The IPA

A quick introduction about the types of articulators:

Labial = the lips coming together to form a sound

Dental = the tongue being pressed against the teeth (think: dentist tools)

Labio-Dental = the lower lip being pressed against the upper teeth

Hard Palate = the tongue being pressed against the hard palate (centre of the roof of the mouth)

Soft Palate = the tongue being pressed against the soft palate or 'velum' (back part of the roof of the mouth)

Alveolar = the tongue being pressed on against the alveolar ridge (front of the roof of the mouth)

• It should be noted that vowels do not involve any restriction of airflow in the mouth.

Plosive consonants are produced when the articulators come together to stop airflow and are then released:

b = 'buh' - bib (labial)

p = 'puh' - pip (labial)

t = 'tuh' - ten (alveolar)

d = 'duh' - den (alveolar)

g = 'guh' - get (soft palate)

k = 'kuh' - cat (soft palate)

Affricate consonants are produced when articulators come together and are quickly released:

d͡ʒ = 'juh' - judge (hard palate)

t͡ʃ = 'chuh' - church (hard palate)

Nasal consonants are produced when articulators stop the airflow- air is released through the nose:

m = 'muh' - man (labial)

n = 'nuh' - now (alveolar)

n = 'ng' - sing (soft palate)

Fricative consonants are produced when the articulators come together with a small gap in which the sound is produced from:

θ = 'thah' - thigh (dental)

ð = 'the' - this (dental)

f = 'fuh' - fish (labio-dental)

s = 'seh' - set (alveolar)

z = 'zuh' - zoo (alveolar)

Lateral consonants are produced when articulators come together and air is released over the sides of the tongue:

Remember: lateral!

l = 'leh' - let (alveolar)

Approximate consonants are produced when the articulators never fully touch:

w = 'wuh' - wet (labial)

r = 'ruh' - ride (alveolar)

j = 'yuh' - yet (hard palate)

Remembering the definition of a 'short vowel' sound is fairly simple: it seems common-sensical but they have one snappy, staccato-ish sound, such as the ones below:

ɪ = 'ih' - it

e = 'eh' - pet 

æ = 'a' - pat

ɒ = 'o' - pot

ʌ = 'uh' - but

ʊ = 'uuh' - book

ə = 'er' - mother

Again, long vowel sounds tend to last for a longer duration than shorter vowels. They can be easily remembered because of the colon-like symbol that follows them:

ɪ: = 'ee' - bean

ɜ: = 'ur' - nurse

a: = 'ah' - barn

ɔ: = 'orh' - born

u: = 'ooh' - boot

Dipthongs are a combination of two sounds where a speaker moves from one sound to another across the pronunciation of one vowel:

aɪ = 'eye' - bite

eɪ = 'ay' - bait

ɔɪ = 'oi' - boy

əʊ = 'oe' - toe

aʊ = 'ow' - house

ɪə = 'ee' - ear

eə = 'ai' = air

Children are able to pronounce all of the vowel sounds and 2/3 of the consonants

Children are able to only have difficulty with a few consonants and they are proficient in the rest.

The child can confidently and correctly use all vowels and consonant sounds.

Consonants at the start of the word are the easiest to acquire- consonants at the beginning of the word are easiest to pronounce. Consonants at the end are more difficult (e.g. - 'push' vs 'tip').