LIN Young

Vowels: Standard American Present-Day English

keyword IPA notes; character map label name(s) Alternate Unicode
symbol (don’t use!)
beet, peak i
bit, pick ɪ Latin Letter Small Capital ɪ small capital i I 026A
bait, take e eɪ
bet, peck ɛ Latin Small Letter Open E open e; IPA epsilon 025B
bat, pack æ Latin Small Letter Ae ash, ae ligature 00E6
about, above ə Latin Small Letter Schwa schwa 0259
but, sun ʌ Latin Small Letter Turned V turned v; caret; wedge 028C
boot, due u
beaut, few ju
book, hood ʊ Latin Small Letter Upsilon lax u; IPA upsilon; turned 028A
omega
boat, poke o oʊ
bought, dawn ɔ Latin Small Letter Open O open o; turned c 0254
bop, don ɑ Latin Small Letter Alpha open a; IPA alpha, script a a 0251
bide, why ɑɪ Latin Small Letter Alpha phonemic diphthong aj 0251
Latin Letter Small Capital I 026A
loud, how ɑʊ Latin Small Letter Alpha phonemic diphthong aw 0251
Latin Small Letter Upsilon 028A
boy, moist ɔɪ Latin Small Letter Open O phonemic diphthong ɔj 0254
Latin Letter Small Capital I 026A
bottom m syllabic consonant m̩
button n syllabic consonant n̩
bottle l syllabic consonant l̩
butter, first ɹ syllabic consonant; turned r r, r̩, ɹ̩ ɚ ɝ 0279
Latin Small Letter Turned R
running ɪŋ Latin Letter Small Capital I a syllable, not a vowel, but 014B
Latin Small Letter Eng students ask about it a lot 026A
Find the vowel SOUND (not letter) in the keywords to identify the IPA symbol for that sound. For the articulatory
features, see the official IPA chart. Use these symbols, and ONLY these symbols, when you transcribe vowels. You’ll see
other transcriptions online and in readings, and you may even “hear” yourself using slightly different vowels, but we’re
transcribing the standard pronunciation (whether or not you yourself say it that way). Be especially careful with
diphthongs. We’re transcribing only these three phonemic diphthongs, no others.
The phonemes [m], [n], [l], and [ɹ] can behave as “syllabic consonants,” which means that they can form the nucleus of
a syllable, usually in unstressed syllables, sometimes in stressed syllables.
For symbols where no character map label or Unicode is given, just use the regular lowercase letters on your keyboard.