Phonetic Symbols - Pronounciation
These phonetic symbols are used in almost every dictionary and most English language books, so knowing how to use them is very helpful!
These symbols are used in almost every dictionary and most English language books. The phonetic symbols in the list below (for example tʃ ) relate to the letters or sounds highlighted in red (for example tʃ = cheap) So, tʃ is used to show the 'ch..' sound. These will take time to learn, so practice by writing lists of words which use the symbols.
Phonetic Symbols : Consonants
p put, pull, stop, apple
b bit, big, about, beer
t top, tree, stop, ten
d door, food, dog, said
k cut, walk, dark, cup, coffee
ɡ green, girl, get, go
tʃ cheap, teacher, chair, choice
dʒ jeep, joke, joy, lounge, german
m men, make, money, my, mine
n nine, green, night, sunday
ŋ sing, english, ring, thanks
f fat, five, find, four, food, fish
v very, vote, observer, five
θ thin, earth, thigh, throw, think
ð then, there, they, these, this
s seven, six, see, stay, stand
z zoo, noise, president, prize
ʃ she, shoe, fish, sure, shave
ʒ measure, pleasure, casual, treasure
h heaven, help, have, hand
w we, wine, wednesday, woman, women
r run, right, tree, remember
j yes, year, yellow
l left, long, like, pull, love
Phonetic Symbols : Vowels
ɪ bit, sit, fish
iː feed, seed, need, please, sheet
ʊ good, wood, could, should
uː food, shoe, two, you
e dress, bed, head, many
ə about, common, standard
ɜː bird, third, word (sometimes transcribed əː )
ʌ cup, money, love
æ bat, had, lamb, apple (sometimes transcribed a)
ɒ hot, top, stop, want
ɔː bought, board, door, four
ɑː father, card, hard, dark, heart
eɪ say, way, stay
ɔɪ boy, toy, joy, noise
əʊ toe, show, know, grow
aɪ buy, try, my, eye (sometimes transcribed ʌɪ )
ɪə year, beer, ear
ɛə bear, air, share (sometimes transcribed ɛː )
aʊ cow, vow, out
