Pronunciation Key | Macquarie Dictionary

Macquarie Dictionary

Pronunciation Key

Vowels

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
i	as in ‘peat’		pit	ee
ʊ	as in ‘put’		pʊt	oo
ɪ	as in ‘pit’		pɪt	i
u	as in ‘pool’		pul	ooh
ɛ	as in ‘pet’		pɛt	e
ɜ	as in ‘pert’		pɜt	er
æ	as in ‘pat’		pæt	a
ə	as in ‘apart’		ə’pat	uh
a	as in ‘part’		pat	ah
ɒ	as in ‘pot’		pɒt	o
ʌ	as in ‘putt’		pʌt	u
ɔ	as in ‘port’		pɔt	aw
æ̃	as in French ‘vin’		væ̃	an
y	as in French ‘rue’		ry	ooh
ɒ̃	as in ‘bon voyage’		bɒ̃ vwaˈjaʒ	on

Diphthongs

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
aɪ	as in ‘buy’		baɪ	uy
eɪ	as in ‘bay’		beɪ	ay
ɔɪ	as in ‘boy’		bɔɪ	oy
aʊ	as in ‘how’		haʊ	ow
oʊ	as in ‘hoe’		hoʊ	oh
ɪə	as in ‘here’		hɪə	ear
ɛə	as in ‘hair’		hɛə	air
ʊə	as in ‘tour’		tʊə	oouh

Consonants

Plosives

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
p	as in ‘pet’		pɛt	p
b	as in ‘bet’		bɛt	b
t	as in ‘tale’		teɪl	t
d	as in ‘dale’		deɪl	d
k	as in ‘came’		keɪm	k
ɡ	as in ‘game’		ɡeɪm	g

Fricatives

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
f	as in ‘fine’		faɪn	f
v	as in ‘vine’		vaɪn	v
θ	as in ‘thin’		θɪn	th
ð	as in ‘then’		ðɛn	dh
s	as in ‘seal’		sil	s
z	as in ‘zeal’		zil	z
ʃ	as in ‘show’		ʃoʊ	sh
ʒ	as in ‘measure’		‘mɛʒə	zh
h	as in ‘heal’		hil	h
r	as in ‘real’		ril	r

Affricates

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
tʃ	as in ‘choke’		tʃoʊk	ch
dʒ	as in ‘joke’		dʒoʊk	j

Nasals

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
m	as in ‘mail’		meɪl	m
n	as in ‘nail’		neɪl	n
ŋ	as in ‘sing’		sɪŋ	ng

Semi-vowels

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
j	as in ‘you’		ju	y
w	as in ‘woo’		wu	w

Laterals

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example	‘say’ pronunciation
l	as in ‘last’		last	l

Stress

Primary stress:

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example
ˈ	as in ‘clatter’		ˈklætə

Secondary stress:

Symbol	Pronunciation	Listen	Example
ˌ	as in ‘encyclopedia’		ɛnˌsɑɪkləˈpidiə

Macquarie Dictionary acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia, and the Gadigal people of the Eora nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work.
We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Please be aware that names or images of the deceased may appear on this website.

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