Appendix:English pronunciation
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English
The following tables show the IPA, SAMPA and enPR/AHD representations of English pronunciation, in both Received Pronunciation (UK) and General American (US). For vowels in other dialects, see IPA chart for English.
Vowels
The vowel table lists both monophthongs and diphthongs.
| enPR (AHD) |
IPA | SAMPA | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RP | GA | RP | GA | ||
| ă | æ | { | bad, cat, ran | ||
| ăr | æɹ | {r\ | carry | ||
| ā | eɪ | eI | bait, play, same | ||
| ä | ɑː | ɑ | A: | A | father |
| är | ɑː(ɹ) | ɑɹ | A: | Ar\ | arm, bard, aria |
| âr | ɛə(ɹ) | ɛɹ | E@ | Er\ | hair, pear, there, scary |
| ĕ | ɛ | E | bed, bet, end | ||
| ĕr | ɛɹ | Er\ | merry | ||
| ē | iː | i | i: | i | ease, see |
| ĭ | ɪ | I | city, bit | ||
| i[1] | i | i | city, very, ready | ||
| ĭr | ɪɹ | Ir\ | syrup, Sirius | ||
| ī | aɪ | aI | my, rise | ||
| îr | ɪə(ɹ) | ɪɹ | I@ | Ir\ | here, near, peer, serious |
| ŏ | ɒ | ɑ | Q | A | not |
| ō | əʊ | oʊ | @U | oU | go, hope, know |
| ōr | ɔə(ɹ) | oɹ, ɔɹ | O@ | or\, Or\ | hoarse, glory |
| ô | ɔː | ɔ | O: | O | law, caught, saw |
| ôr | ɔː(ɹ) | ɔɹ | O: | Or\ | horse, more, laureate |
| oi | ɔɪ | OI | boy, noise | ||
| o͝o, ŏŏ | ʊ | U | put, foot | ||
| o͝or, ŏŏr | ʊə(ɹ) | ʊɹ | U@ | Ur\ | poor, tour, tourism |
| o͞o, ōō | uː | u | u: | u | lose, soon, through |
| ou | aʊ | aU | house, now | ||
| ŭ | ʌ | V | run, enough, up | ||
| ûr | ɜː(ɹ) | ɝ | 3: | 3` | fur, bird |
| ə | ə | @ | about | ||
| ər | ə(ɹ) | ɚ | @ | @` | enter |
Consonants
| enPR (AHD) |
IPA | SAMPA | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | b | b | but, able, cab, wobble, ebb |
| ch | tʃ[1] | tS | chat, teacher, inch, catch, nature |
| d | d | d | dot, idea, nod, fodder, odd |
| f | f | f | fan, left, leaf, enough, phase, graphic, epitaph |
| g | ɡ | g | get, magnet, bag |
| h | h | h | ham |
| hw | ʍ (hw)[2] | W | which |
| j | dʒ[1] | dZ | joy, ajar, gin, agile, age, edge |
| k | k | k | cat, kit, queen, pique, choir, ache, tack |
| ᴋʜ | x | x | (Scottish) loch |
| l | l | l | left (before vowel of syllable) |
| l | l̩ (əl)[3] | l= | little |
| m | m | m | man, animal, him |
| m | m̩ (əm)[3] | m= | spasm, prism |
| n | n | n | note, ant, pan |
| n | n̩ (ən)[3] | n= | hidden |
| ng | ŋ | N | singer, ring |
| p | p | p | pen, spin, top, apple |
| r | ɹ[4] | r\ | run, very |
| s | s | s | set, list, pass, city, ice |
| sh | ʃ | S | she, ash, sure, ration |
| t | t | t | ton, stab, mat, attend, butt, ought |
| th | θ | T | thin, nothing, moth |
| th | ð | D | this, father, clothe |
| v | v | v | voice, navel, save, of |
| w | w | w | wet |
| y | j | j | yes |
| z | z | z | zoo, quiz, fuzz, rose, xylem |
| zh | ʒ | Z | vision, treasure, beige |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 May also be written with a tie bar, thus: /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/
- ^ Phonologists may deny that /ʍ/ is a distinct phoneme, and instead use /hw/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Phonologists may deny that /l̩, n̩, m̩/ are distinct phonemes, and instead use /əl, ən, əm/.
- ^ Often conventionally written /r/, especially in works that cover only English.
Other symbols
A stress mark is placed before the syllable that is stressed in IPA and SAMPA and after it in enPR and AHD.
| enPR (AHD) |
IPA | SAMPA | Indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| ʹ (aʹ) | ˈ (ˈa) | " ("a) | primary stress |
| ' (a') | ˌ (ˌa) | % (%a) | secondary stress, sometimes tertiary stress |
| a-a | a.a | a.a | division between syllables |
Note: The EnPR and print AHD marks are formatted slightly differently. Online, AHD writes both ', though they do not always represent the same phoneme.
