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The Phonemic Alphabet

I use the "phonemic alphabet" in many of my classes. (Click here to see the whole alphabet.) It is a very useful tool. This page will help you to understand it.

Why use the phonemic alphabet?

English spelling is crazy! Logically, words like plough, through, though and cough should RHYME (end with the same sound), because they all end with the same letters: -ough. But they do NOT rhyme. And there are thousands more examples of strange English spelling.

To help us to learn English pronunciation, a simpler, more logical alphabet was developed: the phonemic alphabet. It is used in most dictionaries, and can help make pronunciation less mysterious.

Each sound has exactly ONE phonemic symbol (letter). So a word like cough, which has FIVE letters but only THREE sounds, is written with THREE phonemic letters:

/kɒf/

(We always put phonemic writing between forward slashes, like this:  /xxxxx/)

Where did it come from?

The phonemic alphabet is a simplified version of the "International Phonetic Alphabet", or IPA. (Notice the difference between the words phonemic and phonetic.) The IPA was created by phoneticians (people who study the sounds of language). The complete IPA has hundreds of symbols, which can accurately represent the sounds of all human languages.

The phonemic alphabet which we use in English teaching is much simpler, and has about 45 different sounds. It may be a few more or a few less, depending on which version is used.

Can you show me the whole alphabet?

Certainly. Just click here for a PDF document of the phonemic alphabet which I use in my teaching. On it, you can click on most of the phonemic symbols (those which are underlined) to be connected automatically to the Internet, where you can HEAR them.

I don't understand HOW to make these sounds. What do I do with my tongue, lips, etc.?

The University of Iowa has an excellent website where you can listen to most of these sounds ... and also SEE how they are produced, with some very helpful animations of the mouth and vocal apparatus. Don't miss this site!

My dictionary uses a slightly different version of this alphabet. Why?

There are several versions of the phonemic alphabet, depending on several factors: the dialect it is based on, the goals of the teacher who is going to use it, etc.

Typical differences are:

  • No superscript r, /ʳ/. For example, many dictionaries use /ə/ instead of /əʳ/. This is usual in dictionaries which use British pronunciation only.
  • No /ɒ/. Instead, many dictionaries use /ɔː/ or /ɑː/.
  • No short /i/. Instead, /ɪ/ is used. In such dictionaries, the word easy is transcribed as /iːzɪ/ instead of /iːzi/.
  • Sometimes dictionaries use /ʊː/ instead of /ɜːʳ/.

How do you tell which syllable is stressed (accented)?

The symbol /ˈ/ is placed BEFORE the stressed syllable. For example, today is written as

/təˈdeɪ/

What do the two dots /ː/ mean?

This symbol means that the vowel before it is rather long. For example, in the word easy, the first vowel is longer than the second one. So it is written as

/ˈiːzi/

The sounds /ʌ/ and /ə/ are very similar. What is the difference between them?

The first one usually comes in stressed (accented) syllables and is a little stronger and opener. The second one comes in weak syllables and is more relaxed and closed. For example, my name, Douglas, is written as

/ˈdʌɡləs/

The sounds /ɜːʳ/ and /əʳ/ are very similar. What is the difference between them?

The first one comes in stressed (accented) syllables and is more tense (and usually longer). The second one comes in weak syllables and is more relaxed. For example, the word learner is written as

/ˈlɜːʳnəʳ/

What is the difference between /əʊ/ and /oʊ/?

These two sounds are used to transcribe the "long o", as in home, photo or coat. Which should be used? It depends on which English dialect is being spoken!

The first one, /əʊ/, is used in traditional British "received pronunciation". (This dialect is the one most often used in dictionary pronunciation guides.) The second one, /oʊ/, is used in American English and also many British dialects. I recommend the second one (/oʊ/), because I think it is more frequently used in today's world.

So, the word phone can be transcribed in two ways:

/fəʊn/ (traditional British)
/foʊn/ (American and others)

What is the difference between /w/ and /ʰw/?

The /w/ is used in words like witch, weather and wine. It sounds a lot like a short /u/. In Spanish, words huevo and Huelva start with this sound.

The /ʰw/ sound is used in most words which start with "wh-", for example: which, whether, whine, why, when, and wheel. (You may have noticed that many of these "wh-" words are used in questions.) The /ʰw/ is pronounced more or less like it looks: a short /h/ sound followed by a /w/. In Spanish, words like Juan and hijuelo have a sound rather like /ʰw/.

The /ʰw/ sound is more common in America than in England. It many dialects, especially British ones, it is no longer used and has been replaced by /w/.

If you like, you can forget about /ʰw/ and always use /w/. No one will have trouble understanding you.

Where can I learn more?

Look at the "Related resources" on the upper right of this page. Some of them include short audio recordings which you can play back to hear the sounds.

 

Related resources