Phonemes & graphemes: the 44 sounds
Every sound in Australian English, the letters that spell it, and clear example words — shown in both IPA and phonics labels, so nothing is ambiguous. Tap any ▶ to hear it. Built to be 100% accurate for Australian classrooms.
The standards this chart uses
IPA column — Australian English
The International Phonetic Alphabet, using the Australian-English values of the HCE system (Harrington, Cox & Evans 1997) as set out in Cox & Fletcher, Australian English Pronunciation and Transcription (Cambridge, 2nd ed., 2017) and the Macquarie University phonetics resources. This is the accent the Macquarie Dictionary records.
Phonics column — classroom labels
The slash-labels (/a/, /ai/, /igh/…) are the synthetic-phonics convention from the DfE Letters and Sounds (2007) lineage, the terminology the Australian Curriculum: English uses for phoneme–grapheme correspondences. They are teaching labels, not IPA.
Sounds, spellings & examples
The grouping (6 short + 5 long + r-influenced + other + schwa; 24 consonants) and the example words follow the Victorian Department of Education, The 44 Sounds of Australian English. The soundId column is bucoo's own inventory (see the audit notes).
/a/ is IPA /æ/ (cat); /igh/ is IPA /ɑe/ (high); /ai/ is IPA /æɪ/ (rain). We print both columns precisely so the two are never confused.
Short vowels
Six short vowels. The classroom labels here are phonics, not IPA — e.g. /a/ is IPA /æ/.
| Sound | IPA · AusE | Common graphemes | Example words | bucoo soundId | Australian note & audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/a/TRAP | /æ/ | a | catmanhatrabbit | a | AusE TRAP vowel. The classroom label /a/ is not IPA /a/ — it is IPA /æ/. |
/e/DRESS | /e/ | e, ea (bread), a (any) | legbedheadbread | e | AusE DRESS vowel is close-mid /e/ (higher than the /ɛ/ shown on UK/US charts). |
/i/KIT | /ɪ/ | i, y (gym) | sitpiggym | i | — |
/o/LOT | /ɔ/ | o, a (want, was) | topdogwant | o | AusE LOT vowel is short & rounded /ɔ/. US charts often show unrounded /ɑ/ (father–bother merger); AusE keeps LOT /ɔ/ distinct from START /ɐː/. |
/u/STRUT | /ɐ/ | u, o (son), ou (touch) | rubcupson | u | AusE STRUT vowel is a near-open central vowel /ɐ/. Older/UK charts write /ʌ/. |
/oo/ /u/FOOT | /ʊ/ | oo (book), u (put), oul (would) | bookputgood | — none — | AusE FOOT vowel /ʊ/ — the short "oo". ⚑ bucoo audit Our engine maps every "oo" to the long /ʉː/ clip; the short FOOT vowel /ʊ/ (book, put) has no distinct soundId. |
Long vowels
Five long vowels — the letters "say their name". Australian long vowels glide differently from UK/US ones.
| Sound | IPA · AusE | Common graphemes | Example words | bucoo soundId | Australian note & audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/ai/ /ay/FACE | /æɪ/ | ai, ay, a–e (cake), a (baby), ey (they), eigh (eight) | paidtrayrainplay | ai | AusE FACE vowel starts open: /æɪ/, not IPA /eɪ/ (the US/UK value). |
/ee/ /ea/FLEECE | /iː/ | ee, ea, e–e, e (be), y (happy), ey (key), ie (field) | beebeatkeyhappy | ee | — |
/igh/ /ie/PRICE | /ɑe/ | igh, ie (pie), i–e (bike), y (my), i (find) | piehighmyfind | igh | AusE PRICE vowel is /ɑe/ — phonics /igh/ (also written /ie/ or /ī/) is not IPA /aɪ/. |
/oa/ /ow/GOAT | /əʉ/ | oa, ow (flow), oe (toe), o–e (bone), o (go) | toeflowboatgo | oa | AusE GOAT vowel begins with a schwa-like central glide: /əʉ/, not IPA /oʊ/. ⚑ bucoo audit Split soundId: "oa/oe/ow" → the "oa" clip, but a split vowel–consonant–e (bone → o–e) decodes to the short-o "o" clip. |
/oo/ /ue/GOOSE | /ʉː/ | oo, ue, ew (stew), u–e (cube), u (unit), ui (fruit) | mooncuestewfruit | oo_long | AusE GOOSE vowel is central rounded /ʉː/, not back /uː/. Words like cue / cube / unit add a /j/ glide: /kjʉː/. ⚑ bucoo audit Plain /ʉː/ (moon) and the /jʉː/ glide (cue) share the one "oo_long" soundId; the /j/ is not separated. |
R-influenced vowels — Australian English is <em>non-rhotic</em>
This is where AusE differs most from the US charts. No /r/ sound is pronounced — "start" is /stɐːt/, "bird" is /bɜːd/. The r just lengthens or colours the vowel.
| Sound | IPA · AusE | Common graphemes | Example words | bucoo soundId | Australian note & audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/ar/START · PALM | /ɐː/ | ar (car), a (calm, father), al (palm) | carstartarmgarden | ar | Non-rhotic — no /r/ is spoken. AusE START/PALM vowel /ɐː/. "car" = /kɐː/, "start" = /stɐːt/. ⚑ bucoo audit BATH‑set words (bath, dance, chance, past, castle) are taught as short /æ/ (TRAP) by default — the broad AusE form; the reading coach accepts either /æ/ or /ɐː/, since both are correct in Australia. |
/er/ /ir/ /ur/NURSE | /ɜː/ | er, ir, ur, ear (learn), or (word) | herbirdhurtlearn | ur | Non-rhotic. AusE NURSE vowel /ɜː/. "bird" = /bɜːd/. Our engine merges er/ir/ur to one "ur" clip (correct for AusE). |
/or/NORTH · THOUGHT · FORCE | /oː/ | or, ore (more), au (haul), aw (saw), a (ball), oor (door) | corkforksawball | or | Non-rhotic. AusE NORTH/THOUGHT vowel /oː/ — or / au / aw all merge here, and it is the vowel of saw / ball with no r at all. Distinct from START /ɐː/. |
Other vowels
Two diphthongs, two more r-influenced (non-rhotic) vowels, plus the schwa below.
| Sound | IPA · AusE | Common graphemes | Example words | bucoo soundId | Australian note & audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/ow/ /ou/MOUTH | /æɔ/ | ow (cow), ou (out) | cowouthousecloud | ow | AusE MOUTH vowel starts open-front: /æɔ/, not IPA /aʊ/. |
/oy/ /oi/CHOICE | /oɪ/ | oi (void), oy (boy) | boyvoidcointoy | oi | — |
/ear/ /eer/NEAR | /ɪə/ | ear (near), eer (deer), ere (here) | neardeerhere | ear | Non-rhotic. AusE NEAR vowel /ɪə/ — no /r/. "near" = /nɪə/. ⚑ bucoo audit Our engine only unitises the "ear" spelling; "eer/ere" (deer, here) decode as vowel + r, not a single NEAR unit. |
/air/ /are/SQUARE | /eː/ | air (hair), are (care), ear (bear), ere (there) | haircarebearthere | air | Non-rhotic. AusE SQUARE vowel is a long monophthong /eː/ (DRESS held long) — no /r/. "hair" = /heː/. |
/our/ /ure/CURE → NORTH (merged) | /oː/ | our (tour), oor (poor), ure (pure /jʉː/) | tourpoorsure | or | Non-rhotic. In modern AusE the CURE vowel has merged into NORTH /oː/: tour / poor / sure = /oː/ (the vowel of for). A distinct /ʊə/ is older/formal; pure / cure keep the /jʉː/ on‑glide. ⚑ bucoo audit Taught via the NORTH /oː/ (the "or" soundId) — no separate CURE clip; matches how AusE speakers actually say these. |
The schwa
The single most common vowel in English — the reduced vowel in unstressed syllables.
| Sound | IPA · AusE | Common graphemes | Example words | bucoo soundId | Australian note & audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/ə/schwa (unstressed) | /ə/ | any unstressed vowel: a, e, o, u, er | abouttrumpetlemoncircus | schwa | The "lazy" unstressed vowel — the most common vowel sound in English. Non-rhotic: "butter" ends in schwa /ˈbɐtə/, no /r/. ⚑ bucoo audit A "schwa" clip exists in the recorded voice pack, but our on-device segmenter never outputs it — the soundId is unreachable from segment(). |
Consonants
Twenty-four consonant sounds. Australian English shares the same consonants as other Englishes; only /r/ and /w/ (wh) carry Australian notes.
| Sound | IPA · AusE | Common graphemes | Example words | bucoo soundId | Australian note & audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/b/ | /b/ | b, bb | betrabbittub | b | — |
/d/ | /d/ | d, dd, ed (filled) | dipaddfilled | d | — |
/f/ | /f/ | f, ff, ph (phone), gh (laugh) | fanoffphonelaugh | f | ⚑ bucoo audit "ph" carries its own soundId "ph" — same sound as "f"; redundant clip id. |
/g/ | /ɡ/ | g, gg, gu (guest) | gapeggghost | g | — |
/h/ | /h/ | h, wh (who) | hathopwho | h | — |
/j/ | /dʒ/ | j, g (gem), dge (bridge), ge (cage) | jamgembridgecage | j | ⚑ bucoo audit "dge" carries its own soundId "dge" (same sound as "j"); and soft "g" (gem, giant) is NOT recognised as /dʒ/ by our segmenter — it decodes to hard /g/. |
/k/ /c/ | /k/ | c (cap), k (kit), ck (duck), ch (school) | capkitduckschool | k | — |
/l/ | /l/ | l, ll | legbelllion | l | — |
/m/ | /m/ | m, mm, mb (lamb) | methammerlamb | m | — |
/n/ | /n/ | n, nn, kn (knee), gn (gnaw) | netdinnerknee | n | — |
/ng/ | /ŋ/ | ng; n before k (sink) | singringsink | ng | — |
/p/ | /p/ | p, pp | pethappymap | p | — |
/r/ | /r/ | r, rr, wr (write) | ratcarrotwrite | r | Non-rhotic: /r/ is spoken only before a vowel (rat, carrot). At the end of a word or before a consonant it is silent (car, hard) — its trace is in the r-vowels above. |
/s/ | /s/ | s, ss, c (city), se (house) | sunglasscityhouse | s | — |
/t/ | /t/ | t, tt, ed (jumped) | tipbutterjumped | t | — |
/v/ | /v/ | v, ve (have) | vanhavegive | v | — |
/w/ | /w/ | w, wh (when) | wetwinwhen | w | In AusE "wh" = /w/ — the wine–whine merger is complete; there is no /ʍ/. |
/y/ | /j/ | y (yes) | yakyesyellow | y | Consonant y = IPA /j/. (Different job from the /j/-glide inside cue / few.) |
/z/ | /z/ | z, zz, s (is, dogs) | zoobuzzisdogs | z | — |
/ch/ | /tʃ/ | ch, tch (catch) | chainchipcatch | ch | ⚑ bucoo audit "tch" (catch) gets its own soundId "tch" — the same sound as "ch". |
/sh/ | /ʃ/ | sh, ti (station), ci (special), ss (mission) | shipstationspecialmission | sh | — |
/th/ | /θ/ | th (voiceless) | thinthickbath | th_unvoiced | Voiceless /θ/ — tongue between the teeth, no voice. |
/th/ | /ð/ | th (voiced) | thisthatthenmother | — none — | Voiced /ð/ — the same spelling as /θ/, but with the voice switched on. ⚑ bucoo audit Our engine maps ALL "th" to the voiceless clip; voiced /ð/ (this, mother) has no distinct soundId. |
/zh/ | /ʒ/ | s (measure), si (vision), ge (beige) | measurevisionbeige | — none — | The /ʒ/ "zh" sound — the voiced partner of /ʃ/. ⚑ bucoo audit No /ʒ/ soundId in our engine — measure / vision / beige have no dedicated clip. |
Not single sounds: x and qu
These two letters each spell two phonemes, so they sit outside the 44. We list them because children meet them early.
| Letter | = two sounds | Grapheme | Example words | bucoo soundId | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/x/ | k + s | x | boxsixfox | x | — |
/qu/ | k + w | qu | quitqueenliquid | qu | — |
bucoo.ai — Phonemes & graphemes, the 44 sounds of Australian English. IPA per Cox & Fletcher (2017) / HCE (Harrington, Cox & Evans 1997). Structure & examples per the Victorian Department of Education, The 44 Sounds of Australian English. Australian English is non-rhotic.