English sounds
An ARPA phoneme index with articulation guidance, the substitutions learners fall into, and example words.
For help reading pronunciation symbols in a dictionary, start with phonetic transcription of English words.
/ɑ/ (AA)
father · start · calm
AE/æ/ (AE)
cat · bad · man
AH/ʌ/ (AH)
cup · love · sun
AO/ɔ/ (AO)
thought · law · saw
AW/aʊ/ (AW)
now · how · out
AY/aɪ/ (AY)
time · my · light
B/b/ (B)
book · bad · about
CH/tʃ/ (CH)
chip · choose · watch
D/d/ (D)
day · do · ladder
DH/ð/ (DH)
this · mother · breathe
EH/ɛ/ (EH)
bed · met · dress
ER/ɝ/ (ER)
bird · word · turn
EY/eɪ/ (EY)
day · make · say
F/f/ (F)
fine · food · off
G/g/ (G)
go · big · game
HH/h/ (HH)
hat · hello · ahead
IH/ɪ/ (IH)
sit · ship · it
IY/i/ (IY)
see · need · green
JH/dʒ/ (JH)
job · judge · age
K/k/ (K)
cat · key · back
L/l/ (L)
light · feel · play
M/m/ (M)
make · time · sum
N/n/ (N)
no · sun · time
NG/ŋ/ (NG)
sing · long · think
OW/oʊ/ (OW)
go · home · slow
OY/ɔɪ/ (OY)
boy · choice · toy
P/p/ (P)
pen · paper · top
R/ɹ/ (R)
red · car · right
S/s/ (S)
see · bus · same
SH/ʃ/ (SH)
ship · she · push
T/t/ (T)
tea · top · cat
TH/θ/ (TH)
think · three · birthday
UH/ʊ/ (UH)
put · book · good
UW/u/ (UW)
two · blue · food
V/v/ (V)
voice · very · save
W/w/ (W)
we · water · quick
Y/j/ (Y)
yes · you · music
Z/z/ (Z)
zoo · easy · rose
ZH/ʒ/ (ZH)
vision · measure · genre