IPA and Phonological Features Catalog
A reference catalog of the International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 2020) plus the binary and scalar distinctive features used in generative phonology since SPE (Chomsky & Halle 1968). Tables give the IPA symbol, articulatory description, ASCII/X-SAMPA equivalent, attested languages, and (for distinctive features) the contrasts each feature licenses. Use this when transcribing data, parsing a phonological analysis, or specifying a sound system precisely.
I. Pulmonic Consonants (IPA 2020)
Place is read across; manner is read down. Each cell shows the voiceless / voiced pair where both exist.
| Manner ↓ / Place → | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | — | t̪ d̪ | t d | — | ʈ ɖ | c ɟ | k ɡ | q ɢ | — | ʔ |
| Nasal | m | ɱ | — | n | — | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ | ɴ | — | — |
| Trill | ʙ | — | — | r | — | — | — | — | ʀ | — | — |
| Tap or Flap | — | ⱱ | — | 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 | — | — | — |
Affricates and exemplary languages
| Symbol | Description | ASCII / X-SAMPA | Example language(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| p | voiceless bilabial plosive | p | English pat; Spanish padre |
| b | voiced bilabial plosive | b | English bat; French bain |
| t | voiceless alveolar plosive | t | English top (slightly retracted) |
| d | voiced alveolar plosive | d | English dog |
| t̪ | voiceless dental plosive | t_d | Spanish tema; French temps |
| ʈ | voiceless retroflex plosive | t` | Hindi ṭ; Tamil |
| c | voiceless palatal plosive | c | Hungarian ty; Albanian q |
| k | voiceless velar plosive | k | English cat |
| ɡ | voiced velar plosive | g | English good |
| q | voiceless uvular plosive | q | Arabic qāf; Quechua |
| ʔ | glottal stop | ? | Arabic hamza; many English dialects (button) |
| m | bilabial nasal | m | English man |
| ɱ | labiodental nasal | F | English comfort (allophone) |
| n | alveolar nasal | n | English net |
| ɳ | retroflex nasal | n` | Hindi ṇ |
| ɲ | palatal nasal | J | Spanish ñ; French gn |
| ŋ | velar nasal | N | English sing |
| ɴ | uvular nasal | N\ | Japanese final ん allophone |
| ʙ | bilabial trill | B\ | Pirahã; Titan (Manus Province PNG) |
| r | alveolar trill | r | Spanish rr; Italian; Russian р |
| ʀ | uvular trill | R\ | (occasionally) French r |
| ɾ | alveolar tap | 4 | Spanish pero; English better (Am.) |
| ɽ | retroflex flap | r` | Hindi ड़ |
| ɸ | voiceless bilabial fricative | p\ | Japanese f in fu; Ewe |
| β | voiced bilabial fricative | B | Spanish b/v intervocalic |
| f | voiceless labiodental fricative | f | English fan |
| v | voiced labiodental fricative | v | English van |
| θ | voiceless dental fricative | T | English thin; Castilian z |
| ð | voiced dental fricative | D | English this; Icelandic ð |
| s | voiceless alveolar fricative | s | English sip |
| z | voiced alveolar fricative | z | English zip |
| ʃ | voiceless postalveolar fricative | S | English ship |
| ʒ | voiced postalveolar fricative | Z | English measure; French j |
| ʂ | voiceless retroflex fricative | s` | Mandarin sh; Polish sz |
| ʐ | voiced retroflex fricative | z` | Mandarin r; Polish ż |
| ç | voiceless palatal fricative | C | German ich; Japanese hi |
| ʝ | voiced palatal fricative | j\ | Spanish y; Greek γ before front V |
| x | voiceless velar fricative | x | Spanish j; German ach; Scottish loch |
| ɣ | voiced velar fricative | G | Modern Greek γ; Dutch g |
| χ | voiceless uvular fricative | X | German Bach; Hebrew ḥ |
| ʁ | voiced uvular fricative | R | Standard French r; German r |
| ħ | voiceless pharyngeal fricative | X\ | Arabic ḥāʾ |
| ʕ | voiced pharyngeal fricative | ?\ | Arabic ʿayn |
| h | voiceless glottal fricative | h | English hat |
| ɦ | voiced glottal fricative | h\ | Czech h; Hindi ह |
| ɬ | voiceless alveolar lateral fricative | K | Welsh ll; Zulu hl; Navajo ł |
| ɮ | voiced alveolar lateral fricative | K\ | Zulu dl; Mongolian л |
| ʋ | labiodental approximant | P | Dutch w; Hindi व |
| ɹ | alveolar approximant | r\ | English r |
| ɻ | retroflex approximant | r` | American English r in some dialects |
| j | palatal approximant | j | English yes; German ja |
| ɰ | velar approximant | M\ | Korean 으 semivowel |
| l | alveolar lateral approximant | l | English let |
| ɭ | retroflex lateral approximant | l` | Tamil ḷ |
| ʎ | palatal lateral approximant | L | Italian gli; Catalan ll |
| ʟ | velar lateral approximant | L\ | Mid-Wahgi (PNG); Sora |
| t͡s | voiceless alveolar affricate | ts | German z; Russian ц |
| d͡z | voiced alveolar affricate | dz | Italian zona; Polish dz |
| t͡ʃ | voiceless postalveolar affricate | tS | English church |
| d͡ʒ | voiced postalveolar affricate | dZ | English judge |
| ʈ͡ʂ | voiceless retroflex affricate | ts` | Mandarin zh |
| ɖ͡ʐ | voiced retroflex affricate | dz` | Polish dż |
| t͡ɕ | voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate | ts\ | Mandarin j; Japanese ち |
| d͡ʑ | voiced alveolo-palatal affricate | dz\ | Polish dź; Japanese じ |
II. Non-Pulmonic Consonants
| Symbol | Description | Languages |
|---|---|---|
| ʘ | bilabial click | !Xóõ; Nǁng |
| ǀ | dental click | Zulu c; Xhosa c |
| ǃ | (post)alveolar click | Zulu q; Xhosa q; !Kung |
| ǂ | palatoalveolar click | !Xóõ; Nama |
| ǁ | alveolar lateral click | Zulu x; Xhosa x |
| ɓ | voiced bilabial implosive | Hausa ɓ; Swahili (some dialects); Sindhi |
| ɗ | voiced alveolar implosive | Sindhi; Vietnamese đ |
| ʄ | voiced palatal implosive | Sindhi; Fula |
| ɠ | voiced velar implosive | Sindhi |
| ʛ | voiced uvular implosive | Mam (Mayan) |
| pʼ | bilabial ejective | Amharic; Quechua; Hausa |
| tʼ | alveolar ejective | Amharic; Georgian |
| kʼ | velar ejective | Amharic; Georgian; Tlingit |
| sʼ | alveolar ejective fricative | Amharic; Tlingit |
III. Vowels (cardinal + extended)
| Symbol | Description | Cardinal # | Example language |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | close front unrounded | C1 | French si; Italian vino |
| y | close front rounded | C9 | French tu; German ü |
| ɨ | close central unrounded | (ext.) | Russian ы |
| ʉ | close central rounded | (ext.) | Swedish u |
| ɯ | close back unrounded | C8 | Japanese u (compressed); Mandarin ü approximation |
| u | close back rounded | C16 | French ou; Spanish u |
| ɪ | near-close near-front unrounded | (ext.) | English bit |
| ʏ | near-close near-front rounded | (ext.) | German füllen |
| ʊ | near-close near-back rounded | (ext.) | English book |
| e | close-mid front unrounded | C2 | French é; Italian e |
| ø | close-mid front rounded | C10 | French eu; German ö |
| ɘ | close-mid central unrounded | (ext.) | Paicĩ |
| ɵ | close-mid central rounded | (ext.) | Swedish kort |
| ɤ | close-mid back unrounded | C15 | Mandarin e; Estonian õ |
| o | close-mid back rounded | C7 | Spanish o; Italian o |
| ə | mid central (schwa) | (ext.) | English about |
| ɛ | open-mid front unrounded | C3 | French è; Italian e open |
| œ | open-mid front rounded | C11 | French peur |
| ɜ | open-mid central unrounded | (ext.) | English bird (Br. RP) |
| ɞ | open-mid central rounded | (ext.) | Irish dialects |
| ʌ | open-mid back unrounded | C14 | English cup (Am.) |
| ɔ | open-mid back rounded | C6 | French o open; Italian ò |
| æ | near-open front unrounded | (ext.) | English cat |
| ɐ | near-open central | (ext.) | German Mutter final; Mandarin a in 妈 |
| a | open front unrounded | C4 | Spanish a; Italian a |
| ɶ | open front rounded | C12 | Austro-Bavarian dialects |
| ɑ | open back unrounded | C5 | French pâte; English father |
| ɒ | open back rounded | C13 | English hot (Br.) |
IV. Suprasegmentals
| Symbol | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ˈ | primary stress | Precedes stressed syllable: ˈfʌn.dəm.ən.təl |
| ˌ | secondary stress | Precedes secondarily stressed syllable |
| ː | long | aː, iː |
| ˑ | half-long | aˑ |
| ̆ | extra-short | ă |
| . | syllable break | mi.lión |
| ‿ | linking (no break) | French liaison les amis |
| | | minor (foot) group | (intonational unit) |
| ‖ | major (intonation) group | (intonational unit) |
| ↗ | global rise | (overall pitch rise across utterance) |
| ↘ | global fall | (overall pitch fall) |
| ˥ ˦ ˧ ˨ ˩ | Chao tone letters: high, half-high, mid, half-low, low | Mandarin tone 1: ˥; tone 2: ˧˥; tone 3: ˨˩˦; tone 4: ˥˩ |
| ̋ | extra-high tone | e̋ |
| ́ | high tone | é |
| ̄ | mid tone | ē |
| ̀ | low tone | è |
| ̏ | extra-low tone | ȅ |
| ̌ | rising tone | ě |
| ̂ | falling tone | ê |
| ᷈ | rising-falling tone | (Mandarin tone 3 approximation) |
V. Diacritics
| Diacritic | Position | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ̥ | below | voiceless | n̥ (voiceless /n/, Burmese hn) |
| ̬ | below | voiced | s̬ (voiced /s/, allophonic) |
| ʰ | superscript right | aspirated | tʰ (English top) |
| ̪ | below | dental | t̪ (Spanish t) |
| ̺ | below | apical (tongue tip) | s̺ (Castilian s) |
| ̻ | below | laminal (tongue blade) | s̻ |
| ̟ | below | advanced | u̟ (fronted /u/) |
| ̠ | below | retracted | i̠ |
| ̈ | above | centralized | ä |
| ̽ | above | mid-centralized | e̽ |
| ̩ | below | syllabic | n̩ (English button) |
| ̯ | below | non-syllabic | i̯ (semivowel) |
| ˞ | superscript right | rhoticity | ɚ (American English butter); ɝ (bird) |
| ʷ | superscript right | labialized | kʷ (English quick) |
| ʲ | superscript right | palatalized | tʲ (Russian ть) |
| ˠ | superscript right | velarized | ɫ (English dark /l/) |
| ˤ | superscript right | pharyngealized | tˤ (Arabic ṭāʾ) |
| ̃ | above | nasalized | ã (French temps) |
| ⁿ | superscript right | nasal release | dⁿ |
| ˡ | superscript right | lateral release | dˡ |
| ̚ | above right | no audible release | t̚ (English cat in cat-call) |
| ̤ | below | breathy voice | b̤ (Hindi bha) |
| ̰ | below | creaky voice | a̰ (Danish stød; Vietnamese tone) |
| ̼ | below | linguolabial | t̼ (Tangoa, Vanuatu) |
| ̜ | below | less rounded | ɔ̜ |
| ̹ | below | more rounded | ɔ̹ |
| ̘ | below | advanced tongue root (ATR) | i̘ (Yoruba) |
| ̙ | below | retracted tongue root (RTR) | i̙ (Akan) |
| ̝ | below | raised | e̝ |
| ̞ | below | lowered | e̞ |
| ◌ | dotted circle | placeholder for any base symbol when isolating a diacritic | (typographic only) |
VI. SPE-Style Distinctive Features (Chomsky & Halle 1968 + later)
Major class
| Feature | + value | − value | Distinguishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| [±sonorant] | vowels, nasals, liquids, glides | obstruents (stops, fricatives, affricates) | obstruent vs sonorant |
| [±consonantal] | consonants (incl. nasals, liquids) | vowels, glides | C vs V; relevant for syllable structure |
| [±approximant] | vowels, glides, liquids | obstruents, nasals | approximation vs constriction |
| [±syllabic] | vowels, syllabic consonants (English /n̩/) | non-syllabic | nucleus vs margin |
Manner
| Feature | + value | − value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| [±continuant] | fricatives, approximants, vowels | stops, nasals, affricates | airflow blockage |
| [±nasal] | nasal stops, nasalized vowels | oral | velum lowering |
| [±strident] | sibilants /s z ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ/; labiodentals /f v/ | non-strident | high-amplitude noise |
| [±lateral] | /l ɮ ɬ ʎ/ | non-lateral | central vs lateral airflow |
| [±delayed-release] | affricates | plosives | release timing |
Place (unary in current models)
| Feature | Specifies | Sub-features |
|---|---|---|
| [LABIAL] | bilabial, labiodental | [±round] |
| [CORONAL] | dental, alveolar, retroflex, palato-alveolar, palatal | [±anterior], [±distributed] |
| [DORSAL] | palatal, velar, uvular | [±high], [±low], [±back], [±tense]/[±ATR] |
| [LARYNGEAL] | glottal | [±voice], [±spread glottis], [±constricted glottis] |
Laryngeal (binary)
| Feature | + value | − value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| [±voice] | voiced segments | voiceless | vocal-fold vibration |
| [±spread glottis] | aspirated stops; /h/ | unaspirated | wide glottis |
| [±constricted glottis] | ejectives, glottalized | unconstricted | tight glottis |
Vowel features
| Feature | + value | − value | Vowels |
|---|---|---|---|
| [±high] | high vowels /i y ɯ u/ | non-high | tongue-body height |
| [±low] | low vowels /a æ ɑ/ | non-low | tongue-body height |
| [±back] | back vowels /u o ɑ/ | front | tongue-body backness |
| [±round] | rounded /y u o ø/ | unrounded | lip protrusion |
| [±tense] / [±ATR] | tense /i e u o/ in Germanic; +ATR in West African | lax /ɪ ɛ ʊ ɔ/; −ATR | root advancement; tongue + jaw |
Adjacent
- Language families catalog for which families exhibit clicks, tones, ATR contrasts, etc.
- Syntactic typology features catalog for sister grammatical typology.
- Phonetics and Phonology survey for the theoretical context.
- Historical Linguistics and Typology for sound-change patterns.
- Linguistics Tier 3 index · Linguistics Tier 1 root