Find a word by transcription English. Sounds in English and their pronunciation. Reading rules: open and closed syllables

To speak English, it is not enough to know how words are spelled, it is important to learn their pronunciation as well. To do this, as you know, it is enough to learn the sounds that you later need to be able to read in transcription. And if at first glance the pronunciation of English words seems to be something unbearable, in fact everything is quite simple, and today you will see for yourself.

First, let's look at what sounds are and transcriptions in English. Sound, in simple terms, is what we make when we pronounce a particular letter. Each such sound has its own symbol, which is used in transcription. A transcription, on the other hand, is one or more sound symbols, delimited by square brackets, that can convey a letter or a whole word. If theoretical explanations have given you absolutely nothing, let's analyze both concepts using an example for clarity:

Letter	Transcription	sound
a

Let's say we took the letter "a". Unlike Russian, this letter in English is pronounced as "hey". To express the sound in writing, we selected suitable characters that can convey this sound, that is, “ei”. And since the sounds in writing are used only in transcription, we added square brackets around this sound. That's all, we hope that the difference between these two concepts has become obvious.

As a rule, sound training begins with English alphabet. Perhaps you once went through this topic, singing a melody with the pronunciation of all letters with your teacher, unless, of course, you ran away from the lessons. In any case, repeating this material again definitely does not hurt. So, each letter, and there are 26 of them in the English alphabet, has its own standard sound:

Letter order	Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	sound
1.	A a		hey
2.	Bb		bi
3.	c c		si
4.	D d		di
5.	e e		and
6.	F f		ef
7.	G g		ji
8.	H h		h
9.	I i		ah
10.	J j		jay
11.	Kk		kay
12.	l l		email
13.	M m		Em
14.	N n	[ɛn]	en
15.	O o	[əʊ]	OU
16.	Pp		pi
17.	Q q		cue
18.	R r	[ɑː]	a
19.	S s		es
20.	T t		ti
21.	U u		Yu
22.	Vv		in and
23.	Ww	[‘dʌbljuː]	double u
24.	X x		the ex
25.	Y y		wye
26.	Zz		zed

However, this list is by no means complete. The fact is that in certain combinations, letters or their combinations can sound different. Therefore, often the alphabetic pronunciation of a letter does not coincide with its pronunciation in a word. In total, there are 48 basic sounds, let's consider them in more detail.

Pronunciation of English words: consonants

List

There are only 24 consonant sounds. You are already familiar with most of them, but you may meet some for the first time. Let's study the entire list of consonants with examples of words in which they are used:

Sound	In writing, it is usually expressed by letter(s)	Examples	The sound of words and sounds
[b]	b	ball (ball)
[d]	d	day (day)
[dʒ]	j/g	jazz (jazz) / gym (gym)
[f]	f	film (film)
[g]	g	gold (gold)
[h]	h	house (house)
[j]	y	yolk (yolk)
[k]	k/c/ch	karma (karma) / car (car) /
[l]	l/ll	lion (lion) / sell (sell)
[m]	m	man (person)
[n]	n	nose (nose)
[p]	p	picnic (picnic)
[r]	r	romance (romance)
[s]	s	smell (smell)
[t]	t	toaster (toaster)
[v]	v	vine (wine)
[w]	w/ wh	wax (wax) /
[z]	z / zz / se	zoo (zoo) / buzz (buzz) /
[ ŋ ]	ng	wrong (wrong)
[tʃ]	ch	chew (chew)
[ ʃ ]	sh	shop (shop)
[ ʒ ]	sure / sia	leisure (free time) / Asia (Asia)
[ ð ]	th	their (them)
[ θ ]	th	thought (thought)

Classification

All these consonants can be divided into groups. So, for example, consonants are divided:

• By voiced / deafness:
• Voiced consonants include:

• By way of pronunciation:
• Explosive (stop) consonants or consonants, the pronunciation of which creates some semblance of an "explosion". As a rule, for the pronunciation of such letters, the organs of speech first close, preventing the air from passing through, and then abruptly open, creating such an unusual sound. Since such letters are also present in Russian, let's draw an analogy to make it clearer:

• Nasal sounds are sounds that are made because air passes through the nose. If you pinch your nose and try to pronounce them, it will be extremely difficult to do this:

Also sounds:

Based on which organs of speech are closed, sounds can be divided into:

• Lip-labial sounds - sounds for the pronunciation of which both lips touch:

• Interdental consonants are sounds that require the tongue to be placed between the upper and lower teeth. Since, unlike other sounds that have at least some similar Russian counterparts, interdental sounds do not occur in Russian, they often cause difficulties for students. However, if you take the correct posture mentioned above, you will succeed. These sounds include:

• Alveolar consonants - consonant sounds that are pronounced by raising the tip of the tongue to the alveoli:

[d]

[l]

[s]

[t]

[z]

Pronunciation of English words: vowels

List

[au] ou mouse (mouse) [auə] ou / owe hour / [ ɔ ] o accord (agreement) [ ɔ: ] o/a/au sore (sick) /

talk (talk) /

[ɔi] oy toy (toy) [ ə ] e letter (letter) [e] e hen (chicken) [ ə: ] i/ea girl (girl) /

pearl (pearl)

[ ɛə ] ai / ayo airline (airline) / [ei] a/ay cupcake (cupcake) [i] i kit (kit) [i:] ea/ee beat (beat) / [iə] ea fear (fear) [ju:] u/ui perfume (perfume) / [juə] u/eu purity (purity) / [ou] ou soul (soul) [u] u/oo put (put) / [u:] oo moon (moon) [uə] oo/ou/u poor (poor) /

cure (healing)

[ ʌ ] u cut (cut)

Classification

According to their pronunciation, vowels can be divided into:

• Front and back vowels:

Anterior row sounds are pronounced by raising the back of the tongue to the hard palate and placing its tip near the base of the lower row of teeth:

• Based on the location of the lips, they also distinguish between rounded and not rounded, where:

Rounded - these are sounds for the pronunciation of which the lips move forward:

• In addition, vowel sounds can be divided according to tension, that is, how strongly the organs of speech are strained to pronounce the sound. Here everything is known in comparison. For example, to pronounce some sounds:

Therefore, it turns out that the first are unstressed, and the second are stressed.

• The examples above also show that vowels can be short or long. To make a sound long, a colon is usually added next to it.
• Depending on the articulation, vowels are also divided into:
• Monophthongs, during the pronunciation of which the articulation does not change:

• Diphthongs are two sounds that are used together:

Reading rules: open and closed syllables

Despite the fact that there are only 6 vowels in English, the variety of sounds is simply huge. Understanding when a letter is pronounced this way and not otherwise is often possible with the help of syllables. For example:

If the syllable is open, then the letter "a" is pronounced like, if the syllable is closed, then the sound turns into [æ]. Compare:

Consider the pronunciation of English vowels using the table:

Pronunciation of English words: stress

Particular attention should be paid to stress. In English transcription, it is usually expressed with an apostrophe, helping:

• Define a compound word from a combination of words:

• Distinguish one part of speech from another:

Note that the stressed apostrophe comes before the stressed syllable, and not above the stressed letter, as is customary in Russian. The stress can fall on any vowel anywhere:

art [ˈɑːt] - art
potato - potato
reconstruct - reconstruct

Perhaps it is not placed only on a vowel in an open syllable at the end of a word.

The main feature of the stress of English words is that there can be two of them at once. This option is found in words that consist of four or more syllables. The two accents in this case look different. The main and already familiar to us is distinguished as before by an apostrophe. But the secondary - an apostrophe below. Let's look at examples:

Sometimes there can be three accents at all. In these cases, two secondary stresses are distinguished equally:

microcinematography [ˌmaɪkrəʊˌsɪnəməˈtɒɡrəfi] - microcinema

Stress is usually not emphasized in writing, so all these nuances will be useful to you only for the correct reading of words.

Pronunciation of English words: pronunciation difference

As you know, English is spoken by a huge number of people from different parts of the world. However, dividing English depending on the location of the speakers, British and American English are most often distinguished. So, for example, we analyzed British English above. No, this does not mean that you will have to memorize a whole range of new sounds if you decide to devote time to American English. It's just that the pronunciation of some English words among Americans is strikingly different, and therefore their version of English sounds more harsh. Let's look at the main differences in the pronunciation of these two accents:

• The first thing you can immediately pay attention to is the sound [r]. If it is at the beginning or in the middle of a word, it is pronounced the same way:

That is, this sound is clearly and clearly audible. However, if it is at the end, then the English pronunciation of words changes slightly. In British English, [r] at the end is usually not readable. This sound is heard only if it is followed by a word that begins with a vowel for ease of pronunciation. In American English, the letter [r] is always pronounced:

Word	British English		American English
sailor - sailor	[ˈseɪlə(r)]		[ˈseɪlər]
elevator	[ˈelɪveɪtə(r)]		[ˈelɪveɪtər]	can be replaced with [æ]: These are just one of the few features. In fact, there are a lot of such nuances. This does not mean that if you choose, for example, British English, you will not be understood in America. No, the language is the same, it just sounds slightly different in different areas. Which accent is better is a purely personal choice. The correct pronunciation is present in both accents, they are just different. It all depends on your future goals. Accordingly, if you are going to the UK or planning to take IELTS, British English will suit you. If you are focused on America, American. Arguing which accent is better is a waste of time. It all depends solely on your own preferences, so choose the option to which the soul lies. Of course, you can learn two pronunciations at once, but in order to acquire an accent, you need constant practice, and with such transitions from one accent to another, this will be quite difficult. Sometimes setting an accent can be harder than you thought at first glance. Therefore, there are even specialists who do not teach you the English language itself in the courses, but put exactly the correct pronunciation of English words. Of course, it will be a little more difficult to learn it yourself, but such an alternative is quite possible. Indeed, in addition to teachers, there are a huge number of textbooks that deal with the pronunciation of the English word. And, of course, movies. This is a great option for both beginners and advanced. Watch, imitate, repeat and you will succeed. Most importantly, don't be afraid to speak up. You can make at least 50 mistakes in pronunciation, but you will be understood and corrected, which means that next time you will not make these mistakes. Pronunciation of English words: how to learn English transcription English transcriptions can seem confusing and incomprehensible. However, they contain the rules of reading. And reading rules help you remember how to pronounce English words, so you need to be able to read them. But this does not mean at all that you need to sit with a piece of English text trying to make a transcription of each word. It is much easier and more efficient to listen to how words are pronounced and match them with the transcription. Now on the Internet you can find a lot of dictionaries that show not only how a phrase is written, but also how English words are read with transcription and pronunciation. Moreover, the transcription of English words is given in two versions: in British and in American. By listening to voice recordings of words spoken by native speakers, it will be easier for you to understand how to pronounce the word correctly. You can also find out the pronunciation in the translator, but do not forget that he can make mistakes, since, unlike dictionaries, the word in this case is read not by a native speaker, but by a robot. Accordingly, no one checks the correct pronunciation. In any case, try to constantly practice this skill, and in the future it will not be difficult for you to read any, even the most difficult words. Pronunciation of English words: examples of words Of course, we will not study a number of sentences, but you can make out some English words that are quite common in speech and whose reading rules you need to know. We have already considered a couple of words, for example, their or see pronunciation above, but repetition never hurts: Word Reading Translation ask [ɑːsk] to ask be to be become become begin start off call call can be able to come come could could do do education [ˌedʒuˈkeɪʃn] education find find get [ɡet] get give [ɡɪv] to give go [ɡəʊ] go have have home house help to help keep Keep know know leave leave let let like Like live live look watch make do may be able mean keep in mind might could move run over need need play play put put run run say to tell see see seem seem should [ʃʊd] must show [ʃoʊ] show start to begin take accept talk talk tell tell their [ðeə(r)] them think [θɪŋk] think though [ðəʊ] although use use want to want will will/want work work would would We hope that now you can easily "translate" the transcription and read it. Even if at first it will be difficult for you, the main thing is to practice. We learn everything consistently and efficiently, and most importantly, constantly. Such a thorough approach to learning a language is sure to lead you to success.

We encounter discrepancies in the spelling and pronunciation of English words already in the first lessons, when we independently begin to read small texts and translate them. Therefore, along with the alphabet and the simplest vocabulary, novice students need to get acquainted with such a concept as English transcription. It is this multi-character system that helps to convey the pronunciation of the sounds that make up the word in writing. In today's lesson, we will analyze the work of these symbols in practice, i.e. we will learn how the English transcription, translation and pronunciation of the most useful words should sound correctly. At the same time, examples of the correct sound will be presented both in English and in Russian. But first, let's look at a few useful rules.

How transcription works

Record. Make it a rule that the transcription of English words is always written using square brackets: book — [ b ʊk ] - book.

stress. An apostrophe is used to indicate stress, or, more simply, a stroke icon. ′ , which the preceded stressed syllable: dictionary – [ˈdɪkʃənrɪ] - dictionary.

Special signs. The transcription may contain dots, colons, parentheses, and resized letters.

• Period - English uses this transcription mark as a syllable separator: undisputed – [ˈʌndɪsˈpjuːtɪd] - undeniable.
• Colon - an indicator of a long drawn out sound: water – [‘ w ɔ:t ə] – water.
• Parentheses are an indicator that the sound enclosed in them is not pronounced or is pronounced very weakly: happen – [‘ h æp (ə)n ] - happen, happen.
• The changed size of the letter is a designation of a sound that is not always pronounced. You can often find the sound r written in superscript format. This is an indication that the pronunciation of the word depends on the dialect or other circumstances, such as the subsequent word: car – [ k ɑːr ] - car. By the way, the British pronunciation of words is indicated by the abbreviation UK, and the American - US.

Repeat characters. Depending on the dialect being studied, the recording of transcription marks may also differ. However, only their spelling is excellent, these sounds are pronounced the same way. Here are pairs of such identical characters: [ɒ] = [ɔ] , [e] = [ɛ] , [ʊ] = [u] , [əʊ] = [ɔu] , [з:] = [ə:] , = [ɛə] .

Armed with these rules, let's begin our acquaintance with the transcription and pronunciation of the English language.

English transcription translation and pronunciation of popular words

For a Russian person, it is not new that words are not pronounced the way they are written. But the sometimes very large-scale discrepancy that occurs in the English language will amaze even the most unimpressive native speakers of the Russian language.

In the following tables, we will study all the transcription signs of the English language, working out their correct sound with the help of popular words. Since we still have an initial level of knowledge, we will work with pronunciation in an easy mode, i.e. additionally deciphering English words in Russian letters. In addition, each word will be represented With translation ohm into Russian. So by the end of the study of the tables, we will significantly expand our vocabulary and, working with entry-level texts, we will already be able to do without dictionaries and online translators.

Let's start with practicing vowels, as they are the most "capricious" in pronunciation. Stretch a short sound a little - and that's it, you have already said not a ship (ship), but a sheep (sheep). Therefore, be careful and monitor the quality of the pronunciation of each sound.

Vowel sounds
Sound	Word and transcription	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[ɑː] A lingering a, approximately like a percussion a in Russian. fell a that	start	staat	start off
	park	paak	a park
	large	laaj	big, big
	arm	aam	hand
	after [‘a:ftə]	aafte	after
[æ] e, pronounced with articulation a	family	family	a family
	bad	bad	bad
	apple [‘æpl]	apple	Apple
	dance	dance	dance, dance
	can	ken	be able, be able
[ʌ] short a, as in Russian. St. a t	Sunday [ˈsʌndeɪ]	Sunday	Sunday
	study [ˈstʌdi]	stages	study
	suddenly [ˈsʌdənli]	Sadanly	suddenly
	cup	cap	goblet, bowl
	young	young	young
sound similar to Russian. kr ah	mind	mind	mind, thought
	try	tray	try
	smile	smiley	smile, smile
	life	life	life
	sky	skye	sky
sound combination ay	house	house	house
	now	nau	now, now
	down	down	way down
	hour [ˈaʊə(r)]	auer	hour
	flower [ˈflaʊə(r)]	flower	flower
lingering and, as in Russian. l and ra	evening [ˈiːvnɪŋ]	ivning	evening
	machine	machine	apparatus, machine
	we	in and	we
	because	bicosis	because
	even [‘i:v(ə)n]	ivn	even
[ɪ] short and as in Russian. whale	difficult [ˈdɪfɪkəlt]	difikelt	difficult
	story [ˈstɔːri]	story	story
	different [ˈdɪfrənt]	diffrent	different
	English [ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ]	English	English
	decision	disposition	solution
[iə] sound combination ie	near	noe	close, near
	hear	hier	hear
	theater	tietr	theatre
	dear	die	Dear beloved
	here	hie	here
[ə] neutral sound, vaguely reminiscent of a or e. Often not pronounced.	second [ˈsecənd]	second	second, second
	fire [ˈfaɪə(r)]	fire	the fire
	under [ˈʌndə(r)]	andre	under
	across [əˈkrɒs]	ekros	through, through
	banana	benanee	banana
[e] hard e, practically Russian e	never [ˈnevə(r)]	nevre	never
	help	help	help, help
	heavy [ˈhevi]	heavy	heavy
	next	next	next
	hotel	hotel	hotel
resembles the Russian sound hey in the word sh her	fail	fail	failure
	change	change	change, change
	explain [ɪkˈspleɪn]	xplane	explain
	page	page	page
	rain	rain	rain
sound combination uh	hair	haer	hair
	square	square	square
	chair	chaer	chair
	care	caer	care
	fair	Fairy	fair
[ɜː] Russian yo, as in the word cl yo n	first	fest	the first
	girl [ɡɜːl]	girl	young woman
	Thursday [ˈθɜːzdeɪ]	today	Thursday
	birds	troubles	bird
	person [ˈpɜːsn]	songs	human
[ɔː] lingering o, as in Russian. sl about in	water [‘wɔ:tə]	wote	water
	almost [‘ɔ:lməust]	olmost	nearly
	before	bifor	before
	horse	haws	horse
	hall	hall	hall, hall
[ɒ] brief about (note that final consonants are not stunned!)	not	notes	not
	nod	node	nod
	fog	fog	fog
	stop	stop	stop
	lot	lot	lots of
[ɔɪ] combination oh	boy	the battle	boy
	foil	foil	foil
	joy	Joy	joy
	voice	voice	voice
	toy	toy	a toy
[əʊ] combination OU	road	road	road
	no	know	No
	most	bridge	greatest
	know	know	know
	Foal	foul	foal
lingering y, as in Russian. duck	fool	full	jester
	room	room	room
	move	move	move
	school	cheekbones	school
[ʊ] short y	good [ɡʊd]	good	good
	put	put	put
	woman [ˈwʊmən]	woman	woman
	yuz	use
	human [ˈhjuːmən]	human	human
	music [ˈmjuːzɪk]	music	music
	student [ˈstjuːdnt]	student	student

English transcription of consonants is much easier for Russian speakers to perceive, so the translation and pronunciation of words here will be intensively worked out only for special cases.

w Periodically working with these two tables, you will improve your pronunciation over time, and eventually become the owner of an excellent British accent. In parallel, the active vocabulary will also increase, so soon you will be able to easily translate simple sentences both into Russian and back into English. We wish you successful and speedy mastering of all the nuances of English pronunciation! See you in new classes!

	Consonants
Sound	Word and transcription	Voice acting	Russian pronunciation	Translation
[b]	building [ˈbɪldɪŋ]		building	building, construction
[d]	drink		drink	drink, drink
[f]	forever		fairware	forever and ever
[ʒ]	pleasure [ˈpleʒə(r)]		Pleasure	pleasure
	prover	prove
[r]	rainbow [ˈreɪn.bəʊ]		rainbow	rainbow
[s]	summer [ˈsʌmə(r)]		samer	summer
[t]	travel		travel	travel
[θ] The tongue is stuck between the upper and lower teeth. In this position, it is necessary to pronounce f or s.	thank [θæŋk]		tsank	thank
	three [θriː]

For people who are familiar with a foreign language and understand pronunciation, an ordinary paper dictionary is enough to translate unfamiliar words and phrases. However, those who have just started learning the language need help in reading and understanding someone else's speech. In such cases, services that not only translate, but also voice words become indispensable. In this article, I will explain which online translators with pronunciation of words should be used.

Google's online translator is the most well-known service, which is used because of its ease of use and rather rich functionality (https://translate.google.com/?hl=en). Unlike most translators with pronunciation, Google Translate is able to voice not only individual words, but also phrases, and even entire texts.

The service has the following benefits:

It's easy to work with the service- you need to enter the text in the left window and select the language, after which the site will automatically translate. You can voice both the translated fragment and the original - for this you need to click on the horn icon.

The translator here is combined with a linguistic corpus - a database of texts in different languages, in which a translated fragment is searched, after which the service shows examples of its use. This helps not only to learn the meaning of the word, but also to really understand it.

Almost a complete analogue of Google Translate is a domestic service - Yandex.Translate. You can translate text online with pronunciation in it in the same way.

Cambridge Dictionary - the online version of the highest quality British dictionary

The Cambridge Dictionary is a translator from the well-known University of Cambridge. He specializes in translation from English and vice versa, but there are also other languages. The translator has been supplemented with a dictionary compiled by the most professional British linguists.

1. To use the service with voice pronunciation, you need to follow the link http://dictionary.cambridge.org/en/translate/ and enter the text in the box on the left.
2. The disadvantage compared to Google translator is immediately noticeable - restrictions on the volume of translation (160 characters at a time, 2000 characters per day).

In addition, the translated phrase cannot be voiced immediately. However, the service will issue a word-by-word translation, from which you can go to dictionary entries with pronunciation. They provide not only translation, but also transcription, interpretation and examples of use. Words are voiced with a British or American pronunciation to choose from.

A similar service is the Oxford Dictionary.- https://en.oxforddictionaries.com . It does not have a Russian version and only provides word-by-word translation from English with pronunciation, but its accuracy is the best. Its quality is evidenced by the fact that in linguistic universities, future translators are recommended to use the Oxford Dictionary.

ABBYY Lingvo - translator with pronunciation of text with the most detailed dictionary

Lingvo Online by ABBYY is an online version of one of the oldest Russian computer translators, the first version of which was released in 1990. Like other services, in addition to translation, it provides interpretations of words and examples of their use. 20 languages ​​available.

In terms of functionality, this translator is similar to the British ones. It works like this:

1. Enter a word or phrase in the search bar.
2. The language of the original and translation is selected.
3. The "Translate" button is pressed.
4. The service provides a word-by-word translation.

The pronunciation of individual English words can be reproduced in British and American versions. With other languages, the situation is worse - for example, French words are not voiced, and for some of them there is no translation at all. But the set of examples of use is rich in all cases.

In addition to examples, you can go to the "Phrases" tab. It will help deepen the knowledge of the language - it shows in which well-established phrases the search word is used. Here you can find phrasal verbs, idioms, etc. with translation.

Conclusion

There are other services for translating text online with speech pronunciation, but those described above are of the highest quality. They have different goals - if you need to get the maximum amount of information about a particular word, you should use a professional translator. For quick translation of large text, Google Translate is better. The latter is also ideal when translating from languages ​​that are rarely used in other dictionaries.

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