Figure 3.9 provides the 43 commonly identified English phonemes. Other languages have more or
fewer phonemes.
Figure 3.9. English Phonemes
Symbol As heard in... Symbol As heard in...
/ā/ angel, rain /g/ gift, dog
/ǎ/ cat, apple /h/ happy, hat
/ē/ eat, seed /j/ jump, bridge
/ĕ/ echo, red /l/ lip, fall
/ī/ island, light /m/ mother, home
/ǐ/ in, sit /n/ nose, on
/ō/ oatmeal, bone /p/ pencil, pop
/ǒ/ octopus, mom /r/ rain, care
/ǔ/ up, hum /s/ soup, face
/oo/ oodles, moon /t/ time, cat
/oo/ put, book /v/ vine, of
/ә/ above, sofa /wh/ what, why
/oi/, /oy/ oil, boy /w/ wet, wind
/ou/, /ow/ out, cow /y/ yes, beyond
/aw/, /ô/ awful, caught /z/ zoo, because
är car, far /th/ thing, health
ôr four, or /th/ this, brother
ûr her, bird, turn /sh/ shout, machine
/b/ baby, crib /zh/ pleasure, vision
/k/ cup, stick /ch/ children, scratch
/d/ dog, end /ng/ ring, finger
/f/ phone, golf
Source
Yopp, Hallie K., and Ruth H. Yopp. 2011. Purposeful Play for Early Childhood Phonological
Awareness, 13. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education. Reprinted with permission.
154 | Chapter 3 Transitional Kindergarten to Grade 1