You may notice that each word given as an example is made up of significant sounds known as phonemes. Some of these significant sounds are taken from the letters of the English alphabet. Therefore, in order to indicate a reference to sounds, not let- ters, each symbol or phoneme is written within the slanting lines A phonetic symbol is, then, different from a letter in that the former represents only one distinctive sound but the latter may be pronounced in many ways. For example, the symbol represents only one sound whereas the corresponding letter i may be pro- nounced I/ as in rid, /i/ as in ski, as in stir and Val/ as in ride. Furthermore, a phonetic symbol must appear within the slanting lines whereas a letter does not. Look at the consonant chart on the next page and see how each sound is produced