The slashes around IPA symbols are not part of the IPA itself, but just serve to indicate that the contents of the slashes are not normal text, but a phonemic transcription. The distinction is important, as some IPA transcriptions can look like other words. For example, an IPA transcription for bean could be .
The symbols used for consonants are shown in the following table. Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the left is voiceless, the one to the right voiced.
{| valign=top width=100| * : pit * : bit * : tin * : din * : cut * : gut * : cheap * : jeep * : map * : nap * : bang * : fat * : vat
* : thin * : then * : sap * : zap * : she * : measure * : loch, Chanukah (often replaced by and ) * : ham * : whine (also written ) * : we * : run (often written in broad transcription) * : yes * : left
* : bead * : booed * : bayed * : bode * : bird * or : bought * : body, pod, fatherNote: the vowels and are diphthongal for many American speakers, so the transcriptions and are also often used.
The suprasegmental symbols are called that because they apply to more than one segment (vowel or consonant). In English, the relevant suprasegmentals are the markings for primary and secondary stress. *Primary stress: *Secondary stress:
Primary stress is indicated by the symbol before the stressed syllable; secondary stress by the symbol before the syllable, for example battleship .
