Wikipedia:Pronunciation (simple guide to markup, British)

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Pronunciation refers to the sound of how words are spoken.

Introduction

Pronunciation can change over time. Dictionaries may list the most commonly used forms of words, but as language changes, dictionaries change as well. At best, any guide to suggested pronunciation can reflect the preponderance of usage. A word like immediately, for example, is variously pronounced by Americans as:

ihMEEdeeuhtlee
uhMEEdeeuhtlee
eeMEEdeeuhtlee

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary suggests the first pronunciation.

Similarly, this pronunciation markup guide will choose the most widely used form.

NOTE: This guide is designed to be simple and easy to use. This can only be achieved by giving up scope and freedom from occasional ambiguity. For a more extensive guide to indicating pronunciation, see below.

Guide to simple British pronunciation markup

Rev. 0.91 Reference: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [1]

Vowels	Used in	Example
aa	relax, bat	rihLAAKS- relax
ay	date, same	DAYT- date
ah	father, far	FAHthuhr- father
aw	chainsaw, thaw	CHAYNsaw- chainsaw
eh	federal, pet	FEHDuhruhl- federal
ee	meander, bleed, feed, speed	meeANduhr- meander
er	learn, bird, hurt	LERN- learn
ih	swish, trip, snip	SWIHSH- swish
iy	frightful, side, buy	FRIYTfuhl- frightful
o	bonfire, pot, bottom	BONfiyuh- bonfire
oh	boneless, know, beau	BOHNlehs- boneless
oi	destroy, annoy	dihSTROI- destroy
oo	ruler, fool	ROOLuh- ruler
ow	flout, noun, sound	FLOWT- flout
uh	rumble, ton, fun, abut	RUHMbl- rumble
uu	wood, would, book	WUUD- would
y	young, cue, yet	YUHNG- young

Consonants	Used in	Example
b	baby, bone	BAYbee- baby
ch	chubby, checker	CHUHbee- chubby
d	bidder, do, did, done	BIHduhr- bidder
f	stuff, rough, fluff	STUHF- stuff
g	got, big, rag	GOT- got
h	headwind, hat, hold	HEHDwihnd- headwind
j	journey, join, jab, nudge	JERnee- journey
k	carrot, cake, kite, ache, book	KAAruht- carrot
l	valley, cool, flash	VAAlee- valley
m	mammal, dam, move	MAAmuhl- mammal
n	never, pan	NEHVuhr- never
ng	something, sang, sink	SUHMthihng- something
p	plus, lip, trapper	PLUHS- plus
r	rambunctious, race, terror	raamBUHNKshus- rambunctious
s	citation, salad, less, city	siyTAYshuhn- citation
sh	machine, mash, mission, special	muhSHEEN- machine
t	later, untie, latter	LAYtuh- later
th	thing, ether, thoughtful	THIHNG- thing
t~h	neither, then, this	NEEt~hur- neither
v	volume, invite	VOLyoom- volume
w	away, willing, wander	uhWAY- away
wh	while, whale, when	WHIYL- while
z	raise, zone, breeze	RAYZ- raise
zh	revision, garage	reeVIHzhuhn- revision

Introduction

Guide to simple British pronunciation markup

See also