Dr. Johanna E. Rubba

English Department (Linguistics)

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California

Last updated 4/12/04 

Help with Phonetic Symbols

The table below sets out the phonetic symbols in correspondence with the letters of the alphabet that often spell them, in normal alphabetical order. This list can help you find a symbol you need quickly. The phonetic description of the sound each phonetic symbol stands for is also given.
 

Alphabet Letter	Phonetic  Symbol	Phonetic description of sound	Example Words (spelling of sound underlined and/or bold)
a	æ	low front unrounded lax vowel	bad, plaid
a	e	mid front unrounded tense vowel	bait, plate, play
a		mid central unrounded lax vowel	about, sofa
a		low back unrounded lax vowel	father; small bought, caught, tall, coffee, fog, dog SOME SPEAKERS HAVE OPEN O (SEE 'o' BELOW) IN THESE WORDS.
b	b	voiced bilabial stop	beat, stubble
c	k	voiceless velar stop	cat, epic
c	s	voiceless alveolar fricative	city, force
ch		voiceless alveo-palatal affricate	church, match
d	d	voiced alveolar stop	did, fiddle
e	i	high front unrounded tense vowel	see, me, beat, machine
e		mid-low front unrounded lax vowel	bet, said, head
f	f	voiceless labiodental fricative	fire, stuff, cough, phone
f	v	voiced labiodental fricative	of
g	g	voiced velar stop	good, vague, soggy
g		voiced alveo-palatal affricate	gem, gym, fudge, jump
h	h	voiceless glottal fricative	high, who
i	ay	low back-to-high front unrounded diphthong	tide, buy, fly
i		high-mid front unrounded lax vowel	bit, fin, women (plural)
i	y	voiced palatal glide	onion, union
j		voiced alveo-palatal affricate	gym, jump, fudge, page
k	k	voiceless velar stop	kid, back, cat, tax, ache, quote, bouquet
l	l	voiced alveolar lateral liquid	last, follow, pal
m	m	voiced bilabial nasal	mood, summer
n	n	voiced alveolar nasal	sun, funny, knee, mnemonic, gnome
n, ng		voiced velar nasal	sing, pink, anger
o	o	mid back rounded tense vowel	so, know, boat, though, toe, sew
oo	u	high back rounded tense vowel	boot, crude, new, through
oo		high-mid back rounded lax vowel	book, could, put, woman (singular)
o		mid-low back rounded lax vowel	dog, frog, bought, caught, tall, coffee YOU MAY NOT HAVE THIS SOUND IN YOUR SPEECH; IT IS NOT UNIVERSAL IN AMERICAN ENGLISH (see 'a' above). If you pronounce 'cot' and 'caught' exactly alike, you probably do not need this symbol to transcribe your own speech.
o		low back unrounded lax vowel	not
ou, ow	ow	low-to-high back rounded diphthong	how, house, sauerkraut
oi, oy	oy	mid-to-high, back-to-front, rounded-to-unrounded diphthong	boy, coin, Freud
p	p	voiceless bilabial stop	puppy
q	k	voiceless velar stop	quite, plaque
r	r	voiced alveolar liquid	rib, write, sorry, far
s	s	voiceless alveolar fricative	sick, city, fuss, face
s	z	voiced alveolar fricative	easy, phase, as
s		voiced palatal fricative	pleasure, fusion, azure
sh		voiceless palatal fricative	shin, machine, chic
t	t	voiceless alveolar stop	tip, letter, Thomas
th		voiceless interdental fricative	thing, both, ether (the gas)
th		voiced interdental fricative	this, brother, either
u		mid-low central unrounded lax vowel	but, some Some speakers have this sound in words with 'oo', such as 'book' and words with 'u', such as 'push'.
u	u	high back rounded tense vowel	nude, flu, true, union (the 'u' in 'union' spells two sounds: /y/ and /u/
v	v	voiced labiodental fricative	liver, very, of
w	w	voiced labial (or labiovelar) glide	with, queen Many speakers pronounce words with 'wh' with this sound: where, white.
wh	,	voiceless labial (or labiovelar) glide	Used in words with 'wh', e.g. white, when, by many speakers from the Northwest, the South, and the Midwest. If you pronounce 'witch' and 'which' exactly alike, you do not need this symbol to transcribe your own speech.
x	ks	voiceless velar stop followed by voiceless alveolar fricative	tax, box
y	y	voiced palatal glide	you, union (The 'u' in this word spells two sounds: /y/ and /u/.)
z	z	voiced alveolar fricative	zoo, buzz, easy, phase, as, Xerox