Phonemic Chart

short vowels
tip book tough what machine cat

i u e
long vowels
keep rude fast law nerd day

a
diphthongs
near tour night boy boat flower

p t k t f s
unvoiced conso-
nants parcel top crack cheese feet thong simple short

b d d v z
voiced conso-
nants better dog gate jealous virtual the zany treasure

m n h l r j w
other consonants
might noun long healthy line rabbit yet world

When writing using phonemes, start and end your transcription with a / sign. Use before a syllable to show if it is stressed and use . to
divide up syllables.

For more tips on learning English, visit http://wilsworldofwords.com.

Exercises
What words do these phonemic transcriptions show? Try writing these words using phonemes:

1. /wld/ - (a) world (b) word (c) wild (d) Wil 1. cat:

2. /wd/ - (a) world (b) word (c) wild (d) Wil 2. game:

3. time:
3. /bat/ - (a) effect (b) abroad (c) about (d) another
4. teacher:
4. /man/ - (a) main (b) mine (c) men (d) moan
5. sunshine:
5. /pi.pl/ - (a) people (b) purple (c) pea (d) please
6. light:
6. /ved.t.bl/ - (a) vegetable (b) veterinarian (c) vocal (d) vote
7. the:
7. /a.lnd/ - (a) aeroplane (b) island (c) Iceland (d) irony
8. three:
8. /kl.ig/ - (a) colic (b) cauliflower (c) colleague (d) college
9. chef:
9. /klz/ - (a) clause (b) clothes (c) close (d) cause
10. chicken:
10. /sants/ - (a) science (b) signs (c) sayings (d) smiles

For more tips on learning English, visit http://wilsworldofwords.com.

Answers Follow-up Activities
What words do these phonemic transcriptions show? Try transcribing some of your own speech. Are there any sounds
/wld/ - (a) world (b) word (c) wild (d) Wil that you have difficulty making correctly? If so, try mimicking a
/wd/ - (a) world (b) word (c) wild (d) Wil
/bat/ - (a) effect (b) abroad (c) about (d) another recording of a native-speaker whose voice you like the sound of.
/man/ - (a) main (b) mine (c) men (d) moan Its fun and will help with your pronunciation.
/pi.pl/ - (a) people (b) purple (c) pea (d) please
/ved.t.bl/ - (a) vegetable (b) veterinarian (c) vocal (d) vote Transcribe a short section of a native-speaker speaking. This will
/a.lnd/ - (a) aeroplane (b) island (c) Iceland (d) irony help you practise using phonemes and you will learn a lot about
/kl.ig/ - (a) colic (b) cauliflower (c) colleague (d) college how pronunciation really works.
/klz/ - (a) clause (b) clothes (c) close (d) cause
/sants/ - (a) science (b) signs (c) sayings (d) smiles Its important to become familiar with the phonemic chart be-
cause it will help your teacher help you with your pronunciation.
Try writing these words using phonemes:
cat: /kt/ English teachers learn the phonemic chart when they do their
game: /gem/ teaching courses and all the major learners dictionaries use it.
time: /tam/
teacher: /ti.tr/
sunshine: /sn.an/
light: /lat/
the: /i/ OR //
three: /ri/
chef: /ef/
chicken: /tk.n/

For more tips on learning English, visit http://wilsworldofwords.com.