PONETICS

Ponetics is the study of speech sounds, including their production, transmission, and reception
It is an important field in language teaching, as there is no one-to-one correspondence between
English spelling and pronunciation
There are 26 alphabets in English, but there are 44 sounds, including 24 consonants, 12 vowels,
and 8 diphthongs
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation that uses symbols to
represent the sounds of spoken language
The organs of speech are important in phonetics, as they are used to produce speech sounds. These
include the lips, teeth, tongue, and vocal cords
The airstream mechanism is also important, as it describes how air is used to produce speech
sounds. In English, the airstream mechanism is called the pulmonic egressive airstream
mechanism, which means that air from the lungs is pushed out to produce sound
Vowels, diphthongs, and consonants are the three main categories of speech sounds. Vowels are
produced with an open vocal tract, while consonants are produced with a constriction in the vocal
tract
Diphthongs are a combination of two vowel sounds pronounced in one syllable
Phonetics is an important tool for improving pronunciation skills in language learners. The use of
technology, such as speech recognition software, can help learners practice their pronunciation
and improve their ability to produce accurate sounds

ALPHABET
STRESS PATTERNS

Example

The following are some stress patterns showing main stress and unstressed syllables:
0o e.g. key/board o0 e.g. con/duct (as a verb) o0o e.g. com/pu/ter 0oo e.g. mi/cro/phone oo0o e.g.
ed/u/ca/tion
The stress pattern of a word is the way all the syllables are stressed in it. There can be main and
secondary stress, or unstressed sounds. There are different ways to show the stress pattern of a
word. Large and small circles can be used, as in the examples above.

PHONEMIC CHART and SYMBOL

The diphthong of AmE

BrE has three kinds of diphthongs: /ɪ/ -glides, /ʊ/-glides, and /ə/-glides. All of the -glides also
occur in AmE:

The long vowels of AmE

i:/ beat /u:/ boot

/ɜ:/ bird /ɔ:/ bought
/ɑ:/ father
The short vowels in BrE, the following also occurs in AmE,
/ɪ/ hit
/e/ bet /ə/ about /ʊ/ cook
/æ/ bat /ʌ/ but
In other words, all the short vowels in of BrE also occurs in mE except for /ɒ/. Words with the
vowel /ɒ/ in BrE have either /ɔ:/ and /ɒ:/ in AmE.

Change of Vowel [ɒ]

Letter o is pronounced in many different ways in English. Here we have a few illustrative
examples of such diversity: Hot/hɒt/ in RP, but /hɑːt/ in GA; love[lʌv ]; corn /kɔːn/ in RP, but
/kɔːrn/ in GA; continue /kənˈtɪn.juː/; moon/mu:n/; coast /kəʊst/ in RP, but /koʊst/ in GA;
house/haʊs/. The so-called “short o”, which often appears in a stressed syllable with one letter o
such as in dog or model, underwent a change in American English. In British English that sound is
pronounced as an open back rounded short sound [ɒ], as in hot[hɒt], or possible [ˈpɒs.ə.bl ̩]. In
American English it is pronounced either as an open back unrounded long sound [ɑː], as in
hot[hɑːt], or as an open-mid back rounded long vowel [ɔː], as in dog[dɔːg]. Note that British
English prefers a short sound as opposed to American English, which prefers a long sound in all
cases.

The monophthongs of AmE.

/i:/ beat /u:/ boot

/ɔ:/ bought
/ɑ:/ father
Although these vowel phonemes occur in both BrE and AmE, the words which contain these
sounds in the two varieties are not exactly the same. Also, the one that appears to be missing, /ɜ:/,
is not really missing. This sound in BrE occurs only in word that have an r in the spelling. In AmE
the r is pronounced.
Change of Diphthong [ƏU] to [OU]
The shift from the British diphthong [ƏU] to [OU] is also very distinguishing. The shift consisted
in the change of the mid central unrounded vowel [Ə] to the close-mid back rounded vowel [O] in
the first vowel of the diphthong. This shift is considered to be systematic.

Vocabulary
American and Australian English are based on British English, yet there are a large number of
vocabulary differences between the two accents. The differences can impede communication
occasionally, but speakers of the languages tend to sort out various meanings easily. For example,
Americans tend to use the word “trunk” to refer to the storage compartment in the back of a car,
while Australians use the word “boot”. Americans also use the word “gasoline” to refer to the fuel
for cars, while Australians use the word “petrol”

Spelling
The differences in spelling between American and Australian English are relatively minor. For
example, the use of the letters “s” and “z” is very different. Americans use the letter “z” in words
like “stabilize” or “analyze”. However, Australians will spell these words “stabilise” and
“analyse”. The same is true for using the letter “u” in some words. Americans tend to use the
spelling “color” while Australians use “colour.” Australians and Americans diverge on the use of
“er” as in the American spelling “center,” while Australians use “centre.”

Intonation
Another key variation is in the intonation patterns of the two accents. American English speakers
tend to have a more “sing-song” quality to their phrases. You will likely notice the rising and
falling intonations that can make statements sound more like questions. This is often a tricky point
with non-native speakers. On the other hand, Australian English has a flatter intonation pattern
with less variation in pitch.

Prononciation
One of the first differences one notices between American and Australian accents is how certain
words are pronounced. One prominent example is how Americans pronounce the letter “r” very
clearly and distinctly. On the other hand, Australians often drop the “r” sound entirely if there’s a
vowel before the “r”. So, the words bar, bear, jar, form, and bird, sound very different depending
on which accent you are hearing.
Another good example of pronunciation differences is the “o” vowel sound. American speakers
tend to pronounce the “o” sound as “ah” as in “father.” Australians use a more round-lipped “o”
sound similar to the British “o” sound.
 SHORT AND LONG VOWELS

Short and long vowels are two different ways to pronounce vowel sounds in English. Short
vowels are pronounced briefly and do not have an extended duration like long vowels. In English,
there are five primary short vowel sounds: /æ/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /ɒ/, and /ʌ/ . They are usually represented
by a single letter, but can also be represented by a curved symbol above the vowel, such as ă, ĕ, ĭ,
ŏ, ŭ . Examples of words with short vowel sounds are "cat," "bed," "sit," "hot," and "cup" .
Long vowels, on the other hand, are pronounced for a longer duration compared to their short
counterparts . In English, there are five primary long vowel sounds: /ɑː/, /iː/, /ɜː/, /ɔː/, and
/uː/ . They may be represented by a horizontal line above the vowel to show it is a long sound,
such as ā, ē, ī, ō, ū . Long vowels are often represented by a vowel digraph or a vowel followed by
a silent ‘e.’ Examples of words with long vowel sounds are "cake," "beet," "ride," "boat," and
"cube" .

“Basket Case by Green Day”

Do you have the time

to listen to me whine
About nothing and everything
all at once
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it

Sometimes I give myself the creeps

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Or am I just stoned

I went to a shrink
To analyze my dreams
She says it's lack of sex
that's bringing me down
I went to a whore
He said my life's a bore
So quit my whining cause
it's bringing her down

Sometimes I give myself the creeps

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Uh,yuh,yuh,ya

Grasping to control
So I better hold on

Sometimes I give myself the creeps

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Or am I just stoned

Lyric Long Vowels

Do you have the time /taɪm/
to listen to me whine /ˈlɪsn/, /miː/, /waɪn/
About nothing and everything /ˈnʌθɪŋ/, /ˈevriθɪŋ/
Sometimes my mind plays /ˈsʌmtaɪmz/, /maɪnd/,
tricks on me /trɪk/
Melodramatic fools /fuːl/
Neurotic to the bone /njʊəˈrɒtɪk/, /bəʊn/
No doubt about it /daʊt/
Am I just paranoid? /əm/, /ˈpærənɔɪd/
I think I'm cracking up /θɪŋk/

Lyric Short Vowels

I went to a shrink /ʃrɪŋk/
To analyze my dreams /ˈænəlaɪz/
She says it's lack of sex /seks/
that's bringing me down /brɪŋ/
So quit my whining cause /kwɪt/, /waɪn/
it's bringing her down /hɜː(r)/, /daʊn/
He said my life's a bore /laɪf/, /bɔːr/
Grasping to control /ˈɡrɑːspɪŋ/, /kənˈtrəʊl/
 ARTICULATON

Organ of Spech

Plosive consonants are made by completely blocking the flow of air as it leaves the body,
normally followed by releasing the air. English pronunciation contains 6 plosive phonemes:
/p,b,t,d,k,g/:
The sounds /b,d,g/ are voiced; they are pronounced with vibration in the vocal cords. /p,t,k/ are voiceless;
they are produced with air only. The voiceless plosives are often aspirated (produced with a puff of air) in
English pronunciation.

Plosive Spellings

Common spellings for each plosive are underlined below:

/p/: purse

/b/: bell

/t/: talk, stopped

/d/: done, played

/k/: kite, cone, queen, chronic, excited

/g/: gone, exhaust

Glotta Stop [ʔ]

l
The voiceless alveolar plosive sound /t/ is often replaced with a voiceless glottal plosive in connected
speech. This most frequently occurs when /t/ appears at the end of a syllable and the following sound is
a consonant:

Fricative consonants are made by squeezing air between a small gap as it leaves the body. In English
pronunciation, there are 9 fricative phonemes: /f,v,θ,ð,s,z,ʃ,ʒ,h/ made in 5 positions of the mouth:
The fricative sounds /v,ð,z,ʒ/ are voiced, they are pronounced with vibration in the vocal cords, whilst the
sounds /f,θ,s,ʃ,h/ are voiceless; produced only with air.

Fricative Sound Spellings

Common spellings for each fricative sound are underlined below:

/f/: far

/v/: save, of

/θ/: think

/ð/: those

/s/: sir, race

/z/: zoo, rise

/ʃ/: sharp, chef, pressure, sugar, motion

/ʒ/: beige, Asia, pleasure

/h/: ahead
 Approximant Consonant Sounds

Approximant consonant sounds are made by bringing two articulators close together without them
touching as sound leaves the body. The result is a smooth, vowel-like sound. English pronunciation has 3
approximant phonemes (see also lateral approximant for /l/):

All of these approximant sounds are voiced, the vocal cords vibrate as the sound is produced.

Approximant Spellings

Spellings for the approximant sounds are underlined below:

/w/: went, quite, once

/r/: road

/j/: yawn, fuel, few

Research: https://thesoundofenglish.org/approximants/