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English (US) MFA dictionary v2.0.0#

  • Maintainer: Montreal Forced Aligner

  • Language: English

  • Dialect: General American English

  • Phone set: MFA

  • Number of words: 79,107

  • Phones: aj aw b bʲ c cʰ d dʒ dʲ ej f fʲ h i iː j k kʰ l m mʲ m̩ n n̩ ow p pʰ pʲ s t tʃ tʰ tʲ v vʲ w z æ ç ð ŋ ɐ ɑ ɑː ɒ ɒː ɔj ə ɚ ɛ ɝ ɟ ɡ ɪ ɫ ɫ̩ ɱ ɲ ɹ ɾ ʃ ʉ ʉː ʊ ʎ ʒ ʔ θ

  • License: CC BY 4.0

  • Compatible MFA version: v2.0.0

  • Citation:

@techreport{mfa_english_us_mfa_dictionary_2022,
	author={McAuliffe, Michael and Sonderegger, Morgan},
	title={English (US) MFA dictionary v2.0.0},
	address={\url{https://mfa-models.readthedocs.io/pronunciation dictionary/English/English (US) MFA dictionary v2_0_0.html}},
	year={2022},
	month={Mar},
}

G2P models
../../_images/full_logo_yellow.svg

Installation#

Install from the MFA command line:

mfa model download dictionary english_us_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.

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:
17,463
Examples:
* timer:
[tʰ aj m ɚ]
* mail:
[m ej ɫ]
* among:
[ə m ɐ ŋ]
* boom:
[b ʉ m]
Occurrences:
979
Examples:
* mien:
[mʲ iː n]
* marmy:
[m ɑ ɹ mʲ i]
* rummy:
[ɹ ɐ mʲ i]
* gormy:
[ɡ ɒ ɹ mʲ i]
Occurrences:
1,511
Examples:
* annum:
[æ n m̩]
* golem:
[ɡ ow l m̩]
* hmmm:
[h m̩]
* him:
[h m̩]
Occurrences:
1,090
Examples:
* infer:
[ɪ ɱ f ɝ]
* comfy:
[kʰ ɐ ɱ fʲ i]
* envoy:
[ɑ ɱ v ɔj]
* senvy:
[s ɛ ɱ vʲ i]
Occurrences:
29,440
Examples:
* yan:
[j æ n]
* yarns:
[j ɑ ɹ n z]
* downe:
[d aw n]
* towne:
[tʰ aw n]
Occurrences:
3,799
Examples:
* aspen:
[æ s p n̩]
* semen:
[s iː m n̩]
* taken:
[tʰ ej k n̩]
* token:
[tʰ ow k n̩]
Occurrences:
7,059
Examples:
* naiad:
[ɲ ej æ d]
* nim:
[ɲ ɪ m]
* nah:
[ɲ æ]
* genin:
[dʒ ɛ ɲ ɪ n]
Occurrences:
7,253
Examples:
* among:
[ə m ɐ ŋ]
* pang:
[pʰ æ ŋ]
* crunk:
[k ɹ ɐ ŋ k]
* kang:
[kʰ ɑ ŋ]

Stop
Occurrences:
10,065
Examples:
* stipe:
[s t aj p]
* tape:
[tʰ ej p]
* cup:
[kʰ ɐ p]
* provo:
[p ɹ ow v ow]
Occurrences:
13,001
Examples:
* robed:
[ɹ ow b d]
* boom:
[b ʉ m]
* abase:
[ə b ej s]
* curb:
[kʰ ɝ b]
Occurrences:
23,170
Examples:
* stipe:
[s t aj p]
* smut:
[s m ɐ t]
* clit:
[c ʎ ɪ t]
* eked:
[iː k t]
Occurrences:
18,747
Examples:
* robed:
[ɹ ow b d]
* downe:
[d aw n]
* naiad:
[n aj æ d]
* radar:
[ɹ ej d ɑ ɹ]
Occurrences:
4,389
Examples:
* clit:
[c ʎ ɪ t]
* leaky:
[ʎ iː c i]
* klang:
[c ʎ æ ŋ]
* crain:
[c ɹ ej n]
Occurrences:
2,931
Examples:
* foggy:
[f ɑ ɟ i]
* ge'ez:
[ɟ iː ɛ z]
* glatt:
[ɟ ʎ æ t]
* digby:
[d ɪ ɟ bʲ i]
Occurrences:
14,457
Examples:
* yerk:
[j ɝ k]
* eked:
[iː k t]
* krook:
[k ɹ ʊ k]
* obex:
[ow b ɛ k s]
Occurrences:
5,085
Examples:
* gafia:
[ɡ æ fʲ i ə]
* gum:
[ɡ ɐ m]
* fargo:
[f ɑ ɹ ɡ ow]
* goats:
[ɡ ow t s]
Occurrences:
1,282
Examples:
* smut:
[s m ɐ ʔ]
* visit:
[v ɪ z ɪ ʔ]
* hmmm:
[ʔ m̩]
* bert:
[b ɝ ʔ]

Affricate
Occurrences:
3,230
Examples:
* oroch:
[ɒː ɹ ɒ tʃ]
* itch:
[ɪ tʃ]
* birch:
[b ɝ tʃ]
* chafe:
[tʃ ej f]
Occurrences:
4,938
Examples:
* jorge:
[dʒ ɒ ɹ dʒ]
* podgy:
[pʰ ɑ dʒ i]
* gwas:
[dʒ i w ɑ s]
* joab:
[dʒ ow æ b]

Sibilant
Occurrences:
36,172
Examples:
* sir:
[s ɝ]
* sophy:
[s ow fʲ i]
* stipe:
[s t aj p]
* abase:
[ə b ej s]
Occurrences:
15,465
Examples:
* yarns:
[j ɑ ɹ n z]
* raze:
[ɹ ej z]
* visit:
[v ɪ z ɪ t]
* exist:
[ɪ ɡ z ɪ s t]
Occurrences:
6,752
Examples:
* shea:
[ʃ ej]
* shmoo:
[ʃ m ʉː]
* shunt:
[ʃ ɐ n t]
* frush:
[f ɹ ɐ ʃ]
Occurrences:
551
Examples:
* zhe:
[ʒ iː]
* liege:
[ʎ iː ʒ]
* uzhe:
[j ʉː ʒ]
* taj:
[tʰ ɑ ʒ]

Fricative
Occurrences:
9,599
Examples:
* fargo:
[f ɑ ɹ ɡ ow]
* infer:
[ɪ ɱ f ɝ]
* reefs:
[ɹ iː f s]
* foggy:
[f ɑ ɟ i]
Occurrences:
688
Examples:
* sophy:
[s ow fʲ i]
* gafia:
[ɡ æ fʲ i ə]
* fees:
[fʲ iː z]
* fusil:
[fʲ ʉː z ɪ ɫ]
Occurrences:
6,907
Examples:
* wolve:
[w ʊ ɫ v]
* visit:
[v ɪ z ɪ t]
* provo:
[p ɹ ow v ow]
* levee:
[l ə v ej]
Occurrences:
437
Examples:
* levee:
[l ə vʲ i]
* livy:
[ʎ ɪ vʲ i]
* privy:
[p ɹ ɪ vʲ i]
* davie:
[d ej vʲ i]
Occurrences:
2,506
Examples:
* thro:
[θ ɹ ow]
* thru:
[θ ɹ ʉ]
* thick:
[θ ɪ k]
* saith:
[s ej ə θ]
Occurrences:
633
Examples:
* other:
[ɐ ð ɚ]
* with:
[w ɪ ð]
* dhikr:
[ð i k ɹ]
* theys:
[ð ej z]
Occurrences:
924
Examples:
* jorge:
[h ɒ ɹ ç ej]
* him:
[ç ɪ m]
* hayat:
[ç ej ɑ t]
* huron:
[ç ɝ ɑ n]
Occurrences:
3,736
Examples:
* jorge:
[h ɒ ɹ ç ej]
* toho:
[tʰ ow h ow]
* hal:
[h æ ɫ]
* hmmm:
[h m̩]

Approximant
Occurrences:
5,661
Examples:
* wolve:
[w ʊ ɫ v]
* iwar:
[aj w ɒ ɹ]
* kauai:
[kʰ ə w aj iː]
* gwas:
[dʒ i w ɑ s]
Occurrences:
35,096
Examples:
* robed:
[ɹ ow b d]
* jorge:
[dʒ ɒ ɹ dʒ]
* awry:
[ə ɹ aj]
* yarns:
[j ɑ ɹ n z]
Occurrences:
1,188
Examples:
* yan:
[j æ n]
* yarns:
[j ɑ ɹ n z]
* yerk:
[j ɝ k]
* yeast:
[j iː s t]

Tap
Occurrences:
10,275
Examples:
* radar:
[ɹ ej ɾ ɚ]
* maddy:
[m æ ɾ i]
* part:
[pʰ ɑ ɹ ɾ]
* cital:
[s aj ɾ ɫ̩]

Lateral
Occurrences:
12,159
Examples:
* leila:
[l aj l ə]
* glegg:
[ɡ l ɛ ɡ]
* sola:
[s ow l ə]
* levee:
[l ə v ej]
Occurrences:
6,181
Examples:
* mail:
[m ej ɫ]
* towel:
[tʰ aw ɫ]
* wolve:
[w ʊ ɫ v]
* guirl:
[ɡ ɝ ɫ]
Occurrences:
4,993
Examples:
* towel:
[tʰ aw ɫ̩]
* cital:
[s aj ɾ ɫ̩]
* bagel:
[b ej ɡ ɫ̩]
* kabul:
[kʰ ɑː b ɫ̩]
Occurrences:
9,688
Examples:
* telly:
[tʰ ɛ ʎ i]
* leila:
[ʎ iː l ə]
* clit:
[c ʎ ɪ t]
* leaky:
[ʎ iː c 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:
16,484
Examples:
* sophy:
[s ow fʲ i]
* telly:
[tʰ ɛ ʎ i]
* podgy:
[pʰ ɑ dʒ i]
* gafia:
[ɡ æ fʲ i ə]
Occurrences:
6,275
Examples:
* leila:
[ʎ iː l ə]
* eked:
[iː k t]
* mien:
[mʲ iː n]
* kauai:
[kʰ ə w aj iː]
Occurrences:
2,353
Examples:
* boom:
[b ʉ m]
* lewd:
[ʎ ʉ d]
* thru:
[θ ɹ ʉ]
* kunes:
[cʰ ʉ n z]
Occurrences:
4,564
Examples:
* goops:
[ɡ ʉː p s]
* moods:
[m ʉː d z]
* grew:
[ɡ ɹ ʉː]
* shmoo:
[ʃ m ʉː]
Occurrences:
43,918
Examples:
* clit:
[c ʎ ɪ t]
* visit:
[v ɪ z ɪ t]
* shea:
[ʃ ɪ ə]
* nim:
[ɲ ɪ m]
Occurrences:
2,532
Examples:
* wolve:
[w ʊ ɫ v]
* bourn:
[b ʊ ɹ n]
* krook:
[k ɹ ʊ k]
* stood:
[s t ʊ d]

Close-Mid
Occurrences:
11,362
Examples:
* epee:
[ej pʰ ej]
* mail:
[m ej ɫ]
* jorge:
[h ɒ ɹ ç ej]
* abase:
[ə b ej s]
Occurrences:
10,115
Examples:
* robed:
[ɹ ow b d]
* sophy:
[s ow fʲ i]
* toho:
[tʰ ow h ow]
* fargo:
[f ɑ ɹ ɡ ow]
Occurrences:
36,789
Examples:
* among:
[ə m ɐ ŋ]
* awry:
[ə ɹ aj]
* abase:
[ə b ej s]
* leila:
[l aj l ə]
Occurrences:
9,416
Examples:
* timer:
[tʰ aj m ɚ]
* radar:
[ɹ ej ɾ ɚ]
* borer:
[b ɒː ɹ ɚ]
* tamer:
[tʰ ej m ɚ]

Open-Mid
Occurrences:
18,685
Examples:
* epee:
[ɛ pʰ ej]
* yan:
[j ɛ n]
* telly:
[tʰ ɛ ʎ i]
* glegg:
[ɡ l ɛ ɡ]
Occurrences:
3,470
Examples:
* sir:
[s ɝ]
* yerk:
[j ɝ k]
* curb:
[kʰ ɝ b]
* infer:
[ɪ ɱ f ɝ]
Occurrences:
15,937
Examples:
* yan:
[j æ n]
* pang:
[pʰ æ ŋ]
* gafia:
[ɡ æ fʲ i ə]
* naiad:
[n aj æ d]
Occurrences:
7,321
Examples:
* among:
[ə m ɐ ŋ]
* smut:
[s m ɐ t]
* gum:
[ɡ ɐ m]
* cup:
[kʰ ɐ p]

Open
Occurrences:
10,815
Examples:
* yarns:
[j ɑ ɹ n z]
* podgy:
[pʰ ɑ dʒ i]
* gafia:
[ɡ ɑ fʲ i ə]
* fargo:
[f ɑ ɹ ɡ ow]
Occurrences:
1,919
Examples:
* calas:
[kʰ ə l ɑː]
* nah:
[n ɑː]
* mach:
[m ɑː k]
* kabul:
[kʰ ɑː b ɫ̩]
Occurrences:
5,574
Examples:
* jorge:
[dʒ ɒ ɹ dʒ]
* iwar:
[aj w ɒ ɹ]
* bourn:
[b ɒ ɹ n]
* oroch:
[ɒː ɹ ɒ tʃ]
Occurrences:
1,369
Examples:
* oroch:
[ɒː ɹ ɒ tʃ]
* borer:
[b ɒː ɹ ɚ]
* paulo:
[pʰ ɒː l ow]
* tau:
[tʰ ɒː]

Diphthongs#

  • aj

  • aw

  • ej

  • ow

  • ɔj

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