Help:IPA

For help installing IPA-compatible fonts, see Help:Special characters#IPA symbols.

For a basic introduction to using IPA written for English readers, see Help:IPA/Introduction.

Template:Redirect Template:Pp-semi Template:Information page Template:Inline audio

Here is a basic key to the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. For the smaller set of symbols that is sufficient for English, see Help:IPA/English. Several rare IPA symbols are not included; these are found in the main IPA article or on the extensive IPA chart. For the Manual of Style guideline for pronunciation, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation.

For each IPA symbol, an English example is given where possible; here "RP" stands for Received Pronunciation. The foreign languages that are used to illustrate additional sounds are primarily the ones most likely to be familiar to English speakers, French, Standard German, and Spanish. For symbols not covered by those, recourse is taken to the populous languages Standard Chinese, Hindustani, Arabic, and Russian. For sounds still not covered, other smaller but better analyzed languages are used, for example Swahili and Zulu (for the Bantu branch) or Turkish (for Turkic branch) for their respective related languages.

The left-hand column displays the symbols like this: Template:IPAblink. Click on "listen" to hear the sound; click on the symbol itself for a dedicated article with a more complete description and examples from multiple languages. Consonant sounds are spoken once followed by a vowel and once between vowels.

Template:Compact ToC

Main symbols

The symbols are arranged by similarity to letters of the Latin alphabet. Symbols which do not resemble any Latin letter are placed at the end.

Symbol	Examples	Description
^ top A
Template:IPAblink	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.
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 他 tā, American English father, Spanish casa, French patte
Template:IPAblink	RP cut, German Kaiserslautern	(In transcriptions of English, [ɐ] is usually written Template:Angbr IPA.)
Template:IPAblink	RP father, French pâte, Dutch bad
Template:IPAblink	French Caen, sans, temps	Nasalized [ɑ].
Template:IPAblink	RP cot	Like [ɑ], but with the lips slightly rounded.
Template:IPAblink	American English cut	Like [ɔ], but without the lips being rounded. (When Template:Angbr IPA is used for English, it may really be [ɐ] or [ɜ].)
Template:IPAblink	RP cat
^ top B
Template:IPAblink	English babble
Template:IPAblink	Swahili bwana	Like a [b] said with a gulp. See implosive consonants.
Template:IPAblink	Spanish la Bamba, Kinyarwanda abana "children", Korean 무궁화 [muɡuŋβwa̠] mugunghwa	Like [b], but with the lips not quite closed.
Template:IPAblink	Nias simbi [siʙi] "lower jaw"	Sputtering.
^ top C
Template:IPAblink	Turkish kebap "kebab", Czech stín "shadow", Greek και "and"	Between English tune (RP) and cute. Sometimes used instead for [tʃ] in languages like Hindi.
Template:IPAblink	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!".
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 西安 Xi'an, Polish ściana	More y-like than [ʃ]; something like English she.
Template:IPAblink	see under O
^ top D
Template:IPAblink	English dad
Template:IPAblink	Swahili Dodoma	Like [d] said with a gulp.
Template:IPAblink	American English harder	Like [d] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	English the, bathe
Template:IPAblink	English adds, Italian zero
Template:IPAblink	English judge
Template:IPAblink	Polish niedźwiedź "bear"	Like [dʒ], but with more of a y-sound.
Template:IPAblink	Polish dżem "jam"	Like [dʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top E
Template:IPAblink	Spanish fe; French clé, German Klee	Similar to English hey, before the y sets in.
Template:IPAblink	Australian English bird
Template:IPAblink	English above, Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief"	(Only occurs in English when not stressed.)
Template:IPAblink	American English runner
Template:IPAblink	English bet
Template:IPAblink	French Saint-Étienne, vin, main	Nasalized [ɛ].
Template:IPAblink	RP bird (long)
Template:IPAblink	American English bird
^ top F
Template:IPAblink	English fun
Template:IPAblink	see under J
Template:IPAblink	see under J
^ top G
Template:IPAblink	English gag	(Should look like . No different from a Latin "g")
Template:IPAblink	Swahili Uganda	Like [ɡ] said with a gulp.
Template:IPAblink		Like [ɡ], but further back, in the throat. Found in Persian and some Arabic dialects for /q/, as in Muammar Gaddafi.
Template:IPAblink	see under Z	English beige.
^ top H
Template:IPAblink	American English house
Template:IPAblink	English ahead, when said quickly.
Template:IPAblink		The extra puff of air in English top [tʰɒp] compared to stop [stɒp], or to French or Spanish [t].
Template:IPAblink	Arabic Template:Wikt-lang Muhammad	Far down in the throat, like [h], but stronger.
Template:IPAblink	see under Y
Template:IPAblink	see under L
^ top I
Template:IPAblink	English sea, French ville, Spanish Valladolid
Template:IPAblink	English sit
Template:IPAblink	Russian ты "you"	Often used for unstressed English roses.
^ top J
Template:IPAblink	English yes, hallelujah, German Junge
Template:IPAblink	In Russian Ленин [ˈlʲenʲɪn]	Indicates a sound is more y-like.
Template:IPAblink	Spanish cayo (some dialects)	Like [j], but stronger.
Template:IPAblink	Turkish gör "see", Czech díra "hole"	Between English dew (RP) and argue. Sometimes used instead for [dʒ] in languages like Hindi.
Template:IPAblink	Swahili jambo	Like [ɟ] said with a gulp.
^ top K
Template:IPAblink	English kick, skip
^ top L
Template:IPAblink	English leaf
Template:IPAblink	English wool Russian малый [ˈmɑɫɨj] "small"	"Dark" el.
Template:IPAblink	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.
Template:IPAblink		Like [l] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink		A flapped [l], like [l] and [ɾ] said together.
Template:IPAblink	Zulu dla "eat"	Rather like [l] and [ʒ], or [l] and [ð], said together.
Template:IPAblink
^ top M
Template:IPAblink	English mime
Template:IPAblink	English symphony	Like [m], but lips touch teeth as they do in [f].
Template:IPAblink	see under W
Template:IPAblink	see under W
^ top N
Template:IPAblink	English nun
Template:IPAblink	English sing, Māori nga
Template:IPAblink	Spanish Peña, French champagne	Rather like English canyon (/nj/ said quickly).
Template:IPAblink	Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳ] Varuna	Like [n] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan]	Like [ŋ], but further back, in the throat.
^ top O
Template:IPAblink	Spanish no, French eau, German Boden	Somewhat reminiscent of American English no.
Template:IPAblink	German Oldenburg, French Garonne
Template:IPAblink	French Lyon, son	Nasalized [ɔ].
Template:IPAblink	French feu, bœufs, German Goethe	Like [e], but with the lips rounded like [o].
Template:IPAblink	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 Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA, whereas the French vowel is typically transcribed with Template:Angbr IPA.
Template:IPAblink	French bœuf, seul, German Göttingen	Like [ɛ], but with the lips rounded like [ɔ].
Template:IPAblink	French brun, parfum	Nasalized [œ].
Template:IPAblink
Template:IPAblink	see under Others
Template:IPAblink	see under Others
^ top P
Template:IPAblink	English pip
^ top Q
Template:IPAblink	Arabic Template:Wikt-lang Qur’ān	Like [k], but further back, in the throat.
^ top R
Template:IPAblink	Spanish perro, Scots borrow	"Rolled R". (Often used for other rhotics, such as English [ɹ], when there's no ambiguity.)
Template:IPAblink	Spanish pero, Tagalog daliri, Malay kabar, American English kitty/kiddie	"Flapped R".
Template:IPAblink	Dutch rood and German rot (some speakers)	A trill in the back of the throat. Found for /r/ in some conservative registers of French.
Template:IPAblink	Hindi साड़ी [sɑːɽiː] "sari"	Like flapped [ɾ], but with the tongue curled back.
Template:IPAblink	RP borrow
Template:IPAblink	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.
Template:IPAblink	French Paris, German Riemann (some dialects)	Said back in the throat, but not trilled.
^ top S
Template:IPAblink	English sass
Template:IPAblink	English shoe
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 少林 (Shàolín), Russian Пушкин (Pushkin)	Acoustically similar to [ʃ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top T
Template:IPAblink	English tot, stop
Template:IPAblink	Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief"	Like [t], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	English cats, Russian царь tsar
Template:IPAblink	English church
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 北京 Běijīng (listen (help·info) ), Polish ciebie "you"	Like [tʃ], but with more of a y-sound.
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 真正 zhēnzhèng, Polish czas	Like [tʃ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top U
Template:IPAblink	American English food, French vous "you", German Schumacher
Template:IPAblink	English foot, German Bundesrepublik
Template:IPAblink	Australian English food (long)	Like [ɨ], but with the lips rounded as for [u].
Template:IPAblink	see under Y
Template:IPAblink	see under W
^ top V
Template:IPAblink	English verve
Template:IPAblink	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.
Template:IPAblink	see under Y
Template:IPAblink	see under Y
Template:IPAblink	see under A
^ top W
Template:IPAblink	English wow
Template:IPAblink		Indicates a sound has lip rounding, as in English rain
Template:IPAblink	what (some dialects)	like [h] and [w] said together
Template:IPAblink	Turkish kayık "caïque", Scottish Gaelic gaol	Like [u], but with the lips flat; something like [ʊ].
Template:IPAblink	Spanish agua	Like [w], but with the lips flat.
^ top X
Template:IPAblink	Scottish English loch, German Bach, Russian хороший [xɐˈroʂɨj] "good", Spanish joven	between [k] and [h]
Template:IPAblink	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].
^ top Y
Template:IPAblink	French rue, German Bülow	Like [i], but with the lips rounded as for [u].
Template:IPAblink	German Düsseldorf	Like [ɪ], but with the lips rounded as for [ʊ].
Template:IPAblink	Arabic Template:Wikt-lang Template:Transl and Swahili ghali "expensive", Spanish suegro	Sounds rather like French [ʁ] or between [ɡ] and [h].
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 河南 Hénán, Scottish Gaelic taigh	Like [o] but without the lips rounded, something like a cross of [ʊ] and [ʌ].
Template:IPAblink	Italian tagliatelle	Like [l], but more y-like. Rather like English volume.
Template:IPAblink	French lui	Like [j] and [w] said together.
^ top Z
Template:IPAblink	English zoo
Template:IPAblink	English vision, French journal
Template:IPAblink	old-styled Russian позже [ˈpoʑːe] "later", Polish źle	More y-like than [ʒ], something like beigey.
Template:IPAblink	Russian жир "fat"	Like [ʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	see under L
^ top Others
Template:IPAblink	English thigh, bath
Template:IPAblink	Japanese 富士 [ɸɯdʑi] Fuji, Māori [ˌɸaːɾeːˈnuiː] wharenui	Like [p], but with the lips not quite touching
Template:IPAblink	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].
Template:IPAblink	Arabic Template:Wikt-lang Template:Transl "Arabic"	A light sound deep in the throat.
Template:IPAblink	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.
Template:IPAblink	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.
Template:IPAblink	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].
Template:IPAblink	ǂ’Amkoe ʘoa "two"	Like a kissing sound.
Template:IPAblink	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. These are here shown on a carrier letter such as the vowel a. A more complete list is given at International Phonetic Alphabet § Diacritics and prosodic notation.

Symbol	Example	Description
Signs above a letter
[ã]	French vin blanc [vɛ̃ blɑ̃] "white wine"	A nasal vowel, as with a Texas twang.
[ä]	Portuguese vá [vä] "go"	A central vowel pronounced with the tongue position in the middle of the mouth; neither forward nor back.
Signs below a letter
[a̯]	English cow [kʰaʊ̯], koi [kʰɔɪ̯]	This vowel does not form a syllable of its own, but runs into the vowel next to it. (In English, the diacritic is generally left off: [kaʊ].)
[n̥]	English boy [b̥ɔɪ̯], doe [d̥oʊ̯] (see also)	Sounds like a loud whisper; [n̥] is like a whispered breath through the nose. [l̥] is found in Tibetan Lhasa.
[n̩]	English button	A consonant without a vowel. (English [n̩] is often transcribed /ən/.)
[d̪]	Spanish dos, French deux	The tongue touches the teeth more than it does in English.
Signs next to a letter
[kʰ]	English come	Aspirated consonant, pronounced with a puff of air. Similarly [tʰ pʰ tsʰ tʃʰ tɕʰ].
[k’]	Zulu ukuza "come"	Ejective. Like a popped [k], pushed from the throat. Similarly [tʼ pʼ qʼ tʃʼ tsʼ tɬʼ].
[aː]	English shh! [ʃː]	Long. Often used with English vowels or diphthongs: Mayo /ˈmeːoː/ for [ˈmeɪ̯ɜʊ̯], etc.
[aˑ]	RP caught [ˈkʰɔˑt]	Semi-long. (Although the vowel is different, this is also longer than cot [ˈkʰɒt].)
[ˈa]	pronunciation [pɹ̥əʊ̯ˌnɐnsiˈeɪʃn̩]	Main stress. The mark denotes the stress of the following syllable.
[ˌa]	pronunciation [pɹ̥əʊ̯ˌnɐnsiˈeɪʃn̩]	Weaker stress. The mark denotes the stress of the following syllable.
[.]	English courtship [ˈkʰɔrt.ʃɪp]	Syllable break. (this is often redundant and therefore left off)

Brackets

Two types of brackets are commonly used to enclose transcriptions in the IPA:

/Slashes/ indicate sounds that are distinguished as the basic units of words in a language by native speakers; these are called phonemes. Changing the symbols between these slashes would either change the identity of the word or produce nonsense. For example, since there is no meaningful difference to a native speaker between the two sounds written with the letter L in the word lulls, they are considered the same phoneme, and so, using slashes, they are given the same symbol in IPA: /ˈlʌlz/. Similarly, Spanish la bamba is transcribed phonemically with two instances of the same b sound, /la ˈbamba/, despite the fact that they sound different to a speaker of English. Thus a reader who is not familiar with the language in question might not know how to interpret these transcriptions more narrowly.
[Square brackets] indicate the narrower or more detailed phonetic qualities of a pronunciation, not taking into account the norms of the language to which it belongs; therefore, such transcriptions do not regard whether subtly different sounds in the pronunciation are actually noticeable or distinguishable to a native speaker of the language. Within square brackets is what a foreigner who does not know the structure of a language might hear as discrete units of sound. For instance, the English word lulls may be pronounced in a particular dialect more specifically as [ˈlɐɫz], with different letter L sounds at the beginning and end. This may be obvious to speakers of languages that differentiate between the sounds [l] and [ɫ]. Likewise, Spanish la bamba (pronounced without a pause) has two different b-sounds to the ears of foreigners or linguists—[la ˈβamba]—though a native Spanish speaker might not be able to hear it. Omitting or adding such detail does not make a difference to the identity of the word, but helps to give a more precise pronunciation.

A third kind of bracket is occasionally seen:

Either //double slashes// or |pipes| (or occasionally other conventions) show that the enclosed sounds are theoretical constructs that are not actually heard. (This is part of morphophonology.) For instance, most phonologists argue that the -s at the ends of verbs, which surfaces as either /s/ in talks /tɔːks/ or as /z/ in lulls /lʌlz/, has a single underlying form. If they decide this form is an s, they would write it //s// (or |s|) to claim that phonemic /tɔːks/ and /lʌlz/ are essentially //tɔːks// and //lʌls// underneath. If they were to decide it was essentially the latter, //z//, they would transcribe these words //tɔːkz// and //lʌlz//.

Lastly,

Template:Angbr are used to set off orthography, as well as transliteration from non-Latin scripts. Thus Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, the letter Template:Angbr. Angle brackets are not supported by all fonts, so a template {{angle bracket}} (shortcut {{angbr}}) is used to ensure maximal compatibility. (Comment there if you're having problems.)

Rendering issues

IPA typeface support is increasing, and is now included in several typefaces such as the Times New Roman versions that come with various recent computer operating systems. Diacritics are not always properly rendered, however. IPA typefaces that are freely available online include Gentium, several from the SIL (such as Charis SIL, and Doulos SIL), Dehuti, DejaVu Sans, and TITUS Cyberbit, which are all freely available; as well as commercial typefaces such as Brill, available from Brill Publishers, and Lucida Sans Unicode and Arial Unicode MS, shipping with various Microsoft products. These all include several ranges of characters in addition to the IPA. Modern Web browsers generally do not need any configuration to display these symbols, provided that a typeface capable of doing so is available to the operating system.