Transcription English letters- this is where learning English begins. It doesn’t matter at all whether you are elementary or upper-intermediate, everyone uses transcription, sometimes even unconsciously. First, let's refresh our memory, what does the phrase “English transcription” mean?
English Transcription is a sequence of phonetic symbols that helps us understand how to read a particular sound or word. Often, students are faced with transcription at the beginning of learning a language, when it is still quite difficult to read even quite simple words, and then they simply don’t pay attention to it. However, this will not be the case forever. As soon as a student begins to skillfully use complex grammatical structures and develops a good lexicon for free communication, then the desire immediately appears to speak beautifully, like a native speaker, that is, to improve your pronunciation. This is where we remember the good old transcription.
In order not to have to remember the well-forgotten old things, we suggest returning to the repetition from time to time. Of course, ideally, the transcription should be completed together with the teacher, because writing cannot convey all the subtleties of pronunciation, but if you are reading this article now, the foundation for beautiful pronunciation and correct reading has already been laid, and you will definitely achieve your desired goal.
Transcription of vowel sounds
There are two types of vowel sounds - single sounds and diphthongs.
[ ʌ ] - [a] - short
[a:]- [a] - deep
[i]- [and] - short
[i:]- [and] - long
[o]- [o] - short
[o:]- [o] - deep
[u]- [y] - short
[u:]- [y] - long
[e]- as in the word "plaid"
[ ɜ: ] - as in the word "honey"
English diphthongs
A diphthong is a sound that consists of two sounds. Most often, a diphthong can be divided into two sounds, however, this cannot be conveyed in writing. Often diphthongs are indicated not by a combination of several characters, but by their own sign.
[əu]- [ OU ]
[au]- [au]
[ei]- [ Hey ]
[oi]- [ Ouch ]
[ai]- [ouch]
Rules for pronunciation of vowels in English
- The sound “a” has four varieties:
[ʌ] - short sound, as in the words duck, cut;
[ æ ] - soft sound. There is no analogue to it in the Russian language. It is read as in the word in the word cat;
[a:] - a long sound that is read as in the word car
[ɔ] is a short sound that sounds similar to both “o” and “a”. In British pronunciation, it is more of an "o", as in hot or not. - The sound “e” can be read in three ways:
[e] - for example, as in the word let;
[ə:] - this sound is a little reminiscent of the Russian letter “ё”, only it is read a little softer. For example, bird, fur;
[ə] is one of the most common sounds in English transcription. In sound, this sound is similar to the Russian sound “e”. It occurs only in unstressed syllables and can be practically inaudible or indistinguishable, for example, ["letə], letter - letter. - The “i” sound can be long or short:
[I] - short sound, for example, as in the word film;
[i:] - a long sound, for example, as in sheep. - The sound “o” also has 2 options - long and short:
[ɔ] is a short sound, as in the word bond.
[ɔ:] is a long sound, as in the word more. - The "u" sound can also be pronounced in two ways. It can be long or short:
[u] is a short sound, as in the word put.
[u:] - long sound, as in the word blue.
Transcription of consonants
In the transcription of consonant sounds, everything is quite simple. Basically they sound similar to Russian. It is enough to take a thoughtful look at the above-mentioned letter combinations a couple of times, and they will remain in your memory.
Consonants
[b]- [b]
[d]- [d]
[f]- [f]
[ 3 ] - [ and ]
[d3]- [j]
[g]- [ G ]
[h]- [ X ]
[k]- [ To ]
[l]- [l]
[m]- [m]
[n]- [n]
[p]- [ P ]
[s]- [ With ]
[t]- [ T ]
[v]- [ V ]
[z]- [z]
[t∫]- [h]
[ ∫ ] - [w]
[r]- soft [r], as in the word Russian
[ O ]- a sign of softness as in the Russian letter “ё” (Christmas tree)
English consonants that are not in Russian and their pronunciation
[ θ ] - soft letter“c”, the tongue is located between the front teeth of the upper and lower jaws
[ æ ] - like “uh”, only more sharply
[ ð ] - like “θ”, only with added voice, like a soft letter “z”
[ ŋ ] - nasal, in the French manner, sound [n]
[ ə ] - neutral sound
[w] - like “v” and “u” together, soft pronunciation
Features of English transcription
In order to make it easier to navigate reading words, it is important to know the main features of transcription:
- Feature 1. Transcription is always formatted in square brackets
- Feature 2. In order not to get confused about where to place the stress in a word, it is worth considering that it is always placed before the stressed syllable. ["neim] - transcription of the word name.
- Feature 3. It is important to understand that transcription is not the letters that make up a word. Transcription is the sound of words.
- Feature 4. IN English language transcription consists of vowel sounds, diphthongs and consonants.
- Feature 5. In order to show that the sound is long, a colon is used in transcription.
Of course, knowing only character sets, it is quite difficult to read everything correctly, because there are many exceptions. In order to read correctly, you need to understand that there are closed and open syllables. An open syllable ends with a vowel (game, sunshine), a closed syllable ends with a consonant (ball, dog). Some sounds may be pronounced differently depending on the type of syllable.
Conclusion
It is worth remembering that in any business the main thing is practice. Transcription English sounds will come easy to you if you work hard at it. Reading the rules once is not enough. It is important to return to them, work through them and repeat them regularly until they are practiced to the point of automaticity. Memorizing transcription and correct pronunciation Dictionaries will be a great help. You can use both English online dictionaries and good old printed publications. The main thing is not to give up!
Inspiration to you and success in your studies. May the knowledge be with you!
Big and Friendly family EnglishDom
Transcription teaches us how to pronounce English words correctly. Often the difficulty with English is that the spelling and pronunciation of a word can vary greatly.
Existing (few) reading rules English words can only give some guidelines. In most cases, we learn how to pronounce or read a word thanks to transcription.
Today I will tell you how to deal with transcription in English.
Many people are very confused by the English transcription - some strange symbols, sometimes with colons, sometimes in combination with each other. This, of course, often results when reading English words.
In fact, understanding the transcription of English words is quite simple. You just need to understand some icons. First, some very simple rules.
Rule #1
Transcription is written in square brackets
Rule #2
The stress in transcription comes before the stressed syllable. [ ' neim ] is a transcription of the word name.
Rule #3
Transcription reflects sound of the word, and not its letter composition. Again, compare name and [ ' neim ].
Rule #4
Transcription in English consists of vowel sounds, and.
Rule #5
In transcription, if vowel is long, a colon is used, i.e. " : ". For example, in a word far, distant.
Now let's learn how to read English transcription.
Let's start with vowels.
There are 4 variations of the sound "a" - This
[Λ ] - short sound, as in words duck, cut;
[æ ] - there is no such sound in the Russian language, it is a soft sound, as in the word cat;
[a:] is a long sound, as in the word car(British pronunciation) or calm
[ɔ ] is a short sound. Something between "o" and "a". In British pronunciation, it's more of an "o" as in hot or not. Americans will pronounce a short “a” in these words.
The sound "e" has 3 variations :
[e] - as in the word bed;
[ ə :] - similar to the Russian “ё”, only softer. For example, bird, fur;
[ə ] is perhaps the most common sound in English transcription. This is a neutral sound, similar to the Russian sound “e”. It only appears in unstressed syllables and can be practically inaudible or indistinguishable, for example, [‘letə], letter — letter.
The sound “i” has only 2 options- long and short:
[I] - short sound, as in the English word film;
- long sound, as in sheep.
The sound "o" also has 2 options- long and short:
[ɔ ] - a short sound, it has already been said. Americans and British pronounce it differently. The British version is just a short “o” bond.
[ɔ :] - long sound, as in a word more.
And the sound "u" has 2 options- long and short:
— blue.
Hopefully, now the English transcription is starting to take a clearer shape and you are starting to understand or remember what's what in the transcription and pronunciation of English words. Now you can also.
If you also want to listen to the voiced pronunciation of words, then this can be done, for example,.
