Key to pronunciation: U.S. English

The pronunciations given are those in use among speakers of standard English in the United States (“General American”), and the keywords given here are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.

View the OED’s model for the transcription of U.S. English here or visit the main pronunciation page.

Vowels

	as in…
i	fleece /flis/
i	happy /ˈhæpi/
ɪ	kit /kɪt/
ɛ	dress /drɛs/, carry /ˈkɛri/
æ	trap /træp/
ɑ	father /ˈfɑðər/, lot /lɑt/
ɔ, ɑ	hawk /hɔk/, /hɑk/
ə	cup /kəp/, alpha /ˈælfə/
ʊ	foot /fʊt/
u	goose /ɡus/
ɔr	force /fɔrs/, north /nɔrθ/
ər	nurse /nərs/
ɪ(ə)r	here /hɪ(ə)r/
ɛ(ə)r	square /skwɛ(ə)r/
ʊ(ə)r	cure /kjʊ(ə)r/
eɪ	face /feɪs/
aɪ	price /praɪs/
aʊ	mouth /maʊθ/
oʊ	goat /ɡoʊt/
ɔɪ	choice /tʃɔɪs/
æ̃	dauphin /doʊˈfæ̃/
ɑ̃	salon /sæˈlɑ̃/
ᵻ	ticket /ˈtɪkᵻt/ – free variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/
ᵿ	unique /jᵿˈnik/ – free variation between /ʊ/ and /ə/

Consonants

	as in…
b	big /bɪɡ/
d	dig /dɪɡ/
dʒ	jet /dʒɛt/
ð	then /ðɛn/
f	fig /fɪɡ/
ɡ	get /ɡɛt/
h	how /haʊ/
j	yes /jɛs/
k	kit /kɪt/
l	leg /lɛɡ/
m	main /meɪn/
n	net /nɛt/
ŋ	thing /θɪŋ/
p	pit /pɪt/
r	rain /reɪn/
s	sit /sɪt/
ʃ	ship /ʃɪp/
t	tame /teɪm/
tʃ	chip /tʃɪp/
θ	thin /θɪn/
v	vet /vɛt/
w	win /wɪn/
z	zip /zɪp/
ʒ	measure /ˈmɛʒər/
x	(Scottish) loch /lɑx/

The consonants l, m, and n can take on the function of a vowel in some unstressed syllables. It should generally be clear when this interpretation is intended, but in cases of potential ambiguity, the symbol appears with a diacritic to mark syllabicity, as l̩, m̩ and n̩, as e.g. meddle /ˈmɛdl/, meddling/ ˈmɛdl̩ɪŋ/.

The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that the syllable is pronounced with primary stress. The symbol ˌ indicates secondary stress. ˈˌ indicates that the syllable may be pronounced with either primary or secondary stress.

Round brackets in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.