Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Positions with a dash are articulations judged impossible. Blank positions are possible but do not have dedicated symbols. Use diacritics or ties to transcribe these sounds instead, e.g. /m̥/ for the voiceless bilabial nasal, /t̼/ for the voiceless linguolabial stop, /ɽ͡r/ for the retroflex trill, etc.
| | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Retroflex | Alveolo-Palatal | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal / Epiglottal | Glottal | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Plosive/Stop | p b | | | t d | | ʈ ɖ | | c ɟ | k ɡ | q ɢ | ʡ — | ʔ — | | Nasal | m | ɱ | | n | | ɳ | | ɲ | ŋ | ɴ | — | — | | Trill | ʙ | | | r | | | | | — | ʀ | ʜ ʢ | — | | Tap/Flap | | ⱱ | | ɾ | | ɽ | | | — | | | — | | Lateral Tap/Flap | | | | ɺ | | 𝼈 | | | | | | — | | Fricative | ϕ β | f v | θ ð | s z | ʃ ʒ | ʂ ʐ | ɕ ʑ | ç ʝ | x ɣ | χ ʁ | ħ ʕ | h ɦ | | Lateral Fricative | — | — | | ɬ ɮ | | ꞎ | | 𝼆 | 𝼄 | | — | — | | Approximant | | ʋ | | ɹ | | ɻ | | j | ɰ | | | — | | Lateral Approximant | — | — | | l | | ɭ | | ʎ | ʟ | | — | — |
| Click | Implosive | Ejective | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | ʘ | ɓ | pʼ |
| Dental / Alveolar | ǀ | ɗ | tʼ |
| Retroflex | 𝼊 | ᶑ | ʈʼ |
| (Post)alveolar | ǃ | — | ʃʼ |
| Palatoalveolar / Palatal | ǂ | ʄ | cʼ |
| Alveolar Lateral | ǁ | — | ɬʼ |
| Velar | (ʞ) | ɠ | kʼ |
| Uvular | — | ʛ | qʼ |
| etc. |
Affricates and double articulations can be represented by two symbols joined by a tie bar if necessary:
t͡ʃ d͡ʒ k͡p g͡b
Diphthongs are often written as simple sequences of letters, e.g. /aɪ/, but for clarity they can be written with a superscript for the onglide or offglide:
aᶦ eᶦ oᶷ ᵘi
| ɧ | voiceless palatal-velar fricative |
|---|---|
| ɥ̊ ɥ | labial-palatal fricative/approximant |
| ʍ w | labial-velar fricative/approximant |
| ɫ | velarized alveolar |
| ɕ ʑ | alveolo-palatal sibilant fricative |
Raised (superscript) letters indicate secondary aspects of articulation, such as onsets, releases, aspirations, incomplete articulations, etc.
| tʲ | palatalized /t/ |
|---|---|
| ᵏp | /p/ with velar onset |
| tᵊ | /t/ with light epenthetic [ə] |
| ᵐb | prenasalized /b/ |
| tʃ | consonant cluster |
|---|---|
| t͡ʃ | affricate |
| tᶴ | stop with fricative release / secondary articulation |
◌ = character placeholder
| Airstream | ||
|---|---|---|
| ◌ʼ | kʼ | ejective |
| Syllabicity | ||
| ◌̯ ◌̑ | e̯ y̑ | non-syllabic |
| ◌̩ ◌̍ | n̩ ŋ̍ | syllabic |
| Consonant Release | ||
| ◌ʰ | tʰ | aspirated |
| ◌ˡ | dˡ | lateral release |
| ◌ⁿ | dⁿ | nasal release |
| ◌̚ | p̚ | no audible release |
| Phonation | ||
| ◌̤ | b̤ ɖ̤ | breathy voiced |
| ◌̰ | b̰ ɖ̰ | creaky voiced |
| ◌̬ | s̬ ʈ̬ | voiced |
| ◌̥ ◌̊ | n̥ ŋ̥ ŋ̊ | voiceless |
| Articulation | ||
| ◌̟ ◌᫈ | u̟ g̟ | advanced/fronted |
| ◌̺ ◌ | t̺ ʒ̺ ʒ | apical |
| ◌̈ | ë | centralized |
| ◌̪ ◌͆ | t̪ ɮ̪ ɮ͆ | dental |
| ◌̞ ◌ | e̞ β̞ y | lowered |
| ◌̽ | e̽ | mid-centralized |
| ◌̝ ◌᷵ | e̝ y̝ | raised |
| ◌̼ ◌ | t̼ ɮ̼ ɮ | linguolabial |
| ◌̻ ◌ | t̻ ʒ̻ ʒ | laminal |
| ◌̠ ◌ | e̠ y̠ y | retracted/back |
| Coarticulation | ||
| ◌̘ ◌ | e̘ y̘ y | advanced tongue root |
| ◌ˀ | mˀ | glottalization |
| ◌ʷ | tʷ dʷ | labialized |
| ◌̜ ◌͑ | ɔ̜ xʷ̜ y͑ χ͑ʷ | less rounded / more spread |
| ◌̹ ◌͗ | ɔ̹ x̹ y͗ χ͗ | more rounded / less spread |
| ◌̃ | ẽ | nasalized |
| ◌ʲ | tʲ dʲ | palatalized |
| ◌ˤ | tˤ aˤ | pharyngealized |
| ◌̙ ◌ | e̙ y̙ y | retracted tongue root |
| ◌˞ | ɚ ɝ | rhotacized |
| ◌ˠ | tˠ dˠ | velarized |
| ◌̴ | ɫ ᵶ | velarized / pharyngealized |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- |
These are alternative symbols primarily used in the Americanist linguistics tradition when describing languages of the Americas.
| --- | --- | --- |