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Questions tagged [phonetic-symbols]

Symbols used for the visual representation of speech sounds.

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Why is Portuguese 'mundo' transcribed phonemically /ˈmũ.du/ but for other languages not even phonetic transcription records a "deviation" from /n/?

For a short version of the question, see at the end EDIT AFTER COMMENTS: I know about the Differences between phonemic and phonetic transcriptions, and I am referring to the phonemic transcription, ...
cipricus's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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How commonly are [u] and cardinal close-mid [o] allophones?

I ask because I listened to the recordings of [o] here: https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/inter_chart_2018/IPA_2018.html For me (being a speaker of Finnish) all but the first ...
Someone211's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
187 views

Is there any reliable way to organize phonemes that aren't in the IPA?

I'm coming up with an idea for a game that simulates the evolution of languages, but to do that and make it the most realistic, I would need to put in the sounds that the IPA says are possible but we ...
Anonymous's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
173 views

Why does the IPA use four main vowel heights?

Because vowels exist at infinitely precise points on large acoustic and articulatory spectrums (vowel spaces), the study of phonetics uses generalized waypoints to describe them. The International ...
Graham H.'s user avatar
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What written notation is used in IPA for the letter "A" in the English words "hand", "man", "and", et cetra?

In American English, the letter "A" is pronounced at least five different ways. What written symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used for the vowel, or vowel group, shown ...
Samuel Muldoon's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
661 views

Single syllable breakdown of the word strawberry in IPA

My intro linguistics class was doing a demonstration of how to break up single syllables into their vowel trees. We came up with three different interrpretations and were looking for more opinions. ...
Laela's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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The difference between the phonemes /p/ and /b/ in Japanese

Is there any difference between the phonemes /p/ and /b/ in Japanese ? In English, they are pretty distinguishable. E.g: 'Bat' and 'pat' In Japanese, however, I get lost trying to tell which is which. ...
Kenny FürEver's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
162 views

Why are the coronal approximants so different from the others?

I’m aware that there has been some criticism of the IPA’s classification of approximants, as well as debate over the merit of the term itself. However, my understanding is that approximants are the ...
Graham H.'s user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
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Is there a tool that provides lists of words that contain the sound denoted by an inputted phonetic symbol?

For example, if I set this tool for English, then type /ʌ/ in the search box, it should return a list of English words that contain that sound. TIA
Meenu's user avatar
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1 answer
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What is unicode character turned AE ᴂ(U+1D02) used for?

The near-open front unrounded vowel is written as æ(U+00E6), commented as "Latin Small Letter Ae". But I found the character ᴂ(U+1D02) commented as "Latin Small Letter Turned Ae" ...
C.K.'s user avatar
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Full stops to indicate a syllable boundary?

Without syllable boundary: ˈwʌt̚ ˈhæp ənd || With syllable boundary: ˈwʌt̚ ˈhæp.ənd || However I have words that are two syllables and both syllables are stressed: ˈsʌmˌθɪŋz‿ˈaʊt̚ ˈðɛəɹ || As you ...
Zoltan King's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
574 views

What kind of stress is this?

I found the word "ice-free" is pronounced /ˈˌaɪsˈˌfri/ in Oxford English Dictionary, but what kind of stress is this? Should it be called 'there are two primary stresses and two secondary ...
ronghe's user avatar
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3 answers
820 views

Is there any other Phonetic notation other than IPA? [duplicate]

I'm wondering is there any other Phonetic notation other than IPA — that is easy to understand by Native English speakers
Keon N's user avatar
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3 answers
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/t͡ʃ/ vs. /ʧ/ vs. /tʃ/

In English for example, the "ch" sound (as in China) is sometimes written as /t͡ʃ/, other times as /ʧ/ or simply as /tʃ/. Similarly, I have seen the German "tz" (e.g. Katze) ...
E.E.S.'s user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
924 views

Is it possible to have the same symbol for different sounds in IPA?

It is said that in IPA, each symbol represents a unique sound. But on the Wikipedia page on the Voiceless Velar Fricative (/x/), I find these examples: Hindustani 'ख़ुशी' /xuʃi:/ (sometimes खुशी, /...
Ishan Kashyap Hazarika's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
107 views

Central – lateral dichotomy for labiodentals

In the IPA chart, there's no labiodental lateral approximant. The cell isn't even left blank, it's shaded out and therefore the articulation is judged impossible. One of the explanations is (see, e.g.,...
Aer's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
626 views

What is the diacritic macron bellow (◌̱) used in the IPA [closed]

Well, I'm learning English, (I speak Spanish) sometimes I use the translator or the dictionary and several times I find this sign in the phonetic transcription, what am I supposed to do?
Jesus's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
250 views

Source to look up pronunciation of phonetic script

Can anyone recommend a book that a non-linguist can use to look up and pronounce words written in phonetic script? For example, Wikipedia has this written down: "[ɛks’pɑzətɔri]". I want to ...
Bookaholic's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
153 views

transcribing stressed vowels in compound words in English

If I am transcribing word such words such as "cupcake" and "homework," in IPA, should I always use a stressed vowel in both syllables, even though one syllable receives primary ...
SLP's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
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Is there a reason that /w/ isn't represented on the IPA chart?

The sound that represents the English <w>, as in "week", is the voiced labio-velar approximant /w/. In the "Consonant" section of the Wiki page for the IPA, however, /w/ isn'...
Lou's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
165 views

Use of asterisk in middle of word of an attempted proto-language; does it refer to everything that follows?

In the word t*amano, does the asterisk imply that everyrthinng following the asterisk is questionable, even if the area of uncertainty is a specific sound in the word, in this hypothetical example,...
Innumerate's user avatar
-3 votes
4 answers
501 views

What is the most universally understood way to represent the "ay" sound of "CAKE" substituting the standard a for a single character?

I am making up an imaginary word to be used as a name. Right now I seem to have it ending in "tata", but want it to be clear it is pronounced as "tay-tah" not "tah-tah" I admit that I do not know my ...
Joshua West's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Cyrillic phonetic alphabet?

Is there any attempt to make phonetic alphabet (like IPA) based on Cyrillic script? Or does the Russian phonology covers enough?
Dannyu NDos's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
762 views

How can I write an interdental lateral in phonetic transcription?

Inspired by this answer here is my question: How can I write a interdental lateral in phonetic transcription (IPA preferred, but not a necessary requirement, other wide spread phonetic notation ...
Sir Cornflakes's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
147 views

Narrow Phonetic Transcription: Stretching?

I use narrow phonetic transcription in my job. The one symbol I need but can't seem to find is a way to mark stretching of the tongue from side to side. Does this exist? I have made up my own, but I'd ...
Jane's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
240 views

British English offglides

The offglide of the English diphthongs /aʊ/ and /əʊ/ is represented by the vowel /ʊ/. In other languages, such as Portuguese and Spanish, they are represented in the same way, but they sound ...
Roney Souza's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
219 views

With SSML phoneme tags using IPA phonetic symbols, how can I insert pauses to slow down pronounciation?

Note For my text to speech engine (I use Cereproc, William Voice). The engine can be used on the website here: https://www.cereproc.com/ and it supports the ssml tags used in this question.. ...
Anon's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
472 views

What is the maximum number of IPA diacritics that can be added on a vowel?

What would the symbol look like, and how would it sound like? E.g. a long rhotacized nasalized vowel with tone?
0472037's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
2k views

Choice of phonemic symbol for /b/, /d/, /g/, /ʝ/ in Spanish

Wikipedia states this on the Spanish consonants /b/, /d/, /ɡ/ and /ʝ/: The phonemes /b/, /d/, and /ɡ/ are realized as approximants (namely [β̞, ð̞, ɣ˕]) or fricatives in all places except after a ...
iacobo's user avatar
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18 votes
4 answers
3k views

What is the meaning of the number 2 in Proto-Indo European reconstructions? e.g. As in *tewtéh₂, meaning "people" or "tribe"

I am a writer doing some research into ancient languages for a story I am creating. Despite having done some formal and informal study on linguistics (I am familiar with a phonetic chart) and informal ...
VictorLeVaguer's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
153 views

Glides offset: ɪ/ʊ or j/w? [closed]

I've seen linguistics arguing in favour of using either ɪ/ʊ or j/w sets in glides offset. What are your arguments regarding the use of them?
Roney Souza's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
93 views

Can anyone send me a link or recommend me a book about IPA diacritics?

What I am interested in knowing is what exactly a specific diacritic does to a sound, and which muscles in the vocal tract are responsible for making those sounds.
user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
4k views

Does "You" or "Unicorn" begin with a vowel sound

"You" sounds like "U". U is a vowel. so does "You" begin with a vowel?
James's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
362 views

Discussions around symbols included/excluded in the IPA

Are there are IPA symbols which are the subject of some controversy? For example, I suppose there are some who would like to have a unitary"tS" t-esh sound as a unitary phoneme... but I bet there ...
Teusz's user avatar
  • 2,711
0 votes
2 answers
195 views

Some questions on how I pronounce "l" [closed]

I hope you can help as I'm teaching English overseas and I want to teach the standard pronunciation to students. I have a South African accent but I am starting to get paranoid and wonder if I ...
James's user avatar
  • 299
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is IPA machine-readable?

I saw that SAMPA was created to be machine-readable. Does that mean that IPA isn't? If it isn't, why is that so? EDIT: By machine-readable, I meant that it could be directly interpreted by a parser/...
apat's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
6k views

Difference between [i] and [j] or [u] and [w]

I am having a little trouble understanding the actual difference between these sets of sounds. What would be the difference in pronunciation between /hau nau braun kau/ and /haw naw brawn kaw/?
Aaron Cox's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
502 views

How many phonetic symbols are in total languages?

my goal is to know all the sounds of other languages and compare if there are similarities. I only found the English http://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/english/english_main.swf http://www.stuff.co.uk/...
verbling's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
1k views

Is there a featural equivalent of the International Phonetic Alphabet?

The IPA arbitrarily borrows and derives graphemes from the Greek, Latin and Cyrillic. The graphemes do not display basic features (i.e. place and manner of articulation) shared between phones like ...
Anonymous's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
222 views

How do they separate phones' length?

In phonetics we use below symbols to talk about phones' length. My question is that how do we measure it? In other words, since these terms (long, half-long extra-short) are relative, how do we ...
Andrew Ravus's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
204 views

which kind of phonetic symbol is it?

I read a electric dictionary in which the phonetic symbol are descirbed in the weird form. For example: afar / E5fB:(r); E`fBr/ which kind of phonetic symbol is it? Is there a full mapping list ...
dae's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
2k views

How is an archiphoneme represented on the phonetic level?

Consider an archiphoneme N that can be realized as n, ng, or as a nasal on a vowel depending on the context. Is this representation, below, standard i.e. with the archiphoneme as a capital letter on ...
Teusz's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
606 views

What is X in a syllable C=consonant, V=vowel

I don't under stand (X) and (s/sh) in this sentence. As opposed to Hebrew CV(X)(C), the non-Semitic syllable structure of Israeli, (s/sh)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(s/sh)
בנימן הגלילי's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
815 views

What is the history of /ɨ/ vs /ï/?

The Close central unrounded vowel has two symbols in the IPA: /ɨ/ /ï/ It appears (from my completely unscientific survey of having seen the symbols in use) that the former is the more common. What ...
Flimzy's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
647 views

Phonology vs phonetics : /ʁɔz/ vs [ʁoz]

It's written on French Wikipedia that the noun “rose” is represented in phonology by /ʁɔz/ whereas Wiktionary is claiming that it should be /ʁoz/. In both case, the associated representation in common ...
Samuel's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
465 views

What are the different ways prosodic features of a language are represented throughout the history of linguistics?

I can name a few: 1. Tones as numbers 2. Intonation contour as a line above the sentence 3. Tones as lines above segments 4. Stress marks before stress syllables ['white house] vs [white 'house] But ...
Teusz's user avatar
  • 2,711
0 votes
3 answers
7k views

Determining underlying representation

I'm really confused about how to determine underlying representation. Every thing I read seems to contradict the last. Trying desperately to solve this problem and I just seem to be going in circles ...
Catie Baumgartner's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is the history of the International Phonetic Alphabet?

I know it has its origins in the International Phonetic Association, but the idea of a unique alphabet for each speech sound of the world's languages organized by place and manner must've had an ...
Teusz's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why don't any languages have strictly one character for every single phonetic sound?

Of the languages I know about, most of them (not Chinese, Japanese, etc.) only have characters or character groups for specific sounds, and also can have a single specific sound generated by placing ...
Santiago Benoit's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
529 views

SAMPA of a language - phones or phonemes?

I currently hear a lecture with the topic "Spoken Language Processing" and I have problems to understand SAMPA. I know that the IPA encodes the phones of human languages, so its possible to encode the ...
Matthias Preu's user avatar