Introduction to English Phonetics with Greg

Overview

• Introduction to phonetic transcription and pronunciation
• Aim: Understand the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
• Promise of a test at the end to check understanding

Basic Phonetics

• English has 44 sounds total
  • 24 consonants
  • 20 vowels

Consonants

• 24 Consonants:
  • 16 consonants use familiar symbols (e.g., t, d, g, r, f, b)
  • Focus on 8 unfamiliar ones:
    • Scary Six:
      • [ʃ] (sh sound in "shop")
      • [ʒ] (sound in "treasure")
      • [ʧ] (ch sound in "church")
      • [ʤ] (j sound in "judge")
      • [θ] (th sound in "think")
      • [ð] (th sound in "this")
    • Two Confusing Ones:
      • [ŋ] (ng sound in "sing")
      • [j] (y sound in "yes")

Vowels

• 20 Vowel Sounds:
  • 8 Diphthongs: Combination of two vowel sounds
  • 12 Simple Vowels:
    • 5 Familiar:
      • [ɪ] (i in "ship")
      • [ʌ] (u in "bug")
      • [e] (e in "bed")
      • [ɒ] (o in "hot")
      • [æ] (a in "apple")
    • Long Vowels: Indicated by ":"
      • [i:] (ee in "sheep")
      • [u:] (oo in "boot")
      • [ɑ:] (a in "cart")
      • [ɔ:] (o in "port")
    • Schwa Sounds:
      • [ə] (schwa, common in "better")
      • [ɜː] (long schwa in "perfect")

Diphthongs

• Examples:
  • [ɪə] (ear in "beer")
  • [eɪ] (a in "day")
  • [ɔɪ] (oi in "boy")
  • [aʊ] (ow in "cow")
  • [əʊ] (o in "go")
  • [eə] (air in "there")

Stress in Phonetic Transcription

• Apostrophe before stressed syllable

Test: Phonetic Transcription of Words

• Examples include pronunciations of "chain," "change," "Thursday," "vision," "popular," "mother," "afternoon," "walk," and "mayor"

Conclusion

• Encouragement to watch further videos for improving British English pronunciation
• Call to action: Comment results from the test