IPA Phonetic Alphabet
/ɑ/
(aah) bother, cot, father (low Low Back)
/æ/
(ah) bat, ash (low Low Front)
/ɔ/
(aw) bought, coffee (low Mid Back)
/e/
(ay) bait, ate (high Mid Front)
/tʃ/ (c with a carrot)
(ch) chill, touch
/ɾ/ (flap)
(dd) better, ladder
/i/
(ee) beat, eat (high High Front)
/ɛ/
(eh) bet, men, end (low Mid Front)
/ʊ/
(euh) good, would, put (low High Back)
/u/
(ew) boot, reduce (high High Back)
/aɪ/
(eye) buy, my
/ɪ/
(ih) bit, in (low High Front)
/ŋ/
(ing) ring, sing
/dʒ/ (j with a carrot)
(j) judge, edge, gin
/o/
(oh) boat, open (high Mid Back)
/ɔɪ/
(oi) boy, toy
/aʊ/
(ow) now, bough
/ʃ/ (s with a carrot)
(sh) shine, posh
/ʌ /
(uh, stressed) was, tub, enough (low Mid Central)
/ə/
(uh, unstressed) about, phonetic (high Mid Central)
/ð/
(voiced t) the, breathe
/θ/
(voiceless t) thigh, path, breath
/ʍ/
(wh sound) where, which
/j/
(y sound) yes, yard
/s/
cats, sap
prescriptive grammar rules
establish and enforce what we should say or write according to established notions of "good" and "bad" and "right" and "wrong" example: do not end sentences with a preposition "everyone should mind his or her manners" grammatically singular
/z/
jazz, zap
descriptive grammar rules
model speakers linguistic competence and performance, what they know about a language and how they actually use it, such rules describe what we do say or write in any language example: adjectives precede the nouns they modify (common sense) "everyone should mind their manners" semantically plural
standard english
the variety of English that is most widely accepted and understood within an English-speaking country or throughout the English-speaking world, "common core" most easily identified in print, associated with formal speech and writing, neutral dialect it excludes socially stigmatized and regionally distinctive features
/ʒ/ (z with a carrot)
treasure, measure
