UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS

NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL

HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

VOWELS, CONSONANTS AND THE SYLLABLE

ACTIVITY 1: How can we differentiate between vowels and consonants?

One of the first distinctions that we usually make when studying speech sounds is that between vowels and
consonants. There are two different criteria to decide whether a sound is a consonant or a vowel. For the first one,
we consider whether there’s some kind of obstruction somewhere in the vocal tract or not. That’s a criterion that
applies to languages like Spanish. The second one is related to distribution: vowels are vowels because they
occupy the place vowels occupy in a syllable. Thus, it’s also important to revise the structure of the syllable.

A syllable is a unit of pronunciation that must contain at least one sound at its peak, i.e. at its centre. That place is
mostly reserved for vowels. However, we’ll see that there are some exceptions (spoiler alert: syllabic consonants).
There are also two other components in a syllable, but these are optional: the onset and the coda. The onset is
formed by the sound (or sounds) that precede the peak. The coda consists of the sound (or sounds) that follow
the peak. Both, onset and coda, are positions occupied by consonants. For example, in the word <hand>, although
there are 4 letters, there are 3 sounds (represented with three phonemes: /hɑːt/) and they can be distributed in
the syllable as follows:

ONSET PEAK CODA

h æ nd

As stated above, the only element that is obligatory for the production of a syllable is the peak. This can be
exemplified by the word <eye>:

ONSET PEAK CODA

aɪ

There might also exist words with an onset and a peak but without a coda, or words with a peak and coda lacking
an onset, as in <knee> and <arm> respectively:

ONSET PEAK CODA

n iː

ɑː m

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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

ACTIVITY CHECKING: Now check your answer to the previous question with the theory you’ve just read.

ACTIVITY 2: Transcribe the following words: one, first, make, speech, sounds, two, kind, tract, not, like. Then
distribute their sounds in the following chart.1

ONSET PEAK CODA

1
Key to Activity 2 (for our purpose, there are spaces between each unit of the syllable, for example <heart> would be
transcribed as / h ɑː t / signalling that /h/ is in the onset of the syllable, /ɑː/ is part of the peak and /t/ constitutes the coda):
one / w ʌ n /, first / f ɜː st /, make / m eɪ k /, speech / sp iː ʧ /, sounds / s aʊ ndz /, two / t uː /, kind / k aɪ nd /, tract / tr æ kt /,
not / n ɒ t /, like / l aɪ k /
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

SPEECH ORGANS
Activity 1: Write down the names of as many speech organs (i.e. articulators) as you can.

Regardless of the chosen criterion for the distinction between vowels and consonants, it’s highly important to
know about the articulators involved in their production. Speech organs help us describe the sounds of any
language. If we consider obstruction, there are four main ‘gateways’ in the vocal tract where the air from the lungs
can be obstructed: the mouth opening (using the lips and/or teeth), the larynx (using the vocal folds, as in a
glottal stop [ʔ]), the velic port (using the soft palate) and most importantly the tongue, which can obstruct the
oral cavity in a vast variety of ways2. Take a look at the main articulators in the following diagram and, if necessary,
get into a more visual explanation by clicking here.

ACTIVITY CHECKING: Now check your answer to the previous exercise with the diagram you’ve just seen.

The tongue is of paramount importance, so much so that phoneticians distinguish several areas of it. The most
important ones are the tip, the blade, the front and the back. Check the following diagram for a clearer image of
the tongue and its parts:

2
Source: Lindsey, Geoff, et al (2021). Virtual Summer Course in English Phonetics. University College London.
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

Activity 2:

a. Use the words in the first of the above pictures so as to complete the following descriptions (blank
spaces 1 to 8). 3
b. Now, guess the sound described in each paragraph (1 to 3)!4

In order to produce this sound, as it’s a nasal sound, you have to lower your (1)
______________________ so that the air can escape through the (2) ______________________. It’s also a
bilabial sound so both (3) ______________________ must come into contact with each other. As all nasals, it’s a
voiced sound.

For the production of this sound, your (4) ______________________ won’t vibrate because it’s a
voiceless sound. As it’s a dental consonant, you’ll use your (5) ______________________. In fact, you’ll
approach the upper teeth with your (6) ______________________ close enough to create a narrow space for
friction. That’s why it’s a fricative consonant.

To articulate this sound, your (7) ______________________ must vibrate, as it is a voiced consonant.
Your tongue should approach the (8) ______________________ since it's an alveolar sound. Remember it’s just
approaching! If you press too much, you get a plosive.

THE IPA
Although summer hasn’t come to an end yet, when talking about the IPA, we’re not talking about a pint of beer.
We might be talking about either the International Phonetic Association or the International Phonetic Alphabet.
In this course, we’ll be mostly referring to the latter. This alphabet shows a system of phonetic notation which
serves as a standardized representation of speech sounds in written form. If you click here, you’ll be able to check
it out and even use it if you’re in need to do so!

3
Key to Activity 2a: 1. soft palate; 2. nasal cavity; 3. lips; 4. vocal folds; 5. teeth; 6. tongue; 7. vocal folds; 8. alveolar ridge
4
Key to Activity 2b: 1. the voiced bilabial nasal /m/; 2. the voiceless dental fricative /θ/ and 3. the voiced alveolar fricative /z/
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

CONSONANTS IN DEPTH
ACTIVITY 1: How are consonants classified?

Consonants are classified according to three distinct features: voicing, place of articulation and manner of
articulation (VPM). This is illustrated in the consonant chart (see below) of each language. As regards voicing,
which is connected to the vibration (or lack of it) of the vocal folds, when voiceless consonants and their voiced
counterparts are located in the same cell, the voiceless consonant is on the left and the voiced consonant, on the
right. The place of articulation is indicated in the columns and the manner of articulation, in the rows. Place of
articulation is connected to the articulators involved in the production of each sound. Notice that the organisation
of this feature goes from front to back, i.e. from the bilabial sounds produced with the lips to sounds produced
further back in the vocal tract. It is also necessary to highlight that the acronym VPM is quite important to name
consonants since it indicates the order we use to name them.

Place → Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Labial- Glotal
Manner ↓ velar

Plosive p b t d k g

Affricate ʧ ʤ

Fricative f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h

Nasal m n ŋ

Approximant l r j w

ACTIVITY 2: Complete the following transcriptions with the missing phoneme.5

a. bilabial /b__ˈleɪbiəl/ d. palatal /ˈp__lətl̩/ g. affricate /ˈ__frɪkət/

b. labiodental /ˌl__bi__ˈdentl̩/ e. velar /ˈv__lə/ h. nasal /ˈn__zl̩/

c. alveolar /ˌ__lviˈ__lə/ f. plosive /ˈpl__sɪv/

In the above chart, you can observe five different manners of articulation. They are linked to "the degree of
constriction which obstructs the airflow from the lungs6. Plosives require a complete closure. For fricatives,
there’s a narrow gap through which friction develops. Affricates work like plosives with a fricative release. Nasals

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Key to Activity 2: a. aɪ; b. eɪ/əʊ; c. æ/əʊ; d. æ; e. iː; f. əʊ; g. æ; h. eɪ
6
Source: Lindsey, Geoff, et al (2021). Virtual Summer Course in English Phonetics. University College London.
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

have a complete oral closure so that the air escapes through the nasal cavity. Approximants also require a narrow
gap, like fricatives, but this one is not narrow enough to cause friction. You can also click here for an interactive
chart developed by Luke Nicholson. Además (OMG, Spanish!), podés comparar la clasificación de las consonantes
inglesas con las del español rioplatense:

Punto→ Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Labio

Modo↓/ -velar

Oclusiva p b t d k ɡ

Africada ʧ (<ch>)

Fricativa f s ʃ (<sh>) x (<j>, <ge,

gi>)

Nasal m n ɲ (<ñ>)

Aproximante l j w

Vibrante r (múlt.)
ɾ (simp.)

ACTIVITY CHECKING: Check your answer to activity 1 with the theory you’ve just read about.

ACTIVITY 3: The plosives /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, /ɡ/ can also be called occlusives or stops. Notice that in the
River Plate Spanish consonant chart, the chosen term is oclusiva. Why do you think the term plosive has been
chosen over occlusive in the English consonant chart?7

For a detailed description of the consonants of SSBE, check the chart below. It’s highly recommendable for
students to revise and study typical spellings and unusual spellings, since it helps them improve their
transcription/dictation skills.
CONSONANTS

PHONEME CLASSIFICATION (VPM) TYPICAL EXAMPLES UNUSUAL SPELLING

SPELLING

/p/ voiceless bilabial plosive <p>; <pp> port, disappear

/b/ voiced bilabial plosive <b>; <bb> boy, bubble

/t/ voiceless alveolar plosive <t>; <tt> tea, better

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Key to Activity 3: The term plosive is often preferred to describe the consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/ and /ɡ/ since its
connected to the main characteristic of these sounds: plotion. More on this in the section about Aspiration.
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

/d/ voiced alveolar plosive <d>; <dd> day, middle

/k/ voiceless velar plosive <c>; <k>; catch, dark, snack character, architect,
<ck> chemical, Celtic

/g/ voiced velar plosive <g>; <gg> goat, jogging exact

/ʧ/ voiceless postalveolar affricate <ch>; <tch>; chair, catch, mature exhaustion
<ture>

/ʤ/ voiced postalveolar affricate <j>; <dge> join, judge generous, manager,
gesture

/f/ voiceless labiodental fricative <f>; <ff> fate, coffee laugh, cough, rough,
photo, lieutenant

/v/ voiced labiodental fricative <v> view of

/θ/ voiceless dental fricative <th> think

/ð/ voiced dental fricative <th> brother

/s/ voiceless alveolar fricative <s>; <ss>; sorry, stress, city niece, scent
<c>

/z/ voiced alveolar fricative <z>; <s> zebra, loves (after

voiced sound if the
<s> is a suffix)

/ʃ/ voiceless postalveolar fricative <sh>; cash, action, special ocean

<ti/ci>

/ʒ/ voiced postalveolar fricative <age>; massage, pleasure, rouge, usually

<sure>; precision
<sion>

/h/ voiceless glottal fricative <h> hope

/m/ voiced bilabial nasal <m>; <mm> meal, comma

/n/ voiced alveolar nasal <n>; <nn> note, tennis knit, knee, knife,
know, knock

/ŋ/ voiced velar nasal <ng>; <nk> ring, thanks

/l/ voiced alveolar lateral approximant <l>; <ll> lie, call

/r/ voiced postalveolar approximant <r>; <rr> rapid, carrot wrong, wrath, write

/j/ voiced palatal approximant <y> yes cute

/w/ voiced labial-velar approximant <w>; <wh> wave, why one, queen, quite

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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

VOWELS IN DEPTH
ACTIVITY 1: How are pure vowels classified?

When classifying vowels, the first distinction is usually made between vowel quality and vowel quantity. Quality is
determined by the resonant frequencies made in the vocal tract. This is done with the lips, the jaw and the
tongue. That’s why vowels are usually classified according to tongue height, tongue advancement (or backness)
and lip rounding. What’s more, vowel quantity is also considered in the classification of English vowels
(something which is unnecessary in Spanish). Quantity refers to length. In English, there’s a clear acoustic
distinction between long vowels and short vowels.

If you check the IPA’s vowel chart, you’ll see that tongue height is reflected vertically (from top to bottom ↓, you’ll
see close to open vowels), whereas tongue advancement (or backness) is shown horizontally (from left to right
→, you’ll see front to back vowels). Lip rounding is signalled just as voicing in consonants: the sounds come in
pairs. If this happens, the vowel on the left is unrounded and the one on the right is rounded. Length is not shown
in the IPA vowel chart, but we basically use a length mark for long vowels [ː].

As with consonants, Luke Nicholson has also created an interactive chart

that you can check by clicking here. In order to see the symbols we’re
using in this course, you have to select the Longman Pronunciation option
in “Choose your Dictionary”. Afortunadamente para quienes hablamos
español (Spanish again :O), el inventario de sonidos vocálicos en esta
lengua es más acotado que en la lengua inglesa, y podés comparar ambas
lenguas con la imagen8 que se adjunta a continuación.

8
Image source: https://www.spanishobsessed.com/lessons/pure-vowels/
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

If you pay attention carefully, you’ll see that the spanish /o/ and the English NORTH vowel /ɔː/ are around the
same position. How is this possible? Once again, we see that tradition has encouraged teachers to keep on using
the /ɔː/ symbol for the NORTH vowel even when /oː/ stands as the best option to describe the actual usage of the
language, as Lindsey proposes. The change in this vowel’s position is connected to a change that many vowels
have undergone called the anticlockwise vowel chain shift. As you’ll see in the chart below9, vowels are moving
and, in doing so, they push each other to a different position, which resembles the opposite direction clocks
follow, hence its name.

For a detailed description of the vowels of RP/SSBE, check the chart below. Remember we’re still sticking to the
traditional symbols in this course. Moreover, as with consonants, it’s of paramount importance that students
revise and study typical spellings and unusual spellings because that helps them improve their
transcription/dictation skills.
PURE VOWELS

N° TRAD. NEW NAME TYPICAL EXAMPLES UNUSUAL SPELLING

SYMBOL SYMBOL SPELLING

1 /iː/ /ɪj/ FLEECE <ee>; <ea>, <ee> cheese, meat, even field, machine, key,
police, people, kiosk

2 /ɪ/ /ɪ/ KIT <i> ring English, women,

eleven, busy, enjoy,
sieve

3 /e/ /ɛ/ DRESS <e> bed any, friend, said, bread,

9
Lindsey, G. (2019). English After RP. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

head

4 /æ/ /a/ TRAP <a> hand plaid, plait

5 /ɑː/ /ɑː/ START <ar>; <a>; <al> bar, bath, calm heart, laugh, aunt

6 /ɒ/ /ɔ/ LOT <o> pot watch, yacht, wash,

because, warrior

7 /ɔː/ /oː/ NORTH <or>; <al>; <aw>, door, all, saw, author water, warm, four,
<au> thought, fought

8 /ʊ/ /ɵ/ FOOT <u>; <oo> bull, good could, should, would,
woman

9 /uː/ /ʉw/ GOOSE <oo>; <u>, <ew> fool, rule, chew move, do, shoe, juice,
fruit

10 /ʌ/ /ʌ/ STRUT <u> cut wonder, does, done,

young, mother, won

11 /ɜː/ /əː/ NURSE <er>; <ir>, <ur> verb, girl, turn work, world, earth,
worse, earn, pearl,
colonel

12 /ə/ /ə/ commA UNSTRESSED alone, teacher,

(SCHWA) SYLLABLES fashion, doctor,
cactus

ACTIVITY CHECKING: Check your answer to activity 1 with the theory you’ve just read about.

ACTIVITY 2: How are diphthongs classified?

Moreover, in SSBE, apart from the twelve pure vowels seen above, we also have eight more vowels which are not
pure: they’re diphthongal. A diphthong is a vowel sound for which the tongue moves from one vowel position to
another within the same syllable. They are made of
two elements and the first element is more prominent.
In fact, the second element might even be dropped in
specific contexts. For the classification of diphthongs,
we analyse the direction of the movement of the
tongue. Those diphthongs for which the tongue moves
towards the central vowel schwa /ə/ are centring
diphthongs. If the movement is directed towards the
KIT /ɪ/ vowel or the FOOT vowel /ʊ/, we call it a closing diphthong. Check the diphthongs of SSBE below.

ACTIVITY CHECKING: Check your answer to activity 2 with the theory you’ve just read about.

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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

DIPHTHONGAL VOWELS

N° TRAD. NEW NAME TYPICAL EXAMPLES UNUSUAL SPELLING

SYMBOL SYMBOL SPELLING

- /aʊ/ /aw/ MOUTH <ou>; <ow> cloud, cow

- /əʊ/ /əw/ GOAT <o>; <oa> go, boat low, grow, shoulder,
Joe, sew, dough

- /aɪ/ /ɑj/ PRICE <i>; <y>, <igh>, like, spy, high, die buy, bye
<ie>

- /eɪ/ /ɛj/ FACE <a>; <ai>, <ay> age, straight, day grey, they, break, steak,
eight

- /ɔɪ/ /oj/ CHOICE <oi>; <oy> join, toy buoy

- /ɪə/ /ɪː/ NEAR <eer>; <ear>, beer, hear, here barrier, courier
<ere>

- /eə/ /ɛː/ SQUARE <air>; <are> chair, share Mary, swear, various,
Sarah, pear, where,
aeroplane

- /ʊə/ /ɵː/ CURE <ure> sure poor, tour

Moreover, we also have triphthongs in SSBE. As the name suggests, they’re vowel sounds which consist of three
elements. They are made of the combination of a closing diphthong and schwa:

COMBINATION TRIPHTHONG EXAMPLE

/eɪ/ + /ə/ /eɪə/ layer

/aɪ/ + /ə/ /aɪə/ fire

/ɔɪ/ + /ə/ /ɔɪə/ lawyer

/əʊ/ + /ə/ /əʊə/ lower

/aʊ/ + /ə/ /aʊə/ hour

These sounds create problems for syllable division, which we’re going to explore when discussing smoothing.

Activity 3: Transcribe the following text made up of nonsense words. Check spelling tendencies when doing it.10

“Eangil thoaved the niluation, but the auff jerned and mooted "yedge that bleesh"

10
Key to Activity 3: / ˈiːŋɡɪl ˈθəʊvd ðə nɪluˈeɪʃn̩ / bət ðə ˈɔːf ˈʤɜːnd ənd ˈmuːtɪd / ˈjeʤ ðæt ˈbliːʃ /
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 UNIVERSIDAD PROFESORADO UNIVERSITARIO de INGLÉS
NACIONAL DE CURSO INTENSIVO DE FONÉTICA SEGMENTAL
HURLINGHAM HEIT, MASSARO, SUÁREZ, VINCENTI

ASPIRATION
One of the distinctive characteristics of English pronunciation is aspiration. This is a feature that is connected to
the audible plosion (i.e. a burst of noise) that accompanies specific sounds. In English, it affects all plosives in
different degrees, especially voiceless plosives. It is clearly perceived when the voiceless plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/
are produced (1) syllable-initial, (2) stressed and (3) followed by a vowel. In these cases, we signal full aspiration
with a [ʰ] diacritic. When the voiceless plosives fail to follow at least one of the conditions described above, they
may have partial aspiration or no aspiration at all. In those cases, we won’t signal aspiration. For example, in the
word <taking>, the voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ is syllable-initial, stressed and followed by the vowel /eɪ/.
Therefore, it should be pronounced with aspiration. As opposed to that, the voiceless velar plosive /k/ is not
syllable-initial (TAYK-ing). Even though it’s followed by a vowel and part of a stressed syllable, that /k/ does not
require aspiration. For these reasons, the final transcription of the word <taking> is [ˈtʰeɪkɪŋ], with an aspirated
[tʰ] and an unaspirated [k]. Voiced plosives /b/, /d/ and /ɡ/ are also accompanied by plosion, but it’s weak and,
therefore, we will not mark it.

Aspiration is very important for the teaching of English since failing to produce the correct amount of aspiration
when full aspiration is needed will lead speakers to communication mishaps. If the
voiceless plosives /p/, /t/ and /k/ are not fully aspirated where they should be, native
speakers are likely to perceive them as their voiced counterparts /b/, /d/ and /ɡ/. In
other words, it’s not voicing but aspiration that helps speakers tell voiceless plosives
and the voiced ones apart. For this reason, even when plosives could be labeled as
occlusives and stops because of their manner of production, the term plosive is widely
used for teaching them because it puts the emphasis on a feature that is most
significant for communication. For a more visual explanation about aspiration, we recommend you to watch this
video. There’s a cat [kʰæt] on it!

Activity 1: Transcribe the following words and mark aspiration [ʰ] when necessary. When aspiration is not
necessary, account for your answer.11

top - sentiment - touch - pain - tenderness - taste - saccharine - miracle - basic - sweetly

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Key to Activity 1: [ tʰɒp ] - [ ˈsentɪmənt ] There’s no aspiration because none of the voiceless alveolar plosives /t/ is on a
stressed syllable; besides, the second one is followed by pause and at the end of the syllable. - [ tʰʌʧ ] - [ pʰeɪn ] - [
ˈtʰendənəs ] - [ tʰeɪst ] The second voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ is neither syllable-initial nor followed by a vowel. -
[ˈsækəriːn] The voiceless velar plosive /k/ is not syllable-initial - [ˈmɪrəkl̩] The voiceless velar plosive /k/ is not on a stressed
syllable - [ˈbeɪsɪk] - The voiceless velar plosive /k/ is not on a stressed syllable - [ˈswiːtli] The voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ is
not syllable-initial
12