Pronunciation and phonetic symbols

The British pronunciations given are those possible the most general (not associated with
of younger speakers of General British. any particular region). If there is a difference
Pronunciation and phonetic symbols

This includes RP (Received Pronunciation) between British and American pronunciations

and a range of similar accents which of a word, the British one is given first, with
are not strongly regional. The American NAmE before the American pronunciation.
pronunciations chosen are also as far as

Consonants Many British speakers use /ɔː / instead of the

diphthong / ʊə /, especially in common words,
p pen / pen / s see / siː / so that sure becomes / ʃɔː(r) /, etc.
b bad / bæd / z zoo / zuː /
The sound / ɒ / does not occur in American
t tea / tiː / ʃ shoe / ʃuː /
English, and words which have this vowel in British
d did ‌ / dɪd / ʒ vision / ˈvɪʒn /
pronunciation will instead have /ɑː / or / ɔː /
k cat / kæt / h hat / hæt / in American English. For instance, got is /gɒt/ in
g get / get / m man / mæn / British English, but / gɑːt / in American English,
tʃ ‌
chain / tʃeɪn / n now / naʊ / while dog is British / dɒg /, American / dɔːg /.
dʒ jam / dʒæm / ŋ sing / sɪŋ /
The three diphthongs / ɪə eə ʊə / are found
f fall / fɔːl / l leg / leg / only in British English. In corresponding places,
v van / væn / r red / red / American English has a simple vowel followed
θ thin / θɪn / j yes / jes / by / r /, so near is / nɪr /, hair is / her /, and pure
ð this /ðɪs / w wet / wet / is / pjʊr /.
The symbol (r) indicates that British pronunciation Nasalized vowels, marked with /˜/, may be
will have / r / only if a vowel sound follows directly retained in certain words taken from French, as
at the beginning of the next word, as in far away; in penchant /ˈpɒ̃ʃɒ̃ / , coq au vin /ˌkɒk əʊ ˈvæ̃ /.
otherwise the / r / is omitted. For American English,
all the / r / sounds should be pronounced. Syllabic consonants
/ x / represents a fricative sound as in /lɒx/ for
Scottish loch, Irish lough. The sounds / l / and / n / can often be ‘syllabic’ –
that is, they can form a syllable by themselves
Vowels and diphthongs without a vowel. There is a syllabic / l / in the usual
pronunciation of middle /ˈmɪdl/, and a syllabic
iː see / siː / / n / in sudden /ˈsʌdn /.
i happy /ˈhæpi /
ɪ sit / sɪt / Weak vowels / i / and / u /
e ten / ten /
æ cat / kæt / The sounds represented by / iː / and / ɪ / must always
ɑː father /ˈfɑːðə(r) / be made different, as in heat / hiːt / compared with
hit / hɪt /. The symbol / i / represents a vowel that can
ɒ got / gɒt / (British English)
be sounded as either / iː / or / ɪ /, or as a sound which
ɔː saw / sɔː/ is a compromise between them. In a word such as
ʊ put / pʊt / happy /ˈhæpi /, younger speakers use a quality more
u actual /ˈæktʃuəl / like / iː /, but short in duration. When / i / is followed
uː too / tuː/ by / ə / the sequence can also be pronounced
ʌ cup / kʌp / / jə /. So the word dubious can be /ˈdjuːbiəs / or
ɜː fur / fɜː(r) / /ˈdjuːbjəs /.
ə about / əˈbaʊt / In the same way, the two vowels represented / uː /
eɪ say / seɪ / and /ʊ / must be kept distinct but / u / represents
əʊ go / gəʊ / (British English) a weak vowel that varies between them. If / u / is
oʊ go /goʊ / (American English) followed directly by a consonant sound, it can
aɪ my / maɪ / also be pronounced as / ə /. So stimulate can be
ɔɪ boy / bɔɪ / /ˈstɪmjuleɪt / or /ˈstɪmjəleɪt /.
aʊ now / naʊ /
ɪə near / nɪə(r) / (British English)
eə hair / heə(r) / (British English)
ʊə pure / pjʊə(r) / (British English)

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Weak forms and strong forms
Certain very common words, for example at, But the speaker will put a strong stress on any other
and, for, can, have two pronunciations. We give important word if it comes later than the verb. The
the usual (weak) pronunciation first. The second stress on the second word of the verb
pronunciation (strong) must be used if the word is is then weakened or lost, especially if it would

Pronunciation and phonetic symbols

stressed, and also generally when the word is at the otherwise be next to the other strong stress.
end of a sentence. For example: This happens whether the important word
▶ Can / kən / you help? which receives the strong stress is between
▶ I’ll help if I can /kæn/. the two parts of the phrasal verb, or after
both of them.
▶ We ˌcame back ˈearly.
Stress
▶ I ˌ filled in a ˈform.

The mark /ˈ/ shows the main stress in a word. ▶ˌFill this ˈform in.

Compare able /ˈeɪbl /, stressed on the first syllable,

If more than one stress pattern is possible, or the
with ability / əˈbɪləti /, stressed on the second.
stress depends on the context, no stress is shown.
A stressed syllable is relatively loud, long
in duration, said clearly and distinctly,
and made noticeable by the pitch of the voice. Stress in idioms
Longer words may have one or more secondary Idioms are shown in the dictionary with at least one
stresses coming before the main stress. main stress unless more than one stress pattern is
These are marked with /ˌ / as in abbreviation possible or the stress depends on the context. The
/ˌəbriːviˈeɪʃn/, agricultural /ˌægrɪˈkʌltʃərəl /. They feel learner should not change the position of this stress
like beats in a rhythm leading up to the main stress. when speaking or the special meaning of the idiom
may be lost.
Weak stresses coming after the main stress in a
word can sometimes be heard, but they are not
marked in this dictionary. Tapping of / t /
When two words are put together in a phrase, In American English, if a / t / sound is between two
the main stress in the first word may shift to the vowels, and the second vowel is not stressed, the / t /
place of the secondary stress to avoid a clash can be pronounced very quickly, and made voiced
between two stressed syllables next to each other. so that it is like a brief / d / or the r-sound of certain
For instance, ˌafterˈnoon has the main stress on languages. Technically, the sound is a ‘tap’, and can
noon, but in the phrase ˌafternoon ˈtea the stress on be symbolized by / t/. ̬ So Americans can pronounce
noon is missing. ˌWell ˈknown has the main stress potato as /pəˈteɪt ̬oʊ/, tapping the second / t / in the
on known, but in the phrase ˌwell-known ˈactor the word (but not the first, because of the stress). British
stress on known is missing. speakers don’t generally do this.
The conditions for tapping also arise very
Stress in phrasal verbs frequently when words are put together, as in
One type of phrasal verb has a single strong stress not only, what I, etc. In this case it doesn’t matter
on the first word. Examples are ˈcome to sth, ˈgo whether the following vowel is stressed or not, and
for sb, ˈlook at sth. This stress pattern is kept in all even British speakers can use taps in this situation,
situations, and the second word is never stressed. If though they sound rather casual.
the second word is one which normally appears in a
weak form, remember that the strong form must be The glottal stop
used at the end of a phrase.
In both British and American varieties of English,
Another type of phrasal verb is shown with two a / t / which comes at the end of a word or syllable
stresses. The pattern shown in the dictionary, can often be pronounced as a glottal stop /ˀ/
with the main stress on the second word, is the (a silent gap produced by holding one’s breath
one which is used when the verb is said on its own, briefly) instead of a / t /. For this to happen, the
or when the verb as a whole is the last important next sound must not be a vowel or a syllabic / l /.
word in a phrase: So football can be /ˌfʊˀbɔːl / instead of /ˌfʊtbɔːl /,
▶ What time are you ˌcoming ˈback?
and button can be /ˌbʌˀn / instead of /ˌbʌtn /.
▶ He ˌmade it ˈup.
But a glottal stop would not be used for the / t /
▶ ˌFill them ˈin.
sounds in bottle or better because of the sounds
which come afterwards.

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