English Grammar, Third edition (2011)

Reference Section

Pronunciation guide

R1 Here is a list of the phonetic symbols for English:

British English vowel sounds

heart, start, calm.

æ act, mass, lap.

aI dive, cry, mine.

aIə fire, tyre, buyer.

a out, down, loud.

aə flour, tower, sour.

e met, lend, pen.

eI say, main, weight.

eə fair, care, wear.

I fit, win, list.

i feed, me, beat.

Iə near, beard, clear.

ɒ lot, lost, spot.

ə note, phone, coat.

ɔ more, cord, claw.

ɔI boy, coin, joint.

could, stood, hood.

u you, use, choose.

ə sure, pure, cure.

turn, third, word.

but, fund, must.

ə (the weak vowel in) butter, about, forgotten.

 American English vowel sounds

calm, drop, fall.

draw, saw.

æ act, mass, lap.

aI drive, cry, lie.

aiər fire, tire, buyer.

au out, down, loud.

auər flour, tower, sour.

e met, lend, pen.

ei say, main, weight.

e^ər fair, care, wear.

I fit, win, list.

i feed, me, beat.

I^ər cheer, hear, clear.

ou note, phone, coat.

ɔ more, cord, sort.

ɔi boy, coin, joint.

could, stood, hood.

u you, use, choose.

j^ər sure, pure, cure.

r turn, third, word.

but, fund, must.

ə (the weak vowel in) about, account, cancel.

consonant sounds

b bed

d done

f fit

g good

h hat

j yellow

k king

l lip

m mat

n nine

p pay

r run

s soon

t talk

v van

w win

x loch

z zoo

ʃ ship

ʒ measure

ŋ sing

tʃ cheap

θ thin

ð then

dʒ joy

Here is a list of the vowel letters:

a e i o u

Here is a list of the consonant letters:

b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z

The consonant y, when it falls in the middle or at the end of a syllable, has the status of a vowel and has a range of pronunciations similar to i.