Phoneme Explorer
American English uses 45 distinct sounds. Click any phoneme to see how it's formed with animated vocal tract cross-sections, tips, and example words.
Vowels
Sounds produced with an open vocal tract — no blockage of airflow.
Monophthongs
R-colored Vowels
Consonants
Sounds produced by partially or fully blocking airflow in the vocal tract.
Affricates
Phonemes with a icon have animated vocal tract videos. All 45 phonemes include pronunciation guides and example words.