Wiktionary:English pronunciation key
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
This page is intended as a common page to link to pronunciation guides in various languages. This page contains information on pronunciation of English. For pronunciation guides to other languages, see the bottom of the page.
Contents |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Vowels
The vowel table lists both monophthongs and diphthongs.
| 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 |
[1] Not an AHD symbol. Often written as AHD ē in Wiktionary entries.
[edit] Consonants
| enPR (AHD) |
IPA | SAMPA | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | b | b | but, able, cab, wobble, ebb |
| ch | tʃ | 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 | W | which |
| j | dʒ | dZ | joy, ajar, gin, agile, age, edge |
| k | k | k | cat, kit, queen, pique, choir, ache, tack |
| KH | x | x | (Scottish) loch |
| l | l | l | left (before vowel of syllable) |
| l | l̩ | l= | little |
| m | m | m | man, animal, him |
| m | m̩ | m= | spasm, prism |
| n | n | n | not, ant, pan |
| n | n̩ | n= | hidden |
| ng | ŋ | N | singer, ring |
| p | p | p | pen, spin, top, apple |
| r | ɹ[2] | 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, beige |
[2] Often conventionally written /r/, especially in works that cover only English.
[edit] 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.
