Close

Pronunciation Key
ă pat k kick, cat, o̅o̅ boot
pique
ā pay l lid, needle* ou out
(nēd'l)
â care m mum p pop
ä father n no, sudden* r roar
(sŭd'n)
b bib ng thing s sauce
ch church ŏ pot sh ship, dish
d deed, ō toe t tight,
milled stopped
ĕ pet ô caught, th thin
paw, for,
horrid,
hoarse**
ē bee oi noise th this
f fife, oo͝ took ŭ cut
phase,
rough
g gag û urge, term, ər butter
firm, word,
heard
h hat v valve
hw which w with Foreign
ĭ pit y yes œ French
feu,
German
schön
ī pie, by z zebra, xylem ű French
tu,
German
űber
î pier zh vision, KH German
pleasure, ich,
garage Scottish
loch
j judge ə about, item, ⁿ French
edible, bon
gallop, (bôⁿ)***
circus

*In English the consonants l and n often constitute complete

syllables by themselves.

**Regional pronunciations of -or- vary. In pairs such as for,

four; horse, hoarse; and morning, mourning, the vowel
varies between (ô) and (ō). In this Dictionary these vowels
are represented as follows: for (fôr), four (fôr, fōr); horse
(hôrs), hoarse (hôrs, hōrs); and morning (môr′ning),
mourning (môr′ning, mōr′-). Other words for which both
forms are shown include more, glory, and borne. A similar
variant occurs in words such as coral, forest, and horrid,
where the pronunciation of o before r varies between (ô) and
(ŏ). In these words the (ôr) pronunciation is given first: forest
(fôr′ist, fŏr′-).

***The Dictionary uses ⁿ to reflect that the preceding vowel is

nasalized.