Key to IPA Pronunciations

January 7, 2026

The Dictionary.com Unabridged IPA Pronunciation Key

IPA is an International Phonetic Alphabet intended for all speakers. Pronunciations on Dictionary.com use a subset of IPA to describe mainly the sounds of English. This chart will tell you how to read the pronunciation symbols.

Stress marks: In IPA, /ˈ/ indicates that the primary stressed syllable follows and /ˌ/ indicates the secondary stressed syllable follows, as in newspaper /ˈnuzˌpeɪ pər/ and information /ˌɪn fərˈmeɪ ʃən/.

Consonants
/b/	boy, baby, rob
/d/	do, ladder, bed
/dʒ/	jump, budget, age
/f/	food, offer, safe
/g/	get, bigger, dog
/h/	happy, ahead
/k/	can, speaker, stick
/l/	let, follow, still
/m/	make, summer, time
/n/	no, dinner, thin
/ŋ/	singer, think, long
/p/	put, apple, cup
/r/	run, marry, far, store
/s/	sit, city, passing, face
/ʃ/	she, station, push
/t/	top, better, cat
/tʃ/	church, watching, nature, witch
/θ/	thirsty, nothing, math
/ð/	this, mother, breathe
/v/	very, seven, love
/w/	wear, away
/ʰw/	where, somewhat
/y/	yes, onion
/z/	zoo, easy, buzz
/ʒ/	measure, television, beige

Vowels
/æ/	apple, can, hat
/eɪ/	aid, hate, day
/ɑ/	arm, father, aha
/ɛər/	air, careful, wear
/ɔ/	all, or, talk, lost, saw
/aʊ^ər/	hour

/ɛ/	ever, head, get
/i/	eat, see, need
/ɪər/	ear, hero, beer
/ər/	teacher, afterward, murderer
/ɜr/	early, bird, stirring

/ɪ/	it, big, finishes
/aɪ/	I, ice, hide, deny
/aɪ^ər/	fire, tired

/ɒ/	odd, hot, waffle
/oʊ/	owe, road, below
/u/	ooze, food, soup, sue
/ʊ/	good, book, put

/ɔɪ/	oil, choice, toy
/aʊ/	out, loud, how

/ʌ/	up, mother, mud
/ə/	about, animal, problem, circus

Foreign sounds
/a/	Fr. ami
/^ə/	Fr. oeuvre
/œ/	Fr. feu, Ger. schön
/r/	Fr. au revoir, Yiddish rebbe
/ü/	Fr. tu, Ger. über
/x/	Scot. loch, Ger. ach or ich

Sample nasalized vowels
/ɛ̃/	Fr. bien
/ɑ̃/	Fr. croissant
/ɔ̃/	Fr. bon
/œ̃/	Fr. parfum
/ĩ/	Port. Prīncipe
/ɪ̃/	Port. linguiça

Also see our Phonetic Respelling key.