This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The following is the chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet, a standardized system of phonetic symbols devised and maintained by the International Phonetic Association. It is not a complete list of all possible speech sounds in the world's languages, only those about which stand-alone articles exist in this encyclopedia.

Official chart

The official IPA chart, revised to 2020

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close
i
•
y
ɨ
•
ʉ
ɯ
•
u
Near-close
ɪ
•
ʏ
•
ʊ
Close-mid
e
•
ø
ɘ
•
ɵ
ɤ
•
o
Mid
e̞
•
ø̞
ə
ɤ̞
•
o̞
Open-mid
ɛ
•
œ
ɜ
•
ɞ
ʌ
•
ɔ
Near-open
æ
•
ɐ
Open
a
•
ɶ
ä
•
ɑ
•
ɒ

Legend: unrounded • rounded

Consonants

Pulmonic consonants

Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal
Manner ↓ Bi­labial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Post­alveolar Retro­flex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn­geal/epi­glottal Glottal
Nasal m̥ m ɱ̊ ɱ n̼ n̥ n ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ̥ ɴ
Plosive p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ
Sibilant affricate ts dz t̠ʃ d̠ʒ tʂ dʐ tɕ dʑ
Non-sibilant affricate pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v t̪θ d̪ð tɹ̝̊ dɹ̝ t̠ɹ̠̊˔ d̠ɹ̠˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ɢʁ ʡʜ ʡʢ ʔh
Sibilant fricative s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ
Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̠ ð̠ ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔ ɻ̊˔ ɻ˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ
Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ ʔ̞
Tap/flap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̼ ɾ̥ ɾ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̆
Trill ʙ̥ ʙ r̥ r ɽ̊r̥ ɽr ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ
Lateral affricate tɬ dɮ tꞎ d𝼅 c𝼆 ɟʎ̝ k𝼄 ɡʟ̝
Lateral fricative ɬ ɮ ꞎ 𝼅 𝼆 ʎ̝ 𝼄 ʟ̝
Lateral approximant l ɭ ʎ ʟ ʟ̠
Lateral tap/flap ɺ̥ ɺ 𝼈̥ 𝼈 ʎ̆ ʟ̆

Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.

Non-pulmonic consonants

BL LD D A PA RF P V U EG
Ejective Stop pʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ ʡʼ
Affricate p̪fʼ t̪θʼ tsʼ t̠ʃʼ tʂʼ kxʼ qχʼ
Fricative ɸʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ
Lateral affricate tɬʼ c𝼆ʼ k𝼄ʼ q𝼄ʼ
Lateral fricative ɬʼ
Click
(top: velar;
bottom: uvular) 		Tenuis kʘ
qʘ 		kǀ
qǀ 		kǃ
qǃ 		k𝼊
q𝼊 		kǂ
qǂ
Voiced ɡʘ
ɢʘ 		ɡǀ
ɢǀ 		ɡǃ
ɢǃ 		ɡ𝼊
ɢ𝼊 		ɡǂ
ɢǂ
Nasal ŋʘ
ɴʘ 		ŋǀ
ɴǀ 		ŋǃ
ɴǃ 		ŋ𝼊
ɴ𝼊 		ŋǂ
ɴǂ 		ʞ
 
Tenuis lateral kǁ
qǁ
Voiced lateral ɡǁ
ɢǁ
Nasal lateral ŋǁ
ɴǁ
Implosive Voiced ɓ ɗ ᶑ ʄ ɠ ʛ
Voiceless ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ᶑ̊ ʄ̊ ɠ̊ ʛ̥

Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.

Co-articulated consonants

Fricative/approximant
ʍ
w
Labial–velar
ɧ
Sj-sound (variable)
Lateral approximant
ɫ
Velarized alveolar
Implosive
ɠ̊͜ɓ̥
ɠ͡ɓ
Labial–velar
Ejective
t͡pʼ
Labial–alveolar

Other consonants

Tones

Tone registers
◌̋ ˥ ꜒ Extra-high (top)
◌́ ˦ ꜓ High
◌̄ ˧ ꜔ Mid
◌̀ ˨ ꜕ Low
◌̏ ˩ ꜖ Extra-low (bottom)
ꜜ◌ Downstep
ꜛ◌ Upstep
Tone contours
◌̌ ˩˥ ꜖꜒ Rising (low to high)
◌̂ ˥˩ ꜒꜖ Falling (high to low)
◌᷄ ˧˥ ꜔꜒ High rising
˨˦ ꜕꜓ Mid rising
◌᷅ ˩˧ ꜖꜔ Low rising
◌᷇ ˥˧ ꜒꜔ High falling
˦˨ ꜓꜕ Mid falling
◌᷆ ˧˩ ꜔꜖ Low falling
◌᷈ ˧˥˨, ˨˦˨, ˩˧˩ ꜔꜒꜕, ꜕꜓꜕, ꜖꜔꜖ Rising–falling (Peaking)
◌᷉ ˥˧˥, ˦˨˦, ˧˩˧ ꜒꜔꜒, ꜓꜕꜓, ꜔꜖꜔ Falling–rising (Dipping)

Auxiliary symbols

Diacritics
◌̥ ◌̊ 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 ◌ˤ Pharyngealized ◌̚ No audible release
◌̈ Centralized ◌̴ Velarized or pharyngealized ◌ᵊ Mid central vowel release
◌̽ Mid-centralized ◌̝ ◌˔ Raised ◌ᶿ Voiceless dental fricative release
◌̩ ◌̍ Syllabic ◌̞ ◌˕ Lowered ◌ˣ Voiceless velar fricative release
◌̯ ◌̑ Non-syllabic ◌̘ ◌꭪ Advanced tongue root ◌ʼ Ejective
◌˞ Rhoticity ◌̙ ◌꭫ Retracted tongue root ◌͡◌
◌͜◌ 		Affricate or double articulation
Suprasegmentals
ˈ Primary stress
ˌ Secondary stress
ː Long
ˑ Half-long
◌̆ Extra-short
| Minor (foot) group
‖ Major (intonation) group
. Syllable break
‿ Linking (absence of a break)
↗︎ Global rise
↘︎ Global fall
Transcription
[ ] Phonetic transcription
/ / Phonemic transcription
{ } Prosodic notation
( ) Indistinguishable utterance
⸨ ⸩ Sound obscured

See also

External links

International Phonetic Alphabet (chart)
Categories