How sounds are pronounced in transcription. When classifying alphabetic characters, they distinguish

With discrepancies in spelling and pronunciation English words we encounter problems already in the first lessons, when we begin to read small texts on our own and translate them. Therefore, along with the alphabet and simple vocabulary, beginning students need to become familiar with such a concept as English transcription. It is this multi-symbol system that helps convey in writing the pronunciation of the sounds that make up a word. In today's lesson we will analyze the work of these symbols in practice, i.e. We will learn how the English transcription, translation and pronunciation of the most useful words should sound correctly. In this case, examples of the correct sound will be presented in both English and Russian. But first, let's look at a few useful rules.

The principle of working with transcription

Record. Make it a rule that transcriptions of English words are always written using square brackets: book — [ b ʊk ] - book.

Emphasis. To indicate emphasis, use an apostrophe or, more simply, a stroke icon ′ , which precedes stressed syllable: dictionary – [ˈdɪkʃənrɪ] - dictionary.

Special signs. The transcription may contain periods, colons, parentheses, and resized letters.

• Dot - English uses this transcription mark as a syllable separator: undisputed – [ˈʌndɪsˈpjuːtɪd] – undeniable.
• Colon – indicator of a drawn-out long sound: water – [‘ w ɔ:t ə] – water.
• Parentheses are an indicator that the sound contained in them is not pronounced or is pronounced very weakly: happen – [‘ h æp (ə)n ] - happen, happen.
• The changed size of the letter is a designation of a sound that is not always pronounced. You can often find the r sound written in superscript format. This is an indicator that the pronunciation of a word depends on dialect or other circumstances, such as the following word: car – [ k ɑːr ] - car. By the way, the British pronunciation of words is abbreviated UK, and the American pronunciation is US.

Repeated characters. Depending on the dialect being studied, the recording of transcription signs may also differ. However, only their spelling is different; these sounds are pronounced the same. Here are pairs of such identical symbols: [ɒ] = [ɔ] , [e] = [ɛ] , [ʊ] = [u] , [əʊ] = [ɔu] , [z:] = [ə:] , = [ɛə] .

Armed with these rules, let's begin our acquaintance with transcription and pronunciation English language.

English transcription translation and pronunciation of popular words

It is not new to Russians that words are pronounced differently from how they are written. But the sometimes very large-scale inconsistency that is found in the English language will amaze even the most unimpressive native speakers of the Russian language.

In the following tables we will study all the transcription signs of the English language, working out their correct sound using popular words. Since we still have an initial level of knowledge, we will work with pronunciation in easy mode, i.e. additionally deciphering English words in Russian letters. In addition, each word will be presented With translation ohm into Russian. So by the end of studying the tables we will have significantly expanded our vocabulary and, working with entry-level texts, we will be able to do without dictionaries and online translators.

Let's start with practicing vowel sounds, since they are the most “capricious” in pronunciation. Extend the short sound a little - and that’s it, you have already said not a ship, but a sheep. Therefore, be careful and monitor the quality of pronunciation of each sound.

Vowel sounds
Sound	Word and transcription	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[ɑː] Long-drawn a, approximately like the stressed a in Russian. fell A that	start	staat	start off
	park	paak	park
	large	laaj	large, big
	arm	aam	hand
	after [‘a:ftə]	aafte	after
[æ] uh, pronounced with articulation a	family	family	family
	bad	bad	bad
	apple ['æpl]	Apple	apple
	dance	dance	dance, dance
	can	ken	be able to
[ʌ] short a, as in Russian. St. A T	Sunday [ˈsʌndeɪ]	Sunday	Sunday
	study [ˈstʌdi]	stage	study
	suddenly [ˈsʌdənli]	sadenly	suddenly
	cup	cap	cup, bowl
	young	young	young
sound similar to Russian. cr ah	mind	mind	mind, thought
	try	try	try
	smile	smiley	smile, smile
	life	life	life
	sky	sky	sky
sound combination aw	house	house	house
	now	naw	now, now
	down	down	down
	hour [ˈaʊə(r)]	auer	hour
	flower [ˈflaʊə(r)]	flower	flower
drawn-out and, as in Russian. l And ra	evening [ˈiːvnɪŋ]	evening	evening
	machine	cars	apparatus, machine
	we	vi	We
	because	bicosis	because
	even [‘i:v(ə)n]	Ivn	even
[ɪ] short and as in Russian. whale	difficult [ˈdɪfɪkəlt]	dificelt	difficult
	story [ˈstɔːri]	story	story
	different [ˈdɪfrənt]	diffrent	different
	English [ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ]	English	English
	decision	design	solution
[iə] sound combination ee	near	nee	close, nearby
	hear	heer	hear
	theater [ˈθɪə.tər]	tieter	theater
	dear	die	dear, beloved
	here	hie	Here
[ə] neutral sound, vaguely reminiscent of a or e. Often not pronounced.	second [ˈsecənd]	second	second, second
	fire [ˈfaɪə(r)]	fire	fire
	under [ˈʌndə(r)]	andr	under
	across [əˈkrɒs]	ecros	through, through
	banana	benan	banana
[e] hard e, almost Russian e	never [ˈnevə(r)]	nevr	never
	help	help	help, help
	heavy [ˈhevi]	heavy	heavy
	next	next	next
	hotel	wanted	hotel
resembles the Russian sound hey in the word sh to her	fail	fail	failure
	change	change	change, change
	explain [ɪkˈspleɪn]	xplain	explain
	page	paige	page
	rain	Rhine	rain
sound combination uh	hair	heer	hair
	square	square	square
	chair	chaer	chair
	care	keer	care
	fair	fair	fair
[ɜː] Russian e, as in the word cl e n	first	fest	first
	girl [ɡɜːl]	girl	young woman
	Thursday [ˈθɜːzdeɪ]	sir	Thursday
	bird	bad	bird
	person [ˈpɜːsn]	songs	Human
[ɔː] drawn-out o, as in Russian. sl O in	water [‘wɔ:tə]	wate	water
	almost [‘ɔ:lməust]	Almouth	almost
	before	bifor	before
	horse	hos	horse
	hall	hall	hall, hall
[ɒ] brief about (note that final consonants are not devoiced!)	not	notes	Not
	nod	node	nod
	fog	fog	fog
	stop	stop	stop
	lot	lot	many
[ɔɪ] combination Ouch	boy	fight	boy
	foil	foil	foil
	joy	Joy	joy
	voice	voice	voice
	toy	that	toy
[əʊ] combination oh	road	road	road
	no	know	No
	most	bridge	greatest
	know	know	know
	foal	foul	foal
long y, as in Russian. duck	fool	full	jester
	room	room	room
	move	movie	move
	school	cheekbone	school
[ʊ] short	good [ɡʊd]	buzz	good
	put	put	put
	woman [ˈwʊmən]	woman	woman
	skid	use
	human [ˈhjuːmən]	human	human
	music [ˈmjuːzɪk]	music	music
	student [ˈstjuːdnt]	studnt	student

The English transcription of consonant sounds is much easier for Russian speakers to perceive, so the translation and pronunciation of words here will be intensively practiced only for special cases.

Ш By periodically working with these two tables, you will improve your pronunciation time after time, and eventually become the owner of an excellent British accent. At the same time, your active vocabulary will increase, so that soon you will be able to easily translate simple sentences both into Russian and back into English. We wish you successful and speedy mastery of all the nuances English pronunciation! See you in new classes!

	Consonants
Sound	Word and transcription	Voice acting	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[b]	building [ˈbɪldɪŋ]		building	building, construction
[d]	drink		drink	drink, drink
[f]	forever		fairware	forever
[ʒ]	pleasure [ˈpleʒə(r)]		pleaser	pleasure
	pruv	prove
[r]	rainbow [ˈreɪn.bəʊ]		rainbow	rainbow
[s]	summer [ˈsʌmə(r)]		Samer	summer
[t]	travel [ˈtrævl]		travel	journey
[θ] The tongue is inserted between the upper and lower teeth. In this position it is necessary to pronounce f or s.	thank [θæŋk]		tsank	thank
	three [θriː]

seemed impenetrable jungle with 26 dangerous predators hiding in the wilds. However, now you can probably easily name and place them in in the right order all the letters, and you’ll also show off a few facts that not every philologist knows.

After reading this article, the topic of English transcription and pronunciation will be moved from the room of fear to the room of laughter. Today on the program:

Getting rid of the fear of reading and learning graphic symbols
. acquaintance, memorization and learning of diphthongs, vowels and consonants (classification of sounds), arranged in unique tables
. pause to download and print English transcriptions in pictures
. clear and concise explanation of usage English sounds by comparing them with their Russian relatives
. reinforcement of the material covered with a 10-minute video about English transcription

Are you still afraid? Then we are coming to you!

Graphic transcription symbols in English

Before you plunge into the pool English reading with your head, we strongly recommend that you listen to the advice of experienced divers. Naturally, a child learns to sit first and then walk, and not vice versa - the same thing awaits us: first learn to read the transcription, and then pronounce it (in the head or out loud). You should not get carried away only by reading, otherwise you risk burying yourself in the wilds of theory and breaking away from practice.

First you need to learn and clarify all the questions regarding each transcription symbol. Then listen online to exactly as many examples as you need to clearly understand how a given symbol sounds in real speech. Learn strictly from examples not of sounds taken out of context (like Rian’s “uh-uh” in the hit “Umbrella”), but from specific letter combinations found in words. Next, listen to each new word first and only then compare what you hear with your ears with the alphabetic dictionary transcription enclosed in square brackets. By the way, about them and other integral companions of transcription:

Square brackets. They signal that what is inside is transcription.
For example, English is a word, and ["ɪŋglɪʃ] is its transcription;

‘ - main emphasis. Placed BEFORE the stressed vowel: around [əˈraʊnd];

, - secondary stress. Placed BEFORE a vowel: ["hæmˌbɜːgə];

: - vowel length.

The proposed option may not seem the fastest at first glance, but the wise man will not go up the mountain - the wise man will go around the mountain. As a result, the time spent is converted into comfortable speech perception: you no longer need to painfully strain your hearing, trying to recognize unfamiliar sounds. And soon the unfamiliar “squiggles” will acquire a meaningful sound. Isn't it magical? This is the secret of not only correct pronunciation, but also ease of listening comprehension.

English Transcription Foundation

Since “it’s great that we’re all here today” about studying transcription, let’s take a closer look at it. Transcription is of two types: phonetic and phonemic. You are mistaken if you think that you have taught/will learn phonetic transcription, which is more familiar to the ear. As a rule, it interests serious linguists; our choice is the study of phonemes (sound linguistic units). Simply put, if two sounds are very similar, but the difference between them can change the meaning of the word, then they form two different phonemes. In Russian this is not so noticeable, because even if you call a cat “kot” or “coooooot”, he will still come, but the meaning of the word will not change. One phoneme for two different sounds. The number will not work in English: “cot”, “caught” and “coat” contain different phonemes. Why so many “smart letters”? Besides the fact that dictionaries contain phonemic transcriptions, remember this and do not allow yourself to be confused:

Pope(dad, papal):
1) is a phonetic transcription; it is emphasized here that the first [p], unlike the second, is pronounced with aspiration (aspiration after consonants sounds p,t,k before vowels);
2) is a dictionary (phonemic) transcription.

What else do you need to know about transcription? That there are different syllables in it:

- open(there is no consonant after the vowel) - New
- closed(after the vowel there is a consonant) - York

- vowel: single - [e], diphthong - [ɔʊ], triphthong - [ɑiə]
- consonant:[d]

Vowel sounds of English (with online pronunciation)

There are fewer vowel sounds in English than consonants, but more than diphthongs. This picture clearly shows the difference, for example, between the sounds [I] and . Anyone who has even heard of the existence of imagination will recognize the words “fish” and “tree”, which, like puzzles, contain the mentioned sounds. You can re-read the rules as much as you like, or you can once study in detail the transcription in pictures, which visualizes examples of the use of sounds. To train your memory, you can download and even print the picture; this option is provided. For auditory learners, it is possible to hear every sound online in a word after clicking on the speaker icon.

Consonant sounds of English

Consonant sounds in English are not at all twin brothers to Russian. The articulation of their creation is seriously different. However, we are not here to intimidate with clever words, but on the contrary, to make life easier for beginning English lovers, that’s why we colored the voiced consonants in purple, and the voiceless consonants in blue. During the formation of the same plural nouns it is very important to feel and know the difference. 24 new words serve as a bonus to the learned sounds. We train visual memory and save English transcription in pictures for repeated reference at the first need! Audience learners still click on the speaker icon under each letter to pronounce sounds in online transcription.

Diphthongs (double vowel sounds) of English

And it would be scary to have 8 diphthongs in English if it weren’t for the wonderful pictures, thanks to which learning turns into an entertaining solving of charades. Just look at the picture, hold your gaze, sound the diphthong by pressing the speaker icon under the letter and practice correct pronunciation. Everyone who appreciates the creative approach to business is allowed to download the picture for a long memory!

From theory to practice
Some time will pass, the dictionary will be covered with a thick layer of dust or will be removed from bookmarks (in the electronic version), because the translation the right words known, the sound is familiar - what other America can you discover there? Believe it or not, it is the clarification of the transcription of words that seem to be well known to you that is the very unplowed field that is worth going over in order to improve the sound of speech.

Let's give an everyday example: the frequently used word “real” has a phonemic transcription a) , b) or c)?
The first option is fictitious and erroneous, the second and third are British and American pronunciation styles. What is the moral of this fable?

So that you do not feel painfully ashamed of your reading, we recommend that you at least briefly familiarize yourself with these tables as follows:
- read the line from left to right;
- listen to the perfect pronunciation of the sound;
- take a mirror in your hand and practice hard (you will probably enjoy practicing [æ] or [ð]).

Table of English sounds similar to Russian
These sounds in English transcription do not have to be explained on your fingers.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[ɑː]	car, far, garage	Sounds like a long “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” sound. Remember the cartoon about Mowgli, where the wise Kaa was?
[ʌ]	up, but, love	Short sonorous "a". Something similar in the Russian “ay”.
[ɔː]	more, board, floor	Sounds like a long "oo". Act surprised.
[b]	book, board, tab	Russian energetic "b". When you're walking down a corridor in the dark and suddenly bump into
[g]	green, grace, agree	Russian "g", but not so energetic.
[f]	forest, atmosphere, enough	Very energetic Russian "f".
[k]	kill, cord, school	Russian "k". Before a stressed vowel, it is pronounced aspirated (if you put your hand in front of your lips and say “kil”, your palm should feel your fresh breath)
[m]	mother, lamb	Russian "m".
[n]	nine, note, intrusion	Russian "n".
[p]	pub, gallop, open	Russian energetic "p". Before a stressed vowel - aspirated.
[v]	vest, vocal, give	Russian "v".

Now let's look at some tricky examples in practice:

subtle - barely perceptible
“Suttle” and only that, no “subtle” with a drum “b” in the middle.

palm - palm
Naturally, everyone wants to be under a palm tree, but there is no smell of it here. Not “palm”, not “po:lm”, but “pa:m”, as in “car” and “path”. In company with a palm they find themselves calm- “calm” and balm- "balm".

halt - stop
Banish the analogy with the German “halt” - the correct pronunciation is “ho:lt”.

won - won, won in the past from “win”
Wonderful if you pronounce "won" like "one" - .

of - preposition of belonging
Only a botanist would think of checking the sound of a two-letter word? Well, well. "Of" and no nails? Remember: "Of" is pronounced with a "v" at the end. Full form- [ɔv], reduced - [əv]. Always.

Table of English sounds that have something in common with Russian
These sounds cause the greatest temptation and at the same time danger: the relative similarity with the usual pronunciation in Russian threatens to sound completely incorrect. Pay enough attention and understand the differences well.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[i]	fit, bit, symbol	The mean between “s” and “i”. It is pronounced very briefly, as at the end of “apchhi”.
	cheese, tree, sea	What photographers ask us to say on camera. As in the Russian word “syyyr”, but with a touching smile.
[ɒ]	hot, body, rock	The mean between "o" and "a". That is, in no case is the Vologda “o”.
[u]	cook, foot, woman	It's similar to the Russian short "u", but it's easier to pronounce and the lips are slightly stretched. It turns out like a “y” with a half smile. No elongated lips.
	true, fool, shoes	Like the previous sound, but long lasting.
[e]	get, bed, head	Intelligent "e". As in the Russian word "tin".
[ə]	about, until, alias	The mean between the unstressed “e” and “a”.
[l]	let, laughter, illegal	Softened Russian "l". Something between the sound of the word “la” and “la”.
[s]	stress, sunday, citizen	Muffled Russian "s". He never whistles. Remember the song "Girl" by the Beatles? Now, if their famous inhalation “sssss” is pronounced with an exhalation and briefly, you get a beautiful English [s].
[z]	zero, cosmonaut, xenon	Everything is the same as about the sound [s], only louder.
[t]	tree, trunk, receipt	Similar to Russian "t". But the tip of the tongue should be placed not to the teeth, but to the tubercle behind the upper teeth.
[d]	drink, ad, diligent	Similarly: like the Russian “d”, only the tip of the tongue rests on the tubercle immediately behind the upper teeth.
[ʃ]	ship, action, special	Between Russian “sh” and “sch”. Doesn't whistle, because the tongue does not press against the teeth with force, but gently touches them.
[ʒ]	pleasure, visual, garage	Softened Russian "zh". Doesn't ring or whistle.
	jump, jungle, logic	Connecting English [d] with [ ʒ ] and get a soft “j”.
	inch, chance, catch	We connect English [t] with [ ʃ ] and we get something similar to the Russian “ch”. As in the word "kitsch".
[j]	yes, yet, you	The mean between "th" and "i".
[ɪə]	hear, fear, beer	It looks like the Russian “ie” with an emphasis on “i”.
	air, hair, care	Russian "ea" with emphasis on "e".
	make, tray, ace	Russian "ei" with emphasis on "e". "I" is pronounced very short.
	hi, sky, bye	Russian "ai" with emphasis on "a". "I" is pronounced very short.
[ɔɪ]	boy, joy, coin	Russian "oi" with emphasis on "a". "I" is pronounced very short.
	how, cow, hour, our	Russian "au" with emphasis on "a". "U" is pronounced very short.
	fire, wire	Russian "aie" with a strong emphasis on the first "a". Pronounced quickly and smoothly.
	our, flower	Russian "awa" with a strong emphasis on the first "a". Pronounced quickly and smoothly.

were - were
“Were” is not at all the same thing as “where” - . Instead of a diphthong, we use the neutral vowel - , the shortened form - .

debt - debt and doubt - doubt
Fans of the group “No Doubt” have had more than a dozen years to figure out how correct the name of their favorite group sounds. "Debt" and "daubt" are not so easy to pronounce. In English there is no such Russian-language phenomenon as deafening or voicing of a consonant, but throw away the letter of their words for a dear soul: it is pronounced and .

good - good, book - book and look - watch
The double "o" does not turn into a long "u" in these words. Therefore, you should not copy the howl of wolves at the moon - say it correctly with a short vowel - , , .

Table of English sounds that have nothing in common with Russian
Practice pronouncing these sounds well online; at a minimum, your speech apparatus should get used to playing them correctly.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[ɜː]	earn, her, first	If the Russian “o” wanted to become “e”, it would sound exactly like this. Somewhat similar to the sound when children tease by sticking out their tongues. But you need to achieve this sound without sticking anything out. To do this, silently prepare your mouth to pronounce “е”, and say “oo” out loud.
[əu]	go, joke, own	Between Russian “ou” and “yo” (without “y”) with emphasis on the first sound. "U" is pronounced very short.
[æ]	cat, apple, compact	It is very important not to confuse this sound with [e], otherwise instead of “bad” (bad) you will get “bed” (bed). You need to stretch your lips wide, lower your lower jaw and say “eh” from the heart.
[h]	hot, head, uphill	Every Russian man knows how to pronounce this sound. When you are asked to “come on, breathe,” then all men begin to speak English, because they pronounce [h] exactly as it should: a light exhalation, vaguely reminiscent of “x.”
[r]	red, random, orange	Russian bears speak English [r] well. Try growling with your tongue up.
[w]	well, what, windows	Fold your lips into a tube and stretch them sharply. And now the same thing, but with sound.
[ŋ]	strong, sing, sink	Children are scolded for talking with their mouths full. But if you listen to the sounds made, many consonants sound exactly like [ŋ] . Open your mouth and, without closing it, say “n.”
[θ]	thanks, ethical	Place your tongue between your teeth and say “s.”
[ð]	they, there, other	Place your tongue between your teeth and say “z.” Best workout- this is to say the expression “Is this” 100 times. You will never confuse “z” with [ð].

folk - people, folk
The letter “l” has become a victim and is not pronounced at all - .

comb - comb
No “comb” - only “com”. The English “m” and “b” are quite insidious guys who will mess things up more than once. Be on the lookout!

won’t - won’t - short for “will not”
Have you been tormented by the question of how the cunning English distinguish between “want” and “won’t” in spoken language? You just have to pronounce the negation in the future tense correctly - . That's all the magic.

salmon - salmon
Not “salmon” and certainly not “solomon”. Salmon is on your mind - as in “cat” and “apple”.

Bonus for the most patient

The human brain is the eighth wonder of the world, the deep capabilities of which we can only guess at now. Something important for us is now known for sure: the brain has a speech center. Special center There is no one responsible for reading, but there is one for speech. That's why we strongly recommend repeating the words out loud for the hundredth time. Exactly out loud, and not silently, because in this case muscle memory is also involved. Naturally, words can “live and sound” in your head. The main thing is not to get stuck and stop at the stage of decoding transcription symbols, selecting the necessary rule for each sound. In this case, only a snail's speed is guaranteed.

If the language is still alive after previous exercises, then we bring to your attention a video that is better to see once than to hear about it 100 times. The entire phonetic transcription of the English language in 10 minutes. Clear, competent and very visual.

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

Why is transcription needed?

The phonetics of the English language has a noticeable feature: historically, words are often read differently from how they are written, that is, from the spelling of a word it is not always possible to guess how it is pronounced. Of course, there are general ones, but there are still plenty of exceptions. For example, there is large number words that have either unreadable or readable letters depending on the environment. And the rules themselves are difficult for schoolchildren 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 learning a language, when it is still quite difficult to read even quite simple words. Then, as you study the transcription signs, it becomes easier and easier to perceive the contents of the square brackets.

How are transcription signs read?

In the English pronunciation system there are 48 sounds, therefore, there are 48 transcription signs. Let's look at their pronunciation depending on the letters of the English alphabet that represent them.

Letter	Designation in transcription	Sounds	Example
More sounds [θ] – soft letter (c), the tongue is located between the front teeth of the upper and lower jaw [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 only stands at unstressed syllables and can be practically inaudible or indistinguishable, for example, [‘letə] - letter [au] – diphthong, sounds like Russian (ау) [oɪ] – diphthong, sounds like Russian (ой) [ɪə] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (я) [еə] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (еа) [ʋə] - diphthong, sounds like Russian (ua) [auə] – triphthong, sounds like Russian (ауа) [aɪə] – triphthong, sounds like Russian (aya) Accent icon- if a word with more than one syllable is transcribed, the stress must be indicated with an apostrophe (comma at the top). It is placed before the stressed syllable. For example: - decision.
Aa		Sounds like Russian (hey)	p a ge — [p eɪdʒ] - page
	[æ]	Middle sound between (e) and (a)	b a nk — [b æŋk] - bank
	[ɑː]	Similar to long Russian (a)	c a r — [k ɑː ] — car
	[ɔː]	Long sound (oh)	h a ll — [h ɔː l] - hall, hall
Bb	[b]	Almost like a Russian sound (b)	b e d — [b e d] — bed, bed
Cc	[k]	similar to Russian sound (k)	c amera — [ˈk am(ə)rə] — camera, camera
	[s]	similar to Russian sound (c)	bi c ycle — [ˈbʌɪ sɪk(ə)l] - bike
	[ʃ]	The middle sound is between (w) and (w).	o c ean — [ˈəʊ ʃ(ə)n] - ocean
Dd	[d]	How (d), pronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums	d id — [dɪd] - did
Ee		Long sound(s)	sh e — [ʃ i] - she
	[ɪ]	And	z e ro — [ˈz ɪərəʊ] - zero, zero
	[e]	Reminds the sound (e) with a tint (e)	t e n — [t e n] - ten
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (е) in words m e d, l yo n.	f ern — [f ɜːn] - fern
Ff	[f]	How (ph).	f our — [f ɔː] - four
Gg	[g]	Similar to Russian (g).	g ot — [ˈɡɒt] - receive
Hh	[h]	Short exhale (x).	h ow — [ˈh aʊ] — how, in what way
II		Similar to Russian sound (ay)	f I've — [f aɪ v] - five
	[ɪ]	Similar to Russian (и) with a slight connotation (ы) и (е), as in the word outside And	l i little — [ˈl ɪ t(ə)l] - small
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (е) in words m e d, l yo n.	g i rl — [ɡ ɜːl] — girl, girl
		Long sound(s)	mach i ne — [məˈʃ i ːn] — machine, mechanism
Jj		Similar to (j)	journey — [ˈdʒ əːni] - journey
Kk	[k]	Like the sound (k)	k ind — [k aɪnd] - species, genus
Ll	[l]	How (l), pronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums	l eg — [l eɡ] - leg, leg
mm	[m]	How (m)	m an — [m æn] - man
Nn	[n]	How(n)	no — [nəʊ] - No
Oo	[əʊ]	Similar to the sound (oh)	m o st — [m əʊst] — majority, greatest
	[ɔː]	Long sound (oh)	m o re — [m ɔː ] - more, more
	[ɒ]	A short sound that sounds similar to both (o) and (a)	n o t — [n ɒt] - no, no
		Long (y) without rounding the lips.	wh o — [h uː] - Who
	[ʊ]	Looks like a short one	g oo d — [ɡ ʊd] - good, kind
	[ʌ]		c o me — [k ʌ m] — come, come
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (е) in words m e d, l yo n.	w o rk — [ˈw ɜːk] - Job
Pp	[p]	Similar to Russian (n).	p en — [p en] - pen
Qq	[k]	Looks like Russian(k).	head q uarters — [hɛdˈ k wɔːtəz] - headquarters, center
Rr	[r]	Like Russian (r) without vibration.	r ed — [r ed] - red
Ss	[s]	Looks like Russian (c).	s o — [ˈsəʊ] — so, thus
Tt	[t]	Looks like Russian (t), pronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums	t ea — [t iː] - tea
Uu	[ʊ]	Looks like a short one	p u t — [ˈp ʊt] — put, put, put
	[ʌ]	Reminds me of an indistinct short sound (a)	c u t — [k ʌt] - cut, incision
		Long (u)	t u ne — [t juː n] — melody, tune, customize
	[ɪ]	Similar to Russian (и) with a slight connotation (ы) и (е), as in the word outside And	b u sy — [ˈb ɪ zi] — busy, busy
	[ɜː]	Similar to the sound (е) in words m e d, l yo n.	t urn — [t ɜːn] — turn, turn around
Vv	[v]	Similar to the sound (v)	v ery — [ˈv eri] - very, even
Ww	[w]	A sound similar to (y) lips stretching and rounding.	w orld — [w əːld] - world
Xx		similar to the sound (ks)	X-ray — [ˈe ks reɪ] — x-ray
	[z]	similar to Russian sound (z)	X erox — [ˈz ɪərɒks] — copier
Yy		Like (ay) in the word m ah	b y — [b aɪ] - on, on, to, at
	[j]	Looks like a weak Russian - (th)	y es — [jes] - yes, consent
	[ɪ]	Similar to Russian (и) with a slight connotation (ы) и (е), as in the word outside And	dut y — [ˈdjuːt ɪ ] — obligation, duty
Zz	[z]	Similar to Russian (z).	z ip — [z ɪp] - zipper

Use to consolidate your knowledge of transcription.

You can practice your pronunciation with 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 of English words in Russian letters" - that is, writing English words in Russian letters. The point is that schoolchildren are encouraged not to learn sophisticated icons, because... You can convey sounds in Russian letters. I think this approach is extremely dead-end. The phonetics of the Russian language differs from the English phonetics so much that the sound can only be conveyed very, very approximately. Some sounds English speech We simply don’t, and vice versa.

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 the English language. The standard one starts with the letter a and ends with the letter z.

When classifying alphabetic characters, the following are distinguished:

• 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 symbol that represents each letter and the phonetic sounds associated with that letter. Learning English phonetics is difficult. Only a small number of letters have no exceptions in the basic sound.

In most cases, each letter has several phonemes. The letter B sometimes sounds like bat (bat) or does not sound, for example, in the words crumb (cram), dumb (dam). The letter C sounds like the “k” for cat, or the “c” for ceiling, or the “tch” for church. 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, when pronounced, retain the original sound. 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. The starting 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. In the same way, the final sound in “r” is combined with “r” when “br” and “cr”, for example, in the words bridge, crane. On the contrary, in “s” it begins 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 a single sound. Some digraphs appear both at the beginning and at the end of a 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]	grandfather, did, lady, od
f	f, ph, sometimes gh	fable , fact , if [ɪf], off [ɒf], photo , glyph	fable, fact, if, of, foutou, glyph
	g	give, flag	giv, flag
	h	hold, ham	hold, ham
j	usually represented by y, but sometimes by other vowels	yellow,yes,young,neuron,cube	yelow, ees, iyang, 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, white, milk, sould – has two sound options: clear /l/ before a vowel, “darkened” /ɫ/ before a consonant or at the end of a word
m	m	man, them [ðem], moon	men, 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), in "-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, lesn
ʃ	sh, si, ti, sometimes s	she [ʃi:], crash, sheep [ʃi:p], sure [ʃʊə], session, emotion [ɪməʊʃn], leash	shi:, crash, shi:p, shue, session, imeshn, li:sh
t	t	taste, sting	taste, sting
tʃ	ch, sometimes t	chair [ʧɛə], nature teach beach	t che e, ney t che, ti: t ch, bi: t ch
θ	th	thing [θɪŋ], teeth, Athens [æθɪnz[	t sing, ti: t s, et t sinz - voiceless fricative
ð	th	this [ðɪs], mother	d zis, ma d ze – voiced fricative
v	v, sometimes f	voice, five, of [ɔv]	voice, five, ov
w	w, sometimes u	wet, window, queen	u in et, u in indeu, ku in i:n – [w] similar to
z	z	zoo, lazy	zu:, lazy
ʒ	g, si, z, sometimes s	genre [ʒɑːŋr], pleasure, beige, seizure, vision	genre e, plezhe, beige, si: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 sound (schwa).

IN english alphabet have 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, occur when a word contains one vowel, either at the beginning of a word or between two consonants. For example, if, elk, hop, fan. The typical short vowel pattern is consonant+vowel+consonant (CGS).

Words are taught as families, which represent groups of words with a common pattern, such as 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 with a shortened neutral sound ("schwa"), the phonemic symbol /ə/, especially if no syllabic consonants are used.

For example:

• a in about, around, approve, above [ə bʌv];
• e in accident, mother, taken, camera;
• i in, 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 classified as monophthongs, diphthongs or triphthongs. A monophthong is when there is one vowel sound in a syllable, a diphthong is when there are two vowel sounds in a syllable.

Let's take a closer look:

1. Monophthongs – pure and stable vowels, acoustic characteristic(timbre) of 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 tongue (or other parts of the vocal apparatus) moves when pronouncing a vowel sound - the first position is stronger than the second. In diphthong transcription, the first character represents the starting point of the body of the tongue, the second character represents the direction of movement. For example, you should be aware that in the letter combination /aj/, the body of the tongue is in the lower central position represented by the symbol /a/, and immediately begins to move up and forward to the position for /i/.
3. Diphthongs are often formed when individual vowels work together in fast conversation. Usually (in the speaker’s speech) the body of the tongue does not have time to reach 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 low central position of /a/, then moves up and back to the position of /u/. Although there are also single diphthongs, which are heard as separate vowel sounds (phonemes).
4. There are also triphthongs in English.(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.

Pronunciation table for simple English vowel sounds

All vowel sounds 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 pronunciation in Russian:

[ɪ]	pit, kiss, busy	pete, kitty, bisi
[e]	egg, let, red	eg, years, ed
[æ]	apple, travel, mad	apple, travel, med
[ɒ]	not, rock, copy	note, rock, mine
[ʌ]	cup, son, money	cap, san, mani
[ʊ]	look, foot, could	bow, foot, cool
[ə]	ago, away	hey, hey
	be, meet, read	bi:, mi:t, ri:d
[ɑ:]	arm, car, father	a:m, ka:, fa:d ze
[ɔ:]	door, saw, pause	to:, from:, to:z
[ɜ:]	turn, girl, learn	te:n, gyo:l, le:n
	blue, food, too	blue:, fu: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, coin	noiz, coin
[ɪə]	near, hear	nee, hie
[ɛə]	where, air	uh, uh, uh
[ʊə]	pure, tourist	p(b)yue, tu e rist

Learning transcription of English words

Let's look at some features of English transcription:

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

Transcription- this is a written representation of the sounds of a language using special signs, with the goal of accurately conveying pronunciation. International transcription is used as the main one. With its help, you can record the sound of any word, regardless of whether it belongs to any language.

International Phonetic Alphabet(English) International Phonetic Alphabet, abbr. IPA; fr. Alphabet telephonique international, abbr. API) - a system of characters for recording transcription based on the Latin alphabet. Developed and maintained by the International Phonetic Association IPA. Symbols for IPA were chosen to be harmonious with the Latin alphabet. Therefore, most of the characters are Latin letters and greek alphabets or modifications thereof. Many British dictionaries, including educational dictionaries, such as Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary And Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, now use the international phonetic alphabet to convey the pronunciation of words. However, most American publications (and some British ones) use their own notation, which is considered more intuitive for readers unfamiliar with IPA.
A colon after the sign means that the sound is long and needs to be pronounced a little longer. In English dictionaries there are two types of stress, primary and secondary, and both are placed before the stressed syllable. In transcription, the main emphasis is placed at the top - [... ʹ ...], and the secondary one is below [... ͵ ...]. Both types of stress are used in polysyllabic and compound words. It is also worth mentioning that there are rules under which some sounds and letters are not pronounced. In transcription they are placed in parentheses - [.. (..) ..].

Transcription signs

used in suggested dictionaries and articles with pronunciation examples

Vowel sounds
	Close to yarn And in a word And va	f ee l
[ı]	Close to short And in a word And gla	f i ll
[e]	The transcription sign is similar to uh in a word This	f e ll
[æ]	- average between A And uh. Open your mouth as if to pronounce A, try to pronounce uh.	c a t
[ɑ:]	Long sound ah-ah:d ah-ah th	c a rt
[ɒ]	Brief O in a word T O T	c o t
[ɔ:]	Reminds me of something drawn out O in a word n O full	f a ll
[ɜ:]	Long sound, medium between O And: uh... Reminds me e in a word G e those	c u rt
[ə]	A short, unclear, unimpacted sound. In Russian it is heard in unstressed syllables: five room A T	b a nan a
[ʌ]	Close to unstressed A in a word To A mouse.In English it is usually stressed	c u t
[ʋ]	Close to the sound at in a word T at T	f u ll
	Close to sound at, pronounced in a drawn-out manner: at-smart	f oo l
	Close to Russian ah in a word B ah feces	f i le
	to her in a word w to her ka	f ai l
[ɔı]	Ouch in a word b Ouch nya	f oi l
	aw in a word n aw for	f ou l
[əʋ]		f oa l
[ıə]	Combination [ı] and [ə] with emphasis on [ı]. Approximately Ie	t ie r
[ʋə]	Combination [ʋ] and [ə] with emphasis on [ʋ] Approximately Ue	t ou r
	The first element of the combination is close to uh in a word uh That. It is followed by a quick sound [ə] . The combination is roughly pronounced Ea	t ea r

resp. Russian n

Consonants
[p]	p ier
[t]	resp. Russian T	t ier
[b]	resp. Russian b	b eer
[d]	resp. Russian d	d eer
[m]	resp. Russian m	m here
[n]	resp. Russian n	n ear
[k]	resp. Russian To	ba k e
[l]	resp. Russian l	l eer
[g]	resp. Russian G	g ear
[f]	resp. Russian f	f ear
[v]	resp. Russian V	v eer
[s]	resp. Russian With	ba s e
[z]	resp. Russian h	bai z e
[ʃ]	resp. Russian w	sh eer [ʃıə]
[ʒ]	resp. Russian and	bei g e
	resp. Russian h	ch eer
	resp. Russian j	j eer
[r]	matches the sound r in a word and r fuck	r ear
[h]	exhalation, reminiscent of a faintly pronounced sound X	h ear
[j]	reminds me of Russian sound th before vowels: New Y orc, If[yeasley]. Occurs in combination with vowels.	y ear
	long yu in a word yu gentle
	e in a word e l
	e in a word e lk
	I in a word I ma

The following consonant sounds do not even have approximate correspondences in Russian
[w]	sound V uttered with just lips. In translation it is indicated by letters V or at: W Williams U Ilyama, IN Ilyama	w eir
[ŋ]	Open your mouth slightly and say n without closing your mouth	wro ng
[θ]	Move the slightly spread tip of your tongue between your teeth and say Russian With	wra th
[ð]	With the same tongue position, say h.	th is [ðıs]

In site documents and dictionary entries, both the new version of the international transcription of the English language, that is, the one that has become widespread recently, and the old version are used. Both transcription options differ only in the outline of some sounds.

Changes in the new transcription

Old form	For example	New form
	f ee l
[i]	f i ll	[ı]
[e]	f e ll	[e]
[ɔ:]	f a ll	[ɔ:]
[u]	f u ll	[ʋ]
	f oo l
	f ai l
	f oa l	[əʋ]
	f i le
	f ou l
[ɔi]	f oi l	[ɔı]
[æ]	c a t	[æ]
[ɔ]	c o t	[ɒ]
[ʌ]	c u t	[ʌ]
[ə:]	c u rt	[ɜ:]
[ɑ:]	c a rt	[ɑ:]
	t ie r	[ıə]
[ɛə]	t ea r
	t ou r	[ʋə]
[ə]	b a nan a	[ə]