Phonemes in English

          Phonemes in English 

English has 44 commonly taught phonemes: 24 consonant sounds + 20 vowel sounds.

Below are given the IPA symbol, an English example, and an approximate Marathi pronunciation.

Note: Marathi equivalents are approximate because some English sounds—especially /θ/, /ð/, /w/, /v/, /æ/, /ə/—do not have exact Marathi equivalents.

1. English Consonant Phonemes — 24

IPA	Example	Marathi pronunciation / approximation
/p/	pen	प्
/b/	bat	ब्
/t/	top	ट्/त्
/d/	dog	ड्/द्
/k/	cat	क्
/g/	go	ग्
/tʃ/	chair	च्
/dʒ/	jam	ज्
/f/	fish	फ्
/v/	van	व् (फ आणि व मधला इंग्रजी ध्वनी)
/θ/	think	थ्*
/ð/	this	ध्*
/s/	sun	स्
/z/	zoo	ज़्
/ʃ/	ship	श्
/ʒ/	vision	झ़् / ज्-श् मधला
/h/	hat	ह्
/m/	man	म्
/n/	net	न्
/ŋ/	sing	ङ् / ‘इंग’ मधील ङ्
/l/	leg	ल्
/r/	red	र्
/j/	yes	य्
/w/	wet	व्/उअ् मधला

* /θ/: जीभेचे टोक वरच्या दातांच्या जवळ ठेवून हवा सोडायची — think.
/ð/: त्याच स्थितीत आवाजासह — this.

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2. English Vowel Phonemes — 20

A. Short Vowels

IPA	Example	Marathi approximation
/ɪ/	sit	इ (लघु)
/e/	bed	ए
/æ/	cat	अॅ
/ʌ/	cup	अ
/ɒ/	hot	ऑ
/ʊ/	book	उ (लघु)
/ə/	about	अ (अतिशय हलका)

B. Long Vowels

IPA	Example	Marathi approximation
/iː/	see	ई
/ɑː/	car	आ
/ɔː/	saw	ऑ/ओ
/uː/	food	ऊ
/ɜː/	bird	अऽर / र्-सदृश ध्वनीसह

C. Diphthongs (संयुक्त स्वरध्वनी)

IPA	Example	Marathi pronunciation / approximation
/eɪ/	day	एइ
/aɪ/	my	आइ
/ɔɪ/	boy	ऑइ
/əʊ/	go	अओ / ओउ
/aʊ/	now	आउ
/ɪə/	near	इअ
/eə/	hair	एअ
/ʊə/	tour	उअ

लक्षात ठेवण्याची सोपी पद्धत

Consonants: 24

Plosives: /p, b, t, d, k, g/
Affricates: /tʃ, dʒ/
Fricatives: /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h/
Nasals: /m, n, ŋ/
Lateral: /l/
Approximants: /r, j, w/

Vowels: 20

Monophthongs: 12
Diphthongs: 8