IPA Sound – Guide Fo English International Phonetic Alphabets

What Is IPA Sound? 

There are 26 alphabets in the English Language but 44 sounds that help us to pronounce all the words in the English Language are divided into two sounds called Vowel Sounds and Consonant Sounds. Plus, there are 24 Consonant Sounds and 20 Vowel Sounds which are called Monophthong, Diphthong, and Tripothong. There are 12 Monophthong, 08 Diphthongs, and 05 Tripothong. Let’s dive into the deep sea of the IPA sound.

VOWEL SOUND

The speech sounds that are produced without any obstacle in the vocal tract are called Vowel sounds. The English Language has twelve Vowel Sounds that are called Monophthong or Pure Vowels. Remember, Vowel Sounds are also called Voiced Sound.

Front Vowels (tongue towards the front)

	IPA	Common Spelling	Examples
01	/ɪ/	i	Thin, sit, rich
02	/iː/	ee, ea	Need, beat, team,
03	/e/	e, ea, ie	Went, bread, friend
04	/æ/	a	cat, hand, fan

Centre Vowels (tongue relatively flat)

	IPA	Common Spelling	Examples
01	/ə/	a, e, o, u	Alive, the, today, supply, again, mother
02	/ʌ/	u, o	Fun, love, money, come, one, London
03	/ɑː/	ar, al, a	Car, glass, half, bath, hard
04	/ɜː/	ir, ur, wor	Third, turn, worse, nurse

Back Vowels (tongue pulled back)

	IPA	Common Spelling	Examples
01	/ʊ/	u, oo, ou	put, look, should, book, look
02	/uː/	ew, oo, o_e	few, boot, lose, fruit
03	/ɒ/	o, a	rob, top, watch
04	/ɔː/	al, aw, or, our, oor	talk, law, port, jaw

• Diphthong Vowels

	IPA	Common Spelling	Examples
01	/eɪ/	ay, ea, ae, ai	pay, great, maid, face, rain, eight
02	/aɪ/	ie, i_e, i, y	fine, like, might, my, sight, kind
03	/ɔɪ/	oi, oy	noise, toy, choice, employ, joy
04	/əʊ/	o, o_e, oa	no, stone, road, alone, hole
05	/aʊ/	ou, ow	round, how, brown,
06	/ɪə/	eer, ear	beer, hear, steer, near, ear, fear
07	/eə/	are, ere, ea, ai	care, there, bear, hair, pear, stair
08	/uə/	U, oo, ou	Fluent, tour, jury, poor

All VOWEL SOUND

	Sound	Word	More Example
01	/ɪ/	fit	Women, money, Thin, sit, rich, it, kiss, tip, pick, dinner, system, busy, pity, sunny, English, city, miss, big, give, hit
02	/iː/	seat	People, We, receive, Need, beat, team, be, eve, see, meet, sleep, meal, read, leave, sea, team, field, believe, receive, keep, complete
03	/e/	send	Said, friend, Went, bread, friend, intend, send, let, tell, press, send, end, bread, dead, weather, leather, letter , left, test, get, beg, well, red
04	/æ/	sat	Hand, has, cat, hand, fan, have, flat, cat, apple, land, travel, mad, bad, pack, match, happy, tag AmE: last, class, dance, castle, half
05	/ə/	father	Concert, again, Alive, the, today, supply, again, mother, gun, cut, son, money, love, about, brutal, taken, violent, memory, reason, family
06	/ʌ/	cut	Up, but, hut, Fun, love, money, come, one, London, tough, enough, rough
07	/ɑː/	heart	Ask, Car, glass, half, bath, hard, army, car, party, garden, park, father, calm, palm, drama, far, hard, sharp, large, BrE: last, class, dance, castle, half
0 8	/ɜː/	serve	Early, word, journey, Third, turn, worse, nurse, serve, herb, burn, hurt, girl, sir, work, word, doctor, dollar, heard, earn, earnest, earth, search, work, better
09	/ʊ/	could	Put, foot, wolf, Put, look, should, book, look, look, book, foot, good, put, push, pull, full, sugar, would, could, should
10	/uː/	group	Do, blue, food, few, boot, lose, fruit
11	/ɒ/	cough	pot, Rob, top, watch, not, rock, model, bottle, copy, rob, stop, possible, dollar, lock, hot
12	/ɔː/	warm	Broad, all, door, Talk, law, port, jaw, more, order, cord, port, long, gone, cost, coffee, law, saw, pause, because, bought, thought, caught, hall, always, water, war, want, true, flew, move, food, choose, group
14	/eɪ/	day	Aim, ace, Pay, great, maid, face, rain, eight, late, make, race, able, stable, aim, wait, play, say, day, eight, weight, they, hey, break, great, steak, ray, name, save, wait, pain
15	/aɪ/	buy	Height, ice, isle, Fine, like, might, my, sight, kind, ice, find, smile, tie, lie, die, my, style, apply, buy, guy
16	/ɔɪ/	boy	Noise, toy, choice, employ, joy, oil, voice, noise, boy, toy, point, boil, employ
17	/əʊ/	soul	Old, boat, toe, No, stone, road, alone, hole, go, note, open, old, most, road, boat, low, own, bowl, show, home, told, hero
18	/aʊ/	Town	Bow, mouth, out, Round, how, brown, mouth, house, out, about, house, mouse, now, brown, cow, owl, powder, shout, proud, mouth
18	/ɪə/	idea	Dear, zero, period, bear, hear, near, ear, fear
19	/eə/	chair	Scare, area, care, there, bear, stair, pear
20	/uə/	poor	Fluent, tour, jury, poor

CONSONANT SOUND or  Consonant IPA Sound 

Consonant sounds (IPA Sounds) are produced when the airstream cannot move easily like Vowel Sounds

Or the speech sounds that are produced with obstacles in the vocal tract are called Consonant Sounds. The English Language has 24 Consonant Sounds that are divided into two kinds Voiced and Voiceless.

People use the tongue, lips, teeth, mouth, and throat to block the air in the vocal tract. Some sounds use the voice that is called voiced sound and some use only air whichare called voiceless sound.

Consonant sounds তিনটি  মূল phonetic  বৈশিষ্ট্য  অনুসারে  চিহ্নিত  করা  যায়:

Place of Articulation:

যা মুখের মধ্যে শব্দ উত্পন্ন হয় বোঝায়;

Manner of Articulation:  

যা শব্দ উত্পাদন করার সময় মুখের মধ্যে বায়ু বাধা হয়ে থাকে বোঝায়;

Voicing: যা শব্দ উত্পাদনের সাথে সাথে ভোকাল কর্ডগুলির একটি কম্পন আছে কিনা তা বোঝায়।

	Sound	Word	More Example
01	/b/	bed	But, about, robe, bubble
02	/d/	door	Done, door, day, drive
03	/g/	gap	Ghost, green, grass
04	/p/	pet	Cap, power, paper
05	/t/	top	Ten, town, top
06	/k/	king	Keep, keen, cut, occur, ticket
07	/m/	man	Most, mad, summer, climb
08	/n/	never	Not, funny, know
09	/l/	let	Hill, seal, lamp
10	/tʃ/	chat	Watch, question, picture
11	/dʒ/	jug	Jump, germ, budget, suggest
12	/ŋ/	sing	Brink, anchor, bring
13	/θ/	bath	Think, thought, throw
14	/ð/	father	Booth, that, though
15	/f/	off	Rough, photo, fit
16	/v/	van	Vain, of, nephew
17	/ʃ/	nation	Shop, machine
18	/ʒ/	measure	Garage, division
19	/s/	cement	Loss, see, science
20	/j/	new	Beauty, yet
21	/h/	whole	Behave, huge, his
22	/r/	write	Worry, race, round
23	/w/	queen	Language, west, war
24	/z/	crazy	Buzz, cousin, cause