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If there is an IPA symbol you are looking for that you do not see here, see [[Help:IPA]], which is a more complete list. For a table listing all spellings of the sounds on this page, see {{section link|English orthography|Sound-to-spelling correspondences}}. For help converting spelling to pronunciation, see {{section link|English orthography|Spelling-to-sound correspondences}}.
The words given as examples for two different symbols may sound the same to you. For example, you may pronounce [[Cot–caught merger|''cot'' and ''caught'' the same]], ''do'' and ''dew'', or ''marry'' and ''merry''. This often happens because of dialect variation (see our articles [[English phonology]] and [[International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects]]). If this is the case, you will pronounce those symbols the same for 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 is true for all words, or just when the sounds occur in the same context, depends on the merger.<ref>For example, if you have the ''marry–merry'' merger, you probably only merge {{IPA
{| style="background:none"
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|-
| {{big|{{IPA|dj}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | '''d'''ew{{refn|name=yod|In dialects with [[yod dropping]], {{IPA|/j/}} in {{IPA|/juː/}}, {{IPA|/ju/}}, or {{IPA|/jʊər/}} is not pronounced after [[coronal consonant]]s ({{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/z/}}, {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/θ/}}, and {{IPA|/l/}}) in the same syllable, so that ''dew'' {{IPA|/djuː/}} is pronounced the same as ''do'' {{IPA|/duː/}}. In dialects with [[yod coalescence]], {{IPA|/tj/}} and {{IPA|/dj/}} mostly merge with {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}}, so that the first syllable in ''Tuesday'' is pronounced the same as ''choose''. In some dialects {{IPA|/sj/}} and {{IPA|/zj/}} are also affected and frequently merge with {{IPA|/ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/ʒ/}}. Where {{IPA|/j/}} in {{IPA|/juː/}}, {{IPA|/ju/}}, or {{IPA|/jʊər/}} following a coronal is still pronounced in yod-dropping accents, place a syllable break before it: ''menu'' {{IPA
|-
| {{big|{{IPA|dʒ}}}}
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! colspan="4"| [[Vowel]]s
|-
! colspan="2" | Strong vowels !! colspan="2" | ...followed by R{{refn|In [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic accents]] like RP, {{IPA
|-
! IPA !! Examples !! IPA !! Examples
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| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|PR'''I'''CE}}, p'''ie'''{{refn|name=CanadianRaising|In much of North America, {{IPA|/aɪ/}} or {{IPA|/aʊ/}} may have a slightly different quality when it precedes a [[voiceless]] consonant, as in ''price'' or ''mouth'', from that in ''ride/pie'' or ''loud/how'', a phenomenon known as [[Canadian raising]]. Since this occurs in a predictable fashion, it is not distinguished in this transcription system.}}
| {{big|{{IPA|aɪər}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | h'''ire'''{{refn|name=triphthong|Some speakers pronounce ''higher, flower'' and ''coyer'' ("more coy") with two syllables, and ''hire, flour'' and ''coir'' with one. Most pronounce them the same. For the former group of words, make use of syllable breaks, as in {{IPA
|-
| {{big|{{IPA|aʊ}}}}
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| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|F'''A'''CE}}
| {{big|{{IPA|ɛər}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|SQU'''ARE'''}}, M'''ar'''y{{refn|name=marymarrymerry}}{{refn|name=centering|{{IPA
|-
| {{big|{{IPA|ɪ}}}}
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|-
| {{big|{{IPA|iː}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|FL'''EE'''CE}}, 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
| {{big|{{IPA|ɪər}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|N'''EAR'''}}, s'''er'''ious{{refn|name=centering}}
|-
| {{big|{{IPA|oʊ}}}}{{refn|{{IPA|/oʊ/}} is often transcribed with {{angbr IPA|əʊ}}, particularly in British literature, based on its modern realization in Received Pronunciation. It is also transcribed with {{angbr IPA|o}}, particularly in North American literature.}}
| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|G'''OA'''T}}{{refn|name=strong-weak}}<br>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}}}} 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
| rowspan="2" | {{big|{{IPA|ɔːr}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|F'''OR'''CE}}, h'''oar'''se{{refn|name=horse|Some accents, such as [[Scottish English]], many forms of [[Irish English]] and some conservative [[American English|American]] accents, make a distinction between the vowels in ''horse'' and ''hoarse'' (i.e. they lack the [[horse–hoarse merger|''horse''–''hoarse'' merger]]). Since most modern dictionaries do not differentiate between them, neither does this key.}}
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| style="text-align: left" | {{sc2|G'''OO'''SE}}, cr'''u'''el{{refn|name=smoothing}}
| {{big|{{IPA|ʊər}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | t'''our''', {{nowrap|{{sc2|C'''URE'''}} {{small|({{IPA
|-
| 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.}}
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| 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|ʊə}}, etc., to cover all these possibilities.}}
|-
! colspan="4" | [[Syllabic consonant]]s{{refn|name=syllabic|In a number of contexts, {{IPA|/ə/}} in {{IPA
|-
! IPA !! Examples !! IPA !! Examples
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| style="text-align: left" | lo'''ch''', '''Ch'''anukah{{refn|In most dialects, {{IPA|/x/}} can also be replaced by {{IPA|/k/}} in most words, including ''loch''. It is also replaced with {{IPA|/h/}} in some words, particularly of Yiddish origin, such as ''Chanukah''.}}
| {{big|{{IPA|ʔ}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | uh'''-'''oh {{IPA
|-
| {{big|{{IPA|ɒ̃}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | b'''on''' viv'''an'''t{{refn|name=nasalvowel|{{IPA
| {{big|{{IPA|æ̃}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | f'''in''' de siècle{{refn|name=nasalvowel}}
|-
| {{big|{{IPA|ɜː}}}}
| style="text-align: left" | M'''ö'''bius {{small|(non-rhotic only)}}{{refn|{{IPA
| colspan="2" |
|-
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|-
| {{big|{{IPA|ˈ}}}}
| rowspan="2" style="text-align: left" | {{nowrap|'''in'''to'''na'''tion {{IPA
| rowspan="2" | {{big|{{IPA|.}}}}
| rowspan="2" style="text-align: left" | {{nowrap|{{IPA
|-
| {{big|{{IPA|ˌ}}}}
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'''Notes'''
* Words in {{sc2|SMALL CAPITALS}} are the standard [[lexical set]]s. Not all of the sets are used here. In particular, we excluded words in the lexical sets {{sc2|BATH}} and {{sc2|CLOTH}}, which may be given two transcriptions, the former either with {{IPA
* The length mark {{angbr IPA|ː}} does not mean that the vowels transcribed with it are always longer than those without it. When unstressed, followed by a voiceless consonant, or in a [[polysyllabic]] word, a vowel in the former group is frequently shorter than the latter in other environments (see {{section link|Clipping (phonetics)|English}}). {{IPA
==Dialect variation==
{{further|English phonology|International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects}}
This key represents [[diaphoneme]]s, abstractions of speech sounds that accommodate <!--"standard ... English ... pronunciations" is not OK, so "English" alone is not OK-->[[General American]], British [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP) and to a large extent also [[Australian English|Australian]], [[Canadian English|Canadian]], [[Irish English|Irish]] (including [[Ulster English|Ulster]]), [[New Zealand English|New Zealand]], [[Scottish English|Scottish]], [[South African English|South African]] and [[Welsh English]] pronunciations. Therefore, not all of the distinctions shown here are relevant to a particular dialect
* {{angbr IPA|i}} does not represent a phoneme but a variation between {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/ɪ/}} in unstressed positions. Speakers of dialects with [[happy tensing|''happy'' tensing]] (Australian English, General American, modern RP) should read it as an unstressed {{IPA|/iː/}}, whereas speakers of other dialects (e.g. some Northern England English) should treat it the same as {{IPA|/ɪ/}}. In Scotland, this vowel can be considered the same as the short allophone of {{IPA|/eɪ/}}, as in ''take''. Before {{IPA|/ə/}} within the same word, another possible pronunciation is {{IPA|/j/}} as in '''''y'''et''.
* Many speakers of American, Canadian, Scottish and Irish English pronounce ''cot'' {{IPA|/ˈkɒt/}} and ''caught'' {{IPA|/ˈkɔːt/}} the same.{{efn|{{harvp|Wells|1982|pp=473–6, 493, 499}}.}} You may simply ignore the difference between the symbols {{IPA|/ɒ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔː/}}, just as you ignore the distinction between the written vowels ''o'' and ''au'' when pronouncing them.
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