CONTENTS

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Vowels English French1 Italian Spanish German
[i] meet qui mi fila Liebe
[y] du früh
[e] chaotic, fatal été, et vero mehr
[ø] peu, deux schön
[ɛ] let belle, est bello perro Bett
[œ] coeur, fleur, jeune können
[a] table caro agua Bahn
[ɑ] father âme
[ ] ought mort morte doch
[o] obey mot, au, eau nome dos Rose
[u] too, moon fou, où luna fortuna du
[ ] (schwa) hidden je, que Leben, schlafe
[] hit mit, immer
[ ] put, book Mutter

Consonants English French Italian Spanish2 German

[ ] (onion) agneau, baigné agnello español
[r] (roll) (thrill) corre, cor rojo
[ ] (flap) (spirit) claire core, caro entero Ihre, Herren
[ ] sing sangue cinco Ring
[ ] Asia je, loge
[] shine charme lascia schön, stumm
[ ] chase bacio chico Klatsch
[ ] judge, gin giorno, agitato
[x] loch (Scottish) gitano nach, auch
[ç] dich, selig
[ ] hablar, lavar
[ʎ] million gli Sevilla
[v] vase vent vecchio Weg
[f ] father fou fuori fabula Vater
[z] zero, praise rose rosa, sposa sehe, gesund

Glides English French Italian Spanish German

[j] yes bien più adios Jahr
[w] we oui quando huevo
1
In French, there are also nasal vowels, such as [ɑ̃] (champ), [ɛ̃] (vin), [õ]
2
For selections in Spanish, students are encouraged to use pronunciation that
(non), and [œ̀] (un). The nasal consonants n and m are not pronounced best suits the song origin. For example, the final sound in “arroz” would be
unless there is elision onto the subsequent vowel. pronounced with an unvoiced [s] in a Latin American folk song; however,
in a Spanish art song, the final sound would be an unvoiced [θ].
Note: the IPA presented above is an abbreviated guide. Please consult
dictionaries or online IPA resources for more detailed information.
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