x
Back ch, as in German noch
On the chart: Voiceless velar fricativeNot the English x. A scrape at the back of the mouth: German noch, Spanish mejor, Russian хорошо.
IPA consonants English doesn't spell
Throat sounds, ñ and gli, Russian hushes, the glottal stop.
These are sounds English either lacks or never writes. The Spanish j of mejor, the German ch of noch and the Russian х are /x/, a hiss made further back than anything in English. The ch of German ich is /ç/, a hiss English has only at the start of huge.
Spanish also softens b, d and g between vowels (and after most consonants) into /β/, /ð/ and /ɣ/, which is why amigo never sounds quite like it is spelt. Spanish ñ and Italian gli move n and l onto the roof of the mouth.
Russian adds the retroflex hush sounds and a hard/soft distinction. The small raised ʲ after a consonant, as in /ˈotɕɪnʲ/, means it is palatalised: said with the middle of the tongue raised, as if a /j/ were hiding in it.
Last, a sound English uses all the time but never spells: the glottal stop, which has its own section below.
The symbols
See them on the IPA chartç
Front ch, as in German ich
On the chart: Voiceless palatal fricativeThe same kind of hiss made further forward, where /j/ is: German ich and nicht. Whisper the start of huge and you are close.
ɲ
ñ, as in Spanish año
On the chart: Voiced palatal nasalAn /n/ made with the middle of the tongue on the roof of the mouth: Spanish ñ, French and Italian gn.
ʎ
Palatal l, as in Italian gli
On the chart: Voiced palatal lateral approximantAn /l/ made with the middle of the tongue: Italian gli, Portuguese lh, and the ll of a minority of Spanish speakers (most now say it like y).
β
Soft b, as in Spanish saber
On the chart: Voiced bilabial fricativeA b with the lips not quite closing, so air keeps flowing. Spanish b and v between vowels.
ɣ
Soft g, as in Spanish amigo
On the chart: Voiced velar fricativeA g that never quite closes: the back of the tongue approaches the soft palate and air keeps flowing.
ʂ
Retroflex sh, as in Russian что
On the chart: Voiceless retroflex fricativeA sh with the tongue tip pulled back and the tongue hollowed: Russian ш and the ч of что.
- что/ʂto/Russian
ʐ
Retroflex zh, as in Russian уже
On the chart: Voiced retroflex fricativeThe voiced partner of /ʂ/: Russian ж.
tɕ
Soft ch, as in Russian очень
On the chart: Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricateA ch made with the middle of the tongue against the hard palate, softer than English /tʃ/: Russian ч.
The glottal stop ʔ
The glottal stop is a question mark without its dot. The vocal folds in your throat snap shut, the air stops for a moment, and they open again. It is the catch in the middle of uh-oh, [ˈʌʔəʊ].
English has it but never writes it. Many British speakers swap a t for it between vowels and at the end of a word: water as [ˈwɔːʔə], bottle as [ˈbɒʔl̩], not a lot as [nɒʔ ə lɒʔ]. Before another consonant it is normal even in careful speech: football [ˈfʊʔbɔːl], that one [ðæʔ wʌn]. Dictionaries still print /t/, and so do our pages: water is /ˈwɔːtə/.
In careful German, every word, and every stem or prefix inside a longer word, that begins with a vowel starts with one: Obst is /ʔoːpst/, and zuerst, /tsuˈʔeːɐ̯st/, keeps zu and erst apart.
English has one other glottal sound, /h/: the same place, but the vocal folds stay apart and the air hisses through.
ʔ
Glottal stop, as in uh-oh
On the chart: Voiceless glottal plosiveThe throat closes and opens again with nothing else moving. Each word below has one before the highlighted vowel.
No play buttons here: our recordings come from a speech engine, and we have not confirmed that each one closes the throat for the stop. The transcriptions are right; the word pages still play the clips.
Drill
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Which word is this?
/meˈxoɾ/
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