Shortest sentence with every phonetic sound from the IPA English alphabet?

Question

I'm looking for a sentence that demonstrates the IPA phonetic alphabet in the same way that "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG" does for the standard English alphabet.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

You are not going to be able to find a single sentence; there are too many phonemes. A little internet research indicates that these have most/all of them:

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

There was once a poor shepherd boy who used to watch his flocks in the fields next to a dark forest near the foot of a mountain. One hot afternoon, he thought up a good plan to get some company for himself and also have a little fun. Raising his fist in the air, he ran down to the village shouting "Wolf, Wolf." As soon as they heard him, the villagers all rushed from their homes, full of concern for his safety, and two of his cousins even stayed with him for a short while. This gave the boy so much pleasure that a few days later he tried exactly the same trick again, and once more he was successful. However, not long after, a wolf that had just escaped from the zoo was looking for a change from its usual diet of chicken and duck. So, overcoming its fear of being shot, it actually did come out from the forest and began to threaten the sheep. Racing down to the village, the boy of course cried out even louder than before. Unfortunately, as all the villagers were convinced that he was trying to fool them a third time, they told him, "Go away and don’t bother us again." And so the wolf had a feast.

The Tiger and the Mouse

A tiger and a mouse were walking in a field when they saw a big lump of cheese lying on the ground.
The mouse said: "Please, tiger, let me have it. You don't even like cheese. Be kind and find something else to eat." But the tiger put his paw on the cheese and said: "It's mine! And if you don't go I'll eat you too." The mouse was very sad and went away.
The tiger tried to swallow all of the cheese at once but it got stuck in his throat and whatever he tried to do he could not move it.
After a while, a dog came along and the tiger asked it for help. "There is nothing I can do." said the dog and continued on his way. Then, a frog hopped along and the tiger asked it for help. "There is nothing I can do." said the frog and hopped away.
Finally, the tiger went to where the mouse lived. She lay in her bed in a hole which she had dug in the ground. "Please help me," said the tiger. "The cheese is stuck in my throat and I cannot remove it."
"You are a very bad animal," said the mouse. "You wouldn't let me have the cheese, but I'll help you nonetheless. Open your mouth and let me jump in. I'll nibble at the cheese until it is small enough to fall down your throat."
The tiger opened his mouth, the mouse jumped in and began nibbling at the cheese. The tiger thought:
"I really am very hungry.."

More info here: http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/gibbon/Docs/TheTigerAndTheMouse.html

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous I'm looking for a sentence that demonstrates the IPA phonetic alphabet in the same way that "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG" does for the standard English alphabet.

Not a single sentence, but three not-quite-sentences, and just for the vowels:

Lake, leaf, pine cone, cool brown soil. (tense vowels, diphthongs)
Fat pet pig got drunk, took walk. (lax vowels)
Sharp thorns tear poor deer's fur. (R-colored vowels)

/le?k li:f pa?n ko?n ku:l bra?n s??l /
/fæt p?t p?g gat dr?nk t?k w?k/
/?arp ??rnz t?r p?r dirz f?r/

Some consonants are missing, but you might find a way of modifying these to include the missing ones.

These are what you need for American English. I can't speak for British English.

CJ

Shortest sentence with every phonetic sound from the IPA English alphabet?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬