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Questions tagged [ipa]

International Phonetic Alphabet(IPA)

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a dialect-neutral guide to English pronunciation devised by the International Phonetic Association.

A guide to general American pronunciations based on the IPA can be found in 'A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English', by John S. Kenyon and Thomas A. Knott. Published by Merriam-Webster, 1944.

Use the IPAchart to hear what each symbol sounds like.

115 questions
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Why is [ɚ] used instead of [əɹ] in IPA phonetic transcriptions of English words?

Is there any pronunciation difference between both? Shouldn't IPA use one symbol per phonem/allophone? Curiously, this happens with the schwa, but not with "true" vowels, eg the A in car [kɑɹ].
Alan Evangelista
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IPA confusion for 'Aegis'

Merriam-Webster says: \ˈē-jəs \ or \ˈā-jəs\ Cambridge says: /ˈiː.dʒɪs/ for US Oxfor says: …
KGhatak
  • 123
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What is the IPA of the throat clearing ch sound?

Is there a standard IPA equivalent of the gargle-ish sound you make when you clear phlegm out of your throat, like when you pronounce 'Achmed', where the 'ch' is the 'phlegm' sound?
Gregory Leo
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Primary and secondary stress in IPA transcriptions on Cambridge Dictionary when two words are involved

I am trying to understand IPA transcriptions in https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/ when two words are involved. In particular, their rationale for changing some stresses, compared to the stresses in the independent transcriptions, when the words…
David Robert Jones
  • 103
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IPA syllable breaks

When using IPA, I am aware that <.> (full stop) represents a syllable break. However, I have also read that a <-> (hyphen) can also be used? Is this correct? If so, is it simply a matter of personal preference, or is one considered better or more…
user312261
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Can someone help me with the transcription of the word ´mother´? (IPA)

I am really not sure whether the word ´mother´ should be transcribed like this: ´mʌðə´ or like this ´mɒðə´. In my opinion, the second one sounds better. The word mother is similarly pronounced as for example ´hot´ = ´hɒt´, isn´t it? Thank you for…
MIa
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