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Transcription: Detailed Description of Consonants

This website uses symbols to transcribe phonemes (sounds). For an explanation of what these symbols represent, click here: vowels, consonants. The following special symbols are used:
ə Λ ā ē ī ō ū ű œ θ δ š ž č ĵ ŋ
If your browser cannot display any of these characters, you are advised to move to a browser which can, such as Internet Explorer 6.0.
Note: an apostrophe ' is placed before the accented vowel.

This page sets out the consonant phonemes (sounds) of English, and the symbols used to represent them on this website. It also gives a phonetic description of their pronunciation, for people who can understand the technical language of phonetics.

For a simple list of consonants, click here.
For vowel symbols, click here.

Note: The word 'Castilian' refers to the standard language of central government in Spain. It is important, especially for the phoneme /θ/ (Castilian z or soft c), that this language is not confused with the speech of Latin America, or with other languages of Spain such as Catalan.

Voiced nasal stops

Symbol /m/
Examples in English mad, hammer, named, stem
Similar pronunciations German machen, hammer, French moi, marcher, Italian meglio, uomo, Castilian mes, hambre
Phonetic description Voiced bilabial nasal stop [m].

Symbol /n/
Examples in English nose, any, done, inch
Similar pronunciations German nicht, eins, French nous, une, Italian notte, sono, Castilian nosotros, verano
Phonetic description Voiced apical alveolar nasal stop [n]. Before a consonant, tends to adopt the position of articulation of the following consonant.

Symbol /ŋ/
Examples in English tang, hung, singer, ankle, tangle
Similar pronunciations German Drang, mengel, Italian tango, Inghilterra, Castilian lengua, pongo
Phonetic description Voiced radical velar nasal stop [ŋ]. In a few dialects (mainly north-west Engalnd), this sound is always pronounced with a following homorganic oral stop, [ŋg].

Voiced oral stops

Symbol /b/
Examples in English big, harbour, grab, trouble
Similar pronunciations German bist, haben, French bois, table, Italian bacio, abile, Castilian barrio, gambas
Phonetic description Voiced bilabial oral stop [b].

Symbol /d/
Examples in English dog, ready, bad, ridden
Similar pronunciations German Dorf, Bruder, French donc, medecin, Italian dare, rondine, Castilian dentro, mandar
Phonetic description Voiced apical alveolar oral stop [d]. Palatalisation: /d/ + /j/ > /ĵ/.

Symbol /g/
Examples in English gas, dagger, log, ugly
Similar pronunciations German gar, Wagen, French gauche, legume, Italian gatto, ghiaccio, Castilian gas, guerra
Phonetic description Voiced radical velar oral stop [g].

Voiceless oral stops
In many dialects, the voiceless oral stops have developed a modified pronunciation at all or almost all positions other than word-initial. This process is most advanced in London, but is heard all over England and Scotland and in Australia. A trace of it also exists in North America.

The first step in the process is glottalisation: the airstream of the stop is ejective, formed by the larynx upward rather than coming from the lungs. These ejectives may change further to simple glottal stops.

Generally, these changes seem more advanced in the phoneme /t/ and less advanced in /p/ and /k/. Some North American dialects have a glottalised /t/ but nothing else; some may also glottalise /p/ and /k/. The sound of glottalisation is generally less distinct in North America than in the UK or Australia. In Scotland and North England, it is typical for /p/, /t/ and /k/ to have glottalised forms. In South England and Australia, /t/ generally becomes a glottal stop while /p/ and /k/ glottalise. In London, some speakers convert all three to a glottal stop.

In the UK, these changes are considered vulgar. Refined speakers avoid them.

As mentioned above, these changes do not normally occur in word-initial consonants. Here are examples of pronunciation in various dialects. [�] represents glottalisation of the consonant, and [?] represents a glottal stop:

Dialect type pepper /pepər/ tatter /tatər/ kicker /kikər/
England, refined [pεpə] [tatə] [kIkə]
North England, vulgar [pεp�ə] [tat�ə] [kIk�ə]
South England, vulgar [pεp�ə] [tæ?ə] [kIk�ə]
London, extremely vulgar [pε?ə] [tæ?ə] [kI?ə]

Symbol /p/
Examples in English put, happy, top, apple
Similar pronunciations German Preis, Teppich, French plus, frapper, Italian pizza, campo, Castilian puesto, tipo
Phonetic description Voiceless bilabial oral stop [p].

Symbol /t/
Examples in English tape, litter, street, muster
Similar pronunciations German Turm, Mutter, French tous, vite, Italian troppo, molto, Castilian tres, gato
Phonetic description Voiceless apical alveolar oral stop [t]. Palatalisation: /t/ + /j/ > /č/.

Symbol /k/
Examples in English kiss, broken, anorak, milk, call, acre, Macdonald, bicker, track, choir, anchor, quick, liquid, liquor
Similar pronunciations German Katze, dick, French chic, quand, Italian caro, chianti, Castilian loco, queso
Phonetic description Voiceless radical velar oral stop [k].

Affricates

Symbol /ĵ/
Examples in English joke, injure, gem, Roger, hedge, badger, rage, ginger, vengeance
Similar pronunciations Italian gente, Angelo, French d + j; Castilian y and ll are sometimes pronounced like this (yo, cavallo)
Phonetic description Voiced post-alveolar oral affricate, as /d/ + /ž/. May result from /d/ + /j/ by palatalisation.

Symbol /č/
Examples in English child, matching, catch, inch, nature
Similar pronunciations German Tschechisch, French t + ch, Italian cinque, bacio, Castilian chorizo, proveche
Phonetic description Voiceless post-alveolar oral affricate, as /t/ + /š/. May result from /t/ + /j/ by palatalisation.

Voiced fricatives

Symbol /v/
Examples in English vote, river, given, stove
Similar pronunciations German weil, ewig, French vous, grave, Italian voglio, cavo, Castilian caballo, huevo
Phonetic description Voiced labio-dental oral fricative [v].

Symbol /δ/
Examples in English this, then, rather, bathed, with
Similar pronunciations Castilian cada, sentido
Phonetic description Voiced apical interdental or dental oral fricative [δ].

Symbol /z/
Examples in English zeal, razor, rose, does, cars, dogs
Similar pronunciations German unser, Spesen, French zut, phrase, Italian casa, Pisa, Castilian mismo
Phonetic description Voiced apical alveolar oral fricative [z], typically grooved, using the teeth as an obstacle to the airstream.

Symbol /ž/
Examples in English pleasure, seizure, exposure, fusion, erosion, massage, beige, rouge
Similar pronunciations German Jalousie, French je, orange
Phonetic description Voiced laminar post-alveolar oral fricative. May result from /z/ + /j/ by palatalisation.

Voiceless fricatives

Symbol /f/
Examples in English foot, coffee, stiff, photo, sapphire, cough, rough, laugh
Similar pronunciations German fein, offen French fromage, dificil, Italian figlio, famiglia, Castilian facil, grifo
Phonetic description Voiceless labio-dental oral fricative [f].

Symbol /θ/
Examples in English thing, pithy, growth, month
Similar pronunciations Castilian zero, quince
Phonetic description Voiceless apical interdental or dental oral fricative [θ].

Symbol /s/
Examples in English so, missing, moss, whisper, cell, acid, face
Similar pronunciations German Wasser, Pass, French seul, dance, Italian solo, stella, Castilian sacar, listo
Phonetic description Voiceless apical alveolar oral fricative [s], typically grooved, using the teeth as an obstacle to the airstream.

Symbol /š/
Examples in English shine, usher, rash, sure, pressure, mission, solution, special, precious
Similar pronunciations German Schiff, stark, French chanter, proche, Italian capisci, scenico
Phonetic description Voiceless laminar post-alveolar oral fricative. May result from /s/ + /j/ by palatalisation.

Symbol /x/
Examples in English (dialects or proper names) loch, Buchan, Lachlan, Harlech
Similar pronunciations German Dach, machen, Castilian ajo, gente
Phonetic description Voiceless radical velar or uvular oral fricative [x] or [χ]. Usually occurs only in words on non-English origin, particularly from Welsh and Gaelic. Uneducated English people usually pronounce it /k/ [k].

Approximants

Symbol /w/
Examples in English we, wind, inward, what, wheel awake, quick, liquid
Similar pronunciations German Duisburg, French oui, voici, Italian lingua, equo, Castilian fuerte, guapo
Phonetic description Voiced bilabial glide [w]. A few dialects keep this separate from a voiceless version, spelt wh; in some dialects of North East Scotland this voiceless form is pronounced [f].

Symbol /r/
Examples in English ring, barrow, current, hairy
Similar pronunciations German rein, Rind, French France, rouge, Italian ragazza, riso, Castilian rey, rico
Phonetic description Voiced apical aveolar or post-alveolar approximant. See rhoticity for behaviour after vowels.

Symbol /l/
Examples in English luck, balance, usual, silly, fell
Similar pronunciations German leicht, alles, French leur, aller, Italian luce, alto, Castilian lindo, vale
Phonetic description Voiced lateral dental approximant [l].

Symbol /j/
Examples in English you, yak, yellow, yoyo, million, onion
Similar pronunciations German jung, Jahr, French yeux, Castilian yendo, hielo
Phonetic description Voiced palatal glide [j]. May cause palatalisation: /s/ + /j/ > /š/, /z/ + /j/ > /ž/, /t/ + /j/ > /č/, /d/ + /j/ > /ĵ/.

Symbol /h/
Examples in English he, hot, ahoy, who
Similar pronunciations German Haus, heilig, Himmel; like a smoother form of Castilian dejar, flojo
Phonetic description Breath-voiced approximant [h].


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