Appendix:English pronunciation

English

The following tables show the IPA and enPR/AHD symbols which are used to represent the various sounds of the English language. The sounds of Received Pronunciation (RP, UK), General American pronunciation (GenAm, US), Australian English (AuE) and New Zealand English (NZE) are shown.

For vowels in other dialects, see Wikipedia's IPA chart for English.

An image of an old version of these tables is available.

Vowels

This vowel table lists both monophthongs and diphthongs.

IPA					enPR / AHD	examples
RP	GenAm	CanE	AuE	NZE	enPR / AHD	examples
ɑː	ɑ	ɒ	aː	ɐː	ä	father, palm
æ				ɛ	ă	bad, cat, ran^[1]^[2]
æɹ	ɛɹ				ăr	carry
eɪ			æɪ	æe	ā	day, pain
ɑː	ɑɹ		aː	ɐː	är	arm, bard
ɛə / ɛː(ɹ)	ɛɹ		eː	eə	âr	hair, there^[3]
ɛ			e		ĕ	bed^[4]
ɛɹ					ĕr	merry
iː	i	iː			ē	ease, see
ɪ				ɘ	ĭ	sit, city, bit
ɪ	i					city, very, ready
ɪ̈ , ɨ						roses
ɪə	ɪɹ		ɪə	iə	ĭr, îr	near, here, Sirius
aɪ		aɪ (ʌɪ)	ɑe	ɑe	ī	my, rice
ɒ	ɑ	ɒ	ɔ	ɒ	ŏ	not, wasp
əʊ	oʊ		əʉ	ɐʉ	ō	no, go, hope
ɔə	oɹ, ɔɹ	ɔɹ			ōr	hoarse
ɔː	ɔ	ɒ	oː	oː	ô	law, caught
ɔː	ɔɹ				ôr	horse
ɔɪ			oɪ	oe	oi	boy, noise
ʊ					o͝o, ŏŏ	put, foot
ʊə	ʊɹ		ʊə	ʉə	o͝or, ŏŏr	poor, tour, tourism
uː	u	uː	ʉː		o͞o, ōō	lose, soon, through
aʊ		aʊ (ʌʊ)	æo		ou	house, now
ʌ			a	ɐ	ŭ	run, enough, up
ɜː	ɝ, əɹ	ɝː	ɜː	ɵː	ûr	fur, bird
ə				ɘ	ə	about
ə	ɚ		ə	ɘ	ər	winner, enter^[5]

↑ Sometimes transcribed
AEF: /a/
for RP, for example in dictionaries of the Oxford University Press.
↑ See bad–lad split for more discussion of this vowel in Australian English.
↑ Alternative symbols used in British dictionaries include
AEF: /ɛː/
(Oxford University Press) and
AEF: /eə/
.
↑ Sometimes transcribed
AEF: /e/
for RP, for example in Collins English Dictionary.
↑ Sometimes transcribed for GA as [əɹ] or (for transcriptions that represent both rhotic and non-rhotic pronunciations) as [ə(ɹ)].

Consonants

IPA	enPR / AHD	examples
b	b	but, web, rubble
tʃ	ch	chat, teach, nature
d	d	dot, idea, nod
f	f	fan, left, enough
ɡ	g	get, bag
h	h	ham
ʍ (hw)^[1]	hw	which
dʒ	j	joy, agile, age
k	k	cat, tack
x	ᴋʜ	loch (in Scottish English)
l	l	left
Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value).^[2]	l	little
m	m	man, animal, him
Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value).^[2]	m	spasm, prism
n	n	note, ant, pan
Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value).^[2]	n	hidden
ŋ	ng	singer, ring
p	p	pen, spin, top, apple
ɹ^[3]	r	run, very
s	s	set, list, ice
ʃ	sh	ash, sure, ration
t	t	ton, butt
θ	th	thin, nothing, moth
ð	th	this, father, clothe
v	v	voice, navel
w	w	wet
j	y	yes
z	z	zoo, quiz, rose
ʒ	zh	vision, treasure

↑ Some phonologists dispute that Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). is a distinct phoneme in English, and use Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). instead.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Some phonologists dispute that Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). are distinct phonemes in English, and use Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). instead.
↑ Often written Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., especially in works that cover only English, even though the sound is not a trill.

Other symbols

A stress mark is placed before the syllable that is stressed in IPA and after it in enPR / AHD.

IPA	enPR (AHD)	indicates
Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). (Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value).a)	ʹ (aʹ)	primary stress, as in rapping /ˈɹæpɪŋ/
Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). (Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value).a)	' (a')	secondary stress (or sometimes tertiary stress), as in battleship /ˈbætl̩ˌʃɪp/
aLua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value).a	a-a	division between syllables
̩		syllabic consonant, as in ridden [ˈɹɪdn̩]
ʔ		glottal stop, as in uh-oh /ˈʌʔoʊ/, [ˈʌ̆ʔ˦oʊ˨]

Note: The EnPR and print AHD marks are formatted slightly differently. Online, AHD writes both ', though they do not always represent the same phoneme.

References

External links

Learning the IPA for English, (Standard American English)
Online keyboard Archived 2007-01-05 at the Wayback Machine with MP3 sound files for IPA symbols
IPA chart Archived 2003-06-04 at the Wayback Machine with AIFF sound files for IPA symbols
IPA chart with MP3 sound files for all IPA symbols on the chart (limited version is available to anyone)
The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 2005) Symbols for all languages are shown on this one-page chart.
lexconvert a GPL command-line program to convert between Unicode IPA and the ASCII notations of various English speech synthesizers

[oxforda-1] Sometimes transcribed
AEF: /a/
for RP, for example in dictionaries of the Oxford University Press.

[badlad-2] See bad–lad split for more discussion of this vowel in Australian English.

[airsymbol-3] Alternative symbols used in British dictionaries include
AEF: /ɛː/
(Oxford University Press) and
AEF: /eə/
.

[collinse-4] Sometimes transcribed
AEF: /e/
for RP, for example in Collins English Dictionary.

[r-colored_schwa-5] Sometimes transcribed for GA as [əɹ] or (for transcriptions that represent both rhotic and non-rhotic pronunciations) as [ə(ɹ)].

[6] Some phonologists dispute that Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). is a distinct phoneme in English, and use Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). instead.

[cons-7] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Some phonologists dispute that Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). are distinct phonemes in English, and use Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value). instead.

[8] Often written Lua error in Mòideal:parameters at line 57: attempt to call upvalue 'plain' (a nil value)., especially in works that cover only English, even though the sound is not a trill.

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