A Dictionary of Phonetics and PhonologyAppendix: the International Phonetic Alphabet

accent /æk’sent/: is the way the people of a place pronounce their language. For example, people

in London and Sydney both speak English, but they have different accents.

affricate / æfrɪkeɪt/ : plosive followed immediately by a fricative

allophone /ə’ləfəʊn/ : variations of a phoneme

alveolar /əlfɪɔl ɜ:(r)/ : tip or blade of tongue against the gum just behind the upper teeth

articulation of the plosive /ɑ:tɪkjəleɪʃn/ /əv;/ /plɒsɪv/ : approach as the articulating organs come

together, release as the separate and allow the blocked air to escape.

aspiration /’æspə’reɪʃn/ : the release of the plosive not immediately followed by voicing for a

vowel, a voiceless escape of breath (example voiceless plosives as in p, t, k)

assimilation /ə’sɪməleɪʃn/ : variances in phonemic pronunciation in connected speech d

following by p, b or m is bilabial assimilation followed k or g is velar assimilation also t and n

are possible assimilants as they are alveolar (known as de-alveolar assimilation)

back /bæk/ : tongue in back of mouth for articulation

bilabial /,baɪləbɪəl/ : lips pressed together

blade /bleɪd/ : front line of tongue

1

A

B

centre /’sentə(r)/ : tongue in central part of the mouth for articulation

centering diphthongs /’sentə(r):ɪŋ/ /’dɪfθɒŋs/ : diphthong with vowel sound made by opening

clear L /klɪə(r)/ /el/ : used before vowels and j

close /kləʊs/ : vowel sound with tongue close to palate

closing diphthongs /kləʊsɪŋ/ /’dɪfθɒŋs/ : diphthongs with second vowel phoneme made by

closure

clusters /klʌstə(r):s/ : groups of consonants, when preceding consonant is voiceless, the whole

cluster is usually voiceless, and vice versa

coalescence /’kəʊə’lesnz/ : assimilation that eliminates phonemes

complementary distribution /kɒmplɪ’mentrɪ/ /,dɪstrɪ’bju: ʃn/ : the differences in allophones for

any given phoneme which are predictable (such as k being different based on the placement of

the vowel)

consonant sound /’kɒnsənənt/ /saʊnd/ : is a sound we make by obstructing the flow of air from

the mouth

contextual elision /kɒntekstʃəl/ /i:lɪʃn/ : elided and unelided forms both can be heard example

last month in colloquial speech

contrastiveness /kɒntra:stɪfnəs/ : two phonemes are contrastive by listing minimal pairs

distinguished by the contrast being illustrated

2D

C

dark 1 /dɑ:k/ /wʌn/ : used before consonant before w and before a pause

dental /’dentl/ : using the tongue against teeth

devoicing /dɪ’vɔɪzɪŋ/ : after voiceless plosives voiced consonants become devoiced

egressive /igresɪv/ : outward direction of air

ejective consonant /i’dʒekɪv/ /’kɒnsənənt/ : consonant using egressive pharyngeal air staem

elision /i’lɪʃn/ : when a phoneme is dropped in pronunciation as in Christmas, and listen

fall /fɔ:l/ : high fall and low fall marked by asterisk respectively at top or bottom

fortis /’fɔ:tɪz/ : plosives, affricates and fricatives strong articulation

free variation /fri:/ /,veəri’eɪʃn/ : choice between allophones is free in certain context without

any apparent system

fricative /frikʌtɪv/ : narrowing of passage above tongue

front /frʌnt/ : tongue is highest part of the mouth for articulation

3

E

F

G

glottal plosive /gləʊtl/ /plɒsɪv/ : vocal folds blocking the passage of air, also glottal stop

glottis /gləʊti:z/ : space between the vocal folds

historical elision /hɪ’stɒrɪkl/ /i:lɪʃn/ : dropped historically no question of inclusion Christmas,

listen

homophone /,hɒməfəʊn/ : word pronounced the same but spell differently

implosive /ɪmplɒsɪv/ : ingressive pharyngeal air-steam

ingressive /ɪn’grɪ:sɪv/ : direction of air movement inwards

inter-vocalic /ɪn’tɜ:(r)/ /’vəʊkl:ɪk/ : consonant between vowels

labialization /’ləbɪəlɪzeɪʃn/ : lip rounding occurring at the same time as some other more

important articulation

labio-dental /’ləbɪɔ/ /’dentl/ : lower lip with upper teeth

lateral /’lætə(r)ɔl/ : blockage on the side

laAteral approach /’lætə(r)ɔl/ /ə’prəʊtʃ/ : from 1 phoneme sides of tongue have to rise to block

air for the plosive

4

H

I

L

lateral release /’lætə(r)ɔl/ /rɪ’li:s/ : with 1 phoneme sides of tongue must drop to produce 1 after

plosive

lenis /len:ɪz/ : plosives, affricates and fricatives weak articulation

lip rounding /lɪp/-/raʊndɪŋ/ : lips playing a role in producing certain vowels and other sounds

way of articulation

manner /’mænə(r)/ : way of articulation

nasal /’neɪzl/ : evident, lowered soft palate to allow air through

nasal approach /’neɪzl/ /ə’prəʊtʃ/ : with plosives an approach consist solely in the rising of the

soft palate

nasal release /’neɪzl/ /rɪ’li:s/ : with plosives when the release consist solely in the movement of

the soft palate

non-audible release /’nɒn/-/’ɔ:dɪbl/ / rɪ’li:s/ : when the release of the first plosives in an

overlapping plosive sequence is not audible as it is masked by the second closure

open /’əʊpən/ : vowel sound with tongue farther away from palate

5

M

N

O

oral egressive /ɔ:rəl/ /ɪ:grɪ:sɪv/ : reverse click

oral ingressive /ɔ:rəl/ /ɪn’grɪ:sɪv/ : air following inwards from the mouth, click

ordinary approach /’ɔ:dnri/ /ə’prəʊtʃ/ : tongue tip rises to produce plosive

ordinary approach/release /’ɔ:dnri/ /ə’prəʊtʃ/ / rɪ’li:s/ : since the opposite of nasal is ORAL and

the opposite of lateral is MEDIAN, the “ordinary” approach/release, characterizing for example

the d in eddy is properly termed MEDIAL ORAL (this stuff is great!)

overlapping plosive consonants /,əʊvə’læɪŋ/ /plɒsɪv/ /’kɒnsənənt/ : in a sequence of plosives

with different places of articulation, release of first plosive articulation does not occur until after

the approach phase of the second

pharyngeal /’fɑrɪŋ:ɪəl/ : air set in motion holding the vocals folds together and using air above

pharyngeal eggressive /’fɑrɪŋ:ɪəl/ /ɪ:grɪ:sɪv/ : ejective

pharyngeal ingressive /’fɑrɪŋ:ɪəl/ /ɪn’grɪ:sɪv/ : implosive

place /pleɪs/ : place of articulation

plosive /plɒsɪv/ : complete blocking of air-steam. Sound in which air-steam is entirely blocked

for a short time, p, b, t, d, k, g

plosive theory /plɒsɪv/ /θɪərɪ/ : with plosives described in a chart as first part of scheme being

approach being hold and being release

pulmonic /pʊlmɒnɪk/ : air set in motion of the lungs

6

P

pulmonic egressive /pʊlmɒnɪk/ /ɪ:grɪ:sɪv/ : eggresive pronunciation of the body of the tongue

pulmonic ingressive /pʊlmɒnɪk/ /ɪn’grɪ:sɪv/ : in-breathing speech

quality /kwɒləti/ : differing positions of the body of the tongue

rise /raɪz/ : high rise or low rise marked by asterisk respectively at a top or bottom

rise followed by unstressed syllables /raɪz/ /’fɒləʊ:d/ /baɪ/ /ʌn’stresd/ /sɪləblz/ : the rise is

spread out over the whole

roll or trill /rəʊl/ /ɔ:(r)/ /trɪl/ rapid series of closures and openings

RP /ɑ:(r)/ /pi:/ : Received Pronunciation or SBS

SBS /es/ /bi:/ /es/ : Southern British Standard

secondary articulation /’sekəndri/ /ɑ:tɪkjəleɪʃn/ : a secondary occurrence such as labialization,

palatalization, velarization accompanying a more important primary articulation

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Q

R

S

soft palate /sɒft/ /’pælət/ : valve that controls the entry of air from the throat (pharynx) into the

nose

stressed /stresd/ : given accent

strong form /strɒŋ/ /fɔ:m/ : see weak form

sound /saʊnd/ : is the minimum segment of the pronunciation of a word. For example, the word

this has three sounds: /T/, /I/, and /S/

syllabic consonants /’sɪləbɪk/ /’kɒnsənənt/ : sounds which are rather longer than usual and have

syllable making function like vowels, examples: ‘-l’ and ‘-n’

syllable /’sɪləbl/ : is a word or part of a word that has one vowel sound. It may also have one or

more consonant sounds. For example, ago has two syllables. The first syllable is just one vowel

sound. The second syllable is a consonant sound followed by a vowel sound

tip /tɪp/ : tip of tongue

unstressed /ʌn’stresd/ : without accent

velar /felə:(r)/ : raised back of tongue against soft palate

vocal folds /’vəʊkl/ /fəʊldz/ : in the larynx, behind the adam’s apple

8

T

U

V

voice /vɔɪst/ : many pairs of consonant sounds are similar, but one of them is voiced and the

other is not. For example, /d/ is similar to /t/, but /d/ is voiced and /t/ is not. A consonant is

voiced when there is vibration in the throat

voiced /vɔɪst/ : vibrating glottis

voiced implosive /vɔɪst/ /ɪmplɒsɪv/ : voiced ingressive

voiceless /vɔɪsles/ : glottis wide open, non-vibrating glottis

voicing /vɔɪsɪŋ/ : voiced or voiceless

voicing diagram /vɔɪsɪŋ/ /’daɪəgræm/ : diagram showing when a word is voiced and unvoiced in

its phonemes

voicing, place, manner /vɔɪsɪŋ/ /pleɪs/ /’mænə(r)/ : standard manner of expressing sound (i.e.

voiced velar fricative)

vowel sound /’vaʊəl/ /saʊnd/ : is a sound we make when we do not obstruct the air flow from

the mouth in speaking

weak form /wi:k/ /fɔ:m/ : used with articles, prepositions etc. to differentiate from strong form

with different phoneme

Phonetic spelling

Consonants

p pen, copy, happen

b back, baby, job

t tea, tight, button

d day, ladder, odd

k key, clock, school

g get, giggle, ghost

9

W

tʃ church, match, nature

dʒ judge, age, soldier

f fat, coffee, rough, photo

v view, heavy, move

θ thing, author, path

ð this, other, smooth

s soon, cease, sister

z zero, music, roses, buzz

ʃ ship, sure, national

ʒ pleasure, vision

h hot, whole, ahead

m more, hammer, sum

n nice, know, funny, sun

ŋ ring, anger, thanks, sung

l light, valley, feel

r right, wrong, sorry, arrange

j yet, use, beauty, few

w wet, one, when, queen

ʔ (glottal stop)department, football

Vowels

ɪ kit, bid, hymn, minute

e dress, bed, head, many

æ trap, bad

ɒ lot, odd, wash

ʌ strut, mud, love, blood

ʊ foot, good, put

iː fleece, sea, machine

eɪ face, day, break

aɪ price, high, try

ɔɪ choice, boy

uː goose, two, blue, group

əʊ goat, show, no

aʊ mouth, now

10

ɪə near, here, weary

eə square. fair, various

ɑː start, father

ɔː thought, law, north, war

ʊə poor, jury, cure

ɜː nurse, stir, learn, refer

ə about, common, standard

i happy, radiate. Glorious

u thank you, influence, situation

n̩ suddenly, cotton

l̩ middle, metal

ˈ (stress mark)

Appendix

The principal organs of articulation

11

Places of articulation

12

Reference

- ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY GLOSSARY

- Phonetic symbols for English

- Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary

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- http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Sample_of_an_acknowledgement#ixzz1Jw1Z2fzd

- Learning and teaching linguistics  >  The principal organs of articulation

- Learning and teaching linguistics  >  Place of articulation- http://www.questia.com

- IJAL International Journal of American Linguistics- JASA Journal of the Acoustical Society of America- JL Journal of Linguistics- JP Journal of Phonetics

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