pronunciation guide in English

Tags

Examples are tagged with an English dialect. Any example that is not tagged is considered "General American" (GA).

Tags currently used:

• (AuE) = Australian English
• (ScE) = Scottish English
• (WaE) = Welsh English

Phonology for all dialects

Vowels (preferred)

lojban	IPA	Names	Examples
a	[a]	Open front unrounded vowel	a in hat (WaE)
e	[ɛ]	Open-mid front unrounded vowel	e in bed, dress (GA)
i	[i]	Close front unrounded vowel	ee in free, beam (GA)
o	[o]	Close-mid back rounded vowel	aw in yawn (AuE), o in go (ScE)
u	[u]	Close back rounded vowel	oo in boot, true (GA)
y	[ə]	Mid-central vowel	a in above

Vowels (allowed)

lojban	IPA	Names	Examples	Notes
a	[ɑ]	Open back unrounded vowel	a in father (GA)
e	[e]	Close-mid front unrounded vowel	ay in play (ScE, not GA)	Be careful not to confuse with the diphthong ei!
o	[ɔ]	Open-mid back rounded vowel	o in not (AuE, not GA)

Diphthongs

A diphthong is a vowel sound that consists of two elements: a short vowel sound and a glide. A labial (IPA [w]) or palatal (IPA [j]) glide either precedes (an on-glide) or follows (an off-glide) the main vowel. Diphthongs always constitute a single syllable.

lojban	IPA	Examples
ai	[aj]	high, Taipei, prize (GA)
ei	[ɛj]	weigh, Taipei
oi	[oj]	boy
au	[aw]	cow
ia	[ja]	yard
ie	[jɛ]	yell
ii	[ji]	ye
io	[jo]	yogurt
iu	[ju]	beauty
ua	[wa]	wander
ue	[wɛ]	well
ui	[wi]	weak
uo	[wo]	woe
uu	[wu]	woo
iy	[jə]	million
uy	[wə]	was (unstressed)

Sibilants

lojban	IPA	Names	Examples
c	[ʃ]	Voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant	sh in shape
j	[ʒ]	Voiced palato-alveolar sibilant	s in measure, j in déjà vu
s	[s]	Voiceless alveolar sibilant	s in soon
z	[z]	Voiced alveolar sibilant	z in zinc

Fricatives

lojban	IPA	Names	Examples
f	[f]	Voiceless labiodental fricative	f in fall
v	[v]	Voiced labiodental fricative	v in voice
x	[x]	Voiceless velar fricative	ch in loch (ScE)
'	[h]	Voiceless glottal fricative	h in hose

Affricates

lojban	IPA	Names	Examples
dj	[dʒ]	Voiced palato-alveolar affricate	j in joke
tc	[tʃ]	Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate	ch in chat
dz	[ʣ]	Voiced alveolar affricate	ds in pads
ts	[ʦ]	Voiceless alveolar affricate	ts in cats

Rhotics

lojban	IPA	Examples
r	[r], [ɹ], [ɾ], [ʀ], [r̩], [ɹ̩], [ɾ̩], [ʀ̩]	rock

Nasals

lojban	IPA	Examples
n	[n], [n̩], [ŋ̍], [ŋ̩]	nose
m	[m], [m̩]	move

Approximants

lojban	IPA	Examples
l	[l], [l̩]	l in lake

Stops

lojban	IPA	Examples
b	[b]	bottle
d	[d]	dance
g	[g]	goose
k	[k]	keen
p	[p]	powder
t	[t]	time

Phonology for GA speakers

lojban	IPA	Examples
'	[h]	h in ham
.	[ʔ]	the catch in your throat that sometimes occurs prior to the beginning of a word (and sometimes a syllable) which starts with a vowel. In some kinds of American English, it is used between vowels instead of “t” : “bottle” [boʔl̩]. The English interjection “uh-oh!” almost always has it between the syllables.
a	[ɑ]	a in father
b	[b]	b in bottle
c	[ʃ]	sh in shape
d	[d]	d in dance
e	[ɛ]	e in dress
f	[f]	f in fall
g	[g]	g in goose
i	[i]	ea in beam
j	[ʒ]	s in measure, j in déjà vu
k	[k]	k in keen
l	[l]	l in lake
m	[m]	m in move
n	[n]	n in nose
o	[o]	au as in the French « haute » or o in the Spanish “como”. No exact GA equivalent
p	[p]	p in powder
r	[ɹ], [r̩]	r in right, r in bird
s	[s]	s in soon
t	[t]	t in time
u	[u]	ou as in the French « boule » or u in the German „Stuhl“. No exact GA equivalent
v	[v]	v in voice
x	[x]	ch in the German „Ach-Laut“
y	[ə]	totally relaxed sound made with the tongue in the middle of the mouth
z	[z]	z in zoo

Diphthongs

lojban	IPA	Examples
ai	[aj]	i in bride
ei	[ɛj]	ay in stay
oi	[ɔj]	oy in boy
au	[aw]	ow in now
ia	[jɑ]	ya in yard
ie	[jɛ]	ye in yes
ii	[ji]
io	[jo]
iu	[ju]
ua	[wa]
ue	[wɛ]
ui	[wi]
uo	[wo]
uu	[wu]
iy	[jə]
uy	[wə]

External Links

• Notes on IPA symbols used here.
• Alphabet
• Diphthongs
• English phonology
• International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects