International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin alphabet. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association as a standardized representation of the sounds of spoken language. The IPA is used by lexicographers, foreign language students and teachers, linguists, speech-language pathologists, singers, actors, constructed language creators, and translators.

Overview

The IPA provides a way to transcribe the sounds of any spoken language, including tones, into a set of symbols. The IPA is designed to be unambiguous: each symbol represents a unique sound. This makes it a valuable tool for linguists and language learners, providing a consistent way to record and study languages.

History

The IPA was first published in 1888 by the International Phonetic Association, a group of French and British language teachers founded by Paul Passy. The goal was to create a system that could be used to transcribe any language's sounds. The alphabet has undergone several revisions since its inception to include sounds found in new languages and to remove redundancies.

Structure

The IPA is divided into three main categories: consonants, vowels, and suprasegmentals. Suprasegmentals include aspects of speech such as intonation, stress, and rhythm. Each category is further divided based on the specific features of the sounds they represent, such as place and manner of articulation for consonants, and height and backness for vowels.

Consonants

Consonants in the IPA are organized by where in the mouth or throat the sound is produced and how the sound is produced. For example, sounds can be classified as bilabial (using both lips), dental (using the teeth), or velar (using the back of the tongue and the soft palate).

Vowels

Vowels are classified by the position of the tongue and lips. The IPA vowel chart is arranged as a trapezium, reflecting the physical geometry of the mouth, with high vowels at the top and low vowels at the bottom.

Suprasegmentals

Suprasegmentals are symbols that represent intonation, stress, and rhythm. These are aspects of speech that extend over more than one sound segment (consonant or vowel).

Uses

The IPA is used in dictionaries to indicate pronunciation, in language teaching materials, in the study of dialects, and in the transcription of languages for which no writing system exists. It is also used in music and acting to denote pronunciation of lyrics and scripts in foreign languages.

References

• International Phonetic Association. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Cambridge University Press.
• Ladefoged, Peter; & Maddieson, Ian. (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Blackwell.