Every symbol on the IPA chart that is not already on your keyboard, grouped the way the chart groups them.
IPA words to try
Tap a word to put it in the box above, or type it yourself with the keys shown.
| Word | Meaning | Type |
|---|---|---|
| about | tap the symbols | |
| think | tap the symbols | |
| measure | tap the symbols | |
| ship | tap the symbols | |
| father (British) | tap the symbols |
What is on this keyboard
The International Phonetic Alphabet has a symbol for every distinct speech sound in the world's languages. Many are ordinary Latin letters: p, b, t, d, k, m, n, f, v, s, z, h, l, w, j, and the vowels a, e, i, o, u, y. You already have those on your own keyboard, so this page shows only the symbols you do not have, grouped the way the official IPA chart groups them: vowels, consonants, clicks and implosives, stress and length marks, and diacritics.
Every symbol is standard Unicode text. What you copy pastes into Word, Google Docs, email and most websites, and displays correctly in any modern font with IPA coverage, which includes the default fonts on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
The symbols English needs
If you are transcribing English, these are the ones you will use most:
| Symbol | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ə | schwa, the unstressed "uh" | about /əˈbaʊt/ |
| ɪ ʊ | short i and u | bit /bɪt/, book /bʊk/ |
| æ ʌ ɑ ɔ ɛ | other vowels | cat /kæt/, cup /kʌp/ |
| θ ð | th, voiceless and voiced | thin /θɪn/, this /ðɪs/ |
| ʃ ʒ | sh and the s in measure | ship /ʃɪp/, vision /ˈvɪʒən/ |
| tʃ dʒ | ch and j | church /tʃɜːtʃ/, judge /dʒʌdʒ/ |
| ŋ | ng | sing /sɪŋ/ |
| ɹ | the English r | red /ɹɛd/ |
| ˈ ˌ ː | primary stress, secondary stress, long | father /ˈfɑːðə/ |
Diacritics
Diacritics are small marks that modify the symbol before them: nasal ◌̃ as in French vin /vɛ̃/, voiceless ◌̥, syllabic ◌̩ as in button /ˈbʌtn̩/, and so on. They are combining characters, so type the base letter first and then tap the diacritic; it attaches to the letter rather than taking a space of its own. On the keys they are drawn on a dotted circle, which stands for "the letter before".
Superscript modifiers such as aspiration ʰ, labialisation ʷ and palatalisation ʲ are separate letters, not combining marks, and simply follow the symbol: /pʰɪn/.
British and American dictionary conventions
English dictionaries agree on most symbols but differ in a few places, so match the dictionary your teacher or publisher uses:
- The r sound. Most dictionaries write /r/ for English r because it is simpler to type; strict IPA uses /ɹ/, which is the symbol for the English sound. Both are common in linguistics courses.
- The vowel in "nurse". British dictionaries write /ɜː/; American ones often write /ɝ/ for the stressed r-coloured vowel and /ɚ/ for the unstressed one in "butter".
- The vowel in "goat". British /əʊ/, American /oʊ/.
- Length marks. British dictionaries mark long vowels with ː (/iː/, /uː/); many American dictionaries leave it out.
- The flap. The t in American "water" is often written /ɾ/, the tap symbol, in phonetic transcription.
Slashes and brackets
Linguists put a phonemic transcription, the sounds a language treats as distinct, between slashes: /kæt/. A phonetic transcription, recording exactly how something was said, goes in square brackets: [kʰæʔ]. Type the slashes and brackets from your own keyboard.