| # English | # English | ||||
| - [Short Vowels](#short-vowels) | |||||
| - [Long Vowels](#long-vowels) | |||||
| - [Rhotic Vowels](#rhotic-vowels) | |||||
| - [Reduced Vowels](#reduced-vowels) | |||||
| - [Diphthongs](#diphthongs) | |||||
| - [Split Vowels](#split-vowels) | |||||
| - [Vowels](#vowels) | |||||
| - [Short Vowels](#short-vowels) | |||||
| - [Long Vowels](#long-vowels) | |||||
| - [Rhotic Vowels](#rhotic-vowels) | |||||
| - [Reduced Vowels](#reduced-vowels) | |||||
| - [Diphthongs](#diphthongs) | |||||
| - [Split Vowels](#split-vowels) | |||||
| - [References](#references) | - [References](#references) | ||||
| ---------- | ---------- | ||||
| The English language support uses a vowel system based on John Wells' Lexical | |||||
| Sets<sup>\[<a href="#ref1">1</a>\]</sup>. These were created by Wells in 1982 | |||||
| by comparing the Received Pronunciation British (RP) and General American | |||||
| (GenAm) accents in use at that time. The following accents are supported by | |||||
| eSpeak NG and are referenced in this document: | |||||
| The following English accents are supported by eSpeak NG and are referenced in | |||||
| this document: | |||||
| | BCP47 | Abbreviation | Accent Name | | | BCP47 | Abbreviation | Accent Name | | ||||
| |----------------|--------------|------------------------| | |----------------|--------------|------------------------| | ||||
| | en-US | GenAm | General American | | | en-US | GenAm | General American | | ||||
| The BCP47 name is the standard language identifier for the accent, used as the | The BCP47 name is the standard language identifier for the accent, used as the | ||||
| espeak language name. The Abbreviation is used in the lexical set tables below | |||||
| for the IPA transcriptions of that accent, and the BCP47 names are used for the | |||||
| eSpeak NG phoneme names. | |||||
| espeak language name. The Abbreviation is used in the tables below for the IPA | |||||
| transcriptions of that accent, and the BCP47 names are used for the eSpeak NG | |||||
| phoneme names. | |||||
| ## Vowels | |||||
| The English language support uses a vowel system based on John Wells' Lexical | |||||
| Sets<sup>\[<a href="#ref1">1</a>\]</sup>. These were created by Wells in 1982 | |||||
| by comparing the Received Pronunciation British (RP) and General American | |||||
| (GenAm) accents in use at that time. | |||||
| ## Short Vowels | |||||
| ### Short Vowels | |||||
| | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | ||||
| |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | ||||
| | STRUT | `V` | ʌ | ʌ | | | STRUT | `V` | ʌ | ʌ | | ||||
| | FOOT | `U` | ʊ | ʊ | | | FOOT | `U` | ʊ | ʊ | | ||||
| ## Long Vowels | |||||
| ### Long Vowels | |||||
| | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | ||||
| |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | ||||
| | THOUGHT | `O:` | ɔː | ɔ | | | THOUGHT | `O:` | ɔː | ɔ | | ||||
| | GOOSE | `u:` | uː | u | | | GOOSE | `u:` | uː | u | | ||||
| ## Rhotic Vowels | |||||
| ### Rhotic Vowels | |||||
| These are vowels that are followed by an `r` that is not part of the next syllable | These are vowels that are followed by an `r` that is not part of the next syllable | ||||
| when considering the root form of the word containing that vowel. | when considering the root form of the word containing that vowel. | ||||
| | TERM | `3:` | `3:` | ɜː | ɛɾ | | | TERM | `3:` | `3:` | ɜː | ɛɾ | | ||||
| | BIRD | `3:` | `IR` | ɜː | ɪɾ | | | BIRD | `3:` | `IR` | ɜː | ɪɾ | | ||||
| ## Reduced Vowels | |||||
| ### Reduced Vowels | |||||
| These are unstressed vowels that differ from the vowels in the main lexical sets. | These are unstressed vowels that differ from the vowels in the main lexical sets. | ||||
| have merged this with the COMMA lexical set, such that `rabbit` and `abbot` | have merged this with the COMMA lexical set, such that `rabbit` and `abbot` | ||||
| rhyme. | rhyme. | ||||
| ## Diphthongs | |||||
| ### Diphthongs | |||||
| | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | ||||
| |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | ||||
| | GOAT | `oU` | əʊ̯ | oʊ̯ | | | GOAT | `oU` | əʊ̯ | oʊ̯ | | ||||
| | MOUTH | `aU` | aʊ̯ | aʊ̯ | | | MOUTH | `aU` | aʊ̯ | aʊ̯ | | ||||
| ## Split Vowels | |||||
| ### Split Vowels | |||||
| These are lexical sets defined by John Wells that are merged with other lexical | These are lexical sets defined by John Wells that are merged with other lexical | ||||
| sets in both RP and GenAm, so have split from one of those lexical sets and | sets in both RP and GenAm, so have split from one of those lexical sets and |