International Phonetic Alphabet
From Free net encyclopedia
- "IPA" redirects here. For other uses, see IPA (disambiguation). The NATO phonetic alphabet has also informally been called the "International Phonetic Alphabet."
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.
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. Image:IPA chart 2005.png
History
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.
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, Template:IPA, 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.
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 Template:IPA (originally an apostrophe, but later given the form of a "gelded" question mark to have the visual impact of the other consonants), and one, Template:IPA, although Latin in form, was inspired by Arabic letter <ﻉ> `ain. On the other hand, the original Latin-derived symbols for the clicks have been abandoned in favor of iconic Khoisanist symbols such as Template:IPA.
The sound-values of the consonants taken from the Latin alphabet correspond to usage in French, and are close to those of most other European languages as well: Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, (unvoiced) Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA. English values are used for Template:IPA and Template:IPA.
The vowels from the Latin alphabet (Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA) correspond to the vowels of Spanish and are similar to Italian. Template:IPA is like the vowel in piece, Template:IPA like rule, etc.
The other symbols from the Latin alphabet, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA, correspond to sounds these letters represent in various other languages. Template:IPA has the Slavic and Germanic value of <j>, that of English y in yoke; Template:IPA has the Scandinavian and Old English value: Finnish y, German y or ü, French u, Dutch uu, or the Classical Greek Υ (Upsilon).
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.
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.
Types of transcription
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.
Phonetic transcriptions try to objectively capture the actual pronunciation of a word, whereas phonemic transcriptions are model-dependent. For example, in The Sound Pattern of English, Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle transcribed the English word night phonemically as /nixt/. In this model, the phoneme /x/ is never realized as [x], 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 the belief that historical sounds such as the gh in night may remain in a word long after they have ceased to be pronounced, or that a phoneme may exist in a language without ever being directly expressed. (This was later rejected by Chomsky & Halle.)
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 Template:IPA, which notes several phonetic features that may not be evident even to a native speaker. An example of a broader transcription is Template:IPA, which only indicates some of the easier to hear features. A yet broader transcription would be Template:IPA. 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 generally not of precision, but of analysis. For example, pretzel could be Template:IPA or Template:IPA. 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.
However, phonemic transcriptions may also be broad or narrow, or perhaps it would be better to say abstract vs. concrete. They may show a fair amount of phonetic detail, usually of a phoneme's most common allophone, but because they are abstract symbols they do not need to directly resemble any sound at all. Phonemic symbols will frequently be chosen to avoid diacritics as much as possible, under a 'one sound one symbol' policy, or may even be restricted to the ASCII symbols of a typical keyboard. For example, the English word church may be transcribed as Template:IPA, a close approximation of its actual pronunciation, or more abstractly as Template:IPA (three phonemes, three symbols), which is easier to type. Phonemic symbols should always be explained, especially when they are as divergent from actual pronunciation as Template:IPA.
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 Template:IPA and Template:IPA (in a fairly narrow transcription), and phonemically as Template:IPA and Template:IPA. 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 Template:IPA and Template:IPA. If, as most linguists would probably suggest, it is essentially a z, these would be Template:IPA and Template:IPA.
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.
The Extended IPA for speech pathology has added additional bracket notations. Parentheses are used to indicate mouthing (silent articulation), as in Template:IPA, 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 with Italian musical terms are used to mark prosodic notation, such as Template:IPA.
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.
| Place of articulation → | Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | Radical | (none) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manner of articulation ↓ | Bilabial | Labio‐ dental | Dental | Alveolar | Post‐ alveolar | Retro‐ flex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyn‐ geal | Epi‐ glottal | Glottal | |||||
| Nasal | [[bilabial nasal|Template:IPA]] | [[labiodental nasal|Template:IPA]] | [[alveolar nasal|Template:IPA]] | [[retroflex nasal|Template:IPA]] | [[palatal nasal|Template:IPA]] | [[velar nasal|Template:IPA]]</span> | [[uvular nasal|Template:IPA]] | ||||||||||
| Plosive | [[voiceless bilabial plosive|Template:IPA]] [[voiced bilabial plosive|Template:IPA]] | * * | [[voiceless alveolar plosive|Template:IPA]] [[voiced alveolar plosive|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless retroflex plosive|Template:IPA]] [[voiced retroflex plosive|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless palatal plosive|Template:IPA]] [[voiced palatal plosive|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless velar plosive|Template:IPA]] [[voiced velar plosive|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless uvular plosive|Template:IPA]] [[voiced uvular plosive|Template:IPA]] | [[epiglottal plosive|Template:IPA]] | [[glottal stop|Template:IPA]] | ||||||||
| Fricative | [[voiceless bilabial fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced bilabial fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless labiodental fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced labiodental fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless dental fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced dental fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless alveolar fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced alveolar fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless postalveolar fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced postalveolar fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless retroflex fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced retroflex fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless palatal fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced palatal fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless velar fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced velar fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless uvular fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiced uvular fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiced pharyngeal fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless epiglottal fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiced epiglottal fricative|Template:IPA]] | [[voiceless glottal fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced glottal fricative|Template:IPA]] | ||
| Approximant | [[bilabial approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[labiodental approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[alveolar approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[retroflex approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[palatal approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[velar approximant|Template:IPA]] | |||||||||||
| Trill | [[bilabial trill|Template:IPA]] | [[alveolar trill|Template:IPA]] | [[retroflex trill|Template:IPA]] | [[uvular trill|Template:IPA]] | * | ||||||||||||
| Tap or Flap | * | ѵ† | [[alveolar tap|Template:IPA]] | [[retroflex flap|Template:IPA]] | * | ||||||||||||
| Lateral Fricative | [[voiceless alveolar lateral fricative|Template:IPA]] [[voiced alveolar lateral fricative|Template:IPA]] | * | * | * | |||||||||||||
| Lateral Approximant | [[alveolar lateral approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[retroflex lateral approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[palatal lateral approximant|Template:IPA]] | [[velar lateral approximant|Template:IPA]] | |||||||||||||
| Lateral Flap | [[alveolar lateral flap|Template:IPA]] | * | * | * | |||||||||||||
Notes:
- 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: Image:Labiodental flap (Gentium).png [1]. In the meantime the similarly shaped izhitsa (ѵ) is used here.
- In rows where some symbols appear in pairs (the obstruents), the symbol to the right represents a voiced consonant (except for breathy-voiced Template:IPA). However, Template:IPA 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 Template:IPA represent either voiced fricatives or approximants.
- It is primarily the shape of the tongue rather than its position that distinguishes the fricatives Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA.
- The labiodental nasal Template:IPA is not known to exist as a phoneme in any language.
Coarticulation
Closeup of the co-articulated consonant section of the IPA chart
| [[voiceless labial-velar fricative|Template:IPA]] | Voiceless labialized velar approximant |
| [[labial-velar approximant|Template:IPA]] | Voiced labialized velar approximant |
| [[labial-palatal approximant|Template:IPA]] | Voiced labialized palatal approximant |
| [[voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative|Template:IPA]] | Voiceless palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative |
| [[voiced alveolo-palatal fricative|Template:IPA]] | Voiced palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative |
| [[voiceless palatal-velar fricative|Template:IPA]] | Voiceless "palatal-velar" fricative |
Notes:
- Template:IPA is described as a "simultaneous Template:IPA and Template:IPA". However, this analysis is disputed. See the article for discussion.
Consonants (non-pulmonic)
Closeup of the non-pulmonic consonant section of the IPA chart
| Click releases | Implosives | Ejectives | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[bilabial click|Template:IPA]] | Bilabial | [[voiced bilabial implosive|Template:IPA]] | Bilabial | Template:IPA | For example: |
| [[dental click|Template:IPA]] | Laminal alveolar ("dental") | [[voiced alveolar implosive|Template:IPA]] | Alveolar | [[bilabial ejective|Template:IPA]] | Bilabial |
| [[postalveolar click|Template:IPA]] | Apical (post-) alveolar ("retroflex") | [[voiced palatal implosive|Template:IPA]] | Palatal | [[alveolar ejective|Template:IPA]] | Alveolar |
| [[palatal click|Template:IPA]] | Laminal postalveolar ("palatal") | [[voiced velar implosive|Template:IPA]] | Velar | [[velar ejective|Template:IPA]] | Velar |
| [[alveolar lateral click|Template:IPA]] | Lateral coronal ("lateral") | [[voiced uvular implosive|Template:IPA]] | Uvular | [[alveolar ejective fricative|Template:IPA]] | Alveolar fricative |
Notes:
- All clicks are doubly articulated and require two symbols: a velar or uvular stop, plus a symbol for the anterior release: Template:IPA etc., or Template:IPA. When the dorsal articulation is omitted, a Template:IPA may usually be assumed.
- Symbols for the voiceless implosives Template:IPA are no longer supported by the IPA, though they remain in Unicode. Instead, the IPA uses the voiced equivalent with a voiceless diacritic: Template:IPA, 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 Template:IPA.
- The ejective symbol is often seen for glottalized but pulmonic sonorants, such as Template:IPA, but these are more properly transcribed as creaky (Template:IPA).
Vowels
Closeup of the vowel chart of the IPA Template:CSS IPA vowel chart
Notes:
- Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel, as does Template:IPA (at least prototypically). All others are unrounded.
- Template:IPA is not confirmed as a distinct phoneme in any language.
- Template:IPA is officially a front vowel, but there is little distinction between front and central open vowels, and Template:IPA 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 Template:IPA for Template:IPA, paralleling Template:IPA ~ Template:IPA. The symbols for the palatal plosives, Template:IPA are often used as a convenience for Template:IPA or similar affricates, even in official IPA publications, so they must be interpreted with care.
Image of the six common affricate ligatures and their official IPA equivalents
| Tie bar | Ligature | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Template:IPA | [[voiceless alveolar affricate|Template:IPA]] | voiceless alveolar affricate |
| Template:IPA | [[voiced alveolar affricate|Template:IPA]] | voiced alveolar affricate |
| Template:IPA | [[voiceless postalveolar affricate|Template:IPA]] | voiceless postalveolar affricate |
| Template:IPA | [[voiced postalveolar affricate|Template:IPA]] | voiced postalveolar affricate |
| Template:IPA | [[voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate|Template:IPA]] | voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate |
| Template:IPA | [[voiced alveolo-palatal affricate|Template:IPA]] | voiced alveolo-palatal affricate |
| [[voiceless alveolar lateral affricate|Template:IPA]] | – | voiceless alveolar lateral affricate |
| [[voiceless labial-velar plosive|Template:IPA]] | – | voiceless labial-velar plosive |
| [[voiced labial-velar plosive|Template:IPA]] | – | voiced labial-velar plosive |
| [[labial-velar nasal|Template:IPA]] | – | labial-velar nasal stop |
Note:
- 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: Template:IPA.
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.
View a pdf file here.
| [[velopharyngeal fricative|Template:IPA]] | Velopharyngeal fricative (often occurs with a cleft palate) |
| [[lateralized s|Template:IPA]] | Voiceless central-plus-lateral alveolar fricative, Template:IPA (a lisp) |
| [[lateralized z|Template:IPA]] | Voiced central-plus-lateral alveolar fricative, Template:IPA (a lisp) |
| [[bilabial percussive|Template:IPA]] | Bilabial percussive (smacking lips) |
| [[bidental percussive|Template:IPA]] | Bidental percussive (gnashing teeth) |
| [[sublaminal lower alveolar click|Template:IPA]] | Sublaminal lower alveolar click (sucking tongue) |
The last symbol may be used with the alveolar click for Template:IPA, a combined alveolar and sublaminal click or "cluck-click".
Suprasegmentals
Closeup of the suprasegmental section of the IPA chart
| Template:IPA | Primary stress |
| Template:IPA | Secondary stress |
| Template:IPA | Long (long vowel or geminate consonant) |
| Template:IPA | Half-long |
| Template:IPA | Extra-short |
| Template:IPA | Syllable break |
| Template:IPA | Linking (absence of a break) |
Intonation
| Template:IPA | Minor (foot) break |
| Template:IPA | Major (intonation) break |
| Template:IPA | Global rise |
| Template:IPA | Global fall |
Tone
IPA allows for the use of either tone diacritics or tone letters to indicate tones.
| Template:IPA | Extra high |
| Template:IPA | High |
| Template:IPA | Mid |
| Template:IPA | Low |
| Template:IPA | Extra low |
| Template:IPA | Rise |
| Template:IPA | Fall |
| Template:IPAe | Downstep |
| Template:IPAe | Upstep |
Note:
- 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: Template:IPA or Template:IPA. (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: Template:IPA 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. Template:IPA. 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: Template:IPA (fricative release), Template:IPA (breathy voice), Template:IPA (glottal onset), ᵊ (epenthetic schwa), oTemplate:IPA (diphthongization).
Notes:
- Some linguists restrict this breathy-voice diacritic to sonorants, and transcribe obstruents as Template:IPA.
- 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:
| Template:IPA | voiceless |
| Template:IPA | breathy voice, also called murmured |
| Template:IPA | slack voice |
| Template:IPA | modal voice |
| Template:IPA | stiff voice |
| Template:IPA | creaky voice |
| Template:IPA | glottal closure |
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 Template:IPA for pre-aspiration, Template:IPA for uvularization, or Template:IPA 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.
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, Template:IPA is a partially voiced [s], Template:IPA shows partial initial voicing, and Template:IPA partial final voicing; also Template:IPA is a partially devoiced [z], Template:IPA shows partial initial devoicing, and Template:IPA partial final devoicing. These conventions may be convenient for representing various voice onset times.
Phonation diacritics may also be prefixed or suffixed rather than placed directly under the segment to represent relative timing. For instance, Template:IPA is a pre-voiced [z], Template:IPA a post-voiced [z], and Template:IPA is an [a] with a creaky offglide.
Other ExtIPA diacritics are,
| Airstream mechanism | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:IPA | Ingressive airflow | Template:IPA | Egressive airflow |
| Phonation | |||
| Template:IPA | Unaspirated | Template:IPA | Whispery phonation |
| aĦ | Faucalized voice (stretched pharynx, as in a yawn) | a! | Harsh voice, ('pressed voice'; involves the false vocal cords, as when lifting a load) |
| Template:IPA | Pre-aspiration | a‼ | Ventricular vibration |
| Nasalization | |||
| Template:IPA | Nasal fricative or frication | Template:IPA | Denasal (as with a headcold) |
| Articulatory strength | |||
| Template:IPA | Strong articulation | Template:IPA | Weak articulation |
| Articulation | |||
| Template:IPA | Dentolabial | Template:IPA | Interdental or bidental |
| Template:IPA | Alveolar(ized) | Template:IPA | Whistled articulation |
| Secondary articulation | |||
| Template:IPA | Labial spreading (see rounded vowel) | Template:IPATemplate:IPA | Open-rounded labialization |
| kTemplate:IPA | Labiodentalized | Template:IPA | Velopharyngeal friction |
| Timing | |||
| Template:IPA | Slurred/sliding articulation | Template:IPA | Stutter (reiterated articulation) |
In addition to these symbols, a subscript < or > indicates that an articulation is laterally offset to the left or right.
Prosodic notation
The ExtIPA also makes use of Italian 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.
Pauses are indicated with periods or numbers inside parentheses.
| (.) | Short pause | (..) | Medium pause | (...) | Long pause | (1.2) | 1.2-second pause |
| f | Loud speech ('forte') | [{f Template:IPAf}] | ff | Louder speech ('fortissimo') | [{ff Template:IPA ff}] | ||
| p | Quiet speech ('piano') | [{p Template:IPA p}] | pp | Quieter speech ('pianissimo') | [{pp Template:IPA pp}] | ||
| allegro | Fast speech | [{allegro Template:IPA allegro}] | lento | Slow speech | [{lento Template:IPA lento}] | ||
| crescendo, rallentando, and other musical terms may also be used. | |||||||
Obsolete symbols, nonstandard symbols, and capital variants
The IPA inherited alternate symbols from various traditions, but eventually settled on one for each sound. The other symbols are now considered obsolete. An example is Template:IPA for standard Template:IPA. Several symbols indicating secondary articulation have been dropped altogether, with the idea that such things should be indicated with diacritics: Template:IPA for Template:IPA is one. In addition, the rare voiceless implosive series Template:IPA has been dropped.
There are also unsupported symbols from local traditions that find their way into publications that otherwise use the standard IPA. This is especially common with affricates such as Template:IPA.
While the IPA does not itself have a set of capital letters (the ones that look like capitals are actually small capitals), many languages have adopted symbols from the IPA as part of their orthographies, and in such cases they have invented capital variants of these. This is especially common in Africa. An example is Kabye of northern Togo, which has Ɔ Ɛ Ŋ Ɣ Ʃ (capital Template:IPA). Other pseudo-IPA capitals supported by unicode are Ɓ/Ƃ Ƈ Ɗ/Ƌ Ə/Ǝ Ɠ Ħ Ɯ Ɲ Ɵ Ʈ Ʊ Ʋ Ʒ.
| Template:IPA | Iota, rejected 1989 in favor of Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Closed omega, rejected 1989 in favor of Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Closed epsilon, a mistake for Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Long-leg R, voiced strident apico-alveolar trill (Czech ř), withdrawn 1989, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Reversed fishhook R / turned iota, apical dental unrounded vowel used by Sinologists, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Squat reversed esh (actually Template:IPA with retroflex tail), apical retroflex unrounded vowel used by Sinologists, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | turned h with fishhook, apical dental rounded vowel used by Sinologists, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | turned h with fishhook and tail, apical retroflex rounded vowel used by Sinologists, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | t with curl, voiceless palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) plosive, used by Sinologists |
| Template:IPA | d with curl, voiced palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) plosive, used by Sinologists |
| Template:IPA | n with curl, voiced palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) nasal, used by Sinologists |
| A | small capital A, open central vowel used by Sinologists, between Template:IPA and Template:IPA |
| E | small capital E, mid front unrounded vowel used by Sinologists, between Template:IPA and Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Curly-tail esh, withdrawn 1989, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Curly-tail ezh, withdrawn 1989, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Left-hook T, withdrawn 1989, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA etc. | Subscript left hook, superseded 1989 by Template:IPA etc. |
| Template:IPA | = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA etc. | Subscript w, superseded 1989 by Template:IPA etc. |
| Template:IPA etc. | = Template:IPA etc. ("retroflex" or r-colored vowels) |
| Template:IPA | Turned T, superseded 1989 by Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Inverted glottal stop, superseded 1989 by Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Stretched C, superseded 1989 by Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Proposed symbol for velar click, withdrawn 1970 |
| Template:IPA | Hooktop P, T, C, K, Q, withdrawn 1993, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Right-leg N, withdrawn 1976, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Americanist usage, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Americanist usage, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Americanist usage, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Americanist, Slavicist etc. usage, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Americanist usage, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Americanist usage, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Withdrawn 1976, = Template:IPA |
| Template:IPA | Barred two, withdrawn 1976, = Template:IPA |
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, Template:IPA. Similarly, voiced lateral fricatives would be written as raised lateral approximants, Template:IPA. 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, Template:IPA. Similarly, a labiodental trill would be written Template:IPA (bilabial trill and the dental sign). Palatal and uvular taps, if they exist, and the epiglottal tap could be written as extra-short plosives, Template:IPA. A retroflex trill can be written as a retracted Template:IPA, 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 similarly manageable by using diacritics for raising, lowering, fronting, backing, centering, and mid-centering. For example, the unrounded equivalent of Template:IPA can be transcribed as mid-centered Template:IPA, and the rounded equivalent of [æ] as raised Template:IPA. True mid vowels are lowered Template:IPA, while centered Template:IPA 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.
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 Template:IPA "epsilon", but Unicode calls it "small letter open E".
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:
| IPA symbol name | phonetic description | Unicode name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| p | (lower-case) P | voiceless bilabial plosive | LATIN SMALL LETTER P |
| x | (lower-case) X | voiceless velar fricative | LATIN SMALL LETTER X |
| r | (lower-case) R | coronal trill | LATIN SMALL LETTER R |
| Template:IPA | beta | voiced bilabial fricative | GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA |
| Template:IPA | epsilon | open-mid front unrounded vowel | LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN E |
| Template:IPA | gamma | voiced velar fricative | LATIN SMALL LETTER GAMMA |
| Template:IPA | theta | voiceless dental fricative | GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA |
| Template:IPA | chi | voiceless uvular fricative | GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI |
| Template:IPA | phi | voiceless bilabial fricative | LATIN SMALL LETTER PHI |
| Template:IPA | upsilon Template:Footnote | near-close near-back rounded vowel | LATIN SMALL LETTER UPSILON |
Note
- 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 Template:IPA, 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.
A few letters have the forms of cursive or script letters. Examples:
| IPA symbol name | phonetic description | Unicode name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:IPA | script A | open back unrounded vowel | LATIN SMALL LETTER ALPHA |
| Template:IPA | opentail G Template:Footnote | voiced velar plosive | LATIN SMALL LETTER SCRIPT G |
| Template:IPA | cursive V Template:Footnote | labiodental approximant | LATIN SMALL LETTER V WITH HOOK |
Note
- The "looptail G" Image:Looptail g.PNG is not strictly an IPA character, but is an acceptable alternative.
- In form and origin, but not in name, this is the Greek upsilon.
Ligatures are called precisely that, although some have alternate names. Examples:
| IPA symbol name | phonetic description | Unicode name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:IPA | (lower-case) o-e ligature | open-mid front rounded vowel | LATIN SMALL LIGATURE OE |
| Template:IPA | L-Ezh ligature | voiced coronal lateral fricative | LATIN SMALL LETTER LEZH |
| Template:IPA | ash; (lower-case) a-e ligature | near-open front unrounded vowel | LATIN SMALL LETTER AE |
Many letters are turned, or rotated 180 degrees. Examples:
| IPA symbol name | phonetic description | Unicode name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:IPA | turned Y | palatal lateral approximant | LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED Y |
| Template:IPA | turned H | labial-palatal approximant | LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED H |
| Template:IPA | turned script A | open back rounded vowel | LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED ALPHA |
| Template:IPA | turned V | open-mid back unrounded vowel | LATIN SMALL TURNED V |
| Template:IPA | open O | open-mid back rounded vowel | LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O |
The symbol Template:IPA 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 Template:IPA is often also called "caret" or "wedge" for its similarity to that diacritic.
A few letters are reversed (flipped on a vertical axis): Template:IPA reversed E, Template:IPA reversed epsilon, Template:IPA reversed glottal stop [often called by its Arabic name, ayin].
One letter is inverted (flipped on a horizontal axis): Template:IPA inverted R. (Template:IPA 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: Template:IPA barred H, Template:IPA barred o, Template:IPA reversed barred glottal stop or barred ayin, Template:IPA barred dotless J or barred gelded J [apparently never 'turned F'], Template:IPA double-barred pipe, etc.
One letter instead has a slash through it: Template:IPA slashed O.
The implosives have hook tops: Template:IPA hook-top B, as does Template:IPA 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: Template:IPA right-tail N, Template:IPA right-tail turned R, Template:IPA left-tail N [note that Template:IPA has its own traditional name, engma], Template:IPA left-tail em, Template:IPA tail Z [or just retroflex Z], etc.
When the tail loops over itself, it's called curly: Template:IPA curly-tail jay, Template:IPA curly-tail C.
There are also a few unique modifications: Template:IPA belted L, Template:IPA closed reversed epsilon [there was once also a Template:IPA closed omega], Template:IPA right-leg turned M, Template:IPA turned long-leg R [there was once also a long-leg R], Template:IPA double pipe, and the obsolete Template:IPA stretched C.
Several non-English letters have traditional names: Template:IPA C cedilla, Template:IPA eth (also spelled edh), Template:IPA engma, Template:IPA schwa, Template:IPA exclamation mark, Template:IPA pipe.
Other symbols are unique to the IPA, and have developed their own quirky names: Template:IPA fish-hook R, Template:IPA ram's horns, Template:IPA bull's eye, Template:IPA esh [apparently never 'stretched ess'], Template:IPA ezh [sometimes also yogh], Template:IPA hook-top heng.
The Template:IPA 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:
- Template:IPA acute, Template:IPA macron, Template:IPA grave, Template:IPA circumflex, Template:IPA caron, wedge, or háček, Template:IPA diaeresis or umlaut, Template:IPA breve, Template:IPA (superscript) tilde, plus variants such as Template:IPA subscript tilde, Template:IPA superimposed tilde, etc.
Non-traditional diacritics:
- Template:IPA seagull, Template:IPA hook, Template:IPA over-cross, Template:IPA corner, Template:IPA bridge, Template:IPA inverted bridge, Template:IPA square, Template:IPA under-ring, Template:IPA over-ring, Template:IPA left half-ring, Template:IPA right half-ring, Template:IPA plus, Template:IPA under-bar, Template:IPA arch, Template:IPA subscript wedge, Template:IPA up tack, Template:IPA down tack, Template:IPA left tack, Template:IPA right tack, Template:IPA tie bar, Template:IPA under-dot, Template:IPA 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.
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.
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.
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.
See also: Unicode and HTML
See also
- International Phonetic Alphabet for English explains those IPA symbols used to represent the phonemes of English.
- IPA chart for English: simplifed version.
- Pronunciation respelling for English: overview of several pronunciation guide systems used in English dictionaries.
- 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)
External links
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 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, the new labiodental flap, and many non-standard phonetic symbols.
- Doulos SIL, a Times/Times New Roman style font. It contains the same characters as Charis SIL, but only in a single face, roman.
- SIL93 the legacy SIL IPA93 fonts (Manuscript and Sophia) recoded in Unicode.
- DejaVu fonts, an open source font family derived from the Bitstream Vera fonts.
- A test page for verifying 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.
Sound files
- Peter Ladefoged's Course in Phonetics (with sound files)
- 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
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.
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, Stanford 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.
als:IPA ar:ألفبائية صوتية دولية br:Lizherenneg Fonetikel Etrebroadel ca:Alfabet fonètic internacional cs:Mezinárodní fonetická abeceda da:Det internationale fonetiske alfabet de:Internationales Phonetisches Alphabet eo:Internacia Fonetika Alfabeto es:Alfabeto Fonético Internacional et:IPA fi:Kansainvälinen foneettinen aakkosto fr:Alphabet phonétique international gl:Alfabeto Fonético Internacional he:אלפבית פונטי בינלאומי hi:अंतर्राष्ट्रीय ध्वनि वर्णाक्षर hu:IPA is:Alþjóðlega hljóðstafrófið it:Alfabeto fonetico internazionale ja:国際音声記号 ko:국제 음성 기호 nl:Internationaal Fonetisch Alfabet nn:Det internasjonale fonetiske alfabetet no:Det internasjonale fonetiske alfabetet pl:Międzynarodowy alfabet fonetyczny pt:Alfabeto fonético internacional ro:Alfabetul Fonetic Internaţional ru:Международный фонетический алфавит sk:Medzinárodná fonetická abeceda sq:Alfabeti Fonetik Ndërkombëtar sv:Internationella fonetiska alfabetet th:สัทอักษรสากล tr:IPA tt:Xalıqara Yañğırış Älifbası vi:IPA uk:Міжнародний фонетичний алфавіт wa:Alfabet fonetike eternåcionå zh:國際音標 zh-min-nan:Kok-chè Im-phiau