THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (revised to 1993, updated 1996)
CONSONANTS (PULMONIC)
$ c
L \ Ë Ê X
3
H H R
( ^ Æ ¡ 2
D µ n , < 8
Front Central Back Close
Close-mid
Open-mid
Open
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel.
± z
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Post alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
Plosive SE WG È FÑ NJ T*
Nasal P Q 1 ²
Trill × U 5
Tap or Flap _ ©
Fricative )% IY 7' V¬¬] 6= o- [9 ;Ç " K+
Lateral
fricative Ó /
Approximant ¥ · M Ù
Lateral
approximant O Ò .
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.
CONSONANTS (NON-PULMONIC)
SUPRASEGMENTALS VOWELS
OTHER SYMBOLS
Clicks Voiced implosives Ejectives
!
Bilabial
Bilabial’
Examples:Û
DentalÍ
Dental/alveolarS ’
Bilabial!
(Post)alveolarÜ
PalatalW ’
Dental/alveolarÚ
Palatoalveolar¦
VelarN ’
Velar
Alveolar lateralÎ
UvularV ’
Alveolar fricativePrimary stress
Secondary stress
IR8Q W,6Q
« Long H«
Ô Half-long HÔ
Extra-short H Û Minor (foot) group
Major (intonation) group
Syllable break L ±NW
§ Linking (absence of a break)
TONES AND WORD ACCENTS
LEVEL CONTOUR
H¬B
RUk
ExtrahighH&
orl
RisingH r
HighH s
FallingH# v
MidH
HighrisingHa {
LowH À w
LowrisingH³
ExtralowH x
Rising-falling¯
Downstepm
Global rise}
Upstep®
Global fallDIACRITICS Diacritics may be placed above a symbol with a descender, e.g. 1
Voiceless
Q
G
Breathy voicedED
DentalW¬G
VoicedVW¬
Creaky voicedED £
ApicalW¬£G£
Ð
AspiratedWÐGÐ
LinguolabialW¬ ¬G
LaminalW¬G
More rounded2 :
LabializedW:G:
NasalizedH
Less rounded2 ¨
PalatalizedW¨G¨ Ø
Nasal releaseGØ
AdvancedX ¹
VelarizedW¹¬G¹ ¤
Lateral releaseG¤
Retracted
H
PharyngealizedW¬¬G `
No audible releaseG`
¬
¬Ã
CentralizedHÃ
Velarized or pharyngealizedMid-centralized
H
RaisedH
¬(
= voiced alveolar fricative)C
SyllabicQC
LoweredH
(%
= voiced bilabial approximant)Non-syllabic
H
Advanced Tongue RootH
RhoticityD
Retracted Tongue RootH
Voiceless labial-velar fricativedÕ
Alveolo-palatal fricativesZ
¬Voiced labial-velar approximantª
Alveolar lateral flapÉ
Voiced labial-palatal approximantÍ
Simultaneous6
and[ Ï
Voiceless epiglottal fricative¢
¬Voiced epiglottal fricativeAffricates and double articulations can be represented by two symbols
¬¸
¬Epiglottal plosivejoined by a tie bar if necessary.