How to Read a Phonetic Transcription

You’ve done it. You’ve stumbled upon a word you’re not quite sure how to say. You open a dictionary (or, let’s be honest, a dictionary app) and find your word. Right next to it, nestled in a pair of slashes or brackets, is a string of what looks like Martian code: /sʌmˈθɪŋ laɪk ðɪs/.

What are those weird symbols? That, my friend, is a phonetic transcription, and it’s your secret key to perfect pronunciation. While it might look intimidating, learning to read it is like getting a backstage pass to the sounds of language. This guide will help you decipher the most common symbols for English and turn that confusion into confidence.

What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)?

The collection of symbols you see is part of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The IPA is a standardized system created by linguists to represent every sound that exists in human language. Think of it like a universal alphabet for speech sounds (called phonemes).

The beauty of the IPA is its consistency. English spelling is notoriously chaotic. Why do “through”, “tough”, “bough”, and “dough” all look similar but sound completely different? The IPA cuts through this mess by assigning one unique symbol to one unique sound. Once you know the symbol, you know the sound, no matter how the word is spelled.

Cracking the Code: The Consonants

Let’s start with the easy part. A surprising number of IPA symbols for consonants are exactly what you’d expect them to be. If you see these letters in a transcription, they make the sound you already associate with them.

The “Friendly” Consonants

You already know these sounds. They are a perfect entry point into the IPA.

• /p/ as in pet, top
• /b/ as in bet, rob
• /t/ as in top, cat
• /d/ as in dog, bad
• /k/ as in kit, cat, back
• /g/ as in go, bag
• /m/ as in map, lamb
• /n/ as in no, sun
• /f/ as in fan, off, phone
• /v/ as in van, have
• /s/ as in sit, pass, city
• /z/ as in zoo, rose, buzz
• /l/ as in leg, bell
• /r/ as in red, car
• /h/ as in hat, ahead
• /w/ as in wet, quit

The “Tricky” Consonants

Now for the fun part. These are the symbols that don’t match our regular alphabet but represent very common English sounds. You’ll master these in no time.

• /ʃ/ (esh): This is the “sh” sound. → /ʃuː/ (shoe), /ˈprɛʃər/ (pressure)
• /ʒ/ (ezh): A less common sound, like the “s” in “measure”. It’s the voiced version of /ʃ/. → /ˈmɛʒər/ (measure), /ˈteɪʒə/ (Asia)
• /tʃ/ (t-esh): The “ch” sound, as in “church”. → /tʃɜːrtʃ/ (church)
• /dʒ/ (d-ezh): The sound of “j” or soft “g”. → /dʒʌdʒ/ (judge), /dʒaɪənt/ (giant)
• /θ/ (theta): The voiceless “th” sound. No vocal cord vibration. → /θɪŋk/ (think), /bæθ/ (bath)
• /ð/ (eth): The voiced “th” sound. Your vocal cords vibrate for this one. → /ðɪs/ (this), /ˈfɑːðər/ (father)
• /ŋ/ (eng): The “ng” sound at the end of words like “sing”. → /sɪŋ/ (sing), /θɪŋk/ (think – notice the /k/ sound after it)
• /j/ (yod): This is the “y” sound, not the “j” sound. → /jɛs/ (yes), /ˈbjuːti/ (beauty)

Quick Tip: Voiced vs. Voiceless
What’s this “voiced” business? Place your fingers on your throat and say “ssssss”. Now say “zzzzzz”. Feel that vibration on “zzzzzz”? That’s voicing! Many consonants come in voiceless/voiced pairs: /s/ and /z/, /p/ and /b/, /f/ and /v/, and the tricky /θ/ and /ð/.

Tackling the Vowels

Vowels are the heart of pronunciation differences between dialects, and their symbols can be the most confusing. The key is to associate them with a specific, memorable “key word”. We’ll focus on a common General American English pronunciation.

Short Vowels (Lax Vowels)

• /ɪ/: as in sit, bit, him → /sɪt/
• /ɛ/: as in bed, said, head → /bɛd/
• /æ/: as in cat, bat, hand → /kæt/
• /ʊ/: as in put, foot, could → /pʊt/
• /ʌ/: as in cut, but, sun → /kʌt/

Long Vowels and Diphthongs (Vowel Glides)

Diphthongs are two vowel sounds squished together. Notice how your mouth moves when you say “oil” or “eye”.

• /iː/: as in see, meet, be → /siː/ (the colon /ː/ means the sound is long)
• /eɪ/: as in say, date, rain → /seɪ/
• /aɪ/: as in my, bite, high → /maɪ/
• /oʊ/: as in go, boat, show → /goʊ/ (Note: British English often uses /əʊ/)
• /uː/: as in blue, food, through → /bluː/
• /ɔɪ/: as in boy, toy, coin → /bɔɪ/
• /aʊ/: as in now, house, cow → /naʊ/
• /ɑː/: as in father, car, pot → /ˈfɑːðər/

The Superstar: Schwa /ə/

If you learn only one new vowel symbol, make it this one. The schwa /ə/ is the most common vowel sound in English. It’s the weak, unstressed “uh” sound found in thousands of words.

• about → /əˈbaʊt/
• sofa → /ˈsoʊfə/
• taken → /ˈteɪkən/
• pencil → /ˈpɛnsəl/
• supply → /səˈplaɪ/

Once you start hearing the schwa, you’ll hear it everywhere!

Putting It All Together: Word Stress

You’re almost there! The final piece of the puzzle is the stress mark. In IPA, the symbol /ˈ/ is placed before the syllable that gets the most emphasis.

Look at the word “language”. We say LAN-guage, not lan-GUAGE. The transcription reflects this:

/ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/

See how the /ˈ/ comes before the /læŋ/ part? Now consider a longer word like “international”. It has a primary stress and a secondary stress (marked with /ˌ/).

/ˌɪntərˈnæʃənəl/

The main stress is on “na”, and a lighter stress is on “in”. This is what gives English its characteristic rhythm.

Your Turn to Practice

You now have the tools to decode most English phonetic transcriptions. Don’t worry about memorizing everything at once. The best way to learn is by using it.

The next time you look up a word, don’t skip over the phonetic transcription. Try to sound it out, symbol by symbol. Break it down. Match the sounds to the symbols you know. You’ll be surprised how quickly it starts to make sense.

Welcome to the club. The secret code of pronunciation is now yours to command.