Mini dictionary: 10 Important Concepts in English Phonology

If you ever decide to learn more about English phonology, you will definitely encounter some weird terms right at the start. Most of these are rarely used in everyday speech and almost never by a person who hasn’t studied linguistics.

So, if you want to know exactly what the linguists folks are talking about when using words such as schwa or triphthong, this article should at least partly help you. We have included some interesting facts to make these terms more memorable for you.

Here is our brief summary of 10 important concepts in English phonology. Good luck!

1. Phonetics

– a branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of human speech. There are: 1) articulatory phonetics, 2) acoustic phonetics and 3) auditory phonetics.

INTERESTING FACT: The first phonetic writing system, which was the base for the creation of all modern phonetic alphabets, is said to have been created by the Phoenicians.

2. Phonology

–a branch of linguistics that studies how sounds of human speech are organized in a particular language.

INTERESTING FACT: It is estimated that there are between 30 and 40 dialects of English in the UK, and more than 20 in the US. All of these have some specific phonological features that make them recognizable to people of other regions.

3. Accent

– A manner of pronunciation that is specific for a particular geographical area. An accent may be perceived as foreign or regional, and can be associated with a certain economic status.

INTERESTING FACT: Cows are also said to have regional accents.
“I spend a lot of time with my ones and they definitely moo with a Somerset drawl,” said Lloyd Green, a farmer, to a BBC News reporter.

4. Vowel

– a speech sound that is pronounced without any constrictions or closures in the vocal tract.

INTERESTING FACT: Even though it is difficult to count the exact number of vowels in some languages, one of the biggest vowel inventories is found in the Taa-language of Botswana and Namibia, which has between 20 and 31 vowels, depending on the analysis.

5. Consonant

– a speech sound that is pronounced with some kind of closure in the vocal tract.

INTERESTING FACT: The central dialect of the Rotokas language is said to have the smallest number of consonants in the world – only 6.

6. Monophthong

– a pure vowel that consists of a single sound. As opposed to diphthongs, monophthongs don’t “glide” towards any other vowel. Examples include the /eh/ sound in pet, the /ih/ sound in film and the /aa/ sound in father.

INTERESTING FACT: The process of converting monophthongs to diphthongs is called diphthongization. The opposite process is called monophthongization (Don’t hurt your tongue trying to pronounce that one!).

7. Diphthong

–a sound that consists of two adjacent vowels: the vowel /ey/ in play, /oy/ in boy and /aw/ in loud. A.K.A. a “gliding vowel”.

INTERESTING FACT: The most common diphthongs in American English are said to be /ay/, /aw/ and /oy/ as in find, round and boy.

8. Triphthong

– a sound that consists of three different vowels; we pronounce them all together, smoothly transitioning from one to another.

INTERESTING FACT: There are 5 triphthongs in British English:
– eɪə – as in player

– aɪə – as in fire

– ɔɪə – as in loyal

– əuə – as in lower

– auə – as in hour

9. Schwa

– a mid-central vowel sound represented by the IPA symbol /ə/ or the Arpabet symbol /ax/. In English, it is found in words such as about and ballot.

INTERESTING FACT: English tends to change all unstressed vowels into schwa. Thus the /ah/ from an emphasized instance of the word was changes to /ax/ in general contexts. Compare: “I didn’t even know she was at the party” and “She was at the party last night.”

10. Ash

– a near-open front unrounded vowel represented by the symbol /æ/ in IPA and /AE/ in Arpabet. In English, it is found in the words bat, cat, pack, etc.

INTERESTING FACT: Baroness Emma Nicholson (of Winterbourne; born 1941) was a prominent public figure who used to pronounce this vowel as a slightly shorter /AA/. This pronunciation used to be very fashionable among people who had a markedly upper-class background. Her distinctive pronunciation of this vowel may have had some connection with hearing impairment with which she is known to have suffered.

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