The pronunciations given represent the standard accent of English as spoken in the south of England (sometimes called Received Pronunciation or RP), and the example words given in this key are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.

Consonants

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

Symbol		Example
ɡ	as in	get
tʃ		chip
ʤ		jar
x		loch
ŋ		ring
θ		thin
ð		this
ʃ		she
ʒ		decision
j		yes

 

 

Vowels

Symbol		Example
Short vowels
a	as in	cat
ɛ		bed
ə		ago
ɪ		sit
i		cosy
ɒ		hot
ʌ		run
ʊ		put
Long vowels
ɑː		arm
ɛː		hair
əː		her
iː		see
ɔː		saw
uː		too
Diphthongs
ʌɪ		my
aʊ		how
eɪ		day
əʊ		no
ɪə		near
ɔɪ		boy
ʊə		poor
Triphthongs
ʌɪə		fire
aʊə		sour

In multisyllable words the symbol ˈ is used to show that the following syllable is stressed, as in /kəˈbal/; the symbol ˌ indicates a secondary stress, as in /ˌkaləˈbriːs/.

(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 consonant, e.g. /ˈbʌt(ə)n/ rather than /ˈbʌtən/.

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