Phonetics

Pronunciations in the American English and Essential American English dictionary do not use the 'long vowel' marker /ː/ and, in place of the syllable division marker /./, they use a raised dot /·/.

Vowels

Long Vowels iː sheep aː farm uː coo ɔː horse ɜː bird

Short Vowels ɪ ship e head æ hat ə above ʊ foot ɚ mother (US) ɒ sock (UK) ɝ worm (US) ʌ cup

Consonants

Voiced b book d day ɡ give v very ð the z zoo ʒ vision dʒ jump l look r run j yes w we m moon n name ŋ sing

Voiceless p pen t town k cat f fish θ think s say ʃ she tʃ cheese

Diphthongs

eɪ	day
aɪ	eye
ɔɪ	boy
aʊ	mouth
əʊ	nose (UK
oʊ	nose (US
ɪə	ear (UK
eə	hair (UK
ʊə	pure (UK

Other Symbols

h	/ˈhænd/ hand
ɒ̃	/ˈkwæs.ɒ̃/ croissant (UK)
i	/ˈhæp.i/ happy
t ̬	/ˈbʌt ̬.ɚ/ butter (US)
u	/ˌɪn.fluˈen.zə/ influenza
l ̩	/ˈlɪt.l ̩/ little

əl, əm, ən can be pronounced either: əl or l ̩ etc.:
	/ˈleɪb.əl/ = /ˈleɪb.əl/ or /ˈleɪb.l̩/
r	linking r is pronounced only before a vowel in British English: fɔːr + ˈæp.l ̩z = fɔːˈræp.l ̩z four + apples = four apples
ˈ	main stress	/ˌek.spekˈteɪ.ʃən/ expectation
ˌ	secondary stress	/ˌriːˈtell/ retell
.	syllable division	/ˈsɪs.təm/ system