Overview of the sounds of American English
| i | read | |
| ɪ | him | |
| ɛ | set | |
| æ | bad | |
| ɑ | father | |
| ɔ | saw | |
| ʊ | good | |
| u | shoot | |
| ʌ | sun | |
| ə | above | |
| eɪ | safe | |
| aɪ | fly | |
| aʊ | cow | |
| ɔɪ | voice | |
| oʊ | low | |
| earth | ||
| ɚ | mother | |
| ɑr | car | |
| ɛr | there | |
| ɪr | here | |
| ɔr | north | |
| p | pass | |
| b | bill | |
| t | toad | |
| d | dear | |
| k | cool | |
| g | good | |
| ʧ | chair | |
| ʤ | jump | |
| f | father | |
| v | very | |
| θ | think | |
| ð | they | |
| s | set | |
| z | zoo | |
| ʃ | shoe | |
| ʒ | usually | |
| m | me | |
| n | no | |
| ŋ | sing | |
| l | loud | |
| ɫ | cool | |
| w | we | |
| j | yes | |
| h | happy | |
| r | red | |
| ʔ | button | |
| ɾ | water |
The /i/ sound
Compare to /iː/ in British English. It is the same sound, but in American English sometimes it is long and sometime it is short. The two dots for /iː/ in British English means that it is a long sound.
Words
each, read, me, happy, eel, feel, Peter
Phrases
- beam me up
- each of us
- you and me
- I believe it
- three bees
Nursery Rhyme
Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her
Put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well
The /ɪ/ sound
Words
it, him, rib, hid, sit, little, divide, pig
Comparison
- it, eat
- sit, seat
- ship, sheep
- sin, seen
- lid, lead
- is, ease
Phrases
- go with him
- in a bin
- finish in a minute
- tick tock
Songs
I’m A Little Teapot
I’m a little teapot
Short and stout
Here is my handle
Here is my spout
When I get all steamed up
I just shout
Tip me over and pour me out
Are You Sleeping, Brother John?
Are you sleeping,
are you sleeping,
Brother John,
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing,
morning bells are ringing.
Ding, dong, ding.
Ding, dong, ding.
The /ɛ/ sound
Words
edge, set, said, chess, meh, elephant, end, rest
Comparison
- sit, seat, set
- lid, lead, LED
- if, F
- here, hair
- seed, said
Phrases
- dead end
- ten hens
- to Ken and them
The /æ/ sound
Words
ash, bad, bat, nah, ham, shadow, cat, bath
Comparison
- head, had
- hen, ham
- said, sad
- Ellen, Allan
- beg, bag
Phrases
- sit in the sand
- a bad man
- cancel my plans
- pots and pans
- a black backpack
Tongue twisters
- Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
Song
Note the words with the /æ/ sound in it.
Homework
Download the American English Pronunciation app. We will be using it quite a bit in this class.
Practice listening to the four sounds that we learned today.
