ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:IPA |
Below is a basic key to the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. For the smaller set of symbols that is sufficient for English, see
For each IPA symbol, an English example is given where possible; here "RP" stands for Received Pronunciation. The foreign languages that are used to illustrate additional sounds are primarily the ones most likely to be familiar to English speakers, French, German, and Spanish. For symbols not covered by those, recourse is taken to the populous languages Mandarin Chinese, Hindustani, Arabic, and Russian. For sounds still not covered, other smaller but well-known languages are used, such as Swahili, Turkish, and Zulu.
The left-hand column displays the symbols like this: . Click on the speaker icon to hear the sound; click on the symbol itself for a dedicated article with a more complete description and examples from multiple languages. All the sounds are spoken more than once, and the consonant sounds are spoken once followed by a vowel and once between vowels.
ବିଷୟସୂଚୀ: | 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 other Diacritic marks Brackets Rendering issues |
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The symbols are arranged by similarity to letters of the Latin alphabet. Symbols which do not resemble any Latin letter are placed at the end.
Symbol | Examples | Description |
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A | ||
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Mandarin 他 tā, German Mann | For many English speakers, the first part of the ow sound in cow. Found in some dialects of English in cat or father. |
Spanish casa, French patte | ||
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German , French gare | Long [a]. |
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RP cut, German | (With English, [ɐ] is normally written "[ʌ]".) |
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Finnish , Dutch bad | |
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RP father, French pâte | Long [ɑ]. |
French , sans, temps | Nasalized [ɑ]. | |
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RP cot | Like [ɑ], but with the lips slightly rounded. |
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Like [ɔ], but without the lips being rounded. (When "[ʌ]" is used for English, it may really be [ɐ] or [ɜ].) | |
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RP cat | |
B | ||
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English babble | |
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Swahili bwana | Like a [b] said with a gulp. |
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Like the brrr sound made when cold. | |
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Spanish la Bamba | Like [b], but with the lips not quite touching. |
C | ||
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Turkish kebap " kebab", Czech stín "shadow", Greek και "and" | Between English tune (RP) and cute. Sometimes used instead for [tʃ] in languages like Hindi. |
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German Ich | More y-like 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!". |
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Mandarin Xi'an, Polish ściana | More y-like than [ʃ]; something like English she. |
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see under O | |
D | ||
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English dad | |
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Swahili Dodoma | Like [d] said with a gulp. |
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American English harder | Like [d] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
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English the, bathe | |
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English adze, Italian zero | |
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English judge | |
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Polish niedźwiedź "bear" | Like [dʒ], but with more of a y-sound. |
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Polish dżem "jam" | Like [dʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
E | ||
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Spanish fe; French clé | |
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German Klee | Long [e]. Similar to English hey, before the y sets in. |
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English above, Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief" | (Only occurs in English when not stressed.) |
American English runner | ||
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English bet | |
French , vin, main; Polish mięso | Nasalized [ɛ]. | |
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RP bird (long) | |
American English bird | ||
F | ||
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English fun | |
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see under J | |
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see under J | |
G | ||
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English gag | (Should look like ![]() |
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Swahili Uganda | Like [ɡ] said with a gulp. |
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Like [ɡ], but further back, in the throat. Found in Persian and some Arabic dialects for /q/, as in Gaddafi. | |
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see under Z | English beige. |
H | ||
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American English house | |
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English ahead, when said quickly. | |
The extra puff of air in English top [tʰɒp] compared to stop [stɒp], or to French or Spanish [t]. | ||
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Arabic محمد Muhammad | Far down in the throat, like [h], but stronger. |
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see under U | |
[ ɮ ] | see under L | |
I | ||
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French ville, Spanish | |
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English sea | Long [i]. |
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English sit | |
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Russian ты "you" | Often used for unstressed English roses. |
J | ||
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English yes, hallelujah, German Junge | |
Russian Ленин [ˈlʲenʲɪn] | Indicates a sound is more y-like. | |
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Spanish cayo (some dialects) | Like [j], but stronger. |
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Turkish gör "see", Czech díra "hole" | Between English dew (RP) and argue. Sometimes used instead for [dʒ] in languages like Hindi. |
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Swahili jambo | Like [ɟ] said with a gulp. |
K | ||
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English kick, skip | |
L | ||
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English leaf | |
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English wool Russian малый [ˈmɑɫɨj] "small" |
"Dark" el. |
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Welsh llwyd [ɬʊɪd] "grey" Zulu hlala [ɬaːla] "sit" |
Rather like [l] and [ʃ] or [l] and [θ] said together. Found in
Welsh names like Lloyd and Llywelyn and |
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Like [l] with the tongue curled or pulled back. | |
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A flapped [l], like [l] and [ɾ] said together. | |
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Zulu dla "eat" | Rather like [l] and [ʒ], or [l] and [ð], said together. |
M | ||
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English mime | |
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English symphony | Like [m], but lips touch teeth as they do in [f]. |
[ ɯ ] | see under W | |
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see under W | |
N | ||
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English nun | |
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English sing | |
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Spanish Peña, French champagne | Rather like English canyon. |
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Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳ] | Like [n] with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
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Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan] | Like [ŋ], but further back, in the throat. |
O | ||
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Spanish no, French eau | |
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German Boden, French | Long [o]. Somewhat reminiscent of English no. |
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German , French | |
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RP law, French | Long [ɔ]. |
French |
Nasalized [ɔ]. | |
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French feu, bœufs | Like [e], but with the lips rounded like [o]. |
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German , French , neutre | Long [ø]. |
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Swedish dum | Halfway between [o] and [ø]. Similar to [ʊ] but with the tongue slightly more down and front. |
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French bœuf, seul, German | Like [ɛ], but with the lips rounded like [ɔ]. |
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French œuvre, heure | Long [œ]. |
French brun, parfum | Nasalized [œ]. | |
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see under other | |
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see under other | |
P | ||
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English pip | |
Q | ||
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Arabic ur’ān | Like [k], but further back, in the throat. |
R | ||
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Spanish perro, Scots borrow | "Rolled R". (Generally used for English [ɹ] when there's no need to be precise.) |
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Spanish pero, Tagalog daliri, Malay kabar, American English kitty/kiddie | "Flapped R". |
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A trill in the back of the throat. Found for /r/ in some conservative registers of French. | |
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Hindi साड़ी [sɑːɽiː] "sari" | Like flapped [ɾ], but with the tongue curled back. |
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RP borrow | |
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American English borrow, butter | Like [ɹ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back, as pronounced by many English speakers. |
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French is, German | Said back in the throat, but not trilled. |
S | ||
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English sass | |
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English shoe | |
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Mandarin 少林 ( àolín), Russian | Acoustically similar to [ʃ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
T | ||
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English tot, stop | |
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Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief" | Like [t], but with the tongue curled or pulled back. |
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English cats, Russian царь tsar | |
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English church | |
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Mandarin 北京 ![]() |
Like [tʃ], but with more of a y-sound. |
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Mandarin zh, Polish czas | Like [tʃ] with the tongue curled or pulled back . |
U | ||
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French vous "you" | |
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French , German , close to RP food | Long [u]. |
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English foot, German Bundesrepublik | |
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Australian English food (long) | Like [ɨ], but with the lips rounded as for [u]. |
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French lui | Like [j] and [w] said together. |
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see under W | |
V | ||
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English verve | |
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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. |
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Arabic / Swahili ghali "expensive", Spanish suegro | Sounds rather like French [ʁ] or between [g] and [h]. |
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Mandarin nán | Like [o] but without the lips rounded, something like a cross of [ʊ] and [ʌ]. |
[ ʌ ] | see under A | |
W | ||
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English wow | |
English rain [ɹʷeɪn] | Indicates a sound has lip rounding, quick. | |
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what (some dialects) | like [h] and [w] said together |
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Turkish kayık "caïque" | Like [u], but with the lips flat; something like [ʊ]. |
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Spanish agua | |
X | ||
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Scottish English loch, German , Russian хороший [xɐˈroʂɨj] "good", Spanish joven | between [k] and [h] |
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northern Standard Dutch , Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan] | Like [x], but further back , in the throat. Some German and Arabic speakers have [χ] for [x]. |
Y | ||
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French rue | Like [i], but with the lips rounded as for [u]. |
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German , French sûr | Long [y]. |
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German | Like [ɪ], but with the lips rounded as for [ʊ]. |
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Italian tagliatelle | Like [l], but more y-like. Rather like English volume. |
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see under U | |
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see under V | |
[ ɣ ] | see under V | |
Z | ||
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English zoos | |
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English vision, French journal | |
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formal Russian жжёшь [ʑːoʂ] "you burn", Polish źle | More y-like than [ʒ], something like beigey. |
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Mandarin 人民日报 Rénmín Rìbào "People's Daily", Russian жир "fat" | Like [ʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back . |
[ ɮ ] | see under L | |
other | ||
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English thigh, bath | |
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Japanese 富士 [ɸɯdʑi] uji, Māori [ˌɸaːɾeː'nuiː] arenui | Like [p], but with the lips not quite touching |
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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 [ˌdeɪəsˌʔɛksˈmɑːkɨnə]; in some nonstandard dialects, in a apple [ʌˈʔæpl̩]. |
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Arabic عربي (carabī) "Arabic" | A light sound deep in the throat. |
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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 ube has this click in his name, as did etshwayo. |
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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 hosa. |
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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 ]. |