The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. It is intended as a notational standard for the phonemic and phonetic representation of all spoken languages. Phonetic transcription (or phonetic notation) is the visual system of symbolization of the sounds occurring in spoken human language. ... Within phonetics, a phone is a speech sound or gesture considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ...

For a treatment of the English language using the IPA, see International Phonetic Alphabet for English; for a brief chart, see IPA chart for English. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet as used for English. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ...

The International Phonetic Alphabet.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1275x1650, 166 KB) Summary The full IPA chart, including labiodental flap adopted in 2005 and (in grey) some ad hoc symbols found in the literature. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1275x1650, 166 KB) Summary The full IPA chart, including labiodental flap adopted in 2005 and (in grey) some ad hoc symbols found in the literature. ...

History

Main article: History of the International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet is a system used for describing the sounds of spoken language. ...

Description

The general principle of the IPA is to provide a separate symbol for each speech segment, avoiding letter combinations (digraphs) such as sh and th in English orthography, and avoiding ambiguity such as that of c in English. In linguistics (and phonetics), segment is used primarily “to refer to any discrete unit that can be identified, either physically or auditorily, in the stream of speech” (after A Dictionary of Linguistics & Phonetics, David Crystal, 2003, pp. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Sh is a digraph in the Roman alphabet. ... Th is a digraph in the Roman alphabet. ... English spelling (or orthography), although largely phonemic, has more complicated rules than many other spelling systems used by languages written in alphabetic scripts. ... C (lowercase c) is the third letter of the Roman alphabet. ...

The principle of formation

The IPA is what MacMahon (1996) has termed a "selective" phonetic alphabet. It aims to provide a separate symbol for every contrastive (that is, phonemic) sound occurring in human language. For instance, a flap and a tap are two different articulations, but since no language has (yet) been found to make a phonemic distinction between them, the IPA does not provide them with dedicated symbols. Instead, it provides a single symbol, ɾ, that covers both. For non-contrastive (that is, phonetic or subphonemic) details of these sounds, the IPA relies on diacritics, which are optional. Thus there is a certain level of flexibility in representing a language with the IPA. In spoken language, a phoneme is a basic, theoretical unit of sound that can distinguish words (i. ... In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another. ... Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a custom voice mailbox for the purpose of receiving all incoming voice messages as actual transcribed text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS... A diacritical mark or diacritic, sometimes called an accent mark, is a mark added to a letter to alter a words pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. ...

Principles behind the symbols

The letters chosen for the IPA are generally drawn from the Latin and Greek alphabets, or are modifications of Latin or Greek letters. There are also a few letters derived from Latin punctuation, such as the glottal stop ʔ (originally an apostrophe, but later given the form of a "gelded" question mark to have the visual impact of the other consonants), and one, ʕ, although Latin in form, was inspired by Arabic letter <ﻉ> ghain. On the other hand, the original Latin-derived symbols for the clicks have been abandoned in favor of iconic Khoisanist symbols such as ǁ. The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... An apostrophe An apostrophe (French, from the Greek αποστροφος προσωδια, the accent of elision) ( ’ ) is a punctuation and sometimes diacritic mark in languages written in the Latin alphabet. ... Opening (inverted) and closing question marks A question mark (or, less commonly, an interrogation point or eroteme) is a punctuation mark that replaces the period at the end of an interrogative sentence. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing in the Arabic language. ... Clicks are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. ... Map showing the distribution of the Khoi-San languages. ...

The sound-values of the consonants taken from the Latin alphabet correspond to usage in French and Italian, and are close to those of most other European languages as well: [b], [d], [f], (hard) [ɡ], [l], [m], [n], [p], (unvoiced) [s], [t], [v], [z]. English values are used for [h], [k], and [w]. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ...

The vowels from the Latin alphabet ([a], [e], [i], [o], [u]) correspond to the vowels of Spanish and are similar to Italian. [i] is like the vowel in piece, [u] like rule, etc. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-18, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

The other symbols from the Latin alphabet, [c], [j], [q], [r], [x], and [y], correspond to sounds these letters represent in various other languages. [j] has the Slavic and Germanic value of <j>, that of English y in yoke; [y] has the Scandinavian and Old English value: Finnish y, German y or ü, French u, Dutch u. The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ...

Letters that share a particular modification sometimes correspond to a similar type of sound. For example, all the retroflex consonants have the same symbol as the equivalent alveolar consonant, with the addition of a rightward facing hook at the bottom. Although there is some correspondence between modified letters, generally the IPA symbols do not have a systematic featural relationship between shape and articulation. For instance, there is not a consistent relationship between lowercase letters and their small capital counterparts, nor are all labial consonants linked through a common design. Sub-apical retroflex plosive In phonetics, retroflex consonants are consonant sounds used in some languages. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips (bilabial articulation) or with the lower lip and the upper teeth (labiodental articulation). ...

Diacritic marks can be combined with IPA letters to transcribe modified phonetic values or secondary articulations. There are also special symbols for suprasegmental features such as stress and tone. A diacritic mark or accent mark is an additional mark added to a basic letter. ... Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a custom voice mailbox for the purpose of receiving all incoming voice messages as actual transcribed text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS... Secondary articulation refers to co-articulated consonants (consonants produced simultaneously at two places of articulation) where the two articulations are not of the same manner. ... In linguistics, prosody refers to intonation and vocal stress in speech. ... In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis given to certain syllables in a word. ... This article or section uses Ruby annotation. ...

Types of transcriptions

The International Phonetic Association recommends that a phonetic transcription should be enclosed in square brackets "[ ]". A transcription that specifically denotes only phonological contrasts may be enclosed in slashes "/ /" instead. If one is in doubt, it is best to use brackets, for by setting off a transcription with slashes one makes a theoretical claim that every symbol within is phonemically contrastive for the language being transcribed. The International Phonetic Association // (abbr. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Various brackets in Arial See parenthesis for an account of the rhetorical concept from which the name of the punctuation mark is derived. ... Phonology (Greek phone = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics closely associated with phonetics. ... A solidus, oblique or slash, /, is a punctuation mark. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ...

Phonetic transcriptions try to objectively capture the actual pronunciation of a word, whereas phonemic transcriptions are model dependent. For example, Noam Chomsky transcribed the English word night phonemically as /nixt/. In his model, the phoneme /x/ is often silent, but shows its presence by “lengthening” the preceding vowel. The preceding vowel in this case is the phoneme /i/, which is pronounced [aj] when long. So phonemic /nixt/ is equivalent to phonetic [najt], but only if you share Chomsky's belief that historical sounds such as the gh in night may remain in a word long after they have ceased to be pronounced. Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...

For phonetic transcriptions, there is flexibility in how closely sounds may be transcribed. A transcription that gives only a basic idea of the sounds of a language in the broadest terms is called a "broad transcription"; in some cases this may be equivalent to a phonemic transcription (only without any theoretical claims). A close transcription, indicating precise details of the sounds, is called a "narrow transcription". These are not binary choices, but the ends of a continuum, with many possibilities in between. All are enclosed in brackets.

For example, in some dialects the English word pretzel in a narrow transcription would be [ˈpʰɹ̥ʷɛʔt.sɫ̩], which notes several phonetic features that may not be evident even to a native speaker. An example of a broader transcription is [ˈpʰɹɛt.sɫ̩], which only indicates some of the easier to hear features. A yet broader transcription would be [ˈpɹɛtsl]. Here every symbol represents an unambiguous speech sound, but without making any claims as to their status in the language.

There are also several possibilities in how to transcribe this word phonemically, but here the differences are not of precision, but of analysis. For example, pretzel could be /ˈprɛtsl/ or /ˈpretsəl/. The special symbol for English r is not used, for it is not meaningful to distinguish it from a rolled r. The differences in the letter e reflect claims as to what the essential difference is between the vowels of pretzel and pray; there are half a dozen ideas in the literature as to what this may be. The second transcription claims that there are two vowels in the word, even if they can't both be heard, while the first claims there is only one.

Occasionally a transcription will be enclosed in pipes ("| |"). This goes beyond phonology into morphological analysis. For example, the words pets and beds could be transcribed phonetically as [pʰɛʔts] and [b̥ɛdz] (in a fairly narrow transcription), and phonemically as /pets/ and /bedz/. Because /s/ and /z/ are separate phonemes in English (unlike Spanish, for example), they receive separate symbols in the phonemic analysis. However, you probably recognize that underneath this, they represent the same plural ending. This can be indicated with the pipe notation. If you believe the plural ending is essentially an s, as English spelling would suggest, the words can be transcribed |pets| and |beds|. If, as most linguists would probably suggest, it is essentially a z, these would be |petz| and |bedz|. Look up pipe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Morphology is a subdiscipline of linguistics that studies word structure. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ...

To avoid confusion with IPA symbols, it may be desirable to specify when native orthography is being used, so that, for example, the English word jet is not read as "yet". This is done with angle brackets or chevrons: 〈jet〉. It is also common to italicize such words, but the chevrons indicate specifically that they are in the original language's orthography, and not in English transliteration. Various brackets in Arial See parenthesis for an account of the rhetorical concept from which the name of the punctuation mark is derived. ... Transliteration in a narrow sense is a mapping from one system of writing into another. ...

The Extended IPA for speech pathology has added additional bracket notations. Parentheses are used to indicate mouthing (silent articulation), as in (ʃːː) (a silent sign to hush); parentheses are also used to indicate silent pauses, for example: (...). Double parentheses indicate obscured or unintelligible sound, as in ((2 syll.)) (two audible but unidentifiable syllables). Curly brackets are used to mark prosodic notation, such as [{_falsetto hɛlp _falsetto}]. Speech pathology, also termed speech-language pathology and speech & language therapy (SLT, mainly in the UK) is the study of disorders that affect a persons speech, language and swallowing. ...

Consonants (pulmonic)

Single articulation

Closeup of the main pulmonic consonant section of the IPA chart

The pulmonic consonant table, which includes most consonants, is arranged in rows that designate manner of articulation and columns that designate place of articulation. The main chart only includes consonants with a single place of articulation. This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... In speech there are different ways of producing a consonant. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ...

Notes: Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips (bilabial articulation) or with the lower lip and the upper teeth (labiodental articulation). ... Coronal consonants are articulated with the flexible front part of the tongue. ... Dorsal consonants are articulated with the back of the tongue against either the hard palate, or the flexible velum just behind it, or even against the uvula. ... Radical consonants are articulated with the root (base) of the tongue in the throat. ... In speech there are different ways of producing a consonant. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Sub-apical retroflex plosive In phonetics, retroflex consonants are consonant sounds used in some languages. ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. ... A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx. ... An epiglottal consonant is a consonant that is articulated with the epiglottis against the back of the pharynx. ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... The bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The labiodental nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The retroflex nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The uvular nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless labiodental plosive is a consonant sound produced like a [p], but with the lower lip contacting the upper teeth, as in [f]. This can be represented in the IPA as . ... The voiced labiodental plosive is a consonant sound produced like a [b], but with the lower lip contacting the upper teeth, as in [v]. This can be represented in the IPA as . ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless retroflex plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced retroflex plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless palatal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced palatal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless uvular plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced uvular plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The epiglottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... The voiceless bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless dental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced dental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... The voiced alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... The voiceless postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless retroflex fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced retroflex fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless palatal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced palatal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless pharyngeal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced pharyngeal approximant/fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless epiglottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced epiglottal approximant/fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless glottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The breathy-voiced glottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... The voiced bilabial approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The labiodental approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The retroflex approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in very many spoken languages. ... The velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. ... The bilabial trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... The retroflex trill has been reported from the Dravidian language Toda, and confirmed with laboratory measurements. ... The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Epiglottal consonants are often allophonically trilled, and in some languages the trill is the primary realization of the consonant. ... In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another. ... Non-rhotic flaps are uncommon, but include a bilabial flap in the Banda and some neighboring languages. ... Image File history File links Labiodental_flap_(Gentium). ... Non-rhotic flaps are uncommon, but include a labiodental flap in languages of the Central African Republic and neighboring countries, such as Margi and Kera, as well as in Zimbabwe. ... The alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The retroflex flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... An epiglottal flap is not known to exist as a phoneme in any language. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The voiceless alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The Toda language has a voiceless retroflex lateral fricative that contrasts with both a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative and a retroflex lateral approximant. ... The Bura language of the Chadic family has a voiceless palatal lateral fricative that contrasts with both a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative and a palatal lateral approximant. ... The Archi language of the Dagestani family has a voiceless velar lateral fricative that is clearly a fricated, although further forward than velars in many languages, and might better be called pre-velar. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The retroflex lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The velar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The lateral alveolar flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The Iwaidja language of Australia has both alveolar and retroflex lateral flaps, and perhaps a palatal lateral flap as well. ... The velar lateral flap is an allophone of the velar lateral approximant in some languages of New Guinea, such as Kanite and Melpa. ...

• Asterisks (*) mark reported sounds that do not (yet) have official IPA symbols. See the articles for ad hoc symbols found in the literature.
• Daggers (†) mark IPA symbols that do not yet have official Unicode support. Since May 2005, this is the case of the labiodental flap, symbolized by a right-hook v: (Proposal to add this symbol to Unicode)
• In rows where some symbols appear in pairs (the obstruents), the symbol to the right represents a voiced consonant (except for breathy-voiced [ɦ]). However, [ʔ] cannot be voiced. In the other rows (the sonorants), the single symbol represents a voiced consonant.
• Although there is a single symbol for the coronal places of articulation for all consonants but fricatives, when dealing with a particular language, the symbols are treated as specifically alveolar, post-alveolar, etc., as appropriate for that language.
• Shaded areas indicate articulations judged to be impossible.
• The symbols [ʁ, ʕ, ʢ] represent either voiced fricatives or approximants.
• It is primarily the shape of the tongue rather than its position that distinguishes the fricatives [ʃ ʒ], [ɕ ʑ], and [ʂ ʐ].
• The labiodental nasal [ɱ] is not known to exist as a phoneme in any language.

Unicode is an industry standard whose goal is to provide the means by which text of all forms and languages can be encoded for use by computers. ... Non-rhotic flaps are uncommon, but include a labiodental flap in languages of the Central African Republic and neighboring countries, such as Margi and Kera, as well as in Zimbabwe. ... Image File history File links Labiodental_flap_(Gentium). ... In phonetics, an obstruent is a consonant sound formed by obstructing the airway. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... Breathy voice or murmured voice is a phonation in which the vocal folds are vibrating as in normal voicing, but the glottal closure is incomplete, so that the voicing is somewhat inefficient and air continues to leak between the vocal folds throughout the vibration cycle with audible friction noise. ... In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant is a member of a class of speech sounds that are continuants produced without turbulent airflow in the vocal tract. ...

Coarticulation

Closeup of the co-articulated consonant section of the IPA chart

Notes: The voiceless labial-velar approximant (traditionally called a fricative) is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The labial-velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages. ... The labial-palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative or laminal postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolo-palatal voiceless or laminal postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless palatal-velar fricative (also voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative, voiceless postalveolar and velar fricative, voiceless coarticulated velar and palatoalveolar fricative) is a term used for a range of similar sounds used in most dialects of Swedish to realize the phoneme . ...

• [ɧ] is described as a "simultaneous [ʃ] and [x]". However, this analysis is disputed. See the article for discussion.

The voiceless palatal-velar fricative (also voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative, voiceless postalveolar and velar fricative, voiceless coarticulated velar and palatoalveolar fricative) is a term used for a range of similar sounds used in most dialects of Swedish to realize the phoneme . ...

Consonants (non-pulmonic)

Closeup of the non-pulmonic consonant section of the IPA chart

Notes: Clicks are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. ... Implosive consonants are plosives (rarely affricates) with a glottalic ingressive airstream mechanism. ... Ejective consonants are a class of consonants which may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants in a language. ... The bilabial clicks are a family of click consonants found only in the Southern Khoisan family, the ‡Hõã language of Botswana, and the Damin ritual jargon of Australia. ... The voiced bilabial implosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The dental click is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar implosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The bilabial ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The postalveolar click is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced palatal implosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal click is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced velar implosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The velar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The lateral alveolar click is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced uvular implosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar ejective fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

• All clicks are doubly articulated and require two symbols: a velar or uvular stop, plus a symbol for the anterior release: [k͡ǂ, ɡ͡ǂ, ŋ͡ǂ, q͡ǂ, ɢ͡ǂ, ɴ͡ǂ] etc., or [ǂ͡k, ǂ͡ɡ, ǂ͡ŋ, ǂ͡q, ǂ͡ɢ, ǂ͡ɴ]. When the dorsal articulation is omitted, a [k] may usually be assumed.
• Symbols for the voiceless implosives [ƥ, ƭ, ƈ, ƙ, ʠ] are no longer supported by the IPA, though they remain in Unicode. Instead, the IPA uses the voiced equivalent with a voiceless diacritic: [ɓ̥, ʛ̥], etc.
• Although not confirmed from any language, and therefore not "explicitly recognized" by the IPA, a retroflex implosive, [ᶑ], is supported in the Unicode Phonetic Extensions Supplement, added in version 4.1 of the Unicode Standard, or can be created as a composite [ɗ̢].
• The ejective symbol is often seen for glottalized but pulmonic sonorants, such as [mʼ], [lʼ], [wʼ], [aʼ], but these are more properly transcribed as creaky ([m̰], [l̰], [w̰], [a̰]).

In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... Retroflex implosives have not been confirmed to exist in any language, though one has been claimed for Ngada, an Austronesian language spoken in Flores. ... A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution (a movement, a closure) of the glottis (the opening that leads from the nose and mouth cavities into the larynx and the lungs). ... In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant is a member of a class of speech sounds that are continuants produced without turbulent airflow in the vocal tract. ...

Vowels

Closeup of the vowel chart of the IPA

Edit - 2×	Front	N.-front	Central	N.-back	Back
Close	i • y ɨ • ʉ ɯ • u ɪ • ʏ • ʊ e • ø ɘ • ɵ ɤ • o ə ɛ • œ ɜ • ɞ ʌ • ɔ æ ɐ a • ɶ ɑ • ɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open

Notes: On this page is a version of the IPA vowel chart designed for browsers currently set to display large text sizes. ... A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A near-front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A near-back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x700, 5 KB) Blank vowel trapezoid, for use with the International Phonetic Alphabet. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The close back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The close-mid central rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The open-mid front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The open front rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... -1... A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... The open-mid vowels make a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. ... A near-open vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in most spoken languages. ...

• Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel, as does [ʊ] (at least prototypically). All others are unrounded.
• [ɶ] is not confirmed as a distinct phoneme in any language.
• [a] is officially a front vowel, but there is little distinction between front and central open vowels, and [a] is frequently used for an open central vowel.

Affricates and double articulation

Affricates and doubly articulated stops are represented by two symbols joined by a tie bar, either above or below the symbols. The six most common affricates are optionally represented by ligatures, though this is no longer official IPA usage, due to the great number of ligatures that would be required to represent all affricates this way. A third affricate transcription sometimes seen uses the superscript notation for a consonant release, for example tˢ for t͡s, paralleling kˣ ~ k͡x. The symbols for the palatal plosives, <c ɟ>, are often used as a convenience for [t͡ʃ d͡ʒ] or similar affricates, even in official IPA publications, so they must be interpreted with care. An affricate is a consonant that begins like a stop (most often an alveovelar, such as [t] or [d]) and that doesnt have a release of its own, but opens directly into a fricative (or, in one language, into a trill). ... Doubly articulated consonants are consonants with two simultaneous primary places of articulation of the same manner (both plosive, or both nasal, etc. ...

Image of the six common affricate ligatures and their official IPA equivalents

Note: The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolo-palatal affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar lateral affricate is a common sound in the languages of western North America. ... The voiceless labial-velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced labial-velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The labial-velar nasal stop is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

• If your browser uses Arial Unicode MS to display IPA characters, the following incorrectly formed sequences may look better due to a bug in that font: ts͡, tʃ͡, tɕ͡, dz͡, dʒ͡, dʑ͡, tɬ͡, kp͡, ɡb͡, ŋm͡.

Extended IPA

The Extended IPA was designed for disordered speech. However, some of the symbols (especially diacritics, below) are occasionally used for transcribing normal speech as well. Speech disorders, or speech impediments as they are also called, are a type of communication disorders where normal speech is disrupted. ...

View a pdf file here.

The last symbol may be used with the alveolar click for [ǃ¡], a combined alveolar and sublaminal click or "cluck-click". A lisp is a speech impediment. ... A sub-apical consonant is a consonant made by contact with the underside of the tip of the tongue. ...

Suprasegmentals

Closeup of the suprasegmental section of the IPA chart

In linguistics, stress is the emphasis given to some syllables (often no more than one in each word, but in many languages, long words have a secondary stress a few syllables away from the primary stress, as in the words cóunterfòil or còunterintélligence. ... In linguistics, stress is the emphasis given to some syllables (often no more than one in each word, but in many languages, long words have a secondary stress a few syllables away from the primary stress, as in the words cóunterfòil or còunterintélligence. ... In phonetics, length or quantity is a feature of sounds that are distinctively longer than other sounds. ... In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet uses a breve, , to indicate a vowel with less than nomal duration. ... This article discusses the unit of speech. ... This article should be translated from material at fr:Liaison. ...

Intonation

Intonation is a term used to cover particular uses of tones in linguistics and music. ... In linguistics, prosody refers to intonation, rhythm, and vocal stress in speech. ... In linguistics, prosody refers to intonation, rhythm, and vocal stress in speech. ... Intonation is a term used to cover particular uses of tones in linguistics and music. ... Intonation is a term used to cover particular uses of tones in linguistics and music. ...

Tone

IPA allows for the use of either tone diacritics or tone letters to indicate tones. Tone refers to the use of pitch in language to distinguish words. ...

Note: Downstep is a phonemic or phonetic downward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language. ... In phonetics, upstep is a phonemic or phonetic upward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language. ...

• With regard to tone diacritics, Unicode encodes marks for some contour tones, but not all. In Unicode version 4.1, only hacek (rising) and circumflex (falling) diacritics were encoded. Subsequent versions may also include six additional diacritics for contour tones, such as the macron-acute and the grave-acute-grave ligatures. (See an image here.) Note that contour tone diacritics are not encoded as sequences of level tone diacritics in Unicode.
• With regard to tone letters, Unicode does not have separate encodings for contour tones. Instead, sequences of level tone letters are used, with proper display dependent on the font, usually by means of OpenType font rendition: [˥˩] or [˦˥˧]. (These are probably not displaying correctly in your browser. See the image for a sample of how they should appear.) Since few fonts support combination tone letters (see the external links for one that is free), a common solution is to use the old system of superscript numerals from '1' to '5', for example [e⁵³, e³¹²]. However, this depends on local linguistic tradition, with '5' generally being high and '1' being low for Asian languages, but '1' being high and '5' low for African languages. An old IPA convention sometimes still seen is to use sub-diacritics for low contour tones: [e̖, e̗] for low-falling and low-rising.
• The upstep and downstep modifiers are superscript arrows. Unicode version 4.1 does not encode these, though subsequent versions will. The arrows for upstep and downstep should not be confused with the full-height arrows, which are used to indicate airflow direction.

Diacritics

Closeup of the diacritic section of the IPA chart
Sub-diacritics may be placed above a symbol with a descender, i.e. ŋ̊. The dotless i, <ı>, is used when the dot would interfere with the diacritic. Other IPA symbols may appear as diacritics to represent phonetic detail: tˢ (fricative release), bʱ (breathy voice), ˀa (glottal onset), ᵊ (epenthetic schwa), o^ʊ (diphthongization).

Notes: A syllabic consonant is a consonant which constitutes either a syllable of its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable. ... A non-syllabic vowel is a vowel that is not the nucleus of a syllable or mora. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... An unreleased stop or plosive is a plosive consonant without an audible release burst. ... In phonetics, a nasal release is the release of a plosive consonant into a nasal stop. ... In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... Breathy voice or murmured voice is a phonation in which the vocal folds are vibrating as in normal voicing, but the glottal closure is incomplete, so that the voicing is somewhat inefficient and air continues to leak between the vocal folds throughout the vibration cycle with audible friction noise. ... Creaky voice (also called laryngealisation or vocal fry, especially in the US), is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact, and forming a large, irregularly vibrating... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Linguolabials are consonants articulated by putting the tongue tip or tongue blade against the upper lip. ... An apical consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue (i. ... A laminal consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, which is the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue. ... In phonetics, a fronted or advanced sound is one that is pronounced further to the front of the vocal tract than some reference point. ... In phonetics, a retracted or backed sound is one that is pronounced further to the back of the vocal tract than some reference point. ... Centralization in phonetics may refer to central vowels central or medial consonants This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... In phonetics, a raised sound is articulated with the tongue or lip raised higher than some reference point. ... The voiced alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... In phonetics, a lowered sound is articulated with the tongue or lip lowered (the mouth more open) than some reference point. ... The voiced bilabial approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. ... In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. ... Labialisation is a secondary articulatory feature of phonemes in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ... Velarization is a secondary articulation of consonants by which the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during the articulation of the consonant. ... Pharyngealisation is a secondary feature of phonemes in a language. ... The velarized alveolar lateral approximant (also known as dark l) is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In phonetics, advanced tongue root, abbreviated ATR or +ATR, or expanded, is the expansion of the pharyngeal cavity by moving the base of the tongue forward, and often lowering the larynx, during the pronunciation of a vowel. ... In phonetics, retracted tongue root, abbreviated RTR or –ATR, is the retraction of the base of the tongue in the pharynx during the pronunciation of a vowel. ... In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that air escapes partially or wholly through the nose during the production of the sound. ... Spectrogram of a regular vowel and its rhotacized counterpart. ...

1. Some linguists restrict this breathy-voice diacritic to sonorants, and transcribe obstruents as bʱ.
2. With aspirated voiced consonants, the aspiration is also voiced. Many linguists prefer one of the diacritics dedicated to breathy voice.

The state of the glottis can be finely transcribed with diacritics. A series of alveolar plosives ranging from an open to a closed glottis phonation are: The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ...

In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... Breathy voice or murmured voice is a phonation in which the vocal folds are vibrating as in normal voicing, but the glottal closure is incomplete, so that the voicing is somewhat inefficient and air continues to leak between the vocal folds throughout the vibration cycle with audible friction noise. ... The term slack voice (or lax voice) describes the pronunciation of consonants with a glottal opening slightly wider than that occurring in normal full voice. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... The term stiff voice describes the pronunciation of consonants with a glottal opening narrower, and the vocal cords stiffer, than what occurs in normal (modal) voice. ... Creaky voice (also called laryngealisation or vocal fry, especially in the US), is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact, and forming a large, irregularly vibrating...

Extended IPA diacritics

The letters and diacritics of the ExtIPA

The ExtIPA has widened the use of some of the regular IPA symbols, such as ʰp for pre-aspiration, tʶ for uvularization, or s̼ for a linguolabial sibilant, as well as adding some new ones. Some of the ExtIPA diacritics are occasionally used for non-disordered speech, for example for the unusual airstream mechanisms of Damin. A secret language spoken in the Gulf of Carpentaria used in mens initiation rites. ...

One modification is the use of subscript parentheses around the phonation diacritics to indicate partial phonation; a single parenthesis at the left or right of the voicing indicates that it is partially phonated at the beginning or end of the segment. For example, ₍s̬₎ is a partially voiced [s], ₍s̬ shows partial initial voicing, and s̬₎ partial final voicing; also ₍z̥₎ is a partially devoiced [z], ₍z̥ shows partial initial devoicing, and z̥₎ partial final devoicing. These conventions may be convenient for representing various voice onset times. Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... In phonetics, voice onset time, commonly abbreviated VOT, is the length of time that passes between when a stop consonant is released and when voicing, vibration of the vocal cords, begins. ...

Phonation diacritics may also be prefixed or suffixed rather than placed directly under the segment to represent relative timing. For instance,  ̬z is a pre-voiced [z], z ̬ a post-voiced [z], and a ̰ is an [a] with a creaky offglide. In phonetics, prevoicing means that voicing begins before the closure of a consonant. ... Creaky voice (also called laryngealisation or vocal fry, especially in the US), is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact, and forming a large, irregularly vibrating...

Other ExtIPA diacritics are,

In addition to these symbols, a subscript < or > indicates that an articulation is laterally offset to the left or right. In phonetics, initiation is the action by which an air-flow is created through the vocal tract. ... In phonetics, initiation is the action by which an air-flow is created through the vocal tract. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... Whispering is a form of speech in which the vocal cords do not vibrate. ... Pressed voice, also called ventricular or harsh voice, is the production of speech sounds (typically vowels) with secondary epiglottal articulation. ... In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that air escapes partially or wholly through the nose during the production of the sound. ... Denasalization is the loss of nasal airflow in a nasal stop or nasal vowel. ... Fortis (from Latin fortis strong) and lenis (from Latin lenis weak) are linguistics terms. ... Fortis (from Latin fortis strong) and lenis (from Latin lenis weak) are linguistics terms. ... Dentolabial consonants are articulated with the lower teeth against the upper lip, the reverse of labiodental consonants. ... Interdental consonants are produced by placing the blade of the tongue against the upper incisors. ... Bidental consonants, pronounced with both the lower and upper teeth, are normally found only in speech pathology. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Whistling is the production of sound by means of a constant breath of air from the mouth. ... Exolabial and endolabial [ʏ] in Swedish. ... Stuttering is a speech disorder in which pronunciation of the (usually) first letter or syllable of a word is repeated involuntarily. ...

Prosodic notation

The ExtIPA also makes use of musical notation for the tempo and dynamics of connected speech. These are subscripted on the insides of a {brace} notation that indicates that they are comments on the prosody. In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... In music, dynamics refers to the volume or loudness of the sound or note, in particular to the range from soft (quiet) to loud. ... In linguistics, prosody refers to intonation, rhythm, and vocal stress in speech. ...

Pauses are indicated with periods or numbers inside parentheses.

Obsolete and nonstandard symbols

Spectrogram of a regular vowel and its rhotacized counterpart. ...

How to transcribe sounds that don't have symbols in the IPA charts

The remaining blank cells on the IPA chart can be filled without too much difficulty if the need arises. Some ad hoc symbols have appeared in the literature, for example for the lateral flaps and voiceless lateral fricatives, the epiglottal trill, and the labiodental plosives. Diacritics can supply much of the remainder, which would indeed be appropriate if the sounds were allophones. For example, the Spanish bilabial approximant is commonly written as a lowered fricative, [β̞]. Similarly, voiced lateral fricatives would be written as raised lateral approximants, [ɭ˔ ʎ̝ ʟ̝]. A few languages such as Banda have a bilabial flap as the preferred allophone of what is elsewhere a labiodental flap. It has been suggested that this be written with the labiodental flap symbol and the advanced diacritic, [v̛̟]. Similarly, a labiodental trill would be written [ʙ̪] (bilabial trill and the dental sign). Palatal and uvular taps, if they exist, and the epiglottal tap could be written as extra-short plosives, [ɟ˘ ɢ˘ ʡ˘]. A retroflex trill can be written as a retracted [r̠], just as retroflex fricatives sometimes are. The remaining consonants, the uvular laterals and the palatal trill, while not strictly impossible, are very difficult to pronounce and are unlikely to occur even as allophones in the world's languages.

The vowels are similary manageable by using diacritics for raising, lowering, fronting, backing, centering, and mid-centering. For example, the unrounded equivalent of [ʊ] can be transcribed as mid-centered [ɯ̽], and the rounded equivalent of [æ] as raised [ɶ̝]. True mid vowels are lowered [e̞ ø̞ ɘ̞ ɵ̞ ɤ̞ o̞], while centered [ɪ̈ ʊ̈] and [ä] are near-close and open central vowels, respectively. The vowels that aren't representable in this scheme are the compressed vowels, which would require a dedicated diacritic. Exolabial and endolabial [ʏ] in Swedish. ...

Names of the symbols

It is often desirable to distinguish an IPA symbol from the sound it is intended to represent, since there is not a one-to-one correspondance between symbol and sound in broad transcription. The symbol's names and phonetic descriptions are described in the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. The symbols also have nonce names in the Unicode standard. In some cases, the Unicode names and the IPA names do not agree. For example, IPA calls ɛ "epsilon", but Unicode calls it "small letter open E". Unicode is an industry standard whose goal is to provide the means by which text of all forms and languages can be encoded for use by computers. ...

The letters

The traditional names of the Latin and Greek letters are used for unmodified symbols. In Unicode, some of the symbols of Greek origin have Latin forms for use in IPA; the others use the symbols from the Greek section.

Examples:

Note The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... ... The voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Epsilon (upper case Ε, lower case ε) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Gamma (upper case Γ, lower case γ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. ... The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Note: A theta probe is a device for measuring soil moisture. ... The voiceless dental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Chi has several meanings and pronunciations. ... The voiceless uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The voiceless bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ...

1. The Latin "upsilon" is frequently called "horseshoe u" in order to distinguish it from the Greek upsilon. Historically, it derives from a Latin small capital U.

The IPA standard includes some small capital letters, such as ʀ, although it is common to refer to these symbols as simply "capital" or "cap" letters, because the IPA standard does not include any full-size capital letters. Upsilon (upper case , lower case ) is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Modern horseshoes are most commonly made of iron and nailed onto the hoof. ...

A few letters have the forms of cursive or script letters. Examples:

Note Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The labiodental approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

1. The "looptail G" is not strictly an IPA character, but is an acceptable alternative.
2. In form and origin, but not in name, this is the Greek upsilon.

Ligatures are called precisely that, although some have alternate names. Examples: Image File history File links Looptail_g. ...

Many letters are turned, or rotated 180 degrees. Examples: The open-mid front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Æ, or æ, is a vowel and a Icelandic, Danish, Faroese and Norwegian alphabets. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ...

The symbol ɔ can be described as a turned cee, but it is almost always referred to as open o, which described both its articulation and its shape. The symbol ʌ is often also called "caret" or "wedge" for it similarity to that diacritic. The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The labial-palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Caret may mean: the ASCII character ^ (0x5E hex), called circumflex accent in the Unicode standard the Unicode character ‸ (U+2038), the actual caret of the Unicode standard in Windows API terminology, it means text insertion point indicator (whereas the word cursor is reserved for mouse pointer) This is a disambiguation...

A few letters are reversed (flipped on a vertical axis): ɘ reversed E, ɜ reversed epsilon, ʕ reversed glottal stop [often called by its Arabic name, ayin]. Ayin is the sixteenth letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Hebrew, and Aramaic. ...

One letter is inverted (flipped on a horizontal axis): ʁ inverted R. (ʍ could also be called an inverted double-u, but turned double-u is more common.)

When a horizontal stroke is added, it is called a bar: ħ barred H, ɵ barred o, ʢ reversed barred glottal stop or barred ayin, ɟ barred dotless J or barred gelded J [apparently never 'turned F'], ǂ double-barred pipe, etc.

One letter instead has a slash through it: ø slashed O.

The implosives have hook tops: ɓ hook-top B, as does ɦ hook-top H.

Such an extension at the bottom of a letter is called a tail. It may be specified as left or right depending on which direction it turns: ɳ right-tail N, ɻ right-tail turned R, ɲ left-tail N [note that ŋ has its own traditional name, engma], ɱ left-tail em, ʐ tail Z [or just retroflex Z], etc. The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

When the tail loops over itself, it's called curly: ʝ curly-tail jay, ɕ curly-tail C.

There are also a few unique modifications: ɬ belted L, ɞ closed reversed epsilon [there was once also a ɷ closed omega], ɰ right-leg turned M, ɺ turned long-leg R [there was once also a long-leg R], ǁ double pipe, and the obsolete ʗ stretched C.

Several non-English letters have traditional names: ç C cedilla, ð eth (also spelled edh), ŋ engma, ə schwa, ǃ exclamation mark, ǀ pipe. A cedilla is a hook (¸) added under certain consonant letters as a diacritic mark to modify their pronunciation. ... Ð (capital Ð, lower-case ð) (or eth, eð or edh, Faroese: edd) is a letter used in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and present-day Icelandic and Faroese. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ...

Other symbols are unique to the IPA, and have developed their own quirky names: ɾ fish-hook R, ɤ ram's horns, ʘ bull's eye, ʃ esh [apparently never 'stretched ess'], ʒ ezh [sometimes also yogh], ɧ hook-top heng. Esh can refer to: Esh, a village in County Durham, in England Esh, a letter term: esh going for a smoke - jay or billy. ... Ezh (capital , lowercase ) is a character in the IPA. Also called the tailed z, it represents a voiced postalveolar fricative (SAMPA: [Z]), appearing in e. ... Yogh is a letter used in Middle English and Middle Scots, representing y (IPA: ) and various velar phonemes. ...

The ʔ is usually called by the sound it represents, glottal stop. This is not normally a problem, because this symbol is seldom used to represent anything else. However, to specify the symbol itself, it is sometimes called a gelded question mark.

The diacritic marks

Diacritics with traditional names:

é acute, ē macron, è grave, ê circumflex, ě caron, wedge, or háček, ë diaeresis or umlaut, ĕ breve, ẽ (superscript) tilde, plus variants such as ḛ subscript tilde, ɫ superimposed tilde, etc.

Non-traditional diacritics: The acute accent ( Â´ ) is a diacritic mark used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin script. ... A macron (from Gr. ... The grave accent ( ` ) is a diacritic mark used in written Greek until 1982 (polytonic orthography), French, Catalan, Welsh, Italian, Vietnamese, Scottish Gaelic, Norwegian, Portuguese and other languages. ... The circumflex ( ˆ ) is a diacritic mark used in written Esperanto, French, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Vietnamese, Welsh, and other languages. ... č Å¡ ž Å™ Ä› A caron ( ˇ ), also known as a háček (pronounced ), is a diacritic placed over certain letters to indicate present or historical palatalization or iotation in the orthography of Baltic languages and some Slavic languages, whereas some Finno-Lappic languages use it to mark postalveolar fricatives (sh, zh, ch). ... Technically a portable double inclined plane, a wedge is a simple machine used to separate two objects, or portions of objects, through the application of force, perpendicular to the inclined surfaces, developed by conversion of force applied to the blunt end. ... č Å¡ ž A háček (ˇ, pronounced ), also known as a caron, is a diacritic placed over certain letters to indicate palatalization or iotation in the orthography of Baltic languages and some Slavic languages, whereas some Finno-Lappic languages use it to mark postalveolar fricatives (sh, zh, ch). ... In linguistics, a, diaeresis, or dieresis (AE) (from Greek (diaerein), to divide) is the modification of a syllable by distinctly pronouncing one of its vowels. ... Ä ä Ö ö Ãœ ü The term umlaut is used for two closely related notions: a special kind of vowel modification and a particular diacritic mark. ... This article is about the breve breve in music, see double whole note. ... The tilde (~) is a grapheme which has several uses, described below. ...

d̼ seagull, e˞ hook, e̽ over-cross, d ̚ corner, d̪ bridge, d̺ inverted bridge, d̻ square, e̥ under-ring, e̊ over-ring, e̜ left half-ring, e̹ right half-ring, e̟ plus, e̠ under-bar, e̯ arch, d̬ subscript wedge, e̝ up tack, e̞ down tack, e̘ left tack, e̙ right tack, d͡z tie bar, ẹ under-dot, n̩ under-stroke.

Diacritics are alternately named after their function: The bridge is also called the dental sign, the under-stroke the syllabicity sign, etc.

Comparison to other phonetic notation

The IPA is not the only phonetic transcription system in use. The other common Latin-based system is the Americanist phonetic notation, devised for representing American languages, but used by some US linguists as an alternate to the IPA. There are also sets of symbols specific to Slavic, Indic, Finno-Ugric, and Caucasian linguistics, as well as other regional specialies. The differences between these alphabets and IPA are relatively small, although often the special characters of the IPA are abandoned in favour of diacritics or digraphs. Americanist phonetic notation (also Americanist Phonetic Alphabet, American Phonetic Alphabet, sometimes abbreviated APA) is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and Euro-American anthropologists and language scientists (former Neo-grammarians) for the phonetic and phonemic transcription of Native American and European languages. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... Approximate geographical distribution of areas where indigenous Finno-Ugric languages are spoken. ... The term Caucasian languages is loosely used to refer to a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than 7 million people in the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. ...

Other alphabets, such as Hangul, may have their own phonetic extensions. There also exist featural phonetic transcription systems, such as Alexander Bell's Visible Speech and its derivatives. Hangul is the native alphabet used to write the Korean language, as opposed to the hanja system borrowed from China. ... Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 - August 2, 1922) was a scientist, inventor, and founder of the Bell telephone company. ... Visible speech is the name of the system used by Alexander Melville Bell, who was known internationally as a teacher of speech and proper elocution and an author of books on the subject. ...

There is an extended version of the IPA for disordered speech (extIPA), which has been included in this article, and another set of symbols used for voice quality (VoQS). There are also many personal or idiosyncratic extensions, such as Luciano Canepari's ^canIPA. Speech disorders, or speech impediments as they are also called, are a type of communication disorders where normal speech is disrupted. ...

Since the IPA uses symbols that are outside the ASCII character set, several systems have been developed that map the IPA symbols to ASCII characters. Two notable systems are Kirshenbaum and SAMPA (or X-SAMPA). These systems are often used in electronic media, although their usage has been declining with the development of computer technology, specifically because of spreading support for Unicode. There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ... Kirshenbaum, sometimes called ASCII-IPA, is a system used to represent the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in ASCII. It was developed for Usenet, notably the newsgroups sci. ... The Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (SAMPA) is a computer-readable phonetic script using 7-bit printable ASCII characters, based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). ... The Extended SAM Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London. ...

See also: Unicode and HTML HTML 4. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

International Phonetic Alphabet

• International Phonetic Alphabet for English explains those IPA symbols used to represent the phonemes of English.
• IPA chart for English: simplifed version.
• TIPA provides IPA support for LaTeX.
• SAMPA, X-SAMPA and Kirshenbaum are other methods of mapping IPA designations into ASCII.
• List of phonetics topics
• Uralic Phonetic Alphabet (UPA)

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet as used for English. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... TIPA is a free software package providing IPA and other phonetic character capabilities for TeX and LaTeX. Written by Rei Fukui, TIPA is based upon the authors previous work in TSIPA. TIPA characters are placed within a LaTeX document using any of the following commands: textipa{...}, {tipaencoding . ... The extraction of Latex from a tree; Latex is used in Rubber production Latex, as found in nature, is the milky sap of many plants that coagulates on exposure to air. ... The Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (SAMPA) is a computer-readable phonetic script using 7-bit printable ASCII characters, based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). ... The Extended SAM Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London. ... Kirshenbaum, sometimes called ASCII-IPA, is a system used to represent the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in ASCII. It was developed for Usenet, notably the newsgroups sci. ... There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ... A acoustic phonetics affricate airstream mechanism Alfred C. Gimson allophone alveolar approximant alveolar consonant alveolar ejective fricative alveolar ejective alveolar flap alveolar nasal alveolar ridge alveolar trill alveolo-palatal consonant apical consonant approximant consonant articulatory phonetics aspiration auditory phonetics B back vowel bilabial click bilabial consonant bilabial ejective bilabial nasal... The Uralic Phonetic Alphabet (UPA), also known as Finno-Ugric Transcription (FUT), is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ...

External links

• Official home page of the IPA

Free IPA font downloads

• Gentium, a professionally designed international font (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic) in roman and italic typefaces that includes the IPA, but not yet tone letters or the new labiodental flap.
• Charis SIL, a somewhat crude but very complete international font (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic) in roman, italic, and bold typefaces that includes tone letters and pre-composed tone diacritics on IPA vowels.
• Doulos SIL, a somewhat crude Times IPA font that supports tone letters, the new labiodental flap, and many non-standard phonetic symbols, but only in roman typeface.
• SIL93 the legacy SIL93 fonts (Manufactur and Sophia) recoded in Unicode.
• Test page for installed fonts. Includes alternate variants and tone letters.

Keyboards

• Online keyboard
• Online keyboard and machine pronunciation
• Downloadable IPA-SIL keyboard layout for Mac OS X for Unicode IPA input
• WikiTeX supports editing IPA sequences directly in Wiki articles.

Unicode is an industry standard whose goal is to provide the means by which text of all forms and languages can be encoded for use by computers. ...

Sound files

• Peter Ladefoged's Course in Phonetics (with sound files)
  • Pronounceable IPA chart
• An introduction to the sounds of languages
• IPA Lab Chart with sound files at University of Victoria. (Works with QuickTime.)
• Flash version of IPA charts, with sound samples
• Another set of IPA sound samples

The University of Victoria (usually known as UVic) is located in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (it is located northeast of Victoria and is split between the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich) . It is a medium-sized university, with approximately 18,000 students, as of 2004. ... QuickTime is a multimedia technology developed by Apple Computer, capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music, and immersive virtual reality panoramic images. ...

Charts

• IPA chart source
• IPA Chart in Unicode and XHTML/CSS

• IPA number chart, at University of Victoria.

Unicode

Official Unicode PDF files:

• Unicode chart for main IPA letters
• Unicode chart for IPA modifier letters
• Unicode chart including IPA diacritics

• International Phonetic Alphabet in Unicode
• Unicode-HTML codes for IPA symbols: Tables of symbol names and HTML codes at PennState.

The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State) is a state-related land-grant university based in State College, Pennsylvania (the university uses a University Park, Pennsylvania to differentiate University addresses from those in town), with over 80,000 students at 24 campuses throughout the...

Personal extensions of the IPA

• ^canIPA : Luciano Canepari's system (500 base symbols)

References

• Albright, Robert W. (1958). The International Phonetic Alphabet: Its background and development. International journal of American linguistics (Vol. 24, No. 1, Part 3); Indiana University research center in anthropology, folklore, and linguistics, publ. 7. Baltimore. (Doctoral dissertation, Standford University, 1953).
• Ball, Martin J.; Esling, John H.; & Dickson, B. Craig. (1995). The VoQS system for the transcription of voice quality. Journal of the International Phonetic Alphabet, 25 (2), 71-80.
• Canepari, Luciano. (2005a). "A Handbook of Phonetics: ‹Natural› Phonetics." München: Lincom Europa, pp. 518. ISBN 3-8958-480-3 (hb).
• Canepari, Luciano. (2005b) "A Handbook of Pronunciation: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, Esperanto." München: Lincom Europa, pp. 436. ISBN 3-89586-481-1 (hb).
• Duckworth, M.; Allen, G.; Hardcastle, W.; & Ball, M. J. (1990). Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet for the transcription of atypical speech. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 4, 273-280.
• Ellis, Alexander J. (1869-1889). On early English pronunciation (Parts 1 & 5). London: Philological Society by Asher & Co.; London: Trübner & Co.
• Hill, Kenneth C. (1988). [Review of Phonetic symbol guide by G. K. Pullum & W. Ladusaw]. Language, 64 (1), 143-144.
• Hultzen, Lee S. (1958). [Review of The International Phonetic Alphabet: Its backgrounds and development by R. W. Albright]. Language, 34 (3), 438-442.
• International Phonetic Association. (1949). The principles of the International Phonetic Association, being a description of the International Phonetic Alphabet and the manner of using it, illustrated by texts in 51 languages. London: University College, Department of Phonetics.
• International Phonetic Association. (1989). Report on the 1989 Kiel convention. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 19 (2), 67-80.
• International Phonetic Association. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-65236-7 (hb); ISBN 0-521-63751-1 (pb).
• Jespersen, Otto. (1889). The articulations of speech sounds represented by means of analphabetic symbols. Marburg: Elwert.
• Jones, Daniel. (1989). English pronouncing dictionary (14 ed.). London: Dent.
• Kelly, John. (1981). The 1847 alphabet: An episode of phonotypy. In R. E. Asher & E. J. A. Henderson (Eds.), Towards a history of phonetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Kemp, J. Alan. (1994). Phonetic transcription: History. In R. E. Asher & J. M. Y. Simpson (Eds.), The encyclopedia of language and linguistics (Vol. 6, pp. 3040-3051). Oxford: Pergamon.
• Ladefoged, Peter. (1990). The revised International Phonetic Alphabet. Language, 66 (3), 550-552.
• Ladefoged, Peter; & Halle, Morris. (1988). Some major features of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Language, 64 (3), 577-582.
• MacMahon, Michael K. C. (1996). Phonetic notation. In P. T. Daniels & W. Bright (Ed.), The world's writing systems (pp. 821-846). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507993-0.
• Passy, Paul. (1888). Our revised alphabet. The Phonetic Teacher, 57-60.
• Pike, Kenneth L. (1943). Phonetics: A critical analysis of phonetic theory and a technic for the practical description of sounds. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Pullum, Geoffrey K.; & Laduslaw, William A. (1986). Phonetic symbol guide. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-68532-2.
• Sweet, Henry. (1880-1881). Sound notation. Transactions of the Philological Society, 177-235.
• Sweet, Henry. (1971). The indispensable foundation: A selection from the writings of Henry Sweet. Henderson, Eugénie J. A. (Ed.). Language and language learning 28. London: Oxford University Press.
• Wells, John C. (1987). Computer-coded phonetic transcription. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 17, 94-114.