The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standardized system of phonetic notation for representing the sounds of spoken language. It was designed to accurately transcribe the sounds of all human languages, allowing linguists, language students, and speech specialists to accurately describe and analyze speech sounds. The IPA uses a set of symbols to represent the individual sounds, called phonemes, that make up words and languages. The IPA is a comprehensive system of symbols used to standardize the representation of speech sounds. It covers a wide range of speech sounds found in languages around the world. Linguists, language students, and speech specialists use the IPA to transcribe the exact pronunciation of words and to analyze the phonetic properties of different languages. In some languages, you can look at a word and immediately know how to pronounce it. Examples include Polish and Finnish (yes, very useful and commonly learned languages). However, as you may have already realized, English is not a phonetic language. So, it is difficult to immediately know how to pronounce a word you just saw. For example, the word “read” can be pronounced as /riːd/ or /rɛd/ depending on the context. Also, the same sound can be represented in writing in different ways. For example, the words he, believe, machine and sea contain the same sound /iː/, but it is represented by different letters. Or the opposite can be true: the same letter represents different sounds, for example, thing /θ/ and the /ð/. In any case, the IPA is very useful, it will help you avoid making mistakes in pronunciation of even such simple words as parent /ˈpeərənt/ and mountain /ˈmaʊntɪn/. (Are only my students pronouncing these words as parrent and mountayn?) Incredibly, the IPA shows what movements you need to make to pronounce sounds. The table shows how to move your mouth, tongue and jaw correctly. Take a look at the monophonics (vowels with one sound). Now imagine a person coming up to this chart from the right and trying to swallow it. Sure, it will get stuck, but you will see exactly how to make the sounds.
The /i:/ sound is made at the front and top of the mouth, with your jaw just slightly open. The /ɒ/ sound is made at the back and bottom of the mouth, with your jaw wide open. You will also notice that as you move from left to right, for example from /i:/ to /u:/, your smile will get smaller and on the last letter your lips will be almost ready to kiss.
The consonants are arranged similarly on the phonetic chart. From /p/ at the front of the mouth to /g/ at the back. The top row is the stop sounds – sounds you make by stopping and then releasing them. The middle row is the friction sounds – sounds you can make for longer, for example /s/: ssssss. The bottom row is a set of sounds – again, this won’t match up exactly in English.
The phonetic spelling of a word can also gives you a clue as to which syllable to stress. Stressed syllables are marked with an apostrophe – ‘ – before the stressed syllable. In general, the chart is very helpful, especially when words are spelled the same but stressed on different syllables. For example, the word record. As a noun, it is pronounced /ˈrɛkɔːd/ with the stress on the first syllable, and as a verb, it is /rɪ’kɔːd/ with the stress on the second syllable.
The IPA can also be used to represent different accents. Fancy yourself a Cockney bloke? It will help that think is pronounced /fɪŋk/ rather than the usual /θɪŋk/. If you are anything like my students, then the Cockney accent will seem easier to you.
If you want to sound like someone from the north of England, it is useful to know that many words contain a glottal stop. It is transcribed as /ʔ/. It can be seen in words like bottle, where the t is omitted and replaced by a so-called sigh of air: /bɒʔl/.
The International Phonetic Alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet and uses as few non-Latin forms as possible. The association constructed the IPA so that the sound values of most consonants taken from the Latin alphabet correspond to “international usage”. As a result, the signs for the consonants [b], [d], [f], (hard) [ɡ], (non-silent) [h], (unaspirated) [k], [l], [m], [n], (unaspirated) [p], (voiceless) [s], (unaspirated) [t], [v], [w], and [z] have values close to those in English; and the vowels ([a], [e], [i], [o], [u]) correspond to the Latin sounds: [i] as in machine, [u] as in rule, etc. Other letters may differ from English, but are used with the same phonetic values in other European languages, such as [j] (German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Czech, Croatian, etc.), [r] (Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, etc.), and [y] (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Latin).
This list has been expanded with uppercase and italic forms, diacritics, and inverted letters. There are also a few letters derived from Greek, although their sound values may be different. For example, [ʋ] is a vowel in the Greek alphabet, but in the IPA it means an indirectly related consonant. Three letters ([β], [θ], and [χ]) are used unmodified, while others (including [ɣ], [ɛ], [ɸ], and [ʋ]) have slightly different symbol forms that are encoded separately from their “ancestors” in Unicode.
The sound values of modified Latin letters can often be inferred from the values of the original letters. For example, letters with a right-facing hook below represent retroflex consonants, and small caps represent uvular consonants. Aside from the fact that certain kinds of modification of a letter’s shape usually correspond to certain kinds of modification of the sound it represents, there is no way to determine the sound represented by a symbol from its shape (unlike, for example, the Visible Speech system).
In addition to the letters themselves, there are many secondary symbols that aid in transcription. Diacritical marks can be combined with IPA letters to represent modified phonetic values or secondary articulations. Special symbols for suprasegmental properties such as stress and tone are also often used.
In Unicode, IPA symbols are located in the IPA Extensions, Phonetic Extensions, and Phonetic Extensions Supplement blocks. Diacritical marks are located in the Letter Modifiers and Combining Diacritical Marks blocks.
In conclusion, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) stands as a vital tool for understanding and accurately representing the diverse sounds of spoken language. Its standardized symbols empower linguists, language learners, and speech specialists to bridge the gap between written and spoken forms, particularly in languages like English, where pronunciation often defies intuitive reading. By providing a clear and systematic method to transcribe phonetic nuances, the IPA not only aids in teaching correct pronunciation but also enhances our appreciation of the intricate variations among different accents and dialects. As we continue to explore the complexities of human speech, the IPA will remain an essential resource, fostering clearer communication and deeper linguistic understanding across cultures and languages. Whether for academic study, language acquisition, or simply enhancing one’s speaking skills, mastering the IPA opens the door to a richer engagement with the sounds that shape our world.
References
- International Phonetic Association. (2021). IPA Chart. Retrieved from http://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org
- Kelly, G. (2000). How to Teach Pronunciation. Pearson Education.
- Roach, P. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. Cambridge University Press.
- Gussenhoven, C., & Jacobs, H. (2017). Understanding Phonology. Routledge.