IPA for British English


 IPA 

International Phonetic 
Alphabet

IPA stands both for International Phonetic Alphabet and International Phonetic Association. International Phonetic Alphabet was devised by International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century for the representation of speech sound in written form. It has several symbols for different languages of the world. Almost all the languages of the world can be transcribed in a written form with the help of IPA.

Phonetic Symbols of British English

British English has the following 44 symbols.

Seven Short Vowels

•    ɪ as in – bit, sit, kit

•    ɛ as in – bet, set, let

•    æ as in – bat, cat, rat

•    ʌ as in – but, cut, shut

•    ɒ as in – hot, pot, shot

•    ə as in -another, alone, mother

•    ʊ as in – put, good, should

Five Long Vowels

•    iː as in - bee, tea, see

•    ɔː as in – caught, ball, all

•    uː as in – too, blue, fruit

•    ɜː as in - herd, birth, bird

• ɑː as in – car, calm, palm

Eight Diphthongs

•    eɪ as in -bay, date, plate

•    aɪ as in -buy, right, kite

•    əʊ as in -go, boat, gold

•    aʊ as in -now, cow, how

•   ʊə as in – poor, pure, tour

•   ɔɪ as in – boy, toy, joy

•   ɪə as in – dear, here, steer

•  eə as in - there, fair, chair

Consonants (24)

•    p as in -pet, paint, power

•    b as in -bet, baboon, border

•    t as in -top, total, tank

•    d as in -dog, donkey, doll.

•    k as in -key, cat, kit

•    g as in -go, gun, good

•    f as in – fish, fond, father

•    v as in – van, value, video

•    θ as in -thin, thought, thorough

•    ð as in -this, that, mother

•    s as in -sit, silence, sentence

•    z as in -zip, is, was

•    ʃ as in - she, ship, posh

•    ʒ as in - vision, fusion, Pleasure

•    h as in - hat, hot, hit

•    m as in - man, moth, mole

•    n as in - not, net, run

•    ŋ as in - sing, ring, bang,

•    l as in - look, lock, bull

•    r as in - run, rat, right

•    j as in - yes, yak, yeti

•    w as in - we, water, wall

•   tʃ as in - chit, chat, chant

•  dʒ as in - judge, bridge, budget

How to write phonetic transcription of a word.

First of all, you need to memorize the IPA symbols of all the vowels, diphthongs and consonants given above. It will help you in writing the phonetic transcription of a word. Phonetic transcription is always written in slash brackets as given below:-

Sound: /saʊnd/

Wheel: /wi:l/

Yesterday: /ˈjɛstərdeɪ/

Tomorrow: /təˈmɑroʊ/

Examination: /ɪɡˌzæməˈneɪʃən/

Remember that primary stress mark and secondary stress marks are also indicated in the phonetic transcription e.g. you can see primary stress mark in the word ‘yesterday’. You can see it before ‘j’ and you can secondary stress mark in the word ‘examination’. You can see it before ‘z’. Please note that the word ‘examination’ has both primary and secondary stresses.

Phonetic Transcription of all the example words given above.

bit: /bɪt/

sit: /sɪt/

kit: /kɪt/

bet: /bɛt/

set: /sɛt/

let: /lɛt/

bat: /bæt/

cat: /kæt/

rat: /ræt/

but: /bʌt/

cut: /kʌt/

shut: /ʃʌt/

hot: /hɒt/

pot: /pɒt/

shot: /ʃɒt/

another: /əˈnʌðər/

alone: /əˈləʊn/

mother: /ˈmʌðər/

put: /pʊt/

good: /ɡʊd/

should: /ʃʊd/

bee: /biː/

tea: /tiː/

see: /siː/

caught: /kɔːt/

ball: /bɔːl/

all: /ɔːl/

too: /tuː/

blue: /bluː/

fruit: /fruːt/

herd: /hɜːd/

birth: /bɜːθ/

bird: /bɜːd/

car: /kɑːr/

calm: /kɑːm/

palm: /pɑːm/

bay: /beɪ/

date: /deɪt/

plate: /pleɪt/

buy: /baɪ/

right: /raɪt/

kite: /kaɪt/

go: /ɡəʊ/

boat: /bəʊt/

gold: /ɡəʊld/

now: /naʊ/

cow: /kaʊ/

how: /haʊ/

poor: /pɔːr/

pure: /pjʊər/

tour: /tʊər/

boy: /bɔɪ/

toy: /tɔɪ/

joy: /dʒɔɪ/

dear: /dɪər/

here: /hɪər/

steer: /stɪər/

there: /ðeər/

fair: /feər/

chair: /tʃeər/

pet: /pɛt/

paint: /peɪnt/

power: /paʊər/

baboon: /bæˈbuːn/

border: /ˈbɔːdər/

top: /tɒp/

total: /ˈtəʊtl/

tank: /tæŋk/

dog: /dɒɡ/

donkey: /dɑŋki/

doll: /dɑl/

key: /ki/

cat: /kæt/

kit: /kɪt/

go: /ɡoʊ/

gun: /ɡʌn/

good: /ɡʊd/

fish: /fɪʃ/

fond: /fɑnd/

father: /ˈfɑðər/

van: /væn/

value: /ˈvælju/

video: /ˈvɪdioʊ/

thin: /θɪn/

thought: /θɔt/

thorough: /ˈθɜroʊ/

this: /ðɪs/

that: /ðæt/

mother: /ˈmʌðər/

sit: /sɪt/

silence: /ˈsaɪləns/

sentence: /ˈsɛntəns/

zip: /zɪp/

is: /ɪz/

was: /wʌz/

she: /ʃi/

ship: /ʃɪp/

posh: /pɑʃ/

vision: /ˈvɪʒən/

fusion: /ˈfjuʒən/

pleasure: /ˈplɛʒər/

hat: /hæt/

hot: /hɑt/

hit: /hɪt/

man: /mæn/

moth: /mɔθ/

mole: /mol/

not: /nɑt/

net: /nɛt/

run: /rʌn/

sing: /sɪŋ/

ring: /rɪŋ/

bang: /bæŋ/

look: /lʊk/

lock: /lɑk/

bull: /bʊl/

rat: /ræt/

right: /raɪt/

yes: /jɛs/

yak: /jæk/

yeti: /ˈjɛti/

we: /wi:/

water: /ˈwɔ:tər/

wall: /wɔ:l/

chit: /tʃɪt/

chat: /tʃæt/

chant: /tʃænt/

judge: /dʒʌdʒ/

bridge: /brɪdʒ/

budget: /ˈbʌdʒɪt/


Exercise

Transcribe the following words phonetically using IPA.

cap, farm, hair, gate, then, master, age, shame, bank, lung, British, kite, deaf, need, queer, wet, waste, west, talk, boon, God, firm, show, town, new, beauty, office, honest, subject, record, now. 

***


Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India

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