The English letter j is pronounced. English alphabet. I learned the alphabet, what to learn next

Everyone who begins to learn English, necessarily at the first stage of their journey, encounters the alphabet and the pronunciation of its letters. It is very important not only to know how the letters are called, but also in general with Russian pronunciation.

For correct pronunciation alphabet Below is a table of all letters with both English and Russian transcriptions. Of course, you need to know English transcription - it is used in any dictionary, it is just as important as knowing the alphabet itself. But for beginners who have not yet fully mastered English transcription, we give the sounds of the English alphabet in Russian letters.

As for the letter Z, the British version is “zed”, the American one is “zi”.

It may seem that the English alphabet is more complicated than the Russian one. But actually it is not. There are only 26 letters in it (for comparison, in Russian - 33), and only 6 of them (A, E, I, O, U, Y) are vowels. Unfortunately, these vowels do not always correspond to the alphabetic pronunciation. For example, Aa - in the alphabet it reads like [hey]: “cake” - cake, “later” - later, but not in the words “bag” - luggage, “flag” - flag and many others.

Here it must be said that in English there are stressed and unstressed syllables. Let's consider the case of a stressed syllable. Division can also be observed here - the stressed syllable can be open and closed. Open syllables end in a vowel, and closed syllables end in a consonant. Here are examples of percussion open syllables: “la-bel” is an inscription, “ta-ke” is to receive, and so on. And here are examples of stressed closed syllables: “rab-bit” is a rabbit, “dog” is a dog, “win-dow” is a window, and so on. Please note that in the first case, the stressed vowels are read exactly the same as they sound in the alphabet.

Consider all vowels:

Vowel A

Open syllable: “la-ter” [’leitə] – later

Closed syllable: “cat” - cat

Vowel E

Open syllable: "he" - he

Closed syllable: “bend” - bend

Vowel I

Open syllable: “li-lac” [’lailək] - lilac

Closed syllable: “lift” - elevator

Vowel O [?u]

Open syllable: “pho-to” [’fəutəu] — photography

Closed syllable: “got” - received

The vowel U

Open syllable: "cu-te" - cute

Closed syllable: "numb" - numb

Vowel Y

Open syllable: "type" - type

Closed syllable: “myth” - myth

Okay. Now, continuing to answer the question of how the English alphabet is read, we need to talk about unstressed vowels. The vowels a, o, u, not being stressed, turn into the sound [ə], and the vowels e, i, y in the same case become the sound [i]. In this case, it is only necessary to appear after them the letters r, they all become [ə]. You can easily see this for yourself: “pre-fer” - to prefer, “pla-yer” ['pleiə:] - player, “doctor” ['dɔktə:] - doctor.

It is also worth paying attention to consonants: B, D, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, T, V, W, X, Z - they are also read respectively [b], [d], [ f], [h], , [k], [l], [m], [n], [p], [t], [v], [w], [x], [z]. Things go more complicated with the rest of the consonants.

So, for example, the letter C will be - before e, i, y, and in all other cases - [k]. See: “cinema” [’sinəmə] – cinema, “cure” – treatment.

The letter G - before e, i, y goes into, and in other cases as [g]: “ginger” [’dʒindʒə] - ginger, “goat” - goat, goat.

And S at the beginning of the word and after the deaf consonants K,F,P and T is read as a sound [s], and, on the contrary, after voiced and other cases - [z]: “Simon” ['saimən] - Simon, “books” - books, “finds” - finds, “wise” - wise .

The letters R and Q are also difficult. So R is often simply discarded, dragging out the sound (“car” - car), but the word with R will be read with R (“Riko” - Riko). The letter Q can give two options - or - compare "quick" - quickly and "queue" - queue.

The sounds that represent are 44 English phonemes, which are divided into two categories: consonants and vowels. Since sounds cannot be written down, graphemes (letters or combinations of letters) are used to convey sounds in writing.

English alphabet

There are 26 letters in English. The standard one starts with the letter a and ends with the letter z.

When classifying alphabetic characters, they distinguish:

• 5 pure vowels: a, e, i, o, u;
• 19 pure consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z;
• 2 semivowels: y, w.

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Features of English consonants

A consonant combination is a set of two or three consonant letters that retain their original sound when pronounced. Such sets occur either at the beginning or at the end of a word. For example, the word brave, in which both "b" and "r" are pronounced, is the initial combination. In the word bank "-nk" is the final combination.

Classification:

1. Initial combinations are classified into sets with "l", "r", and "s". In "l" the combination ends with "l". An example would be the letters "bl" in the word blind. Similarly, the final sound in "r" in combination with "r" when "br" and "cr", for example, in the words bridge, crane. On the contrary, in "s" it starts with s, "st" and "sn" - stap, snail.
2. The final combinations are grouped into sets with "s", "l" and "n": -st, -sk, -ld, -nd, -nk. Examples, first, desk, gold, sand, sink.

Digraphs

Consonant digraphs refer to a set of consonants that form one sound. Some digraphs are both at the beginning and at the end of the word - "sh", "ch" and "th". There are also strict initial and final digraphs - "kn-" and "-ck".

Examples of digraphs:

Features of digraphs:

Table of pronunciation of English consonants

English vowels

Each English vowel is pronounced in three ways:

1. like a long sound;
2. like a short sound;
3. as a neutral vowel (schwa).

In the English alphabet, there are 5 vowels, but sometimes y becomes a vowel and is pronounced like i, and w replaces u, for example, in the digraph ow.

Rules for reading vowels

Short vowels, which are characterized by a "short" sound, appear when there is one vowel in a word, either at the beginning of a word or between two consonants. For example, if, elk, hop, fan. A typical short vowel pattern is consonant+vowel+consonant (CHS).

Words are taught as families that represent groups of words with a common pattern, such as in the pattern "-ag" - bag, wag, tag or "-at" - cat, bat, hat.

vowels:

vowels:

The vowel sound in unstressed syllables is expressed by the abbreviated neutral sound ("schwa"), the phonemic symbol /ə/, especially if syllabic consonants are not used.

For instance:

• a in about, around, approve, above [ə bʌv];
• e in accident, mother, taken, camera ;
• i c, family, lentil, officer pencil ;
• o in memory, common, freedom, purpose, London;
• u in supply, industry, suggest, difficult, succeed, minimum ;
• and even y in sibyl;
• schwa appears in function words: to, from, are.

Features of vowel sounds in English

Vowels are divided into monophthongs, diphthongs or triphthongs. A monophthong is when there is one vowel in a syllable, a diphthong is when there are two vowels in a syllable.

Let's take a closer look:

1. Monophthongs are pure and stable vowels., whose acoustic characteristics (timbre) do not change during the time they are pronounced.
2. - a sound formed by a combination of two adjacent vowels in one syllable. Technically, the tongue (or other parts of the speech apparatus) moves when a vowel is pronounced - the first position is stronger than the second. In the transcription of a diphthong, the first character is the starting point of the body of the language, the second character is the direction of movement. For example, you should know that in /aj/ the body of the tongue is in the lower center position represented by /a/ and immediately starts moving up and forward to the position for /i/.
3. Diphthongs are often formed when separate vowels work together in rapid conversation.. Usually (in the speaker's speech) the body of the tongue does not have time to get to the position /i/. Therefore, the diphthong often ends closer to /ɪ/ or even to /e/. In the diphthong /aw/, the body of the tongue moves from the lower center position /a/, then moves up and back to the position /u/. Although single diphthongs are also distinguished, which are heard as separate vowel sounds (phonemes).
4. English also has triphthongs.(combinations of three adjacent vowels), including three sound types, for example, fire /fʌɪə/, flower /flaʊər/. But in any case, all diphthongs and triphthongs are formed from monophthongs.

Table of pronunciation of simple English vowels

All vowels are formed from only 12 monophthongs. Each, regardless of spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these sounds.

The table shows examples of simple English vowels with Russian pronunciation:

Diphthong pronunciation table

Learn the transcription of English words

Let's look at some features English transcription:

There are a large number of videos online on the Internet to listen to, and you can also practice using exercises.

Greetings, my dear readers.

Today we continue to talk about how to learn how to read correctly, so the topic of today's article is the transcription of English letters.

We have already got acquainted with the concept and dealt with the pronunciation of sounds in English. Today we will figure out exactly how they are pronounced in various combinations.

I have a clear table for you. It contains the letters of the English alphabet with transcription, Russian analogue letters and my notes, so that you can immediately put the correct pronunciation. I also added examples of words with studied sounds and their translation.

What else can be found on the blog:

1. with letters and transcription (you can study them online, download, print and work with them);
2. for children I have a complete .

Let `s start?

Features of English transcription:

• it is always enclosed in square brackets. I can't say exactly where it came from, but I think it's just worth taking it for granted;
• to understand where the stress is, the transcription uses the sign [‘] before the stressed syllable;
• It is important to remember that transcription is about the sound, not the spelling of words. Sometimes the spelling can be 90% different from what we pronounce;
• to show that the sound is long - we use a colon.

In general, I wrote about English transcription - please!

Letters of the English alphabet and their transcription in Russian and English:

But you know what is the most interesting thing about English?

If different letters are combined, they are pronounced differently!

That's why I prepared for you

Examples of English letter combinations in Russian and English:

I know this table looks huge now. Surely you think that remembering all this is unrealistic. I'll tell you this: at a certain point, when you have enough, you won't even pay attention to these combinations. Your brain will learn to quickly remember how these letters sound. Moreover, even when you come across a completely unfamiliar word, you can read it correctly. The only question is the amount of practice on your part.

How to memorize combinations of letters?

1. Use cards. Visual perception is better developed in most people.
2. Read. Pay attention to letter combinations when or just texts.
3. Don't get hung up. It is not necessary to immediately memorize these combinations and only then go directly to English. Learn as you go!
4. Buy paper or download a good e-book in order to quickly learn to recognize combinations and pronounce them correctly. Even if you need it - an adult - do not hesitate to take books for children - it is there that everything is chewed in detail and not without interest.

That's all, my dears. I hope you found it useful and understandable. I give even more such materials in the blog mailing list - subscribe and receive a portion of usefulness regularly.

Although in classical phonetics the sound combinations [ j] with other vowels are not considered diphthongs, the pronunciation of such combinations of sounds is similar to the pronunciation of diphthongs, only the main sound in them is in second place. The main sound can be both short and long, for example [ je], [ju:].

Sounds in such combinations, as in diphthongs, are unequal. The first sound sounds weak and short, and the second (main) sounds longer and stronger. Sound [ j] pronounced like a very, very short [ ɪ ] .

So, the combination [ je] could be depicted as follows: j e] . Both sounds are pronounced together, without a pause. So, the sound je] sounds like Russian e) at the beginning of words if, ate, and the sound [ ju:] similar to the sound Yu ) at the beginning of words yula, skirt.

In addition, the sound j] can be combined with diphthongs [ ɪə ] , [ʊə ] and [ u:ə], forming combinations [ jɪə]], [jʊə] and [ ju:ə]. Oddly enough, but j] refers to consonants, so nouns that begin with this sound attach the indefinite article a, not an. For example: a year , a yacht .

Starting to study in English, the first thing you meet is the English alphabet (english alphabet [ˈalfəbɛt]). Writing English letters is not something completely new, even on the very initial stage learning, because any modern man daily encounters English letters on the keyboard of a computer and phone. Yes, and English words are found at every step: in advertising, on the labels of various goods, in shop windows.

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But while the letters seem familiar, pronouncing them correctly in English is sometimes difficult, even for those who speak English tolerably well. Everyone is familiar with the situation when you need to spell an English word - for example, to dictate an email address or a website name. This is where the wonderful names begin: i - “like a stick with a dot”, s - “like a dollar”, q - “where is the Russian th”.

English alphabet with Russian pronunciation, transcription and voice acting

The English alphabet with Russian pronunciation is only for the very beginners. In the future, when you get acquainted with the rules of reading English and learn new words, you will need to study transcription. It is used in all dictionaries, and if you know it, it will once and for all remove the problem of the correct pronunciation of new words for you. We advise at this stage to compare the transcription icons in square brackets with the Russian equivalent. Perhaps, in these short examples, you will remember some of the ratios of English and Russian sounds.

Below is a table showing the English alphabet with transcription and Russian pronunciation. Notice how the uppercase and lowercase letters look.

← Move the table to the left to view it in full

Below, you can listen to all the letters of the English alphabet at once:

Alphabet Trainer

Choose the letter that matches its pronunciation.

English alphabet cards

Very effective cards of the English alphabet in its study. Bright and large letters will be easier to remember. See for yourself:

Such cards can be made independently, for example, according to the above sample. Next, print, cut out the letters and arrange them in the correct sequence.

For children, on the cards of the English alphabet, you can depict animals in addition to the letters in order to immediately memorize new words, and the learning process was not boring.

Features of some letters of the English alphabet.

In the English alphabet 26 letters: 20 consonants and 6 vowels.

The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, Y.

There are several letters in English that we want to reverse Special attention, because they have certain features that you need to consider when learning the alphabet.

• The letter Y in English can be read as a vowel and as a consonant. For example, in the word “yes” it is a consonant sound [j] (th), and in the word “many” it is a vowel sound [i] (and).
• Consonants in words, as a rule, convey only one sound. The letter X is an exception. It is transmitted immediately by two sounds - [ ks ] (ks).
• The letter Z in the alphabet is read differently in the British and American versions (as you probably already noticed in the table). The British version is (zed), the American version is (zi).
• The pronunciation of the letter R is also different. British version - (a), American version - (ar).

To make sure that you pronounce the English letters correctly, we recommend that you not only look at them and read (using transcription or the Russian version), but also listen. To do this, we advise you to find and listen to ABC-song. This song is usually used when teaching children the alphabet, but it can also be useful for adults. ABC-song is very popular in teaching, it exists in various variations. If you sing it with the announcer several times, you can not only check the correct pronunciation of the letters, but also easily remember the alphabet along with the melody.

Listen to a song about the English alphabet:

A few words about spelling

So, we learned the alphabet of the English language. We know how English letters are pronounced individually. But turning to the rules of reading, you will immediately see that many letters in different combinations are read in a completely different way. A reasonable question arises - as the cat Matroskin would say - what is the use of memorizing the alphabet? In fact, there are practical benefits.

The point here is not the ability to tell the alphabet from beginning to end, but the ability to easily spell any English word. This skill is necessary when you need to write down English names under dictation. If you need English for work, this skill can be very useful, because English names, even though they sound the same, can be written in several ways. For example, Ashley or Ashlee, Mila and Milla, not to mention surnames. Therefore, for the British and Americans themselves, it is considered absolutely natural to ask to spell the name if you need to spell it (spell it) - hence the word spelling, which you can see in various tutorials.

Online exercises to consolidate the alphabet

Choose the letter that goes

Write the letter that starts the word.

Write the letter that ends the word.

Decipher the code and write down the secret message in letters. The number corresponds to the order of the letter in the alphabet.

You can apply the knowledge gained in practice with the help of. With the help of unique exercises, even at the most elementary level, you can master not only reading, but also writing English words, as well as learn the basic grammar rules and continue learning further.