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Voiceless Voiced Pure Vowels Diphthongs Triphthongs

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شهد فرات رستم امين
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22 views4 pages

Voiceless Voiced Pure Vowels Diphthongs Triphthongs

Uploaded by

شهد فرات رستم امين
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© © All Rights Reserved
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English Sounds

Consonants Vowels

Voiceless Voiced Pure vowels Diphthongs Triphthongs

Vowels are those sounds which are formed when there is no definite obstruction to the
flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips. In English we have twenty (20) vowel
sounds. They are of two types. The first one is called pure vowels (12) while the other is
called diphthongs (8). All the vowel sounds are voiced.

Pure vowels are those vowels which are formed (made) when there is no glide (movement)
from one vowel position into another vowel position. In English we have twelve (12) pure
vowels. They are either long or short.

Short pure vowels are /i, e, ӕ, ᴧ, ə, o, u/ (7)

Long pure vowels are /i:, 3:, ɔ:, a:, u:/ (5)

Vowels are classified according to the following criteria:

1- The height of the tongue. ( open, half-open, close, half-close)


2- Which part of the tongue raised.
3- The shape of the lips.

4- The length of the vowel.


/i:/ is a front, close, spread long pure vowel.

Diphthongs are those vowels which are formed when there is a glide (movement) from one
vowel position into another vowel position. An important point about diphthongs to know is
that they consist of two parts where the first part is much longer and stronger than the second
part. For instance the diphthong in the word “eye” /ai/ is noticeable when glade moves from the
/a/ vowel to /i/ vowel, the loudness of the sound decreases.

There are eight diphthongs in English Sounds as they are shown in the following diagram:

Diphthongs

centering closing

ending in / ə/ ending in /i/ ending in /u/

/ iə/ as in beard /ei/ as in paid /əu/ as in home

/ eə/ as in air /ai/ as in nice /au/ as in house

/uə/ as in lure / ɔi/ as in voice

Triphthongs are those vowels which are formed when there is a glide from one vowel
position into another vowel position then to a third. In English we have five triphthongs.
They are composed of closing diphthongs with /ə/.

/eiə / as in layer, player

/aiə / as in fire, liar

/ɔiə / as in loyal, royal

/əuə / as in lower, mower

/auə / as in power, hour


Consonants are those sounds which are formed when there is definite obstruction to the
flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips. Consonants are 24 sounds and can be
voiceless and voiced.

Voiceless sounds / p, t, k, Ѳ , f, s, Ѕ, tS, h/ (9)

Voiced sounds / b d g ð v z Ҙ d3, m, n, ŋ, l, r, w, j / (15)

Consonants are described according to the following points:


1- Place of articulation. It refers to the part of the vocal tract where the obstruction to
the air flow occurs. There are nine positions where the air flow is obstructed to produce
a consonant.
- Bilabials / p b m w/
- Labiodentals / f v/
- Dentals / Ɵ ð/
- Alveolars / t d s z n l/
- Post – alveolar /r/ (
- Palato-alveolars / Ѕ 3 tS d3/
- Palatal / j/
- Velar / ƞ k g /
- Glottal /h/
2- Manner of Articulation
It refers to the way in which the articulators obstruct the airflow in the vocal tract and
as they are listed below:
- Fricatives / f v Ѳ ð s z S 3 h/
- Stops/plosives / p b t d k g/
- Affricates / tS d3/
- Nasals / m n ƞ/
- Lateral / l/
-Approximants / w r j/
3- Voicing. It describes state of the vocal cords in terms of vibration . Voiced sounds
are produced with the vocal cords being in a position of vibration while voiceless are
produced without vibration.
/p/ is a voiceless bilabial stop consonant sound.

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