[ (Peter Roach
In any language, we identify a small number of used sounds (vowels and consonants) that we call phonemes . For example, the vowels in the words pin and pen are different phonemes. Phonemes are the smallest meaningless units in language. Because of the notoriously confusing nature of English spelling , it is very important to learn to think of English pronunciation in terms of phonemes rather than letters of the alphabet. Phonetics is the science that studies human speech sounds. It studies how and where sounds are produced in the oral cavity. Phonology , on the other hand, studies how sounds are ordered and whchich combinations of sounds are possible and which combinations are not. The sd sequence is impossible in the English language , whereas the st sequence is

 
Dear students of English,
If you are interested in reading my (focus on phonetics) , I am ready to write very interesting points about phonetics that might help you understand this science in a very simple way. I was a lecturer of this subject for more than 8 years in the Teachers' Training Institutes all over Syria. PLease tell me ASAP

 


Languagues have different accents: these accents are pronounced differently by people from different geographical places and from different social classes. Accents are also affected by age and educational backgrounds. Dialects refer to a variety of a language which is different from others not just in pronunciation , but also in vocabulary , grammar and word order. Arabic is a language with several dialects ; the Syrian dialect; the Egyptian dialect; the Iraqi dialect and so forth on. The Syrian Dialect has so many accents: the accent of those who live in Hama is, to some extent, different from that of those who live in Homs.

 
RP refers to Received Pronunciation. RP is now old fashioned.
BBC is a preferable name. It refers to the accent used by most announcers and newsreaders on BBC.
Estuary English is a term that is widely used these days. It refers to a mixture of the BBC accent and that of those who live in London.

 
Nightingale,
I don't know how to thank you for this nice , interesting and useful topic
So wonderful is this topic that you presented to us and also your way of presenting it is easy for the students who care about learning phonetics and we are ready to recieve every information that you are going to present

This topic is fixed

Articulators

Mechanism of Producing Sounds

 
The airstream is pushed out of the lungs upward into
the windpipeا until it reaches the larynx where
the vocal folds are located . The vocal cords or folds
are two thick flips of muscles. They are are either open or closed.
If they are closed , the airflow will collide with them, causing
them to vibrate. Thus voiced sounds are produced. If they are open ,
the airstream will not collide with them. It will pass freely
until it goes out of the oral cavity ( mouth ) or the nasal cavity ( nose) . This is the basic differece between voiced and voiceless sounds.
Only consonants are either voiced or voiceless. All vowels are voiced.

english]What is the basic difference between vowels and consonants؟