The Respellings Reference Charts provide a quick reference for constructing phonetic respellings when you need more control over pronunciation.
Respellings control pronunciation by describing how a word should sound by:
- breaking the word into syllables
- indicating which syllable should be emphasized
Use these charts as a reference when building phonetic spellings for:
- unfamiliar names
- brand terms
- acronyms or initialisms
- technical vocabulary
- words that the voice mispronounces
If you're new to respellings, start with the Guide to Respellings before using these charts.
How to Use the Charts
Each chart shows how specific sounds map to phonetic letter combinations used in WellSaid respellings.
To create a custom respelling:
- Identify the sounds in the word.
- Find the matching phonetic pattern in the chart.
- Combine those patterns into syllables.
- Capitalize the syllable that should be emphasized.
Example:
To produce the sound “a” as in “all”, use the phonetic pattern AW.
Example respelling:
AWL
These patterns can be combined with hyphenated syllables and capitalized stress to construct full respellings.
Example:
sask-ACH-oo-when
|
VOWELS |
CONSONANTS |
||||||
|
To hear |
as in |
type |
Example |
To hear |
as in |
type |
Example |
|
a |
ant |
A |
::ANT:: |
b |
bunk |
B |
::BUHNK:: |
|
a |
spa |
AH |
::SPAH:: |
ch |
chart |
CH |
::CHAHRT:: |
|
a |
all |
AW |
::AWL:: |
d |
dust |
D |
::DUHST:: |
|
a |
eight |
AY |
::AYT:: |
f |
first |
F |
::FURST:: |
|
e |
egg |
EH |
::EHG:: |
g |
glow |
G |
::GLOH:: |
|
e |
ease |
EE |
::EEZ:: |
h |
horse |
H |
::HORS:: |
|
i |
in |
IH |
::IHN:: |
j |
jell |
J |
::JEHL:: |
|
i |
isle |
Y |
::YL:: |
k |
kite |
K |
::KYT:: |
|
o |
oat |
OH |
::OHT:: |
l |
laugh |
L |
::LAF:: |
|
o |
ooh |
OO |
::OO:: |
m |
mask |
M |
::MASK:: |
| o | foot | UU | ::FUUT:: |
n |
nest |
N |
::NEHST:: |
| u | up | UH | ::UHP:: |
ng |
ring |
NG |
::RIHNG:: |
|
nk |
rink |
NK |
::RIHNK:: |
||||
| VOWELS COMBOS |
p |
pop |
P |
::PAHP:: |
|||
| To hear | as in | type | Example | qu | quote | KW | ::KWOHT:: |
| ar | car | AR | ::KAR:: |
r |
rain |
R |
::RAYN:: |
| er | error | ERR | ::ERR-ur:: |
s |
slice |
S |
::SLYS:: |
| or | more | OR | ::MOR:: | sh | shy | SH | ::SHY:: |
| ow | cow | OW | ::KOW:: |
t |
tarte |
T |
::TART:: |
| oy | oy | OY | ::OY:: | th | though | DH | ::DHOH:: |
| ur | urn | UR | ::URN:: |
th |
think |
TH |
::THIHNK:: |
|
v |
van |
V |
::VAN:: |
||||
| w |
win |
W |
::WIHN:: |
||||
| x | axe | KS | ::AKS:: | ||||
|
y |
yes |
Y |
::YEHS:: |
||||
|
z |
zen |
Z |
::ZEHN:: |
||||
|
zh |
measure |
ZH |
::MEH-zhur:: |
||||
Respellings for Acronyms
Acronyms are typically constructed by combining phonetic spellings for individual letters.
Example:
TBD
TEE-BEE-DEE
|
A → ::AY:: |
N → ::EHN:: |
|
B → ::BEE:: |
O → ::OH:: |
|
C → ::SEE:: |
P → ::PEE:: |
|
D → ::DEE:: |
Q → ::KYOO:: |
|
E → ::EE:: |
R → ::AR:: |
|
F → ::EHF:: |
S → ::EHS:: |
|
G → ::JEE:: |
T → ::TEE:: |
|
H → ::AYCH:: |
U → ::YOO:: |
|
I → ::Y:: |
V → ::VEE:: |
|
J → ::JAY:: |
W → ::DUH-buhl-yoo:: |
|
K → ::KAY:: |
X → ::EHKS:: |
|
L → ::EHL:: |
Y → ::WY:: |
|
M → ::EHM:: |
Z → ::ZEE:: or ::ZEHD:: |