director, reading research institute english phonemes

ENGLISHPHONEMESA GUIDEBOOK FOR TEACHERS

ABSTRACTTeachers need a solid foundation in the English sound and writing systems to efficiently and effectively help students learn to read. This guidebook lists the English phonemes and defines key terms related to the sound system.

MaryLeePeck,Ph.D.Director,ReadingResearchInstitute

©2015 Reading Research Institute

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English Phonemes

There are 43-45 English phonemes categorized into six categories determined by how they are pronounced. The discrepancy in the actual number of English phonemes results from linguistic arguments about whether some sounds are unique or are simply an alternative articulation of some other sound(s). For example, is the /kw/ sound in the words “quick” or “queen” a separate sound or a combination of two consonant sounds (/k/ and /w/) blended together? Despite the arguments, most linguists agree that there are at least 43 definitive English sounds.

NOTE: The use of labels such as vowels (short and long), consonants, digraphs, diphthongs, etc. adds another level of abstraction to the challenging task of learning to read. Beginning, emerging, and struggling readers are often confused by such labels. Thus, it is initially important to use only recognizable, concrete terms such as “sounds and letters” in the early stages of reading instruction. Knowing that the sound or letter is either a vowel or consonant does not help the student learn to apply the sound to a particular letter or letter pattern and often detracts from learning to map sounds and letters. The abstract labels can be taught later, after the reader has learned to connect letters and letter patterns with their most common sounds.

IMPORTANT: Correct articulation and word segmentation are two important skills that teachers must master and be able to apply automatically as they assist students in breaking words into sound chunks to help them identify unfamiliar words. Teachers who are not thoroughly familiar with the sound system cannot determine if a word can be “sounded out” or if it must be learned as a sight word because it lies outside of the typical English phonetic system.

Key Terms and Definitions Phoneme: the distinctive speech units of a language. They are the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes words and influences meaning.

Vowels: A voiced sound formed without obstruction in the articulatory system. In spoken language, what differentiates vowels from consonants is the way they are voiced as a result of the articulators (parts of the articulatory system [lips, teeth, etc.]) involved in forming the sound and the nature of closure of the vocal tract. Since vowels have no contact with any part of the articulatory system, what differentiates the sounds of individual vowels is the position of the tongue (front/back, high/low, close/half-close) and lip-rounding (rounded/unrounded). There are 19-21 vowel sounds in English distinguished by their tongue positioning and the roundedness of the lips rather than what is often thought of as the amount of time (short/long) spent in articulating them.

Consonant: A voiced or unvoiced speech sound formed by a narrowing, intermittent, partial or complete obstruction in some part of the articulatory system which produces audible friction. There are approximately 24 consonant sounds represented by various combinations of the 21


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consonant letters. Changes in consonant sounds result from the place and manner of articulation and whether they are voiced or unvoiced and oral or nasal.

Digraph: Two letters that represent a single sound.

Diphthong: A vowel sound that changes noticeably during the pronunciation of a single syllable. For example, in the word “ice” the /ī/ slides between the /ī/ and /ē/sound.

Voiced Sounds: A sound produced by a vibration in the vocal cords.

Unvoiced Sounds: A sound produced without vibration of the vocal cords.

Special Sounds: Some sounds are influenced by the other letters around them. The letters “r” and “l” frequently alter the typical sound of the vowel that precedes or follows them. Other special sounds were integrated into English from foreign languages that were part of English history.

Articulation System: Vocal organs used in the formation of speech sounds. The drawing below labels various parts of the body involved in forming speech sounds. Parts not labeled include the lips, mouth and alveolar ridge which is the ridge in the mouth behind the upper, front teeth.

The chart below lists the English phonemes and provides an example of common letter patterns that represent each sound.


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ENGLISH PHONEMES Phoneme Initial Position Medial/End

Position Alternative Letter Patterns

Category

/ă/

apple bat Short Vowel

/ĕ/ elephant get ea- bread

ai- said

Short Vowel

/ĭ/ igloo bit y-gym Short Vowel

/ŏ/ ostrich top Short Vowel

/ŭ/ umbrella o-onion

/ā/ cake ay-play

ey-they

ai-rain

ei-rein

Long Vowel

/ē/ feet e-e-eve

ea-beat

y-baby

ei-ceiling

ie-piece

Long Vowel

/ī/ ice pie y-cry

igh-light

y_e-type

Long Vowel

/ō/ ocean oa-boat

oe-toe

ow- snow

Long Vowel


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Phoneme Initial Position Medial/End Position

Alternative Letter Patterns

Category

/ū/ unicorn mule Long Vowel

/ōō/ few o-do

eu-feud

ou-soup

Long Vowel

/ur/ nurse er-fern

ir-bird

r-controlled vowel

/ar/ park r-controlled vowel

/or/ fork r-controlled vowel

/oi/

oil oy-boy Vowel Diphthong

/ow/ owl ou- ouch Vowel Diphthong

/ŏŏ/ cook u-pull Short Vowel sound

/aw/ saw

au-haul Special vowel Sound

/b/ bat Consonant

/k/ cat k-kite

ch-chemistry

Consonant

/d/ dog ed-sailed

Consonant

/f/ fan ph-photo-

gh- enough

Consonant

/g/ goat Consonant

/h/ hat Consonant

/j/ jar g-giant Consonant


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Category

dge-edge

ge-cage

/l/ lip ll-llama Consonant

/m/ mop mb-lamb Consonant

/n/ nest kn-knife

gn-gnat

Consonant

/p/ pen Consonant

/r/ rat wr-wreath Consonant

/s/ sun Consonant

/t/ top ed-jumped Consonant

/v/ van f-of Consonant

/w/ wig Consonant

/y/ yellow baby Consonant

/z/ zoo s-girls

es-shoes

Consonant

/ch/ chin Consonant Digraph

/sh/ ship ti-station

si-mission

Consonant Digraph

/zh/ television Special Sound- consonant digraph

Unvoiced /th/ thin Consonant Digraph

Voiced /th/ this Consonant Digraph


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Category

/hw/ whip Consonant Digraph

/ng/ sing Consonant Digraph

/nk/ sink Consonant Digraph

/ere/ there ear-bear

air- hair

r-influenced special vowel sound

/ear/ tear eer-beer r-influenced special vowel sound

director, reading research institute english phonemes

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