40 phonemes

Does English have 40 phonemes? Many people have said that, that's how many phonemes English has and if the alphabet were extended that it should include 40 letters.

I was just wondering, Does English really have 40 phonemes?

It depends on your dialect but for most of us 40 to 50 phonemes is about right.

Jim, doesn't English have zero phonemes? My accent does. Just kidding!

Sign language has zero phonemes.

http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j27/fonemes.html

What's wrong with saying that English has 40 phonemes? Doesn't it? Why is the number of phonemes so hard to pin down? I thought everyone agreed that there are 40 phonemes in English.

There are more than 40 phonemes in my accent.

''I thought everyone agreed that there are 40 phonemes in English.''

Think again.

"What's wrong with saying that English has 40 phonemes?"

Nothing besides the fact that it isn't true.

"Why is the number of phonemes so hard to pin down?"

Have a read of the article I've linked to.

"Why is the number of phonemes so hard to pin down?"

''Have a read of the article I've linked to.''

They're only saying stupid things. Almost everyone agrees that there's 40 phonemes in English. What's wrong with saying there are 40 phonemes in English.

Can you prove that there are more than 40 phonemes in English?

Scots and Scottish Standard English don't count.

Dad, You faker. Why did you type your post in my name? It's obvious that that was you that posted that message.

Why is the number of phonemes so hard to pin down?
Because it depends on your accent.
Most Americans use only about 38 Phonemes when the speak English.
For various British accents it go as high as 44.
40 is a good approximation, if you don't count the Vowels inflected by the Glottal Stop.