ENGLISH PHONEMES

Vowels and Diphthongs Phonemes Word Examples Description iy feel, eve, me front close unrounded ih fill, hit, lid front close unrounded (lax) ae at, carry, gas front open unrounded (tense) aa father, ah, car back open rounded ah cut, bud, up open mid-back rounded ao dog, lawn, caught open-mid back round ay tie, ice, bite diphthong with quality: aa + ih ax ago, comply central close mid (schwa) ey ate, day, tape front close-mid unrounded (tense) eh pet, berry, ten front open-mid unrounded er turn, fur, meter central open-mid unrounded ow go, own, town back close-mid rounded aw foul, how, our diphthong with quality: aa + uh oy toy, coin, oil diphthong with quality: ao + ih uh book, pull, good back close-mid unrounded (lax) uw tool, crew, moo back close round

Consonants and Liquids Phonemes Word Examples Description b big, able, tab voiced bilabial plosive p put, open, tap voiceless bilabial plosive d dig, idea, wad voiced alveolar plosive t talk, sat voiceless alveolar plosive g gut, angle, tag voiced velar plosive t meter alveolar flap g gut, angle, tag voiced velar plosive k cut, ken, take voiceless velar plosive f fork, after, if voiceless labiodental fricative v vat, over, have voiced labiodental fricative s sit, cast, toss voiceless alveolar fricative z zap, lazy, haze voiced alveolar fricative th thin, nothing, truth voiceless dental fricative dh then, father, scythe voiced bilabial plosive sh she, cushion, wash voiceless postalveolar fricative zh genre, azure voice postalveolar fricative l lid alveolar lateral approximant l elbow, sail velar lateral approximant r red, part, far retroflex approximant y yacht, yard palatal sonorant glide w with, away labiovelar sonorant glide hh help, ahead, hotel voiceless glottal fricative m mat, amid, aim biliabial nasal n no, end, pan alveolar nasal ng sing, anger velar nasal ch chin, archer, march voiceless alveolar affricate: t + sh jh joy, agile, edge voiced alveolar affricate: d + zh