English phonology

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Like many other languages, English has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect. In general, however, the regional dialects of English share a largely similar (but not identical) phonological system. Among other things, most dialects have vowel reduction in unstressed syllables and a complex set of phonological features that distinguish fortis and lenis consonants (stops, affricates, and fricatives). Most dialects of English preserve the consonant /w/ (spelled w) and many preserve /θ, ð/ (spelled th), while most other Germanic languages have shifted them to /v/ and /t, d/: compare English will /wɪl/ and then /ðɛn/ with German will [vɪl] ("want") and denn [dɛn].



A phoneme of a language or dialect is an abstraction of a speech sound or of a group of different sounds which are all perceived to have the same function by speakers of that particular language or dialect. For example, the English word "through" consists of three phonemes: the initial "th" sound, the "r" sound, and an "oo" vowel sound. Notice that the phonemes in this and many other English words do not always correspond directly to the letters used to spell them (English orthography is not as strongly phonemic as that of many other languages).

The number and distribution of phonemes in English vary from dialect to dialect, and also depend on the interpretation of the individual researcher. The number of consonant phonemes is generally put at 24 (or slightly more). The number of vowels is subject to greater variation; in the system presented on this page there are 20 vowel phonemes in Received Pronunciation, 14–16 in General American and 20–21 in Australian English (CITE). The pronunciation keys used in dictionaries generally contain a slightly greater number of symbols than this, to take account of certain sounds used in foreign words and certain noticeable distinctions that may not be—strictly speaking—phonemic.



Labial Dental,
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m1 n1 ŋ
fortis p t t͡ʃ k
lenis b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative sibilant fortis s ʃ
lenis z ʒ
non-sibilant fortis f θ x2 h
lenis v ð
Approximant l1 r5 j4 w3
  1. Most varieties of English have syllabic consonants in some words, principally [l̩, m̩, n̩], for example at the end of bottle, rhythm and button. In such cases, no phonetic vowel is pronounced between the last two consonants, and the last consonant forms a syllable on its own. Syllabic consonants are generally transcribed with a vertical line under the consonant letter, so that phonetic transcription of bottle would be [ˈbɒtl̩], [ˈbɑɾl̩], or [ˈbɔɾl̩] in RP, GA, and Australian respectively, and for button [ˈbʌʔn̩]. In theory, such consonants could be analyzed as individual phonemes. However, this would add several extra consonant phonemes to the inventory for English,[1] and phonologists prefer to identify syllabic nasals and liquids phonemically as C/.[2][3] Thus button is phonemically /ˈbʌtən/ or /ˈbɐtən/ and bottle is phonemically /ˈbɒtəl/, /ˈbɑtəl/, or /ˈbɔtəl/.
  3. In some conservative accents in Scotland, Ireland, the southern United States, and New England, the digraph ⟨wh⟩ in words like which and whine represents a voiceless w sound [ʍ], a voiceless labiovelar fricative[7][8][9] or approximant,[10] which contrasts with the voiced w of witch and wine. In most dialects, this sound is lost, and is pronounced as a voiced w (the winewhine merger). Phonemically this sound is analysed as a consonant cluster /hw/, rather than as a separate phoneme */ʍ/. Thus which and whine are transcribed phonemically as /hwɪtʃ/ and /hwaɪn/. This does not mean that such speakers actually pronounce [h] followed by [w]: the phonemic transcription /hw/ is simply a convenient way of representing a single sound [ʍ] without analysing such dialects as having an extra phoneme.[11]
  4. Similarly, the sound at the beginning of huge in most accents[verification needed] is a voiceless palatal fricative [ç], but this is analysed phonemically as the consonant cluster /hj/ so that huge is transcribed /hjuːdʒ/. As with /hw/, this does not mean that speakers pronounce [h] followed by [j]; the phonemic transcription /hj/ is simply a convenient way of representing the single sound [ç].[11] The yod-dropping found in Norfolk dialect means that the traditional Norfolk pronunciation of huge is [hʊudʒ] and not [çuːdʒ].
  5. This phoneme is conventionally transcribed with the basic Latin letter ⟨r⟩ (the IPA symbol for the alveolar trill), even though its pronunciation is usually a postalveolar approximant [ɹ̠]. The trill does exist but it is rare, found only in Scottish dialects and sporadically in Received Pronunciation preceding a stressed vowel in highly emphatic speech or when placing special emphasis on a word. See Pronunciation of English /r/.
  6. The postalveolar consonants /tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ, r/ are also often slightly labialized: [tʃʷ dʒʷ ʃʷ ʒʷ ɹ̠ʷ].

Consonant examples[edit]


Fortis Lenis
/p/ pit /b/ bit
/t/ tin /d/ din
/k/ cut /ɡ/ gut
// cheap // jeep
/f/ fat /v/ vat
/θ/ thigh /ð/ thy
/s/ sap /z/ zap
/ʃ/ dilution /ʒ/ delusion
/x/ loch
/h/ ham
/m/ map
/n/ thin
/ŋ/ thing
/j/ yes
/w/ we
/r/ run
/l/ left


  • The pronunciation of /l/ varies by dialect:
    • Received Pronunciation has two main allophones of /l/: the clear or plain [l], and the dark or velarized [ɫ]. The clear variant is used before vowels when they are in the same syllable, and the dark variant when the /l/ precedes a consonant or is in syllable-final position before silence.
    • In South Wales, Ireland, and the Caribbean, /l/ is often always clear, and in North Wales, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada it is always dark.
    • In General American, /l/ is generally dark, but to varying degrees: before stressed vowels it is neutral or only slightly velarized.[12] In southern U.S. accents it is noticeably clear between vowels, and in some other positions.[13]
  • In most dialects /r/ is labialized [ɹ̠ʷ] in many positions, as in reed [ɹ̠ʷiːd] and tree [tɹ̠̊ʷiː]; in the latter case, the /t/ may be slightly labialized as well.[14]
  • In some rhotic accents, such as General American, /r/ when not followed by a vowel is realized as an r-coloring of the preceding vowel or its coda: nurse [ˈnɝs], butter [ˈbʌtɚ].



    • aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] when they occur at the beginning of a word, as in tomato, trip, or at the beginning of a stressed syllable in the middle of a word, as in potato. They are unaspirated [p, t, k] after /s/ within the same syllable, as in stan, span, scan, and at the ends of syllables, as in mat, map, mac.[16] The voiceless fricatives are always unaspirated, but a notable exception to this are English-speaking areas of Wales, where they are often aspirated.[17]
  • Among stops, both fortes and lenes:
    • May have no audible release [p̚, b̚, t̚, d̚, k̚, ɡ̚] in the word-final position.[20][21] These allophones are more common in North America than Great Britain.[20]
    • Always have a 'masked release' before another plosive or affricate (as in rubbed [ˈrʌˑb̚d̥]), i.e. the release of the first stop is made after the closure of the second stop. This also applies when the following stop is homorganic (articulated in the same place), as in top player.[22] A notable exception to this is Welsh English, where stops are usually released in this environment.[17]
    • The affricates /tʃ, dʒ/ have a mandatory fricative release in all environments.[23]


English has a particularly large number of vowel phonemes, and on top of that the vowels of English differ considerably between dialects. Because of this, corresponding vowels may be transcribed with various symbols depending on the dialect under consideration. When considering English as a whole, lexical sets are often used, each named by a word containing the vowel or vowels in question. For example, the LOT set consists of words which, like lot, have /ɒ/ in Received Pronunciation and /ɑ/ in General American. The "LOT vowel" then refers to the vowel that appears in those words in whichever dialect is being considered, or (at a greater level of abstraction) to a diaphoneme which transcends all dialects. A commonly used system of lexical sets, due to John C. Wells, is presented below; for each set, the corresponding phonemes are given for RP (first column) and General American (second column), using the notation that will be used on this page.

BATH ɑː æ
NURSE ɜː(r) ɜr
START ɑː(r) ɑr
NORTH ɔː(r) ɔr
FORCE ɔr, oʊr
NEAR ɪə(r) ɪr
SQUARE eə(r) ɛr
CURE ʊə(r) ʊr
LETTER ə(r) ər


The following tables show the vowel phonemes of three standard varieties of English. The notation system used here for Received Pronunciation (RP) is fairly standard; the others less so. For different ways of transcribing General American, see § Transcription variants below. The feature descriptions given here (front, close, etc.) are abstracted somewhat; the actual pronunciations of these vowels are somewhat more accurately conveyed by the IPA symbols used (see Vowel for a chart indicating the meanings of these symbols; though note also the points listed below the following tables).

  1. RP transcriptions use /e/ rather than /ɛ/ largely for convenience and historical tradition; it does not necessarily represent a different sound from the General American phoneme, although the RP vowel may be described as somewhat less open than the American one.[28]
  2. Although the notation /ʌ/ is used for the vowel of STRUT in RP and GenAm, the actual pronunciation is closer to a near-open central vowel [ɐ]. The symbol ⟨ʌ⟩ continues to be used for reasons of tradition (it was historically a back vowel) and because it is still back in some other varieties.[29]

The differences between these tables can be explained as follows:

  • In General American, the vowels [ə], [ʌ] and [ɜ] may be considered allophones of a single phoneme, since they occur in complementary distribution: [ə] in unstressed syllables (also r-colored [ɚ]), [ʌ] in stressed syllables not before [r], and [ɜ] in stressed syllables before [r] (that is r-colored [ɝ]).[30]
  • General American lacks a phoneme corresponding to RP /ɒ/ (LOT, CLOTH), instead using /ɑ/ in the LOT words and generally /ɔ/ in the CLOTH words. In a few North American accents, namely in Eastern New England (Boston), Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), and to some degree in Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Portland) and Canadian English, LOT words do not have the vowel of PALM (the fatherbother merger has not occurred) but instead merge with CLOTH/THOUGHT.[31][32][33][34]
  • The different notations used here for some of the Australian vowels reflect the phonetic realization of those vowels in Australian: a central [ʉː] rather than [uː] in GOOSE, a more closed [e] rather than [ɛ] in DRESS, an open-mid [ɔ] rather than traditional RP's [ɒ] in LOT and CLOTH, a close-mid [oː] rather than mid [ɔː] in THOUGHT, NORTH and FORCE (here the difference lays almost only in transcription rather than pronunciation), an opener [ɐ] rather than somewhat closer [ʌ] in STRUT, a fronted [ɐː] rather than [ɑː] in CALM and START, and somewhat different pronunciations of most of the diphthongs. Note that central [ʉː] in GOOSE and open-mid [ɔ] in LOT are possible realizations in modern RP; in the case of the latter vowel, it is even more common than the traditional open [ɒ].[35]
  • The Australian monophthong /eː/ corresponds to the RP diphthong /eə/ (SQUARE).
  • The vowel /ʊə/ is often omitted from descriptions of Australian, as for most speakers it has split into the long monophthong /oː/ (e.g. poor, sure) or the sequence /ʉː.ə/ (e.g. cure, lure).[36]

Other points to be noted are these:

  • A significant number of words (the BATH group) have /æ/ in General American, but /ɑː/ in RP (and mostly /ɐː/ in Australian).
  • Most speakers in Canada outside of the Maritime Provinces, and some speakers in the United States, do not distinguish /ɑ/ from /ɔ/, except before /r/ (see cotcaught merger). However, evidence by Labov et al suggests that in dialects without the merger /ɔːr/ and /ɔː/ may not actually be assonant,[38] especially in dialects with the horsehoarse merger.
  • In General American and Canadian (which are rhotic accents, where /r/ is pronounced in positions where it does not precede a vowel), many of the vowels can be r-colored by way of realization of a following /r/. This is often transcribed phonetically using a vowel symbol with an added retroflexion diacritic [ ˞ ]; thus the symbol [ɚ] has been created for an r-colored schwa (sometimes called schwar) as in LETTER, and the vowel of START can be modified to make [ɑ˞] so that the word start may be transcribed [stɑ˞t]. Alternatively, the START vowel might be written [stɑɚt] to indicate an r-colored offglide. The vowel /ɜ/ (as in NURSE) is generally always r-colored in these dialects, and this can be written [ɝ] (or as a syllabic [ɹ̩]).
  • In RP and other dialects, many words from the CURE group are coming to be pronounced by an increasing number of speakers with the NORTH vowel (so sure is often pronounced like shore). Also the RP vowels /ɛə/ and /ʊə/ may be monophthongized to [ɛː] and [oː] respectively.[39]

Allophones of vowels[edit]


  • There is a tendency for many vowels to be pronounced with greater length in open syllables than closed syllables, and with greater length in syllables ending with a voiced consonant than with a voiceless one. For example, the /aɪ/ in advise is longer than that in advice.
  • In many accents of English, tense vowels undergo breaking before /l/, resulting in pronunciations like [piəl] for peel, [puəl] for pool, [peəl] for pail, and [poəl] for pole.
  • The vowel /ə/ is often pronounced [ɐ] in open syllables.[41]
  • The PRICE and MOUTH diphthongs may be pronounced with a less open starting point when followed by a voiceless consonant;[42] this is chiefly a feature of Canadian speech (Canadian raising), but is also found in parts of the United States.[43] Thus writer may be distinguished from rider even when flapping causes the /t/ and /d/ to be pronounced identically.

Unstressed syllables[edit]

Unstressed syllables in English may contain almost any vowel, but there are certain sounds—characterized by central position and weakness—that are particularly often found as the nuclei of syllables of this type. These include:

  • [ɪ], as in roses and making. This can be identified with the phoneme /ɪ/, although in unstressed syllables it may be pronounced more centrally (in American tradition the barred i symbol ⟨ɨ⟩ is used here), and for some speakers (particularly in Australian and New Zealand and some American English) it is merged with /ə/ in these syllables (weak vowel merger). Among speakers who retain the distinction there are many cases where free variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/ is found, as in the second syllable of typical. (The OED has recently adopted the symbol ⟨ᵻ⟩ to indicate such cases.)
  • [ʊ], as in argument, today, for which similar considerations apply as in the case of [ɪ]. (The symbol ⟨ᵿ⟩ is sometimes used in these cases, similarly to ⟨ᵻ⟩.) Some speakers may also have a rounded schwa, [ɵ], used in words like omission [ɵˈmɪʃən].[44]
  • [i], as in happy, coffee, in many dialects (others have [ɪ] in this position).[45] The phonemic status of this [i] is not easy to establish. Some authors consider it to correspond phonemically with a close front vowel that is neither the vowel of KIT nor that of FLEECE; it occurs chiefly in contexts where the contrast between these vowels is neutralized,[46][47][48] implying that it represents an archiphoneme, which may be written /i/. Many speakers, however, do have a contrast in pairs of words like studied and studded or taxis and taxes; the contrast may be [i] vs. [ɪ], [ɪ] vs. [ə] or [i] vs. [ə], hence some authors consider that the happY-vowel should be identified phonemically either with the vowel of KIT or that of FLEECE, depending on speaker.[49] See also happy-tensing.


Some unstressed syllables, however, retain full (unreduced) vowels, i.e. vowels other than those listed above. Examples are the /æ/ in ambition and the /aɪ/ in finite. Some phonologists regard such syllables as not being fully unstressed (they may describe them as having tertiary stress); some dictionaries have marked such syllables as having secondary stress. However linguists such as Ladefoged[50] and Bolinger (1986) regard this as a difference purely of vowel quality and not of stress,[51] and thus argue that vowel reduction itself is phonemic in English. Examples of words where vowel reduction seems to be distinctive for some speakers[52] include chickaree vs. chicory (the latter has the reduced vowel of HAPPY, whereas the former has the FLEECE vowel without reduction), and Pharaoh vs. farrow (both have the GOAT vowel, but in the latter word it may reduce to [ɵ]).

Transcription variants[edit]

The choice of which symbols to use for phonemic transcriptions may reflect theoretical assumptions or claims on the part of the transcriber. English "tense" and "lax" vowels are distinguished by a synergy of features, such as height, length, and contour (monophthong vs. diphthong); different traditions in the linguistic literature emphasize different features. For example, if the primary feature is thought to be vowel height, then the non-reduced vowels of General American English may be represented according to the adjacent table. If, on the other hand, vowel length is considered to be the deciding factor, the symbols in the table to the below and center may be chosen (this convention has sometimes been used because the publisher did not have IPA fonts available, though that is seldom an issue any longer.) The rightmost table lists the corresponding lexical sets.

General American full vowels,
vowel height distinctive
i u
ɪ ʊ
e ɚ o
ɛ ʌ ɔ
æ ɑ
General American full vowels,
vowel length distinctive
i u
e ʌ o
Lexical sets representing
General American full vowels

If vowel transition is taken to be paramount, then the chart may look like one of these:

General American full vowels,
vowel contour distinctive
ij uw
i u
ej ər ow
e ə o
æ ɑ
General American full vowels,
vowel contour distinctive
ɪi̯ ʊu̯
ɪ ʊ
ɛɪ̯ ɝɹ ɔʊ̯
ɛ ʌ ɔ
æ ɑ

(The transcriber at left assumes that there is no phonemic distinction between semivowels and the high segments of diphthongs, so that /ej/ is equivalent to /eɪ̯/.)

Many linguists combine more than one of these features in their transcriptions, suggesting they consider the phonemic differences to be more complex than a single feature.

General American full vowels,
height & length distinctive
ɪ ʊ
ɛ ʌ ɔ
æ ɑː
General American full vowels,
height & contour distinctive
ij uw
ɪ ʊ
ej ɜr ow
ɛ ʌ ɔ
æ ɑ

Lexical stress[edit]









Syllable structure[edit]

The syllable structure in English is (C)3V(C)5, with a near maximal example being strengths (/strɛŋkθs/, although it can be pronounced /strɛŋθs/).[55] From the phonetic point of view, the analysis of syllable structures is a complex task: because of widespread occurrences of articulatory overlap, English speakers rarely produce an audible release of individual consonants in consonant clusters.[56] This coarticulation can lead to articulatory gestures that seem very much like deletions or complete assimilations. For example, hundred pounds may sound like [hʌndɹɪb paʊndz] and jumped back (in slow speech, [dʒʌmptbæk]) may sound like [dʒʌmpbæk], but X-ray[57] and electropalatographic [58][59][60] studies demonstrate that inaudible and possibly weakened contacts or lingual gestures may still be made. Thus the second /d/ in hundred pounds does not entirely assimilate to a labial place of articulation, rather the labial gesture co-occurs with the alveolar one; the "missing" [t] in jumped back may still be articulated, though not heard.

Division into syllables is a difficult area, and different theories have been proposed. A widely accepted approach is the maximal onset principle:[61] this states that, subject to certain constraints, any consonants in between vowels should be assigned to the following syllable. Thus the word leaving should be divided /ˈliː.vɪŋ/ rather than */ˈliːv.ɪŋ/, and hasty is /ˈheɪ.sti/ rather than */ˈheɪs.ti/ or */ˈheɪst.i/. However, when such a division results in an onset cluster which is not allowed in English, the division must respect this. Thus if the word extra were divided */ˈe.kstrə/ the resulting onset of the second syllable would be /kstr/, a cluster which does not occur in English. The division /ˈek.strə/ is therefore preferred. If assigning a consonant or consonants to the following syllable would result in the preceding syllable ending in an unreduced short vowel, this is avoided. Thus the word comma should be divided /ˈkɒm.ə/ and not */ˈkɒ.mə/, even though the latter division gives the maximal onset to the following syllable, because English syllables do not end in /ɒ/.




The following can occur as the onset:

All single consonant phonemes except /ŋ/  
Stop plus approximant other than /j/:

/pl/, /bl/, /kl/, /ɡl/, /pr/, /br/, /tr/,[1] /dr/,[1] /kr/, /ɡr/, /tw/, /dw/, /ɡw/, /kw/, /pw/

play, blood, clean, glove, prize, bring, tree,[1] dream,[1] crowd, green, twin, dwarf, language, quick, puissance
Voiceless fricative or /v/ plus approximant other than /j/:[2]

/fl/, /sl/, /θl/,[3] /fr/, /θr/, /ʃr/, /hw/,[4] /sw/, /θw/, /vw/

floor, sleep, thlipsis,[3] friend, three, shrimp, what,[4] swing, thwart, reservoir
Consonant plus /j/ (before /uː/ or its modified/reduced forms[5]):

/pj/, /bj/, /tj/,[5] /dj/,[5] /kj/, /ɡj/, /mj/, /nj/,[5] /fj/, /vj/, /θj/,[5] /sj/,[5] /zj/,[5] /hj/, /lj/[5]

pure, beautiful, tube,[5] during,[5] cute, argue, music, new,[5] few, view, thew,[5] suit,[5] Zeus,[5] huge, lurid[5]
/s/ plus voiceless stop:[6]

/sp/, /st/, /sk/

speak, stop, skill
/s/ plus nasal other than /ŋ/:[6]

/sm/, /sn/

smile, snow
/s/ plus voiceless fricative:[3]

/sf/, /sθ/

sphere, sthenic
/s/ plus voiceless stop plus approximant:[6]

/spl/, /skl/,[3] /spr/, /str/, /skr/, /skw/, /smj/, /spj/, /stj/,[5] /skj/

split, sclera, spring, street, scream, square, smew, spew, student,[5] skewer
/s/ plus voiceless fricative plus approximant:[3]




  1. For certain speakers, /tr/ and /dr/ tend to affricate, so that tree resembles "chree", and dream resembles "jream".[67][68][69] This is sometimes transcribed as [tʃr] and [dʒr] respectively, but the pronunciation varies and may, for example, be closer to [tʂ] and [dʐ][70] or with a fricative release similar in quality to the rhotic, i.e. [tɹ̝̊ɹ̥], [dɹ̝ɹ], or [tʂɻ], [dʐɻ].
  2. Some northern and insular Scottish dialects, particularly in the Shetlands, preserve onsets such as /ɡn/ (as in gnaw), /kn/ (as in knock), and /wr/ or /vr/ (as in write).[71]
  4. The onset /hw/ is simplified to /w/ in the majority of dialects (wine–whine merger).
Other onsets






The following can occur as the nucleus:




Lateral approximant + fricative: /lf/, /lv/, /lθ/, /ls/, /lʃ/ golf, solve, wealth, else, Welsh
In rhotic varieties, /r/ + fricative: /rf/, /rv/, /rθ/, /rs/, /rz/, /rʃ/ dwarf, carve, north, force, Mars, marsh
Nasal + fricative: /mf/, /mθ/, /nθ/, /ns/, /nz/, /ŋθ/ in some varieties triumph, warmth, month, prince, bronze, length
Two voiceless fricatives: /fθ/ fifth
Stop plus voiceless fricative: /pθ/, /ps/, /tθ/, /ts/, /dθ/, /ks/ depth, lapse, eighth, klutz, width, box

Note: For some speakers, a fricative before /θ/ is elided so that these never appear phonetically: /fɪfθ/ becomes [fɪθ], /sɪksθ/ becomes [sɪkθ],[who?] /twɛlfθ/ becomes [twɛlθ].

Syllable-level rules[edit]

  • Both the onset and the coda are optional.
  • Onset clusters ending in /j/ must be followed by /uː/ or its variants (see note 5 above).
  • /ŋ/ does not occur in syllable-initial position.
  • /h/ does not occur in syllable-final position.
  • /ʊ/ is rare in syllable-initial position[72] (although in the northern half of England, [ʊ] is used for /ʌ/ and is common at the start of syllables).

Word-level rules[edit]

  • /ə/ does not occur in stressed syllables.
  • /ʒ/ does not occur in word-initial position in native English words, although it can occur syllable-initially as in luxurious /lʌɡˈʒʊəriəs/, and at the start of borrowed words such as genre.



Prosodic stress[edit]








Phonological contrasts in intonation can be said to be found in three different and independent domains. In the work of Halliday[78] the following names are proposed:

  • Tonality for the distribution of continuous speech into tone groups.
  • Tone for the choice of pitch movement on the tonic syllable. (The use of the term "tone" in this sense should not be confused with the tone of tone languages, such as Chinese.)

These terms ("the Three Ts") have been used in more recent work,[79][80] though they have been criticized for being difficult to remember.[81] American systems such as ToBI also identify contrasts involving boundaries between intonation phrases (Halliday's tonality), placement of pitch accent (tonicity), and choice of tone or tones associated with the pitch accent (tone).

Example of phonological contrast involving placement of intonation unit boundaries (boundary marked by |):

a) Those who ran quickly | escaped. (the only people who escaped were those who ran quickly)
b) Those who ran | quickly escaped. (the people who ran escaped quickly)


a) I have plans to LEAVE. (= I am planning to leave)
b) I have PLANS to leave. (= I have some drawings to leave)



It has been frequently claimed that there is a contrast involving tone between wh-questions and yes/no questions, the former being said to have falling tone (e.g. "Where did you \PUT it?") and the latter a rising tone (e.g. "Are you going /OUT?"), though studies of spontaneous speech have shown frequent exceptions to this rule.[82] "Tag questions" asking for information are said to carry rising tones (e.g. "They are coming on Tuesday, /AREN'T they?") while those asking for confirmation have falling tone (e.g. "Your name's John, \ISN'T it.").

History of English pronunciation[edit]





See also[edit]


  1. ^ Roach 2009, pp. 100–1.
  2. ^ Kreidler 2004, p. 84.
  3. ^ Wells 1982, p. 55.
  4. ^ a b Wells 1982, pp. 389, 619.
  5. ^ Tench 1990, p. 132.
  6. ^ a b Bowerman 2004, p. 939.
  7. ^ Gimson 2008, p. 230.
  8. ^ McMahon 2002, p. 31.
  9. ^ Giegerich 1992, p. 36.
  10. ^ Ladefoged 2006, p. 68.
  11. ^ a b Roach 2009, p. 43.
  12. ^ Wells 1982, p. 490.
  13. ^ Wells 1982, p. 550.
  14. ^ Ladefoged 2001, p. 55.
  15. ^ Celce-Murcia, Brinton & Goodwin 1996, pp. 62–67.
  16. ^ Roach 2009, pp. 26–28.
  17. ^ a b Wells 1982, p. 388.
  18. ^ Gimson 2008, pp. 179–180.
  19. ^ Wells 1982, p. 323.
  20. ^ a b Celce-Murcia, Brinton & Goodwin 1996, p. 64.
  21. ^ Gimson 2014, pp. 173–182.
  22. ^ Gimson 2014, pp. 170 and 173–182.
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  24. ^ Trudgill & Hannah 2002, p. 18
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  26. ^ Mojsin, Lisa (2009), Mastering the American Accent, Barron’s Education Series, Inc., p. 36. “The t after n is often silent in American pronunciation. Instead of saying internet Americans will frequently say 'innernet.' This is fairly standard speech and is not considered overly casual or sloppy speech.”
  27. ^ Roach 2004, p. 242.
  28. ^ Wells 1982, p. 128.
  29. ^ Roca & Johnson 1999, p. 135.
  30. ^ Wells 1982, pp. 121, 132, 480.
  31. ^ Wells 1982, pp. 473–474.
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  35. ^ Gimson 2014, pp. 126 and 133.
  36. ^ Cox, Felicity; Palethorpe, Sallyanne (2007). "Illustrations of the IPA: Australian English". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 37 (3). pp. 341–350. 
  37. ^ Wells 1982, p. 129.
  38. ^ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006)
  39. ^ Roach 2004, p. 240.
  40. ^ Wells 1982, pp. 140, 147, 299.
  41. ^ Gimson 2008, p. 132.
  42. ^ Celce-Murcia, Brinton & Goodwin 1996, p. 66.
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  47. ^ McCully 2009, pp. 123–4.
  48. ^ Roach 2009, pp. 66–8.
  49. ^ Wells 2014, p. 53.
  50. ^ Peter Ladefoged (1975 etc.) A course in phonetics
  51. ^ Bolinger (1986), p. 351.
  52. ^ Bolinger (1986), p. 348.
  53. ^ Ladefoged (1975 etc.) A course in phonetics §5.4; (1980) Preliminaries to linguistic phonetics p. 83
  54. ^ a b Wells 1990, pp. 76–86.
  56. ^ Zsiga 2003, p. 404.
  57. ^ Browman & Goldstein 1990.
  58. ^ Barry 1991.
  59. ^ Barry 1992.
  60. ^ Nolan 1992.
  61. ^ Selkirk 1982.
  62. ^ Giegerich 1992, p. 172.
  63. ^ Harris 1994, p. 198.
  64. ^ Gimson 2008, pp. 258–9.
  65. ^ Giegerich 1992, pp. 167–70.
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  67. ^ Wells 1990, p. ?.
  68. ^ Read 1986, p. ?.
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  73. ^ a b Clements & Keyser 1983, p. ?.
  74. ^ Collins and Mees 2013, p. 138.
  75. ^ Wells 1982, p. 644.
  76. ^ Wells 1982, pp. 630–1.
  77. ^ Roach 1982, pp. 73–9.
  78. ^ Halliday 1967, pp. 18–24.
  79. ^ Tench 1996.
  80. ^ Wells 2006.
  81. ^ Roach 2009, p. 144.
  82. ^ Brown 1990, pp. 122–3.
  83. ^ Cercignani 1975, pp. 513–8.


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