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Phonetic Reference Standard

The 44 Sounds of English IPA Chart

Unlike phonetic languages where letters map 1-to-1 to sounds, standard English contains 26 alphabet letters but 44 distinct phonemes. Click any sound below to hear synthetic audio and watch authentic native video clips on SayItVid.

Vowels & Diphthongs (20) Consonants (24)

🗣️ English Vowel Phonemes (20 Sounds)

Vowels are produced without vocal tract constriction. English features lax short vowels, tense long vowels, and gliding diphthongs:

Short Vowels (Monophthongs)

7 Sounds

Long Vowels (Tense)

5 Sounds
/ɜːr/
Open-mid central rhotic long

Diphthongs (Two-Vowel Glides)

8 Sounds

👄 English Consonant Phonemes (24 Sounds)

Consonants are formed by obstructing airflow using the lips, tongue, teeth, and palate. Categorized by voicing and manner of articulation:

Fricatives & Sibilants

9 Sounds

Plosives & Stops

6 Sounds

Nasals, Approximants & Affricates

9 Sounds
/dʒ/
Voiced postalveolar affricate

How to Read IPA in English Dictionaries

Mastering IPA removes guesswork from English spelling. Whenever you encounter an unfamiliar word in an academic paper or novel, you can look up its phonetic transcription in a dictionary:

Key Diacritics & Stress Symbols:
  • ˈ — Primary Stress: The syllable immediately following this mark carries the main acoustic pitch and loudness (e.g. pho·TO·gra·phy = /fəˈtɒɡ.rə.fi/).
  • ˌ — Secondary Stress: Syllable carries intermediate emphasis without full vowel reduction.
  • ː — Length Mark: Indicates a sustained vowel duration (e.g. /iː/ vs /ɪ/).
  • . — Syllable Boundary: Separates distinct rhythmic syllables (e.g. /ˈkɒl.ər/).

Pair this phonetic chart with SayItVid's video search engine ↗ to witness these exact phonetic symbols articulated by thousands of native speakers in natural conversational contexts.