Phonetics Booklet - Key
Phonetics Booklet - Key
/ i: / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
ee sleep, tree, seeds, green, sheep, teeth, meet, free ei / ey receive, key
ea leaves, meat, eat, sea, tea, clean, peace e complete, even, evening, vegan
ie thief, field, piece, niece i ski, kilo, litre, pizza
Other spellings: quay, people, Caesar, anaemia, Oedipus, Beauchamp
/ ɪ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
i milk, it, grin, ship, fish, pick, witch, if, with, since ie carried, varieties
y myth, lynx, crypt a village, surface, image, damage, message,
e nicest, reform, gadgets sausage, marriage
Other spellings: build, women, business, England
EXERCISES
1. Group the following words according to their vowel sound: ladies, private, receive, even, machine,
complete, coffee, speak, see, build, him, easy, reform, decision, scene, agreed, wrist, police, vehicles
/ i: / /ɪ/ /i/
Receive, even, machine, Private, build, him, reform, Ladies, coffee,
complete, speak, see, easy, scene, decision, wrist
agreed, police, vehicles
2. Write in English:
a) [ðə liːvz əv ðiːz triːz ɑː griːn ət ðɪs ˈsiːzn / bʌt ɪf ðə wɪnd ɪz kiːn ən ðə liːvz friːz / ðeɪ siːs tə biː griːn ən siːm
tə luːz ðeə ʃiːn // ðiːz triːz wiːdz hiːt tuː kiːp (ð)əm griːn] The leaves of these trees are green at this season, but
if the wind is keen and the leaves freeze, they cease to be green and seem to lose their sheen. These trees’
weeds heat to keep them green.
c) [ɑː ðiːz ðə ʃiːts juː miːn] Are these the sheets you mean?
e) [ðeər ɑː sɪks smɪθs ɪn ðə ˈvɪlɪʤ] There are six Smiths in the village.
/ æ / è COMMON SPELLINGS: a (sat, hand, map, mad, as, gas, ban). Other spellings: plait.
/ ʌ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
o son, mother, honey, front, ton, money, ou country, young, courage, enough, touch, rough,
monkey (pero no donkey), company, month, cousin
colour, other, another, comfortable, Monday,
onion, oven, stomach
u sun, cut, cup, but, rugby, public, culture oo blood, flood
oe does
In some words, there is a difference between British English and American English:
The following words are pronounced / ɑː / in British English and / æ / in AmE and in the north of England:
NOTE that you say [təˈmɑːtəʊ] in British English but [təˈmeɪˌtoʊ] in AmE.
/ ə / è Any vowel letter (or many combinations of them) can represent the “schwa”. It’s never part of the
stressed syllable.
NOTICE the -ture ending pronounced / tʃə /: temperature, culture, adventure, future, architecture, picture,
departure, mixture, literature, furniture, agriculture, manufacture, gesture, creature, etc.
EXERCISES
2. Write in English:
3. Write in English:
1 [kən aɪ gɪv juː səm hæm / fræŋk] Can I give you some ham, Frank?
2 [ʃiːl ˈnevə ˈmænɪʤ tə kæʧ ɪt] She’ll never manage to catch it.
3 [hiː ræŋ ʌp ɒn ˈsʌndeɪ] He rang up on Sunday.
4 [ˈhʌri ʌp ən lend ɪm ə hænd] Hurry up and lend me a hand.
5 [haʊ mʌʧ kən ju let maɪ ˈmʌðə hæv] How much can you let my mother have?
6 [ðæts ˈveri bæd lʌk / ʧɑːlz] That’s very bad luck, Charles.
7 [ðə kɑː ˈstɑːtɪd tə rʌn ˈbækwədz] The car started to run backwards.
/ e / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
e set, bed, help, else, tense
ea head, dead, read (past and past participle form), lead (noun), measures
a many, Thames, any
Other spellings: friend, said, says, again
// ɜː / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
ir, yr bird, first, girl, thirty, skirt, shirt, mirth (regocijo, alborozo), myrrh (mirra)
er serve, her, fern (helecho) our journalist, journey, courtesy
ear earth, heard, pearl, learn, earn or world, word, worse, work
ur turn, nurse, purse, church, Thursday,
murder
EXERCISES
1. Group the following words according to their vowel sound: serve, earth, agree, heard, among, method,
method, learn, nurse, journey, every, better, better, sugar, threaten, tiger, colonel, stir, first, away, dead,
amateur, amateur, foreign, prefer, worth, suspicious, suspicious, burning, temperature, temperature,
temperature, measure, allergic, allergic
/ ɜː / /e/ /ə/
serve, earth, heard, learn, nurse, Method, every, better, threaten, Agree, among, method, better,
journey, colonel (pronunciado dead, temperature sugar, tiger, away, amateur (x2),
igual que kernel in AmE), stir, foreign, suspicious, temperature
first, prefer, worth, burning, (x2), measure, allergic
allergic
Sonidos parecidos a la [o] española
/ ɒ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
o gone, sorry, bomb ou / ow cough, knowledge
a want, was, what, wash au laurel, because, cauliflower
Other spellings: yacht, bureaucracy
/ ɔː / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
or cord, horse, short, pork, form a talk, walk, war, bald, hall, water
aw saw, jaw, draw, yawn ore, oor, oar before, door, oar, board, pour
ou, au author, bought, daughter, ought, brought our four
Other spellings: drawer, Sean, broad, sure, George, hoarse
1. Group the following words according to their vowel sound: yawn, cough, cauliflower, quality, bald,
hoarse, hall, bomb, toss, because, bought, naughty, swan, chalk, daughter, long, sorry, horse, war, from,
colony, ought, laurel, yacht, quarter, door, chocolate, saw, more
/ɒ/ / ɔː /
Cough, cauliflower (BrE), quality, bomb, toss, Yawn, cauliflower (AmE), bald, hoarse, hall,
because (BrE), swan, sorry (BrE), from, colony, because (AmE), bought, naughty, chalk, daughter,
laurel (BrE), yacht, chocolate, sorry (AmE), horse, war, ought, laurel (AmE),
quarter, door, saw, more
2. Write in English:
a) [ɪt wɒz ə ˈsɔːdɪd ˈstɔːri] It was a sordid story
b) [ʤɒnz dʌn mʌʧ mɔː ðæn aɪ θɔːt] John’s done much more than I thought
c) [wɒznt ðə klɒk ˈrɑːðə fɑːst] Wasn’t the clock rather fast?
d) [aɪ dəʊnt wɒnt tə tɔːk tə juː æt ðə ˈməʊmənt] I don’t want to talk to you at the moment.
e) [ˈsɒri aɪv ɔːlˈredi təʊld hɪm aɪd kɔːl juː] Sorry I’ve already told you I’d call you.
Sonidos parecidos a la [u] española
/ ʊ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
u sugar, put, bush, cushion, butcher, full oo good, book, look, cook, foot
wo- woman, wolf, wool, wood ou could, should, would
/ u: / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
u June, Susan, rule, huge, rude, use oo food, moon, spoon, cool, goose, fool
o who, move, do, to, lose ew, ui, chew, blue, juice, shoe, queue, fruit
ou group, soup, through, youth oe, eu
1. Group the following words according to their vowel sound: rule, youth, soot, suit, tomb, cushion,
mushroom, Jew, good, should, rucksack, conclusion, public, huge, lose, wolf, rub, lump, June, brush, such,
public, blue, food, cook, rugby, solution, country.
/ʊ/ / u: / /ʌ/
soot, cushion, mushroom, good, rule, youth, suit, tomb, mushroom, mushroom, rucksack, public, rub,
should, wolf, cook (pero KOOK Jew, conclusion, huge, lose, June, lump, brush, such, public, rugby,
es larga) blue, food, solution. country.
2. Write in English:
a) [ðeər ˈɔːlweɪz ˈtɔːkɪŋ əˈbaʊt gʊd fuːd] They’re always talking about good food.
b) [ðə kʊk ˈwʊdnt əˈpruːv əv ˈwʊstə sɔːs] The cook wouldn’t approve of Worcester sauce.
c) [kʊdjə get maɪ ˈkʊkəri bʊk frɒm ðə ˈbɑːθru(ː)m] Could you get my cookery book from the bathroom?
d) [aɪ dɪd ə tʊər əv ðə ʃɒps bʌt aɪ ˈkʊdnt siː ˈenɪθɪŋ ðæt wʊd suːt miː] I did a tour of the shops but I couldn’t
see anything that would suit me.
e) [ðə ʃɒp wɒz ˈfʊlə ðən ˈjuːʒʊəl / səʊ aɪ tʊk maɪ pleɪs ɪn ðə kjuː] The shop was fuller than usual, so I took
my place in the queue.
f) [ˈmɪstə ˈfrɑːnsɪs tʊk wʌn lʊk æt ɜː] Mr. Francis took one look at her.
THE EIGHT DIPHTHONGS IN ENGLISH
R.P. has a relatively large number of diphthongs. A diphthong is a vocalic element which consists of
a glide (a smooth element) from one vowel position to another within the same syllable. A vowel in which
the tongue does not change position is called a pure vowel.
The diphthongs are similar in length to the long vowels. The first part of the diphthong is longer and
stronger tan the second part.
/ ɪə / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
ier frontier, pier, fierce, pierce ere here, mere, sphere
eer career, beer, deer, engineer ea real, idea, theatre
ear ear, clear, dear, beard, hear
Other spellings: museum, Ian, year, hero, theory [in AmE ˈhɪroʊ ˈhi:roʊ ˈθɪri ˈθ i:əri]
/ eə / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
are care, dare, scare, stare, bare, share, mare, fare This one does not exist in AmE, where it is
air fair, chair, pair, stairs, hair usually / er /.
ear bear, pear, wear
Other spellings: their, there, they’re, heir, Mary, parents, prayer.
1. Put the words into three groups: dear, peer, pear, pure, air, here, wear, tear (n.), tear (v.), tour, bear, beer,
idea, cure, poor, during, pair
/ ɪə / / eə / / ʊə /
Dear, peer, here, tear (n.), beer, Pear, air, wear, tear (v), bear, pair Pure, tour, cure, poor, during
idea.
/ eɪ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
a + consonant + e late, safe, same, stake, page ei weigh, veil, vein, beige
ay day, say, play, way, bay ea great, break, steak
ai mail, paid, wait, straight, aim
Other spellings: tomato (AmE), bass, gaol, café, gauge, halfpenny / ha’penny
/ aɪ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
i + consonant + e five, time, side, stripe, rhyme ie lie, pie, tie, die
y by, try, shy, cry, sky, buy, guy ye bye, die
igh high, sigh, right, night, light
Other spellings: either (also / i: /), aisle, eye, height, child, wild, climb, mind, kind, Christ
/ ɔɪ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
oi noise, voice, point, soil, spoil, choice, coin, join
oy toy, joy, boy, cloy (empalagar) è After a while, the rich sauce begins to cloy
Other spellings: buoy, voyage
1. Put the words into three groups: late, time, try, vain, voice, café, either, toy, great, eye, haste, sigh, soil,
buoy, play, mind, tie, bass, voyage, mail
/ eɪ / / aɪ / / ɔɪ /
late, vain, café, great, haste, play, time, try, either (también / i: /), voice, toy, soil, buoy, voyage
bass (pero bass /bæs/ lubina), mail eye, sigh, mind, tie. [ˈvɔɪɪʤ].
/ aʊ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
ou House, sound, out, loud, proud, drought, south, mouth, hound, mount
ow allow, town, cow, brown, frown, crowd, browse
/ əʊ / è COMMON SPELLINGS:
o + consonant + e home, wrote, hope, broke, close, ou Soul, though, shoulder, mould
stone, slope, hose
o no, old, sold, both, go, don’t, ow Know, grow, blow, tow, flow, known
most, won’t, folk, told
oa road, soap, toast, loaf, coast, goat oe Toe, foe, hoe
Other spellings: brooch (usually pin in AmE), sew, au pair, mauve, chauffeur, gauche
Notice that this diphthong is / oʊ / in AmE
1. Put the words into two groups: house, road, sound, grow, home, proud, cow, towel, cloak, toe, count,
sew, soul, drought, shoulder, boat, soap, blouse, doubt
/ aʊ / / əʊ /
house, sound, proud, cow, towel, count, drought road, grow, home, cloak, toe, sew, soul, shoulder,
(draught [drɑːft]), blouse, doubt boat, soap
è B muda en DOUBT
SPELLING OF SOUNDS