ASH – /æ/

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Vocal tract

A brief description of the sound:

The sound belongs to the vowel category, and it is a short vowel. During the production of the sound, the mouth should be wide open. In order to articulate /æ/, press the tip of your tongue hard against your lower teeth, bunch the tongue up behind it, open your lips in a way for the corners of your mouth not to be pressed together, and then make a bleating sound, similar to a sound that a lamb makes. It is a sound somewhere between the Polish /a/ and /e/.

Words containing this phoneme:

Jack  /dʒæk/
Crackle  /ˈkræk əl/
Racket  /ˈræk ɪt/
Gang  /ɡæŋ/
Sang  /sæŋ/
Cash  /kæʃ/
Crash  /kræʃ/
Splash  /splæʃ/
Ham  /hæm/
Jam  /dʒæm/
Man  /mæn/
Gran  /ɡræn/
Sandwich  /ˈsæn wɪdʒ/
Understand  /ˌʌnd ə ˈstænd/
Apple  /ˈæp əl/
Cattle  /ˈkæt əl/
Handle  /ˈhænd əl/
Animal  /ˈæn ɪm əl/
Asthma  /ˈæs mə/
Clarity  /ˈklær ət i/
Charity  /ˈtʃær ət i/
Personality  /ˌpɜːs ə ˈnæl ət i/
Static  /ˈstæt ɪk/
Ecstatic  /ɪk ˈstæt ɪk/
Dramatic  /drə ˈmæt ɪk/
Spanish  /ˈspæn ɪʃ/
Palace  /ˈpæl əs/
Alice  /ˈæl ɪs/
Granite  /ˈɡræn ɪt/
Janet  /ˈdʒæn ɪt/
Acid  /ˈæs ɪd/
Rapid  /ˈræp ɪd/
Cabin  /ˈkæb ɪn/
Latin  /ˈlæt ɪn/
Examine  /ɪɡ ˈzæm ɪn/
Imagine  /ɪ ˈmædʒ ɪn/
Adam  /ˈæd əm/
Madam  /ˈmæd əm/
Travel  /ˈtræv əl/
Gravel  /ˈɡræv əl/
Cavern  /ˈkæv ən/
Tavern  /ˈtæv ən/
Salad  /ˈsæl əd/
Gather  /ˈɡæð ə/      
Shadow  /ˈʃæd əʊ/

As a fun fact, some popular English names with this sound:

Female names: Janet, Miranda, Ann, Annabel, Caroline, Sally, Hanna, Joanna

Male names: Jack, Harry, Alec, Daniel, Anthony, Sam, Nathaniel, Alan

Now, try yourself and practice the sound by pronouncing those sentences:

  • Flat as a pancake.
  • A matter of fact.
  • Mad as a hatter.
  • Catch as catch can.
  • A hungry man is an angry man.
  • May as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.

References:

Ponsonby, M. (1982). How Now, Brown Cow? Prentice Hall.

Wells, J. C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary for Upper Intermediate – Advanced Learners. Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.

SCHWA – /ə/

RoksanaLeave a comment
Vocal tract

A short description of the sound:

This sound in undeniably one of the most important and distinct English sounds, though it is sometimes called a non-sound. It is a fully relaxed and very short vowel. This phoneme is so special, because it is used for all the weak forms of words and for all unstressed syllables. It is very hard to explain precisely how to articulate this sound. When you try to say certain words (such as: police, contain, success), as if there were no vowel at all between the consonants of the unstressed syllable, the sound that escapes your mouth is the schwa. It also appears when the unstressed syllable is an open one, at the end of a word, with no following consonant sound.

Words containing the phoneme:

About  /ə ˈbaʊt/
Among  /ə ˈmʌŋ/
Ago  /ə ˈmʌŋ/
Combine  /ˈkɒm baɪn/
Command  /kə ˈmɑːnd/
Confuse  /kən ˈfjuːz/
Potato  /pə ˈteɪt əʊ/
Police  /pə ˈliːs/
Success  /sək ˈses/
Tradition  /trə ˈdɪʃ ən/
Occasion  /ə ˈkeɪʒ ən/
Actor  /ˈækt ə/
Doctor  /ˈdɒkt ə/
Water  /ˈwɔːt ə/          
Danger  /ˈdeɪndʒ ə/
Theatre  /ˈθɪət ə/
Centre  /ˈsent ə/
Metre  /ˈmiːt ə/
Sofa  /ˈsəʊf ə/
Human  /ˈhjuːm ən/
Woman  /ˈwʊm ən/
German  /ˈdʒɜːm ən/
Englishman  /ˈɪŋ ɡlɪʃ mən/
Husband  /ˈhʌz bənd/
Servant  /ˈsɜːv ənt/
England  /ˈɪŋ ɡlənd/
Curtain  /ˈkɜːt ən/
Certain  /ˈsɜːt ən/
Britain  /ˈbrɪt ən/
Written  /ˈrɪt ən/
Often  /ˈɒf ən/
Entertainment  /ˌent ə ˈteɪn mənt/
Lesson  /ˈles ən/
Bacon  /ˈbeɪk ən/
Cotton  /ˈkɒt ən/
Adventure  /əd ˈventʃ ə/
Future  /ˈfjuːtʃ ə/
Pleasure  /ˈpleʒ ə/
Photographer  /fə ˈtɒɡ rəf ə/
Apology  /ə ˈpɒl ədʒ i/
Philology  /fɪ ˈlɒl ədʒ i/
Thorough  /ˈθʌr ə/
Edinburgh  /ˈed ɪn bərə/
Biology  /baɪ ˈɒl ədʒ i/
Ridiculous  /rɪ ˈdɪk jʊl əs/

The next level of difficulty – words containing the ‘vanishing’ (unstressed/reduced) syllable:

Comfortable  /ˈkʌmft əb əl/
Vegetable  /ˈvedʒ təb əl/
Admirable  /ˈæd mər əb əl/
Carefully  /ˈkeəf əli/
Listening  /ˈlɪs ən ɪŋ/
Medicine  /ˈmed sən/
Camera  /ˈkæm ər ə/
Secretary  /ˈsek rət ər i/
Different /ˈdɪf rənt/
Ordinary  /ˈɔːd ən ər i/

Now, try yourself and practice the sound by pronouncing those expressions:

  • A Doctor of Philosophy
  • A picture of innocence
  • A baker’s dozen
  • The Department of the Environment
  • The Iron Curtain
  • The Garden of Eden

And those sentences:

  • Nature is the best healer.
  • Nothing succeeds like a success.
  • Necessity is the mother of invention.
  • An Englishman’s home is his castle.
  • Here today, gone tomorrow.
  • Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
  • Never do today what you can get someone else to do tomorrow.

Something pleasant and fun – a rhyme – as the conclusion. Good luck!

Rub-a-dub dub

Three man in tub

The butcher, the baker

The candlestick-maker

They all jumped over a rotten potater!

References:

Ponsonby, M. (1982). How Now, Brown Cow? Prentice Hall.

Wells, J. C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary for Upper Intermediate – Advanced Learners. Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.

To Begin With…

RoksanaLeave a comment

Hi, hello! Welcome!

My name is Roksana and I am a 3rd year student of English philology.

If you happened to come across this webpage, you were most probably looking for some stuff connected with the English pronunciation or the English accent in general. If so, this is a perfect place for you.

This blog consists of thematic lists of the most popular English words with their phonemic transcriptions, that you can also find in any dictionary. The knowledge of the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), which I will try to explain to you, will make you able to check the pronunciation of any problematic or unknown word whenever you will need it, on your own. It will make you a more autonomous learner, and the practice of articulating those sounds, words and expressions, will improve your accent, which will bring you one step closer to the goal of sounding native-like, or at least, comprehensible and understandable, since this is more that enough in order to communicate successfully in a foreign language. Furthermore, you will gradually make less and less errors and mistakes while speaking, which will make you feel more confident and self-assured.   

Moreover, each sound and the way of articulating it is briefly described and explained, so you will be able to actually pronounce a truly British sound, with its proper qualities and features, and not an equivalent of the phoneme found in your native language.

It is worth mentioning that the accent preferred by me and presented on this blog is the BBC pronunciation/the Received Pronunciation (RP) – a widely respected British accent usually taught to foreigners.

If you are a non-native speaker of English, or you are a student of this language, I will help you in perfecting and mastering your accent. No matter the level of proficiency you are at – this blog is constructed in such a way for everybody to benefit from it one way or another.

Stay and look around. Enjoy!