What is the IPA Chart?
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), is an alphabet developed in the 19th century to accurately represent the pronunciation of languages. One aim of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was to provide a unique symbol for each distinctive sound in a language—that is, every sound, or phoneme, that serves to distinguish one word from another.
Phonemic transcription (sometimes called broad transcription) is a code for the significantly different sounds in a specific language. Sounds are often pronounced slightly differently in different contexts but they are perceived as the same by native speakers and are written the same in phonemic script.
The concept of the IPA was first broached by Otto Jespersen in a letter to Paul Passy of the International Phonetic Association and was developed by A.J. Ellis, Henry Sweet, Daniel Jones, and Passy in the late 19th century. Its creators’ intent was to standardize the representation of spoken language, thereby sidestepping the confusion caused by the inconsistent conventional spellings used in every language. The IPA was also intended to supersede the existing multitude of individual transcription systems. It was first published in 1888 and was revised several times in the 20th and 21st centuries. The International Phonetic Association is responsible for the alphabet and publishes a chart summarizing it.
The IPA primarily uses Roman characters. Other letters are borrowed from different scripts (e.g., Greek) and are modified to conform to the Roman style. Diacritics are used for fine distinctions in sounds and to show nasalization of vowels, length, stress, and tones. The IPA can be used for broad and narrow transcription. For example, in English, there is only one t sound distinguished by native speakers. Therefore, only one symbol is needed in a broad transcription to indicate every t sound. If there is a need to transcribe narrowly in English, diacritical marks can be added to indicate that the t’s in the words tap, pat, and stem differ slightly in pronunciation.
Interactive IPA Chart
Explore the sounds of the International Phonetic Alphabet using the interactive chart below:
Vowels
English Vowels & Consonants
Non-Pulmonic Consonants
| Clicks | Voiced Implosives | Ejectives |
|---|---|---|
| ʘ Bilabial | ɓ Bilabial | pʼ Bilabial |
| ǀ Dental | ɗ Dental/alveolar | tʼ Dental/alveolar |
| ǃ (Post)alveolar | ʄ Palatal | kʼ Velar |
| ǂ Palatoalveolar | ɠ Velar | sʼ Alveolar fricative |
| ǁ Alveolar lateral | ʛ Uvular | ʼ etc... |
Other Symbols
- ʍ Voiceless labial-velar fricative
- w Voiced labial-velar approximant
- ɥ Voiced labial-palatal approximant
- ʜ Voiceless epiglottal fricative
- ʢ Voiced epiglottal fricative
- ʡ Epiglottal plosive
- ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative
- ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal fricative
- ɺ Alveolar lateral flap
- ɧ Simultaneous ʃ and x
Affricates
- t͡s Voiceless alveolar affricate
- t͡ʃ Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate
- t͡ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate
- ʈ͡ʂ Voiceless retroflex affricate
- d͡z Voiced alveolar affricate
- d͡ʒ Voiced post-alveolar affricate
- d͡ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate
- ɖ͡ʐ Voiceless retroflex affricate
