English sounds and letters - a simple explanation. Transcription and reading rules in English

The phonetics of the English language is so complex and interesting that we have devoted more than one article to it. Here you can find, and here you will find English words. General information about it is presented in this article, and today we want to talk about how English sounds are pronounced correctly. English transcription and a convenient table of English sounds with pronunciation will help us with this.

Why does the pronunciation of English sounds raise so many questions? Primarily due to the mismatch in the number of letters and sounds in the English language. There are almost half the number of letters in the English alphabet (26 letters and 48 sounds). Consequently, the pronunciation of sounds is impossible to correlate each with its own letter. Hence the confusion. More precisely - certain conditions that allow you to master the English pronunciation correctly.

What determines the pronunciation of English sounds?

Until we read "to ourselves", that is, silently, we will not be able to recognize the sound of English words. Only pronunciation aloud allows you to cope with practical phonetics. And in practice, the sounds of the English language and their pronunciation directly depend on the so-called articulation. That is, on how we use the organs of speech.

The organs of speech, or the articulatory apparatus, are the larynx, tongue (tip of the tongue, front of the tongue, middle and back of the tongue with the root), soft and hard palate, teeth of the upper and lower jaw, lips, nasopharynx. A whole system of organs involved in the creation of speech and voice sounds.

To pronounce all sounds correctly, you need to use all organs of articulation. At the same time, different organs are needed for different sounds. For example, to pronounce voiceless consonants, the vocal cords are not tense and spread apart. But for vowels and voiced consonants, you need to strain the vocal cords and literally make them vibrate. Of course, this is not done deliberately. The correct pronunciation of sounds itself “turns on” certain parts of the articulatory apparatus. But for correct English pronunciation, it is useful to know exactly how the sounds appear.

Pronunciation of vowels and their types in English

There are two types of vowel sounds in English:

1. Monophthongs- these are vowel sounds, during the pronunciation of which the articulation does not change during the entire period of sounding. Monophthong example: [ɔː].
2. Diphthongs are vowel sounds made up of two components. When pronouncing a diphthong, the speech organs first occupy one position for pronouncing the first component, and then change position for pronouncing the second component. The first component is called the nucleus of the diphthong, it is longer and more distinct. The second component of the diphthong sounds shorter and gives the sound a certain “hue” to the sound. Diphthong example:.

Consonants are divided into more varieties:

1) Labial consonants:

labial are articulated with both lips: [w], [m], [p], [b]

labiodental are pronounced with the lower lip and upper teeth: [f], [v].

2) Front-lingual consonants:

interdental, when the surface of the anterior part of the tongue forms an incomplete obstruction with the upper teeth: [θ], [ð]

apical-alveolar, the anterior edge of the tongue is raised to the alveolar arch: [t], [d], [n], [l], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ],,

cacuminal-postalveolar, the anterior edge of the tongue is raised up and slightly bent to the posterior slope of the alveoli: [r].

3) Middle-language consonants, the barrier is formed by raising the middle part of the tongue to the hard palate: [j].

4) Back-lingual consonants that are articulated by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate: [k], [g], [ŋ].

5) Laryngeal the only consonant in English: [h].

6) Bows consonants: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g], [m], [n], [ŋ],,.

7) Slotted consonants: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], [h], [w], [l], [r], [j].

8) Bows noisy consonants:

explosive, when the full obstruction opens, air exits the oral cavity, producing an explosion noise: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g]

affricates, when the opening of the speech organs that form a complete barrier occurs smoothly:,.

9) fricatives consonants: [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [∫], [ʒ], [h].

10) Nasal sonants, a complete obstruction forms in the oral cavity, the soft palate descends, and air exits through the nasal cavity: [m], [n], [ŋ].

11) Oral sonants: [w], [r], [j], [l].

Sounds of the English language and their pronunciation

Reading aloud and pronouncing English sounds is the best, if not the only, way to get rid of the Russian accent in colloquial speech. And for beginners to learn English, this is an opportunity to immediately remember how to pronounce sounds in English correctly. All of them are collected in tables of English sounds with pronunciation:

English vowel sounds. English Vowel Sounds
Sound	Description	Example words
iː	Long vowel sound. When pronouncing a sound, the tongue is in front of the mouth. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth. The middle part of the tongue is raised high towards the hard palate. The lips are somewhat stretched.	feel read
	Short vowel sound. When pronouncing the sound [ɪ], the tongue is in front of the mouth. The middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate, but not as high as when pronouncing the Russian sound [and]. The tip of the tongue is at the lower teeth, the lips are slightly stretched.	unit wind
	Short vowel sound. Pronounced with a slight rounding of the lips. When pronouncing the sound [ʊ], the tongue is at the back of the mouth, but not very far away. The back of the back of the tongue is raised to the front of the soft palate, but not as high as when pronouncing the Russian sound [y]. The lips are slightly rounded, but hardly protrude forward.	put look
	Long vowel sound. When pronouncing a sound, the tongue is at the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is significantly raised. The lips are rounded, but slightly. By the end of the sound, the lips are rounded more.	noon blue
	Short vowel sound. When pronouncing the vowel sound [e], the tongue is in front of the mouth. The tip of the tongue is at the base of the lower teeth, the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate. The lips are slightly stretched. When pronouncing the sound [e], do not lower the lower jaw.	bed desk
	A short, neutral vowel sound. This sound is always unstressed, therefore it is very easily influenced by neighboring sounds. When pronouncing the sound [ə] at the beginning or in the middle of words, the entire language is slightly raised. The sound [ə] should not be similar to the Russian sounds [e], [a] or [s].	again under
	Long vowel sound. When pronouncing the sound [ɜː], the tongue is raised, the back of the tongue lies flat. The tip of the tongue is at the lower teeth. The teeth are slightly exposed, the distance between the upper and lower teeth is small. The lips are tight and slightly stretched.	work burn
	Long vowel sound. When pronouncing the sound [ɔː], the tongue is at the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is raised to the soft palate. The lips are slightly forward and well rounded.	small morning
	Semi-long vowel sound. When pronouncing the sound [æ], the mouth is wide enough, the tongue is in the front of the mouth, lies flat in the mouth, and its middle part is slightly raised. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth. The lips are slightly stretched, and the corners of the lips are slightly pulled to the sides. There is no such sound in Russian.	bad exam
	Short vowel sound. When pronouncing the sound [ʌ], the mouth is half-open, the lips are neutral, the tongue is slightly pushed back. The back of the tongue is slightly raised.	nut cut
	Long vowel sound. When pronouncing the sound [ɑː], the tongue is at the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is slightly raised. The tip of the tongue is pulled away from the lower teeth, the lips are neutral, that is, they are not stretched or pushed forward. Do not open your mouth wide.	dark are
	Short vowel sound. When pronouncing the sound [ɒ], the tongue is at the back of the mouth. The back of the tongue is slightly raised. The mouth is open wide, the lips are rounded.	not wash

The length of vowel sounds, which in transcription is indicated by a colon, is very important. If you do not take into account the duration of the vowels, then you can confuse the meaning of words. For example: short sound ship [ʃɪp] - ship and long sound sheep [ʃiːp] - ram.

English diphthongs. English Diphthongs
Sound	Description	Example words
ɪə	Diphthong. The core is the vowel sound [ɪ]. After pronouncing the sound [ɪ], the tongue moves towards the center in the direction of the neutral vowel [ə], which has the tone of the sound [ʌ].	real beer
	The core of the diphthong is the vowel sound [e]. After pronouncing [e], the tongue makes a slight upward movement in the direction of the sound [ɪ], but does not reach its full formation.	say table
	The core of the diphthong is the vowel sound [ʊ]. After pronouncing the sound [ʊ], the tongue moves towards the center in the direction of the neutral vowel [ə], which has the tone of the sound [ʌ].	tour jury
	The core of a diphthong is a vowel, which is a sound in between [ɒ] and [ɔː]. After pronouncing the first element of the diphthong, the tongue moves in the direction of the vowel sound [ɪ].	boy noise
	The core of the diphthong is close in sound to the vowel sound [ɜː], after pronouncing which the tongue makes a slight upward movement and moves back in the direction of the vowel sound [ʊ]. At the beginning of pronouncing the diphthong, the lips are slightly rounded, then gradually the lips are rounded even more.	coat flow
	The core of the diphthong is a vowel similar to the Russian sound [e] in the word it, after pronouncing which the language moves in the direction of a neutral vowel [ə] with a tinge of sound [ʌ].	where their
	The core of the diphthong is a vowel similar to the Russian sound [a] in the word tea, when pronounced, the tongue is in the front of the mouth and lies flat. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, the lips are slightly stretched. After pronouncing the first element of the diphthong, the tongue moves up in the direction of the sound [ɪ].	five my
	The core of the diphthong is a vowel similar to the Russian sound [a] in the word tea, when pronounced, the tongue is in the front of the mouth and lies flat. The tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, the lips are slightly stretched. After pronouncing the first element of the diphthong, the tongue moves back in the direction of the sound [ʊ], which should be very weak.	how cloud

Pronunciation of consonants in English

If you have noticed that the intonations of the English language are more energetic in comparison with Russian, then this fully applies to English words as well. And that means, and sounds. English consonants are pronounced energetically, with great impulses and energy expenditure. Keep this in mind when reading tables of English consonant sounds with pronunciation:

English consonants. English Consonant Sounds
Sound	Description	Example word
	Voiced consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [b], the lips first close, and then instantly open, and air exits through the mouth.
	Voiced consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [d], the tip of the tongue is pressed against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), forming a complete obstruction. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.
	Voiced consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [ʒ], the tip of the tongue is at the alveoli (small bumps behind the upper teeth), and the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.
	Voiced consonant sound. When pronouncing a sound, the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), at the same time the middle part of the tongue rises to the hard palate. Gradually, the tip of the tongue moves away from the alveoli. The sound is pronounced similarly, but loudly, with a voice.
	Voiced consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [ɡ], the back of the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, forming a complete obstruction. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.
	Voiced consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [v], the lower lip is slightly pressed against the upper teeth, and a stream of exhaled air passes into the gap between them.
	Voiced interdental consonant sound. To pronounce the sound [ð] correctly, you need to place the tip of your tongue between your teeth. The tongue should be flat and not tense, and the teeth should be bared. The tip of the tongue between the teeth forms a small gap, and you need to exhale air into this gap.
	Voiced consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [z], the tip of the tongue is against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth). A jet of air with friction passes through a groove formed between the anterior dorsum of the tongue and the alveoli.
	A voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [p], the lips first close, and then immediately open, and air exits through the oral cavity.
	A voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the dull sound [t], the tip of the tongue is pressed against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), forming a complete obstruction. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.
	A voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [ʃ], the tip of the tongue is at the alveoli (small bumps behind the upper teeth), and the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.
	A voiceless consonant. When pronouncing a sound, the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), at the same time the middle part of the tongue rises to the hard palate. Gradually, the tip of the tongue moves away from the alveoli.
	A voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [k], the back of the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, forming a complete obstruction. A jet of air with an explosion opens this barrier.
	A voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [f], the lower lip is slightly pressed against the upper teeth, and a stream of exhaled air passes into the gap between them.
	A voiceless interdental consonant. To pronounce the sound [θ] correctly, you need to place the tip of your tongue between your teeth. The tongue should be flat and not tense, and the teeth should be bared. The tip of the tongue between the teeth forms a small gap, and you need to exhale air into this gap.
	A voiceless consonant. When pronouncing the sound [s], the tip of the tongue is against the alveoli (small bumps behind the upper teeth). A jet of air with friction passes through a groove formed between the anterior dorsum of the tongue and the alveoli.
	Labial-labial consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [m], the lips are closed, the soft palate is lowered, and the air stream passes through the nasal cavity.
	Nasal consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [n], the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli (small bumps behind the upper teeth), the soft palate is lowered, and air passes through the nasal cavity.
	Nasal consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [ŋ], the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, the soft palate is lowered, and air passes through the nasal cavity.
	A voiceless consonant. The sound [h] is formed without the participation of the language, while at the moment of its pronunciation, the language takes the position for the subsequent vowel.
	Consonant. When pronouncing the sound [l], the tip of the tongue is pressed against the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth), but the lateral edges of the tongue are lowered, forming a passage for a stream of air.
	Consonant. When pronouncing the sound [r], the tip of the tongue is raised to the posterior slope of the alveoli (small tubercles behind the upper teeth). The tip of the tongue should be kept tense and motionless.
	Labial-labial consonant sound. When pronouncing the sound [w], the lips are strongly rounded and pushed forward, forming a round slit. The back of the tongue is raised to the soft palate. Then instantly the tongue and lips move to the position for pronouncing the next vowel.
	Consonant. When pronouncing the sound [j], the middle part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate, but not as high as when pronouncing Russian [y]. The edges of the tongue are pressed against the upper teeth, creating an air passage along the middle of the tongue.

All these subtleties may seem complicated only in theory. In practice, the position of the tongue and lips is remembered after several repetitions. And the best exercises for practicing pronunciation of English sounds are also practice. Listen to the speech of native speakers, high-quality audiobooks (by the way, this is excellent) and try to repeat the pronunciation of words.

It is always worth paying attention to the shades of sound, because in learning English there are no insignificant trifles, every detail is important. But on the other hand, this approach will give the desired result: correct English pronunciation of sounds and words, and as a result - clear speech without an accent.

We come across a discrepancy in the spelling and pronunciation of English words already in the first lessons, when we independently begin to read small texts and translate them. Therefore, along with the alphabet and the simplest vocabulary, novice students need to get acquainted with such a concept as English transcription. It is this multi-character system that helps to convey the pronunciation of the sounds that make up the word in writing. In today's lesson, we will analyze the work of these symbols in practice, i.e. we will learn how the English transcription should sound correctly, the translation and pronunciation of the most useful words. At the same time, examples of correct sounding will be presented in both English and Russian. But first, let's take a look at a few useful rules.

The principle of working with transcription

Recording. Make it a rule that the transcription of English words is always written using square brackets: book — [ b ʊk ] - book.

Stress. To indicate stress, use an apostrophe or, more simply, a stroke icon ′ , which the preceded stressed syllable: dictionary – [ˈDɪkʃənrɪ] - dictionary.

Special signs. Dots, colons, parentheses, and resized letters may appear in transcriptional notation.

• Period - English uses this transcriptional sign as a syllable separator: undisputed – [ˈɅndɪsˈpjuːtɪd] - undeniable.
• The colon is an indicator of a drawn out long sound: water – [‘ w ɔ: t ə] - water.
• Parentheses are an indicator that the sound enclosed in them is not pronounced or pronounced very weakly: happen – [‘ h æp (ə) n ] - to happen, to happen.
• Changed letter size - not always pronounced sound. You can often find the r sound written in superscript format. This is an indication that the pronunciation of a word depends on the dialect or other circumstances, such as the following word: car – [ k ɑː r ] - a car... By the way, the British pronunciation of words is indicated by the abbreviation UK, and the American - US.

Repeated symbols. Depending on the studied dialect, the recording of transcription signs may also differ. However, only their spelling is excellent, these sounds are pronounced in the same way. Here are pairs of such identical symbols: [ɒ] = [ɔ] , [e] = [ɛ] , [ʊ] = [u] , [əʊ] = [ɔu] , [h:] = [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 a novelty for a Russian person that words are not spoken the way they are written. But the sometimes very large-scale discrepancy that occurs 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 transcriptional signs of the English language, working out their correct sound with the help of popular words. Since we still have an initial level of knowledge, we will work with pronunciation in an easy mode, i.e. additionally decoding English words with Russian letters. In addition, every word will be presented with translation ohm into Russian. So by the end of the study of tables, we will significantly expand our vocabulary and, working with entry-level texts, we can already do without dictionaries and online translators.

Let's start with practicing vowel sounds, as they are the most "capricious" in pronunciation. Stretch out a 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 the pronunciation of each sound.

Vowel sounds
Sound	Word and transcription	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[ɑː] Prolonged a, approximately like a shock a in Russian. fell a that	start	staat	start off
	park	paak	a park
	large	laaj	large, large
	arm	aam	hand
	after [‘a: ftə]	aafte	after
[æ] uh, pronounced with articulation a	family	femeli	a family
	bad	bad	bad
	apple [‘æpl]	epl	Apple
	dance	dance	dance, dance
	can	ken	be able to
[ʌ] short a, as in Russian. sv a T	Sunday [ˈsʌndeɪ]	sunday	Sunday
	study [ˈstʌdi]	stage	study
	suddenly [ˈsʌdənli]	sadanly	suddenly
	cup	drip	goblet, bowl
	young	young	young
sound like russ. cr ah	mind	mind	mind, thought
	try	trai	try
	smile	smiley	smile, smile
	life	life	life
	sky	skye	sky
sound combination ay	house	house	House
	now	naw	now, now
	down	down	way down
	hour [ˈaʊə (r)]	auer	hour
	flower [ˈflaʊə (r)]	flower	flower
lingering and, as in Russian. l and ra	evening [ˈiːvnɪŋ]	evening	evening
	machine	machine	apparatus, machine
	we	in and	we
	because	bicosis	because
	even [‘i: v (ə) n]	ivn	even
[ɪ] short and like in Russian. whale	difficult [ˈdɪfɪkəlt]	difikelt	difficult
	story [ˈstɔːri]	story	history
	different [ˈdɪfrənt]	differential	different
	English [ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ]	english	English
	decision	design	solution
[iə] sound combination IE	near	nie	close, close
	hear	hier	hear
	theater [ˈθɪə.tər]	tietr	theatre
	dear	die	Dear beloved
	here	hie	here
[ə] a neutral sound that vaguely resembles a or e. Often not pronounced.	second [ˈsekənd]	sacknd	second, second
	fire [ˈfaɪə (r)]	fire	Fire
	under [ˈʌndə (r)]	andr	under
	across [əˈkrɒs]	ecros	through, through
	banana	benane	banana
[e] solid e, almost Russian e	never [ˈnevə (r)]	nevre	never
	help	help	help, help
	heavy [ˈhevi]	heavy	heavy
	next	next	next
	hotel	hotel	hotel
resembles the Russian sound hey in the word sh her	fail	fail	failure
	change	changer	change, change
	explain [ɪkˈspleɪn]	xplain	explain
	page	paige	page
	rain	rain	rain
sound combination uh	hair	heer	hair
	square	square	square
	chair	chaer	chair
	care	keer	care
	fair	feer	equitable
[ɜː] Russian e as in the word cl e n	first	fest	first
	girl [ɡɜːl]	girl	young woman
	Thursday [ˈθɜːzdeɪ]	shozdei	Thursday
	bird	bad	bird
	person [ˈpɜːsn]	song	human
[ɔː] lingering about, as in Russian. sl O in	water [‘wɔ: tə]	wote	water
	almost [‘ɔ: lməust]	olmoust	almost
	before	bifor	before
	horse	hos	horse
	hall	cold	hall, hall
[ɒ] brief about (note that final consonants are not stunned!)	not	notes	not
	nod	node	nod
	fog	fog	fog
	stop	stop	stop
	lot	lot	lots of
[ɔɪ] combination Oh	boy	the battle	boy
	foil	foyle	foil
	joy	Joy	joy
	voice	voice	voice
	toy	that	a toy
[əʊ] combination OU	road	road	road
	no	know	No
	most	must	the greatest
	know	know	know
	foal	foul	foal
lingering y, as in Russian. duck	fool	full	jester
	room	room	room
	move	mov	move
	school	cheekbones	school
[ʊ] short y	good [ɡʊd]	good	good
	put	put	lay down
	woman [ˈwʊmən]	wumen	female
	skid	use
	human [ˈhjuːmən]	human	human
	music [ˈmjuːzɪk]	music	music
	student [ˈstjuːdnt]	student	student

It is much easier for Russian speakers to perceive the English transcription of consonants, therefore, the translation and pronunciation of words here will be intensively worked out only for special cases.

Working with these two charts from time to time will improve your pronunciation over and over again and end up with a great British accent. In parallel, the active vocabulary will also increase, so that soon you can easily translate simple sentences both into Russian and back into English. We wish you successful and early development of all the nuances of English pronunciation! See you in new classes!

	Consonant sounds
Sound	Word and transcription	Scoring	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[b]	building [ˈbɪldɪŋ]		building	building, construction
[d]	drink		drink	drink, drink
[f]	forever		faerevare	forever and ever
[ʒ]	pleasure [ˈpleʒə (r)]		pleger	pleasure
	prov	prove
[r]	rainbow [ˈreɪn.bəʊ]		rainbow	Rainbow
[s]	summer [ˈsʌmə (r)]		Samer	summer
[t]	travel [ˈtrævl]		travel	travel
[θ] The tongue is inserted between the upper and lower teeth. In this position, it is necessary to pronounce f or s.	thank [θæŋk]		tsenk	thank
	three [θriː]

Hello reader! 🙂 Today we have again prepared for you a whole training for setting the pronunciation of English sounds. In this series of articles (this is already the third in a row), we will analyze the subtleties of the English phonetic system and find the differences between the sounds of the English language from ours, Russian ones.

Today we will analyze the analogs of the / o / sound in English. Rather, they are just not analogues, but our phonemic hearing plays a cruel joke with us, and we:

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

We will build the practice of the sounds of the English language, as before: with the help of training videos, a special set of words, exercises, tongue twisters and songs with a reference pronunciation. Let’s go!

Attention: English pronunciation is used in the article. What exactly are the differences between the Americans, I will indicate below.

Sound pronunciation / 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 e) and e (me l) respectively), while it is neither one nor the other.

I would say that you need to take the position of the lips, as for / e /, hold your mouth in this position, but try to pronounce / o /. Reminds e in the 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 at the lower teeth. The edges of the tongue are not in contact with 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 for Russian / e / in words like pearl(outdated Russian is pronounced like that pearl), were and etc.

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

2. Complete replacement for the Russian sound / o /, denoted by the letter e 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 brought closer together, the tongue should be flat.

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

The stretched position of the lips 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 will talk about this). In words like girl, first, bird and other consonants will be solid.

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

Examples for English vowel sounds

Understood? Now let's move on to setting the correct pronunciation of words in English. We adjust the speech apparatus to the desired position and start training:

first / ˈfɜːst /

stir / stɜː r /

fir / ˈfɜː r /

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

firm - / f ɝ ːM / (or / fɜrm / as we have on).

In British pronunciation, we can only hear the / r / overtones 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 to consolidate the result:

• G e rman l ea rners l ea rn G e rman w o rds, T u rkish l ea rners l ea rn T u rkish w o rds.
• An ea rl gave P ea rl a f u r and a c ir clet of p ea rls for h er th ir ty - f ir st b ir thday.
• The f ir st sk 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 d sk ir t.

Finally, we will find this English sound in a famous song so that it will be imprinted in the auditory memory. Since we have taken the 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 Russian / o / under stress (as in the word NSO st) but:

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

How the speech apparatus works: articulation is a lot like the sound / a: /, as in the word part(). But the root of the tongue is laid back and down even more than with / a: /, 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, the protrusion of the lips is completely absent. The sound is short.

Advice: since the English sounds / a: / and / ɒ / are somewhat similar, you can try this: start pronouncing the word part / pa: t /(listen to the British pronunciation), but move back the root of the tongue 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).

In order not to accidentally replace 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 get down to practice. Let's put the correct pronunciation of English using a set of words:

Again, I draw your attention to the differences in American pronunciation. There is practically no “short o” in AmE, 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 fix 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 song... By the way, it was not so easy to find an example ... This sound is short, and I wanted it to be heard in the song. But singers have the right to stretch even short sounds 🙂 Therefore, we take as an example the rather fast and rhythmic song “13 Little Dolls” by the British singer 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 vowels in English

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

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

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

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

cock / kɒk / (cock) - cork / kɔːk / (bark, wine cork)

pot / pɒt / (pot) - port / pɔːt / (port)

wad / wɒd / (pack of something - banknotes, gum) - ward / wɔːd / (hospital ward)

Correct pronunciation of words in English

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

store / stɔː r /

shore / ʃɔː r /

floor / flɔː r /

chalk / tʃɔːk /

fourth / fɔːθ /

thought / θɔːt /

brought / brɔːt /

Note that here too there is a difference from the British pronunciation. In words like ball, small, low Americans again pronounce the sound / a: /, and in words like horse / hɔːrs / and north / nɔːrθ /- / r / is pronounced. Learn 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 propose to take 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 English. We have already dealt with 10. In the next article in this section, we will focus on consonants. We haven't decided on which ones, so tell us in the comments 🙂

Read the continuation of the heading: .

"I don't understand transcription", "And how is it written in Russian letters?", "Why do I need these sounds?" success in English.

Without knowing the transcription, it will be difficult for you to understand the structure of English pronunciation, you will constantly make mistakes, have difficulty learning new words and using dictionaries.

Since school, the attitude of many to transcription is frankly negative. In fact, there is nothing complicated in the transcription of English. If you did not understand it, it means that this topic was not explained to you properly. In this article, we will try to fix it.

To understand the essence of transcription, you must clearly understand the difference between letters and sounds. Letters Is what we write, and the sounds- what we hear. Transcription marks are sounds represented in writing. For musicians, this role is played by notes, and for you and me - transcription. In Russian, transcription does not play a big role in taboo, as in English. There are vowels, which are read differently, and combinations that need to be remembered, and letters that are not pronounced. The number of letters and sounds in a word does not always coincide.

For example, the word daughter has 8 letters, and four sounds ["dɔːtə]. If the final [r] is pronounced, as in American English, then there are five sounds. The vowel combination au gives the sound [ɔː], gh is not read at all, er can be read as [ə] or [ər], depending on the version of English.

There are a lot of such examples. It is difficult to understand how to read a word, and how many sounds are pronounced in it, if you do not know the basic rules of transcription.

Where can you find transcription? First of all, in dictionaries. When you find a new word in the dictionary, there must be information next to how the word is pronounced, that is, transcription. In addition, in textbooks, the lexical part always contains a transcription. Knowledge of the sound structure of the language will not allow you to remember the incorrect pronunciation of words, because you will always identify a word not only with its literal representation, but also with a sound one.

In domestic publications, transcription is usually placed in square brackets, and in dictionaries and manuals of foreign publishing houses, transcription is presented in oblique brackets / /. Many teachers use oblique brackets when writing transcriptions of words on the board.

Now more about the sounds of the English language.

There are only 44 sounds in English, which are subdivided into vowels(vowels ["vauəlz]), consonants(consonants "kɔn (t) s (ə) nənts]) Vowels and consonants can form combinations including diphthongs(diphthongs ["dɪfθɔŋz]) Vowel sounds in English differ in length in brief(short vovels) and long(long vowels), and consonants can be divided into deaf(voicelss consonants), voiced(voiced consonants). There are also those consonants that are difficult to attribute to voiceless or voiced. We will not delve into phonetics, since at the initial stage this information is quite enough. Consider the table of sounds of the English language:

Let's start with vowels... Two dots near the symbol indicate that the sound is pronounced for a long time, if there are no dots, then the sound should be pronounced briefly. Let's see how vowel sounds are pronounced:

- long sound AND: tree, free

[ɪ ] - short sound AND: big, lip

[ʊ] - short sound U: book, look

- long sound U: root, boot

[e] - the sound E. Pronounced in the same way as in Russian: hen, pen

[ə] - neutral sound E. Sounds when the vowel is not stressed or at the end of a word: mother ["mʌðə], computer

[ɜː] - a sound similar to the sound Yo in the word honey: bird, turn

[ɔː] - long sound O: door, more

[æ] - the sound of E. Pronounced widely: cat, lamp

[ʌ] - short sound A: cup, but

- long sound A: car, mark

[ɒ] - short sound O: box, dog

Diphthongs- these are combinations of sounds, consisting of two vowels, are always pronounced together. Consider the pronunciation of diphthongs:

[ɪə] - IE: here, near

- Uh: fair, bear

[əʊ] - EH (OU): go, no

- AU: how, now

[ʊə] - UE: sure [ʃuə], tourist ["tuərɪst]

- HEY: make, day

- HEY: my, bike

[ɔɪ] - OH: : boy, toy

Consider consonants sounds. Voiceless and voiced consonants are easy to remember, since each of them has a pair:

Deaf consonants:	Voiced consonants:
[p] - sound P: pen, pet	[b] - sound B: big, boot
[f] - sound Ф: flag, fat	[v] - sound B: vet, van
[t] - sound T: tree, toy	[d] - sound D: day, dog
[θ] is an interdental sound that is often confused with C, but when pronounced, the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth: thick [θɪk], think [θɪŋk]	[ð] is an interdental sound that is often confused with Z, but when pronounced, the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth: this [ðɪs], that [ðæt]
[tʃ] - sound H: chin [ʧɪn], chat [ʧæt]	[dʒ] - J sound: jam [ʤæm], page
[s] - sound C: sit, sun	[z] - sound Z:
[ʃ] - sound Ш: shelf [ʃelf], brush	[ʒ] - sound Ж: vision ["vɪʒ (ə) n], decision
[k] - sound К: kite, cat	[g] - sound Г: get, go

Other consonants:

[h] - sound X: hat, home
[m] - sound M: make, meet
[n] - English sound H: nose, net
[ŋ] is a sound similar to H, but pronounced through the nose: song, long - a sound reminiscent of P: run, rest
[l] - English sound Л: leg, lip
[w] is a sound similar to B, but pronounced with rounded lips: , west
[j] - sound Y: you, music ["mjuːzɪk]

Those who want to gain a deeper understanding of the phonetic structure of the English language can search for resources on the Internet, where they will tell you what sonorant, occlusive, slit and other consonants are.

If you just want to understand the pronunciation of English consonants and learn how to read the transcription without the theory you do not need, then we recommend separating all consonants sounds for such groups:

• Sounds that pronounced almost the same as in Russian : these are the majority of consonants.
• Sounds that similar to those in Russian but pronounced differently. There are only four of them.
• The sounds that not in Russian ... There are only five of them and it is wrong to pronounce them the same way as in Russian.

Pronunciation of sounds marked yellow, practically does not differ from Russian, only sounds [p, k, h] are pronounced "aspirated".

Green sounds- these are the sounds that you must pronounce in the English manner, they are the reason for the accent. The sounds are alviolar (you probably heard this word from your school teacher), to pronounce them, you need to raise your tongue to the alvioli, then you will sound "in English".

Sounds marked red, are absent in Russian at all (although it seems to someone that this is not so), so you should pay attention to their pronunciation. Do not confuse [θ] and [s], [ð] and [z], [w] and [v], [ŋ] and [n]. There are fewer problems with the [r] sound.

Another nuance of transcription is stress, which is marked with an apostrophe in the transcription. If there are more than two syllables in a word, then stress is always present:

Hotel -
police -
interesting - ["ɪntrəstɪŋ]

When a word is long, polysyllabic, it may contain two accents, with one upper (main), and the second - lower. The lower stress is denoted by a comma-like sign, and is pronounced weaker than the upper one:

disadvantage - [ˌdɪsəd "vɑːntɪʤ]

As you read the transcription, you may notice that some sounds are presented in parentheses (). This means that the sound can be read in the word, or you can not pronounce it. Usually in brackets you can find a neutral sound [ə], a sound [r] at the end of a word, and some others:

Information - [ˌɪnfə "meɪʃ (ə) n]
teacher - ["tiːʧə (r)]

Some words are given two pronunciation options:

Forehead ["fɔrɪd] or [" fɔːhed]
Monday ["mʌndeɪ] or [" mʌndɪ]

In this case, choose the option that suits you best, but remember that this word can be pronounced differently.

Many words in English have two pronunciations (and thus transcriptions): British English and American American. In this situation, memorize the pronunciation that corresponds to the variant of the language you are learning, try not to mix words from British English and American English in your speech:

Schedule - ["ʃedjuːl] (BrE) / [" skeʤuːl] (AmE)
neither - ["naɪðə] (BrE) / [ˈniːðə] (AmE)

Even if before that you could not stand transcription, then after reading this article you saw that reading and composing a transcription is not at all difficult! You were able to read all the words in the transcription, right? Apply this knowledge, use dictionaries and be sure to pay attention to the transcription if you have a new word in front of you, in order to memorize the correct pronunciation from the very beginning and not to relearn later!

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When starting to learn English, many neglect the study of transcription, considering it a waste of time. However, correct pronunciation is one of the main goals in learning a foreign language.

Where to start?

Pronunciation of individual sounds. Words in English are read differently than they are spelled, so learning transcription will be the most effective approach to language learning. In order to learn english sounds on your own, it is recommended to go through the study of each sound of the English language separately.

All the sounds of English

Reasons to learn the sounds of English

1. When learning transcription, you learn the rules of reading. Having analyzed only about a hundred words, you will be able to build logical chains, determine the basic patterns of pronunciation of sounds. Over time, you will be able to pronounce words correctly without much effort. Learning the rules does not eliminate the need to listen to English speech. It is important to develop both auditory and visual memory.
2. By reading aloud, you improve your pronunciation skills. The lack of correct pronunciation will become an obstacle in overcoming the language barrier, and subsequently will become the reason for the development of the complex during communication. Incorrect pronunciation can change the meaning of a word or sentence.

Intonation. When working on intonation, it is important to listen to foreign speech. Regularly use audio lessons in teaching, repeat after the speaker, try to feel the intonation. Memorize short verses and dialogues. In order to hear yourself from the outside - use a dictaphone, and then work on mistakes.