Pronunciation Symbols for the Sounds of English
STRESS
| /ˈ/ | /ˈpɝsən/ | PERson | Primary stress--goes above the line before the strongest syllable in a word |
| /pɚˈsɛnt/ | perCENT | ||
| /ˌ/ | /ˈnuzˌpeɪpɚ/ | NEWSpaper | Secondary stress--goes below the line before the second strongest syllable in a word |
| /ˌɪnfɚmeɪʃən/ | inforMAtion |
Vowels (arranged phonetically)
| /i/ | eat, see, need | |||
| /ɪ/ | it, big, finishes | |||
| /eɪ/ | aid, day, hate | |||
| /ɛ/ | ever, head, get | |||
| /æ/ | apple, bad, hat | |||
| /ɑ/ | odd, father, hot | |||
| /ʌ/ | up, mother, mud (in stressed syllables) | |||
| /ə/ | about, animal, problem, polite, suggest, serious (in unstressed syllables) | |||
| /ɔ/ | all, saw, talk, caught | |||
| /oʊ/ | owe, road, hope | |||
| /ʊ/ | good, book, put | |||
| /u/ | too, food, soup | |||
| /aɪ/ | I, hide, right | |||
| /aʊ/ | out, how, loud | |||
| /ɔɪ/ | oil, toy, choice | |||
| /ɝ/ | early, her, bird, hurt (in stressed syllables) | |||
| /ɜr/ | curry, stirring (in stressed syllables, where /r/ is followed by a vowel) | |||
| /ɚ/ | teacher, doctor, picture, afterward (in unstressed syllables) | |||
| /ər/ | literal, summarize (in unstressed syllables, where /r/ is followed by a vowel) | |||
| /ɪr/ | ear, beer | |||
| /ɛr/ | air, care | |||
| /ɑr/ | arm, far | |||
| /ɔr/ | order, more | |||
| /ʊr/ | sure, tour | |||
| /aɪr/ | fire, tired | |||
| /aʊr/ | hour | |||
| /əl/ | bottle, metal, channel | |||
| /ən/ | button, sudden, mountain | |||
Consonants (arranged alphabetically, with special symbols last)
| /b/ | boy, baby, rob | |||
| /d/ | do, ladder, bed | |||
| /f/ | food, offer, safe | |||
| /ɡ/ | get, bigger, dog | |||
| /h/ | happy, ahead | |||
| /k/ | can, speaker, stick | |||
| /l/ | let, follow, still | |||
| /m/ | make, summer, time | |||
| /n/ | no, dinner, thin | |||
| /ŋ/ | singer, think, long | |||
| /p/ | put, apple, cup | |||
| /r/ | run, marry, far, store | |||
| /s/ | sit, passing, city, face | |||
| /t/ | top, better, cat | |||
| /v/ | very, seven, love | |||
| /w/ | wear, where, away | |||
| /hw/ | where, somewhat | |||
| /x/ | Chanukah, loch | |||
| /y/ | yes, use, beyond | |||
| /z/ | zoo, buzz, easy, please | |||
| /θ/ | thirsty, nothing, math | |||
| /ð/ | this, mother, breathe | |||
| /ʃ/ | she, station, push | |||
| /tʃ/ | church, watching, nature | |||
| /ʒ/ | measure, television, beige | |||
| /dʒ/ | jump, budget, age | |||