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All spoken languages consist of a set of sounds. Together, they form words, which, in turn, create sentences to convey and communicate meaning.
These sounds in the English language are expressed in what is called a phonemic chart.
The phonemic chart contains symbols of those sounds whether consonant, vowel, or diphthong sounds. There are 44 sounds in the English language. While there is a universality to the English language and its phonetics, sounds and symbols may differ based on the country; for example, in American English, there are between 13 to 15 vowel sounds depending on the dialect spoken in that region. Those differences aren’t always taught in classes. You just get used to them by listening actively to the vast diversity of people speaking the language with their special, beautiful and unique ways.
Here, we will thoroughly cover the American accent and all its aspects. So, if you would like to find more about the Received Pronunciation (RP), which is the official phonemic chart used by all official teaching materials, you may want to revise other sources such as the BBC Learning English platform.
Funnily enough, RP is used by only 6% of native English speakers. However, it is the accent used by the royal family in Britain, along with the plethora of media outlets in the country, and those who like to sound “sophisticated”.
Remember, whether you put in the effort to learn an American accent, a British one, or even an Australian accent is the extra mile that you can walk for your English learning journey. It isn’t a necessary part. But, I won’t sugarcoat this, you get more opportunities if you speak English with a native-like accent. As a non-native speaker myself, imitating the American accent has helped me get better job opportunities. I am sorry if this sounds like putting a burden on you. I am just trying to be brutally honest. We cannot change the game; we have to play by its rules till we get that position at which we could change the rules. I, sincerely, apologize if what I said has caused any distress to you.
If you decide to join me in this part of the journey, follow along. It is going to be fun.
Why is it important to learn about the phonemic chart?
English is not a phonetic language. The same spelling can be pronounced in two different ways. For instance, the th combination can be pronounced like /ð/as in that, or /θ/ as in think. So, the symbols are usually expressed between two forward slashes. And, if you can read those in a dictionary, it makes your learning way easier.
Another reason is that you can find the word stress clearly accentuated, especially when the same word is used as a verb and a noun but in different stress patterns as the following:
present (noun) /ˈpreznt/
present (verb) /prɪˈzent/
Moreover, the phonemic chart is organized in a way through which you can observe the placement or mechanism of pronouncing that sound in your speech organs whether a vowel is a front or a back, for example
Thus, it can provide a guide to those of us with a lisp.
This diagram below illustrates the anatomy of speech. It characterizes which body parts are used to produce different sounds. This is important for the localization of specific sounds in our speech tools.
The following parts of the anatomy, specifically, make a significant difference in your accent as the following:
- lips: pulled back or rounded
- jaws: the level of openness
- tongue: tip, front, and back
- air flow: whether the flow of the air is interrupted or not
- vocal cords: whether there is vibration or not
Those are the ones we will continuously use to explain the articulation of different sounds.
Sounds
All sounds affect each other, and that is why the phonemic chart is designed to show these relationships. If the sounds are neighbors in the mouth while pronouncing them, they exist next to each other on the chart.
A phonemic chart has three main sections. Vowels are displayed in the upper half, monophthongs on the left, and diphthongs on the right.
Consonant sounds are shown in the lower half. The colon expresses the length. Some vowels are extended while pronouncing.
The box in the top right-hand corner contains stress and intonation symbols.
What is the difference between vowel sounds and consonant sounds?
Vowel sounds do not stop, restrict, or interrupt the flow of the air coming out of the mouth in any way but direct that flow with the other articulation features such as the level of openness in the jaws and roundness or spreading of the lips.
Consonant sounds require the use of the tongue, lips, and teeth to form the position or place of the sound, except /w/ and /j/, which are considered semi-vowels.
