INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

PHONEMES
Lax vowels
/æ/ as in cat, that, sat. /ʊ/ as in put, book, look.
/e/ as in bet, tell, wet. /ʌ/ as in but, up, club.
/ɪ/ as in sit, bit, quick. /ə/ as in about, asleep, better, mother, the.
/ɒ/ as in what, pot, lot.

/!\ /i/ and /u/ are used (instead of /ɪ/ and /ʊ/) in unstressed positions, before a vowel (e.g. react,
influence) or at the end of a word (e.g. happy).

Tense vowels
/ɑ:/ as in car, ask, past, dark. /ɔ:/ as in door, score, more.
/i:/ as in sheep, each, lead. /ɜ:/ as in first, bird, nurse.
/u:/ as in lose, boot, cool.

Diphthongs
/aɪ/ as in my, lie, cry. /eə/ as in there, bear, rare.
/aʊ/ as in out, down, around. /ɪə/ as in beer, near, fear.
/eɪ/ as in May, wait, grey. /ʊə/ as in poor, sure.
/ɔɪ/ as in boy, Lloyd. /əʊ/ as in no, know, so.

Triphthongs
/aɪə/ as in fire, liar /ɔɪə/ as in employer
/aʊə/ as in flower /əʊə/ as in lower
/eɪə/ as in player

Consonants
/p/ as in Pat, pie. /f/ as in feel, afraid.
/b/ as in by, bring, bee. /v/ as in vision, very.
/t/ as in tea, take. /k/ as in cry, take.
/d/ as in dear, address. /g/ as in guy, egg.
/s/ as in say, loss. /m/ as in mate, more.
/z/ as in buzz, possess. /n/ as in need, not.
/l/ as in let, bell. /ʃ/ as in ship, rush.
/r/ as in ring, arrive. /ʒ/ as in measure, pleasure.
/θ/ as in thing, death. /tʃ/ as in chip, each.
/ð/ as in this, the, father. /dʒ/ as in John, jeans.
/h/ as in hot, hi, hello. /ŋ/ as in sing, going.

Semi-vowels (or semi-consonants)

/j/ as in yes, you.
/w/ as in why, way.

Notes
→ Use < > for spelling and / / for phonemes (e.g., <o> in <dogs> is pronounced /ɒ/).

→ Never use punctuation signs in transcriptions (“ ? . , !).

→ Phonetic symbols are not letters; don't be influenced by spelling (e.g., /ˈdɒgz/, not */ˈdɒgs/)

→ Don't use capital letters.

→ Indicate a stressed syllable by using a vertical stress-mark: ˈ

→ In Standard British (or: RP/BBC) English, <r> is pronounced, and therefore transcribed, only
when it is followed by a vowel sound: arrive /əˈraɪv/, car /ˈkɑ:/, car in the street /ˈkɑ:r ɪn …/.
→ Use a dictionary to check the transcriptions, but be careful! You may come across some symbols
that should not be used (e.g., /ɛ/ instead of /e/).
 IPA: EXERCISES

Lax vowels: give the spelling of the following pairs of words.

/wen/ /kæt/
/wɪn/ /kʌt/
/ʃʌt/ /sæŋ/
/ʃɒt/ /sʌŋ/
/dʒɒn/ /dɒk/
/dʒɪn/ /dʌk/
/bʊl/ /tʃæp/
/bɪl/ /tʃɪp/

Lax vowels: transcribe each of the following words.

glad: rang:
bush: ship:
box: gem:
much: match:
yes: city:
head: hurry:
sing: judge:
wood:

Tense vowels: give the spelling of the following words.

/bi:tʃ/ /dʒɔ:dʒ/
/ni:s/ /fju:/
/ʃɑ:p/ /tʃu:z/
/hɑ:f/ /wɜ:m/
/flɔ:/ /ɜ:li/
Tense vowels: insert the following words in the five columns below, according to the vowel they
contain.
four, firm, pork, saw, keen, June, laugh, blue, charm, burn, earn, work, cheap, all, lose, heart, jar,
shoe
/i:/ /ɑ:/ /ɔ:/ /u:/ /ɜ:/

Diphthongs: give the spelling of the following pairs of words.

/peɪ/ /gəʊ/
/paɪ/ /gaɪ/
/naʊ/ /bɪə/
/nɪə/ /beə/
/tɔɪ/ /ʃʊə/
/tɪə/ /ʃeə/

Diphthongs: transcribe the following words.

fierce: soul:
over: whole:
scarce: joy:
thousand: steak:
name:

Triphthongs: transcribe the following words.

tired: Howard:
flower: desire:
employer: grower:
sour: payer:
riot:
Complete the minimal pairs.
/ɪ/ & /i:/ /ʌ/ & /ɒ/ /ʊ / & /u:/ /ɒ/ & /əʊ/
– filled & – gun & – full & – cot &
– risen & – colour & – should & – ox &
– pill & – cuff & – look & – honour &
– chip & – wonder & – wood & – fond &

Consonants: /θ/ – /ð/.

1. If that's the South, then that's the North.
2. Neith's neither healthy, wealthy nor wise.
3. I thought they said the weather was better then.
4. Catherine's got three brothers, I think.
5. Mother's teeth were on the National Health.
6. These socks are threadbare. Throw them away.

Consonants: the pronunciation of <r>.

1. Is it for Ann?
2. It's for me.
3. Our aunt voted for the Tories.
4. Does your uncle live near Heathrow?
5. There were a lot of people.
6. They are always talking about soccer.
7. Her husband lives near Exeter.
8. Were you at the party?

Consonants: /ʃ / – /tʃ / Identify the following words.

/ˈmæʃ/ /ˈtʃɜ:tʃ/
/ˈtʃi:p/ /ˈʃaɪ/
/ˈʃeə/ /ˈblʌʃ/
/ˈkəʊtʃ/ /ˈtʃəʊkɪŋ/
/ˈwɒʃ/
Identify the following words.
/ˈfri:/ /ˈdeə/
/ˈkləʊzd/ /ˈəʊpən/
/ˈlaɪən/ /ˈθriː/
/ˈbrɪtən/ /ˈfeɪvrɪt/
/ˈsku:l/ /ˈɜːθ/
/ˈpi:pəl/ /ˈʃu:/
/kəmˈpju:tə/ /ˈtʃɒklət/

Schwa: write down the spelling of each of the following words. Circle the letter or sequence of
letters corresponding to the schwa.
/ˈkɔ:nə/ /pəˈhæps/
/ˈkri:tʃə/ /kəˈlekt/
/ˈkɪŋdəm/ /ˈsætədi/
/ˈsɜ:kəs/ /ˈmɒnəki/
/əˈpres/ /ˈlævəndə/
/səˈdʒest/ /fəˈtɒgrəfə/
/fəˈbɪd/