Pronunciation Page 1 of 2

Pronunciation
English pronunciation varies considerably across the English speaking world. WordWeb only
provides a rough guide, concentrating on the “standard” American and RP (BBC English)
varieties that are widely comprehended. The correct local pronunciation will depend on where
you are. In particular the vowel sounds vary very widely; words that rhyme in one locale may not
in another (though in many cases vowel sounds change in a consistent pattern).

Hold the mouse cursor over the pronunciation to display a larger breakdown into the following
sounds:

a cat, u ado,
anger about
ã cast, ú up,
grass brother
aa arm, û book, put
calm
aw out,
now
e bet,
egg
eh air,
wear
ee sleep,
each
ey day, eer here
rain
eu coiffeur aw flower
(u-)
r
i tip, I fire
inch (-u)
r
I eye, ch rich
fry
o organ, sh shut
law
ó cot th theme
oo too, dh the
food
ow toad, zh confusion
own
ów cold, ng sing
whole
oy boy, xh Bach
boil

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Pronunciation Page 2 of 2

b but n near
d door p part
f fall r rest
g good s soft
h happy t turn,
matter
j jug v village
k cut w wet
l list y yet
m moon z zoom

Primary stresses are marked with ‘, secondary stresses with `. The stress can vary depending on
part of speech and in some cases the sense.

Note that t often sounds more like a d when in an unstressed position in North American English;
for example matter sounds similar to madder. Also in most North American accents ó and aa
sound the same, though in British and Australian English they are quite distinct. The symbol ã is
not used if you are using North American settings (the sound is the same as a), but is distinct in
some British accents (sounding like aa in RP). The ów sound is similar to ow, and in many
accents there is no difference.

Sounds that are sometimes present are enclosed in brackets.

Examples:

other ' údhu(r) quirky 'kwurkee

overlook 'owvur`lûk coast kowst
[n]
overlook `owvur'lûk deny di'nI
[v]

There are some broad rules on whether optional sounds are voiced or not. The (y) sound is
almost always present in British English (and many other varieties), but often absent in US
English; so news is pronounced n(y)ooz - which is nooz in the US and nyooz in the UK Optional
(r) sounds are usually present at some level in US English, but not sounded in British English. So
other sounds like ú-dhu in the UK but like ú-dhur in the US.

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