The English language is becoming more widespread every day. Today it is spoken by most of the world's population, which automatically makes it international language communication. In addition to the American continents, it is studied in Europe and Asia. Australia, being part of the former British Empire, recognized English long ago state language. If in Western Europe American and British English are studied by children from the very beginning early age, then in Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries they treat him very mediocrely. The school curriculum is briefly covered through the most frequency words, while children are not properly explained the rules for their use. All this forces people to learn on their own, which is much more difficult. Today we will look at how the vowels of the English alphabet are used in words. They influence the quality of pronunciation and perception of the language.

The consonants of the English alphabet are the basis of all words. The total number of letters is 26, of which there are 20 consonants, and there are only 6 vowels in English. Despite such a meager number, they can take various shapes pronunciation, as a result, about 20-24 sounds are obtained from 6 letters. All vowels and consonants are listed in the table below:

As you can see in the picture, the vowels in english alphabet highlighted in yellow. Next to each letter there is a transcription, thanks to which you can learn how to correctly pronounce a particular letter. The need for transcription has always been due to the fact that correct pronunciation using the Russian language as an example is simply impossible. If in Russian one letter is equal to one sound, then most of the vowels in the English alphabet are pronounced using a combination of two phonemes.

The final letter "Yy" can be a vowel or a consonant depending on the type of syllable. This should be taken into account when reading and morphemic parsing words Which sound will be determined by a particular letter depends on its position in the word and syllable.

Types of syllables of the English alphabet

In Russian language lessons, everyone learned an unshakable rule: the number of vowels in a word, the number of syllables in it. This also applies to the English language, which makes learning it much easier. For example, let’s take the word “octopus”, which means “octopus”. Oc-to-pus – three vowels and three syllables. The example is remarkable because it has everything we need: open and closed syllables.

Open syllable

This concept means a syllable that ends with a vowel or consists of one vowel letter:

1. A [hey] - indefinite article, consisting of one letter, is an open syllable. Therefore, the article is read as indicated in the transcription.
2. Rules (rules) - consists of two syllables, but only the first is open. Therefore, “u” is read as in transcription, and “e” practically disappears from the word when pronounced.
3. Far (far) – the syllable is closed. Therefore, instead of [hey], a long [a] is pronounced.

Consonants and their combinations often change the phonetic meaning of vowel letters in the English alphabet, forming different types of syllables.

Closed syllable

Book, cook, root, meet, flat and other words where a consonant closes a syllable are words with closed syllables. In the examples listed above, “oo” is read as the Russian “u”, “a” instead of [ey] is read as the Russian “a”.

Vowel letters of the English alphabet: reading features

You already know that there are much fewer vowel letters in the English alphabet than their sounds. What else can affect the quality of phoneme pronunciation besides the type of syllable in a word? We will look at a few basic rules that will help you start pronouncing words correctly and improve your reading success in a foreign language.

1. The presence of the letter “R” in a word. If the letter is present in open syllable, it is practically unreadable and merges with the adjacent vowel. This produces a sound similar to the Russian “e”. If the letter is in a closed syllable, then it affects the duration of the vowel pronunciation: long sounds become short and vice versa.
2. Emphasis. If the emphasis falls on the letters “a”, “o” or “u”, then their pronunciation is practically not performed. They are read casually; the duration of emphasis on these sounds is extremely short. The result is again a sound similar to the Russian “e”. For example, the combination sofa-bed (sofa-bed) is pronounced together, its transcription looks like [‘soufǝbǝd]. If the emphasis falls on “i”, “e” or “y”, they are pronounced like the Russian “i”. For example: city, enemy.
3. Pronunciation speed. When speaking quickly, it may happen that the stress in the word is not recognized at all. This results in the fact that a long vowel sound shortens the length of its pronunciation or disappears from the word altogether. All pronouns in English are pronounced with short vowels, although according to the rules it is necessary to speak with long sounding phonemes.
4. Weak and strong forms. Short vowels are automatically considered weak because they cannot take on stress, but when combined with other letters they can form new sounds. Weak short forms are mainly expressed in particles, articles and pronouns. In full-fledged words, strong long phonemes are much more common.

The most incomprehensible thing for a Russian-speaking person in learning the vowels of the English alphabet is the analysis of diphthongs. The combination of two sounds to pronounce one letter is new to the Russian language. For a general understanding, it is worth noting that all diphthongs are pronounced briefly, but their position in the word relative to the consonants and the type of consonants themselves matter. Before voiceless sounds like “f”, “h”, “s”, “t” and others, diphthongs practically disappear from the sound pronunciation and become very short.

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There are few rules for reading consonants in English. They can be compared with similar rules in Russian: the name of a letter does not always correspond to the sound it denotes.

There are only 20 letters in the English language that can convey 24 consonant sounds in different positions and combinations. Some English sounds are similar to Russian, while others are significantly different from them. There are also those that have no analogues in Russian: [ð], [θ], [w]

However there is a few rules. English consonant sounds are always:

• pronounce firmly - do not soften, as in the word suit
• at the end of words we do not deafen the voiced ones, we pronounce the unvoiced words more clearly: pin-pit
• doubled consonants are pronounced as one sound, for example swimmer [ˈswɪmər]

Rules for reading letters that convey one consonant sound

Let's start with 15 consonants that convey one sound. They correspond to the letters of the English alphabet and their transcription signs are the same.
Letter and sound	Pronunciation Features	Examples	Translation
	always sounds like "b"		boy
P [p]	reminds me of the Russian "p"	panda [ˈpændə]	pool
F[f]	similar to Russian "f"	fire [ˈfaɪər]
V[v]	this is a Russian pure “v”		minibus brave
T[t]	hard Russian “t”, with strong aspiration		vertex
D [d]	identical to Russian "d" with stronger aspiration	riddle [ˈrɪdl]	mystery
M[m]	identical to Russian "m"
N [n]	identical to the Russian "n", but more nasal	number[ˈnʌmbər]
K [k]	identical to the Russian "k" with intense aspiration
L [l]	identical to the Russian "l", always hard		small
R [r]	This letter should be given a little more attention. The tongue rests on the upper palate and the Russian “r” is pronounced. It sounds at the beginning of a word after consonants and between some vowels. At the end of a word, it is usually not pronounced, or is barely audible	writer [ˈraɪtər]	writer
H[h]	this sound is pronounced with a slight aspiration, almost like an exhalation
W [w]	at the beginning of a word, like Russian [u], but more energetic
S[s]	identical to Russian "s"
Z [z]	identical to Russian "z"	zebra [ˈziːbrə] crazy [ˈkreɪzɪ]	crazy

Rules for reading consonants that convey several sounds

Letter and sound	Pronunciation Features	Example	Translation
C[s]	before vowels e, i, y
C [k]	in other cases
J	like [j], only softer
X	- How :		next
X	- before a stressed syllable	exotic [ɪgˈzɔtɪk] example [ɪgˈzɑːmpl]	exotic
X [z]	- at the beginning of a word	Xerox  [ˈzɪərɔks]	Xerox
G	- before vowels e, i, y		Gym page
G[g]	- in other cases
Q	- occurs only in the letter combination qu -	squirrel [ˈskwɪrəl]	Queen

Rules for reading letter combinations with consonants

Consonants often form letter combinations. Let's look at the main ones:
Ch	Basically this letter combination sounds like Russian "ch"
Ch [k]	- in Greek words	character [ˈkærɪktər]	character
Ch[ʃ]	- in words of French origin	machine	car
Sh [ʃ]	Sounds like Russian "sh"	mushroom [ˈmʌʃrum]
Th [θ]	At the beginning of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs; at the end of words; before a consonant or after a consonant. You need to stick the tip of your tongue between your teeth and pronounce the Russian “s”		thick
Th [ð]	- the second pronunciation option, like [ð] (in function words (articles, pronouns), between vowels). Pronunciation method: tongue between teeth, pronounce Russian “z”	father [ˈfɑːðər]
Ng [ŋ]	At the end of a word. There is no analogue to it in Russian. Pronounced roughly like [ny], in the nose		long
Ng [ŋg]	- inside a word:	England [ˈɪŋglənd] finger [ˈfɪŋgər]

There are many exceptions in the English language and this does not make it any less attractive. Each word must be memorized separately. Let the dictionary be yours good friend and assistant, and teachers at the English language school via Skype are your personal consultants!

Watch the video on consonants

In the English (British) pronunciation system there are 44 sounds, which are divided into 24 consonants and 20 vowels, including 8 diphthongs. The following table shows individual English sounds and their corresponding English transcription signs, as well as examples of words in which they are pronounced.

Table of sounds of the English language:

Classification of English sounds

According to the mechanics of education, English sounds are primarily divided into vowels And consonants phonemes. The pronunciation of vowel sounds is associated with active vibration of the vocal cords and the free passage of exhaled air through all speech organs. Consonant sounds, on the contrary, are formed by overcoming various barriers, crevices and passages formed by muscles voice apparatus when the air stream exits.

Let us consider in more detail the classification of sounds of the English language according to individual signs of articulation (the position of the speech organs when pronouncing sounds) and their comparison with Russian sounds.

Consonant sounds of English

When pronouncing consonant sounds, the air encounters various obstacles on its way, formed by the active organs of speech: tongue, lips, teeth and alveoli.

If the organs of speech close so that they completely block the passage for air, then we pronounce stop consonant. Such consonants are also called explosive, since when the speech organs are opened, a small explosion is heard.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ t ] , [ d ] , [ k ] , [ g ]
English stop plosives

[ n ], [ b ], [ T ], [ d ], [ To ], [ G ]
stop plosives Russian sounds

If air passes out through the nasal cavity, then such closing sounds are called nasal.

[ n ] , [ m ] , [ ŋ ]
English nasal stop sounds

[ n ], [ m ]
Russian nasal stop sounds

If the organs of speech do not close completely, but leave a narrow passage - a gap for air, then we pronounce slotted consonant.

[ θ ] , [ ð ] , [ ʃ ] , [ ʒ ] , [ s ] , [ z ] , [ h ] , [ f ] , [ v ] , [ w ] , [ r ] , [ j ] , [ l ]
English fricative sounds

[ With ], [ h ], [ f ], [ V ], [ w ], [ sch ], [ and ], [ l ]
Russian slot sounds

Among the consonants there are octopus-frictional sounds. They are called so because the opening of the barrier occurs slowly; the complete obstruction becomes a gap.

[ tʃ ] , [ dʒ ]
English stop-friction sounds

[ ts ], [ h ]
Russian stop-friction sounds

An obstacle to the path of exhaled air can be formed by various speech organs. If lower lip approaches the top, then appear labiolabial consonants.

[ p ] , [ b ] , [ m ] , [ w ]
labialial English sounds

[ n ], [ b ], [ m ]
labial Russian sounds

If the lower lip touches the upper teeth, then such consonants are called labiodental.

[ f ] , [ v ]
labiodental English sounds

[ f ], [ V ]
labiodental Russian sounds

If the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth, then it is pronounced interdental consonant. There are no such sounds in the Russian language.

[ θ ] , [ ð ]
interdental English sounds

Russian consonants [ T ], [ d ], [ n ], [ l ] - dental, since the end of the tongue rises towards inner surface upper teeth. English consonants [ t ] , [ d ] , [ n ] , [ l ] , [ ŋ ] - alveolar, as the tip of the tongue touches or rises to the alveoli.

[ k ] , [ p ] , [ s ] , [ t ] , [ f ] , [ h ] , [ tʃ ] , [ ʃ ] , [ θ ]
voiceless consonants of English

[ To ], [ n ], [ With ], [ T ], [ f ], [ X ], [ h ], [ w ], [ sch ]
voiceless consonants of the Russian language

[ b ] , [ v ] , [ g ] , [ d ] , [ z ] , [ l ] , [ m ] , [ n ] , [ r ] , [ ʒ ] , [ dʒ ] , [ ð ]
voiced consonants in English

[ b ], [ V ], [ G ], [ d ], [ and ], [ h ], [ l ], [ m ], [ n ], [ r ], [ ts ]
voiced consonants of the Russian language

Vowel sounds of English

To classify vowels English sounds the various positions of the tongue relative to the hard palate are considered, as well as which part of the tongue is involved in articulation and how high the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate.

Distinguish front vowel sounds when the tip of the tongue rests against the base of the lower teeth, and the back of the tongue comes quite close to the hard palate: English vowel [ i:] and Russian [ And ].

If the tongue is pulled back and the tip of the tongue is lowered, and the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate, we pronounce back vowel sounds: English sound [ a:] and Russian sounds [ O ], [ at ].

By the position of the lips they distinguish rounded And unrounded vowel sounds. For example, when pronouncing the Russian sound [ at] lips round and move forward: [ at] is a rounded vowel. When pronouncing [ And] lips are slightly stretched, but not pushed forward: sound [ And] - unrounded vowel.

The quality of the vowel depends on the tension of the muscles of the speech organs: the more tense the articulation, the clearer and brighter the sound. Accordingly, vowels are distinguished tense And relaxed. For example, the English vowel sound [ i:] is pronounced with more tension than [ i ] .

Pronunciation of English sounds

By turning to the contents of our reference book on English phonetics, for each of the English sounds you will find a detailed description of the features of its pronunciation and articulation, methods of transmission in writing and examples of sound, as well as comparisons with other sounds and their Russian analogues.

From this article the reader will learn about the features of the modern British alphabet, its place among others European languages. This is important both from the point of view of a linguist and an ordinary person who wants to receive comprehensive information regarding this problem.

History of the English alphabet

The history of the English alphabet is very interesting. According to numerous scientific sources, which provide detailed information about the history of its origin, the English alphabet itself appeared about 400 years later than spoken language. What is the reason for this phenomenon?

First of all, with the fact that English writing was based on Anglo-Saxon runes. This is the most complex form of writing, for it includes signs that are difficult to depict in writing. The most frequent propagators of English literary writing, up to the 7th century AD, were monks and druids.

Important! Due to the significant difficulties in using runes, Christian missionaries adopted the Latin alphabet with some diacritic features as a basis.

They included signs and symbols borrowed from other languages, primarily from French and Gaulish. These include:

1. “E accent aigu.” Direct borrowing from French.
2. "E accent grave."
3. "Accent circonflexe". For example, in the word hotel the letter “s” was dropped.

The data presented above indicate a strong influence of French during the period of its initial formation. But in a later period of development, French has virtually no influence on British.

Who invented the English alphabet?

It is known that The English alphabet was invented by the monk Burtfert from the Benedictine Abbey. Initially, the British alphabet included 23 characters of the Latin alphabet, that is, only 3 letters were not included in the original version, such as “J”, “U” and “W”. Now we can say with certainty who invented the alphabet.

Subsequently, the alphabet was repeatedly refined, which indicates the need to rework written texts according to time requests.

Up to the eleventh century, the alphabet of the above-mentioned language included 27 characters, of these, four came from Anglo-Saxon runic images. These include the following names:

1. Yoz or yog;
2. Vunyo;
3. Thorn (that is, the notorious digraph “th”);
4. Ligature "Ae".

The modern version has 26 characters, with all sounds divided into vowels and consonants. There are 21 consonant sounds, and 6 vowels. But it is important to understand , that the sound “Y” is designated as both a consonant and a vowel at the same time. Now the reader knows how many letters are in the English alphabet, as well as how many sounds.

We present to you a list of consonant sounds of this language group that every student should know: “B”, “C”, “D”, “F”, “G”, “H”, “J”, “K”, “L” , "M", "N", "P", "Q", "R", "S", "T", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "Z".

What is the name and look of the English letter “g”?

IN modern theory graphs available different spellings of this letter, depending on the position in the word.

A striking example of the letter “g”, which occupies seventh place, at the beginning of the word has the following spelling: “G”. In the middle and at the end of a word it is written slightly differently: “g”.

Examples of usage include the following words:

1. Garden;
2. Beginning;
3. Learning.

From the examples it is clear that depending on the position in the word “g” is written and pronounced differently. This is peculiarity spelling norm English language.

What is the name of the letter "w"?

By itself, the double “w” denotes only a consonant sound, but its use is limited only to the digraph. The main purpose of digraphs is to indicate vowel sounds.

This letter did not exist in the English alphabet until the mid-16th century, since the letter “V” was considered its main substitute. Frequency of use of "w" in modern English it is only 2.36%. This indicates that this letter is losing its frequency of use in favor of “V” or its variant “v”.

This applies equally to both the British dialect and its American variety. Moreover, in the American version the use of the letter “V” is less common than in British language. This is due structural features development of American English, because it was formed on the basis of more than 20 European dialects.

From the table below you can see how often the main characters are used in British English.

Attention! One of the main features of the modern alphabet is its ability to represent phonologically complex sounds without the need to introduce new diacretic signs.

This phenomenon can be traced to a lesser extent in the alphabets of other European languages, for example, in French, Spanish or Swedish . In these languages, the main difficulty is the lack of sounds to indicate in dialects and territorial units, especially in overseas territories. In the British version there is no such problem at all.

Useful video: a lesson for those who want to learn the basics.

Useful video: letters of the English alphabet with pronunciation.

Conclusion

Based on the above data, modern English freely makes use of those letter symbols and sounds that have been preserved in it since the sixteenth century. For students foreign language The main difficulty is not the letters themselves, but how they should be pronounced in one position or another. We also studied how many vowels there are in English, and how many consonants there are.