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.
The Pronunciation key shows, based on the pronunciation of English words, how to read IPA, whereas the information below is of more theoretical nature. For further information see the bottom of this page .
Bilabial
Labiodental
Dental
Alveolar
Postalveolar
Retroflex
Palatal
Velar
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Glottal
Plosive
p b
p̪ b̪
t̪ d̪
t d
ʈ ɖ
c ɟ
k ɡ
q ɢ
ʔ
Nasal
m
ɱ
n̪
n
ɳ
ɲ
ŋ
ɴ
Trill
ʙ
r̪
r
ʀ
Tap or Flap
ɾ̪
ɾ
ɽ
Lateral Tap or Flap
ɺ
Fricative
ɸ β
f v
θ ð
s z
ʃ ʒ
ʂ ʐ
ç ʝ
x ɣ
χ ʁ
ħ ʕ
h ɦ
Lateral Fricative
ɬ ɮ
Approximant
ʋ
ɹ
ɻ
j
ɰ
Lateral Approximant
l̪
l
ɭ
ʎ
ʟ
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant.
Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.
Clicks
Voiced implosives
Ejectives
ʘ
Bilabial click
ɓ
Bilabial voiced implosive
ʼ
For example:
ǀ
Dental click
ɗ
Dental/alveolar voiced implosive
pʼ
Bilabial ejective
ǃ
(Post)alveolar click
ʄ
Palatal voiced implosive
tʼ
Dental/alveolar ejective
ǂ
Palatoalveolar click
ɠ
Velar voiced implosive
kʼ
Velar ejective
ǁ
Alveolar lateral click
ʛ
Uvular voiced implosive
sʼ
Alveolar fricative ejective
Front
N.-front
Central
N.-back
Back
Close
i•y
ɨ•ʉ
ɯ•u
ɪ•ʏ
ʊ
e•ø
ɘ•ɵ
ɤ•o
ə
ɛ•œ
ɜ•ɞ
ʌ•ɔ
æ
ɐ
a•ɶ
ɑ•ɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel.
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 ʑ
Alveolo-palatal fricatives
ɧ
Simultaneous ʃ and x
Affricates and double articulations can be represented by two symbols joined by a tie bar if necessary
k͡p t͡s
ˈ
Primary stress
ˌ
Secondary stress
ː
Long
ˑ
Half-long
˘
Extra-short
.
Syllable break
|
Minor (foot) group
‖
Major (intonation) group
‿
Linking (absence of a break)
==Tones & Word Accents==今天又来个电话我接你电话怎么这么可爱这么多年还是
Diacritics may be placed above a symbol with a descender, e.g. ŋ̊
̥
Voiceless
̤
Breathy voiced
̪
Dental
̬
Voiced
̰
Creaky voiced
̺
Apical
ʰ
Aspirated
̼
Linguolabial
̻
Laminal
˒
More rounded
ʷ
Labialized
̃
Nasalized
˓
Less rounded
ʲ
Palatalized
ⁿ
Nasal release
˖
Advanced
ˠ
Velarized
ˡ
Lateral release
˗
Retracted
ˁ
Pharyngealized
̚
No audible release
̈
Centralized
̴
Velarized or pharyngealized
̽
Mid-centralized
̝
Raised (ɹ̝ = voiced alveolar fricative)
ˌ
Syllabic
̞
Lowered (β̞ = voiced bilabial approximant)
̯
Non-syllabic
̘
Advanced Tongue Root
˞
Rhoticity
̙
Retracted Tongue Root
͍
Labial Spreading
͈
Strong Articulation
͊
Denasal
͆
Dentolabial
͉
Weak Articulation
͋
Nasal Escape
̪͆
Interdental/Bidental
Reiterated Articulation
͌
Velopharyngeal Friction
̳
Alveolar
͎
Whistled Articulation
↓
Ingressive Airflow
̼
Linguolabial
͢
Sliding Articulation
↑
Egressive Airflow