Key to the pronunciation

The pronunciations given are those in use in the educated speech of southern England (The so-called ‘Received Standard’), and the keywords given are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.

I. Consonants

b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, z have their usual English values

Symbol		Example	Keyboard equivalent
g	as in	go /g/	g
h	...	ho! /h/	h
r	...	run /rn/, terrier /tr(r)/	r
(r)	...	her /h(r)/	(r)
s	...	see /si/, success /skss/	s
w	...	wear /w(r)/	w
hw	...	when /hwn/	hw
j	...	yes /js/	j
	...	thin /n/, bath /b/	T
	...	then /n/, bathe /be/	D
	...	shop /p/, dish /d/	S
t	...	chop /tp/, ditch /dt/	tS
	...	vision /vn/, déjeuner /dene/	Z
d	...	judge /dd/	dZ
	...	singing /s/, think /k/	N
g	...	finger /fg(r)/	Ng

FOREIGN AND NON-SOUTHERN
	as in	Italian serraglio /serrao/	F
	...	French cognac /kak/	J
x	...	German ach /ax/, Scots loch /lx/, Spanish frijoles /frixoles/	x
ç	...	German ich /ç/, Scots nicht /nçt/	C
	...	North German sagen /zan/	G
c	...	Afrikaans baardmannetjie /bartmanci/	c
	...	French cuisine /kizin/	H

Symbols in parentheses are used to denote elements that may be omitted either by individual speakers or in particular phonetic contexts: e.g. bottle /bt()l/, Mercian /m()n/, suit /s(j)ut/, impromptu /mprm(p)tju/, father /f(r)/. II. Vowels and Diphthongs SHORT
	as in	pit /pt/, -ness /ns/	I
	...	pet /pt/, French sept /st/	E
æ	...	pat /pæt/	{
	...	putt /pt/	V
	...	pot /pt/	Q
	...	put /pt/	U
	...	another /n(r)/	@
()	...	beaten /bit()n/	(@)
i	...	French si /si/	i
e	...	French bébé /bebe/	e
a	...	French mari /mari/	a
	...	French bâtiment /btim/	A
	...	French homme /m/	O
o	...	French eau /o/	o
ø	...	French peu /pø/	2
	...	French boeuf /bf/, coeur /kr/	9
u	...	French douce /dus/	u
Y	...	German Müller /mYlr/	Y
y	...	French du /dy/	y

LONG
i	as in	bean /bin/	i:
	...	barn /bn/	A:
	...	born /bn/	O:
u	...	boon /bun/	u:
	...	burn /bn/	3:
e	...	German Schnee /ne/	e:
	...	German Fähre /fr/	E:
a	...	German Tag /tak/	a:
o	...	German Sohn /zon/	o:
ø	...	German Goethe /gøt/	2:
y	...	German grün /gryn/	y:

NASAL
,	as in	French fin /f, f/	E~, {~
	...	French franc /fr/	A~
	...	French bon /b/	O~
	...	French un //	9~

DIPHTHONGS, etc.
e	as in	bay /be/	eI
a	...	buy /ba/	aI
	...	boy /b/	OI
	...	no /n/	@U
a	...	now /na/	aU
	...	peer /p(r)/	I@
	...	pair /p(r)/	E@
	...	tour /t(r)/	U@
	...	boar /b(r)/	O@
a	...	fiery /far/	aI@
a	...	sour /sa(r)/	aU@

The incidence of main stress is shown by a superior stress mark () preceding the stressed syllable, and a secondary stress by an inferior stress mark (), e.g. accentuation /æksntjuen/.

When searching pronunciations, the superior stress mark () has a double quotation mark (") as its keyboard equivalent, and the inferior stress mark () has the percentage symbol (%) as its keyboard equivalent.

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Key to the pronunciation

I. Consonants

FOREIGN AND NON-SOUTHERN

II. Vowels and Diphthongs

SHORT

LONG

NASAL

DIPHTHONGS, etc.