Words to read by transcription in English. Transcription and reading rules in English

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 letters of the Latin 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]

letters, conveying vowels, in alphabet 6: Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu, Yy. There are 20 vowel sounds:

i - and (short)
u - y (short)
ʌ - a (short)
ɔ - o (short)
ə is a neutral sound. This sign often denotes unstressed vowel sounds in transcription, regardless of the letters that give this sound.
e is a sound intermediate between “e” and “e”, pronounced with the lips stretched to the side, as if smiling.
æ is a sound without analogy in Russian. A long “e” with a wide open mouth and a strongly lowered lower jaw, intermediate between “a” and “e”.
i: - and (long)
u: - y (long)
ɑ: - a (long)
ɔ: - o (long)
ə: - Reminiscent of the sound ё, but without the initial sound “y”. For example, as in the surname Goethe.
iə -begins with the vowel i and ends with the neutral sound ə
uə -begins with the vowel u and ends with the neutral sound ə
ai-ai
ɔi - oh
ou -ou
ɛə - ea (pronounced very quickly)
au
ei -hey

letters, conveying consonants, in alphabet 20: Bb, Cc, Dd, Ff, Gg, Hh, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Vv, Ww, Xx, Zz. There are 24 consonant sounds.

Voiced consonants:
b - like Russian b
d - d (with this sound the tongue rests on the tubercles in front of the upper teeth)
ʒ - w (harder than Russian)
ʤ - j
g - like Russian g
m - m
n - n
ŋ - nasal n sound, similar to French pronunciation
l - l
r - soft r
w - no analogy in Russian, average between “u” and “v”. Similar to the pronunciation of the "v" sound in some dialects. Round your lips as if to pronounce the sound “u”, and then sharply relax them.
v - like Russian v
ð - there is no analogy in Russian. Say the Russian “z” with your tongue between your teeth.
z - like Russian z

Voiceless consonants:
p - explosive p
t - t (with this sound the tongue rests on the tubercles in front of the upper teeth)
ʃ - w
ʧ - ch (much harder than Russian, closer to the combination “tsh”)
k - explosive k
f - like Russian f
h - x (much softer than Russian, practically just an exhalation)
j - th
θ - there is no analogy in Russian. Say the Russian “s” with your tongue between your teeth.
s - like Russian s

Accent in English transcription it is placed before the stressed syllable, and not above it, as in Russian. This sign (‘) seems to warn us in advance about the stress.

The emphasis can also be main, located on top, (‘) and secondary, located below (,). In this case, the main vocal emphasis falls on the main stress, but we pronounce the vowel sound with secondary stress very clearly, without making it completely unstressed and in no case bringing it to neutral ə.

Comments

Now you have already passed the first stage of learning English - you have learned the alphabet. You already know what the letters are called and know how to write them. But this does not mean at all that you can read any word in English correctly. In addition, you need to improve your pronunciation with the help of a professional teacher or tutor so as not to make mistakes at first.

Unlike many other foreign languages ​​(Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian), where words are read the same way they are written, you just need to learn how the letters are pronounced. In English, everything is much more complicated and confusing. But remembering the simple laws of reading words in English. Very soon you will realize that things are much simpler.

The thing is that in English the number of sounds predominates over letters, and in order to convey them in writing, it is necessary to combine several letters in a certain order. And this is done in various ways. And the pronunciation and recording of some sounds depends on what letters surround them. And all this must be remembered!

To make it easier to remember letter combinations, English linguists have developed a number of rules for reading words in English. Even if you know the language well enough, it is still advisable to double-check an unfamiliar word in a dictionary, make sure of its translation and remember the transcription, that is, how it is pronounced.

At school, most teachers only briefly mention how to reproduce words in English or do not talk about them at all. They refer students to dictionaries with transcriptions, citing the fact that “there are many exceptions to the reading rules.” Protect your children from such teachers!

Yes, that's true. Indeed, there are many exceptions to the rules for reading words in English. But this does not mean at all that we should remain silent about them. Rather, on the contrary, first of all you need to talk about them. Still, most words follow rules.

Knowing the basic rule of how words are read correctly, it will be much more interesting and easier for you to learn the language itself. And exceptions can be remembered as they come during training, repeating the rules that these words do not so stubbornly refuse to obey.

Rule for reading words

Bye! Successes!

Techniques for reading English according to Zaitsev’s method

The first thing a person who begins to learn English encounters is the difficulty of reading most words. There are many jokes about this among even the native speakers of this language, let alone those for whom it is not native. One Dutch linguist even wrote a poem containing the most difficult and controversial cases of English phonetics - it is difficult to read without errors even for someone who knows the language well.

But jokes are jokes, but we need to learn to pronounce words correctly. The rules of reading in English help with this. For beginners, they will be a little difficult, but this is just out of habit. Once you understand them and reinforce the theory well with examples, you will see how much they will make your life easier.

What are these rules for?

Without knowing them, learning to read will be difficult. Of course, you can memorize the transcription of those words that you come across. But in this case, your reading abilities will be very limited. What if you come across a word with a familiar root, but an unclear suffix or prefix? Or In such cases, mistakes are inevitable if you do not know the rules of reading in English. For beginners, they are especially important because they allow you to feel and understand the logic of language construction at all levels, starting with phonetics.

Reading consonants

  • always pronounced firmly;
  • voiced sounds are not deafened at the ends of words;
  • after the sounds there is aspiration, because the lips open faster than in pronunciation in Russian;
  • the sound [w] is pronounced pronouncedly, with two lips;
  • when pronouncing the sound [v], on the contrary, only the lower lip is involved;
  • many sounds are pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the alveoli, and not the teeth (as in Russian pronunciation).

Vowel reading: 4 syllable types

We continue to analyze the rules of reading in English. For beginners, it is better to present the material with examples. Then it will be clearer how to pronounce this or that sound.

There are only six in the English alphabet, but the difficulty of reading them is due to the presence of four different types of syllables:

  • open;
  • closed;
  • vowel + r;
  • vowel + r + vowel.

Let's look at them all in order, not forgetting about examples.

In an open syllable, the vowel is read as it is called in the alphabet: O is read as “ou (eu)”, U is read as a long “yu”, etc. The only exception is the letter Y, which is pronounced as “ay”. How to determine that a syllable is open? It must end with a vowel, which can stand:

  • at the end of a monosyllabic word (me, go);
  • at the beginning or middle (game, time, music);
  • next to another vowel (suit).

In a closed syllable that ends with a consonant (sometimes doubled), the vowels are read truncated:

  • Aa [æ] turns into something between the Russian sounds [a] and [e], for example: cat, apple.
  • Uu [ʌ] is similar to the Russian sound [a], for example: rubber, jump.
  • Ii is read as a short Russian sound [and], for example: sit, finger.
  • Ee [e] is read with the sound [e], for example: pen, egg.
  • Oo [ɔ] is read with a short sound [o], for example: shop, fox.
  • Yy [i] under stress must be read as a short sound [i], for example: mystery, myth.

This is the minimum that includes the rules of reading in English for beginners. It is better not to rush with exercises for all 4 types, but first to thoroughly understand the differences between closed and open syllables. Then you can move on to more complex cases.

The syllable type “vowel + r” is read as follows:

  • -ar is pronounced with a long sound [aaa];
  • -or is read as long [ooo];
  • -ur, -ir, -er are similar to the sound [o], but only pronounced in the throat.

The syllable type “vowel + r + vowel” turns the sound into a special two-part phenomenon of English phonetics - a diphthong:

  • Aa is read [ɛə], example: dare.
  • Ee is read, example: mere.
  • Ii is read, example: fire.
  • Uu is read, example: cure.
  • Yy is read, example: tire.

The exception is the letter Oo, which in the fourth type of syllable is not read as a diphthong, but simply as a long [ɔ:]. For example: more.

Reading letter combinations

Rules for reading in English (for beginners and advanced learners) cannot do without an explanation of the various combinations of consonants and vowels. Let's start with the first ones.

The combination wr at the beginning of a word: the sound [w] is not pronounced. Examples: write, wrist, wrong.

The combination wh at the beginning of a word: the sound [h] is not pronounced. Examples: why, what, white. But there is an exception here: if -wh is followed by the letter -o, then the sound [w] “drops out” when reading. These are the words: who, whole, whose and others.

In letter combinations kn and gn at the beginning of a word: only the sound [n] is read. Examples: knot, gnat.

The combination ng at the end of a word sounds like the sound [ŋ] pronounced through the nose (going), and in the middle of the word it sounds like just [ŋg], for example: hungry, singer.

The combination ch is read like the Russian sound [ch’], soft. For example: cheese, coach.

The combination sh gives the sound [ʃ], similar to the Russian [ш] in the soft version of pronunciation. For example: she, push.

The combination of letters qu is read, for example: queen, quite.

The unstressed combination -our is read [ə]: colour, favorite.

The combination of letters -sion after a consonant is pronounced [ʃn], for example: mission. And then voicing occurs before [ʒn], example: decision.

Before the letters e, i, y: the consonant C is pronounced with the sound [s], G is pronounced . In other cases it reads like this: C - [k], G - [g]. Compare: cell - cat, gym - game.

The letter combinations of vowels: -ee, as well as -ea give a long sound, the combination -ai is read, the combination -oo conveys a long sound. For example: bee, seal, moon.

True, there are sometimes exceptions. For example, blood: in this word the double O is read as the sound [ʌ]. But there are few such cases. They are easy to remember and do not complicate reading rules in English too much.

For beginners

For children and adults, the explanation of the rules will be different. Young “Englishmen” will learn knowledge well if it is presented with elements of play and fairy tales. For example, we can explain types 1 and 2 of reading as “open” and “closed” doors, where in the first case the letters feel free and shout their name (from the alphabet) loudly, and in the second they are almost inaudible. In a similar way, you can compose a kind of grammatical fairy tale and tell it to your child. An interactive element could be a task: “unspell” words by reading them correctly. This makes it much easier and more interesting to remember the rules of reading in English.

For elementary school

The small table below includes rules for reading vowels in two types of syllables. For the convenience of a child who is new to transcription, next to the sound is placed its approximate reading, written in Russian letters. In any case, the table must be read aloud with an adult who knows the language: you need to pay attention to how the same letter behaves in different types of syllables, and understand the proposed examples of words.

Students are often given homework to learn transcription icons. You can make a set of cards and practice like this: you read a short word with a certain sound, and the child shows a card with its designation. When working in groups, everyone had their own set.

Read without hesitation

How can you quickly and efficiently remember the rules of reading in English? For beginners, exercises will be the best option. It’s great if you can combine 2 types of activities: listen to samples and read on your own. However, this approach can quickly become boring, so it would be good to include elements of play and competition. For example, take two different lists of words with different rules - one for you, the other for a friend - and check who reads it faster and with fewer errors. The game option could be this: using mixed cards with individual words and transcription icons, find and post matches.

Who needs reading rules in English? For beginners to study it (this goes without saying), for those who continue - to test themselves, and for those who have forgotten - to remember knowledge that has not been used for a long time.



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