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A Key To English Pronunciations

Pronunciations for the UK English English dictionary

The pronunciations given represent the standard accent of English as spoken in the south of England (sometimes called Received Pronunciation or RP), and the example words given in this key are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.

Consonants

The letters b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, and z have their usual English values. Other symbols are used as follows:

Symbol		Example
ɡ	as in	get
t?		chip
?		jar
x		loch
?		ring
θ		thin
e		this
?		she
?		decision
j		yes

Vowels

Symbol		Example
Short vowels
a	as in	cat
?		bed
?		ago
?		sit
i		cosy
?		hot
?		run
?		put
Long vowels
ɑ?		arm
??		hair
??		her
i?		see
??		saw
u?		too
Diphthongs
??		my
a?		how
e?		day
??		no
??		near
??		boy
??		poor
Triphthongs
???		fire
a??		sour

In multisyllable words the symbol ? is used to show that the following syllable is stressed, as in /k??bal/; the symbol ? indicates a secondary stress, as in /?kal??bri?s/.

(?) before /l/, /m/, or /n/ indicates that the syllable may be realized with a syllabic l, m, or n, rather than with a vowel and consonant, e.g. /?b?t(?)n/ rather than /?b?t?n/.

(r) indicates an r that is sometimes sounded when a vowel follows, as in drawer, cha-chaing.

Pronunciations for US English

The pronunciations given represent a general accent of American English, without certain features particular to New England or the southern states of the U.S., and the example words given in this key are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.

US pronunciations are transcribed in two ways, in traditional respelling (as seen in the New Oxford American Dictionary) and using symbols of the IPA.

In both systems, the letters b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, and z have their usual English values. In IPA, d is also used to represent a ‘flapped t’ as in butter.
Other symbols are used as follows:

Consonants

Respelling	IPA	Example

CH	t?	as in 'chip'
j	d?	as in 'jar'
KH	x	as in 'loch'
NG	?	as in 'ring'
TH	θ	as in 'thin'
TH	e	as in 'this'
SH	?	as in 'she'
ZH	?	as in 'decision'
y	j	as in 'yes'
(h)w	(h)w	as in 'when'

Vowels

Respelling	IPA	Example
a	a	as in 'cɑt'
e	?	as in 'bed'
?	?	as in 'ɑgo', 'run', 'person'
ē	i	as in 'see'
i	?	as in 'sit'
?	ɑ	as in 'hot', 'ɑrm'
o?o	?	as in 'put', 'poor'
?	?	as in 'sɑw'
u	u	as in 'too'
ī	a?	as in 'my'
oi	??	as in 'boy'
ā	e?	as in 'dɑy'
ou	a?	as in 'how'
ō	o?	as in 'no'
er	?r	as in 'hɑir'
ir	?r	as in 'near'

In polysyllabic words the symbol ? is used to show that the following syllable is stressed, as in cabal /k??b?l/ IPA /k??bɑl/. The symbol ? indicates a secondary stress, as in collocation /?k?l??kāSH?n/ IPA /kɑl??ke???n/.

Pronunciations for American English IPA

The letters b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, and z have their usual English values. d is also used to represent a "flapped" t, as in bitter. Other symbols are used as follows:

Consonants

Symbol		Example
g	as in	get
t?		chip
d?		jar
x		loch
?		ring
θ		thin
e		this
?		she
?		decision
j		yes
(h)w		when

Vowels

Symbol		Example
?	as in	cat
?		bed, hair
?		ago, run, person
?		sit, near
i		see, cosy
ɑ		hot, arm
?		put, poor
?		saw
u		too
a?		my
a?		how
e?		day
??		boy
o?		no

In multisyllable words the symbol ? is used to show that the following syllable is stressed, as in cabal /k??bɑl/; the symbol ? indicates a secondary stress, as in coriander /?k?ri??nd?r/.