English phonology facts for kids
English is a language spoken by many people around the world. Even though it's the same language, the way people say words can be very different! This is called pronunciation. How we pronounce words changes over time and also depends on where someone lives. These different ways of speaking are called dialects.
Even with all these differences, English usually has a similar sound system everywhere. Most dialects sound different because they put stress on different parts of words or syllables. Also, some consonant sounds, like "stops" (like 'p' or 't'), "affricates" (like 'ch' or 'j'), and "fricatives" (like 'f' or 's'), can change in different dialects.
Some dialects are seen as more "standard" or "formal." For example, Received Pronunciation (RP) is often considered the standard in England. In the United States, it's General American, and in Australia, it's General Australian. Many dialects grow on their own, making them unique from others.
Consonant Sounds
Most English dialects use about 24 main consonant sounds. One sound, /x/ (like the 'ch' in Scottish "loch"), is a bit less common. Of course, there are always exceptions in different accents, like those heard in Ireland (Hiberno English), New York, or parts of South Asia.
The table below shows the different consonant sounds and where they are made in your mouth.
| Labial (lips) |
Dental (teeth) |
Alveolar (ridge behind teeth) |
Post- alveolar (behind ridge) |
Palatal (hard palate) |
Velar (soft palate) |
Glottal (throat) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal (air through nose) |
m | n | ŋ | |||||
| Plosive/ affricate (air blocked then released) |
Fortis (strong) |
p | t | tʃ | k | |||
| Lenis (soft) |
b | d | dʒ | ɡ | ||||
| Fricative (air squeezed) |
Fortis | f | θ | s | ʃ | x | h | |
| Lenis | v | ð | z | ʒ | ||||
| Approximant (air flows smoothly) |
l | r | j | w | ||||
Examples of Consonant Sounds
This table shows common English words that use these consonant sounds.
| Strong Sounds | Soft Sounds | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | pit | /b/ | bit |
| /t/ | tin | /d/ | din |
| /k/ | cut | /g/ | gut |
| /tʃ/ | cheap | /dʒ/ | jeep |
| /f/ | fat | /v/ | vat |
| /θ/ | thigh | /ð/ | thy |
| /s/ | sap | /z/ | zap |
| /ʃ/ | mention | /ʒ/ | measure |
| /x/ | loch | ||
| /h/ | ham | ||
| /m/ | Tim | ||
| /n/ | tin | ||
| /ŋ/ | king | ||
| /j/ | your | ||
| /w/ | wolf | ||
| /r/ | rump | ||
| /l/ | lump | ||
Vowel Sounds
English has a lot of different vowel sounds. These vowel sounds can change a lot between different dialects. They can also be written differently. For example, the vowel sound in the word "LOT" is pronounced one way in Received Pronunciation (RP) and another way in General American (GA).
John C. Wells created a popular list of words that show how vowels are pronounced in RP and GA. You can see them in the tables below.
| LS | RP | GA |
|---|---|---|
| TRAP | æ | æ |
| BATH | ɑː | |
| PALM | ɑ | |
| LOT | ɒ | |
| CLOTH | ɔ, ɑ | |
| THOUGHT | ɔː | |
| KIT | ɪ | |
| DRESS | e | ɛ |
| STRUT | ʌ | |
| FOOT | ʊ | |
| LS | RP | GA |
|---|---|---|
| FACE | eɪ | |
| GOAT | əʊ | oʊ |
| FLEECE | iː | i |
| GOOSE | uː | u |
| LS | RP | GA |
|---|---|---|
| PRICE | aɪ | |
| CHOICE | ɔɪ | |
| MOUTH | aʊ | |
| LS | RP | GA |
|---|---|---|
| NURSE | ɜː | ɜr |
| CAR | ɑː | ɑr |
| NORTH | ɔː | ɔr |
| FORCE | ɔr, oʊr | |
| NEAR | ɪə | ir |
| SQUARE | ɛː | ɛr |
| CURE | ʊə, ɔː | ʊr |
| LS | RP | GA |
|---|---|---|
| COMMA | ə | ə |
| LETTER | ər | |
| HAPPY | i | |
Sometimes, short vowels can combine with other sounds. For example, the vowel in "bay" can combine with a 'y' sound, or "beau" with a 'w' sound. This means that even though English seems to have many vowel sounds, some experts believe there are fewer basic vowel sounds that combine in different ways. This would make English more similar to other languages that have fewer vowel sounds.
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