Key to IPA Pronunciations 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 /aʊər/ 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 /aɪər/ 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.