ASCII IPA in a nutshell

This page covers American pronunciations only. There should be a British version, but so far there isn't.

The traditional 'long' vowels (note that three of the 'long vowels' are really diphthongs):

bait [beIt] – beet [bit] – bite [baIt] – boat [boUt] – beaut [bjut] – boot [but]
Sound: [WAV] [MPEG]

The traditional 'short' vowels:

pat [p&t] – pet [pEt] – pit [pIt] – pot [pAt] – putt [pVt] – put [pUt]
Sound: [WAV] [MPEG]

Other vowels and diphthongs:

pert [p@rt] – port [pOrt] – pout [paUt] – point [pOInt] – potential [p@'tEnS@l]
Sound: [WAV] [MPEG]

Consonants that always have the same sound in English spelling, and that's the sound they have in ASCII IPA, too:

b – d – f – h – k – l – m – n – p – r – s – t – v – w – z

Special consonants:

that [D&t] –  thin [TIn] – yet [jEt] – hung [hVN] – ship [SIp] – chip [tSIp] – gyp [dZIp] – measure ['mEZ@r]
Sound: [WAV] [MPEG]

The letter "g" can be used for the soft sound in "gyp" and the hard sound in "gift". For the hard sound, ASCII IPA [g] is used.

You might find that that's all the ASCII IPA you need to know for pronunciation discussions in alt.usage.english. But if you want to know more, see page ASCII IPA files