English Allophones and Vowel Articulation Reference

English Allophones and Consonant Articulations

Bilabial Stops

• [pⁿ]: Nasally released voiceless bilabial stop / before a nasal in the same syllable
• [p̚]: Unreleased voiceless bilabial stop / before consonant sounds (except /l/, /s/, /z/, /r/)
• [pʰ]: Aspirated voiceless bilabial stop / in stressed syllables
• [p]: Voiceless bilabial stop
• [bⁿ]: Nasally released voiced bilabial stop / before a nasal in the same syllable
• [b̚]: Unreleased voiced bilabial stop
• [b]: Voiced bilabial stop

Alveolar and Dental Stops

• [t̠ⁿ]: Nasally released voiceless alveolar stop / before an alveolar nasal in the same syllable
• [t̠ˡ]: Laterally released voiceless alveolar stop / before an alveolar lateral in the same syllable
• [t̠ʰ]: Aspirated voiceless alveolar stop
• [t̠̚]: Unreleased voiceless alveolar stop / before consonant sounds, except /l/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /r/
• [t̪̚]: Unreleased voiceless alveolar stop / before dental consonants: [t̪̚ θ], [t̪̚ ð] <not that>
• [t̠]: Voiceless alveolar stop
• [d̠ⁿ]: Nasally released voiced alveolar stop / before an alveolar nasal in the same syllable
• [d̠ˡ]: Laterally released voiced alveolar stop / before an alveolar lateral in the same syllable
• [d̠̚]: Unreleased voiced alveolar stop / before consonant sounds, except /θ/, /ð/, /l/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /r/
• [d̪̚]: Unreleased voiced dental stop / before dental consonant sounds: [d̪̚ θ], [d̪̚ ð] <bad thing>
• [d̠]: Voiced alveolar stop

Velar and Palatal Stops

• [kⁿ]: Nasally released voiceless velar stop / before an alveolar nasal in the same syllable
• [k̚]: Unreleased voiceless velar stop / before consonant sounds, except /l/, /n/, /s/, /r/
• [kʰ]: Aspirated voiceless velar stop / in stressed syllables before central and back vowels: [ˈkʰɑː], [ˈkʰɒ], [ˈkʰɔː], [ˈkʰʊ], [ˈkʰuː], [ˈkʰʌ], [ˈkʰɜː]
• [cʰ]: Aspirated voiceless palatal stop / in stressed syllables before front vowels: [ˈcʰiː], [ˈcʰɪ], [ˈcʰe], [ˈcʰæ]
• [k]: Voiceless velar stop / before central and back vowels: [kɑː], [kɒ], [kɔː], [kʊ], [kuː], [kʌ], [kɜː], [kə]
• [c]: Voiceless palatal stop / before front vowels: [ciː], [cɪ], [ce], [cæ]
• [gⁿ]: Nasally released voiced velar stop / before an alveolar nasal in the same syllable: [gⁿn̠̩]
• [g̚]: Unreleased voiced velar stop / except /l/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /r/
• [g]: Voiced velar stop / before back and central vowels
• [ɟ]: Voiced palatal stop / before front vowels: [ɟiː], [ɟɪ], [ɟe], [ɟæ]

Glottal Stop

• [ʔ]: Voiceless glottal stop / used to emphasize [ˈðɪz ʔɪz ðə deɪ] “this is the day” // used to replace [t̠ˡ]: [lɪʔɫ̩] “little” (instead of [lɪt̠ˡɫ̩])

Fricatives

• [f]: Voiceless labiodental fricative
• [v]: Voiced labiodental fricative
• [v̥]: Devoiced labiodental fricative
• [θ]: Voiceless dental fricative
• [ð]: Voiced dental fricative
• [s]: Voiceless alveolar fricative
• [z]: Voiced alveolar fricative
• [ʃ]: Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative
• [ʒ]: Voiced palato-alveolar fricative
• [h]: Voiceless glottal fricative

Affricates

• [t͡ʃ]: Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate
• [d͡ʒ]: Voiced palato-alveolar affricate

Laterals, Approximants, and Flaps

• [ɫ]: Velarized voiced alveolar lateral / before consonants or at the end of words
• [ɫ̪]: Velarized voiced dental lateral / before dental sounds: [ɫ̪ θ] / [ɫ̪ ð] “all the” / [ɫ̪ ð] “although”
• [l̥]: Devoiced alveolar lateral / in clusters after aspirated sounds: [ˈpʰl̥] “please” / [ˈkʰl̥] “close”
• [l]: Voiced alveolar lateral
• [ɹ]: Voiced alveolar approximant / between vowels or at the beginning of words
• [ɾ]: Voiced alveolar flap / when preceded by a voiceless dental fricative: [θɾiː]

Nasals

• [m]: Voiced bilabial nasal
• [m]: Used for /n/ when a bilabial sound follows: [mp], [mb], [mm]
• [ɱ]: Voiced labiodental nasal / when a labiodental sound follows: [ɱf], [ɱv]
• [n̪]: Voiced dental nasal / when a dental sound follows: [n̪ θ], [n̪ ð]
• [n̠]: Voiced alveolar nasal / when an alveolar sound follows: [n̠ s], [n̠ z], or when a vowel follows; initial position
• [ŋ ̘]: Voiced palatalized-velar nasal
• [ŋ]: Voiced velar nasal / when a velar or labio-velar sound follows: [ŋk] “anchor”, [ŋg] “finger”
• [ŋ]: Voiced velar nasal

English Vowel Classification Parameters

Vowels are classified by three main parameters:

• A: Advancement of the tongue
• H: Height of the tongue
• S: Shape of the lips

Vowel Articulatory Profiles

• /iː/ — Advancement: Front | Height: Close | Shape: Spread
• /ɪ/ — Advancement: Front | Height: Half-close | Shape: Loosely spread
• /e/ — Advancement: Front | Height: Mid | Shape: Loosely spread (a little more than /ɪ/)
• /æ/ — Advancement: Front | Height: Near open | Shape: Neutrally open or half-open
• /ɑː/ — Advancement: Back | Height: Open | Shape: Neutrally open
• /ɒ/ — Advancement: Back | Height: Open | Shape: Open lip rounding
• /ɔː/ — Advancement: Back | Height: Mid | Shape: Open lip rounding
• /ʊ/ — Advancement: Back | Height: Close | Shape: Closely but loosely rounded
• /uː/ — Advancement: Back | Height: Close | Shape: Closely rounded
• /ʌ/ — Advancement: Central | Height: Mid | Shape: Neutrally open
• /ɜː/ — Advancement: Central | Height: Mid | Shape: Neutrally spread
• /ə/ — Advancement: Central | Height: Mid | Shape: Neutral lip position