IPA vowels
æ
ɑː
trap
fa ther - start
e
eɪ
eə
dress
face
square
ɪ
iː
ɪə
kit
fleece
near
ɒ
əʊ
ɔː
lot
goat
taught
ʊ
uː
ʊə
foot
goose
matu re
juː
jʊə
cute
cure
ʌ
ə
ɜː
strut
comma
nurse
aɪ
aʊ
ɔɪ
price
mouth
choice
IPA consonants
Normal sound: /b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, z/
ʃ
tʃ
ŋ
sh ow
ch urch
sing
ʒ
dʒ
j
us ual
j udg e
y ou
θ
ð
s
th ink
th at
s ee
IPA
Syllabification
.
nitrate /ˈnaɪ.treɪt/, night-rate /ˈnaɪt.reɪt/
General [ ]
Rhoticity [ ]
Rhotic and non-rhotic accent : In Received Pronunciation , the letter r is not normally pronounced before a consonant or at the end of a word: car ; door ; four ; hard ; more ; start ; Thursday ; work ; While American English has non-rhotic varieties, notably in New England and south of the Mason-Dixon line, most standard American English speakers render the r wherever it appears.
Sounds
Example word
Rhotic
Non rhotic
/ɑː/
start
/stɑːrt/
/stɑːt/
/eə/
squared
/skweərd/
/skweəd/
/ɪə/
beard
/bɪərd/
/bɪəd/
/ɔː/
north
/nɔːrθ/
/nɔːθ/
/ʊə/
cured
/kjʊərd/
/kjʊəd/
/ɜː/
nurse
/nɜːrs/
/nɜːs/
/ə/
taylored
/ˈteɪlərd/
/ˈteɪləd/
/aɪə/
fired
/ˈfaɪərd/
/ˈfaɪəd/
/aʊə/
coward
/ˈkaʊərd/
/ˈkaʊəd/
In this wiki the silent /r/ is always written, because it is very simple to delete it. Conversely, it is not always obvious where it can be inserted. In /eə, ɪə, ʊə, ɜː, aɪə/ and /aʊə/ it is obvious. In /ɑː, ɔː/ and /ə/ it is not.
Different sounds for the same phoneme [ ]
Phoneme
Example word
AmE
BrE
/æ/
trap
[æ]
[æ, a]
/æ/
carry
[æ, ɛə, ɛ]
[æ, a]
/eə/
square
[ɛə, ɛ]
[ɛə, ɛː]
/ɪə/
near
[ɪə, ɪ]
[ɪə, ɪː]
/ɒ/
lot
[ɑ]
[ɒ]
/əʊ/
goat
[oʊ]
[əʊ]
/ʊə/
sure
[ʊə, ʊ]
[ʊə, ɔː]
/ɜː/
nurse
[ɜː]
[ɜː, əː]
/aɪ/
price
[aɪ]
[aɪ, ʌɪ]
/j/+/uː/
new
[uː]
[juː]
/t/
butter
[ɾ]
[t]
/d/
ladder
[ɾ]
[d]
No correspondence [ ]
Several vowel phonemes don't have the same correspondence in general American and Received pronunciation. For example BATH is pronounced with the vowel of TRAP in General American, and with the vowel of PALM in Received Pronunciation. In the following table the words that are in different lines for American English and British English are shown in bold. See also Lexical sets .
Phoneme
Example words
AmE
BrE
/æ/
trap
trap, bath
trap, marry
/ɑː/
palm
palm, start, lot, sorry
bath , palm, start
/e/
dress
dress, marry, Mary , merry
dress, merry
/eə/
square, Mary
square
square, Mary
/ɒ/
lot
lot, sorry, forest, cloth
/ɔː/
thought
thought, cloth , north, force, forest, glory
thought, north, force, glory, sure
/ɪ/
kit
kit, mirror, nearer
kit, mirror, happy (older speakers)
/iː/
fleece
fleece, happy
fleece, happy (younger speakers)
/ɪə/
near, nearer
near
near, nearer
/ʊ/
foot
foot, tourist
foot
/ʊə/
cure
cure, sure
cure, tourist
/ʌ/
strut
strut
strut, hurry
/ɜː/
nurse
nurse, furry, hurry
nurse, furry
In the following cases even if the vowels do not sound exactly the same, there is a one-to-one correspondence.
Yod coalescence [ ]
Yod coalescence is a special case of assimilation. It occurs when a /j/ sound blends with the previous consonant.
Word
BrE
AmE
/sj/ vs /ʃ/
issue
/ˈɪʃuː, ˈɪsjuː/
/ˈɪʃuː/
tissue
/ˈtɪʃuː, ˈtɪsjuː/
/ˈtɪʃuː/
/dj/ or /diː/ vs /dʒ/
cordial(*)
/ˈkɔːrdiːəl/
/ˈkɔːrdʒəl/
fraudulent
/ˈfrɔːdjələnt/
/ˈfrɔːdʒələnt
module
/ˈmɒdjuːl/
/ˈmɒdʒuːl/
(*) In the word "cordial" we can assume the following evolution: /ˈkɔːrdiːəl, ˈkɔːrdjəl, ˈkɔːrdʒəl/
Specific [ ]
Difference in main stress
Spelling
AmE
BrE
advertisement
/ˌædvərˈtaɪzmənt/
/ədˈvɜːrtɪsmənt/
corollary
/ˈkɔːrəleriː/
/kəˈrɒləriː/
donate
/ˈdəʊneɪt/
/dəʊˈneɪt//
inquiry,AmE enquiryBrE
/ɪnˈkwaɪəriː, ˈɪnkwəriː /
/ɪnˈkwaɪəriː/
laboratory
/ˈlæbrəˌtɔːriː/
/ləˈbɒrətriː/
vaccine
/vækˈsiːn /
/ˈvæksiːn/
Difference in secondary stress
Spelling
AmE
BrE
mandatory
/ˈmændəˌtɔːriː/
/ˈmændətəriː/
military
/ˈmɪləˌteriː/
/ˈmɪlətriː/
secretary
/ˈsekrəˌteriː/
/ˈsekrətriː/
template
/ˈtemplət/
/ˈtempleɪt/
There are several pronunciation differences which don't obey a general rule.
Spelling
AmE
BrE
apricot
/ˈæprɪkɒt/
/ˈeɪprɪkɒt/
blouse
/blaʊs/
/blaʊz/
clerk
/klɜːrk/
/klɑːrk/
erase
/ɪˈreɪs/
/ɪˈreɪz/
expatriate
/ˌeksˈpeɪtrɪət/
/ˌeksˈpætrɪət/
leisure
/ˈliːʒər/
/ˈleʒər /
lever
/ˈlevər/
/ˈliːvər/
organization
/ˌɔːrɡənəˈzeɪʃən/
/ˌɔːrɡənaɪˈzeɪʃən/
perhaps
/pərˈhæps/
/pərˈhæps, præps/
premature
/ˌpriːməˈtʃʊər/
/ˈpremətʃər/
process
/ˈprɒses, ˈprəʊses/
/ˈprəʊses/
schedule
/ˈskedʒuːl/
/ˈʃedjuːl/
squirrel
/ˈskwɜːrəl/
/ˈskwɪrəl/
suggestion
/səgˈdʒestʃən, səˈdʒestʃən/
/səˈdʒestʃən/
tomato
/təˈmeɪtəʊ/
/təˈmɑːtəʊ/
towards
/tɔːrdz/
/təˈwɔːrdz/
vitamin
/ˈvaɪtəmɪn/
/ˈvɪtəmɪn/
yogurt
/ˈjoʊɡərt/
/ˈjɒɡərt/
See also Wikipedia, American and British English pronunciation differences - Miscellaneous pronunciation differences
Variant words [ ]
This table shows similar words with different spelling and pronunciation. Related words that have a shared spelling are shown in green.
American English
British English
airplane /ˈeərpleɪn/
aeroplane /ˈeərəpleɪn/
aluminum /əˈluːmɪnəm/
aluminium /ˌæljəˈmɪniəm/
ass /æs/ (buttocks)
arse /ɑːs/
ass /æs/ (donkey)
bathe, bathed (somebody) /beɪð, beɪðd/
bath, bathed /bɑːθ, bɑːθt/
bathe, bathed (yourself) /beɪð, beɪðd/; Also to take a bath
carburetor /ˈkɑːrbəreɪtər /
carburettor /ˌkɑːrbəˈretər/
dream, dreamed
dream, dreamt
flutist
flautist
ketchup /ˈkɛtʃəp/, catsup /ˈkætsəp, ˈkɛtʃəp/, catchup /ˈkætʃəp, ˈkɛtʃəp/
ketchup /ˈkɛtʃəp/
learn, learned /lɜːrn, ˈlɜːrnd/
learn, learnt /lɜːrn, ˈlɜːrnt/
learned /ˈlɜːrnɪd/
mom /mɒm/
mum /mʌm/
spell, spelled
spell, spelt
Z, zee
Z, zed
See also [ ]
External links [ ]