What sounds do English letters convey? Pronunciation of English sounds with and without rules

Hello reader! 🙂 Today we have once again prepared a whole training for you to learn the pronunciation of English sounds. In this series of articles (this is already the 3rd in a row) we will analyze the intricacies of the English phonetic system and find the differences between sounds in English from our Russians.

Today we will look at the analogues of the /o/ sound in English. Or rather, they are not exactly analogues, but our phonemic hearing plays a cruel joke on us, and we:

1. replace all three English sounds with Russian /o/,
2. We don’t see the difference between these 3 sounds and, thus, we change the meanings of some words.

We will practice the sounds of the English language as before: with the help of educational videos, a special set of words, exercises, tongue twisters and a song with a standard pronunciation. Let's go!

Attention: The article uses the British version of pronunciation. I will indicate below exactly what differences Americans have.

Pronunciation of the sound /ɜː/ – long vowels in English

Pronounced in words girl, nurse, learn, etc. The sound is very complex: something between our /o/ and /e/ (indicated in the letter eate d) And e (me l) respectively), while being neither one nor the other.

I would say that you need to take the position of your lips as for /e/, hold your mouth in that position, but try to pronounce /o/. Reminds me e in a word Ge those. The sound is long.

The dorsum of the tongue lies flat, the middle part of the tongue is slightly raised, higher than the front and back of the tongue. The tip of the tongue is located at the lower teeth. The edges of the tongue do not touch the upper teeth. The distance between the upper and lower teeth is quite narrow. The lips are tense and stretched, slightly revealing the teeth.

Errors in pronunciation of English words in Russian

What are the main mistakes of Russian speakers:

1. Complete replacement of /e/ into Russian in words like pearl(obsolete Russian is pronounced like this pearl), were and etc.

Advice: you need to give the sound / ɜː / a hint of the Russian sound / o /. The position of the lips is the same as for /e/, but we pronounce /o/.

2. Complete replacement with the Russian sound / o /, denoted by the letter ё in writing, in words like, worse, sir etc.

Advice: give the English sound a touch of Russian /e/. The lips should be stretched, the teeth should be brought closer together, the tongue should be flat.

And, accordingly, do not round your lips, as for Russian /o/. It is recommended to pronounce / ɜː / with almost the same extended lip position as for the phoneme / i: / => see /si:/ – sir /sɜː/, fee /fi:/ – fir /fɜ:/, heat /hi:t / – hurt /hɜːt/.

A stretched lip position is especially necessary when pronouncing / ɜː / after / w / => we /wi:/ – world /wɜːd/, we /wi:/ – work /wɜːk/, we /wi:/ – worm /wɜːm/.

3. Also note that the consonant before this vowel does not need to be softened (we’ll talk about this). In words like girl, first, bird and other consonants will be hard.

Advice: do not raise the middle back of the tongue towards the hard palate when pronouncing a consonant. First pronounce the hard consonant, and then start pronouncing the vowel.

Examples for English vowel sounds

Got it? Now we move on to establishing the correct pronunciation of words in English. We adjust the speech apparatus to the desired position and begin training:

first /ˈfɜːst/

stir /stɜːr/

fir /ˈfɜːr/

Great! And now I’ll tell you about the difference in pronunciation performed by an American (I didn’t say it before so as not to confuse). American transcription looks like this:

firm – /f ɝ ːm/ (or /fɜrm/ as in our language).

In British pronunciation, we can only hear the overtone /r/ at the junction of words, when the next word begins with a vowel: si r A lec /sɜː r æ lɪk/.

English tongue twisters for vowel sounds will help us consolidate the result:

• G e rman l ea rners l ea rnG e rman w o rds, T u rkish l ea rners l ea rnT u rkish w o rds.
• An ea rl gave P ea rl a f u r and a c ir cell of p ea rls for h er th ir ty–f ir st b ir thday.
• The f ir stsk ir t is d ir tier than the th ir d sh ir t, The f ir st sh ir t is d ir tier than the th ir dsk ir t.

Finally, let’s find this English sound in a famous song so that it is imprinted in the auditory memory. Since we took British pronunciation as a basis, the example will be exclusively British - The Beatles “Girl”

From 0:18 to 0:30

Sound /ɒ/ – pronunciation of short vowels in English

“Inverted a in English transcription” is pronounced in words doll, hot, what. The English sound is similar to the Russian /o/ under stress (as in the word PO st) But:

• our lips are more rounded (and protrude forward),
• for our sound the language rises higher, therefore the Russian sound is less open,
• our sound is longer.

How the speech apparatus works: the articulation is much like the sound /a:/, as in the word part(). But the root of the tongue is retracted back and down even more than with /a: /, and is not tense. The tip of the tongue is pulled further from the lower teeth than with /a:/ and is lowered down. The distance between the jaws is large. The lips are slightly rounded, lip protrusion is completely absent. The sound is short.

Advice: Since the English sounds /a:/ and /ɒ/ are somewhat similar, you can try this: start saying the word part /pa:t/(listen to the British pronunciation), but move the root of the tongue back as much as possible, DO NOT round your lips too much and make the sound short - you will get the correct pronunciation of the word pot /pɒt/(listen to the British version).

To avoid accidentally replacing the sound with Russian /o/, open your mouth wider, lower and move your tongue lower. When rounding your lips, do not protrude them forward and reduce the sound.

Let's move on to practice. Let's put the correct pronunciation of the English language using a set of words:

Once again I draw attention to the differences in American pronunciation. In AmE there is practically no “short o”, and they pronounce the above words with the sound / a: / (we talked about it above) – not /nɑːt/.

Watch from 2:01 to 3:22

Let's reinforce the pronunciation with tongue twisters in English to practice sounds:

• R o b o ften dr o ps his w a llet in sh o ps, T o m o ften dr o ps his w a llet at st o ps.
• D o lly w a nts to w a tch n o vels o n TV, P o lly w a nts to w a tch h o rrors o n TV.
• Kn o tt and Sh o tt f o ught a duel. Kn o tt w a s sh o t and Sh o tt w a s n o t. It w a s better to be Sh o tt than Kn o tt.

In conclusion line from a song. By the way, finding an example was not so easy... This sound is short, and I wanted it to be heard in the song. But singers have the right to stretch out even short sounds :) Therefore, we take as an example the rather fast and rhythmic song “13 Little Dolls” by British performer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Fight them hard then keep them safe
Those 13 little do lls
One for each moodo f the day
Those 13 little do lls
Cro ss your heart and try to sleep
Leave them out to play
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 little do lls

From 1:00 to 1:18

Sound /ɔː/ – pronunciation of vowel sounds in English

The sound /ɔː/ is pronounced in words horse, wall, law and etc.

The articulation sound is similar to the previous / ɒ / - the tongue moves back and down, BUT the back of the tongue is raised half the distance (and in the previous sound the root of the tongue is relaxed), so in this sound you feel how the hole in the throat “closes”. The lips are pressed together into a small hole, as if you are planning to kiss someone. The sound is long.

That is, in essence, we pronounce a very, very deep sound /o/, but the position of the lips is the same as for the sound /u/.

Understanding the difference between these sounds is also important because replacing a sound can change the meaning of a word:

cock /kɒk/ (rooster) – cork /kɔːk/ (bark, wine cork)

pot /pɒt/ (pot) – port /pɔːt/ (port)

wad /wɒd/ (a pack of something – banknotes, chewing gum) – ward /wɔːd/ (hospital ward)

Correct pronunciation of words in English

I hope you were able to catch the articulation of this sound. Let's move on to training in words:

store /stɔːr/

shore /ʃɔːr/

floor /flɔː r /

chalk /tʃɔːk/

fourth /fɔːθ/

thought /θɔːt/

brought /brɔːt/

Note that here too there is a difference from British pronunciation. In words like ball, small, low Americans are pronouncing the sound /a:/ again, and in words like horse /hɔːrs/ and north /nɔːrθ/– /r/ is pronounced. Read more about American pronunciation at.

Now let's move on to tongue twisters:

• A ll P au l's d au ghters were b o rn in C o rk, A ll W a lt's d au ghters were b o rn in Yo rk.
• F ou r expl o rers expl o re f o rty w a terf a lls, F o rty expl o rers expl o re f ou r w a terf a lls.
• D o ra's d au ghter is t a ller than N o ra's d au ghter, N o ra's d au ghter is sh o rter than D o ra's d au ghter.

As a musical example, I suggest taking the British group Pink Floyd and the song “Another Brick In The Wall” (or rather, one word from it - wall).

From 3:05 to 3:25

We do not say goodbye!

There are 44 (!!!) sounds in the English language. We have already examined 10. In the next article of this section we will focus on consonants. We haven’t decided which ones yet, so tell us in the comments :)

Read the continuation of the section: .

The sounds that represent are 44 English phonemes, which are divided into two categories: consonants and vowels. Since sounds cannot be written down, graphemes (letters or combinations of letters) are used to convey sounds in writing.

English alphabet

There are 26 letters in the English language. The standard one starts with the letter a and ends with the letter z.

When classifying alphabetic characters, the following are distinguished:

• 5 pure vowels: a, e, i, o, u;
• 19 pure consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z;
• 2 semivowels: y, w.

Learning the English alphabet requires knowledge of both the symbol that represents each letter and phonetic sounds associated with this letter. Learning English phonetics is difficult. Only a small number of letters have no exceptions in the basic sound.

In most cases, each letter has several phonemes. The letter B sometimes sounds like bat (bat) or does not sound, for example, in the words crumb (cram), dumb (dam). The letter C sounds like the “k” for cat, or the “c” for ceiling, or the “tch” for church. And the list of exceptions is endless.

Vowel sounds

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Features of English consonants

A consonant combination is a set of two or three consonant letters that, when pronounced, retain the original sound. Such sets occur either at the beginning or at the end of a word. For example, the word brave, in which both “b” and “r” are pronounced, is the initial combination. In the word bank “-nk” is the final combination.

Classification:

1. The starting combinations are classified into sets with "l", "r", and "s". In "l" the combination ends with "l". An example would be the letters “bl” in the word blind. In the same way, the final sound in “r” is combined with “r” when “br” and “cr”, for example, in the words bridge, crane. On the contrary, in “s” it begins with s, “st” and “sn” - stap, snail.
2. The final combinations are grouped into sets with "s", "l" and "n": -st, -sk, -ld, -nd, -nk. Examples: first, desk, gold, sand, sink.

Digraphs

Consonant digraphs refer to a set of consonants that form a single sound. Some digraphs appear both at the beginning and at the end of a word - “sh”, “ch” and “th”. There are also strict initial and final digraphs – “kn-” and “-ck”.

Examples of digraphs:

Ch-	-ch
Kn-	—ck
Ph-	-sh
Sh-	-ss
Th-	-th
Wh-	-tch
Wr-

Features of digraphs:

Table of pronunciation of English consonants

b	b	bag, band, cab	bag, band, cab
d	d	dad, did, lady, odd [ɒd]	grandfather, did, lady, od
f	f, ph, sometimes gh	fable , fact , if [ɪf], off [ɒf], photo , glyph	fable, fact, if, of, foutou, glyph
	g	give, flag	giv, flag
	h	hold, ham	hold, ham
j	usually represented by y, but sometimes by other vowels	yellow,yes,young,neuron,cube	yelow, ees, iyang, n(b)yueron, k(b)yu:b - the sound j is similar to the vowel sound i:.
k	k, c, q, que, ck, sometimes ch	cat, kill, queen, skin, thick [θɪk], chaos	kat, kil, qui:n, sik, keyos
l	l	lane, clip, bell, milk, sould	lane, clip, white, milk, sould – has two sound options: clear /l/ before a vowel, “darkened” /ɫ/ before a consonant or at the end of a word
m	m	man, them [ðem], moon	men, zem, mu:n
n	n	nest, sun	nest, san
ŋ	ng	ring, sing, finger [ŋ] is sometimes followed by the sound [g]. [ŋ] if "ng" is at the end of a word or a related word (sing, singer, thing), in "-ing", which translates verbs into participles or gerunds. [ŋg] if "ng" is not at the end of a word or in related words, also in comparative degrees(longer, longest).	/ring/, /sing/, /finge/
p	p	pen, spin, tip, happy	pen, spin, type, happy
r	r	rat, reply, rainbow,	rat, ripple, rainbow - movement of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, but without touching it
s	s, sometimes c	see, city, pass, lesson	si:, pa:s, lesn
ʃ	sh, si, ti, sometimes s	she [ʃi:], crash, sheep [ʃi:p], sure [ʃʊə], session, emotion [ɪməʊʃn], leash	shi:, crash, shi:p, shue, session, imeshn, li:sh
t	t	taste, sting	taste, sting
tʃ	ch, sometimes t	chair [ʧɛə], nature teach beach	t che e, ney t che, ti: t ch, bi: t ch
θ	th	thing [θɪŋ], teeth, Athens [æθɪnz[	t sing, ti: t s, et sins - voiceless fricative
ð	th	this [ðɪs], mother	d zis, ma d ze – voiced fricative
v	v, sometimes f	voice, five, of [ɔv]	voice, five, ov
w	w, sometimes u	wet, window, queen	u in et, u in indeu, ku in i:n – [w] similar to
z	z	zoo, lazy	zu:, lazy
ʒ	g, si, z, sometimes s	genre [ʒɑːŋr], pleasure, beige, seizure, vision	genre e, plezhe, beige, si:zhe, vision
dʒ	j, sometimes g, dg, d	gin [ʤɪn], joy [ʤɔɪ], edge	gin, joy, edge

English vowels

Each English vowel is pronounced in three ways:

1. like a long sound;
2. like a short sound;
3. as a neutral vowel sound (schwa).

There are 5 vowels in the English alphabet, but sometimes y becomes a vowel and is pronounced like i, and w replaces u, for example in the digraph ow.

Rules for reading vowels

Short vowels, which are characterized by a "short" sound, occur when a word contains one vowel, either at the beginning of a word or between two consonants. For example, if, elk, hop, fan. The typical short vowel pattern is consonant+vowel+consonant (CGS).

Words are taught as families, which represent groups of words with a common pattern, such as the pattern “-ag” – bag, wag, tag or “-at” – cat, bat, hat.

vowels:

Sound	Letter	Examples
[æ]	a	rag, sag, ram, jam, gap, sap mat
[ɛ]	e	hen, pen, wet, bet, let
[ɪ]	i	pig, wig, dig, pin, win, tin, tin, bit
[ɒ]	o	hop, pop, top, hot, pot, lot
[ʌ]	u	bug, lug, tug, hut, but, cut

vowels:

Sound	Writing	Examples
A	ai, ay, a+consonant+e	name, mail, gray, ace
E	e, ee, ea, y, ie ,ei, i+consonant+e	he, deep, beast, dandy, thief, receive, elite
I	i, i+gn, igh, y, i+ld, i+nd	mine, sign, high, sky, wild, kind
O	o+consonant +e, oa, ow, o+ll, ld	tone, road, note, know, roll, bold
U	ew, ue, u+consonant+e	few, due, tune

The vowel sound in unstressed syllables expressed with a shortened neutral sound ("schwa"), the phonemic symbol /ə/, especially if no syllabic consonants are used.

For example:

• a in about, around, approve, above [ə bʌv];
• e in accident, mother, taken, camera;
• i in, family, lentil, officer pencil;
• o in memory, common, freedom, purpose, London;
• u in supply, industry, suggest, difficult, succeed, minimum;
• and even y in sibyl;
• schwa appears in function words: to, from, are.

Features of vowel sounds in English

Vowels are classified as monophthongs, diphthongs or triphthongs. A monophthong is when there is one vowel sound in a syllable, a diphthong is when there are two vowel sounds in a syllable.

Let's take a closer look:

1. Monophthongs – pure and stable vowels, the acoustic characteristics (timbre) of which do not change during the time they are pronounced.
2. - a sound formed by a combination of two adjacent vowels in one syllable. Technically, the tongue (or other parts of the vocal apparatus) moves when pronouncing a vowel sound - the first position is stronger than the second. In diphthong transcription, the first character represents the starting point of the body of the tongue, the second character represents the direction of movement. For example, you should be aware that in the letter combination /aj/, the body of the tongue is in the lower central position represented by the symbol /a/, and immediately begins to move up and forward to the position for /i/.
3. Diphthongs are often formed when individual vowels work together in fast conversation. Usually (in the speaker’s speech) the body of the tongue does not have time to reach the /i/ position. Therefore, the diphthong often ends closer to /ɪ/ or even to /e/. In the diphthong /aw/ the body of the tongue moves from the lower central position/a/, then moves up and back to the /u/ position. Although there are also single diphthongs, which are heard as separate vowel sounds (phonemes).
4. There are also triphthongs in English.(combinations of three adjacent vowels), including three sound types, for example, fire /fʌɪə/, flower /flaʊər/. But in any case, all diphthongs and triphthongs are formed from monophthongs.

Pronunciation table for simple English vowel sounds

All vowel sounds are formed from only 12 monophthongs. Each, regardless of spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these sounds.

The table shows examples of simple English vowels with pronunciation in Russian:

[ɪ]	pit, kiss, busy	pete, kitty, bisi
[e]	egg, let, red	eg, years, ed
[æ]	apple, travel, mad	apple, travel, med
[ɒ]	not, rock, copy	note, rock, mine
[ʌ]	cup, son, money	cap, san, mani
[ʊ]	look, foot, could	bow, foot, cool
[ə]	ago, away	hey, hey
	be, meet, read	bi:, mi:t, ri:d
[ɑ:]	arm, car, father	a:m, ka:, fa:d ze
[ɔ:]	door, saw, pause	to:, from:, to:z
[ɜ:]	turn, girl, learn	te:n, gyo:l, le:n
	blue, food, too	blue:, fu:d, tu:

Diphthong pronunciation table

	day, pain, rein	dei, pein, rein
	cow, know	kou, know
	wise, island	Visa, Island
	now, trout	naw, trout
[ɔɪ]	noise, coin	noiz, coin
[ɪə]	near, hear	nee, hie
[ɛə]	where, air	uh, uh, uh
[ʊə]	pure, tourist	p(b)yue, tu e rist

Learning transcription of English words

Let's look at some features of English transcription:

There are a large number of videos online to listen to, and you can also practice using exercises.

We encounter discrepancies in the spelling and pronunciation of English words already in the first lessons, when we independently begin to read short texts and translate them. Therefore, along with the alphabet and simple vocabulary, beginning students need to become familiar with the concept of English transcription. It is this multi-symbol system that helps convey in writing the pronunciation of the sounds that make up a word. In today's lesson we will analyze the work of these symbols in practice, i.e. learn how English transcription should sound correctly, translation and pronunciation of the most useful words. In this case, examples of the correct sound will be presented in both English and Russian. But first, let's look at a few useful rules.

The principle of working with transcription

Record. Make it a rule that transcriptions of English words are always written using square brackets: book — [ b ʊk ] - book.

Emphasis. To indicate emphasis, use an apostrophe or, more simply, a stroke icon ′ , which preceded stressed syllable: dictionary – [ˈdɪkʃənrɪ] - dictionary.

Special signs. The transcription may contain periods, colons, parentheses, and resized letters.

• Dot - English uses this transcription mark as a syllable separator: undisputed – [ˈʌndɪsˈpjuːtɪd] – undeniable.
• Colon – indicator of a drawn-out long sound: water – [‘ w ɔ:t ə] – water.
• Parentheses are an indicator that the sound contained in them is not pronounced or is pronounced very weakly: happen – [‘ h æp (ə)n ] - happen, happen.
• The changed size of the letter is a designation of a sound that is not always pronounced. You can often find the r sound written in superscript format. This is an indicator that the pronunciation of a word depends on dialect or other circumstances, such as the following word: car – [ k ɑːr ] - car. By the way, the British pronunciation of words is abbreviated UK, and the American pronunciation is US.

Repeated characters. Depending on the dialect being studied, the recording of transcription signs may also differ. However, only their spelling is different; these sounds are pronounced the same. Here are pairs of such identical symbols: [ɒ] = [ɔ] , [e] = [ɛ] , [ʊ] = [u] , [əʊ] = [ɔu] , [z:] = [ə:] , = [ɛə] .

Armed with these rules, let's begin our acquaintance with the transcription and pronunciation of the English language.

English transcription translation and pronunciation of popular words

It is not new to Russians that words are pronounced differently from how they are written. But the sometimes very large-scale inconsistency that is found in the English language will amaze even the most unimpressive native speakers of the Russian language.

In the following tables we will study all the transcription signs of the English language, working out their correct sound using popular words. Since we still have an initial level of knowledge, we will work with pronunciation in easy mode, i.e. additionally deciphering English words Russian letters. In addition, each word will be presented With translation ohm into Russian. So by the end of studying the tables we will have significantly expanded our lexicon and, working with texts entry level, we can already do without dictionaries and online translators.

Let's start with practicing vowel sounds, since they are the most “capricious” in pronunciation. Extend the short sound a little - and that’s it, you have already said not a ship, but a sheep. Therefore, be careful and monitor the quality of pronunciation of each sound.

Vowel sounds
Sound	Word and transcription	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[ɑː] Long-drawn a, approximately like the stressed a in Russian. fell A that	start	staat	start off
	park	paak	a park
	large	laaj	large, big
	arm	aam	hand
	after [‘a:ftə]	aafte	after
[æ] uh, pronounced with articulation a	family	family	family
	bad	bad	bad
	apple ['æpl]	Apple	apple
	dance	dance	dance, dance
	can	ken	be able to
[ʌ] short a, as in Russian. St. A T	Sunday [ˈsʌndeɪ]	Sunday	Sunday
	study [ˈstʌdi]	stage	study
	suddenly [ˈsʌdənli]	sadenly	suddenly
	cup	cap	cup, bowl
	young	young	young
sound similar to Russian. cr ah	mind	mind	mind, thought
	try	try	try
	smile	smiley	smile, smile
	life	life	life
	sky	sky	sky
sound combination aw	house	house	house
	now	naw	now, now
	down	down	down
	hour [ˈaʊə(r)]	auer	hour
	flower [ˈflaʊə(r)]	flower	flower
drawn-out and, as in Russian. l And ra	evening [ˈiːvnɪŋ]	evening	evening
	machine	cars	apparatus, machine
	we	in and	We
	because	bicosis	because
	even [‘i:v(ə)n]	Ivn	even
[ɪ] short and as in Russian. whale	difficult [ˈdɪfɪkəlt]	dificelt	difficult
	story [ˈstɔːri]	story	story
	different [ˈdɪfrənt]	diffrent	different
	English [ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ]	English	English
	decision	design	solution
[iə] sound combination ee	near	nee	close, nearby
	hear	heer	hear
	theater [ˈθɪə.tər]	tieter	theater
	dear	die	Dear beloved
	here	hie	Here
[ə] neutral sound, vaguely reminiscent of a or e. Often not pronounced.	second [ˈsecənd]	second	second, second
	fire [ˈfaɪə(r)]	fire	fire
	under [ˈʌndə(r)]	andr	under
	across [əˈkrɒs]	ecros	through, through
	banana	benan	banana
[e] hard e, almost Russian e	never [ˈnevə(r)]	nevr	never
	help	help	help, help
	heavy [ˈhevi]	heavy	heavy
	next	next	next
	hotel	wanted	hotel
resembles the Russian sound hey in the word sh to her	fail	fail	failure
	change	change	change, change
	explain [ɪkˈspleɪn]	xplain	explain
	page	paige	page
	rain	Rhine	rain
sound combination uh	hair	heer	hair
	square	square	square
	chair	chaer	chair
	care	keer	care
	fair	fair	fair
[ɜː] Russian e, as in the word cl e n	first	fest	first
	girl [ɡɜːl]	girl	young woman
	Thursday [ˈθɜːzdeɪ]	sir	Thursday
	bird	bad	bird
	person [ˈpɜːsn]	songs	Human
[ɔː] drawn-out o, as in Russian. sl O in	water [‘wɔ:tə]	wate	water
	almost [‘ɔ:lməust]	Olmoust	almost
	before	bifor	before
	horse	hos	horse
	hall	hall	hall, hall
[ɒ] brief about (note that final consonants are not devoiced!)	not	notes	Not
	nod	node	nod
	fog	fog	fog
	stop	stop	stop
	lot	lot	a bunch of
[ɔɪ] combination Ouch	boy	the battle	boy
	foil	foil	foil
	joy	Joy	joy
	voice	voice	voice
	toy	that	toy
[əʊ] combination OU	road	road	road
	no	know	No
	most	bridge	greatest
	know	know	know
	foal	foul	foal
long y, as in Russian. duck	fool	full	jester
	room	room	room
	move	movie	move
	school	cheekbone	school
[ʊ] short	good [ɡʊd]	buzz	good
	put	put	put
	woman [ˈwʊmən]	woman	woman
	skid	use
	human [ˈhjuːmən]	human	human
	music [ˈmjuːzɪk]	music	music
	student [ˈstjuːdnt]	studnt	student

The English transcription of consonant sounds is much easier for Russian speakers to perceive, so the translation and pronunciation of words here will be intensively practiced only for special cases.

Ш By periodically working with these two tables, you will improve your pronunciation over time, and eventually become the owner of an excellent British accent. At the same time, your active vocabulary will increase, so that soon you will be able to translate without difficulty simple sentences both into Russian and back into English. We wish you successful and speedy mastery of all the nuances English pronunciation! See you in new classes!

	Consonants
Sound	Word and transcription	Voice acting	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[b]	building [ˈbɪldɪŋ]		building	building, construction
[d]	drink		drink	drink, drink
[f]	forever		fairware	forever
[ʒ]	pleasure [ˈpleʒə(r)]		pleaser	pleasure
	pruv	prove
[r]	rainbow [ˈreɪn.bəʊ]		rainbow	rainbow
[s]	summer [ˈsʌmə(r)]		Samer	summer
[t]	travel [ˈtrævl]		travel	journey
[θ] The tongue is inserted between the upper and lower teeth. In this position it is necessary to pronounce f or s.	thank [θæŋk]		tsank	thank
	three [θriː]

In the English (British) pronunciation system there are 44 sounds, which are divided into 24 consonants and 20 vowels, including 8 diphthongs. The following table shows individual English sounds and their corresponding English transcription signs, as well as examples of words in which they are pronounced.

Table of sounds of the English language:

Consonants
[ f ] five	[ d ] do	[ v ] very	[ k ] key
[ θ ] thick	[ g ] gas	[ ð ] this	[ tʃ ] chin
[ s ] so	[ dʒ ] Jim	[ z ] zoo	[ m ] mother
[ ʃ ] ship	[ n ] no	[ ʒ ] pleasure	[ ŋ ] long
[ h ] horse	[ l ] less	[ p ] park	[ r ] river
[ b ] book	[ j ] yellow	[ t ] tea	[ w ] white
Vowel monophthongs
[ i: ] eat	[ ə ] paper	[ i ] it	[ ʌ ] cup
[ e ] pen	[ ʊ ] cook	[ æ ] bad	[ u: ] school
[ a: ] art	[ ɜ: ] girl	[ ɒ ] box	[ ɔ: ] all
Vowel diphthongs
[ ai ] like	[ eə ] air	[ aʊ ] house	[ ʊə ] poor
[ ɔi ] boy	[ əʊ ] home	[ ei ] lake	[ iə ] ear

Classification of English sounds

According to the mechanics of education, English sounds are primarily divided into vowels And consonants phonemes. The pronunciation of vowel sounds is associated with active vibration of the vocal cords and the free passage of exhaled air through all speech organs. Consonant sounds, on the contrary, are formed by overcoming various obstacles, cracks and passages formed by the muscles of the vocal apparatus when the air stream exits.

Let us consider in more detail the classification of the sounds of the English language according to individual signs of articulation (the position of the speech organs when pronouncing sounds) and their comparison with Russian sounds.

Consonant sounds of English

When pronouncing consonant sounds, the air encounters various obstacles on its way, formed by the active organs of speech: tongue, lips, teeth and alveoli.

If the organs of speech close so that they completely block the passage for air, then we pronounce stop consonant. Such consonants are also called explosive, because when the speech organs open, a small explosion is heard.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ t ] , [ d ] , [ k ] , [ g ]
English stop plosives

[ P ], [ b ], [ T ], [ d ], [ To ], [ G ]
stop plosives Russian sounds

If air passes out through the nasal cavity, then such closing sounds are called nasal.

[ n ] , [ m ] , [ ŋ ]
English nasal stop sounds

[ n ], [ m ]
Russian nasal stop sounds

If the organs of speech do not close completely, but leave a narrow passage - a gap for air, then we pronounce slotted consonant.

[ θ ] , [ ð ] , [ ʃ ] , [ ʒ ] , [ s ] , [ z ] , [ h ] , [ f ] , [ v ] , [ w ] , [ r ] , [ j ] , [ l ]
English fricative sounds

[ With ], [ h ], [ f ], [ V ], [ w ], [ sch ], [ and ], [ l ]
Russian slot sounds

Among the consonants there are octopus-frictional sounds. They are called so because the opening of the barrier occurs slowly; the complete obstruction becomes a gap.

[ tʃ ] , [ dʒ ]
English stop-friction sounds

[ ts ], [ h ]
Russian stop-friction sounds

An obstruction to the path of exhaled air may be formed various organs speech. If the lower lip gets closer to the upper lip, then labiolabial consonants.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ m ] , [ w ]
labialial English sounds

[ P ], [ b ], [ m ]
labial Russian sounds

If the lower lip touches upper teeth, then such consonants are called labiodental.

[ f ] , [ v ]
labiodental English sounds

[ f ], [ V ]
labiodental Russian sounds

If the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth, then it is pronounced interdental consonant. There are no such sounds in the Russian language.

[ θ ] , [ ð ]
interdental English sounds

Russian consonants [ T ], [ d ], [ n ], [ l ] - dental, since the end of the tongue rises to the inner surface upper teeth. English consonants [ t ] , [ d ] , [ n ] , [ l ] , [ ŋ ] - alveolar, as the tip of the tongue touches or rises to the alveoli.

[ k ] , [ p ] , [ s ] , [ t ] , [ f ] , [ h ] , [ tʃ ] , [ ʃ ] , [ θ ]
voiceless consonants of English

[ To ], [ P ], [ With ], [ T ], [ f ], [ X ], [ h ], [ w ], [ sch ]
voiceless consonants of the Russian language

[ b ] , [ v ] , [ g ] , [ d ] , [ z ] , [ l ] , [ m ] , [ n ] , [ r ] , [ ʒ ] , [ dʒ ] , [ ð ]
voiced consonants in English

[ b ], [ V ], [ G ], [ d ], [ and ], [ h ], [ l ], [ m ], [ n ], [ R ], [ ts ]
voiced consonants of the Russian language

Vowel sounds of English

To classify English vowel sounds, we consider various provisions tongue relative to the hard palate, as well as what part of the tongue is involved in articulation and how high the back of the tongue rises to hard palate.

Distinguish front vowel sounds when the tip of the tongue rests against the base of the lower teeth, and the back of the tongue comes quite close to the hard palate: English vowel [ i:] and Russian [ And ].

If the tongue is pulled back and the tip of the tongue is lowered, and the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate, we pronounce back vowel sounds: English sound [ a:] and Russian sounds [ O ], [ at ].

By the position of the lips they distinguish rounded And unrounded vowel sounds. For example, when pronouncing the Russian sound [ at] lips round and move forward: [ at] is a rounded vowel. When pronouncing [ And] lips are slightly stretched, but not pushed forward: sound [ And] - unrounded vowel.

The quality of the vowel depends on the tension of the muscles of the speech organs: the more tense the articulation, the clearer and brighter the sound. Accordingly, vowels are distinguished tense And relaxed. For example, the English vowel sound [ i:] is pronounced with more tension than [ i ] .

Pronunciation of English sounds

By looking at the contents of our English phonetics guide, for each of the English sounds you will find detailed description features of its pronunciation and articulation, methods of transmission in writing and examples of sound, as well as comparisons with other sounds and their Russian analogues.

It consists of 26 letters, with 44 sounds. Therefore, you need to clearly know how to pronounce this or that sound, because the sound of the same letter may differ. This happens according to a certain system; such pronunciation rules are universal. To know them means to know the language.

Correct pronunciation of vowels

The sounds of the English language can be divided into vowel sounds and consonant sounds. There are several rules for reading and pronouncing vowel sounds, such as E, A, Y, U, I, O.

To better remember and understand how to correctly read the sounds of the English language, a table with examples and transcription for convenience in Russian letters will help you quickly remember the rules of reading.

• the type of pronunciation is associated with the presence of an open syllable in a word. Any syllable that ends with a vowel is considered open, including if the vowel is unreadable.
• type of pronunciation - consonant syllable.
• type of pronunciation - vowel with the letter “r”. The letter G determines the prolonged sound of the vowel, which is at the root of the word.
• reading type - 2 vowels and the letter G between them. In this case, the letter G is not readable. And vowels have a special pronunciation.

How to read consonants in English

The pronunciation of consonants in English also has its own characteristics. To understand how to correctly read the consonants of the English language, transcription in Russian letters will help you.

The letters sh are read as sh, ch as h, tch - h, ck - k, wh as uo (for example, what) or x (for example, xy), ng as n, q as kv, nk- as nc and wr as p , th is pronounced as with interdental vowels if they are at the beginning of a word, and as z in pronoun words, function words, between vowels.

Diphthongs in English: pronunciation rules

There are also vowel sounds that go together. They're called diphthongs and are pronounced according to special rules. Vowel sounds in English and their pronunciation often depend on whether they appear at the beginning, middle or end of a word.

The diphthong is pronounced "ay". It is expressed in writing by the vowels “i” and “y” in an open syllable with stress, the letter combination “ie” and “ye” at the end of the word, as well as “uy”, “eye”, “igh”.

i - line [line]
y - fly [fly]
ie - tie [tai]
ye - dye [give]
uy - guy [guy]
eye - eyebrow [eyebrov]
igh - knight [night]

[ɔɪ] is read like the Russian "oh". In writing it is expressed through "oi", "oy".

oi - noisy [noisy]
oy - annoy [enoy]
reads like "hey".

In writing it is conveyed by the letter “a” in an open stressed syllable, and by the letter combinations “ai”, “ay”, “ey”, “ea”, “ei”.

a - save [save]
ai - main [main]
ay - tray [tray]
ey - gray [gray]
ea - great [great]
ei-eight

It's read as "ay". The sound "a" is longer than "u". In writing it is conveyed through the letter combinations “ow”, “ou”.

ow - town [town]
ou - pound [pound]

[əu] is read as the average between the sound combinations “ou” and “eu”. The letter contains the letter “o” in an open stressed syllable, and letter combinations “ow”, “ou”, “oa”, “o+ld”, “o+ll”

o - bone [bone]
ow - snow [snow]
ou - soul [soul]
oa - coat [coat]
old - cold [cold]
oll - roller [roller]

[ɪə] is read as “ee”, “i” is long, and “e” is short. In writing it is conveyed by the letter combinations “ear”, “eer”, “ere”, “ier”.

ear - gear [gie]
eer - deer [die]
ere - severe [sivie]
ier - fierce [fies]

[ɛə] is read "ea" or "ee". The sound is a clear “e” and an intermediate between “e” and “a”. In writing it is conveyed using the letter combinations “are”, “ear”, “air”.

are - care [kee]
Bear - bear [bae]]
air - repair [repeer]]

It is read as "ue", while the "u" is longer than the "e". It is expressed by the letters "ue", "ure", "ou+r".

ue - cruel [cruel]
ure - sure [shue]
our - tour [tuer]]

Combination of vowels and consonants

In the English language, there is such a pattern when certain vowels are combined with consonants. For example, the combination al, if it is before the letter k, and after it there are other consonants. The combination of letters wo, if the previous syllable has consonants. Wa - if this combination comes before vowels at the end, the exception is r or if it is combined with consonants, for example, warm. We have already described the combination igh among diphthongs, as well as the combination qua, if it is found before consonants other than r.

And go through listening exercises. You will only listen to the correct pronunciation of real American English!