Realspeak

US English

Table 1. Vowels and Diphthongs

Symbol	Transcription	As in:
i	‘fil	feel
I	‘fIl	fill
E	‘fEl	fell
@	‘k@t	cat
A	‘gAt	got
^	‘k^t	cut
O	‘fOl	fall
U	‘fUl	full
u	‘ful	fool
$	$.’la&U	allow
E0	‘kE0R+t	curt
O	‘dOr	door
e&I	‘fe&Il	fail
O&I	‘fO&Il	foil
a&I	‘fa&Il	file
a&U	‘fa&Ul	foul
o&U	‘go&Ul	goal

Table 2. Consonants

Symbol	Transcription	As in:
j	‘jEs	yes
w	‘wa&I	why
R+	‘R+Ip	rip
l	‘lIp	lip
p	‘pIt	pit
t	‘tAp	top
k	‘k@t	cat
b	‘bIt	bit
d	‘dIg	dig
g	‘gAt	got
? (glottal stop)	‘?it	eat
f	‘f@t	fat
T	‘Tin	thin
s	‘sil	seal
S	‘Sip	ship
v	‘v@t	vat
D	‘Den	then
z	‘zil	zeal
Z	‘li.Z$R+	leisure
h	‘h@t	hat
t&S	‘k@t&S	catch
d&Z	‘d&ZE0R+.ni	journey
m	‘m@n	man
n	‘n^t	nut
nK	‘R+InK	ring

UK English

Table 3. Vowels and Diphthongs

Symbol	Transcription	As in:
i	‘bit	beat
I	‘bIt	bit
E	‘bEd	bed
@	‘m@p	map
A	‘kA	car
A+	‘pA+t	pot
^	‘b^t	but
O	‘bOt	bought
U	‘bUk	book
u	‘but	boot
$	$.’ba&Ut	about
i0	‘R+o&U.zi0z	roses
E0	‘tE0n	turn
e&I	‘be&It	bait
O&I	‘bO&I	boy
a&I	‘ba&I	buy
a&U	‘da&Un	down
o&U	‘So&U	show
I&$	‘hI&$	here
E&$	‘DE&$	there
U&$	‘pU&$	poor

Table 4. Consonants

Symbol	Transcription	As in:
j	‘ju	you
w	‘wIt	wit
R+	‘R+a&Id	ride
l	‘lEt	let
p	‘p@n	pan
t	‘t@n	tan
k	‘k@n	can
b	‘bO&I	boy
d	‘de&I	day
g	‘gA+t	got
f	‘fa&In	fine
T	‘TIn	thin
s	‘sIn	sin
S	‘Sa&In	shine
v	‘va&In	vine
D	‘D@t	that
z	‘zo&Un	zone
Z	‘vI.Z$n	vision
h	‘hEd	head
t&S	‘t&SE0t&S	church
d&Z	‘d&Z^nK.g$l	jungle
m	‘ma&I	my
n	‘no&U	no
nK	‘sA+nK	song
n%)	‘dI.dn%)t	didn't
l%)	‘b@.tl%)	battle