How to use it
- Type or paste English text into Text. The result updates as you type.
- Read IPA transcription for the whole text in one line, or ARPAbet for the same words in the dictionary's codes.
- Open Word by word to see the transcription of each word, with every pronunciation the dictionary lists.
- Check Not in the dictionary for words with no transcription, such as many names and very new words.
How a word is transcribed
Each word is looked up in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which gives the American English pronunciation of 124,101 words as a list of ARPAbet symbols. Each symbol is written as the IPA value the ARPABET article on Wikipedia gives for it, and the stress digits become stress marks.
- A vowel with the digit 1 is primary stress, marked ˈ. The digit 2 is secondary stress, marked ˌ. The digit 0 is no stress.
- AH with no stress is ə, as in comma; stressed AH is ʌ, as in buck. ER with no stress is ɚ, as in letter; stressed ER is ɝ, as in bird.
- Capitals do not matter: Tomato and tomato get the same transcription. A curly apostrophe is read as a straight one.
Where the stress mark goes
The mark goes before the first sound of its syllable, which is the onset. Between two vowels, a consonant group goes to the second syllable as far as an English onset allows: answer, with the symbols AE1 N S ER0, is ˈænsɚ, with the S in the second syllable.
This is a rule, not a list of syllables, so a few words can show a stress mark one sound away from a printed transcription.
What the transcription does not cover
- It is American English only. The dictionary gives the General American pronunciation, so British and other accents are not shown.
- A word the dictionary does not list, such as many names and very new words, is named and not transcribed. A hyphenated word is read as its parts, so each part is looked up.
- Each word is transcribed on its own. Stress, linking and reduction across a sentence are not shown.
Worked example: Hello world
The text Hello world has two words, and the IPA line is /həˈloʊ ˈwɝld/. Hello is HH AH0 L OW1 in the dictionary: the stress digit 1 is on OW, so the mark ˈ goes before the L, and the vowels give ə and oʊ. The dictionary has a second reading of hello, HH EH0 L OW1, with ɛ for the first vowel; the table lists both, and the line uses the first. World is W ER1 L D: the stressed ER is ɝ, and the mark goes before the W. It has one pronunciation.
| Word | IPA | ARPAbet |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | /həˈloʊ/; /hɛˈloʊ/ | HH AH0 L OW1; HH EH0 L OW1 |
| world | /ˈwɝld/ | W ER1 L D |
Frequently asked questions
Is this the British pronunciation?
No. The dictionary gives General American pronunciations, the accent of most of the United States. British English often differs in its vowels and in the r, so the transcription will not match a British dictionary.
Why does a word show two transcriptions?
The dictionary lists more than one way to say some words, such as tomato, said with the vowel of day or the vowel of father. The table shows each one, and the transcription line uses the first.
Why is a word in square brackets?
The dictionary does not list that word, so the tool cannot give it a pronunciation. Names, slang and very new words are often missing. The word stays in the text, in brackets, so you can see where it is.
What is the difference between IPA and ARPAbet?
IPA is the International Phonetic Alphabet, with symbols such as ə and ʃ. ARPAbet is a set of ASCII codes for the same sounds, such as AH0 and SH. The CMU dictionary uses ARPAbet, so both are shown.
Why does the stress mark sit before a consonant?
IPA puts the stress mark before the syllable it belongs to, which means before that syllable's first sound. In tomato the mark stands before the m of the stressed syllable, as in təˈmeɪtoʊ.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. The text is read and transcribed in your browser. The dictionary is loaded the first time it is needed, and nothing you type is stored or sent.
Sources
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, cmudict.dict, from the cmusphinx/cmudict repository. BSD-style licence: Copyright (C) 1993-2015 Carnegie Mellon University
- Wikipedia: ARPABET, the phone symbols, their IPA values and the stress symbols
Figures and text last checked on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.