Phonetic Symbols (IPA)

What the IPA is

The International Phonetic Alphabet gives one symbol to each speech sound, so a transcription can be read the same way in any language. Dictionaries use it to show pronunciation: thought is /θɔːt/ in British English. The symbols are mostly Latin letters, borrowed Greek letters such as θ and χ, and specially created shapes such as ʃ (esh) and ŋ (eng). The official chart is published by the International Phonetic Association.

The symbols English speakers meet most

• ə, the schwa: the unstressed vowel in about. See the schwa page.
• ʃ in ship, ʒ in measure, tʃ in church and dʒ in judge.
• θ in think and ð in this.
• ŋ in sing, and ɹ, the English r.
• ˈ before the stressed syllable and ː after a long vowel: /ˈwɔːtə/.

Typing IPA

No standard keyboard has IPA symbols, so most linguists copy them, as here, or install a dedicated IPA keyboard layout. On a Mac, the Character Viewer lists them under “Phonetic Alphabet” once you add that category. In Word, type the hex code and press Alt + X, for example 0259 for ə. Use a font with full IPA coverage, such as Charis SIL, Doulos SIL or Noto Sans, so that diacritics sit correctly. For accented letters used in ordinary spelling rather than transcription, see letters with accents, and for tie bars and other marks, the letterlike symbols page.