ENGLISH CONSONANTS:

SYMBOLS AND
TRANSCRIPTION
TSLB3043 ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
Symbols

Each symbol or character in the IPA chart represents one fundamental sound of all languages.
However, our focus here will be on symbols that represent phonemes of the English language.
There are 44 phonemic symbols that represent the 26 letters of the English Language alphabet.
They are already listed in the phonemic chart on page 9 and 10. As the purpose of this session is to
teach you how to apply the symbols of English consonants in the transcription of words or
utterances, this will be explained in greater detail below
There are two main types of transcription; phonemic and phonetic
transcription. Roach (2010) has defined phonemic transcription
as a one to one identification of every speech sound into a
phoneme and written with the appropriate symbol. This indicates
that only phonemic symbols are used to transcribe words and/or
utterances and the symbols are enclosed within slant brackets / /.
For e.g., the word ‘put’ is transcribed as /pʊt/. This has an
advantage because it is easy and quick to use. However, it may
not be sufficient when you begin to study the more complex supra-
segmental features of English language later. You will discover that
there are lots of variations of sounds arising from the different accents
in English. Therefore, it is also necessary for you to learn about
phonetic transcription which not only displays a one-to-one
relationship between symbols and sounds but also examines the
differences in pronunciation between dialects within a given language
There are two types of phonetic transcription; broad transcription and narrow
transcription. A broad phonetic transcription only indicates the more
noticeable phonetic features of an utterance or has a little more information than
a phonemic transcription. On the other hand, a narrow phonetic transcription is
the transcription of every speech sound with more phonetic detail, either by using
specific symbols or by representing some allophonic differences.
When symbols are used to narrowly transcribe words phonetically, they are placed
within square brackets [ ] as the symbols represent precise phonetic values. For
example, the word ‘kill’ will be transcribed as [ˈkʰɪɫ] in a narrow phonetic transcription
where allophonic details are given. The symbol [kʰ] indicates that it is an allophone
(variant) of the phoneme /k/ which is aspirated in initial position. The dark /l/
represented by the symbol [ɫ] is an allophone of the phoneme /l/ which always
occurs after a vowel at the end of a syllable or word. Both allophones are in
complementary distribution as neither can occur in the same linguistic environment
with the other variants; the unaspirated [k] and the clear [l]
Such allophonic details are not required in the broad form of phonetic
transcription. For example, the word ‘kill’ can either be transcribed as /kɪl/ or /'kɪl/
(with a stress mark) in phonemic transcription. Now, let us study once again the
symbol that represents each consonant sound. Each symbol is listed on the left
of the table while a word with letter(s) in bold representing the consonant sound
and the phonemic transcription of the word are indicated on the right:
Symbol Example of word

/p/ pin = /p + ɪ + n/

/b/ bay = /b + eɪ/

/t/ to = /t + u/ or /t + ə/

/d/ do = /d + u/ or /d + ə/

/k/ key = /k + i:/

/g/ go = /g + əʊ/

/tʃ/ cheap = /tʃ + i: + p/

/dʒ/ bulge = /b + ʌ + l + dʒ /

/f/ fee = /f + i: /

/v/ veal = /v + i: + l/

/θ/ thick = /θ + ɪ + k/
Symbol Example of word

/ð/ then = /ð + e + n/

/ѕ/ so = /s + əʊ /

/z/ zoo = /z + uː /

/ʃ/ show = /ʃ + əʊ/

/ʒ/ beige = /b + eɪ + ʒ/

/h/ hi = /h + aɪ /

/m/ map = /m + æ + p/

/n/ nap = /n + æ + p/

/ŋ/ sing = /s + ɪ + ŋ/

/l/ lake = /l + eɪ+ k/

Symbol Example of word

/r/ room = /r + uː + m/

/j/ yak = /j + æ + k/

/w/ win = /w + ɪ + n/
Now, let’s do more practice on phonemic transcription so that you can learn to
read words in phonemic script and transcribe words using the symbols. With this
knowledge, it will enable you to model correct pronunciation of English words as
well as identify and rectify students’ pronunciation errors.