---
name: text-to-speech-symbols-en-gb
title: English (United Kingdom) symbols
description: The service supports the following symbols for United Kingdom (UK) English.
last-updated: 2023-03-21
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/text-to-speech?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# English (United Kingdom) symbols
{: #gbSymbols}

The service supports the following symbols for United Kingdom (UK) English.

## Regular vowels
{: #gbRegularVowels}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| a | a  \n   \n aː  \n   \n ɑ  \n   \n ɑː  \n   \n ɐ | 0061  \n   \n 0061+02D0  \n   \n 0251  \n   \n 0251+02D0  \n   \n 0250 | p**a**th, f**a**ther, ch**a**nt |
| A | æ | 00E6 | b**a**ck, h**a**d |
| e | e  \n   \n eɪ | 0065  \n   \n 0065+026A | c**a**ke, p**ai**n |
| E | ɛ | 025B | h**e**dge, l**e**t |
| i | iː | 0069+02D0 | s**ee**, sp**ea**k, bel**ie**ve |
| I | ɪ | 026A | p**i**ck, **i**ll |
| o | o  \n   \n oʊ  \n   \n əʊ | 006F  \n   \n 006F+028A  \n   \n 0259+028A | b**o**th, **oa**k |
| c | ɔ  \n   \n ɔː | 0254  \n   \n 0254+02D0 | l**a**w, c**ou**rt, h**a**ll, w**a**ter |
| @ | ɒ | 0252 | r**o**d, c**ou**gh |
| u | u  \n   \n uː | 0075  \n   \n 0075+02D0 | z**oo**, tr**u**th |
| U | ʊ | 028A | t**oo**k, p**u**t |
| H | ʌ | 028C | b**u**t, m**u**g, s**o**n |
| R | ɜ  \n   \n ɜː  \n   \n ɚ  \n   \n ɝ | 025C  \n   \n 025C+02D0  \n   \n 025A  \n   \n 025D | butt**er**, h**u**rt |
{: caption="Regular vowels (UK English)"}

## Diphthongs
{: #gbDiphthongs}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| O | ɔɪ | 0254+026A | t**oi**l, b**oy** |
| W | aʊ | 0061+028A | **ou**t, c**ow** |
| Y | aɪ | 0061+026A | l**i**fe, f**i**ne |
{: caption="Diphthongs (UK English)"}

## Reduced vowels
{: #gbReducedVowels}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| x | ə | 0259 | sof**a**, **a**lone, s**u**ppose, **A**meric**a** |
| X | i  \n   \n ɨ | 0069  \n   \n 0268 | ros**e**s, hint**e**d |
{: caption="Reduced vowels (UK English)"}

## Consonants
{: #gbConsonants}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| b | b | 0062 | **b**ad, so**b** |
| C | tʃ  \n   \n ʧ | 0074+0283  \n   \n 02A7 | **ch**ip, wit**ch**, na**t**ure |
| d | d | 0064 | **d**ip, ha**d** |
| D | ð | 00F0 | **th**is, brea**th**e |
| f | f | 0066 | **f**ield, i**f**, gra**ph** |
| g | g  \n   \n ɡ | 0067  \n   \n 0261 | **g**ood, bu**g** |
| G | ŋ | 014B | si**ng**, fi**ng**er |
| h | h  \n   \n x  \n   \n χ  \n   \n ɦ | 0068  \n   \n 0078  \n   \n 03C7  \n   \n 0266 | **h**ot, **h**ero |
| J | dʒ  \n   \n ʤ | 0064+0292  \n   \n 02A4 | **J**ane, hu**g**e |
| k | k | 006B | **k**ill, ma**k**e, ba**ck** |
| l | l | 006C | **l**ow, ha**ll** |
| L | l̩ | 006C+0329 | cand**l**e |
| m | m | 006D | **m**an, hu**m**, su**mm**er |
| n | n | 006E | **n**ever, su**n**, wi**nn**er |
| p | p | 0070 | **p**it, ri**p** |
| r | r  \n   \n ɹ  \n   \n ɾ | 0072  \n   \n 0279  \n   \n 027E | bo**rr**ow, **r**ake |
| s | s | 0073 | **s**eal, mi**ss**, **c**eiling |
| S | ʃ | 0283 | **sh**ip, wi**sh** |
| t | t | 0074 | **t**ip, pe**t** |
| T | θ | 03B8 | **th**ing, Be**th** |
| v | v | 0076 | **v**ase, sa**v**e |
| w | w | 0077 | **w**ear, q**u**ick |
| y | j | 006A | **y**es, Virgin**i**a |
| z | z | 007A | **z**ip, pha**s**e |
| Z | ʒ | 0292 | trea**s**ure, gara**g**e |
{: caption="Consonants (UK English)"}