Help:IPA/English: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Revision as of 22:53, 12 September 2024 view source Nardog (talk \| contribs) Edit filter helpers, Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers, Template editors, Temporary account IP viewers 85,711 edits →External links: not applicable ← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 15:56, 16 July 2025 view source Waddie96 (talk \| contribs) Extended confirmed users, Page movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers 13,862 edits c/e Tag: Visual edit
(42 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown)
Line 2: {{pp-template\|small=yes}} {{IPA key\|H:IPA-EN\|H:IPAE\|H:IPAEN}} ~~Throughout~~On Wikipedia, the pronunciation of words is ~~indicated~~shown using the '''[[International Phonetic Alphabet]]''' ('''IPA'''). The ~~following~~ tables ~~list~~below provide a key to the IPA symbols used for English ~~words and~~ pronunciations. Please note that ~~several~~some of these symbols are used in ways ~~that are~~ specific to Wikipedia, and may differ from ~~those~~their ~~used~~usage byin dictionaries. If ~~the~~ IPA symbols ~~are~~do not ~~displayed~~display ~~properly~~correctly byin your browser, see the [[Help:IPA/English#See also\|troubleshooting links below]]. Editors should use [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation#IPA templates on Wikipedia\|IPA templates]] such as {{tl\|IPAc-en}} when adding IPA to Wikipedia articles, see [[MOS:PRON#Entering IPA characters\|Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters]] for guidance. These templates ensure accessibility and tooltip functionality, see [[Template:IPAc-en\|the documentation page]] for usage instructions. If you are adding a pronunciation using this key, such pronunciations should generally be formatted using the template {{t\|IPAc-en}}. The template provides tooltips for each symbol in the pronunciation. See the template page for instructions. {{Horizontal TOC\|nonum=y}} ==Key== If ~~there~~you isare looking for an IPA symbol ~~you~~that ~~are~~does ~~looking~~not ~~for~~appear ~~that~~in ~~you~~the dopronunciation ~~not see~~key ~~here~~below, see [[Help:IPA]], which isprovides a more ~~complete~~comprehensive list. For a table ~~listing~~showing ~~all spellings of~~how the sounds on this page correspond to English spellings, see {{section link\|English orthography\|Sound-to-spelling correspondences}}. For ~~help~~assistance in converting ~~spelling~~spellings to ~~pronunciation~~pronunciations, ~~see~~refer to {{section link\|English orthography\|Spelling-to-sound correspondences}}. ~~The~~In some cases, words given as examples for ~~two~~ different symbols may sound the same to you. For ~~example~~instance, you ~~may~~might pronounce [[Cot–caught merger\|''cot'' and ''caught'' ~~the same~~]], [[Do-dew merger\|''do'' and ''dew'']], or [[Marry merry mary\|''marry'' and ''merry'']] the same. This ~~often~~typically ~~happens~~results ~~because of~~from dialect variation (see our articles [[English phonology]] and [[International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects]]). If ~~this is the case~~so, you will likely pronounce those symbols the same ~~for~~in other words as well.{{refn\|name=localterms\|This rule is generally employed in the pronunciation guide of our articles, even for local terms such as place names. However, be aware that not all editors may have followed this consistently, so for example if a pronunciation of an English town ending in ‑ford reads /‑fəd/, it doesn't mean that the /r/ would be absent in a rhotic dialect.}} Whether this isapplies ~~true for~~to all words, or ~~just when the sounds occur~~only in ~~the~~certain ~~same context,~~contexts depends on the specific [[sound merger]].<ref>For example, if you have the ''marry–merry'' merger, you probably only merge {{IPA\|/æ/}} and {{IPA\|/ɛ/}} before {{IPA\|/r/}}. You would still distinguish ''man'' and ''men''.</ref> The footnotes ~~explain~~provide ~~some~~further explanation of these cases. {\| style="background:none" Line 32: \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|dʒ}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| '''gj'''~~iant~~ive, ba'''dg'''e \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ð}}}} Line 76: \| style="text-align: left" \| {{Not a typo\|'''p'''ie, s'''p'''y, ca'''p'''}} \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|r}}}}{{refn\|In most varieties of English, {{IPA\|/r/}} is pronounced as an [[Voiced alveolar and postalveolar approximants\|Voiced postalveolar approximant]] {{~~IPAblink~~angbr IPA\|ɹɹ̠}}. Although the IPA symbol {{angbr IPA\|r}} represents the [[alveolar trill]], {{angbr IPA\|r}} is widely used instead of {{angbr IPA\|ɹɹ̠}} in broad transcriptions of English for convenience.}} \| style="text-align: left" \| '''r'''ye, t'''r'''y, ve'''r'''y \|- Line 133: \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɒ}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|L'''O'''T}}, blb'''o'''~~ckade~~ther, c'''o'''t, bbl'''o'''~~ther~~ckade{{refn\|In dialects with the [[Father–bother merger\|''father''–''bother'' merger]] such as General American, {{IPA\|/ɒ/}} is not distinguished from {{IPA\|/ɑː/}}.}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɒr}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| m'''or'''al{{refn\|In most of the United States, {{IPA\|/ɒr/}} is merged with {{IPA\|/ɔːr/}}, except for a handful of words such as ''borrow'', ''tomorrow'' and ''sorry'', which instead have {{IPA\|/ɑːr/}}. In some parts of the Southern and Northeastern US, it is always merged with {{IPA\|/ɑːr/}}. In Canada, it is always merged with {{IPA\|/ɔːr/}}.}} \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|æ}}}}{{refn\|Some British sources, such as the [[Oxford English Dictionary]], use {{angbr IPA\|a}} instead of {{IPA\|/æ/}} to transcribe this vowel. This more closely reflects the actual vowel quality in contemporary [[Received Pronunciation]].{{efn\|{{cite web\|url=https://www.oed.com/information/understanding-entries/pronunciation/british-english-pronunciations/\|title=British English Pronunciations\|publisher=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]\|accessdate=4 September 2023}}}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|TR'''A'''P}}, tb'''a'''~~ttoo~~g, s'''a'''ng, t'''a'''ttoo{{refn\|In North America, {{IPA\|/æ/}} is often pronounced like a diphthong {{IPA\|[eə~ɛə]}} before nasal consonants and, in some particular regional dialects, other environments. See [[:/æ/ raising\|{{IPA\|/æ/\|cat=no}} raising]].}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ær}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| m'''arr'''y{{refn\|name=marymarrymerry\|Many North American accents have the [[Mary–marry–merry merger\|''Mary''–''marry''–''merry'' merger]] and therefore don't distinguish between the corresponding sounds {{IPA\|/ɛər/}}, {{IPA\|/ær/}}, and {{IPA\|/ɛr/}}. Some speakers merge only two of the sounds (most typically {{IPA\|/ɛər/}} with one of the short vowels), and less than a fifth of speakers of American English make a full three-way distinction like in RP and similar accents.{{efn\|{{cite web\|last1=Vaux\|first1=Bert\|last2=Golder\|first2=Scott\|year=2003\|url=http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_15.html\|title=How do you pronounce Mary/merry/marry?\|work=Harvard Dialect Survey\|publisher=Harvard University Linguistics Department}}}}}} Line 153: \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɛ}}}}{{refn\|{{IPA\|/ɛ/}} is transcribed with {{angbr IPA\|e}} in many dictionaries. However, {{IPA\|/eɪ/}} is also sometimes transcribed with {{angbr IPA\|e}}, especially in North American literature, so {{angbr IPA\|ɛ}} is chosen here.}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|DR'''E'''SS}}, prb'''e'''~~stige~~g, l'''e'''ngth, pr'''e'''stige \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɛr}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| m'''err'''y{{refn\|name=marymarrymerry}} \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|eɪ}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|F'''A'''CE}}, v'''a'''gue \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɛər}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|SQU'''ARE'''}}, M'''ar'''y{{refn\|name=marymarrymerry}}{{refn\|name=centering\|{{IPA\|/ɛə/}}, {{IPA\|/ɪə/}}, or {{IPA\|/ʊə/}} may be separated from {{IPA\|/r/}} only when a stress follows it. The [[Template:IPAc-en\|IPAc-en]] template supports {{IPA\|/ɛəˈr/}}, {{IPA\|/ɪəˈr/}}, {{IPA\|/ʊəˈr/}}, {{IPA\|/ɛəˌr/}}, {{IPA\|/ɪəˌr/}}, and {{IPA\|/ʊəˌr/}} as distinct diaphonemes for such occasions.}} \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɪ}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|K'''I'''T}}, hb'''i'''~~storic~~g, s'''i'''ng, h'''i'''storic{{refn\|name=strong-weak\|{{angbr IPA\|ɪ}} and {{angbr IPA\|oʊ}} represent strong vowels in some words and weak vowels in others. It will not always be clear which they are.{{efn\|{{harvp\|Flemming\|Johnson\|2007\|pp=91–2}}.}}{{efn\|{{cite web\|last=Wells\|first=John\|date=25 March 2011\|url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/strong-and-weak.html\|title=strong and weak\|work=John Wells's phonetic blog}}}}}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɪr}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| m'''irr'''or, S'''ir'''ius \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|iː}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|FL'''EE'''CE}}, l'''ea'''gue, pedigr'''ee''', id'''e'''a{{refn\|name=smoothing\|Words like ''idea, real,'' and ''theatre'' may be pronounced with {{IPA\|/ɪə/}} and ''cruel'' with {{IPA\|/ʊə/}} in non-rhotic accents such as Received Pronunciation, and some dictionaries transcribe them with {{IPA\|/ɪə, ʊə/}},{{efn\|name=wells-smoothing\|{{harvp\|Wells\|1982\|p=240}}.}} but since they are not pronounced with {{IPA\|/r/}} in rhotic accents, they are transcribed with {{IPA\|/iːə, uːə/}}, not with {{IPA\|/ɪə, ʊə/}}, in this transcription system.}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɪər}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|N'''EAR'''}}, s'''er'''ious{{refn\|name=centering}} Line 179: \|- \| \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɔː}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|TH'''OUGH'''T}}, c'''auaugh'''~~dacious~~t, c'''~~augh~~au'''tdacious{{refn\|{{IPA\|/ɔː/}} is not distinguished from {{IPA\|/ɒ/}} in dialects with the [[Cot–caught merger\|''cot''–''caught'' merger]] such as Scottish English, Canadian English and many varieties of General American. In North America, the two vowels most often fall together with {{IPA\|/ɑː/}}.}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|N'''OR'''TH}}, h'''or'''se{{refn\|name=horse}} \|- Line 198: \|- \| rowspan="2" \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ʌ}}}}{{refn\|Some, particularly North American, dictionaries notate {{IPA\|/ʌ/}} with the same symbol as {{IPA\|/ə/}}, which is found only in unstressed syllables, and distinguish it from {{IPA\|/ə/}} by marking the syllable as stressed. Also note that although {{angbr IPA\|ʌ}}, the IPA symbol for the [[open-mid back unrounded vowel\|open-mid back vowel]], is used, the typical modern pronunciation is rather close to the [[near-open central unrounded vowel\|near-open central vowel]] {{IPA\|[ɐ]}} in some dialects, including Received Pronunciation.}} \| rowspan="2" style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|STR'''U'''T}}, s'''u'''~~ntidy~~ng, tr'''u'''~~stee~~ntidy, str'''u'''ngstee{{refn\|{{IPA\|/ʌ/}} is not used in the dialects of the northern half of England, and some ~~bordering~~ parts of ~~Wales,~~Ireland and ~~some broad eastern Ireland accents~~Wales. These words would take the {{IPA\|/ʊ/}} vowel: there is no [[Foot–strut split\|''foot''–''strut'' split]].}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|ɜːr}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|N'''UR'''SE}}, bl'''urr'''y, '''ur'''bane, forew'''or'''d{{refn\|In Received Pronunciation, {{IPA\|/ɜːr/}} is pronounced as a lengthened schwa, {{IPA\|[əː]}}. In General American, it is phonetically identical to {{IPA\|/ər/}}. Some dictionaries therefore use {{angbr IPA\|əː, ər}} instead of the conventional notations {{angbr IPA\|ɜː, ɜr}}. When {{angbr IPA\|ər}} is used for {{IPA\|/ɜːr/}}, it is distinguished from {{IPA\|/ər/}} by marking the syllable as stressed.}} Line 217: \| style="text-align: left" \| rabb'''i'''t, b'''i'''zarre, Lat'''i'''n{{refn\|name=strong-weak}}{{refn\|{{angbr IPA\|ɪ}} represents a strong vowel in some contexts and a weak vowel in others. In accents with the [[weak vowel merger]] such as most Australian and American accents, weak {{IPA\|/ɪ/}} is not distinguished from schwa {{IPA\|/ə/}}, making ''rabbit'' and ''abbot'' rhyme and ''Lenin'' and ''Lennon'' homophonous. (Pairs like ''roses'' and ''Rosa's'' are kept distinct in American accents because of the difference in morphological structure,{{efn\|{{harvp\|Flemming\|Johnson\|2007\|pp=94–5}}.}} but may be homophonous in Australian.{{efn\|{{harvp\|Wells\|1982\|p=601}}.}}) In these accents, weak {{IPA\|/ɪl, ɪn, ɪm/}} merge with {{IPA\|/əl, ən, əm/}}, so that the second vowel in ''Latin'' may be lost and ''cabinet'' may be disyllabic (see the previous note).}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|oʊ}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| mott'''o''', retr'''o'''active, foll'''ow'''er{{refn\|name=strong-weak}}{{refn\|name=schwa-w\|{{IPA\|/oʊ/}} and {{IPA\|/u/}} in unstressed, prevocalic positions are transcribed as {{IPA\|/əw/}} by Merriam-Webster, but no other dictionary uniformly follows this practice.{{efn\|{{cite web \|last=Windsor Lewis \|first=Jack \|author-link=Jack Windsor Lewis \|date=10 April 2009 \|url=http://www.yek.me.uk/archive18.html#blog174 \|title=The Elephant in the Room \|work=PhonetiBlog \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250306085850/http://www.yek.me.uk/archive18.html#blog174 \|archive-date=6 March 2025}}}} Hence the difference between {{IPA\|/əw/}} in Merriam-Webster and {{IPA\|/oʊ/}} or {{IPA\|/u/}} in another source is most likely one in notation, not in pronunciation, so {{IPA\|/əw/}} in such cases may be better replaced with {{IPA\|/oʊ/}} or {{IPA\|/u/}} accordingly, to minimize confusion: {{IPA\|/ˌsɪtʃəˈweɪʃən/}} → {{IPA\|/ˌsɪtʃuˈeɪʃən/}}, {{IPA\|/ˈfɒləwər/}} → {{IPA\|/ˈfɒloʊər/}}.}} \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|i}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| {{sc2\|HAPP'''Y'''}}, med'''i'''ocre{{refn\|name=i-u\|{{angbr IPA\|i}} represents variation between {{IPA\|/iː/}} and {{IPA\|/ɪ/}} in unstressed prevocalic or morpheme-final positions. It is realized with a quality closer to {{IPA\|/iː/}} in accents with [[Happy tensing\|''happy'' tensing]], such as Australian English, General American, and modern RP, and to {{IPA\|/ɪ/}} in others. {{angbr IPA\|u}} likewise represents variation between {{IPA\|/uː/}} and {{IPA\|/ʊ/}} in unstressed prevocalic positions.}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|iə}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| Californ'''ia'''{{refn\|The sequence {{angbr IPA\|iə}} may be pronounced as two syllables, {{IPA\|[i.ə]}} or {{IPA\|[ɪ.ə]}}, or as one, {{IPA\|[jə]}} or {{IPA\|[ɪə̯]}}. When pronounced as one syllable in a non-rhotic accent, it may be indistinguishable from, and identified as, the {{sc2\|NEAR}} vowel ({{IPA\|/ɪər/}}).{{efn\|name=wells-smoothing}} This transcription system uses {{angbr IPA\|iə}}, not {{angbr IPA\|i.ə}}, {{angbr IPA\|jə}}, {{angbr IPA\|ɪə}}, etc., to cover all these possibilities.}} \|- \| {{big\|{{IPA\|u}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| fr'''u'''ition{{refn\|name=schwa-w}}{{refn\|name=i-u}} \| {{big\|{{IPA\|uə}}}} \| style="text-align: left" \| infl'''ue'''nce{{refn\|The sequence {{angbr IPA\|uə}} may be pronounced as two syllables, {{IPA\|[u.ə]}} or {{IPA\|[ʊ.ə]}}, or as one, {{IPA\|[wə]}} or {{IPA\|[ʊə̯]}}. When pronounced as one syllable in a non-rhotic accent, it may be indistinguishable from, and identified as, the {{sc2\|CURE}} vowel ({{IPA\|/ʊər/}}).{{efn\|name=wells-smoothing}} This transcription system uses {{angbr IPA\|uə}}, not {{angbr IPA\|u.ə}}, {{angbr IPA\|wə}}, {{angbr IPA\|ʊə}}, etc., to cover all these possibilities.}} \|- ! colspan="4" \| [[Syllabic consonant]]s{{refn\|name=syllabic\|In a number of contexts, {{IPA\|/ə/}} in {{IPA\|/ər/}}, {{IPA\|/əl/}}, {{IPA\|/ən/}}, or {{IPA\|/əm/}} is often omitted, resulting in a syllable with no vowel. Some dictionaries show {{IPA\|/ə/}} in those contexts in parentheses, superscript, or italics to indicate this possibility, or simply omit {{IPA\|/ə/}}. When followed by a weak vowel, the syllable may be lost altogether, with the consonant moving to the next syllable, so that ''doubling'' {{IPA\|/ˈdʌb.əl.ɪŋ/}} may alternatively be pronounced as {{IPA\|[ˈdʌb.lɪŋ]}}, and ''Edinburgh'' {{IPA\|/ˈɛd.ɪn.bər.ə/}} as {{IPA\|[ˈɛd.ɪn.brə]}}.<!-- Symbols are deliberately kept diaphonemic since their realizations vary. -->{{efn\|{{harvp\|Wells\|2008\|pp=173, 799}}.}} When not followed by a vowel, {{IPA\|/ər/}} merges with {{IPA\|/ə/}} in non-rhotic accents.}} Line 336: ==See also== * If your browser does not display IPA symbols, you probably need to install a font that includes the IPA (for good, free IPA fonts, see the download links in the articles for [[Gentium]], and the more complete [[Charis SIL]]; for a monospaced font, see the complete [[Everson Mono]]). * For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{section link\|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation\|Entering IPA characters}}. * [[Help:IPA/Conventions for English]] Line 432: ==External links== * [http://www.personal.psu.edu/ejp10/blogs/gotunicode/2008/09/getting-jaws-61-to-recognize-e.html Getting JAWS 6.1 to recognize "exotic" Unicode symbols]{{dead link}} – for help on getting the [[screen reader]] [[JAWS (screen reader)\|JAWS]] to read IPA symbols * [http://ipa-reader.~~xyz~~com/ IPA Reader] – web-based IPA synthesizer using [[Amazon Polly]] * [https://itinerarium.github.io/phoneme-synthesis/ Phoneme Synthesis] – web-based IPA synthesizer using [[eSpeak]]