Participant book

Noticeboard

Individual sounds
These are the separat
e
sounds of English tha
t
make up words.

Minimal pair
pair
A ‘minimal pair’ is a
os t sound
of words that alm
ind ividual
the same, but one
different,
sound within them is
e.g. ‘pray’ and ‘play’.

International phonetic alphabet (IPA)

a way
The international phonetic alphabet (IPA) is
lly used
to transcribe sounds of a language. It is usua
en in a diffe rent way
with languages that are spok
to their spelling, such as English.
’ in
For example, see how the IPA transcribes ‘ough
/rʌf/, thou gh /ðәʊ/.
these words: through /Өruː/, roug h

Tongue twister
A tongue twister is
a phrase that is
designed to be dif
ficult to articulate
properly, e.g. ‘She
sells sea-shells
on the sea-shore.’

Engaging with pronunciation: individual sounds – Knowing the subject | © British Council 2015