Linguistics 1, 2022–2023

Cheat sheet for phonemic transcriptions

The following sheet contains an overview of the IPA symbols which you need in order to
make phonemic transcriptions of English. We recommend that you print out the sheet and use
it when doing your first transcriptions. The sheet is intended to get you started; you are not
allowed to use the sheet during exams!

British English or American English?

When doing phonemic transcriptions, you can choose either SSBE (Standard Southern British
English) or GA (General American) as your reference variety. If you lack a background in
GA, we recommend that you choose SSBE, because this is the reference variety used in the
course book and by your tutors. (In other words, your ‘default’ variety should be SSBE.)
In any case, it is worth noting that the phonemic differences between the two varieties are
relatively small. Both varieties use the same set of consonant phonemes. They differ mainly in
the distribution of /r/; SSBE is non-rhotic, GA is rhotic. This difference is also relevant for the
transcription of some of the vowels. SSBE has a set of centring diphthongs that occur before
orthographic <r>, which GA lacks. Note also the ‘r-coloured schwa’ /ɚ/, which is how in GA
sequences of schwa plus /r/ are realized (e.g. LETTER /lɛtɚ/); some linguists also use /ɚ/ to
represent the NURSE vowel in rhotic varieties (i.e. /nɚs/ or /nɜrs/).
Other differences in vowels involve BATH (/ɑ/ in SSBE, /æ/ in GA), GOAT (/əʊ/ in SSBE,
/oʊ/ in GA), and THOUGHT (/ɔ/ in SSBE, /ɔ/ or /ɑ/ in GA). For some GA speakers, THOUGHT
and LOT have the same vowel (/ɑ/); SSBE has different vowels in these words (/ɒ/ in LOT, /ɔ/
in THOUGHT).

Vowel length
Some sources (e.g. the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary) transcribe long monophthongs
with a length symbol, e.g. START /stɑːt/, THOUGHT /θɔːt/. We don’t do this!

Other transcription conventions

The symbols on the sheet are the ones that we use in the course, and you should stick to them.
Not all sources employ the same conventions as we do. Aside from vowel length (see above),
some sources use ‘upside-down’ /ɹ/ instead of ‘regular’ /r/ (this is also what some of your
tutors are used to), while some older sources may use /e/ instead of /ɛ/ (so that DRESS is /dres/;
for us it’s /drɛs/).

Symbol shape
Make sure that you use the correct shapes for the symbols; transcription is one area where
details matter! The trickiest symbol is probably that for schwa, which is /ə/; the symbol is not
the mirror image of /e/ (/ɘ/)!
Phonemic symbols for consonants

Stops Fricatives Affricates Nasals and approximants

p pig f fun ʧ cherub m mail

b bent v vole ʤ June n nail

t tank θ theory ŋ sang

d dale ð they l lull

k kind s soon r red

ɡ grind z Zen j yogurt

ʃ ship w went

ʒ pleasure

h home

(cf. Knight 2012: 19)

Phonemic symbols for vowels

Short monophthongs Long monophthongs and diphthongs Vowels before <r>

SSBE GA SSBE GA SSBE GA

KIT ɪ ɪ FLEECE i i NEAR ɪə ɪɹ

DRESS ɛ ɛ FACE eɪ eɪ SQUARE ɛə ɛɹ

TRAP æ æ BATH ɑ æ CURE ʊə ʊɹ

LOT ɒ ɑ PALM ɑ ɑ START ɑ ɑɹ

STRUT ʌ ʌ THOUGHT ɔ ɑ NORTH ɔ ɔɹ

FOOT ʊ ʊ GOAT əʊ oʊ NURSE ɜ ɚ (ɜr)

BONUS ə ə GOOSE u u LETTER ə ɚ

PRICE aɪ aɪ

CHOICE ɔɪ ɔɪ

MOUTH aʊ aʊ

(cf. Knight 2012: 64, 74)