Help:IPA

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

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

The latest official IPA chart, revised to 2020

Here is a basic key to the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Several rare IPA symbols are not included. These IPA symbols are found in the main IPA article.  

Contents:	Top – 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Main symbols

Symbol	Examples	Description
^ top A
[a] (listen)	German Mann, French gare	For many English speakers, the first part of the ow sound in cow. Found in some dialects of English in cat or father.
[ä] (listen)	Mandarin 他 tā, American English father, Spanish casa, French patte
[ɐ] (listen)	RP cut, German Kaiserslautern	(In transcriptions of English, [ɐ] is usually written ⟨ʌ⟩.)
[ɑ] (listen)	RP father, French pâte, Dutch bad
[ɑ̃] (listen)	French Caen, sans, temps	Nasalized [ɑ].
[ɒ] (listen)	RP cot	Like [ɑ], but with the lips slightly rounded.
[ʌ] (listen)	American English cut	Like [ɔ], but without the lips being rounded. (When ⟨ʌ⟩ is used for English, it may really be [ɐ] or [ɜ].)
[æ] (listen)	RP cat
^ top B
[b] (listen)	English babble
[ɓ] (listen)	Swahili bwana	Like a [b] said with a gulp. See implosive consonants.
[β] (listen)	Spanish la Bamba, Kinyarwanda abana "children", Korean 무궁화 [muɡuŋβwa̠] mugunghwa	Like [b], but with the lips not quite closed.
[ʙ] (listen)	Nias simbi [siʙi] "lower jaw"	Sputtering.
^ top C
[c] (listen)	Turkish kebap "kebab", Czech stín "shadow", Greek και "and"	Between English tune (RP) and cute. Sometimes used instead for [tʃ] in languages like Hindi.
[ç] (listen)	German Ich	More of a y-coloration (more palatal) than [x]. Some English speakers have a similar sound in huge. To produce this sound, try whispering loudly the word "ye" as in "Hear ye!".
[ɕ] (listen)	Mandarin 西安 Xi'an, Polish ściana	More y-like than [ʃ]; something like English she.
[ɔ] (listen)	see under O
^ top D
[d] (listen)	English dad
[ɗ] (listen)	Swahili Dodoma	Like [d] said with a gulp.
[ɖ] (listen)	American English harder	Like [d] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
[ð] (listen)	English the, bathe
[dz] (listen)	English adds, Italian zero
[dʒ] (listen)	English judge
[dʑ] (listen)	Polish niedźwiedź "bear"	Like [dʒ], but with more of a y-sound.
[dʐ] (listen)	Polish dżem "jam"	Like [dʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top E
[e] (listen)	Spanish fe; French clé, German Klee	Similar to English hey, before the y sets in.
[ɘ] (listen)	Australian English bird
[ə] (listen)	English above, Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief"	(Only occurs in English when not stressed.)
[ɚ] (listen)	American English runner
[ɛ] (listen)	English bet
[ɛ̃] (listen)	French Saint-Étienne, vin, main	Nasalized [ɛ].
[ɜ] (listen)	RP bird (long)
[ɝ] (listen)	American English bird
^ top F
[f] (listen)	English fun
[ɟ] (listen)	see under J
[ʄ] (listen)	see under J
^ top G
[ɡ] (listen)	English gag	(Should look like . No different from a Latin "g")
[ɠ] (listen)	Swahili Uganda	Like [ɡ] said with a gulp.
[ɢ] (listen)		Like [ɡ], but further back, in the throat. Found in Persian and some Arabic dialects for /q/, as in Muammar Gaddafi.
[ʒ] (listen)	see under Z	English beige.
^ top H
[h] (listen)	American English house
[ɦ] (listen)	English ahead, when said quickly.
[ʰ]		The extra puff of air in English top [tʰɒp] compared to stop [stɒp], or to French or Spanish [t].
[ħ] (listen)	Arabic ‏مُحَمَّد‎ Muhammad	Far down in the throat, like [h], but stronger.
[ɥ] (listen)	see under Y
[ɮ] (listen)	see under L
^ top I
[i] (listen)	English sea, French ville, Spanish Valladolid
[ɪ] (listen)	English sit
[ɨ] (listen)	Russian ты "you"	Often used for unstressed English roses.
^ top J
[j] (listen)	English yes, hallelujah, German Junge
[ʲ]	In Russian Ленин [ˈlʲenʲɪn]	Indicates a sound is more y-like.
[ʝ] (listen)	Spanish cayo (some dialects)	Like [j], but stronger.
[ɟ] (listen)	Turkish gör "see", Czech díra "hole"	Between English dew (RP) and argue. Sometimes used instead for [dʒ] in languages like Hindi.
[ʄ] (listen)	Swahili jambo	Like [ɟ] said with a gulp.
^ top K
[k] (listen)	English kick, skip
^ top L
[l] (listen)	English leaf
[ɫ] (listen)	English wool Russian малый [ˈmɑɫɨj] "small"	"Dark" el.
[ɬ] (listen)	Welsh llwyd [ɬʊɪd] "grey" Zulu hlala [ɬaːla] "sit"	By touching roof of mouth with tongue and giving a quick breath out. Found in Welsh placenames like Llangollen and Llanelli and Nelson Mandela's Xhosa name Rolihlahla.
[ɭ] (listen)		Like [l] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
[ɺ] (listen)		A flapped [l], like [l] and [ɾ] said together.
[ɮ] (listen)	Zulu dla "eat"	Rather like [l] and [ʒ], or [l] and [ð], said together.
[ʟ] (listen)
^ top M
[m] (listen)	English mime
[ɱ] (listen)	English symphony	Like [m], but lips touch teeth as they do in [f].
[ɯ] (listen)	see under W
[ʍ] (listen)	see under W
^ top N
[n] (listen)	English nun
[ŋ] (listen)	English sing, Māori nga
[ɲ] (listen)	Spanish Peña, French champagne	Rather like English canyon (/nj/ said quickly).
[ɳ] (listen)	Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳ] Varuna	Like [n] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
[ɴ] (listen)	Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan]	Like [ŋ], but further back, in the throat.
^ top O
[o] (listen)	Spanish no, French eau, German Boden	Somewhat reminiscent of American English no.
[ɔ] (listen)	German Oldenburg, French Garonne
[ɔ̃] (listen)	French Lyon, son	Nasalized [ɔ].
[ø] (listen)	French feu, bœufs, German Goethe	Like [e], but with the lips rounded like [o].
[ɵ] (listen)	Dutch hut, French je, Swedish dum	Halfway between [o] and [ø]. Similar to [ʊ] but with the tongue slightly more down and front. The Dutch vowel is often transcribed with ⟨ʏ⟩ or ⟨œ⟩, whereas the French vowel is typically transcribed with ⟨ə⟩.
[œ] (listen)	French bœuf, seul, German Göttingen	Like [ɛ], but with the lips rounded like [ɔ].
[œ̃] (listen)	French brun, parfum	Nasalized [œ].
[ɶ] (listen)
[θ] (listen)	see under Others
[ɸ] (listen)	see under Others
^ top P
[p] (listen)	English pip
^ top Q
[q] (listen)	Arabic ‏قُرْآن‎ Qur’ān	Like [k], but further back, in the throat.
^ top R
[r] (listen)	Spanish perro, Scots borrow	"Rolled R". (Often used for other rhotics, such as English [ɹ], when there's no ambiguity.)
[ɾ] (listen)	Spanish pero, Tagalog daliri, Malay kabar, American English kitty/kiddie	"Flapped R".
[ʀ] (listen)	Dutch rood and German rot (some speakers)	A trill in the back of the throat. Found for /r/ in some conservative registers of French.
[ɽ] (listen)	Hindi साड़ी [sɑːɽiː] "sari"	Like flapped [ɾ], but with the tongue curled back.
[ɹ] (listen)	RP borrow
[ɻ] (listen)	Mandarin 人民日报 Rénmín Rìbào "People's Daily", American English borrow, butter	Like [ɹ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back, as pronounced by many English speakers.
[ʁ] (listen)	French Paris, German Riemann (some dialects)	Said back in the throat, but not trilled.
^ top S
[s] (listen)	English sass
[ʃ] (listen)	English shoe
[ʂ] (listen)	Mandarin 少林 (Shàolín), Russian Пушкин (Pushkin)	Acoustically similar to [ʃ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top T
[t] (listen)	English tot, stop
[ʈ] (listen)	Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief"	Like [t], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
[ts] (listen)	English cats, Russian царь tsar
[tʃ] (listen)	English church
[tɕ] (listen)	Mandarin 北京 Běijīng (listen), Polish ciebie "you"	Like [tʃ], but with more of a y-sound.
[tʂ] (listen)	Mandarin 真正 zhēnzhèng, Polish czas	Like [tʃ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top U
[u] (listen)	American English food, French vous "you", German Schumacher
[ʊ] (listen)	English foot, German Bundesrepublik
[ʉ] (listen)	Australian English food (long)	Like [ɨ], but with the lips rounded as for [u].
[ɥ] (listen)	see under Y
[ɯ] (listen)	see under W
^ top V
[v] (listen)	English verve
[ʋ] (listen)	Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳə] "Varuna"	Between [v] and [w]. Used by some Germans and Russians for v/w, and by some speakers of British English for r.
[ɤ] (listen)	see under Y
[ɣ] (listen)	see under Y
[ʌ] (listen)	see under A
^ top W
[w] (listen)	English wow
[ʷ]		Indicates a sound has lip rounding, as in English rain
[ʍ] (listen)	what (some dialects)	like [h] and [w] said together
[ɯ] (listen)	Turkish kayık "caïque", Scottish Gaelic gaol	Like [u], but with the lips flat; something like [ʊ].
[ɰ] (listen)	Spanish agua	Like [w], but with the lips flat.
^ top X
[x] (listen)	Scottish English loch, German Bach, Russian хороший [xɐˈroʂɨj] "good", Spanish joven	between [k] and [h]
[χ] (listen)	northern Standard Dutch Scheveningen, Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan]	Like [x], but further back, in the throat. Some German and Arabic speakers have [χ] for [x].
^ top Y
[y] (listen)	French rue, German Bülow	Like [i], but with the lips rounded as for [u].
[ʏ] (listen)	German Düsseldorf	Like [ɪ], but with the lips rounded as for [ʊ].
[ɣ] (listen)	Arabic ‏غَالِي‎ ghālī and Swahili ghali "expensive", Spanish suegro	Sounds rather like French [ʁ] or between [ɡ] and [h].
[ɤ] (listen)	Mandarin 河南 Hénán, Scottish Gaelic taigh	Like [o] but without the lips rounded, something like a cross of [ʊ] and [ʌ].
[ʎ] (listen)	Italian tagliatelle	Like [l], but more y-like. Rather like English volume.
[ɥ] (listen)	French lui	Like [j] and [w] said together.
^ top Z
[z] (listen)	English zoo
[ʒ] (listen)	English vision, French journal
[ʑ] (listen)	old-styled Russian позже [ˈpoʑːe] "later", Polish źle	More y-like than [ʒ], something like beigey.
[ʐ] (listen)	Russian жир "fat"	Like [ʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
[ɮ] (listen)	see under L
^ top Others
[θ] (listen)	English thigh, bath
[ɸ] (listen)	Japanese 富士 [ɸɯdʑi] Fuji, Māori [ˌɸaːɾeːˈnuiː] wharenui	Like [p], but with the lips not quite touching
[ʔ] (listen)	English uh-oh, Hawai‘i, German die Angst	The 'glottal stop', a catch in the breath. For some people, found in button [ˈbʌʔn̩], or between vowels across words: Deus ex machina [ˌdeɪəsˌʔɛksˈmɑːkɪnə]; in some nonstandard dialects, in a apple [əˈʔæpl̩].
[ʕ] (listen)	Arabic ‏عَرَبِيّ‎ ʻarabī "Arabic"	A light, voiced sound deep in the throat, articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx (back of the throat).
[ǀ] (listen)	English tsk-tsk! or tut-tut!, Zulu icici "earring"	(The English click used for disapproval.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [kǀ], [ɡǀ], [ŋǀ]. The Zimbabwean MP Ncube has this click in his name, as did Cetshwayo.
[ǁ] (listen)	English tchick! tchick!, Zulu ixoxo "frog"	(The English click used to urge on a horse.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [kǁ], [ɡǁ], [ŋǁ]. Found in the name of the Xhosa.
[ǃ] (listen)	Zulu iqaqa "polecat"	(The English click used to imitate the trotting of a horse.) A hollow popping sound, like a cork pulled from a bottle. Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [kǃ], [ɡǃ], [ŋǃ].
[ʘ] (listen)	ǂ’Amkoe ʘoa "two"	Like a kissing sound.
[ǂ] (listen)	Khoekhoe ǂgā-amǃnâ [ǂàʔám̀ᵑǃã̀] "to put in the mouth"	Like an imitation of a chewing sound.

Marks added to letters

Several marks can be added above, below, before or after letters. The complete list is shown at International Phonetic Alphabet § Diacritics and prosodic notation.

Symbol	Example
Signs above a letter
[ã]	French vin blanc [vɛ̃ blɑ̃] "white wine"
[ä]	Portuguese vá [vä] "go"
Signs below a letter
[a̯]	English cow [kʰaʊ̯], koi [kʰɔɪ̯]
[n̥]	English boy [b̥ɔɪ̯], doe [d̥oʊ̯] (see also)
[n̩]	English button
[d̪]	Spanish dos, French deux
Signs next to a letter
[kʰ]	English come
[k’]	Zulu ukuza "come"
[aː]	English shh! [ʃː]
[aˑ]	RP caught [ˈkʰɔˑt]
[ˈa]	pronunciation [pɹ̥əʊ̯ˌnɐnsiˈeɪʃn̩]
[ˌa]
[.]	English courtship [ˈkʰɔrt.ʃɪp]

Computer input using on-screen keyboard

Online IPA keyboard utilities are available.

• IPA i-charts (2018)
• IPA character picker
• TypeIt.org
• IPA Chart Keyboard

For iOS there are free IPA keyboard layouts, e.g. IPA Phonetic Keyboard.

Related pages

• IPA charts for diphthongs in various languages

Other websites

• Official interactive IPA chart with letter descriptions, audio, and input assist
• IPA pronunciation chart with audio
• MRI videos of production of the sounds of the IPA charts
• Ultrasound and MRI videos of production of the sounds of the IPA charts
• Getting JAWS 6.1 to recognize "exotic" Unicode symbols – for help on getting the screen reader JAWS to read IPA symbols
• IPA Reader – web-based IPA synthesizer using Amazon Polly
• Wikipedia IPA Speaker – Chrome extension