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The 44 sounds of English

How to pronounce the OY sound /ɔɪ/

/ɔɪ/ is a diphthong — a vowel that glides, moving back-rounded to front (glide). Start on the rounded 'aw' of 'thought', lips pushed forward. Glide the tongue up and forward toward the 'ee' of 'see'.

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Articulation

How to make it

  1. 1Start on the rounded 'aw' of 'thought', lips pushed forward.
  2. 2Glide the tongue up and forward toward the 'ee' of 'see'.
  3. 3Let the lips unround as you move — the change in lip shape is half the sound.
  4. 4Keep both halves audible; this diphthong travels further than any other in English.
In the mouth
Lips
Start firmly rounded, then spread.
Tongue
Starts back and mid-low, glides up and forward.
Jaw
Starts open, closes through the glide.
Tongue and lips

Feel it

Put a hand flat on your throat and say the sound. It should buzz under your fingers from the very start — if the buzz only arrives with the vowel, you are making the voiceless version.
In real words

Where the sound appears

At the start
In the middle
At the end
In a sentence

Keeping it through a whole line

  • The boy enjoyed the noise of the oily toy train.

  • Avoid the point where the voices join.

Hear the difference

Minimal pairs to drill

Each of these is two words separated by exactly one sound. If a listener hears the wrong one, the problem is the contrast, not the effort.

boil vs bile

/bɔɪl/ · /baɪl/

oil vs aisle

/ɔɪl/ · /aɪl/

toy vs tie

/tɔɪ/ · /taɪ/

boy vs buy

/bɔɪ/ · /baɪ/

Transfer

If your first language is…

Nothing here is about ability. Every one of these is a sound system doing exactly what it was built to do, applied to a language that asks for something else.

  • HindiUrdu

    Hindi and Urdu have an oy-type vowel, so it transfers reasonably well.

  • Mandarin

    Mandarin has no ɔɪ diphthong, so it is usually assembled from two separate pieces.

  • Japanese

    Japanese has an o plus i sequence, so the sound is available but can split into two syllables.

  • Korean

    Korean has an oi glide, so it transfers reasonably well.

  • Vietnamese

    Vietnamese has an oi diphthong, so it transfers well.

  • Spanish

    Spanish has an oi sequence, so this transfers well; the English first half is lower and more open.

  • French

    French has no ɔɪ diphthong, so it can be produced as two separate vowels.

  • German

    German has an oy diphthong in 'neu', so it transfers well.

  • Italian

    Italian has an oi sequence, so it transfers, with both halves given full value.

  • Russian

    Russian has an o plus y sequence, so the glide is available.

  • Arabic

    Arabic has no oy diphthong in most varieties, so it is built from two vowels.

  • Turkish

    Turkish has no true diphthongs, so the two halves are produced separately.

Questions

Straight answers

Is /ɔɪ/ voiced or voiceless?

It is voiced. Put a hand on your throat and say it: you should feel a buzz the whole time. All English vowels are voiced, so the question only really separates the consonants.

What words start with the OY sound?

Common ones include oil, oyster. In the middle of a word you get boy, point, noise, and at the end toy, enjoy, destroy. Every one of those links to its own pronunciation page here.

How is /ɔɪ/ spelled in English?

It is written "oi", "oy". English spelling and English sound came apart centuries ago, so the same sound turns up under several spellings and the same spelling carries several sounds — which is why the sound, not the letter, is the thing to learn.

Why do Hindi & Urdu speakers find /ɔɪ/ hard?

Hindi and Urdu have an oy-type vowel, so it transfers reasonably well.

Practise this word

Record the OY sound and see if it landed

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