Pronunciation symbols

The tables below show the pronunciation symbols used in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
(IPA) as well as equivalent traditional symbols (Ox), which may still be more familiar to some.

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Consonants
IPA Ox Word IPA Ox
p p plosive !pl"#s$v pl%´s&v
b b bilabial 'ba$!le$b$"l b(l)´b&al
t t triphthong !tr$f*+, tr&´fth-ng
d d digraph !da$gr./f d(´grahf
k k comma !k+m" k-´ma
g g glottal !gl+tl gl-´tal
0 ch chapter !0æpt"1 ch2´pter
3 j widget !w$3$t w&´j&t
f f phoneme !f"#ni/m f%´n4m
v v vowel !va#"l vow´el
* th thesaurus *$!s5/r"s th&sawr´us
6 dh feather !fe6"1 f7´dher
s s subject !s8b3$kt s9´bj&kt
z z zeugma !zju/gm" z:´gma
; sh dash dæ; d2sh
< zh word-division !w=/d-d$v$<"n w!d´-d"v"zhon
h h hypotaxis 'ha$p"!tæks$s h(pot2´ks&s
m m monologue !m+n"l+g m-´nol-g
n n noun na#n nown
, ng spelling !spel$, sp7´l&ng
l l letter !let"1 l7´ter
r r rhotic !r"#t$k r%´t&k
j y yod-dropping !j+d-dr+p$, y-d´-dr-p&ng
w w quote kw"#t kw%t

Vowels
IPA Ox Word IPA Ox
i/ 4 read ri/d r4d
$ & syntax !s$ntæks s&´nt2ks
e 7 text tekst t7kst
æ 2 grammar !græm"1 gr2´mer
ah ideograph !$d$"gr./f &´d&ograhf
./
# aide-mémoire 'e$d-'mem!w./1 $d-m%mw#´
+ - cock k+k k-k
aw talk t5/k tawk
5/
& corpus !k5/p"s c&´pus
# ' book b#k b'k
u/ toot ( tu/t t(t
8 9 rubber !r8b"1 r9´ber
=/ ! learn l=/n l!n
a alphabet !ælf"bet 2´lfab7t
e literacy !l$t"r"s$ l&´terac&
i pencil !pensl p7´nsil
"
o colon !k"#l"n k%´lon
u circumflex !s=/k"mfleks s!´kumfl7ks
er author !5/*"1 aw´ther
e$ ) paper !pe$p"1 p)´per
"# % spoke sp"#k sp%k
a$ ( write ra$t r(t
a# ow umlaut !#mla#t '´mlawt
5$ oi voiced v5$st voist
$" ) gazetteer 'gæz"!t$"1 g2zet)´
e" * swear swe"1 sw*
#" oor plural !pl#"r"l ploor´al

Remarks
In addition to the symbols shown above, the traditional system also employs special symbols for some
compound sounds, viz, + for ,er (a$"), owr for ower (a-.), / for y( (ju0) and 1 for yoor (j-.).

In the IPA system, r’s are only written r when pronounced, and linking r’s (r’s which are only
pronounced immediately before a word starting with a vocalic sound) are indicated by the special
symbol 1. For vowel symbols in -r in the traditional system, the r is mute in front of a consonant, trilled
before a vowel and linking at the end of a word, whereas other r’s are always pronounced.

Sounds which share the same IPA symbol are usually indistinguishable.