Consonant sounds - Vowels sounds

 

The set of phonemes consists of two categories: vowel sounds and consonant sounds. 

Vowel sounds are all voiced, may be single (like /e/, as in let), or a combination, involving a movement from one vowel sound to another (like /ei/, as in late); such combination are known as diphtongs. An additional terms used is triphthongs which describes the combination of three vowel sounds (like /aue/ in our or power). Single vowel sounds may be short (like /I/, as in hit) or long (like /i:/, as in heat). The symbol /:/ denotes a long sound.

Consonant sounds may be voiced or unvoiced. It is possible to identify many pairs of consonants which are essentially the same except for the element of voicing (for example /f/, as in fan, and /v/, as ini van). The following table lists English phonemes, giving an example of a word in which each appears.

Consonant sounds and Vowels Consonants