Sounds of Vowels

 

“Short” Vowels

A – /æ/

E – /ɛ/

I – /ɪ/

O – /ɔ/

U – /ʌ/

Ů – /ʊ/

 

“Long” Vowels

A – /ɑ/

E – /eɪ/

I – /i/

O – /oʊ/

U – /u/

 

Three diphthongs are not written with one letter. They are the following:

AI – /aɪ/

AŮ – /aʊ/

OI – /oɪ/

 

In order to determine whether a vowel is “short” or “long,” one must look either at the diacritic above it (please see the section named “Diacritics” for more information) or at what is after it. If there is no diacritic above it and two consonants follow it, then the vowel is “short.” * If there is no diacritic above it and one consonant follows it or nothing follows it, then the vowel is “long.”

 

*Single consonants only follow “Ů” as the symbol above it indicates that it is a “short” consonant.

 

Sounds of Consonants

 

Please refer to the IPA if there are any unfamiliar symbols.

B – /b/

C – /k/ or /s/ if followed by /eɪ/ or /i/

CH – /tʃ/

D – /d/

DH – /ð/

F – /f/

G – /g/ or /ʤ/ if followed by /eɪ/ or /i/

H – /h/

J – /ʤ/

Ĵ – /ʒ/

K – /k/

L – /l/

M – /m/

N – /n/

NG – /ŋ/

P – /p/

QU – /kw/

R – /r/

S – /s/

SH – /ʃ/

T – /t/

TH – /θ/

V – /v/

W – /w/

X – /ks/, /gz/ if between two vowels and the following vowel is stressed or /z/ if at the beginning of a word

Y – /j/

Z – /z/

 

Diacritics

 

An acute accent (´) indicates a stressed “short” vowel.

A grave accent (`) indicates a “short” vowel.

A circumflex (ˆ) indicates a stressed “long” vowel.

A macron (¯) indicates a “long” vowel.

A breve (˘) indicates a reduced vowel pronounced /ə/.

A diaresis (¨) indicates a vowel or a consonant pronounced independently of the vowel that precedes it.

 

Stress

 

If a word contains a “Ů”, it is always stressed if there is no other diacritic in the word.

If a word contains a vowel with a diaresis, it is always stressed if there is no other diacritic in a word.