The 44 Sounds (Phonemes) of English

A phoneme is a speech sound. Its the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another. Since sounds cannot be written, we use letters to represent or stand for the sounds. A grapheme is the written representation (a letter or cluster of letters) of one sound. It is generally agreed that there are approximately 44 sounds in English, with some variation dependent on accent and articulation. The 44 English phonemes are represented by the 26 letters of the alphabet individually and in combination. Phonics instruction involves teaching the relationship between sounds and the letters used to represent them. There are hundreds of spelling alternatives that can be used to represent the 44 English phonemes. Only the most common sound / letter relationships need to be taught explicitly. The 44 English sounds can be divided into two major categories consonants and vowels. A consonant sound is one in which the air flow is cut off, either partially or completely, when the sound is produced. In contrast, a vowel sound is one in which the air flow is unobstructed when the sound is made. The vowel sounds are the music, or movement, of our language. The 44 phonemes represented below are in line with the International Phonetic Alphabet. Consonants Sound /b/ /d/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /j/ /k/ Common spelling b ball d dog f fan g grapes h hat j jellyfish k kite Spelling alternatives bb ribbon dd add ff cliff gg egg wh who ge cage c cat q(u) queen ll spell mm summer nn funny n sink g giraffe ch christmas ck back dge edge cc acclaim X box di soldier lk folk gg exaggerat e qu bouquet ed filled ph phone gh ghost gh laugh gu guest lf calf gue catalogue ft often

/l/ /m/ /n/ /ng/

l leaf m monkey n nest ng ring

mb climb kn knight ngue tongue

mn autumn gn gnat

lm palm pn pneumonia

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/p/ /r/

p pig r robot s sun

pp happy rr carrot ss mess ce rice tt batter f of wh why i opinion zz buzz se cheese

wr wrong c circus se horse th thomas ph stephen u quick j hallelujah s has

rh rhyme sc science ps psychology st listen

/s/

/t/ /v/ /w/

t tap v van w web y yo-yo z zebra

ed tapped ve five o choir

/y/

/z/

ss scissors

x xylophone

ze maze

Digraphs Sound /zh/ /ch/ /sh/ Common spelling s treasure ch cheese sh shark Spelling alternatives si division tch watch ce ocean sci conscience /th/ (unvoiced) /th/ (voiced) th thongs th feather z azure tu future s sure ti station ti question ci special te righteous si tension

ch machine

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Short vowels Sound /a/ Common spelling a cat e egg Spelling alternatives ai plaid ea bread eo leopard /i/ i igloo e england ie sieve a swan o monkey u bush u bury ei heifer o women ie friend ae aesthetic u busy ai said ay say ui build y hymn a many

/e/

/o/ /u/

o orange u mug oo book

ho honest oo flood ou could ou trouble o wolf

/oo/

Long vowels // ai snail a baby ei vein e me ie brief y fly ai aisle // oa boat o-e bone eau beau // oo moon ew screw ui fruit you you eau beauty eigh weigh au gauge ea seat i ski igh night is island o open oo brooch ue blue o who ew few ieu adieu aigh straight a-e cake y lady ei receive ie pie eigh height oe toe ew sew u-e flute oeu manoeuvre iew view eu feud oe shoe ou croup yu yule ough through ay hay ea break ey key eo people uy buy i-e kite ow low ough though et croquet ey they oe phoenix ay quay ye rye

//

ee bee

//

i spider

/y///
(2 sounds)

u uniform

eue queue

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/oi/ /ow/

oi coin ow cow er ladder

oy boy ou shout ar dollar u cactus

uoy buoy ough bough our honour ur augur or doctor re centre i dolphin eur chauffeur e ticket

//
(Schwa sound)

R controlled vowels // air chair ar car ir bird are square a bath er term yr myrtle a ball our four ear pear au laugh ur burn ere where er sergeant ear pearl eir their ear heart or word ayer prayer

// //

our journey

//

aw paw

or fork augh taught ere here

oor door ar war ier pier

ore more ough bought

oar board au sauce

// //

ear ear ure cure

eer steer our tourist

Tricky Graphemes There are some letters that are used to write down sounds already represented by other graphemes. For example we use the letter c to represent the /k/ sound (already represented by the grapheme k) and the /s/ sound (already represented by the grapheme s).
Letter c x q(u)*

/k/ as in cat, cot, cup /k//s/ as in box, fox, fix /k//w/ as in queen

/s/ as in city, cycle, cents /g//z/ as in example, exam /z/ as in xylophone

/k/ as in bouquet, marquis, cheque

* the q is always paired with the letter u.

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