ipa
Here is a basic key to the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Several rare IPA symbols are not included. These IPA symbols are found in the main IPA article.
| Contents: | Top – 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|---|
Main symbols
| Symbol | Examples | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A | ||
[a] ( listen) | German Mann, French gare | For many English speakers, the first part of the ow sound in cow. Found in some dialects of English in cat or father. |
| [ä] ( listen) | Mandarin 他 tā, American English father, Spanish casa, French patte | |
| [ɐ] ( listen) | RP cut, German Kaiserslautern | (In transcriptions of English, [ɐ] is usually written ⟨ʌ⟩.) |
| [ɑ] ( listen) | RP father, French pâte, Dutch bad | |
| [ɑ̃] ( listen) | French Caen, sans, temps | Nasalized [ɑ]. |
| [ɒ] ( listen) | RP cot | Like [ɑ], but with the lips slightly rounded. |
| [ʌ] ( listen) | American English cut | Like [ɔ], but without the lips being rounded. (When ⟨ʌ⟩ is used for English, it may really be [ɐ] or [ɜ].) |
| [æ] ( listen) | RP cat | |
| B | ||
| [b] ( listen) | English babble | |
| [ɓ] ( listen) | Swahili bwana | Like a [b] said with a gulp. See implosive consonants. |
| [β] ( listen) | Spanish la Bamba, Kinyarwanda abana "children", Korean 무궁화 [muɡuŋβwa̠] mugunghwa | Like [b], but with the lips not quite closed. |
| [ʙ] ( listen) | Nias simbi [siʙi] "lower jaw" | Sputtering. |
| C | ||
| [c] ( listen) | Turkish kebap "kebab", Czech stín "shadow", Greek και "and" | Between English tune (RP) and cute. Sometimes used instead for [tʃ] in languages like Hindi. |
| [ç] ( listen) | German Ich | More of a y-coloration (more palatal) than [x]. Some English speakers have a similar sound in huge. To produce this sound, try whispering loudly the word "ye" as in "Hear ye!". |
| [ɕ] ( listen) | Mandarin 西安 Xi'an, Polish ściana | More y-like than [ʃ]; something like English she. |
| [ɔ] ( listen) | see under O | |
| D | ||
| [d] ( listen) | English dad | |
| [ɗ] ( listen) | Swahili Dodoma | Like [d] said with a gulp. |
| [ɖ] ( listen) | American English harder | Like [d] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
| [ð] ( listen) | English the, bathe | |
| [dz] ( listen) | English adds, Italian zero | |
| [dʒ] ( listen) | English judge | |
| [dʑ] ( listen) | Polish niedźwiedź "bear" | Like [dʒ], but with more of a y-sound. |
| [dʐ] ( listen) | Polish dżem "jam" | Like [dʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
| E | ||
| [e] ( listen) | Spanish fe; French clé, German Klee | Similar to English hey, before the y sets in. |
| [ɘ] ( listen) | Australian English bird | |
| [ə] ( listen) | English above, Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief" | (Only occurs in English when not stressed.) |
| [ɚ] ( listen) | American English runner | |
| [ɛ] ( listen) | English bet | |
| [ɛ̃] ( listen) | French Saint-Étienne, vin, main | Nasalized [ɛ]. |
| [ɜ] ( listen) | RP bird (long) | |
| [ɝ] ( listen) | American English bird | |
| F | ||
| [f] ( listen) | English fun | |
| [ɟ] ( listen) | see under J | |
| [ʄ] ( listen) | see under J | |
| G | ||
| [ɡ] ( listen) | English gag | (Should look like  . No different from a Latin "g") |
| [ɠ] ( listen) | Swahili Uganda | Like [ɡ] said with a gulp. |
| [ɢ] ( listen) | Like [ɡ], but further back, in the throat. Found in Persian and some Arabic dialects for /q/, as in Muammar Gaddafi. | |
| [ʒ] ( listen) | see under Z | English beige. |
| H | ||
| [h] ( listen) | American English house | |
| [ɦ] ( listen) | English ahead, when said quickly. | |
| [ʰ] | The extra puff of air in English top [tʰɒp] compared to stop [stɒp], or to French or Spanish [t]. | |
| [ħ] ( listen) | Arabic مُحَمَّد Muhammad | Far down in the throat, like [h], but stronger. |
| [ɥ] ( listen) | see under Y | |
| [ɮ] ( listen) | see under L | |
| I | ||
| [i] ( listen) | English sea, French ville, Spanish Valladolid | |
| [ɪ] ( listen) | English sit | |
| [ɨ] ( listen) | Russian ты "you" | Often used for unstressed English roses. |
| J | ||
| [j] ( listen) | English yes, hallelujah, German Junge | |
| [ʲ] | In Russian Ленин [ˈlʲenʲɪn] | Indicates a sound is more y-like. |
| [ʝ] ( listen) | Spanish cayo (some dialects) | Like [j], but stronger. |
| [ɟ] ( listen) | Turkish gör "see", Czech díra "hole" | Between English dew (RP) and argue. Sometimes used instead for [dʒ] in languages like Hindi. |
| [ʄ] ( listen) | Swahili jambo | Like [ɟ] said with a gulp. |
| K | ||
| [k] ( listen) | English kick, skip | |
| L | ||
| [l] ( listen) | English leaf | |
| [ɫ] ( listen) | English wool Russian малый [ˈmɑɫɨj] "small" | "Dark" el. |
| [ɬ] ( listen) | Welsh llwyd [ɬʊɪd] "grey" Zulu hlala [ɬaːla] "sit" | By touching roof of mouth with tongue and giving a quick breath out. Found in Welsh placenames like Llangollen and Llanelli and Nelson Mandela's Xhosa name Rolihlahla. |
| [ɭ] ( listen) | Like [l] with the tongue curled or pulled back. | |
| [ɺ] ( listen) | A flapped [l], like [l] and [ɾ] said together. | |
| [ɮ] ( listen) | Zulu dla "eat" | Rather like [l] and [ʒ], or [l] and [ð], said together. |
| [ʟ] ( listen) | ||
| M | ||
| [m] ( listen) | English mime | |
| [ɱ] ( listen) | English symphony | Like [m], but lips touch teeth as they do in [f]. |
| [ɯ] ( listen) | see under W | |
| [ʍ] ( listen) | see under W | |
| N | ||
| [n] ( listen) | English nun | |
| [ŋ] ( listen) | English sing, Māori nga | |
| [ɲ] ( listen) | Spanish Peña, French champagne | Rather like English canyon (/nj/ said quickly). |
| [ɳ] ( listen) | Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳ] Varuna | Like [n] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
| [ɴ] ( listen) | Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan] | Like [ŋ], but further back, in the throat. |
| O | ||
| [o] ( listen) | Spanish no, French eau, German Boden | Somewhat reminiscent of American English no. |
| [ɔ] ( listen) | German Oldenburg, French Garonne | |
| [ɔ̃] ( listen) | French Lyon, son | Nasalized [ɔ]. |
| [ø] ( listen) | French feu, bœufs, German Goethe | Like [e], but with the lips rounded like [o]. |
| [ɵ] ( listen) | Dutch hut, French je, Swedish dum | Halfway between [o] and [ø]. Similar to [ʊ] but with the tongue slightly more down and front. The Dutch vowel is often transcribed with ⟨ʏ⟩ or ⟨œ⟩, whereas the French vowel is typically transcribed with ⟨ə⟩. |
| [œ] ( listen) | French bœuf, seul, German Göttingen | Like [ɛ], but with the lips rounded like [ɔ]. |
| [œ̃] ( listen) | French brun, parfum | Nasalized [œ]. |
| [ɶ] ( listen) | ||
| [θ] ( listen) | see under Others | |
| [ɸ] ( listen) | see under Others | |
| P | ||
| [p] ( listen) | English pip | |
| Q | ||
| [q] ( listen) | Arabic قُرْآن Qur’ān | Like [k], but further back, in the throat. |
| R | ||
| [r] ( listen) | Spanish perro, Scots borrow | "Rolled R". (Often used for other rhotics, such as English [ɹ], when there's no ambiguity.) |
| [ɾ] ( listen) | Spanish pero, Tagalog daliri, Malay kabar, American English kitty/kiddie | "Flapped R". |
| [ʀ] ( listen) | Dutch rood and German rot (some speakers) | A trill in the back of the throat. Found for /r/ in some conservative registers of French. |
| [ɽ] ( listen) | Hindi साड़ी [sɑːɽiː] "sari" | Like flapped [ɾ], but with the tongue curled back. |
| [ɹ] ( listen) | RP borrow | |
| [ɻ] ( listen) | Mandarin 人民日报 Rénmín Rìbào "People's Daily", American English borrow, butter | Like [ɹ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back, as pronounced by many English speakers. |
| [ʁ] ( listen) | French Paris, German Riemann (some dialects) | Said back in the throat, but not trilled. |
| S | ||
| [s] ( listen) | English sass | |
| [ʃ] ( listen) | English shoe | |
| [ʂ] ( listen) | Mandarin 少林 (Shàolín), Russian Пушкин (Pushkin) | Acoustically similar to [ʃ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
| T | ||
| [t] ( listen) | English tot, stop | |
| [ʈ] ( listen) | Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief" | Like [t], but with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
| [ts] ( listen) | English cats, Russian царь tsar | |
| [tʃ] ( listen) | English church | |
| [tɕ] ( listen) | Mandarin 北京 Běijīng ( listen), Polish ciebie "you" | Like [tʃ], but with more of a y-sound. |
| [tʂ] ( listen) | Mandarin 真正 zhēnzhèng, Polish czas | Like [tʃ] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
| U | ||
| [u] ( listen) | American English food, French vous "you", German Schumacher | |
| [ʊ] ( listen) | English foot, German Bundesrepublik | |
| [ʉ] ( listen) | Australian English food (long) | Like [ɨ], but with the lips rounded as for [u]. |
| [ɥ] ( listen) | see under Y | |
| [ɯ] ( listen) | see under W | |
| V | ||
| [v] ( listen) | English verve | |
| [ʋ] ( listen) | Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳə] "Varuna" | Between [v] and [w]. Used by some Germans and Russians for v/w, and by some speakers of British English for r. |
| [ɤ] ( listen) | see under Y | |
| [ɣ] ( listen) | see under Y | |
| [ʌ] ( listen) | see under A | |
| W | ||
| [w] ( listen) | English wow | |
| [ʷ] | Indicates a sound has lip rounding, as in English rain | |
| [ʍ] ( listen) | what (some dialects) | like [h] and [w] said together |
| [ɯ] ( listen) | Turkish kayık "caïque", Scottish Gaelic gaol | Like [u], but with the lips flat; something like [ʊ]. |
| [ɰ] ( listen) | Spanish agua | Like [w], but with the lips flat. |
| X | ||
| [x] ( listen) | Scottish English loch, German Bach, Russian хороший [xɐˈroʂɨj] "good", Spanish joven | between [k] and [h] |
| [χ] ( listen) | northern Standard Dutch Scheveningen, Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan] | Like [x], but further back, in the throat. Some German and Arabic speakers have [χ] for [x]. |
| Y | ||
| [y] ( listen) | French rue, German Bülow | Like [i], but with the lips rounded as for [u]. |
| [ʏ] ( listen) | German Düsseldorf | Like [ɪ], but with the lips rounded as for [ʊ]. |
| [ɣ] ( listen) | Arabic غَالِي ghālī and Swahili ghali "expensive", Spanish suegro | Sounds rather like French [ʁ] or between [ɡ] and [h]. |
| [ɤ] ( listen) | Mandarin 河南 Hénán, Scottish Gaelic taigh | Like [o] but without the lips rounded, something like a cross of [ʊ] and [ʌ]. |
| [ʎ] ( listen) | Italian tagliatelle | Like [l], but more y-like. Rather like English volume. |
| [ɥ] ( listen) | French lui | Like [j] and [w] said together. |
| Z | ||
| [z] ( listen) | English zoo | |
| [ʒ] ( listen) | English vision, French journal | |
| [ʑ] ( listen) | old-styled Russian позже [ˈpoʑːe] "later", Polish źle | More y-like than [ʒ], something like beigey. |
| [ʐ] ( listen) | Russian жир "fat" | Like [ʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
| [ɮ] ( listen) | see under L | |
| Others | ||
| [θ] ( listen) | English thigh, bath | |
| [ɸ] ( listen) | Japanese 富士 [ɸɯdʑi] Fuji, Māori [ˌɸaːɾeːˈnuiː] wharenui | Like [p], but with the lips not quite touching |
| [ʔ] ( listen) | English uh-oh, Hawai‘i, German die Angst | The 'glottal stop', a catch in the breath. For some people, found in button [ˈbʌʔn̩], or between vowels across words: Deus ex machina [ˌdeɪəsˌʔɛksˈmɑːkɪnə]; in some nonstandard dialects, in a apple [əˈʔæpl̩]. |
| [ʕ] ( listen) | Arabic عَرَبِيّ ʻarabī "Arabic" | A light, voiced sound deep in the throat, articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx (back of the throat). |
| [ǀ] ( listen) | English tsk-tsk! or tut-tut!, Zulu icici "earring" | (The English click used for disapproval.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [kǀ], [ɡǀ], [ŋǀ]. The Zimbabwean MP Ncube has this click in his name, as did Cetshwayo. |
| [ǁ] ( listen) | English tchick! tchick!, Zulu ixoxo "frog" | (The English click used to urge on a horse.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [kǁ], [ɡǁ], [ŋǁ]. Found in the name of the Xhosa. |
| [ǃ] ( listen) | Zulu iqaqa "polecat" | (The English click used to imitate the trotting of a horse.) A hollow popping sound, like a cork pulled from a bottle. Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [kǃ], [ɡǃ], [ŋǃ]. |
| [ʘ] ( listen) | ǂ’Amkoe ʘoa "two" | Like a kissing sound. |
| [ǂ] ( listen) | Khoekhoe ǂgā-amǃnâ [ǂàʔám̀ᵑǃã̀] "to put in the mouth" | Like an imitation of a chewing sound. |
Marks added to letters
Several marks can be added above, below, before or after letters. The complete list is shown at International Phonetic Alphabet § Diacritics and prosodic notation.
| Symbol | Example |
|---|---|
| Signs above a letter | |
| [ã] | French vin blanc [vɛ̃ blɑ̃] "white wine" |
| [ä] | Portuguese vá [vä] "go" |
| Signs below a letter | |
| [a̯] | English cow [kʰaʊ̯], koi [kʰɔɪ̯] |
| [n̥] | English boy [b̥ɔɪ̯], doe [d̥oʊ̯] (see also) |
| [n̩] | English button |
| [d̪] | Spanish dos, French deux |
| Signs next to a letter | |
| [kʰ] | English come |
| [k’] | Zulu ukuza "come" |
| [aː] | English shh! [ʃː] |
| [aˑ] | RP caught [ˈkʰɔˑt] |
| [ˈa] | pronunciation [pɹ̥əʊ̯ˌnɐnsiˈeɪʃn̩] |
| [ˌa] | |
| [.] | English courtship [ˈkʰɔrt.ʃɪp] |
Computer input using on-screen keyboard
Online IPA keyboard utilities are available.
For iOS there are free IPA keyboard layouts, e.g. IPA Phonetic Keyboard.
Related pages
Other websites
- Official interactive IPA chart with letter descriptions, audio, and input assist
- IPA pronunciation chart with audio
- MRI videos of production of the sounds of the IPA charts
- Ultrasound and MRI videos of production of the sounds of the IPA charts
- Getting JAWS 6.1 to recognize "exotic" Unicode symbols – for help on getting the screen reader JAWS to read IPA symbols
- IPA Reader – web-based IPA synthesizer using Amazon Polly
- Wiki IPA Speaker – Chrome extension
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