International Phonetic Alphabet and Effective English Learning
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What is the International Phonetic Alphabet?
You might have already seen special signs used in dictionaries for phonetic transcription. These signs belong to the International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA, the most popular notation system designed to represent the sounds of spoken languages. The problem the IPA is trying to solve is to provide a method for a precise transcription of sounds, making it easier for non-native speakers to recognize the nuances of a spoken language.
The IPA is based on the Latin alphabet and can be used for all languages. It extends the Latin alphabet with new symbols, which are necessary to describe sounds unique to each language, such as:
- German and French ø as in Österreich - /ˈøːstəʁaɪç/ and eux- /ø/.
- Portuguese /ʁ/ as in Rio /ʁiu/.
- Japanese /t͡ɕ/ and /d͡ʑ/ as in chijin 知人 /t͡ɕiʑiɴ/ or /t͡ɕid͡ʑiɴ/.
Why was the IPA created?
Before moving to the description of English IPA symbols, let’s understand why this phonetic notation system exists. The IPA was created in 1888 after the establishment of the International Phonetic Association (1886). The primary goal of this alphabet was to provide a symbol for each sound of speech. The IPA was initially intended to serve mostly pedagogical purposes.
These days, the IPA is used to precisely transcribe speech by diverse groups of people and for various purposes:
- Students learning a second language: the IPA is used to teach the phonetics of a foreign language. It helps to learn the correct pronunciation of foreign words and come closer to a native-like pronunciation..
- Linguists: Linguists use the IPA to precisely transcribe speech and compare the phonetic systems of languages.
- Speech pathologist: the IPA can be used to indicate problematic sounds and explain articulation problems to patients.
- Singers: transcriptions are used to precisely reproduce sounds of non-native languages. For example, opera singers often rely on the IPA when they prepare parts written in foreign languages. The major part of the operatic repertoire is written in Russian, French, Italian, and German.
- Actors: actors sometimes have to produce phrases in languages they do not know. In this case, scripts include transcriptions in the IPA.
- Translators: when working with audiovisual materials, translators can rely on the IPA to look up unknown words.
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How the IPA helps you master foreign languages?
The main reason to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet is to become able to produce correct and understandable speech. For example, in English spelling is often misleading:
- Letters combinations can create confusion: the pronunciation of “wind” is distinct from “mind” and “blind”.
- Silent letters occur frequently: letters r, l, b, h, k, n, p, s, t and w can be silent as in knock, knowledge, doubt, climb, scissors, honest, ghost, psychology, or Wednesday.
- Unstressed sounds become schwa.
- Foreign words undergo unpredictable modifications as in restaurant, fiancé, mariage, umbrella, average, or slaughter.
The IPA sounds unique to English
Students should pay special attention to English sounds missing from their mother tongue. This list varies from language to language, but, overall, the following sounds are worth the attention:
- /θ/ and /ð/ as in think and these.
- /r/: the English /r/ differs from the similar sounds in other languages (e.g., Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, among many others). Moreover, the pronunciation of /r/ differs between the British and American pronunciations.
- /m/, /n/, /p/, /b/: these sounds are found in the majority of languages. Nevertheless, don’t forget that they are pronounced more vividly and actively in English, especially the American variant.
- /ŋ/: a nasal sound missing from many languages.
- /l/: French speakers often pronounce it softly.
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How to learn the correct English pronunciation?
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Start with reading the descriptions of all English sounds, which you can find right in the next section.
Benefits: the sounds description accompanied by illustrations will help you to clarify how you can improve your articulation while producing specific sounds. The descriptions will come in handy especially if your mother tongue does not contain some sounds or they are slightly different from those in English.
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Learn the symbols representing the sounds
Benefits: while reading the description, try to memorize the phonemes symbols if you have not done it yet. The awareness of the English IPA symbols will help you further in you learning:
For example, you will be able to
- quickly look up a word if you are not sure of its pronunciation;
- learn the right pronunciation of English words right away;
- indicate the phonemes that require some further practice.
So, don’t hesitate to look through the phonemes chart on a regular basis to memorize the symbols for good.
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Practice the right phoneme pronunciation
Benefits: practice makes perfect. The simple knowledge of English IPA and the awareness of the right articulation will not make your accent impeccable. To reach the native-like level of pronunciation, you should practice the most troublesome sounds of the English language. The hurdle is that mastering sounds of a foreign language requires an independent observer. We naturally try to “similarize” the new sounds to the ones we are used to speak. One of efficient ways to do so is to use technology-driven tools such as Accent Hero. Real-time feedback and visual comparison data will make it a bit easier to discover sounds that need practice.
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The IPA Symbols of English
The IPA vowels include such symbols as /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ/, /ɪ/, /ə/, /ʊ/, /ɔ/, /i:/, /u:/, /ɝ/, /ɚ/. Among them, there are seven short sounds ( /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ/, /ɪ/, /ə/, /ʊ/) and three long sounds (/ɔ:/, /i:/, /u:/), two R-colored vowel sounds ( /ɝ/ and /ɚ/). Plus, there are also six diphthongs: /ɑɪ/, /aʊ/, /ɔɪ/, /eɪ/, /oʊ/, /ɑu/.
Short vowels
/ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ/, /ɪ/, /ə/, /ʊ/
Sound /ɛ/
1. Open your mouth for about 60%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Push your tongue down, so that its tip touches the bottom teeth.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Sound /æ/
1. Open your mouth for about 80%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Push your tongue down, so that its tip touches the bottom teeth.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Comment: the majority of languages do not include this sound, so it is specific to English.
Sound /ʌ/
1. Open your mouth for about 60%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Raise the utmost back of your tongue without touching the back palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Sound schwa /ə/
1. Open your mouth for about 50%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Raise the center of your tongue without touching the palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Comment: the sound schwa /ə/ is a reduced vowel sound that appears in the following cases:
- unstressed syllables of multisyllabic words (for example, in such words as “freedom”, “album”);
- reduced vowels of function words (for example, “a”, “and”).
Sound /ɪ/
1. Open your mouth for about 20%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Slighly retract your tongue to create a little distance between its tip and your bottom teeth.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Sound /ʊ/
1. Open your mouth for about 20%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Raise the utmost back of your tongue without touching the back palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Sound /ɑ/
1. Open your mouth for about 100%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Raise the utmost back of your tongue without touching the back palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Long vowels
Sound /ɔ/
1. Open your mouth for about 60%.
2. Round your lips.
3. Raise the utmost back of your tongue without touching the back palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Sound /i:/
1. Open your mouth for about 10%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Push your tongue down, so that its tip touches the bottom teeth.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Sound /u:/
1. Open your mouth for about 10%.
2. Round your lips.
3. Raise the utmost back of your tongue without touching the back palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
Vowels unique to American English
Sound /ɝ/
1. Open your mouth for about 60%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Raise the center of your tongue without touching the palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
5. In the end of the pronunciation, move the tip of your tongue towards the point above the alveolar ridge but without toucing it.
Comment: the sound /ɝ/ includes the combination of /ɛ/+ /r/; it is a specifically American R-colored sound.
Sound /ɚ/
1. Open your mouth for about 50%.
2. Relax your lips.
3. Raise the center of your tongue without touching the palate.
4. Push air from lungs while vibrating vocal cords.
5. In the end of the pronunciation, move the tip of your tongue towards the point above the alveolar ridge but without toucing it.
Comment: /ɚ/ is an American R-colored sound, it is the combination of schwa /ə/ and /r/.
Diphthongs or double vowels
Diphthong is a combination of two vowels merged together by gliding. English includes the following diphthongs: /ɑɪ/, /aʊ/, /ɔɪ/, /eɪ/, /oʊ/, /ɑu/.
Diphthong /ɑɪ/
Diphthong /aʊ/
Diphthong /ɔɪ/
Diphthong /eɪ/
Diphthong /oʊ/
Diphthong /ɑu/
Voiced consonants
Sound /b/
1. Break the airflow by closing your lips.
2. Follow the interruption with a sudden and audible release of the air.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /d/
1. Break the airflow by touching the point above the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Follow the interruption with a sudden and audible release of the air.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Comment: The /d/ sound might be pronounced as aspirated in the beginning of words (e.g., “do”, “door”) and in stressed syllables (e.g., Bangladesh). At the end of words (e.g., “end”, “bed”), the unaspirated /d/ is followed by the final stop.
Sound /g/
1. Break the airflow by touching your soft palate with the middle of your tongue.
2. Follow the interruption with a sudden and audible release of the air.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /v/
1. Break the airflow by touching your upper teeth with your lower lip.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /ð/
1. Break the airflow by touching your upper teeth with the tip of your tongue.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /z/
1. Break the airflow by touching your alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /ʒ/
1. Break the airflow by touching the point above the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /dʒ/
Sound /m/
1. Break the airflow by closing your lips.
2. Direct the air through your noise instead of the mouth.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /n/
1. Break the airflow by touching the point above the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Direct the air through your noise instead of the mouth.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /ŋ/
1. Break the airflow by touching your soft palate with the middle of your tongue.
2. Direct the air through your noise instead of the mouth.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /l/
1. Break the airflow by touching the point above the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. During the interruption allowing some air to pass sideways from the break point.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /r/
1. Break the airflow by touching the point above the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Repeat the interruption to produce a vibrating sound.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Sound /w/
1. Round your lips.
2. Raise the middle part of your tongue towards your soft palate without touching it.
3. Make your vocal cords vibrate during the pronunciation of this sound.
4. The result shall sound like something in between a vowel and a consonant.
Sound /j/
1. Break the airflow by touching your soft palate with the middle of your tongue.
2. During the interruption allow some air to pass.
3. Vibrate your vocal cords.
Unvoiced consonants
All unvoiced sounds should be produced with the use of your vocal cords.
Sound /p/
1. Break the airflow by closing your lips.
2. Follow the interruption with a sudden and audible release of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /t/
1. Break the airflow by touching the point above the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Follow the interruption with a sudden and audible release of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /k/
1. Break the airflow by touching your soft palate with the middle of your tongue.
2. Follow the interruption with a sudden and audible release of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /f/
1. Break the airflow by touching your upper teeth with your lower lip.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /θ/
1. Break the airflow by touching your upper teeth with the tip of your tongue.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /s/
1. Break the airflow by touching your alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /ʃ/
1. Break the airflow by touching the point above the alveolar ridge with the tip of your tongue.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /h/
1. Break the airflow with your vocal cords.
2. Push the air through the interruption to produce an audible friction of the air.
3. Relax your vocal cords.
Sound /ʧ/
Conclusion
Almost all languages have unique sounds. Making sure that you pronounce words correctly is the essential step in mastering a foreign language. Thankfully, the new technology-driven tools, such as real-time pronunciation feedback, make this task easier than it was at the times when the IPA was created.