Phonetic Symbols

/i:/

EE as in "see" or "tree".

/a:/

AH as in "father" or "car".

/ɔ:/

O as in “More”

/u:/

OO as in "food" or "moon".

/ɜ:/

ER as in "her" or "bird".

/I/

I as in "bit"

/e/

E as in "bed" or "met".

/æ/

A as in "cat" or "bat".

/ɒ/

O as in "lot" or "pot".

/i/

I as in "see" or "be".

/ʌ/

U as in "cup" or "luck".

/ʊ/

U as in "foot" or "good".

/ə/

A as in "sofa" or "about."

/aɪ/

I as in "my" or "fly."

/eɪ/

A as in "day" or "say."

/ɔɪ/

O as in "boy" or "toy." (OI as in the diphthong sound in words like "coin" and "join." )

/aʊ/

A as in "now" or "how." Used in words like "doubt" and "shout."

/əʊ/

O as in "go" or "no." Used in words like "show" and "grow."

/p/

A voiceless bilabial plosive as in "pat" or "spat." It occurs at the beginning of words like "pea" and "play."

/t/

A voiceless alveolar plosive as in "tap" or "bat." It occurs at the beginning of words like "tea" and "top."

/k/

A voiceless velar plosive as in "cat" or "skit." It occurs at the beginning of words like "key" and "kite."

/b/

A voiced bilabial plosive as in "bat" or "cab." It occurs at the beginning of words like "bee" and "boy."

/d/

A voiced alveolar plosive as in "dog" or "bad." It occurs at the beginning of words like "day" and "drop."

/g/

A voiced velar plosive as in "go" or "big." It occurs at the beginning of words like "gum" and "give."

/m/

A voiced bilabial nasal as in "man" or "jam." It occurs at the beginning of words like "mother" and "moon."

/n/

A voiced alveolar nasal as in "net" or "can." It occurs at the beginning of words like "note" and "nine."

/ŋ/

A voiced velar nasal as in "sing" or "ring." It occurs at the end of words like "song" and "long."

/h/

A voiceless glottal fricative as in "hat" or "he." It occurs at the beginning of words like "home" and "happy."

/f/

A voiceless labiodental fricative as in "fan" or "leaf." It occurs at the beginning of words like "fun" and "far."

/s/

A voiceless alveolar fricative as in "sun" or "nice." It occurs at the beginning of words like "say" and "six."

/v/

A voiced labiodental fricative as in "van" or "leave." It occurs at the beginning of words like "voice" and "vest."

/θ/

A voiceless dental fricative as in "think" or "path." It occurs at the beginning of words like "theory" and "three."

/ð/

A voiced dental fricative as in "this" or "that." It occurs at the beginning of words like "though" and "them."

/ʃ/

A voiceless postalveolar fricative as in "shoe" or "wish." It occurs at the beginning of words like "ship" and "shop."

/ʒ/

A voiced postalveolar fricative as in "measure" or "vision." It occurs at the beginning of words like "genre" and "Jacques."

/ʧ/

A voiceless postalveolar affricate as in "chip" or "church." It occurs at the beginning of words like "cheese" and "change."

/ʤ/

A voiced postalveolar affricate as in "judge" or "juice." It occurs at the beginning of words like "jungle" and "just."

/l/

A voiced alveolar lateral approximant as in "light" or "feel." It occurs at the beginning of words like "look" and "love."

/r/

A voiced alveolar approximant produced with the tongue positioned near the alveolar ridge but not touching it, as in "red" or "run." It occurs at the beginning of words like "right" and "rose."

/w/

A voiced labio-velar approximant produced by rounding the lips and raising the back of the tongue towards the soft palate, as in "we" or "water." It occurs at the beginning of words like "want" and "way."

/j/

A voiced palatal approximant produced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, as in "yes" or "yellow." It typically occurs at the beginning of words.

/aɪə/

A diphthong that begins with an open front vowel and glides towards a mid-central vowel, commonly found in words like "fire" or "higher." It typically appears in stressed syllables.

/ɔɪə/

A diphthong that begins with a mid back rounded vowel and glides towards a mid-central vowel, commonly found in words like "spoiler" or "royal." It typically appears in stressed syllables.

/aʊə/

A diphthong that begins with an open back rounded vowel and glides towards a mid-central vowel, commonly found in words like "power" or "flower." It typically appears in stressed syllables.

/əʊə/

A diphthong that begins with a mid back rounded vowel and glides towards a mid-central vowel, commonly found in words like "lower" or "gover." It typically appears in stressed syllables.