View source for International Phonetic Alphabet

{{Short description|System of phonetic notation}}
{{For|the spelling alphabet used in spoken communication over radio|NATO phonetic alphabet}}
{{Self-reference|For an introductory guide on IPA symbols with audio, see [[:Help:IPA]]. For the usage of the IPA on Wikipedia, see [[:Help:IPA/Introduction]] and [[:Help:IPA/English]].}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name        = International Phonetic Alphabet
| type        = Alphabet
| typedesc    = – partially [[featural]]
| languages   = Used for [[phonetic]] and [[phonemic]] transcription of any oral language
| time        = 1888–present
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic script]]
| fam3        = [[Phoenician alphabet]]
| fam4        = [[Greek alphabet]]
| fam5        = [[Latin script]]
| fam6        = [[Lepsius Standard Alphabet]]
| fam7        = [[Palaeotype alphabet]], [[English Phonotypic Alphabet]]
| fam8        = [[Romic alphabet]]
| sample      = IPA in IPA.svg
| caption     = "IPA", [[narrow transcription|transcribed narrowly]] according to [[Received Pronunciation]] as {{IPA|[aɪ̯ pʰiː eɪ̯]}}
| unicode     = ''See {{slink|Phonetic symbols in Unicode|Unicode blocks}}''
| iso15924    = 
}}
{{SpecialChars
| special = [[phonetic]] [[symbol]]s
| fix = Help:Special characters
| characters = phonetic symbols
}}
The '''International Phonetic Alphabet''' ('''IPA''') is an [[alphabet]]ic system of [[phonetic notation]] based primarily on the [[Latin script]]. It was devised by the [[International Phonetic Association]] in the late 19th century as a standard written representation for the sounds of [[speech]].<ref name="IPA 1999">{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999}}</ref> The IPA is used by [[linguists]], [[lexicography|lexicographers]], [[foreign language]] students and teachers, [[speech–language pathology|speech–language pathologists]], singers, actors, [[constructed language]] creators, and [[translators]].<ref name="world">{{Cite book |last=MacMahon |first=Michael K. C. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195079937/page/821 |title=The World's Writing Systems |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=0-19-507993-0 |editor=Daniels |editor-first=P. T. |location=New York |pages=821–846 |chapter=Phonetic Notation |editor2=Bright |editor-first2=W.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Joan |last=Wall |title=International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers: A Manual for English and Foreign Language Diction |publisher=Pst |year=1989 |isbn=1-877761-50-8}}</ref>

The IPA is designed to represent those qualities of [[speech]] that are part of [[lexical item|lexical]] (and, to a limited extent, [[prosodic]]) sounds in [[oral language|spoken (oral) language]]: [[phone (phonetics)|phones]], [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]] and the separation of [[syllable]]s.<ref name="IPA 1999" /> To represent additional qualities of speech{{snd}}such as tooth [[wikt:gnash|gnashing]], [[lisp]]ing, and sounds made with a [[cleft lip and cleft palate|cleft palate]]{{snd}}an [[extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet|extended set of symbols]] may be used.<ref name="world" /> 

Segments are [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcribed]] by one or more IPA symbols of two basic types: [[letter (alphabet)|letters]] and [[diacritic]]s. For example, the sound of the English [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] {{angbr|ch}} may be transcribed in IPA with a single letter: {{IPA|[c]}},{{not verified in body|date=May 2025}} or with multiple letters: {{IPA|[tʃ]}}, or multiple letters plus diacritics: {{IPA|[t̺̠͡ʃʰ]}}, depending on how precise one wishes to be. Slashes are used to signal [[phonemic transcription]]; therefore, {{IPA|/tʃ/}} is more abstract than either {{IPA|[t̺̠͡ʃʰ]}} or {{IPA|[c]}} and might refer to either, depending on the context and language.{{NoteTag|The inverted bridge minus under the {{angbr|t̺̠͡ʃʰ}} specifies it as [[apical consonant|apical]] (pronounced with the tip of the tongue), the small minus specifies it as [[postalveolar]] (pronounced slightly back from the [[alveolar ridge]]), and the superscript ''h'' shows that it is [[aspirated consonant|aspirated]] (breathy). These qualities cause the English {{IPA|/tʃ/}} to sound different from the Italian or Spanish {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, which is a [[laminal]] (pronounced with the blade of the tongue){{Citation needed|date=November 2024|reason=Please point to a source which confirms that Spanish and Italian post-alveolar affricates are tip-down (i.e. laminal).}} and unaspirated {{IPA|[t̠̻͡ʃ]}}. {{IPA|[t̺̠͡ʃʰ]}} and {{IPA|[t̠̻͡ʃ]}} are thus two different, though similar, sounds.}}

Occasionally, letters or diacritics are added, removed, or modified by the International Phonetic Association. As of the most recent change in 2005,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/ipachart.html |title=IPA: Alphabet |publisher=UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences |access-date=20 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010121927/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/ipachart.html |archive-date=10 October 2012}}</ref> there are 107 segmental letters, an indefinitely large number of suprasegmental letters, 44 diacritics (not counting composites), and four extra-lexical [[prosodic]] marks in the IPA. These are illustrated in the current [[IPA chart]], posted below in this article and on the International Phonetic Association's website.<ref>{{cite web |title=Full IPA Chart |url=https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart |website=International Phonetic Association |access-date=24 April 2017 |archive-date=27 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227153233/https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart |url-status=live}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of the International Phonetic Alphabet}}

In 1886 a group of French and English language teachers, led by the French linguist [[Paul Passy]], formed what would be known from 1897 onwards as the [[International Phonetic Association]] (in French, {{lang|fr|l'Association phonétique internationale}}).<ref name="IPA194-196">{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|pp=194–196}}</ref> The idea of the alphabet had been suggested to Passy by [[Otto Jespersen]]. It was developed by Passy along with other members of the association, principally [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]].
The original IPA alphabet was based on the [[Romic alphabet]], an English [[spelling reform]] created by [[Henry Sweet]] that in turn was based on the [[Palaeotype alphabet]] of [[Alexander John Ellis]], itself derived from [[Lepsius Standard Alphabet]] first used for transcribing Ancient Egyptian into German.

The original intent was to make it usable for other languages the values of the symbols were allowed to vary from language to language.{{NoteTag|"Originally, the aim was to make available a set of phonetic symbols which would be given ''different'' articulatory values, if necessary, in different languages."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|pp=195–196}}</ref>}} For example, the sound {{IPAblink|ʃ}} (the ''sh'' in ''shoe'') was originally represented with the letter {{angbr|c}} for English but with {{angbr|x}} for French and German; with German, {{angbr|c}} was used for the {{IPAblink|x}} sound of ''[[Bach]]''.<ref name="IPA194-196" /> With a growing number of transcribed languages this proved impractical, and in 1888 the values of the letters were made uniform across languages. This would provide the base for all future revisions.<ref name="IPA194-196" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Passy |first=Paul |year=1888 |title=Our revised alphabet |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44701189 |journal=[[The Phonetic Teacher]] |volume=3 |issue=7/8 |pages=57–60 |jstor=44701189 |access-date=14 May 2023 |archive-date=18 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418202055/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44701189 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Since its creation, the IPA has undergone a number of revisions. After relatively frequent revisions and expansions from the 1890s to the 1940s, the IPA remained nearly static until the [[Kiel Convention]] in 1989, which substantially revamped the alphabet. A smaller revision took place in 1993 with the resurrection of letters for [[mid central vowel]]s<ref name="world" /> and the retirement of letters for [[implosive consonant#Voiceless implosives|voiceless implosives]].<ref name="Pullum">{{Cite book |last1=Pullum |first1=Geoffrey K. |title=Phonetic Symbol Guide |title-link=Phonetic Symbol Guide |last2=Ladusaw |first2=William A. |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=0-226-68532-2 |location=Chicago |pages=152, 209 |author-link=Geoffrey Pullum}}</ref> The alphabet was last revised in May 2005 with the addition of a letter for a [[labiodental flap]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Nicolaidis |first=Katerina |title=Approval of New IPA Sound: The Labiodental Flap |url=http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/IPA/flap.htm |date=September 2005 |publisher=International Phonetic Association |access-date=17 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902212308/http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ipa/flap.htm |archive-date=2 September 2006}}</ref> Apart from the addition and removal of symbols, changes to the IPA have consisted largely of renaming symbols and categories and in modifying [[typeface]]s.<ref name="world" />

[[Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet]] for [[speech pathology]] (extIPA) were created in 1990 and were officially adopted by the [[International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association]] in 1994.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=186}}</ref>
They were substantially revised in 2015.

== Description ==
[[File:IPA chart 2020.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|The official summary chart of the IPA, revised in 2020]]
The general principle of the IPA is to provide one letter for each distinctive sound ([[speech segment]]).{{NoteTag|"From its earliest days [...] the International Phonetic Association has aimed to provide 'a separate sign for each distinctive sound; that is, for each sound which, being used instead of another, in the same language, can change the meaning of a word'."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=27}}</ref>}} This means that:
* It does not normally use [[multigraph (orthography)|combinations of letters]] to represent single sounds, the way English does with {{angbr|sh}}, {{angbr|th}} and {{angbr|ng}}, nor single letters to represent multiple sounds, the way {{angbr|x}} represents {{IPA|/ks/}} or {{IPA|/ɡz/}} in English.
* There are no letters that have context-dependent sound values, the way {{angbr|[[hard and soft C|c]]}} and {{angbr|[[hard and soft G|g]]}} in several European languages have a "hard" or "soft" pronunciation.
* The IPA does not usually have separate letters for two sounds if no known language makes a distinction between them, a property known as "selectiveness".<ref name="world" />{{NoteTag|For instance, [[flap consonant|flaps and taps]] are two different kinds of [[Manner of articulation|articulation]], but since no language has (yet) been found to make a distinction between, say, an [[alveolar flap]] and an alveolar tap, the IPA does not provide such sounds with dedicated letters. Instead, it provides a single letter{{snd}}in this case,&nbsp;{{IPA|[ɾ]}}{{snd}}for both. Strictly speaking, this makes the IPA a partially [[phonemic]] alphabet, not a purely [[phonetic]] one.}} However, if a large number of phonemically distinct letters can be derived with a diacritic, that may be used instead.{{NoteTag|This exception to the rules was made primarily to explain why the IPA does not make a dental–alveolar distinction, despite one being phonemic in hundreds of languages, including most of the continent of Australia. [[Americanist Phonetic Notation]] makes (or at least made) a distinction between apical {{angbr|t d s z n l}} and laminal {{angbr|τ δ ς ζ ν λ}}, which is easily applicable to alveolar vs dental (when a language distinguishes apical alveolar from laminal dental, as in Australia), but despite several proposals to the Council, the IPA never voted to accept such a distinction.}}

The alphabet is designed for transcribing sounds (phones), not [[phoneme]]s, though it is used for phonemic transcription as well. A few letters that did not indicate specific sounds have been retired{{snd}}{{angbr IPA|ˇ}}, once used for the "compound" tone of Swedish and Norwegian, and {{angbr IPA|ƞ}}, once used for the [[moraic]] nasal of Japanese{{snd}}though one remains: {{angbr IPA|ɧ}}, used for the [[sj-sound]] of Swedish. When the IPA is used for broad phonetic or for phonemic transcription, the letter–sound correspondence can be rather loose. The IPA has recommended that more 'familiar' letters be used when that would not cause ambiguity.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1949|p=7, 12}}</ref> For example, {{angbr IPA|e}} and {{angbr IPA|o}} for {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, {{angbr IPA|t}} for {{IPA|[t̪]}} or {{IPA|[ʈ]}}, {{angbr IPA|f}} for {{IPA|[ɸ]}}, etc. Indeed, in the illustration of Hindi in the IPA ''Handbook'', the letters {{angbr IPA|c}} and {{angbr IPA|ɟ}} are used for {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}.

Among the symbols of the IPA, 107 letters represent [[consonant]]s and [[vowel]]s, 31 [[diacritic]]s are used to modify these, and 17 additional signs indicate [[Segment (linguistics)|suprasegmental]] qualities such as [[length (phonetics)|length]], [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]], [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]], and [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]].{{NoteTag|There are three<!--dbl acute and grave are compounds--> basic tone diacritics and five basic tone letters, both sets of which may be compounded.}} These are organized into a chart; the chart displayed here is the official chart as posted at the website of the IPA.

=== Letter forms ===
[[File:LowercaseG.svg|right|thumb|Loop-tail {{angbr IPA|g}} and open-tail {{angbr IPA|ɡ}} are graphic variants. Open-tail {{angbr IPA|ɡ}} was the original IPA symbol, but both are now considered correct. See [[history of the IPA]] for details.]]
The letters chosen for the IPA are meant to harmonize with the [[Latin alphabet]].{{NoteTag|"The non-roman letters of the International Phonetic Alphabet have been designed as far as possible to harmonize well with the roman letters. The Association does not recognize makeshift letters; It recognizes only letters which have been carefully cut so as to be in harmony with the other letters."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1949}}</ref>}} For this reason, most letters are either [[Latin script|Latin]] or [[Greek alphabet|Greek]], or modifications thereof. Some letters are neither: for example, the letter denoting the [[glottal stop]], {{angbr IPA|ʔ}}, originally had the form of a [[question mark]] with the dot removed. A few letters, such as that of the [[voiced pharyngeal fricative]], {{angbr IPA|ʕ}}, were inspired by other writing systems (in this case, the [[Arabic script|Arabic]] letter {{angbr|[[Ayin|ﻉ]]}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|ʿayn}}'', via the reversed apostrophe).<ref name=Pullum />
<!--clearly, ʔ and ʕ are not of independent origin and reflect the transliteration of alif vs. ayin in Semitic philology. Source needed-->

Some letter forms derive from existing letters:
* The right-swinging tail, as in {{angbr IPA|ʈ ɖ ɳ ɽ ʂ ʐ ɻ ɭ&thinsp;}}, indicates [[retroflex]] articulation. It originates from the hook of an ''r''.
* The top hook, as in {{angbr IPA|ɠ ɗ ɓ}}, indicates [[glottalic ingressive|implosion]].
* Several [[nasal consonant]]s are based on the form {{angbr IPA|n}}: {{angbr IPA|n ɲ ɳ ŋ}}. {{angbr IPA|ɲ}} and {{angbr IPA|ŋ}} derive from [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]] of ''gn'' and ''ng,'' and {{angbr IPA|ɱ}} is an ''ad hoc'' imitation of {{angbr IPA|ŋ}}.
* [[rotated letter|Letters turned 180 degrees]] for suggestive shapes, such as {{angbr IPA|ɐ ɔ ə ɟ ɓ<!--e.g. the maidu specimen in Le Maître Phonétique 9 (46), no. 33 (janvier-mars, 1931) uses a turned ɡ for ɓ --> ɥ ɯ ɹ ʌ ʍ ʎ}} from {{angbr IPA|a c e f ɡ h m r v w y}}.{{NoteTag|Originally, {{IPA|[ʊ]}} was written as a small capital U. However, this was not easy to read, and so it was replaced with a turned small capital omega. In modern typefaces, it often has its own design, called a "horseshoe".}} Either the original letter may be reminiscent of the target sound, e.g., {{angbr IPA|ɐ ə ɹ ʍ}}{{snd}}or the turned one, e.g., {{angbr IPA|ɔ ɟ ɓ ɥ ɯ ʌ ʎ}} recall ''o j b y u/w ᴀ y/λ''. Rotation was popular in the era of [[mechanical typesetting]], as it had the advantage of not requiring the casting of special type for IPA symbols, much as the sorts had traditionally often pulled double duty for {{angbr|b}} and {{angbr|q}}, {{angbr|d}} and {{angbr|p}}, {{angbr|n}} and {{angbr|u}}, and {{angbr|6}} and {{angbr|9}} to reduce cost.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}
*:[[File:Turned small cap omega as a vowel.svg|thumb|An example of a font that uses turned small-capital omega {{angbr|ꭥ}} for the vowel letter ''ʊ''. The glyph had originally been a small-capital {{angbr|ᴜ}}.]]
* Among consonant letters, the [[small capital]] letters {{angbr IPA|ɢ ʜ ʟ ɴ ʀ ʁ}}, and also {{angbr IPA|ꞯ}} in [[extIPA]], indicate more [[guttural]] sounds than their base letters{{snd}}{{angbr IPA|ʙ}}<!--for the bilabial trill--> is a late exception. Among vowel letters, small capitals indicate [[lax vowel]]s. By 1947, the original small-cap vowel letters {{angbr IPA|ᴀ <small>Ɐ</small> ɪ ᴜ}} had been replaced by {{angbr IPA|ʌ ɤ ɩ ɷ/ʊ}}, with only {{angbr IPA|ʏ}} remaining as a small capital, though later {{angbr IPA|ɪ}} and {{angbr IPA|ɶ}} would be restored.

=== Typography and iconicity ===
The International Phonetic Alphabet is based on the [[Latin script]], and uses as few non-Latin letters as possible.<ref name = IPA194-196 /> The Association created the IPA so that the sound values of most letters would correspond to "international usage" (approximately [[Classical Latin]]).<ref name=IPA194-196 /> Hence, the consonant letters {{angbr IPA|b}}, {{angbr IPA|d}}, {{angbr IPA|f}}, {{angbr IPA|ɡ}}, {{angbr IPA|h}}, {{angbr IPA|k}}, {{angbr IPA|l}}, {{angbr IPA|m}}, {{angbr IPA|n}}, {{angbr IPA|p}}, {{angbr IPA|s}}, {{angbr IPA|t}}, {{angbr IPA|v}}, {{angbr IPA|w}}, and {{angbr IPA|z}} have more or less their word-initial values in English (''g'' as in ''gill'', ''h'' as in ''hill'', though ''p t k'' are unaspirated as in ''spill, still, skill''); and the vowel letters {{angbr IPA|a}}, {{angbr IPA|e}}, {{angbr IPA|i}}, {{angbr IPA|o}}, {{angbr IPA|u}} correspond to the (long) sound values of Latin: {{IPA|[i]}} is like the vowel in ''mach{{strong|i}}ne'', {{IPA|[u]}} is as in ''r{{strong|u}}le'', etc. Other Latin letters, particularly {{angbr IPA|j}}, {{angbr IPA|r}} and {{angbr IPA|y}}, differ from English, but have their IPA values in Latin or other European languages.

This basic Latin inventory was extended by adding small-capital and cursive forms, diacritics and rotation. The sound values of these letters are related to those of the original letters, and their derivation may be iconic.{{NoteTag|"The new letters should be suggestive of the sounds they represent, by their resemblance to the old ones."<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=196}}</ref>}} For example, letters with a rightward-facing hook at the bottom represent [[retroflex]] equivalents of the source letters, and small capital letters usually represent [[uvular]] equivalents of their source letters.

There are also several letters from the Greek alphabet, though their sound values may differ from Greek. For most Greek letters, subtly different [[glyph]] shapes have been devised for the IPA, specifically {{angbr IPA|ɑ}}, {{angbr IPA|ꞵ}}, {{angbr IPA|ɣ}}, {{angbr IPA|ɛ}}, {{angbr IPA|ɸ}}, {{angbr IPA|ꭓ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʋ}}, which are encoded in [[Unicode]] separately from their parent Greek letters. One, however – {{angbr IPA|θ}} – has only its Greek form, while for {{angbr IPA|ꞵ ~ β}} and {{angbr IPA|ꭓ ~ χ}}, both Greek and Latin forms are in common use.<ref>Cf. the notes at the [[Unicode]] [http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0250.pdf#3 IPA EXTENSIONS code chart] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805153401/http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0250.pdf#3 |date=5 August 2019 }} as well as blogs by [http://evertype.com/blog/blog/category/unicode/ Michael Everson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010200655/http://evertype.com/blog/blog/category/unicode/ |date=10 October 2017 }} and John Wells [http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/disunification-1.html here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602114843/http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/disunification-1.html |date=2 June 2019 }} and [http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/disunification-2.html here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602114835/http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/disunification-2.html |date=2 June 2019 }}.{{Clarify|reason=What exactly did this reference want to say? The blogs seem to be from before chi and beta were disunified.|date=May 2023}}</ref>
The [[tone letter#IPA|tone letters]] are not derived from an alphabet, but from a [[pitch trace]] on a [[musical scale]].

Beyond the letters themselves, there are a variety of secondary symbols which aid in transcription. [[Diacritic]] marks can be combined with the letters to add tone and phonetic detail such as [[secondary articulation]]. There are also special symbols for prosodic features such as stress and intonation.

=== Brackets and transcription delimiters<span class="anchor" id="Delimiters"></span> ===
There are two principal types of [[bracket]]s used to set off (delimit) IPA transcriptions:
{| class="wikitable"
! | Symbol !! Use
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{IPA|[&nbsp;...&nbsp;]}} || [[Square brackets]] are used with [[phonetic]] notation, whether broad or narrow<ref name="IPA175">{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=175}}</ref> – that is, for actual pronunciation, possibly including details of the pronunciation that may not be used for distinguishing words in the language being transcribed, but which the author nonetheless wishes to document. Such phonetic notation is the primary function of the IPA.
|-
| style="text-align: center" | {{IPA|/&nbsp;...&nbsp;/}} || [[Slash (punctuation)|Slashes]]{{NoteTag|For example, [[Merriam-Webster]] dictionaries use [[backslash]]es {{IPA|\&nbsp;...&nbsp;\}} to demarcate their in-house diaphonemic transcription system. This contrasts with the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', which transcribes a specific target accent.<!--the IPA influence in the MW system is rather minimal, being limited to the IPA stress marks and schwa, but the pronunciation data collected for MW's Third New International was in IPA and the IPA was seriously considered for its transcription system in publication.-->|name=MW}} are used for abstract [[phonemic]] notation,<ref name=IPA175 /> which note only features that are distinctive in the language, without any extraneous detail. For example, while the 'p' sounds of English ''pin'' and ''spin'' are pronounced differently (and this difference would be meaningful in some languages), the difference is not meaningful in English. Thus, ''phonemically'' the words are usually<!--could also be analyzed /pin/ and /sbin/--> analyzed as {{IPA|/ˈpɪn/}} and {{IPA|/ˈspɪn/}}, with the same phoneme {{IPA|/p/}}. To capture the difference between them{{snd}}the [[allophone]]s of {{IPA|/p/}}{{snd}}they can be transcribed phonetically as {{IPA|[pʰɪn]}} and {{IPA|[spɪn]}}. Phonemic notation commonly uses IPA symbols that are rather close to the default pronunciation of a phoneme, but for legibility often uses simple and 'familiar' letters rather than precise notation, for example {{IPA|/r/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} for the English {{IPA|[ɹʷ]}} and {{IPA|[əʊ̯]}} sounds, or {{IPA|/c, ɟ/}} for {{IPA|[t͜ʃ, d͜ʒ]}} as mentioned above.{{clarify|reason=Where is this mentioned above? A) In the lead? The lead is just a summary, so it doesn't contain citations and that means ideally, text in the body shouldn't depend on the lead. B) Or in § Description? That only talks about Hindi, not English. <!-- At the time of writing: "Indeed, in the illustration of Hindi in the IPA Handbook, the letters ⟨c⟩ and ⟨ɟ⟩ are used for /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/." --> Possible rewrite: "rather than precise notation (as mentioned above in {{slink||Description}}), for example ..."|date=July 2025}}
|}

Less common conventions include:
{| class="wikitable"
! | Symbol !! Use
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{IPA|&#x007B;&nbsp;...&nbsp;&#x007D;}} || [[Bracket#Curly brackets|Braces]] ("curly brackets") are used for [[prosodic]] notation.<ref name="IPA176">{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=176}}</ref> See [[Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet]] for examples in this system.
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{IPA|(&nbsp;...&nbsp;)}} || [[Parentheses]] are used for indistinguishable<ref name=IPA175 /> or unidentified utterances. They are also seen for silent articulation (mouthing),<ref name="IPA191">{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=191}}</ref> where the expected phonetic transcription is derived from lip-reading, and with periods to indicate silent pauses, for example {{IPA|(…)}} or {{IPA|(2 sec)}}. The latter usage is made official in the [[extIPA]], with unidentified segments circled instead.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|pp=188, 192}}</ref>

In inventory charts, parentheses may indicate that a sound is a marginal phoneme (occurs in only a few morphemes), is only found in loanwords, or is not a phoneme but a notable allophone.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}
|-
| style="text-align: center; | {{IPA|⸨&nbsp;...&nbsp;⸩}} || [[Parenthesis|Double parentheses]] indicate either a transcription of obscured speech or a description of the obscuring noise. The IPA specifies that they mark the obscured sound,<ref name=IPA176 /> as in {{IPA|⸨2σ⸩}}, two audible syllables obscured by another sound. The current extIPA specifications prescribe double parentheses for the extraneous noise, such as ⸨cough⸩ for a cough by another person (not the speaker) or ⸨knock⸩ for a knock on a door, but the IPA ''Handbook'' identifies IPA and extIPA usage as equivalent.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|pp=176, 192}}</ref> Early publications of the extIPA explain double parentheses as marking "uncertainty because of noise which obscures the recording", and that within them "may be indicated as much detail as the transcriber can detect."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Duckworth |first1=Martin |last2=Allen |first2=George |last3=Hardcastle |first3=William |last4=Ball |first4=Martin |date=1990 |title=Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet for the transcription of atypical speech |journal=Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics |volume=4 |issue=4 |page=278 |doi=10.3109/02699209008985489 |issn=0269-9206}}</ref>
|}

All three of the above are provided by the IPA ''Handbook''. The following are not, but may be seen in IPA transcription or in associated material (especially angle brackets):
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Symbol !! scope="col" | Field !! scope="col" | Description
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{IPA|⟦&nbsp;...&nbsp;⟧}} || Phonetics
| [[Square bracket|Double square brackets]] are used for especially precise phonetic transcription, often finer than is normally practicable.<ref>Charles-James Bailey (1985: 3) ''English phonetic transcription''. SIL.</ref> This is consistent with the IPA convention of doubling a symbol to indicate greater degree. Double brackets may indicate that a letter has its cardinal IPA value. For example, {{IPA|⟦a⟧}} is an open front vowel, rather than the perhaps slightly different value (such as open central) that "{{IPA|[a]}}" may be used to transcribe in a particular language. Thus, two vowels transcribed for easy legibility as {{IPA|[e]}} and {{IPA|[ɛ]}} may be clarified as actually being {{IPA|⟦e̝⟧}} and {{IPA|⟦e⟧}}; {{IPA|[ð]}} may be more precisely {{IPA|⟦ð̠̞ˠ⟧}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Basbøll |first=Hans |title=The Phonology of Danish |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-824268-0 |series=The Phonology of the World's Languages |location=New York |pages=45, 59}}</ref> Double brackets may also be used for a specific token or speaker; for example, the pronunciation of a particular child as opposed to the adult pronunciation that is their target.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Karlsson |title=/sP/ consonant clusters in Swedish: Acoustic measurements of phonological development |year=2005 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/208033488 |last2=Sullivan}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{ubc|{{IPA|⫽&nbsp;...&nbsp;⫽}}|{{IPA|&#x007B;&nbsp;...&nbsp;&#x007D;}}|{{IPA|&#x007C;&nbsp;...&nbsp;&#x007C;}}|{{IPA|‖&nbsp;...&nbsp;‖}}}} || [[Morphophonology]]
| [[Slash (punctuation)|Double slashes]] are used for [[morphophonemic]] transcription. This is also consistent with the IPA convention of doubling a symbol to indicate greater degree – in this case, more abstract than phonemic transcription.

Also commonly seen are the braces of [[set theory]], especially when enclosing the set of phonemes that constitute the morphophoneme, e.g. {{IPA|&#x007B;t&nbsp;d&#x007D;}} or {{IPA|&#x007B;t&#x007C;d&#x007D;}} or {{IPA|&#x007B;/t/,&nbsp;/d/&#x007D;}} for a conflated {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}}. Braces have a conflicting use to delimit prosodic transcription within the [[Voice Quality Symbols]], which are an extension of IPA used in extIPA, but are not otherwise used in IPA proper.

Other delimiters sometimes seen are [[vertical bar|pipes]] and double pipes taken from [[Americanist phonetic notation]]. However, these conflict with the pipes used in basic IPA prosodic transcription.{{NoteTag|For example, single and double pipe symbols are used for minor and major prosodic breaks. Although the ''Handbook'' specifies the prosodic symbols as being "thick" vertical lines, which would in theory be distinct from simple ASCII pipes used as delimiters (and similar to [[Dania transcription|Dania]] transcription), this was an idea to keep them distinct from the otherwise similar pipes used as [[click letter]]s, and is almost never found in practice.{{sfn|Roach|1989|p=75}} The ''Handbook'' assigns the prosodic pipe the Unicode encodings U+007C, which is the simple ASCII symbol, and the double pipe U+2016.<ref name="auto">{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=174}}</ref>}}
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{ubc|{{IPA|\&nbsp;...&nbsp;\}}|{{IPA|⫽&nbsp;...&nbsp;⫽}}|{{IPA|&#x007C;&nbsp;...&nbsp;&#x007C;}}|{{IPA|!&nbsp;...&nbsp;!}}}} || [[Diaphonology]]
| [[Backslash]]es are used for [[diaphonemic]] transcription, for example setting off pronunciations in dictionaries that do not target a specific preferred dialect.{{NoteTag|name=MW}}

Other delimiters are double slashes, – the same notation as for morphophonology, – exclamation marks, and pipes.
|-
| style="text-align:center" | {{ubc|{{angbr IPA|&nbsp;...&nbsp;}}|{{IPA|⟪&nbsp;...&nbsp;⟫}}|{{IPA|&#x007C;&nbsp;...&nbsp;&#x007C;}}}} || [[Graphemics]]
| [[Angle bracket]]s{{NoteTag|The proper angle brackets in Unicode are the mathematical symbols (U+27E8 and U+27E9). Chevrons ‹...› (U+2039, U+203A) are sometimes substituted, as in Americanist phonetic notation, as are the less-than and greater-than signs <...> (U+003C, U+003E) found on ASCII keyboards.}} are used to mark both original Latin orthography and [[transliteration]] from another script;<!--including e.g. Arabic and Chinese characters used to transcribe Latin script--> they are also used to identify individual [[grapheme]]s of any script.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sproat |first=Richard William |title=A Computational Theory of Writing Systems |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-521-66340-3 |series=Studies in Natural Language Processing |pages=26}}</ref>{{sfn|Heselwood|2013|pp=8 ff, 29 ff}} In IPA literature, they are used to indicate the IPA letters themselves rather than the sound values that they carry.
For example, {{angbr IPA|cot}} would be used for the orthography of the English word ''cot'', as opposed to its pronunciation {{IPA|/ˈkɒt/}}. Italics are usual when words are written as themselves (as with ''cot'' in the previous sentence) rather than to specifically note their orthography. However, italics are sometimes ambiguous, and italic markup is not always accessible to sight-impaired readers who rely on [[screen reader]] technology.

Double angle brackets may occasionally be useful to distinguish original orthography from transliteration, or the idiosyncratic spelling of a manuscript from the normalized orthography of the language.

Pipes are sometimes used instead of double angle brackets to denote the distinct [[allograph]]s of a grapheme that are known as ''[[glyphs]]''. For example, print {{IPA|{{gph|g}}}} and script {{IPA|{{gph|ɡ}}}} are two glyph variants of the grapheme {{angbr|[[g]]}} of Latin script.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Meletis |first1=Dimitrios |title=Writing Systems and Their Use: An Overview of Grapholinguistics |last2=Dürscheid |first2=Christa |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2022 |isbn=978-3-11-075777-4 |page=64}}</ref>
|}

Some examples of contrasting brackets in the literature:
{{blockquote|In some English accents, the phoneme {{IPA|/l/}}, which is usually spelled as {{angbr|l}} or {{angbr|ll}}, is articulated as two distinct allophones: the clear {{IPA|[l]}} occurs before vowels and the consonant {{IPA|/j/}}, whereas the dark {{IPA|[ɫ]}}/{{IPA|[lˠ]}} occurs before consonants, except {{IPA|/j/}}, and at the end of words.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tench |first=Paul |title=Transcribing the Sound of English: A Phonetics Workbook for Words and Discourse |date=2011-08-11 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00019-3 |pages=61 |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511698361}}</ref>}}

{{blockquote|the alternations {{IPA|/f/}}{{snd}}{{IPA|/v/}} in plural formation in one class of nouns, as in ''knife'' {{IPA|/naɪf/}}{{snd}}''knives'' {{IPA|/naɪvz/}}, which can be represented morphophonemically as {{IPA|{naɪV}}}{{snd}}{{IPA|{naɪV+z}}}. The morphophoneme {{IPA|{V}}} stands for the phoneme set {{IPA|{/f/, /v/}}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gibbon |first1=Dafydd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8cxtWcsAk5MC&pg=PA61 |title=Handbook of Standards and Resources for Spoken Language Systems: Spoken language characterisation |last2=Moore |first2=Roger |last3=Winski |first3=Richard |date=1998 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-015734-5 |pages=61}}</ref>}}

{{blockquote|{{IPA|[ˈf\faɪnəlz ˈhɛld ɪn (.) ⸨knock on door⸩ bɑɹsə{<sub>𝑝</sub>ˈloʊnə and ˈmədɹɪd<sub> 𝑝</sub>}]}} — ''f-finals held in Barcelona and Madrid.''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ball |first1=Martin J. |author-link1=Martin J. Ball |title=Methods in Clinical Phonetics |last2=Lowry |first2=Orla M. |date=2001 |publisher=Whurr |isbn=978-1-86156-184-8 |location=London |pages=80 |chapter=Transcribing Disordered Speech |doi=10.1002/9780470777879.ch3 |s2cid=58518097}}</ref>}}

=== Other representations ===
{{Main|Cursive forms of the International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA Braille}}
IPA letters have [[cursive]] forms designed for use in manuscripts and when taking field notes, but the ''Handbook'' recommended against their use, as cursive IPA is "harder for most people to decipher".{{sfn|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=31}} A [[braille]] representation of the IPA for blind or visually impaired professionals and students has also been developed.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Englebretson |first=Robert |date=2009 |title=An overview of IPA Braille: an updated tactile representation of the International Phonetic Alphabet |url=http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~reng/englebretson2009.pdf |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=39 |issue=1 |page=67 |access-date=5 April 2014 |doi=10.1017/s0025100308003691 |citeseerx=10.1.1.501.366 |s2cid=36426880 |archive-date=8 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908105731/http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~reng/englebretson2009.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

== <span class="anchor" id="chart"></span>Modifying the IPA chart ==
[[File:Extended IPA chart 2005.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The authors of textbooks or similar publications often create revised versions of the IPA chart to express their own preferences or needs. The image displays one such version. All pulmonic consonants are moved to the consonant chart. Only the black symbols are on the official IPA chart; additional symbols are in grey. The grey fricatives are part of the [[extIPA]], and the grey retroflex letters are mentioned or implicit<!--'implicit' is the description used in the Handbook and in the Unicode request for support for the missing retroflex letters--> in the ''Handbook''. The grey click is a retired IPA letter that is still in use.]]
The International Phonetic Alphabet is occasionally modified by the Association. After each modification, the Association provides an updated simplified presentation of the alphabet in the form of a chart. (See [[History of the IPA]].) Not all aspects of the alphabet can be accommodated in a chart of the size published by the IPA. The [[alveolo-palatal]] and [[epiglottal]] consonants, for example, are not included in the consonant chart for reasons of space rather than of theory (two additional columns would be required, one between the retroflex and palatal columns and the other between the pharyngeal and glottal columns), and the [[lateral flap]] would require an additional row for that single consonant, so they are listed instead under the catchall block of "other symbols".<ref>{{harvnb|Esling|2010|pp=688, 693}}</ref> The indefinitely large number of [[Chao tone letter|tone letters]] would make a full accounting impractical even on a larger page, and only a few examples are shown, and even the tone diacritics are not complete; the reversed tone letters are not illustrated at all.

The procedure for modifying the alphabet or the chart is to propose the change in the ''[[Journal of the IPA]].'' (See, for example, December 2008 on an [[open central unrounded vowel]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Barry |first1=William J. |last2=Trouvain |first2=Jürgen |date=24 December 2008 |title=Do we need a symbol for a central open vowel? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/abs/do-we-need-a-symbol-for-a-central-open-vowel/A3C7532F7999E3D8C115E04C8EEBA493 |journal=[[Journal of the International Phonetic Association]] |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=349–357 |doi=10.1017/S0025100308003587 |s2cid=14350438|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and August 2011 on central approximants.)<ref name="cambridge1">{{cite journal |author1=Martin J. Ball |author2=Joan Rahilly |date=August 2011 |title=The symbolization of central approximants in the IPA |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |publisher=Cambridge Journals Online |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=231–237 |doi=10.1017/s0025100311000107 |s2cid=144408497}}</ref> Reactions to the proposal may be published in the same or subsequent issues of the Journal (as in August 2009 on the open central vowel).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?decade=2000&jid=IPA&volumeId=39&issueId=02&iid=5907924 |title=Journal of the International Phonetic Association Vol. 39 Iss. 02 |publisher=Cambridge Journals Online |date=August 2009 |access-date=20 November 2012 |archive-date=9 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309154234/http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?decade=2000&jid=IPA&volumeId=39&issueId=02&iid=5907924 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The examples of reactions published in the journal should not be used as a reference supporting the claim that publishing reactions in the journal is standard. If the reference is meant to support the existence of 2009 reactions, an extra reference (supporting the claim that publication of reactions in the journal is standard) is needed.|date=May 2023}} A formal proposal is then put to the Council of the IPA<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/about.html |title=IPA: About us |publisher=UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences |access-date=20 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010121905/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/about.html |archive-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>{{Clarification needed|reason=What claim does this reference support? Is it supposed to be an external link to a list of the members of the council?|date=May 2023}} – which is elected by the membership<ref>{{cite web |title=Statutes and By-Laws of the International Phonetic Association |url=http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/statutes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010121941/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/statutes.html |archive-date=10 October 2012 |access-date=20 November 2012 |publisher=UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences}}</ref> – for further discussion and a formal vote.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nicolaidis |first=Katerina |title=Approval of New IPA Sound: The Labiodental Flap |url=http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/news/news200509.html |date=September 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111181340/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/news/news200509.html |archive-date=11 November 2012 |access-date=20 November 2012 |publisher=UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IPA Council votes against new IPA symbol |url=http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/news/news201112.html |date=May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111181349/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/news/news201112.html |archive-date=11 November 2012 |access-date=20 November 2012 |publisher=UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences}}</ref>

Many users of the alphabet, including the leadership of the Association itself, deviate from its standardized usage.{{NoteTag|See "Illustrations of the IPA" in the ''Handbook'' for individual languages which for example may use {{angbr|/c/}} as a phonemic symbol for what is phonetically realized as {{IPA|[tʃ]}}, or superscript variants of IPA letters that are not officially defined.}}{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}{{Original research inline|date=July 2025}}
The ''Journal of the IPA'' finds it acceptable to mix IPA and [[extIPA]] symbols in consonant charts in their articles. (For instance, including the extIPA letter {{angbr IPA|[[voiceless palatal lateral fricative|𝼆]]}}, rather than {{angbr IPA|ʎ̝̊}}, in an illustration of the IPA.)<ref name="pulmonic" />

== Usage ==
{{further|Phonetic transcription}}
Of more than 160 IPA symbols, relatively few will be used to transcribe speech in any one language, with various levels of precision. A precise phonetic transcription, in which sounds are specified in detail, is known as a ''narrow transcription''. A coarser transcription with less detail is called a ''broad transcription.'' Both are relative terms, and both are generally enclosed in square brackets.<ref name="IPA 1999" /> Broad phonetic transcriptions may restrict themselves to easily heard details, or only to details that are relevant to the discussion at hand, and may differ little if at all from phonemic transcriptions, but they make no theoretical claim that all the distinctions transcribed are necessarily meaningful in the language.
[[File:RPGA international.svg|thumb|Phonetic transcriptions of the word ''international'' in two English dialects]]

For example, the English word ''little'' may be transcribed broadly as {{IPA|[ˈlɪtəl]}}, approximately describing many pronunciations. A narrower transcription may focus on individual or dialectical details: {{IPA|[ˈɫɪɾɫ]}} in [[General American]], {{IPA|[ˈlɪʔo]}} in [[Cockney]], or {{IPA|[ˈɫɪːɫ]}} in [[Southern US English]].

Phonemic transcriptions, which express the conceptual counterparts of spoken sounds, are usually enclosed in slashes (/ /) and tend to use simpler letters with few diacritics. The choice of IPA letters may reflect theoretical claims of how speakers conceptualize sounds as phonemes or they may be merely a convenience for typesetting. Phonemic approximations between slashes do not have absolute sound values. For instance, in English, either the vowel of ''pick'' or the vowel of ''peak'' may be transcribed as {{IPA|/i/}}, so that ''pick'', ''peak'' would be transcribed as {{IPA|/ˈpik, ˈpiːk/}} or as {{IPA|/ˈpɪk, ˈpik/}}; and neither is identical to the vowel of the French ''{{lang|fr|pique}}'', which would also be transcribed {{IPA|/pik/}}. By contrast, a narrow phonetic transcription of ''pick'', ''peak'', ''pique'' could be: {{IPA|[pʰɪk]}}, {{IPA|[pʰiːk]}}, {{IPA|[pikʲ]}}.

=== Linguists ===
IPA is popular for transcription by linguists. Some American linguists, however, use a mix of IPA with [[Americanist phonetic notation]] or [[Sinological phonetic notation]] or otherwise use [[Obsolete and nonstandard symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet|nonstandard symbols]] for various reasons.<ref name="thomason">{{cite web |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005287.html |title=Why I Don't Love the International Phonetic Alphabet |author=Sally Thomason |date=2 January 2008 |work=Language Log |access-date=3 January 2008 |archive-date=5 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805020951/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005287.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Authors who employ such nonstandard use are encouraged to include a chart or other explanation of their choices, which is good practice in general, as linguists differ in their understanding of the exact meaning of IPA symbols and common conventions change over time.

=== Dictionaries ===
==== English ====
Many British dictionaries, including the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' and some [[Monolingual learner's dictionary|learner's dictionaries]] such as the ''[[Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]'' and the ''[[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]'', now use [[Pronunciation respelling for English#International Phonetic Alphabet|the International Phonetic Alphabet]] to represent the pronunciation of words.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/help/phonetics.htm |title=Phonetics |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge Dictionaries Online |access-date=11 March 2007 |archive-date=17 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817233308/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/help/phonetics.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, most American (and some British) volumes use one of a variety of [[Pronunciation respelling for English|pronunciation respelling]] systems, intended to be more comfortable for readers of English and to be more acceptable across dialects, without the implication of a preferred pronunciation that the IPA might convey. For example, the respelling systems in many American dictionaries (such as ''[[Merriam-Webster Dictionary|Merriam-Webster]]'') use {{angbr|y}} for IPA {{IPA|[&thinsp;j]}} and {{angbr|sh}} for IPA {{IPA|[&thinsp;ʃ&thinsp;]}}, reflecting the usual spelling of those sounds in English.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/pronunciation-key |title=Merriam-Webster Online Pronunciation Symbols |access-date=4 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601152219/http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/pronsymbols.html |archive-date=1 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Michael |last=Agnes |title=Webster's New World College Dictionary |year=1999 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=0-02-863119-6 |page=xxiii |no-pp=true |url=https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld00agne_0 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Notetag|''[[Pronunciation respelling for English]]'' contains detailed comparisons of respelling systems.}}
(In IPA, {{IPA|[y]}} represents the sound of the French {{angbr|u}}, as in ''{{lang|fr|tu}}'', and {{IPA|[sh]}} represents the sequence of consonants in ''gra{{strong|ssh}}opper''.)

==== Other languages ====
The IPA is also not universal among dictionaries in languages other than English. Monolingual dictionaries of languages with [[phonemic orthographies]] generally do not bother with indicating the pronunciation of most words, and tend to use respelling systems for words with unexpected pronunciations. Dictionaries produced in Israel use the IPA rarely and sometimes use the [[Hebrew alphabet]] for transcription of foreign words.{{NoteTag|Monolingual Hebrew dictionaries use pronunciation respelling for words with unusual spelling; for example, the ''[[Even-Shoshan Dictionary]]'' respells {{Script/Hebrew|תָּכְנִית}} as {{angbr|{{Script/Hebrew|תּוֹכְנִית}}}} because the word uses the ''[[kamatz]] katan''.}} Bilingual dictionaries that translate from foreign languages into Russian usually employ the IPA, but monolingual Russian dictionaries occasionally use pronunciation respelling for foreign words.{{NoteTag|For example, [[Sergey Ozhegov]]'s dictionary adds [нэ́] in brackets to the French loan-word ''пенсне'' (''{{lang|fr|[[pince-nez]]}}'') to indicate that the final {{angbr|[[е]]}} does not [[iotate]] the preceding {{angbr|[[н]]}}.}} The IPA is more common in bilingual dictionaries, but there are exceptions here too. Mass-market bilingual Czech dictionaries, for instance, tend to use the IPA only for sounds not found in [[Czech language|Czech]].{{NoteTag|"In accordance with long-established Czech lexicographical tradition, a modified version of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is adopted in which letters of the Czech alphabet are employed."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fronek |first=J. |title=Velký anglicko-český slovník |publisher=Leda |year=2006 |isbn=80-7335-022-X |location=Praha |language=cs |quote=}}</ref>}}

=== Standard orthographies and case variants ===
{{Main|Case variants of IPA letters}}
IPA letters have been incorporated into the alphabets of various languages, notably via the [[Africa Alphabet]] in many sub-Saharan languages such as [[Hausa language|Hausa]], [[Fula language|Fula]], [[Akan language|Akan]], [[Gbe languages]], [[Manding languages]], [[Lingala]], etc. Capital case variants have been created for use in these languages. For example, [[Kabiyé language|Kabiyè]] of northern [[Togo]] has [[African D|Ɖ ɖ]], [[Eng (letter)|Ŋ ŋ]], [[Latin gamma|Ɣ ɣ]], [[Open O|Ɔ ɔ]], [[Latin epsilon|Ɛ ɛ]], [[Ʋ|Ʋ ʋ]]. These, and others, are supported by [[Unicode]], but appear in Latin ranges other than the [[IPA Extensions (Unicode block)|IPA extensions]].

In the IPA itself, however, only lower-case letters are used. The 1949 edition of the IPA handbook indicated that an asterisk {{angbr|*}} might be prefixed to indicate that a word was a proper name,<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1949|p=17}}</ref> and this convention was used by ''[[Le Maître Phonétique]]'', which was written in IPA rather than in English or French orthography, but it was not included in the 1999 ''Handbook'', which notes the contrary use of the asterisk as a placeholder for a sound or feature that does not have a symbol.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=193}}</ref>

=== Classical singing ===
The IPA has widespread use among classical singers during preparation as they are frequently required to sing in a variety of foreign languages. They are also taught by vocal coaches to perfect diction and improve tone quality and tuning.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Severens |first=Sara E. |year=2017 |title=The Effects of the International Phonetic Alphabet in Singing |journal=Student Scholar Showcase |url=https://digitalshowcase.lynchburg.edu/studentshowcase/2017/presentations/53/ |language=en |access-date=30 May 2018 |archive-date=5 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905102421/https://digitalshowcase.lynchburg.edu/studentshowcase/2017/presentations/53/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Opera [[libretto]]s are authoritatively transcribed in IPA, such as [[Nico Castel]]'s volumes<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.castelopera.com/libretti.htm |title=Nico Castel's Complete Libretti Series |publisher=Castel Opera Arts |access-date=29 September 2008 |archive-date=24 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724211024/http://www.castelopera.com/libretti.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> and Timothy Cheek's book ''Singing in Czech''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://scarecrowpress.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=%5EDB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0810840030 |last=Cheek |first=Timothy |title=Singing in Czech |year=2001 |page=392 |isbn=978-0-8108-4003-4 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007052429/http://scarecrowpress.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=%5EDB%2FCATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0810840030 |archive-date=7 October 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Opera singers' ability to read IPA was used by the site ''Visual Thesaurus'', which employed several opera singers "to make recordings for the 150,000 words and phrases in VT's lexical database&nbsp;... for their vocal stamina, attention to the details of enunciation, and most of all, knowledge of IPA".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=155 |title=Operatic IPA and the Visual Thesaurus |last=Zimmer |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Zimmer |work=[[Language Log]] |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]] |access-date=29 September 2009 |date=14 May 2008 |archive-date=26 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826025723/http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=155 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Letters ==
{{See also|International Phonetic Alphabet chart}}
The International Phonetic Association organizes the letters of the IPA into three categories: [[pulmonic]] consonants, non-pulmonic consonants, and vowels.{{NoteTag|"Segments can usefully be divided into two major categories, consonants and vowels."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=3}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Proposed New Characters: The Pipeline }}{{full citation needed|date=January 2025}}</ref>

Pulmonic consonant letters are arranged singly or in pairs of voiceless ([[tenuis consonant|tenuis]]) and voiced sounds, with these then grouped in columns from front (labial) sounds on the left to back (glottal) sounds on the right. In official publications by the IPA, two columns are omitted to save space, with the letters listed among "other symbols" even though theoretically they belong in the main chart.{{NoteTag|They were moved "for presentational convenience [...] because of [their] rarity and the small number of types of sounds which are found there."<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=18}}</ref>}} They are arranged in rows from full closure (occlusives: stops and nasals) at top, to brief closure (vibrants: trills and taps), to partial closure (fricatives), and finally minimal closure (approximants) at bottom, again with a row left out to save space. In the table below, a slightly different arrangement is made: All pulmonic consonants are included in the pulmonic-consonant table, and the vibrants and laterals are separated out so that the rows reflect the common [[lenition]] pathway of ''stop → fricative → approximant'', as well as the fact that several letters pull double duty as both fricative and approximant; [[affricate]]s may then be created by joining stops and fricatives from adjacent cells. Shaded cells represent articulations that are judged to be impossible or not distinctive<!--e.g. lateral bilabial fricatives are the norm, but there is no central-lateral distinction.-->.

Vowel letters are also grouped in pairs{{snd}}of unrounded and rounded vowel sounds{{snd}}with these pairs also arranged from front on the left to back on the right, and from maximal closure at top to minimal closure at bottom. No vowel letters are omitted from the chart, though in the past some of the mid central vowels were listed among the "other symbols".

=== Consonants ===
{{See also|IPA consonant chart with audio}}

==== Pulmonic consonants ====
A [[Egressive|pulmonic]] consonant is a consonant made by obstructing the [[glottis]] (the space between the vocal folds) or [[Human mouth|oral cavity]] (the mouth) and either simultaneously or subsequently letting out air from the lungs. Pulmonic consonants make up the majority of consonants in the IPA, as well as in human language. All consonants in English fall into this category.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fromkin |first=Victoria |author-link=Victoria Fromkin |author2=Rodman, Robert |title=An Introduction to Language |orig-year=1974 |year=1998 |publisher=Harcourt Brace College Publishers |location=Fort Worth, TX |edition=6th |isbn=0-03-018682-X |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontola00from_1}}</ref>

The pulmonic consonant table, which includes most consonants, is arranged in rows that designate [[manner of articulation]], meaning how the consonant is produced, and columns that designate [[place of articulation]], meaning where in the vocal tract the consonant is produced. The main chart includes only consonants with a single place of articulation.
{{IPA pulmonic consonants|caption=|affricates=no|notes=no}}

'''Notes'''
* In rows where some letters appear in pairs (the ''[[obstruent]]s''), the letter to the right represents a [[voiced consonant]], except [[breathy-voiced]] {{IPA|[ɦ]}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|loc=§&nbsp;2.1.}}</ref> In the other rows (the ''[[sonorant]]s''), the single letter represents a voiced consonant.
* While IPA provides a single letter for the coronal places of articulation (for all consonants but fricatives), these do not always have to be used exactly. When dealing with a particular language, the letters may be treated as specifically dental, alveolar, or post-alveolar, as appropriate for that language, without diacritics.
* Shaded areas indicate articulations judged to be impossible.
* The letters {{IPA|[β, ð, ʁ, ʕ, ʢ]}} are canonically voiced fricatives but may be used for approximants.{{NoteTag|"A symbol such as {{IPA|[β]}}, shown on the chart in the position for a voiced bilabial fricative, can also be used to represent a voiced bilabial approximant if needed."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=9}}</ref>}}
* In many languages, such as English, {{IPA|[h]}} and {{IPA|[ɦ]}} are not actually glottal, fricatives, or approximants. Rather, they are bare [[phonation]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|loc=§&nbsp;9.3.}}</ref>
* It is primarily the shape of the tongue rather than its position that distinguishes the fricatives {{IPA|[ʃ ʒ]}}, {{IPA|[ɕ ʑ]}}, and {{IPA|[ʂ ʐ]}}.
* {{IPA|[ʜ, ʢ]}} are defined as epiglottal fricatives under the "Other symbols" section in the official IPA chart, but they may be treated as trills at the same place of articulation as {{IPA|[ħ, ʕ]}} because trilling of the [[aryepiglottic fold]]s typically co-occurs.<ref>{{harvnb|Esling|2010|pp=688–689}}</ref>
* Some listed phones are not known to exist as [[phoneme]]s in any language.

==== Non-pulmonic consonants ====
Non-pulmonic consonants are sounds whose airflow is not dependent on the lungs. These include [[click consonant|clicks]] (found in the [[Khoisan languages]] and some neighboring [[Bantu languages]] of Africa), [[implosives]] (found in languages such as [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Hausa language|Hausa]], [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]), and [[ejectives]] (found in many [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|Amerindian]] and [[Caucasian languages]]).
{{IPA non-pulmonic consonants|caption=|nonipa=no|affricates=no|notes=no}}

'''Notes'''
* Clicks have traditionally been described as consisting of a forward place of articulation, commonly called the click "type" or historically the "influx", and a rear place of articulation, which when combined with the quality of the click is commonly called the click "accompaniment" or historically the "efflux". The IPA click letters indicate only the click type (forward articulation and release). Therefore, all clicks require two letters for proper notation: {{angbr IPA|k͡ǀ, ɡ͡ǀ, q͡ǀ}}, etc., or with the order reversed if both the forward and rear releases are audible. The letter for the rear articulation is frequently omitted, in which case a {{angbr IPA|k}} may usually be assumed. However, some researchers dispute the idea that clicks should be analyzed as doubly articulated, as the traditional transcription implies, and analyze the rear occlusion as solely a part of the airstream mechanism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Amanda L. |last2=Brugman |first2=Johanna |last3=Sands |first3=Bonny |last4=Namaseb |first4=Levi |last5=Exter |first5=Mats |last6=Collins |first6=Chris |date=2009 |title=Differences in airstream and posterior place of articulation among Nǀuu clicks |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0025100309003867/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=129–161 |doi=10.1017/S0025100309003867 |s2cid=46194815 |issn=0025-1003 |access-date=24 May 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701181158/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/abs/differences-in-airstream-and-posterior-place-of-articulation-among-nuu-clicks/FA6566F6283D1E42E23C868E91DAFAA8 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In transcriptions of such approaches, the click letter represents both places of articulation, with the different letters representing the different click types, and diacritics are used for the elements of the accompaniment: {{angbr IPA|ǀ, ǀ̬, ǀ̃}}, etc.
* Letters for the [[voiceless]] implosives {{angbr IPA|ƥ, ƭ, ƈ, ƙ, ʠ}} are no longer supported by the IPA, though they remain in Unicode. Instead, the IPA typically uses the voiced equivalent with a voiceless diacritic: {{angbr IPA|ɓ̥, ɗ̥}}, etc.
* The letter for the [[retroflex implosive]], <span title="U+1D91">{{angbr IPA|ᶑ&thinsp;}}</span>, is not "explicitly IPA approved",<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=166}}</ref> but the IPA has endorsed the inclusion of {{angbr IPA|ᶑ&thinsp;}} and voiceless {{angbr IPA|𝼉}} into Unicode.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
* The ejective diacritic is placed at the right-hand margin of the consonant, rather than immediately after the letter for the stop: {{angbr IPA|t͜ʃʼ}}, {{angbr IPA|kʷʼ}}. In imprecise transcription, it often stands in for a superscript glottal stop in [[glottalized]] but pulmonic [[sonorant]]s, such as {{IPA|[mˀ]}}, {{IPA|[lˀ]}}, {{IPA|[wˀ]}}, {{IPA|[aˀ]}}{{snd}}also transcribable as creaky {{IPA|[m̰]}}, {{IPA|[l̰]}}, {{IPA|[w̰]}}, {{IPA|[a̰]}}.

==== Affricates ====
[[Affricates]] and [[Doubly articulated consonant|co-articulated]] stops are represented by two letters joined by a tie bar, either above or below the letters with no difference in meaning.{{NoteTag|It is traditional to place the tie bar above the letters. It may be placed below to avoid overlap with ascenders or diacritic marks, or simply because it is more legible that way, as in Niesler; Louw; Roux (2005). "Phonetic analysis of Afrikaans, English, Xhosa and Zulu using South African speech databases".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Niesler |first1=Thomas |last2=Louw |first2=Philippa |last3=Roux |first3=Justus |date=2005 |title=Phonetic analysis of Afrikaans, English, Xhosa and Zulu using South African speech databases |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/16073610509486401 |journal=Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies |language=en |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=459–474 |doi=10.2989/16073610509486401 |s2cid=7138676 |issn=1607-3614 |access-date=24 May 2023 |archive-date=27 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527215149/http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/16073610509486401 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref>}} Affricates are optionally represented by [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]]{{snd}}e.g. {{angbr IPA|ʧ, ʤ&thinsp;}}{{snd}}though this is no longer official IPA usage.<ref name="IPA 1999" />  Alternatively, a superscript notation for a consonant release is sometimes used to transcribe affricates, for example {{angbr IPA|tˢ}} for {{IPA|[t͜s]}}, paralleling {{IPA|[kˣ]}} ~ {{IPA|[k͜x]}}. The letters for the palatal plosives {{angbr IPA|c}} and {{angbr IPA|ɟ}} are often used as a convenience for {{IPA|[t͜ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[d͜ʒ]}} or similar affricates<!-- eg 'Curso de fonética y fonología españolas para estudiantes' for English and spanish -->, even in official IPA publications, so they must be interpreted with care.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=133}}</ref>

{{IPA affricates|caption=|notes=no}}

Because in a true affricate the plosive element and the fricative element are homorganic, and the place of articulation of an affricate is most audible in the fricative element, the letter for the former will not always be precisely transcribed where such precision would be redundant. For example, while the English ''ch'' sound is {{IPA|[t̠͡ʃ]}} in close transcription, the diacritic is commonly left off, for {{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}. Similarly, {{IPA|[ʈ͡ʂ]}} and {{IPA|[ɖ͡ʐ]}} are more commonly written {{IPA|[t͡ʂ]}} and {{IPA|[d͡ʐ]}}, and in the ligatures there is only a single retroflex hook.

==== Co-articulated consonants ====
[[Co-articulated consonant]]s are sounds that involve two simultaneous [[places of articulation]] (are pronounced using two parts of the [[vocal tract]]). In English, the {{IPA|[w]}} in "went" is a coarticulated consonant, being pronounced by rounding the lips and raising the back of the tongue. Similar sounds are {{IPA|[ʍ]}} and {{IPA|[ɥ]}}. In some languages, plosives can be double-articulated, for example in the name of [[Laurent Gbagbo]].
{{IPA co-articulated consonants|caption=|notes=no}}

'''Notes'''
* {{IPA|[ɧ]}}, the [[sj-sound|Swedish ''sj''-sound]], is described by the IPA as a "simultaneous {{IPA|[ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[x]}}", but it is unlikely such a simultaneous fricative actually exists in any language.<ref>{{harvnb|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=329–330}}</ref>
* Multiple tie bars can be used: {{angbr IPA|a͡b͡c}} or {{angbr IPA|a͜b͜c}}. For instance, a pre-voiced velar affricate may be transcribed as {{angbr IPA|g͡k͡x}}
* If a diacritic needs to be placed on or under a tie bar, the [[combining grapheme joiner]] (U+034F) needs to be used, as in {{IPA|[b͜͏̰də̀bdʊ̀]}} 'chewed' ([[Margi language|Margi]]). Font support is spotty, however.

With the implosives, authors may not bother to redundantly mark both letters as implosive, but instead write them as less-cluttered {{angbr IPA|ɡ͡ɓ}} and even {{angbr IPA|k͜ƥ}}<!-- e.g. Nọlue Emenanjọ [2015] A Grammar of Contemporary Igbo -->.

=== Vowels ===
{{Main|Vowel}}
{{See also|IPA vowel chart with audio}}
[[File:Cardinal vowel tongue position-front.svg|thumb|Tongue positions of [[Cardinal vowel|cardinal]] front vowels, with highest point indicated. The position of the highest point is used to determine vowel height and backness.]]
[[File:Cardinal vowels-Jones x-ray.jpg|thumb|[[Radiography|X-ray photos]] show the sounds {{IPA|[i, u, a, ɑ]}}.]]

The IPA defines a vowel as a sound which occurs at a syllable center.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=10}}</ref> Below is a chart depicting the vowels of the IPA. The IPA maps the vowels according to the position of the tongue.
{{IPA vowels|caption=|notes=no}}

The vertical axis of the chart is mapped by [[vowel height]]. Vowels pronounced with the tongue lowered are at the bottom, and vowels pronounced with the tongue raised are at the top. For example, {{IPA|[ɑ]}} (the first vowel in ''father'') is at the bottom because the tongue is lowered in this position. {{IPA|[i]}} (the vowel in "meet") is at the top because the sound is said with the tongue raised to the roof of the mouth.

In a similar fashion, the horizontal axis of the chart is determined by [[vowel backness]]. Vowels with the tongue moved towards the front of the mouth (such as {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, the vowel in "met") are to the left in the chart, while those in which it is moved to the back (such as {{IPA|[ʌ]}}, the vowel in "but") are placed to the right in the chart.

In places where vowels are paired, the right represents a [[rounded vowel]] (in which the lips are rounded) while the left is its unrounded counterpart.

==== Diphthongs ====
[[Diphthong]]s are typically specified with a non-syllabic diacritic, as in {{angbr IPA|ui̯}} or {{angbr IPA|u̯i}}, or with a superscript for the on- or off-glide, as in {{angbr IPA|uⁱ}} or {{angbr IPA|ᵘi}}. Sometimes a tie bar is used: {{angbr IPA|u͜i}}, especially when it is difficult to tell if the diphthong is characterized by an on-glide or an off-glide or when it is variable.

'''Notes'''
* {{angbr IPA|a}} officially represents a front vowel, but there is little if any distinction between front and central open vowels (see {{section link|Vowel#Acoustics}}), and {{angbr IPA|a}} is frequently used for an open central vowel.<ref name="thomason" /> If disambiguation is required, the [[Retraction (phonetics)|retraction diacritic]] or the [[Relative articulation#Centralized vowels|centralized diacritic]] may be added to indicate an open central vowel, as in {{angbr IPA|a̠}} or {{angbr IPA|ä}}.

== Diacritics and prosodic notation <span class="anchor" id="Diacritics"></span> ==
[[Diacritic]]s are used for phonetic detail. They are added to IPA letters to indicate a modification or specification of that letter's normal pronunciation.<ref name=IPA15>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|pp=14–15}}</ref>

By being made superscript, any IPA letter may function as a diacritic, conferring elements of its articulation to the base letter. Those superscript letters listed below are specifically provided for by the IPA ''Handbook''; other uses can be illustrated with {{angbr IPA|tˢ}} ({{IPA|[t]}} with fricative release), {{angbr IPA|ᵗs}} ({{IPA|[s]}} with affricate onset), {{angbr IPA|ⁿd}} (prenasalized {{IPA|[d]}}), {{angbr IPA|bʱ}} ({{IPA|[b]}} with breathy voice), {{angbr IPA|mˀ}} (glottalized {{IPA|[m]}}), {{angbr IPA|sᶴ}} ({{IPA|[s]}} with a flavor of {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, i.e. a [[voiceless alveolar retracted sibilant]]), {{angbr IPA|oᶷ}} ({{IPA|[o]}} with [[diphthongization]]), {{angbr IPA|ɯᵝ}} ([[compressed vowel|compressed]] {{IPA|[ɯ]}}). Superscript diacritics placed after a letter are ambiguous between simultaneous modification of the sound and phonetic detail at the end of the sound. For example, labialized {{angbr IPA|kʷ}} may mean either simultaneous {{IPA|[k]}} and {{IPA|[w]}} or else {{IPA|[k]}} with a labialized release. Superscript diacritics placed before a letter, on the other hand, normally indicate a modification of the onset of the sound ({{angbr IPA|mˀ}} glottalized {{IPA|[m]}}, {{angbr IPA|ˀm}} {{IPA|[m]}} with a glottal onset). (See {{section link|#Superscript IPA}}.)

{|class="wikitable"
! colspan=6|Airstream diacritics
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌ʼ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|kʼ sʼ}}
|[[Ejective]]
|-
! colspan=6|Syllabicity diacritics
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̩}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɹ̩ n̩}}
|rowspan=2|[[Syllabic consonant|Syllabic]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̯}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɪ̯ ʊ̯}}
|rowspan=2|[[Non-syllabic]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̍}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɻ̍ ŋ̍}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̑}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|y̑}}
|-
! colspan=6|Consonant-release diacritics
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size: xx-large;" |{{IPA|◌ʰ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|tʰ}}
|[[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]{{efn-lg|name=aspirated}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̚}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|p̚}}
|[[No audible release]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size: xx-large;" |{{IPA|◌ⁿ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|dⁿ}}
|[[Nasal release]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌ˡ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|dˡ}}
|[[Lateral release (phonetics)|Lateral release]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size: xx-large;" |{{IPA|◌ᶿ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|tᶿ}}
|Voiceless dental fricative release
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌ˣ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|tˣ}}
|Voiceless velar fricative release
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size: xx-large;" |{{IPA|◌ᵊ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|dᵊ}}
|Mid central vowel release
|colspan=3|
|-
! colspan=6|Phonation diacritics
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size: xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̥}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:4em;" |{{IPA|n̥ d̥}}
|rowspan=2|[[Voiceless]]
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̬}}
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|s̬ t̬}}
|rowspan=2|[[Voiced]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size: xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̊}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:4em;" |{{IPA|ɻ̊ ŋ̊}}
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size: xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̤}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:4em;" |{{IPA|b̤ a̤}}
|[[Breathy voice]]d{{efn-lg|name=aspirated}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̰}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|b̰ a̰}}
|[[Creaky voice]]d
|-
! colspan=6|Articulation diacritics
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̪}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:4em;" |{{IPA|t̪ d̪}}
|rowspan=2|[[Dental consonant|Dental]] <br />({{IPA|◌͆}} is [[dentolabial]] or underbite in extIPA)
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̼}}
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|t̼ d̼}}
|rowspan=2|[[Linguolabial]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌͆}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:4em;" |{{IPA|ɮ͆}}
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̺}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|t̺ d̺}}
|[[Apical consonant|Apical]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̻}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|t̻ d̻}}
|[[Laminal]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̟}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|u̟ t̟}}
|rowspan=2|[[Relative articulation#Advanced and retracted|Advanced (fronted)]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̠}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|i̠ t̠}}
|rowspan=2|[[Relative articulation#Advanced and retracted|Retracted (backed)]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌᫈}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɡ᫈}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌᫢}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|q᫢}}{{efn-lg|name=retracted}}
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̈}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ë ä}}
|[[Relative articulation#Centralized vowels|Centralized]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̽}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|e̽ ɯ̽}}
|[[Mid-centralized]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̝}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|e̝ r̝}}
|rowspan=2|[[Relative articulation#Raised and lowered|Raised]] <br />({{IPA|[r̝], [ɭ˔]}} are fricatives)
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̞}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|e̞ β̞}}
|rowspan=2|[[Relative articulation#Raised and lowered|Lowered]] <br />({{IPA|[β̞], [ɣ˕]}} are approximants)
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌˔}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɭ˔}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌˕}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|y˕ ɣ˕}}
|-
! colspan=6|Co-articulation diacritics
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̹}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɔ̹ x̹}}
|rowspan=2| More [[Roundedness|rounded]] / less spread<br />(over-rounding)
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̜}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɔ̜ xʷ̜}}
|rowspan=2| Less rounded / more spread<br />(under-rounding){{efn-lg|name=lessrounded|These are relative to the cardinal value of the letter. They can also apply to unrounded vowels: {{IPA|[ɛ̜]}} is more spread (less rounded) than cardinal {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, and {{IPA|[ɯ̹]}} is less spread than cardinal {{IPA|[ɯ]}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=December 1990 |title=Further report on the 1989 Kiel Convention |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0025100300004205/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |page=23 |doi=10.1017/S0025100300004205 |s2cid=249405404 |issn=0025-1003 |access-date=26 May 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701181159/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/abs/further-report-on-the-1989-kiel-convention/0F7CF0E050D875E856701841AB2623F9 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref><br />Since {{angbr IPA|xʷ}} can mean that the {{IPA|[x]}} is labialized (rounded) throughout its articulation, and {{angbr IPA|x̜}} makes no sense ({{IPA|[x]}} is already completely unrounded), {{angbr IPA|x̜ʷ}} can only mean a less-labialized/rounded {{IPA|[xʷ]}}. However, readers might mistake {{angbr IPA|x̜ʷ}} for "{{IPA|[x̜]}}" with a labialized off-glide, or might wonder if the two diacritics cancel each other out. Placing the 'less rounded' diacritic under the labialization diacritic, {{angbr IPA|xʷ̜}}, makes it clear that it is the labialization that is 'less rounded' than its cardinal IPA value.}}
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌͗}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|y͗ χ͗}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌͑}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|y͑ χ͑ʷ}}
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌ʷ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|tʷ dʷ}}
|[[Labialized]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌ʲ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|tʲ dʲ}}
|[[Palatalization (phonetics)|Palatalized]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌ˠ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|tˠ dˠ}}
|[[Velarized]]
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̴}}
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA link|ɫ}} {{IPA|ᵶ}}
|rowspan=2|Velarized or pharyngealized
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌ˤ}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|tˤ aˤ}}
|[[Pharyngealized]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̘}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|e̘ o̘}}
|rowspan=2|[[Advanced tongue root]] <br />(expanded pharynx)
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̙}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|e̙ o̙}}
|rowspan=2|[[Retracted tongue root]]
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌꭪}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|y꭪}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌꭫}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|y꭫}}
|-
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌̃}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ẽ z̃}}
|[[Nasalized]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:xx-large; line-height:1em;" |{{IPA|◌˞}}
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|ɚ ɝ}}
|[[R-colored vowel|Rhoticity]]
|}

'''Notes:'''
{{Notelist-lg |refs=
{{efn-lg|name=aspirated|With aspirated voiced consonants, the aspiration is usually also voiced (voiced aspirated – but see [[aspirated voiced|voiced consonants with voiceless aspiration]]). Many linguists prefer one of the diacritics dedicated to breathy voice over simple aspiration, such as {{angbr IPA|b̤}}. Some linguists restrict that diacritic to [[sonorant]]s, such as breathy-voice {{angbr IPA|m̤}}, and transcribe voiced-aspirated obstruents as e.g. {{angbr IPA|bʱ}}.}}
{{efn-lg|name=retracted|In the Unicode Pipeline for 2025. Care must be taken that a superscript retraction sign is not mistaken for a macron for mid tone.}}
}}

A diacritic may be moved to avoid conflicts of space. One that is normally placed below a letter may be moved above it to avoid a [[descender]] or another diacritic, as with the voiceless ring on {{angbr IPA|ŋ̊}}, and vice versa with the tie bar on {{angbr IPA|t͜s}}, though the tie bar is basically in free variation.<ref name=IPA15 /> Exceptions are the tilde, [[Two dots (diacritic)|trema]] and [[caron]]/wedge – and, in extIPA, the bridge – which are defined differently when placed above and below a letter. The raising and lowering diacritics have a third option of being set as spacing forms {{angbr IPA|˔}}, {{angbr IPA|˕}} that avoid both descenders and ascenders.

A couple additional superscript letters are found for secondary articulation. In the ''Handbook'', for example, {{angbr IPA|ʱ}} is used for voiced aspiration. {{angbr IPA|ᶣ}} is commonly seen with languages such as [[Twi]] where consonants may be simultaneously palatalized and labialized, while {{angbr IPA|ˀ}} may be used for glottalized sounds without specifying whether they are ejective or have [[creaky voice]]. ExtIPA provides {{angbr IPA|ʶ}} for [[uvularization]], and the [[Voice Quality Symbols]] provide a couple more. However, only limited set of IPA letters are used in this fashion; for all others, superscripting indicates more ambiguous shading of the sound.

The state of the [[glottis]] can be finely transcribed with diacritics. A series of alveolar plosives ranging from open-glottis to closed-glottis [[phonation]] is:

{|class="wikitable"
|+Phonation scale
|-
! Open glottis
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" |{{IPA|[t]}}
|[[voiceless]]
|-
|
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|[d̤]}}
|[[breathy voice]], also called ''murmured''
|-
|
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|[d̥]}}
|[[slack voice]]
|-
![[Sweet spot (phonetics)|Sweet spot]]
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|[d]}}
|[[modal voice]]
|-
|
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|[d̬]}}
|[[stiff voice]]
|-
|
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|[d̰]}}
|[[creaky voice]]
|-
!Closed glottis
|style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|[ʔ͜t]}}
|glottal closure
|}

Additional diacritics are provided by the [[Extensions to the IPA]] for speech pathology.

=== Suprasegmentals ===
These symbols describe the features of a language above the [[Phonological hierarchy|level]] of individual consonants and vowels, that is, at the level of syllable, word or [[phrase]]. These include [[prosody (linguistics)|prosody]], pitch, [[length (phonetics)|length]], [[stress (linguistics)|stress]], intensity, [[tone (linguistics)|tone]] and gemination of the sounds of a language, as well as the [[rhythm]] and [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]] of speech.<ref name="Handbook13">{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=13}}</ref> Various ligatures of pitch/tone letters and diacritics are provided for by the [[Kiel Convention]] and used in the IPA ''Handbook'' despite not being found in the summary of the IPA alphabet found on the one-page chart.

Under [[#Capital letters|capital letters]] below we will see how a carrier letter may be used to indicate suprasegmental features such as labialization or nasalization. Some authors omit the carrier letter, for e.g. suffixed {{IPA|[kʰuˣt̪s̟]ʷ}} or prefixed {{IPA|[ʷkʰuˣt̪s̟]}},{{Notetag|Cf. the {{IPA|/ʷ.../}} and {{IPA|/ʲ.../}} transcriptions in {{Cite web |first=Eszter |last=Ernst-Kurdi |year=2017 |title=The Phonology of Mada |publisher=SIL Yaoundé |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/76424}}}} or place a spacing variant of a diacritic such as {{angbr IPA|˔}}<!--A spacing ATR or RTR diacritic would be a better example, when those have broader font support.--> or {{angbr IPA|˜}} at the beginning or end of a word to indicate that it applies to the entire word.{{Notetag|E.g. {{Cite book |first=Aaron |last=Dolgopolsky |year=2013 |title=Indo-European Dictionary with Nostratic Etymologies |series=Studia Philologica |publisher=Rukopisnye pami͡atniki Drevneĭ Rusi |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11657956}}<!-- has 3 volumes, so 3 ISBNs -->}}

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=4|Length, stress, and rhythm
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ˈke}}
| Primary [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] (appears<br /> before stressed syllable)
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ˌke}}
| [[Secondary stress]] (appears<br /> before stressed syllable)
|-
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|eː kː}}
| rowspan=2 | [[Length (phonetics)|Long]] ([[long vowel]] or<br />[[geminate consonant]])
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|eˑ}}
| Half-long
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ə̆ ɢ̆}}
| [[Extra-short]]; [[Tap and flap consonants|flap]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ek.ste}}<br />{{IPA|eks.te}}
| [[Syllable]] break <br />(internal boundary)
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|es‿e}}
| [[Connected speech|Linking]] (lack of a boundary; <br />a [[phonological word]]){{NoteTag|The IPA ''Handbook'' variously defines the "linking" symbol as marking the "lack of a boundary"<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=23}}</ref> or "absence of a break",<ref name="auto" /> and gives [[French liaison]] and English [[linking r]] as examples. It more generally means that the consonant ending one word forms a syllable with the vowel beginning the following word, across an orthographic space. However, the ''Handbook'' illustration for Croatian uses it to tie atonic [[clitic]]s to tonic words, with no resulting change in implied syllable structure.}}
|-
! colspan=4|Intonation
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | '''{{IPA|{{!}}}}'''{{efn-lg|name=intonationbreaks}}
| [[Prosodic unit|Minor or foot break]]
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | '''{{IPA|‖}}'''{{efn-lg|name=intonationbreaks}}
| [[Prosodic unit|Major or intonation break]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|↗︎}}
| [[Intonation (linguistics)|Global rise]]{{NoteTag|name="global"|The global rise and fall arrows come before the affected syllable or prosodic unit, like stress and upstep/downstep. This contrasts with the Chao tone letters (listed below), which most commonly come after. One will occasionally see a horizontal arrow {{angbr IPA|→}} for global level pitch (only dropping due to [[downdrift]]), e.g. in Julie Barbour (2012) ''A Grammar of Neverver''. Additionally, some fonts display the arrows as [[emoji]] by default, if &amp;#xFE0E; is not appended.}}
| style="text-align:center;font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|↘︎}}
| [[Intonation (linguistics)|Global fall]]{{NoteTag|name="global"}}
|-
! colspan=4|Up- and down-step
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ꜛke}}
| [[Upstep]]
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ꜜke}}
| [[Downstep]]
|}

'''Notes:'''
{{Notelist-lg |refs=
{{efn-lg|name=intonationbreaks|The pipes for intonation breaks should be a heavier weight than the letters for click consonants. Because fonts do not reflect this, the intonation breaks in the official IPA charts are set in bold typeface.}}
}}

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=13|Pitch diacritics{{NoteTag|name=pitch|There is not a one-to-one correspondence between tone/pitch diacritics and tone/pitch letters. When pitch is transcribed with diacritics, the three pitches {{angbr IPA|é ē è}} are taken as the basic levels and are called 'high', 'mid' and 'low'. Contour tones combine only these three and are called {{angbr IPA|e᷇}} 'high-mid' etc. The more extreme pitches, which do not form contours, are {{angbr IPA|e̋}} 'extra-high' and {{angbr IPA|ȅ}} 'extra-low', using [[#Comparative degree|doubled diacritics]]. When transcribed with tone letters, however, combinations of all five levels are possible. Thus, {{angbr IPA|e˥ e˧ e˩}} may be called 'high', 'mid' and 'low', with {{angbr IPA|e˦ e˨}} being 'near-high' and 'near-low', analogous to descriptions of vowel height. In a three-level transcription, {{angbr IPA|é ē è}} are identified with {{angbr IPA|e˥ e˧ e˩}}, but in a five-level transcription, {{angbr IPA|e̋ ȅ}} are identified with {{angbr IPA|e˥ e˩}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Roach|1989|p=76}}</ref>}}
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|ŋ̋ e̋}}
| Extra high
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ̌ ě}}
| Rising
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ᷄ e᷄}}
| Mid-rising
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ́ é}}
| High
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ̂ ê}}
| Falling
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ᷅ e᷅}}
| Low-rising
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ̄ ē}}
| Mid
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ᷈ e᷈}}
| Peaking (rising–falling){{NoteTag|name=contour|The peaking and dipping diacritics are uncommon and are not illustrated in the IPA ''Handbook''. An example is {{IPA|/kla᷈/}} 'properly' in [[Mian language|Mian]].}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ᷇ e᷇}}
| High-falling
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ̀ è}}
| Low
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ᷉ e᷉}}
| Dipping (falling–rising){{NoteTag|name=contour}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|ŋ᷆ e᷆}}
| Mid-falling
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{nowrap|{{IPA|ŋ̏ ȅ}}}}
| Extra low
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=4| (etc.){{NoteTag|Although any combination of tone diacritics is theoretically possible, such as {{angbr IPA|e᪰}} for a falling–rising–falling tone, any others than those illustrated are rare. Double acute – grave is found for an extra-high falling tone in Valentin Vydrin, 2020, ''Dan''. In Vossen & Dimmendaal (eds.) ''The Oxford Handbook of African Languages''; and double acute – macron is found for an extrahigh-to-mid tone in Roger Blench, 2025, ''Tone Systems in the Bantoid Languages''. Neither is supported by Unicode.}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=5|[[Chao tone letter]]s{{NoteTag|name=pitch}}
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|˥e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|꜒e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|e˥}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | {{IPA|e꜒}}
| High
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|˦e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|꜓e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˦}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e꜓}}
| Half-high
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|˧e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|꜔e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e꜔}}
| Mid
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|˨e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|꜕e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˨}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e꜕}}
| Half-low
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|˩e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|꜖e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e꜖}}
| Low
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|˩˥e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|꜖꜒e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩˥}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e꜖꜒}}
| Rising (low to high or generic)
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|˥˩e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|꜒꜖e}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˥˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e꜒꜖}}
| Falling (high to low or generic)
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=5| (etc.)
|}

The old staveless tone letters, which are effectively obsolete, include high {{angbr IPA|ˉe}}, mid {{angbr IPA|−e}} [not supported by Unicode], low {{angbr IPA|ˍe}}, rising {{angbr IPA|ˊe}}, falling {{angbr IPA|ˋe}}, low rising {{angbr IPA|ˏe}} and low falling {{angbr IPA|ˎe}}.

==== Stress ====
Officially, the [[Stress (linguistics)|stress marks]] {{angbr IPA|ˈ ˌ}} appear before the stressed syllable, and thus mark the syllable boundary as well as stress (though the syllable boundary may still be explicitly marked with a period).<ref name=report75-76 /> Occasionally the stress mark is placed immediately before the nucleus of the syllable, after any consonantal onset.<ref>{{harvnb|Esling|2010|p=691}}</ref> In such transcriptions, the stress mark does not mark a syllable boundary. The primary stress mark may be [[#Comparative degree|doubled]] {{angbr IPA|ˈˈ}} for extra stress (such as prosodic stress). The secondary stress mark is sometimes seen doubled {{angbr IPA|ˌˌ}} for extra-weak stress, but this convention has not been adopted by the IPA.<ref name=report75-76 /> Some dictionaries place both stress marks before a syllable, {{angbr IPA|¦}}, to indicate that pronunciations with either primary or secondary stress are heard, though this is not IPA usage.{{NoteTag|For example, {{MW|Balearic}}}}

==== Boundary markers ====
There are three boundary markers: {{angbr IPA|.}} for a syllable break, {{angbr IPA|<nowiki>|</nowiki>}} for a minor prosodic break and {{angbr IPA|‖}} for a major prosodic break. The tags 'minor' and 'major' are intentionally ambiguous. Depending on need, 'minor' may vary from a [[foot (prosody)|foot]] break to a break in list-intonation to a continuing–prosodic unit boundary (equivalent to a comma), and while 'major' is often any intonation break, it may be restricted to a final–prosodic unit boundary (equivalent to a period). The 'major' symbol may also be doubled, {{angbr IPA|‖‖}}, for a stronger break.{{NoteTag|Russian and Lithuanian sources and commonly use the character {{unichar|2E3D|VERTICAL SIX DOTS}} for a less-than-minor break, such as the slight break in list intonation (e.g. the very slight break between digits in a telephone number). {{unichar|2E3E|WIGGLY VERTICAL LINE}} is used for an unexpected interruption in or a sharp change of intonation.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Ž. V. |last=Ganiev |year=2012 |title=Sovremennyj ruskij jazyk |publisher=Flinta/Nauka |isbn=9785976510449}}</ref>}}

Although not part of the IPA, the following additional boundary markers are often used in conjunction with the IPA: {{angbr IPA|μ}} for a [[mora (linguistics)|mora]] or mora boundary, {{angbr IPA|σ}} for a syllable or syllable boundary, {{angbr IPA|+}} for a morpheme boundary, {{angbr IPA|#}} for a word boundary (may be doubled, {{angbr IPA|##}}, for e.g. a breath-group boundary),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Evans (linguist) |title=A grammar of Kayardild: with historical-comparative notes on Tangkic |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |year=1995 |isbn=978-3-11-012795-9 |series=Mouton Grammar Library}}</ref> {{angbr IPA|$}} for a phrase or intermediate boundary and {{angbr IPA|%}} for a prosodic boundary. For example, C# is a word-final consonant, %V a post-[[pausa]] vowel, and σC a syllable-initial consonant.

==== Pitch and tone ====
{{See also|tone letter}}
{{angbr IPA|ꜛ ꜜ}} are defined in the ''Handbook'' as "upstep" and "downstep", concepts from tonal languages. However, the upstep symbol can also be used for [[pitch reset]], and the IPA ''Handbook'' uses it for prosody in the illustration for Portuguese, a non-tonal language.

Phonetic pitch and phonemic tone may be indicated by either diacritics placed over the nucleus of the syllable{{snd}}e.g., high-pitch {{angbr IPA|é}}{{snd}}or by [[Chao tone letter]]s placed either before or after the word or syllable. There are three graphic variants of the tone letters: with or without a stave, and facing left or facing right from the stave. The stave was introduced with the 1989 Kiel Convention, as was the option of placing a staved letter after the word or syllable, while retaining the older conventions. There are therefore six<!--One of our sources says 'seven', but the staveless tone letters were only allowed before the word/syllable pre-Kiel, and that was not changed in the Kiel Convention.--> ways to transcribe pitch/tone in the IPA: i.e., {{angbr IPA|é}}, {{angbr IPA|˦e}}, {{angbr IPA|e˦}}, {{angbr IPA|꜓e}}, {{angbr IPA|e꜓}} and {{angbr IPA|ˉe}} for a high pitch/tone.<ref name=report75-76 /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maddieson |first=Ian |date=December 1990 |title=The transcription of tone in the IPA |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0025100300004242/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=31 |doi=10.1017/S0025100300004242 |s2cid=144897531 |issn=0025-1003 |access-date=29 May 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701181159/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/abs/transcription-of-tone-in-the-ipa/723944977809BFB13914AF78EAAAC8E3 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Heselwood|2013|p=7}}</ref> Of the tone letters, only left-facing staved letters and a few representative combinations are shown in the summary on the ''Chart'', and in practice it is currently more common for tone letters to occur after the syllable/word than before, as in the Chao tradition. Placement before the word is a carry-over from the pre-Kiel IPA convention, as is still the case for the stress and upstep/downstep marks. The IPA endorses the Chao tradition of using the left-facing tone letters, {{angbr IPA|˥ ˦ ˧ ˨ ˩}}, for underlying tone, and the right-facing letters, {{angbr IPA|꜒ ꜓ ꜔ ꜕ ꜖}}, for surface tone, as occurs in [[tone sandhi]], and for the intonation of non-tonal languages.{{NoteTag|Maddieson and others have noted that a phonemic/phonetic distinction should be handled by /slash/ or [bracket] delimiters. However, the reversed tone letters remain in use to distinguish tone sandhi from lexical tone when both are phonemic.}} In the Portuguese illustration in the 1999 ''Handbook'', tone letters are placed before a word or syllable to indicate prosodic pitch (equivalent to {{IPA|[↗︎]}} global rise and {{IPA|[↘︎]}} global fall, but allowing more precision), and in the Cantonese illustration they are placed after a word/syllable to indicate lexical tone. Theoretically therefore prosodic pitch and lexical tone could be simultaneously transcribed in a single text, though this is not a formalized distinction.

Rising and falling pitch, as in [[contour tone]]s, are indicated by combining the pitch diacritics and letters in the table, such as grave plus acute for rising {{IPA|[ě]}} and acute plus grave for falling {{IPA|[ê]}}. Only six combinations of two diacritics are supported, and only across three levels (high, mid, low), despite the diacritics supporting five levels of pitch in isolation. The four other explicitly approved rising and falling diacritic combinations are high/mid rising {{IPA|[e᷄]}}, low rising {{IPA|[e᷅]}}, high falling {{IPA|[e᷇]}}, and low/mid falling {{IPA|[e᷆]}}.{{NoteTag|A work-around sometimes seen when a language has more than one rising or falling tone, and the author wishes to avoid the poorly legible diacritics {{angbr IPA|e᷄, e᷅, e᷇, e᷆}} but does not wish to employ tone letters, is to restrict the generic rising {{angbr IPA|ě}} and falling {{angbr IPA|ê}} diacritics to the higher-pitched of the rising and falling tones, say {{IPA|/e˥˧/}} and {{IPA|/e˧˥/}}, and to resurrect the retired (pre-Kiel) IPA subscript diacritics {{angbr IPA|e̗}} and {{angbr IPA|e̖}} for the lower-pitched rising and falling tones, say {{IPA|/e˩˧/}} and {{IPA|/e˧˩/}}. When a language has either four or six level tones, the two middle tones are sometimes transcribed as high-mid {{angbr IPA|e̍}} (non-standard) and low-mid {{angbr IPA|ē}}. Non-standard {{angbr IPA|e̍}} is occasionally seen combined with acute and grave diacritics or with the macron to distinguish contour tones that involve the higher of the two mid tone levels.}}

The Chao tone letters, on the other hand, may be combined in any pattern, and are therefore used for more complex contours and finer distinctions than the diacritics allow, such as mid-rising {{IPA|[e˨˦]}}, extra-high falling {{IPA|[e˥˦]}}, etc. There are 20 such possibilities. However, in Chao's original proposal, which was adopted by the IPA in 1989, he stipulated that the half-high and half-low letters {{angbr IPA|˦ ˨}} may be combined with each other, but not with the other three tone letters, so as not to create spuriously precise distinctions. With this restriction, there are 8 possibilities.<ref name=Chao>{{Cite journal |last=Chao |first=Yuen-Ren |year=1930 |title={{IPA|ə sistim əv}} "{{IPA|toun}}-{{IPA|letəz}}" |trans-title=A system of "tone-letters" |journal=Le Maître Phonétique |volume=30 |pages=24–27 |jstor=44704341}}</ref>

The old staveless tone letters tend to be more restricted than the staved letters, though not as restricted as the diacritics. Technically they support as many distinctions as the staved letters,{{Notetag|See for example {{Cite journal |author=Pe Maung Tin |author-link=Pe Maung Tin |year=1924 |title={{IPA|bɜˑmiːz}} |journal=Le Maître Phonétique |volume=2 (39) |number=5 |pages=4–5 |jstor=44704085}} where five pitch levels are distinguished.}} but in the decades prior to the Kiel Convention only three pitch levels were provided for level tones, and only two for contour tones. Unicode supports default or high-pitch {{angbr IPA|ˉ ˊ ˋ ˆ ˇ ˜ ˙}} and low-pitch {{angbr IPA|ˍ ˏ ˎ ꞈ ˬ ˷}}. Only a single mid-pitch tone is supported: {{angbr IPA|˴}}. The IPA had also used dots for [[neutral tone]]s<!-- Daniel Jones, ðə trᴂnskrɪpʃən əv piːkɪŋiːz. Le Maître Phonétique 6 (43), no. 21 (janvier-mars 1928) -->, but the corresponding dotted Chao tone letters were not adopted at the Kiel Convention.

Although tone diacritics and tone letters are presented as equivalent on the chart, "this was done only to simplify the layout of the chart. The two sets of symbols are not comparable in this way."<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=14}}</ref> Using diacritics, a high tone is {{angbr IPA|é}} and a low tone is {{angbr IPA|è}}; in tone letters, these are {{angbr IPA|e˥}} and {{angbr IPA|e˩}}. One can double the diacritics for extra-high {{angbr IPA|e̋}} and extra-low {{angbr IPA|ȅ}}; there is no parallel to this using tone letters. Instead, tone letters have mid-high {{angbr IPA|e˦}} and mid-low {{angbr IPA|e˨}}; again, there is no equivalent among the diacritics. Thus in a three-register tone system, {{angbr IPA|é ē è}} are equivalent to {{angbr IPA|e˥ e˧ e˩}}, while in a four-register system, {{angbr IPA|e̋ é è ȅ}} may be equivalent to {{angbr IPA|e˥ e˦ e˨ e˩}}.<ref name=report75-76 />

The correspondence breaks down even further once they start combining. For more complex tones, one may combine three or four tone diacritics in any permutation,<ref name=report75-76>{{harvnb|Roach|1989|pp=75–76}}</ref> though in practice only generic peaking (rising-falling) {{IPA|e᷈}} and dipping (falling-rising) {{IPA|e᷉}} combinations are used. Chao tone letters are required for finer detail ({{IPA|e˧˥˧, e˩˨˩, e˦˩˧, e˨˩˦}}, etc.). Although only 10 peaking and dipping tones were proposed in Chao's original, limited set of tone letters, phoneticians often make finer distinctions, and indeed an example is found on the IPA Chart.{{NoteTag|The example has changed over the years. In the chart included in the 1999 IPA ''Handbook'', it was {{IPA|[˦˥˦]}}, and since the 2018 revision of the chart it has been {{IPA|[˧˦˨]}}.}} The system allows the transcription of 112<!--125 less 5 triple letters and 8 other combos that form a straight line (e.g. 2-3-4).--> peaking and dipping pitch contours, including tones that are level for part of their length.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Original (restricted) set of Chao tone letters{{NoteTag|Chao did not include tone shapes such as {{IPA|[˨˦˦], [˧˩˩]}}, which rise or fall and then level off (or vice versa). Such tone shapes are, however, frequently encountered in the modern literature.}}
! Register
! Level<br />{{NoteTag|In Chao's Sinological convention, a single tone letter {{angbr IPA|˥}} is used for a high tone on a [[checked syllable]], and a double tone letter {{angbr IPA|˥˥}} for a high tone on an open syllable. Such redundant doubling is not used in the ''Handbook'', where the tones of Cantonese {{IPA|[si˥]}} 'silk' and {{IPA|[sɪk˥]}} 'color' are transcribed the same way. If the author wishes to indicate a difference in phonetic or phonemic length, the IPA accomplishes that with the length marks {{angbr IPA|◌̆ ◌ˑ ◌ː}} rather than through the tone letters.}}
! Rising
! Falling
! Peaking
! Dipping
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩˧}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩˧˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧˩˧}}
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˨}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˨˨}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˨˦}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˦˨}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˨˦˨}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˦˨˦}}
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧˧}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧˥}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˥˧}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧˥˧}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˥˧˥}}
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˦}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˦˦}}
|
|
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧˥˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˧˩˥}}
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˥}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˥˥}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩˥}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˥˩}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˩˥˧}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|e˥˩˧}}
|}

More complex contours are possible. Chao gave an example of {{IPA|[꜔꜒꜖꜔]}} (mid-high-low-mid) from English prosody.<ref name=Chao />

Chao tone letters generally appear after each syllable, for a language with syllable tone{{snd}}{{angbr IPA|a˧vɔ˥˩}}{{snd}}or after the phonological word, for a language with [[word tone]] ({{angbr IPA|avɔ˧˥˩}}). The IPA gives the option of placing the tone letters before the word or syllable{{snd}}{{angbr IPA|˧a˥˩vɔ}}, {{angbr IPA|˧˥˩avɔ}}{{snd}}but this is rare for lexical tone. Reversed tone letters may be used to clarify that they apply to the following rather than to the preceding syllable{{snd}}{{angbr IPA|꜔a꜒꜖vɔ}}, {{angbr IPA|꜔꜒꜖avɔ}}. The staveless letters are not directly supported by Unicode, but some fonts allow the stave in Chao tone letters to be suppressed.

=== Comparative degree ===
IPA diacritics may be doubled to indicate an extra degree (greater intensity) of the feature indicated.<ref name=K&L>{{harvnb|Kelly|Local|1989}}</ref> This is a productive process, but apart from extra-high and extra-low tones being marked by doubled high- and low-tone diacritics, {{angbr IPA|ə̋, ə̏}}, the major [[prosodic unit|prosodic break]] '''{{angbr IPA|‖}}''' being marked as a doubled minor break '''{{angbr IPA|{{!}}}}''', and a couple other instances, such usage is not enumerated by the IPA.

For example, the stress mark may be doubled (or even tripled, as may be the prosodic-break bar, '''{{angbr IPA|⦀}}'''<!-- eg Quilis and Fernández, 'Curso de fonética y fonología españolas para estudiantes'g -->) to indicate an extra degree of stress, such as prosodic stress in English.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bloomfield |first=Leonard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AdArAAAAMAAJ |title=Language |publisher=H. Holt |year=1933 |pages=91 |isbn=978-0-03-004885-2 |language=en |author-link=Leonard Bloomfield |access-date=1 June 2023 |archive-date=12 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612140417/https://books.google.com/books?id=AdArAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> An example in French, with a single stress mark for normal prosodic stress at the end of each [[prosodic unit]] (marked as a minor prosodic break), and a double or even triple<!--Per the report of the Kiel Convention.--> stress mark for contrastive/emphatic stress: {{IPA|[ˈˈɑ̃ːˈtre '''{{!}}''' məˈsjø '''‖''' ˈˈvwala maˈdam '''‖''']}} ''{{lang|fr|Entrez monsieur, voilà madame}}.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Passy |first=Paul |title=Conversations françaises en transcription phonétique |year=1958 |edition=2nd}}</ref> Similarly, a doubled secondary stress mark {{angbr IPA|ˌˌ}} is commonly used for tertiary (extra-light) stress, though a proposal to officially adopt this was rejected<!--again per the report of the kiel convention-->.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chao |first=Yuen Ren |title=Language and Symbolic Systems |date=1968 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-09457-3 |location=Cambridge |pages=xxiii}}</ref> In a similar vein, the effectively obsolete staveless tone letters were once doubled for an emphatic rising intonation {{angbr IPA|˶}} and an emphatic falling intonation {{angbr IPA|˵}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barker |first=Geoffrey |title=Intonation Patterns in Tyrolean German: an Autosegmental-Metrical Analysis |publisher=Peter Lang Verlag |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8204-6837-2 |series=Berkeley Insights in Linguistics and Semiotics |pages=11}}</ref>

[[Length (phonetics)|Length]] is commonly extended by repeating the length mark, which may be phonetic, as in {{IPA|[ĕ e eˑ eː eːˑ eːː]}} etc., as in English ''shhh!'' {{IPA|[ʃːːː]}}, or phonemic, as in the "overlong" segments of [[Estonian phonology|Estonian]]:
* ''vere'' {{IPA|/vere/}} 'blood [gen.sg.]', ''veere'' {{IPA|/veːre/}} 'edge [gen.sg.]', ''veere'' {{IPA|/veːːre/}} 'roll [imp. 2nd sg.]'
* ''lina'' {{IPA|/linɑ/}} 'sheet', ''linna'' {{IPA|/linːɑ/}} 'town [gen. sg.]', ''linna'' {{IPA|/linːːɑ/}} 'town [ill. sg.]'
(Normally additional phonemic degrees of length are handled by the extra-short or half-long diacritic, i.e. {{angbr IPA|e eˑ eː}} or {{angbr  IPA|ĕ e eː}}, but the first two words in each of the Estonian examples are analyzed as typically short and long, {{IPA|/e eː/}} and {{IPA|/n nː/}}, requiring a different remedy for the additional words.)

[[#Delimiters|Delimiters]] are similar: double slashes indicate extra phonemic (morpho-phonemic), double square brackets especially precise transcription, and double parentheses especially unintelligible.

Occasionally other diacritics are doubled:
* [[R-colored vowel|Rhoticity]] in [[Badaga language|Badaga]] {{IPA|/be/}} "mouth", {{IPA|/be˞/}} "bangle", and {{IPA|/be˞˞/}} "crop".<ref>{{harvnb|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=314}}</ref>
* Mild and strong [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspiration]], {{IPA|[kʰ]}}, {{IPA|[kʰʰ]}}.{{NoteTag|Sometimes the obsolete transcription {{angbr IPA|kʻ}} (with a turned apostrophe) for weak aspiration vs. {{angbr IPA|kʰ}} for strong aspiration is still seen.}}<!-- Korean does not (primarily) contrast for degrees of aspiration, as the distinction is made mainly with a low tone following the weak stop and a high tone following the aspirated stop, for dialects (including Seoul) that aspirate prosodically initial stops. -->
* [[Nasal vowel|Nasalization]], as in [[Palantla Chinantec]] lightly nasalized {{IPA|/ẽ/}} vs heavily nasalized {{IPA|/ẽ̃/}},<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ladefoged |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqEXghQ-ow0C |title=Preliminaries to Linguistic Phonetics |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-226-46787-0 |pages=35 |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701181655/https://books.google.com/books?id=VqEXghQ-ow0C |url-status=live}}</ref> though some care can be needed to distinguish this from the [[extIPA]] diacritic for [[velopharyngeal frication]] in disordered speech, {{IPA|/e͌/}}, which has also been analyzed as extreme nasalization.
* Weak vs strong [[ejective]]s, {{IPA|[kʼ]}}, {{IPA|[kˮ]}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fallon |first=Paul D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=okRdAgAAQBAJ |title=The Synchronic and Diachronic Phonology of Ejectives |date=2013-12-16 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-71252-4 |pages=267 |language=en |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701181656/https://books.google.com/books?id=okRdAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* Especially lowered, e.g. {{IPA|[t̞̞]}} (or {{IPA|[t̞˕]}}, if the former symbol does not display properly) for {{IPA|/t/}} as a weak fricative in some pronunciations of ''register''.<ref>{{harvnb|Heselwood|2013|p= 233}}</ref>
* Especially retracted, e.g. {{IPA|[ø̠̠]}} or {{IPA|[s̠̠]}},{{Notetag|E.g. in {{harvnb|Laver|1994|pp=559–560}}}}<ref name=K&L /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=van der Voort |first=Hein |date=October 2005 |title=Kwaza in a Comparative Perspective |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/501245 |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=71 |issue=4 |pages=365–412 |doi=10.1086/501245 |s2cid=224808983 |issn=0020-7071 |access-date=3 June 2023 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603075311/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/501245 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> though some care might be needed to distinguish this from indications of alveolar or alveolarized articulation in [[extIPA]], e.g. {{IPA|[s͇]}}.
* Especially guttural, e.g. {{IPA|[ɫ]}} (velarized l), {{IPA|[ꬸ]}} (pharyngealized l).<ref>Cynthia Shuken (1980) Instrumental investigation of some Scottish Gaelic consonants. University of Edinburgh.</ref><!--This is mentioned in 'further report on the 1989 Kiel convention', JIPA 20:2, p. 23.-->
* The transcription of [[strident vowel|strident]] and [[harsh voice]] as extra-creaky {{IPA|/a᷽/}} may be motivated by the similarities of these phonations.

The [[extIPA]] provides combining parentheses for weak intensity, which when combined with a doubled diacritic indicate an intermediate degree. For instance, increasing degrees of nasalization of the vowel {{IPA|[e]}} might be written {{angbr IPA|e ẽ᪻ ẽ ẽ̃᪻ ẽ̃}}.

== Ambiguous letters ==
As noted [[#Description|above]], IPA letters are often used quite loosely in broad transcription if no ambiguity would arise in a particular language. Because of that, IPA letters have not generally been created for sounds that are not distinguished in individual languages. A distinction between voiced fricatives and approximants is only partially implemented by the IPA, for example. Even with the relatively recent addition of the palatal fricative {{angbr IPA|ʝ}} and the velar approximant {{angbr IPA|ɰ}} to the alphabet, other letters, though defined as fricatives, are often ambiguous between fricative and approximant. For forward places, {{angbr IPA|β}} and {{angbr IPA|ð}} can generally be assumed to be fricatives unless they carry a lowering diacritic. Rearward, however, {{angbr IPA|ʁ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʕ}} are perhaps more commonly intended to be approximants even without a lowering diacritic. {{angbr IPA|h}} and {{angbr IPA|ɦ}} are similarly either fricatives or approximants, depending on the language, or even glottal "transitions", without that often being specified in the transcription.

Another common ambiguity is among the letters for palatal consonants. {{angbr IPA|c}} and {{angbr IPA|ɟ}} are not uncommonly used as a typographic convenience for affricates, typically {{IPA|[t͜ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[d͜ʒ]}},<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=133}}</ref> while {{angbr IPA|ɲ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʎ}} are commonly used for palatalized alveolar {{IPA|[n̠ʲ]}} and {{IPA|[l̠ʲ]}}. To some extent this may be an effect of analysis, but it is common to match up single IPA letters to the phonemes of a language, without overly worrying about phonetic precision.

It has been argued that the lower-pharyngeal (epiglottal) fricatives {{angbr IPA|ʜ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʢ}} are better characterized as trills, rather than as fricatives that have incidental trilling.<ref>{{harvnb|Esling|2010|p=695}}</ref> This has the advantage of merging the upper-pharyngeal fricatives {{IPA|[ħ, ʕ]}} together with the epiglottal plosive {{IPA|[ʡ]}} and trills {{IPA|[ʜ ʢ]}} into a single pharyngeal column in the consonant chart. However, in [[Shilha language|Shilha Berber]] the epiglottal fricatives are not trilled.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ridouane |first1=Rachid |title=Tashlhiyt Berber |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |date=August 2014 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=207–221 |doi=10.1017/S0025100313000388 |s2cid=232344118 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Alderete |first1=John |last2=Jebbour |first2=Abdelkrim |last3=Kachoub |first3=Bouchra |last4=Wilbee |first4=Holly |title=Tashlhiyt Berber grammar synopsis |url=https://www.sfu.ca/~alderete/datasets/aldereteEtal2015_tashlhiytGrammarSynopsis.pdf |publisher=Simon Fraser University |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=28 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228105135/https://www.sfu.ca/~alderete/datasets/aldereteEtal2015_tashlhiytGrammarSynopsis.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Although they might be transcribed {{angbr IPA|ħ̠ ʢ̠}} to indicate this, the far more common transcription is {{angbr IPA|ʜ ʢ}}, which is therefore ambiguous between languages.

Among vowels, {{angbr IPA|a}} is officially a front vowel, but is more commonly treated as a central vowel. The difference, to the extent it is even possible, is not phonemic in any language.

For all phonetic notation, it is good practice for an author to specify exactly what they mean by the symbols that they use.

== Superscript letters<span class="anchor" id="Superscript IPA"></span> ==
{{Main|Unicode subscripts and superscripts#Superscript IPA}}{{also|Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet#Superscript variants}}
Superscript IPA letters are used to indicate secondary aspects of articulation. These may be aspects of simultaneous articulation that are considered to be in some sense less dominant than the basic sound, or may be transitional articulations that are interpreted as secondary elements.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Peter |last=Constable |date=June 7, 2003 |title=Proposal to Encode Additional Phonetic Modifier Letters in the UCS |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03180-add-mod-ltr.pdf |access-date=August 14, 2023}}</ref> Examples include [[secondary articulation]]; onsets, releases, aspiration and other transitions; shades of sound; light epenthetic sounds and incompletely articulated sounds. Morphophonemically, superscripts may be used for assimilation, e.g. {{angbr IPA|aʷ}} for the effect of labialization on a vowel {{IPA|/a/}}, which may be realized as phonemic {{IPA|/o/}}.<ref name=Wolff /> The IPA and [[ICPLA]] endorse Unicode encoding of superscript variants of all contemporary segmental letters in the IPA proper and of all additional fricatives in extIPA, including the "implicit" IPA retroflex letters {{angbr IPA|ꞎ 𝼅 𝼈 ᶑ 𝼊&thinsp;}}.<ref name=pulmonic>{{Cite web |first1=Kirk |last1=Miller |first2=Michael |last2=Ashby |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20252r-mod-ipa-a.pdf |website=Unicode |title=Unicode request for IPA modifier-letters (a), pulmonic |date=November 8, 2020 |access-date=17 September 2021 |archive-date=30 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730010133/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20252r-mod-ipa-a.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=non-pulmonic>{{Cite web |first1=Kirk |last1=Miller |first2=Michael |last2=Ashby |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20253r-mod-ipa-b.pdf |title=Unicode request for IPA modifier letters (b), non-pulmonic |date=November 8, 2020 |access-date=17 September 2021 |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022085346/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20253r-mod-ipa-b.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first1=Kirk |last1=Miller |first2=Martin |last2=Ball |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20116r-ext-ipa-voqs-expansion.pdf |title=Expansion of the extIPA and VoQS |date=July 11, 2020 |access-date=17 September 2021 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024034839/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20116r-ext-ipa-voqs-expansion.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Superscripts are often used as a substitute for the tie bar, for example {{angbr IPA|tᶴ}} for {{IPA|[t͜ʃ]}} and {{angbr IPA|kᵖ}} or {{angbr IPA|ᵏp}} for {{IPA|[k͜p]}}. However, in precise notation there is a difference between a fricative release in {{IPA|[tᶴ]}} and the affricate {{IPA|[t͜ʃ]}}, between a velar onset in {{IPA|[ᵏp]}} and doubly articulated {{IPA|[k͜p]}}.<ref>E.g. H. Myron Bromley (1961) ''The Phonology of Lower Grand Valley Dani.'' Springer-Science+Business Media.</ref>

Superscript letters can be meaningfully modified by [[combining diacritics]], just as baseline letters can. For example, a superscript dental nasal in {{angbr IPA|ⁿ̪d̪}}, a superscript voiceless velar nasal in {{angbr IPA|ᵑ̊ǂ}}, and labial-velar prenasalization in {{angbr IPA|ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b}}. Although the diacritic may seem a bit oversized compared to the superscript letter it modifies, e.g. {{angbr IPA|ᵓ̃}}, this can be an aid to legibility, just as it is with the composite superscript c-cedilla {{angbr IPA|ᶜ̧}} and rhotic vowels {{angbr IPA|ᵊ˞ ᶟ˞}}. Superscript length marks can be used to indicate the length of aspiration of a consonant, e.g. {{IPA|[pʰ tʰ𐞂 kʰ𐞁]}}. Another option is to use extIPA parentheses and a doubled diacritic: {{angbr IPA|p⁽ʰ⁾ tʰ kʰʰ}}.<ref name=pulmonic />

== Obsolete and nonstandard symbols ==
{{Main|Obsolete and nonstandard symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet|Click letter|Sinological extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet}}

A number of IPA letters and diacritics have been retired or replaced over the years. This number includes duplicate symbols, symbols that were replaced due to user preference, and unitary symbols that were rendered with diacritics or digraphs to reduce the inventory of the IPA. The rejected symbols are now considered obsolete, though some are still seen in the literature.

The IPA once had several pairs of duplicate symbols from alternative proposals, but eventually settled on one or the other. An example is the vowel letter {{angbr IPA|ɷ}}, rejected in favor of {{angbr IPA|ʊ}}. Affricates were once transcribed with ligatures, such as {{angbr IPA|ʧ ʤ&thinsp;}} (and others, some of which are not found in Unicode). These have been officially retired but are still used. Letters for specific combinations of primary and secondary articulation have also been mostly retired, with the idea that such features should be indicated with tie bars or diacritics: {{angbr IPA|ƍ}} for {{IPA|[zʷ]}} is one. In addition, the rare voiceless implosives, {{angbr IPA|ƥ ƭ ƈ ƙ ʠ&thinsp;}}, were dropped soon after their introduction and are now usually written {{angbr IPA|ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ʄ̊ ɠ̊ ʛ̥&thinsp;}}. The original set of click letters, {{angbr IPA|ʇ, ʗ, ʖ, ʞ}}, was retired but is still sometimes seen, as the current pipe letters {{angbr IPA|ǀ, ǃ, ǁ, ǂ}} can cause problems with legibility, especially when used with brackets ([ ] or / /), the letter {{angbr IPA|l}} (small L), or the [[prosodic]] marks {{angbr IPA|<nowiki>|</nowiki>, ‖}}. (For this reason, some publications which use the current IPA pipe letters disallow IPA brackets.<!--The Routledge Khoisan Handbook, for example.-->)<ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |date=9 September 2009 |title=click symbols |url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2009/09/click-symbols.html |access-date=18 October 2010 |website=John Wells's phonetic blog |archive-date=30 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130213700/http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2009/09/click-symbols.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Individual non-IPA letters may find their way into publications that otherwise use the standard IPA. This is especially common with:
* Affricates, such as the Americanist [[barred lambda]] {{angbr IPA|ƛ}} for {{IPA|[t͜ɬ]}} or {{angbr IPA|č}} for {{IPA|[t͜ʃ&thinsp;]}}.{{NoteTag|The motivation for this may vary. Some authors find the tie bars displeasing but the lack of tie bars confusing (i.e. {{angbr IPA|č}} for {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} as distinct from {{IPA|/tʃ/}}), while others simply prefer to have one letter for each segmental phoneme in a language.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}}}
* The [[Karlgren]] letters for Chinese vowels, {{angbr IPA|ɿ, ʅ&thinsp;, ʮ, ʯ&thinsp;}}.
* Digits for tonal phonemes that have conventional numbers in a local tradition, such as the [[Standard Chinese phonology#Tones|four tones of Standard Chinese]]. This may be more convenient for comparison between related languages and dialects than a phonetic transcription would be, because tones vary more unpredictably than segmental phonemes do.
* Digits for tone levels, which are simpler to typeset, though the lack of standardization can cause confusion (e.g. {{angbr IPA|1}} is high tone in some languages, but low tone in others; and {{angbr IPA|3}} may be high, medium, or low tone, depending on the local convention).
* Iconic extensions of standard IPA letters that are implicit in the alphabet, such as retroflex {{IPAalink|ᶑ}} and {{IPAalink|ꞎ}}. These are referred to in the ''Handbook'' and have been included in Unicode at IPA request.<!--e.g. an official request for adding superscript retroflex letters to Unicode 14.-->
* Even presidents of the IPA have used para-IPA notation, such as resurrecting the old diacritic {{angbr IPA|◌̫}}<!--Ladefoged--> for purely labialized sounds (not simultaneously velarized), the lateral fricative letter {{angbr IPA|ꞎ&thinsp;}},<!--Ladefoged--> and either the old dot diacritic {{angbr IPA|ṣ ẓ}}<!--Ladefoged--> or the novel letters {{angbr IPA|&thinsp;ᶘ ᶚ}}<!--Laver--> for the not-quite-retroflex fricatives of Polish ''sz, ż'' and of Russian ''ш, ж''.

In addition, it is common to see ''ad hoc'' typewriter substitutions, generally capital letters, for when IPA support is not available, e.g. S for {{angbr IPA|&thinsp;ʃ&thinsp;}}. (See also [[SAMPA]] and [[X-SAMPA]] substitute notation.)

== Extensions ==
{{Main|Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet}}
[[File:ExtIPA chart (2021).pdf|thumb|upright=1.5|Chart of the Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet (extIPA), as of 2021]]
The [[Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet for Disordered Speech]], commonly abbreviated "extIPA" and sometimes called "Extended IPA", are symbols whose original purpose was to accurately transcribe [[disordered speech]]. At the [[Kiel Convention]] in 1989, a group of linguists drew up the initial extensions,{{NoteTag|"At the 1989 Kiel Convention of the IPA, a sub-group was established to draw up recommendations for the transcription of disordered speech."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=186 |loc="Extensions to the IPA: An ExtIPA Chart"}}</ref>}} which were based on the previous work of the PRDS (Phonetic Representation of Disordered Speech) Group in the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite book |last=PRDS Group |url=https://archive.kingsfund.org.uk/concern/published_works/000003687 |title=The Phonetic Representation of Disordered Speech |publisher=London: The King's Fund |year=1983 |access-date=12 June 2023 |archive-date=12 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612182014/https://archive.kingsfund.org.uk/concern/published_works/000003687 |url-status=live}}</ref> The extensions were first published in 1990, then modified, and published again in 1994 in the ''Journal of the International Phonetic Association'', when they were officially adopted by the [[ICPLA]].<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|pp=186–187|loc="Extensions to the IPA: An ExtIPA Chart"}}</ref> While the original purpose was to transcribe disordered speech, linguists have used the extensions to designate a number of sounds within standard communication, such as hushing, gnashing teeth, and smacking lips,<ref name="world" /> as well as regular lexical sounds such as [[lateral fricative]]s that do not have standard IPA symbols.

In addition to the Extensions to the IPA for disordered speech, there are the conventions of the [[Voice Quality Symbols]], which include a number of symbols for additional airstream mechanisms and secondary articulations in what they call "voice quality".

== Associated notation ==
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2025}}

Capital letters and various characters on the number row of the keyboard are commonly used to extend the alphabet in various ways.

=== Associated symbols ===
There are various punctuation-like conventions for linguistic transcription that are commonly used together with IPA. Some of the more common are:

;{{angbr|*}}
:(a) A [[Comparative linguistics|reconstructed form]].
:(b) An [[Grammaticality|ungrammatical form]] (including an unphonemic form).
;{{angbr|**}}
:(a) A reconstructed form, deeper (more ancient) than a single {{angbr|*}}, used when reconstructing even further back from already-starred forms.
:(b) An ungrammatical form. A less common convention than {{angbr|*}} (b), this is sometimes used when reconstructed and ungrammatical forms occur in the same text.<ref>e.g. {{Cite book |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/j.ctv1bxh537 |title=Morphologies of Asia and Africa |date=2007-07-21 |publisher=Penn State University Press |isbn=978-1-57506-566-3 |editor-last=Kaye |editor-first=Alan S. |doi=10.5325/j.ctv1bxh537 |jstor=10.5325/j.ctv1bxh537 |access-date=12 June 2023 |archive-date=12 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612201201/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/j.ctv1bxh537 |url-status=live}}</ref>
;{{angbr|×}}, {{angbr|✗}}: An ungrammatical form. A less common convention than {{angbr|*}} (b), this is sometimes used when reconstructed and ungrammatical forms occur in the same text.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Lyle |title=Historical linguistics: an introduction |date=2013 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-0-262-51849-9 |pages=xix |edition=3.}}</ref>
;{{angbr|?}}: A doubtfully grammatical form.
;{{angbr|%}}: A generalized form, such as a typical shape of a [[wanderwort]] that has not actually been reconstructed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haynie |first1=Hannah |last2=Bowern |first2=Claire |last3=Epps |first3=Patience |last4=Hill |first4=Jane |last5=McConvell |first5=Patrick |date=2014 |title=Wanderwörter in languages of the Americas and Australia |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2215039014000022 |journal=Ampersand |language=en |volume=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1016/j.amper.2014.10.001 |access-date=12 June 2023 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331110717/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2215039014000022 |url-status=live |hdl=1885/64247 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>
;{{angbr|#}}: A word boundary – e.g. {{angbr|#V}} for a word-initial vowel.
;{{angbr|$}}: A [[phonological word]] boundary; e.g. {{angbr|H$}} for a high tone that occurs in such a position.
;{{angbr|+}}: A [[morpheme]] boundary; e.g. {{IPA|⫽ˈnɛl+t⫽}} for English ''knelt''.
;{{angbr|_}}: The location of a segment – e.g. {{angbr|V_V}} for an intervocalic position, or {{angbr|_#}} for word-final position.
;{{angbr|~}}: Alternation or contrast{{citation needed|date=June 2025}} – e.g. {{IPA|[f] ~ [v]}} or {{IPA|[f ~ v]}} for variation between {{IPA|[f]}} and {{IPA|[v]}}, noting that a {{IPA|/uː/ ~ /ʊ/}} contrast is maintained or lost,<!--April McMahon (2000) ''Lexical Phonology and the History of English'', p.149.--> or indicating the change of a root in e.g. {{IPA|⫽ˈniːl ~ ˈnɛl+t⫽}} for English ''kneel'' ~ ''knelt''.
;{{angbr IPA|∅}}: A null segment or morpheme. This may indicate the absence of an affix, e.g. {{angbr IPA|kæt-∅}} for where an affix might appear but does not (''cat'' instead of ''cats''), or a deleted segment that leaves a feature behind, such as {{angbr IPA|∅ʷ}} for an theoretical labialized segment that is only realized as labialization on adjacent segments.<ref name=Wolff>H. Ekkehard Wolff (2023: xxiv) ''Lexical Reconstruction in Central Chadic: A Comparative Study of Vowels, Consonants and Prosodies.'' Cambridge University Press.</ref>

=== Capital letters ===
Full capital letters are not used as IPA symbols, except as typewriter substitutes (e.g. N for {{angbr IPA|ŋ}}, S for {{angbr IPA|&thinsp;ʃ&thinsp;}}, O for {{angbr IPA|ɔ}} – see [[SAMPA]]). They are, however, often used in conjunction with the IPA in two cases:{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}
# for [[archiphoneme|(archi)phonemes]] and for [[natural class]]es of sounds (that is, as wildcards). The [[extIPA]] chart, for example, uses capital letters as wildcards in its illustrations.
# as carrying letters for the [[Voice Quality Symbols]].

Wildcards are commonly used in phonology to summarize syllable or word shapes, or to show the evolution of classes of sounds. For example, the possible syllable shapes of Mandarin can be abstracted as ranging from {{IPA|/V/}} (an atonic vowel) to {{IPA|/CGVNᵀ/}} (a consonant-glide-vowel-nasal syllable with tone), and [[word-final devoicing]] may be schematized as {{IPA|C}} → {{IPA|C̥}}/_#. They are also used in [[historical linguistics]] for a sound that is posited but whose nature has not been determined beyond some generic category such as {nasal} or {uvular}.<!--e.g. a posited 5th click series in Fehn & Rocha (2023) Lost in translation, ''Diachronica'' 40:5.--> In speech pathology, capital letters represent indeterminate sounds, and may be superscripted to indicate they are weakly articulated: e.g. {{IPA|[ᴰ]}} is a weak indeterminate alveolar, {{IPA|[ᴷ]}} a weak indeterminate velar.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Phonological/phonetic assessment of an English speaking adult with dysarthria |url=https://research.library.mun.ca/9299/ |publisher=Memorial University of Newfoundland |date=2000 |degree=masters |language=en |first=Jill Rosamund |last=Perry |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324021211/https://research.library.mun.ca/9299/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

There is a degree of variation between authors as to the capital letters used, but these are ubiquitous in English-language material:<ref>e.g. Marcel Schlechtweg, 2024, ''Interfaces of Phonetics''; Martin Krämer, 2012, ''Underlying Representations''; Georgia Zellou, 2022, ''Coarticulation in Phonology''; Florian Breit, Bert Botma, Marijn van 't Veer, 2023, ''Primitives of Phonological Structure''</ref>
* {{angbr IPA|C}} for {consonant}
* {{angbr IPA|V}} for {vowel}
* {{angbr IPA|N}} for {nasal}

Other common conventions are:<ref name=extipachart>[https://www.icpla.org.uk/resources Extensions to the IPA (ExtIPA) chart], International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetic Association, 2021</ref>
* {{angbr IPA|T}} for {tone/accent} (tonicity)<!--e.g. Nathan White, 'Word in Hmong', in Phonological Word and Grammatical Word.-->
* {{angbr IPA|P}} for {plosive}<!--e.g. Karlsson & Sullivan (2005) /sP/ consonant clusters in Swedish, Vanderweide (2005) The acquisition of manner in pre-vocalic sequences, also Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics (HCHIEL).-->
* {{angbr IPA|F}} for {fricative}<!--e.g. 2015 extIPA chart, or Pellegrino et al. "2010, a speech oddity: Phonetic transcription of reversed speech", Vanderweide (2005), also HCHIEL. -->
* {{angbr IPA|S}} for {sibilant}<!--e.g. Waterson (1987) Prosodic Phonology; Dolgopolsky, Indo-European Dict Nostratic Etymologies, also HCHIEL.-->{{NoteTag|As in [[Afrasianist phonetic notation]]. {{angbr IPA|S}} is particularly ambiguous. It has been used for 'stop', 'fricative', 'sibilant', 'sonorant' and 'semivowel'. On the other hand, plosive/stop is frequently abbreviated {{angbr IPA|P}}, {{angbr IPA|S}} or (with non-tonal languages) * {{angbr IPA|T}}. The illustrations given here use, as much as possible, letters that are capital versions of members of the sets they stand for: IPA {{IPA|[n]}} is a nasal and {{angbr IPA|N}} is any nasal; {{IPA|[p]}} is a plosive, {{IPA|[f]}} a fricative, {{IPA|[s]}} a sibilant, {{IPA|[l]}} both a lateral and a liquid, {{IPA|[r]}} both a rhotic and a resonant, and [ʞ] a click. {{angbr IPA|¢}} is an obstruent in Americanist notation, where it stands for {{IPA|[ts]}}. Alternative wildcards for 'glide', {{angbr IPA|J}}<!--e.g. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics XXIII--> and {{angbr IPA|W}}<!-- Paperno and Maloletnyaya, Beng, in Languages of the world: Mande languages -->, partly fit this pattern, but are much less common than {{angbr IPA|G}} in English-language sources.}}
* {{angbr IPA|G}} for {glide/semivowel}<!--e.g. Vanderweide (2005), HCHIEL.-->
* {{angbr IPA|L}} for {lateral}<!--e.g. Smith 2000 Dependency Theory Meets OT, or in Australian languages that have a large set of laterals.--> or {liquid}<!--e.g. Walker 1984 Pronunciation of Canadian French, or Pellegrino et al., or Vanderweide (2005), HCHIEL.-->
* {{angbr IPA|R}} for {rhotic}<!--e.g. Smith 2000 Dependency Theory Meets OT, or Pellegrino et al.--> or {resonant/sonorant<!--e.g. "R" for "sonorant" in Larry Hyman 'Coda constraints on tone', also HCHIEL; "R" for "sonorant" (nasals, semivowels and glottals) in Hank Nater (2006) Athabaskan verb stem structure: Tahltan.-->}{{NoteTag|In the context of {{angbr|CRV-}} syllables, the {{angbr|R}} is understood to include liquids and glides but to exclude nasals, as in Bennett (2020: 115) 'Click Phonology', in Sands (ed.), ''Click Consonants'', Brill}}<!--Do a GBooks search for 'CLV' or 'CRV' + 'liquid'/'resonant' + 'phonology' for instances of L and R.-->
* {{angbr IPA|Ȼ}} for {obstruent}<!--e.g. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics XXIII.-->
* {{angbr IPA|Ʞ}} for {click}<!--See Bonny Sands 2020 'Introduction', ''Click Consonants'', Brill; also Fehn & Rocha (2023) Lost in translation, ''Diachronica'' 40:5.-->
* {{angbr IPA|A<!--e.g. Dolgopolsky-->, E<!--e.g. Dolgopolsky-->, Ɨ, O, U<!--e.g. Dolgopolsky-->}} for {open, front, close, back, rounded vowel}{{NoteTag|{Close vowel} may instead be {{angbr IPA|U}}, and {{angbr IPA|O}} may stand for {obstruent}.}} and {{angbr IPA|B, D, Ɉ, K, Q, Φ, H}} for {labial<!--HCHIEL-->, alveolar<!--Perry (2000)-->, post-alveolar/palatal, velar<!--HCHIEL, Perry (2000), or more generically as 'dorsal' in van de Vijver, Höhle & Ott, On the distribution of dorsals in complex and simple onsets in child German, Dutch and English.-->, uvular, pharyngeal, glottal{{NoteTag|Or glottal~pharyngeal {{angbr IPA|H}}, as in Afrasianist phonetic notation.}} consonant}, respectively
* {{angbr IPA|X}} for {any sound},<!--e.g. Walker 1984 Pronunciation of Canadian French.--> as in {{angbr IPA|CVX}} for a heavy syllable {{{IPA|CVC}}, {{IPA|CVV̯}}, {{IPA|CVː}}}<!--e.g. San Duanmu (2014) Syllable Structure and Stress, p. 423 ff.-->

The letters can be modified with IPA diacritics, for example:<ref name=extipachart/>
* {{angbr IPA|Cʼ}} for {ejective}
* {{angbr IPA|Ƈ&thinsp;}} for {implosive}
* {{angbr IPA|N͡C}} or {{angbr IPA|ᴺC}} for {prenasalized consonant}
* {{angbr IPA|Ṽ}} for {[[nasal vowel]]}<!--e.g. Pellegrino et al.-->
* {{angbr IPA|CʰV́}} for {aspirated CV syllable with high tone}
* {{angbr IPA|S̬}} for {voiced sibilant}
* {{angbr IPA|N̥}} for {voiceless nasal}<!--e.g. Huffman & Hinnebusch, 'The phonetic nature of "voiceless" nasals in Pokomo'.-->
* {{angbr IPA|P͡F}} or {{angbr IPA|Pꟳ}} for {affricate}
* {{angbr IPA|Cᴳ}} for a consonant with a glide as secondary articulation<!--e.g. San Duanmu (2014) Syllable Structure and Stress, p. 424.--> (e.g. {{angbr IPA|Cʲ}} for {palatalized consonant}<!--e.g. Alexei Kochetov, Phonetic variation and gestural specification: Production of Russian consonants.--> or {{angbr IPA|Cʷ}} for {labialized consonant})
* {{angbr IPA|D̪}} for {dental consonant}
{{angbr IPA|H}}, {{angbr IPA|M}}, {{angbr IPA|L}} are also commonly used for high, mid and low tone, with {{angbr IPA|LH}} for rising tone and {{angbr IPA|HL}} for falling tone, rather than transcribing them overly precisely with IPA tone letters or with ambiguous digits.{{NoteTag|Somewhat more precisely, {{angbr IPA|LM}} and {{angbr IPA|MH}} are sometimes used for low and high rising tones, and {{angbr IPA|HM}}, {{angbr IPA|ML}} for high and low falling tones; occasionally {{angbr IPA|R}} for 'rising' or {{angbr IPA|F}} for 'falling' is seen.}} When distinguishing five levels of pitch, {{angbr IPA|xH}} and {{angbr IPA|xL}} may be used for 'extra high' and 'extra low'.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

Typical examples of archiphonemic use of capital letters are:{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}
* {{angbr IPA|I}} for the Turkish harmonic vowel set {{IPA|{{brace|i y ɯ u}}}}{{NoteTag|For other Turkic languages, {{angbr IPA|I}} may be restricted to {{IPA|{{brace|ɯ i}}}} (that is, to ''ı i''), {{angbr IPA|U}} to ''u ü'', {{angbr IPA|A}} to ''a e'' (or ''a ä''), etc.}}
* {{angbr IPA|D}} for the conflated flapped middle consonant of American English ''writer'' and ''rider''
* {{angbr IPA|N}} for the [[homorganic]] syllable-coda nasal of languages such as Spanish and Japanese (essentially equivalent to the wild-card usage of the letter)
* {{angbr IPA|R}} in cases where a phonemic distinction between trill {{IPA|/r/}} and flap {{IPA|/ɾ/}} is conflated, as in Spanish {{lang|es|enrejar}} {{IPA|/eNreˈxaR/}} (the ''n'' is homorganic and the first ''r'' is a trill, but the second ''r'' is variable).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quilis |first=Antonio |title=Principios de fonología y fonética españolas |publisher=Arco Libros |year=2012 |isbn=978-84-7635-250-2 |edition=1st |series=Cuadernos de lengua española |location=Madrid |pages=65 |language=Spanish}}</ref>
Similar usage is found for ''phonemic'' analysis, where a language does not distinguish sounds that have separate letters in the IPA. For instance, [[Castillian Spanish]] has been analyzed as having phonemes {{IPA|/Θ/}} and {{IPA|/S/}}, which surface as {{IPA|[θ]}} and {{IPA|[s]}} in voiceless environments and as {{IPA|[ð]}} and {{IPA|[z]}} in voiced environments (e.g. {{lang|es|hazte}} {{IPA|/ˈaΘte/}} → {{IPA|[ˈaθte]}}, vs {{lang|es|hazme}} {{IPA|/ˈaΘme/}} → {{IPA|[ˈaðme]}}, or {{lang|es|las manos}} {{IPA|/laS ˈmanoS/}} → {{IPA|[lazˈmanos]}}).<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Xavier |last=Frías Conde |year=2001 |title=Introducción a la fonología y fonética del español |pages=11–12 |journal=Ianua. Revista Philologica Romanica |language=Spanish |url=https://www.academia.edu/1768918 |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624085650/https://www.academia.edu/1768918 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{angbr IPA|V}}, {{angbr IPA|F}} and {{angbr IPA|C}} have completely different meanings as [[Voice Quality Symbols]], where they stand for "voice" (VoQS jargon for [[secondary articulation]]),{{NoteTag|VoQS {{angbr IPA|V}} does not mean phonetic voicing, nor a vowel; for example, in VoQS {{angbr IPA|Ṽ}} is "nasal voice" (that is, [[nasalization]]), not a nasal vowel as it would be read in IPA notation.}} "falsetto" and "creak". These three letters may take diacritics to indicate what kind of voice quality an utterance has, and may be used as carrier letters to extract a suprasegmental feature that occurs on all susceptible segments in a stretch of IPA. For instance, the transcription of [[Scottish Gaelic]] {{IPA|[kʷʰuˣʷt̪ʷs̟ʷ]}} {{gloss|cat}} and {{IPA|[kʷʰʉˣʷt͜ʃʷ]}} {{gloss|cats}} ([[Islay]] dialect) can be made more economical by extracting the suprasegmental labialization of the words: {{IPA|Vʷ[kʰuˣt̪s̟]}} and {{IPA|Vʷ[kʰʉˣt͜ʃ]}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Laver|1994|p=374}}</ref> The conventional wildcards {{angbr IPA|X}} or {{angbr IPA|C}} might be used instead of VoQS {{angbr IPA|V}} so that the reader does not misinterpret {{angbr IPA|Vʷ}} as meaning that only vowels are labialized (i.e. {{IPA|Xʷ[kʰuˣt̪s̟]}} for all segments labialized, {{IPA|Cʷ[kʰuˣt̪s̟]}} for all consonants labialized), or the carrier letter may be omitted altogether (e.g. {{IPA|ʷ[kʰuˣt̪s̟]}}, {{IPA|[ʷkʰuˣt̪s̟]}} or {{IPA|[kʰuˣt̪s̟]ʷ}}). (See {{section link|#Suprasegmentals}} for other transcription conventions.)

This summary is to some extent valid internationally, but linguistic material written in other languages may have different associations with capital letters used as wildcards. For example, in German {{angbr IPA|K}} and {{angbr IPA|V}} are used for {{lang|de|Konsonant}} {{gloss|consonant}} and {{lang|de|Vokal}} {{gloss|vowel}}; in Russian, {{angbr IPA|С}} and {{angbr IPA|Г}} are used for {{lang|ru|согласный}} ({{translit|ru|soglasnyj}}, {{gloss|consonant}}) and {{lang|ru|гласный}} ({{translit|ru|glasnyj}}, {{gloss|vowel}}). In French, tone may be transcribed with {{angbr IPA|H}} and {{angbr IPA|B}} for {{lang|fr|haut}} {{gloss|high}} and {{lang|fr|bas}} {{gloss|low}};<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paulian |first=Christiane |title=Le Kukuya: langue teke du Congo; phonologie, classes nominales |publisher=Peeters Publishers |year=1975 |isbn=978-2-85297-008-3 |series=Bibliothèque de la SELAF |language=French}}</ref> Russian appears to be the opposite, with {{angbr IPA|В}} for {{lang|ru|высокий}} ({{translit|ru|vysokij}}, {{gloss|high}}) and {{angbr IPA|Н}} for {{lang|ru|низкий}} ({{translit|ru|nizkij}}, {{gloss|low}}).

== Segments without letters ==
The blank cells on the summary IPA chart can be filled without much difficulty if the need arises.

The missing retroflex letters, namely {{angbr IPA|ᶑ ꞎ 𝼅 𝼈 𝼊&thinsp;}}, are "implicit" in the alphabet, and the IPA supported their adoption into Unicode.<ref name=pulmonic /> Attested in the literature are the [[retroflex implosive]] {{angbr IPA|ᶑ&thinsp;}}, the [[voiceless retroflex lateral fricative]] {{angbr IPA|ꞎ&thinsp;}}, the [[retroflex lateral flap]] {{angbr IPA|𝼈&thinsp;}} and the [[retroflex click]] {{angbr IPA|𝼊&thinsp;}}; the first is also mentioned in the IPA ''Handbook'', and the lateral fricatives are provided for by the [[extIPA]].

The epiglottal trill is arguably covered by the generally trilled epiglottal "fricatives" {{angbr IPA|ʜ ʢ}}. Ad hoc letters for near-close central vowels, {{angbr IPA|ᵻ ᵿ}}, are used in some descriptions of English, though those are specifically [[reduced vowels]]{{snd}}forming a set with the IPA reduced vowels {{angbr IPA|ə ɐ}}{{snd}}and the simple points in vowel space are easily transcribed with diacritics: {{angbr IPA|ɪ̈ ʊ̈}} or {{angbr IPA|ɨ̞ ʉ̞}}. Diacritics are able to fill in most of the remainder of the charts.{{NoteTag|"Diacritics may also be employed to create symbols for phonemes, thus reducing the need to create new letter shapes."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=27}}</ref>}} If a sound cannot be transcribed, an asterisk {{angbr IPA|*}} may be used, either as a letter or as a diacritic (as in {{angbr IPA|k*}} sometimes seen for the [[Korean phonology|Korean]] "fortis" velar).

=== Consonants<!--subheading 2--> ===
Representations of consonant sounds outside of the core set are created by adding diacritics to letters with similar sound values. The Spanish bilabial and dental approximants are commonly written as lowered fricatives, {{IPA|[β̞]}} and {{IPA|[ð̞]}} respectively.{{NoteTag|note=Dedicated letters have been proposed, such as rotated <span style="{{mirrorH}}; {{mirrorV}};">{{angbr IPA|β}}</span> and <span style="{{mirrorH}}; {{mirrorV}};">{{angbr IPA|ð}}</span>, reversed <span style="{{mirrorH}}">{{angbr IPA|β}}</span> and <span style="{{mirrorH}}">{{angbr IPA|ð}}</span>, or small-capital {{angbr IPA|{{sm|б}}}} and {{angbr IPA|ᴆ}}. Ball, Rahilly & Lowry (2017) ''Phonetics for speech pathology'', 3rd edition, Equinox, Sheffield.}} Similarly, voiced lateral fricatives can be written as raised lateral approximants, {{IPA|[ɭ˔ ʎ̝ ʟ̝]}}, though the extIPA also provides {{angbr IPA|𝼅}} for the first of these. A few languages such as [[Banda languages|Banda]] have a bilabial flap as the preferred allophone of what is elsewhere a labiodental flap. It has been suggested that this be written with the labiodental flap letter and the advanced diacritic, {{IPA|[ⱱ̟]}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olson |first1=Kenneth S. |last2=Hajek |first2=John |year=1999 |title=The phonetic status of the labial flap |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=101–114 |doi=10.1017/s0025100300006484 |s2cid=14438770}}</ref>
Similarly, a labiodental trill would be written {{IPA|[ʙ̪]}} (bilabial trill and the dental sign), and the labiodental plosives are now universally {{angbr IPA|p̪ b̪}} rather than the ''ad hoc'' letters {{angbr IPA|ȹ ȸ}} once found in Bantuist literature. Other taps can be written as extra-short plosives or laterals, e.g. {{IPA|[&thinsp;ɟ̆ ɢ̆ ʟ̆]}}, though in some cases the diacritic would need to be written below the letter. A [[retroflex trill]] can be written as a retracted {{IPA|[r̠]}}, just as non-subapical retroflex fricatives sometimes are. The remaining pulmonic consonants – the uvular laterals ({{IPA|[ʟ̠ 𝼄̠ ʟ̠˔]}}) and the palatal trill – while not strictly impossible, are very difficult to pronounce and are unlikely to occur even as allophones in the world's languages.

=== Vowels<!--subheading 2--> ===
The vowels are similarly manageable by using diacritics for raising, lowering, fronting, backing, centering, and mid-centering.{{NoteTag|"The diacritics...can be used to modify the lip or tongue position implied by a vowel symbol."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=16}}</ref>}} For example, the unrounded equivalent of {{IPA|[ʊ]}} can be transcribed as mid-centered {{IPA|[ɯ̽]}}, and the rounded equivalent of {{IPA|[æ]}} as raised {{IPA|[ɶ̝]}} or lowered {{IPA|[œ̞]}} (though for those who conceive of vowel space as a triangle, simple {{IPA|[ɶ]}} already is the rounded equivalent of {{IPA|[æ]}}). True mid vowels are lowered {{IPA|[e̞ ø̞ ɘ̞ ɵ̞ ɤ̞ o̞]}} or raised {{IPA|[ɛ̝ œ̝ ɜ̝ ɞ̝ ʌ̝ ɔ̝]}}, while centered {{IPA|[ɪ̈ ʊ̈]}} and {{IPA|[ä]}} (or, less commonly, {{IPA|[ɑ̈]}}) are near-close and open central vowels, respectively.

The only known vowels that cannot be represented in this scheme are vowels with unexpected [[roundedness]]. For unambiguous transcription, such sounds would require dedicated diacritics. Possibilities include {{angbr IPA|ʏʷ}} or {{angbr IPA|ɪʷ}} for protrusion and {{angbr IPA|uᵝ}} (or VoQS {{angbr IPA|ɯᶹ}}) for compression. However, these transcriptions suggest that the sounds are diphthongs, and so while they may be clear for a language like Swedish where they are diphthongs, they may be misleading for languages such as Japanese where they are monophthongs.
The [[extIPA]] 'spread' diacritic {{angbr IPA|◌͍}} is sometimes seen for compressed {{angbr IPA|u͍}}, {{angbr IPA|o͍}}, {{angbr IPA|ɔ͍}}, {{angbr IPA|ɒ͍}}, though again the intended meaning would need to be explained or they would be interpreted as being spread the way that cardinal {{IPA|⟦i⟧}} is. For protrusion (''w''-like labialization without velarization), Ladefoged & Maddieson use the old IPA omega diacritic for labialization, {{angbr IPA|◌̫}}, for protruded {{angbr IPA|y᫇}}, {{angbr IPA|ʏ̫}}, {{angbr IPA|ø̫}}, {{angbr IPA|œ̫}}. This is an adaptation of an old IPA convention of rounding an unrounded vowel letter like ''i'' with a subscript omega ({{angbr IPA|◌̫}}) and unrounding a rounded letter like ''u'' with a subscript turned omega.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jespersen |first1=Otto |author1-link=Otto Jespersen |last2=Pedersen |first2=Holger |author2-link=Holger Pedersen (linguist) |year=1926 |page=19 |title=Phonetic Transcription And Transliteration, Proposals Of The Copenhagen Conference, April 1925 |publisher=Clarendon |url=https://archive.org/details/jespersen-pedersen-1926-phonetic-transcription-and-transliteration}}</ref>
{{as of|2024}}, the turned omega diacritic is in the pipeline for Unicode, and is under consideration for compression in extIPA.<ref>[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2024/24080-ipa-diacritics-above.pdf L2/24-080]</ref>
Kelly & Local use a combining ''w'' diacritic {{angbr IPA|◌ᪿ}} for protrusion (e.g. {{angbr IPA|yᷱ øᪿ}}) and a combining ''ʍ'' diacritic {{angbr IPA|◌ᫀ}} for compression (e.g. {{angbr IPA|uᫀ oᫀ}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Kelly|Local|1989|p=154}}</ref> Because their transcriptions are manuscript, these are effectively the same symbols as the old IPA diacritics, which indeed are historically cursive ''w'' and ''ʍ''. However, the more angular {{angbr IPA|◌ᫀ}} of typescript might misleadingly suggest the vowel is protruded and voiceless (like {{IPA|[ʍ]}}) rather than compressed and voiced.

== Symbol names ==
{{Main|Naming conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet}}
In both print and speech, an IPA symbol is often distinguished from the sound it transcribes because IPA letters very often do not have their cardinal IPA values in practice. This is commonly the case in phonemic and broad phonetic transcription, making articulatory descriptions of IPA letters, such as "mid front rounded vowel" or "voiced velar stop", inappropriate as names for those letters. While the ''Handbook of the International Phonetic Association'' states that no official names exist for its symbols, it admits the presence of one or two common names for each.<ref>"...the International Phonetic Association has never officially approved a set of names..." {{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=31}}</ref> The symbols also have [[Nonce word|nonce names]] in the [[Unicode]] standard. In many cases, the names in Unicode and the IPA ''Handbook'' differ. For example, the ''Handbook'' calls {{angbr IPA|ɛ}} "epsilon", while Unicode calls it "small letter open e".

The traditional names of the Latin and Greek letters are usually used for unmodified letters.{{NoteTag|For example, the IPA ''Handbook'' lists {{angbr IPA|p}} as "lower-case P" and {{angbr IPA|χ}} as "chi."<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=171}}</ref>}} Letters which are not directly derived from these alphabets, such as {{angbr IPA|ʕ}}, may have a variety of names, sometimes based on the appearance of the symbol or on the sound that it represents. In Unicode, some of the letters of Greek origin have Latin forms for use in IPA; the others use the characters from the Greek block.

For diacritics, there are two methods of naming. For traditional diacritics, the IPA notes the name in a well known language; for example, {{angbr IPA|é}} is "e-[[Acute accent|acute]]", based on the name of the diacritic in English and French. Non-traditional diacritics are often named after objects they resemble, so {{angbr IPA|d̪}} is called "d-bridge".

[[Geoffrey Pullum]] and {{ill|William Ladusaw|qid=Q127608481|s=1|v=sup}} list a variety of names in use for both current and retired IPA symbols in their ''[[Phonetic Symbol Guide]]''. Many of them found their way into Unicode.<ref name=Pullum />

== Computer support ==
=== Unicode ===
{{Main|Phonetic symbols in Unicode#IPA}}

[[Unicode]] supports nearly all of the IPA. Apart from basic Latin and Greek and general punctuation, the primary blocks are [[IPA Extensions]], [[Spacing Modifier Letters]] and [[Combining Diacritical Marks]], with lesser support from [[Phonetic Extensions]], [[Phonetic Extensions Supplement]], [[Combining Diacritical Marks Supplement]], and scattered characters elsewhere. The [[extended IPA]] is supported primarily by those blocks and [[Latin Extended-G]].

=== IPA numbers ===
{{Main|IPA number}}
After the [[Kiel Convention]] in 1989, most IPA symbols were assigned an identifying number to prevent confusion between similar characters during the printing of manuscripts. The codes were never much used and have been superseded by Unicode.

=== Typefaces ===
[[File:IPA font sample (SIL, Brill, Noto, DejaVu, Calibri).svg|thumb|The sequence {{IPA|⟨˨˦˧꜒꜔꜓k͜𝼄a͎̽᷅ꟸ⟩|cat=no}} in the fonts Gentium, Andika, Brill, Noto Serif, DejaVu Sans and Calibri. All but DejaVu align diacritics well. Asterisks are characters not supported by that font. In Noto and DejaVu, the red tone letters do not link properly, and in DejaVu the stacked diacritics overstrike each other. This is a test sequence: Noto and Calibri support most IPA adequately.]]
Many typefaces have support for IPA characters, but good diacritic rendering remains rare.<ref name="Es gilt das gesprochene Wort: Schriftarten für IPA-Transkriptionen">{{cite web |title=Es gilt das gesprochene Wort: Schriftarten für IPA-Transkriptionen |date=16 March 2014 |url=https://www.isoglosse.de/2014/03/schriftarten-ipa-transkriptionen/ |access-date=2022-08-18 |language=de |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809201424/https://www.isoglosse.de/2014/03/schriftarten-ipa-transkriptionen/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Web browser]]s generally do not need any configuration to display IPA characters, provided that a typeface capable of doing so is available to the operating system.

==== Free fonts ====
Typefaces that provide full IPA<!--e.g. Modifier Tone Letters such as tone-sandhi U+A712--> and nearly full extIPA support, including properly rendering the diacritics,<!--e.g. Combining Diacritical Marks Supplement characters such as U+1DC5--> include [[Gentium]], [[Charis SIL]], [[Doulos SIL]], and [[Andika (font)|Andika]] developed by [[SIL International]].<!--SIL fonts seem to be the only ones with complete IPA support. --> Indeed, the IPA chose Doulos to publish their chart in Unicode format.
In addition to the level of support found in commercial and system fonts, these fonts support the full range of old-style (pre-Kiel) staveless tone letters, through a [[character variant]] option that suppresses the stave of the Chao tone letters. They also have an option to maintain the {{IPA|[a]}} ~ {{IPA|[ɑ]}} vowel distinction in italics. The only notable gaps are with the extIPA: the combining parentheses, which enclose diacritics, are not supported, nor is the enclosing circle that marks unidentified sounds, and which Unicode considers to be a [[List of proofreader's marks|copy-edit mark]] and thus not eligible for Unicode support.

The basic Latin [[Noto fonts]] commissioned by [[Google]] also have significant IPA support, including diacritic placement, only failing with the more obscure IPA and extIPA characters and superscripts of the [[Latin Extended-F]] and [[Latin Extended-G]] blocks. The extIPA parentheses are included, but they do not enclose diacritics as they are supposed to.

[[DejaVu]] is the second free Unicode font chosen by the IPA to publish their chart. It was last updated in 2016 and so does not support the Latin F or G blocks. Stacked diacritics tend to overstrike each other.

{{as of|2018}}, the IPA was developing their own font, ''unitipa'', based on [[TIPA (software)|TIPA]].<ref>Natalie Udomkesmalee (2018) [https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/IPA_hist/IPA_hist_2018.html Historical charts of the International Phonetic Alphabet], endnote.</ref>{{update needed|date=May 2025}}

==== Proprietary system fonts ====
[[Calibri]],<!--Good diacritic placement of Combining Diacritical Marks Supplement, but incomplete tone support.--> the former default font of [[Microsoft Office]], has nearly complete IPA support with good diacritic rendering, though it is not as complete as some free fonts (see image at right). Other widespread Microsoft fonts, such as [[Arial]] and [[Times New Roman]], have poor support.

The Apple system fonts [[Geneva (typeface)|Geneva]], [[Lucida Grande]] and [[Hiragino]] (certain weights) have only basic IPA support.

==== Notable commercial fonts ====
<!--A font listed here should support at least diacritics and tone letters as well as Noto or Calibri. Minion 3 does not.-->
[[Brill Publishers#Brill Typeface|Brill]]<!--Comparable support to Calibri.--> has complete IPA and extIPA coverage of characters added to Unicode by 2020, with good diacritic and tone-letter support. It is a commercial font but is freely available for non-commercial use.<ref name="Brill Typeface">{{cite web |title=Brill Typeface |url=https://brill.com/page/1228?language=en%20Brill%20Typeface |access-date=2022-08-18 |language=en |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818094822/https://brill.com/page/1228?language=en%20Brill%20Typeface |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== ASCII and keyboard transliterations ===
{{further|Comparison of ASCII encodings of the International Phonetic Alphabet}}
Several systems have been developed that map the IPA symbols to [[ASCII]] characters. Notable systems include [[SAMPA]] and [[X-SAMPA]]. The usage of mapping systems in on-line text has to some extent been adopted in the context input methods, allowing convenient keying of IPA characters that would be otherwise unavailable on standard keyboard layouts.

=== IETF language tags ===
[[IETF language tag]]s have registered {{mono|fonipa}} as a variant subtag identifying text as written in IPA.<ref name="IANA">{{cite web |title=Language Subtag Registry |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry |publisher=IANA |access-date=30 April 2021 |language=en |date=2021-03-05 |archive-date=12 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112063905/http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry |url-status=live}}</ref>
Thus, an IPA transcription of English could be tagged as {{mono|en-fonipa}}.
For the use of IPA without attribution to a concrete language, {{mono|und-fonipa}} is available.

=== Computer input using on-screen keyboard ===
Online IPA keyboard utilities are available, though none<!--Before claiming something provides full support, verify that it supports the tone diacritics that do not appear on the IPA chart.--> of them cover the complete range of IPA symbols and diacritics. Examples are the ''IPA 2018 i-charts'' hosted by the IPA,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/inter_chart_2018/IPA_2018.html |title=IPA 2018 i-charts |website=International Phonetic Association}}</ref> ''IPA character picker'' by Richard Ishida at GitHub,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://r12a.github.io/pickers/ipa/ |title=IPA character picker 27 |website=Github}}</ref> ''Type IPA phonetic symbols'' at TypeIt.org,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ipa.typeit.org/full/ |title=Type IPA phonetic symbols |website=typeit.org}}</ref> and an ''IPA Chart keyboard'' by Weston Ruter also at GitHub.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://westonruter.github.io/ipa-chart/keyboard/ |title=IPA Chart keyboard |website=GitHub}}</ref> In April 2019, Google's [[Gboard]] for [[Android (operating system)|Android]] added an IPA keyboard to its platform.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/04/18/gboard-updated-with-63-new-languages-including-ipa-not-the-beer/ |title=Gboard updated with 63 new languages, including IPA (not the beer) |date=18 April 2019 |website=Android Police |language=en-US |access-date=28 April 2019 |archive-date=28 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428154616/https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/04/18/gboard-updated-with-63-new-languages-including-ipa-not-the-beer/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/6380730?co=GENIE.Platform=Android |title=Set up Gboard – Android – Gboard Help |website=Google Help |access-date=28 April 2019 |archive-date=24 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824165444/https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/6380730?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid |url-status=live}}</ref> For iOS there are multiple free keyboard layouts available, such as the ''IPA Phonetic Keyboard''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IPA Phonetic Keyboard |url=https://apps.apple.com/lu/app/ipa-phonetic-keyboard/id1440241497 |access-date=8 December 2020 |website=App Store |language=en-gb |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415093507/https://apps.apple.com/lu/app/ipa-phonetic-keyboard/id1440241497 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col}}
* {{annotated link|Afroasiatic phonetic notation}}
* {{annotated link|Americanist phonetic notation}}
* {{annotated link|Articulatory phonetics}}
* {{annotated link|Case variants of IPA letters}}
* {{annotated link|Cursive forms of the International Phonetic Alphabet}}
* {{annotated link|Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet}}
* [[Index of phonetics articles]]
* {{annotated link|International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration}}
* {{annotated link|Sound correspondences between English accents}}
* [[List of international common standards]]
* {{annotated link|Luciano Canepari}}
* {{annotated link|Phonetic symbols in Unicode}}
* {{annotated link|RFE Phonetic Alphabet}}
* {{annotated link|SAMPA}}
* {{annotated link|Semyon Novgorodov}} – inventor of IPA-based [[Yakut scripts]]
* {{annotated link|TIPA (software)|TIPA}} provides IPA support for [[LaTeX]]
* {{annotated link|UAI phonetic alphabet}}
* {{annotated link|Uralic Phonetic Alphabet}}
* {{annotated link|Voice Quality Symbols}}
* {{annotated link|X-SAMPA}}
{{Div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot|30em}}

== References ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |author=International Phonetic Association |year=1999 |title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-65236-7}} (hb); {{ISBN|0-521-63751-1}} (pb).
* {{Cite journal |last=Roach |first=P.J. |year=1989 |title=Report on the 1989 Kiel convention |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=67–80 |doi=10.1017/s0025100300003868 |s2cid=249412330}}
* {{Cite book |author=International Phonetic Association |title=The Principles of the International Phonetic Association: being a description of the International Phonetic Alphabet and the manner of using it, illustrated by texts in 51 languages |year=1949 |url=https://archive.org/details/PrinciplesoftheIPA1949}}
* {{SOWL}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=John |last2=Local |first2=John |year=1989 |title=Doing Phonology: Observing, Recording, Interpreting |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=0-7190-2894-9}}
* {{Cite book |last=Heselwood |first=Barry |url=https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/21520 |title=Phonetic Transcription in Theory and Practice |date=2013-11-30 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-4073-7 |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640737.001.0001 |s2cid=60269763 |access-date=29 May 2023 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529182531/https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/21520 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Laver |first=John |title=Principles of Phonetics |year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-521-45031-4}} (hb); {{ISBN|0-521-45655-X}} (pb).
* {{cite book |last=Esling |first=John H. |title=The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-4590-9 |editor1-last=Hardcastle |editor1-first=William J. |edition=2nd |chapter=Phonetic Notation |pages=678–702 |doi=10.1002/9781444317251.ch18 |author-link=John Esling |editor2-last=Laver |editor2-first=John |editor3-last=Gibbon |editor3-first=Fiona E.}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ball |first=Martin J. |author2=John H. Esling |author3=B. Craig Dickson |year=1995 |title=The VoQS system for the transcription of voice quality |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=71–80 |doi=10.1017/S0025100300005181 |s2cid=145791575}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=Kenneth C. |date=March 1988 |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. |last3=Ladusaw |first3=William |title=Review of ''Phonetic Symbol Guide'' by G. K. Pullum & W. Ladusaw |journal=Language |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=143–144 |doi=10.2307/414792 |jstor=414792}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Jones (phonetician) |title=English pronouncing dictionary |year=1988 |edition=revised 14th |publisher=Dent |location=London |oclc=18415701 |isbn=0-521-86230-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/englishpronounci00dani}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ladefoged |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Ladefoged |date=September 1990 |title=The revised International Phonetic Alphabet |journal=Language |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=550–552 |doi=10.2307/414611 |jstor=414611}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ladefoged |first=Peter |author2=Morris Halle |date=September 1988 |title=Some major features of the International Phonetic Alphabet |journal=Language |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=577–582 |doi=10.2307/414533 |jstor=414533}}
* {{Cite book |last=Skinner |first=Edith |author2=Timothy Monich |author3=Lilene Mansell |title=Speak with Distinction |location=New York |publisher=Applause Theatre Book Publishers |year=1990 |isbn=1-55783-047-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/speakwithdistinc0000skin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fromkin |first1=Victoria |last2=Rodman |first2=Robert |last3=Hyams |first3=Nina |title=An Introduction to Language |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontola00from_616 |url-access=limited |date=2011 |publisher=Wadsworth, Cengage Learning |location=Boston |pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontola00from_616/page/n252 233]–234 |edition=9th |isbn=978-1-4282-6392-5}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|International Phonetic Alphabet}}
* {{Official website|http://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org}}
* [https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/inter_chart_2018/IPA_2018.html Interactive IPA chart]
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