Wiktionary: Pronunciation key
From open-dictionary.com - the free dictionary.
The following tables show the IPA and SAMPA symbols for the sounds of the English language. (It's also beginning to show the AHD symbols too.)
| IPA | example | SAMPA | AHD |
|---|---|---|---|
| iː | ease, see | i: | ē |
| i | happy | i | i |
| ɪ | city, bit | I | ĭ |
| eɪ | bait | e | ā |
| ɛ | bed, bet | E | ě |
| æ | bad, cat | { | ă |
| ə | about | @ | ə |
| ɚ (en-us) | color | @` | ər |
| ɜː (en-gb) | fur, bird | 3: | û |
| ɝ (en-us) | fur, bird | 3 | û |
| u (en-us) | boot, soon, lose | u | o͞o |
| u | intoo | u | o͞o |
| uː (en-gb) | boot, soon, lose | u: | o͞o |
| ʊ | put, foot | U | o͝o |
| oʊ (en-us) | boat, nose | o | ō |
| əʊ (en-uk) | boat, nose | o | ō |
| ʌ | run, enough, up | V | ŭ |
| ɔː (en-gb) | saw, caught | O | ô |
| ɑː (en-gb) | father, (en-us) boss | A | ä |
| ɒ (en-gb) | not, cough | Q | ŏ |
| IPA | SAMPA | AHD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ɑɪ | rise, my | aI | ī |
| ɑʊ | house, now | aU | ou |
| ɔɪ | noise, boy | OI | oi |
| eɪ | same, play, bait | eI | ā |
| əʊ or oʊ | hope, go, know | @U or oU | ō |
| ɪə | peer, near, here | I@ | î |
| eə | pear, there | e@ | â |
| ʊə | poor | U@ | |
| uə | cruel | u@ | |
| ɔə | more | O@ |
| IPA | SAMPA | AHD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | but, cab | b | b |
| ʧ or tʃ | chair, picture, branch | tS | ch |
| d | do, wood | d | d |
| ʤ or dʒ | judge, gin | dZ | j |
| f | fool, enough | f | f |
| g | go, bag | g | g |
| h | ham | h | h |
| k | cat, kill, queen | k | k |
| l | left (before vowel of syllable) | l | l |
| ɫ | milk (after vowel of syllable) | 5 | lk |
| m | man, him | m | m |
| ɱ | emphasis, amphora | F | |
| n | no | n | n |
| ŋ | singer, ring | N | ng |
| ɲ | canyon | J | ny / ñ |
| p | pen, top | p | p |
| ɹ or r | run, very (en-gb) | r\ | |
| ɻ | run, very (en-us) | r\` | |
| s | see, pas, city | s | s |
| ʃ | she, sure, emotion | S | sh |
| t | to, mat | t | t |
| θ | thing, nothing, moth | T | th |
| ð | this, father, clothe | D | th (italicized) |
| v | voice | v | v |
| w | we | w | w |
| ʍ | which (en-gb, especially Scottish) | W | hw |
| j | yes | j | y |
| x | loch (Scottish) | x | KH |
| z | zoo, roses | z | z |
| ʒ | pleasure (zh) | Z | zh |
Other symbols:
| IPA | SAMPA | indicates |
|---|---|---|
| ː | : | a long vowel |
| ˈ | " | primary stress |
| ˌ | % | secondary stress |
| . | = | division between syllables |
A stress mark is placed before the syllable that is stressed.
Vowels that are generally long in English include [i] and [u] (as well as others), which are usually transcribed as [i:] and [u:], respectively.
See also
- Wikipedia: The International Phonetic Alphabet
- Wiktionary appendix: IPA Examples
- Wikipedia: SAMPA
- Wikipedia: SAMPA charts
- Wikipedia: SAMPA chart for English
- Wikipedia: rhotic and non-rhotic dialects
- Wikipedia: long vowels
