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The International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the standard system used by linguists worldwide to represent the sounds of spoken language. Developed by the International Phonetic Association (founded in Paris in 1886), the IPA provides a one-to-one correspondence between symbols and sounds: each symbol represents exactly one distinct speech sound, and each sound is represented by exactly one symbol. For AQA A-Level English Language, a thorough understanding of the IPA and its application to English is essential for phonological analysis.
Why Do We Need the IPA?
English spelling is notoriously inconsistent. The same letter or combination of letters can represent different sounds in different words, and the same sound can be spelled in many different ways:
| Spelling Issue | Examples |
|---|---|
| One letter, multiple sounds | The letter "c" represents /k/ in "cat" but /s/ in "city" |
| One sound, multiple spellings | The sound /iː/ is spelled "ee" in "feet," "ea" in "beat," "ie" in "piece," "ey" in "key," and "e" in "me" |
| Silent letters | The "k" in "knee," the "b" in "lamb," the "w" in "write" |
| Same spelling, different sounds | "ough" is pronounced differently in "though," "through," "thought," "tough," "cough," and "bough" |
This inconsistency means that ordinary English spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation. The IPA solves this problem by providing a phonetically transparent writing system — what you see is exactly what you say.
Key Definition: International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) — a standardised system of phonetic notation in which each symbol represents one and only one speech sound, enabling precise and unambiguous transcription of any language.
Phonemes vs Allophones
Before learning the IPA symbols, it is essential to understand the distinction between phonemes and allophones.
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish one word from another. Phonemes are abstract, mental categories — they are the sounds that speakers of a language perceive as being "different." In English, /p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes because replacing one with the other changes the meaning of a word: "pat" /pæt/ vs "bat" /bæt/.
An allophone is a specific physical realisation of a phoneme. Allophones are the actual sounds produced in speech, and a single phoneme may have several allophones depending on the phonetic environment. For example:
- The phoneme /p/ has an aspirated allophone [pʰ] at the beginning of a stressed syllable ("pin" [pʰɪn]) and an unaspirated allophone [p] after /s/ ("spin" [spɪn]).
- The phoneme /l/ has a clear allophone [l] before vowels ("light" [laɪt]) and a dark allophone [ɫ] at the end of syllables ("full" [fʊɫ]).
- The phoneme /t/ may be realised as an aspirated plosive [tʰ], an unaspirated plosive [t], a glottal stop [ʔ], or a flap/tap [ɾ] depending on the accent and phonetic environment.
Key Definition: Phoneme — an abstract, contrastive unit of sound in a language that can distinguish meaning. Phonemes are written between forward slashes: /p/, /b/, /æ/. Allophone — a concrete, physical realisation of a phoneme in a particular phonetic environment. Allophones are written in square brackets: [pʰ], [p], [ɫ].
The crucial point is that allophones of the same phoneme never create a difference in meaning in the language. English speakers do not perceive the aspirated [pʰ] and unaspirated [p] as different sounds — they are simply different versions of "the same sound" /p/.
Broad vs Narrow Transcription
The IPA can be used at two levels of detail:
| Type | Notation | Detail Level | Example ("pin") | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad (phonemic) | Forward slashes / / | Records only the distinctive phonemes | /pɪn/ | Showing which phonemes are used; sufficient for most A-Level analysis |
| Narrow (phonetic) | Square brackets [ ] | Records fine phonetic detail including allophones | [pʰɪn] | Showing exactly how sounds are produced; useful for detailed accent analysis |
For AQA A-Level, broad transcription is the standard expectation. However, when discussing specific accent features (such as aspiration, glottalisation, or dark /l/), you may need to use narrow transcription to capture the relevant detail.
Key Definition: Broad transcription — phonemic transcription using / / that records only the contrastive sound units (phonemes) of a language. Narrow transcription — phonetic transcription using [ ] that captures fine-grained articulatory detail, including allophonic variation.
The English Consonant Phonemes
English has 24 consonant phonemes (the exact number varies slightly depending on the analysis). These are presented in the consonant chart below, organised by place of articulation (columns) and manner of articulation (rows), with voiceless sounds on the left and voiced sounds on the right of each cell:
| Manner | Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
| Fricative | f v | θ ð | s z | ʃ ʒ | h | |||
| Affricate | tʃ dʒ | |||||||
| Approximant | w | r | j | (w) | ||||
| Lateral | l |
Key consonant symbols to know:
| Symbol | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| /p/ | pat | voiceless bilabial plosive |
| /b/ | bat | voiced bilabial plosive |
| /t/ | tap | voiceless alveolar plosive |
| /d/ | dog | voiced alveolar plosive |
| /k/ | cat | voiceless velar plosive |
| /g/ | get | voiced velar plosive |
| /f/ | fat | voiceless labiodental fricative |
| /v/ | vat | voiced labiodental fricative |
| /θ/ | think | voiceless dental fricative |
| /ð/ | this | voiced dental fricative |
| /s/ | sit | voiceless alveolar fricative |
| /z/ | zoo | voiced alveolar fricative |
| /ʃ/ | ship | voiceless postalveolar fricative |
| /ʒ/ | pleasure | voiced postalveolar fricative |
| /h/ | hat | voiceless glottal fricative |
| /tʃ/ | chip | voiceless postalveolar affricate |
| /dʒ/ | jug | voiced postalveolar affricate |
| /m/ | mat | voiced bilabial nasal |
| /n/ | net | voiced alveolar nasal |
| /ŋ/ | sing | voiced velar nasal |
| /l/ | lot | voiced alveolar lateral approximant |
| /r/ | red | voiced postalveolar approximant |
| /j/ | yes | voiced palatal approximant |
| /w/ | wet | voiced labial-velar approximant |
The English Vowel Phonemes
English vowels are more complex than consonants because they vary significantly between accents. In Received Pronunciation (RP), there are approximately 20 vowel phonemes — 12 monophthongs and 8 diphthongs.
Monophthongs (Pure Vowels)
| Symbol | Key Word | Type |
|---|---|---|
| /iː/ | fleece | close front unrounded (long) |
| /ɪ/ | kit | near-close near-front unrounded (short) |
| /e/ | dress | open-mid front unrounded (short) |
| /æ/ | trap | near-open front unrounded (short) |
| /ɑː/ | bath, father | open back unrounded (long) |
| /ɒ/ | lot | open back rounded (short) |
| /ɔː/ | thought | open-mid back rounded (long) |
| /ʊ/ | foot | near-close near-back rounded (short) |
| /uː/ | goose | close back rounded (long) |
| /ʌ/ | strut | open-mid back unrounded (short) |
| /ɜː/ | nurse | open-mid central unrounded (long) |
| /ə/ | about, comma | mid central unrounded (short, unstressed only) |
Diphthongs
| Symbol | Key Word | Movement |
|---|---|---|
| /eɪ/ | face | mid front → close front |
| /aɪ/ | price | open central → close front |
| /ɔɪ/ | choice | open-mid back → close front |
| /əʊ/ | goat | mid central → close back |
| /aʊ/ | mouth | open central → close back |
| /ɪə/ | near | close front → mid central |
| /eə/ | square | mid front → mid central |
| /ʊə/ | cure | close back → mid central |
The Schwa /ə/
The schwa deserves special attention because it is the most common vowel sound in English. It is a short, unstressed, mid-central vowel — the "default" vowel sound that appears in virtually all unstressed syllables.
Examples of schwa in common words:
- about /əˈbaʊt/ — first syllable
- photograph /ˈfəʊtəgrɑːf/ — second syllable
- teacher /ˈtiːtʃə/ — final syllable
- the /ðə/ — in unstressed position
The schwa is critical for understanding connected speech (covered in Lesson 4) because full vowels in unstressed positions are frequently reduced to schwa in natural speech.
Transcription Practice
Here are some example words transcribed in broad IPA (RP):
| Word | Transcription |
|---|---|
| cat | /kæt/ |
| think | /θɪŋk/ |
| church | /tʃɜːtʃ/ |
| pleasure | /ˈpleʒə/ |
| language | /ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ/ |
| phonetics | /fəˈnetɪks/ |
| international | /ˌɪntəˈnæʃənəl/ |
| alphabet | /ˈælfəbet/ |
Note the use of stress marks: the primary stress mark /ˈ/ is placed before the stressed syllable, and the secondary stress mark /ˌ/ before a syllable with secondary stress.
Exam Tips
- You do not need to memorise every IPA symbol for the AQA exam, but you should be comfortable using the main consonant and vowel symbols to discuss accent features and phonological patterns.
- Always use forward slashes / / for phonemic transcription and square brackets [ ] for phonetic transcription — confusing them suggests a lack of understanding.
- When discussing accent variation, the IPA allows you to be precise: instead of saying "they drop the h," you can write "the phoneme /h/ is deleted in word-initial position."
- The schwa /ə/ is particularly important — being able to identify vowel reduction to schwa demonstrates strong phonological awareness.
- Practice transcribing common words and short phrases to build fluency with the IPA — this will make your exam analysis much more confident and precise.