Segmental phonetics

[] IPA phonetic transcription (revised to 1979)

The sounds of the phonetic symbols used in transcription can be roughly glossed as follows:

Vowels

1. [i] as in ‘kit’ [kit]

2. [i] as in ‘fleece’ (but shorter) [fli:s]

3. [e] as in ‘dress’ [dɹes]

4. [ε] as in French ‘père’

5. [æ] as in ‘trap’ [tɹæp]

6. [a] as in French ‘patte’ [pat]

7. [α] as in ‘start’ (but shorter) [stα:t]

8. [ʌ] as in ‘strut’ [stɹʌt]

9. [ɒ] as in ‘lot’ [lɒt]

10. [ɔ] as in ‘north’ (but shorter) [nɔ:θ]

11. [o] as in French ‘eau’

12. [℧] as in ‘foot’ [f℧t]

13. [u] as in ‘goose’ (but shorter) [gu:s]

14. [ə] as in‘about’, ‘upper’ [əba℧t]

15. [З] as in ‘nurse’ (but shorter) [nЗ:s]

16. [ei] as in ‘face’ [feis]

17. [ai] as in ‘price’ [pɹais]

18. [ɔi] as in ‘choice’ [t∫ɔis]

19. [iə] as in ‘near’ [niə]

20. [εə] as in ‘square’ [skwεə]

21. [℧ə] as in ‘cure’ [kj℧ə]

22. [ə℧] as in ‘goat’ [gə℧t]

23. [a℧] as in ‘mouth’ [ma℧θ]

24. [˜] nasalisation of a vowel

Consonants

1. [p] as in ‘pea’ [pi:]

2. [b] as in ‘bee’ [bi:]

3. [t] as in ‘toe’ [tə℧]

4. [d] as in ‘doe’ [də℧]

5. [ɖ] like [d], but with the tip of the tongue retroflexed

6. [k] as in ‘cap’ [kæp]

7. [g] as in ‘gap’ [gæp]

8. [x] as in Scottish ‘loch’ [lɒx]

9. [f] as in ‘fat’ [fæt]

10. [v] as in ‘vat’ [væt]

11. [θ] as in ‘thing’ [θiŋ]

12. [ð] as in ‘this’ [ðis]

13. [s] as in ‘sip’ [sip]

14. [z] as in ‘zip’ [zip]

15. [∫] as in ‘ship’ [∫ip]

16. [ʒ] as in ‘measure’ [meʒə]

17. [h] as in ‘hat’ [hæt]

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