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English orthography comprises the set of rules used whenwriting theEnglish language,[1][2] allowing readers and writers to associate writtengraphemes with the sounds of spoken English, as well as other features of the language.[3] English's orthography includes norms forspelling,hyphenation,capitalisation,word breaks,emphasis, andpunctuation.
As with theorthographies of most otherworld languages, written English is broadly standardised. This standardisation began to develop whenmovable type spread to England in the late 15th century.[4] However, unlike with most languages, there are multiple ways to spell everyphoneme, and mostletters also represent multiple pronunciations depending on their position in a word and the context.
This is partly due to the large number of words that have beenloaned from a large number of other languages throughout thehistory of English, without successful attempts at completespelling reforms,[5] and partly due to accidents of history, such as some of the earliest mass-produced English publications beingtypeset by highly trained, multilingual printingcompositors, who occasionally used a spelling pattern more typical for another language.[4] For example, the wordghost was spelledgost inMiddle English, until theFlemish spelling pattern was unintentionally substituted, and happened to be accepted.[4] Most of the spelling conventions inModern English were derived from the phonemic spelling of a variety ofMiddle English, and generally do not reflect thesound changes that have occurred since the late 15th century (such as theGreat Vowel Shift).[6]
Despite the variousEnglish dialects spoken from country to country and within different regions of the same country, there are only slight regional variations in English orthography, the two most recognised variations beingBritish and American spelling, and its overall uniformity helps facilitate international communication. On the other hand, it also adds to the discrepancy between the way English is written and spoken in any given location.[5]
Letters in English orthography positioned at one locationwithin a specific word usually represent a particularphoneme. For example,at/ˈæt/ consists of 2 letters⟨a⟩ and⟨t⟩, which represent/æ/ and/t/, respectively.
Sequences of letters may perform this role as well as single letters. Thus, inthrash/θræʃ/, thedigraph⟨th⟩ (two letters) represents/θ/. Inhatch/hætʃ/, thetrigraph⟨tch⟩ represents/tʃ/.
Less commonly, a single letter can represent multiple successive sounds. The most common example is⟨x⟩, which normally represents the consonant cluster/ks/ (for example, intax/tæks/).
The same letter (or sequence of letters) may be pronounced differently when occurring in different positions within a word. For instance,⟨gh⟩ represents/f/ at the end of some words (tough/tʌf/) but not in others (plough/plaʊ/). At thebeginning of syllables,⟨gh⟩ is pronounced/ɡ/, as inghost/ɡoʊst/. Conversely,⟨gh⟩ is never pronounced/f/ in syllable onsets other than ininflected forms, and is almost never pronounced/ɡ/ insyllable codas (the proper namePittsburgh is an exception).
Some words containsilent letters, which do not represent any sound in modern English pronunciation. Examples include the⟨l⟩ intalk,half,calf, etc., the⟨w⟩ intwo andsword,⟨gh⟩ as mentioned above in numerous words such asthough,daughter,night,brought, and the commonly encounteredsilent⟨e⟩ (discussed further below).
Another type of spelling characteristic is related to word origin. For example, when representing a vowel,⟨y⟩ represents the sound/ɪ/ in some wordsborrowed fromGreek (reflecting an originalupsilon), whereas the letter usually representing this sound in non-Greek words is the letter⟨i⟩. Thus,myth/ˈmɪθ/ is of Greek origin, whilepith/ˈpɪθ/ is aGermanic word. However, a large number of Germanic words have⟨y⟩ in word-final position.
Some other examples are⟨ph⟩ pronounced/f/ (which is most commonly⟨f⟩), and⟨ch⟩ pronounced/k/ (which is most commonly⟨c⟩ or⟨k⟩). The use of these spellings for these sounds often markswords that have been borrowed from Greek.
Some researchers, such as Brengelman (1970), have suggested that, in addition to this marking of word origin, these spellings indicate a more formal level ofstyle orregister in a given text, although Rollings (2004) finds this point to be exaggerated as there would be many exceptions where a word with one of these spellings, such as⟨ph⟩ for/f/ (liketelephone), could occur in an informal text.
Spelling may also be useful to distinguish inwritten language betweenhomophones (words with the same pronunciation but different meanings), and thus resolve potentialambiguities that would arise otherwise. However in most cases the reason for the difference is historical, and it was not introduced to resolve ambiguity.
Nevertheless, many homophones remain that are unresolved by spelling (for example, the wordbay has at least five fundamentally different meanings).
Some letters in English provide information about the pronunciation of other letters in the word. Rollings (2004) uses the term "markers" for such letters. Letters may mark different types of information.
⟨e⟩ often marks an altered pronunciation of a preceding vowel. In the pairmat andmate, the⟨a⟩ ofmat has the value/æ/, whereas the⟨a⟩ ofmate is marked by the⟨e⟩ as having the value/eɪ/. In this context, the⟨e⟩ is not pronounced, and is referred to as a "silent e".
Also,⟨e⟩ inonce/ˈwʌns/ indicates that the preceding⟨c⟩ is pronounced/s/, rather than the more common value of⟨c⟩ in word-final position as the sound/k/, such as inattic/ˈætɪk/.
A single letter may even fill multiple pronunciation-marking roles simultaneously. For example, in the wordace,⟨e⟩ marks not only the change of⟨a⟩ from/æ/ to/eɪ/, but also of⟨c⟩ from/k/ to/s/. In the wordvague,⟨e⟩ marks the long⟨a⟩ sound, but⟨u⟩ keeps the⟨g⟩ hard rather than soft.
Doubled consonants usually indicate that the preceding vowel is pronounced short. For example, the doubled⟨t⟩ inbatted indicates that the⟨a⟩ is pronounced/æ/, while the single⟨t⟩ ofbated gives/eɪ/. Doubled consonants only indicate any lengthening orgemination of the consonant sound itself when they come from different morphemes, as with the⟨nn⟩ inunnamed (un+named).
Any given letters may have dual functions. For example,⟨u⟩ instatue has a sound-representing function (representing the sound/u/) and a pronunciation-marking function (marking the⟨t⟩ as having the value/tʃ/ opposed to the value/t/).
Like many otheralphabetic orthographies, English spelling does not represent non-contrastivephonetic sounds (that is, minor differences in pronunciation which are not used to distinguish between different words).
Although the letter⟨t⟩ is pronounced by most speakers withaspiration[tʰ] at the beginning of words, this is never indicated in the spelling, and, indeed, this phonetic detail is probably not noticeable to the average native speaker not trained in phonetics.
However, unlike some orthographies, English orthography often represents a very abstractunderlying representation (ormorphophonemic form) of English words.[7][8][9]
[T]he postulated underlying forms are systematically related to the conventional orthography ... and are, as is well known, related to the underlying forms of a much earlier historical stage of the language. There has, in other words, been little change in lexical representation sinceMiddle English, and, consequently, we would expect ... thatlexical representation would differ very little from dialect to dialect inModern English ... [and] that conventional orthography is probably fairly close to optimal for all modern English dialects, as well as for the attested dialects of the past several hundred years.[10]
In these cases, a givenmorpheme (i.e., a component of a word) has a fixed spelling even though it is pronounced differently in different words. An example is thepast tensesuffix -⟨ed⟩, which may be pronounced variously as/t/,/d/, or/ᵻd/[a] (for example,pay/ˈpeɪ/,payed/ˈpeɪd/,hate/ˈheɪt/,hated/ˈheɪtɪd/). As it happens, these different pronunciations of -⟨ed⟩ can be predicted by a fewphonological rules, but that is not the reason why its spelling is fixed.
Another example involves the vowel differences (with accompanying stress pattern changes) in several related words. For instance,photographer is derived fromphotograph by adding thederivational suffix -⟨er⟩. When this suffix is added, the vowel pronunciations change largely owing to the moveable stress:
| Spelling | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| photograph | /ˈfoʊtəɡræf/ or/ˈfoʊtəɡrɑːf/ |
| photographer | /fəˈtɒɡrəfər/ |
| photographical | /ˌfoʊtəˈɡræfɪkəl/ |
Other examples of this type are the -⟨ity⟩ suffix (as inagile vs.agility,acid vs.acidity,divine vs.divinity,sane vs.sanity). See also:Trisyllabic laxing.
Another example includes words likemean/ˈmiːn/ andmeant/ˈmɛnt/, where⟨ea⟩ is pronounced differently in the two related words. Thus, again, the orthography uses only a single spelling that corresponds to the single morphemic form rather than to the surface phonological form.
English orthography does not always provide an underlying representation; sometimes it provides an intermediate representation between the underlying form and the surface pronunciation. This is the case with the spelling of the regularplural morpheme, which is written as either -⟨s⟩ (as intat, tats andhat, hats) or -⟨es⟩ (as inglass, glasses). Here, the spelling -⟨s⟩ is pronounced either/s/ or/z/ (depending on the environment, e.g.,tats/ˈtæts/ andtails/ˈteɪlz/) while -⟨es⟩ is usually pronounced/ᵻz/[a] (e.g.classes/ˈklæsᵻz/). Thus, there are two different spellings that correspond to the single underlying representation |z| of the plural suffix and the three surface forms. The spelling indicates theinsertion of/ᵻ/ before the/z/ in the spelling -⟨es⟩, but does not indicate thedevoiced/s/ distinctly from the unaffected/z/ in the spelling -⟨s⟩.
The abstract representation of words as indicated by the orthography can be considered advantageous since it makes etymological relationships more apparent to English readers. This makes writing English more complex, but arguably makes reading English more efficient.[11][12] However, very abstract underlying representations, such as that of Chomsky & Halle (1968) or ofunderspecification theories, are sometimes considered too abstract to accurately reflect thecommunicative competence of native speakers. Followers of these arguments believe the less abstract surface forms are more "psychologically real" and thus more useful in terms ofpedagogy.[13]
Some English words can be written withdiacritics; these are mostlyloanwords, usually from French.[14] As vocabulary becomes naturalised, there is an increasing tendency to omit the accent marks, even in formal writing. For example,rôle andhôtel originally had accents when they were borrowed into English, but now the accents are almost never used. The words were originally considered foreign—and some people considered that English alternatives were preferable—but today their foreign origin is largely forgotten. Words most likely to retain the accent are those atypical of English morphology and therefore still perceived as slightly foreign. For example,café andpâté both have a pronounced final⟨e⟩, which would otherwise be silent under the normal English pronunciation rules. Moreover, inpâté, theacute accent is helpful to distinguish it frompate.
Further examples of words sometimes retaining diacritics when used in English are:ångström—partly because its symbol is⟨Å⟩—appliqué,attaché,blasé,bric-à-brac,Brötchen,[b]cliché,crème,crêpe,fiancé(e),flambé,jalapeño,naïve,naïveté,né(e),papier-mâché,passé,piñata,protégé,résumé,risqué, andvoilà.Italics, with appropriate accents, are generally applied to foreign terms that are uncommonly used in or have not been assimilated into English: for example,adiós,belles-lettres,crème brûlée,pièce de résistance,raison d'être, andvis-à-vis.
It was formerly common in American English to use adiaeresis to indicate ahiatus, e.g.coöperate,daïs, andreëlect.The New Yorker andTechnology Review magazines still use it for this purpose, even as general use became much rarer. Instead, modern orthography generally prefers no mark (cooperate) or a hyphen (co-operate) for a hiatus between two morphemes in a compound word. By contrast, use of diaereses in monomorphemic loanwords such asnaïve andNoël remains relatively common.
In poetry and performance arts, accent marks are occasionally used to indicate typically unstressed syllables that should be stressed when read for dramatic or prosodic effect. This is frequently seen with the-ed suffix in archaic and pseudoarchaic writing, e.g.cursèd indicates the⟨e⟩ should be fully pronounced. The grave being to indicate that an ordinarily silent or elided syllable is pronounced (warnèd,parlìament).
In certain older texts (typicallyBritish), the use of theligatures⟨æ⟩ and⟨œ⟩ is common in words such asarchæology,diarrhœa, andencyclopædia, all ofLatin orGreek origin. Nowadays, the ligatures have been generally replaced by thedigraphs⟨ae⟩ and⟨oe⟩ (encyclopaedia,diarrhoea) in British English or just⟨e⟩ (encyclopedia,diarrhea) inAmerican English, though both spell some words with only⟨e⟩ (economy,ecology) and others with⟨ae⟩ and⟨oe⟩ (paean,amoeba,oedipal,Caesar). In some cases, usage may vary; for instance, bothencyclopedia andencyclopaedia are current in the UK.
Partly because English has never had any official regulating authority for spelling, such as the SpanishReal Academia Española, the FrenchAcadémie française, the GermanCouncil for German Orthography, the DanishSprognævn, and the ThaiRoyal Society, English spelling is considered irregular and complex compared to that of other languages. Although French, Danish, and Thai, among other languages, present a similar degree of difficulty whenencoding (writing), English is more difficult whendecoding (reading), as there are clearly many more possible pronunciations of a group of letters. For example, in French,/u/ (as in "true", but short), can be spelled⟨ou, ous, out, oux⟩ (ou,nous,tout,choux), but the pronunciation of each of those sequences is always the same. However, in English, while/uː/ can be spelled in up to 24 different ways, including⟨oo, u, ui, ue, o, oe, ou, ough⟩ (spook,truth,suit,blues,to,shoe,group,through) (seeSound-to-spelling correspondences below), all of these spellings have other pronunciations as well (e.g.,foot,us,build,bluest,so,toe,grout,plough,sew). Thus, in unfamiliar words andproper nouns, the pronunciation of some sequences,⟨ough⟩ being the prime example, is unpredictable even for educated native speakers.
Attempts to regularize orreform the spelling of English have usually failed. However,Noah Webster promoted more phonetic spellings in the United States, such asflavor for Britishflavour,fiber forfibre,defense fordefence,analyze foranalyse,catalog forcatalogue, and so forth. These spellings already existed as alternatives, but Webster's dictionaries helped standardize them in the United States.[15] (SeeAmerican and British English spelling differences for details.)
Besides the quirks the English spelling system has inherited from its past, there are other irregularities in spelling that make it tricky to learn. English contains, depending ondialect, 24–27consonantphonemes and 13–20vowels. However, there are only 26 letters in the modernEnglish alphabet, so there is not a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds. Many sounds are spelled using different letters or multiple letters, and for those words whose pronunciation is predictable from the spelling, the sounds denoted by the letters depend on the surrounding letters. For example,⟨th⟩ represents two different sounds (thevoiced andvoiceless dental fricatives) (seePronunciation of Englishth), and thevoiceless alveolar sibilant can be represented by⟨s⟩ or⟨c⟩.
It is, however, not (solely) the shortage of letters which makes English spelling irregular. Its irregularities are caused mainly by the use of many different spellings for some of its sounds, such as/uː/,/iː/ and/oʊ/ (too,true,shoe,flew,through;sleeve,leave,even,seize,siege;stole,coal,bowl,roll,old,mould), and the use of identical sequences for spelling different sounds (over,oven,move).
Furthermore, English no longer makes any attempt toanglicise the spellings ofloanwords, but preserves the foreign spellings, even when they do not follow English spelling conventions like thePolish⟨cz⟩ inCzech (rather than*Check) or theNorwegian⟨fj⟩ infjord (althoughfiord was formerly the most common spelling). In early Middle English, until roughly 1400, most imports from French were respelled according to English rules (e.g.bataille–battle,bouton–button, but notdouble, ortrouble). Instead of loans being respelled to conform to English spelling standards, sometimes the pronunciation changes as a result of pressure from the spelling, e.g.ski, adopted from Norwegian in the mid-18th century. It used to be pronounced/ʃiː/, similar to the Norwegian pronunciation, but the increasing popularity of the sport after the mid-20th century helped the/skiː/ pronunciation replace it.[citation needed]
There was also a period when the spelling of a small number of words was altered to make them conform to their perceived etymological origins. For example,⟨b⟩ was added todebt (originallydette) to link it to the Latindebitum, and⟨s⟩ inisland to link it to Latininsula instead of its true origin, the Old English wordīġland.⟨p⟩ inptarmigan has no etymological justification whatsoever, only seeking to show Greek origin despite being aGaelic word.
The spelling of English continues to evolve. Many loanwords come from languages where the pronunciation of vowels corresponds to the way they were pronounced in Old English, which is similar to the Italian or Spanish pronunciation of the vowels, and is the value the vowel symbols⟨a, e, i, o, u⟩ have in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet. As a result, there is a somewhat regular system of pronouncing "foreign" words in English,[citation needed] and some borrowed words have had their spelling changed to conform to this system. For example,Hindu used to be spelledHindoo, and the nameMaria used to be pronounced like the nameMariah, but was changed to conform to this system. This only further complicates the spelling, however. On the one hand, words that retained anglicised spellings may be misread in ahyperforeign way. On the other hand, words that are respelled in a 'foreign' way may be misread as if they are English words, e.g.Muslim was formerly spelledMooslim because of its original pronunciation.
Commercial advertisers have also had an effect on English spelling. They introduced new or simplified spellings likelite instead oflight,thru instead ofthrough, andrucsac instead ofrucksack.[citation needed] The spellings of personal names have also been a source of spelling innovations: diminutive versions of women's names that sound the same as men's names have been spelled differently:Nikki andNicky,Toni andTony,Jo andJoe. The differentiation in between names that are spelled differently but have the same phonetic sound may come from modernisation or different countries of origin. For example,Isabelle andIsabel sound the same but are spelled differently; these versions are from France and Spain respectively.[16]
As an example of the irregular nature of English spelling,⟨ou⟩ can be pronounced (depending on vowel mergers) in as many as nine different ways:/aʊ/ inout,/oʊ/ insoul,/uː/ insoup,/ʌ/ intouch,/ʊ/ incould,/ɔː/ infour,/ɜː/ injournal,/ɒ/ incough, and/ə/ infamous (SeeSpelling-to-sound correspondences). In the other direction,/iː/ can be spelled in at least 18~21 different ways:be (cede),ski (machine),bologna (GA),algae,quay,beach,bee,deceit,people,key,keyed,field (hygiene),amoeba,chamois (GA),dengue (GA),beguine,guyot, andynambu (SeeSound-to-spelling correspondences). (These examples assume a more-or-less standard non-regional British English accent. Other accents will vary.)
Sometimes everyday speakers of English change counterintuitive spellings, with the new spellings usually not judged to be entirely correct. However, such forms may gain acceptance if used enough. An example is the wordminiscule, which still competes with its original spelling ofminuscule, though this might also be because ofanalogy with the wordmini.[17][18]
Thetetragraph⟨ough⟩ can be pronounced in at least ten different ways, six of which are illustrated in the construct,Though the tough cough and hiccough plough him through, which is quoted byRobert A. Heinlein inThe Door into Summer to illustrate the difficulties facing automated speech transcription and reading.Ough itself is a word, an exclamation of disgust similar tough, though rarely known or used. The following are typical pronunciations of this string of letters:
The following pronunciations are found in uncommon single words:
The place nameLoughborough uses two different pronunciations of⟨ough⟩: the first⟨ough⟩ has the sound as incuff and the second rhymes withthorough.
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Notes:
| Spelling | Major value (IPA) | Examples of major value | Other values | Examples of other values | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b,bb | /b/ | bit, ebb, limber,bombe, obtain,blood,bring | ∅ | combe,bdellium, debtor, doubt | |
| c | before⟨e, i, y, ae, oe⟩ | /s/ | cellar,city,cyst, face, prince, nicer caesium,coelacanth | /tʃ/ | cello, vermicelli |
| /ʃ/ | special, liquorice | ||||
| /ʒ/ | coercion | ||||
| /k/ | Celts, chicer, syncing | ||||
| /ts/ | letovicite | ||||
| word initial before⟨n, t⟩ | ∅ | cnidarian,ctenoid | |||
| elsewhere | /k/ | cat,cross, predict, opuscule, picture | /s/ | facade blancmange, indict, muscle | |
| ∅ | victual | ||||
| cc | before⟨e, i, y⟩ | /ks/ | accept, eccentric, occidental | /k/ | soccer, recce, siccing |
| /tʃ/ | bocce, breccia, cappuccino | ||||
| /s/ | flaccid | ||||
| elsewhere | /k/ | account, accrue, occur, yucca | |||
| ch | after⟨n⟩ | /(t)ʃ/ | branch, truncheon, franchise, trenchant | /k/ | inchoate, synchronise, elasmobranch |
| /tʃ/ | enchant, enchilada, chinchilla | ||||
| /ʃ/ | penchant | ||||
| in words of Greek origin | /k/ | chasm,chimera,chord, lichen | ∅ | drachm | |
| in words of Modern French origin | /ʃ/ | chaise, machine, cached, parachute | /k/ | chemist,choir, machination | |
| /tʃ/ | chassis (GA),cheque,chowder, niche (GA) | ||||
| elsewhere | /tʃ/ | chase,chin, attached,chore | /k/ | ached, anchor, leprechaun | |
| /ʃ/ | machete, pistachio, welch | ||||
| /h/ | chutzpah (also with/x/) | ||||
| /dʒ/ | sandwich, Greenwich | ||||
| /x/ | loch | ||||
| ∅ | yacht, Crichton | ||||
| ck | /k/ | tack, ticket | |||
| d,dd,dh | /d/ | dive, ladder, jodhpurs | /t/ | ached, creased, iced, puffed, raked | |
| /dʒ/ | graduate, gradual (both also/dj/ in RP) | ||||
| /ð/ | gorsedd, edh | ||||
| ∅ | Wednesday, handsome, sandwich, ceilidh | ||||
| dg | before⟨e, i, y⟩ or a suffix | /dʒ/ | lodger, pidgin, edgy, abridgment, acknowledgment, judgment, lodgment, fledgling | /dɡ/ | headgear |
| f,ff | /f/ | fine, off, affinity | /v/ | of | |
| g | before⟨e, i, y, ae, oe⟩ | /dʒ/ | gel, pager, algae (GA),gin,gentle, rage,gigantic, regimen | /ɡ/ | get, eager, algae (RP),gig |
| /ʒ/ | genre, barrage,gigue, regime | ||||
| before⟨m⟩ | ∅ | phlegmy, diaphragm | /ɡ/ | pigmy | |
| /ʒ/ | judgment | ||||
| elsewhere | /ɡ/ | go,great, leg, margaric | /dʒ/ | margarine,gaol | |
| /x/ | witgat | ||||
| gg | before⟨e⟩ | /ɡ/ | dagger, smuggest, staggering | /ɡdʒ/ | suggest (GA)[i] |
| /dʒ/ | agger, exaggerate, suggest (RP) | ||||
| elsewhere | /ɡ/ | giggle, egg, ziggurat, beggar | /dʒ/ | arpeggio | |
| gh | word-initial | ghost,ghastly,ghetto | |||
| elsewhere | ∅ | daughter, through, fraught, brougham eight, higher, straight, sighed | /ə//oʊ/ | burgh | |
| /x//k/ | lough, saugh | ||||
| /k/ | hough | ||||
| /f/ | laughter, trough, draught, rough | ||||
| /ɡ/ | burgher, ogham, yogh | ||||
| /ɡh/ | leghorn, pigheaded | ||||
| /p/ | hiccough | ||||
| gn | /n/ | gnome, signed, poignant, reign | /gn/ | signet, indignant | |
| h | syllable-initial | /h/ | honey,heist,house, manhandle doohickey, vehicular | /j/ | posthumous (RP) |
| /w/ | Nahuatl | ||||
| ∅ | honest,heir,hours, piranha, annihilate, vehicle, dinghy, exhaust | ||||
| elsewhere | ∅ | oh, ohm, rhubarb, rhyme | /tʃ/ | sinh | |
| j | /dʒ/ | jump, ajar jonquil,Julian jalap, cajole bijugate | /j/ | Hallelujah, fjord | |
| /ʒ/ | jongleur,julienne, bijou | ||||
| /h/ | jalapeno, fajita | ||||
| ∅ | marijuana | ||||
| k,kk,kh | elsewhere | /k/ | key, bake, trekking, sheikh, weeknight | ∅ | beknave, camiknickers |
| kn | /n/ | knee,knife,knock | /kn/ | knish,Knoebel | |
| l,ll | /l/ | valve, balcony, almost, valley, flotilla,line, colony | ∅ | halve, balk, salmon | |
| /j/ | tortilla | ||||
| /r/ | colonel (in rhotic accents) | ||||
| m,mm | word-initial before⟨n⟩ | ∅ | mnemonic | ||
| elsewhere | /m/ | mine, hammer | |||
| mb | climber, numbing, bombed | /mb/ | nimb, number | ||
| n,nn | word-final after⟨m⟩ | ∅ | hymn, autumn, damningly | ||
| before/k,ɡ/ | /ŋ/ | inkling, bangle, anchor, minx | /n/ | incline, vanguard, mankind | |
| elsewhere | /n/ | nice, funny, enzyme monsignor, damnable, tin | /ŋ/ | anxiety | |
| ∅ | monsieur | ||||
| ng | word-final non-silent letter | /ŋ/ | long, tongue, kingly, singer, clingy | /ŋɡ/ | longer, strongest |
| /ndʒ/ | stingy | ||||
| /ŋ(k)/ | strength, amongst | ||||
| medially otherwise | /ŋɡ/ | congress, singly, finger, language | /nɡ/ | congrats, engage, vanguard | |
| /ndʒ/ | binging, wharfinger, dingy, engaol | /ŋ/ | hangar, lingonberry, angst | ||
| /nʒ/ | ingenue, lingerie | ||||
| word-initial | /əŋɡ/ | ngana,ngultrum,Nguni | /n/ | ngaio,Ngati | |
| p,pp | word-initial before⟨n, s, t⟩ | ∅ | pneumonia,psyche,ptomaine | /p/ | psst |
| elsewhere | /p/ | pill, happy, soup, corpse, script | ∅ | coup, corps, receipt, raspberry | |
| ph,pph | /f/ | photograph, sapphire | /v/ | Stephen | |
| /p/ | shepherd | ||||
| /ph/ | kniphofia, drophead | ||||
| ∅ | apophthegm | ||||
| q | in words of Chinese origin | /tʃ/ | qi,qigong, guqin | ||
| elsewhere | /k/ | Iraq, waqf, yaqona, mbaqanga,qiviut | |||
| r,rr,rh,rrh |
| /r/, ∅ innon-rhotic | cart, hurt fir, walker, tear, burr, myrrh care | ∅ | sarsaparilla, forecastle |
| elsewhere | /r/ | ray, parrot,rhyme, diarrhoea | ∅ | iron, croissant (RP), hors d'oeuvre (some pronunciations) | |
| Seebelow for combinations of vowel letters and⟨r⟩ | |||||
| s | word-final -⟨s⟩morpheme after afortis sound | /s/ | pets, shops | ||
| word-final -⟨s⟩ morpheme after alenis sound | /z/ | ines | |||
| between vowels | /z/ | phrases, prison, pleasing | /s/ | bases, bison, leasing | |
| /ʒ/ | vision, closure | ||||
| elsewhere | /s/ | song, ask, misled | /z/ | is, lens, raspberry | |
| /ʃ/ | sugar, tension | ||||
| ∅ | island, aisle, debris, mesne | ||||
| sc | before⟨e, i, y⟩ | /s/ | scene,scepter,scissors,scythe | /sk/ | sceptic,scirrhus |
| /ʃ/ | fascism | ||||
| /z/ | crescent (RP), discern | ||||
| sch | /ʃ/ | schedule (RP),schist, eschalot | /sk/ | school,scheme,schizoid, ischemia, eschar | |
| /s/ | schism (RP),schism (RP) | ||||
| /stʃ/ | mischief, eschew | ||||
| sh | /ʃ/ | shin, fashion, wish, Lewisham, foreshore, kinship | /sh/ | mishap, mishit | |
| /zh/ | hogshead | ||||
| /sʃ/ | tranship | ||||
| /ʃh/ | threshold | ||||
| /s/ | dishonour | ||||
| ss | /s/ | boss, assign, narcissus dissert, posses, brassier, finesse, cesspool, missout | /ʃ/ | tissue, passion | |
| /ʒ/ | rescission, scissure | ||||
| /z/ | dessert, possess, brassiere, scissor | ||||
| /ss/ | disseat, misspell, missort | ||||
| sw | /sw/ | swore,swan,swift | /s/ | sword, answer | |
| /zw/ | menswear | ||||
| ∅ | coxswain | ||||
| t,tt | in -⟨sten, stle⟩ | ∅ | hasten, listens, rustling, thistles | /t/ | tungsten, listless |
| elsewhere | /t/ | ten, bitter, etiology, nastier,tune, piteous, cation, softer, wallet, gristmill, haste, dishearten | /ʃ/ | ration, martial, cautious | |
| /tʃ/ | bastion, nature, fortune, righteous | ||||
| /ʒ/ | equation, transition (RP) | ||||
| /d/ | kindergarten (GA) | ||||
| /θ/ | tanh | ||||
| ∅ | soften, ballet, Christmas, mortgage | ||||
| tch | /tʃ/ | batch, kitchen | /ttʃ/ | shortchange | |
| th | /θ/ | absinthe | /t/ | thyme | |
| /tθ/ | eighth | ||||
| /ð/ | bother, soothe | /th/ | outhouse, potherb (RP) | ||
| /tʃ/ | posthumous | ||||
| ∅ | asthma | ||||
| v,vv | /v/ | vine, heavy, savvy, reveled, revved | |||
| w | before⟨r⟩ | ∅[ii] | wrong,wrist, awry | ||
| elsewhere | /w/ | sward, swerve,wale | ∅ | two, sword, answer, gunwale | |
| /v/ | Weltanschauung,witgat | ||||
| wh- | before⟨o⟩ | /h/ | who,whole | /w/[iii] | whopping,whorl |
| elsewhere | /w/[iii] | wheel | /f/ | whew (RP),whanau | |
| wr | /r/ | wrench | |||
| x | word- or compound-initial, Greek or Latin origin | /z/ | xylophone,xenon, axenic, chromoxylography | ||
| after⟨e⟩-, and before a vowel | /ɡz/ | example, exist, exotic, exult existential, exultation, exit[iv] | /ks/ | exogenous | |
| elsewhere | /ks/ | boxes, mixes, expect, taxation, tuxedo, proximity, jinxed, next, six, taxi | /ɡz/ | Alexander, auxiliary | |
| /ɡʒ/ | luxury (GA)[v] anxiety | ||||
| /kʃ/ | anxious, luxury (RP), sexual (GA) luxurious[v] | ||||
| /z/ | plateaux, chateaux | ||||
| ∅ | faux-pas, roux | ||||
| /ɪɡz/ | Xavier | ||||
| in words of Chinese or Mesoamerican origin | /ʃ/ | xiangqi,xoloitzcuintle | |||
| xc | before⟨e, i⟩ | /ks/ | excellent, except, excited | ||
| xh | /ksh/ | exhale, foxhole | /ks/ | exhibition, Vauxhall | |
| /ɡz/ | exhaust, exhibit, exhilarating, exhortation | ||||
| /ksj/,/ɡzj/ | exhume | ||||
| y- | /j/ | yes,young | /ð/ | ye (mock archaic) | |
| z,zz | after⟨t⟩ | /s/ | waltz, ditzy, pretzel, tzatziki | /z/ | tzar |
| elsewhere | /z/ | gazump, seized, crazier, rhizoophagous, pizzazz, zoo, quiz | /ʒ/ | azure, seizure, brazier (GA) | |
| /ts/ | schizophrenic, pizzas | ||||
| /dz/ | jiaozi | ||||
| ∅ | rendezvous | ||||
In agenerative approach to English spelling, Rollings (2004) identifies twenty main orthographic vowels ofstressed syllables that are grouped into four main categories: "Lax" (similar to the "short" vowels taught in classrooms), "Tense" (the "long vowels"), "Heavy" (their correlated <r>-colored vowel sound), and "Tense-R" (the second and third combined).
| Letter | Lax (short) | Tense (long) | Heavy | Tense-R | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | example | IPA | example | IPA | example | IPA | example | |
| a | /æ/ | man | /eɪ/ | mane | /ɑːr/ | mar | /ɛər/ | mare |
| e | /ɛ/ | met | /iː/ | mete | /ɜːr/ | her | /ɪər/ | here |
| i | /ɪ/ | win | /aɪ/ | wine | /ɜːr/ | fir | /aɪər/ | fire |
| o | /ɒ/ | mop | /oʊ/ | mope | /ɔːr/ | for[i] | /ɔːr/ | fore[i] |
| u | /ʌ/ | hug | /juː/ | huge | /ɜːr/ | cur | /jʊər/ | cure |
| /ʊ/ | push | /uː/ | rude | [ii] | /ʊər/ | sure | ||
| Digraph | Lax | Tense | Heavy | Tense-R | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | example | IPA | example | IPA | example | IPA | example | |
| ai, ay | – | /eɪ/ | bait | – | /ɛər/ | air | ||
| essay | Ayr | |||||||
| au, aw | – | /ɔː/ | audio | – | /ɔːr/ | aura | ||
| draw | rawr | |||||||
| ea | /ɛ/ | dreamt | /iː/ | dream | /ɜːr/ | learn | /ɪər/ | hear |
| ee | – | /iː/ | see | – | /ɪər/ | beer | ||
| eu, ew | – | /juː/ | feudal | – | /jʊər/ | neurotic | ||
| few | Newry | |||||||
| oa | – | /oʊ/ | boat | – | /ɔːr/ | soar | ||
| oo | /ʊ/ | foot | /uː/ | goose | – | /ʊər/ | poor | |
| – | – | – | /ɔːr/ | floor | ||||
| ou, ow | /ʌ/ | southern | /aʊ/ | south | /ɜːr/ | scourge | /aʊər/ | hour |
| – | now | – | dowry | |||||
| – | /oʊ/ | soul | – | /ɔːr/ | four | |||
| /ɒ/ | knowledge | know | – | |||||
| oi, oy | – | /ɔɪ/ | point | – | /ɔɪər/ | coir | ||
| boy | Moyra | |||||||
For instance,⟨a⟩ can represent the lax vowel/æ/, tense/eɪ/, heavy/ɑː/, or tense-r/ɛə/. Heavy and tense-r vowels are the respective lax and tense counterparts followed by⟨r⟩.
Tense vowels are distinguished from lax vowels with a"silent"⟨e⟩ that is added at the end of words. Thus,⟨a⟩ inhat is lax/æ/, but when⟨e⟩ is added in the wordhate⟨a⟩ is tense/eɪ/. Heavy and tense-r vowels follow a similar pattern, e.g.⟨ar⟩ incar is heavy/ɑːr/,⟨ar⟩ followed by silent⟨e⟩ incare is/ɛər/.⟨u⟩ represents two different vowel patterns, one being/ʌ,juː,ɜː,jʊər/, the other/ʊ,uː,ʊər/. There is no distinction between heavy and tense-r⟨o⟩, and⟨u⟩ in the/ʊ,uː,ʊər/ pattern does not have a heavy vowel.
Besides silent⟨e⟩, another strategy for indicating tense and tense-r vowels is the addition of another orthographic vowel forming adigraph. In this case, the first vowel is usually the main vowel while the second vowel is the "marking" vowel. For example,man has a lax⟨a⟩ (/æ/), but the addition of⟨i⟩ (as the digraph⟨ai⟩) inmain marks the⟨a⟩ as tense (/eɪ/). These two strategies produce words that are spelled differently butpronounced identically, which helps differentiate words that would otherwise behomonyms, as inmane (silent⟨e⟩ strategy),main (digraph strategy) andMaine (both strategies).
Besides the 20 basic vowel spellings,Rollings (2004) has areduced vowel category (representing the sounds/ə,ɪ/) and a miscellaneous category (representing the sounds/ɔɪ,aʊ,aɪ/ and/j/+V,/w/+V, V+V).
To reduce dialectal difficulties, the sound values given here correspond to the conventions atHelp:IPA/English. This table includes⟨h, w, y⟩ when they represent vowel sounds. If no information is given, it is assumed that the vowel is in a stressed syllable.
Deriving the pronunciation of an English word from its spelling requires not only a careful knowledge of the rules given below (many of which are not explicitly known even by native speakers: speakers merely learn the spelling of a word along with its pronunciation) and their many exceptions, but also:
The underscore (_) in a vowel-consonant-⟨e⟩ spelling is the place where the next spelling in a word goes in.
The pronunciation of vowel letters when followed by⟨r⟩ is covered in a separate tablebelow.
| Spelling | Major value (IPA) | Examples of major value | Minor values | Examples of minor value | Exceptions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | in closed syllables
| /æ/ | hatchet, banner, tally acrobat, cat | /eɪ/ | ancient, chamber, pastry, bass | ||
| /ɑː/(RP),/æ/(GA) | aft,ask, dance, past | ||||||
| national, camera, reality acid, granite, palace | /eɪ/ | nationhood, scathingly basis, aphasic | ∅ sarsaparilla | |||
in open syllables
| /eɪ/ | ache, opaque, savor, status table, hatred,April chaos,aorta, mosaic | /æ/ | plaque, manor, statue macle, sacrifice, theatrical | /ɛ/ many,any /aɪ/ naive (also with/ɑː/) /ʌ/ sati | ||
| /ɑː/ | debacle gala, lava, slalom, sonata | ||||||
| before final -⟨nge, ste⟩ | range, exchange, haste | /æ/ | flange, caste (GA) | ||||
| /ɑː/ | melange | ||||||
after/w/ except before/k,ɡ,ŋ/
| /ɒ/ | want, watch, swamp, swastika, wallet | /ɒ/(RP),/ɔː/(GA) /ɔː/ /eɪ/ | squash, wasp, wash wall, walnut, walrus wastage | /ɑː/ qualm (also/ɔː/), suave, swami /æ/ swam, aquatic (RP) /ʌ/ was (GA), what (GA) | ||
after/w/ except before/k,ɡ,ŋ/
| /eɪ/ | persuade, swathe | /ɒ/ /ɔː/ | quality water | |||
| word-final | /ɑː/ | bra, cha-cha, schwa, spa | |||||
| unstressed | in -⟨ace, age, ase, ate⟩ (except verbs) | /ɪ,ə/ | palace, damage, forage, garbage, pirate, private | /ɑː/ /ɪ/ | RP: garage, barrage chocolate, purchase, solace | /eɪ/ rampage, primate | |
| elsewhere | /ə/ | about,an, salary, woman, blancmange, opera, via | /ə/ to ∅ /eɪ/ /æ/ /ɑː/(RP),/æ/(GA) | artistically, ordinary, necessary probate, folate, kinase anorak, rectangle,abscond contrast(n), flabbergast, reprimand | /i/ karaoke, bologna (GA) /æ/Assam /ʌ/ chaprassi | ||
| a_e | /eɪ/ | gave, mate, flake | /æ/ | have | /ɛ/ate(RP) | ||
| aa,ah | /ɑː/ | baa, naan, blah | /ə/ | Isaac, bar mitzvah | /eɪ/ Quaalude | ||
| ae | /iː/ | encyclopaedia, paediatrician, Caesar | /ɛ/ | aesthetic | /eɪ/ reggae, sundae, Gael /ə/ Michael, polkaed /aɪ/ maestro /aɪ.ɛ/ paella /æ/ Scottish Gaelic | ||
| ai | stressed | /eɪ/ | daisy, laid, paisley, regain, waif | /aɪ/ /ɛ/ /eɪ.ɪ/ | aisle, bonsai, daimon, krait said, again, against dais, laic, mosaic, papain | /æ/ plaid, plaited, daiquiri /aɪˈiː/ naif, caique /i.ɪ/ archaism (RP) | |
| unstressed | /ɪ,ə/ | bargain, mountain, portrait | /ə/ | certain, coxswain, spritsail | |||
| ao | /aʊ/ | manoao, miaow, Maoism, cacao (GA) | /eɪ/ /eɪ.ɒ/ /eɪ.ə/ /iˈoʊ/ /ɑːoʊ/ | gaol kaon, chaos kaolin karaoke baobab | |||
| au | /ɔː/ | cause, fraud, haul, sauce, slaughter | /ɒ/ /ɑː/(RP),/æ/(GA) /aʊ/ /oʊ/ | because (RP), sausage (RP), leprechaun (GA) aunt, draught, laughter degauss, graupel, trauma (GA) chauffeur, gauche, mauve | /eɪ/ gauge /ʌ/ because (GA) /ə/ meerschaum ∅ restaurant | ||
| aw | /ɔː/ | awed, flaw, hawk, tawny | /aʊ/ Mawlid | ||||
| ay | /eɪ/ | bayonet, essays, grayer, hayride | /aɪ/ /ɛ/ | aye, bayou, kayak, papaya mayor, prayer, says | /iː/ cay, quay, parlay /əj/ gayal | ||
| e | in closed syllables
| /ɛ/ | petty, lethargy, trebleget, watershed | /iː/ | axes (plural ofaxis), lethal, reflex, Stephen, feces, legally | /ɪ/ pretty /ɒ/ennui,entourage, genre /eɪ/eh /ʌ/ feng shui | |
| /ɛ/ | legacy,elegant, delicate, metric, crevice,epic | /iː/ | devious, premium,evil, scenic, strategic | /ɪ/English | ||
in open syllables
| /iː/ | even, demon, fetal, recombine metre, secret,egret, secretion be, she museum, neon, theater (GA) | /ɛ/ | ever, lemon, petal, recollect petrol, debris (RP), discretion | /eɪ/ crepe, suede, ukulele /ɪ,ə/ repel, debris(some dialects) | ||
| /eɪ/ | seance, deity(some pronunciations) | /ɛ/ yeah (GA) | |||||
| unstressed | word-final | ∅ | discipline, recites, smile, limitrophe | /iː/ | recipes, simile, apostrophe, deled | /eɪ/ latte, mores, protege /ɛ/ zanze | |
| before heterosyllabic vowel | /i/ | create, area, atheism, video | /eɪ/ | fideism, realpolitik | |||
| elsewhere | /ɪ,ə/ | market, ticket, honest, college, boxes, perfect,express, believe | /ə/ | taken, decency, moment | /ɛ/ contest, alphabet, princess | ||
| ea | in closed syllables
| /ɛ/ | dreamt, cleanse, wealth | /iː/ /iə/ | feast, yeast realty, fealty | /ɔː/ealderman /æ/ poleax /eɪ.ɑː/ seance | |
in open syllables
| /iː/ | read (infinitive), leaf, zeal, dreams, cleans | /ɛ/ /eɪ/ /ə/ /iːə,ɪər/ /ɪər/ /iːə/ /iː.eɪ/ | read (past simple), deaf, zealot break, great,eagre, yea hydrangea, likeable, ocean ideal, real, cereal idea urea, laureate creating, protease, reagent | /ɑː/ orgeat /ɛə/ yeah(RP) /æ/ whereas /iːæ/ caveat /ɪ/ mileage /iː.ɪ/ lineage /iːæ/ beatify, reality /eɪˈɑː/ real | ||
| eau | /oʊ/ | bureau, plateau, tableau | /juː/ | beauty | /ɒ/ bureaucracy /ə/ bureaucrat | ||
| ee | /iː/ | bee, breech, feed, trainee | /ɪ/ | breeches, been (GA) | /eɪ/ matinee, fiancees, nee /i/ bungee, coffee /iː.ə/ freest, weest /iː.ɛ/ reecho,/iː.ɪ/ reelect /ɛ/ threepence (also/ɪ/ or/ʌ/) | ||
| eh | /eɪ/ | eh, prehnite, tempeh | /ɛər/ | yeh | /ɛ/ feh/ə/, keffiyeh | ||
| ei,ey | usually | /eɪ/ | veil, weight, heinous, obey | /iː/ /aɪ/ /iː.ɪ/ | caffeine, seize, key,either geyser, height, heist, heinie,eye albeit, being, cysteine, deist | /ɛ/ heifer, leisure, seigneur /æ/ reveille, serein /eɪ.ɪ/ fideist,/iˈaɪ/ deice | |
| after⟨c⟩ | /iː/ | deceive, ceiling, conceit | /æ/ ceinture, enceinte /eɪ.ɪ/ glaceing,/iː.ɪ/ haecceity | ||||
| unstressed | word-final | /i/ /iː/ | monkey, volley, curtsey, jersey | /eɪ/ survey (n) | |||
| elsewhere | /ɪ,ə/ | foreign, counterfeit, forfeit | /ə/ | mullein, villein | /ɪ/ ageist, herein, ogreish | ||
| eo | usually bisyllabic | /iː.ɒ/ /iː.oʊ/ /iːə/ | eon, geology, reoffer, teleost creole, geode, leonine, video galleon, leotard, peon, theory | /ɛ/ /iː/ /ə/ | feoffee, jeopardy, leopard feoff, people luncheon, pigeon, embraceor | /oʊ/ yeoman,/ɛər/ ceorl /juː/ feodary,/uːi/ geoduck /eɪoʊ/ rodeo, teosinte /ɒ/ thereon /ʌ/ whereof /wʌ/ someone | |
| eu,ew(ieu,iew) | usually | /juː/ | deuce, feudal, queue, dew,ewe, view | /ɜː/ /iːə/ | berceuse, danseuse museum | /oʊ/ sew ∅ fauteuil | |
| after/r,ʃ,ʒ,dʒˌl/ after/t,d,n/ (GA) | /uː/ | rheumatism, sleuth, jewel, blew, leukemia, lewd, lieu | /iːə/ | nucleus, pileus | /oʊ/ shew | ||
| i | in closed syllables
| /ɪ/ | dissent, mislaid, slither kiss, sic, bit, inflict, hint, plinth | /aɪ/ | dissect,island, indict, pint, ninth | /æ/ meringue, timbre, absinthe (also/ɪ/) /iː/ artiste, chenille, skis, chic, ambergris | |
| /ɪ/ | litany, liberal, chivalry, misery finish, limit, minute (n) hideous, position, Sirius | /aɪ/ | blithely,irony, libelous, rivalry, miserly, whitish, writing, shinier, tidied | |||
in open syllables
| /aɪ/ | cited, dive, mica, rise, fire | /ɪ/ | city, give, vicar, risen triple, citrus, giblets pighead, signal | |||
| /iː/ | ski, macaroni, litres, in vitro, chignon, Monsignor clientele, fiat, lien, skiing | ||||||
| before -⟨nd, l⟩ | /aɪ/ | wilder, remind | /ɪ/ | bewilder, rescind | |||
| unstressed | before heterosyllabic vowel | /j/ | onion, minion | /aɪ/ | biology, diameter | ∅ parliament, lieu, nostalgia /i/ liaison, alien, radii, idiot | |
| elsewhere | /ɪ,ə/ | divide, permit (n), livid, typical | /ə/ | giraffe, pencil, cousin, Cheshire | ∅ business /aɪ/ director, minute (adj) /aɪər/ sapphire | ||
| i_e | /aɪ/ | polite, shine | /iː//ɪ/ | police, elite, give | |||
| ie | word-finally | /aɪ/ | belie, die, untie, vie | /i/ | goalie, oldie, auntie, movie | /eɪ/ lingerie (GA),/ieɪ/ kyrie | |
| elsewhere | /iː/ | field, siege, rabies, skied | /aɪ/ /aɪə/ /iə/ to/jə/ /iˈɛ/ | allied, pied, skies client, diet, science, sliest ambient, alien, oriel, ugliest orient (v), acquiesce | /ɪ/ sieve, mischief, kerchief /ɛ/ friend, hygienic (GA) /aɪˈɛ/ biennial /aɪiː/ diene /iː.ɒ/ clientele /iˈiː/ medieval /iːə/ lien | ||
| o | in closed syllables
| /ɒ/ | doctor, bother, donkey dot, bomb, wonk, font | /ʌ/ /oʊ/ | won, monkey, front gross, comb, wonted, both | /uː/ tomb, womb /ʊ/ wolf /wʌ/once /ɔː/ (GA) long, broth | |
| /ɒ/ | opera, colonise, botany topic, solid, promise | /oʊ/ | brokenly, probity, diplomacy meiosis, aerobic | |||
in open syllables
| /oʊ/ | omen, grove, total noble, cobra banjo, go boa, poet, stoic cooperate, proactive | /ɒ/ /uː/ /ʌ/ | proper, gone, shone (RP) to, who, move, doable come, love, done, colander | /ʊ/ woman, bosom /ɪ/ women /wʌ/one ∅ colonel, chocolate | ||
| unstressed | /ə/ | eloquent, wanton, purpose, Europe | /ɒ/ neuron, proton /ɪ,ə/ hydrogen | ||||
| oa | /oʊ/ | boat, coal, load, coaxing | /oʊ.ə/ /oʊæ/ /oʊˈeɪ/ | boa, inchoate coaxial, ogdoad oasis, cloaca | /ɔː/ broad /uːə/ doable /oʊˈɑː/ koala /wɑː/ quinoa | ||
| oe | usually | /iː/ | amoeba, coelacanth, foetal, phoenix | /oʊ/ /uː/ /oʊˈɛ/ | doeskin, woeful shoelace, canoeing poetic, soever, orthoepic | /ɛ/ foetid, roentgen /oʊˈiː/ coeval, noesis /oʊˈɜː/ coerce /oʊ.ə/ poetry, orthoepy | |
| last vowel in word | /oʊ/ | foe, goes, toed, woe | /uː/ /oʊɛ/ /oʊ.ə/ /oʊ.ɪ,oʊ.ə/ | shoes, canoe coed, noel, phloem goer loess, poem | /ʌ/ does /uːə/ doeth, doer /ɜː/ foehn /oʊiː/ diploe, kalanchoe | ||
| unstressed | /ɪ/ | oedema,oesophagus | /oʊ/ | aloe, echoed, oboes, soloed | /uː/ hoopoe | ||
| oeu | /uː/ | manoeuvre | /ɜːr/ hors d'oeuvre | ||||
| oh | final or before a consonant | /oʊ/ | oh, kohlrabi,ohm, pharaoh | /ɒ/ | John, johnny | /ɔː/ bohrium /ə/ matzoh | |
| oi | /ɔɪ/ | boing, moist, coin, envoi | /oʊɪ/ /wɑː/ /ə/ | going, egoist, heroin, stoic bourgeois, coiffeur, patois connoisseur, porpoise, tortoise | /uːɪ/ doing /wæ/ croissant (RP) /i/ chamois /oʊaɪ/ ghettoise, oroide | ||
| oo | usually | /uː/ | cool, sooth, boot, goosebumps | /ʊ/ | wool, soot, foot, gooseberry | /oʊ/ brooch /oʊ.ɒ/ coopt, zoology, /oʊ.ə/oocyte (RP) | |
| before⟨k, d⟩ | /ʊ/ | cook, shook, wood, stood | /uː/ | kook, spook, food, brood | /ʌ/ flood, blood | ||
| ou |
| /aʊ/ | out, aloud, bough | /uː/ /ʌ/ /oʊ/ | soup, you, through touch soul, dough | /juː/(GA): ampoule, coupon | |
| /ʊ/ | could, should | /ʌ/ /oʊ/ | trouble, country boulder | /ɒ/ cough, fount (printing) | ||
| unstressed | /ə/ | camouflage, labour, nervous | /ʊ/ /ʊər/ | bivouac, bedouin, potpourri detour, fourchette | /ʌ/ hiccough /w/ ratatouille,ouabaine | ||
| ow | stressed | /aʊ/ | owl, bow, row, sow, allow | /oʊ/ | own, bow, row, sow, alow | /ɒ/ acknowledge /ɒ/ or/ʌ/ rowlock | |
| unstressed | /oʊ/ | yellow, teabowl, landowner | /aʊ/ | peafowl, sundowner | /əw/ cassowary, toward (RP) | ||
| oy | /ɔɪ/ | boy, doyenne, foyer, voyage | /waɪ/ | voyeur, noyade | /oʊj/oyez /aɪ/ coyote (GA) /i/ buoy (GA) | ||
| u | in closed syllables
| /ʌ/ | budding, cuckold, mullet but, gull, fuss | /ʊ/ | pudding, cuckoo, bullet, put, full, puss | /uː/ ruthless, brut /juː/ butte, debut, fuchsia, tulle | |
in open syllables
| /juː/ | mute, student, puny,union, fuses bugle, hubris, nutrient (RP) duo, nuance, pursuant, ensuing menu, emu, impromptu (RP) | /ʌ/ /uː/ | study, punish, bunion, buses butler, cutlery, subrogate super, lunar, absolute, revolution suet, lucrative, lugubrious hindu, tutu, tofu, truth | /ɪ/ busy, business | ||
in open syllables after/r,ʃ,ʒ,j/, or cons. +/l/
| /uː/ | rule, chute, June, recluses scruples, rubric truant, fluent, cruelty flu, guru | /juː/ | overuse, underused | /ʌ/ runaway, truculent, clubroom /ʊ/ sugar | ||
| after⟨g⟩ | before⟨e, i, y⟩ | ∅ | guest, guide, vaguer | /w/ | segue, distinguish | /juː/ ambiguity | |
| before⟨a, o⟩ | /w/ | language | ∅ | guard, languor | /juː/ jaguar (RP) | ||
| after⟨q⟩ | /w/ | quail, conquest, banquet, quite | ∅ | quay, conquer, bouquet, mosquito | |||
| unstressed | /ə/ | support, industry, useful, medium | /juː/ /ʌ/ | debut guffaw,unruly,upend, vulgarity | /ɪ,ə/ minute, lettuce | ||
| ue | after⟨g⟩ | word final | ∅ | league, tongue | /juː/ | ague | /eɪ/ merengue,/i/ dengue |
| word medial | /ɛ/ /ə/ | guest, guessed, baguette guerrilla, beleaguered | ∅ | vaguely, intrigued argued | /weɪ/ segued,/wɛ/ guenon /wə/ unguent,/wiː/ ungues /juːə/ arguer /iː/ Portuguese | ||
| after⟨r⟩, or cons. +⟨l⟩ | /uː/ | true, clue, gruesome, blues | /uːə/ | influence, cruel, fluent, bluest | /uː.ɪ/ cruet,/uːɛ/ influential | ||
| elsewhere (except after⟨q⟩) | /juː/ | virtue, cue, valued, hue, muesli | /juːə/ /juːɛ/ /uː/ /uːə/ | fuel, constituent, rescuer innuendo, statuesque, minuet Sue, snafued (GA: due, revenue) GA: duel, pursuer | /uː.ɪ/ suet,/uːɛ/ muezz|in /juːiː/ tenues,/juːeɪ/ habitue /jʊər/ puerile,/ʊ/ muenster /weɪ/ suede, Venezuelan /wɛ/ pueblo,/wɪ/ desuetude | ||
| ui | after⟨g⟩ | /ɪ/ /aɪ/ | guild, guitar, intriguing, roguish guide, guise, beguile | /wɪ/ | anguish, penguin, linguist, sanguine | /iː/ beguine,/wiː/ linguine /juːɪ/ arguing, aguish, contiguity | |
| after⟨j, r⟩ or cons. +⟨l⟩ | /uː/ | juice, cruise, sluice, fruiting | /uːɪ/ | fruition, fluid, ruin, druid, truism, incongruity | /uː.j/ alleluia /ʊ/ Cruickshank | ||
| elsewhere (except after⟨q⟩) | /juːɪ/ /ɪ/ | conduit, cuing, genuine, Buick, circuitous, Jesuit build, circuit, biscuit, pursuivant | /uː/ /juːə/ /juː/ /uːɪ/ | suit, suitable, nuisance (GA) intuitive (RP), promiscuity nuisance (RP), puisne suicide, tui, Inuit, Hinduism | /aɪ/ duiker,/ə/ circuitry /wɪ/ cuisine, suint /wiː/ suite, ennui, tuille /uːaɪ/ sui generis /weɪ/ feng shui | ||
| uu | /ju.ə/ | continuum, residuum | /u.ə/ | menstruum | /(j)uːʌ/ duumvir /juː/ vacuum /uː/ muumuu | ||
| uy | /aɪ/ | buy, buyout, guyed | /iː/ /wi/ | guyot, cliquy, plaguy obsequy, soliloquy | /jʊɪ/ toluyl /uːj/ thuya, gruyere /wiː/ puy /wiːj/ tuyere | ||
| w | /uː/ | cwm | |||||
| y |
| /ɪ/ | myth, cryptic, system, symbol cylinder, typical, pyramid, dynasty cynic, lyric, lytic, syringe,yttrium | /aɪ/ | cyclone, hyphen, psyche, python hydrogen, dynasty (GA) cyclist, hybrid, psychic, typist | ||
| /aɪ/ | typing, style, paralyze, nylon cycle, cypress, hydrate, lycra awry, by, deny, sky, supply | /ɪ/ | byzantine, synod, synagogue, Cypriote, sycophantic | |||
| unstressed | word-final | /i/ | any, city, happy, only, supply (adv) | /aɪ/ ally (n) | |||
| elsewhere | /ɪ/ | bicycle, oxygen, polymer, dyslexia, physique, synonymous | /ə/ /aɪ/ /i/ | sibyl, pyjamas dynamics, hypothesis, typhoon anyway, everything | |||
| Spelling | Major value (IPA) | Examples of major value | Minor values (IPA) | Examples of minor value | Exceptions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ar | before a vowel | next syllable contains/ɪ,ə/ within the same morpheme | /ær/ | apparent,arid, guarantee, mariners, parish | /ɛər/ | parent, garish | |
| followed by a morpheme boundary | /ɛər/ | carer, scary, sharing, rarity | /ær/ /ɑːr/ | comparable, comparative faraway, tsarist | |||
| otherwise | /ɛər/ | area, care, pharaoh, vary, wariness | /ɑːr/ | aria,are, safaris | /ɒr/ quarantine, waratah | ||
| elsewhere | stressed | /ɑːr/ | argyle, car, farce | /ɛər/ scarce /ær/ sarsaparilla (GA) /ɜːr/ dharna | |||
| after/w/ | /ɔːr/ | war, award, dwarf, warning, quarter | |||||
| unstressed | /ər/ | circular, pillar | |||||
| aer | /ɛər/ | aerial,aeroplane | /ɪər/ | chimaera | /ər/ anaerobe | ||
| air | /ɛər/ | cairn, millionaire, dairy | /aɪər/ hetaira /aɪˈɪər/ zaire | ||||
| aor | /eɪˈɔːr/ | aorta | /aʊ.r/ /ɔːr/ | Maori extraordinary | |||
| arr | before a spoken vowel | /ær/ | marry, barrel,arrow, barren, carrot | /ɑːr/ | starry, barring | ||
| elsewhere | /ɑːr/ | scarred, Parr | |||||
| aur | /ɔːr/ | dinosaur,aural,aura, Laura | /ɒr/ | laurel, Laurence | |||
| awer | /ɔː.ər/ | gnawer, rawer, thawer | /ɔːr/ drawer | ||||
| ayer,ayor | /eɪ.ər/ | layer, mayor, soothsayer | |||||
| er | before a vowel | /ɪər/ | here, series, query, merely | /ɛər/ /ɛr/ /iːˈr/ | compere, there, werewolf derelict, heresy, perish, very derail, reremind | /ɜːr/ were, weregild | |
| elsewhere | stressed | /ɜːr/ | her, jerk, coerced, merchant | /ɛər/ | berceuse | /ɑːr/ clerk, sergeant | |
| unstressed | /ər/ | starter, fewer, Berber, arguer, shower | /eɪ/ (or/ər/) | dossier, foyer | |||
| ear | before a consonant | before a morpheme boundary | /ɪər/ | dearly, fearless, tearful, yearling | /ɛər/ | bearskin, swearword | /ɜːr/ heard |
| elsewhere | /ɜːr/ | pearly, hearse, yearning,earth | /ɑːr/ | hearken, hearty, hearth | /ɪər/ beard, peart /eɪ.ər/ bearnaise /iˈɑːr/ rearm | ||
| elsewhere | /ɪər/ | fear, year, appear, hearing, | /ɛər/ /iː.ər/ | pear, bearish, wearing linear, nuclear, stearin | /iːˈr/ tearoom | ||
| eer | /ɪər/ | cheering, beer,eerie | /iːər/ | freer, seers | |||
| eir | /ɛər/ | heir, madeira, their | /ɪər/ | weird, weir,eyrie | /aɪər/ oneiric,eirenic | ||
| eor | /iɔːr/ | deorbit, reorganise | /ɪər/ | theory | |||
| err | before a spoken vowel | /ɛr/ | error, merry, terrible, herring, ferret | /ɜːr/ | referring | ||
| elsewhere | /ɜːr/ | err, preferred | |||||
| eur | after/r,ʃ,ʒ,j/, cons. +/l/ | /ʊər/ | pleurisy | ||||
| elsewhere | /jʊər/ | euro, liqueur, neural | /ɜːr/ | masseur, voyeur | /iː.ɜːr/ theurgy | ||
| ir | before a spoken vowel | usually | /aɪər/ | pirate, virus,iris, spiral | /ɪr/ | mirage, virile,iridescent, spirit | |
| derived from a word with silent⟨e⟩ following | /aɪər/ | wirable, aspiring | |||||
| before silent⟨e⟩ | /aɪər/ | hire, fires, mired | |||||
| elsewhere | stressed | /ɜːr/ | bird, fir | /ɪər/ menhir | |||
| unstressed | /ər/ | elixir, kefir, triumvir | |||||
| ier | /ɪər/ | cashier, fierce, frontier, pier | /aɪər/ /iər/ | shier, fiery, hierarchy, plier busier, rapier, glacier, hosiery | /i.ɛər/ concierge, premiere /ieɪ/ atelier, bustier, dossier /iːər/ skier | ||
| irr | before a spoken vowel | /ɪr/ | mirror, squirrel, cirrus, tirret | /ɜːr/ | stirrer | ||
| elsewhere | /ɜːr/ | whirred | |||||
| or | after⟨w⟩ | /ɜːr/ | word, work, worst | /ɔːr/ | worn, sword, swore | ||
| elsewhere | stressed | /ɔːr/ | ford, boring, more | /ɒr/ | forest, moral | /ɜːr/ whorl /ʌr/ borough ∅ comfortable | |
| unstressed | /ər/ | gladiator, major, equator | |||||
| oar | /ɔːr/ | boar, coarse, keyboard, soaring | /ər/ cupboard, starboard /oʊˈɑːr/ coarctate | ||||
| oer | /oʊ.ər/ | partygoer, forgoer | /uː.ər/ | undoer, canoer | /ɜːr/oersted | ||
| oir | /wɑːr/ | reservoir, memoir, moire, soiree | /ɔɪər/ | coir, loir, Moira | /waɪər/ choir /ər/ avoirdupois | ||
| oor | /ʊər/ | poor, moor, boorish, roorback | /ɔːr/ | door, flooring | /ər/ whippoorwill /oʊˈɔːr/ coordinate | ||
| orr | stressed | after⟨w⟩ | /ʌr/ | worry | |||
| elsewhere | /ɒr/ | horrid, porridge, torrent, correlate | /ɒr/(RP),/ɑːr/(GA) | borrow, sorry | /ɔːr/ Andorra | ||
| unstressed | /ər/ | correct, corrupt, haemorrhage, horrific | |||||
| our | stressed | /ɔːr/ | four, courtesan, discourse | /aʊər/ /ɜːr/ /ʊər/ | hour, flour, scours journey, courtesy, scourge tour, courier, gourd, velour | /ʌr/ courage, flourish | |
| unstressed | /ər/ | labour, colourful | /ʊr/ /ʊər/ | entourage, potpourri detour, fourchette | |||
| ur | before a vowel | elsewhere | /jʊər/ | lure, purity, curing | /ʊər/ | allure, guru, Silurian | /ɛr/ bury, burial |
| after/r,ʃ,ʒ,j/, cons. +/l/ | /ʊər/ | rural, jury, plural, sure, assurance, allure | |||||
| elsewhere | stressed | /ɜːr/ | turn, occur, curdle | /ʌr/ | /ʊər/ langur | ||
| unstressed | /ər/ | sulphur, jodhpur, bulgur, murmur | |||||
| urr | before a spoken vowel | /ʌr/ | current, hurry, flurry, burrow, turret | /ɜːr/ | furry, blurring | ||
| elsewhere | /ɜːr/ | burr, blurred | |||||
| yr | |||||||
| before a spoken vowel |
| /ɪr/ | syrup, Pyrenees, lyric, pyramid, Syria, myriad, syringe, tyranny, pyrrhic | ||||
| elsewhere | /aɪər/ | tyrant, gyrate, pyrotechnic, thyroid | |||||
| before silent⟨e⟩ | /aɪər/ | lyre, pyre, tyres, gyred | |||||
| elsewhere | stressed | /ɜːr/ | myrtle, myrrh | ||||
| unstressed | /ər/ | martyr | |||||
| Spelling | Major value (IPA) | Examples of major value | Minor values (IPA) | Examples of minor value | Exceptions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| al | Excluding before⟨f, k, l, m, t⟩ (see below) | /æl/ | pal, talcum,algae,alp | /ɔːl/ | bald, Nepal,always, walrus | /ɔː/ falcon (also with/ɔːl/,/ɒl/ or/æl/) /ɒl/ false (RP; also/ɔːl/) |
| alf | before a vowel | /ælf/ | alfalfa, malfeasance | |||
| elsewhere | /ɑːf/ (RP) /æf/ (GA) | calf, half | /ɔːlf/ palfrey /eɪ/ halfpenny | |||
| alk | morpheme-final | /ɔːk/ | stalk, walking, talkative, chalkboard | |||
| elsewhere | /ælk/ | alkaline, grimalkin, valkyrie | /ɔːlk,ɒlk/[i] | balkanise | ||
| all | morpheme-final | /ɔːl/ | call, fallout, smaller | /æl/ | shall, pall-mall (RP) | /ɛl/ pall-mall (GA) |
| elsewhere | /æl/ | alley, callus, shallow | /ɒl/ /əl/ | wallet, swallow allow, dialled | /ɛl/ marshmallow (GA) | |
| alm | morpheme-final | /ɑː(l)m/ | alms, palm, calmer, embalming | /ɔːm/ halm | ||
| elsewhere | /ælm/ | palmate, salmonella, talmud | /ɔːlm/ | almanac,almost , instalment | /æm/ salmon /ɑːlm/almond (GA)[ii] /əlm/ signalment /ɑːm/almond (RP), balmy, palmistry. | |
| alt | /ɔːlt,ɒlt/[iii] | alter, malt, salty, basalt | /ælt/ | alto, shalt, saltation, asphalt (RP) | /ɑːlt/ gestalt (GA) /əlt/ royalty, penalty | |
| ange | word final | /eɪndʒ/ | arrange, change, mange, strange | /ændʒ/ | flange, phalange | /ɑːnʒ/ melange /ɒndʒ/ blancmange /ɪndʒ/ orange |
| aste | word final | /eɪst/ | chaste, lambaste, paste, taste | /æst/ | cineaste, caste (GA), pleonaste | /ɑːst/ (out)caste (RP) /əsteɪ/ namaste |
| -ci | unstressed before vowel | /ʃ/ | special, gracious | /si/ (also/ʃ/) | species | |
| -cqu | /kw/ | acquaint, acquire | /k/ | lacquer, racquet | ||
| ed | word final after/t/ or/d/ | /ɪd,əd/ | loaded, waited | |||
| word final after avoiceless sound | /t/ | piped, enserfed, snaked | /ɛd/ | biped, underfed | /ɪd,əd/ naked | |
| word final after alenis sound | /d/ | limbed, enisled, unfeared | /ɛd/ | imbed, misled, infrared | /ɪd,əd/ beloved | |
| es | word final after africative | /ɪz,əz/ | mazes, washes, axes, bases, pieces | /iːz/ | axes, bases, feces, oases | |
| ex- | unstressed before⟨h⟩ or a vowel | /ɪɡz,əɡz/ | exist,examine,exhaust | /ɛks/ | exhale | |
| gu- | before⟨a⟩ | /ɡw/ | bilingual,guano, language | /ɡ/ | guard,guarantee | |
| (a)isle | word final | /aɪl/ | aisle,isle, enisle, lisle | |||
| le | word final after non⟨r⟩ cons. | /əl/ | little, table | /l/ | orle, isle | /leɪ/ boucle |
| ngue | word final | /ŋ/ | tongue, harangue, meringue | /ŋɡeɪ/ | merengue, distingué | /ŋɡi/ dengue |
| old | /oʊld/ | blindfold,older, bold | /əld/ /ɒld/ | scaffold, kobold (also/ɒld/) doldrums, solder (RP) | ||
| olk | /oʊk/ | yolk, folklore | /ɒlk/ | polka (RP), kolkhoz | /oʊlk/ polka (GA) | |
| oll | /ɒl/ | dollhouse, pollen, trolley, holly | /oʊl/ | tollhouse, swollen, troller, wholly | /ɔː/ atoll (GA) /ɔɪ/ cholla /əl/ caroller, collide | |
| olm | /ɒlm/ | olm, dolmen | /oʊlm/ | enrolment, holmium | /oʊm/ holm (oak) | |
| ong | morpheme-final | /ɒŋ/ (RP) /ɔːŋ/ (GA) | songstress, along, strong, wronger | /ɒŋ/ | tonger, bong, dugong, tongs | /ʌŋ/ among |
| elsewhere | /ɒŋɡ/ | congress, jongleur, bongo, conger,ongoing, nongraded | /ɒndʒ/ /ʌŋɡ/ /ʌndʒ/ | congeries, longevity, pongee monger, humongous, mongrel sponger, longe, spongy | /ʌŋ/ tongue /ənɡ/ congratulate, lemongrass /əndʒ/ congeal, congestion /ɒnʒ/ allonge /oʊnʒ/ congé (GA) | |
| ought | /ɔːt/ | bought, brought, fought, nought,ought, sought, thought, wrought | /aʊt/ | doughty, drought | ||
| qu- | /kw/ | queen,quick | /k/ | liquor, mosquito | ||
| que | word final | /k/ | mosque, bisque | /keɪ/ | manque, risqué | /kjuː/ barbeque /ki/ pulque |
| re | word final after non⟨r⟩ cons. | /ər/ | timbre, acre, ogre, centre | /reɪ/,/ri/ /rə/ | cadre (GA), compadre, emigre genre, oeuvre, fiacre | |
| ron | word final after vowel | /rɒn/ | neuron, moron, interferon, aileron | /rən/ | baron, heron, environ | /ərn/ iron /roʊn/ chaperon |
| sci- | unstressed before a vowel | /ʃ/ | conscience, luscious, prosciutto | /saɪ/ | sciatica,sciamachy,sciential | /ʃi/ conscientious, fasciated /sɪ/ (RP) omniscient, prescience |
| scle | word final | /səl/ | corpuscle, muscle | /skəl/ | mascle | |
| -se | word final after vowel (noun) | /s/ | house, excuse, moose, anise, geese | /z/ | prose, nose, tease, guise, compromise | /zeɪ/ marchese |
| word final after vowel (verb) | /z/ | house, excuse, choose, arise, please | /s/ | grouse, dose, lease, chase, promise | ||
| -si | unstressed after a vowel | /ʒ/ | vision, occasion, explosion, illusion | /zi/ | easier, enthusiasm, physiological | |
| unstressed after a cons. | /ʃ/ | pension, controversial, compulsion | /si/ tarsier, Celsius | |||
| -ssi | unstressed before a vowel | /ʃ/ | mission, passion, Russia, session | /si/ | potassium, dossier, messier | |
| -sti | unstressed before a vowel | /stʃ/ | question, Christian, suggestion | |||
| -sure | unstressed after a vowel | /ʒər/ | leisure, treasure | |||
| unstressed after a cons. | /ʃər/ | tonsure, censure | ||||
| -the | unstressed | /ð/ | scathe, spathe | |||
| -ti | unstressed before a vowel | /ʃ/ | cautious, patient, inertia, initial, ration | /ti/ /ʃi/ | patios, consortia, fiftieth, courtier ratios, minutia, initiate, negotiate | /taɪ/ cation, cationic /ʒ/ equation /tj/ rentier (GA) |
| -ture | unstressed | /tʃər/ | nature, picture | |||
| -zure | unstressed | /ʒər/ | seizure, azure | |||
The following table shows for each sound the various spelling patterns used to denote it, starting with the prototypical pattern(s) followed by others in alphabetical order. Some of these patterns are very rare or unique (such as⟨gh⟩ for/p/,⟨ph⟩ for/v/,⟨i⟩ for/ɑː/). Anellipsis (⟨…⟩) stands for an intervening consonant.
Arranged in the order of theIPA consonant tables.
| Phoneme | Spelling | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| /m/ | m | Most of the time | mine, jam |
| mm | double consonant rule[20] | hammer | |
| mb | End of a few words | thumb | |
| /n/ | n | Most of the time | nice, pin |
| nn | double consonant rule[20] | winning | |
| kn | Start of some words of Germanic origin | knee | |
| gn | Start and end of a few words | gnome, sign | |
| /ŋ/ | ng | Most of the time | sing |
| n | right before a /k/ spelling | link | |
| /p/ | p | Most of the time | pond, hip |
| pp | double consonant rule[20] | clapping | |
| /b/ | b | Most of the time | blue, cab |
| bb | double consonant rule[20] | rubbing | |
| /t/ | t | Most of the time | ten, lit |
| tt | double consonant rule[20] | knitter | |
| /d/ | d | Most of the time | din, pad |
| dd | double consonant rule[20] | hidden | |
| /k/ | k | word or syllable-initial: right before e, i, or y root or word-final: after a consonant, vowel team or within a VCe spelling | kid,Ken, sky, milk, book, make |
| c | right before a, o, u, or a consonant | cat,cob,cut,clap | |
| ck | root or word-final: right after a short vowel | pick, lacking | |
| cc | in the middle of words before 'a', 'o', or 'u' | hiccup, raccoon | |
| ch | usually in words of Greek origin | chemistry, stomach | |
| x | right before 'c' /s/ | excite | |
| que | end of words | boutique | |
| /g/ | g | most cases | goat, tag |
| gg | double consonant rules[20] | begging | |
| /f/ | f | most cases | fly, leaf |
| ff | double consonant rule[20] | huff, bluffing | |
| ph | Ancient greek words | phone, graph | |
| /v/ | v | most cases | vine |
| ve | end of words when not right before a long VCe spelling | give, sleeve, twelve | |
| /θ/ | th | Most of the time | thin, bath |
| /ð/ | th | Most of the time | them, feather |
| /s/ | s | often at the beginning, or right after an unvoiced consonant or short vowel | slime, cups, disk |
| ss | double consonant rule | hiss | |
| c | right before 'e', 'i', 'y' | cent,city,cymbal | |
| se | end of a word or root right after a vowel team | horse | |
| ce | end of word or root right after a short vowel and consonant | dance | |
| sc | beginning of some words | scissors | |
| st | within the syllables /sən/ or /səl/ | listen, whistle | |
| /z/ | z | word-initial | zoo |
| s | right after a voiced consonant or non-short or r-colored vowel | cans, bees | |
| zz | double consonant rule[20] | jazz, buzzy | |
| ze | end of words when not right before a long VCe spelling | sneeze | |
| se | end of words right after a vowel team | pause | |
| x | beginning of a few words | xylophone | |
| /ʃ/ | sh | most of the time | ship, fish |
| ti | in words of Latin origin | attention, ratio | |
| ci | in words of Latin origin | special, delicious | |
| /ʒ/ | s | usually before-ure | treasure, leisure |
| si | usually before-on | vision, explosion |
| Consonants | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Spelling | Examples |
| /m/ | chm, gm, lm, mbe, me, mh, mme, mn, mp, sme | drachm, phlegm, salmon, combe, forme,mho, femme, autumn, assumption, disme |
| /n/ | n, nn, cn, dn, gn, gne, kn, mn, mp, nd, ne, ng, nh, nne, nt, pn, sn, sne | cnidarian, Wednesday, coigne,mnemonic, comptroller, handsome, borne,ngaio, piranha, tonne, topgallant-sail,pneumonia, puisne, mesne |
| /ŋ/ | nc, nd, ngh, ngue, nh | charabanc, handkerchief, sangh, tongue,sinh |
| /p/ | gh, pe, (ph), ppe | hiccough, thorpe, diphthong (RP),[i] steppe |
| /b/ | be, bh, pb, gb | barbe,bhang, cupboard, Igbo |
| /t/ | bt, cht, ct, d, dt, ed, ght, kt, pt, phth, st, te, th, tte | doubt, yacht, victual, iced, veldt, dressed, lighter,ktypeite,ptarmigan,phthisical, cestui, forte,thyme, cigarette |
| /d/ | ddh, bd, de, dh, ed, ld | Buddhism,bdellium, horde,dharma, abandoned, solder, |
| /k/ | cch, ch, cq, cqu, cque, cu, ke, kh, kk, lk, q, qh, qu, (g) | zucchini,chord, tack, acquire, lacquer, sacque, biscuit, burke,khaki, trekker, polka-dotted,quorum, fiqh, liquor, (strength) |
| /ɡ/ | ckg, gge, gh, gu, gue | gig, egg, blackguard, pogge,ghost,guard, catalogue |
| /f/ | fe, ffe, ft, gh, lf, phe, pph, (u) | carafe, gaffe, soften, laugh, half, ouphe, sapphire, lieutenant (RP) |
| /v/ | vv, f, lve, ph, u, w, zv, b, bh | savvy, of, halve, Stephen, quetsch,weltanschauung, rendezvous, Habdalah, kethibh |
| /θ/ | the, chth, phth, tth, h, t | absinthe,chthonic, apophthegm, eighth,tanh |
| /ð/ | the, dd, dh, y | breathe, gorsedd, edh,ye (mock archaic) |
| /s/ | cc, ce, ps, sce, sch, sh, sse, sses, (sth), sw, t, th, ti, (ts), tsw, tzs, tz, (z) | song, mess,city, flaccid, ounce,psalm, coalesce,schism (RP), horse, dishonest, finesse, chausses, asthma (RP),sword, tzitzit, zizith, Kiribati,tsunami (GA), boatswain, britzska, waltz (RP), quartz |
| /z/ | cz, (sc), se, sh, sp, ss, (sth), ts, tz, zh, zs (one pronunciation), c (some dialects) | czar, crescent (RP),[ii] tease, déshabillé, raspberry, dissolve, asthma (GA),tsarina,tzar,zho, (vizsla), (electricity) |
| /ʃ/ | sh, c, ce, ch, che, chi, chsi, ci, s, sc, sch, sche, schsch, sci, sesh, she, shh, shi, si, sj, ss, ssi, ti, psh, zh, x | shin, speciality, ocean, machine, quiche, marchioness, fuchsia, special,sugar, crescendo,schmooze, schottische, eschscholtzia, conscience, tortoiseshell, galoshe,shh, cushion, expansion,sjambok, tissue, mission, nation,pshaw, pirozhki, paxiuba |
| /ʒ/ | (ci), g, ge, j, s, si, ssi, ti, z, zh, zhe, (zi), zs (one pronunciation) | coercion (GA),genre, beige, bijou, leisure, division, abscission, equation, seizure, muzhik, uzhe,[iii] brazier (GA), (vizsla) |
| /x/ | ch (in Scottish English), gh (in Irish English) | loch, lough |
| /h/ | h, wh, j, ch | he,who, fajita,chutzpah |
| /r/ | r, rh, wr | run,rhyme,wrong |
| /l/ | l, ll, le, lh, lle, gl, sle, ln (some dialects) | line, shall, tale, pelham, gazelle, imbroglio, aisle, (kiln) |
| /j/ | y, h, i, j, l, ll, z, r (one pronunciation) | yes, vinho verde, onion, hallelujah, llano, tortilla, capercailzie, February[iv] |
| /hw/ | wh (insome dialects) | which |
| /w/ | w, u, h, ou, ju, wh (in most dialects) | we, persuade, choir,ouija, marijuana,what |
| /ts/ | ts, tz, zz | nuts, quartz, pizza |
| /dz/ | ds, dz, z | pads, podzol, jiaozi |
| /tʃ/ | ch, tch, c, cc, cch, (che), chi, cs, cz, q, t, tche, te, (th), (ti), ts, tsch, tz, tzs, tzsch, h | chop, batch,cello, bocce, kaccha, niche (GA), falchion,csardas,Czech,qi, nature, escutcheon, righteous, posthumous (GA), bastion (GA), britska (US), putsch, britz(s)ka (US), Nietzschean,sinh |
| /dʒ/ | g, j, (ch), d, dg, dge, di, dj, dzh, ge, gg, gi, jj, t, zh | magic,jump, sandwich (RP), graduate, judgment, bridge, soldier, adjust, Tadzhik, barge, veggies, Belgian, hajj, congratulate (US)[v], guzheng |
| /ks/ | x, xx, cast, cc, chs, cks, cques, cs, cz, kes, ks, lks, ques, xc, xe, xs, xsc, xsw | sax, doxxing, forecastle, accent, tachs, backs, sacques, sacs, eczema, burkes, yaks, caulks, toques, excel, axe, exsert, exscind, coxswain |
| /gz/ | x, ggs, gs | exam, eggs, bags |
Nasal vowels used by some speakers in words of French origin such asenceinte (/ɒ̃ˈsæ̃t/), are not included.
| Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Spelling | Examples |
| /æ/ | a, a...e, (ag), ai, al, (ar), (au), ea, ei, i, o (one pronunciation) | hand, have, seraglio (GA), plaid, salmon, sarsaparilla (GA), laugh (GA), poleax enceinte, meringue, (chometz) |
| /ɑː/ | a, a...e, aa, aae, aah, aahe, (ag), ah, (au), (i), o (one pronunciation), ar (one pronunciation) | father, garage, salaam, baaed,aah,aahed, seraglio (RP), blah,aunt (RP), lingerie (GA), (chometz), (schoolmarm) |
| /aɪ/ | i...e, ae, ai, aie, (aille), ais, ay, aye, ei, eigh, eu, ey, eye, i, ia, ic, ie, ig, igh, ighe, is, oi, (oy), ui, uy, uye, y, y...e, ye | fine, maestro, krait, shanghaied, canaille (RP),aisle, kayak,aye, heist, height, deuddarn, heyduck,eye, mic, diaper, indict, tie, sign, high, sighed,isle, choir, coyote (GA), guide, buy, guyed, why, type, bye |
| /aʊ/ | ou, ow, ao, aou, aow, aowe, au, odh, ough, oughe, owe, iao, iau | out, now, manoao, caoutchouc, miaow, miaowed, gauss, bodhrán, bough, ploughed, vowed, jiao, chiaus |
| /ɛ/ | e, a, ae, ai, ay, e...e, ea, eh, ei, eo, ie, oe, ue, ee (one pronunciation) | met, many,aesthetic, said, says, there, deaf, feh, heifer, jeopardy, friend, foetid, guess, (threepence) |
| /eɪ/ | a, a...e, aa, ae, ai, ai...e, aig, aigh, ais,, alf, ao, au, ay, aye, e (é), e...e, ea, eg, ee (ée), eh, ei, ei...e, eig, eigh, eighe, er, ere, es, et, ete, ey, eye, ez, (ie), (oeh), ue, uet | bass, rate, quaalude, reggae, rain, cocaine, arraign, straight, palais, halfpenny, gaol, gauge, hay, played, ukulele (café), crepe, steak, matinee (soirée), thegn,eh, veil, beige, reign,eight, weighed, dossier, espaliered, demesne, ballet, crocheted, they, obeyed, chez, lingerie (GA), boehmite (GA), merengue, bouquet |
| /ə/ | a, e, i, o, u, y, a...e, ae, ah, ai, anc, ath, au, ea, eau, eh, ei, eig, eo, eou, (eu), gh, ia, ie, io, iou, o...e, oa, oe, oh, oi, oo, op, ou, (ough), (u...e), ua, ue, (ui), uo, wa...e | tuna, oven, pencil, pilot, opus, beryl, carcase, Messiah, mountain, blancmange, tuath, sergeant, bureaucrat, keffiyeh, mullein, foreign, truncheon, timeous, amateur (RP), burgh, spatial, deficient, legion, conscious, awesome, starboard, biocoenosis, matzoh, porpoise, whipoorwill, topgallant, callous, borough (RP), minute (GA), piquant, guerilla, circuit (GA), languor, gunwale |
| /ɪ/ | i, y, a, a...e, ai, e, ea, ee, ei, i...e, ia, ie, ii, o, oe, u, u...e, ui | bit, myth, orange, chocolate, bargain, pretty, mileage, breeches, counterfeit, medicine, carriage, sieve, shiitake, women,oedema, busy, minute, build |
| /iː/ | e, e...e, i, i...e, a, ae, aoi, ay, ea, ee, e'e, ei, eo, ey, eye, ie, ie...e, is, ix, oe, oi, ue, ui, uy, y | be, cede, ski, machine, bologna, algae, Taoiseach, quay, beach, bee,e'en, deceit, people, key, keyed, field, hygiene, debris, prix, amoeba, chamois, dengue, beguine, guyot,ynambu |
| /ɒ/ | a, o, ach, au, eau, oh, (ou), ow, e, (eo) | watch, lock, yacht, sausage, bureaucracy, cough (RP), acknowledge,entrée, cheongsam (RP) |
| /ɔː/ | a, al, au, au...e, augh, aughe, aw, awe, ea, (o), oa, oss, (ou), ough | bald, talk,author, cause, caught, overslaughed, jaw,awe,ealdorman, broad, crossjack, cough, bought |
| /ɔɪ/ | oi, oy, eu, oll, ooi, oye, ui, (uoy), uoye, (awy) | avoid, toy, lawyer, Freudian, cholla, rooibos, enjoyed, schuit, buoyant, buoyed (RP), (lawyer) |
| /oʊ/ | o, o...e, aoh, au, aux, eau, eaue, eo, ew, oa, oe, oh, oo, ore, ot, ou, ough, oughe, ow, owe, w | so, bone, pharaoh, mauve, faux, beau, plateaued, yeoman, sew, boat, foe,oh, brooch, forecastle, depot, soul, though, furloughed, know,owe, pwn |
| /ʌ/ | u, o, o...e, oe, oo, ou, uddi, wo, a, au (some dialects), ee (one pronunciation) | sun, son, come, does, flood, touch, studdingsail, twopence, sati, (because), (threepence) |
| /ʊ/ | oo, u, o, o...e, (or), oul, w | foot, full, wolf, pembroke, worsted (RP), should, cwtch |
| /uː/ | u, u...e, oo, oo...e, eew, eu, ew, ieu, ioux, o, o...e, oe, oeu, ooe, ou, ough, ougha, oup, ue, uh, ui, (uo), w, wo | tutu, flute, too, groove, leeward, sleuth, yew, lieu, Sioux, to, lose, shoe, manoeuvre, cooed, soup, through, brougham, coup, true, buhl, fruit, buoy (GA), cwm, two |
| /juː/ | u, u...e, ew, eau, eo, eu, ewe, ieu, iew, (ou), ue, ueue, ui, ut, uu, you | music,use, few, beauty, feodary, feud,ewe, adieu, view, ampoule (GA), cue, queue, nuisance, debut, vacuum,you |
Nasal vowels used by some speakers in words of French origin such asenceinte (/ɒ̃ˈsæ̃t/), are not included.
| Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Spelling | Examples |
| /ær/ | ar, arr, ahr, uar | arid, marry, Fahrenheit, guarantee |
| /ɑːr/ | ar, aar, ahr, alla, are, arr, arre, arrh, ear, er, uar, our (some dialects) | car, bazaar, tahr, topgallant-sail,are, parr, bizarre, catarrh, heart, sergeant, guard, (our) |
| /aɪər/ | ire, ier, igher, yer, yre, oir, uyer | fire, crier, higher, flyer, pyre, choir, buyer |
| /aʊər/ | our, ower | sour, tower |
| /ɛr/ | er, err, ur | very, merry, bury |
| /ɛər/ | are, aer, air, aire, ar, ayer, ayor, ayre, e'er, eah, ear, eir, eor, er, ere, err, erre, ert, ey're, eyr | bare,aerial, tahr, hair, millionaire, scarce, prayer, mayor, fayre, ne'er, yeah, bear, heir, ceorl, moderne, where,err (GA), parterre, couvert, they're,eyra |
| /ər/ | ar, er, ir, or, aur, aer | hangar, letter, elixir, author,aurora, anaerobe |
| /ɜːr/ | er, ir, ur, ar, ear, ere, err, erre, eur, eure, irr, irre, oeu, olo, or, our, ueur, uhr, urr, urre, yr, yrrh | defer, fir, fur, dharna,earl, were,err, interred, voyeur, chauffeured (GA), birr, stirred, hors d'oeuvre, colonel, worst, adjourn, liqueur, buhrstone, purr, murre, myrtle, myrrh |
| /ɪr/ | ir, irr, yr, yrrh, er | spirit, mirror, tyranny, pyrrhic,erase |
| /ɪər/ | ere, aer, e're, ear, eare, eer, eere, ehr, eir, eor, er, ers, eyr, ier, iere, ir, oea, yer | here, chimaera, we're,ear, feared, beer, peered, lehr, weird, theory (RP), series, revers,eyrie, pier, premiere, souvenir, diarrhoea (RP), twyer |
| /ɒr/ | or, orr, ar, arr, aur | orange, sorry, quarantine, quarry, laurel |
| /ɔːr/ | or, ore, aor, ar, aur, aure, hors, oar, oare, oor, oore, our, oure, ou're, ouire, owar, ohr, uor | or, fore, extraordinary, war, dinosaur, roquelaure,hors d'oeuvre,oar, soared, door, floored, four, poured, you're, toward (GA), bohrium, fluoridate |
| /ɔɪər/ | oir, awyer | coir, lawyer |
| /ʌr/ | urr, ur, orr, or, our | hurry, burgh, worry, thorough, courage |
| /ʊr/ | our | courier |
| /ʊər/ | oor, our, ure, ur | poor, tour, sure, rural |
| /jʊər/ | ure, ur, eur | cure, purity, neural |
Inconsistencies between English pronunciation and English spelling have gradually increased ever since thelate medieval andearly modern period ofEnglish's history, with the greatest changes a consequence of English pronunciationnaturally diverging across many centuries, while the spelling often remains frozen in an earlier period. This has resulted in modern English spelling being only somewhat phonetically representative. There are a number of contributing factors to the difficulty of modern orthography but, most importantly, gradual changes in pronunciation, such as theGreat Vowel Shift, account for a tremendous number of irregularities orconservative English spellings that persist without accurately reflecting the now-current pronunciations. Also, more recentloan words generally carry their original spellings (or spellings that followtransliterations operating according to their own non-English conventions). These loan spellings are thus often notphonetic in English; this includesRomanized words from languages written using non-Roman scripts.
The fairly regular spelling system (originally, therunic alphabet, but later theLatin alphabet) ofOld English was swept away by theNorman Conquest in 1066, and the English language as a whole was supplanted in some elite spheres byNorman French for three centuries, eventually emerging with its spelling much influenced by the French writing system (with its Latin letters). English also borrowed massive numbers of words from French during this period, and some kept their French spellings regardless of English pronunciation. The spelling inMiddle English texts is very variable, since no standardised spelling existed then, with the same word being spelled in different ways by various authors or even the same author, sometimes even in the same sentence. Instead, spellings at the time were generally meant to more closely resemble the writer's own pronunciation (or accents of the characters they wrote about).
For example,/ʌ/, normally written⟨u⟩, is spelled with an⟨o⟩ indone,some,love, etc., due to Norman spelling conventions which prohibited writing⟨u⟩ before⟨m, n, v⟩ due to the graphical confusion that would result. (⟨n, u, v⟩ were written identically with twominims in Norman handwriting;⟨w⟩ was written as two⟨u⟩ letters;⟨m⟩ was written with three minims, hence⟨mm⟩ looked like⟨vun, nvu, uvu⟩, etc.). Similarly, spelling conventions also prohibited final⟨v⟩. Hence the identical spellings of the three different vowel sounds inlove,move, andcove are due to ambiguity in theMiddle English spelling system, not sound change.
In 1417,Henry V began using English for official correspondence instead of the Latin or French of his predecessors, the latter two languages already having standardised spelling by then. For instance, Latin had one spelling forright (rectus), Old French as used in English law had six and Middle English had 77.[citation needed] English spelling gradually settled into a standardised form too, though the process took some 500 years.[25]
There was also a series of linguistic sound changes towards the end of the late medieval period, including the Great Vowel Shift, largely responsible for transitioning Middle English intoEarly Modern English. One such change was the⟨a⟩ inmake,name, andcase, for example, changing from a pure vowel to a diphthong. These changes for the most part did not detract from the rule-governed nature of the spelling system; but, in some cases, they introduced confusing inconsistencies, like the well-known example of the many pronunciations of⟨ough⟩ (tough,through,though,cough,plough, etc.). Most of these changes happened before the arrival of printing in England. However, the arrival of the modern printing press in 1476 in some ways froze phonetic spellings of the time, rather than providing the impetus spelling to realign with ever-changing pronunciations.[4] Furthermore, the press introduced further inconsistencies, partly because of the use of typesetters trained abroad, particularly in theLow Countries. For example, the⟨h⟩ inghost was influenced byFlemish, whereas the word was often previously spelledgost.[4][26] The addition and deletion of a silente at the ends of words was also sometimes used to make the right-hand margin line up more neatly[26] (though many cases of silente already existed by this time, having been fully pronounced in earlier varieties of Middle English).
To make matters more complex, literary scholars in the 17th century sometimes added in silent letters to words merely to hearken back to their Latin origins, such as theb indebt anddoubt and thep inreceipt, which, though never pronounced, were inserted during this period. In other instances, scholars even added letters under the mistaken assumption that they were once pronounced or due to mistakenetymologies (such as the relatively recentl incould, meant to mirror the spellings ofwould andshould).
As literacy rose, and by the timedictionaries were introduced in the mid-17th century, the spelling system of English was starting to stabilise. Occasionally (though rarely), deliberate initiatives in favour of one spelling or another succeeded. In the early 19th century, for instance, American lexicographerNoah Webster, who published children's spelling books andWebster's Dictionary, was hugely influential at popularising a small number of spelling conventions that solidified inAmerican English but that did not catch on in British English. By the 19th century, most words in the English language had set spellings. Even today, the orthographies of British, American, and other dialects of English align for the most part. InThe Mill on the Floss (1860), English novelistGeorge Eliot satirised the attitude of the English rural gentry of the 1820s towards orthography:
Mr. Tulliver did not willingly write a letter, and found the relation between spoken and written language, briefly known as spelling, one of the most puzzling things in this puzzling world. Nevertheless, like all fervid writing, the task was done in less time than usual, and if the spelling differed from Mrs. Glegg's,–why, she belonged, like himself, to a generation with whom spelling was a matter of private judgment.
The modern English spelling system, with its slightly distinct national variants, spread together with the later-19th-century expansion of public education, which has rigorously reinforced a sense of "right" and "wrong" spelling.
