This page gives a comparison table of pronunciation symbols for American English used by Spelling Pronunciation, IPA, Merriam-Webster (MW) Dictionary, American Heritage Dictionary (AHD).
Pronunciation Symbols
Vowels
|
PURE |
SOUNDS |
IPA |
MW |
AHD |
SPELLED |
EXAMPLES |
|
[a] |
a uh ah |
/æ/ /ʌ/ /ɑ:/ |
\a\ \ˈə\ \ä\ |
(ă) (ŭ) (ä) |
a as in cat u as in cup ah as in calm |
ask, bat, glad under, putt, bud cot, bomb, caught, paw |
|
[e] |
ey e |
/eɪ/ /ɛ/ |
\ā\ \e\ |
(ā) (ĕ) |
ay as in say e as in bed |
eight, wade, bay bet, fed |
|
[i] |
ee i |
/i:/ /ɪ/ |
\ē\ \i\ |
(ē) (ĭ) |
ee as in meet i as in pin |
eat, bead, bee id, bid, pit |
|
[o] |
oh aw |
/oʊ/ /ɔ/ |
\ō\ \ȯ\ |
(ō) (ô) |
oh as in most aw as in law |
oat, own, zone, blow caught, paw, port (British) |
|
[u] |
oo oo yoo |
/u:/ /ʊ/ /ju/ |
\ü\ \u̇\ \yu\ |
(o͞o) (o͝o) (yu) |
oo as in soon uu as in put ew as in ewe |
boot, two, coo foot, should, put use, usual |
|
ai |
ahy |
/aɪ/ |
\ī\ |
(ī) |
igh as in high |
ice, bite, tie |
|
au |
ou |
/aʊ/ |
\au̇\ |
(ou) |
ow as in cow |
out, gown, plow |
|
oi |
oi |
/oɪ/ |
\ȯi\ |
(oi) |
oy as in boy |
oyster, coil, boy |
|
Schwa |
uh |
/ə/ |
\ə\ |
(ə) |
uh as in along |
about, banana, collide |
Syllabic Vowel-r
|
Schwa + [r] |
ur |
/ɚ/ |
\ər\ |
(ər) |
ur as in her |
merge, bird, further |
|
ar |
ahr |
/ɑɚ/ |
\är\ |
(är) |
ar as in bar |
car, heart, bizarre |
|
er |
air |
/eɚ/ |
\er\ |
(âr) |
air as in hair |
bare, fair, wear |
|
ir |
eer |
/iɚ/ |
\ir\ |
(îr) |
eer as in beer |
near, deer, mere, pier |
|
or |
awr |
/oɚ/ |
\ȯr\ |
(ôr) |
or as in corn |
boar, port, door, shore |
|
ur |
oor |
/uɚ/ |
\u̇\ |
(o͝or) |
oor as in poor |
boor, tour, insure |
Consonants
|
LETTERS |
SOUNDS |
IPA |
MW/AHD |
SPELLED |
EXAMPLES |
|
b |
[b] |
/b/ |
\b\ |
b |
baby, best, buy, bring, blind, absent, about, number, labor, robber, tub |
|
c |
[s] [k] |
/s/ /k/ |
\s\ \k\ |
s k |
center, cellar, cigarette, cinema, agency, notice;
|
|
d |
[d] |
/d/ |
\d\ |
d |
day, dear, die, door, duty, admire, hidden, lady, kind, ride, ended |
|
f |
[f] |
/f/ |
\f\ |
f |
fast, female, five, forest, fund, fry, flight, often, deaf, cuff |
|
g |
[g] [j] [zh] |
/g/ /ʤ/ / ʒ/ |
\g\ \j\ \zh\ |
g j zh |
game, gap, get, go, gun, great, global, giggle, ago, begin, dog, egg;
|
|
h |
[h] [-] |
/h/ /-/ |
\h\ \-\ |
h - |
hair, help, history, home, hotel, hunt, behind, inherit;
|
|
j |
[j] |
/ ʤ/ |
\j\ |
j |
jam, Jane, jet, jelly, Jim, jingle, joke, John, June, just |
|
k |
[k] |
/k/ |
\k\ |
k |
Kate, kind, kill, kilogram, sky, blanket, break, take, look |
|
l |
[l] |
/l/ |
\l\ |
l |
late, let, live, alone, close, slim, please, old, nicely, table, file, all |
|
m |
[m] |
/m/ |
\m\ |
m |
make, men, mind, mother, must, my, common, summer, name, form |
|
n |
[n] |
/n/ |
\n\ |
n |
napkin, never, night, no, nuclear, funny, student, kindness, ton, sun |
|
p |
[p] |
/p/ |
\p\ |
p |
paper, person, pick, pour, public, repair, apple, keep, top, crisp |
|
q (qu) |
[kw] [k] |
/kw/ /k/ |
\kw\ \k\ |
kw k |
quality, question, quite, quote, equal, require;
|
|
r |
[r] |
/r/ |
\r\ |
r |
rain, red, rise, brief, grow, scream, truck, arrive, hurry, turn, more, car |
|
s |
[s] [z] |
/s/ /z/ |
\s\ \z\ |
s z |
send, simple, song, system, street, lost, kiss, release;
|
|
t |
[t] |
/t/ |
\t\ |
t |
task, tell, time, tone, tune, hotel, attentive, student, boat, rest |
|
v |
[v] |
/v/ |
\v\ |
v |
vast, vein, vivid, voice, even, review, invest, give, move, active |
|
w |
[w] |
/w/ |
\w\ |
w |
wall, war, way, west, wind, word, would, swear, swim, twenty, twist |
|
x |
[ks] [gz] [z] |
/ks/ /gz/ /z/ |
\ks\ \gz\ \z\ |
ks gz z |
exercise, exchange, expect, ex-wife, axis, fix, relax;
|
|
y |
[y] |
/j/ |
\y\ |
y |
yes, year, opinion |
|
z |
[z] [ts] |
/z/ /ts/ |
\z\ \ts\ |
z ts |
zero, zoo, horizon, puzzle, crazy, organize, quiz, jazz;
|
Combinations
|
LETTERS |
SOUNDS |
IPA |
MW/AHD |
SPELLED |
EXAMPLES |
|
cc |
[ks] [k] |
/ks/ /k/ |
\ks\ \k\ |
ks k |
accent, accept, access, eccentric, accident;
|
|
ch tch |
[ch] |
/tʃ/ |
\ch\ |
ch |
chain, check, chief, choose, teacher, much, church;
|
|
ch (Latin, Greek) ch (French) |
[k] [sh] |
/k/ /ʃ/ |
\k\ \sh\ |
k sh |
character, chemical, Chris, archive, mechanic, technical
|
|
ck |
[k] |
/k/ |
\k\ |
k |
black, pack, deck, kick, pick, cracker, pocket, rocket |
|
dge |
[j] |
/ʤ/ |
\j\ |
j |
bridge, edge, judge, knowledge, budget, badger |
|
gh |
[g] [f] [-] |
/g/ /f/ /-/ |
\g\ \f\ \-\ |
g f - |
ghost, ghastly, Ghana, ghetto;
|
|
gu |
[g] [gw] |
/g/ /gw/ |
\g\ \gw\ |
g gw |
guard, guess, guest, guide, guitar, dialogue;
|
|
ng |
[ŋ] [ŋ]+[g] |
/ ŋ/ /ŋg/ |
\ ŋ\ \ ŋg\ |
ng ngg |
king, sing, singer, singing, bang, long, wrong, tongue;
|
|
ph |
[f] |
/f/ |
\f\ |
f |
phone, photograph, phrase, phenomenon, biography |
|
qu |
[kw] [k] |
/kw/ /k/ |
\kw\ \k\ |
kw k |
quality, question, quite, quote, equal, require;
|
|
sc |
[s] [sk] |
/s/ /sk/ |
\s\ \sk\ |
s sk |
science, scissors, scene, scent, scythe;
|
|
sch |
[sk] |
/sk/ |
\sk\ |
sk |
school, scholar, scheme, schedule;
|
|
sh |
[sh] |
/ʃ/ |
\sh\ |
sh |
share, she, shine, shoe, fish, cash, push, punish |
|
th |
[th] [th] |
/θ/ /ð/ |
\th\ \th\ |
th dh |
thank, thick, think, thought, thunder, author, breath, bath;
|
|
wh |
[w] [h] |
/w/ /h/ |
\w\ \h\ |
w h |
what, when, where, which, while, why, whale, wheel
|
|
xh |
[ks] [ks]+[h] [g]+[z] |
/ks/ /ksh/ /gz/ |
\ks\ \ks-h\ \gz\ |
ks ksh gz |
exhibition;
|
|
With silent letters |
|||||
|
bt, pt |
[t] |
/t/ |
\t\ |
t |
doubt, debt, subtle; receipt, pterodactyl |
|
kn, gn, pn |
[n] |
/n/ |
\n\ |
n |
knee, knife, know; gnome, sign, foreign; pneumonia |
|
mb, lm |
[m] |
/m/ |
\m\ |
m |
lamb, climb, bomb, comb, tomb; calm, palm, salmon |
|
ps |
[s] |
/s/ |
\s\ |
s |
psalm, pseudonym, psychologist, psychiatrist |
|
rh |
[r] |
/r/ |
\r\ |
r |
rhapsody, rhetoric, rheumatism, rhythm, rhyme |
|
wr |
[r] |
/r/ |
\r\ |
r |
wrap, wreck, wrestle, wrinkle, wrist, write, wrong |
|
Letters in the suffix |
|||||
|
ti, ci, si, su |
[sh] |
/ʃ/ |
\sh\ |
sh |
nation, patient, special, pension, Asia, sensual, pressure |
|
si, su |
[zh] |
/ʒ/ |
\zh\ |
zh |
vision, fusion, Asia, usual, visual, measure, pleasure |
PURE = Vowel Pure Sounds
SOUNDS = Spelling Pronunciation
IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet
MW = Merriam Webster Dictionary
AHD = The American Heritage Dictionary
SPELLED = Spelling Pronunciation
high stress: penmanship
low stress: penmanship