Sounds of the English Language

an introduction to phonemes

A phoneme is the smallest unit of a spoken language that conveys meaning. The English word bad has three phonemes (b, a, and d). If any one of these phonemes is substituted by another, the meaning changes. For example, when e is substituted for a in the word bad, a new word with a different meaning is formed.

Linguists generally recognize 44 phonemes of the English language, although the exact number varies depending on dialect, as does the pronunciation. Here, I identify each phoneme by a common spelling, which is easier to interpret than the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Phonemes are divided into vowels, which are pronounced with an open vocal tract, and consonants, which are pronounced with a partly or completely closed vocal tract (one exception is h, a consonant that his pronounced with an open vocal tract).  

Consonants of the English Language Table 1 lists 26 English consonants. One of the consonants shown in this table, wh, is indistinguishable from w in most dialects. When w and wh are pronounced the same way, the number of English consonants is 25.

Consonants are categorized based on the mouth part used to produce them, whether the vocal cords vibrate, and how air is released. Sounds that are produced by vibration of the vocal cords are called voiced sounds. Sounds that are produced without vibration of the vocal cords are called unvoiced sounds. Air flow that accompanies sound production may be plosive (stopped), fricative (expelled with force), or continuous.

The consonants qu and x are each composed of two sounds: qu is composed of the /k/ and /w/ sounds, and x is typically composed of the /k/ and /s/ sounds (an exception is words such as exit, in which x is composed of the /g/ and /z/ sounds). Despite having two sounds, qu and x are considered to be phonemes as they are units of speech that convey meaning.  For example, when qu is added to the word ‘it’, an entirely new word (quit) is formed with a different meaning. Adjacent /k/ and /w/ sounds always form a single phoneme that is spelled qu.

Adjacent /k/ and /s/ sounds may form one or two phonemes. When these two sounds form a single phoneme, it is spelled with an x, as in lox. When these sounds form two separate phonemes, the phoneme pair is spelled ‘cks’. Typically, the s in this phoneme pair changes a word from singular to plural, as in locks.

Vowels of the English language There are 18 vowels in the English language, all of which are voiced. Nine of the vowels are simple, meaning they are composed of a single sound. Six are diphthongs, meaning they are composed of two sounds. Three are vowel + r combinations. 

Simple vowels are listed in Table 2. The sound that is produced depends on the position of the jaw, lips, and tongue. Vowels that are adjacent in this table, which are produced with a similar mouth position, tend to be harder to distinguish than vowels that are farther apart.

Diphthongs are listed in Table 3. Each diphthong is composed of two simple vowels spoken in rapid succession. Although diphthongs are composed of two sounds, they are considered to be phonemes both because the sounds are voiced together, and because they are each a unit of sound that conveys meaning.

Three vowel + r combinations (er, ar, and or) are considered to be phonemes because the r changes the pronunciation of the preceding vowel: hen and her have different vowels sounds, as do cat and car, and cot and for (Table 4).

In six other vowel + r combinations the sound of the vowel remains intact and is followed by the /er/ sound. Examples of vowel–er pairs are listed in Table 5. In vowel-er pairs, the preceding vowel and the er are considered to be separate phonemes. 

A note about Pronunciation Not all English speakers pronounce phonemes the same way, and one phoneme may be substituted for another in a particular word: some say tom-ae-to, others say tom-o-to. Despite differences in pronunciation, English speakers of different dialects can usually understand one another with little difficulty.

Fluent English speakers can also recognize that a new word is formed when one phoneme is substituted for another, as when e is substituted for a in the word ‘bad’. Recognition of phonemes in spoken language is an automatic process, and does not require an awareness that individual phonemes exist.

In contrast, reading does require phonemic awareness, as our alphabetic writing system breaks apart words into their component phonemes. To distinguish the words ‘bad’ and ‘bed’, the reader must be aware of the pronunciation of each vowel. 

The reader must also be aware of how each sound is spelled. Some phonemes, such as the a in bad, are spelled with a single letter. Other phonemes, such as the ea in bead, are spelled with more than one letter. A letter or letter group that represents a single phoneme is called grapheme.

Andrea Hazard is author of the science-based Step-by-Step Reading Program.