Transcription and reading rules. Graphic symbols of transcription in English

English transcription is a sequence of phonetic symbols that helps us understand how to read a particular sound, word. The concept of transcription is quite difficult for the perception of native speakers of the Russian language, because. in our language, although there is such a category, it is used extremely rarely.

Why is transcription necessary?

The phonetics of the English language has a noticeable feature: it has historically developed that words are often read differently from how they are written, that is, it is not always possible to guess how it is pronounced from the spelling of a word. Of course, there are common ones, but still there are plenty of exceptions. For example, there is a large number of words that have either unreadable or readable letters, depending on the environment. And the rules themselves are difficult for students to remember. Therefore, in almost any dictionary, after writing an English word in square brackets, its reading in transcription symbols is given.

Often, schoolchildren and students are faced with transcription at the beginning of language learning, when it is still quite difficult to read even quite well. simple words. Then, as the transcription marks are studied, it becomes easier and easier to perceive the contents of the square brackets.

How are transcription marks read?

There are 48 sounds in the English pronunciation system, therefore, there are 48 transcription marks. Let's analyze their pronunciation depending on the letters of the English alphabet denoting them.

Letter	Designation in transcription	Sounds	Example
More sounds [ θ ] – soft letter(c), the tongue is between the front teeth of the upper and mandible [ð] - like "θ", only with the addition of a voice, like a soft letter (z) [ ŋ ] - nasal, in the French manner, sound [ n ] [ ʒ ] - similar to Russian (f) [ə] is one of the most common sounds in English transcription. In sound, this sound is similar to the Russian sound "e". It stands only in unstressed syllables and is almost inaudible or indistinguishable, for example, [‘letə] - letter [ au ] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (au) [ oɪ ] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (oh) [ɪə] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (ia) [eə] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (ea) [ʋə] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (wa) [auə] - triphthong, sounds like Russian (aua) [aɪə] - triphthong, sounds like Russian (aya) accent icon- if a word is transcribed, in which there is more than one syllable, stress must be indicated with an apostrophe (a comma at the top). It is placed before stressed syllable. For example: - decision.
aa		Sounds like a Russian sound (hey)	p a ge — [p eɪ dʒ] - page
	[æ]	Middle sound between (e) and (a)	b ank — [b æŋk] - bank
	[ɑː]	Looks like a long Russian (a)	c a r — [k ɑː ] — a car
	[ɔː]	Long sound (oh)	h a ll — [h ɔːl] - hall, foyer
bb	[b]	Approximately like a Russian sound (b)	b e d — [b e d] — bed, bed
CC	[k]	similar to Russian sound (k)	with amera — [ˈk am(ə)rə] — camera, camera
	[s]	similar to Russian sound (c)	bi c ycle — [ˈbʌɪ s ɪk(ə)l] - a bike
	[ʃ]	Medium sound between (w) and (w).	o c-ean — [ˈəʊ ʃ(ə)n] - ocean
Dd	[d]	how (e) pronounced with the tongue at the gums	d id — [dɪd] - made
ee		Long sound(s)	sh e — [ʃ i] - she is
	[ɪ]	and	z e ro — [z ɪə rəʊ] - zero, zero
	[e]	Reminds the sound (e) with a hint of (e)	t e n — [t e n] - ten
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (ё) in the words m e d, l yo n.	f e rn — [f ɜːn] - fern
FF	[f]	Like (f) .	four — [fɔː] - four
gg	[g]	Looks like Russian (g).	go ot — [ˈɡɒt] - receive
hh	[h]	Short exhalation (x).	how — [ˈh aʊ] — how, in what way
II		Sounds like a Russian sound (ah)	f i ve — [f aɪv] - five
	[ɪ]	Similar to Russian (and) with a slight touch (s) and (e), as in the word outside and	l i ttle — [l ɪt(ə)l] - little
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (ё) in the words m e d, l yo n.	g i rl — [ɡ ɜː l] — girl, girl
		Long sound(s)	mach i ne — [məˈʃ iːn] — machine, mechanism
jj		Looks like (j)	j ourney — [ˈdʒəːni] - travel
Kk	[k]	Like the sound (to)	k ind — [kand] - kind, genus
Ll	[l]	how (l), pronounced with the tongue at the gums	leg — [leɡ] - foot, leg
mm	[m]	As M)	m an — [mæn] - the male
Nn	[n]	How (n)	no — [nəʊ] - No
Oh	[əʊ]	Like the sound (oh)	m o st — [m əʊst] — majority, largest
	[ɔː]	Long sound (oh)	m o re — [m ɔː ] - more, more
	[ɒ]	A short sound that sounds like both (o) and (a) at the same time	n o t — [n ɒt] - not no
		Long (y) without rounding the lips.	wh o — [h uː] - who
	[ʊ]	Looks like a short (y)	g ood — [ɡ ʊd] - good, kind
	[ʌ]		c about me — [k ʌm] — come, arrive
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (ё) in the words m e d, l yo n.	w or rk — [w ɜː k] - Job
pp	[p]	Looks like Russian (p).	p en — [p en] - pen
Qq	[k]	Looks like Russian (k).	head q uarters — [hɛdˈ kwɔːtəz] headquarters, center
Rr	[r]	Like a Russian (p) without vibration.	r ed — [r ed] - red
Ss	[s]	Looks like Russian (s).	s o — [ˈsəʊ] — so, thus
Tt	[t]	Similar to Russian (t), pronounced with the tongue at the gums	tea — [t iː] - tea
Uu	[ʊ]	Looks like a short (y)	p u t — [p ʊt] — put, put, put
	[ʌ]	Reminds slurred short sound(a)	c u t — [k ʌt] - cut, incision
		Long (yu)	t u ne — [t juː n] — ringtone, tune, tune
	[ɪ]	Similar to Russian (and) with a slight touch (s) and (e), as in the word outside and	b u sy — [b ɪzi] — busy, busy
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (ё) in the words m e d, l yo n.	t urn — [t ɜːn] — turn around, turn around
vv	[v]	Sounds like (in)	very — [ˈv eri] - very much
www	[w]	A sound similar to (y) lips are drawn out and rounded.	world — [wəːld] - world
xx		sound like (ks)	X-ray — [ˈe ks reɪ] — X-ray
	[z]	similar to Russian sound (h)	X erox — [ˈzɪərɒks] — copier
Yy		Like (ay) in the word m ah	b y — [b aɪ] - by, on, to, at
	[j]	Looks like a weak Russian - (th)	yes — [jes] - yes, consent
	[ɪ]	Similar to Russian (and) with a slight touch (s) and (e), as in the word outside and	dut y — [ˈdjuːt ɪ ] — obligation, debt
Zz	[z]	Looks like Russian (h).	z ip — [zɪp] - zipper

Use to consolidate knowledge of transcription.

You can practice pronunciation with the help of this video:

Is it possible to write English words in Russian letters?

Sometimes on websites or even in books you can see " English transcription in Russian" or "pronunciation English words Russian letters" - that is, writing English words in Russian letters. The point is that schoolchildren are encouraged not to learn tricky icons, because. it is possible to convey sounds in Russian letters. I find this approach extremely stupid. The phonetics of the Russian language differs from English phonetics so much that the sound can only be conveyed very, very approximately. some sounds English speech we just don't, and vice versa.

”, transcription is used by everyone, 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, word. Often students are faced with transcription at the beginning of language learningwhen it is still quite difficult to read even fairly simple words, and then they simply do not pay attention to it. However, it won't be like this forever.

As soon as the student begins to skillfully use complex grammatical constructions, and earns a good vocabulary for free communication, then immediately there is a desire to speak beautifully, like a native speaker, that is, to improve your pronunciation of English words. This is where we remember the good old transcription.

In order not to have to remember the well-forgotten old, we suggest returning to repetition from time to time. Of course, ideally, transcription should be done together with the teacher, because the letter cannot convey all the subtleties of pronunciation, but if you are reading this article now, the foundation of a beautiful pronunciation and correct reading already laid, and you will definitely achieve your desired goal.

Transcription of vowels

There are two types of vowels - 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]- [ay];
[ei]- [ hey ];
[oi]- [ oh ];
[ai]- [ay].

Vowel pronunciation rules in English

• Sound " a"has four varieties:
  [ ʌ ] - a short sound, as in the words "duck", "cut";
  [ æ ] - soft sound. It has no analogue in Russian. It is read as in the word in the word "cat";
  [a:]- a long sound that is read, as in the word "car";
  [ ɔ ] - a short sound that sounds like both "o" and "a" at the same time. AT British pronunciation, it's more like "about", as in the word "hot" or "not".

• Sound " e" can be read in three ways:
  [e]- for example, as in the word "let";
  [ ə: ] - this sound is a bit like the Russian letter "ё", only it is read a little softer. For example, "bird", "fur";
  [ ə ] - one of the most common sounds in English transcription. In sound, this sound is similar to the Russian sound "e". It is only in unstressed syllables and is almost inaudible or indistinguishable, for example, ["letə], "letter" - a letter.

• Sound " i» can be long and short:
  [I]- a short sound, for example, as in the word "film";
  [i:]- a long sound, for example, as in "sheep".

• Sound " about” also has 2 options - long and short:
  [ ɔ ] - a short sound, as in the word "bond";
  [ ɔ: ] - a long sound, as in the word "more".

• Sound " u" can also be pronounced in two ways. It can be long or short:
  [u]- a short sound, as in the word "put";
  [u:]- a long sound, as in the word "blue".

Transcription of consonants

In the transcription of consonants, everything is quite simple. Basically they sound like Russian. It is enough to look thoughtfully at the aforementioned letter combinations a couple of times, and they will remain in your memory.

Consonants
[b]- [b];
[d]- [d];
[f]- [f];
[ 3 ] - [zh];
[dʒ]- [j];
[g]- [ G ];
[h]- [ X ];
[k]- [ to ];
[l]- [l];
[m]- [m];
[n]- [n];
[p]- [ P ];
[s]- [ with ];
[t]- [ t ];
[v]- [ in ];
[z]- [h];
[t∫]- [h];
[ ∫ ] - [w];
[r]- soft [p], as in the word Russian;
[ about ]- 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 between the front teeth of the upper and lower jaw;
[ æ ] - like "e", only more sharply;
[ ð ] - like "θ", only with the addition of a voice, like a soft letter "z";
[ ŋ ] - nasal, in the French manner, sound [ n ];
[ ə ] - neutral sound;
[w]-like "in" and "y" together, soft pronunciation.

Features of English transcription

In order to make it easier to navigate in reading words, it is important to know the main features of transcription:

• Feature 1. Transcription is always in square brackets
• Feature 2. In order not to get confused where to stress in a word, it is worth considering that it is always placed before the stressed syllable. ["neim] is a transcription of the word name.
• Feature 3. It is important to understand that transcription is not the English letters and sounds that make up the word. Transcription is the sound of words.
• Feature 4. AT English language transcription consists of vowels, diphthongs and consonants.
• Feature 5. To show that a 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, it is necessary to understand that there are closed syllables and open ones. open syllable ends with a vowel (game, sunshine), closed- into a consonant (ball, dog). Some sounds of the English language can be pronounced differently, depending on the type of syllable.

Conclusion

It is worth remembering that in any business the main thing is practice (by the way, you can start practicing English remotely right now). Transcription of sounds in English will be easy for you if you work hard at it. Reading the rules once is not enough. It is important to return to them, work through and repeat regularly until they are worked out to automatism. In the end, transcription will allow you to put correct pronunciation sounds in English.

Memorizing English with transcription and correct pronunciation English letters and words will be excellently facilitated by dictionaries. You can use both English online dictionaries and the good old ones printed editions. 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

The sounds that represent are 44 English phonemes, which are divided into two categories: consonants and vowels. Since sounds cannot be written down, graphemes (letters or combinations of letters) are used to convey sounds in writing.

English alphabet

There are 26 letters in English. The standard one starts with the letter a and ends with the letter z.

When classifying alphabetic characters allocate:

• 5 pure vowels: a, e, i, o, u;
• 19 pure consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z;
• 2 semivowels: y, w.

Learning the English alphabet requires knowledge of both the character representing each letter and phonetic sounds associated with that letter. Learning English phonetics is difficult. Only a small number of letters have no exceptions in the main sound.

In most cases, each letter has several phonemes. The letter B sometimes sounds like bat (bet) or does not sound, for example, in the words crumb (krum), dumb (dam). The letter C sounds like "k" for cat (ket) or "c" for ceiling (si:ling), or "tch" for church (tche:tch). And the list of exceptions is endless.

Vowel sounds

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Features of English consonants

A consonant combination is a set of two or three consonant letters that retain their original sound when pronounced. Such sets occur either at the beginning or at the end of a word. For example, the word brave, in which both "b" and "r" are pronounced, is the initial combination. In the word bank "-nk" is the final combination.

Classification:

1. Initial combinations are classified into sets with "l", "r", and "s". In "l" the combination ends with "l". An example would be the letters "bl" in the word blind. Similarly, the final sound in "r" in combination with "r" when "br" and "cr", for example, in the words bridge, crane. On the contrary, in "s" it starts with s, "st" and "sn" - stap, snail.
2. The final combinations are grouped into sets with "s", "l" and "n": -st, -sk, -ld, -nd, -nk. Examples, first, desk, gold, sand, sink.

Digraphs

Consonant digraphs refer to a set of consonants that form one sound. Some digraphs are both at the beginning and at the end of the word - "sh", "ch" and "th". There are also strict initial and final digraphs - "kn-" and "-ck".

Examples of digraphs:

Ch-	-ch
Kn-	— ck
Ph-	-sh
Sh-	-ss
Th-	-th
wh-	-tch
Wr-

Features of digraphs:

Table of pronunciation of English consonants

b	b	bag, band, cab	bag, band, cab
d	d	dad, did, lady, odd [ɒd]	dead, did, lady, od
f	f, ph, sometimes gh	fable , fact , if [ɪf], off [ɒf], photo , glyph	fable, fact, if, of, foutow, glyph
	g	give , flag	givew, flag
	h	hold, ham	hold, ham
j	usually represented by y, but sometimes by other vowels	yellow, yes, young, neuron, cube	Yelow, ies, yang, n (b) yueron, k (b) yu: b - the sound j is similar to the vowel sound i:.
k	k, c, q, que, ck, sometimes ch	cat, kill, queen, skin, thick [θɪk], chaos	kat, kil, qui:n, sik, keyos
l	l	lane, clip, bell, milk, sould	lane, clip, bel, milk, sould - has two sound options: pure /l/ before a vowel, “darkened” /ɫ/ before a consonant or at the end of a word
m	m	man, them [ðem], moon	man, zem, mu:n
n	n	nest, sun	nest, san
ŋ	ng	ring, sing, finger [ŋ] is sometimes followed by the sound [g]. [ŋ] if "ng" is at the end of a word or a related word (sing, singer, thing), to "-ing", which translates verbs into participles or gerunds. [ŋg] if "ng" is not at the end of a word or in related words, also in comparative degrees(longer, longest).	/ring/, /sing/, /finge/
p	p	pen, spin, tip, happy	pen, spin, type, happy
r	r	rat, reply, rainbow,	rat, ripple, rainbow - movement of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, but without touching it
s	s, sometimes c	see, city, pass, lesson	si:, pa: s, forest
ʃ	sh, si, ti, sometimes s	she [ʃi:], crash , sheep [ʃi:p], sure [ʃʊə], session , emotion [ɪməʊʃn], leash	shi:, crash, shi:p, shue, session, imashn, li:sh
t	t	taste, sting	test, sting
tʃ	ch, sometimes t	chair [ʧɛə], nature teach beach	t che e, ney t che, ti: t h, bi: t h
θ	th	thing [θɪŋ], teeth, Athens [æθɪnz[	t sing, ti: t s, et sinz - voiceless fricative
ð	th	this [ðɪs], mother	d sis, ma d ze - voiced fricative
v	v, sometimes f	voice, five, of [ɔv]	voice, five, ov
w	w, sometimes u	wet, window, queen	y in em, y in indeu, ku in i: n - [w] is similar to
z	z	zoo, lazy	zu: lazy
ʒ	g, si, z, sometimes s	genre [ʒɑːŋr], pleasure, beige, seizure, vision	genre e, plezhe, beizh, b:zhe, vision
dʒ	j, sometimes g, dg, d	gin [ʤɪn], joy [ʤɔɪ], edge	gin, joy, edge

English vowels

Each English vowel is pronounced in three ways:

1. like a long sound;
2. like a short sound;
3. as a neutral vowel (schwa).

AT English alphabet there are 5 vowels, but sometimes y becomes a vowel and is pronounced like i, and w replaces u, for example, in the digraph ow.

Rules for reading vowels

Short vowels, which are characterized by a "short" sound, appear when there is one vowel in a word, either at the beginning of a word or between two consonants. For example, if, elk, hop, fan. A typical short vowel pattern is consonant+vowel+consonant (CHS).

Words are taught as families that represent groups of words with a common pattern, such as in the pattern "-ag" - bag, wag, tag or "-at" - cat, bat, hat.

vowels:

Sound	Letter	Examples
[æ]	a	rag, sag, ram, jam, gap, sap mat
[ɛ]	e	hen, pen, wet, bet, let
[ɪ]	i	pig, wig, dig, pin, win, tin, tin, bit
[ɒ]	o	hop, pop, top, hot, pot, lot
[ʌ]	u	bug, lug, tug, hut, but, cut

vowels:

Sound	Writing	Examples
A	ai, ay, a+consonant+e	name, mail, gray, ace
E	e, ee, ea, y, ie ,ei, i+consonant+e	he, deep, beast, dandy, thief, receive, elite
I	i, i+gn, igh, y, i+ld, i+nd	mine, sign, high, sky, wild, kind
O	o+consonant +e, oa, ow, o+ll, ld	tone, road, note, know, roll, bold
U	ew, ue, u+consonant+e	few, due, tune

The vowel sound in unstressed syllables is expressed by the abbreviated neutral sound ("schwa"), the phonemic symbol /ə/, especially if syllabic consonants are not used.

For example:

• a in about, around, approve, above [ə bʌv];
• e in accident, mother, taken, camera ;
• i c, family, lentil, officer pencil ;
• o in memory, common, freedom, purpose, London;
• u in supply, industry, suggest, difficult, succeed, minimum ;
• and even y in sibyl;
• schwa appears in function words: to, from, are.

Features of vowel sounds in English

Vowels are divided into monophthongs, diphthongs or triphthongs. A monophthong, when there is one vowel in a syllable, a diphthong, when there are two vowels in a syllable.

Let's take a closer look:

1. Monophthongs are pure and stable vowels., acoustic performance(timbre) which does not change during the time they are pronounced.
2. - a sound formed by a combination of two adjacent vowels in one syllable. Technically the language (or other parts speech apparatus) moves when pronouncing a vowel - the first position is stronger than the second. In the transcription of a diphthong, the first character is the starting point of the body of the language, the second character is the direction of movement. For example, you should know that in /aj/ the body of the tongue is in the lower center position represented by /a/ and immediately starts moving up and forward to the position for /i/.
3. Diphthongs are often formed when separate vowels work together in rapid conversation.. Usually (in the speaker's speech) the body of the tongue does not have time to get to the /i/ position. Therefore, the diphthong often ends closer to /ɪ/ or even to /e/. In the diphthong /aw/ the body of the tongue moves from the bottom central position/a/, then moves up and back to the /u/ position. Although single diphthongs are also distinguished, which are heard as separate vowel sounds (phonemes).
4. English also has triphthongs.(combinations of three adjacent vowels), including three sound types, for example, fire /fʌɪə/, flower /flaʊər/. But in any case, all diphthongs and triphthongs are formed from monophthongs.

Table of pronunciation of simple English vowels

All vowels are formed from only 12 monophthongs. Each, regardless of spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these sounds.

The table shows examples of simple English vowels with Russian pronunciation:

[ɪ]	pit, kiss, busy	pete, kitty, beezy
[e]	egg, let, red	eg, years, red
[æ]	apple, travel, mad	apple, travel, mead
[ɒ]	not, rock, copy	music, rock, copy
[ʌ]	cup, son, money	cap, san, mani
[ʊ]	look, foot, could	bow, foot, cool
[ə]	away, away	hey, hey
	be, meet, read	bi:, mi:t, ri:d
[ɑ:]	arm, car, father	a:m, ka:, fa:dze
[ɔ:]	door, saw, pause	to:, from:, to: from
[ɜ:]	turn, girl, learn	cho:n, gyo:l, le:n
	blue, food, too	blu:, foo:d, tu:

Diphthong pronunciation table

	day, pain, rein	dei, pein, rein
	cow, know	kou, know
	wise, island	visa, island
	now, trout	naw, trout
[ɔɪ]	noise, coins	noiz, coin
[ɪə]	near, hear	nee, hie
[ɛə]	where, air	uh uh uh
[ʊə]	pure, tourist	p (b) yue, tu e rist

Learn the transcription of English words

Consider some features of English transcription:

There are a large number of videos online on the Internet to listen to, and you can also practice using exercises.

“I don’t understand transcription”, “How is it written in Russian letters?”, “Why do I need these sounds?”... If you start learning English with such moods, then I will have to disappoint you: it is unlikely that you will achieve significant success in English.

Without knowing the transcription, it will be difficult for you to understand the device English pronunciation, you will constantly make mistakes, have difficulty learning new words and using dictionaries.

Since school, the attitude of many to transcription is frankly negative. In fact, there is nothing complicated in transcribing English. If you do not understand it, then you have not explained this topic properly. In this article, we will try to fix this.

To understand the essence of transcription, you must clearly understand the difference between letters and sounds. Letters is what we write, and sounds- what we hear. Transcription marks are the sounds represented in writing. For musicians, this role is performed by notes, and for you and me, transcription. In Russian, transcription does not play a big role in you, as in English. Here are vowels that are read differently, and combinations that need to be remembered, and letters that are not pronounced. The number of letters and sounds in a word does not always match.

For example, the word daughter has 8 letters, and four sounds ["dɔːtə]. If the final [r] is pronounced, as in American English, then there are five sounds. The combination of vowels au gives the sound [ɔː], gh is not read at all, er can be read as [ə] or [ər], depending on the variant of English.

There are a huge number of similar examples. It is difficult to understand how to read a word and how many sounds are pronounced in it if you do not know the basic rules of transcription.

Where can you find transcription? First of all, in dictionaries. When you find a new word in the dictionary, there must be information nearby about how the word is pronounced, that is, transcription. In addition, in textbooks, the lexical part always contains transcription. Knowledge of the sound structure of the language will not allow you to remember the incorrect pronunciation of words, because you will always identify the word not only with its literal representation, but also with its sound.

In domestic publications, transcription is usually placed in square brackets, and in dictionaries and manuals foreign publishers transcription is presented in slash brackets / /. Many teachers use slash brackets when they write the transcription of words on the board.

Now more about the sounds of the English language.

There are 44 sounds in the English language, which are divided into vowels(vowels ["vauəlz]), consonants(consonants "kɔn(t)s(ə)nənts]). Vowels and consonants can form combinations including diphthongs(diphthongs ["dɪfθɔŋz]). Vowels in English differ in longitude by brief(short vovels) and long(long vowels), and consonants can be divided into deaf(voicels consonants ), voiced(voiced consonants). There are also those consonants that are difficult to classify as deaf or voiced. We will not delve into phonetics, since on initial stage this information is sufficient. Consider the English sound table:

Let's start with vowels. Two dots near the symbol indicate that the sound is pronounced for a long time, if there are no dots, then the sound should be pronounced briefly. Let's see how the vowel sounds are pronounced:

- long sound I: tree, free

[ɪ ] - short sound And: big, lip

[ʊ] - short sound U: book, look

- long sound U: root , boot

[e] - sound E. Pronounced the same as in Russian: hen, pen

[ə] - neutral sound E. It sounds when the vowel is not stressed or at the end of the word: mother ["mʌðə], computer

[ɜː] - a sound similar to the sound Yo in the word honey: bird, turn

[ɔː] - long sound O: door, more

[æ] - sound E. Pronounced widely: cat, lamp

[ʌ] - short sound A: cup, but

- long sound A: car , mark

[ɒ] - short sound O: box, dog

diphthongs- these are combinations of sounds consisting of two vowels, always pronounced together. Consider the pronunciation of diphthongs:

[ɪə] - IE: here, near

- uh: fair, bear

[əʊ] - EU (OU): go, no

- AU: how, now

[ʊə] - UE: sure [ʃauə], tourist ["tuerrest]

- HEY: make, day

- AI: my bike

[ɔɪ] - OH: : boy, toy

Consider consonants sounds. Voiceless and voiced consonants are easy to remember, since each of them has a pair:

Voiceless consonants:	Voiced consonants:
[ p ] - sound P: pen, pet	[ b ] - sound B: big, boot
[f] - sound Ф: flag, fat	[ v ] - sound B: vet, van
[ t ] - sound T: tree, toy	[d] - sound D: day, dog
[ θ ] - interdental sound, which is often confused with C, but when pronounced, the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth: thick [θɪk], think [θɪŋk]	[ð] - interdental sound, which is often confused with З, but when pronouncing, the tip of the tongue is between the lower and upper front teeth: this [ðɪs], that [ðæt]
[ tʃ ] - sound Ch: chin [ʧɪn], chat [ʧæt]	[dʒ] - sound J: jam [ʤæm], page
[ s ] - sound C: sit, sun	[z] - sound З:
[ʃ] - sound Sh: shelf [ʃelf], brush	[ ʒ ] - sound Zh: vision ["vɪʒ(ə)n], decision
[ k ] - sound K: kite, cat	[ g ] - sound Г: get, go

Other consonants:

[h] - sound X: hat, home
[m] - sound M: make, meet
[n] - English sound H: nose, net
[ŋ] - a sound reminiscent of H, but pronounced through the nose: song , long - a sound reminiscent of P: run , rest
[l] - English sound L: leg, lip
[w] - a sound reminiscent of B, but pronounced with rounded lips: , west
[j] - sound Y: you, music ["mjuːzɪk]

Those who want to learn more about the phonetic structure of the English language can look for resources on the Internet, where they will tell you what sonorants, stops, fricatives and other consonants are.

If you just want to understand the pronunciation of English consonants and learn how to read transcription without unnecessary theory, then we recommend that you share everything consonants sounds into the following groups:

• The sounds that are pronounced almost the same as in Russian : this is the majority of consonants.
• The sounds that similar to those in Russian but are pronounced differently. There are only four of them.
• The sounds that not in Russian . There are only five of them and it is a mistake to pronounce them the same way as in Russian.

Pronunciation of sounds marked yellow, practically does not differ from Russian, only sounds [p, k, h] are pronounced with "aspiration".

green sounds- these are the sounds that need to be pronounced in the English manner, they are the cause of the accent. The sounds are alviolar (for sure, you heard this word from your school teacher), to pronounce them, you need to raise your tongue to the alviols, then you will sound "in English".

Sounds tagged red, are absent in Russian at all (although it seems to someone that this is not the case), so you should pay attention to their pronunciation. Do not confuse [θ] and [s], [ð] and [z], [w] and [v], [ŋ] and [n]. The [ r ] sound is less of a problem.

Another aspect of transcription is stress, which is marked with an apostrophe in transcription. If the word has more than two syllables, then the stress is always present:

Hotel -
police-
interesting - ["ɪntrəstɪŋ]

When a word is long, polysyllabic, then it may contain two accents, with one upper (main), and the second - lower. The lower stress is indicated by a comma-like sign and is pronounced weaker than the upper one:

disadvantaged - [ˌdɪsəd"vɑːntɪʤ]

When reading the transcription, you may notice that some sounds are presented in parentheses (). This means that the sound can be read in the word, but you can not pronounce it. Usually in brackets you can find a neutral sound [ə], sound [r] at the end of a word, and some others:

Information - [ˌɪnfə" meɪʃ (ə) n]
teacher - ["tiːʧə(r)]

Some words have two pronunciations:

Forehead ["fɔrɪd] or ["fɔːhed]
Monday ["mʌndeɪ] or ["mʌndɪ]

In this case, choose the option that you like best, but remember that given word may be pronounced differently.

Many words in the English language have two variants of pronunciation (and, accordingly, transcription): in British English and in American English. In this situation, learn the pronunciation that corresponds to the variant of the language you are studying, try not to mix words from British English and American English in your speech:

Schedule - ["ʃedjuːl] (BrE) / ["skeʤuːl] (AmE)
neither - ["naɪðə] (BrE) / [ˈniːðə] (AmE)

Even if before that you couldn’t stand transcription, after reading this article you saw that reading and transcribing is not at all difficult! After all, you were able to read all the words recorded in the transcription, right? Apply this knowledge, use dictionaries and be sure to pay attention to transcription if you have a new word in front of you, so that you can memorize the correct pronunciation from the very beginning and not relearn later!

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