English Pronunciation

Consonants

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

g get   x loch   ð this   j yes   θ thin
tʃ chip   ŋ ring   ʃ she   dʒ jar   ʒ decision

Vowels

Short Vowels Long Vowels Diphthongs Tripthongs
(ː indicates length)
a cat   ɑː arm   ʌɪ my   ʌɪə fire
ɛ bed   ɛː hair   aʊ how   aʊə sour
ə ago   əː her   eɪ day
ɪ sit   iː see   əʊ no
i cosy   ɔː saw   ɪə near
ɒ hot   uː too   ɔɪ boy
ʌ run         ʊə poor
ʊ put

(ə) 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 a consonant, e.g. /'bʌt(ə)n/ rather than /'bʌtən/.

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

Stress

The mark ' before a syllable indicates that it is stressed.  Secondary stress is shown by the mark ˌ before a syllable.

Foreign pronunciations

Foreign words and phrases, whether naturalized or not, are always given an anglicized pronunciation.  The anglicized pronunciation represents the normal pronunciation used by native speakers of standard English when using the word in an English context. However, it is difficult to show the typical pronunciation of some commonly used French words by means of standard English vowel symbols, and for that reason the following nasalized vowels have been used:

ã au gratin
ɒ̃ bouffant
ɑ̃ chanson
ɔ̃ frisson