International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Pronunciations of words are typically written in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), an alphabet designed to represent any sound in any of the world’s languages consistently, where each symbol always represents the same sound.

Linguistic Discovery: IPA Chart

International Phonetics Association: https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/IPA_charts_TI/IPA_charts_TI.html

IPA Chart (Official).png

Abbreviations

Abbreviations commonly used in running text.

Abbreviation	Meaning
c. / ca.	circa (Latin: ‘around’)
BCE	Before the Common Era (equivalent to BC)
BP	Before Present (calibrated at 1950)
C	consonant
cf.	confer (Latin: ‘compare’)
CE	Common Era (equivalent to AD)
ed. / eds.	editor(s)
e.g.	exemplī grātiā (Latin: ‘for the sake of an example’)
etc.	et cetera (Latin: ‘and other things’)
ff.	and following
fn.	footnote
H	high tone
i.e.	id est (Latin: ‘that is, …’)
L	low tone
M	mid tone
p. / pp.	page / pages
sic	sic (Latin: ‘thus; as is’)
V	vowel
viz.	videlicet (Latin: ‘namely; that is to say’)
ya	Years Ago

Symbols

Symbols with special meaning in linguistics or academia.

Symbol	Name	Description
⟨ ⟩	angle brackets	orthographic transcription
*	asterisk	reconstructed / hypothetical
ungrammatical / unattested
A ⇢ B	dotted arrow	B is borrowed from A
=	equal sign	clitic boundary
#	hash / pound sign	word boundary
-	hyphen	morpheme boundary
.	period / full stop	syllable boundary
ˈ	primary stress	primary stress (placed before the syllable)
§	section sign	section of a text
/ /	slashes	phonemic transcription
A → B	solid arrow	inherited from A → B
A becomes B
[ ]	square brackets	phonetic transcription
A ~ B	tilde	A alternates with B
A ⤳ B	wavy arrow	uncertain etymology
ˌ	secondary stress	secondary stress (placed before the stressed syllable)
3;9	semicolon	years;months old

Glosses

Abbreviations for grammatical terms used in interlinear examples and glosses.

Abbr.	Category	Meaning	Notes
1	first person	I, we
2	second person	you, y’all
3	third person	he, she, it, they
ACT	active voice		A clause where the subject is the actor.
AGT	agent		The argument in a clause that acts with volition, instigates or performs the action, etc.
AND	andative	going (to)
APPL	applicative		Adds an argument to the verb.
CISLOC	cislocative	hither
to here
CL	class
classifier		Used for noun/verb classes/gender.
Used for noun/verb classifiers.
COMP	complementizer	that	Used to mark complement clauses (clauses that function as an argument of another clause).
CONT	continuative	still doing	Ongoing, dynamic actions that are still happening.
CONTR	contrastive
DEB	debitive	ought
must
should	A grammatical mood expressing obligation or duty.
DEF	definite	the	Indicates a referent that is identifiable to the hearer.
DUAL	dual	two	A number marker specifically for two items.
DUACT	duactional	two	Indicates that the action involves two of something—a dual pluractional. Also called dualic or duplicative.
DUR	durative		Events that have duration.
EXIST	existential	there is/are
F	feminine	she	Feminine grammatical gender.
FUT	future	will
IND	indicative		A type of realis mood used for statements of fact. Also used as the default/unmarked mood.
IRR	irrealis		A grammatical mood that indicates that a situation is not known or asserted to have happened.
LINK	linking element		An element whose sole purpose it is to connect elements of a compound.
LOC	locative	in, at, on	Indicates a location.
M	masculine	he	Masculine grammatical gender.
MID	middle voice		A verb form where the causer of the action is left unspecified (also called anticausative).
N	neuter	it	Neuter grammatical gender.
NEG	negative	no; not
NZR	nominalizer		A morpheme that marks nouns or derives nouns from other parts of speech.
OBJ	object		The less topical/salient argument of a clause.
PART	partitive	some	Indicates a part or quantity of something.
PASS	passive voice		A clause where the subject is the patient or undergoer of the action.
PAST	past tense	-ed
PAT	patient		The argument in a clause that does not act with volition, instigate the action, etc.
PL	plural	-s	More than one.
PLACT	pluractional		Indicates plural actions.
PRES	present tense
PROG	progressive	-ing	Ongoing, dynamic actions.
PROX	proximal		Can refer to space or time.
Q	question	?	Usually a question particle.
REAL	realis		A grammatical mood that asserts that an event or situation happened or is true.
RECIP	reciprocal	each other
REFL	reflexive	oneself
REL	relative	that
which	Marks a relative clause or relativized verb.
REP	repetitive		A repetitive activity.
REV	reversive	undoing
reversing
SEMIREFL	semi-reflexive		A category in some Iroquoian languages similar to a middle voice.
SG	singular		One of something.
STAT	stative		Situations that do not involve change over time.

Informational Boxes

<aside> 🌠

</aside>

<aside> *️⃣

</aside>

<aside> ℹ️

</aside>