Lineup
S4: the list
This table lists the S4 set and shows the equivalent IPA symbolsS4 | Example | Example validity | Name | Name (UK accent) | IPA | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First the vowels and diphthongs, which are stand-alone sounds. | ||||||
a | ap | US & UK | short-a | ʃoot-ei | ʌ | As in cut. I would say that "a" is to "aa" what "ʌ" is to "ɑː", I can't see why "ʌ" was ever used in the first place. Anyway this sound is near as dammit to a sound in French that is represented by "a", and it looks good to me. |
aa | paa‛m | US & UK | long-a | loŋ-ei | ɑː | |
e | bed | US & UK | short-e | ʃoot-ii | e | |
ee | bee·ə | UK | long-e | loŋ-ii | Only seems to occur, by default, in the IPA diphthong /eə/. Can be heard in "Mary" for instance. |
|
i | ʃip | UK | short-i | ʃoot-ii | ɪ | "As in 'see', but plain i if weak as in 'happy'." is what it says on the UCL list I was given to use, but as far as I can see, I never say "happi" but always "happee", I can't see the point of this at all. |
ii | ʃiip | US & UK | long-i | loŋ-ii | iː | |
o | ori‛ndʒ | US & UK | short-o | ʃoot-ou | ɒ | |
oo | doo | UK | long-o | loŋ-oo | ɔː | |
u | buk | US | short-u | ʃoot yuu | ʊ | |
uu | ʃuu | US & UK | long-u | loŋ yuu | uː | |
ə | soudə | US & UK | short schwa | ʃoo‛ ʃwaa | ə | |
əə | bəəd | UK | long schwa | loŋ ʃwaa | ɜː | |
æ | æp‛l | US & UK | ash | æʃ | æ | |
ei | sbeid | US & UK | diphthong-ei | ii ai | eɪ | |
ou | bout | US & UK | diphthong-ou | ou yuu | ou | This symbol is taken from the official UCL 2003 list, nevertheless the sound is often written /əʊ/, which is maybe an attempt to render the "upperclass English O". I would say that in British English, there is the lower-class "a·uu" the middle-class "ou" and the upper-class "ə·uu". |
ai | ai | US & UK | diphthong-ai | ei ai | ai | |
au | kau | diphthong-au | ei yuu | au | ||
oi | boi | diphthong-oi | ou ai | oi | ||
Next the consonants, which go with vowels, before and/or after. | ||||||
l | liif | US & UK | clear-L | klii·ər- e‛l | l | |
‛l | bad‛l | US | dark-L | daak-e‛l | l əl l̩ | Clearly, the L-sound is not pronounced the same way when it comes before the vowel in a syllable and when it come after it. In IPA transcriptions, there is sometimes an attempt to render this by putting a schwa before a trailing L, and some times the syllabic L /l̩/character is used (but rarely). |
m | maŋkii | US & UK | clear-m | klii·ər-e‛m | m | |
‛m | blas‛m | US | dark-m | daak-e‛m | m əm m̩ | See above |
n | nouz | US & UK | clear-n | klii·ər-e‛n | n | |
‛n | wum‛n | US & UK | dark-m | daak-e‛n | n ən n̩ | See above |
r | rei‛n | US & UK | clear-r | klii·ər-aa | r | |
‛r | hee‛r | US | dark-r | daak-aa | r ər r̩ ɚ | See above. |
p | pe‛n | US & UK | p | pii | p | |
b | bii | US & UK | b | bii | b | |
t | trii | US & UK | t | tii | t | |
d | dræg‛n | US & UK | d | dii | d | |
k | kæt | US & UK | k | kei | k | |
g | gout | US & UK | g | dʒii | g | |
ʃ | fiʃ | US & UK | esh | eʃ | ʃ | |
ʒ | te‛ləviʒ‛n | US & UK | ezh | eʒ | ʒ | |
tʃ | tʃeriiz | US & UK | t-esh | tii eʃ | tʃ | |
dʒ | dʒiip | US & UK | d-ezh | dii eʒ | dʒ | |
þ | tuuþ | US & UK | thorn | þoo‛n | þ | |
ð | feðə | US & UK | eth | eþ | ð | |
f | fre‛nz | US & UK | f | ef | f | |
v | vaaz | US & UK | v | vii | v | |
s | sa‛n | US & UK | s | es | s | |
z | zuu | US & UK | z | zed | z | |
y | ye‛lou | US & UK | y | wai | j | As in 'you'. Here, a “y” is what you would expect. Changed from “j” to “y” in 2011, as suggested earlier by Jack Windsor Lewis. |
w | wai‛n | US & UK | w | dab‛lyuu | w | |
h | hee‛nd | US | h | eitʃ | h | |
ŋ | fiŋgə | UK | eng | eŋ | ŋ |