This is a phonemic chart showing the 44 sounds used in British English,
there is an equivalent in American English and other variations.
If you are learning the Northern Irish accent or indeed any English accent
this is your friend, a vital resource.
The chart is broadly split into two sections, 24 consonants and 20 vowels.
Pronunciation is physical, perfecting an accent is physical and the chart is set out accordingly.
Consonants can be physically located (or described), using the lips,
teeth or tongue, for instance. They involve 2 surfaces and some form of obstruction.
The /p/ sound, for example, is composed of two phases - pressing your lips together,
and holding them briefly, before releasing the air flow - additionally the voice is activated.
Vowels are harder to locate and there is no obstruction to the flow of air.
They are split into two sections - monophthongs
and diphthongs. The tongue (and mouth) stays in one position in monophthongs,
whereas for diphthongs the tongue (and mouth) have to move, combining the sound of two monophthongs.
Lesson 2.
The two sounds we’re concerned with in this lesson are /ɑː/ as in SPA and /æ/ as in CAT.
They are both vowels, and they are both monophthongs - in other words,
the tongue stays in one position when producing the sound.
In this monophthong section of the chart as you move from left
to right your lips move from a wide position and back to a narrow position and forward.
Say these words, and sounds, while noticing and feeling the differences.
SHEEP. SHOOT. /iː/ /uː/.
SHEEP (lips wide and back). SHEEP.
SHOOT (lips narrow and forward). SHOOT.
Lesson 3.
This feature concerns 3 of our 20 vowel sounds, 2 monophthongs combining to make 1 diphthong.
For monophthongs the mouth stays in one position,
and for diphthongs the mouth has to move because two sounds are combined.
In British English the /eɪ/ diphthong is made up of two short monophthongs, /e/ as in bed
and /ɪ/ as in ship. Combining these /e/ /ɪ/ and sliding them together - /e/
/ɪ/ - /eɪ/ - we have the /eɪ/ diphthong, /e/ /ɪ/ - /eɪ/, as in ACE, KATE, TRAIN, EIGHT.
In a standard British English accent
you should feel your mouth move as you produce this sound - ACE, KATE, TRAIN, EIGHT.
Lesson 4.
This feature concerns 1 of our 24 consonant sounds,
and within the consonants one of the 10 plosives, 5 pairs of 2.
Proprioception, the perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body,
is the lynchpin throughout this series and should be for anyone seeking to master any accent.
Consonants can be physically located (or described), using the lips,
teeth or tongue, for instance. They involve 2 surfaces and some form of obstruction.
The /t/ sound is composed of two phases - putting the tip of your tongue against the
back of your two top front teeth, and holding it briefly, before releasing the air flow - /t/ .
Additionally the voice is activated.
The /t/ phoneme is located in the row of plosive consonants. There are two phases
in producing a plosive, as we’ve just seen - the ‘stop’ phase then the ‘release’ phase.
These plosives are helpfully arranged in pairs. In the first of each pair the voice is activated,
in the second of each pair the voice is not activated.
You can helpfully locate your voice by placing your fingers against your throat
as you make any of these sounds.
Having an awareness of your pronunciation buttons
(as language guru Adrian Underhill calls them) - lips, voice, tongue and jaw - is critical to
mastering any non-native sound and therefore a new accent, including the Northern Irish version.
Lesson 5.
This characteristic concerns 1 of our 24 consonant sounds.
To make the /r/ sound, the key pronunciation button is your tongue
which should be in a position something like this.
Vibrate your vocal cords and let the airflow around and over your tongue - /r/.
This is an example of an approximant,
where there is a partial obstruction of airflow (in this case due to the tongue).
Lesson 6.
This feature primarily concerns two nasal consonant sounds, /n/ as in
NOW and /ŋ/ as in SING. Nasalised sounds are when the airstream passes through the nose, rather than
the mouth. Pinch your nose and you shouldn’t be able to produce either of these sounds.
I make no apologies
for repeating that pronunciation is physical and perfecting an accent is physical.
As with all consonants these two nasals are produced due
to an obstruction between two surfaces. For /n/ they are the tip of the tongue
and the roof of the mouth, just behind your teeth /n/, and for /ŋ/
the obstruction is caused by the tongue kind of curled up at the back of your mouth /ŋ/.
The only difference between /n/ and /ŋ/ is where the air is stopped. Partially back in the mouth
with /n/ or fully back in the case of /ŋ/.
Now to discover more check out this playlist from Adrian Underhill who created the phonemic chart or
click this video which YouTube thinks you want to watch next. Do you?