The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet

The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet
This table contains all the sounds (phonemes) used in the English language. For each sound, it gives:
• The symbol in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), as used in phonetic transcriptions in modern dictionaries for English learners — that is, A. C. Gimson's phonemic system with a few additional symbols.
The table 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 (in mp3 format) 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.
If you would like to print the table, use the pretty printable version.
vowels
IPA words listen

cup, luck Amer


arm, father Amer / Brit


cat, black Amer


met, bed Amer
1

away, cinema Amer
2

turn, learn Amer / Brit
2

hit, sitting Amer


see, heat Amer


hot, rock Amer / Brit
3

call, four Amer / Brit
4

put, could Amer


blue, food Amer


five, eye Amer


now, out Amer


go, home Amer
5

where, air Amer / Brit
6

say, eight Amer


near, here Amer / Brit
6

boy, join Amer


pure, tourist Amer / Brit
6
consonants
IPA words listen

bad, lab Amer


did, lady Amer


find, if Amer


give, flag Amer


how, hello Amer


yes, yellow Amer


cat, back Amer


leg, little Amer


man, lemon Amer


no, ten Amer


sing, finger Amer


pet, map Amer


red, try Amer


sun, miss Amer


she, crash Amer


tea, getting Amer


check, church Amer


think, both Amer


this, mother Amer


voice, five Amer


wet, window Amer


zoo, lazy Amer


pleasure, vision Amer


just, large Amer


1 The phoneme is sometimes written as (do not confuse with ) in American sources to show that in AmE, the pronunciation falls between and .

2 In and , the is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as in answering, answer it). In AmE, the is always pronounced, and the sounds are sometimes written as and .

3 In AmE, is pronounced instead of . This is so obvious that we don't need to provide separate transcriptions for AmE and BrE.
4 Many Americans pronounce ( ) and in the same way.

5 has been traditionally written as in British sources. Today, is probably more appropriate for both BrE or AmE.
6 In , the is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as in dearest, dear Ann). In AmE, the is always pronounced, and the sounds are often written as ( ) .

special symbols
IPA what it means

The apostrophe symbol ( ) is used to show word stress. Usually, it is placed before the stressed syllable in a word. For example, / / is pronounced like this, and / / like that. Word stress is explained in our article about phonetic transcription.


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


("medium i") means that you can pronounce or or something in between — a sound that is short like but sounds like . Examples: very / /, create / /, previous / /, ability / /.


("syllabic l") shows that the consonant is pronounced as a separate syllable (it sounds like vowel). Examples: little / /, uncle / /.
Instead of the symbol, some dictionaries use / / or / /.


("syllabic n") shows that the consonant is pronounced as a separate syllable (it sounds like a vowel). Examples: written / /, listen / /.
Instead of the symbol, some dictionaries use or .


vowels
IPA words listen

cup, luck Amer


arm, father Amer / Brit


cat, black Amer


met, bed Amer
1

away, cinema Amer
2

turn, learn Amer / Brit
2

hit, sitting Amer


see, heat Amer


hot, rock Amer / Brit
3

call, four Amer / Brit
4

put, could Amer


blue, food Amer


five, eye Amer


now, out Amer


go, home Amer
5

where, air Amer / Brit
6

say, eight Amer


near, here Amer / Brit
6

boy, join Amer


pure, tourist Amer / Brit
6
consonants
IPA words listen

bad, lab Amer


did, lady Amer


find, if Amer


give, flag Amer


how, hello Amer


yes, yellow Amer


cat, back Amer


leg, little Amer


man, lemon Amer


no, ten Amer


sing, finger Amer


pet, map Amer


red, try Amer


sun, miss Amer


she, crash Amer


tea, getting Amer


check, church Amer


think, both Amer


this, mother Amer


voice, five Amer


wet, window Amer


zoo, lazy Amer


pleasure, vision Amer


just, large Amer

1 The phoneme is sometimes written as (do not confuse with ) in American sources to show that in AmE, the pronunciation falls between and .

2 In and , the is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as in answering, answer it). In AmE, the is always pronounced, and the sounds are sometimes written as and .

3 In AmE, is pronounced instead of . This is so obvious that we don't need to provide separate transcriptions for AmE and BrE.
4 Many Americans pronounce ( ) and in the same way.

5 has been traditionally written as in British sources. Today, is probably more appropriate for both BrE or AmE.
6 In , the is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as in dearest, dear Ann). In AmE, the is always pronounced, and the sounds are often written as ( ) .