style-guide.md

Style Guide

Subset of X-SAMPA to be used for song transcriptions. If the original singer's pronunciation differs from these guidelines, prioritize accuracy of matching the vocals.

Vowels

Phoneme	Description	Example words	Notes
A	open back unrounded vowel	cot k_h A t_}
A`	rhotacized open back unrounded vowel	bar b A`	Usually A in non-rhotic accents
{	near-open front unrounded vowel	bat b { t_}
e@	diphthong of close-mid front unrounded vowel to schwa	and e@ n d	Transcribe as e when coda is dropped or delayed. May sound like { or E depending on context and the singer's accent
E_~	nasalized open-mid front unrounded vowel	bank b E_~ N k	May sound like { depending on the singer's accent
V	open-mid back unrounded vowel	but b V t_}
Q	open back rounded vowel	ball b Q 5
O	open-mid back rounded vowel	bowl b O 5
O`	rhotacized open-mid back rounded vowel	pour p_h O`	Usually O in non-rhotic accents
@	schwa	about @ b aU t_}	Most vowels reduce to this in short, unstressed syllables
E	open-mid front unrounded vowel	end E n d
e`	rhotacized close-mid front unrounded vowel	bear b e`	Usually E@ in non-rhotic accents
3	open-mid central unrounded vowel	bird b 3 d
I	near-close front unrounded vowel	bin b I n
I_~	nasalized near-close front unrounded vowel	ping p I_~ N	Allophone of I before N
1	close central unrounded vowel	woman w U m 1 n	High vowels reduce to this in short, unstressed syllables
i	close front unrounded vowel	bean b i n
i`	rhotacized close front unrounded vowel	beer b i`	Usually I@ in non-rhotic accents
U	near-close back rounded vowel	push p U S
U`	rhotacized near-close back rounded vowel	poor p U`	Usually U@ in non-rhotic accents
u	close back rounded vowel	boom b u m
aI	diphthong of open front unrounded vowel to near-close front unrounded vowel	bye b aI	Transcribe as a when coda is dropped or delayed
aI`	rhotacized diphthong of open front unrounded vowel to near-close front unrounded vowel	fire f aI`	Single syllable variant of aI 3
eI	diphthong of close-mid front unrounded vowel to near-close front unrounded vowel	bay b eI	Transcribe as e when coda is dropped or delayed
OI	diphthong of open-mid back rounded vowel to near-close front unrounded vowel	boy b OI	Transcribe as O when coda is dropped or delayed
oU	diphthong of close-mid back rounded vowel to near-close back rounded vowel	no n oU	May sound like @U depending on the singer's accent. Transcribe with first vowel only when coda is dropped or delayed
aU	diphthong of open front unrounded vowel to near-close back rounded vowel	how h aU	Transcribe as a when coda is dropped or delayed
aU_~	nasalized diphthong of open front unrounded vowel to near-close back rounded vowel	pound p aU_~ n d	Occasional allophone of aU before nasal consonants. Transcribe as a_~ when coda is dropped or delayed
aU`	rhotacized diphthong of open front unrounded vowel to near-close back rounded vowel	power p_h aU`	Single syllable variant of aU 3
5_=	syllabic velarized alveolar approximant	pull p 5_=
m_=	syllabic bilabial nasal	get 'em g E 4 m_=	Short, unstressed syllables
n_=	syllabic alveolar nasal	gettin' g E t_} n_=	Short, unstressed syllables
N_=	syllabic velar nasal	wait and go w eI ? N_= g oU	Short, unstressed syllables

Consonants

Phoneme	Description	Example words	Notes
p	voiceless bilabial plosive	spin s p I n	In consonant clusters
p_h	aspirated voiceless bilabial plosive	pat p_h { t_}	Beginning of syllable
p_}	unreleased voiceless bilabial plosive	cup k_h V p_}	End of syllable
b	voiced bilabial plosive	bun b V n
t	voiceless alveolar plosive	stick s t I k_}	In consonant clusters
t_h	aspirated voiceless alveolar plosive	tubs t_h V b z	Beginning of syllable
t_}	unreleased voiceless alveolar plosive	pat p_h { t_}	End of syllable
d	voiced alveolar plosive	add { d
d_h	aspirated voiced alveolar plosive	dawn d_h Q n	Beginning of syllable
k	voiceless velar plosive	scan s k e@ n	In consonant clusters
k_h	aspirated voiceless velar plosive	cup k_h V p_}	Beginning of syllable
k_}	unreleased voiceless velar plosive	stick s t I k_}	End of syllable
g	voiced velar plosive	go g oU
tS	voiceless postalveolar affricate	church tS 3 tS
dZ	voiced postalveolar affricate	jump dZ V m p
4	alveolar flap	little l I 4 5_=	Generally between 2 vowels where the second is unstressed. May sound like t, d, or ? depending on the singer's accent
f	voiceless labiodental fricative	fun f V n
v	voiced labiodental fricative	love l V v
T	voiceless dental fricative	think T I N k
D	voiced dental fricative	that D { t_}
s	voiceless alveolar fricative	see s i
z	voiced alveolar fricative	zoo z u
S	voiceless postalveolar fricative	show S oU
Z	voiced postalveolar fricative	vision v I Z @ n
h	voiceless glottal fricative	home h oU m
C	voiceless palatal fricative	heat C i t_}	Allophone of h when preceding i or j
?	glottal stop	uh-oh V ? oU
m	bilabial nasal	month m V n T
n	alveolar nasal	none n V n
4_~	nasalized alveolar flap	winter w I 4_~ 3
N	velar nasal	song s Q N
l	alveolar lateral approximant	love l V v	Beginning of syllable
5	velarized alveolar approximant	ball b Q 5	End of syllable
r	alveolar approximant	run r V n	Written as r\ in standard X-SAMPA but abbreviated here for English only transcription
j	palatal approximant	you j u
w	labial-velar approximant	what w V t_}