English orthography comprises the set of rules used when writing the English language, allowing readers and writers to associate written graphemes with the sounds of spoken English, as well as other features of the language. English's orthography includes norms for spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
As with the orthographies of most other world languages, written English is broadly standardised. This standardisation began to develop when movable type spread to England in the late 15th century. However, unlike with most languages, there are multiple ways to spell every phoneme, and most letters also represent multiple pronunciations depending on their position in a word and the context.
This is partly due to the large number of words that have been loaned from a large number of other languages throughout the history of English, without successful attempts at complete spelling reforms, and partly due to accidents of history, such as some of the earliest mass-produced English publications being typeset by highly trained, multilingual printing compositors, who occasionally used a spelling pattern more typical for another language. For example, the word ghost was spelled in Middle English, until the Flemish spelling pattern was unintentionally substituted, and happened to be accepted. Most of the spelling conventions in Modern English were derived from the phonemic spelling of a variety of Middle English, and generally do not reflect the sound changes that have occurred since the late 15th century (such as the Great Vowel Shift).
Despite the various English dialects spoken from country to country and within different regions of the same country, there are only slight regional variations in English orthography, the two most recognised variations being British and American spelling, and its overall uniformity helps facilitate international communication. On the other hand, it also adds to the discrepancy between the way English is written and spoken in any given location.
Function of letters
Phonemic representation
Letters in English orthography positioned at one location
within a specific word usually represent a particular phoneme. For example, at consists of 2 letters and , which represent and , respectively.
Sequences of letters may perform this role as well as single letters. Thus, in thrash , the digraph (two letters) represents , and the digraph represents . In hatch , the trigraph represents .
Less commonly, a single letter can represent multiple successive sounds. The most common example is , which normally represents the consonant cluster (for example, in tax ).
The same letter (or sequence of letters) may be pronounced differently when occurring in different positions within a word. For instance, represents at the end of some words (tough ) but not in others (plough ). At the beginning of syllables, is pronounced , as in ghost . Conversely, is never pronounced in syllable onsets other than in inflected forms, and is almost never pronounced in syllable codas (the proper name Pittsburgh is an exception).
Some words contain silent letters, which do not represent any sound in modern English pronunciation. Examples include the in talk, half, calf, etc., the in two and sword, as mentioned above in numerous words such as though, daughter, night, brought, and the commonly encountered silent (discussed further below).
Word origin
Another type of spelling characteristic is related to word origin. For example, when representing a vowel, represents the sound in some words borrowed from Greek (reflecting an original upsilon), whereas the letter usually representing this sound in non-Greek words is the letter . Thus, myth is of Greek origin, while pith is a Germanic word. However, a large number of Germanic words have in word-final position, especially when deriving from an Old English -iġ (modern -y).
Some other examples are pronounced (which is most commonly ), and pronounced (which is most commonly or ). The use of these spellings for these sounds often marks words that have been borrowed from Greek.
Some researchers, such as Brengelman (1970), have suggested that, in addition to this marking of word origin, these spellings indicate a more formal level of style or register in a given text, although Rollings (2004) finds this point to be exaggerated as there would be many exceptions where a word with one of these spellings, such as for (like telephone), could occur in an informal text.
Homophone differentiation
Spelling may also be useful to distinguish in written language between homophones (words with the same pronunciation but different meanings), and thus resolve potential ambiguities that would arise otherwise. However in most cases the reason for the difference is historical, and it was not introduced to resolve ambiguity.
;Examples
- heir and air are pronounced identically in most dialects, but spelled differently.
- pain and pane are both pronounced but have two different spellings of the vowel . This arose because the two words were originally pronounced differently: pain used to be pronounced as , with a diphthong, and pane as , but the diphthong merged with the long vowel in pane, making pain and pane homophones (pane–pain merger). Later became a diphthong .
- break and brake: (She's breaking the car vs. She's braking the car).
Nevertheless, many homophones remain that are unresolved by spelling (for example, the word bay has at least five fundamentally different meanings).
Marking sound changes in other letters
Some letters in English provide information about the pronunciation of other letters in the word. Rollings (2004) uses the term "markers" for such letters. Letters may mark different types of information.
often marks an altered pronunciation of a preceding vowel. In the pair mat and mate, the of mat has the value , whereas the of mate is marked by the as having the value . In this context, the is not pronounced, and is referred to as a "silent e".
Also, in once indicates that the preceding is pronounced , rather than the more common value of in word-final position as the sound , such as in attic .
A single letter may even fill multiple pronunciation-marking roles simultaneously. For example, in the word ace, marks not only the change of from to , but also of from to . In the word vague, marks the long sound, but keeps the hard rather than soft.
Doubled consonants usually indicate that the preceding vowel is pronounced short. For example, the doubled in batted indicates that the is pronounced , while the single of bated gives . Doubled consonants only indicate any lengthening or gemination of the consonant sound itself when they come from different morphemes, as with the in unnamed (un+named).
Multiple functionality
Any given letters may have dual functions. For example, in statue has a sound-representing function (representing the sound ) and a pronunciation-marking function (marking the as having the value opposed to the value ).
Underlying representation
Like many other alphabetic orthographies, English spelling does not represent non-contrastive phonetic sounds (that is, minor differences in pronunciation which are not used to distinguish between different words).
Although the letter is pronounced by most speakers with aspiration at the beginning of words, this is never indicated in the spelling, and, indeed, this phonetic detail is probably not noticeable to the average native speaker not trained in phonetics.
However, unlike some orthographies, English orthography often represents a very abstract underlying representation (or morphophonemic form) of English words.
In these cases, a given morpheme (i.e., a component of a word) has a fixed spelling even though it is pronounced differently in different words. An example is the past tense suffix -, which may be pronounced variously as , , or (for example, pay , payed , hate , hated ). As it happens, these different pronunciations of - can be predicted by a few phonological rules, but that is not the reason why its spelling is fixed.
Another example involves the vowel differences (with accompanying stress pattern changes) in several related words. For instance, photographer is derived from photograph by adding the derivational suffix -. When this suffix is added, the vowel pronunciations change largely owing to the moveable stress:
{| class="wikitable"
! Spelling
! Pronunciation
|-
| photograph
| or
|-
| photographer
|
|-
| photographical
|
|}
Other examples of this type are the - suffix (as in agile vs. agility, acid vs. acidity, divine vs. divinity, sane vs. sanity). See also: Trisyllabic laxing.
Another example includes words like mean and meant , where is pronounced differently in the two related words. Thus, again, the orthography uses only a single spelling that corresponds to the single morphemic form rather than to the surface phonological form.
English orthography does not always provide an underlying representation; sometimes it provides an intermediate representation between the underlying form and the surface pronunciation. This is the case with the spelling of the regular plural morpheme, which is written as either - (as in tat, tats and hat, hats) or - (as in glass, glasses). Here, the spelling - is pronounced either or (depending on the environment, e.g., tats and tails ) while - is usually pronounced (e.g. classes ). Thus, there are two different spellings that correspond to the single underlying representation || of the plural suffix and the three surface forms. The spelling indicates the insertion of before the in the spelling -, but does not indicate the devoiced distinctly from the unaffected in the spelling -.
The abstract representation of words as indicated by the orthography can be considered advantageous since it makes etymological relationships more apparent to English readers. This makes writing English more complex, but arguably makes reading English more efficient. However, very abstract underlying representations, such as that of Chomsky & Halle (1968) or of underspecification theories, are sometimes considered too abstract to accurately reflect the communicative competence of native speakers. Followers of these arguments believe the less abstract surface forms are more "psychologically real" and thus more useful in terms of pedagogy.
Diacritics
Some English words can be written with diacritics; these are mostly loanwords, usually from French. As vocabulary becomes naturalised, there is an increasing tendency to omit the accent marks, even in formal writing. For example, rôle and hôtel originally had accents when they were borrowed into English, but now the accents are almost never used. The words were originally considered foreign—and some people considered that English alternatives were preferable—but today their foreign origin is largely forgotten. Words most likely to retain the accent are those atypical of English morphology and therefore still perceived as slightly foreign. For example, café and pâté both have a pronounced final , which would otherwise be silent under the normal English pronunciation rules. Moreover, in pâté, the acute accent is helpful to distinguish it from pate.
Further examples of words sometimes retaining diacritics when used in English are: ångström—partly because its symbol is —appliqué, attaché, blasé, bric-à-brac, Brötchen, cliché, crème, crêpe, fiancé(e), flambé, jalapeño, naïve, naïveté, né(e), papier-mâché, passé, piñata, protégé, résumé, risqué, and voilà. Italics, with appropriate accents, are generally applied to foreign terms that are uncommonly used in or have not been assimilated into English: for example, ', belles-lettres, crème brûlée, ', ', and '.
It was formerly common in American English to use a diaeresis to indicate a hiatus, e.g. coöperate, daïs, and reëlect. The New Yorker and Technology Review magazines still use it for this purpose, even as general use became much rarer. Instead, modern orthography generally prefers no mark (cooperate) or a hyphen (co-operate) for a hiatus between two morphemes in a compound word. By contrast, use of diaereses in monomorphemic loanwords such as naïve and Noël remains relatively common.
In poetry and performance arts, accent marks are occasionally used to indicate typically unstressed syllables that should be stressed when read for dramatic or prosodic effect. This is frequently seen with the -ed suffix in archaic and pseudoarchaic writing, e.g. cursèd indicates the should be fully pronounced. The grave being to indicate that an ordinarily silent or elided syllable is pronounced (warnèd, parlìament).
<span class="anchor" id="æ"></span><span class="anchor" id="ae"></span><span class="anchor" id="œ"></span><span class="anchor" id="oe"></span>Ligatures
In certain older texts (typically British), the use of the ligatures and is common in words such as archæology, diarrhœa, and encyclopædia, all of Latin or Greek origin. Nowadays, the ligatures have been generally replaced by the digraphs and (encyclopaedia, diarrhoea) in British English or just (encyclopedia, diarrhea) in American English, though both spell some words with only (economy, ecology) and others with and (paean, amoeba, oedipal, Caesar). In some cases, usage may vary; for instance, both encyclopedia and encyclopaedia are current in the UK.
Phonic irregularities
Partly because English has never had any official regulating authority for spelling, such as the Spanish , the French , the German Council for German Orthography, the Danish Sprognævn, and the Thai Royal Society, English spelling is considered irregular and complex compared to that of other languages. Although French, Danish, and Thai, among other languages, present a similar degree of difficulty when encoding (writing), English is more difficult when decoding (reading), as there are clearly many more possible pronunciations of a group of letters. For example, in French, (as in "true", but short), can be spelled (ou, nous, tout, choux), but the pronunciation of each of those sequences is always the same. However, in English, while can be spelled in up to 24 different ways, including (spook, truth, suit, blues, to, shoe, group, through, crew) (see Sound-to-spelling correspondences below), all of these spellings have other pronunciations as well (e.g., foot, us, build, bluest, so, toe, grout, plough, sew). Thus, in unfamiliar words and proper nouns, the pronunciation of some sequences, Ough (orthography)| being the prime example, is unpredictable even for educated native speakers.
Spelling irregularities
Attempts to regularize or reform the spelling of English have usually failed. However, Noah Webster promoted more phonetic spellings in the United States, such as flavor for British flavour, fiber for fibre, defense for defence, analyze for analyse, catalog for catalogue, and so forth. These spellings already existed as alternatives, but Webster's dictionaries helped standardize them in the United States. (See American and British English spelling differences for details.)
Besides the quirks the English spelling system has inherited from its past, there are other irregularities in spelling that make it tricky to learn. English contains, depending on dialect, 24–27 consonant phonemes and 13–20 vowels. However, there are only 26 letters in the modern English alphabet, so there is not a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds. Many sounds are spelled using different letters or multiple letters, and for those words whose pronunciation is predictable from the spelling, the sounds denoted by the letters depend on the surrounding letters. For example, represents two different sounds (the voiced and voiceless dental fricatives) (see Pronunciation of English th), and the voiceless alveolar sibilant can be represented by or .
It is, however, not (solely) the shortage of letters which makes English spelling irregular. Its irregularities are caused mainly by the use of many different spellings for some of its sounds, such as and (too, true, shoe, flew, through; sleeve, leave, even, seize, siege; stole, coal, bowl, roll, old, mould), and the use of identical sequences for spelling different sounds (over, oven, move).
Furthermore, English no longer makes any attempt to anglicise the spellings of loanwords, but preserves the foreign spellings, even when they do not follow English spelling conventions like the Polish in Czech (rather than *Check) or the Norwegian in fjord (although fiord was formerly the most common spelling). In early Middle English, until roughly 1400, most imports from French were respelled according to English rules (e.g. bataille–battle, bouton–button, but not double, or trouble). Instead of loans being respelled to conform to English spelling standards, sometimes the pronunciation changes as a result of pressure from the spelling, e.g. ski, adopted from Norwegian in the mid-18th century. It used to be pronounced , similar to the Norwegian pronunciation, but the increasing popularity of the sport after the mid-20th century helped the pronunciation replace it.
There was also a period when the spelling of a small number of words was altered to make them conform to their perceived etymological origins. For example, was added to debt (originally dette) to link it to the Latin , and in island to link it to Latin instead of its true origin, the Old English word īġland. in ptarmigan has no etymological justification whatsoever, only seeking to show Greek origin despite being a Gaelic word.
The spelling of English continues to evolve. Many loanwords come from languages where the pronunciation of vowels corresponds to the way they were pronounced in Old English, which is similar to the Italian or Spanish pronunciation of the vowels, and is the value the vowel symbols have in the International Phonetic Alphabet. As a result, there is a somewhat regular system of pronouncing "foreign" words in English, and some borrowed words have had their spelling changed to conform to this system. For example, Hindu used to be spelled Hindoo, and the name Maria used to be pronounced like the name Mariah, but was changed to conform to this system. This only further complicates the spelling, however. On the one hand, words that retained anglicised spellings may be misread in a hyperforeign way. On the other hand, words that are respelled in a 'foreign' way may be misread as if they are English words, e.g. Muslim was formerly spelled Mooslim because of its original pronunciation.
Commercial advertisers have also had an effect on English spelling. They introduced new or simplified spellings like lite instead of light, thru instead of through, and rucsac instead of rucksack. The spellings of personal names have also been a source of spelling innovations: diminutive versions of women's names that sound the same as men's names have been spelled differently: Nikki and Nicky, Toni and Tony, Jo and Joe. The differentiation in between names that are spelled differently but have the same phonetic sound may come from modernisation or different countries of origin. For example, Isabelle and Isabel sound the same but are spelled differently; these versions are from France and Spain respectively.
As an example of the irregular nature of English spelling, can be pronounced (depending on vowel mergers) in as many as nine different ways: in out, in soul, in soup, in touch, in could, in four, in journal, in cough, and in famous (See Spelling-to-sound correspondences). In the other direction, can be spelled in at least 18~21 different ways: be (cede), ski (machine), bologna <small>(GA)</small>, algae, quay, beach, bee, deceit, people, key, keyed, field (hygiene), amoeba, chamois <small>(GA)</small>, dengue <small>(GA)</small>, beguine, guyot, and ynambu<!-- I am aware that 'ynambu' is not a very common word and may be unfamiliar to some, but it is the best example I was able to find of the top of my head ('city,' 'busy,' etc. are good examples only for American English) --> (See Sound-to-spelling correspondences). (These examples assume a more-or-less standard non-regional British English accent. Other accents will vary.)
Sometimes everyday speakers of English change counterintuitive spellings, with the new spellings usually not judged to be entirely correct. However, such forms may gain acceptance if used enough. An example is the word miniscule, which still competes with its original spelling of minuscule, though this might also be because of analogy with the word mini.
⟨ough⟩ words
The tetragraph can be pronounced in at least ten different ways, six of which are illustrated in the construct, Though the tough cough and hiccough plough him through, which is quoted by Robert A. Heinlein in The Door into Summer to illustrate the difficulties facing automated speech transcription and reading. Ough itself is a word, an exclamation of disgust similar to ugh, though rarely known or used. The following are typical pronunciations of this string of letters:
- (as in so) in though and dough
- (as in cuff) in tough, rough, enough, and the name Hough
- (as in off) in trough, cough, and Gough
- (as in blue) in through
- (as in saw) in thought, ought, sought, nought, brought, etc.
- (as in comma) in thorough, borough, and names ending in -borough; however, American English pronounces this as
- (as in how) in bough, sough, drought, plough (plow in North America), doughty, and the names Slough and Doughty
- (as in loch; mainly in words of Gaelic origin) in the word lough (an anglicised variant of loch used in Ireland) and in Irish place names, such as Ardclough, Glendalough, Loughmoe, Loughrea, etc.
The following pronunciations are found in uncommon single words:
- hough: (more commonly spelled "hock" now)
- hiccough (a now-uncommon variant of hiccup): as in up
- Oughterard (Irish place name):
The place name Loughborough uses two different pronunciations of : the first has the sound as in cuff and the second rhymes with thorough.
Spelling-to-sound correspondences
Notes:
- In the tables, the hyphen has two different meanings. A hyphen after the letter indicates that it must be at the beginning of a syllable, e.g., - in jumper and ajar. A hyphen before the letter indicates that it cannot be at the beginning of a word, e.g., - in sick and ticket.
- More specific rules take precedence over more general ones, e.g., "- before " takes precedence over "".
- Where the letter combination is described as "word-final", inflectional suffixes may be added without changing the pronunciation, e.g., catalogues.
- The dialects used are Received Pronunciation and General American. When pronunciations differ idiosyncratically, a pronunciation that only applies to one of the dialects is noted as being (RP) or (GA). When pronunciations differ systematically in a way that is not accounted for by the diaphonemic transcription system (i.e. the trap-bath and lot-cloth splits), the pronunciations in both dialects are given.
- Isolated foreign borrowings are excluded.
- ∅ means the letter is silent
Consonants
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 | Spelling || Major value<br />(IPA) || Examples of major value || Other values || Examples of other values
|-
| colspan="2" |b, bb|| || bit, ebb, limber, bombe, obtain, blood, bring || ∅ || comb, bdellium, debtor, doubt
|-
| rowspan="8" | c || rowspan="5" | before || rowspan="5" | || rowspan="5" | cellar, city, cyst, <br />face, prince, nicer,<br />caesium || || cello, vermicelli
|-
|
|special, liquorice
|-
|
|coercion
|-
|
|Celts, chicer, syncing
|-
|
|letovicite
|-
| word initial before || ∅ || cnidarian, ctenoid || colspan="2" |
|-
| rowspan="2" | elsewhere || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | cat, cross, predict, opuscule, picture || || facade, muscle
|-
|∅
|victual, indict, blancmange
|-
| rowspan="4" | cc || rowspan="3" | before || rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | accept, eccentric, occidental || || soccer, recce, siccing
|-
|
|bocce, breccia, cappuccino
|-
|
|flaccid
|-
| elsewhere || || account, accrue, occur, yucca || colspan="2" |
|-
| rowspan="12" |ch
| rowspan="3" | after || rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | branch, franchise, enchant, enchilada, chinchilla || || inchoate, synchronise, elasmobranch
|-
|
|penchant, trenchant
|-
|
|truncheon
|-
| in words of Greek origin || || chasm, chimera, chord, lichen || ∅ || drachm
|-
| rowspan="2" | in words of Modern French origin || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | chaise, machine, cached, parachute || || chemist, choir, machination
|-
|
|chassis <small>(GA)</small>, cheque, chowder, niche <small>(GA)</small>
|-
| rowspan="6" | elsewhere || rowspan="6" | || rowspan="6" | chase, chin, attached, chore || || ache, anchor, leprechaun
|-
|
|machete, pistachio, welch
|-
|
|chutzpah (also with )
|-
|
|sandwich, Greenwich
|-
|
|loch (Scottish English)
|-
|∅
|yacht, Crichton
|-
|-
| colspan="2" | ck || || tack, ticket || ∅ || blackguard
|-
| rowspan="5" | d, dd, dh
|before || || graduate, gradual (both also in conservative RP)
|-
| after a fortis sound
|
|ached, creased, iced, puffed, raked
|-
| rowspan="3" |elsewhere
| rowspan="3" |
| rowspan="3" |dive, ladder, jodhpurs
|-
|
|gorsedd, edh
|-
|∅
|Wednesday, handsome, sandwich, ceilidh
|-
| rowspan="2" | dg
|before or a suffix|| || lodger, pidgin, edgy, abridgment, acknowledgment, judgment, lodgment, fledgling|| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
|-
|resulting from a compound word
|
|headgear
|-
| colspan=2 | f, ff|| || fine, off, affinity ||
| of
|-
| rowspan="6" | g || rowspan="2" | before || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | gel, pager, algae <small>(GA)</small>, gin, gentle, rage, gigantic, regimen, geography ||
| get, eager, algae <small>(RP)</small>, gig
|-
|
|genre, barrage, gigue, regime
|-
| rowspan="2" | before || rowspan="2" | ∅ || rowspan="2" | phlegmy, diaphragm || || pigmy
|-
|
|judgment
|-
| rowspan="2" | elsewhere || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | go, great, leg, margaric || || margarine, gaol
|-
|
|witgat
|-
| rowspan="3" | gg|| rowspan="2" | before || || dagger, smuggest, staggering || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | suggest <small>(GA)</small>
|-
|
|agger, exaggerate, suggest <small>(RP)</small>
|-
| elsewhere || rowspan="2" | || giggle, egg, ziggurat, beggar || || arpeggio, veggies
|-
| rowspan="8" | gh || word-initial || ghost, ghastly, ghetto || colspan="2" |
|-
| rowspan="7" | elsewhere || rowspan="7" | ∅ || rowspan="7" | daughter, through, fraught, brougham<br />eight, higher, straight, sighed || || burgh
|-
|
|lough, saugh
|-
|
|hough
|-
|
|laughter, trough, draught, rough
|-
|
|burgher, aghast, yogh
|-
|
|leghorn, pigheaded
|-
|
|hiccough
|-
| colspan="2" |gn
|/n/
|gnome, signed, poignant, reign
|
|signet, indignant
|-
| rowspan="4" |h
| rowspan="3" | syllable-initial || rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | honey, heist, house, manhandle<br />doohickey, vehicular |||| posthumous <small>(RP)</small>
|-
|
|Nahuatl
|-
|∅
|honest, heir, hours, piranha, annihilate, vehicle, dinghy, exhaust, herb <small>(GA)</small>
|-
| elsewhere || ∅ || oh, ohm, rhubarb, rhyme || || sinh
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | j || rowspan="4" | || rowspan="4" | jump, ajar<br />jonquil, Julian<br />jalap, cajole<br />bijugate || || Hallelujah, fjord
|-
|
|jongleur, julienne, bijou
|-
|
|jalapeno, fajita
|-
|∅
|marijuana
|-
| colspan="2" |k, kk, kh|| || key, bake, trekking, sheikh, weeknight || colspan="2" |
|-
| colspan="2" |kn
|
|knee, knife, knock, beknave, camiknickers
|
|knish, Knoebel
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" | l, ll|| rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | valve, balcony, almost, valley, flotilla, line, colony|| ∅|| halve, balk, salmon
|-
|
|tortilla
|-
|
|colonel <small>(in rhotic accents)<!-- lwei is is an isolated loanword to my knowledge --></small>
|-
| rowspan="2" |m, mm
| word-initial before || ∅ || mnemonic || colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
|-
| elsewhere || rowspan="2" | || mine, hammer
|-
| rowspan="2" |mb
|morpheme-final
|climber, numbing, bombed
|
|nimb
|-
|elsewhere
|
|number, tumble
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
|-
| rowspan="4" |n, nn
| word-final after || ∅ || hymn, autumn, damningly
|-
| before || || inkling, bangle, anchor, minx || || incline, vanguard, mankind
|-
| rowspan="2" | elsewhere || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | nice, funny, enzyme<br />monsignor, damnable, tin|| || anxiety
|-
|∅
|monsieur
|-
| rowspan="6" |ng
|before
|
|strength, amongst
|
|
|-
| morpheme-final || || long, tongue, kingly, singer, clingy || || longer, strongest
|-
|word-initial
|
|ngana, ngultrum, Nguni
|
|ngaio, Ngati
|-
| rowspan="3" | otherwise || || congress, singly, finger, language ||||congrats, engage, vanguard
|-
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |binging, wharfinger, dingy, engaol, stingy
|
|hangar, lingonberry, angst
|-
|
|ingenue, lingerie
|-
| rowspan="2" |p, pp
| word-initial before || ∅ || pneumonia, psyche, ptomaine || || psst
|-
| elsewhere || || pill, happy, soup, corpse, script || ∅ || coup, corps, receipt, raspberry
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | ph, pph|| rowspan="4" | || rowspan="4" | photograph, sapphire || ||Stephen
|-
|
|shepherd
|-
|
|kniphofia, drophead
|-
|∅
|apophthegm
|-
| rowspan="2" |q
|in words of Chinese origin || || qi, qigong, guqin || colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
|-
| elsewhere || || Iraq, waqf, yaqona, mbaqanga, qiviut
|-
| rowspan="2" |r, rr, rh, rrh
|
- before a consonant
- finally
- before final
| , ∅ in non-rhotic || cart, hurt<br />fir, walker, tear, burr, myrrh<br />care|| ∅ || sarsaparilla, forecastle, surprise <small>(some GA)</small>
|-
| elsewhere || || ray, parrot, rhyme, diarrhoea || ∅ || iron<!-- According to Longman in RP, in GA. In neither is there an between the vowels-->, croissant <small>(RP)</small><!-- , some British dictionaries suggest American pronunciation is but American dictionaries include the -->, hors d'oeuvre (some pronunciations)
|-
|colspan="6"| See below for combinations of vowel letters and
|-
| rowspan="7" |s
| word-final - morpheme<br />after a fortis sound || || pets, shops || colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
|-
| word-final - morpheme<br />after a lenis sound || || beds, magaz|ines
|-
| rowspan="2" | between vowels || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | phrases, prison, pleasing ||
| bases, bison, leasing<!-- is there really a rule here?-->
|-
|
|vision, closure
|-
| rowspan="3" | elsewhere || rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | song, ask, misled || || is, lens, raspberry
|-
|
|sugar, tension
|-
|∅
|island, aisle, debris, mesne
|-
| rowspan="3" | sc
| rowspan="3" |before || rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | scene, scepter, scissors, scythe || || sceptic, scirrhus
|-
|
|fascism
|-
|
|crescent <small>(RP)</small>, discern
|-
| rowspan="3" | sch
|in words of Middle or modern French origin|| || schedule <small>(RP)</small>, schist, eschalot || || eschar
|-
| rowspan="2" |elsewhere
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |school, scheme, schizoid, ischemia
|
|schism <small>(RP)</small>
|-
|
|mischief, eschew
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="5" | sh|| rowspan="5" | || rowspan="5" | shin, fashion, wish, <br />Lewisham, foreshore, kinship || || mishap, mishit
|-
|
|hogshead
|-
|
|tranship
|-
|
|threshold
|-
|
|dishonour
|-
| rowspan="4" |ss
|after a prefix ending
|
|disseat, misspell, missort
| colspan="2" |
|-
| rowspan="3" |elsewhere|| rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | boss, assign, narcissus<br />dissert, posses, brassier, <br />finesse, cesspool, missout || || tissue, passion
|-
|
|rescission, scissure
|-
|
|dessert, possess, brassiere, scissor
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" | sw || rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | swore, swan, swift || ||
sword, answer
|-
|
|menswear
|-
|∅
|coxswain
|-
| rowspan="7" |t, tt
| in - || ∅ || hasten, listens, rustling, thistles || || tungsten, listless
<!-- the unstressed -ften rule was for two words (soften, often), while a quarter of the people in the UK and the US pronounce "often" with a T. Seemed too specific-->
|-
| rowspan="6" | elsewhere || rowspan="6" | || rowspan="6" | ten, bitter, etiology, nastier, tune, piteous, cation, softer, wallet, gristmill, haste, dishearten||
| ration, martial, cautious
|-
|
|bastion, nature, fortune, righteous
|-
|
|equation, transition <small>(RP)</small>
|-
|
|kindergarten <small>(GA)</small>
|-
|
|tanh
|-
|∅
|soften, ballet, Christmas, mortgage
|-
| rowspan="2" |tch
|resulting from a compound word
|
|shortchange
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
|-
|elsewhere|| || batch, kitchen
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="5" | th || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | absinthe || || thyme
|-
|
|eighth
|-
| rowspan="3" |
| rowspan="3" |bother, soothe
|
|outhouse, potherb <small>(RP)</small>
|-
|
|posthumous
|-
|∅
|asthma
|-
| colspan="2" | v, vv|| || vine, heavy, savvy, reveled, revved || colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
|-
| rowspan="3" |w
| before || ∅ || wrong, wrist, awry
|-
| rowspan="2" | elsewhere || rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | sward, swerve, wale ||∅ || two, sword, answer, gunwale
|-
|
|Weltanschauung, witgat
|-
| rowspan="2" |wh-
|before || || who, whole || || whopping, whorl
|-
|elsewhere|| || wheel || || whew <small>(RP)</small>, whanau<!-- proper, and foreign, name:, Whangarei -->
|-
| rowspan="10" | x || word- or morpheme-initial
| || xylophone, xenon, axenic, chromoxylography
|
|Xavier
|-
|between word-initial and a vowel
|
|example, exist, exotic, exult, existential, exultation, exit
|
|exabyte, execute, exoplanet
|-
| rowspan="2" |in words of Chinese or Mesoamerican origin
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |sanxian, xiangqi, macpalxochitl, xoloitzcuintle
|
|axolotl
|-
|
|Xanadu
|-
| rowspan="6" | elsewhere || rowspan="6" | || rowspan="6" | boxes, mixes, expect, taxation, tuxedo, proximity, <br />jinxed, next, six, taxi || || Alexander, anxiety, auxiliary
|-
|
|luxury <small>(GA)</small>
|-
|
|anxious, luxury <small>(RP)</small>, sexual <small>(GA)</small> luxurious
|-
|
|plateaux, chateaux
|-
|∅
|faux-pas, roux
|-
|
|Oaxaca
|-
| xc
|before || || excellent, except, excited
| colspan="2" |
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" | xh|| rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" |exhale, foxhole || || exhibition, Vauxhall
|-
|
|exhaust, exhibit, exhilarating, exhortation
|-
|,
|exhume
|-
| colspan=2 | y || || yes, young || || ye <small>(mock archaic)</small>
|-
| rowspan="5" |z, zz
| after || || waltz, ditzy, pretzel, tzatziki || || tzar
|-
| rowspan="4" | elsewhere || rowspan="4" | || rowspan="4" | gazump, seized, crazier, rhizoophagous, pizzazz,<br />zoo, quiz || || azure, seizure, brazier <small>(GA)</small>
|-
|
|schizophrenic, pizzas
|-
|
|jiaozi
|-
|∅
|rendezvous
|-
|}
Vowels
In a generative approach to English spelling, Rollings (2004) identifies twenty main orthographic vowels of stressed syllables that are grouped into four main categories: "Lax" (similar to the "short" vowels taught in classrooms), "Tense" (the "long vowels"), "Heavy" (their correlated <r>-colored vowel sound), and "Tense-R" (the second and third combined).
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Letter
! colspan="2" |Lax (short)
! colspan="2" |Tense (long)
! colspan="2" |Heavy
! colspan="2" |Tense-R
|-
!IPA
!example
!IPA
!example
!IPA
!example
!IPA
!example
|-
! a
|
|man
|
|mane
|
|mar
|
|mare
|-
! e
|
|met
|
|mete
|
|her
|
|here
|-
! i
|
|win
|
|wine
|
|fir
|
|fire
|-
! o
|
|mop
|
|mope
|
|for
|
|fore
|-
! rowspan="2" | u
|
|hug
|
|huge
|
|cur
|
|cure
|-
|
|push
|
|rude
| colspan="2" |
|
|sure
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Digraph
! colspan="2" | Lax
! colspan="2" | Tense
! colspan="2" | Heavy
! colspan="2" | Tense-R
|-
!IPA
!example
!IPA
!example
!IPA
!example
!IPA
!example
|-
! rowspan="2" | ai, ay
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | – || rowspan="2" |
|bait|| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |–|| rowspan="2" |
| air
|-
|essay
|Ayr
|-
! rowspan="2" |au, aw
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | –
| rowspan="2" |
|audio
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | –
| rowspan="2" |
|aura
|-
|draw
|rawr
|-
! ea
|
|dreamt||
|dream||
|learn||
|hear
|-
! ee
| colspan="2" | –
|
|see|| colspan="2" |–
|
|beer
|-
! rowspan="2" |eu, ew
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | –
| rowspan="2" |
|feudal
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | –
| rowspan="2" |
|neurotic
|-
|few
|Newry
|-
! oa
| colspan="2" | – ||
|boat
| colspan="2" | –
|
|soar
|-
! rowspan="2" | oo
|
| foot||
| goose|| colspan="2" |–
|
|poor
|-
| colspan="2" |–
| colspan="2" |–
| colspan="2" |–
|
|floor
|-
! rowspan="4" |ou, ow
|
|southern
| rowspan="2" |
|south||
|scourge|| rowspan="2" |
| hour
|-
| colspan="2" | –
|now
| colspan="2" | –
|dowry
|-
| colspan="2" | –
| rowspan="2" |
|soul
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | –
|
|four
|-
|
|knowledge
|know
| colspan="2" |–
|-
! rowspan="2" |oi, oy
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | –
| rowspan="2" |
|point
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | –
| rowspan="2" |
|coir
|-
|boy
|Moyra
|}
For instance, can represent the lax vowel , tense , heavy , or tense-r . Heavy and tense-r vowels are the respective lax and tense counterparts followed by .
Tense vowels are distinguished from lax vowels with a "silent" that is added at the end of words. Thus, in hat is lax , but when is added in the word hate is tense . Heavy and tense-r vowels follow a similar pattern, e.g. in car is heavy , followed by silent in care is . represents two different vowel patterns, one being , the other . There is no distinction between heavy and tense-r , and in the pattern does not have a heavy vowel.
Besides silent , another strategy for indicating tense and tense-r vowels is the addition of another orthographic vowel forming a digraph. In this case, the first vowel is usually the main vowel while the second vowel is the "marking" vowel. For example, man has a lax (), but the addition of (as the digraph ) in main marks the as tense (). These two strategies produce words that are spelled differently but pronounced identically, which helps differentiate words that would otherwise be homonyms, as in mane (silent strategy), main (digraph strategy) and Maine (both strategies).
Besides the 20 basic vowel spellings, Rollings (2004) has a reduced vowel category (representing the sounds ) and a miscellaneous category (representing the sounds and +V, +V, V+V).
Combinations of vowel letters excluding those followed by ⟨r⟩
To reduce dialectal difficulties, the sound values given here correspond to the conventions at Help:IPA/English. This table includes when they represent vowel sounds. If no information is given, it is assumed that the vowel is in a stressed syllable.
Deriving the pronunciation of an English word from its spelling requires not only a careful knowledge of the rules given below (many of which are not explicitly known even by native speakers: speakers merely learn the spelling of a word along with its pronunciation) and their many exceptions, but also:
- a knowledge of which syllables are stressed and which are unstressed (not derivable from the spelling: compare hallow and allow)
- which combinations of vowels represent monosyllables and which represent disyllables (ditto: compare waive and naive, creature and creator)
The underscore (_) in a vowel-consonant- spelling is the place where the next spelling in a word goes in.
The pronunciation of vowel letters when followed by is covered in a separate table below.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="3" | Spelling || Major value<br />(IPA) || Examples of major value || Minor<br /> values || Examples of minor value || Exceptions
|-
| rowspan="12" | a
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |in closed syllables
- before multiple consonants
- final vowel in word
| rowspan="3" |
| rowspan="2" | hatchet, banner, tally<br />acrobat, cat
|
| ancient, chamber, pastry,<br />bass
| rowspan="2" |
|-
| ,
| aft, ask, dance, past
|-
| colspan="2" |
- followed by 2+ unstressed syllables
- next syllable contains
|national, camera, reality<br />acid, granite, palace
|
|nationhood, scathingly<br />basis, aphasic
|∅ sarsaparilla
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |in open syllables
- before single consonant
- before heterosyllabic vowel
| rowspan="4" |
| rowspan="2" | ache,<br />opaque, savor, status<br />table, hatred, April<br />chaos, aorta, mosaic
| || plaque, manor, statue<br />macle, sacrifice, theatrical
| rowspan="2" | many, any <br /> naive (also with ) <br /> sati
|-
| || debacle<br />gala, lava, slalom, sonata
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |before final -
| rowspan="2" |range, exchange, haste
|
|flange, caste
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|
|melange
|-
| colspan="2" |after except before
- closed syllables
| || want, watch, <br /> swamp, swastika, wallet || <br /><br /> || squash, wasp, wash<br />wall, walnut, walrus<br />wastage || rowspan="2" | qualm (also ), suave, swami<br /> swam, aquatic <br /> was , what
|-
| colspan="2" |after except before
- open syllables
|
|persuade, swathe
| <br />
|quality<br />water
|-
| colspan="2" |word-final || || bra, cha-cha, schwa, spa|| || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |unstressed
| in -<br />(except verbs) || || palace, damage, forage, garbage, pirate, private || <br />
| <small>RP:</small> garage, barrage <br />chocolate, purchase, solace
| rampage, primate
|-
| elsewhere || || about, an, salary, woman, <br />blancmange, opera, via|| to ∅<br /><br /><br /> , ||artistically, ordinary, necessary <br />probate, folate, kinase<br/>anorak, rectangle, abscond<br/>contrast , flabbergast, reprimand || karaoke, bologna <br /> Assam<br /> chaprassi
|-
| colspan="3" |a_e
|
|gave, mate, flake
|
|have
| ate
|-
| colspan="3" | aa, ah|| || baa, naan, blah |||| Isaac, bar mitzvah|| Quaalude, dahlia (also or )
|-
| colspan="3" | ae|| || encyclopaedia, paediatrician, Caesar || || aesthetic || reggae, sundae, Gael<br /> Michael, polkaed<br /> maestro<br /> paella<br /> Scottish Gaelic<!-- According to 'The Chambers Dictionary,' this pronunciation is the usual when referring to the language of Scotland -->
|-
| rowspan="2" | ai
| colspan="2" |stressed|| || daisy, laid, paisley, regain, waif
|| <br /><br />|| aisle, bonsai, daimon, krait<br />said, again, against<br />dais, laic, mosaic, papain
|| plaid, plaited, daiquiri<br /> naif, caique<br /> archaism
|-
| colspan="2" |unstressed|| || bargain, mountain, portrait || || certain, coxswain, spritsail ||
|-
<!-- all pronunciations are really exceptions -->| colspan="3" |ao || || manoao, miaow, Maoism, cacao
|| <br /> <br /> <br /><br />|| gaol<br />kaon, chaos<br />kaolin<br />karaoke<br />baobab
|
|-
| colspan="3" | au || || cause, fraud, haul, sauce, slaughter
|| <br /><br /><br />|| because , sausage , leprechaun <br />aunt, draught, laughter <br />degauss, graupel, trauma <br />chauffeur, gauche, mauve
|| gauge<br /> because <br /> meerschaum<br />∅ restaurant
|-
| colspan="3" | aw || || awed, flaw, hawk, tawny || || || Mawlid
|-
| colspan="3" | ay || || bayonet, essays, grayer, hayride
|| <br /> || aye, bayou, kayak, papaya <br />mayor, prayer, says
|| cay, quay, parlay <br /> gayal
|-
| rowspan="7" |e
| colspan="2" |in closed syllables
- before multiple consonants
- final vowel in word
|
|petty, lethargy, trebleget, watershed
|
|axes (plural of axis), lethal, reflex, Stephen, feces, legally
| pretty<br /> ennui, entourage, genre<br /> eh<br /> feng shui
|-
| colspan="2" |
- bef. 2+ unstressed syllables
- next syllable contains
|
|legacy, elegant, delicate, metric, crevice, epic
|
| devious, premium, evil, scenic, strategic
| English
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | in open syllables
- before single consonant
- before cons. + + vowel<!-- besides Keble, a proper name, there are no common words to follow the "rule" that ending with e+cons.+le should be pronounced /iː/ "Treble" is common, but an "exception". -->
- final, only vowel in word
<!-- * final, Greek loans (form of an unstressed , moved to below-->
- before heterosyllabic vowel
| rowspan="2" | || rowspan="2" | even, demon, fetal, recombine <br />metre, secret, egret, secretion<br />be, she<br />museum, neon, theater || || ever, lemon, petal, recollect <br />petrol, debris , discretion || crepe, suede, ukulele<br /> repel, debris
|-
| || seance, deity || yeah
|-
| rowspan="3" |unstressed
| word-final || ∅ || e, recites, smile, limitrophe|| || recipes, simile, apostrophe, deled || latte, mores, protege<br /> zanze
|-
| before heterosyllabic vowel || || create, area, atheism, video || || fideism, realpolitik ||
|-
| elsewhere || || market, ticket, honest, college,<br />boxes, perfect, express, believe || || taken, decency, moment || contest, alphabet, princess
|-
| rowspan="2" |ea
| colspan="2" |in closed syllables
- before multiple consonants
|
|dreamt, cleanse, wealth
|<br/>
|feast, yeast<br />realty, fealty
| ealderman<br /> poleax<br /> seance
|-
| colspan="2" |in open syllables
- before single consonant
- before cons. + + vowel<!--besides Keble, a proper name, there are no common words to follow the "rule" that ending with + cons. + le should be pronounced /iː/ "Treble" is common, but an "exception".-->
- final, only vowel in word
- before heterosyllabic vowel
|
|read (infinitive), leaf, zeal, dreams, cleans
|<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
|read (past simple), deaf, zealot<br />break, great, eagre, yea<br />hydrangea, likeable, ocean<br />ideal, real, cereal<br />idea<br />urea, laureate<br />creating, protease, reagent
| orgeat <br /> yeah <br /> whereas <br /> caveat <br /> mileage <br /> lineage <br /> beatify, reality<br /> real
|-
| colspan="3" | eau || || bureau, plateau, tableau || || beauty || bureaucracy<br /> bureaucrat
|-
| colspan="3" | ee || || bee, breech, feed, trainee || || || breeches, been matinee, fiancees, nee<br /> bungee, coffee<br /> freest, weest<br /> reecho, reelect<br /> threepence (also or )<!-- Longman has /ɛ/ as main pronunciation-->
|-
| colspan="3" |eh
|
|eh, prehnite, tempeh
|
|yeh
| feh , keffiyeh
|-
| rowspan="4" | ei, ey
| colspan="2" |usually|| || veil, weight, heinous, obey || <br /><br />|| caffeine, seize, key, either<br />geyser, height, heist, heinie, eye<br />albeit, being, cysteine, deist || heifer, leisure, seigneur<br /> reveille<!-- /r|əˈvæ|li/ !-->, serein<br /> fideist, deice
|-
| colspan="2" |after || || deceive, ceiling, conceit || || || ceinture, enceinte<br /> glaceing, haecceity
|-
| rowspan="2" |unstressed
| word-final || <br /> || monkey, volley, curtsey, jersey || || || survey (n)
|-
| elsewhere|| || foreign, counterfeit, forfeit || <br />|| mullein, villein<br />|| ageist, herein, ogreish
|-
| eo
| colspan="2" |usually bisyllabic|| <br /> <br /> || eon, geology, reoffer, teleost<br />creole, geode, leonine, video<br />galleon, leotard, peon, theory || <br /><br /> || feoffee, jeopardy, leopard<br />feoff, people <br />luncheon, pigeon, embraceor || yeoman, ceorl <br /> feodary, geoduck<br /> rodeo, teosinte<br /> thereon<br /> whereof<br /> someone
|-
| rowspan="2" | eu, ew (ieu, iew)
| colspan="2" |usually|| || deuce, feudal, queue, <br />dew, ewe, view|| <br /> || berceuse, danseuse<br />museum || sew<br />∅ fauteuil
|-
| colspan="2" |after <br/ > after || || rheumatism, sleuth, jewel, blew, leukemia, lewd, lieu|| || nucleus, pileus ||
shew<br /> lieutenant milieu <br /> reuse<br /> reutters<br /> pileup<br />
whereupon<br /> Freudian
|-
| rowspan="7" |i
| colspan="2" |in closed syllables
- before multiple consonants
- final vowel in worded
|| || dissent, mislaid, slither <br />kiss, sic, bit, inflict, hint, plinth || || dissect, island, <br />indict, pint, ninth || meringue, timbre, absinthe (also )<br /> artiste, chenille, skis, chic, ambergris
|-
| colspan="2" |
- bef. 2+ unstressed syllables
- next syllable contains
- before cons. + + vowel
|
|litany, liberal, chivalry, misery<br />finish,<br />limit, minute (n)<br />hideous, position, Sirius
|
|blithely, irony, libelous, rivalry, miserly,<br />whitish, writing, shinier, tidied
|
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |in open syllables
- before single consonant
- before cons. + - or + vowel
- before -
- word final
- before heterosyllabic vowel
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |cited, dive, mica, rise,
fire<br />idle, trifle, nitrous, mitres <br />sighed, signage<br />alumni, alibi, radii <br />vial, quiet, prior, pious
|
|city, give, vicar, risen <br />triple, citrus, giblets <br />pighead, signal
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|
|ski, macaroni, litres,<br />in vitro, chignon, Monsignor<br />clientele, fiat, lien, skiing
|-
| colspan="2" |before -
|
|wilder, remind
|
|bewilder, rescind
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |unstressed
| before heterosyllabic vowel || ||onion, minion || || biology, diameter ||∅ parliament, lieu, nostalgia<br /> liaison, alien, radii, idiot
|-
| elsewhere || || divide, permit (n), livid, typical || || giraffe, pencil, cousin, Cheshire || ∅ business<br /> director, minute (adj)<br /> sapphire
|-
| colspan="3" |i_e
|
|polite, shine
|
|police, elite,
give
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |word-finally|| || belie, die, untie, vie || || goalie, oldie, auntie, movie || lingerie , kyrie
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere|| || field, siege, rabies, skied|| <br /> <br /> to <br /> || allied, pied, skies <br />client, diet, science, sliest<br />ambient, alien, oriel, ugliest<br />orient (v), acquiesce
|| sieve, mischief, kerchief<br /> friend, hygienic <br /> biennial <br /> diene<br /> clientele<br /> medieval<br /> lien
|-
| rowspan="4" | o
| colspan="2" |in closed syllables
- before multiple consonants
- final vowel in word
|| || doctor, bother, donkey<br />dot, bomb, wonk, font || <br />|| won, monkey, front<br />gross, comb, wonted, both || tomb, womb<br /> wolf<br /> once<br /> long, broth
|-
| colspan="2" |
- bef. 2+ unstressed syllables
- next syllable contains
|
|opera, colonise, botany<br />topic, solid, promise
|
|brokenly, probity, diplomacy<br />meiosis, aerobic
|
|-
| colspan="2" |in open syllables
- before single consonant
- before cons. + - or + vowel
- word-final
- before heterosyllabic vowel<br />(inc. unstressed)
|| || omen, grove, total<br />noble, cobra<br />banjo, go<br />boa, poet, stoic<br />cooperate, proactive || <br /><br /> || proper, gone, shone <br />to, who, move, doable<br />come, love, done, colander || woman, bosom <br /> women<br /> one<br />∅ colonel, chocolate
|-
| colspan="2" |unstressed|| || eloquent, wanton, purpose, Europe || || || neuron, proton<br /> hydrogen <br> (GA) into
|-
| colspan="3" | oa || || boat, coal, load, coaxing ||<br /><br />||boa, inchoate<br />coaxial, ogdoad<br />oasis, cloaca|| broad<br /> doable<br /> koala<br /> quinoa
|-
| rowspan="3" | oe
| colspan="2" |usually
|| || amoeba, coelacanth, foetal, phoenix
|| <br /> <br /> || doeskin, woeful <br />shoelace, canoeing<br />poetic, soever, orthoepic<br />
|| foetid, roentgen <!-- acc. to Oxford dictionary; acc. to Cambridge and Longman uniquely /r|ɒ|ntgən/ --><br /> coeval, noesis<br /> coerce<br /> poetry, orthoepy
|-
| colspan="2" |last vowel in word
|| ||foe, goes, toed, woe
|| <br /><br /><br />|| shoes, canoe <br />coed, noel, phloem<br />goer <br />loess, poem
|| does<br /> doeth, doer<br /> foehn <br /> diploe, kalanchoe
|-
| colspan="2" |unstressed|| || oedema, oesophagus || || aloe, echoed, oboes, soloed|| hoopoe
|-
| colspan="3" | oeu || || manoeuvre || || || hors d'oeuvre
|-
|oh
| colspan="2" |final or before a consonant|| || oh, kohlrabi, ohm, pharaoh || || John, johnny || bohrium<br /> matzoh
|-
| colspan="3" | oi|| || boing, moist, coin, envoi
|| <br /><br /> || going, egoist, heroin, stoic<br />bourgeois, coiffeur, patois<br />connoisseur, porpoise, tortoise
|| doing<br /> croissant <br /> chamois<br /> ghettoise, oroide
|-
| rowspan="2" | oo
| colspan="2" |usually|| || cool, sooth, boot, goosebumps || || wool, soot, foot, gooseberry || brooch<br /> coopt, zoology, <br /> oocyte (RP)
|-
| colspan="2" |before || || cook, shook, wood, stood || || kook, spook, food, brood || flood, blood
|-
| rowspan="3" |ou
| colspan="2" |
- before single consonant
- before cons. + - or + vowel
- before -
- word final
- before heterosyllabic vowel
|
|out, aloud, bough
|<br /><br />
|soup, you, through<br />touch<br />soul, dough
| : ampoule, coupon
|-
| colspan="2" |
- before multiple consonants
- final vowel in word
- bef. 2+ unstressed syllables
- next syllable contains
- before cons. + + vowel
|
|could, should
|<br />
|trouble, country<br />boulder
| cough, fount (printing)
|-
| colspan="2" |unstressed|| || camouflage, labour, nervous || <br />|| bivouac, bedouin, potpourri <br />detour, fourchette || hiccough<br /> ratatouille, ouabaine
|-
| rowspan="2" | ow
| colspan="2" |stressed|| || owl, bow, row, sow, allow || || own, bow, row, sow, alow || acknowledge<br /> or rowlock
|-
| colspan="2" |unstressed|| || yellow, teabowl, landowner || || peafowl, sundowner || cassowary, toward
|-
| colspan="3" | oy || || boy, doyenne, foyer, voyage || || voyeur, noyade || oyez<br /> coyote <br /> buoy
|-
| rowspan="7" | u
| colspan="2" |in closed syllables
- before multiple consonants
- final vowel in word
||
|| budding, cuckold, mullet<br />but, gull, fuss || || pudding, cuckoo, bullet, put, full, puss || ruthless, brut<br /> butte, debut, fuchsia, tulle
|-
| colspan="2" |in open syllables
- before single consonant
- before cons. + - or + vowel
- before heterosyllabic vowel
- word-final
|| || mute, student, puny, union, fuses<br />bugle, hubris, nutrient <br />duo, nuance, pursuant, ensuing<br />menu, emu, impromptu || <br /> || study, punish, bunion, buses<br />butler, cutlery, subrogate<br />super, lunar, absolute, revolution <br />suet, lucrative, lugubrious<br />hindu, tutu, tofu, truth || busy, business
|-
| colspan="2" |in open syllables after , or cons. +
- before single consonant
- before cons. + - or + vowel
- before heterosyllabic vowel
- word-final
| || rule, chute, June, recluses <br />scruples, rubric <br />truant, fluent, cruelty <br />flu, guru || || overuse, underused || runaway, truculent, clubroom<br /> sugar
|-
| rowspan="2" |after
| before || ∅ || guest, guide, vaguer || || segue, distinguish || ambiguity
|-
|before
|
|language
|∅
|guard, languor
| jaguar
|-
| colspan="2" |after || || quail, conquest, banquet, quite || ∅ || quay, conquer, bouquet, mosquito ||
|-
| colspan="2" |unstressed
|
| support, industry, useful, medium
| <br /> || debut<br />guffaw, unruly, upend, vulgarity || minute, lettuce<!--<br />∅ natural Acc. to Longman "u" is an optional "ə" (though it makes a syllable), but the same counts for may words, like all ending with "-ful". A true silent "u" would result in the unnatural /nætr|əl/.-->
|-
| rowspan="4" | ue
| rowspan="2" |after ||word final
| ∅ || league, tongue || || ague || merengue, dengue
|-
|word medial
|<br />
|guest, guessed, baguette <br />guerrilla, beleaguered
|∅
|vaguely, intrigued
argued
| segued, guenon <br /> unguent, ungues <br /> arguer<br /> Portuguese
|-
| colspan="2" |after , or cons. +
|| || true, clue, gruesome, blues || || influence, cruel, fluent, bluest || cruet, influential
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere (except after ) || || virtue, cue, valued, hue, muesli || <br /> <br /><br /> || fuel, constituent, rescuer <br />innuendo, statuesque, minuet <br />Sue, snafued (<small>GA:</small> due, revenue)<br /><small>GA:</small> duel, pursuer || suet, muezz|in <br /> tenues, habitue <br /> puerile, muenster <!--an American cheese --><br /> suede, Venezuelan<br /> pueblo, desuetude
|-
| rowspan="3" | ui
| colspan="2" |after || <br /> || guild, guitar, intriguing, roguish
guide, guise, beguile
| || anguish, penguin, linguist, sanguine
| beguine, linguine <br /> arguing, aguish, contiguity
|-
| colspan="2" |after or cons. + || || juice, cruise, sluice, fruiting || || fruition, fluid, ruin, druid, truism, incongruity || alleluia <br /> Cruickshank
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere (except after ) || <br /> || conduit, cuing, genuine, <br />Buick, circuitous, Jesuit<br />build, circuit, biscuit, pursuivant || <br /> <br /> <br /> || suit, suitable, nuisance <br />intuitive , promiscuity <br />nuisance , puisne <br />suicide, tui, Inuit, Hinduism || duiker, circuitry <br /> cuisine, suint <br /> suite, ennui, tuille <br /> sui generis<br /> feng shui
|-
| colspan="3" | uu || || continuum, residuum || || menstruum || duumvir<br /> vacuum<br /> muumuu<br /> squush
|-
| colspan="3" | uy || || buy, buyout, guyed || <br /> || guyot, cliquy, plaguy<br />obsequy, soliloquy || toluyl<br /> thuya, gruyere<br /> puy<br /> tuyere
|-
| colspan="3" | w || || || || cwm|| pwn
|-
| rowspan="4" |y
| colspan="2" |
- before multiple consonants
- bef. 2+ unstressed syllables
- next syllable contains
|| || myth, cryptic, system, symbol<br />cylinder, typical, pyramid, dynasty <br />cynic, lyric, lytic, syringe, yttrium || || cyclone, hyphen, psyche, python<br />hydrogen, dynasty <br />cyclist, hybrid, psychic, typist||
|-
| colspan="2" |
- before single consonant
- before cons. + - or + vowel
- word-final
|| || typing, style, paralyze, nylon<br />cycle, cypress, hydrate, lycra<br />awry, by, deny, sky, supply || || byzantine, synod, synagogue, <br />Cypriote, sycophantic||
|-
| rowspan="2" |unstressed
| word-final || || any, city, happy, only, supply <small>(adv)</small> || || || ally <small>(n)</small>
|-
| elsewhere || || bicycle, oxygen, polymer,<br />dyslexia, physique, synonymous || <br /><br /> || sibyl, pyjamas <br />dynamics, hypothesis, typhoon <br />anyway, everything||
|}
Combinations of vowel letters and ⟨r⟩
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="3" | Spelling || Major value<br />(IPA) || Examples of major value || Minor values<br />(IPA) || Examples of minor value || Exceptions
|-
| rowspan="6" |ar
| rowspan="3" |before a vowel
|next syllable contains || || apparent, arid, guarantee, mariners, parish || || parent, garish ||
|-
| followed by a morpheme boundary || || carer, scary, sharing, rarity || <br /> || comparable, comparative<br />faraway, tsarist ||
|-
|otherwise
|| || area, care, pharaoh, vary, wariness || || aria, are, safaris || quarantine, waratah
|-
| rowspan="3" |elsewhere ||stressed || || argyle, car, farce || || || scarce<br /> sarsaparilla <small>(GA)</small><br /> dharna
|-
|after
|
|war, award, dwarf, warning, quarter
|
|
|
|-
| unstressed || || circular, pillar || || ||
|-
| colspan="3" | aer|| || aerial, aeroplane || || chimaera || anaerobe
|-
| colspan="3" | air|| || cairn, millionaire, dairy || || || hetaira<br /> zaire
|-
| colspan="3" | aor|| || aorta|| <br />|| Maori<br />extraordinary ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | arr
| colspan="2" |before a spoken vowel || || marry, barrel, arrow, barren, carrot || || starry, barring ||
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere || ||scarred, Parr || || ||
|-
| colspan="3" | aur|| || dinosaur, aural, aura, Laura || || laurel, Laurence ||
|-
| colspan="3" | awer|| || gnawer, rawer, thawer|| || || drawer
|-
| colspan="3" | ayer, ayor|| || layer, mayor, soothsayer|| || ||
|-
| rowspan="3" |er
| colspan="2" |before a vowel|| || here, series, query, merely || <br /><br />|| compere, there, werewolf<br />derelict, heresy, perish, very<br />derail, reremind || were, weregild
|-
| rowspan="2" |elsewhere
|stressed|| || her, jerk, coerced, merchant || || berceuse || clerk, sergeant<br />
|-
|unstressed
|
|starter, fewer, Berber, arguer, shower
| (or )
|dossier, foyer
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |ear
| rowspan="2" | before a consonant || before a morpheme boundary || || dearly, fearless, tearful, yearling || || bearskin, swearword || heard
|-
| elsewhere || || pearly, hearse, yearning, earth || || hearken, hearty, hearth || beard, peart <br /> bearnaise<br /> rearm
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere|| || fear, year, appear, hearing, || <br />|| pear, bearish, wearing <br />linear, nuclear, stearin|| <!--derived term--><br /> tearoom
|-
| colspan="3" | eer|| || cheering, beer, eer || || freer, seers ||
|-
| colspan="3" | eir|| || heir, madeira, their || || weird, weir, eyrie || oneiric, eirenic
|-
| colspan="3" | eor|| || deorbit, reorganise || || theory
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | err
| colspan="2" |before a spoken vowel || || error, merry, terrible, herring, ferret || || referring ||
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere || ||err, preferred || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |eur
| colspan="2" |after , cons. +
|
|pleurisy
|
|
|
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere || || euro, liqueur, neural|| || masseur, voyeur || theurgy
|-
| rowspan="5" |ir
| rowspan="2" |before a spoken vowel
| usually || || pirate, virus, iris, spiral || || mirage, virile, iridescent, spirit ||
|-
| derived from a word with silent following || || wirable, aspiring || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" |before silent || || hire, fires, mired || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |elsewhere
|stressed|| || bird, fir || || || menhir
|-
|unstressed
|
|elixir, kefir, triumvir
|
|
|
|-
| colspan="3" | ier|| || cashier, fierce, frontier, pier|| <br />|| shier, fiery, hierarchy, plier<br />busier, rapier, glacier, hosiery
|| concierge, premiere<br /> atelier, bustier, dossier<br /> skier
|-
| rowspan="2" | irr
| colspan="2" |before a spoken vowel || || mirror, squirrel, cirrus, tirret || || stirrer ||
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere || || whirred || || ||
|-
| rowspan="3" |or
| colspan="2" |after || || word, work, worst || ||worn, sword, swore ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |elsewhere
|stressed|| || ford, boring, more || || forest, moral<!-- not distinct in GA-->|| whorl<br /> borough<br />∅ comfortable
|-
|unstressed
|
|gladiator, major, equator
|
|
|
|-
| colspan="3" | oar|| || boar, coarse, keyboard, soaring || || || cupboard, starboard<br /> coarctate
|-
| colspan="3" | oer|| || partygoer, forgoer || || undoer, canoer || oersted
|-
| colspan="3" | oir|| || reservoir, memoir, moire, soiree || || coir, loir, Moira || choir<br /> avoirdupois
|-
| colspan="3" | oor|| || poor, moor, boorish, roorback || || door, flooring || whippoorwill<br /> coordinate
|-
| rowspan="3" |orr
| rowspan="2" | stressed || after || || worry || || ||
|-
| elsewhere|| ||horrid, porridge, torrent, correlate|| , || borrow, sorry || Andorra
|-
| colspan="2" | unstressed || || correct, corrupt, haemorrhage, horrific || || ||
|-
|rowspan=2| our
| colspan="2" |stressed|| || four, courtesan, discourse || <br /><br />|| hour, flour, scours<br />journey, courtesy, scourge<br />tour, courier, gourd, velour|| courage, flourish
|-
| colspan="2" |unstressed|| || labour, colourful || <br />|| entourage, potpourri <br />detour, fourchette
|-
| rowspan="4" |ur
| rowspan="2" |before a vowel
|elsewhere || || lure, purity, curing || || allure, guru, Silurian || bury, burial
|-
|after , cons. + || || rural, jury, plural, sure, assurance, allure || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |elsewhere
|stressed|| || turn, occur, curdle || || || langur
|-
|unstressed
|
|sulphur, jodhpur, bulgur, murmur
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | urr
| colspan="2" |before a spoken vowel || || current, hurry, flurry, burrow, turret || || furry, blurring ||
|-
| colspan="2" |elsewhere || || burr, blurred || || ||
|-
| rowspan="6" |yr
|-
| rowspan="2" |before a spoken vowel ||
- bef. 2+ unstressed syllables
- next syllable contains
|
|syrup, Pyrenees, lyric, pyramid, Syria, myriad, syringe, tyranny, pyrrhic || || ||
|-
| elsewhere || || tyrant, gyrate, pyrotechnic, thyroid || || ||
|-
| colspan="2" |before silent || || lyre, pyre, tyres, gyred || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |elsewhere
|stressed|| || myrtle, myrrh || || ||
|-
|unstressed
|
|martyr
|
|
|
|}
Combinations of other consonant and vowel letters
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="2" | Spelling || Major value<br />(IPA) || Examples of major value || Minor values<br />(IPA) || Examples of minor value || Exceptions
|-
|al
|Excluding before <br/>
|
|pal, talcum, algae, alp
|
|bald, Nepal, always, walrus
| falcon (also with , or )<br/> false (RP; also )
|-
| rowspan="2" |alf
|before a vowel
|
|alfalfa, malfeasance
|
|
|
|-
|elsewhere|| <small>(RP)</small><br /> <small>(GA)</small>|| calf, half|| || || palfrey<br/> halfpenny
|-
| rowspan="2" |alk
|morpheme-final|| || stalk, walking, talkative, chalkboard || || ||
|-
|elsewhere
|
|alkaline, grimalkin, valkyrie
|
|balkanise
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | all
|morpheme-final
| || call, fallout, smaller || || shall, pall-mall <small>(RP)</small> || pall-mall <small>(GA)</small>
|-
|elsewhere|| || alley, callus, shallow|| <br /> || wallet, swallow<br />allow, dialled || marshmallow <small>(GA)</small>
|-
| rowspan="2" |alm
|morpheme-final|| || alms, palm, calmer, embalming || <br /> || || halm
|-
|elsewhere
|
|palmate, salmonella, talmud
|
|almanac, almost , instalment
| salmon<br /> almond <small>(GA)</small><br /> signalment<br /> almond <small>(RP)</small>, balmy, palmistry.
|-
| colspan="2" | alt|| || alter, malt, salty, basalt || || alto, shalt, saltation, asphalt <small>(RP)</small>|| gestalt <small>(GA)</small><br /> royalty, penalty
|-
| ange
|word final|| || arrange, change, mange, strange || || flange, phalange || melange<br /> blancmange<br /> orange
|-
| aste
|word final|| || chaste, lambaste, paste, taste || || cineaste, caste (GA), pleonaste || (out)caste <small>(RP)</small><br /> namaste
|-
| -ci
|unstressed before vowel|| || special, gracious || (also ) || species ||
|-
| colspan="2" | -cqu|| || acquaint, acquire || || lacquer, racquet ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | ed
|word final after or || || loaded, waited || || ||
|-
|word final after a voiceless sound|| || piped, enserfed, snaked || || biped, underfed || naked
|-
|word final after a lenis sound|| || limbed, enisled, unfeared || || imbed, misled, infrared || beloved
|-
| es
|word final after a fricative || || mazes, washes, axes, bases, pieces || || axes, bases, feces, oases ||
|-
| ex-
|unstressed before or a vowel|| || exist, examine, exhaust || || exhale ||
|-
| gu-
|before || || bilingual, guano, language || || guard, guarantee ||
|-
| (a)isle
|word final|| || aisle, isle, enisle, lisle || || ||
|-
| le
|word final after non cons.|| || little, table || || orle, isle || boucle
|-
| ngue
|word final|| || tongue, harangue, meringue || || merengue, gué || dengue
|-
| colspan="2" | old|| || blindfold, older, bold || <br/> || scaffold, kobold (also )<br/>doldrums, solder <small>(RP)</small> ||
|-
| colspan="2" | olk|| || yolk, folklore || || polka <small>(RP)</small>, kolkhoz || polka <small>(GA)</small>
|-
| colspan="2" | oll|| || dollhouse, pollen, trolley, holly || || tollhouse, swollen, troller, wholly || atoll <small>(GA)</small><br /> cholla<br /> caroller, collide
|-
| colspan="2" | olm|| || olm, dolmen || || enrolment, holmium || holm (oak)
|-
| rowspan="2" | ong|| morpheme-final || <small>(RP)</small><br /> <small>(GA)</small> || songstress, along, strong, wronger || || tonger, bong, dugong, tongs || among
|-
| elsewhere || || congress, jongleur, bongo, conger, ongoing, nongraded
|| <br /> <br /> <br /> || congeries, longevity, pongee<br />monger, humongous, mongrel<br />sponger, longe, spongy
|| tongue <br /> congratulate, lemongrass<br /> congeal, congestion<br /> allonge<br /> congé <small>(GA)</small>
|-
| colspan="2" |ought
|
|bought, brought, fought, nought, ought, sought, thought, wrought
|
|doughty, drought
|
|-
| colspan="2" | qu- || || queen, quick || || liquor, mosquito ||
|-
| que
|word final|| || mosque, bisque || || manque, risqué || barbeque<br /> pulque
|-
| re
|word final after non cons. || || timbre, acre, ogre, centre || , <br /> || cadre (GA), compadre, emigre<br />genre, oeuvre, fiacre ||
|-
| ron
|word final after vowel|| || neuron, moron, interferon, aileron || || baron, heron, environ || iron<br /> chaperon
|-
| sci-
|unstressed before a vowel|| || conscience, luscious, prosciutto || || sciatica, sciamachy, sciential || conscientious, fasciated <br /> <small>(RP)</small> omniscient, prescience
|- <!-- Probably better to delete this: "rule" only applies to muscle, arbuscle, corpuscle and crepuscle -->
| scle|| word final || || corpuscle, muscle || || mascle ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | -se
|word final after vowel (noun)|| || house, excuse, moose, anise, geese || || prose, nose, tease, guise, compromise || marchese <!-- not after a vowel posse -->
|-
|word final after vowel (verb)|| || house, excuse, choose, arise, please || || grouse, dose, lease, chase, promise ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | -si
|unstressed after a vowel|| || vision, occasion, explosion, illusion || || easier, enthusiasm, physiological ||
|-
|unstressed after a cons.
|/ʃ/
|pension, controversial, compulsion
|
|
|/si/ tarsier, Celsius
|-
| -ssi
|unstressed before a vowel|| || mission, passion, Russia, session || || potassium, dossier, messier ||
|-
| -sti
|unstressed before a vowel|| || question, Christian, suggestion || || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | -sure
|unstressed after a vowel|| || leisure, treasure || || ||
|-
|unstressed after a cons.
|
|tonsure, censure
|
|
|
|-
| -the
|unstressed|| || scathe, spathe || || ||
|-
| -ti
|unstressed before a vowel|| || cautious, patient, inertia, initial, ration || <br /> || patios, consortia, fiftieth, courtier<br />ratios, minutia, initiate, negotiate || cation, cationic<br /> equation<br /> rentier (GA)
|-
| -ture
|unstressed|| || nature, picture || || ||
|-
| -zure
|unstressed|| || seizure, azure || || ||
|}
Sound-to-spelling correspondences
The following table shows for each sound the various spelling patterns used to denote it, starting with the prototypical pattern(s) followed by others in alphabetical order. Some of these patterns are very rare or unique (such as for , for , for ). An ellipsis () stands for an intervening consonant.
Consonants
Arranged in the order of the IPA consonant tables.
Common Graphemes
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Phoneme
!Spelling
!Usage
!Example Words
|-
| rowspan="3" |
|m
|Most of the time
|mine, jam
|-
|mm
|double consonant rule
|hammer
|-
|mb
|End of a few words
|thumb
|-
| rowspan="4" |
|n
|Most of the time
|nice, pin
|-
|nn
|double consonant rule