2. The sounds of General
American English are
classified into three
namely:
1. Vowels (11)
2. Diphthongs (3)
3. Consonants (25)

3. THE ENGLISH VOWELS
 Vowels are sounds which are
produced with the vibration of air in
the oral cavity
 All vowel sounds are voiced oral
sounds
 The relationship of the vowels to
one another is shown by the device
known as the Vietor Triangle

4. VIETOR TRIANGLE
– is a vowel triangle which shows the
differences among the vowel sounds in
English and their relative positions on
the tongue
- Contains two axes:
a. horizontal axis – from front to
back of the mouth (front, center,
back)
b. vertical axis – from the floor to the
roof of the mouth (high, mid, low)

5. When a speaker enunciates a vowel, his or her air flow remains
unblocked. This table, containing American English vowels,
explains that the degree of elevation of a speaker’s tongue
determines the sound of the spoken vowel.

6. VOWEL SOUNDS:
1. /iy/ - beat, me, key, seed,
chief
2. /i/ - sit, give, rid, pick, live
3. /ey/ - ate, ray, face, weigh,
great
4. /e/ - met, let, head, less,
tell
5. /ae/ - cat, am, bag, land,
class

7. 6. /a/ - pot, block, got, cop, lost
7. / / - ball, talk, saw, draw,
dawn
8. /ow/ - hope, go, wrote, home,
soak
9. /u/ - look, good, would, sure,
bush
10. /uw/ - moon, blue, rule,
chew, suit
11. /∂ / - luck, must, touch,
gone, cup

8. VOWEL SOUND PRODUCTION
1. TONGUE POSITION OR
ADVANCEMENT – refers to the part of
the tongue that is most active in the
production of vowels. Vowels are
described in relation to the highest
point of the hump formed.
2. TONGUE AND JAW HEIGHT – refers to
the degree of closeness of the lower
jaw to the upper or the tongue to the
palate

9. 3. LIP POSITION – refers to the amount of
rounding or spreading of the lips.
a. rounded – when the corners are
brought forward
b. unrounded (spread) – when the
corners are pulled back
4. TENSION – refers to the degree to which
the muscles of the speech tract are tense
or lax during sound production
5. LENGTH – refers to the duration (long
or short) the vowel is held in a certain
position

10. B. DIPHTHONGS
– are those sounds which combine
two vowel sounds and which
blend them into one within a
syllable
- Some vowel sounds have
diphthongal quality
- Tend to be long because of the
time needed to glide forward to
another position

11. DIPHTHONG SOUNDS:
1. /ai/ - time, might, sigh, pie, height,
rhyme, pint, fly guide, aisle,
sigh, fried, buy, climb
2. / i/ - point, oil, soil, joy, ploy,
coin, join, moist, poise, noise,
voice, annoy, buoy
3. /au/ - now, brown, sound, blouse,
mouth, plow, crown, ouch, howl,
bough, proud, out

12. C. CONSONANTS
 a consonant is a speech sound
used with a vowel or diphthong
to constitute a syllable
Consonant sounds are those
sounds which are produced with
the partial or complete
obstruction of the air column by
some parts of the speech
apparatus

13. In order to vocalize a
consonant, a speaker must
constrict his or her air flow at
some point in the delivery,
using either the tongue,
mouth or throat. The table
showing American English
Consonants indicates the part
of the mouth or throat in
which each sound is
produced.

15. CONSONANT SOUND PRODUCTION
A. VOICING
 Voiced sounds are pronounced
with the vibration of the vocal
cords
 Voiceless sounds pronounced
without the vibration of the vocal
cords

16. THE CONSONANT SOUNDS OF ENGLISH
CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO VOICING:
1. VOICED
/p/ pen, /t/ ten, /k/ cod, /f/ fine,
/th/ thigh, /s/ sue, /sh/ mission,
/ch/ chew, /h/ hot
2. VOICED
/b/ Ben, /d/ den, /g/ God, /v/ vine,
/dh/ thy, /z/ zoo, /zh/ vision, /j/
jew, /m/ men, /n/ neck, /ng/ bring,
/l/ let, /r/ right, /y/ you, /w/ water,
/hw/ what

17. B. NATURE OR OBSTRUCTION OR MANNER
OF ARTICULATION
1. STOPS – are produced by stopping
the passage of the breath stream
with a build up of pressure behind
the closure before releasing the
breath
vl vd
Bilabial stops /p/ & /b/
Alveolar stops /t/ & /d/
Velar stops /k/ & /g/

18. 2. FRICATIVES – are continuants produced
when the air stream is not completely
stopped but passes through with friction
or a hissing sound
vl vd
Labiodental fricatives /f/ & /v/
Dental fricatives /θ/ & /ð/
Alveolar fricatives /s/ & /z/
Post alveolar fricatives /r/
Palatal fricatives /∫/ & /dz/
Glottal fricatives /h/

19. 3. AFFRICATES – are produced when a stop
combines with a fricative. Like fricatives, they
are also continuants. They may be prolonged
as long as the speaker wishes.
Alveolar affricates /t∫/ & /dz/
4. NASALS – are produced with the air stream
passing through the nose rather than the
mouth
Bilabial nasal /m/
Alveolar nasal /n/
Velar nasal /ŋ/

20. 5. LATERAL – is produced when the air stream is
stopped in the center by the tip of the tongue
against the alveolar ridge, while the air passes
along one or both sides of the tongue
Alveolar lateral /l/
6. SEMI-VOWELS – in their production, there is
lack of friction and the sounds are vowel-like
in their voicing but they function as consonants
Bilabial /w/ - wear, win
/wh/ - why
Palatal /y/ - new, view

21. C. POINT OF ARTICULATION – refers to the
upper parts of the mouth which the
lowers parts (articulators) come in
contact with the production of the
consonant sound
1. BILABIAL – when the lower lip touches
the upper lip to produce the
consonant sound
* /p/, /b/, /m/ & /w/
2. LABIO-DENTAL – when the lower lip
comes in contact with the upper front
teeth
* /f/ & /v/

22. 3. DENTAL – when the lower teeth
approach the upper teeth
* /θ/ & /ð/
4. ALVEOLAR – when the tip of the tongue
is raised close to the toothridge or the
back of the upper front teeth
* /t/ & /d/
5. POST ALVEOLAR – when the tip of the
tongue is articulated against the back
part of the alveolar ridge
* /r/

23. 6. PALATAL – when the tongue is arched
towards the hard palate
* /∫/
7. VELARS – when the back of the tongue
closes against the velum or soft palate
* /k/
8. GLOTTAL – when friction is produced by
the air passing through the glottis
* /h/