以下は典型的なアメリカ英語の子音 (consonants) の簡単な解説です。
■ 子音の体系
子音とは呼気の流れが口舌の何らかの形で遮られてできる音です。
子音は、(1) 調音法はどれか、(2) 調音点はどこか、そして (3) 無声音か有声音か、の3つの要素で音が決まります。
調音法 (manner) とは、呼気をどのようなやり方で出すかという方法です。
調音点 (place) とは、呼気が主にどの場所で遮られるかを示しています。
無声音 (voiceless sound) とは、声帯を振動させないままに出す音です。
有声音 (voiced sound) とは、声帯を振動させながら出す音です。
個々の子音を発音しながら、調音法と調音点と無声音・有声音を確認してください。分析的な自覚が大切です。
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禁止事項
下の英語音声は「音読さん」（https://ondoku3.com/ja/）の有料版を使って作成しました。
このブログ (Blogger) には直接音声ファイルをアップロードすることができませんので、仕方なしに他のクラウドサービスに音声ファイルをアップロードしています。
音声ファイルを皆さんがダウンロードすることは禁止します。ダウンロードせずに、このブログ・クラウドサービスを通じて発音の勉強をしてください。
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■ 子音の発音の実例
リンク箇所をクリックすると、その子音を含む語が発音されます。個々の子音の特徴を感じ取ってください。
/p/
pet, pen, paper, party, parent, picture, people, play, poor, popular, possible, power, pretty, primary, problem, product, program, promise, public, pull
/b/
bet, boy, baby, ball, bear, big, bird, blue, book, box, bus, buy, back, bag, bank, basic, beach, beautiful, beside, between, beyond
/t/
tent, table, tiger, tax, turtle, teacher, telephone, television, tennis, toothbrush, tree, tissue, teaspoon, toast, taco, tornado, tent, tangerine, toolbox, tambourine
/d/
dog, dolphin, duck, desk, door, doll, dinosaur, donut, drum, diamond, dime, date, dart, dove, dream, ducktail, dish, dentist, deer
/k/
key, keep, kind, kitchen, king, kitten, kiss, kick, kit, kid, kangaroo, karate, kettle, kernel, kilogram, keyboard, kingdom
/g/
good, get, give, garden, goat, game, girl, green, grape, gold, ghost, guitar, gum, glasses, globe, goose, gorilla, glue, goal, guest, go-kart
/m/
map, man, many, may, mean, meat, meet, member, mention, message, middle, might, mile, milk, mind, miss, modern, moment, money, month
/n/
nap, notebook, night, nose, nail, nut, necklace, napkin, noodle, nurse, navy, nest, nap, newspaper, nugget, north, necktie, nutcracker, net
/ŋ/
sing, bring, king, swing, thing, wing, ring, string, spring, sting, ding, zing, ping-pong, wedding, building, evening, lightning, fencing, camping, jumping
/f/
fan, fast, father, feather, feet, fence, ferry, fetch, field, film, fin, finger, fire, fish, five, flag, flash, float, floor, flower
/v/
van, valley, value, vase, vegetable, vehicle, velvet, vendor, very, vest, victory, video, view, village, violin, visit, voice, volleyball, volume, vote
/θ/
thick, thank, theater, theme, think, third, thirsty, thirteen, thirty, thumb, thunder, Thursday, throat, thought, through, throw, thunderstorm, thing, thin, thrill
/ð/
that, this, these, those, them, they, their, there, then, the, than
/s/
sick, sun, sock, snow, soup, soda, sandwich, star, swim, scarf, scissors, soap, sweater, soccer, strawberry, snake, stamp, shuttle, sailor, spoon
/z/
zebra, zipper, zoo, zero, zone, zigzag, zucchini, zoom, zeal, zipper pull, zombie
/ʃ/
shark, ship, shell, shop, shoe, shirt, sheep, show, shake, sugar, shadow, shape, shave, shovel, sheet, shuttle, short, shoot, shrimp, shout
/ʒ/
genre, pleasure, treasure, measure, vision, television, garage, beige, leisure, seizure, usual, decision, collision, version, composure, pleasure boat, casual, Asia, magician, enclosure
/h/
hat, happy, help, hot, heart, hop, house, honey, hurry, hello, hide, hike, huge, hamster, history, horse, hold, heavy, holiday, high, healthy, here
/tʃ/
chair, cheese, chicken, chopsticks, chocolate, choose, church, chalk, cherry, champion, chin, chase, charm, chat, challenge, check, change, chance, channel, chest, chew, chill
/dʒ/
jazz, jeans, jigsaw, January, jelly, jersey, jet, jogging, jewel, juggle, jolly, journal, joy, juice, jump, join, joystick, journey, judge, jungle, just
/w/
wolf, wood, want, water, way, week, weight, well, west, wet, wide, will, win, with, walk, watch, wait, wall, warm, wash
/r/
right, ring, rock, room, rose, run, radio, rice, raise, ready, river, roof, round, royal, rainbow, rabbit, red, rest, really, road, ride, ruler
/j/
yellow, yogurt, year, yacht, yawn, yes, yoga, yodel, yolk, yoyo, yard, youth, yummy, yin and yang, yearbook, Yankee, yield
/l/
lion, lemon, ladder, library, lipstick, lettuce, laptop, lamp, laundry, luggage, lily, lava, lawn, lunch, laughter, landlord, loaf, lizard, lobster, lantern
/l/ at the end of a word ('dark l')
little, hill, will, feel, heel, meal, call, bell, cell, level, mail, nail, small, tall, fail, wall, ball, pull, pool, cool, tool, goal, soul, girl, novel, travel
■ Minimal pairsを使った識別練習
■ 終わりに
アメリカ英語の母音についての簡単な解説
アメリカ英語で子音が連続する場合International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) で発音を学ぶ際に便利なサイト集
