English phonemes

In phonology, a phoneme is a distinct unit of sound (phone) by means of which words are distinguished, and spellings are ways of writing these sounds. English phonemes have different spellings depending on a word's provenance and history.

Here, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol for each phoneme is shown first, followed by all its spellings, or graphemes, and a number of examples of each. Where those examples are few, it is because the spelling is rare and they are the only ones.

The pronunciations are those of the language's two main varieties: American English (AmE), where r is pronounced before a consonant, and British and Commonwealth English (BrE), where it is not.

The áccents on bold example words indicate stressed vowels and their pronunciation. An equals sign shows homophones, with words in italics suggesting meaning: sêen saw = scêne scenic, drama, crime. The bullet (●) represents any consonant. An asterisk before a word indicates that it is a respelling to show pronunciation, and thus wrongly (*róngly) spelt. Respellings use typical unambiguous spellings using the normal alphabet plus schwa (ə).

Vowels and diphthongs

IPA /i:/ as in sêa: ê, êa, êe, ê●e, êi, ìê, aê, oê, ì, ỳ, êỳ, êo

ê: bê, mê, récipê, catástrophê, Penélopê, Lêthê, hypërbolê, mêthane, sêrum, dêvious, mêdia, rêtail, dêmon, Êly, mêtre BrE distance, poem

êa: sêa water, lêave, hêat, sêat, bêat hit, nêat, êasy, mêal, drêam, têam, hêath

1. ê êa êe ê●e êi ìê aê oê ì ỳ êỳ êo

ê bê mê récipê catástrophê Penélopê Lêthê hypërbolê mêthane sêrum dêvious mêdia rêtail dêmon Êly mêtre distance, poem

êa sêa water lêave hêat sêat bêat hit nêat êasy mêal drêam têam hêath