History of the International Phonetic Alphabet

Categories: Section stubs

The International Phonetic Alphabet is a system used for describing the sounds of spoken language. It was originally developed by French and British language teachers (led by Paul Passy) under the auspices of the International Phonetic Association, established in Paris in 1886 (both the organisation and the phonetic script are best known as IPA). The first official version of the alphabet appears in Passy (1888). These teachers based the IPA upon the Romic alphabet of Henry Sweet (1880–1881, 1971), which was formed from the Phonotypic Alphabet of Isaac Pitman and Alexander John Ellis (Kelly 1981).

The alphabet has undergone a number of revisions during its history, including some major ones codified by the IPA Kiel Convention (1989); the most recent revision was in 1993, updated again in 1996. The extIPA was first created in 1991, revised to 1997; the VoQS (Voice Quality Symbols) was proposed in 1995 to provide a system for more detailed transcription of voice production (Ball et al. 1995).

Contents

[edit]

History

The International Phonetic Association was founded in Paris in 1886 under the name Dhi Fonètik Tîcerz' Asóciécon (The Phonetic Teachers' Association), a development of L'Association Phonétique des Professeurs d'Anglais (The English Teachers' Phonetic Association), to create an international phonetic alphabet. The sources for many of the symbols was Henry Sweet's Revised Romic system, which was in turn based on Pitman and Alexander Ellis's Phonotypic Alphabet. Several of the symbols, such as [ŋ] and [ʇ], had been used since the early 17th century.

[edit]

1887

Note: this early version of the IPA was presented as a list (with examples from European languages) instead of the now common articulatory chart used today.

  Blab. Ldent. Dent. Alv. Palv. Pal. Velar Uvular Glot.
Plosive p b     t d     k g   '  
Nasal m     n   ɴ ɴ    
Lateral       l   ʎ      
Rhotic       r       ʀ  
Semivowel w ɥ U       j      
Fricative   f v θ ð s z c ʒ ç   x q   h  


Front Central Back
Close i • y       u
Close-mid e • ɶ       o
      ə    
Open-mid ɛ • œ       ɔ
  æ        
Open a   A


Diacritics

hl, lh voiceless l
u: long u
ã nasal a
û long and narrow u
-u, u- weak stressed u
·u, u·, ù strong stressed u
[edit]

1900

Image:Wiki letter w.pngThis section is a stub. You can help by adding to it.
  Laryn-
gales 		Gutturales Uvulaires Vélaires Palatales Linguales Labiales
C
O
N
S
O
N
N
E
S 		Plosives ʔ  
  		q G k ɡ c ɟ t d p b
Nasales  
  		    ŋ ɲ n m
Latérales  
  		    ɫ ʎ l  
Roulées  
  		Q ᴙ ʀ     r  
Fricatives h H ɦ ᴚ ʁ (ʍ w) x ɡ̸ (ɥ)  ç j ɹ, θ ð, ʃ ʒ, s z,
* * 		f v       F ʋ
 ʍ w   ɥ
V
O
Y
E
L
L
E
S 		Fermées
                      
Mi-fermées

Moyennes

Mi-ouvertes

Ouvertes 		      u   ɯ    ü       ï    y   i

  ᴜ                  Y   I
    o   ∀   ö   ë   ø   e
                ə
      ɔ     ʌ ɔ̈    ä œ   ɛ
                ɐ      æ
          ɑ        a

   (u ü y)

(o ö ø)

(ɔ ɔ̈ œ)


* no Unicode character (?)
[edit]

1932

  Bi-labial Labio-
dental 		Dental and
Alveolar 		Retroflex Palato-
alveolar 		Alveolo-
palatal 		Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngal
[sic] 		Glottal
Plosive p b   t d ʈ ɖ     c ɟ k g q ɢ   ʔ
Nasal m ɱ n ɳ     ɲ ŋ ɴ    
Lateral Fricative     ɬ ɮ                
Lateral Non-Fricative     l ɭ     ʎ      
Rolled     r           ʀ    
Flapped     ɾ ɽ         ʀ    
Fricative ɸ β f v θ ð s z ɹ ʂ ʐ ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ
Frictionless Continuants w ɥ ʋ ɹ       j (ɥ) (w) ʁ    
Front Central Back
Close (y ʉ u) i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u
(ʏ ʊ) ɪ ʏ ʊ
Half-close (ø ɵ o) e ø   ɵ ɤ o
ə/ɜ
Half-open (œ ɔ) ɛ œ ʌ ɔ
æ ɐ
Open (ɒ) a  ɑ ɒ

Other sounds (to be written) pʻ ƪ ƺ ř ƫ ż = z̢ σ ƍ ọ ǫ k̫ o͆ ʓ ʆ ʇ ʖ ʗ

[edit]

1989

The 1989 version of the IPA differed from the current (1993) version in only two respects:

  • There was still only a single pair of mid central vowels, ə, ɵ, with ɜ provided as an "additional" mid central vowel (as in 1932);
  • The voiceless implosives were recognized with their own symbols, ƥ, ƭ, ƈ, ƙ, ʠ.