English Phonetics PDF

# Chapter 12: Pronunciation and Transcription (Phonetic Symbols) ## English Speech Sound - The English alphabet contains twenty-six letters which are divided into vowels and consonants. - Traditionally, we have learnt that there are five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and the rest are consonants. - Ho...

# Chapter 12: Pronunciation and Transcription (Phonetic Symbols) ## English Speech Sound - The English alphabet contains twenty-six letters which are divided into vowels and consonants. - Traditionally, we have learnt that there are five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and the rest are consonants. - However, this is not exactly true in case of speech sounds. - In fact these twenty-six letters of English alphabets with some other symbols, represent forty-four speech sounds. - These forty-four sounds are divided into twenty vowels and twenty-four consonants. - The twenty vowels are further divided into pure vowels and diphthongs: ### Speech Sounds | | | | | -------------------------------- | ------------------ | ------------------ | | **Consonants** | **Vowels** | **Diphthongs** | | | **Pure vowels** | | ## What is Consonant? - A consonant is a speech sound in the production of which there is some hindrance to the air stream at some point in mouth. - There are twenty-four consonant sounds in English. - All these are described below: - **IPl and Ibl (प और ब)**: These consonants are known as Bilabial plosives. In the production of these, as the lips are shut together, the pressure of air is built and the air is released with an explosion. - The sound |PI is represented by the letter P. - In some words like 'receipt', the sound IPl is silent. - Similarly, Ibl is represented by letter b and it also remains silent in words like comp, debt etc. - **It] and [d] (ट और ड)**: These consonants are known as Alveolar Plosives. - The sounds are released after the tip of the tongue makes a contact with the teeth ridge and the air passes with an explosion. - Like IPI, It too is aspirated in the beginning of accented syllables. - **Ikl and igl (क और ग)**: These sounds are velar plosives. Just like IPI and It, Iki u also aspirated at the beginning of stressed syllables. e.g. In words like cool, clean, care, clerk etc. However, it remains unaspirated. - **Itf! and Idyl (च और ज)**: These sounds /t/l and Id31 are Affricates which are produced by a complete closure of the air passage and a slow release that causes friction. - Itjl gives the sound equivalent somewhat to that of Hindi || in words like chair, such, catch, furniture, picture etc. - Similarly, the sounds 1d31 sounds like Hindi | जा and is used in words like general, join, jump, suggest, soldier, judge etc. - **Ifl and [v] (फ और व)**: These consonants Ifl and Ivl are Labio-dental Fricatives and are produced when the lower lip is brought very close to the edge of the upper teeth and the air comes with friction. - **101 and । । (थ और द)**: The sound 101 and 1 are known as Dental Fricatives as the tip of the tongue comes close to the edge of the upper teeth and the air passes through the tip and blade of the tongue and the upper teeth with friction. - The sound 101 is used in words like thin, think, thick etc. - Whereas the consonant 18 is used in words like there, that, these, this etc. - **Isl and [z] (स और ज)**: The consonants Island |2| are Alveolar Fricatives. The tip and the blade of the tongue are brought very near to the teeth ridge and the air comes out through a narrow groove with friction. - Since, there exist some confusion over the choice of the 1st or Izl sound, it is better to keep in mind that the suffix 's' or 'es' is pronounced Ist in words like caps, takes, laughs, months, etc. after voiceless consonants the ones for which our vocal cords do not vibrate. - However, in the words such as robs, bags, lines, trees, heads, shows, loves etc the final 's' is pronounced as 121 for in these words in spellings, the final 's' appears after a vowel or a voice consonant sound. - **Ifl and Izl (श और ज)**: The consonants II and Izl are known as Plato-Alveolar Frictives and to pronounce them correctly one must bring the tip and blade of the tongue very close to the teeth ridge and allow the air to pass through the narrow passage with audible friction. - The situation with the pronunciation of the sound Izl is all the more despairing as for Indian speakers, this sound does not exist at all. - Hence, practice the follow words using 121 sound properly in words like measure, confusion, barrage, vision, revision, pleasure, decision etc - **hl (है)**: The consonant sound Ihl is a Glottal Fricative as it is produced with the air coming through narrow glottis with friction. - This sound never occurs finally in English. - **Iml, Inland || (म, न और अं)**: There are three nasal sounds in English. They are Iml, In and in sound, while I ml is a Bilabial nasal sound, Inl happens to be the Alveolar Nasal sound and Inl is the velar Nasal. - In the production of these consonants, the air is released through the nose, as there is a complete closure in the mouth passage when we speak them. - **111 (ल)**: lisalateral consonant as there is a closure in the midle of the mouth and the air comes out through sides. - **if (t)**: The cay before and it is known as Post-Alveolar Frictionless Continuantin. Thi sound is used only before vowel sounds and it does not occur finally aless Continuantin. Thi - **lil and I w1 (य और ब)**: These two consonants are known as Semi-vowels. Iefore consonants. - In the production of these sounds, there is a vowel glide from one to another more prominent sour in the same syllable. - In the sound Ijl there is a glide from lil and in Iwl the glide is from lu. ## What is Vowel? - A vowel is a speech sound in the production of which the air comes out of the mouth with any obstruction at all. - There are twenty vowels in English speech sound. - These vowels are further divided into pure vowels and diphthongs. ### Vowel Sounds | | | | | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | **Pure vowels** | **Diphthongs** | | | **i: । (ई):** As in these, feed, green, cream, each, sea, field, teach, complete etc. | | | | **111: (इ):** As in silk, thick, fill, slip, dip, hit, bit, begin, rich, thin etc. | | | | **lel (ए):** As in bed, dead, head, any, many, said, feel, let, these, met, tell, etc. | | | | **| Ivel (ऐ):** As in band, man, sad, fan, mass, rash, back, flag, axe, mango etc. | | | | **८ (अ) :** As in bus, cut, dust, gun, hunt, much, munch, pump, run, uncle etc. | | | | **la: । (आ):** As in card, art, bar, farm, large, march, fast, master etc. | | | | **1 :1 (ओ):** As in hot, cold, bottle, dog, lock, pot, solve, moral, more etc. | | | | **1:1 (ओ):** As in all, horse, force, ball, call, hall, corn, morning etc. | | | | **| |l (3) :** As in book cook, look, took, wood, cushion, full, push, sugar, could, etc. | | | | **| [u:] (ऊ) :** As in tube, rule, groove, suit, lose, foolish, music, beautiful etc. | | | | **13:1 (अ):** As in serve, term, third, dirt, girl, burn, cure, hurt, murder etc. | | | | **191 ():** As in about, gentleman, human, effort, society, problem, particular etc. | | | ## Pure Vowel - A pure vowel is that vowel in which only one sound is made. - There are twelve pure vowels in English speech sound. ## Diphthong - A diphthong is that vowel in which two sounds are heard. - "Di" means double and means sound. - Hence, a diphthong means "double sound". - There are eight diphthongs in English speech sound. - These are given below: - **Jell (3):** As in gace, bait, rail, mail, fail, train, age, make, may, say, pray exc - **[all ():** As in time, bite, ice, fine, mine, pope, nice, write, climb exc. - **[১] () :** As in boil, choice, noice, oil, point, voice, annos, boy, toy etc - **1001 (3):** As in home, bone, nose, rope, both open, social, bold, go, no, 50, DOR - **lavl ():** As in about, bound, sound, round, allow, cow, how, now etc. - **11 (35):** As in mere, cheer, tear, fear, dear, near, ear, fear, deer, clear, exc - **leal ():** As in air, chair, fair, pair, bare, care, share, bear etc. - **1 ():** As in poor, sure, tour, actual, pure, fell, duel etc. ## Transcription of Words - Transcription is the act of writing the English words in their Phonetic symbols, which we already studied. - The following examples will help you to learn transcripition. | Word | Division | Transcription | |-----------|------------------|--------------------| | Society | so-ci-e-ty | /sə'szrati/ | | Observe | ob-serve | /abzav/ | | Development| de-ve-lop-ment | /divsatati/ | | Breakfast | break-fast | /brekfest/ | | Famous | fa-mous | /fermes/ | | Creature | crea-ture | /krinja(ry/ | | Sure | sure | /fuǝ(r)/ | | Nuisance | nui-sance | /njuisns/ | | Heard | heard | /h3:d/ | | Daughter | daugh-ter | done(r) | | Morning | mor-ning | /manm/ | | Master | mas-ter | /maste(r)/ | | Enough | e-nough | I'm.f/ | | Force | force | /fois/ | | Serious | se-rious | /Slarias/ | | Human | hu-man | /hjuimən/ | | Because | be-cause | /brkoz/ | | Surface | sur-face | /s3ifrs/ | | Hunger | hun-ger | Manga(ry | | Measure | mea-sure | /mez (r)/ | | Island | is-land | /alland/ | | Silence | si-lence | /sarlans/ | | Wear | wear | /weǝ(r)/ | - **Rxrle** | **bo-ttle** | /botl/ | - **Character** | **cha-rac-ter** | /kærəktə(r)/ | - **Musician** | **mu-si-cian** | /mju zijn/ | - **Quanin** | **o-cca-sion** | /kelz/ | **No. recalling the symbols of the forty-four English sounds you have learnt and the rules of the hard-stress, transcribe the following words, putting stress on the proper syllable:** | Word | Transcription | Word | Transcription | |-----------|--------------------|-------|--------------------| | computer | /kəm'pjultə(r)/ | hot | /hot/ | | dictionary| /drkonri/ | fan | /fan/ | | justify | /dzastrfar/ | attack | /s'tek/ | | statement | /stertmənt/ | specify | /spesifal/ | | serious | /sləriəs/ | quality | /kwolati/ | - **Word** | **Transcription** | - **computer** | /kəm'pjultə(r)/ | - **dictionary** | /drkonri/ | - **justify** | /dzastrfar/ | - **statement** | /stertmənt/ | - **serious** | /sləriəs/ | ## Types of Sentence ### Assertive Sentence - Those sentences which state facts, describe things, or report events are called statements and these sentences. - The assertive sentence has two kinds: 1. Affirmative sentence (positive) 2. Negative sentence ### Affirmative Sentence - When a sentence declares any statement in a positive sense, it is called an affirmative or declarative sentence. - **Examples:** - I can write English. - Ram can go there. - **Rules:** - Subject + Verb + Object Or Subject + Helping verb + Verb + Object ### Negative Sentence - A sentence which conveys the negative sense is called a negative sentence. - **Examples:** - He has no money today. - Ram does not like coffee. - **Rules:** - Sub + Helping Verb + not + Verb + Object ### Interrogative Sentence - A sentence that asks a question to the reader or listener is called an interrogative sentence. - **Examples:** - Do you play football? - **Rule:** - Helping verb + Sub + Verb + Object + ? - **Examples:** - What do you like? - Where do you live? - Question word + Helping verb + Sub + Verb + Object + ? - All the interrogative sentences have question mark in place of full stop at the end of sentence. ## Imperative Sentence - A sentence which does not have any subject before the verb, and starts with a verb is called an imperative sentence. - These sentences show order, request, advice, suggestion, etc. - **Rules:** - Verb + Object Or Negative Helping verb + Verb + Object - **Examples:** - Get out from my class. - Do not smoke here. ## Exclamatory Sentence - A sentence which expresses the sudden or strong feelings or emotions in the message conveyed by the speaker is called an exclamatory sentence. - It shows the exclamations of joy, sorrow, surprise etc. - These sentences have an exclamatory sign (!) after the particular word used for expression or the end of sentence. - **Examples:** - Hurrah! We have won the match. - Alas! I have lost my daughter. - What a beautiful flower it is! ## Optative Sentence - Those sentences which convey a wish, blessing, prayer etc. are called optative sentences. - These sentences also have a sign of exclamation. - **Examples:** - May you live long! - If I were a prime minister! ## Chapter 2: Parts of Speech - Words divided into different kinds or classes, according to their uses are called parts of speech.  - There are eight parts of speech in English. ### Parts of Speech | | | | | | | | | |-----------------------|----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | **Noun** | | | | | | | | | **1. Proper Noun** | | | | | | | | | **2. Common Noun** | | | | | | | | | **3. Collective Noun** | | | | | | | | | **4. Material Noun** | | | | | | | | | **5. Abstract Noun** | | | | | | | | | **6. Concrete Noun** | | | | | | | | | **7. Countable and un-countable** | 1. **Personal Pronoun** | 1. **Adjective of quality** | 1. **Auxiliary (helping) verbs and (lexicol) main verbs** | 1. **Adverb of Time** | 1. **Simple Preposition** | 1. **Co-ordinating conjunctions** | 1. **Interjectior** | | | 2. **Reflexive Pronoun** | 2. **Adjective of quantity** | 2. **Transitive and intransitive verbs** | 2. **Adverb of Place** | 2. **Compound Preposition** | 2. **Subordinating conjunctions** | | | | 3. **Possessive Pronoun** | 3. **Adjective of number** | 3. **Finite and infinite verbs** | 3. **Adverb of Number** | 3. **Phrase Preposition** | 3. **Correlative conjunctions** | | | | 4. **Relative Pronoun** | 4. **Demonstrative Adjective** | 4. **Linking and Phrasal verbs** | 4. **Adverb of Manner** | 4. **Participial Preposition** | | | | | 5. **Demonstrative Pronoun** | | 5. **Dynamic and stative verbs** | 5. **Adverb of Degree** | | | | | | 6. **Interrogative Pronoun** | | | 6. **Adverb of Reason** | | | | | | 7. **Indefinite Pronoun** | | | 7. **Adverb of Affirmation and Negation** | | | | | | 8. **Reciprocal Pronoun** | | | | | | | | | 9. **Distributive Pronoun** | | | | | | | 1. **Noun**: The name of a person, thing or place. 2. **Pronoun**: Word used in place of noun. 3. **Adjective**: Word used to add something to the meaning of noun. 4. **Verb**: Word used to express an action or state. 5. **Adverb**: Word used to add something to the meaning of a verb, to an adjective, another adverb. 6. **Interjection**: Word used to express the sudden feeling.