English Phonetics Cheat Sheet

English Phonetics Cheat Sheet Oral Cavity Speech Anatomy Lips - Bilabial, Labiodental Teeth - Labiodental, Dental Alveolar Ridge - Alveolar, Post-Alveolar Hard Palate - Palatal Velum/Solf Palate - Velar Uvula - Uvular Glottis - Glottal Transcription /.../ phonemic/broad transcription [...] phonetic/narrow transcription Phonetic Processes Flapping/Tapping : - /t/ & /d/ turn into voiced alveolar flap/tap [ɾ] when they are after a stressed vowel & before an unstressed vowel. - Become homophones Syllabic Consonants : - /ɹ/, /m/, /n/ & /l/ indicated by [  ] - When /ə/ is deleted and syllabic consonants follow Canadian Raising : - Open central tense vowel raised to open-mid near-back lax vowel - /aɪ/ → /ʌɪ/ & /aʊ/ → /ʌʊ/ - Before voiceless obstruents Aspiration : - Puff of air - [pʰ], [tʰ], [kʰ] - Occurs @ the beginning fo a syllable that is either at the start of a word or is stressed - Followed by a vowel Reduction : - Reduction of a vowel (/ə/ most common) Epenthesis : - Adding a sound - [sonorant][consonant][sonorant] Deletion : - Sound is removed Metathesis : - Switching/reordering sounds Assimilation : - Nasal Regressive Assimilation - Before nasal consonants [  ] - Vowels - Place of Assimilation - Before bilabial consonants (/p/,/b/,/m/) - /t/ → [p] - /d/ → [b] - /n/ → [m] - Before /k/ or /g/ - /t/ → [k] - /d/ → [g] - /n/ → [ŋ] - Before /ʃ/ or /j/ - /s/ → [ʃ] - /z/ → [ʒ] - Voicing Assimilation - Approximants and glides /ɹ, j, w/ (normally voiced) become voiceless when they follow a voiceless stop /p, t, k/ - Glides = /j/ - Liquids = /l/ & /ɹ/ Consonants - Obstruents Consonants - Obstruents - Stops (Plosives) - airflow is completely blocked, pressure builds Symbol Voicing Place of Articulation Example /p/ voiceless bilabial pat/tap /b/ voiced bilabial bat/tab /t/ voiceless alveolar teal/met /d/ voiced alveolar deal/med /k/ voiceless velar coal/peck /g/ voiced velar goal/peg /ʔ/ voiceless glottal uh-oh Consonants - Obstruents - Fricatives - continuous airflow, narrow air passage + turbulence Symbol Voicing Place of Articulation Example /f/ voiceless labiodental fail/rough /v/ voiced labiodental veil/live /θ/ voiceless dental think/bath /ð/ voiced dental that/loathe /s/ voiceless alveolar set/miss /z/ voiced alveolar dogs/roses /ʃ/ voiceless post-alveolar shoe/mush /ʒ/ voiced post-alveolar usually/leisure /h/ voiceless glottal hail/ahead Consonants - Obstruents - Affricates - stop immediately followed by a fricative Symbol Voicing Place of Articulation Example /tʃ/ voiceless post-alveolar chin/match /d ʒ/ voiced post-alveolar journey/fridge Consonants - Sonorants Consonants - Sonorants - Nasals - air goes through the nasal cavity Symbol Voicing Place of Articulation Example /m/ voiced bilabial mat/some /n/ voiced alveolar nun/sun /ŋ/ voiced velar king/fang Consonants - Sonorants - Laterals - air flows around the sides of the oral cavity Symbol Voicing Place of Articulation Example /l/ voiced alveolar late/all Consonants - Sonorants - Approximants - narrower vocal tract but no turbulence Vowels Symbol Voicing Place of Articulation Example /ɹ/ voiced alveolar race/array /j/ voiced palatal yet/canyon /w/ voiced velar-bilabial/labiovelar witty/away Vowels - Monophthongs Symbol Height Backness Tenseness Rounding Example /i/ close front tense unrounded beat/seal /ɪ/ close front lax unrounded bit/sit /ɛ/ open-mid front lax unrounded bet/head /æ/ open front lax unrounded bat/tack /ə/ mid central lax unrounded around/the /ʌ/ open-mid near-back lax unrounded butt/luck /u/ close back tense rounded boot/mood /ʊ/ close back lax rounded book/shook /ɔ/ open-mid back tense rounded fork/board /ɑ/ open back tense rounded bot/fought Vowels - Diphthongs Symbol Height Backness Tenseness Rounding Movement Example /eɪ/ close-mid front tense unrounded -close front pay/obey /aɪ/ open front tense unrounded -close front bide/why /aʊ/ open central tense unrounded -close back cow/bow /ɔɪ/ open-mid back tense unrounded -close front soy/buoy /oʊ/ close-mid back tense unrounded -close back boat/road Phonetic Process’ Shortcuts Phonetic Process Shortcut Flapping/Tapping [ɾ] Syllabic Consonants [] Canadian Raising [ʌɪ][ʌʊ] Aspiration [ ʰ] Assimilation influencing Vowel Reduction [ə] Epenthesis adding Deletion deleting Metathesis switching