Wikipedia:United States dictionary transcription

WP:USdict
[[{{USdict}}]]

This phonetic notation is a generic US dictionary-style respelling system, similar to those used by American Heritage, Merriam Webster, and Random House dictionaries. Such systems were once used in other anglophone countries, before being abandoned for the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and are still more familiar to people educated in the United States than the IPA is.

This transcription covers most dialects of English, but not the fur-fir-fern distinction of Scottish English,^[1] nor the bad-lad split of Australian English. It has been designed only for English and is not adequate for other languages.

The following tables show the transcriptions of English phonemes, along with the IPA equivalents as used on Wikipedia.

Key

Not all dialects distinguish all of the sounds found in English. The guide below gives key words for each phoneme, and you should pronounce each symbol the same way you'd pronounce the letters in bold type in your dialect. For example, many US speakers conflate the vowels â, ô, and ŏ. If you do this, just pronounce them as if they were all â. The same goes for schwa ə and the near-close central unrounded vowel ı (ᵻ) Similarly, among rhotic vowels, many people conflate âr ăr ĕr; îr ĭr; ōr ôr ŏr; and ûr ŭr; others drop the r unless it falls between vowels.

Vowels	examples	pronunciation	IPA
ă	bad, lad, parry	băd, lăd, păr′·ē	æ
ā	bay, bade, bare	bā, bād, bār	eɪ (ɛər)^[2]
â	spa, balm, bard	spâ, bâm, bârd	ɑː (ɑr)
ĕ	bed, berry	bĕd, bĕr′·ē	ɛ
ē	bee, bead, beer	bē, bēd, bēr	iː (ɪər)
ə	about, enter	ə·bowt′, ĕn′·tər	ə
ı (ᵻ)	roses	rōs′·ɪz^[3]	ɨ
ĭ	bid, mirror	bĭd, mĭr′·ər	ɪ
ī	bye, bide, bite, fire	bī, bīd, bīt, fīr	aɪ
ŏ	pod, porridge	pŏd, pŏr′·ıj^[4]	ɒ
ô	paw, bought, born	pô, bôt, bôrn^[4]	ɔː (ɔr)
ō	Poe, abode, bore	pō, ə·bōd′, bōr	oʊ (ɔər)
ŏŏ	put, foot	pŏŏt, fŏŏt	ʊ
ōō	boo, boot, food	bōō, bōōt, fōōd	uː
oor	boor	boor^[5]	(ʊər)
oy	boy, poise	boy, poyz	ɔɪ
ow	pow, power	pow, pow′·ər	aʊ
ŭ	bud, hurry	bŭd, hŭr′·ē	ʌ
ū	pew, tune, pure	pū, tūn,^[6] pūr	juː (jʊər)
ûr	fur, bird	fûr, bûrd	ɜːr
Foreign	examples	pronunciation	IPA
ȧ	casa (Spanish)	kȧ′·sȧ	a
é	clé (French)	klé	e
ö	danke schön (German)	dâng′·kə shön	ø
ü	jus (French)	zhü	y
ⁿ	vin blanc (French)	vĕⁿ′ blâⁿ′	̃
-	Hawai‘i (Hawaiian)	hə·wī′·-ē	ʔ
Consonants	examples	pronunciation	IPA
ch	chat	chăt	tʃ
dh	that, mother	dhăt, mŭdh′·ər	ð
g	get	gĕt	ɡ
hw	which	hwĭch	ʍ~hw
j	joy, gin	joy, jĭn	dʒ
kh	loch	lŏkh	x
ng	singer	sĭng′·ər	ŋ
ngg	finger	fĭng′·gər	ŋɡ
s	sad, city	săd, sĭt′·ē	s
sh	shed	shĕd	ʃ
th	thin, moth	thĭn, mŏth	θ
y	yet	yĕt	j
z	zed, pose	zĕd, pōz	z
zh	vision, beige	vĭzh′·ən, bāzh	ʒ
-	uh-oh	ŭ-′·ō	ʔ
Stress	examples	pronunciation	IPA
a′	pronunciation	prə·nŭn′·sē·ā′·shən^[7]	ˌa~ˈa
a′	battleship	băt′·əl·shĭp^[8]	ˌa~ˈa

Notes

^ This could be remedied by replacing ûr with ur for fur, furry, and curd, with ir for fir, stirring, and bird, and with er for her and fern. However, this distinction is not supported by many dictionaries, and so would be difficult to maintain.
^ When using the IPA for English, Wikipedia transcribes long vowels and diphthongs differently before /r/ than elsewhere.
^ Properly "ᵻ", but this is not supported by all browsers. Some people pronounce it like ə, others something like ĭ.
^ ^a ^b In many dialects, when ŏ and ô are not followed by r, they are pronounced like â. This does not need to be transcribed separately, as it is automatic.
^ The vowels ōō and ŏŏ are not distinguished before r, so the diacritic can be omitted.
^ In many dialects, tune is pronounced tōōn. This does not need to be transcribed separately, as it is automatic.
^ Many dictionaries mark the syllable nun with secondary stress. However, the difference is in prosody, not part of the word, and disappears when the word is embedded in a longer utterance.
^ Some dictionaries mark the syllable ship for secondary stress. This is not necessary, and here would be confused with true stress.

Key

Notes

See also