4 Tables - mono-diph-triph

TABLE OF CONSONANT SOUNDS

FOLLOWED BY SHORT VOWELS

Below is a table of words which contain all 7 short vowels of English (shaded row 1). Each of these vowels follows the 24 consonants of English, which are listed in the first column (shaded). The most common words with these combinations have been selected. Not all consonant plus short vowel combinations are possible, hence the gaps on the chart.

By saying these words, learners not only practise pronouncing these sounds but they can also see how these sounds are commonly represented in English spelling. The letters which represent the vowel sounds are in bold type. From this, it can be seen that English spelling is not wildly idiosyncratic, but there are recognisable patterns, which can aid the learner who is trying to guess the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word. The combination of –er at the end of words is always pronounced /Ə/ in Received Pronunciation.

/ɪ/ /e/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɒ/ /ʊ/ /Ə/ /p/ pit pet pat putt pot put upper /b/ bit bet bat but bottom book rubber /t/ tin ten tan tongue tong took butter /d/ did dead dad duck dot - under /k/ kilt Celt cap cup cough cook anchor /g/ gift get gap gun got good anger /f/ fin fen fan fun fond full forgive /v/ victor vet vat vulgar volt - over /θ/ thin theft thank thumb thong - author /ð/ this them that thus - - other /s/ sit set sat sun/son song forsook surprise /z/ zit Z /zed/ zap! - zombie zucchini blazer /ʃ/ ship shed sham shut shot should washer /ʒ/ - - - - - - vision /h/ him hem ham hum hot hook hurrah /ʧ/ chin chest chat chum chop chook (rare) richer /ʤ/ gin gel jam jump job Jurassic badger /m/ miss mess mass mother moth - hammer /n/ knit net gnat nut not nook runner /ŋ/ singing - - - - - singer /w/ will well whack! won/one what would /w/+er = triphthong /l/ lid led lad lunch lock look colour /r/ rid red ran run rock rook error /j/ yin yes yam young yob - you (when unstressed)

TABLE OF CONSONANT SOUNDS*

FOLLOWED BY LONG VOWELS

The table below contains over 350 words, all of which contain one of the five long vowels. They have been grouped according to that vowel and the consonant phoneme which precedes it. Several words are homophones (words which have the same pronunciation). All the words have been chosen to illustrate the long vowel sounds in the context of words and to point out the connection between English orthography and phonology. The spelling of the respective vowel phonemes is in bold.

/iː/ /ɑː/ /uː/ /ɔː/ /ɜː/ /p/

P/pea/pee; people

peace/piece;

Pa; park; palm pass; past; path

poo/ pooh;

pool

paw; pork; Paul

pawn/porn

pearl; perk; purr purse /b/

B/be/bee; beak

bean/been

bark/barque balm; barn; bath boo! boom boon; boost ball; boar/bore bored; bought burn; bird; birth burglar; burst /t/

T/tea/tee; teach

teen; teeth

tar; tart; task

tool; tomb

tooth

taut/ taught

tore; torn; torso

term; terse; Turk turn /d/ D; deal; dean deed, deep dance; dark; darn dart doodle; doom dude door; dawn daughter dirge; dirk; dirt dearth /k/