International Phonetic Alphabet Chart

Complete reference chart for the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) — all consonants, vowels, diacritics, and suprasegmentals used by linguists worldwide to represent human speech sounds.

About the IPA

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standardized system of phonetic notation created by the International Phonetic Association in 1888. Unlike spelling systems that vary between languages, the IPA provides a consistent way to represent the sounds of spoken language regardless of orthography.

The current IPA chart (2020 revision) contains 107 consonant and vowel symbols, plus numerous diacritics and suprasegmentals for precise phonetic transcription. It's used by linguists, speech-language pathologists, lexicographers, language teachers, singers, actors, and constructed language creators.

Consonants (Pulmonic)

The vast majority of consonants across world languages are pulmonic egressive — produced by pushing air from the lungs. The IPA organizes them by place of articulation (where in the mouth) and manner of articulation (how airflow is obstructed).

IPA pulmonic consonants chart (partial - key examples)
Manner ↓ / Place → Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d k g ʔ
Nasal m ɱ n ɲ ŋ
Trill ʙ r
Tap/Flap ⱱ ɾ
Fricative ϕ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ h ɦ
Lateral fricative ɬ ɮ
Approximant ʋ ɹ j ɰ
Lateral approximant l ʎ ʟ

Note: Where symbols appear in pairs, the one on the right represents a voiced consonant (vocal cords vibrating). This chart shows key examples; the full IPA chart includes retroflex, pharyngeal, and uvular places of articulation.

Other Consonants

Non-Pulmonic Consonants

Clicks, implosives, and ejectives
Type Symbols Examples
Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ Found in Khoisan languages, Zulu, Xhosa
Voiced implosives ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ Sindhi, Swahili, Vietnamese
Ejectives pʼ tʼ kʼ sʼ Georgian, Amharic, Quechua

Co-articulated Consonants

  • ʍ — Voiceless labial-velar approximant (English "which" in some dialects)
  • w — Voiced labial-velar approximant (English "water")
  • ɥ — Voiced labial-palatal approximant (French "huit")
  • ɕ ʑ — Voiceless/voiced alveolo-palatal fricatives (Mandarin, Polish)

Vowels

The IPA vowel chart plots vowels by tongue position: height (close/open, vertical axis) and backness (front/back, horizontal axis), plus lip rounding.

IPA vowel chart (primary cardinal vowels)
Height ↓ / Position → Front Unrounded Front Rounded Central Back Unrounded Back Rounded
Close i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u
Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ
Close-mid e ø ɘ ɵ ɤ o
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔ
Near-open æ ɐ
Open a ɶ ɑ ɒ

English Vowel Examples

  • i — "fleece" /fliːs/
  • ɪ — "kit" /kɪt/
  • ɛ — "dress" /drɛs/
  • æ — "trap" /træp/
  • ɑ — "palm" /pɑːm/ (British)
  • ɔ — "thought" /θɔːt/ (American)
  • ʊ — "foot" /fʊt/
  • u — "goose" /ɡuːs/
  • ʌ — "strut" /strʌt/
  • ə — "about" /əˈbaʊt/ (schwa)

Diacritics

Diacritics modify base symbols to indicate fine phonetic details:

Common IPA diacritics
Diacritic Example Meaning
◌̥n̥Voiceless
◌̬s̬Voiced
◌ʰtʰAspirated
◌̃ãNasalized
◌ːaːLong (lengthened)
◌ˑaˑHalf-long
◌̆ăExtra-short
◌̚p̚No audible release
◌ʷkʷLabialized
◌ʲtʲPalatalized
◌ˠtˠVelarized
◌ˤtˤPharyngealized
◌̺t̺Apical
◌̻t̻Laminal
◌̹ɔ̹More rounded
◌̜ɔ̜Less rounded

Suprasegmentals

Suprasegmentals indicate features that extend over multiple segments:

Stress and Length

  • ˈ — Primary stress (before stressed syllable): /ˈwɔtər/ "water"
  • ˌ — Secondary stress: /ˌɪntərˈnæʃənəl/ "international"
  • ː — Long: /biːt/ "beat" vs. /bɪt/ "bit"
  • ˑ — Half-long

Tone Markers (for Tone Languages)

  • ˥ or ◌́ — Extra high / High tone
  • ˦ — High
  • ˧ or ◌̄ — Mid
  • ˨ — Low
  • ˩ or ◌̀ — Extra low / Low tone
  • ◌̌ — Rising
  • ◌̂ — Falling

Intonation

  • | — Minor (foot) group
  • ‖ — Major (intonation) group
  • ↗ — Global rise
  • ↘ — Global fall

Phonetic vs. Phonemic Transcription

Phonetic Transcription [brackets]

Records actual pronunciation with fine phonetic detail:

English "butter": [ˈbʌɾɚ] (American) or [ˈbʌtʰə] (British)

Shows flapped /t/ in American English, aspirated /t/ in British

Phonemic Transcription /slashes/

Records only contrastive sounds (phonemes) in a language:

English "butter": /ˈbʌtər/

Ignores predictable phonetic details, shows underlying form

When to Use Each

  • Phonetic [ ]: Speech pathology, dialectology, language teaching, detailed linguistic analysis
  • Phonemic / /: Dictionaries, phonology papers, language learning materials

Professional Applications

Linguistics

  • Language documentation and description
  • Phonological analysis and research
  • Comparative linguistics
  • Historical linguistics and sound change

Lexicography

  • Dictionary pronunciation guides (Oxford, Cambridge, Merriam-Webster use IPA)
  • Wikipedia pronunciation keys
  • Bilingual dictionaries

Speech-Language Pathology

  • Documenting speech disorders
  • Tracking therapy progress
  • Describing articulation errors
  • Clinical assessment notes

Language Teaching

  • Teaching pronunciation to non-native speakers
  • Accent reduction training
  • ESL/EFL materials
  • Singing and acting voice coaching

Other Fields

  • Constructed languages: Documenting conlang phonologies
  • Translation: Preserving proper noun pronunciations
  • Accessibility: Text-to-speech system design

Official Resources

  • International Phonetic Association: Official IPA chart and handbook (Cambridge University Press)
  • IPA Chart with Audio: Interactive charts available at internationalphoneticassociation.org
  • Unicode IPA: IPA symbols are standardized in Unicode blocks U+0250–U+02AF and others
  • Handbook of the IPA (1999): Comprehensive guide with language examples

Related Resources