The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association as a standardized representation of the sounds of spoken language. The IPA is used by foreign language students and teachers, linguists, speech pathologists and therapists, singers, actors, lexicographers, conlangers and translators. Wikipedia.

“Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.”

Vladimir Nabokov

Paul Passy 1859-1940 Daniel Jones

1881–1967

Henry Sweet1845-1910

Romic Alphabet

L’Association phonétique

internationale 1886

Cardinal Vowels +“…pioneering description of

Received Pronunciation”

A.C. Gimson, a student of Jones, modified the system to show vowel qualities more accurately.

His 1962 An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English has been “particularly influential in the teaching of English as a foreign language.” Crystal 1993

Adrian Underhill in Sound Foundations 1994 developed the layout of the phonemic chart for RP

Tricky words /ɪ/=• Enough /ɪˈnʌf/ • Maid/Made /meɪd/• Sausages /ˈsɒs.ɪdʒɪz/ NA /ˈsɑː.sɪdʒ/• Woman /ˈwʊm.ən/• Live(v)/ Live (adj.) /lɪv/ /laɪv/• Epoch /ˈiː.pɒk/ NA/-pɑːk/ • Women /wɪm.ɪn/• High /haɪ/• Parachute /ˈpær.ə.ʃuːt/ NA /ˈper-/

• Emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ NA/-ˈmoʊ-/• Gesture /ˈdʒes.tʃə(r) / NA/-tʃɚ/ • Asked /ɑːskt/ NA/æskt/• Phone /fəʊn/ NA/foʊn/• Gnome /nəʊm/NA/noʊm/ • Through /θruː/ • Marquee /mɑː(r)ˈkiː/ NA /mɑːr-/• Ghost /gəʊst/ NA /goʊst/• Thorough /ˈθʌr.ə/ NA/ˈθɝː-/

What’s the differencebetween a vowel and aconsonant?

Question Time

Answer:

• Consonants- Restriction of air flow through vocal tract

• Vowels- No restriction of air flow

Consonants

The unique sound of a consonant is dependent on three different things:

• Whether it is voiced or unvoiced...• How the air flows through the vocal tract

(Manner of Articulation)...• And the positioning of the lips and tongue

(Place of Articulation)

English Consonants’ Place of Articulation descriptions... (Drout 2006)

• Bi-labial i.e. [p] [b] [m] • Labio-dental [f] [v] • Inter-dental [θ] [ð] • Alveolar [t] [d] [n] [s] [z] [r] [l] • Alveo-palatal [ʃ] [ʒ] [tʃ] [dʒ]• Palatal [j] • Velar [k] [ɡ] [ŋ] [w]• Glottal [h]

According to Michael Drout 2006,there are six main categories of manner of

Articulation

• Stops [p] [b] [t] [d] [k] [ɡ]• Fricatives [f] [v] [θ] [ð] [s] [z] [ʃ] [ʒ] [h] • Affricates [tʃ] [dʒ]• Nasals [m] [n] [ŋ].• Approximants: Liquids [r] [l] semivowels [w] [j] • Other e.g. Trill ‘Spanish R’ , the Glottal Stop in oh-

oh! and clicks as in ‘!Kung’ language of Namibia/Angola

[p]

[ð]

• So [p] is a voiceless bi-labial stop• And [ð] is a voiced inter-dental fricative

ŋ

Appr

oxim

ants

Vowel Quality

The characteristic sound of a vowel depends onthe shape and size of the resonant space in the mouth -Underhill 1993• The horizontal tongue position i.e. frontness• The vertical tongue position i.e. height• The lip position e.g. roundedness• Vowel length (indicated by a colon on chart)

Vowel Height

Games to help your students practice(A few of my favourites)

• Hot seat• Blind man’s phonemes• Battleships• Phonemic Crossword• Join the dots• Hear/Say• Minimal pair line jump• Blockbusters• Say it right• Phoneme Bingo• Hancock: Pronunciation in Use 2003 USB stick!!• What are your favourites?

Useful websites for learning the Phonemes

• http://www.onestopenglish.com/section_flash.asp?catid=60030

• http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/resources/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-0

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/

My Sources

• John McWhorther: Linguistics-The science of Language 2006

• Michael Drout: A History of the English Language 2006

• Adrian Underhill: Sound Foundations 1994• David Crystal: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of

the English Language 1995