This page is to show you the sounds of
English from the International Phonemic Alphabet (the IPA), and allow you to
listen to some example words containing these sounds.
The IPA
comprises sounds made by native speakers of British English. Each symbol in the
tables below is followed by a button labeled with an example spelling of a word
that contains that sound, and the same word in IPA symbols. Click the buttons
to hear the words containing these sounds. Slashes around a word; e.g. /kæt/,
show sounds rather than spelling.
|
Vowels
|
| |
← Mouth wider horizontally
|
Mouth narrower horizontally →
|
|
Mouth
narrower
vertically
|
iː
sleep /sliːp/
|
I
slip /slIp/
|
ʊ
book /bʊk/
|
uː
boot /buːt/
|
| |
e
ten /ten/
|
ə
after /aːftə/
|
ɜː
bird /bɜːd/
|
ɔː
bored /bɔːd/
|
|
Mouth
wider
vertically
|
æ
cat /kæt/
|
^
cup / k^p/
|
ɑː
car / cɑːr/
|
ɒ
hot /hɒt/
|
|
Diphthongs
|
|
Iə
beer /bIə/
|
eI
say /seI/
|
|
|
ʊə
fewer /fjʊə/
|
ɔI
boy /bɔI/
|
əʊ
no /nəʊ/
|
|
eə
bear /beə/
|
aI
high /haI/
|
aʊ
cow /kaʊ/
|
|
Consonants
|
|
p
pan /pæn/
|
b
ban /bæn/
|
t
tan /tæn/
|
d
day /deI/
|
ʧ
chat /ʧæt/
|
ʤ
judge /ʤ^ʤ/
|
k
key /kiː/
|
g
get /get/
|
|
f
fan /fæn/
|
v
van / væn/
|
θ
thin /θIn/
|
ð
than /ðæn/
|
s
sip /sIp/
|
z
zip / zIp/
|
∫
ship /∫Ip/
|
ʒ
vision /vIʒ^n/
|
|
m
might /maIt/
|
n
night /naIt/
|
ŋ
thing /θIŋ/
|
h
height /haIt/
|
l
light /laIt/
|
r
right /raIt/
|
w
white /waIt/
|
j
yes /jes/
|
The Hongkong Polytechnic
University. English Language Centre. (2012). IPA Chart. Retrieved October 5, 2012, from http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/ipa.aspx