The International Phonetic Association /ɪntəˈnæʃənəl fəˈnɛtɪk əsousiˈeɪʃn/ (abbr.: IPA) is an organization that promotes the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. The IPA’s major contribution to the academic community is the International Phonetic Alphabet—a notational standard for the phonetic representation of all languages. The initials IPA is used to refer to both the Association and the Alphabet. The Association also publishes the Journal of the International Phonetic Association. Look up abbreviation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Abbreviation (from Latin brevis short) is strictly a shortening, but more particularly, an abbreviation is a letter or group of letters, taken from a word or words, and employed to represent them for the sake of brevity. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... The International Phonetic Alphabet. ...

History

In 1886, in Paris, a small group of language teachers formed an association to encourage the use of phonetic notation in schools to help children acquire realistic pronunciations of foreign languages and also to aid in teaching reading to young children. The group, led by Paul Passy, called itself initially Dhi Fonètik Tîcerz' Asóciécon (the FTA). In January 1889, the name of the Association was changed to L'Association Phonétique des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (AP), and, in 1897, to L'Association Phonétique Internationale (API)—in English, the International Phonetic Association (IPA). 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Paul Édouard Passy (1859-1940) was a French linguist, founder of the International Phonetic Association in 1886. ...

The IPA’s peak of membership and influence in education circles was around 1914, when there were 1751 members in 40 countries. World War I and its aftermath severely disrupted the Association's activities, and the Journal did not resume regular publication until 1922. World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ...

Development of the Alphabet

The group’s initial aim was to create a set of phonetic symbols to which different articulations could apply, such that each language would have an alphabet particularly suited to describe the sounds of the language. Eventually it was decided that a universal alphabet, with the same symbol being used for the same sound in different languages was the ideal, and development of the International Phonetic Alphabet progressed rapidly up to the turn of the 20th century. Since then, there have been several sets of changes to the Alphabet, with additions and deletions that the progress of the science of phonetics has indicated. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Examinations

The IPA also has given examinations in phonetics since 1908, awarding Certificates of Proficiency in the phonetics of English, French, or German.

See also

• List of phonetics topics

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...

External links

• IPA official web site
• IPA Chart of the sounds of English

Bibliography

• International Phonetic Association. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.