User:Vuccala/IPA
Simplified English IPA chart[edit]
The daunting IPA charts can be simplified by listing only sounds that occur in common English (General American and British RP) and translating linguistic terms to plain English.
Consonants[edit]
Vocal cords are normally vibrated while making consonant sounds (voiced). The exceptions are the left symbol in a halved cell, and glottal consonants. These consonants are unvoiced and are white to denote that. By coupling the voiced/unvoiced aspect, and refering to the column and row of a consonant, one may find its phonological name.
For example, the "b" sound is called voiced bilabial plosive, because you voice your vocal cords while using both your lips to make a pop.
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| both lips touch | bottom lip touches top teeth | tongue tip touches top teeth | tongue touches inner gums | tongue behind gums | mid-tongue touches hard palate | mid-tongue touches soft palate | lips pursed, then retracted | throaty | ||||||||
| Plosive
(pop) |
p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | ʔ | |||||||||
| Nasal
(air thru nose) |
m | n | ŋ | |||||||||||||
| Tap or Flap | ɾ | |||||||||||||||
| Fricative
(turbulent exhale) |
f | v | θ | ð | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | ʍ | h | ||||||
| Approximant
(smooth exhale) |
ɹ | j | w | |||||||||||||
| Lateral Approximant
(side-tongue exhale) |
l | |||||||||||||||
IPA vowel trapezia[edit]
Unlike consonants, a vowel is a sustainable sound that occurs when the oral cavity is unrestricted and the vocal chords are vibrated. The IPA vowel chart is a trapezoid. Upwards, the oral cavity is narrowed; downwards it is opened. Leftwards, the top of the tongue is moved toothwards; rightwards it is moved towards the back of the throat. In the rightmost row, vowels right of the line indicate that the lips are rounded.