1

Sounds of the I PA
John Wel l s and Ji l l House
Depart ment of Phonet i cs and Li ngui st i cs, Uni versi t y Col l ege London
W: We' ve made thi s recordi ng i n order to i l l ustrate the sounds associ ated wi th
the phoneti c symbol s shown on the 1993 versi on of the Chart of the
Internati onal Phoneti c Al phabet.
H: Thi s i s a copyri ght recordi ng, and may not be reproduced wi thout
permi ssi on. It was recorded on the tenth of March 1995, at Uni versi ty Col l ege
London. My name i s Ji l l House.
W: And mi ne i s John Wel l s. The recordi ng was moni tored by Mi chael Ashby and
John Bal dwi n, and the sound engi neers were Steve Nevard and Davi d
Cushi ng. Copi es of the recordi ng are avai l abl e from the Department of
Phoneti cs and Li ngui sti cs, Uni versi ty Col l ege London, Gower Street, London
WC1E 6BT, Uni ted Ki ngdom.
H: Before we start, we' d l i ke to cal l attenti on to two poi nts that shoul d al ways be
kept i n mi nd. The fi rst i s that any phoneti c symbol for vowel , consonant,
or prosodi c feature can be appl i ed to a range of sound-types. We have
ai med at what we take to be a neutral l y typi cal versi on of each.
W: The symbol for ' aspi rated' , for exampl e, does not speci fy the degree of
aspi rati on how many mi l l i seconds of del ay between pl osi ve rel ease and
onset of voi ci ng, del ay duri ng whi ch turbul ence may be audi bl y present
and i n fact there i s a conti nuous range of possi bl e degrees of aspi rati on.
H: The second, and rel ated, poi nt i s that when IPA symbol s are used to
transcri be the sounds of a parti cul ar l anguage, the neutral l y typi cal versi ons
we try to offer may not correspond exactl y to the l anguage-speci fi c sounds.
W: The same l etter ' el l ' (l ) i s used i n the transcri pti on of Engl i sh, Spani sh, Zul u,
and Korean; i n each case not onl y wi l l i t cover a range of al l ophoni c vari ants,
but al so the defaul t real i zati on wi l l vary somewhat from l anguage to
l anguage. So i t i s i nevi tabl e that our versi on of the voi ced al veol ar l ateral ,
[Iu], may not qui te correspond to the typi cal sound of the l anguage you may
be i nterested i n.
H: We start wi th the tabl e at the top of the Chart. It i l l ustrates consonants
produced wi th a pul moni c egressi ve ai r-stream mechani sm. We begi n wi th
the pl osi ves: sounds made wi th a compl ete obstructi on of the ai r fl ow.
W: They come i n pai rs, voi cel ess and voi ced. At each pl ace of arti cul ati on you
wi l l hear fi rst the voi cel ess pl osi ve, then the voi ced one. We wi l l make the
voi cel ess pl osi ves wi th a sl i ght aspi rati on, and the voi ced ones ful l y voi ced.
Each consonant wi l l be sai d twi ce: fi rst fol l owed by a vowel , of the type |u:],
and then wi th a vowel both before and after.
H: Fi rst, then, the bi l abi al s, made by the two l i ps: [pubu|
W: |upu ubu|. Then the al veol ars, made by the tongue ti p agai nst the al veol ar
ri dge: |lu du|.
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H: |uluudu|. The retrofl ex pl osi ves, made by curl i ng the tongue ti p back and
arti cul ati ng agai nst the rear sl ope of the al veol ar ri dge: |uu|.
W: |uuuu|. The pal atal s, made by the front of the tongue agai nst the hard
pal ate: |cuu|.
H: |ucuuu|. The vel ars, made by the back of the tongue agai nst the vel um, the
soft pal ate: |Lugu|.
W: |uLuugu|. The uvul ars, made by the extreme back of the tongue agai nst the
uvul a: |quu|.
H: |uquuu|. Then the gl ottal pl osi ve, made by bri ngi ng the vocal fol ds
together. Here of course voi ci ng i s not possi bl e: |?u|.
W: |u?u|.
H: Next we take the nasal s. Thei r arti cul ati on i s l i ke that of the pl osi ves, except
that the soft pal ate i s l owered, al l owi ng the ai rstream to escape through the
nasal cavi ty. We pronounce al l the nasal s voi ced. Fi rst, a bi l abi al nasal : |mu|.
W: |umu|. Then the l abi odental nasal , made by arti cul ati ng wi th the l ower l i p
agai nst the upper teeth: |pu|.
H: |upu|. Al veol ar: |nu|.
W: |unu| A retrofl ex nasal : |pu|.
H: |upu|. And a pal atal : |ju|.
W: |uju|. Vel ar: |pu|.
H: |upu|. A uvul ar nasal : |ru].
W: |ru].
H: Next are the tri l l s, i nvol vi ng the repeated vi brati on of one arti cul ator agai nst
another. There are onl y three of these, and we pronounce them al l voi ced.
Fi rst, a bi l abi al tri l l : |u|.
W: |uu|. Then an al veol ar tri l l : |iu|.
H: |uiu|.
W: And a uvul ar tri l l : |iu|. |uiu|.
H: Li ke a tri l l , but i nvol vi ng just a si ngl e touch, i s a tap or f l ap. The al veol ar tap:
|iu|.
W: |uiu|. And a retrofl ex fl ap: |u|.
H: |uu|.
W: Now come the f ri cati ves. They i nvol ve forci ng the ai rstream through a
narrow gap, whi ch causes i t to be turbul ent: the resul t i s heard as fri cti on.
The fri cati ves come i n pai rs, wi th fi rst a voi cel ess and then a voi ced one at
each pl ace of arti cul ati on. We begi n wi th the bi l abi al fri cati ves: |uu|.
H: |uuuu|. Then the l abi odental s: |!uvu|.
W: |u!uuvu|. Dental fri cati ves: |0u u|.
H: |u0uuu|. Al veol ars: |su zu|.
W: |usuuzu|. And postal veol ars, someti mes known as pal atoal veol ars: |ju u|.
H: |ujuuu|. The retrofl ex fri cati ves are |u,u|.
W: |uuu,u|. Then the pal atal s: |u u|.
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H: |uuuu|. Vel ars: |xuyu|.
W: |uxuuyu|. And uvul ar fri cati ves: |_unu|.
H: |u_uunu|. Then we take the pharyngeal fri cati ves, made by constri cti ng the
pharynx: |u \u|.
W: |uuu\u|. And l ast al ong the fri cati ve row, the so-cal l ed gl ottal fri cati ves: |hu
u|.
H: |uhuuu|. And then there are al so the l ateral fri cati ves, at the al veol ar pl ace
of arti cul ati on: |u[u|.
W: |uuu[u|.
H: Approxi mants are si mi l ar i n thei r manner of arti cul ati on to fri cati ves, but are
produced wi thout fri cti on, wi thout maki ng the ai rstream turbul ent. They are
al l pronounced wi th voi ci ng. Fi rst, the l abi odental approxi mant: |uu|.
W: |uuu|. Next, an al veol ar or postal veol ar approxi mant: |:u|.
H: |u:u|. And a retrofl ex: |u|.
W: |uu|. A pal atal approxi mant or semi vowel : |ju|.
H: |uju|. And a vel ar one: |u|.
W: |uu|.
H: The l ateral approxi mants are arti cul ated wi th the ai r escapi ng around a
central obstructi on. We pronounce them voi ced. The al veol ar l ateral i s |Iu|.
W: |uIu|. Retrofl ex: |u|.
H: |uu|. The pal atal l ateral : |u|.
W: |uu|. And a vel ar l ateral : |Lu|.
H: |uLu|. That bri ngs us to the end of the consonants shown i n the mai n gri d of
the chart.
W: Next we come on to the non-pul moni c consonants. Thei r i ni ti ati on ori gi nates
somewhere other than i n the l ungs. Fi rst we take the cl i cks, made wi th an
oral or vel ari c i ngressi ve ai rstream mechani sm. We pronounce them wi thout
any speci fi c si mul taneous arti cul ati on, and they are accordi ngl y voi cel ess.
Fi rst, the bi l abi al cl i ck: |Cu|.
H: Between vowel s, that' s |uCu|. The dental cl i ck i s |]u| (ol d symbol [ ] , Z ul u c,
affr i cat ed). You wi l l noti ce that i t has an affri cated rel ease.
W: |u]u|. An al veol ar or postal veol ar cl i ck, often cal l ed retrofl ex, i s |!u| (ol d |],
Z ul u q; ' hol l ow' sound).
H: |u!u|. A so-cal l ed pal atoal veol ar cl i ck i s |u]; i t has al veol ar contact and an
abrupt rel ease (' fl at ' sound, dent al / al veol ar , no affr i cat i on).
W: |uu|. And l astl y the al veol ar l ateral cl i ck i s |u| (ol d |S], Z ul u x; (post -)al veol ar ,
affr i cat ed).
H: |uu|.
W: The voi ced i mpl osi ves are made wi th a pharyngeal or gl ottal i c i ngressi ve
ai rstream mechani sm. The bi l abi al i mpl osi ve stop i s |u|.
H: |uu|. Dental or al veol ar, |u|.
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W: |uu|. And a pal atal i mpl osi ve: |u|.
H: |uu|. Vel ar: |u|.
W: |uu|. Then the uvul ar: |u|.
H: |uu|. The ej ecti ves al so have a pharyngeal or gl ottal i c ai rstream mechani sm,
but an egressi ve one. They are voi cel ess. Fi rst, the bi l abi al ejecti ve stop: |p`u|.
W: |up`u|. Dental or al veol ar (thi s one i s al veol ar): |l`u|.
H: |ul`u|. Vel ar: |L`u|.
W: |uL`u|. And l astl y, an al veol ar fri cati ve ejecti ve: |s`u|.
H: |us`u|.
W: Now we come to the vowel s. We' l l take these i n the order i n whi ch they' re
di spl ayed on the chart, readi ng across. We' l l say each vowel fi rst on a fal l i ng
tone, and then on a mi d l evel tone. We' l l make each vowel fai rl y l ong.
H: We start wi th the cl ose vowel s, whi ch can al so be termed hi gh. Cl ose front
unrounded, cardi nal one, (fal l i ng) |I|.
W: (l evel ) |I|. Cl ose front rounded, cardi nal ni ne, (fal l i ng) |y|.
H: (l evel ) |y|. Cl ose central unrounded, cardi nal seventeen, barred-I, (fal l i ng) |I|.
W: (l evel ) |I|. Cl ose central rounded, cardi nal ei ghteen, barred-U, (fal l i ng) |u|.
H: (l evel ) |u|. Cl ose back unrounded, cardi nal si xteen, (fal l i ng) |m|.
W: (l evel ) |m|. Cl ose back rounded, cardi nal ei ght, (fal l i ng) |u|.
H: (l evel ) |u|. Next the chart shows three vowel s that are l ax or mi d-central i zed
counterparts of some we' ve just had. Fai rl y front, fai rl y cl ose unrounded,
l axed cardi nal one, smal l cap I: (fal l i ng) |i|.
W: (l evel ) |i|. Then the correspondi ng rounded vowel , l axed cardi nal ni ne, smal l
cap Y, (fal l i ng) |.|.
H: (l evel ) |.|. And then fai rl y back, fai rl y cl ose rounded, l axed cardi nal ei ght:
(fal l i ng) |u|.
W: (l evel ) |u|. Now we turn to the cl ose-mi d vowel s, al so termed hal f-cl ose or
mi d-hi gh. Cl ose-mi d front, unrounded, cardi nal two, (fal l i ng) |c|.
H: (l evel ) |c|. Cl ose-mi d front, rounded, cardi nal ten, (fal l i ng) |o|.
W: (l evel ) |o|. Cl ose-mi d central , unrounded, a cl osi sh schwa, reversed E, (fal l i ng)
||.
H: (l evel ) ||. The correspondi ng rounded vowel , cl ose-mi d central , barred O,
(fal l i ng) |e|.
W: (l evel ) |e|. Then a cl ose-mi d back unrounded vowel , cardi nal seventeen,
ram' s-horn, (fal l i ng) |r|.
H: (l evel ) |r|. Cl ose-mi d back rounded, cardi nal seven, (fal l i ng) |o|.
W: (l evel ) |o|. Then the schwa, whi ch i s qui te l oosel y defi ned: a mi d central
vowel , normal l y unrounded, (fal l i ng) |o|.
H: (l evel ) |o|. Next we take the open-mi d vowel s, al so termed hal f-open or mi d-
l ow. Open-mi d front, unrounded, cardi nal three, (fal l i ng) |c|.
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W: (l evel ) |c|. Open-mi d front, rounded, cardi nal el even, O-E di graph (fal l i ng)
|o|.
H: (l evel ) |o|. Open-mi d central , unrounded, an openi sh schwa, reversed
epsi l on, (fal l i ng) |+|.
W: (l evel ) |+|. The correspondi ng rounded vowel , open-mi d central , (fal l i ng) ||.
H: (l evel ) ||. And the open-mi d back unrounded vowel , cardi nal fourteen,
i nverted V: (fal l i ng) |:|.
W: (l evel ) |:|. Open-mi d back rounded, cardi nal si x, (fal l i ng) ||.
H: (l evel ) ||. Then a front unrounded vowel between open-mi d and open, A-E
di graph: (fal l i ng) ||.
W: (l evel ) ||. And a central unrounded vowel at the same hei ght, i nverted A:
(fal l i ng) |v|.
H: (l evel ) |v|. Lastl y among the vowel s, we come to the open vowel s, al so termed
l ow. An open front unrounded vowel , cardi nal four, (fal l i ng) |a|.
W: (l evel ) |a|. The correspondi ng rounded vowel , open front rounded, cardi nal
twel ve, cap O-E di graph, (fal l i ng) |u|.
H: (l evel ) |u|. Then an open back unrounded vowel , cardi nal fi ve, (fal l i ng) |u|.
W: (l evel ) |u|. And an open back rounded vowel , cardi nal thi rteen, (fal l i ng) |n|.
H: (l evel ) |n|. And that compl etes the vowel s.
W: Now beneath the vowel s on the chart i s a secti on l abel l ed other symbol s .
These are an assortment of consonants. Fi rst comes the voi cel ess l abi al -vel ar
fri cati ve, i nverted W, |nu|.
H: |unu|. Then the voi ced l abi al -vel ar approxi mant, |vu|.
W: |uvu|. And the voi ced l abi al -pal atal approxi mant, |qu|.
H: |uqu|. Then the epi gl ottal fri cati ves, arti cul ated by maki ng a constri cti on
between the epi gl otti s and the wal l of the pharynx: fi rst the voi cel ess
epi gl ottal fri cati ve, |u|.
W: |uu|. Then the voi ced epi gl ottal fri cati ve, |\u|.
H: |u\u|. If we obstruct the ai rstream compl etel y at thi s pl ace, we get an
epi gl ottal pl osi ve, |?u|.
W: |u?u|. At the top of the ri ghthand col umn under Other Symbol s we have the
al veol o-pal atal fri cati ves, voi cel ess and voi ced, |uzu|.
H: |uuuzu|. Then we have an al veol ar l ateral fl ap, |!u|.
W: |u!u|. And then the famous sound of Swedi sh i denti fi ed here as consi sti ng of
si mul taneous |j| and |x|, namel y |u|.
H: |uu|. Beneath thi s symbol the chart menti ons the possi bi l i ty of usi ng a ti e
bar to joi n two symbol s for affri cates and doubl e arti cul ati ons. The
i l l ustrati on of a doubl e arti cul ati on i s the voi cel ess l abi al -vel ar pl osi ve |L pu|.
W: |uL pu|. And the affri cate i s a voi cel ess al veol ar affri cate, |l su|.
H: |ul su|. Another use for the ti e bar mi ght be to show nasal i zed cl i cks, where
the cl i ck arti cul ati on occurs si mul taneousl y wi th a voi ced vel ar nasal that
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uses a pul moni c ai r-stream, thus a nasal i zed postal veol ar (r et r ofl ex) cl i ck
[p !u].
W: [up !u].
W: Next we turn to the suprasegmental s. The Engl i sh word |!ouno'lijon|, so
pronounced, i l l ustrates secondary stress on the fi rst syl l abl e and pri mary
stress on the penul ti mate.
H: |!ouno'lijon|. We shan' t demonstrate the symbol s for degrees of l ength, for
syl l abl e break, for group boundari es, or for l i nki ng, because these can' t easi l y
be demonstrated wi th segments i n i sol ati on and out of context.
W: Turni ng to tones and word accents, we start wi th l evel tones. An extra hi gh
tone i s |c | ([1c|). A hi gh tone i s |c | (|1c|). A mi d tone, |c | (|!c|). A l ow tone,
|c | (|!c|). And an extra l ow tone, |c | (|1c|).
H: To demonstrate downstep and upstep, we can take an Engl i sh sentence, H e' s
de't er mi ned t o t ake 1char ge. That was an unmarked i ntonati on pattern.
W: H e' s de't er mi ned t o t ake 1char ge. Wi th a downstep on t ake, i t becomes H e' s
de't er mi ned t o 't ake 1char ge.
H: H e' s de't er mi ned t o 't ake 1char ge. And wi th an upstep on t ake, i t becomes H e' s
de't er mi ned t o 't ake 1char ge.
W: H e' s de't er mi ned t o 't ake 1char ge. Looki ng now at the contour tones, we have
fi rst a ri si ng tone, |c | (|lc|).
H: |c | (|lc|). And then a fal l i ng tone, [c ] (|1c|).
W: |c | (|1c|). A hi gh ri si ng tone, |c | (|1c|); and a l ow ri si ng tone, |c | (|!c|).
H: A ri si ng-fal l i ng tone i s |c | (|c|).
W: An Engl i sh sentence wi th a gl obal ri se i s WH A T di d you say you want ed?
H: And a gl obal fal l i s heard i n What di d you say you WA N Ted?
W: Lastl y we come to the secti on of the chart l abel l ed di acri ti cs. The l eft-hand
col umn begi ns wi th the di acri ti c to show that a segment i s voi cel ess. A
voi cel ess al veol ar nasal i s |n u|.
H: |un u|. And a voi cel ess l eni s al veol ar pl osi ve, |d u|.
W: |ud u|. At the top of the gri d here you wi l l al so noti ce the symbol for a
voi cel ess vel ar nasal , wi th the di acri ti c pl aced above rather than bel ow the
rest of the symbol : |p u|.
H: |up u|. Next, the di acri ti c to show that a segment i s voi ced. A voi ced forti s
al veol ar fri cati ve, |s u|.
W: |us u|. Aspi rati on can be shown by a smal l rai sed H: aspi rated voi cel ess
al veol ar pl osi ve, |lu|.
H: |ulu|. And an aspi rated voi ced al veol ar pl osi ve, |du| (i .e. |d u |).
W: |ud u |.
H: We shan' t i l l ustrate the remai ni ng di acri ti cs i n thi s col umn unti l we come to
the one at the bottom, whi ch shows rhoti ci ty. A rhotaci zed schwa i s (fal l i ng)
|oe|.
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W: (l evel ) |oe|. In the central col umn of di acri ti cs, we start wi th the di acri ti c for
breathy voi ci ng. A breathy voi ced bi l abi al pl osi ve and open vowel are |b u |.
H: |ub u |. Creaky voi ci ng, on the other hand, sounds l i ke thi s: the same sequence
creaky voi ced i s |b u |.
W: |ub u |. Li nguol abi al consonants are arti cul ated wi th the tongue ti p agai nst the
upper l i p. Voi cel ess and voi ced l i nguol abi al pl osi ves are |l u d u|.
H: |ul u ud u|. Next we have a number of symbol s to show secondary
arti cul ati ons. Fi rst, l abi al i zed segments: |l`ud`u|.
W: |ul`uud`u|. And pal atal i zed: |l'ud'u|.
H: |ul'uud'u|. Vel ari zed: |ludu|.
W: |uluudu|. And l astl y pharyngeal i zed: |l`ud`u|.
H: |ul`uud`u|. The ti l de-through can be used to show ei ther vel ari zati on or
pharyngeal i zati on, as i n dark L, |u|.
W: |uu|.
H: In the thi rd col umn of di acri ti cs we start wi th symbol s speci fyi ng wi th
greater preci si on the pl ace of arti cul ati on of sounds i nvol vi ng the ti p or bl ade
of the tongue as pri mary arti cul ator. Fi rst, voi cel ess and voi ced dental
pl osi ves, arti cul ated agai nst the teeth: |l ud u|.
W: |ul uud u|. Then, api cal al veol ar pl osi ves, made wi th the ti p of the tongue: |l u
d u|.
H: |ul uud u|. And then l ami nal al veol ar pl osi ves, made wi th the bl ade of the
tongue: |l ud u|.
W: |ul uud u|. The symbol for nasal i zati on i s a ti l de over a symbol : a nasal i zed
front cl ose-mi d unrounded vowel , (fal l i ng) |c |.
H: (l evel ) |c |. The next three symbol s show di fferent vari eti es of pl osi ve rel ease.
We hear nasal rel ease i n the sequence |dnu|.
W: |udnu|. And we hear l ateral rel ease i n the sequence |dIu|.
H: |udIu|. There i s no audi bl e rel ease of the pl osi ve i n the sequence |ud|.
W: The same i s true of the fi rst pl osi ve i n the sequence |udbu|.
H: Towards the bottom of thi s gri d you see the symbol s to show rai sed and
l owered vari eti es. A rai sed cl ose-mi d front unrounded vowel i s (fal l i ng) |c |.
W: (l evel ) |c |. And a l owered cl ose-mi d front unrounded vowel i s (fal l i ng) |c |.
H: (l evel ) |c |. Where a symbol mi ght be i nterpreted as denoti ng ei ther a fri cati ve
or an approxi mant, the rai si ng symbol makes i t cl ear we mean the fri cati ve,
as i n the voi ced api co-al veol ar fri cati ve, |: u].
W: |u: u|. And the l oweri ng symbol makes i t cl ear we mean the approxi mant, as
i n the voi ced bi l abi al approxi mant, | u|.
H: |u u|. The l ast two symbol s at the bottom ri ght of the chart are used to show
advanced tongue root and retracted tongue root. Cardi nal two, a cl ose-mi d
front unrounded vowel , usual l y has a rel ati vel y advanced tongue root, gi vi ng
a wi de pharynx and tense qual i ty: (fal l i ng) |c |.
W: (l evel ) |c |. Wi th a retracted tongue root we get a narrower pharynx and l ax
qual i ty: (fal l i ng) |c | (= |i|).
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H: (l evel ) |c |. And wi th that we come to the end of thi s recordi ng.
W: We hope you' ve found i t useful .