International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
0 denotes articulations judged impossible.
Consonants (Pulmonic)
Affricates and double articulations can be represented by two symbols joined by dot 5 if necessary, e.g. ⠞⠐⠎ or ⠅⠐⠏
plosive
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| bilabial | ⠏ | ⠃ |
| alveolar | ⠞ | ⠙ |
| retroflex | ⠲⠞ | ⠲⠙ |
| palatal | ⠉ | ⠔⠚ |
| velar | ⠅ | ⠛ |
| uvular | ⠟ | ⠔⠛ |
| pharyngeal | 0 | |
| glottal | ⠆ | 0 |
nasal
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| bilabial | ⠍ | |
| labiodental | ⠖⠍ | |
| alveolar | ⠝ | |
| retroflex | ⠲⠝ | |
| palatal | ⠿ | |
| velar | ⠫ | |
| uvular | ⠔⠝ | |
| pharyngeal | 0 | 0 |
| glottal | 0 | 0 |
vibrant (trill)
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| bilabial | ⠔⠃ | |
| alveolar | ⠗ | |
| velar | 0 | 0 |
| uvular | ⠔⠗ | |
| glottal | 0 | 0 |
tap or flap
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| labiodental | ⠖⠧ | |
| alveolar | ⠖⠗ | |
| retroflex | ⠲⠗ | |
| velar | 0 | 0 |
| glottal | 0 | 0 |
frikativ
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| bilabial | ⠨⠋ | ⠨⠃ |
| labiodental | ⠋ | ⠧ |
| dental | ⠨⠹ | ⠻ |
| alveolar | ⠎ | ⠵ |
| postalveolar | ⠱ | ⠮ |
| retroflex | ⠲⠎ | ⠲⠵ |
| palatal | ⠖⠉ | ⠦⠚ |
| velar | ⠭ | ⠨⠛ |
| uvular | ⠨⠯ | ⠔⠼ |
| pharyngeal | ⠖⠓ | ⠖⠆ |
| glottal | ⠓ | ⠦⠓ |
lateral fricative
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| bilabial | 0 | 0 |
| labiodental | 0 | 0 |
| alveolar | ⠦⠇ | ⠇⠐⠮ |
| pharyngeal | 0 | 0 |
| glottal | 0 | 0 |
approximant
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| labiodental | ⠦⠧ | |
| alveolar | ⠼ | |
| retroflex | ⠲⠼ | |
| palatal | ⠚ | |
| velar | ⠦⠍ | |
| glottal | 0 | 0 |
lateral approximant
| place of articulation | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| bilabial | 0 | 0 |
| labiodental | 0 | 0 |
| alveolar | ⠇ | |
| retroflex | ⠲⠇ | |
| palatal | ⠦⠽ | |
| velar | ⠔⠇ | |
| pharyngeal | 0 | 0 |
| glottal | 0 | 0 |
Consonants (Non-pulmonic)
clicks
| place of articulation | symbol |
|---|---|
| bilabial | ⠯⠏ |
| dental | ⠯⠹ |
| (post)alveolar | ⠯⠞ |
| palatoalveolar | ⠯⠱ |
| alveolar lateral | ⠯⠇ |
voiced implosives
| place of articulation | symbol |
|---|---|
| bilabial | ⠦⠃ |
| dental/alveolar | ⠦⠙ |
| palatal | ⠦⠔⠚ |
| velar | ⠦⠛ |
| uvular | ⠦⠔⠛ |
ejectives
| place of articulation | symbol |
|---|---|
| examples | ⠐⠄ |
| bilabial | ⠏⠐⠄ |
| dental/alveolar | ⠞⠐⠄ |
| velar | ⠅⠐⠄ |
| alveolar fricative | ⠎⠐⠄ |
Other Symbols
| description | voiceless | voiced |
|---|---|---|
| labial-velar fricative | ⠖⠺ | |
| labial-velar approximant | ⠺ | |
| labial-palatal approximant | ⠲⠓ | |
| epiglottal fricative | ⠔⠓ | ⠔⠆ |
| epiglottal plosive | ⠦⠆ | |
| alveolo-palatal fricatives | ⠦⠉ | ⠦⠵ |
| alveolar lateral flap | ⠦⠼ | |
| simultaneous ⠱ and ⠭ | ⠱ and ⠭ | ⠦⠫ |
Diacritics
In some cases, the position of the first dot of the diacritics may vary; it may appear at the top, in the middle, or at the bottom (e.g. ⠫⠈⠫)
| property | symbol | example |
|---|---|---|
| voiceless | ⠠⠫ | ⠝⠠⠫ ⠙⠠⠫ |
| voiced | ⠠⠦ | ⠎⠠⠦ ⠞⠠⠦ |
| aspirated | ⠈⠓ | ⠞⠈⠓ ⠙⠈⠓ |
| more rounded | ⠠⠕ | ⠣⠠⠕ |
| less rounded | ⠠⠪ | ⠣⠠⠪ |
| advanced | ⠠⠬ | ⠥⠠⠬ |
| retracted | ⠠⠤ | ⠑⠠⠤ |
| centralized | ⠈⠒ | ⠑⠈⠒ |
| mid-centralized | ⠈⠭ | ⠑⠈⠭ |
| syllabic | ⠠⠆ | ⠝⠠⠆ |
| non-syllabic | ⠠⠾ | ⠑⠠⠾ |
| rhoticity | ⠐⠗ | ⠢⠐⠗ ⠁⠐⠗ |
| breathy voiced | ⠠⠒ | ⠃⠠⠒ ⠁⠠⠒ |
| creaky voiced | ⠠⠻ | ⠃⠠⠻ ⠁⠠⠻ |
| linguolabial | ⠠⠯ | ⠞⠠⠯ ⠙⠠⠯ |
| labialized | ⠈⠺ | ⠞⠈⠺ ⠙⠈⠺ |
| palatalized | ⠈⠚ | ⠞⠈⠚ ⠙⠈⠚ |
| velarized | ⠈⠨⠛ | ⠞⠈⠨⠛ ⠙⠈⠨⠛ |
| pharyngealized | ⠞⠈⠖⠆ ⠙⠈⠖⠆ | |
| velarized or pharyngealized | ⠇⠐⠻ | |
| raised | ⠠⠜ | ⠑⠠⠜ (⠼⠠⠜ = voiced alveolar fricative) |
| lowered | ⠠⠣ | ⠑⠠⠣ (⠨⠃⠠⠣ = voiced bilabial approximant) |
| advanced tongue root | ⠠⠱ | ⠑⠠⠱ |
| retracted tongue root | ⠠⠎ | ⠑⠠⠎ |
| dental | ⠠⠹ | ⠞⠠⠹ ⠙⠠⠹ |
| apical | ⠠⠖⠹ | ⠞⠠⠖⠹ ⠙⠠⠖⠹ |
| laminal | ⠠⠶ | ⠞⠠⠶ ⠙⠠⠶ |
| nasalized | ⠈⠻ | ⠑⠈⠻ |
| nasal release | ⠈⠝ | ⠙⠈⠝ |
| lateral release | ⠈⠇ | ⠙⠈⠇ |
| no audible release | ⠈⠙ | ⠙⠈⠙ |
Vowels
close
| backness | unrounded | rounded |
|---|---|---|
| front | ⠊ | ⠽ |
| central | ⠴⠊ | ⠴⠥ |
| back | ⠖⠥ | ⠥ |
near-close
| backness | unrounded | rounded |
|---|---|---|
| near-front | ⠌ | ⠔⠽ |
| near-back | ⠲⠥ | ⠷ |
close-mid
| backness | unrounded | rounded |
|---|---|---|
| front | ⠑ | ⠳ |
| central | ⠖⠑ | ⠴⠕ |
| back | ⠖⠕ | ⠕ |
mid
| backness | symbol |
|---|---|
| central | ⠢ |
open-mid
| backness | unrounded | rounded |
|---|---|---|
| front | ⠜ | ⠪ |
| central | ⠖⠜ | ⠦⠜ |
| back | ⠬ | ⠣ |
near-open
| backness | unrounded | rounded |
|---|---|---|
| front | ⠩ | |
| central | ⠖⠁ |
open
| backness | unrounded | rounded |
|---|---|---|
| front | ⠁ | ⠔⠪ |
| back | ⠡ | ⠖⠡ |
Suprasegmentals
| feature | symbol | example |
|---|---|---|
| primary stress | ⠸⠃ | |
| secondary stress | ⠸⠆ | ⠸⠆⠋⠕⠷⠝⠢⠸⠃⠞⠌⠱⠢⠝ |
| long | ⠒ | ⠑⠒ |
| half-long | ⠐⠂ | ⠑⠐⠂ |
| extra-short | ⠈⠷ | ⠑⠈⠷ |
| minor (foot) group | ⠸⠳ | |
| major (intonation) group | ⠸⠿ | |
| syllable break | ⠄ | ⠼⠊⠄⠩⠅⠞ |
| linking (absence of a break) | ⠸⠇ |
Tones and Word Accents
level
| indication | diacritic (shown on e) | letter |
|---|---|---|
| extra high | ⠑⠈⠠⠌ | ⠸⠈⠉ |
| high | ⠑⠈⠌ | ⠸⠉ |
| mid | ⠑⠈⠉ | ⠸⠒ |
| low | ⠑⠈⠡ | ⠸⠤ |
| extra low | ⠑⠈⠠⠡ | ⠸⠠⠤ |
| downstep | ⠸⠮ | |
| upstep | ⠸⠫ |
contour
| indication | diacritic (shown on e) | letter |
|---|---|---|
| rising | ⠑⠈⠦ | ⠸⠌ |
| falling | ⠑⠈⠩ | ⠸⠡ |
| high rising | ⠑⠈⠊ | ⠸⠊ |
| low rising | ⠑⠈⠔ | ⠸⠔ |
| raising-falling | ⠑⠈⠲ | ⠸⠲ |
| global rise | ⠸⠙ | |
| global fall | ⠸⠴ |