| # 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) | |||||
| - [References](#references) | - [References](#references) | ||||
| ---------- | ---------- | ||||
| The following English accents are supported by eSpeak NG and are referenced in | |||||
| this document: | |||||
| | BCP47 | Abbreviation | Accent Name | | |||||
| |----------------|--------------|------------------------| | |||||
| | en | | British English | | |||||
| | en-029 | | Caribbean | | |||||
| | en-GB-scotland | ScE | Scottish English | | |||||
| | en-GB-x-gbclan | | Lancastrian | | |||||
| | en-GB-x-gbcwmd | | West Midlands | | |||||
| | en-GB-x-rp | RP | Received Pronunciation | | |||||
| | en-US | GenAm | General American | | |||||
| The BCP47 name is the standard language identifier for the accent, used as the | |||||
| 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 | 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 | 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 | by comparing the Received Pronunciation British (RP) and General American | ||||
| (GenAm) accents in use at that time. | (GenAm) accents in use at that time. | ||||
| The `en` transcriptions listed below are the phonemes used by eSpeak NG to | |||||
| transcribe the different lexical sets. | |||||
| ## 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 | |||||
| Additionally, Wells defines the following lexical sets to describe vowels that | |||||
| are different in both RP and GenAm: | |||||
| | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | |||||
| |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | |||||
| | BATH | `aa` | ɑː | æ | | |||||
| | CLOTH | `O2` | ɒ | ɔ | | |||||
| ### 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. | ||||
| | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | |||||
| |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | |||||
| | NURSE | `3:` | ɜː | ɝ | | |||||
| | START | `A@` | ɑː | ɑɹ | | |||||
| | NORTH | `O@` | ɔː | ɔɹ | | |||||
| | FORCE | `o@` | ɔː | oɹ | | |||||
| | CURE | `U@` | ʊə̯ | ʊɹ | | |||||
| | NEAR | `i@3` | ɪə̯ | ɪɹ | | |||||
| | SQUARE | `e@` | eə̯ | ɛɹ | | |||||
| | Lexical Set | en | en-GB-scotland | RP | GenAm | ScE | | |||||
| |-------------|-------|----------------|-------|-------|-------| | |||||
| | NURSE | `3:` | `VR` | ɜː | ɝ | ʌɾ | | |||||
| | START | `A@` | `A@` | ɑː | ɑɹ | ɐ̟ɾ | | |||||
| | NORTH | `O@` | `O@` | ɔː | ɔɹ | ɔɾ | | |||||
| | FORCE | `o@` | `o@` | ɔː | oɹ | oɾ | | |||||
| | CURE | `U@` | `U@` | ʊə̯ | ʊɹ | ʉɾ | | |||||
| | NEAR | `i@3` | `i@3` | ɪə̯ | ɪɹ | iɾ | | |||||
| | SQUARE | `e@` | `e@` | eə̯ | ɛɹ | eɾ | | |||||
| __NOTE:__ `/i@3/` is used for the NEAR lexical set to differentiate it from | __NOTE:__ `/i@3/` is used for the NEAR lexical set to differentiate it from | ||||
| `/i@/` used in words like `million`. | `/i@/` used in words like `million`. | ||||
| ## Reduced Vowels | |||||
| Additionally, espeak-ng has the following phonemes for different accents: | |||||
| | Lexical Set | en | en-GB-scotland | RP | GenAm | ScE | | |||||
| |-------------|-------|----------------|-------|-------|-------| | |||||
| | TERM | `3:` | `3:` | ɜː | ɝ | ɛɾ | | |||||
| | BIRD | `3:` | `IR` | ɜː | ɝ | ɪɾ | | |||||
| ### 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 | | ||||
| |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | ||||
| | FACE | `eI` | eɪ̯ | eɪ̯ | | |||||
| | PRICE | `aI` | aɪ̯ | aɪ̯ | | |||||
| | CHOICE | `OI` | ɔɪ̯ | ɔɪ̯ | | |||||
| | GOAT | `oU` | əʊ̯ | oʊ̯ | | |||||
| | MOUTH | `aU` | aʊ̯ | aʊ̯ | | |||||
| ## Split Vowels | |||||
| 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 | |||||
| merged with the other. | |||||
| | Lexical Set | en | RP | GenAm | | |||||
| |-------------|-------|-------|-------| | |||||
| | BATH | `aa` | ɑː | æ | | |||||
| | CLOTH | `O2` | ɒ | ɔ | | |||||
| | FACE | `eI` | eɪ̯ | eɪ̯ | | |||||
| | PRICE | `aI` | aɪ̯ | aɪ̯ | | |||||
| | CHOICE | `OI` | ɔɪ̯ | ɔɪ̯ | | |||||
| | GOAT | `oU` | əʊ̯ | oʊ̯ | | |||||
| | MOUTH | `aU` | aʊ̯ | aʊ̯ | | |||||
| ## References | ## References | ||||
| 1. <a name="ref1"></a> Wikipedia. | 1. <a name="ref1"></a> Wikipedia. | ||||
| [Lexical set](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical_set). 2017. | [Lexical set](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical_set). 2017. | ||||
| Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). | Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). | ||||
| 2. <a name="ref2"></a> Wikipedia. | |||||
| [IPA chart for English dialects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet_chart_for_English_dialects). | |||||
| 2018. Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). |