everyone-can-use-english/1000-hours/sounds-of-american-english/1.2-phonemes.md

1.2 音素（Phonemes）

在自然语音中，不可继续分割的组成部分被称为音素（phonemes）。英语的音素分为元音和辅音。

In natural speech, indivisible sound segments are referred to as phonemes. English language categorizes these phonemes into two types: vowels and consonants.

1.2.1 元音（Vowels）

英语总计约有 20 个元音。

English approximately has 20 vowels.

元音可以被分为短元音（short vowels）和长元音（long vowels）；与此同时，它们也可以分为单元音（monophthongs）和双元音（diphthongs）。

Vowels can be classified into long and short vowels, or alternatively, they can also be grouped as monophthongs and diphthongs.

Monophthongs		Diphthongs
Short vowels	ʌ, e, ə, ɪ, ʊ, ɒ
Long vowels	ɑː, æ, əː, iː, uː, ɔː	aɪ, eɪ, ɔɪ, aʊ, oʊ, eə, ɪə, ʊə

6 个基础元音中，ə 和 ɪ 有相对更多的变体（allophone）： In the 6 basic vowels, ə and ɪ have relatively more variants, or allophones:

• ɪ：
  • 除了长元音版本 iː 之外，还有一个半长版本 i，例如 happy /ˈhæp·i/¹ ；
  • In addition to the long vowel version iː, there's also a semi-long version i, as in happy /ˈhæp·i/.
• ə：
  • 长元音版本 əː 在 CEPD² 中被标注为 ɜː，例如 bird /bɜːd/ (UK)
  • The long vowel version əː is annotated as ɜː in the CEPD² , like in bird /bɜːd/ (UK).
  • 儿化的短元音 ə 被标注为 ɚ，例如 mother /ˈmʌð·ɚ/；
  • The rhotacized short vowel ə is annotated as ɚ, as in mother pronounced /ˈmʌð·ɚ/.
  • 儿化的长元音 əː 被标注为 ɝː 例如 bird /bɝːd/ (US)
  • The rhotacized long vowel əː is annotated as ɝː, like in bird pronounced /bɝːd/ (US).

另外，英式英语中还有两个三元音: aɪə 比如，fire /faɪə/；hour /aʊə/。在英式英语中，这两个三元音被简化为两个双元音的更为明显的儿化音，aɪə → aɪr，比如，fire /faɪr/, hour /aʊr/。

Furthermore, in British English, there are two triphthongs: aɪə as in fire pronounced /faɪə/ and aʊə as in hour pronounced /aʊə/. In American English, these two triphthongs simplify into more apparent rhotacized diphthongs, aɪə → aɪr, for example, fire pronounced /faɪr/, and hour pronounced /aʊr/.

1.2.2 辅音（Consonants）

英文大约 28 个辅音。

English approximately has 28 consonants.

Airflow	Voiced or not	Consonants
Plosive	Voiceless	p, t, k
	Voiced	b, d, g
Fricative	Voiceless	f, s, θ, ʃ, h
	Voiced	v, z, ð, ʒ, r
Affricate	Voiceless	tʃ, tr, ts
	Voiced	dʒ, dr, dz
Nasal	Voiced	m, n, ŋ
Lateral	Voiced	l
Semivowel		j, w

辅音 t 在美式英语中有个弹舌音变体，t̬，例如，cutting /ˈkʌt̬·ɪŋ/。

The consonant t has a flapping variant, t̬, as in the word cutting, pronounced /ˈkʌt̬·ɪŋ/.

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1. The middle dot · in /ˈhæp·i/ is an annotation of syllable division. A dot . is used in CEPD, but for clearer html rendering, we use a raised one here. ↩︎

2. CEPD, Cambridge English Pronunciation Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/help/phonetics.html. ↩︎