English (UK) MFA dictionary v3.1.0#

  • Maintainer: Montreal Forced Aligner

  • Language: English

  • Dialect: British English

  • Phone set: MFA

  • Number of words: 46,163

  • Phones: a aj aw b bʲ c cʰ cʷ d dʒ dʲ d̪ e ej f fʲ h i iː j k kʰ kʷ l m mʲ m̩ n n̩ p pʰ pʲ pʷ s t tʃ tʰ tʲ tʷ t̪ v vʲ vʷ w z ç ð ŋ ɐ ɑ ɑː ɒ ɒː ɔj ə əw ɛ ɛː ɜ ɜː ɟ ɟʷ ɡ ɡʷ ɪ ɫ ɫ̩ ɲ ɹ ʃ ʉ ʉː ʊ ʎ ʒ ʔ θ

  • License: CC BY 4.0

  • Compatible MFA version: v3.1.0

  • Citation:

@techreport{mfa_english_uk_mfa_dictionary_2024,
	author={McAuliffe, Michael and Sonderegger, Morgan},
	title={English (UK) MFA dictionary v3.1.0},
	address={\url{https://mfa-models.readthedocs.io/pronunciation dictionary/English/English (UK) MFA dictionary v3_1_0.html}},
	year={2024},
	month={Jun},
}
image("https://montreal-forced-aligner.readthedocs.io/en/latest/_static/logo_stacked_light.svg")

Installation#

Install from the MFA command line:

mfa model download dictionary english_uk_mfa

Or download from the release page.

The dictionary available from the release page and command line installation has pronunciation and silence probabilities estimated as part acoustic model training (see Silence probability format and training pronunciation probabilities for more information. If you would like to use the version of this dictionary without probabilities, please see the [plain dictionary](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MontrealCorpusTools/mfa-models/main/dictionary/english/mfa/English (UK) MFA dictionary v3_1_0.dict).

Intended use#

This dictionary is intended for forced alignment of English transcripts.

This dictionary uses the MFA phone set for English, and was used in training the English MFA acoustic model. Pronunciations can be added on top of the dictionary, as long as no additional phones are introduced.

Performance Factors#

When trying to get better alignment accuracy, adding pronunciations is generally helpful, especially for different styles and dialects. The most impactful improvements will generally be seen when adding reduced variants that involve deleting segments/syllables common in spontaneous speech. Alignment must include all phones specified in the pronunciation of a word, and each phone has a minimum duration (by default 10ms). If a speaker pronounces a multisyllabic word with just a single syllable, it can be hard for MFA to fit all the segments in, so it will lead to alignment errors on adjacent words as well.

Ethical considerations#

Deploying any Speech-to-Text model into any production setting has ethical implications. You should consider these implications before use.

Demographic Bias#

You should assume every machine learning model has demographic bias unless proven otherwise. For pronunciation dictionaries, it is often the case that transcription accuracy and lexicon coverage for the prestige variety modeled in this dictionary compared to other variants. If you are using this dictionary in production, you should acknowledge this as a potential issue.

IPA Charts#

Consonants#

Obstruent symbols to the left of are unvoiced and those to the right are voiced.

Manner

Labial

Labiodental

Dental

Alveolar

Alveopalatal

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Nasal
Occurrences:
9,249
Examples:
* mess:
[m ɛ s]
* mike:
[m aj k]
* maine:
[m ej n]
* seems:
[s iː m z]
Occurrences:
1,873
Examples:
* mitch:
[mʲ ɪ tʃ]
* mia:
[mʲ iː ə]
* emits:
[ɪ mʲ ɪ t s]
* amish:
[a mʲ ɪ ʃ]
Occurrences:
10
Examples:
* from:
[f ɹ m̩]
* them:
[m̩]
* him:
[m̩]
* album:
[a ɫ b m̩]
Occurrences:
19,806
Examples:
* been:
[bʲ ɪ n]
* leone:
[ʎ ɪ ə n]
* jones:
[dʒ əw n z]
* nadi:
[n ɑː dʲ i]
Occurrences:
237
Examples:
* open:
[əw p n̩]
* bryan:
[b ɹ aj n̩]
* asian:
[ej ʒ n̩]
* iron:
[aj n̩]
Occurrences:
3,296
Examples:
* niall:
[ɲ iː ɫ]
* kneel:
[ɲ iː ɫ]
* menu:
[m ɛ ɲ ʉː]
* anise:
[ə ɲ iː z]
Occurrences:
3,947
Examples:
* sang:
[s a ŋ]
* skunk:
[s k ɐ ŋ k]
* manga:
[m a ŋ ɡ ə]
* deng:
[d ɛ ŋ]

Stop Plain
Occurrences:
5,471
Examples:
* epoch:
[ɛ p ə k]
* proto:
[p ɹ əw tʰ əw]
* maps:
[m a p s]
* prep:
[p ɹ ɛ p]
Occurrences:
318
Examples:
* puris:
[pʲ ʊ ɹ ɪ s]
* purer:
[pʲ ɒː ɹ ə]
* opium:
[əw pʲ i ə m]
* spied:
[s pʲ iː d]
Occurrences:
4
Examples:
Occurrences:
6,027
Examples:
* burns:
[b ɜː n z]
* botha:
[b əw θ ə]
* sybil:
[s ɪ b ə ɫ]
* bound:
[b aw n d]
Occurrences:
1,170
Examples:
* bix:
[bʲ ɪ k s]
* beet:
[bʲ iː t]
* cabby:
[kʰ a bʲ i]
* jubei:
[dʒ ʉː bʲ iː]
Occurrences:
93
Examples:
* bath:
[b ɑː t̪]
* thing:
[t̪ ɪ ŋ]
* smith:
[s mʲ ɪ t̪]
* ninth:
[n aj n t̪]
Occurrences:
58
Examples:
* this:
[d̪ ɪ s]
* the:
[d̪ iː]
* other:
[ɐ d̪ ə]
Occurrences:
12,350
Examples:
* stow:
[s t əw]
* galt:
[ɡ a ɫ t]
* spots:
[s p ɒ t s]
* nests:
[n ɛ s t s]
Occurrences:
5,666
Examples:
* parti:
[pʰ ɑː tʲ i]
* teel:
[tʲ iː ɫ]
* it'd:
[ɪ tʲ ɪ d]
* witty:
[w ɪ tʲ i]
Occurrences:
58
Examples:
* tweak:
[tʷ iː k]
* twice:
[tʷ aj s]
* twins:
[tʷ ɪ n z]
* twig:
[tʷ ɪ ɡ]
Occurrences:
10,123
Examples:
* jude:
[dʒ ʉː d]
* wolds:
[w əw ɫ d z]
* dyne:
[d aj n]
* damon:
[d a m ə n]
Occurrences:
3,350
Examples:
* duty:
[dʲ ʉː tʲ i]
* dll:
[dʲ iː ɛ ɫ ɛ ɫ]
* ding:
[dʲ ɪ ŋ]
* dinah:
[dʲ iː n ə]
Occurrences:
2,118
Examples:
* skate:
[s c ej t]
* krebs:
[c ɹ ɛ b z]
* clank:
[c ʎ a ŋ k]
* clio:
[c ʎ iː əw]
Occurrences:
180
Examples:
* quint:
[cʷ ɪ n t]
* quill:
[cʷ ɪ ɫ]
* quid:
[cʷ ɪ d]
* quiz:
[cʷ ɪ z]
Occurrences:
916
Examples:
* glib:
[ɟ ʎ ɪ b]
* green:
[ɟ ɹ iː n]
* geese:
[ɟ iː s]
* greed:
[ɟ ɹ i d]
Occurrences:
38
Examples:
* guido:
[ɟʷ iː d əw]
* gwynn:
[ɟʷ ɪ n]
* gwin:
[ɟʷ ɪ n]
* gwen:
[ɟʷ ɛ n]
Occurrences:
7,490
Examples:
* tic:
[tʲ ɪ k]
* yuca:
[j ɐ k ə]
* peake:
[pʰ iː k]
* radix:
[ɹ ej dʲ ɪ k s]
Occurrences:
335
Examples:
* koala:
[kʷ ɑː l ə]
* quite:
[kʷ aj t]
* squad:
[s kʷ ɒ d]
Occurrences:
3,188
Examples:
* gus:
[ɡ ɐ s]
* gecko:
[ɡ ɛ kʰ əw]
* edgar:
[ɛ ɡ ə]
* wigan:
[w ɪ ɡ ə n]
Occurrences:
42
Examples:
* guam:
[ɡʷ ɒ m]
* guo:
[ɡʷ əw]
* guano:
[ɡʷ ɑː n əw]
Occurrences:
439
Examples:
* note:
[n əw ʔ]
* that:
[d̪ a ʔ]
* pot:
[pʰ ɒ ʔ]
* but:
[b ɐ ʔ]

Aspirated
Occurrences:
3,260
Examples:
* pan:
[pʰ a n]
* puppy:
[pʰ ɐ pʲ i]
* epoch:
[iː pʰ ɒ k]
* pith:
[pʰ ɪ θ]
Occurrences:
2,910
Examples:
* tata:
[tʰ ɑː t ə]
* into:
[ɪ n tʰ ʉː]
* detox:
[dʲ iː tʰ ɒ k s]
* thai:
[tʰ aj]
Occurrences:
1,033
Examples:
* kish:
[cʰ ɪ ʃ]
* kei:
[cʰ ej]
* kato:
[cʰ ej tʰ əw]
* ciara:
[cʰ i ə ɹ ə]
Occurrences:
4,304
Examples:
* cad:
[kʰ a d]
* cara:
[kʰ a ɹ ə]
* curls:
[kʰ ɜː ɫ z]
* chaco:
[tʃ a kʰ əw]

Affricate
Occurrences:
1,881
Examples:
* metro:
[m ɛ tʃ ɹ əw]
* cha:
[tʃ ɑː]
* beach:
[bʲ iː tʃ]
* trip:
[tʃ ɹ ɪ p]
Occurrences:
2,764
Examples:
* hajj:
[h ɐ dʒ]
* juror:
[dʒ ʊ ɹ ɒː]
* jays:
[dʒ ej z]
* janus:
[dʒ ej n ə s]

Sibilant
Occurrences:
19,817
Examples:
* venus:
[vʲ iː n ə s]
* fix:
[fʲ ɪ k s]
* sir:
[s ɜː]
* sang:
[s a ŋ]
Occurrences:
9,124
Examples:
* tools:
[tʲ ʉː ɫ z]
* alms:
[ɑː m z]
* lures:
[l ʊ ə z]
* egos:
[iː ɡ əw z]
Occurrences:
3,971
Examples:
* shaky:
[ʃ ej c i]
* tesh:
[tʰ ɛ ʃ]
* smash:
[s m a ʃ]
* pasha:
[pʰ a ʃ ə]
Occurrences:
284
Examples:
* asian:
[ej ʒ ə n]
* gyro:
[ʒ ɪ ɹ əw]
* usury:
[j ʉː ʒ ə ɹ i]
* liege:
[ʎ iː ʒ]

Fricative
Occurrences:
4,216
Examples:
* lofty:
[l ɒ f tʲ i]
* phage:
[f ej dʒ]
* facet:
[f a s ɪ t]
* from:
[f ɹ m̩]
Occurrences:
1,221
Examples:
* finch:
[fʲ ɪ n tʃ]
* fused:
[fʲ ʉː z d]
* fisk:
[fʲ ɪ s k]
* comfy:
[kʰ ɐ m fʲ i]
Occurrences:
3,916
Examples:
* hive:
[h aj v]
* avant:
[a v ə n t]
* cover:
[kʰ ɐ v ə]
* raven:
[ɹ a v ə n]
Occurrences:
334
Examples:
* revue:
[ɹ ə vʲ ʉː]
* chevy:
[tʃ ɛ vʲ i]
* envy:
[ɛ m vʲ i]
* bevy:
[b ɛ vʲ i]
Occurrences:
3
Examples:
Occurrences:
1,322
Examples:
* toth:
[tʰ ɒ θ]
* ether:
[iː θ ə]
* wroth:
[ɹ ɒ θ]
* botha:
[b əw θ ə]
Occurrences:
327
Examples:
* these:
[ð iː z]
* that:
[ð a t]
* them:
[ð ɛ m]
* meath:
[mʲ iː ð]
Occurrences:
539
Examples:
* hill:
[ç ɪ ɫ]
* hip:
[ç ɪ p]
* heiau:
[ç ej aw]
* hilda:
[ç ɪ ɫ d ə]
Occurrences:
2,160
Examples:
* home:
[h əw m]
* hank:
[h a ŋ k]
* huck:
[h ɐ k]
* hajj:
[h ɐ dʒ]

Approximant
Occurrences:
2,423
Examples:
* ewa:
[ɛ w ə]
* what:
[w ɒ t]
* won't:
[w əw n]
* kuala:
[kʰ ə w ɑː l ə]
Occurrences:
15,365
Examples:
* soros:
[s ɒ ɹ ə s]
* dream:
[dʲ ɹ iː m]
* trias:
[t ɹ aj ə s]
* throe:
[θ ɹ əw]
Occurrences:
739
Examples:
* yen:
[j ɛ n]
* yoko:
[j əw kʰ əw]
* yes:
[j ɛ s]
* yams:
[j ɑː m z]

Lateral
Occurrences:
6,683
Examples:
* islam:
[ɪ z l ɑː m]
* plays:
[p l ej z]
* lures:
[l ɜː z]
* bloch:
[b l ɒ k]
Occurrences:
6,421
Examples:
* vogel:
[f əw ɡ ə ɫ]
* malls:
[m ɒː ɫ z]
* sepal:
[s iː p ə ɫ]
* daryl:
[d a ɹ ɪ ɫ]
Occurrences:
245
Examples:
* model:
[m ɒ d ɫ̩]
* metal:
[m ɛ t ɫ̩]
* usual:
[j ʉː ʒ ɫ̩]
* title:
[tʰ aj t ɫ̩]
Occurrences:
4,954
Examples:
* lured:
[ʎ ɜː d]
* tales:
[tʰ ej ʎ iː z]
* godly:
[ɡ ɒ dʲ ʎ i]
* kelly:
[cʰ ɛ ʎ i]

Vowels#

Vowel symbols to the left of are unrounded and those to the right are rounded.

Front

Near-Front

Central

Near-Back

Back

Close
Occurrences:
7,054
Examples:
* carte:
[kʰ ɑː tʲ i]
* dally:
[d a ʎ i]
* mafia:
[m a fʲ i ə]
* weary:
[w ɪ ɹ i]
Occurrences:
4,480
Examples:
* veto:
[vʲ iː tʰ əw]
* legal:
[ʎ iː ɡ ə ɫ]
* each:
[iː tʃ]
* shiva:
[ʃ iː v ə]
Occurrences:
427
Examples:
* lucia:
[l ʉ s iː ə]
* mura:
[m ʉ ɹ ə]
* ruby:
[ɹ ʉ bʲ i]
* bellu:
[b ɛ ʎ ʉ]
Occurrences:
3,194
Examples:
* luc:
[l ʉː k]
* pubic:
[pʲ ʉː bʲ ɪ k]
* tudo:
[tʲ ʉː d əw]
* wuhan:
[w ʉː h ɑː n]
Occurrences:
25,536
Examples:
* clink:
[c ʎ ɪ ŋ k]
* digby:
[dʲ ɪ ɟ bʲ i]
* runic:
[ɹ ʉː ɲ ɪ k]
* akins:
[ə c ɪ n z]
Occurrences:
1,612
Examples:
* urea:
[j ʊ ɹ ɪ ə]
* bush:
[b ʊ ʃ]
* jury:
[dʒ ʊ ɹ i]
* bosom:
[b ʊ z ə m]

Close-Mid
Occurrences:
1
Examples:
Occurrences:
6,098
Examples:
* ages:
[ej dʒ ɪ z]
* ssh:
[ɛ s ɛ s ej tʃ]
* phage:
[f ej dʒ]
* brady:
[b ɹ ej dʲ i]
Occurrences:
31,193
Examples:
* evil:
[iː v ə ɫ]
* atoms:
[a t ə m z]
* idly:
[aj d ə ʎ i]
* noda:
[n əw d ə]

Open-Mid
Occurrences:
9,111
Examples:
* fled:
[f l ɛ d]
* fred:
[f ɹ ɛ d]
* mezzo:
[m ɛ d z əw]
* teres:
[tʰ ɛ ɹ ə z]
Occurrences:
678
Examples:
* yea:
[j ɛː]
* stair:
[s t ɛː]
* vary:
[v ɛː ɹ i]
* their:
[d̪ ɛː]
Occurrences:
95
Examples:
* viera:
[vʲ iː ɜ ɹ ə]
* burj:
[b ɜ dʒ]
* herzl:
[h ɜ t s ə ɫ]
* turku:
[tʰ ɜ k ʉː]
Occurrences:
2,051
Examples:
* germ:
[dʒ ɜː m]
* adieu:
[ə dʲ ɜː]
* dirks:
[d ɜː k s]
* birch:
[b ɜː tʃ]
Occurrences:
3,822
Examples:
* cuts:
[kʰ ɐ t s]
* hub:
[h ɐ b]
* burgh:
[b ɐ ɹ ə]
* dux:
[d ɐ k s]

Open
Occurrences:
8,314
Examples:
* handy:
[h a n dʲ i]
* sass:
[s a s]
* zatch:
[z a tʃ]
* barry:
[b a ɹ i]
Occurrences:
314
Examples:
* murad:
[m ʊ ɹ ɑ d]
* malak:
[m ɑ l a k]
* park:
[pʰ ɑ k]
* asean:
[a z i ɑ n]
Occurrences:
3,321
Examples:
* flask:
[f l ɑː s k]
* dalek:
[d ɑː l ɛ k]
* argot:
[ɑː ɡ əw]
* hari:
[h ɑː ɹ i]
Occurrences:
5,692
Examples:
* moxon:
[m ɒ k s ə n]
* frock:
[f ɹ ɒ k]
* bahia:
[b ɒ iː ə]
* offs:
[ɒ f s]
Occurrences:
3,250
Examples:
* gaunt:
[ɡ ɒː n t]
* ores:
[ɒː z]
* maude:
[m ɒː d]
* tall:
[tʰ ɒː ɫ]

Diphthongs#

  • aj

  • aw

  • ej

  • ɔj

  • əw

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