American English Consonants IPA Pronunciation International Phonetic Alphabet
Let’s take a look at the letter T. It can
be silent, like in the word fasten. It can
be pronounced ch, as in the word future.
It can be pronounced tt like in the word tap.
When it’s paired with the H, it can be th,
the unvoiced TH sound, as in thanks. Or it
can be th, the voiced TH sound, as in this.
When paired with the letter I, it can be ch,
the CH sound, as in the word mention. But,
it could also be sh, the SH sound, as in the
word motion. The letter T can actually represent
various different sounds. This is why the
International Phonetic Alphabet makes it easier
to study the pronunciation of foreign languages.
This video focuses on consonants.
What is the International Phonetic Alphabet? It’s
a system of phonetic notation, and I use it
a lot on my website and when I teach students.
I’ve also used it a lot when I’ve studied
foreign languages. The IPA is especially
handy when studying English because English
is not a phonetic language. This means when
you see a letter or a group of letters, it
will not necessarily always be pronounced
the same in each word in which it occurs,
just as in the example at the beginning of
this video. The IPA has a written symbol
for each phonetic sound, so this makes it
easier to read about and write about pronunciation.
As a student of pronunciation, it’s important
that you become familiar with the symbols
that represent the sounds of American English.
Dd, say that with me, dd. This sound is in dime,
redo, smiled. Tt, say that with me, tt. This
sound is in washed, untie, tip. Vv, vv. This
sound is in value, of, love. Ff, ff. This
sound is in staff, enough, phone. Bb, bb.
This sound is in big, sob, abandon. Pp, pp.
This sound is in pan, snip, reapply. Gg, gg.
This sound is in gap, exhibit, fog. Kk, kk.
This sound is in choir, quiet, back. Th, th.
This sound is in thanks, filthy, with. Th,
th, this sound is in bother, this, bathe.
Ss, ss. This sound is in ice, some, ax. Zz,
zz. This sound is in lazy, flowers, possess.
Sh, sh. This sound is in polish, ocean, issue.
Dj, dj. This sound is in beige, vision, azure.
Ch, ch. This sound is in ancient, march, chapter.
Jj, jj. This sound is in joy, grudge, change.
Hh, hh. This sound is in happy, rehash, hi.
Rr, rr. This sound is in wrong, operate, ear.
Yy, yy. This sound is in yummy. Yes. And it
often occurs in the ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong
in words like music. Mm, mm. This sound occurs
in words like my, mumble, some. Nn, nn. This
sound occurs in the words nine, no, undo.
Ng, ng. This sound occurs in the words ring,
thanks, anger. Ll, ll. This sound occurs in
the words follow, lie, feel. Ww, ww. This
consonant sound occurs in the words quiet, will, one.
Great. Familiarizing yourself
with these symbols should make it easier to
study pronunciation. That’s it, and thanks
so much for using Rachel’s English.