Consonants

IPA Examples
b buy, cab
d dye, cad, do

thy, breathe,
father
d
giant, badge,
jam
f fan, caff, phi
()
[1]
guy, bag
h high, ahead
j
[2]

yes,
hallelujah
k sky, crack
l lie, sly, gal
m
my, smile,
cam
n
nigh, snide,
can

sang, sink,
singer
thigh, math
p pie, spy, cap
r
rye, try,
very
[3]

s sigh, mass

shy, cash,
emotion
t
tie, sty, cat,
atom
t china, catch
v vie, have
w wye, swine
Vowels
IPA Full vowels ... followed by R
[7]

PALM, father, bra r
START, bard, barn,
snarl, star (also /r./)
LOT, pod, John
[8]
r moral, forage

TRAP, pad, shall, ban
[9]

r barrow, marry
[10]

a
PRICE, ride, file, fine,
pie
[11]

ar Ireland, hire (/ar./)
a.r higher, buyer
[12]

a
MOUTH, loud, foul,
down, how
ar flour (/ar./)
a.r flower
[12]


DRESS, bed, fell,
men
[13]

r error, merry
[13]

e
FACE, made, fail,
vein, pay
r
SQUARE, mare,
scarce, cairn, Mary
(/er./)
[14]

e.r mayor
[12]

KIT, lid, fill, bin r mirror, Sirius
i
FLEECE, seed, feel,
mean, sea
r
NEAR, beard, fierce,
serious (/ir./)
[15]

i.r freer

THOUGHT, Maud,
dawn, fall, straw
[16]

r
NORTH, born, war,
Laura (/r./)
[17][18]

.r sawer

CHOICE, void, foil,
coin, boy
r loir (/r./)
.r lawyer
[12]

o
GOAT, code, foal,
bone, go
[19]

r
FORCE, more, boar,
oral (/or./)
[17][18]

o.r mower

FOOT, good, full,
woman
r courier
hw why
[4]

z zoo, has

equation,
pleasure,
vision,
beige
[5]

Marginal
consonants
x
ugh, loch,
Chanukah
[6]


uh-oh
/o/


u
GOOSE, food, fool,
soon, chew, do
r
boor, moor, tourist
(/ur./)
[17][18]

u.r truer
ju
cued, cute, mule, tune,
queue, you
[20]

jr cure
ju.r fewer

STRUT, mud, dull,
gun
[21]

r borough, hurry
r
NURSE, word, girl,
fern, furry
Reduced vowels

Rosas, a mission,
quiet, focus
r LETTER, perceive

roses, emission
[22]

(either or )
n button

omission
[23]
(either o or
)
m rhythm

beautiful, curriculum
([j])
[24]
(either or )
l bottle
i
HAPPY, serious
[25]

(either or i)
,
(vowel is frequently
dropped: nasturtium)
Stress Syllabification
IPA Examples IPA Examples

intonation
/ntnen/,
[26]

battleship
/btlp/
[27]

.
moai /mo.a/,
Windhoek /vnt.hk/
Vancouveria
/vn.kuvri/
Mikey /maki/, Myki
/ma.ki/
[28]




Respelling
symbol(s)
Example
IPA
symbol
Notes
a trap //
Australian // or
//
[2]

Scottish /a/
ah palm //

air square /r/

ar start /r/
Scottish /ar/
arr marry /r/
aw thought //
[3]

ay face /e/

about // or //
Unstressed neutral vowel.
(Sometimes i may be used for //.)
r letter /r/ or // Unstressed neutral rhotic vowel
e dress //

ee fleece /i/ or /i/ also the second vowel of city
[4]

eer near /r/

err merry /r/

ew ewe, dew /ju/ American /u/ or /ju/
[5]

ewr cure /jr/

eye item /a/
Spelled
[6]
-y after a consonant.
The same vowel as the price example
below
i kit //

irr mirror /r/

o lot // -o- by itself may be //
oh goat /o/

oo food /u/ Scottish //
oor poor /r/

or or ohr
force or
wore
/r/
Australian /o()/
or or awr
north or
war
/r/
orr orange /r/ Scottish /r/
ow mouth /a/

owr hour /ar/

oy choice //

u strut //

ur nurse /r/ or //
American /, /
Scottish /r, r, r,
r/
[7]

urr hurry /r/

uu foot // Scottish //
y price, dye /a/
with a consonant, otherwise spelled
[6]

eye.
American /a/ or //
[8]

yr fire /ar/

Consonants
Respelling
symbol
Example
IPA
symbol(s)
Notes
b but, web /b/

ch
church,
nature
/t/

d do, odd /d/

dh
this, father,
breathe
// This sound is similar to th //, but voiced.
f
fool,
enough,
leaf
/f/

g or gh
go, beg,
ghee
//
Not as in gem or gin, which is j /d/. For
legibility, ghee is used instead of gee in a
few articles.
h ham, ahead /h/

j
gin, joy,
edge
/d/

k
cat, kiss,
skin, quick
/k/

kh
chutzpah,
loch
/x/
Pronounced like h (at the beginning of a
syllable) or k (at the end of a syllable) by
many speakers
l left, bell /l/

m man, ham /m/

n no, tin /n/

ng
ring,
singer, sink
// Not the sound in finger, which is ng-g //.
ng-g finger //

p
pen, spin,
tip
/p/

r run, very /r/

s or ss
see, city,
pass
/s/
Not as in rose, which is z /z/. Use ss in
positions where single s is normally /z/ in
English, such as the end of a word after a
vowel or a voiced consonant: for example,
transliterate "ice" as eyess, not eyes and
"tense" as tenss, not tens.
sh
she, sure,
emotion,
leash
//

t
two, sting,
bet
/t/

th thing, teeth //

v voice, have /v/

w we, quick /w/

wh what /hw/
In many dialects, people substitute w for this
sound.
y yes /j/

z
zoo, rose,
lens
/z/

zh
pleasure,
vision,
beige
//
Some speakers may substitute j /d/ for this
sound at the beginning of a word, except in
proper names such as Zsa Zsa.

US dictionary transcription
Vowels examples pronunciation IPA
bad, lad, parry bd, ld, pr
bay, base, bare b, bs, br e (r)
[2]

spa, balm, bard sp, bm, brd (r)
bed, berry bd, br
bee, bead, beer b, bd, br i (r)
about, enter bowt, ntr
() roses rsz
[3]

bid, mirror bd, mrr
bye, bide, bite, fire b, bd, bt, fr a
pod, porridge pd, prj
[4]

paw, bought, born p, bt, brn
[4]
(r)
Poe, abode, bore p, bd, br o (r)
put, foot pt, ft
boo, boot, food b, bt, fd u
oor boor boor
[5]
(r)
oy boy, poise boy, poyz
ow pow, power pow, powr a
bud, hurry bd, hr
pew, cue, pure p, c, pr ju (jr)
r fur, bird fr, brd r
Foreign examples pronunciation IPA
casa (Spanish) ks a
cl(French) kl e
danke schn (German) dngk shn
jus (French) zh y
vin blanc (French) v bl
- Hawaii (Hawaiian) hw-
Consonants examples pronunciation IPA
ch chat cht t
dh that, mother dht, mdhr
g get gt
hw which hwch ~hw
j joy, gin joy, jn d
kh loch lkh x
ng singer sngr
ngg finger fnggr
s sad, city sd, st s
sh shed shd
th thin, moth thn, mth
y yet yt j
z zed, pose zd, pz z
zh vision, beige vzhn, bzh
- uh-oh -