POETRY

The sounds  Phonetic Alphabet

This chart contains all the sounds (phonemes) used in the English language. For each sound, it gives:

• The symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as used in phonetic transcriptions in modern dictionaries for English learners — that is, in A. C. Gimson’s phonemic system with a few additional symbols.
  The chart represents British and American phonemes with one symbol. One symbol can mean two different phonemes in American and British English. See the footnotes for British-only and American-only symbols.
  
• Two English words which use the sound. The underline shows where the sound is heard.
• The links labeled AM and BR play sound recordings where the words are pronounced in American and British English. The British version is given only where it is very different from the American version.

To print the chart, use the printable PDF version.

vowels

IPA	examples	listen
ʌ	cup, luck	AM
ɑ:	arm, father	AM BR
æ	cat, black	AM
e	met, bed	AM	1
ə	away, cinema	AM	2
ɜ:ʳ	turn, learn	AM BR	2
ɪ	hit, sitting	AM
i:	see, heat	AM
ɒ	hot, rock	AM BR	3
ɔ:	call, four	AM BR	4 5
ʊ	put, could	AM
u:	blue, food	AM
aɪ	five, eye	AM
aʊ	now, out	AM
eɪ	say, eight	AM
oʊ	go, home	AM	6
ɔɪ	boy, join	AM
eəʳ	where, air	AM BR	1 7
ɪəʳ	near, here	AM BR	7
ʊəʳ	pure, tourist	AM BR	7

consonants

IPA	examples	listen
b	bad, lab	AM
d	did, lady	AM
f	find, if	AM
g	give, flag	AM
h	how, hello	AM
j	yes, yellow	AM
k	cat, back	AM
l	leg, little	AM
m	man, lemon	AM
n	no, ten	AM
ŋ	sing, finger	AM
p	pet, map	AM
r	red, try	AM	8
s	sun, miss	AM
ʃ	she, crash	AM
t	tea, getting	AM	9
tʃ	check, church	AM
θ	think, both	AM
ð	this, mother	AM
v	voice, five	AM
w	wet, window	AM
z	zoo, lazy	AM
ʒ	pleasure, vision	AM
dʒ	just, large	AM

1. 1. Almost all dictionaries use the e symbol for the vowel in bed. The problem with this convention is that e in the IPA does not stand for the vowel in bed; it stands for a different vowel that is heard, for example, in the German word Seele. The “proper” symbol for the bed-vowel is ɛ (do not confuse with ɜ:). The same goes for eə vs. ɛə.
2. 2. In əʳ and ɜ:ʳ, the ʳ is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as in answering, answer it). In AmE, the ʳ is always pronounced, and the sounds are sometimes written as ɚ and ɝ.
3. 3. In AmE, ɑ: and ɒ are one vowel, so calm and cot have the same vowel. In American transcriptions, hot is written as hɑ:t.
4. 4. About 40% of Americans pronounce ɔ: the same way as ɑ:, so that caught and cot have the same vowel. See cot-caught merger.
5. 5. In American transcriptions, ɔ: is often written as ɒ: (e.g. law = lɒ:), unless it is followed by r, in which case it remains an ɔ:.
6. 6. In British transcriptions, oʊ is usually represented as əʊ. For some BrE speakers, oʊ is more appropriate (they use a rounded vowel) — for others, the proper symbol is əʊ. For American speakers, oʊ is usually more accurate.
7. 7. In eəʳ ɪəʳ ʊəʳ, the r is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as in dearest, dear Ann). In AmE, the r is always pronounced, and the sounds are often written as er ɪr ʊr.
8. 8. All dictionaries use the r symbol for the first sound in red. The problem with this convention is that r in the IPA does not stand for the British or American r; it stands for the “hard” r that is heard, for example, in the Spanish word rey or Italian vero. The “proper” symbol for the red-consonant is ɹ. The reason r is used instead is that it’s easier to type and read.
9. 9. In American English, t is often pronounced as a flap t, which sounds like d or (more accurately) like the quick, hard r heard e.g. in the Spanish word pero. For example: letter. Some dictionaries use the t ̬ symbol for the flap t.