How to Pronounce the Alphabet - Rachel's English (2024)

Learn how to pronounce each of the letters of the alphabet. Handy any time you need to spell something out.

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Today I’m going to go over how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet. You may find if you speak with an accent that native speakers will ask you to spell something if they feel they’re not sure they’ve understood what you said. For example if you have a foreign name that is unfamiliar to Americans, you might find them asking you to spell it after you tell them what your name is.

A. A is simply the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong [e]. A. So you can see the jaw goes from being more dropped, A, to closing more, A, as the tongue reaches up towards the roof of the mouth for the second part of the diphthong. A. The next letters all have the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound [i] where the corners of the mouth pull a little bit wide, ee, and the tongue raises very high, ee, in the front/mid part of the mouth. B. B had the B consonant sound where the lips start together, bb B. And opens into the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. C. C begins with the S consonant sound, ss, and moves into the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ sound. C. D. D begins with the D sound, dd, dd, the voiced consonant, and moves into the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. D. E is simply the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. E.

F. F begins with the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel sound [e], which has quite a drop in the jaw, eh, eh, F. It then finishes with the F consonant sound where the bottom lip moves up and touches the top teeth, ff, and you release air through that. It is unvoiced. F. G. G again has the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. It begins with the ‘jj’ as in ‘jar’ consonant sound. G. H. H begins with the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong, just like the letter A, but it ends with the ch’ as in ‘char’ consonant sound. H. Ch, ch where you release just air though the mouth position. H. I. I is pronounced with the ‘ay’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong [a]. I. J. J begins with the ‘jj’ as in ‘jar’ consonant sound, jj, it then has the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong. J, J. K begins with the kk K consonant sound and then has the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong. K.

The next three consonants all start with the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel sound. L, L begins with the eh sound and moves into the L sound, where the tip of the tongue, L, L, moves up to touch the roof of the mouth just behind the teeth. L. M. M begins with the eh sound and then finishes with the M consonant sound where the lips come together – M, mm, mm – while you make noise with the vocal cords. M. N. N begins with the eh sound and moves into the N consonant sound. N, nn, where the tongue raises to the roof of the mouth and the lips remain open. N, N. The letter O is simply pronounced with the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong [o]. O, O.

P. P begins with the P consonant sound, pp, where the lips are together and you release air. It then goes into the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. P. P. Q. Q begins with the unvoiced kk K consonant sound, and then has the ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong [ju]. Q. R. R begins with the ‘ah’ as in ‘father’ sound [a] and then moves immediately into the R consonant sound. R, R. S. S begins with the ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ vowel sound. Eh, Eh, S S. It then moves into the S consonant sound. S. T. T begins with the unvoiced tt T consonant sound and then has the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. T T.

U. The letter U is pronounced with the ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong. V. V begins with the voiced vv consonant sound where the bottom lip moves up to the top teeth. V, v, followed by the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. V. W. W begins with the D consonant sound. dd. It then moves into the ‘uh’ as in ‘butter’followed by the B consonant sound. Double. It then has the schwa and the dark L sound. Double, W. And the ‘ew’ as in ‘few’ diphthong. W. The accent is on the first syllable. W. X. X begins with the ‘eh’ vowel sound, it then has the K and the S consonant sounds together. Eh kk ss. X. Y. Y begins with the W consonant sound, where the lips are in a tight circle. It then opens into the ‘ay’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Y. Z. Z begins with the voiced consonant, zz, followed by the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel sound. Z.

And now, all of the letters of the alphabet. Listen and repeat. If you can record this, that would be helpful. You can then listen to it and compare your pronunciation with mine to see if there are any errors.

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How to Pronounce the Alphabet - Rachel's English (1)
How to Pronounce the Alphabet - Rachel's English (2024)

FAQs

What is T̬? ›

In American English, if a /t/ sound is between two vowels, and the second vowel is not stressed, the /t / can be pronounced very quickly, and made voiced so that it is like a brief /d/ or the r-sound of certain languages. Technically, the sound is a "tap", and can be symbolised by /t̬/.

What are the 26 letters of the alphabet? ›

Letters in the alphabet:

The English Alphabet consists of 26 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Which one is correct Rachel or Rachael? ›

It originates from the Hebrew language and is a popular choice across various cultures. However, the spelling "Rachael" often emerges as a common variant, leading to confusion. Remember, the standard and widely accepted spelling is Rachel, without the additional 'a'.

What is the phonetic pronunciation of Rachel? ›

Break 'Rachel' down into sounds: [RAY] + [CHUHL] - say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them.

What is the English phonetic alphabet A to Z? ›

The 26 code words are as follows (ICAO spellings): Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

Is da voiced t? ›

The devoicing of voiced plosives has a very important consequence. When /t/ and /d/ are at the beginning of words, English speakers don't distinguish them by their voicing, since /t/ is voiceless and /d/ is devoiced (so, there is no vocal fold activity in either of them, they're both voiceless de facto).

What is the 27th letter in the alphabet? ›

Ampersand. The ampersand (&) has sometimes appeared at the end of the English alphabet, as in Byrhtferð's list of letters in 1011. & was regarded as the 27th letter of the English alphabet, as taught to children in the US and elsewhere.

How old is the letter J? ›

Until the year 1524, there was no letter 'J' in the alphabet. The letter 'J' was originally the same letter as 'I. ' The 'father of the letter J' is Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian author and grammarian who lived from 1478 to 1550.

Is Z the 26th letter? ›

Z, or z, is the twenty-sixth and last letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide.

Is Rachael an English name? ›

Rachael is a girl's name of Hebrew origin. It translates to an “ewe” or “innocent lamb”, and with its variety of spellings, you can be sure that your Rachael isn't one of a flock of many.

Is it Rachel or Rachael in the Bible? ›

Rachel (Hebrew: רָחֵל, romanized: Rāḥēl, lit. 'ewe') was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife.

How do you shorten Rachael? ›

Common nicknames for Rachel include:
  1. Rach.
  2. Rachie.
  3. Rae.
  4. Rai.
  5. Ray.
  6. Raya.
  7. Raylie.
Nov 4, 2021

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