International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet
International Phonetic Alphabet;
	"IPA" in IPA ([aɪ pʰiː eɪ])
Script type	Alphabet – partially featural
Time period	since 1888
Languages	Used for phonetic and phonemic transcription of any language
Related scripts
Parent systems	Palaeotype alphabet, English Phonotypic Alphabet Romic alphabet International Phonetic Alphabet; ;

This article contains phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of phonetic symbols.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system for writing down sounds. It was created by the International Phonetic Association in 1886, so that people could write down sounds of languages in a standard way.^[1] Linguists, language teachers, and translators use this system to show the pronunciation for words.

Wikipedia also uses the IPA to show how certain words are meant to be spoken. Most symbols are letters in the Latin alphabet, or variations of it. For example, the palatal approximant (the y in yesterday) is written with [j]. In IPA symbols can be written between slashes (called a broad transcription, e.g."little" can be written as /lɪtl/ ) or in square brackets (called a narrow transcription, e.g. "little" can be written [lɪɾɫ], which is how specific groups say it). Narrow translation is more precise than broad.

The IPA has symbols only for sounds that are used normally in spoken languages. The Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet (or extIPA) are used to write down other sounds.

The IPA is sometimes changed, and symbols are added or taken away. Right now there are 107 different letters in the IPA. There are also 52 marks which are added to letters to change their sound. These marks are called "diacritics".

History

In 1886, a group of French and British language teachers formed the International Phonetic Association. These teachers used the Romic alphabet at first. They later changed the alphabet so that different languages would all write the same sounds with the same letters.

Use of the alphabet

The IPA is made to have one symbol for every sound. This means that every letter always makes the same one sound. This is different from English. In English, some letters make multiple sounds. For example, the letter <x> in English normally is spoken as two sounds ([ks]), but could also be spoken as [gz] or [z].

Letters

The International Phonetic Alphabet has letters for three types of sounds: pulmonic consonants, non-pulmonic consonants, and vowels.

Pulmonic consonants

Pulmonic consonants are made by blocking air coming from the lungs. Most consonants (and all English consonants) are pulmonic. The symbols for these sounds are arranged in a table. The rows show how the sound is made (the manner of articulation), and the columns show where it is made (the place of articulation).

IPA: Pulmonic consonants

Place →	Labial					Coronal										Dorsal					Laryngeal
Manner ↓	Bilabial		Labiodental		Linguolabial		Dental		Alveolar		Postalveolar		Retroflex		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Pharyngeal/epiglottal		Glottal
Nasal	m̥	m		ɱ		n̼			n̥	n			ɳ̊	ɳ	ɲ̊	ɲ	ŋ̊	ŋ		ɴ
Stop	p	b	p̪	b̪	t̼	d̼			t	d			ʈ	ɖ	c	ɟ	k	ɡ	q	ɢ	ʡ		ʔ
Sibilant affricate									ts	dz	t̠ʃ	d̠ʒ	ʈʂ	ɖʐ	tɕ	dʑ
Non-sibilant affricate	pɸ	bβ	p̪f	b̪v			t̪θ	d̪ð	tɹ̝̊	dɹ̝	t̠ɹ̠̊˔	d̠ɹ̠˔			cç	ɟʝ	kx	ɡɣ	qχ	ɢʁ	ʡʜ	ʡʢ	ʔh
Sibilant fricative									s	z	ʃ	ʒ	ʂ	ʐ	ɕ	ʑ
Non-sibilant fricative	ɸ	β	f	v	θ̼	ð̼	θ	ð	θ̠	ð̠	ɹ̠̊˔	ɹ̠˔		ɻ˔	ç	ʝ	x	ɣ	χ	ʁ	ħ	ʕ	h	ɦ
Approximant				ʋ						ɹ				ɻ		j		ɰ						ʔ̞
Tap/flap		ⱱ̟		ⱱ		ɾ̼			ɾ̥	ɾ			ɽ̊	ɽ				ɡ̆		ɢ̆		ʡ̆
Trill	ʙ̥	ʙ							r̥	r			ɽ̊r̥	ɽr					ʀ̥	ʀ	ʜ	ʢ
Lateral affricate									tɬ	dɮ			ʈɭ̊˔	ɖɭ˔	cʎ̝̊	ɟʎ̝	kʟ̝̊	ɡʟ̝
Lateral fricative									ɬ	ɮ			ɭ̊˔	ɭ˔	ʎ̝̊	ʎ̝	ʟ̝̊	ʟ̝
Lateral approximant										l				ɭ		ʎ		ʟ		ʟ̠
Lateral tap/flap									ɺ̥	ɺ			ɭ̥̆	ɭ̆		ʎ̆		ʟ̆

Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Gray areas are sounds which are impossible.

Non-pulmonic consonants

Non-pulmonic consonants are made without air coming from the lungs. There are three types of non-pulmonic consonants. Implosive consonants are made by taking air into the mouth. Ejective consonants are made by forcing the air out of the larynx instead of the lungs. Click consonants are made by creating an airtight pocket in the mouth and quickly releasing it.

IPA: Non-pulmonic consonants

		BL	LD	D	A	PA	RF	P	V	U	EG
Ejective	Stop	pʼ			tʼ		ʈʼ	cʼ	kʼ	qʼ	ʡʼ
	Affricate			t̪θʼ	tsʼ	t̠ʃʼ	ʈʂʼ		kxʼ	qχʼ
	Fricative	ɸʼ	fʼ	θʼ	sʼ	ʃʼ	ʂʼ	ɕʼ	xʼ	χʼ
	Lateral affricate				tɬʼ			cʎ̝̊ʼ	kʟ̝̊ʼ
	Lateral fricative				ɬʼ
Click (top: velar; bottom: uvular)	Tenuis	kʘ qʘ		kǀ qǀ	kǃ qǃ		k‼ q‼	kǂ qǂ
	Voiced	ɡʘ ɢʘ		ɡǀ ɢǀ	ɡǃ ɢǃ		ɡ‼ ɢ‼	ɡǂ ɢǂ
	Nasal	ŋʘ ɴʘ		ŋǀ ɴǀ	ŋǃ ɴǃ		ŋ‼ ɴ‼	ŋǂ ɴǂ	ʞ
	Tenuis lateral				kǁ qǁ
	Voiced lateral				ɡǁ ɢǁ
	Nasal lateral				ŋǁ ɴǁ
Implosive	Voiced	ɓ			ɗ		ᶑ	ʄ	ɠ	ʛ
Implosive	Voiceless	ɓ̥			ɗ̥		ᶑ̊	ʄ̊	ɠ̊	ʛ̥

Gray areas are sounds which are impossible.

Vowels

Vowels are sounds made without blocking air at all.

IPA: Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i y	ɨ ʉ	ɯ u
Near-close	ɪ ʏ		ʊ
Close-mid	e ø	ɘ ɵ	ɤ o
Mid	e̞ ø̞	ə	ɤ̞ o̞
Open-mid	ɛ œ	ɜ ɞ	ʌ ɔ
Near-open	æ	ɐ
Open	a ɶ	ä	ɑ ɒ

Vowels beside dots are: unrounded • rounded

References

↑ 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); (pb).

Other websites

[IPA_1999-1] 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); (pb).

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