Sounds in British English (phonemes)

IMPORTANT:
1. Do not change the font of the symbols or you’ll lose them but you can
change the size if you like.
2. These symbols can be found in “Lucida Sans Unicode”.
3. You can select (⇧shift + ←or→ keys), copy (ctrl c) and paste (ctrl v)
any sound you want.

Consonants Vowels Diphthongs

1. /p/ e.g. pet 1. /i/ e.g. Happy 1. /eɪ/ e.g. gate
2. /b/ e.g. bat 2. /ɪ/ e.g. fill 2. /ɔɪ/ e.g. Boil
3. /t/ e.g. tank 3. /ɪː/ e.g. feel 3. /aɪ/ e.g. eye or Shy
4. /d/ e.g. dog 4. /e/ e.g. egg 4. /ɪǝ/ e.g. here
5. /k/ e.g. king 5. /æ/ e.g. cat 5. /eǝ/ e.g. chair
6. /g/ e.g. Girl 6. /ɑː/ e.g. class 6. /ʊǝ/ e.g. Poor
7. /f/ e.g. fan 7. /ɒ/ e.g. got 7. /ǝʊ/ e.g. no or O
8. /v/ e.g. van 8. /ɔː/ e.g. call 8. /aʊ/ e.g. now
9. /ɵ/ e.g. think 9. /ʊ/ e.g. Pull
10. /ð/ e.g. them 10. /uː/ e.g. pool
11. /s/ e.g. Sea 11. /ʌ/ e.g. cut
12. /z/ e.g. Zip 12. /зː/ e.g. bird
13. /ʧ/ e.g. China 13. /ǝ/ e.g. ago
14. /ʤ/ e.g. Jell
15. /ʃ/ e.g. Shoe
16. /Ʒ/ e.g. Pleasure
17. /h/ e.g. hen
18. /l/ e.g. Lion
19. /m/ e.g. man
20. /n/ e.g. nose
21. /ŋ/ e.g. sing
22. /r/ e.g. road
23. /j/ e.g. Yes
24. /w/ e.g. walk

COMPILED BY
Mr Abdus Salam Qureshi
Lecturer
English Language Institute
King Abdulaziz University
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
e-mail: salam@kau-eli.com (for comments/discussion or a soft copy ☺)