Key to pronunciation: British English
The pronunciations given are those in use among speakers of Standard Southern British English, and the keywords given here are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.
OED‘s model for the transcription of British English is discussed here. Visit the main pronunciation page here.
Vowels
| as in… | |
| iː | fleece /fliːs/ |
| i | happy /ˈhapi/ |
| ɪ | kit /kɪt/ |
| ɛ | dress /drɛs/ |
| a | trap /trap/ |
| ɑː | father /ˈfɑːðə/ |
| ɒ | lot /lɒt/ |
| ɔː | hawk /hɔːk/, force /fɔːs/ |
| ʌ | cup /kʌp/ |
| ʊ | foot /fʊt/ |
| uː | goose /ɡuːs/ |
| ə | alpha /ˈalfə/ |
| əː | nurse /nəːs/ |
| ɪə | here /hɪə/ |
| ɛː | square /skwɛː/ |
| ʊə | cure /kjʊə/ |
| eɪ | face /feɪs/ |
| ʌɪ | price /prʌɪs/ |
| aʊ | mouth /maʊθ/ |
| əʊ | goat /ɡəʊt/ |
| ɔɪ | choice /tʃɔɪs/ |
| ã | gratin /ˈɡratã/ |
| ɒ̃ | mignon /ˈmiːnjɒ̃/ |
| ᵻ | honest /ˈɒnᵻst/ – free variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/ |
| ᵿ | July /dʒᵿˈlʌɪ/ – 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 /ˈmɛʒə/ |
| x | (Scottish) loch /lɒx/ |
| ɬ | (Welsh) penillion /pɛˈnɪɬɪən/ |
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.