Dutch Phonemes

This chart provides a comprehensive reference for the phonemes used in Dutch (Netherlands) – nl-NL, shown in both IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) and X-SAMPA notation. Each entry includes the phoneme symbol, an example word, and its full transcription in both systems.

Dutch phonology features a rich inventory of vowels—including tense, lax, and diphthongal forms—as well as fricatives, voiced and voiceless plosives, and distinctive rhotics and velar sounds. This chart captures all essential phonemes used in Standard Dutch, making it useful for learners, linguists, speech technologists, and educators. A reference for stress markers and syllable boundaries is included at the end.

Dutch (Netherlands) – nl-NL

X-SAMPA	IPA	Example Word	X-SAMPA Transcription	IPA Transcription
Z	ʒ	gelei	Z@"lEI	ʒəˈlɛɪ
b	b	boer	"bu4	ˈbuɾ
x	x	mechanisme	me:xA:"nIsm@	meːxɑːˈnɪsmə
d	d	dag	"dAx	ˈdɑx
f	f	faam	"fA:m	ˈfɑːm
g	g	goal	"go:l	ˈgoːl
h\	ɦ	hout	"h\Vut	ˈɦʌut
j	j	jaag	"jA:x	ˈjɑːx
k	k	kaak	"kA:k	ˈkɑːk
l	l	laag	"lA:x	ˈlɑːx
m	m	mag	"mAx	ˈmɑx
n	n	naad	"nA:t	ˈnɑːt
N	ŋ	eng	"EN	ˈɛŋ
p	p	praat	"p4A:t	ˈpɾɑːt
r	ɾ	roer	"4u4	ˈɾuɾ
s	s	samen	"sA:m@	ˈsɑːmə
S	ʃ	shock	"SOk	ˈʃɔk
t	t	tussen	"tYs@	ˈtʏsə
v	v	vaak	"vA:k	ˈvɑːk
v\	ʋ	waan	v\A:n	ˈʋɑːn
z	z	zee	"ze:	ˈzeː
@	ə	dagen	"dA:x@	ˈdɑːxə
A	ɑ	dag	"dAx	ˈdɑx
A:	ɑː	dagen	"dA:x@	ˈdɑːxə
E	ɛ	eb	"Ep	ˈɛp
e:	eː	één	"e:n	ˈeːn
2:	øː	beu	"b2:	ˈbøː
E:	ɛː	fair / serre	"fE:r\ / "sE:4@	ˈfɛːɹ / sɛːɾə
I	ɪ	ik	"Ik	ˈɪk
i	i	iel	"il	ˈil
EI	ɛɪ	ijdel	"EId@l	ˈɛɪdəl
O	ɔ	of	"Of	ˈɔf
O:	ɔː	naadloos	"nA:tlO:s	ˈnɑːtlɔːs
u	u	koek	"kuk	ˈkuk
Vu	ʌu	hout / rauw	"4Vu / "h\Vut	ˈɾʌu / ˈɦʌut
o:	oː	controle	kOn"t4o:l@	kɔnˈtɾoːlə
Y	ʏ	urn	"Y4n	ˈʏɾn
y	y	uur	"y4	ˈyɾ
9Y	œʏ	ui	"9Y	œʏ

Stress Symbols

Function	IPA	X-SAMPA
Primary stress	ˈ	"
Syllable boundary	.	.