PHONETIC SYMBOLS FOR ENGLISH

Welcome to this lecture headed “PHONETIC SYMBOLS FOR ENGLISH”. We will be discussing all about phonetic symbols for English. Enjoy your lecture.

Phonetic symbols for English

Below is the standard set of phonemic symbols for English (RP and similar accents).

	Consonants
p	pen, copy, happen
b	back, baby, job
t	tea, tight, button
d	day, ladder, odd
k	key, clock, school
g	get, giggle, ghost
tʃ	church, match, nature
dʒ	judge, age, soldier
f	fat, coffee, rough, photo
v	view, heavy, move
θ	thing, author, path
ð	this, other, smooth
s	soon, cease, sister
z	zero, music, roses, buzz
ʃ	ship, sure, national
ʒ	pleasure, vision
h	hot, whole, ahead
m	more, hammer, sum
n	nice, know, funny, sun
ŋ	ring, anger, thanks, sung
l	light, valley, feel
r	right, wrong, sorry, arrange
j	yet, use, beauty, few
w	wet, one, when, queen
ʔ	(glottal stop)

	Vowels
I	kit, bid, hymn, minute
e	dress, bed, head, many
æ	trap, bad
ɒ	lot, odd, wash
ʌ	strut, mud, love, blood
ʊ	foot, good, put
iː	fleece, sea, machine
eɪ	face, day, break
aɪ	price, high, try
ɔɪ	choice, boy
uː	goose, two, blue, group
əʊ	goat, show, no
aʊ	mouth, now
ɔɪ	choice, boy
uː	goose, two, blue, group
əʊ	goat, show, no
aʊ	mouth, now
ɪə	near, here, weary
eə	square. fair, various
ɑː	start, father
ɔː	thought, law, north, war
ʊə	poor, jury, cure
ɜː	nurse, stir, learn, refer
ə	about, common, standard
i	happy, radiate. glorious
u	thank you, influence, situation
n̩	suddenly, cotton
l	middle, metal

Long vowel sounds.

ɑː ɔː

Vowel sounds –

Diphthongs –

eɪ

aɪ

ɔɪ

aʊ

əʊ

oʊ

ɪə

eə

ʊə

Consonants – Unvoiced and voiced pairs 1 –

Unvoiced

tʃVoiced

dʒ

Consonants – Unvoiced and voiced pairs 2

Unvoiced

ʃVoiced p>v

ʒOther consonants

These phonemes are part of the phonetic chart that is used to depict the sounds of a lot of languages. They have been established by the International Phonetic Association (IPA

Pronunciations in the American English and Essential American English dictionary do not make use of the ‘long vowel’ marker /ː/ and, in place of the syllable division marker /./, they make use of a raised dot /·/.

Vowels

Long Vowels

iː sheep

ɑː Farm

uː Coo

ɔː horse

ɜː bird

ɪ ship

æ hat

ʊ foot

ɒ sock (UK)

ʌ cupShort Vowels

e head

ə above

ɚ mother (US)

ɝ worm (US)

Consonants

Voiced

b Book

d Day

ɡ Give

v Very

ð The

z Zoo

ʒ Vision

dʒ Jump

l Look

r Run

j Yes

w We

m Moon

n Name

ŋ SingVoiceless

p pen

t town

k cat

f fish

θ think

s say

ʃ she

tʃ cheese

Diphthongs

eɪ day

aɪ eye

ɔɪ boy

aʊ mouth

əʊ nose (UK)

oʊ nose (US)

ɪə ear (UK)

eə hair (UK)

ʊə pure (UK)

Other symbols

H /hænd/

hand

ɒ /ˈkwæs.ɒ/

croissant (UK)

I /hæp.i/

happy

t /bʌt .ɚ/

butter (US)

U /ˌɪn.fluˈen.zə/

influenza

l ̩ /ˈlɪt.l ̩/

little

əl, əm, ən can be pronounced either: əl or l ̩etc.:

/ˈleɪb.əl/ = /ˈleɪb.əl/ or /ˈleɪb.l̩/

linking r is pronounced only before a vowel in British English:

fɔːr + ˈæp.l ̩z = fɔːˈræp.l ̩z

four + apples = four apples

ˈmain stress /ˌek.spekˈteɪ.ʃən/expectation

ˌsecondary stress /ˌriːˈtell/ retell

.syllable division /ˈsɪs.təm/ system

Phonetic symbol includes phonetic symbols for the transcription of English sounds, in addition to others that are used for transliterating or transcribing different languages, with the articulatory description of the sounds and a few extra comments where suitable.

These symbols do not always follow the standard IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) usage — instead, they reflect the practices for the languages in this writing, which are every now and then a bit personal due to different scholarly traditions.

In a few cases, a second line illustrates a dissimilar use of the same symbol, usually for another language or family of languages. Nonetheless, the list is by no means complete; for instance, most pinyin symbols for transcribing Mandarin are not included here.

You definitely don’t need to memorize all these symbols below, but you can refer to the symbols if you’re not sure what a specific symbol means when you encounter it.

Symbol	Phonetic value	Example
a	low central (or front) unrounded vowel	French la
ä	central vowel ranging between [ɛ] and [ə]	Ethiopic
ɑ	low back unrounded vowel; often written [a]	spa
ɒ	low back rounded vowel	British hot
æ	low front unrounded vowel	cat, laugh, plaid
b	voiced bilabial stop	bib
ḇ	spirantized [b]; historically [β], modern [v]	Hebrew
β	voiced bilabial fricative	Spanish haber
c	voiceless alveolar affricate; IPA [ʦ] or [ts]	Italian zucchero, German zu, Yiddish tsimmes
č	voiceless palatoalveolar affricate; IPA [ʧ] or [tʃ]	church, watch
ɔ	lax mid back rounded vowel	dog (for many speakers)
ɕ	voiceless alveolopalatal fricative	Mandarin xi
ç	voiceless palatal fricative	German ich
d	voiced alveolar stop	dad
ḏ	palatalized [dʸ]; can be pronounced [ǰ]	Egyptian
	or spirantized [d], same as [ð]	Ancient Hebrew
ḍ	voiced retroflex stop; IPA [ɖ]	Indic
	or emphatic, i.e. pharyngealized [dˁ]	Semitic
ð	voiced dental fricative	this, either
e	tense mid front unrounded vowel	bait, made
ə	lax mid central vowel (unstressed in English);	“schwa” about, sofa
ɚ	rhotacized schwa, essentially [ər]	butter, actor
ɛ	lax mid front unrounded vowel	bet, head
ɝ	stressed [ɚ] in English; often transcribed the same way	bird, learn
f	voiceless labiodental fricative	fife, laugh
g	voiced velar stop	gag
ḡ	spirantized [g]; same as [ɣ]	Ancient Hebrew
h	voiceless glottal fricative	hit
ʰ	aspiration of preceding sound	top vs. stop
ḥ	voiceless pharyngeal fricative; IPA [ħ]	Arabic hummus
ḫ	voiceless uvular fricative;	Egyptian, Semitic
ẖ	voiceless fricative; probably palatal [ç]	Egyptian
i	tense high front unrounded vowel	see, diva
ɪ	lax high front unrounded vowel	hit
ỉ	special transcriptional symbol; also [j]	Egyptian
ɨ	high central unrounded vowel	roses
j	voiced palatal glide; same as [y] in other systems	standard IPA; Mycenaean Greek
	or alternate transliteration for [ỉ]	Egyptian
ʲ	palatalization of preceding sound; also [ʸ]	roughly canyon vs. cannon
ǰ	voiced palatoalveolar affricate; IPA [ʤ] or [dʒ]	judge
k	voiceless velar stop	kick, cake
ḳ	voiceless uvular stop; same as [q] Egyptian
ḵ	spirantized [k]; same as [x]	Ancient Hebrew
l	voiced alveolar lateral liquid	lip
ḷ	voiced retroflex lateral liquid; IPA [ɭ]	Indic
ɬ	voiceless alveolar lateral fricative	Semitic; Welsh “ll”
ɫ	velarized voiced alveolar lateral liquid	hull
m	voiced bilabial nasal	mom
n	voiced alveolar nasal	none
ŋ	voiced velar nasal; don’t confuse with sequence [ŋg]	singer
ṇ	voiced retroflex nasal; IPA [ɳ]	Indic
ɲ	voiced palatal nasal	Spanish ñ, Italian gn
ɴ	voiced uvular nasal	Japanese word-final “n”
o	tense mid back rounded vowel	go, hope, boat
ŏ	mid central unrounded vowel, similar to [ə]	Korean “eo”
ɸ	voiceless bilabial fricative	(like blowing out a match)
θ	voiceless dental fricative	thing, myth
p	voiceless bilabial stop	pep
p̅	spirantized [p]; historically [ɸ], modern [f]	Hebrew
þ	runic letter equivalent to [θ]	Icelandic
	or runic letter that can be read as either [θ] or [ð]	Old English, some Scandinavian
q	voiceless uvular stop	Arabic Qatar
r	voiced alveolar trill (often used for other types of “r”)	Spanish perro
ɹ	voiced (post)alveolar liquid, the English “r”; often just written [r]	run, sorry
ɾ	voiced alveolar tap; sometimes written [ᴅ]	Am Engl city; Spanish pero
ʀ	voiced uvular trill	some French dialects, etc.
ʁ	voiced uvular fricative	French, German, Modern Hebrew “r”
ṛ	voiced retroflex flap; IPA [ɽ]	Indic
s	voiceless alveolar fricative	sit, hiss, rice, cent
š	voiceless postalveolar fricative; IPA [ʃ]	ship, push, delicious
ś	voiceless alveolopalatal fricative; IPA [ɕ]	Indic
	or voiceless alveolar fricative; historically distinct from [z]	Egyptian (often just “s”)
ś	voiceless alveolopalatal fricative; IPA [ɕ]	Indic
	or voiceless alveolar fricative; historically distinct from [z]	Egyptian (often just “s”)
	or voiceless fricative; historically distinct from [s]	Hebrew, other Semitic
ṣ	voiceless retroflex fricative; IPA [ʂ]	Indic, Mandarin (“sh”)
	or emphatic, i.e. pharyngealized [sˁ]	Semitic
ʃ	voiceless postalveolar fricative; same as [š]	ship, push, delicious
t	voiceless alveolar stop	stop
ṭ	voiceless retroflex stop; IPA [ʈ]	Indic
	or emphatic, i.e. pharyngealized [tˁ]	Semitic
ṯ	palatalized [tʸ]; can be pronounced [č]	Egyptian
	or spirantized [t], same as [θ]	Ancient Hebrew
ʨ	voiceless alveolopalatal affricate	Mandarin ji (cf. aspirated qi)
tʂ	voiceless retroflex affricate	Mandarin zhi (cf. aspirated chi)
u	tense high back rounded vowel	ooze, prune
ʊ	lax high back rounded vowel	put, book
ŭ	high central unrounded vowel, similar to [ɨ]	Korean “eu”
ü	tense high front rounded vowel	French, German, Mandarin
v	voiced labiodental fricative	verve
ʌ	mid central unrounded vowel; stressed in English	cut, love
ɣ	voiced velar fricative	voiced velar fricative
w	voiced labial-velar glide	witch
ʍ	voiceless labial-velar fricative	which for some speakers
x	voiceless velar fricative	chutzpah, German ach
χ	voiceless uvular fricative	Semitic, Egyptian
y	voiced palatal glide (in many transcription systems); IPA [j]	yes
	high front rounded vowel (in IPA)	French u, German ü
ʸ	palatalization of preceding sound; IPA [ʲ]	roughly canyon vs. cannon
ʎ	voiced palatal lateral	Italian gli, Castilian ll
z	voiced alveolar fricative	fizz, his, rose
ẓ	voiced retroflex fricative; IPA [ʐ]	Indic, Mandarin (“r”)
	or emphatic, i.e. pharyngealized [zˁ] or [ðˁ]	Semitic
ž	voiced palatoalveolar fricative; IPA [ʒ]	rouge, vision
ʒ	voiced palatoalveolar fricative; same as [ž]	rouge, vision
’	glottalization of preceding sound (ejective)	Mayan, Ethiopic
‘	aspiration of preceding sound; same as [ʰ]	Chinese (not Pinyin)
ʔ	glottal stop; also written ’ or	medial sound in uh-oh
ʕ	voiced pharyngeal fricative; also written ‘ or	Arabic ‘ayn

The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet

This table below shows all the sounds (phonemes) used in the English language. For each sound, it provides:

The symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as used in phonetic transcriptions in modern dictionaries for English learners.

The table represents British and American phonemes with one symbol. One symbol can mean two different phonemes in American and British English.

Two English words which make use of the sound. The underline shows where the sound is heard.vowels

IPA – examples

ʌ – cup, luck

ɑ: – arm, father

æ – cat, black

e – met, bed

ə – away, cinema

ɜ: – turn, learn

ɪ – hit, sitting

i: – see, heat

ɒ – hot, rock

ɔ: – call, four

ʊ – put, could

u: – blue, food

aɪ – five, eye

aʊ – now, out

eɪ – say, eight

oʊ – go, home

ɔɪ – boy, join

eə – where, air

ɪə – near, here

ʊə – pure, touristconsonants

IPA – examples

b – bad, lab

d – did, lady

f – find, if

g – give, flag

h – how, hello

j – yes, yellow

k – cat, back

l – leg, little

m – man, lemon

n – no, ten

ŋ – sing, finger

p – pet, map

r – red, try

s – sun, miss

ʃ – she, crash

t – tea, getting

tʃ – check, church

θ – think, both

ð – this, mother

v – voice, five

w – wet, window

z – zoo, lazy

ʒ – pleasure, vision

dʒ – just, large

Nearly all dictionaries makeuse 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 instance, 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.

In əʳ and ɜ:, 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 every so often written as ɚ and ɝ.

In AmE, ɑ: and ɒ are one vowel, thus calm and cot have the same vowel. In American transcriptions, hot is written as hɑ:t.

About 40% of Americans pronounce ɔ: the same way as ɑ:, so that caught and cot have the same vowel..

In American transcriptions, ɔ: is over and over again written as ɒ: (e.g. law = lɒ:), unless it is followed by r, in which case it remains an ɔ:.

In British transcriptions, oʊ is typically represented as əʊ. For a few BrE speakers, oʊ is more suitable (they use a rounded vowel) – for others, the proper symbol is əʊ. For American speakers, oʊ is frequently more accurate.

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.

All dictionaries make use of the r symbol for the first sound in red. The problem with this convention is that rin the IPA does not stand for the British or American r; it stands for the “hard” r that is heard, for instance, in the Spanish word rey or Italian vero. The “proper” symbol for the red consonant is ɹ.

9. In American English, t is commonly 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. A few dictionaries use thet symbol for the flap t.

Thanks for reaching to this point marking the end of this lecture.

Your Lecture Master:

Mst. Ugonwanne Joshua