1. Pronunciation Guide
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

2. 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
ASCII is an abbreviation which stands for American Standard Code For Information Interchange

3. AmE = American English (General American), AuE = Australian English, BrE = British English (RP),
CaE = Canadian English, IrE = Irish English, NZE = New Zealand English, SAE = South African
English, ScE = Scottish English, WeE = Welsh English

5. Phonetic transcription (British pronunciation)
[ l hju mən bi ŋz ə b n fri ənd i kwəl n d gn t ənd ra ts ðe ə n da d w ð ri zn ənd k n ənsɔː ˈ ː ˈ ːɪ ɔː ː ˈ ː ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ɪ ɪ ɪ ɪ ˈ ʊ ɪ ˈ ː ˈ ɒ ʃ
ənd d ækt tə w dz w n ə n ðə n ə sp r t v br ðəh d]ʃʊ ˈ ɔː ʌ ˈ ʌ ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ɒ ˈ ʌ ʊ
Phonetic transcription (American pronunciation)
[ l hju mən bi ŋz r b rn fri ænd i kwəl n d gn ti ænd ra ts ðe r en da d w ð ri zən ændɔː ˈ ː ˈ ːɪ ɑː ɔː ː ˈ ː ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ː ɪ ɪ ɑː ˈ ʊ ɪ ˈ ː
k n əns ænd d ækt tə w rdz w n ə n ðər n ə sp r t əv br ðər h d]ˈ ɑː ʃ ʃʊ ˈ ɔː ʌ ˈ ʌ ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ʌ ˌ ʊ

6. Phonetic transcription (British pronunciation)
[ l hju mən bi ŋz ə b n fri ənd i kwəl n d gn t ənd ra ts ðe ə n da d w ð ri zn ənd k n ənsɔː ˈ ː ˈ ːɪ ɔː ː ˈ ː ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ɪ ɪ ɪ ɪ ˈ ʊ ɪ ˈ ː ˈ ɒ ʃ
ənd d ækt tə w dz w n ə n ðə n ə sp r t v br ðəh d]ʃʊ ˈ ɔː ʌ ˈ ʌ ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ɒ ˈ ʌ ʊ
Phonetic transcription (American pronunciation)
[ l hju mən bi ŋz r b rn fri ænd i kwəl n d gn ti ænd ra ts ðe r en da d w ð ri zən ændɔː ˈ ː ˈ ːɪ ɑː ɔː ː ˈ ː ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ː ɪ ɪ ɑː ˈ ʊ ɪ ˈ ː
k n əns ænd d ækt tə w rdz w n ə n ðər n ə sp r t əv br ðər h d]ˈ ɑː ʃ ʃʊ ˈ ɔː ʌ ˈ ʌ ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ʌ ˌ ʊ