This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds.
See International Phonetic Alphabet for English for a more complete version. Note that the parentheses indicate optionality; the IPA code does not actually contain parentheses.
IPA: English Consonants
IPA
Examples
p
pen, spin, tip
b
but, web
t
two, sting, bet
d
do, odd
tʃ
chair, nature, teach
dʒ
gin, joy, edge
k
cat, kill, skin, queen, thick
g
go, get, beg
f
fool, enough, leaf
v
voice, have
θ
thing, breath
ð
this, breathe
s
see, city, pass
z
zoo, rose
ʃ
she, sure, emotion, leash
ʒ
pleasure, beige
h
ham
m
man, ham
n
no, tin
ŋ
singer, ring
l
left
ɫ
milk, bell (dark l)
ɹ
run, very
ɾ
better (AmE, AuE)
w
we
j
yes
ʔ
kitten (many accents), bottle (Cockney)
ʍ
what (some accents, such as Scottish)
x
loch (Scottish)
IPA: English Vowels
IPA
Examples
RP
AmE
AuE
ɑː
ɑ
aː
father
iː
i
iː
see
ɪ
ɪ
ɪ
city
ɛ
ɛ
e
bed
ɜː
ɝ
ɜː
bird
æ
æ
æ
lad, cat
ɑː
ɑɹ
aː
arm
ʌ
ʌ (or ɐ)
a
run, enough
ɒ
ɑ
ɔ
not, wasp
ɔː
ɒ
oː
law, caught
ʊ
ʊ
ʊ
put
uː
u
ʉː
soon, through
ə
ə
ə
about
ə
ɚ
ə
winner
IPA: English Diphthongs
IPA
Examples
RP
AmE
AuE
eɪ
e(ɪ)
æɪ
day
aɪ
aɪ
ɑe
my
ɔɪ
ɔɪ
oɪ
boy
əʊ
o(ʊ)
əʉ
no
aʊ
aʊ
æɔ
now
ɪə
iɹ
ɪə
near, here
ɛə
ɛɹ
eː
hair, there
ʊə
ʊɹ
ʊə
tour
juː
ju
jʉː
pupil
IPA: Other symbols used in transcription of English pronunciation
IPA
Explanation
ˈ
Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable), for example happy/ˈhæpi/
ˌ
Secondary stress, for example battleship/ˈbætl̩ˌʃɪp/
.
Syllable separator
̩
Syllabic consonant, for example /ˈɹɪdn̩/ for ridden