One sentence ...all the sounds of English

[bluedolphin]

Is there a sentence (that makes sense) that contains all of the sounds (phonemes) in the english language?

[Quizmonster]

Consider:

"Joining the treasure-hunt, he quickly caught on but couldn't fathom why the white shove-ha'penny board had been carted up under one of the thatches weeks before, yet he bowed to the flow of fortune and waited, getting cooler by the moment."

There are fewer words there than there are phonemes in standard English and I don't think I've omitted any of those listed in Crystal's 'The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language'. Having said that, I'll just guarantee that someone will find an omission! But what the heck...this isn't the sort of thing one can devote a lifetime to!

One should bear in mind here, also, that different accents throughout the country will inevitably produce sounds that may not be represented here. For example, there's Scottish 'ch' as in 'loch' or 'Bach' and the 'oo'-style northern sound that's equivalent to 'u' further south...ie something like 'coop' for 'cup'.

What on earth are you planning to do with this anyway, Blue?

[darth vader]

All hail Quizmonster all hail Quizmonster......

[Quizmonster]

Yo, Darth! Did you understand that surreal offering? I'm having trouble doing so myself, so I presume the 'Force' was with you!

[Janetex]

Aw, you beat me Quizzie - I was going to suggest that blue hang around the pub at closing time and she'd be sure to hear several.

[bluedolphin]

Am in the process of collecting accents and am using the sentence as a kind of quick way to see how it sounds differently with different accents. But as part of a bigger project really. Thanks for your answer!

[darth vader]

QM - did i heck! I just assumed from your usual calibre of postings, that it was correct

[allphonemes]

"He thinks you should let that quick brown fox jump over the lazy dog." (This sentence contains all the phonemes that are phonemic in my Pacific NW accent.)