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Every sound, one alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet gives each sound exactly one symbol. Learn the 130 below once and you can read the pronunciation of any word in any of the 9 languages here — and see which sounds you already own from a language you speak. Click a symbol to see how each language spells it.
Per-language views (spelling → sound rules, with a word tracer): English · French · Spanish · German · Italian · Georgian · Mandarin Chinese · Cantonese · Malay
Consonants
Where the air is stopped or squeezed.
p
voiceless bilabial plosive
p in spin
en · fr · es · de · it · zh · yue · ms
b
voiced bilabial plosive
b in bat
en · fr · es · de · it · ka · ms
t
voiceless alveolar plosive
t in stop
en · fr · es · de · it · zh · yue · ms
d
voiced alveolar plosive
d in dog
en · fr · es · de · it · ka · ms
k
voiceless velar plosive
k in skin, c in cat
en · fr · es · de · it · zh · yue · ms
ɡ
voiced velar plosive
g in go
en · fr · es · de · it · ka · ms
ʔ
glottal stop
the catch in uh-oh
ms
m
bilabial nasal
m in man
en · fr · es · de · it · ka · zh · yue · ms
n
alveolar nasal
n in no
en · fr · es · de · it · ka · zh · yue · ms
ɲ
palatal nasal
ñ in Spanish año, gn in French agneau
fr · es · it · ms
ŋ
velar nasal
ng in sing
en · de · zh · yue · ms
f
voiceless labiodental fricative
f in fan
en · fr · es · de · it · zh · yue · ms
v
voiced labiodental fricative
v in van
en · fr · de · it · ka
θ
voiceless dental fricative
th in think; Spanish (Spain) z, ce, ci
en · es
ð
voiced dental fricative
th in this
en · es
s
voiceless alveolar fricative
s in sun
en · fr · es · de · it · ka · zh · yue · ms
z
voiced alveolar fricative
z in zoo
en · fr · de · it · ka · ms
ʃ
voiceless postalveolar fricative
sh in ship
en · fr · de · it · ka · ms
ʒ
voiced postalveolar fricative
s in measure, French j
en · fr · ka
ç
voiceless palatal fricative
German ich-Laut (ich, nicht)
de
x
voiceless velar fricative
German ach-Laut (Bach), Spanish j (jamón)
es · de · zh · ms
ʁ
voiced uvular fricative
French and German r
fr · de
h
voiceless glottal fricative
h in hat
en · de · ka · yue · ms
t͡ʃ
voiceless postalveolar affricate
ch in church, Spanish ch, Italian c(i)
en · es · de · it · ms
d͡ʒ
voiced postalveolar affricate
j in judge, Italian g(i)
en · it · ka · ms
t͡s
voiceless alveolar affricate
German z (Zeit), Italian z (pizza)
de · it · zh · yue
d͡z
voiced alveolar affricate
Italian z in zero, mezzo
it · ka
p͡f
voiceless labiodental affricate
German pf in Pferd
de
l
alveolar lateral approximant
l in light
en · fr · es · de · it · ka · zh · yue · ms
ʎ
palatal lateral approximant
Italian gl(i) in figlio
it
ɹ
alveolar approximant
English r in red
en
r
alveolar trill
Spanish rr in perro, Italian r
es · it · ka · ms
ɾ
alveolar tap
Spanish single r in pero; American t in butter
es
β
voiced bilabial fricative/approximant
Spanish b/v between vowels (haber)
es
ɣ
voiced velar fricative/approximant
Spanish g between vowels (agua)
es · ka · ms
pʰ
aspirated voiceless bilabial plosive
p with a puff of air — English p in pin; Mandarin p, Georgian ფ
ka · zh · yue
tʰ
aspirated voiceless alveolar plosive
t with a puff — English t in top; Mandarin t, Georgian თ
ka · zh · yue
kʰ
aspirated voiceless velar plosive
k with a puff — English k in kin; Mandarin k, Georgian ქ
ka · zh · yue
kʷ
labialised voiceless velar plosive
Cantonese gw in gwong 廣
yue
kʷʰ
aspirated labialised voiceless velar plosive
Cantonese kw in kwai 葵
yue
t͡sʰ
aspirated voiceless alveolar affricate
Mandarin c (cài), Cantonese c, Georgian ც
ka · zh · yue
t͡ʃʰ
aspirated voiceless postalveolar affricate
Georgian ჩ
ka
t͡ɕ
voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate
Mandarin j (jī) — a 'j' with the tongue flat and forward
zh
t͡ɕʰ
aspirated voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate
Mandarin q (qī)
zh
ɕ
voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative
Mandarin x (xī) — between s and sh
zh
ʈ͡ʂ
voiceless retroflex affricate
Mandarin zh (zhī) — tongue curled back
zh
ʈ͡ʂʰ
aspirated voiceless retroflex affricate
Mandarin ch (chī)
zh
ʂ
voiceless retroflex fricative
Mandarin sh (shī)
zh
ʐ
voiced retroflex fricative/approximant
Mandarin r (rì) — 'r' and 'zh' at once
zh
pʼ
bilabial ejective
Georgian პ — p with the glottis shut, a popped sound
ka
tʼ
alveolar ejective
Georgian ტ
ka
kʼ
velar ejective
Georgian კ
ka
qʼ
uvular ejective
Georgian ყ — the famous one in ბაყაყი 'frog'
ka
t͡sʼ
alveolar ejective affricate
Georgian წ
ka
t͡ʃʼ
postalveolar ejective affricate
Georgian ჭ
ka
χ
voiceless uvular fricative
Georgian ხ — further back than German ach
ka
ħ
voiceless pharyngeal fricative
Arabic ح — a breathy h squeezed in the throat
—
ʕ
voiced pharyngeal fricative
Arabic ع ('ayn) — say 'ah' while squeezing the throat
—
q
voiceless uvular plosive
Arabic ق — a k far back at the uvula
—
sˤ
pharyngealised (emphatic) s
Arabic ص — s with a deep, dark quality
—
dˤ
pharyngealised (emphatic) d
Arabic ض — the famous ḍād; Arabic calls itself 'the language of the ḍād'
—
tˤ
pharyngealised (emphatic) t
Arabic ط
—
ðˤ
pharyngealised (emphatic) ð
Arabic ظ
—
ʝ
voiced palatal fricative
Greek γ before e/i (γη) — a buzzed y
—
m̩
syllabic bilabial nasal
Cantonese m4 唔 'not' — a whole syllable of m
yue
ŋ̩
syllabic velar nasal
Cantonese ng5 五 'five'
yue
Glides
Consonant-like vowels: y, w, and the French ɥ.
Vowels
Tongue height × front/back × lip rounding. Nasal ones are French.
i
close front unrounded
ee in see (short and tense in Romance)
fr · es · it · ka · zh · ms
iː
long close front unrounded
ee in see
en · de · yue
ɪ
near-close near-front unrounded
i in sit
en · de · yue
y
close front rounded
French u in tu, German ü in über
fr · zh
yː
long close front rounded
German ü in Tür
de · yue
ʏ
near-close near-front rounded
German ü in fünf
de
e
close-mid front unrounded
French é, Spanish e
fr · es · it · ms
eː
long close-mid front unrounded
German ee in See
de
ɛ
open-mid front unrounded
e in bed, French è
en · fr · de · it · ka · zh
ɛː
long open-mid front unrounded
German ä in Käse (careful speech)
de · yue
ø
close-mid front rounded
French eu in peu
fr
øː
long close-mid front rounded
German ö in schön
de
œ
open-mid front rounded
French eu in peur, German ö in können
fr · de
ə
mid central (schwa)
a in about, French e in le
en · fr · de · zh · ms
ɜː
long open-mid central unrounded
ur in nurse (British)
en
ɐ
near-open central
German -er in Mutter
de · yue
æ
near-open front unrounded
a in cat
en
a
open front unrounded
Spanish/Italian a, French a in patte
fr · es · de · it · ka · zh · ms
aː
long open front unrounded
German a in Vater
de · yue
ɑ
open back unrounded
French a in pâte (conservative)
fr · zh
ɑː
long open back unrounded
a in father
en
ɒ
open back rounded
o in lot (British)
en
ɔ
open-mid back rounded
French o in port, Italian o in cosa
fr · de · it · ka
ɔː
long open-mid back rounded
aw in law
en · yue
o
close-mid back rounded
French eau, Spanish o
fr · es · it · zh · ms
oː
long close-mid back rounded
German o in Boot
de
ʊ
near-close near-back rounded
u in put
en · de · zh · yue
u
close back rounded
French ou, Spanish u
fr · es · it · ka · zh · ms
uː
long close back rounded
oo in food
en · de · yue
ʌ
open-mid back unrounded
u in cup
en
ɑ̃
nasal open back
French an/en in sans, vent
fr
ɛ̃
nasal open-mid front
French in/ain in vin, pain
fr
ɔ̃
nasal open-mid back rounded
French on in bon
fr
œ̃
nasal open-mid front rounded
French un in brun (merging with ɛ̃ in Paris)
fr
ɤ
close-mid back unrounded
Mandarin e in hē, gē — an 'o' with spread lips
zh
ɚ
r-coloured mid central
Mandarin er (èr, érzi); American er in butter
zh
ɹ̩
syllabic apical vowel (after z c s)
Mandarin zi, ci, si — the 'i' is a buzzed continuation of the consonant
zh
ɻ̩
syllabic retroflex apical vowel (after zh ch sh r)
Mandarin zhi, chi, shi, ri
zh
ɵ
close-mid central rounded
Cantonese eo in ceot 出, seon 信
yue
œː
long open-mid front rounded
Cantonese oe in hoeng 香
yue
Diphthongs
Two vowels in one syllable — English and German love them.
eɪ
closing diphthong
a in face
en
aɪ
closing diphthong
i in price, German ei in mein
en · de
ɔɪ
closing diphthong
oy in boy, German eu in neu
en · de
aʊ
closing diphthong
ou in mouth, German au in Haus
en · de
əʊ
closing diphthong
o in goat (British)
en
ɪə
centring diphthong
ear in near (British)
en
eə
centring diphthong
air in square (British)
en
ai
closing diphthong a→i
Mandarin ai (ài), Malay ai (pantai), Georgian აი
zh · ms
au
closing diphthong a→u
Malay au (pulau)
ms
aːi
long closing diphthong aː→i
Cantonese aai (gaai1 街)
yue
aːu
long closing diphthong aː→u
Cantonese aau (gaau3 教)
yue
ɑʊ
closing diphthong ɑ→ʊ
Mandarin ao (hǎo)
zh
oʊ
closing diphthong o→ʊ
Mandarin ou (dōu); American o in go
zh
ei
closing diphthong e→i
Mandarin ei (hēi), Cantonese ei (sei3 四)
zh · yue
ou
closing diphthong o→u
Cantonese ou (hou2 好)
yue
ɐi
closing diphthong ɐ→i
Cantonese ai (sai3 細)
yue
ɐu
closing diphthong ɐ→u
Cantonese au (gau2 九)
yue
ɵy
closing diphthong ɵ→y
Cantonese eoi (seoi2 水)
yue
iːu
closing diphthong iː→u
Cantonese iu (siu2 小)
yue
uːi
closing diphthong uː→i
Cantonese ui (bui1 杯)
yue
ɔːi
closing diphthong ɔː→i
Cantonese oi (hoi1 開)
yue