Wikipedia:Pronunciation (simple guide to markup, American)

Some feel that Wikipedia needs a SIMPLE guide to indicate the pronunciation of English words. This article is a proposed response to that perception. Please see the talk page for discussion of need and design philosophy.

Pronunciation refers to the sound of how words are spoken.

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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 American pronunciation markup

Rev. 0.91 Reference: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [http://www.m-w.com/]

border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" !Vowels !Used in !Example
aa \|relax, past \|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 \|meeAANduhr- meander
ih \|swish, trip, snip \|SWIHSH- swish
iy \|frightful, side, buy \|FRIYTfuhl- frightful
oh \|boneless, know, beau \|BOHNlehs- boneless
oi \|destroy, annoy \|dihSTROI- destroy
oo \|reunion, rule, fool \|reeYOONyuhn- reunion
ow \|flout, noun, sound \|FLOWT- flout
uh \|monotony, ton, fun, abut \|muhNAHtuhnee- monotony
uu \|wood, would, book \|WUUD- would
! !
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 \|GAHT- got
h \|headwind, hat, hold \|HEHDwihnd- headwind
j \|journey, join, jab, nudge \|JUHRnee- journey
k \|carrot, cake, kite, ache, book \|KEHruht- 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 \|raamBUNKshus- rambunctious
s \|citation, salad, less, city \|siyTAYshuhn- citation
sh \|machine, mash, mission, special \|muhSHEEN- machine
t \|later, untie, latter \|LAYtuhr- later
th \|thing, ether, thoughtful \|THIHNG- thing
t~h \|neither, then, this \|NEEt~hur- neither
v \|volume, invite \|VAHLyoom- volume
w \|away, willing, wander \|uhWAY- away
wh \|while, whale, when \|WHIYL- while
y \|young, cue, yet \|YUHNG- young
z \|raise, zone, breeze \|RAYZ- raise
zh \|revision, garage \|reeVIHzhuhn- revision

border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3"

!Vowels

!Used in

!Example

aa

|relax, past

|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

|meeAANduhr- meander

ih

|swish, trip, snip

|SWIHSH- swish

iy

|frightful, side, buy

|FRIYTfuhl- frightful

oh

|boneless, know, beau

|BOHNlehs- boneless

oi

|destroy, annoy

|dihSTROI- destroy

oo

|reunion, rule, fool

|reeYOONyuhn- reunion

ow

|flout, noun, sound

|FLOWT- flout

uh

|monotony, ton, fun, abut

|muhNAHtuhnee- monotony

uu

|wood, would, book

|WUUD- would

!

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

|GAHT- got

h

|headwind, hat, hold

|HEHDwihnd- headwind

j

|journey, join, jab, nudge

|JUHRnee- journey

k

|carrot, cake, kite, ache, book

|KEHruht- 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

|raamBUNKshus- rambunctious

s

|citation, salad, less, city

|siyTAYshuhn- citation

sh

|machine, mash, mission, special

|muhSHEEN- machine

t

|later, untie, latter

|LAYtuhr- later

th

|thing, ether, thoughtful

|THIHNG- thing

t~h

|neither, then, this

|NEEt~hur- neither

v

|volume, invite

|VAHLyoom- volume

w

|away, willing, wander

|uhWAY- away

wh

|while, whale, when

|WHIYL- while

y

|young, cue, yet

|YUHNG- young

z

|raise, zone, breeze

|RAYZ- raise

zh

|revision, garage

|reeVIHzhuhn- revision

Wikipedia:Pronunciation (simple guide to markup, American)

Introduction

Guide to simple American pronunciation markup

See also