CMU Pronouncing Dictionary converted to IPA
By toIPA Editorial Team · Published March 1, 2022 · Updated July 11, 2026
The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (CMUdict) represents American English pronunciations with ARPABET symbols. The table below gives a practical ARPABET-to-IPA mapping for reading CMUdict entries and comparing them with toIPA transcriptions.
Vowel symbols in CMUdict normally carry a stress digit: 1 for primary stress, 2 for secondary stress, and 0 for no stress. A conversion therefore needs both the phoneme mapping and the stress information; the table groups symbols whose IPA vowel quality is the same.
| Arpabet | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|
| AA | ɑ | balm, bot |
| AE | æ | bat |
| AH1 | ʌ | butt |
| AH0, AH2 | ə | comma |
| AO | ɔ | story |
| AW | aʊ | bout |
| AY | aɪ | bite |
| B | b | buy |
| CH | t͡ʃ | china |
| D | d | die |
| DH | ð | thy |
| EH | ɛ | bet |
| ER0 | ɚ | actor |
| ER1, ER2 | ɝ | nurse |
| EY | eɪ | bait |
| F | f | fight |
| G | g | guy |
| HH | h | high |
| IH | ɪ | bit |
| IY | i | beat |
| JH | d͡ʒ | jive |
| K | k | kite |
| L | l | lie |
| M | m | my |
| N | n | nigh |
| NG | ŋ | sing |
| OW | oʊ | boat |
| OY | ɔɪ | boy |
| P | p | pie |
| R | r | rye |
| S | s | sigh |
| SH | ʃ | shy |
| T | t | tie |
| TH | θ | thigh |
| UH | ʊ | book |
| UW | u | boot |
| V | v | vie |
| W | w | wise |
| Y | j | yacht |
| Z | z | zoo |
| ZH | ʒ | pleasure |
Method and source
This is a broad American English conversion guide, not a claim that every accent or dictionary entry has one exact IPA realization. CMUdict itself notes that errors, omissions, and inconsistencies may remain. Symbol inventory and stress conventions were checked against the official CMUdict repository. IPA symbols follow the conventions of the International Phonetic Association.