Interactive IPA Chart

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a set of symbols that linguists use to describe the sounds of spoken languages.

This page lets you hear the sounds that the symbols represent, but remember that it is only a rough guide. There is lots of variation in how these sounds are said depending on the language and context. For example, in English voiceless plosives usually end with a puff of air called aspiration, but the voiceless plosives on this page aren't aspirated.

Choose a symbol to hear the sound it represents.

For best results, please use a browser with HTML5 Audio support. The latest version of any popular web browser will do.

Vowels

Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel.

Front
Central
Back
Close
Close-mid
Open-mid
Open
i y
ɨ ʉ
ɯ u
ɪ ʏ
ʊ
e ø
ɘ ɵ
ɤ o
ə
ɛ œ
ɜ ɞ
ʌ ɔ
æ
ɐ
a ɶ
ɑ ɒ

Pulmonic consonants

Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant.

Areas shaded grey indicate articulations judged impossible.

Bi­labial Labio­dental Dental Alveolar Post alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
Plosive p b t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k g q ɢ ʔ
Nasal m ɱ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ
Trill ʙ r ʀ
Tap or Flap ɾ ɽ
Fricative ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ
Lateral Fricative ɬ ɮ
Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ
Lateral Approximant l ɭ ʎ ʟ

Non-pulmonic consonants

ClicksVoiced implosivesEjectives
ʘ Bilabialɓ Bilabial Bilabial
ǀ Dentalɗ Dental/alveolar Dental/alveolar
ǃ (Post)alveoalarʄ Palatal Velar
ǂ Palatoalveolarɠ Velar Alveolar fricative
ǁ Alveolar lateralʛ Uvularʼ etc…

Other symbols

ʍ Voiceless labial-velar fricative
w Voiced labial-velar approximant
ɥ Voiced labial-palatal approximant
ʜ Voiceless epiglottal fricative
ʢ Voiced epiglottal fricative
ʡ Epiglottal plosive
ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative
ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal fricative
ɺ Alveolar lateral flap
ɧ Simultaneous ʃ and x

Affricates

t͡s Voiceless alveolar affricate
t͡ʃ Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate
t͡ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate
ʈ͡ʂ Voiceless retroflex affricate
d͡z Voiced alveolar affricate
d͡ʒ Voiced post-alveolar affricate
d͡ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate
ɖ͡ʐ Voiceless retroflex affricate

Queries and comments can be directed to [email protected]