Phonetic symbols
A phoneme is the smallest sound in a language. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of letters and symbols that are used to represent the individual sounds of a language.
The table below lists the IPA symbols used in Pronunciation Coach for American English. Click on the links to watch a short video of how each sound is produced.
| Phonetic symbol | Example | Phonetic spelling | Video |
| /i/ | beat | /b/ /i/ /t/ |  |
| /ɪ/ | bit | /b/ /ɪ/ /t/ | |
| /e/ | bait | /b/ /e/ /t/ | |
| /ɛ/ | bet | /b/ /ɛ/ /t/ | |
| /æ/ | bat | /b/ /æ/ /t/ | |
| /ʌ/ | but | /b/ /ʌ/ /t/ | |
| /ə/ | about | /ə/ /b/ /o/ /t/ | |
| /ɚ/ | bird | /b/ /ɚ/ /d/ | |
| /u/ | boot | /b/ /u/ /t/ | |
| /ʊ/ | book | /b/ /ʊ/ /k/ | |
| /o/ | boat | /b/ /o/ /t/ | |
| /ɔ/ | bought | /b/ /ɔ/ /t/ | |
| /ɑ/ | bob | /b/ /ɑ/ /b/ | |
| /ɑɪ/ | bite | /b/ /ɑɪ/ /t/ | |
| /ɑʊ/ | brown | /b/ /r/ /ɑʊ/ /n/ | |
| /ɔɪ/ | boy | /b/ /ɔɪ/ | |
| /p/ | pot | /p/ /ɑ/ /t/ | |
| /b/ | bet | /b/ /ɛ/ /t/ | |
| /d/ | dog | /d/ /ɔ/ /g/ | |
| /t/ | top | /t/ /ɑ/ /p/ | |
| /k/ | kit | /k/ /ɪ/ /t/ | |
| /g/ | got | /g/ /ɑ/ /t/ | |
| /f/ | fog | /f/ /ɔ/ /g/ | |
| /v/ | vat | /v/ /æ/ /t/ | |
| /ɵ/ | thick | /ɵ/ /ɪ/ /k/ | |
| /ð/ | that | /ð/ /æ/ /t/ | |
| /s/ | sat | /s/ /æ/ /t/ | |
| /z/ | zoo | /z/ /u/ | |
| /ʃ/ | shut | /ʃ/ /ʌ/ /t/ | |
| /ʒ/ | measure | /m/ /ɛ/ /ʒ/ /ɚ/ | |
| /h/ | help | /h/ /ɛ/ /l/ /p/ | |
| /ʧ/ | church | /ʧ/ /ɚ/ /ʧ/ | |
| /ʤ/ | jump | /ʤ/ /ʌ/ /m/ /p/ | |
| /m/ | mom | /m/ /ɑ/ /m/ | |
| /n/ | nod | /n/ /ɑ/ /d/ | |
| /ŋ/ | thing | /ɵ/ /ɪ/ /ŋ/ | |
| /l/ | lot | /l/ /ɑ/ /t/ | |
| /r/ | rat | /r/ /æ/ /t/ | |
| /w/ | won | /w/ /ʌ/ /n/ | |
| /j/ | you | /j/ /u/ | |