The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet

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The sounds of English and the International 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 Amer and Brit play sound recordings (Flash is required) 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.

Vowels

æ   ask, bat, glad
ɑ:   cot, bomb, caught, paw
ɛ   bet, fed (1)
ə   about, banana, collide (2)
i   very, any, thirty
i:  eat, bead, bee
ɪ   id, bid, pit
ʊ   foot, should, put
u:  boot, two, coo
ʌ   under, putt, bud
ɚ   merge, bird, further (2)
eɪ  eight, wade, bay
aɪ  ice, bite, tie
aʊ  out, gown, plow
oɪ  oyster, coil, boy
oʊ  oat, own, zone, blow (6)
ɑɚ  car, heart, bizarre
eɚ  bare, fair, wear (1) (7)
iɚ  near, deer, mere, pier (7)
oɚ  boar, port, door, shore (7)
uɚ  boor, tour, insure (7)
ɒ   British cot, bomb (3)
ɔ   British caught, paw, port (4) (5)
ə:  British merge, bird
əʊ  British oat, own, zone, blow
ɪə  British near, deer
ɛə  British bare, fair
ʊə  British boor, tour Consonants

Consonants

b   baby, labor, cab
d   day, kid
ʤ   just, badger, fudge
ð   then, either, bathe
f   foe, tough, buff
g   go, dagger, bag
h   hot, ahead
j   yes, vineyard
k   lacquer, flock, skin
kʰ  cat, keep, account
l   law, hollow
ḷ  pedal, battle, final
ɫ   pool, boil
m   mat, hemp, hammer, rim
n   new, tent, tenor, run
ṇ  button, satin, kitten
ŋ   rung, hang, swinger
p   lapse, top, lip, speed
pʰ  pay, pet, appear
r   rope, arrive (8)
s   sad, mist, kiss
ʃ   shoe, mission, slush
t   mat, stick, late (9)
tʰ  toe, attack
ɾ   later, catty, riddle
tʃ  batch, nature
tʃʰ choose, chin, achieve
θ   thin, ether, bath
v   vat, never, cave
w   wet, software
z   zoo, easy, buzz
ʒ   vision, azure, beige
ʔ   button, kitten, satin (glottal stop)

Other Symbols

   high stress: penmanship
   low stress: penmanship
£   indicates British pronunciation variant

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(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, or at the beginning of the /eɪ/ sound in English. The “proper” symbol for the bed vowel is /ɛ/ (do not confuse with /ɜ:/). The same goes for /eə/ vs. /ɛə/.
(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) In AmE, /ɑ:/ and /ɒ/ are one vowel, so calm and cot have the same vowel. In American transcriptions, hot is written as /ˈhɑ:t/.
(4) About 40% of Americans pronounce /ɔ:/ the same way as /ɑ:/, so that caught and cot have the same vowel. It's a phonemic merger called "cot-caught merger".
(5) In American transcriptions, /ɔ:/ is often written as /ɒ:/ (e.g. law = /ˈlɒ:/), unless it is followed by "r", in which case it remains an /ɑɚ/ or /ɔ:/ as in car.
(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) In /eəʳ/, /ɪəʳ/, and /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 /eɚ/, /iɚ/, /uɚ/.
(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/.
(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 /ṭ/ or /ɾ/ symbol for the "flap /t/".

Special Symbols

/ˈ/ - The vertical line (/ˈ/) is used to show word stress. It is placed before the stressed syllable in a word. For example, the word contract as noun is pronounced /ˈkɑ:nˌtrækt/, and as verb is pronounced /kənˈtrækt/.

/ʳ/ - The sound /ʳ/ is not a sound — it is a short way of saying that an "r" is pronounced only in American English. For example, if you write that the pronunciation of bar is /bɑ:ʳ/, you mean that it is /ˈbɑɚ/ in American English, and /bɑ:/ in British English. However, in BrE, "r" will be heard if /ʳ/ is followed by a vowel. For example, far gone is pronounced /ˈfɑ: ˈgɒn/ in BrE, but far out is pronounced /ˈfɑ: ˈraʊt/.

/i/ - The sound /i/ is usually pronounced like a shorter version of /i:/, but sometimes (especially in an old-fashioned British accent) it can sound like /ɪ/. Examples: very /ˈveri/, create /kriˈeɪt/, previous /ˈpri:viəs/, ability /əˈbɪlɪti/.

/əl/ - The Sound /əl/ means that the consonant "l" is pronounced as a separate syllable (the syllabic /l/, which sounds like a vowel), or that there is a short /ə/ sound before it. Examples: little /ˈlɪtəl/, uncle /ˈʌŋkəl/. Instead of the /əl/ symbol, some dictionaries use an /l/ with a small vertical line underneath (/ḷ/), or simply /l/, as in /ˈlɪtḷ/ or /ˈlɪtl/.

/ən/ - The sound /ən/ means that the consonant "n" is pronounced as a separate syllable (the syllabic /n/, which sounds like a vowel), or that there is a short /ə/ sound before it. Examples: written /ˈrɪtən/, listen /ˈlɪsən/. Instead of the /ən/ symbol, some dictionaries use an /n/ with a small vertical line underneath (/ṇ/), or simply /n/, as in /ˈrɪtṇ/ or /ˈrɪtn/.

Does this chart list all the sounds that you can hear in British and American English?

No. This page contains symbols used in phonetic transcriptions in modern dictionaries for English learners. It does not list all the possible sounds in American or British English.

For example, the dixtionaries do not list the regular /t/ and the "flap t: /ɾ/ with separate symbols. It groups them under a single symbol: /t/. (In other words, it groups a number of similar sounds under a single phoneme, for simplicity)

So the dictionaries actually list phonemes (groups of sounds), not individual sounds. Each symbol in the chart can correspond to many different (but similar) sounds, depending on the word and the speaker’s accent.

Take the phoneme /p/ in the above chart. It occurs in the phonemic transcriptions of pin /pɪn/ and spin /spɪn/. In pin, this phoneme is pronounced with aspiration (breathing). This “aspirated p” sound has its own special symbol in the IPA:/pʰ/. In spin, the phoneme is pronounced “normally”; this “normal p” sound is represented by /p/ in the IPA. So the "p phoneme" represents two sounds: /p/ and /pʰ/. (This can be confusing, because "p" can mean both the "p phoneme" and the "p sound")

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