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.

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 {{IPA|?}} "epsilon", but Unicode calls it "small letter open E".

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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.

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Examples:

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Note

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• 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 {{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.

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

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Note

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• In form and origin, but not in name, this is the Greek upsilon.

Ligatures are called precisely that, although some have alternate names. Examples:

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Many letters are turned, or rotated 180 degrees. Examples:

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The symbol {{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 {{IPA|?}} is often also called "caret" or "wedge" for it similarity to that diacritic.

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A few letters are reversed (flipped on a vertical axis): {{IPA|?}} reversed E, {{IPA|?}} reversed epsilon, {{IPA|?}} reversed glottal stop .

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One letter is inverted (flipped on a horizontal axis): {{IPA|?}} inverted R. ({{IPA|?}} could also be called an inverted double-u, but turned double-u is more common.)

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When a horizontal stroke is added, it is called a bar: {{IPA|?}} barred H, {{IPA|?}} barred o, {{IPA|?}} reversed barred glottal stop or barred ayin, {{IPA|?}} barred dotless J or barred gelded J , {{IPA|?}} double-barred pipe, etc.

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One letter instead has a slash through it: {{IPA|ø}} slashed O.

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The implosives have hook tops: {{IPA|?}} hook-top B, as does {{IPA|?}} hook-top H.

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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: {{IPA|?}} right-tail N, {{IPA|?}} right-tail turned R, {{IPA|?}} left-tail N , {{IPA|?}} left-tail em, {{IPA|?}} tail Z , etc.

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When the tail loops over itself, it's called curly: {{IPA|?}} curly-tail jay, {{IPA|?}} curly-tail C.

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There are also a few unique modifications: {{IPA|?}} belted L, {{IPA|?}} closed reversed epsilon , {{IPA|?}} right-leg turned M, {{IPA|?}} turned long-leg R , {{IPA|?}} double pipe, and the obsolete {{IPA|?}} stretched C.

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Several non-English letters have traditional names: {{IPA|ç}} C cedilla, {{IPA|ð}} eth (also spelled edh), {{IPA|?}} engma, {{IPA|?}} schwa, {{IPA|?}} exclamation mark, {{IPA|?}} pipe.

Related Topics:
Cedilla - Eth - Engma - Schwa

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Other symbols are unique to the IPA, and have developed their own quirky names: {{IPA|?}} fish-hook R, {{IPA|?}} ram's horns, {{IPA|?}} bull's eye, {{IPA|?}} esh , {{IPA|?}} ezh , {{IPA|?}} hook-top heng.

Related Topics:
Esh - Ezh - Yogh

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The {{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.

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The diacritic marks

Diacritics with traditional names: {{IPA|é}} acute, {{IPA|?}} macron, {{IPA|è}} grave, {{IPA|ê}} circumflex, {{IPA|?}} caron, {{IPA|ë}} diaeresis, {{IPA|?}} breve, {{IPA|?}} (superscript) tilde, {{IPA|?}} subscript tilde, {{IPA|?}} superimposed tilde.

Related Topics:
Acute - Macron - Grave - Circumflex - Caron - Diaeresis - Breve - Tilde

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And so forth. The voicing diacritic is a subscript wedge.

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Non-traditional diacritics:

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{{IPA|d?}} seagull, {{IPA|e?}} hook, {{IPA|e?}} over-cross, {{IPA|d ?}} corner, {{IPA|d?}} bridge, {{IPA|d?}} inverted bridge, {{IPA|d?}} square, {{IPA|e?}} under-ring, {{IPA|e?}} over-ring, {{IPA|e?}} left half-ring, {{IPA|e?}} right half-ring, {{IPA|e?}} plus, {{IPA|e?}} under-bar, {{IPA|e?}} arch, {{IPA|e?}} up tack, {{IPA|e?}} down tack, {{IPA|e?}} left tack, {{IPA|e?}} right tack, {{IPA|d?z}} tie bar, {{IPA|?}} under-dot, {{IPA|n?}} under-stroke.

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Diacritics are also named after their function: the bridge is also called the dental sign, etc.

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