The IPA Chart & What the heck is it?

• What is phonology?

  •     The study of how languages and dialects systematically organize their sounds or their signs. It can also relate to any linguistic analysis of Syllable, Onset, Rime, etc., or/also which sounds and signs are structured to convey linguistic meaning. 

• What is the IPA chart?

  •     The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a set of symbols that linguists use to describe the sounds of spoken languages. These symbols and their categories represent almost every known spoken sound a human’s mouth makes within a language.

• This looks too confusing and overwhelming! Do I have to know this?!

  •          Absolutely not. This is a resource for people who are interested in the linguistic side of the language. The IPA is available to help people who wish to learn more about the ‘phonemes’ or sounds that are made within this language. It can help with understanding how to make the sounds and where the sounds are located within the mouth. We encourage you to play around with the interactive chart and see what happens!

THE INTERACTIVE IPA CHART LINKED IN PDF