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1. Definition of Sound

2. CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH SOUNDS

We should note that the term Phonology means the classification and study of sound system of a language while Phonetics is the study of the production or articulation of sound. English language is classified into Vowel and Consonant sound.

ENGLISH PHONEMES

Phonemes are set of sounds used in a particular language. English sounds are broadly divided in to two- vowel and consonant and they are forty four (44) in number. There are 20 vowels which are divided into two camps: Monothongs and Diphthong. Monothongs are those represented by a single phonetic symbol and are   pronounced as a unit of sound. Within the monothongs, we have Short and Long vowels. The Long vowels have colon (:) attached to them while the short do not have colon. Monothongs are twelve (12) in number. Diphthongs are those sounds that are represented by two phonetic symbols but are pronounced as a single unit of sound. The tongue moves (glide) from pronouncing one sound to the second sound. They are eight in number.