CONSONANT POSITIONS

Bilabial: Made with the lips

English Example: “b” in “bed”
Labiodental: Made with the bottom lip and the top teeth
English Example: “v” in “very”
Dental: Made with the tip of the tongue and the top teeth
English Example: “th” in “thing”
Alveolar: Made with the tip of the tongue and the area just behind the top teeth
English Example: “t” in “Tom”
Post-Alveolar: Made with the tip of the tongue and the are just behind where the
“alveolar” consonats are pronounced
English Example: “sh” in “short”
Retroflex: Made with the tip of the tongue curved backward behind the alveolar ridge.
English Examples: “r” in some dialects of American English
Palatal: Made with the tongue and the palate (see definition here)
English Examples: “y” in “yes”
Velar: Made with the back of the tongue and the velum (the back of the mouth).
English Examples: “c” in “cat”
Uvular: Made with the back of the tongue and the uvula.
English Examples: No English examples. This is how the French “r” is usually made.
Pharyngeal: Made with the “root” (far back) of the tongue and the pharynx.
English Examples: None. Arabic is the most well know language with Pharyngeals.
Glottal: Made with the glottis (see definition in the glossary). In essence glottal
consonants are made with the throat.
English Example: “h” in “hat”
Now let’s look at a rundown of the “manner of articulation” or “qualities” that
consonants can have:

CONSONANT QUALITIES

Plosive: Part of the vocal tract or mouth is closed, then air is released with a sharp
burst
English Examples: “p” in “pet,” “t” in “Tom”
Nasal: Made with the back of the mouth closing up so that air passes through the nasal
cavity
English Examples: “n” in “nose,” “m” in “me”
Trill: Made with part of the vocal tract or mouth fluttering rapidly.
English Examples: None in standard English. The “trilled r” in Spanish and Italian.
Tap or Flap: Basically like it sounds. The consonant is made with the tongue quickly
“tapping” some part of the mouth.
English Examples: The “t” in “better” in American English. The “r” in Spanish “cara”
Fricative: Made by closing some part of the mouth or vocal tract and pushing air
through a small opening.
English Examples: The “f” in “free,” the “s” in “silly”
Lateral Fricative: Made with the tip of the tongue placed against the top teeth, and
creating a fricative consonant using the sides of the mouth. If you’re confused about
this, don’t worry. It’s used in very few languages.
Lateral Approximant: Made with the tip of the tongue placed against the top teeth,
and air coming out the small space between the sides of the tongue and the top of the
mouth.
English Example: “l” in “lake”

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as it is used to denote pronunciation of English words.

Each symbol is treated separately, with explanation and examples that are at the same time a link
to a dictionary where you can listen to the word pronounced both in American and British
English.

Just one technical term used in the article: a closed syllable is a syllable which ends with a
consonant (in writing; for example “writ” in “writ-ten” is a closed syllable).

[xː] long vowel

When the symbol ”ː” follows a vowel symbol, it means that the vowel is pronounced longer.
[æ] cat, bad, sad, sand, land, hand
Among all English vowels, the greatest problem for most learners poses “æ”. It is somewhere
between “a” in “father” and “e” in “bed”. It is usually pronounced slightly longer in American
English than in British English. It is always represented by the letter “a” in a stressed closed
syllable, but not all such occurrances are pronounced as [æ].
[ɑː] bra, calm, palm, father, start, dark
This vowel is the closest one to the sound of the letter “a” in many other languages and as such is
also denoted [a] in some dictionaries. There is no reliable general rule which would tell you
when “a” is pronounced as [ɑː] instead of [æ].
It is quite rare in American English to pronounce “a” as [ɑː]; it is usually pronounced [æ], as
in grass, can’t, half, bath etc., all of which are pronounced with [ɑː] in British English. On the
other hand, the sound is used in American English in words in which a Brit would say [ɒ] (see
below), as in god, pot, top, spot—listen to both American and British pronunciation.
[ɒ] god, pot, top, spot (British English only)
This vowel is quite similar to the sound of “o” many other languages. It is always represented by
“o” in a closed stressed syllable, although such an “o” can also be pronounced differently (e.g. in
“son”). Americans don’t use this vowel and say [ɑː] instead.
[ʌ] but, cut, gun, come, some, glove
This vowel very similar to [ɑː], but it’s never pronounced long in English. It is always
represented by “u” in a stressed closed syllable, or by an “o”, but both can be pronounced also in
a different way.
[ɛ] get, bed, set, sell, fell, men
This vowel is the closest one to the sound of the letter “e” in most other languages and is
sometimes denoted by “e” in dictionaries (for example in the one I am linking to). It is usually
represented by an “e” in a closed stressed syllable, but often also by “ai”, e.g. said, fair, “ae”,
e.g. bear, pear, and others.
[ɪ] pit, bin, fill, will, village, bullet
In writing, this sound is most commonly represented by “i” in a closed stressed syllable, but also
unstressed “a”, “e”, or “i” is often pronounced as [ɪ]. If you find [ə] (see below) in a dictionary
for a word in which you can clearly hear [ɪ] (or conversely), don’t worry; in most cases the two
possibilities are interchangeable.
[i] or [iː] he, she, see, keep, family, hyperbole
This is just a softer [ɪ]. It is mostly represented by “ee”, but quite often also by “ea”, single “e”,
final “y” and others. It is usually long when it is in a stressed syllable and short when it is not,
but not necessarily.
[ɔː] saw, straw, dawn, fall, call, wall
A similar sound to the British [ɒ], but somewhat “darker”. It is usually represented by “aw”, “al”
or “au”.
[ʊ] put, full, good, wood, could, would
The sound most similar to the sound of “u” in many other languages. It is often denoted by “u” in
a closed stressed syllable (when it is not [ʌ]), but also by “oo”, “oul” and other letter groups.
[uː] you, who, chew, shoe, cool, tool
[ʊ] would sound strange if it were long, so when there is a long “u” sound in English, it is
pronounced somewhat “darker” than [ʊ]. It is most commonly denoted by “ew” and “oo”, but
there is no way to tell when “oo” is pronounced as [uː] and when as [ʊ] (this has to be learned by
heart).
[ə] a, syllable, moment, terrible, felony, papyrus
Most learners of English learn very fast how to pronounce “a” when it means an indefinite
article, and this is exactly the pronunciation of [ə]. It can be represented by any vowel (a, e, i, o,
u) in an unstressed syllable, see the examples above. When represented by “a” or “i”, it is often
freely interchangeable with [ɪ]; for example “terrible” can be pronounced either /ˈtɛrəbl/, or
/ˈtɛrɪbl/.
[ɚ] mister, standard, editor (Am. English only)
This vowel is formed by saying [ə] and at the same time putting your tongue to the position as if
you were saying the English “r” (listen to the recordings). It is denoted [ər] in some dictionaries,
which is not completely precise, it is more like a long “r”). In all cases where it is used (most
notably “-er” at the end of a word), a Brit would say just [ə].
[ɜː], [ɝː] curve, purge, herd, serve, bird, stir
Don’t confuse the symbol with [ɛ]. [ɜː] is pronounced the same as [əː] in some dialects while it is
slightly “darker” in others, and many dictionaries don’t use it at all and write simply [əː]. The
difference between [ɜː] and [ɝː] is the same as between [ə] and [ɚ]. The former is used chiefly in
British English, the latter chiefly in American English (listen to the recordings). Dictionaries
which denote [ɜː] as [əː] would denote [ɝː] as [əːr]. In writing, [ɜː] and [ɝː] are usually
represented by the letter groups “ur”, “er”, or “ir”.