English phonology

Like many other languages, English has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect. In general, however, the regional dialects of English share a largely similar (but not identical) phonological system. . The pronunciations given have been checked in dictionaries like Oxford Learner's, Merriam Webster. It is meant to be concise and is here to be useful and to be improved (originally posted as Sounds of English ).

A thorough print reference on the subject is J.C. Wells, Accents of English (3 volumes).

Vowels
Vowels are always voiced (which means the vocal cords vibrate when the sound is made). vaʊ ə lz ə r ɔːl w ə z vɔɪst

/ɑ:/

 * R, star, car, far
 * f a ther, b o ther US, b o ttle US , kn ow ledge US
 * cl er k UK, b a th UK , l au ghter UK , dr au ght UK

/i:/

 * B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, Z US
 * h e, sh e , m e , w e
 * s ea, t ea , s ee m, f ee t, (-)t ee n, k ey
 * apostroph e, Socrat e s, catastroph e /kə tæ strə fi/ ; suffix-final "y" (as in storm y , safet y , slowl y ) is also pronounced with a shorter /i/

/u:/

 * 2, Q, U, W, y ou
 * ch oo se, u se
 * n ew, fl ew , gr ew , kn ew , tr ue , bl ue
 * t o strong form, thr ough

/ɔː/

 * 4, 40
 * d oor, fl oor , sh ore , st ore (US /ɔːr/ )
 * d augh ter, c augh t, th ough t, f ough t
 * l aw, s aw , l aw yer /ˈlɔː jər/
 * fl uo rine, chl o rine
 * s or t, s wor d (US /ɔːr/ )

/ɜː/

 * first, third, 30, 30th
 * sh ir t, cl er k, c er tification, l ear n
 * Some people sometimes pronounce words like sure & pure with this sound rather than ʃʊr, pjʊr, (myself included).

/ɒ/
Primarily UK. various US accents substitute a low back vowel, usually /ɑ:/, but sometimes ɔ:. Short ʌ in high frequency functional words like what and of.
 * wh a t UK 1
 * bottle ˈbɒ tl, throttle ˈθrɒ tl
 * sh o t, sp o t, l o ts, o f UK 1, p o ts, acr o ss
 * kn ow ledge ˈnɒl ɪdʒ

US 1 = ʌ in wh a t and  o f, ɑ: in the other examples.

/ʌ/

 * 1, 100
 * s u n, b u t, m u d, u ncle
 * s o n, w o n, br o ther, o ther, an o ther, ab o ve
 * fl oo d, bl oo d
 * t ou gh, r ou gh, en ou gh /ɪ nʌf/

/ʊ/

 * L oo k!, a g oo d c oo kb oo k
 * p u t, p u sh, p u ll
 * w o man /wʊ mən/

/ɪ/
1 Exceptions include more recent borrowings from French, e.g. garage /ɡə rɑːʒ/ US /ɡær ɪdʒ/ UK, fuselage /fjuː sə lɑːʒ/, triage, montage, etc.
 * 6, 15, 16, 50, 60, h i m, th i s, f i n i sh, m i n u te (n.)
 * b ee n, ag ai n
 * b e low, b e hind, b e tween, b e neath, b e moan, b e labor, b e smirch, etc.
 * w o m e n /wɪ mɪn/, e lectric /ɪ lek trɪk/, el e gance /el ɪ ɡəns/, e nough /ɪ nʌf/
 * - a ge 1, - e (d)ge /ɪdʒ/ (v i ll a ge, marr ia ge, stor a ge, bagg a ge, lugg a ge, mortg a ge /mɔː ɡɪdʒ/, coll e ge, knowl e dge)

/e/
The precise realization of this form varies. In South Africa the sound is closer to /e/, while in the US it is closer to /ɛ/. (f ê te, b ê te, l ait, ai me pouv aient ). Since the distinction is not considered phonemic (since the long "A" sound is realized as the diphthong /eɪ/), the standard transcription is /e/ though the sound is closer to /ɛ/ than /e/ (f ée, pourr ai , pouv ez , aim er .)


 * 7, 10, 12, F, L, M, N, S, X, zed
 * h ea lth, w e dding, n e phew, e lem e ntary /ˌel ɪ men tri/
 * s ay s, s ai d

/ə/
<b style="color:maroon;">The most common vowel sound in English</b> (also the most central vowel) (quite lax)  uh... (French "euh" is very similar, but with rounded lips)


 * a round, a bout, a bove, a cross, a go, a sleep, etc.
 * perpetu a l, residu a l, sci e nce, e lectric, eleg a nt, wom a n, serm o n
 * t o <sup style="font-size:9px;">weak form, th e m <sup style="font-size:9px;">weak form , th a t <sup style="font-size:9px;">weak form , a , th e <sup style="font-size:9px;">weak form
 * - ou s (fam ou s, gelatin ou s, disastr ou s)
 * - er (saf er, cheap er , etc.)
 * - a ble, - i ble (understand a ble, comf or t a ble <sup style="font-size:9px;">1, leg i ble, incred i ble)
 * - a te (in ADJ and N): chocol a te (n.) /tʃɑː klət/, corpor a te (adj.), conglomer a te (adj.), associ a te (n.), etc.
 * Some transcribe the sound of the suffix -ion as /ən/, though most dictionaries simply use "syllabic" /n/. More terminology wars... :)  e.g.  nation, ration, consideration, fashion /fæʃ n/,  etc.

<sup style="font-size:9px;">1 Most commonly the first schwa is dropped entirely. kʌmf təbl / kʌmf ə təbl, cf. "comfy" :)

/æ/

 * b a d, f a ster, f a stest, th a t <sup style="font-size:9px;">1
 * l au ghter <sup style="color:darkblue;font-size:9px;">US + parts of UK, dr au ght <sup style="color:darkblue;font-size:9px;">US + parts of UK (fr. courant d'air)

<sup style="font-size:9px;">1 As a demonstrative pronoun / determiner that is pronounced /ðæt/, as a relative pronoun, that is usually pronounced /ðət/, though it may be dropped entirely.

/eɪ/

 * A, H, J, K, 8
 * th ey, gr ey
 * t a ke, pl a ne, f a te
 * m ai n, r ai n, p ai d, said /səd/
 * d ay, w ay , s ay , says /səz/
 * w eigh, n eigh bour, fr eigh t
 * v ei n
 * a viation, (un) a ble, A sia (/eɪ ʒə/)

/ɑɪ/

 * I, Y, 5, 9
 * r i ce, m i ce
 * g ui de, q ui te q ui et /kwɑɪt kwɑɪ ət/, ch oi r /kwɑɪ ər/
 * k i nd, m i nd, beh i nd
 * l igh t, s igh t, s igh, h eigh t
 * al ig n, ben ig n, s ig n

/əʊ / oʊ/

 * O, 0, (zero)
 * cl o se, cl othe s /kləʊðz/, ch o se, ch o sen
 * th ough, alth ough , thor ough /θɜː roʊ/ <sup style="font-size:9px;">US /θʌ rə/ <sup style="font-size:9px;">UK , bor ough  /bɜː roʊ/ <sup style="font-size:9px;">US  /bʌ rə/ <sup style="font-size:9px;">UK
 * ow n, gr ow, kn ow n, fl ow n
 * s oa p, f oa m

/ɑʊ/

 * 1000
 * ou t, ab ou t, ar ou nd, ann ou nce, p ou nce
 * h ow, n ow , p ow er, t ow er, t ow n

/ɔɪ/

 * n oi sy, oi l
 * t oy s, b oy s

/eə/
Mostly UK. North American English (NAME) is usually /er/
 * th ere, wh ere
 * h air, p air
 * sh are, c are
 * h eir

/ʊə/
Mostly UK. North American English (NAME) is usually /ʊr/ <sup style="font-size:9px;">1 both "poor" and "sure" can be pronounced with ɔː i.e. ʃɔː, pɔː
 * p oo r <sup style="font-size:9px;">1, t ou r (guide)
 * s u re <sup style="font-size:9px;">1, (al)l u re

/ɪə/

 * Mostly UK. North American English (NAME) is usually /ɪr/
 * d ear, n ear
 * h ere
 * b eer, p eer , t ier

Consonants
Consonants in English are not atypical of the consonants found in Western languages, and consonants found elsewhere are not too foreign, with the exception of the clicks and whirrs found in African languages. And the alphabet writing system helps to fortify the organized usage of consonant clusters, of which English has a great number, such that words with similar semantic roots can be constructed from a base consonant pair; glisten, gleam, glamour, glass, all have the idea of light in them, though, on the other hand words like glade, and glide do not.

' Most consonants are paired: at each position one can make two sounds (one voiced, one unvoiced). For example:


 * Nasal consonants &mdash; m, n, ŋ &mdash; liquids &mdash;r, l &mdash; and glides &mdash; w, j ( wh y, y ellow) &mdash; are all voiced.
 * Syllabic n and l are roughly equivalent to /ən/, /əl/. (fash ion, bott le )