IPA
From Leo's Notes
This page was last edited on 24 May 2020, at 00:28.
The IPA English help page on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English is a great resource on IPA pronunciation. he notes here is based off that but with notes targeted to how I speak.
Vowels
There are short and long vowels.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | ɪ English ship, kit, mirror, edition
ɪː cheese, cheek |
ʊ pull bull, foot, cook
ʊː mood food |
|
| Mid
Central vowels |
e wet pet | ə ago, sofa
ɜː certain, bird, burn |
ɔː born sword paw |
| Open | æ cat, trap, tattoo, ambition
aː say 'ahh' |
ʌ thumb up, curry, un-prefix | ɒ body, lot, orange, neon |
Some vowels are combined, called diphthongs or triphthongs.
| eɪ | a | /beɪ/, bay. eɪər player |
| ea | hair | |
| aɪ | i | /baɪ/, buy. pie. aɪər, hire, aɪ.ər, higher |
| ɔɪ | a-oy | /bɔɪ/, boy. ɔɪ.ər employer
helps with more of an O sound at the beginning. |
| əʊ | eau | /bəʊ/, beau,
like oʊ but from farther back |
| aʊ | ow | /baʊ/, bough, bow (verb). aʊər flour. mouth |
| oʊ | oh | goat, mower, home |
| juː | you | you |
| ɪr | ear | near, beer, deer, here |
| ɜr | square, care, fair | |
| ar | part, large, |
Some subtleties between British and North American pronunciations are given in the table below. 'r's before vowels are hard?
| Word | British | North American |
|---|---|---|
| near | /ˈnɪər/ ne-ar | /'nʊər/ neer |
| cure | /ˈkjʊər/ cue-er | /'kjuːr/ queuer |
| square | /ˈskwɛər/ | /ˈskwiːr/ |
| caught | /'kɔːt/ | /'kɒt'/ |
Consonants
| IPA | Eample | |
|---|---|---|
| b | buy, cab | |
| d | dye, cad, ladder | |
| dj | dew | |
| dʒ | giant, badge, joy | |
| f | fan, leaf | |
| g | guy, bag | |
| h | high, ahead | |
| hw | whine | |
| j | yes, hallelujah | |
| k | sky, crack | |
| l | lie, sly, gal | |
| lj | lute | |
| m | my, smile, cam | |
| n | nigh, snide, can | |
| nj | new | |
| ŋ | sang, sink, singer | |
| p | pie, spy, cap | |
| r | rye, try, very | |
| s | sigh, mass | |
| sj | consume | |
| ʃ | shy, cash, emotion | |
| t | tie, sty, cat, latter | |
| tj | tune | |
| tʃ | china, catch, chair | |
| ð | thy, breathe, father
ð is the voiced version of θ |
|
| θ | thigh, math | |
| θj | enthuse | |
| v | vine, leave | |
| w | wine, swine | |
| z | zoo, has | |
| zj | Zeus | |
| ʒ | pleasure, beige |
Common Mistakes
| Word | IPA | Incorrect and comment |
|---|---|---|
| mischievous | /'mɪs tʃə vəs/ | /'mɪs tʃe ve ʌs/ (mis-che-vi-ous) with an extra syllable. |
| triathlon | /'traɪ'æθ lɒn/ | /'traɪ'æθ a:lɒn/ (tri-ath-a-lon), with an extra syllable. |
| draught | /'dræft/ | /'drɔ:t/ or /'draʊt/ (drawt). augh here is like an 'af'. |
| worcestershire | /'wʊstɘrʃɘr/ | the first 'r' is dropped. 'shire' is like in New Hampshire and sounds like 'sure'. |
Accents
British greets with "hello love"
Received Pronunciation
- bath and path has an extra long 'a'. baah-th , paah-th.
- -ile endings are pronounced unlike North American. Eg. missile, fertile.
- 'r' sounds become 'a' like sounds.
- ɪr becomes ɪə. beer, bee-ah. sincere, sincere-ah
- ɜr becomes ɜə. care, caye-ah, fair, faye-ah.
- ɑr becomes ɑː (super long a). part, paah-t.
Cockney / Estuary
- th becomes f. three, free.
- 'l' becomes aw or w. milk, mil-ale-k. mail mawl..sdjf
- 'h' gets dropped. harry, 'arry. have, 'ave.
- t is a glottal stop. computer, compu'er.
- wales is 'wows'.
Midland / Northern
- cup of tea. cup becomes kuh-p .
- mug muh-g.
- up, uh-p
- love, luuv