PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
This list contains the main sounds of standard British English (the one that’s associated with southern England, also often called Received Pronunciation).
See the bottom of the page for some important notes.
CONSONANTS
The following letters have their usual values in English:
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, z.
| IPA | Text | Examples | IPA | Text | Examples | |
| ɡ | g | get, go, guard | tʃ | tS | chip, chin, nature | |
| dʒ | dZ | judge, soldier | x | x | Scots loch | |
| ŋ | N | sing, ring, finger | θ | T | thin, thick, strength | |
| ð | D | then, bathe, lather | ʃ | S | she, sugar, machine | |
| ʒ | Z | pleasure, vision | j | j | yet, use, beauty |
SHORT VOWELS
| IPA | Text | Examples | IPA | Text | Examples | |
| æ | a | cat, bad, trap | ɛ | e | bed, net, dress | |
| ə | @ | about, comma | ɪ | I | kit, bid, hymn | |
| i | i | happy, glorious | ɒ | Q | hot, odd, wash | |
| ʌ | V | dug, run, strut | ʊ | U | book, put, foot |
LONG VOWELS
| IPA | Text | Examples | IPA | Text | Examples | |
| ɑː | A: | cart, arm, father | iː | i: | meet, see, fleece | |
| ɜː | 3: | her, nurse, learn | uː | u: | boot, too, group | |
| ɔː | O: | port, saw, thaw |
DIPHTHONGS/TRIPHTHONGS
| IPA | Text | Examples | IPA | Text | Examples | |
| aɪ | aI | bite, my, price | aʊ | aU | brow, how, mouth | |
| eɪ | eI | fate, day, break | əʊ | @U | goat, show, no | |
| ɪə | I@ | pier, near, weary | ɔɪ | OI | boil, choice, boy | |
| ʊə | U@ | tour, cure, jury | eə | e@ | hair, dare, various | |
| aʊə | aU@ | sour, cower, flour | aɪə | aI@ | fire, buyer, liar |
OTHER SYMBOLS
| IPA | Text | Purpose |
| ˈ | ’ | Precedes the syllable which has the primary stress |
| ˌ | , | Precedes a syllable which has a secondary stress |
| ( ) | ( ) | Surround an optional sound |
| ʔ | ? | Glottal stop |
SOME FRENCH VOWEL SOUNDS
| IPA | Text | Examples | IPA | Text | Examples | |
| ø | 2 | jeu | ɔ | O | bottes, bol | |
| œ | 9 | oeuf, soeur | y | y | sucre, tu | |
| ɑ̃ | a~ | banque, sans | ɛ̃ | e~ | cinq, saint | |
| ɔ̃ | o~ | bonbons, son | œ̃ | 9~ | un, lundi, brun |
NOTES AND LINKS
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols appear on our Web pages; the text equivalents are for our weekly e-mail newsletters. With minor changes, the IPA scheme is that of the Oxford English Dictionary, Collins Dictionaries and the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, while the text symbols are those of the European SAMPA scheme, with minor changes to aid comprehension by non-linguists.
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