International Phonetic Association

The International Phonetic Association /{{IPA|?nt??næ??n?l f??n?t?k ?sousi?e??n}}/ (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.

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.

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