International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the alphabet that shows pronunciation. It is an expanded English alphabet, with the Greek letter theta (θ) representing the 'th' sound of 'thin', and the Icelandic letter eð (ð) representing the 'th' sound of 'then'.

Key to IPA representation of English sounds

A guide to the sounds of English, in a sort of alphabetical order:

• ɑ is pronounced as is the 'a' in 'father', or in British English 'fast', or 'o' in American English 'not'
• æ is pronounced as the 'a' in 'cat', or AmE 'fast'
• aɪ as 'i' in 'time'
• aʊ as 'ow' in 'now'
• ɒ as in BrE 'not'
• u as 'u' in 'up'
• b as in 'be'
• d as in 'do'
• dʒ as 'j' in 'just', or 'g' in 'gene'
• ð as 'th' in 'this'
• eə as the diphthong in 'hair'
• eɪ as 'ei' in 'vein' or 'ai' in 'vain'
• ə as 'a' in 'about', or 'e' in 'open'
• əʊ as 'o' in 'go'
• ɛ as 'e' in 'get'
• ɜ as the vowel sound in 'her', 'fir', 'fur' and 'work'
• f as in 'for'
• g as in 'go'
• h as in 'he'
• i as in 'machine', or 'ee' in 'see'
• ɪ as in 'it'
• ɪə as the diphthong in 'fear'
• j as 'y' in 'you'
• k as in 'kiss', or 'c' in 'cat'
• l as in 'like'
• m as in 'me'
• n as in 'no'
• ɔ as 'o' in 'or', or 'aw' in 'awful'
• ɔɪ as 'oi' in 'coin'
• p as in 'pip'
• r as in 'right'
• s as in 'sit', or 'c' in 'nice'
• ʃ as 'sh' in 'she', or 'ti' in 'edition'
• t as in 'tell'
• tʃ as 'ch' in 'choose'
• θ as in 'think'
• u as in 'true', or 'oo' in 'food'
• ʊ as 'u' in 'put' or 'oo' in 'foot'
• ʊə as the diphthong in 'pure'
• v as in 'very'
• w as in 'we'
• z as in 'zoo' or 's' in 'these'
• ʒ as 'si' in 'vision'

In other languauges

• a is the basic letter a sound in many languages, including French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. It lies between ɑ and ʌ.
• y is the sound of a single u in French and German. It can be made by rounding the lips as if to say u while trying to say i.