3.10 IPA For English Speakers
| [ʔ] | An allowed variant of Lojban .. This sound is not usually considered part of English. It is the catch in your throat that sometimes occurs prior to the beginning of a word (and sometimes a syllable) which starts with a vowel. In some dialects, like Cockney and some kinds of American English, it is used between vowels instead of “t”: “bottle” [boʔl ̩]. The English interjection “uh-oh!” almost always has it between the syllables. |
| [ː] | A symbol indicating that the previous vowel is to be spoken for a longer time than usual. Lojban vowels can be pronounced long in order to make a greater contrast with buffer vowels. |
| [a] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban a. This sound doesn't occur in GA, but sounds somewhat like the “ar” of “park”, as spoken in RP or New England American. It is pronounced further forward in the mouth than [ɑ]. |
| [ɑ] | An allowed variant of Lojban a. The “a” of GA “father”. The sound [a] is preferred because GA speakers often relax an unstressed [ɑ] into a schwa [ə], as in the usual pronunciations of “about” and “sofa”. Because schwa is a distinct vowel in Lojban, English speakers must either learn to avoid this shift or to use [a] instead: the Lojban word for “sofa” is sfofa, pronounced [sfofa] or [sfofɑ] but never [sfofə] which would be the non-word sfofy. |
| [æ] | Not a Lojban sound. The “a” of English “cat”. |
| [b] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban b. As in English “boy”, “sober”, or “job”. |
| [β] | An allowed variant of Lojban v. Not an English sound; the Spanish “b” or “v” between vowels. This sound should not be used for Lojban b. |
| [d] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban d. As in English “dog”, “soda”, or “mad”. |
| [ɛ] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban e. The “e” of English “met”. |
| [e] | An allowed variant of Lojban e. This sound is not found in English, but is the Spanish “e”, or the tense «e» of Italian. The vowel of English “say” is similar except for the off-glide: you can learn to make this sound by holding your tongue steady while saying the first part of the English vowel. |
| [ə] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban y. As in the “a” of English “sofa” or “about”. Schwa is generally unstressed in Lojban, as it is in English. It is a totally relaxed sound made with the tongue in the middle of the mouth. |
| [f] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban f. As in “fee”, “loafer”, or “chef”. |
| [ɸ] | An allowed variant of Lojban f. Not an English sound; the Japanese “f” sound. |
| [g] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban g. As in English “go”, “eagle”, or “dog”. |
| [h] | The preferred pronunciation of the Lojban apostrophe sound. As in English “aha” or the second "h" in “oh, hello”. |
| [i] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban i. Essentially like the English vowel of “pizza” or “machine”, although the English vowel is sometimes pronounced with an off-glide, which should not be present in Lojban. |
| [ɪ] | A possible Lojban buffer vowel. The “i” of English “bit”. |
| [ɨ] | A possible Lojban buffer vowel. The “u” of “just” in some varieties of GA, those which make the word sound more or less like “jist”. Also Russian «y» as in «byt'» (to be); like a schwa [ə], but higher in the mouth. |
| [j] | Used in Lojban diphthongs beginning or ending with i. Like the “y” in English “yard” or “say”. |
| [k] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban k. As in English “kill”, “token”, or “flak”. |
| [l] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban l. As in English “low”, “nylon”, or “excel”. |
| [l ̩] | The syllabic version of Lojban l, as in English “bottle” or “middle”. |
| [m] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban m. As in English “me”, “humor”, or “ham”. |
| [m̩ ] | The syllabic version of Lojban m. As in English “catch 'em” or “bottom”. |
| [n] | The preferred pronunciation of Lojban n. As in English no, “honor”, or “son”. |
| [n̩] | The syllabic version of Lojban n. As in English “button”. |
| [ŋ] | An allowed variant of Lojban n, especially in Lojbanized names and before g or k. As in English “sing” or “singer” (but not “finger” or “danger”). |
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