Symbol |
Example Word |
Place/Manner/voicing |
Note |
[p ] |
pie |
voiceless bilabial stop |
|
[b ] |
buy |
voiced bilabial stop |
|
[m ] |
my |
voiced bilabial nasal |
|
[f ] |
fat |
voiceless labio-dental fricative |
|
[v ] |
vat |
voiced labio-dental fricative |
|
[T ] |
thigh, thick, breath |
voiceless interdental fricative |
Spelled in orthography with a th; written as a theta in IPA |
[D ] |
thy, them, breathe |
voiced interdental fricative |
Spelled in orthography with a th; written as an ethe in IPA |
[t ] |
tip |
voiceless alveolar stop |
|
[d ] |
dip |
voiced alveolar stop |
|
[s ] |
sip |
voiceless alveolar fricative |
|
[z ] |
zip |
voiced alveolar fricative |
|
[n ] |
nip |
voiced alveolar nasal |
Don't confuse this with [N] (below(. |
[l ] |
lip |
voiced alveolar (lateral) liquid |
Some of you may notice your [l] segment is made without the tongue touching the alveolar ridge at least sometimes. We discussed these velarized or 'dark' [l] realizations in class. |
[S ] |
ship, fresher, flash |
voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative |
Note this differs from [s] above. Written in IPA as a long 's'. Note there is no h' sound in the example words here. the [S] sound has nothing to do with an [h] sound.
|
[Z ] |
genre, measure, beige |
voiced alveolo-palatal fricative |
this is not a frequent sound in English and is often confused with [S]. We discussed with in class as the 'hover craft' sound. |
[tS ] |
choke, church |
voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate |
Written as 'ch' in orthography. Often confused with [S] when transcribing. This is written as two symbols because it is two sounds pushed together: the stop [t] and the fricative [S] |
[dZ ] |
joy, judge |
voiced alveolo-palatal affricate |
don't transcribe this as a j. |
[r ] |
rip, dear |
voiced palatal or retroflex () liquid |
Do not confuse this with [r=]: a sound that is more a vowel than a consonant. contrast [fri] 'free' and [fr=i] 'furry'. |
[j ] |
yellow, gray |
voiced palatal glide |
This is generally written in orthography as 'y'. Do not use [j] to represent the affricate in 'jelly' or 'judge' |
[w ] |
wick, cow |
voiced labio-velar glide |
This is labio because the lips are rounded and velar because the back of the tongue raises toward the velum. ,/td>
|
[k ] |
coat |
voiceless velar stop |
|
[g ] |
goat |
voiced velar stop |
|
[N ] |
ping, rang |
voiced velar nasal |
this is written generally in orthography as a 'ng' but there is not [g] sound actually made. Don't confuse this with [n] (above). |
[h ] |
hip |
voiceless glottal fricative |
|
[? ] |
hu'u, o'oh |
glottal stop |
|
[i ] |
beat |
high, front, tense vowel |
|
[I ] |
bit |
high, front, lax vowel |
|
[ej ] |
bate |
mid, front, tense vowel |
Without the [j], this ounds like the Canadian 'eh'? |
[E ] |
bet |
mid front, lax vowel |
|
[{ ] |
bat |
low, front, lax vowel |
Do not confuse this with [a] |
[u ] |
boot |
high, back, tense vowel |
This is [u] as in [ful] 'fool', not [ju] as in [fju] 'few'. |
[U ] |
put |
high, back, lax vowel |
this is [U] is in [lUk] 'look, not [lVk] 'luck' or [luk] 'Luke'. |
[ow ] |
boat |
mid, back, tense vowel |
This is not the diphthong vowel in the word 'cow' or 'house'. without the [w] glide, this is the 'o' sound characteristic of Jamaica or some parts of the northern US. |
[O ] |
caught |
mid, back, lax vowel |
Not all of you have a difference between this vowel and [a] (below).
Pronounce the two names 'Dawn' and Don'. If they sound different, this is the one in 'dawn'. It is written in IPA as a backward c. |
[a ] |
cot |
low, back vowel |
Not all of you have a difference between this vowel and [O] (above).
Pronounce the two names 'Dawn' and Don'. If they sound different, this is the one in 'don'. |
[ V ] and [ @ ] |
cut, above, luck |
mid lax central |
[V] is used in stressed and [@] in unstressed syllables. This sound is called schwa. |
[aj] |
buy, pride |
diphthong |
This is frequently written in orthography as 'i, then a consonant then a silent 'e'' |
[aw] |
cow, loud |
diphthong |
This is frequently written in orthography as 'ow' |
[Oj] |
soy, join |
diphthong |
This is frequently written in orthography as 'oy' or 'oi'. |