Pronunciation Symbols

For more information see Guide to Pronunciation.

e		banana, collide, abut
'e, ,e	humdrum, abut
e		immediately preceding \ l \, \ n \, \m\, \n\, as in battle, mitten, eaten,
		and sometimes open \'oÅp-em\, lock and key \-en-\;
		immediately following \ l \, \ m \, \ r \, as often in French
		table, prisme, titre
er		further, merger, bird
'er-, 'e-r    as in two different pronunciations
		of hurry, \'her-eÅ, 'he-reÅ\
a		mat, map, mad, gag, snap, patch
aÅ		day, fade, date, aorta, drape, cape	
aÈ		bother, cot, and, with most American speakers, father, cart
aÇ		father as pronounced by speakers who do not rhyme it with bother;
		French patte
auÇ		now, loud, out
b		baby, rib
ch		chin, nature \'naÅ-cher\ (actually this sound is  \ t \ + \ sh \ )
d		did, adder	
e		bet, bed, peck
'eÅ, ,eÅ	beat, nosebleed, evenly, easy
eÅ		easy, mealy	
f		fifty, cuff
g		go, big, gift
h		hat, ahead	
hw	whale as pronounced by those who do not have the same
		pronunciation for both whale and wail
i		tip, banish, active	
õÅ		site, side, buy, tripe (actually, this sound is \ aÈ \ + \ i \, or \ aÇ \ + \ i \ )
j		job, gem, edge, join, judge
		(actually, this sound is \ d \ + \ zh \ )
k		kin, cook, ache
k_		German ich, Buch; one pronunciation of loch
l		lily, pool	
m		murmur, dim, nymph	
n		no, own	
n		indicates that a preceding vowel or diphthong
		is pronounced with the nasal passages open, as in French
		un bon vin blanc \ún-boÅn-van-blaÈn\	
n		sing \'sin\, singer \'sin-er\, finger \'fin-er\, ink \'ink\
oÅ		bone, know, beau	
oÇ		saw, all, gnaw, caught	
ú		French boeuf, German HoÈlle
úÅ		French feu, German HoÈhle	
oÇi		coin, destroy
p		pepper, lip	
r		red, car, rarity
s		source, less	
sh		as in shy, mission, machine, special
		(actually, this is a single sound, not two);
		with a hyphen between, two sounds as in grasshopper \'gras-,haÈp-er\
t		tie, attack, late, later, latter	
th		as in thin, ether (actually, this is a single sound, not two);
		with a hyphen between, two sounds as in knighthood \'nõÅt-,huÇd\
_t_h	then, either, this (actually, this is a single sound, not two)
uÈ		rule, youth, union \'yuÈn-yen\, few \'fyuÈ\
uÇ		pull, wood, book, curable \'kyuÇr-e-bel\, fury \'fyuÇ(e)r-eÅ\	
u		German fuÈllen, huÈbsch	
uÅ		French rue, German fuÈhlen
v		vivid, give	
w	 	we, away; in some words having final \(,)oÅ\, \(,)yuÈ\, or \(,)uÈ\
		a variant \e-w\ occurs before vowels, as in \'faÈl-e-win\,
		covered by the variant \e(-w)\ or \ye(-w)\ at the entry word.	
y		yard, young, cue \'kyuÈ\, mute \'myuÈt\, union \'yuÈn-yen\
		
y		indicates that during the articulation of the sound represented by
		the preceding character the front of the tongue has substantially
		the position it has for the articulation of the first sound of
		yard, as in the French digne \deÅny\
z		zone, raise
zh	 	as in vision, azure \'azh-er\ (actually, this is a single sound, not two);
		with a hyphen between, two sounds as in hogshead \'hoÇgz-,hed,
		'haÈgz-\
\		slant line used in pairs to mark the beginning
		and end of a transcription: \'pen\
'		mark preceding a syllable with primary (strongest) stress:
		\'pen-men-,ship\
,		mark preceding a syllable with secondary (medium) stress:
		\'pen-men-,ship\
-		mark of syllable division
( )		indicate that what is symbolized between is present in some
		utterances but not in others: factory \'fak-t(e)reÅ\
¸		indicates that many regard as unacceptable the pronunciation
		variant immediately following: cupola \'kyuÈ-pe-le, ¸,loÅ\