The International Phonetic Alphabet and The History Of The English Language

This page should help explain in more detail the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and how it relates to the English Language. I also hope that this page will have some useful links to the different periods in English history.  If, in your research you come across any web addresses that you feel will improve the usefulness of this page... please let me know.  

Hot Links

The English Language

Old English Pages (Historical Contexts)
Saint Bede the Venerable
Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Norman, and British History

 

  The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a tool that links all languages together.  It is simply a listing of all the sounds that make up a language.  When people talk and produce sounds, they use their mouths, tongue, lips, vocal chords, teeth and air to produce those sounds.  The (IPA) just allows those sounds to be written for anyone in any language to understand.
You see, where in the mouth a sound is produced is known as the Point Of Articulation.  How the actual sound is produced is called the Manner Of Articulation.   In the English Language, there are approximately 24 consonant sounds and 13 vowel sounds.  Each one being produced in a different manner.  A few examples of this concept are:

• If a sound is produced using the vocal chords, it is referred to as being "voiced".  This would apply to sounds such as the letters "b", "d", "z", or "g".  Notice that when these letters or sounds are produced, they use the vocal chords.  If you place your hand on your throat when you say these sounds, you can feel your vocal chords vibrate.
• If a sound is produced without the use of the vocal chords, it is referred to as being "unvoiced".  This would apply to sounds such as the "p" in the word "puff" or the "f" in the word "forget".  When these sounds are produced there is no vibration of the vocal chords.  There is only the release of air from the mouth with the help of the lips and teeth.
• Any sound that uses the lips to produce it is known as a bilabial sound.  Examples of this would be the "w" or "m" sounds.  In order to produce these sounds, you must use your lips.
• A sound that is produced using both the lips as well as the teeth is called a labiodental sound.  Examples of this are the "v" and "f" sounds.

I hope that this explanation of the IPA and sound production helps you to understand the English Language as well as any other language more completely.
 
This page was completed and last updated on December 17, 1997
                                                                       

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