In order to write sensibly about phonemes and allophones, we need a phonetic writing system - one where each symbol stands for a single sound, and each sound has its own symbol. Most commonly used is the International Phonetic Alphabet (though frequently with some personalisation).
Here is an excerpt from the IPA, containing most of the common symbols:
IPA Chart, http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/ipachart.html, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License. Copyright © 2005 International Phonetic Association.
You may find this a handy reference for future posts. As a linguist, the best thing to do is memorise the whole thing - which I have done previously, and probably will do again; the ones I don't use tend to slip away.
First, an explanation of the labels:
Try figuring them out by pronouncing the letters you recognise from English (note: the /j/ is in fact like 'y' in 'yes' - or 'j' in Johannes, and the /r/ is, as it says, trilled).
The column down the left side of the consonant table is the manner of articulation.
- Plosives (or stops): stop airflow completely, like 'p' or 't'
- Nasal: make a sound through your nose, like 'n'
- Trill: the sound you make rolling your 'r's, as in Spanish 'perro'
- Tap or flap: the sound in American English 'data', halfway between a d and an r (or as in Spanish 'pero')
- Fricative - hissing sound, like 'f', 's' or 'sh'
- Lateral fricative - the same, but round the sides of your tongue. Try putting your tongue in place to say 'l', then saying 'h'. As in Welsh Llangollen.
- Approximants - approximately a vowel, like 'y' or 'w'. The /ɹ/ is an English 'r'.
- Lateral approximant - the sound comes out round the sides of your tongue, like 'l'
- Affricates aren't listed on the chart, but consist of a stop followed by a fricative, like 'ch'.
The row along the top is place of articulation.
- Bilabial - with both lips, like 'p' or 'm'
- Labiodental - with your upper lip and bottom teeth, like 'f'
- Dental - with your tongue and teeth, like 'th'
- Aleveolar - touch your tongue to the hard ridge behind your top teeth, like 't'
- Postalveolar - like alveolar, but slightly further back, like 'sh'
- Palatal - with your tongue bunched up towards the top of your mouth, as for 'y' in 'yes'
- Velar - with your tongue bunched up towards the top and back of your throat, like 'k'
- Uvular - in the top of your throat e.g. /ʁ/ is a French 'r'.
- Glottal - in your throat, like 'h'
Here are all the symbols you need for transcribing Standard Southern British English:
| p | |
| b | |
| t | |
| d | |
| k | |
| g | |
| tʃ | church, catch |
| dʒ | jam, age |
| f | |
| v | |
| θ | thin, mouth |
| ð | the, that, this, smooth |
| s | |
| z | |
| ʃ | sheep |
| ʒ | asian, orange |
| h | hello |
| m | |
| n | |
| ŋ | sing, thank |
| l | |
| ɹ | red |
| j | yes, use |
| w | |
| n̩ | suddenly |
| l̩ | middle |
| (The diacritic (mark) underneath the letter means it is syllabic i.e. you don't need to say a vowel with it.) | |
| ɪ | big |
| e | bed |
| æ | bat |
| ɒ | body |
| ʌ | bud |
| ʊ | put |
| iː | bee |
| uː | boo |
| aː | barn |
| ɔː | born |
| ɜː | burn |
| eɪ | bake |
| aɪ | bike |
| ɔɪ | boy |
| əʊ | boat |
| aʊ | bow |
| ɪə | beer |
| eə | bear |
| ʊə | cure |
| (Note that many, especially younger, speakers will use /ɔː/ instead in words like jury, cure, pure.) | |
| ə | the, about |
| i | happy |
| u | influence |
Useful links
The full IPA chart: http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/IPA_chart_(C)2005.pdf
An IPA typewriter: http://ipa.typeit.org/full/