PHONEME

The 44 speech sounds of English

In science, the atom is the smallest indivisible part of a matter.

In language, the phoneme is the smallest indivisible unit of sound.

And just like we have the proton, neutron and electron in the atom, we also have the vowel and consonant sounds in the English phoneme.
The English language is made up of 26 letters of the alphabets and from there 26 letters, 44 speech sounds(phonemes) were derived.

But take note that the letters of the alphabets don’t exactly translate to speech sounds.
This means that a sound can be derived from more than one letter of the alphabets.
The /s/ is derived from the letters S in sky, C in cite, and PSY in psychology.
The /f/ sound is derived with letters F in Fat, and PH in physics.

Also, be aware that the letter Y in English translates to /I:/ sound in lady, /I/ sound in it, and /ai/ in pie.

Do you see?

Because of these variances in English spellings, it is important to learn to think of English pronunciation in terms of the sounds of English and not the letters of English.

Just like the alphabets have special symbols for representing them, the phonemes(sounds) also have special symbols for representing them.

Symbols for representing the alphabet: a,b,c,dce,f,g,h,I,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z

Symbols for representing the phonemes: /ɔ:/ /ɜ:/ /ɑ:/ /u:/ /i:/ /ɪ/ /e/ /ə/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ʊ/ /ɒ/ /eɪ/ /ʊə/ /ɪə/ /oʊ/ /aɪ/ /eə/ /aʊ/ /ɔɪ/ /r/ /n/ /m/ /l/ /j/ /ŋ/ /ð/ /ʒ/ /z/ /w/ /v/ /dʒ/ /h/ /g/ /d/ /b/ /p/ /t/ /s/ /k/ /f/ /ʃ/ /tʃ/ /θ/

And just like I earlier mentioned, in the 44 phonemes are the vowel and consonant sounds.

The vowel sounds are 20 in number and are produced with little to no obstruction to the free flow of air coming from the lungs to the mouth.

These sounds are all voiced sound because there is a vibration in the vocal cord when we produce them.

The vowel sounds are also further divided into the monophthong and diphthong.

Mono means one, di means two, while phthongs means sound.

So, monophthong means one sound.
Diphthong means two sounds.

Monophthongs:
/ɔ:/ /ɜ:/ /ɑ:/ /u:/ /i:/
/ɪ/ /e/ /ə/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ʊ/ /ɒ/

Diphthongs:
/eɪ/ /ʊə/ /ɪə/ /oʊ/ /aɪ/ /eə/ /aʊ/ /ɔɪ/

The consonant sounds are 24 in number.

They are produced when there is a partial or total blockage of the airflow coming through the vocal tract.
Some of the consonants are produced when the vocal folds come close together to narrow the space (glottis) between them; it then vibrates due to air pressure. When this occurs, the sounds produced are called voiced sounds because they are produced when the vocal cords vibrate.

Others are produced without the vibration of the vocal cords because the vocal cords are widely spread (glottis) and there is no obstruction to the free flow of air coming through it. When this occurs, the sounds produced are called voiceless sounds.

Voiced: /r/ /n/ /m/ /l/ /j/ /ŋ/ /ð/ /ʒ/ /z/ /w/ /v/ /dʒ/ /h/ /g/ /d/ /b/

Voiceless: /p/ /t/ /s/ /k/ /f/ /ʃ/ /tʃ/ /θ/

It is important to be quiet familiar with the speech sounds (phonemes) because without them, there is no way we can communicate verbally.
We use the alphabets to communicate when we write while we use the phonemes to communicate when we speak.

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