Syllables and stress
As found on Wikipedia
Syllables are separated by hyphens (“-”). The stress on a syllable is indicated by writing the syllable in small capital letters.[1]
| Respelling symbols | IPA symbols | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| “Pronunciation”: prə-nun-see-ay-shən |
/prəˌnʌnsiːˈeɪʃən/ | “Primary” and “secondary” stress are not distinguished, as the difference is automatic. |
Vowels
| Respelling symbol(s) | Example | IPA symbol | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | cat | /æ/ | Australian /æ/ or /æː/[2] | Scottish /a/ |
| ah or aa | father | /ɑː/ | ||
| air | air | /ɛər/ | ||
| ar | car | /ɑr/ | Scottish /ar/ | |
| arr | marry | /ær/ | ||
| aw | raw | /ɔː/ | American /ɔ/ or /ɑ/[3] | |
| ay | day | /eɪ/ | ||
| ə | sofa | /ə/ or /ɨ/ | Unstressed neutral vowel. Sometimes i may be used for /ɨ/ |
|
| ər (stressed) | her | /ɜr/ or /ɝː/ | Scottish /ʌr, ɛr, ɪr/ (ur, er, ir)[4] |
|
| ər | after | /ər/ or /ɚ/ | Unstressed neutral rhotic vowel | |
| e | pet | /ɛ/ | ||
| ee | feet | /iː/ or /i/ | ||
| eer | peer | /ɪər/ | ||
| er (generally replaced by ər) |
fern | /ɜr/ or /ɝː/ | Scottish /ɛr/[4] | |
| err | merry | /ɛr/ | ||
| ew | ewe, dew | /juː/ | American /u/ or /ju/[5] | |
| eye | /aɪ/ | spelled -ye after a consonant | ||
| i | bit | /ɪ/ | sometimes as either vowel of business BIZ-niss | |
| ir (generally replaced by ər) |
fir | /ɜr/ or /ɝː/ | Scottish /ɪr/[4] | |
| irr | mirror | /ɪr/ | ||
| o | pot | /ɒ/ | ||
| oh or oe | toe | /oʊ/ | ||
| oo | foot | /ʊ/ | Scottish /ʉ/ | |
| oo | food | /uː/ | ||
| oor | pure or Europe | /ʊər/ | ||
| ohr | four or wore | /ɔər/ | Australian /oː(ɹ)/ | |
| or or awr | for or war | /ɔr/ | Scottish /ɔr/ | |
| orr | orange | /ɒr/ | ||
| ow | cow | /aʊ/ | ||
| oy | boy | /ɔɪ/ | ||
| u | bus | /ʌ/ | ||
| ur (generally replaced by ər‘) |
fur | /ɜr/ or /ɝː/ | American /ɹ/ | Scottish /ʌr/[4] |
| urr | hurry | /ʌr/ | ||
| -ye | bye | /aɪ/ | after a consonant, otherwise spelled eye.
American /aɪ/ or /ɐɪ/[6] |
|
Consonants
| Respelling symbol | Example | IPA symbol(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | but, web | /b/ | |
| ch | church, nature | /tʃ/ | |
| d | do, odd | /d/ | |
| dh | this, breathe, father | /ð/ | This sound is similar to th (/θ/), but voiced. |
| f | fool, enough, leaf | /f/ | |
| g | go, beg | /ɡ/ | Not as in gem or gin (/dʒ/), which is j. |
| h | ham, ahead | /h/ | |
| j | gin, joy, edge | /dʒ/ | |
| k | cat, kiss, queen, skin, thick | /k/ | |
| kh | loch | /x/ | Generally pronounced like k for many speakers |
| l | left, bell | /l/ | |
| m | man, ham | /m/ | |
| n | no, tin | /n/ | |
| ng | ring, singer, sink | /ŋ/ | Not the sound in finger, which is ngg (/ŋɡ/). |
| ngg | finger | /ŋɡ/ | |
| p | pen, spin, tip | /p/ | |
| r | run, very | /r/ | |
| s or ss | see, city, pass | /s/ | Not as in rose (/z/), which is z. |
| sh | she, sure, emotion, leash | /ʃ/ | |
| t | two, sting, bet | /t/ | |
| th | thing, teeth | /θ/ | To make this sound, the tip of the tongue is placed between the front teeth and air is blown gently over it. |
| v | voice, have | /v/ | |
| w | we | /w/ | |
| wh | what | /ʍ/ | In most dialects, people substitute w for this sound. |
| y | yes | /j/ | |
| z | zoo, rose | /z/ | |
| zh | pleasure, vision, beige | /ʒ/ | Many English speakers have trouble saying this at the beginning of a word, and may substitute j, except in the name Zsa Zsa. |
