Help:IPA/English - Wikipedia

Help:IPA/English - Wikipedia
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Help:IPA
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This page is about the pronunciation of words in English. For sounds not found in English, see
Help:IPA
. For a basic introduction to the IPA, see
Help:IPA/Introduction
. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see
Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters
This is the
pronunciation key
for
IPA
transcriptions of English on Wikipedia.
It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of English in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing
consensus
on the
talk page
first.
For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see
Help:IPA
. For the distinction between
[ ]
/ /
and ⟨
⟩, see
IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters
Shortcuts
H:IPA-EN
H:IPA-EN
H:IPAE
H:IPAE
H:IPAEN
H:IPAEN
Wikipedia key to pronunciation of English
On Wikipedia, the pronunciation of words is shown using the
International Phonetic Alphabet
IPA
). The tables below provide a key to the IPA symbols used for English pronunciations. Please note that some of these symbols are used in ways specific to Wikipedia, and may differ from their usage in dictionaries.
If IPA symbols do not display correctly in your browser, see the
troubleshooting links below
Editors should use
IPA templates
such as
{{
IPAc-en
}}
when adding IPA to Wikipedia articles, see
Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters
for guidance. These templates ensure accessibility and tooltip functionality, see
the documentation page
for usage instructions.
Key
If you are looking for an IPA symbol that does not appear in the pronunciation key below, see
Help:IPA
, which provides a more comprehensive list. For a table showing how the sounds on this page correspond to English spellings, see
English orthography § Sound-to-spelling correspondences
. For assistance in converting spellings to pronunciations, refer to
English orthography § Spelling-to-sound correspondences
In some cases, words given as examples for different symbols may sound the same to you. For instance, you might pronounce
cot
and
caught
do
and
dew
, or
marry
and
merry
the same. This typically results from dialect variation (see our articles
English phonology
and
International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects
). If so, you will likely pronounce those symbols the same in other words as well.
Whether this applies to all words or only in certain contexts depends on the specific
sound merger
The footnotes provide further explanation of these cases.
Consonants
IPA
Examples
uy, ca
ye, ca
, la
dd
er
dj
ew
dʒ
ive, ba
dg
th
y, brea
th
e, fa
th
er
ind, lea
uy, ba
igh, a
ead
hw
wh
ine
es, hallelu
ah
ind, s
y,
ra
ck
ie, p
y, ga
lj
ute
y, s
ile, ca
igh, s
ide, ca
nj
ew
sa
ng
, si
k, si
ng
er
ie, s
y, ca
ye, t
y, ve
igh, ma
ss
sj
con
ume
sh
y, ca
sh
, emo
ti
on
ie, s
y, ca
, la
tt
er
tj
une
tʃ
Ch
ina, ca
tch
th
igh, pa
th
θj
en
th
use
ie, lea
ine, s
ine
oo, ha
zj
eus, re
ume
plea
ure, bei
Vowels
Strong vowels
...followed by R
10
IPA
Examples
IPA
Examples
ɑː
LM
, br
, f
ther
ɑːr
ST
AR
, b
ther, c
t, bl
ckade
11
ɒr
or
al
12
13
TR
, b
g, s
ng, t
ttoo
14
ær
arr
15
aɪ
PR
CE
, p
ie
16
aɪər
ire
17
aʊ
OU
TH
, h
ow
16
aʊər
fl
our
17
18
DR
SS
, b
g, l
ngth, pr
stige
ɛr
err
15
eɪ
CE
, v
gue
ɛər
SQU
ARE
, M
ar
15
19
, b
g, s
ng, h
storic
20
ɪr
irr
or, S
ir
ius
iː
FL
EE
CE
, l
ea
gue, pedigr
ee
, id
21
ɪər
EAR
, s
er
ious
19
oʊ
22
OA
20
ɔːr
OR
CE
, h
oar
se
23
ɔː
TH
OUGH
, c
augh
t,
au
dacious
24
OR
TH
, h
or
se
23
ɔɪ
CH
OI
CE
ɔɪər
oir
17
OO
ʊr
our
ier
uː
OO
SE
, cr
el
21
ʊər
our
URE
/ˈkjʊər/
25
19
26
STR
, s
ng,
ntidy, tr
stee
27
ɜːr
UR
SE
, bl
urr
y,
ur
bane, forew
or
28
ʌr
urr
29
Weak vowels
IPA
Examples
IPA
Examples
comm
, abb
t, b
zaar
ər
lett
ER
, forw
ar
d, hist
or
30
rabb
t, b
zarre, Lat
20
31
oʊ
mott
, retr
active, foll
ow
er
20
32
happ
, med
ocre
33
iə
Californ
ia
34
fr
ition
32
33
uə
infl
ue
nce
35
Syllabic consonants
30
IPA
Examples
IPA
Examples
əl
bott
le
, doub
ing
[əl]
[l̩]
, or
[l]
ən
butt
on
, fast
en
er
[ən]
[n̩]
, or
[n]
əm
rhyth
, bloss
om
ing
[əm]
[m̩]
, or
[m]
Marginal segments
IPA
Examples
IPA
Examples
lo
ch
Ch
anukah
36
uh
oh
/ˈʔʌʔoʊ/
ɒ̃
on
viv
an
37
æ̃
in
de siècle
37
ɜː
bius
(some dialects only)
38
Stress
39
Syllabification
IPA
Examples
IPA
Examples
in
to
na
tion
/ˌɪntəˈneɪʃən/
40
/ˈhaɪər/
hire
/ˈhaɪ.ər/
higher
41
/ˈtæks.peɪər/
taxpayer
Notes
Words in
SMALL CAPITALS
are the standard
lexical sets
. Not all of the sets are used here. In particular, we excluded words in the lexical sets
BATH
and
CLOTH
, which may be given two transcriptions, the former either with
/ɑː/
or
/æ/
, the latter with
/ɒ/
or
/ɔː/
The length mark ⟨
⟩ does not mean that the vowels transcribed with it are always longer than those without it. When unstressed, followed by a voiceless consonant, or in a
polysyllabic
word, a vowel in the former group is frequently shorter than the latter in other environments (see
Clipping (phonetics) § English
).
/i,
u/
likewise do not mean shorter versions of
/iː,
uː/
but represent a situation in which some speakers have
/iː,
uː/
and others
/ɪ,
ʊ/
(see
Happy
tensing
).
Dialect variation
Further information:
English phonology
and
Sound correspondences between English accents
This key represents
diaphonemes
, abstractions of speech sounds that accommodate
General American
, British
Received Pronunciation
(RP) and to a large extent also
Australian
Canadian
Irish
(including
Ulster
),
New Zealand
Scottish
South African
and
Welsh English
pronunciations. Therefore, not all of the distinctions shown here are relevant to a particular dialect.
Fewer distinctions
These are cases where the diaphonemes express a distinction that is not present in some accents. Most of these are historical
mergers
, but some are notational conventions (e.g.
/i/
), some represent accents which do not exhibit splits into the sets defined here (e.g. those without a
/ʊ/–/ʌ/
distinction), and some represent significant deviations from the broad transcription symbols used here (e.g.
squ
are
ayr
oom
in some rhotic accents).
⟩ (happ
): this symbol does not represent a phoneme but a variation between
/iː/
and
/ɪ/
in unstressed positions. Speakers of dialects with
happy
tensing
(Australian English, General American, modern RP) should read it as an unstressed
/iː/
, whereas speakers of other dialects (e.g. some Northern England English) should treat it the same as
/ɪ/
. In Scotland, this vowel can be considered the same as the short allophone of
/eɪ/
, as in
take
. Before
/ə/
within the same word, another possible pronunciation is
/j/
as in
et
Speakers of some
rhotic
dialects, for instance in Ireland and Scotland, may not distinguish between the relevant vowels in
ear
/ˈnɪər/
fr
eer
unning
/ˈfriːrʌnɪŋ/
ure
/ˈkjʊər/
Q-r
ating
/ˈkjuːreɪtɪŋ/
, and
squ
are
/ˈskwɛər/
ayr
oom
/ˈdeɪruːm/
. If you speak such a dialect, read
/ɪər,
ʊər,
ɛər/
as
/iːr,
uːr,
eɪr/
Cot
caught
merger
: Many speakers of American, Canadian, Scottish and Irish English pronounce
cot
/ˈkɒt/
and
caught
/ˈkɔːt/
the same.
You may simply ignore the difference between the symbols
/ɒ/
and
/ɔː/
, just as you ignore the distinction between the written vowels
and
au
when pronouncing them.
Father
bother
merger
: Most speakers of North American English (with the exception of
Eastern New England
) do not distinguish between the vowels in
ther
/'fɑːðər/
and
ther
/'bɒðər/
, pronouncing the two words as rhymes. If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between the symbols
/ɑː/
and
/ɒ/
In Northern Ireland, Scotland and many North American dialects the distinction between
/ʊr/
as in
our
ier
and the aforementioned
/ʊər/
and
/uːr/
does not exist. If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between
/ʊr/
/ʊər/
and
/uːr/
Foot
goose
merger
: in Northern Ireland and Scotland this merger occurs in all environments, which means that
foot
/ˈfʊt/
and
goose
/ˈɡuːs/
also have the same vowel.
If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between
/ʊ/
and
/uː/
in all contexts.
Cure
north
merger
cure
nurse
merger
: in North America, the
/ʊr/
of
our
ier
and the
/ʊər/
of
cure
may instead merge with
/ɔːr/
as in
north
or
/ɜːr/
as in
nurse
. No such merger is possible in the case of the sequence which we transcribe as
/uːr/
as there is an implied morpheme boundary after the length mark.
Mirror
nearer
merger
: in North American dialects that do not distinguish between
/ʊr/
/ʊər/
and
/uːr/
there is also no distinction between the
/ɪr/
of
irr
or
and the aforementioned
/ɪər/
and
/iːr/
. If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between
/ɪr/
/ɪər/
and
/iːr/
Merry
marry
Mary
merger
: In many North American dialects there is also no distinction between the vowels in
err
/ˈmɛri/
arr
/ˈmæri/
, and
ar
/ˈmɛəri/
. If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between
/ɛr/
/ær/
, and
/ɛər/
. Some speakers keep
arr
and/or
err
separate from the rest, but in the General American accent all three vowels are the same and may not be distinct from
/eɪr/
as in
ayr
oom
/ˈdeɪruːm/
Nurse
letter
merger
: in rhotic North American English there is no distinction between the vowels in
nurse
/ˈnɜːrs/
and
lett
er
/ˈlɛtər/
. If you speak such a dialect, read
/ɜːr/
as
/ər/
. The
/ʌr/
of
hurry
often joins this neutralization; if you have it in your speech, read
/ɜːr/
/ər/
and
/ʌr/
as
/ər/
SQUARE–NURSE
merger
: some speakers from Northern England do not distinguish the vowel of
square
/ˈskwɛər/
and
nurse
/ˈnɜːrs/
If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between the symbols
/ɛər/
and
/ɜːr/
KIT–commA
merger
: In New Zealand English, the vowels of
kit
/ˈkɪt/
and
foc
/ˈfoʊkəs/
have the same
schwa
-like quality.
If you are from New Zealand, ignore the difference between the symbols
/ɪ/
and
/ə/
NEAR–SQUARE
merger
: in contemporary New Zealand English and some other dialects, the vowels of
near
/ˈnɪər/
and
square
/ˈskwɛər/
are not distinguished.
If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between the symbols
/ɪər/
and
/ɛər/
Lack of
FOOT–STRUT
split
: In Northern England English and some varieties of Irish and Welsh English, the vowels of
foot
/ˈfʊt/
and
strut
/ˈstrʌt/
are not distinguished.
If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between the symbols
/ʊ/
and
/ʌ/
Sam
psalm
merger
: In some varieties of Scottish English and in Northern Irish English, the vowels of
trap
/ˈtræp/
and
palm
/ˈpɑːm/
are not distinguished.
If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between the symbols
/æ/
and
/ɑː/
STRUT–
comm
merger
: in Welsh English and some other dialects, the vowels of
northodoxy
/ʌnˈɔːrθədɒksi/
and
n orthodoxy
/ən
ˈɔːrθədɒksi/
are not distinguished.
If you speak such a dialect, ignore the difference between the symbols
/ʌ/
and
/ə/
Changes before historic /l/
: depending on the dialect, vowels can be subject to various mergers before
/l/
, so that e.g.
fill
/ˈfɪl/
and
feel
/ˈfiːl/
or
pull
/ˈpʊl/
and
pool
/ˈpuːl/
may not be distinguished.
L-vocalization
may trigger even more mergers, so that e.g.
cord
/ˈkɔːrd/
and
called
/ˈkɔːld/
may be homophonous as
/ˈkɔːd/
in non-rhotic dialects of South East England.
Rhoticity
: In many dialects,
/r/
occurs only before a vowel; if you speak such a dialect, simply ignore
/r/
in the pronunciation guides where you would not pronounce it, as in
cart
/kɑːrt/
Yod-dropping
: in other dialects,
/j/
es) cannot occur after
/t,
d,
n/
, etc., within the same syllable; if you speak such a dialect, then ignore the
/j/
in transcriptions such as
new
/njuː/
. For example,
New York
is transcribed
/njuː
ˈjɔːrk/
. For most people from England and for some New Yorkers, the
/r/
in
/jɔːrk/
is not pronounced; for most people from the United States, including some New Yorkers, the
/j/
in
/njuː/
is not pronounced and may be ignored.
More distinctions
On the other hand, there are some distinctions which you might make but which this key does not encode, as they are seldom reflected in the dictionaries used as sources for Wikipedia articles:
The vowels of
kit
and
bit
, distinguished in South Africa.
Both of them are transcribed as
/ɪ/
in stressed syllables and as
/ɪ/
or
/ə/
in unstressed syllables.
The difference between the vowels of
fir
fur
and
fern
, maintained in some
Scottish
and
Irish English
but lost elsewhere.
All of them are transcribed as
/ɜːr/
The vowels of
north
and
force
, distinguished in Scottish English, Irish English and by a minority of American speakers.
Both of them are transcribed as
/ɔːr/
The vowels of
pause
and
paws
, distinguished in Cockney and by some Estuary English speakers.
Both of them are transcribed as
/ɔː/
when the spelling does not contain
⟨r⟩
and
/ɔːr/
or
/ʊər/
(depending on the word) when it does.
The vowels of
manning
and
Manning
, distinguished in some parts of the United States (see
/æ/
raising
). Both of them are transcribed as
/æ/
The difference between the vowels of
pain
and
pane
found in some English, Welsh, and Newfoundland dialects. Both of them are transcribed as
/eɪ/
The difference between the vowels of
toe
and
tow
found in some English, Welsh, and Newfoundland dialects. Both of them are transcribed as
/oʊ/
The difference between the vowels of
holy
and
wholly
found in Cockney and many Estuary English speakers.
Both of them are transcribed as
/oʊ/
Any
allophonic
distinctions, such as:
The vowels of
bad
and
lad
, distinguished in many parts of
Australia
and
Southern England
. Both of them are transcribed as
/æ/
The vowels of
spider
and
spied her
, distinguished in many parts of Scotland,
plus many parts of North America. Both of them are transcribed as
/aɪ/
The vowels of
rider
and
writer
, distinguished in most parts of Canada and many parts of the United States. Both of them are transcribed as
/aɪ/
The vowels of
powder
and
pouter
distinguished in most parts of Canada and some parts of the United States. Both of them are transcribed as
/aʊ/
Allophonic vowel length (including the
Scottish vowel length rule
), as in
knife
/ˈnaɪf/
vs.
knives
/ˈnaɪvz/
. Phonemic vowel length, which exists in some dialects and involves pairs such as
/ɛ/
vs.
/ɛər/
and
/ə/
vs.
/ɜːr/
is also not marked explicitly.
/i/
and
/u/
do not represent phonemes; see above.
Flapping
in words such as
better
, which we write
/ˈbɛtər/
, rather than
/ˈbɛdər/
Glottalization
in words such as
jetlag
and, in some accents,
daughter
, which we write
/ˈdʒɛtlæɡ/
and
/ˈdɔːtər/
, rather than
/ˈdʒɛʔlæɡ/
and
/ˈdɔːʔər/
. In this system,
/ʔ/
is used only for
paralanguage
or in loanwords where it occurs phonemically in the original language.
L-vocalization
in words such as
bottle
and
Alps
, which we write
/ˈbɒtəl/
and
/ˈælps/
, rather than
/ˈbɒtʊ/
and
/ˈæwps/
The difference between allophones of
/ə/
in
bal
nce
) vs. the ones in
bout
and
Russi
(and, in non-rhotic dialects,
bett
er
), both of which may be closer to
/ʌ/
in dialects with the foot–strut split (that is,
) vs. the one in
butt
(the
syllabicity
of the following consonant). All are transcribed as
/ə/
in our system.
The difference between the phonetic realization of English sounds (mostly vowels) in various dialects.
Let's pick some grapes for Betty
should be transcribed
/lɛts
ˈpɪk
səm
ˈɡreɪps
fər
ˈbɛti/
regardless of the variety of English and everyone should interpret that transcription according to their own dialect. Thus, a person from South East England will read it as something like
[lɛʔs
ˈpʰɪk
səm
ˈɡɹɛɪps
fə
ˈbɛtˢɪi]
, a Scot as
[ɫɛts
ˈpʰɪk
səm
ˈɡɾeps
fɚ
ˈbɛte]
, whereas someone from New Zealand will interpret that transcription as
[ɫɪts
ˈpʰək
səm
ˈɡɹæɪps
fə
ˈbɪɾi]
. Because we are transcribing
diaphonemes
rather than
phones
(actual sounds), it is irrelevant that, for example, the vowel in
let's
as pronounced by someone from New Zealand overlaps with how people with England and Scotland typically pronounce the first vowel in
pick
, or that the Scottish realization of
/r/
after
/ɡ/
overlaps with the New Zealand realization of
/t/
between vowels. In other words, the symbol ⟨
⟩ does not stand specifically for the
open-mid front unrounded vowel
in our system but
any
vowel that can be identified as the vowel in
let's
, depending on the accent. This is also why we use the simple symbol ⟨
⟩ for the second sound in
grapes
Other words may have different vowels depending on the speaker.
For more extensive information on dialect variations, you may wish to see the
IPA chart for English dialects
Note that place names are not generally exempted from being transcribed in this abstracted system, so rules such as the above must be applied in order to recover the local pronunciation. Examples include place names in much of England ending
-‍ford
, which although locally pronounced
[-fəd]
are transcribed
/-fərd/
. This is best practice for editors. However, readers should be aware that not all editors may have followed this consistently, so for example if
/-fəd/
is encountered for such a place name, it should not be interpreted as a claim that the
/r/
would be absent even in a
rhotic
dialect.
Other transcriptions
If you feel it is necessary to add a pronunciation respelling using another convention, then please use the conventions of
Wikipedia's pronunciation respelling key
To compare the following IPA symbols with non-IPA American dictionary conventions that may be more familiar, see
Pronunciation respelling for English
, which lists the pronunciation guides of fourteen English dictionaries published in the United States.
To compare the following IPA symbols with other IPA conventions that may be more familiar, see
Help:IPA/Conventions for English
, which lists the conventions of eight English dictionaries published in Britain, Australia, and the United States.
See also
If your browser does not display IPA symbols, you probably need to install a font that includes the IPA (for good, free IPA fonts, see the download links in the articles for
Gentium
, and the more complete
Charis SIL
; for a monospaced font, see the complete
Everson Mono
).
For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see
Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters
Help:IPA/Conventions for English
Help:Pronunciation respelling key
Pronunciation respelling for English
Category:Pages with English IPA
(444)
Notes
This rule is generally employed in the pronunciation guide of our articles, even for local terms such as place names. However, be aware that not all editors may have followed this consistently, so for example if a pronunciation of an English town ending in ‑ford reads /‑fəd/, it doesn't mean that the /r/ would be absent in a rhotic dialect.
For example, if you have the
marry–merry
merger, you probably only merge
/æ/
and
/ɛ/
before
/r/
. You would still distinguish
man
and
men
In varieties with
flapping
/t/
and sometimes also
/d/
between a vowel and a weak or word-initial vowel may be pronounced with a voiced tap
, making
latter
sound similar or identical to
ladder
. Some dictionaries transcribe
/t/
subject to this process as ⟨
⟩ or ⟨
t̬
⟩, but they are not distinguished in this transcription system. In those varieties, the sequence
/nt/
in the same environment may also be realized as a
nasalized
tap
ɾ̃
, making
winter
sound similar or identical to
winner
. This is also not distinguished in this system.
In dialects with
yod dropping
/j/
in
/juː/
/ju/
, or
/jʊər/
is not pronounced after
coronal consonants
/t/
/d/
/s/
/z/
/n/
/θ/
, and
/l/
) in the same syllable, so that
dew
/djuː/
is pronounced the same as
do
/duː/
. In dialects with
yod coalescence
/tj/
and
/dj/
mostly merge with
/tʃ/
and
/dʒ/
, so that
dew
/djuː/
is pronounced the same as
Jew
/dʒuː/
. In some dialects
/sj/
and
/zj/
are also affected and frequently merge with
/ʃ/
and
/ʒ/
. Where
/j/
in
/juː/
/ju/
, or
/jʊər/
following a coronal is still pronounced in yod-dropping accents, place a syllable break before it:
/ˈmɛn.juː/
The phoneme
/hw/
is not distinguished from
/w/
in the many dialects with the
wine
whine
merger
, such as RP and most varieties of General American. For more information on this sound, see
voiceless labialized velar approximant
The IPA value of the letter ⟨
⟩ may be counterintuitive to English speakers, but the spelling is found even in some common English words like
hallelujah
and
fjord
. Some dictionaries use ⟨
⟩ instead, although it represents a
close front rounded vowel
in official IPA.
/l/
in the
syllable coda
, as in the words
all
cold
, or
bottle
, is pronounced as
or a similar sound in many dialects through
L-vocalization
In most varieties of English
/r/
is pronounced as a
voiced postalveolar approximant
ɹ̠
⟩. Although the IPA symbol ⟨
⟩ represents the
alveolar trill
, ⟨
⟩ is widely used instead of ⟨
ɹ̠
⟩ in broad transcriptions of English for convenience.
A number of English words, such as
genre
and
garage
, may be pronounced with either
/ʒ/
or
/dʒ/
In
non-rhotic accents
like RP,
/r/
is not pronounced unless followed by a vowel.
In dialects with the
father
bother
merger
such as General American,
/ɒ/
is not distinguished from
/ɑː/
In most of the United States,
/ɒr/
is merged with
/ɔːr/
, except for a handful of words such as
borrow
tomorrow
and
sorry
, which instead have
/ɑːr/
. In some parts of the Southern and Northeastern US, it is always merged with
/ɑːr/
. In Canada, it is always merged with
/ɔːr/
Some British sources, such as the
Oxford English Dictionary
, use ⟨
⟩ instead of
/æ/
to transcribe this vowel. This more closely reflects the actual vowel quality in contemporary
Received Pronunciation
In North America,
/æ/
is often pronounced like a diphthong
[eə~ɛə]
before nasal consonants and, in some particular regional dialects, other environments. See
/æ/
raising
Many North American accents have the
Mary
marry
merry
merger
and therefore don't distinguish between the corresponding sounds
/ɛər/
/ær/
, and
/ɛr/
. Some speakers merge only two of the sounds (most typically
/ɛər/
with one of the short vowels), and less than a fifth of speakers of American English make a full three-way distinction like in RP and similar accents.
In much of North America,
/aɪ/
or
/aʊ/
may have a slightly different quality when it precedes a
voiceless
consonant, as in
price
or
mouth
, from that in
ride/pie
or
loud/how
, a phenomenon known as
Canadian raising
. Since this occurs in a predictable fashion, it is not distinguished in this transcription system.
Some speakers pronounce
higher, flower
and
coyer
("more coy") with two syllables, and
hire, flour
and
coir
with one. Most pronounce them the same. For the former group of words, make use of syllable breaks, as in
/ˈhaɪ.ər/,
/ˈflaʊ.ər/,
/ˈkɔɪ.ər/
, to differentiate from the latter. Before vowels, the distinction between
/aɪər,
aʊər,
ɔɪər/
and
/aɪr,
aʊr,
ɔɪr/
is not always clear; choose the former if the second element may be omitted (as in
[ˈdaəri]
diary
).
/ɛ/
is transcribed with ⟨
⟩ in many dictionaries. However,
/eɪ/
is also sometimes transcribed with ⟨
⟩, especially in North American literature, so ⟨
⟩ is chosen here.
/ɛə/
/ɪə/
, or
/ʊə/
may be separated from
/r/
only when a stress follows it. The
IPAc-en
template supports
/ɛəˈr/
/ɪəˈr/
/ʊəˈr/
/ɛəˌr/
/ɪəˌr/
, and
/ʊəˌr/
as distinct diaphonemes for such occasions.
⟩ and ⟨
oʊ
⟩ represent strong vowels in some words and weak vowels in others. It will not always be clear which they are.
Words like
idea, real,
and
theatre
may be pronounced with
/ɪə/
and
cruel
with
/ʊə/
in non-rhotic accents such as Received Pronunciation, and some dictionaries transcribe them with
/ɪə,
ʊə/
but since they are not pronounced with
/r/
in rhotic accents, they are transcribed with
/iːə,
uːə/
, not with
/ɪə,
ʊə/
, in this transcription system.
/oʊ/
is often transcribed with ⟨
əʊ
⟩, particularly in British literature, based on its modern realization in Received Pronunciation. It is also transcribed with ⟨
⟩, particularly in North American literature.
Some accents, such as
Scottish English
, many forms of
Irish English
and some conservative
American
accents, make a distinction between the vowels in
horse
and
hoarse
(i.e. they lack the
horse
hoarse
merger
). Since most modern dictionaries do not differentiate between them, neither does this key.
/ɔː/
is not distinguished from
/ɒ/
in dialects with the
cot
caught
merger
such as Scottish English, Canadian English and many varieties of General American. In North America, the two vowels most often fall together with
/ɑː/
/ʊər/
is not distinguished from
/ɔːr/
in dialects with the
cure
force
merger
, including many younger speakers. In England, the merger may not be fully consistent and may only apply to more common words. In conservative RP and Northern England English
/ʊər/
is much more commonly preserved than in modern RP and Southern England English. In Australia and New Zealand,
/ʊər/
does not exist as a separate phoneme and is replaced either by the sequence
/uːər/
/uːr/
before vowels within the same word, save for some compounds) or the monophthong
/ɔːr/
Some, particularly North American, dictionaries notate
/ʌ/
with the same symbol as
/ə/
, which is found only in unstressed syllables, and distinguish it from
/ə/
by marking the syllable as stressed. Also note that although ⟨
⟩, the IPA symbol for the
open-mid back vowel
, is used, the typical modern pronunciation is rather close to the
near-open central vowel
[ɐ]
in some dialects, including Received Pronunciation.
/ʌ/
is not used in the dialects of the northern half of England and some parts of Ireland and Wales. These words would take the
/ʊ/
vowel: there is no
foot
strut
split
In Received Pronunciation,
/ɜːr/
is pronounced as a lengthened schwa,
[əː]
. In General American, it is phonetically identical to
/ər/
. Some dictionaries therefore use ⟨
əː,
ər
⟩ instead of the conventional notations ⟨
ɜː,
ɜr
⟩. When ⟨
ər
⟩ is used for
/ɜːr/
, it is distinguished from
/ər/
by marking the syllable as stressed. This is likewise the case for the notations ⟨
⟩ and ⟨
⟩, which are conventionally distinguished as stressed versus unstressed, respectively.
/ʌr/
is not distinguished from
/ɜːr/
in dialects with the
hurry
furry
merger
such as General American.
In a number of contexts,
/ə/
in
/ər/
/əl/
/ən/
, or
/əm/
is often omitted, resulting in a syllable with no vowel. Some dictionaries show
/ə/
in those contexts in parentheses, superscript, or italics to indicate this possibility, or simply omit
/ə/
. When followed by a weak vowel, the syllable may be lost altogether, with the consonant moving to the next syllable, so that
doubling
/ˈdʌb.əl.ɪŋ/
may alternatively be pronounced as
[ˈdʌb.lɪŋ]
, and
Edinburgh
/ˈɛd.ɪn.bər.ə/
as
[ˈɛd.ɪn.brə]
When not followed by a vowel,
/ər/
merges with
/ə/
in non-rhotic accents.
⟩ represents a strong vowel in some contexts and a weak vowel in others. In accents with the
weak vowel merger
such as most Australian and American accents, weak
/ɪ/
is not distinguished from schwa
/ə/
, making
rabbit
and
abbot
rhyme and
Lenin
and
Lennon
homophonous. (Pairs like
roses
and
Rosa's
are kept distinct in American accents because of the difference in morphological structure,
but may be homophonous in Australian.
) In these accents, weak
/ɪl,
ɪn,
ɪm/
merge with
/əl,
ən,
əm/
, so that the second vowel in
Latin
may be lost and
cabinet
may be disyllabic (see the previous note).
/oʊ/
and
/u/
in unstressed, prevocalic positions are transcribed as
/əw/
by Merriam-Webster, but no other dictionary uniformly follows this practice.
Hence the difference between
/əw/
in Merriam-Webster and
/oʊ/
or
/u/
in another source is most likely one in notation, not in pronunciation, so
/əw/
in such cases may be better replaced with
/oʊ/
or
/u/
accordingly, to minimize confusion:
/ˌsɪtʃəˈweɪʃən/
/ˌsɪtʃuˈeɪʃən/
/ˈfɒləwər/
/ˈfɒloʊər/
⟩ represents variation between
/iː/
and
/ɪ/
in unstressed prevocalic or morpheme-final positions. It is realized with a quality closer to
/iː/
in accents with
happy
tensing
, such as Australian English, General American, and modern RP, and to
/ɪ/
in others. ⟨
⟩ likewise represents variation between
/uː/
and
/ʊ/
in unstressed prevocalic positions.
The sequence ⟨
iə
⟩ may be pronounced as two syllables,
[i.ə]
or
[ɪ.ə]
, or as one,
[jə]
or
[ɪə̯]
. When pronounced as one syllable in a non-rhotic accent, it may be indistinguishable from, and identified as, the
NEAR
vowel (
/ɪər/
).
This transcription system uses ⟨
iə
⟩, not ⟨
i.ə
⟩, ⟨
jə
⟩, ⟨
ɪə
⟩, etc., to cover all these possibilities.
The sequence ⟨
uə
⟩ may be pronounced as two syllables,
[u.ə]
or
[ʊ.ə]
, or as one,
[wə]
or
[ʊə̯]
. When pronounced as one syllable in a non-rhotic accent, it may be indistinguishable from, and identified as, the
CURE
vowel (
/ʊər/
).
This transcription system uses ⟨
uə
⟩, not ⟨
u.ə
⟩, ⟨
wə
⟩, ⟨
ʊə
⟩, etc., to cover all these possibilities.
In most dialects,
/x/
can also be replaced by
/k/
in most words, including
loch
. It is also replaced with
/h/
in some words, particularly of Yiddish origin, such as
Chanukah
/ɒ̃,
æ̃/
are only found in French loanwords and often replaced by another vowel and a nasal consonant:
bon vivant
/ˌbɒn
viːˈvɒnt/
ensemble
/ɒnˈsɒmbəl/
fin de siècle
/ˌfæn
də
siˈɛklə/
vin blanc
/væn
ˈblɒŋk/
, etc.
/ɜː/
is only found in loanwords. It most often occurs in (but is not limited to) some British and Southern Hemisphere
-less (non-rhotic) accents, where it is the same vowel as in
UR
SE
, but appears in words without orthographic
⟨r⟩
. In dialects that do not use this vowel, there is no one-to-one corresponding sound used, being highly dependent on each individual word. Some speakers may use more unassimilated sounds compared to the languages being loaned from, while others may use sounds that closer align with orthographic convention. Therefore, a transcription that includes
/ɜː/
must always be prefaced with a label indicating the variety of English.
The IPA stress marks, ⟨
⟩ and ⟨
⟩, come
before
the syllable that has the stress, in contrast to stress marking in
pronunciation keys of some dictionaries published in the United States
Scholars disagree on how to analyze
degrees of stress
in English. A particular unstressed syllable with phonetic prominence or a
full (unreduced) vowel
is analyzed by some scholars as having secondary stress. For simplicity, we follow British rather than American English conventions, only marking secondary stress when it occurs before, not after, the primary stress.
Syllable divisions are not usually marked, but the IPA dot ⟨
⟩ may be used when it is wished to make explicit where a division between syllables is (or may be) made.
References
"British English Pronunciations"
Oxford English Dictionary
. Retrieved
4 September
2023
Vaux, Bert; Golder, Scott (2003).
"How do you pronounce Mary/merry/marry?"
Harvard Dialect Survey
. Harvard University Linguistics Department.
Flemming & Johnson (2007)
, pp. 91–2.
Wells, John (25 March 2011).
"strong and weak"
John Wells's phonetic blog
Wells (1982)
, p. 240.
Flemming & Johnson (2007)
, pp. 94–5.
Wells (1982)
, p. 601.
Windsor Lewis, Jack
(10 April 2009).
"The Elephant in the Room"
PhonetiBlog
. Archived from
the original
on 6 March 2025.
Wells (2008)
, pp. 173, 799.
Jones (2011)
Wells (1982)
, pp. 473–6, 493, 499.
Stuart-Smith (2004)
, p. 58.
Corrigan (2010)
, pp. 33–5.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 361, 372.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 605–7.
Bauer et al. (2007)
, pp. 98–9.
Bauer et al. (2007)
, p. 98.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 351–3, 363–4.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 400, 439.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 380–1.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 612–3.
Stuart-Smith (2004)
, p. 56.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 304, 310–1.
Wells (1982)
, pp. 304, 312–3.
Stuart-Smith (2004)
, p. 57.
Bibliography
Bauer, Laurie; Warren, Paul; Bardsley, Dianne; Kennedy, Marianna; Major, George (2007). "New Zealand English".
Journal of the International Phonetic Association
37
(1):
97–
102.
doi
10.1017/S0025100306002830
S2CID
145584883
Corrigan, Karen P. (2010).
Irish English, volume 1 – Northern Ireland
. Edinburgh University Press.
ISBN
978-0-7486-3429-3
Flemming, Edward; Johnson, Stephanie (2007).
Rosa's roses
: reduced vowels in American English"
(PDF)
Journal of the International Phonetic Association
37
(1):
83–
96.
doi
10.1017/S0025100306002817
S2CID
145535175
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2018-09-19
. Retrieved
2019-06-23
Jones, Daniel
(2011).
Roach, Peter
Setter, Jane
Esling, John
(eds.).
Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary
(18th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-15255-6
Stuart-Smith, Jane (2004). "Scottish English: phonology". In Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.).
A Handbook of Varieties of English
. Vol. 1: Phonology. Mouton de Gruyter. pp.
47–
67.
doi
10.1515/9783110175325.1.47
ISBN
3-11-017532-0
Wells, John C.
(1982).
Accents of English
. Vol. 1: An Introduction (pp. i–xx, 1–278), Vol. 2: The British Isles (pp. i–xx, 279–466), Vol. 3: Beyond the British Isles (pp. i–xx, 467–674). Cambridge University Press.
doi
10.1017/CBO9780511611759
doi
10.1017/CBO9780511611766
ISBN
0-52129719-2
0-52128540-2
0-52128541-0
Wells, John C. (2008).
Longman Pronunciation Dictionary
(3rd ed.). Longman.
ISBN
978-1-4058-8118-0
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