θ
Theta: voiceless th, as in thin
On the chart: Voiceless dental fricativeThe Greek letter theta. Air through the teeth with no voice: thin, think, thing. Put a hand on your throat - nothing buzzes.
IPA consonants: the 24 sounds of English
All 24 English consonants, and the eight new symbols.
British English has 24 consonant sounds. Sixteen of them are written with the letter you would guess, and you met them in lesson 1. The chart below has all 24, each with a real word to hear.
The other eight need new symbols, because English spells them with two letters: th, sh, ch, ng. IPA gives each sound its own symbol, and the payoff is immediate: you can see that the th of thin and the th of this are different sounds, which English spelling hides completely.
The one trap in this lesson is /j/. In IPA, j is the first sound of yes and you, never the sound of jam. The jam sound is /dʒ/ - a d followed by the sound in measure, written as a pair because that is exactly how it is made.
Everything in this lesson's drill is built from the sounds of lesson 1 plus these eight, so every word can be read symbol by symbol.
The 24 English consonants in IPA
Grouped by how the air is blocked: stopped completely (plosives), stopped then hissed (affricates), squeezed into a hiss (fricatives), sent through the nose (nasals), or barely narrowed (approximants). Each symbol links to the card that teaches it.
| Symbol | Example | Type |
|---|---|---|
| p | pen/pen/ | Plosive |
| b | bed/bed/ | Plosive |
| t | time/taɪm/ | Plosive |
| d | day/deɪ/ | Plosive |
| k | cat/kæt/ | Plosive |
| ɡ | good/ɡʊd/ | Plosive |
| tʃ | church/tʃɜːtʃ/ | Affricate |
| dʒ | judge/dʒʌdʒ/ | Affricate |
| f | food/fuːd/ | Fricative |
| v | very/ˈveri/ | Fricative |
| θ | thin/θɪn/ | Fricative |
| ð | this/ðɪs/ | Fricative |
| s | see/siː/ | Fricative |
| z | zoo/zuː/ | Fricative |
| ʃ | she/ʃiː/ | Fricative |
| ʒ | measure/ˈmeʒə/ | Fricative |
| h | hat/hæt/ | Fricative |
| m | man/mæn/ | Nasal |
| n | no/nəʊ/ | Nasal |
| ŋ | sing/sɪŋ/ | Nasal |
| l | leg/leɡ/ | Approximant |
| r | red/red/ | Approximant |
| w | we/wiː/ | Approximant |
| j | yes/jes/ | Approximant |
The symbols
See them on the IPA chartð
Eth: voiced th, as in this
On the chart: Voiced dental fricativeA d with a stroke, called eth. The same tongue position as /θ/ with the voice switched on: this, that, the. Now the throat buzzes.
ʃ
Esh: sh, as in ship
On the chart: Voiceless postalveolar fricativeA long s, called esh. The sh of ship, she and fish.
ʒ
Ezh: the s in measure
On the chart: Voiced postalveolar fricativeThe voiced partner of /ʃ/, rare in English and never spelt the same way twice: measure, vision, usual. French builds whole words on it.
tʃ
ch, as in church
On the chart: Voiceless postalveolar affricateA /t/ released straight into /ʃ/ - which is exactly what ch is. Written as two symbols because it is made in two moves.
dʒ
j, as in judge
On the chart: Voiced postalveolar affricateThe voiced partner of /tʃ/: /d/ into /ʒ/. The j of job and both ends of judge. Not to be confused with IPA /j/.
ŋ
Engma: ng, as in sing
On the chart: Voiced velar nasalAn n with a tail, called engma or eng. The ng of sing and long is one sound, made at the back of the mouth - there is no /ɡ/ after it in standard British English.
j
IPA j: the y of yes
On the chart: Voiced palatal approximantThe biggest trap in IPA for English readers. /j/ is the y of yes and the start of you. It is never the j of jam.
Drill
0/10
Which word is this?
/θɪŋ/
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