How are English words read?

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English is now the first inworld on demand and percentage of speakers. English is the language of international media, politics, education, economics. Practically for all schools in the Russian Federation, English is the main foreign language that junior schoolchildren are taught already from the second grade, and also this is the most taught language in the world, both in primary and higher education.

The study of any foreign language, including English, should begin with the basic aspects: the analysis of phonetics, the alphabet, the rules of pronunciation of sounds and words.

Reading and pronunciation rules in English

Letters and Sounds

First of all, the comprehension of the language begins with acquaintance with the alphabet.

The English alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet andconsists of 26 letters, 5 of which are vowels: A [hey], E [u], I [ay], O [oy], U [u] and 21 consonant letters: B [bi], C [si], D [di], F [ef], G [dzhi], H [eich], J [jay], K [kei], L [el], M [em], N [en], P [pi], Q [kyu], R [ar], S [es], T [ti], V [vi], W [double yu], X [ex], Y [yay], Z [zet]. The sound system of the language is represented by 44 units, since some letters of the alphabet can transmit several sounds at once, depending on the combination with another letter or the location in the word.

In the rules of reading English, we distinguish two basic phonetic aspects and then we will tell about each of them in more detail:

type of syllable in English words;
digraphs in English words.

Types of syllables in English

Open syllable - syllable, where the final letter -vowel, for example: shame, love, China. In an open syllable, the vowel is read, as a rule, in the same way as in the alphabet. But if the syllable is open and last in the word, the vowel may not be pronounced, so to say "chewed" in the flow of speech, for example, the word love - love - we will say as "lav".

Examples of vowels in an open syllable:

Letter A [ei]: face - face.
The letter E [i:]: be (a monosyllable word) - be
Letter I [ai]: bike - motorcycle
Letter O [ou]: photo - photo
Letter U [ju:]: tulip - tulip

A closed syllable is a syllable that ends in a vowel sound.

Examples of vowels in a closed syllable:

Letter A [long and wide a]: man - male
The letter I [i]: six - six
Letter O [æ - sound between a and e]: bottle - bottle
Letter U [sound close to a]: butter - oil

There is also a type of syllable that is on the letteris denoted as a closed syllable, but differs in that the vowel r follows the stressed vowel at the root and is not read in the flow of speech. R affects the preceding vowel, softening it slightly.

Examples:

purpose [pərpəs] - purpose
start [stɑːt] - start, start
forth [fɔːθ] - read more

There are syllables that graphically representopen, but behind the stressed vowel follows a consonant r that can be read (parents-parents) or not read (to take care-care) depending on the phonetic characteristics of the word.

Note: The double letter r in the root of English words does not affect reading the standing vowel before it, but only indicates that the syllable is closed, for example: terrible - terrible.

Alphabetic combinations - digraphs

For English, as one of the Germanic languages, combinations of two vowels or consonants are characteristic, which are called digraphs.

Consonant digraphs:

ch - for example, the word chart - a map, a scheme, a sound combination pronounced in oral speech, like Russian sound [h];
sh - she - she, the sound [w];
the combination of n and g gives the nasal sound [ng] - sing - sing;
ph - philosophy - philosophy, the equivalent of Russian sound [f];
The combination kn is read as a sound [k]: knife is a knife.

According to the rules of reading and pronunciation, vowel digraphs can be conditionally divided into three small groups:

which are pronounced as diphthongs (transition from one vowel to another): ei / ey, oi / oy;
which are pronounced as monophthongs or diphthongs, and perusal does not always correspond to the constituent letters, for example, au / aw: I saw, the vowel [a] reads like a sound [ou];
digraphs where the first vowel is read according to the rule of an open syllable, for example, ai / ay, ea / ee: leave - leave only the sound [i] corresponding to the letter e

Note: The combination of vowel sounds related to different syllables is not a digraph! In this case, only the first letter of the phonetic combination will be read, for example:

feet - [i:] here is long, in the transcription it is indicated by the symbol ":";
sea - only the vowel [i] is read, just like the letter itself in the alphabet;
count - read, only the sound [ou] is pronounced, which is correlated with the letter o.

Transcription

After you have read the alphabet and the basic phonetic aspects (syllables, digraphs), you can read words and whole sentences. But sometimes there are

difficulties - you doubt the pronunciation of a word, and therefore you have to resort to using a dictionary, where each word corresponds to a phonetic transcription.

Transcription - graphic transmission of speech soundsa special system of phonetic signs or symbols. Knowing and knowing how to understand transcriptions is useful - you can say a word you do not know without help.

It should be said that the process of reading English words is basically based on converting a combination of letters into a combination of sounds.

How are English words read?

Here are some examples of some transcription marks, explaining how they are correctly pronounced and read:

[i:] - the longitude of the sound is transmitted by the colon symbol, in this case, for example, in the word meet, where two consecutive vowels go;
[æ] - a phoneme that corresponds to the letter A in a closed syllable, for example: married [americk] - married
[Λ] is the sign corresponding to the vowel U in a closed syllable, for example: Sunday ['s] Londi - Sunday;
[ə] is a neutral phoneme, which is given by the majority of combinations of unvoiced unvoiced sounds, for example, in the word [feiməs] - famous;
[θ] is the sound that is obtained from the letter combination th, which stands at the beginning or end of the word, for example; thanks [θænks], faith [feiθ];
[ð] is the sound that also corresponds to th, but in the position of the middle of the word, between two vowels, for example: without [wi'ðaut];
[∫] - the sound corresponding to a combination of consonants sh, for example: sheep [∫i: p];
[ŋ] is a sonorous, nasal sound represented by a combination of ng: hungry ['hΛŋgri], wrong [wroŋ].

Examples of words from the English-Russian dictionary, data with transcription:

hear [hiə] - hear
price [prais] - price
trouble [trΛbl] is a nuisance
cold [kəuld] - cold
skirt [skε: t] - skirt

Tips for Improving Pronunciation

During the teaching of English, an irreplaceable thing will always be a good English-Russian dictionary or an explanatory dictionary in English. And if you know the technique of reading transcriptions, your task will be made easier even more. To achieve the result, one way or another, at first you will need the help of a mentor, it can be a teacher, a course teacher or your tutor. After all, from how you learn the basics, your further progress in the language will depend.
There is an opportunity to listen to how they are pronouncedEnglish words and expressions, on the Internet. You can listen and repeat aloud - so the information will be assimilated faster and better. To check how the word sounds correctly, you can, for example, in this online dictionary or in this
The development of a good pronunciation will also help watching movies or TV shows in English with subtitles. A very effective method also for replenishing the vocabulary of words.
Listen to the broadcasts on the language by radio orInternet, even when doing household chores. Combine business with pleasure - without noticing it, you will automatically learn the exact pronunciation of English vocabulary.