Complete Phonetic Symbols Reference

This page features a total of 68 symbols, comprehensively covering vowels, consonants, diacritical marks, and suprasegmental elements from the International Phonetic Alphabet. Phonetic symbols are indispensable in linguistics, language teaching, and dictionary compilation, with each symbol precisely corresponding to specific articulatory features. Below is a detailed introduction to each symbol's technical parameters and usage contexts.

🔊 IPA Vowels

i is called the close front unrounded vowel, commonly used in English "see," with Unicode U+0069, LaTeX command \textipa{i}, and HTML entity i. y is called the close front rounded vowel, used in French "tu," with Unicode U+0079, LaTeX \textipa{y}, HTML y. ɨ is called the close central unrounded vowel, found in Russian "мы," with Unicode U+0268, LaTeX \textipa{\"i}, HTML ɨ. ʉ is called the close central rounded vowel, used in Swedish "hus," with Unicode U+0289, LaTeX \textipa{\"u}, HTML ʉ. ɯ is called the close back unrounded vowel, found in Turkish "kıl," with Unicode U+026F, LaTeX \textipa{\"y}, HTML ɯ. u is called the close back rounded vowel, used in English "boot," with Unicode U+0075, LaTeX \textipa{u}, HTML u. ɪ is called the near-close front unrounded vowel, used in English "bit," with Unicode U+026A, LaTeX \textipa{I}, HTML ɪ. ʏ is called the near-close front rounded vowel, found in German "müssen," with Unicode U+028F, LaTeX \textipa{Y}, HTML ʏ. ʊ is called the near-close back rounded vowel, used in English "foot," with Unicode U+028A, LaTeX \textipa{U}, HTML ʊ. e is called the close-mid front unrounded vowel, found in Spanish "mesa," with Unicode U+0065, LaTeX \textipa{e}, HTML e. ø is called the close-mid front rounded vowel, used in French "peu," with Unicode U+00F8, LaTeX \textipa{\o}, HTML ø. ɘ is called the close-mid central unrounded vowel, found in Polish "ryba," with Unicode U+0258, LaTeX \textipa{@}, HTML ɘ. ɵ is called the close-mid central rounded vowel, used in Swedish "full," with Unicode U+0275, LaTeX \textipa{\"o}, HTML ɵ. ɤ is called the close-mid back unrounded vowel, found in Mandarin "鹅," with Unicode U+0264, LaTeX \textipa{\"e}, HTML ɤ. o is called the close-mid back rounded vowel, used in English "go," with Unicode U+006F, LaTeX \textipa{o}, HTML o. ɛ is called the open-mid front unrounded vowel, used in English "bet," with Unicode U+025B, LaTeX \textipa{E}, HTML ɛ. œ is called the open-mid front rounded vowel, found in French "coeur," with Unicode U+0153, LaTeX \textipa{\oe}, HTML œ. ɜ is called the open-mid central unrounded vowel, used in English "bird," with Unicode U+025C, LaTeX \textipa{3}, HTML ɜ. ɞ is called the open-mid central rounded vowel, with Unicode U+025E, LaTeX \textipa{3\}, HTML ɞ. ʌ is called the open-mid back unrounded vowel, used in English "cut," with Unicode U+028C, LaTeX \textipa{A}, HTML ʌ. ɔ is called the open-mid back rounded vowel, used in English "thought," with Unicode U+0254, LaTeX \textipa{O}, HTML ɔ. æ is called the near-open front unrounded vowel, used in English "cat," with Unicode U+00E6, LaTeX \textipa{\ae}, HTML æ. ɐ is called the near-open central vowel, found in German "der," with Unicode U+0250, LaTeX \textipa{6}, HTML ɐ. a is called the open front unrounded vowel, found in French "patte," with Unicode U+0061, LaTeX \textipa{a}, HTML a. ɶ is called the open front rounded vowel, with Unicode U+0276, LaTeX \textipa{\&}, HTML ɶ. ɑ is called the open back unrounded vowel, used in English "father," with Unicode U+0251, LaTeX \textipa{A}, HTML ɑ. ɒ is called the open back rounded vowel, used in British English "hot," with Unicode U+0252, LaTeX \textipa{6}, HTML ɒ. Special attention should be given to ə, called the schwa or mid central vowel, the most common reduced vowel found in English "sofa," with Unicode U+0259, LaTeX \textipa{@}, HTML ə, which holds fundamental importance in phonetics.

🔇 IPA Consonants

p is called the voiceless bilabial plosive, used in English "spy," with Unicode U+0070, LaTeX \textipa{p}, HTML p. b is called the voiced bilabial plosive, used in English "buy," with Unicode U+0062, LaTeX \textipa{b}, HTML b. t is called the voiceless alveolar plosive, used in English "sty," with Unicode U+0074, LaTeX \textipa{t}, HTML t. d is called the voiced alveolar plosive, used in English "dye," with Unicode U+0064, LaTeX \textipa{d}, HTML d. k is called the voiceless velar plosive, used in English "sky," with Unicode U+006B, LaTeX \textipa{k}, HTML k. ɡ is called the voiced velar plosive, used in English "go," with Unicode U+0261, LaTeX \textipa{g}, HTML ɡ. Note: do not confuse with regular letter g (U+0067). f is called the voiceless labiodental fricative, used in English "fan," with Unicode U+0066, LaTeX \textipa{f}, HTML f. v is called the voiced labiodental fricative, used in English "van," with Unicode U+0076, LaTeX \textipa{v}, HTML v. θ is called the voiceless dental fricative, used in English "think," with Unicode U+03B8, LaTeX \textipa{T}, HTML θ. ð is called the voiced dental fricative, used in English "this," with Unicode U+00F0, LaTeX \textipa{D}, HTML ð. s is called the voiceless alveolar fricative, used in English "see," with Unicode U+0073, LaTeX \textipa{s}, HTML s. z is called the voiced alveolar fricative, used in English "zoo," with Unicode U+007A, LaTeX \textipa{z}, HTML z. ʃ is called the voiceless postalveolar fricative, used in English "she," with Unicode U+0283, LaTeX \textipa{S}, HTML ʃ. ʒ is called the voiced postalveolar fricative, used in English "measure," with Unicode U+0292, LaTeX \textipa{Z}, HTML ʒ. h is called the voiceless glottal fricative, used in English "hat," with Unicode U+0068, LaTeX \textipa{h}, HTML h. tʃ is called the voiceless postalveolar affricate, used in English "chat," composed of two characters with Unicode U+0074 U+0283, LaTeX \textipa{tS}, HTML tʃ. dʒ is called the voiced postalveolar affricate, used in English "judge," composed of two characters with Unicode U+0064 U+0292, LaTeX \textipa{dZ}, HTML dʒ. m is called the bilabial nasal, used in English "man," with Unicode U+006D, LaTeX \textipa{m}, HTML m. n is called the alveolar nasal, used in English "no," with Unicode U+006E, LaTeX \textipa{n}, HTML n. ŋ is called the velar nasal, used in English "song," with Unicode U+014B, LaTeX \textipa{N}, HTML ŋ. l is called the alveolar lateral approximant, used in English "let," with Unicode U+006C, LaTeX \textipa{l}, HTML l. r is called the alveolar trill or approximant, used in Spanish "perro" or English "red," with Unicode U+0072, LaTeX \textipa{r}, HTML r. j is called the palatal approximant, used in English "yes," with Unicode U+006A, LaTeX \textipa{j}, HTML j. w is called the labiovelar approximant, used in English "wet," with Unicode U+0077, LaTeX \textipa{w}, HTML w. When using these symbols, note the distinction between ɡ and the regular letter g. The former is the standard velar plosive symbol, and it is recommended to use the \textipa{} package in LaTeX to ensure accurate glyph rendering.

📐 Diacritical Marks

ˈ is called the primary stress mark, placed before the stressed syllable, with Unicode U+02C8, LaTeX \textipa{"}, HTML ˈ. ˌ is called the secondary stress mark, also placed before the syllable, with Unicode U+02CC, LaTeX \textipa{""}, HTML ˌ. ː is called the length mark, used to indicate long vowels or consonants, with Unicode U+02D0, LaTeX \textipa{:}, HTML ː. ˑ is called the half-long mark, indicating length between long and short, with Unicode U+02D1, LaTeX \textipa{;}, HTML ˑ. ʰ is called the aspiration diacritic, marking aspirated consonants, with Unicode U+02B0, LaTeX \textsuperscript{h}, HTML ʰ. ʲ is called the palatalization diacritic, marking palatalized consonants, with Unicode U+02B2, LaTeX \textsuperscript{j}, HTML ʲ. ⁿ is called the nasal release diacritic, indicating nasal release of a consonant, with Unicode U+207F, LaTeX \textsuperscript{n}, HTML ⁿ. ˞ is called the rhotacization diacritic, marking r-colored vowels commonly found in American English, with Unicode U+02DE, LaTeX \textipa{\"r}, HTML ˞. ʰ is also widely used for aspirated sounds in Chinese Pinyin and IPA transcriptions. When using these symbols, ensure superscript formatting for correct display.

↗️ Tone & Suprasegmental Symbols

˥ is called the extra-high tone bar, used to describe the highest pitch in tonal languages, with Unicode U+02E5, LaTeX \textipa{55}, HTML ˥. ˦ is called the high tone bar, with Unicode U+02E6, LaTeX \textipa{44}, HTML ˦. ˧ is called the mid tone bar, with Unicode U+02E7, LaTeX \textipa{33}, HTML ˧. ˨ is called the low tone bar, with Unicode U+02E8, LaTeX \textipa{22}, HTML ˨. ˩ is called the extra-low tone bar, with Unicode U+02E9, LaTeX \textipa{11}, HTML ˩. ˩˥ is called the rising tone, indicating a rapid pitch rise from low to high, composed of two characters with Unicode U+02E9 U+02E5, LaTeX \textipa{15}, HTML ˩˥. ˥˩ is called the falling tone, indicating a rapid pitch drop from high to low, with Unicode U+02E5 U+02E9, LaTeX \textipa{51}, HTML ˥˩. .| is called the syllable separator, commonly used in dictionary transcriptions to separate syllables, with Unicode U+002E, LaTeX \textipa{.}, HTML .. These tone symbols are crucial for describing tonal languages such as Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Thai. It is recommended to load the tipa package in LaTeX for optimal typesetting results.

📌 Usage Notes for Phonetic Symbols

When using phonetic symbols, several key points require attention: First, it is essential to distinguish regular letters from IPA symbols—for example, ɡ differs from the letter g, and ɪ differs from the letter I. Second, when using phonetic symbols in LaTeX, it is recommended to load the tipa package and wrap content with the \textipa{} command; direct input in body text may not render correctly. Third, some HTML entities may not support high Unicode symbols in older browsers, so providing numeric entities as a fallback is advised. Fourth, diacritics such as the aspiration mark ʰ must display as superscripts; otherwise, the meaning will change. Fifth, tone bars require attention to direction and alignment in vertical or special typesetting. Sixth, when copying SVG source code or downloading PNG images, the generated graphics render according to the current font, so ensure that the system has fonts supporting IPA installed, such as "Charis SIL" or "Noto Sans." Seventh, for composite phonetic symbols, using complete Unicode sequences is recommended to ensure semantic accuracy. The above considerations will help you use phonetic symbols correctly in various contexts, enhancing the accuracy and readability of linguistic documentation.

💡 Usage Tips

If you need to copy the Unicode, LaTeX command, or HTML entity of a phonetic symbol, simply click the corresponding symbol card above, then click the desired item in the detail panel to copy it with one click. Each symbol can generate SVG vector source code or be downloaded as a 512×512 pixel transparent background PNG image, convenient for use in linguistics papers, textbooks, or presentations. When writing linguistic reports, it is recommended to use LaTeX commands with the tipa package for optimal typesetting results, particularly for complex diacritics and tone letters, as LaTeX ensures cross-platform consistency.