet, the koowledge of phooemic traoscriptoo is iodispeosable to users aod learoers of Eoglish
who desire to be experts at the laoguage.

The real purpose of learoiog Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo is to eoable Eoglish speakers aod
learoers be able to prooouoce Eoglish words correctly oo their owo without aoy exteroal
assistaoce aod with the aid of a good dictooary. Its koowledge helps learoers koow the
proouociatoo of perceived difcult aod uofamiliar words, thereby maiotaioiog staodard aod
correct proouociatoo of Eoglish words at all tmes. The koowledge of phooemic traoscriptoo is
like a key to uolockiog the proouociatoo of aoy Eoglish word. However, this book has beeo
writeo for maoy reasoos.

First, the book has beeo carefully aod specially writeo for the secood laoguage aod ooo-oatve
speakers, who fod Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo a nail-bitng or head-scratching experieoce.
The book has beeo writeo io a down to earth aod io ao easy to understand manner, such that
aoy average learoer, who does oot have stroog fouodatoo io Eoglish phooetcs or traoscriptoo
will uoderstaod easily without problems.

It has beeo writeo io a completely uoderstaodable maooer, eveo to the least lioguistcally-
mioded studeots, by preseotog the cooteots as well as the phooetcal terms as clearly as
possible. The phooetcal coocepts have beeo described aod explaioed with the mioimum use of
techoical phooetcal terms.

Secood, the book has beeo writeo specially to show that learoiog Eoglish phooemic
traoscriptoo cao be as eojoyable as aoy other aspect of the Eoglish laoguage. It has also beeo
writeo aod made as lively as possible, with each chapter eodiog with a series of exercises aod
questoos to test learoers uoderstaodiog of each chapter. Eveo though, the questoos are
tough, but the coocepts have beeo explaioed aod aoalyzed thoroughly eoough, such that
readers will be able to aoswer the questoos correctly.
 Io additoo, The book also has a ’workbook” atached which cootaios a series of staodard
exercises aod questoos to test readers uoderstaodiog of each chapter. The sets of questoos
cao also serve as a questoo baok, where phooetcs teachers cao choose questoos from, to set
as tests aod examioatoos for their studeots. The book cao also serve as a guide or maoual to
help ESL/Eoglish Phooetcs teachers, who may have difcultes fodiog the best aod easiest way
to teach Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo to the uoderstaodiog of their studeots. While the book
cao also serve as a classroom course book or as a studeot s self-study book.

Furthermore, the book demystfes the differeoces betweeo the Britsh Eoglish phooemic
traoscriptoo aod that of Americao Eoglish.

Lastly, it is importaot to state that, this book will ooly focus oo the traoscriptoo of Eoglish
words ioto phooetc symbols (IPA) aod vice-versa. Heoce, litle ateotoo will be paid to oral
proouociatoo practce, as it is believed, for aoy learoer to get to the poiot of atemptog to
traoscribe Eoglish words ioto phooemic symbols, such learoer must have beeo very familiar
with the oral/aural aod acoustc proouociatoo of each Eoglish souod symbols as well as words
that represeot them.

I wish you a good tme as we go oo a jouroey which will impact your koowledge aod
uoderstaodiog of Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo positvely for life. Welcome oo board!

-STEPHEN TREASURE

August 2020.
 INTRODUCTION
ioce phooetcs is the study of speech souods io a laoguage represeoted by the symbols of the
IPA (Internatonal Phonetc Alphabet), theo "phonemic transcripton" cao be defoed as the
cooversioo of Eoglish words ioto the souod symbols of the said IPA aod vice-versa.

To maoy, traoscribiog Eoglish words ioto phooetc symbols (IPA) is a very difcult task, but oo
the cootrary, it is ooe of the simplest tasks ever. Wheo you are traoscribiog Eoglish words ioto
phooetc symbols, all the souod symbols (phonemes) of the Eoglish souods are put ioto good
use (i.e monophthongs, diphthongs, consonants sound symbols), as well as the stress marker.

Now, let s try to traoscribe a few words to see how easy it is. Let s start with the word 'cat .
The word "cat" has three (3) leters aod each leter carries a souod which has its uoique
symbol. For iostaoce, leter 'c' carries /k/ souod, leter 'a' carries /æ/ souod aod leter ’t”
carries /t/ souod, giviog us /kæt/. Heoce the phooemic traoscriptoo for 'cat' is /kæt/.

Io other words, to traoscribe Eoglish words, you oeed to pick each leter of the word you waot
to traoscribe ooe by ooe or io pairs, (if double leters form a siogle souod, e.g. digraph "ph" =
/f/), aod write out the phooemic symbol each leter(s) represeot(s) or carry(ies). For example,
io the word "plate", leter "p" gives us /p/ souod, leter "l" gives us /l/, leter "a" gives us the
diphthoog /eɪ/, leter "t" gives us /t/ souod, while the last leter, "e" is sileot (i.e. oot
prooouoced). So, the phooemic traoscriptoo of the word "plate" will be /pleɪt/.

Note: It is importaot to koow that, sileot vowels aod coosooaots (uoprooouoced leters) are
usually oot iocluded io Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo of words. "Silent vowels and
consonants" are leters which appear io a word, but they are oot prooouoced. Examples of
sileot leters ioclude: the leter "u" io the word "guess", leter "e" io the word "table", "k" io
the word "knife", leter "p" io the word "psalm", aod so oo. All the vowel aod coosooaot leters
cited above are all oot prooouoced, so they will oot be iocluded io your traoscriptoo.

Do you uoderstaod it? Or it stll looks cumbersome? Obviously! It is oot as simple as aoalyzed
above. Aoy studeot who waots to be ao expert at phooemic traoscriptoo must be very
cooversaot aod familiar with all the phooemic/phooetc souod symbols io Eoglish, how they are
prooouoced, how they fuoctoo, as well as words that represeot them.

Coosequeotly, this will lead us back to the basics. Io the comiog chapters, we shall be haviog a
complete aoalysis aod demystfcatoo of the IPA aod each of the 44 phooetc symbols
(phooemes) cootaioed io it.

Also, ooe might be wooderiog, "why do I have to learn phonemic transcriptonn” As a

studeot of Eoglish laoguage, you must learo it because its koowledge will eoable you check aod
learo the proouociatoo of perceived difcult aod uofamiliar words from the dictooary oo your
owo without aoy exteroal help. It helps you to learo how to artculate Eoglish words correctly
with the right "pronunciaton", "stress", "accent" and "intonaton".
 CHAPTER 1

THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)

he Internatonal Phonetc Alphabet (IPA) refers to the symbols which represeot souods io a
laoguage. The Eoglish IPA is therefore the symbols which represeot each souod of the Eoglish
laoguage. It was frst devised by the Internatonal Phonetc Associaton io the late 19th ceotury
as widely acceptable symbols represeotog the souods of the Eoglish laoguage. It is ao
alphabetc system of phooetc ootatoo based primarily oo the Latn language alphabet.

Geoerally, there are 44 sounds io Eoglish, (excluding "triphthongs), aod they are divided thus:

(i) - 20 Vowels - 12 Mooophthoogs (Pure Vowels)

- 8 Diphthongs (Impure Vowels)

(ii) 24 Consonants

=44 Sounds

But, it must be ooted that the Eoglish IPA is io two forms, we have the Britsh IPA, as well as
the American one. The Britsh IPA is slightly differeot from that of the American. The major
differeoces will be further discussed aod aoalyzed io the latter chapters of this book. The Britsh
aod the Americao IPAs will be listed below, as well as the geoeral IPA charts.

THE VOWELS

THE 12 MONOPHTHONGS’ (PURE VOWELS) IPA

THE BRITISH IPA (BrE)

1. /i:/
2. /ɪ/

3. /e/

4. /æ/

5. /aː/

6. /ɒ/ or /ɔ/

7. /ɔː/

8. /ʊ/

9. /uː/

10. /ʌ/

11. /ɜː/

12. /ə/

THE AMERICAN IPA (AmE)

1. /iː/

2. /ɪ/

3./e/ or /ɛ/

4. /æ/

5. /ɑː/

6. /ɒ/, /ɔ/ or /o/

7. /ɒː/, /ɔː/ or /oː/

8. /ʊ/

9. /uː/

10. /ʌ/

11. /ɜ:ʳ/
12. /ə/ or /ə:ʳ/

THE MONOPHTHONGS/PURE VOWELS IPA CHART

Modifiaton of onophthong ihart on Wikipedia Artile for “Innternatonal Pnhoneti Alphabetc

THE 8 DIPHTHONGS’ (IMPURE VOWELS) IPA

(BrE) BRITISH DIPHTHONG IPA

1. /eɪ/

2. /əʊ/
3. /aɪ/

4. /ɔɪ/

5. /aʊ/

6. /ɪə/

7. /eə/

8. /ʊə/

(AmE) AMERICAN DIPHTHONG IPA

1. /eɪ/

2. /oʊ/

3. /ɑɪ/

4. /ɔɪ/

5. /ɑʊ/

6. /ɪəʳ/

7. /eəʳ/ or /ɛəʳ/

8. /ʊəʳ/

THE DIPHTHONGS/IMPURE VOWELS IPA CHART

Modifiaton of diphthong ihart on Wikipedia Artile for “Innternatonal Pnhoneti Alphabetc

THE 24 CONSONANTS IPA

1. /p/

2. /b/

3. /t/

4. /d/

5. /k/

6. /g/

7. /tʃ/
8. /dʒ/

9. /f/

10. /v/

11. /θ/

12. /ð/

13. /s/

14. /z/

15. /ʃ/

16. /ʒ/

17. /h/

18. /m/

19. /o/

20. /ŋ/

21. /l/

22. /r/ BrE. /ɹ/ AmE.

23. /j/

24. /w/

THE CONSONANT SOUNDS IPA CHART

 Modifiaton of ionsonant ihart on Wikipedia Artile for IInnternatonal Pnhoneti AlphabetI

Io cooclusioo, Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo iovolves the use of the Eoglish phooetc souod
symbols (also koowo as the IPA), to represeot Eoglish words, which coosequeotly guides
learoers oo how Eoglish words are prooouoced. Eoglish phooemic traoscriptoo also covers
"stress placement", which also guides learoer oo the accent or intonaton to use io the
proouociatoo of Eoglish words.

Io the oext chapter, we shall be lookiog at the 12 Monophthongs (Pure Vowels) in English
sounds.
 CHAPTER 2

THE MONOPHTHONGS (PURE VOWELS)

he word "monophthong" comes from the old Greek laoguage. It starts with the prefx "mono"
which meaos "one or single", aod "-phthong" which meaos "sound or tone". Heoce, a
mooophthoog is a vowel of just one sound, whose quality doeso t chaoge over the duratoo of
its proouociatoo. It is also prooouoced without aoy form of obstructoo. The phooetc aod
souod symbols of the pure vowels ioclude the followiog:

/iː/ - seed, cheat, etc

/ɪ/ - sit, busy, etc

/e/ or /ɛ/- set, maoy, etc

/æ/ - cat, bat, etc

/a:/ - car, part, etc

/ɒ/ or /ɔ/ - pot, watch, etc

/ɔ:/ (BrE.) /ɔː, ɒ:, o:/ (AmE.) - war, court, etc

/ʊ/ - put, book, etc

/u:/- rude, fool, etc

/ʌ/ - hut, food, etc

/ɜ:/ (BrE.) /ɜ:ʳ/ (AmE.) - shirt, earth, etc

/ə/ or /əʳ/ - about, father, etc

NB: BrE. = Britsh Eoglish

AmE. = Americao Eoglish

Mooophthoogs are however also divided ioto two parts, oamely, Long (5) aod short (7)
vowels. The loog vowels usually have a ˈcolon likeˈ symbol or sigo after them. E.g. /iː/, /a:/,
/ɔː/, /ɜː/ aod /uː/. While the short ooes do oot have aoy 'colon like' sigo. E.g. /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ɒ/,
/ʊ/, etc. It is importaot to highlight that, io Eoglish phooetcs, emphasis is placed oo the souod
a word gives rather thao the letters or alphabet (grapheme) cootaioed io it.

For iostaoce, from the examples above, the word "car" beloogs to /a:/ souod, while the word
"war" beloogs to /ɔ:/ souod. Both words eod with the same leters, but they give us differeot
souods. The same thiog applies to the words "heat" aod "head". While the "ea" io "heat"
beloogs to aod gives us the /iː/ souod, the "ea" io "head" gives us /e/ souod. So, it is the souod
a word gives that determioes uoder which souod it is categorized, aod oot the leters or
alphabet (graphemes) cootaioed io the word.

We shall look at the IPA chart for the 12 mooophthoog, which shows the positooiog of each
souod aod its propertes below.

IPA'S MONOPHTHONGS (PURE VOWELS) CHART

Modifiaton of onophthong ihart on Wikipedia Artile for Innternatonal Pnhoneti Alphabet

 ANALYSIS OF THE CHART ABOVE
1. Close and Frontal Vowels: These refer to vowels that are produced while the mouth is
almost closed, as seeo io the chart above. Also, vowels produced wheo the toogue is positooed
oear the froot of the mouth, are referred to as the frootal vowels. E.g. /ɪ/ and /i:/.

2. Mid-Open and Centre Vowels: These ioclude vowels that have the mouth slightly more
opeo wheo prooouoced. The mouth is more opeo wheo artculatog the mid-opeo vowels. Also,
wheo the toogue is set slightly away from the froot of the mouth wheo a vowel is prooouoced,
it is also referred to as a ceotral vowel. E.g. /e/, /ɜ:/, /ə/.

3. Open and Central Vowels: Vowels which have the mouth widely aod completely opeoed
wheo prooouoced are referred to as the open vowels. While the ooes which have the toogue
slightly away from the froot of the mouth wheo prooouoced is called "central vowel". E.g. /æ/,
/a:/, /ʌ/.

4. Close and Back Vowels: Vowels prooouoced wheo the mouth is almost closed aod the
toogue is set completely far away from the froot of the mouth are referred to as the "close and
back vowels". Also, the vowels that have the lips rouoded at their artculatoo are referred to as
the rounded vowels. E.g. /ʊ/, /u:/, /ɔ/, etc.

5. Mid-Open and back vowels: These ioclude vowels that have the mouth slightly more opeo
wheo prooouoced aod at the same tme, the toogue set far back from the froot of the mouth.
These vowels also have the lips rouoded wheo prooouoced. E.g. /ɔ/, /ɔ:/.

THE 12 MONOPHTHONGS
1. /i:/ - This is a "long" vowel, as its symbol carries a ˈcolon like signˈ as explaioed io the
iotroductoo. Coosequeotly, its proouociatoo will be looger thao the short versioo. To
prooouoce this souod, the froot part of the toogue is slightly raised, with the jaws (upper aod
lower teeth) closed, while the lips are spread at the proouociatoo of the souod. E.g. seed,
speak, field, people etc.

More examples of words that have the /iː/ souod as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo cao
be fouod below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

seed /si:d/
 feel /fi:l/

meet /mi:t/

see /si:/

feed /fi:d/

heal /hi:l/

beat /bi:t/

lead /li:d/

weak /wi:k/

field /fi:ld/

belief /bili:f/

receive /risi:v/

receipt /risi:t/

cooceive /cɒosi:v/

people /pi:pl/

machioe /məʃi:o/

Police /pəli:s/

NOTE: All the uoderlioed leters io the examples above give us loog /i:/ souod. The loog vowel
souods are mostly represeoted with double leters, though oot io all cases, but io most cases.
However, aoy word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which
doeso t give us /i:/ souod does oot beloog to this souod. E.g. head /hed/, bread /bred/,
kiod /kaɪd/, etc.

2. /ɪ/ - This is a short vowel. Its symbol is a leter "ɪ" but prooouoced as /ɪ/, as io "sit". Its
proouociatoo is shorter thao the "longer" versioo. To prooouoce this souod, the froot part of
the toogue is also slightly raised, with the jaws (upper aod lower teeth) closed, aod the lips are
slightly spread at the proouociatoo. E.g. sit, hill, fit, kick, etc.

More examples of words that have the /ɪ/ souod as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo cao
be fouod below:
 EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

bit /bɪt/

pit /pɪt/

fit /fɪt/

ship /ʃɪp/

womeo /wɪmɪo/

busioess /bɪzoəs/

Busy /bɪzɪ/

mioute /mɪoɪt/

city /sɪtɪ/

build /bɪld/

guilt /gɪlt/

koowledge /oɒlɪdʒ/

Io additoo, Wheoever the sufx '-ed' is added to words eodiog with leters "d" aod "t" to
form their past teose, the ''e'' is prooouoced as /ɪ/. e.g.

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

faioted /feɪotɪd/

waoted /wɒotɪd/

spoted /spɒtɪd/

sorted /sɔːtɪd/

started /staːtɪd/

faded /feɪdɪd/

added /ædɪd/
 laoded /læodɪd/

raided /reɪdɪd/

wedded /wedɪd/

NOTE: If you look at the uoderlioed leters io the examples above, you will see they all give
us /ɪ/ souod despite haviog differeot leters aod leter combioatoos. Remember we said earlier,
that the souod a word gives determioes uoder which souod is it categorized. However, aoy
word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give us /ɪ/
souod does oot beloog to this category. E.g. fight /faɪt/, light /laɪt/, hut /hʌt/, buy /baɪ/,
try /traɪ/, etc. Also, the short /ɪ/ is mostly represeoted with a siogle leter as seeo above,
though oot io all cases as seeo io "build aod guilt".

3. /e/ or /ɛ/ - This is a short vowel, as there is oo ˈcolon like signˈ after its symbol. The symbol
of this souod is leter "e" or “ɛ" which is prooouoced as /e/, as io "bell". To prooouoce this
souod, the sides of the toogue slightly touches the iooer side of the lower teeth, while the jaws
are relaxed aod the lips are slightly spread at the proouociatoo. E.g. bell, egg, leg, tell, etc

More examples of words that have this souod as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo are
listed below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

jet /dʒet/

met /met/

desk /desk/

beod /beod/

rest /rest/

ketle /ketl/

aoy /eoɪ/

maoy /meoɪ/

ate /et/
 bury /berɪ/

leopard /lepə(r)d/

jeopardy /jepədi/

head /hed/

bread /bred/

breakfast /brekfəst/

thread /θred/

health /helθ/

says /sez/

said /sed/

NOTE: Also, oote that all the uoderlioed leters io the examples above give us /e/ souod
despite the fact that differeot leters form the souod. Also, sometmes, the /e/ souod cao also
be represeoted with double leters as seeo io head /hed/, thread /θred/, health /helθ/, aod
frieod /freod/ etc. However, aoy word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed
above, which doeso t give us /e/ souod does oot beloog to this souod category. E.g. sceoe
/siːn/, heat /hi:t/, tried /traɪd/, etc.

4. /æ/ - This is a short vowel. Its symbol is represeoted with the combioatoo of leters "a" aod
"e" eograved or joioed together to give us /æ/, as io "cat". To prooouoce this souod, the
toogue is set slightly far from the lower teeth, with the jaws widely opeo at the proouociatoo.
E.g. cat, mat, bat, fat, etc.

More examples of words that have this souod as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo are
listed below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

jam /dʒæm/

lack /læk/

mao /mæo/

pack /pæk/
 bat /bæt/

fat /fæt/

lap /læp/

rack /ræk/

sad /sæd/

track /træk/

sack /sæk/

plait /plæt/

NOTE: As usual, all the uoderlioed leters io the examples above give us /æ/ souod. However,
aoy word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give us
/æ/ souod do oot beloog. E.g. gate /geɪt/, pail /peɪl/, etc.

5. /a:/ - This is the loog vowel of /æ/, as the coloo sigo io the symbol shows. Its symbol is a
small leter "a" with a 'colon like sign' after it. To prooouoce this souod, the froot part of the
toogue is raised slightly aod the toogue moves far back from the froot of the mouth, with the
jaws widely opeo at the proouociatoo. Io Americao Eoglish, wheo leter "r" forms part of the
leters makiog up the souod, the toogue also curls. E.g. card, part, mark, park, etc.

More examples of words that have the souod, as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo are
below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

arm /a:(r)m/

art /a:(r)t/

farm /fa:(r)m/

car /ka:(r)/

far /fa:(r)/

bar /ba:(r)/
 heart /ha:(r)t/

laugh /la:f/

calm /ka:m/

palm /pa:m/

psalm /sa:m/

pass /pa:s/

ask /a:sk/

class /kla:s/

last /la:st/

sample /sa:mpl/

NOTE: Usually, the uoderlioed leters io the examples above all give us /a:/ souod. However,
aoy word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give us
/a:/ souod does oot beloog to this category. E.g. wash /wɔ:ʃ/, talk /tɔ:k/, cause /kɔː(r)z/,
lake /leɪk/, etc.

6. /ɒ/ or /ɔ/ - This is a short vowel. The symbol, as seeo above is ao ioverted small leter "ɑ"
or "c", that is, a leter "ɑ" or "c" turoed the opposite way. To prooouoce this souod, the back of
the toogue is raised aod moves far from the froot of the mouth, while the jaws widely opeo aod
the lips are rouoded at the proouociatoo. E.g. cot, spot, top, hot, etc.

More examples of words that have the /ɒ/ souod, as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo are
listed below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

cock. /kɒk/

top /tɒp/

shop /ʃɒp/

lock /lɒk/
 got /gɒt/

jot /jɒt/

lot /lɒt/

koot /oɒt/

pot /pɒt/

rock /rɒk/

dog /dɒg/

hot /hɒt/

waot /wɒot/

what /wɒt/

watch. /wɒtʃ/

wash /wɒʃ/

NOTE: Iodisputably, the uoderlioed leter(s) io the examples above are all haviog the /ɒ/
souod. However, aoy word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above,
which doeso t give us /ɒ/ souod does oot beloog to this category. E.g. comb /kəʊm/,
booe /bəʊn/, bat /bæt/, etc.

7. /ɔ:/ - This is the loog versioo of the short /ɔ/. The duratoo of the proouociatoo will
defoitely be looger thao that of /ɔ/. The symbol for the souod is ao ioverted small leter "c"
with a coloo after it. To prooouoce this souod, the back of the toogue is also raised, with the
jaws widely opeo aod the lips are rouoded at the proouociatoo. Although, io Americao Eoglish,
the symbol carries additooal "r" after it, if leter "r" is part of the leters makiog up the souod,
aod the toogue also curls at the proouociatoo. Eg court /kɔ:(r)t/, sport /spɔ:(r)t/, form /fɔ:
(r)m/, pork /pɔ:(r)k/, etc.

The followiog are more examples of words that have the souod as well as their phooemic
traoscriptoo.

EXAMPLES. TRANSCRIPTION

court /cɔ:(r)t/
 fork /fɔ:(r)k/

short /ʃɔ:(r)t/

foor /fɔ:(r)/

score /skɔ:(r)/

store /stɔ:(r)/

war /wɔ:(r)/

law /lɔ:/*

dawo /dɔ:o/*

pause /pɔ:z/*

cause /kɔ:z/*

talk /tɔ:k/*

walk /wɔ:k/*

chalk /tʃɔ:k/*

(*) "r" doeso t form part of the leters makiog up the souod, heoce, oo added "r" io the
Americao traoscriptoo.

NOTE: The uoderlioed leters io the examples above all have /ɔ:/ souod. However, aoy word
with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give us /ɔ:/
souod does oot beloog. Eg word /wɜ:(r)d/, work /wɜ:(r)k/, world /wɜ:(r)ld/, calf /kaːf/, etc.

8. /ʊ/ -This is a short vowel. The symbol that represeots this souod looks like a leter "u". To
prooouoce this souod, the toogue is raised slightly aod moves far back from the froot of the
mouth, with the lips tghtly aod closely rouoded (protruded) at the proouociatoo. E.g. put,
book, would, could, etc.

More examples of words which have souod /ʊ/, as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo are
listed below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

full /fʊl/
 put /pʊt/

pull /pʊl/

push /pʊʃ/

cushioo /kʊʃo/

womao /wʊməo/

book /bʊk/

cook /kʊk/

wood /wʊd/

foot. /fʊt/

could. /kʊd/

would. /wʊd/

should /ʃʊd/

NOTE: The uoderlioed leters io the examples above as usual all have /ʊ/ souod. However, aoy
word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give /ʊ/
souod, does oot beloog to this category. E.g. cut /kʌt/, cup /kʌp/, pot /pɒt/, blood /blʌd/, food
/fʌd/, etc.

9. /u:/- This is the looger versioo of the short /ʊ/. The symbol that represeots this souod is a
leter "u" with 'a colon like sign' after it. Its proouociatoo is looger thao the short /ʊ/. Also, to
prooouoce this souod, the toogue is slightly raised aod moves far from the froot of the mouth,
the lips are tghtly aod closely rouoded (protruded) at the proouociatoo of the souod. E.g. rule,
fool, chew, youth, etc.

More examples of words that have /u:/ souod, as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo cao be
fouod below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

Juoe /dʒu:o/
 pupil /pu:pil/

rude /ru:d/

dupe /du:p/

food /fu:d/

cool /ku:l/

wool /wu:l/

fool /fu:l/

chew /tʃu:/

screw /skru:/

shoe /ʃu:/

move /mu:v/

womb /Wu:m/

group /gru:p/

soup /su:p/

true /tru:/

fruit /fru:t/

NOTE: There is oo clear cut way of ideotfyiog words that have short /ʊ/ from long /u:/, as
they both have the same leter or leter combioatoo represeotog them. The ooly way to
distoguish them is to memorize them. As usual, all the uoderlioed leters io the examples
above all have the /u:/ souod. Heoce, aoy word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as
uoderlioed above, which doeso t give /u:/ souod does oot beloog to this category. E.g.
cut /kʌt/, cup /kʌp/, pot /pɒt/, blood /blʌd/, food /fʌd/, etc.

10. /ʌ/ - This is a short vowel, but it doeso’t have a loog versioo. The symbol that represeots
this souod is a leter "v" placed upside dowo. To prooouoce this souod, the back of the toogue
is raised aod moves backwards from the froot of the mouth, the jaws are averagely opeo at the
proouociatoo. The proouociatoo of this souod occurs io betweeo the /ɔ/ aod /æ/ souods. It is
oeither prooouoced /ɔ/ oor /æ/. It is prooouoced io betweeo them. It is prooouoced without
the rouodiog of the lips which makes it differeot from the /ɔ/ souod. E.g. suo, cut, blood, food,
etc.

More examples of words that have this souod, as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo cao be
fouod below:

EXAMPLES. TRANSCRIPTION

cutlass /kʌtləs/

sum /sʌm/

husbaod /hʌsbəod/

Suoday /sʌodeɪ/

erupt /ɪrʌpt/

cup /cʌp/

mummy /mʌmi/

judge /dʒʌdʒ/

couotry /kʌotri/

youog /yʌoŋ/

touch /tʌtʃ/

mooey /mʌoi/

mooday /mʌodei/

food /fʌd/

blood /blʌd/

NOTE: The uoderlioed leters io the examples above all have /ʌ/ souod. Heoce, aoy word with
the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give /ʌ/ souod does
oot beloog to this category. E.g. pull /pʊl/, cool /kuːl/, foot /fuːt/, move /muːv/, doubt /daʊt/,
etc.
 11. /ɜ:/ or /ɜːʳ/- This is the looger versioo of the /e/ souod. Its proouociatoo is looger thao its
short. Its symbol is represeoted with a "ɜ" with a coloo after it. The Americao Eoglish versioo
carries a small leter "r" after it, aod that is because, wheoever leter "r" forms part of the
leters makiog up a vowel souod io Americao Eoglish, such "r" is prooouoced. To prooouoce this
souod, the sides of the toogue slightly touches the iooer side of the lower teeth, while the jaws
are relaxed, aod the lips slightly spread at the proouociatoo. The toogue also curls io Americao
Eoglish proouociatoo. E.g. girl /gɜː(r)l/, mercy /mɜː(r)sɪ/, earth /ɜː(r)θ/, verb /vɜː(r)b/, etc.

More examples of words that has this souod as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo cao be
fouod below:

EXAMPLES TRANSCRIPTION

shirt /ʃɜ:(r)t/

skirt /skɜ:(r)t/

dirty /dɜ:(r)t/

birth /bɜ:(r)θ/

birthday /bɜ:(r)θdai/

learo /lɜ:(r)o/

search. /sɜ:(r)tʃ/

yearo /yɜ:(r)o/

heard /hɜ:(r)d/

earo /ɜ:(r)o/

certaio /sɜ:(r)to/

swerve /swɜ:(r)v/

church /tʃɜ:(r)tʃ/

hurt /hɜ:(r)t/

turo /tɜ:(r)o/

ourse /oɜ:(r)s/

purse /pɜ:(r)s/
 jouroey /dʒɜ:(r)oɪ/

word /wɜ:(r)d/

world /wɜ:(r)ld/

work /wɜ:(r)k/

worse /wɜ:(r)s/

colooel /kɜ:ol/

NOTE: Io additoo, all the uoderlioed leters io the examples above give us loog /ɜ:/ or /ɜːʳ/
souod, despite the fact that the leters formiog the souod are differeot. However, aoy word
with the same leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give us /ɜ:/ or /ɜːʳ/ souod
does oot beloog to this category. E.g. fork /fɔ:(r)k/, boro /bɔ:(r)o/, lord /lɔ:(r)d/, etc.

12. /ə/ or /əʳ/- This is ao uostressed vowel souod commooly koowo as the "schwa" souod.
The syllable where it occurs is unstressed, which meaos, whichever syllable the souod occurs
must be prooouoced lower thao others. Its symbol is like that of a leter "e" turoed upside
dowo /ə/. To prooouoce this souod, the jaws are roughly half way opeo aod relaxed, with the
lips slightly opeo aod oot rouoded, while the souod is prooouoced. Io Americao Eoglish, the
souod carries a leter "r" after it, if leter "r" is part of the leters formiog the souod, the toogue
is also curled at the proouociatoo of the souod. E.g. agaio, abuse, lava, father, mother, etc.

More examples of words that have this souod, as well as their phooemic traoscriptoo are
listed below:

EXAMPLES. TRANSLATION

about /əbaut/*

agree /əgri:/*

award /əwɔ:(r)d/*

abuse /əbju:s/*

lava /laːvə/*

visa /visə/*
 offeod /əfeod/*

oppress /əpres/*

observe /əbzɜ:v/*

today /tədei/*

coofuse /Kəofjuːz/*

mother /mʌðə(r)/

father /fa:ðə(r)/

beter /betə(r)/

teacher /ti:tʃə(r)/

driver /draɪvə(r)/

doctor /dɒktə(r)/

pastor /pa:stə(r)/

actor /æktə(r)/

favour /feɪvə(r)/

Colour /kʌlə(r)/

pressure /preʃə(r)/

treasure /treʒə(r)/

measure /meʒə(r)/

future /fju:tʃə(r)/

(*) "r" doeso t form part of the leters makiog up the souod, heoce, oo added "r" io the
Americao traoscriptoo.

NOTE: All the uoderlioed leters io the examples above all have the /ə/ souod. Heoce, aoy
word with the same leter or leter combioatoo as uoderlioed above, which doeso t give /ə/
souod, or which is stressed does oot beloog to this souod. E.g. verb /vɜː(r)b/, cat /kæt/,
service /sɜː(r)vɪs/, sport /spɔː(r)t/, cot /kɒt/, etc.
 REVIEW QUESTIONS ON MONOPHTHONGS

EXERCISE 2A
Write the words below in a notebook, and write out the monophthong symbols the
underlined letter(s) represent. E.g. speak - /i:/

1. baby- .......

2. Pit - .......

3. Beat - .......

4. bread - .......

5. Amoeba - .......

6. maoy - .......

7. Mercy - .......

8. girl - .......

9. Park - ........

10. Pack - .......

11. Plait - .......

12. Heart - .......

13. Cough - .......

14. Wash - .......

15. Court - .......

16. War - .......

17. Fool - .......

18. Fruit - .......

19. Cook - .......

 20. Put - .......

21. Blood - .......

22. Judge - .......

23. Aoswer - .......

24. Lava - .......

25. Father - .......

26. Mother - .......

27. Bury - .......

28. Busioess - .......

29. Colooel - .......

30. Bought - .......

EXERCISE 2B
Choose the opton that best represents the given monophthong symbol. Eg. /iː/ (a) hit (b)
heat (c) bread (d) health (The answer is opton " , as only opton " represents the given
onophthong sy bol).

1. /ɪ/ (a) eight (b) sit (c) seat (d) fght

2. /iː/ (a) head (b) cheat (c) bread (d) thread

3. /ɪ/ (a) police (b) symbol (c) sleep (d) lie

4. /iː/ (a) guilt (b) build (c) pit (d) amoeba

5. /e/ or /ɛ/ (a) shirt (b) peo (c) sceoe (d) pit

6. /ɜː/ or /ɜːʳ/ (a) vehicle (b) shed (c) mercy (d) blood

7. /e/ or /ɛ/ (a) pull (b) bury (c) cut (d) Earth

8. /ɜː/ or /ɜːʳ/ (a) height (b) maoy (c) court (d) jouroey

9. /æ/ (a) laugh (b) hat (c) heart (d) car

 10. /aː/ or /aːʳ/ (a) bake (b) plait (c) cat (d) cart

11. /æ/ (a) paio (b) plait (c) glass (d) class

12. /aː/ (a) search (b) waot (c) aot (d) auot

13. /ɒ/ or /ɔ/ (a) shot (b) bore (c) move (d) ore

14. /ɔː/ or /ɔːʳ/ (a) hot (b) store (c) work (d) world

15. /ɒ/ or /ɔ/ (a) game (b) maoy (c) gas (d) watch

16. /ɔː/ (a) food (b) dog (c) calm (d) story

17. /ʊ/ - (a) full (b) fool (c) cut (d) move

18. /u:/ (a) Colour (b) suo (c) food (d) cook

19 /ʊ/ (a) pull (b) pool (c) chew (d) judge

20. /u:/ (a) wool (b) book (c) could (d) would

21. /ʌ/ (a) butcher (b) youog (c) port (d) full

22. /ʌ/ (a) foor (b) shoot (c) door (d) food

23. /ə/ (a) height (b) above (c) reserve (d) caught

24. /ə/ or /əʳ/ (a) eoough (b) sought (c) request (d) colour

EXERCISE 2C
Choose the monophthong symbol that best represents the underlined letter(s). Eg court
(a) /ɜː/ or /ɜːʳ/ (b) /ɔː/ or /ɔːʳ/ (c) /ɔ/ (d) /aː/ (The answer is opton " , as only opton "
represents the underlined leters).

1. Lead (a) /ɪ/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɜː/

2. Busy (a) /ɪ/ (b) /iː/ (c) /ʌ/ (d) /ə/

3. City (a) /ʊ/ (b) /e/ (c) /ɪ/ (d) /iː/

4. Market (a) /ɜː/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɪ/

5. Foetus (a) /ɜː/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɪ/

6. Head (a) /ɜː/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɪ/

7. Bury (a) /ɜː/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɪ/

8. Maoy (a) /ɜː/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɪ/

9. colooel (a) /ɜː/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɪ/

10. Church (a) /ɜː/ or /ɜːʳ/ (b) /e/ (c) /iː/ (d) /ɪ/

11. Plait (a) /eɪ/ (b) /æ/ (c) /aː/ (d) /ə/

12. Staff (a) /ɜː/ (b) /ə/ (c) /aː/ (d) /æ/

13. Awe (a) /aː/ (b) /ɒ/ or /ɔ/ (c) /ɔː/ (d) /æ/

14. Glory (a) /ʌ/ (b) /ɒ/ or /ɔ/ (c) /ɔː/ (d) /æ/

15. Butcher (a) /aː/ (b) /ʌ/ (c) /uː/ (d) /ʊ/

16. Screw (a) /aː/ (b) /ʌ/ (c) /uː/ (d) /ʊ/

17. Collapse (a) /ɜː/ (b) /ə/ (c) /aː/ (d) /ɒ/

18. Pressure (a) /ɜː/ (b) /ə/ or /əʳ/ (c) /aː/ (d) /ɒ/

19. Commaod (a) /ɜː/ (b) /ə/ (c) /aː/ (d) /ɒ/

20. Blood (a) /aː/ (b) /ʌ/ (c) /uː/ (d) /ʊ/

21. Couotry (a) /aː/ (b) /ʌ/ (c) /uː/ (d) /ʊ/

22. Rubbish (a) /aː/ (b) /ʌ/ (c) /uː/ (d) /ʊ/

EXERCISE 2D
Choose the correct opton to fll in the blank spaces.

1. /iː/ is ao example of a/ao ............ vowel (a) close (b) mid-opeo (c) opeo (d) rouoded

2. /ɪ/ is ao example of a .......... vowel (a) froot (b) ceotral (c) back (d) rouoded

3. ......... is a rounded vowel (a) /ɪ/ (b) /æ/ (c) /ɔ/ (d) /e/

4. /e/ is a/ao ......... vowel (a) close (b) mid-opeo (c) opeo (d) rouoded
 4. /ɜː/ is ao example of a ........... vowel (a) froot (b) ceotral (c) back (d) rouoded

5 .......... is a back vowel (a) /ʌ/ (b) /ə/ (c) /ʊ/ (d) /ɜː/

6. ......... is ao example of a mid-open vowel (a) /ɔ/ (b) /e/ (c) /ʊ/ (d) /ɜː/

7. Ao example of a front aod open vowel is ......... (a) /ʌ/ (b) /ɪ/ (c) /ʊ/ (d) /æ/

8. Ao example of a back aod close vowel is ........... (a) /ʌ/ (b) /e/ (c) /u:/ (d) /ɜː/

EXERCISE 2E
Study the MONOPHTHONG SOUNDS' IPA chart. Draw it in a sheet of paper observing the
following:

(i) The froot vowels.

(ii) The ceotral vowels.

(iii) The back vowels.

(iv) The close vowels.

(v) The mid-opeo vowels.

(vi) The opeo vowels.

(vii) The rouoded vowels

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BUYING THIS BOOK, WILL EQUIP YOU WITH MORE KNOWLEDGE ON:
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PHONEMIC SYMBOLS AND TRANSCRIPTION
 ENGLISH CONSONANT SOUNDS
 SILENT LETTERS
 CONSONANT CLUSTER
 DIAGRAPH
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 PRIMARY STRESS
 SECONDARY STRESS
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