The Handbook of the International Phonetic Association is a comprehensive guide to the Association's 'International Phonetic Alphabet' The aim of the International Phonetic Alphabet is to provide a universally agreed system of notation for the sounds of languages, and for over a century the Alphabet has been widely used by phoneticians and others concerned with language The Handbook presents the bas ics of phonetic analysis so that the principles underlying the Alphabet can be readily understood, and exemplifies the use of each of the phonetic symbols comprising the Alphabet The application of the Alphabet is then extensively demonstrated by the inclusion of over two dozen 'Illustrations' concise analyses of the sound systems of languages accompanied by a phonetic transcription of a passage of speech These Illustrations cover languages from allover the world The Handbook also includes a range of other useful information The 'Extensions ' to the International Phonetic Alphabet cover speech sounds beyond the sound systems of languages, such as those with paralinguistic functions and those encountered in pathological speech A full listing is given of internationally agreed computer codings for phonetic symbols, including not only those of the International Phonetic Alphabet but also those of other traditions And there is extensive information on the history of the International Phonetic Association and its current activities The Handbook is an essential reference work for all those involved in the analysis of speech The International Phonetic Association exists to promote the study of the science of phonetics and the applications of that science The Association can trace its history back to 1886, and since that time the most widely known aspect of its work has been the International Phonetic Alphabet The Handbook has been produced collaboratively by leading phoneticians who have been on the Executive of the Association , and it incorporates (for instance in the case of the Illustrations) material provided by numerous members of the Association world wide Sound file s to accompany the book are available at http ://uk cambridge.org/l ingu istics/ resourccs/ipahand book Handbook of the International Phonetic Association A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet • ::: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS I CAMBRIDGE UNI VERSITY PRESS Cambri dge, New York , Me lbourne, Madrid, Cape Town , Singa pore, Silo Paul o Cambri dge University Press The Edin burgh Bu ilding, Cambridge CB2 , 8R~, UK Published in the United States of Amer ica by Cambridge University Press, New York www cambrid ge.org Informa tion on this title:www.cam bridge.org/9780521652360 © The International Phonetic Association 1999 Th is pub lication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provis ions of relevant collective licepsing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cam bridge University Press First published 1999 Eighth printing 2007 Printed in the United Kingdom at the Unive rsity Press, Camb ridge A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN- 13 ISBN-IO ISBN-1 ISBN-I O 978-0-521 -65236-0 hardback 0-52 1-65236-7 hardbac k 978-0-521 -6375 1-0 paperback 0-521-6375 1-1 paperback The IPA fonts and severa l language fonts used in the preparation and printing of this work are available from the Linguist's Software, Inc., PO Box 580, Edmo nds, WA 98020 -0580 USA Tel: (425) 775- 1130 Cambri dge University Press has no respon sibility for the persistence or accuracy ofURLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any tent on such web sites is, or will remain, accur ate or appropriate CONTENTS Foreword The IP A Chart vii ix PART 1: Introduction to the IPA What is the International Phonetic Alphabet? Phonetic description and the IPA Chart Linguistically relevant information in speech 2.1 Segments 2.2 The consonant-vowel distinction 2.3 Consonants 2.4 Non-pulmonic consonants 2.5 Vowels 2.6 Suprasegmentals 2.7 Diacritics 2.8 Other symbols 2.9 13 15 17 Guide to IP A notation Exemplification of the symbols 3.1 Languages used f or exemplification 3.2 18 18 25 The phonemic principle 27 Broad and narrow transcriptions 28 IP A transcriptions for a language 30 Working with the IPA Symb ol names 7.1 Using the 1PA in handwriting 7.2 Using the 1PA in print 7.3 Using the 1PA on computers 7.4 The /PA and braille 7.5 31 31 31 31 31 32 Going beyond the IP A Some / 9.2 9.3 problematic issues Segmentation Aligning transcriptions and speech Transcribing the speaker or the hearer ? 10 The IPA and phonological theory 4 10 32 33 33 35 36 37 VI Contents PART 2: Illustrations of the IPA Am erican English Amharic Ara bic Bulgari an Cantonese Catalan Croa tian Czech Dutch French Galician German Hausa Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Igbo Irish Japan ese Korean Persian (Farsi) Portuguese Sindhi Slovene Swedish Taba Thai Tukang Besi Turk ish 41 45 51 55 58 61 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 96 100 104 108 II I 11 120 124 126 131 135 140 143 147 151 154 PART 3: Appendices Appendi x The Principles of the International Phonetic Associati on 159 Appendi x Computer coding of IPA symbols 161 Appendi x Extensions to the IPA 186 Appendix About the Internat ional Phonetic Association The History of the Association Statutes and By-laws How to fi nd out more about the Association How to j oin the Association 194 194 197 199 199 Appendi x 200 Referen ce charts Foreword The Handbook of the International Phoneti c Association is a resource containing co ncise information on the International Phoneti c Alph abet and guidance on how to use it - a kin d of ' use r's manual' It replaces the Principles of the Internati onal Phonet ic Asso ciation, whi ch has been out of print for some time and which had not been revi sed since 1949 Bu t although the Handb ook rep laces so me of the functions of the o ld Prin ciples , it is a completely new work with wider obje ctives The old Prin cipl es contained a short tutorial o n phonetic description, examp les of the use of neti c sy mbols, a nd a large number of ' specimens' cons isting of ver y brief comments on the phonetics of a language and a transcription of the 'No rth Wind and the Sun ' text tran s lated into the language Additionally, there was some information about the Association , and, printed on the inside covers, a brief history of it Th e new Handb ook broadly speaking retain s these components It is divided into three part s: part cont ains an introduction to phonetic de scription and exemplificatio n of the use of the sym bols; part consi sts of ' Illustrations' of the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet for different languag es (the se Illustrat ions are ones which have appeared in the Journal of the Interna tional Phonetic Association since 1989 ); and part co nta ins appendices with a variety of referen ce material Beyond the basic sim ilarity of struc ture, the Handb ook is very diffe rent from the old Principles Mo st superficial ly, perh aps , it reflects the changes whi ch have been made in that most tangible and wide ly known product of the Asso ciation' s work, the IPA Chart Discussion and e xemplification is based on the most recent (1996) edition of the chart M ore subs tant ively, the Handbook acknow ledges the fact that ove r the past half century the advance of techniques for acoustic analys is me ans th at many readers will be familiar with , and qu ite possibly workin g w ith , speech as an acou sti c s ig nal Thi s me ans it now seems appropriate to use an acoustic display such as a spe ctrogram not only as a way of pre senting one facet of speech , but a lso to discu ss problems whi ch arise in the relation betw een a segm ental ly based syste m of notation and the phy sical speec h e ve nt The Handbook will a lso co nta in practical information to with the use of the IPA on computers, such as the computer cod es for phon etic symbols Th e most fundamental d ifferences between the old Prin ciples and the new Handbook perhaps arise from the expectation that the readership of the new work w ill be much less homogen eous than that envisaged for the old o ne The new Handbook is inten de d to be a refere nce work not only for language teachers and phoneticians intere sted in the so unds of different languages, but also for speech technolo gists , speec h pa thologi sts, theoretical phon olog ists, and others Thi s breadth of readership is to be encou raged , given the goa l that the Intern at ional Ph onetic Alph abe t (hereafter ' the IPA' ) should be a standard for the represe nta tio n of speec h Bu t it poses parti cu lar cha llenges for the writ ing of the ' tutoria l' secti ons of the Handb ook The challenges are further increased by the verti ca l spread of readers from those who are experienced phon eticians to those who know nothing about phonetics The viii Foreword breadth of reader ship has led pe rha ps to a more equi vocal to ne in the pre sentati on of the premis es beh ind the IP A than in the Prin c iples For inst ance , the way in whic h the IPA dev eloped historically was c lose ly bou n6 up w ith a 'strictly segmented' ph on emic vie w, a nd in sec tio n 10 th e fac t tha t the+ a re alt ern ative s in p ho no logical theory is acknow ledged Th e ve rtica l sprea d o f readers poses the recurring quest ion of how mu ch or how little to say Th e low er bound is pres umab ly wh at a novice needs to pick up in orde r to have so me ide a of the pri nc ip les gove rni ng the organiza tio n of the c rt The upper bo u nd is the pr acti c al go a l of a com pac t booklet , read ily afford able by stude nts, and co ncis e en ou gh to be easi ly di ge sted by non-sp ec ialist rea de rs Th e resulting text in part I is more discur sive than tha t of the ol d Principles It sh ould , be borne in mi nd, how ev er, that it does riot atte m pt the job either o f a phonetics te xtb ook, or of a critique o f the IPA Now ad ays th~re are many good ne tics te xtbook s available, an d it woul d be exp ected that studen ts of ph onetics wo u ld read one or more o f the se in co nj unc tio n with the Handbook The pu rp ose of the Handb ook is not to pro vide a co mpre he nsive or balan ced ed uc ation in: ph on etics , but to provide a conc ise summary of infor ma tio n needed for ge tting to grips with the IP A Likew ise , wh ilst a full -scale c ritique of the assumption s o n wh ich the IP A is fo unde d is pe rhap s du e , the pr acticall y-oriented Handb ook is not the plac e for it T he IPI\ is a working tool for many, and whil st it may be poss ible to improve that tool, the role of the Handbook is that of an instructi on manua l for the too! whi ch is curren tly available Th e cre ation of the Handb ook has been in ev ery se nse a co llaborative effo rt Th e te xt in part I is largel y the res po nsi bi lity of Francis Nol an , and the exemplificati on of the use of so u nds was provi ded by Peter Lad ef oge d and Ian M addi e son Ian M addieso n, and M artin B arry , as successive edi tors of th e Journal of the In tern ational Ph on et ic Association, hav e been res pons ible for oversee ing and co lla ting the rich an d e ve r gro wi ng stoc k of Illu str ati o ns Mart in Ba ll was inst ru me nta l in fo rmulati ng the Exten sion s to the IPA (a ppendix 3), and Mi ke Mac Maho n wr ote a ppe nd ix o n th e hist or y of th e Association John Es ling is res po nsi ble for appe ndix on the co mp ute r co di ng of sy mbols, and for most of the wor k invol ved in the final stages of preparing the Hand book inclu din g the fin al editi ng o f the lIIu stration s And, of course, particul ar thanks are due to the authors of the Illu st rations, and to the large number of members of the I ntern atio nal Ph on et ic Associati on who responded with sug ges tions and co rrec tio ns when a draft of pa rts of the Handbook was pu blish ed in the Journal of the International Phonetic Association THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (revised to 1993, updated 1996) CONSONAN TS (PUL MONIC) Brlabsal Lab rodental Dental I Alveolar Ipostalveo lar p b Plosivc Nasal ill Trill B t d n r IlJ Retroflex Fricative f {j U Lateral ~ approx rrnnnt Where symbols appenr In pairs the one (Q ~ I Denial cf f (Posn otvcolar :f II Pelaroa lvccla r Alveolar lateral G I~i I) J1 Labialized Palatalized vcl anzed Pbar yngc ntn ed 1? g a a n - ! Q t W dW tj dj n c tV dV I t\' d) , Velarized or pbary ngeahzcd Raised ~ l owered If Advanced Tongue ROOI Retr acted Tongue ROOI D W here symbols appea r III pa irs, the one to the ng ht represe nts a rounded vo we l l;[ rCSS Se cond ary stress founo'n]on Di acritics may be placed above J symbol with a descender e.g § B a CE~Q vcr cclcss cp rglon al tn can vc IJ