Phonetic transcription is the visual representation of speech sounds.IPA or International Phonetic Alphabet provides the symbols to transcribe sounds i.e. to convert written words into their corresponding sounds. When you transcribe a word, you actually indicate its pronunciation by using separate symbols for each sound. While in the English language one letter may represent many different sounds, in IPA one symbol stands for just one sound. Example, in the English word ‘gigantic’ the first ‘g’ stands for ‘j’ sound as in ‘jar’ and the second stands for ‘g’ as in goat.
Vowels
Long Vowels
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Short Vowels
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eɪ
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day
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aɪ
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eye
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ɔɪ
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boy
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aʊ
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mouth
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əʊ
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nose (UK)
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oʊ
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nose (US)
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ɪə
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ear (UK)
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eə
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hair (UK)
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ʊə
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pure (UK)
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IPA Examples (consonants)
b buy, cab
d dye, cad, do
ð father
dʒ giant, badge,
jam
f phi, fan
h high, ahead
j[2]
yes, yacht
k sky, crack
l lie, sly, gal
m my, smile, cam
n nigh, snide, can
ŋ sang, sink, singer
θ thigh, math
p pie, spy, cap
r rye, try, very[3]
s sigh, mass
ʃ shy,
cash, emotion
t tie, sty, cat, atom
tʃ China,
catch
v vie, have
w window, wow
z zoo, has
ʒ pleasure, vision