Importance Of Phonetics

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Language is the system of communication used by people worldwide. It’s a human faculty that distinguishes human beings from animals. English is considered a universal language that many countries has as a native language like Britain and Australia or a second language like India. Wherever English is available, it offers a better communication between citizens of a country and travelers. Like all languages, English has variation in its pronunciation and accents. Sometimes misspelling of words leads to misunderstandings between people. Therefore, everyone should study phonetics which is the study of sounds made by the human voice in speech. Phonetics can be divided into : sounds, letters, consonants, and vowels. First, learners must learn the pronunciation of the letters and listen to their sounds . In phonetics, sounds of letters become …show more content…

Vowels are represented by five letters and twenty phonemes that are divided into seven short vowels e.g. /e/ and /ʌ/, five long vowels e.g. /u:/ and /a:/, and eight diphthongs /ɪə/ and /ʊə/. Vowels are sounds produced by complete passage of air through the vocal tract, with no complete closure or stricture. Unlike consonants, all vowel phonemes are voiced. When dividing words into syllables, each syllable must contain a vowel and it’s called the nucleus of the syllable. Similarly to consonants, vowel phonemes are described according to the height and place of the tongue in the mouth and the shape of the lips. Firstly, tongue height in the mouth is divided into : high position as in the word keen /i:/, middle position as in the word girdle /ɜː/, and low position as in the word cart /a:/. Secondly, tongue position in the mouth is divided into : front position as in the word sheep /i:/, central position as in the word girl /ɜː/, and back position as in the word pool /u:/. Thirdly, lips positions are recognized as rounded as in the word horse /ɔː/ and unrounded as in the word ship

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