AmericanIPAchart.

com The chart About Links  Print / Download the chart

An American IPA chart with sounds and examples.

All the sounds of American English (General American) with: consonants, simple vowels and diphthongs. The
chart is interactive, click on the symbols and illustrations!

The use of animals for consonants, and colors for vowels, makes this English phonemic chart easy to
remember.

INTERNATIONAL English is not pronounced

the way it's spelled out!

PHONETIC The International Phonetic

Alphabet lets us work around

ALPHABET
this problem by using
phonetic transcriptions.

Gen!"#$ Ame"%&#n
Learn and remember the IPA with
this interactive audio chart.

pu'$%s()* b+ Cli,-.n/S0)ak.co1

CONSONANTS
THE 24 CONSONANTS USED IN STANDARD AMERICAN

pbtdkg

p t k
/pɪɡ/
pig /ˈtturtle
ɝ·təɫ/ /kæt/
cat

b d g
/bɛɹ/
bear /dɔg/
dog /goʊt/
goat

θðfv

θ f
/ˈppanther
æn·θɝ/ /fɹɑg/
frog

ð v
/ˈfeather
fɛð·ɝ/ /ˈbeaver
bi·vɝ/

s z ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ

s ʃ tʃ
/sneɪk/
snake /ʃip/
sheep /ˈchicken
tʃɪk·ɪn/

z ʒ dʒ
/ˈzzebra
i·bɹə/ /ˈtɛɫ·əˌ
vɪʒ·ən/
television /dʒəˈ ɹæf/
gira.e

wɫ

w ɫ
/wʊɫf/
wolf /ˈɫɑɪ·ən/
lion

mnŋ

m n ŋ
/maʊs/
mouse /ˈddinosaur
ɑɪ·nəˌsɔɹ/ /ˈpɛŋ·gwən/
penguin

ɹjh

ɹ j h
/ˈɹrabbit
æb·ɪt/ /jæk/
yak /hɔɹs/
horse

MONOPHTHONGS
THE 10 PURE VOWEL SOUNDS OF STANDARD AMERICAN

iuɪʊəɛɝɔæɑ

i u
/gɹin/
green /bɫu/
blue
ɪ ʊ
/pɪnk/
pink /wʊd/
wood

ə
/dəst/
dust

ɛ ɝ ɔ
/ɹɛd/
red /ˈppurple
ɝ·pəɫ/ /mɔv/
mauve
æ
/sænd/
sand
ɑ
/ˈco.ee
kɑ·fi/

DIPHTHONGS
THE 5 VOWEL CLUSTERS OF STANDARD AMERICAN

eɪ aɪ aʊ ɔɪ oʊ

ɪ ʊ
/pɪnk/ /wʊd/

eɪ oʊ
/dʒeɪd/
jade /goʊɫd/
gold

ɔɪ
/ˈturquoise
tɝ·kɔɪz/

aɪ aʊ
/ɫaɪm/
lime /bɹaʊn/
brown

HELP
LEGEND & TIPS

STRESS

Primary stress Secondary stress · Syllabification

Before the syllable Also before the syllable Before an unstressed syllable

HOW TO USE

If you're using a print or static version, visit americanipachart.com

for the interactive version, with built-in audio and animations.

How to use this chart:

• Click on the phonetic symbols to listen to each sound, and
click on the illustrations to listen to the sample words.
• Hold the mouse cursor over the transcriptions to see how each
word is spelled.
• Practice distinguishing (discriminating) and imitating (articulating)
those sounds, and you will improve your spoken English.

MEMORIZE IT

The chart is designed around a mnemonic:

• Consonants are named after animals;
• Vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs) are named after colors.

Remember all these 24 + 10 + 5 = 39 sounds and you will know all of

the sounds of standard American English (AKA General American).

If +o2'd 3i-! m4"e he30 t5 3)a6n E78li9:, vi9%;:

ClickandSpeak.com
Adapted from Click & Speak™. Design : Fabien Snauwaert. Voice over: Alan Adelberg.
© 2017-2018 Fabien Snauwaert. Distributed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 .
1.0EN

About
My goal with this American IPA Chart was to make it visual, memorable, and practical in order to help
people learn the sounds of spoken American English.

If you'd like a PDF version to print for your class or the audio to use in a language lab, please see the
 download page.

To embed the chart on your own website, use this code:

 <a title="American IPA chart with sounds and examples" href="https://americanipachart.com"><object type="im

Teachers and advanced students may be interested in some of the decisions that went into designing this
English chart:

 Conventions used in the chart

If you found this American phonemic chart and its examples useful, please consider sharing it with your
classroom or classmates.

Translations
A French version of this chart is available here: Alphabet Phonétique anglais, with all the examples translated
into French.

If you'd like to contribute translations into your own language, please add translations of the sample words to
this spreadsheet!

Links & Goodies

More good stuff to learn and teach English!

In English In French
 FrequencyList.com  BilingueAnglais.com
Discover the top 5,000 words used in spoken American Comment bien apprendre l'anglais et devenir bilingue.
English.
 Click & Speak® English
 How to Learn English Formation d'anglais en ligne interactive et intelligente
Use modern methods and content to improve your pour maîtrisez l'anglais. Plus de mille utilisateurs !
English every day!

 Click & Speak® English

Learn and remember the top 5,000 words in spoken
American English, with audio, phonetics, examples,
and lively dialogues!

More projects in preparation. Stay tuned!

© 2017-2021 Fabien Snauwaert Share the chart on  Pinterest ,  Twitter or  Facebook fabien.snauwaert@gmail.com