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

Some important Words Related IPA Sound

There are some words in English that related to Phonetics and they are called Phonetic Word. And, every English language learner should acquire 

Phonetics নিয়ে পড়াশোনা করার আগে তোমাকে অবশ্যই এই শব্দগুলোর অর্থ আগে জানতে হবে। যদি এই শব্দগুলির অর্থ জানা থাকে তাহলে Phonetics এর বিভিন্ন বিষয়গুলি খুব দ্রুতই আয়ত্ত করতে পারবে।

তাই নিচের শব্দগুলি বার বার পড়ে আয়ত্ত করে নাও আর হয়ে যাও Phonetics মাস্টার।

Words for IPA Sound: Part-01

Word Bangla Meaning
Accent
Acoustic
Affricate
Air stream
Alphabet
Alveolar
Articulation
Aspirated sound
Assimilation
Consonant
Dental
Diphthong
Elision
Ending
Fortis
Fricative
Friction
Glottal
Inflection
Intonation
Labial
Labio-dental
Larynx
Lateral
Lenis
Linguistics
Liquid
Monophthong
Morpheme
Nasals
Palatal
Phoneme

Phonetics
Phonology
Pitch
Plosive/Stop
Retroflex
Rhythm
Schwa
স্বরস্বরভঙ্গি,বাচনভঙ্গি
শ্রবণসম্বন্ধীয়
ঘৃষ্টধবনি
বায়ু প্রবাহ
বর্ণমালা
দন্তমূলীয়
উচ্চাারণ
মহাপ্রাণ ধবনি

সমীভবন/ মিলানো
ব্যঞ্জনবর্ণ
দন্ত সম্পর্কীয়
দৈত স্বরধ্বনি
ধ্বনিবিলোপ
শেষ বর্ণ
দৃঢ় উচ্চারণ
উস্ম ধ্বনি
ঘর্ষণ
স্বরতন্রীয়
বিভক্তি
কন্ঠস্বরের উঠা-নামা
ওষ্ঠ্য
দন্তৌষ্ঠ্য
স্বরতন্ত্র
পার্শিক ব্যঞ্জন ধ্বনি
শিথিল উচ্চচারণ
ভাষা বিদ্যা
তরল ধ্বনি
একক স্বরধ্বনি
ভাষার ক্ষুুদ্রতম অর্থপূর্ণ একক
নাসিক্যধ্বনি
তালব্য
কোন ভাষার ধ্বনিসমূহের স্বতন্ত্র রুপ
ধ্বনিবিজ্ঞান
কোন বিশেষ ভাষার ধ্বনিবিজ্ঞান
স্বরের উঠা-নামা
স্পৃষ্ঠ ধ্বনি
মূর্ধণ্য ধ্বনি
ছন্দ
শোয়া বা নিরপেক্ষ স্বরধ্বনি

এবার আরো কিছু শব্দ সম্পর্কে তোমাদের অভহিত করবো যা উপরের শব্দগুলির মতই সমান গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। এখানে উচ্চারণের কিছু স্থানের নাম দেয়া আছে এবং সেই স্থান গুলি থেকে শব্দ উচ্চারণ হলে তাদের নাম কি হবে তাও দেয়া আছে। কজেই এই শব্দগুলিও মুখস্থ করে নাও।

Words for IPA Sound: Part-02

Place Sound Name
Nose
Teeth
Lip
Two lips
Lip and teeth
Teeth ridge
Palate and teeth ridge
Hard palate
Soft palate
Glottis (স্বরতন্ত্র)
Nasal
Dental
Labial
Bi-labial
Labio-dental
Alveolar
Palato-alveolar
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
উপরিউক্ত শব্দগুলি জানা থাকলে Phonetics পড়তে তোমার ভয়ের আর কোন কারণ নেই। এখন শুধু সামনে এগিয়ে যাওয়ার পালা।

You may be interested to know about:

Confusing English word

British vs American word

English adverbs

English word game

IPA sound

American vs British Accent: Key Differences & How to Choose

When learning English, one of the first major decisions you will face is deciding which…

6 days

Complete Guide to Cracking TOEFL on First Attempt (2027)

Sitting for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) can feel like a…

6 days

How to Score 8+ in IELTS Speaking: Proven Band 8 Strategies

Securing a Band 8 or higher in IELTS Speaking opens doors to top global universities,…

6 days

25 Essential Conversation Starters for English Learners

Have you ever found yourself in a room full of native English speakers, wanting to…

6 days

50 Advanced English Vocabulary Words to Elevate Your Speaking

Language is more than just a mechanism for conveying basic facts; it is the ultimate…

6 days

80 Essential Phrasal Verbs for Fluent English Conversations

Imagine spending years studying English grammar, memorizing thousands of vocabulary words, and feeling completely confident…

1 week