# IPA Reference

Quick reference for the IPA symbols used in this package, organized by phonetic category.

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## Plosives (Stops)

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `p` | U+0070 | Voiceless bilabial plosive | All Latin-script languages |
| `b` | U+0062 | Voiced bilabial plosive | All Latin-script languages |
| `t` | U+0074 | Voiceless alveolar/dental plosive | All Latin-script languages |
| `d` | U+0064 | Voiced alveolar/dental plosive | All Latin-script languages |
| `k` | U+006B | Voiceless velar plosive | All Latin-script languages |
| `ɡ` | U+0261 | Voiced velar plosive | **Must use U+0261, not g (U+0067)** |
| `q` | U+0071 | Voiceless uvular plosive | Arabic |
| `ʔ` | U+0294 | Glottal stop | English (allophone), Arabic |
| `t̪` | t+U+032A | Dental t | Spanish (before /θ/) |
| `d̪` | d+U+032A | Dental d | Spanish (before /θ/) |

## Fricatives

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `f` | U+0066 | Voiceless labiodental fricative | All Latin-script languages |
| `v` | U+0076 | Voiced labiodental fricative | French, Italian, German, English |
| `θ` | U+03B8 | Voiceless dental fricative | English (*think*), Castilian Spanish |
| `ð` | U+00F0 | Voiced dental fricative | English (*the*), Spanish allophone |
| `s` | U+0073 | Voiceless alveolar fricative | All Latin-script languages |
| `z` | U+007A | Voiced alveolar fricative | English, French, German |
| `ʃ` | U+0283 | Voiceless postalveolar fricative | English (*sh*), French, Portuguese |
| `ʒ` | U+0292 | Voiced postalveolar fricative | French, English (*vision*) |
| `ç` | U+00E7 | Voiceless palatal fricative | German (*ich*), allophone |
| `x` | U+0078 | Voiceless velar fricative | Spanish (*jota*), German (*ach*) |
| `ɣ` | U+0263 | Voiced velar fricative | Spanish allophone of /ɡ/ |
| `χ` | U+03C7 | Voiceless uvular fricative | Some Spanish dialects (jota) |
| `β` | U+03B2 | Voiced bilabial fricative | Spanish allophone of /b/ |
| `h` | U+0068 | Voiceless glottal fricative | English (*h*), aspirated stops |
| `ħ` | U+0127 | Voiceless pharyngeal fricative | Arabic |
| `ʕ` | U+0295 | Voiced pharyngeal fricative | Arabic |

## Affricates

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `tʃ` | U+0074+U+0283 | Voiceless postalveolar affricate | English, Spanish, Italian |
| `dʒ` | U+0064+U+0292 | Voiced postalveolar affricate | English (*judge*) |
| `ts` | U+0074+U+0073 | Voiceless alveolar affricate | German (*z*), Italian |
| `dz` | U+0064+U+007A | Voiced alveolar affricate | Italian, Catalan |
| `tɕ` | t+U+0255 | Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate | Mandarin, Japanese |
| `dʑ` | d+U+0291 | Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate | Japanese |

## Nasals

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `m` | U+006D | Bilabial nasal | All languages |
| `n` | U+006E | Alveolar nasal | All languages |
| `ɲ` | U+0272 | Palatal nasal | Spanish, Portuguese, Italian |
| `ŋ` | U+014B | Velar nasal | English (*ng*), Germanic, Slavic |
| `ɱ` | U+0271 | Labiodental nasal | Spanish/Portuguese (before /f/) |
| `n̪` | n+U+032A | Dental nasal | Spanish (before /t,d/) |

## Liquids: Laterals

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `l` | U+006C | Alveolar lateral approximant | All Latin-script languages |
| `ʎ` | U+028E | Palatal lateral approximant | Spanish, Portuguese, Italian |
| `ɫ` | U+026B | Velarized lateral (dark l) | English coda, Turkish |
| `lː` | l+U+02D0 | Geminate lateral | Catalan `l·l` |

## Liquids: Rhotics

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `r` | U+0072 | Alveolar trill | Spanish (*rr*), Italian, Slavic |
| `ɾ` | U+027E | Alveolar tap/flap | Spanish (*r*), Portuguese |
| `ɹ` | U+0279 | Alveolar approximant | English (rhotic) |
| `ʀ` | U+0280 | Uvular trill | French, German (uvular r) |
| `ʁ` | U+0281 | Voiced uvular fricative | French, German |
| `ɽ` | U+027D | Retroflex tap | Hindi |

## Approximants and Glides

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `j` | U+006A | Palatal approximant | All Latin-script languages |
| `w` | U+0077 | Labiovelar approximant | All Latin-script languages |
| `ɥ` | U+0265 | Labio-palatal approximant | French (*nuit*, *lui*) |
| `ʝ` | U+029D | Voiced palatal fricative | Spanish |

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## Vowels

### Front Vowels

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `i` | U+0069 | Close front unrounded | Spanish *si* |
| `iː` | i+U+02D0 | Long close front | English *see* |
| `ɪ` | U+026A | Near-close front unrounded | English *sit* |
| `e` | U+0065 | Close-mid front unrounded | Spanish *mesa* |
| `eː` | e+U+02D0 | Long close-mid front | German *See* |
| `ɛ` | U+025B | Open-mid front unrounded | French *tête*, Catalan open e |
| `æ` | U+00E6 | Near-open front | English *cat* |
| `y` | U+0079 | Close front rounded | French *lune* |
| `ø` | U+00F8 | Close-mid front rounded | French *feu* |
| `œ` | U+0153 | Open-mid front rounded | French *brun* |

### Central Vowels

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `ə` | U+0259 | Schwa (mid central) | English *a*bout, French unstressed |
| `ɐ` | U+0250 | Near-open central | Portuguese unstressed a |
| `ɨ` | U+0268 | Close central unrounded | EP unstressed e; Romanian â |
| `ɜ` | U+025C | Open-mid central | English *bird* (non-rhotic) |

### Back Vowels

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `u` | U+0075 | Close back rounded | Spanish *luna* |
| `uː` | u+U+02D0 | Long close back rounded | English *food* |
| `ʊ` | U+028A | Near-close back rounded | English *foot* |
| `o` | U+006F | Close-mid back rounded | Spanish *no* |
| `oː` | o+U+02D0 | Long close-mid back | German *so* |
| `ɔ` | U+0254 | Open-mid back rounded | French/Italian open o |
| `ɑ` | U+0251 | Open back unrounded | English *father* |
| `ɑː` | ɑ+U+02D0 | Long open back | British *bath* |
| `a` | U+0061 | Open central/front unrounded | Spanish *casa* |

### Nasal Vowels

| IPA | Unicode | Description | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| `ã` | a+U+0303 | Nasalized open | Portuguese |
| `ẽ` | e+U+0303 | Nasalized close-mid front | Portuguese |
| `ĩ` | i+U+0303 | Nasalized close front | Portuguese |
| `õ` | o+U+0303 | Nasalized close-mid back | Portuguese |
| `ũ` | u+U+0303 | Nasalized close back | Portuguese |
| `ɛ̃` | ɛ+U+0303 | Nasalized open-mid front | French |
| `ɑ̃` | ɑ+U+0303 | Nasalized open back | French |
| `ɔ̃` | ɔ+U+0303 | Nasalized open-mid back | French |
| `œ̃` | œ+U+0303 | Nasalized open-mid front rounded | French (merging with ɛ̃) |

### Diphthongs

| IPA | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| `aɪ` | Open front + near-close front | English *price* |
| `aʊ` | Open front + near-close back | English *mouth* |
| `ɔɪ` | Open-mid back + near-close front | English *choice* |
| `eɪ` | Close-mid front + near-close front | English *face* |
| `oʊ` | Close-mid back + near-close back | American English *goat* |
| `ja` | Palatal glide + open | Spanish *bien* |
| `je` | Palatal glide + close-mid front | Spanish *tierra* |
| `wa` | Labiovelar glide + open | Spanish *cuando* |
| `aj` | Open + palatal glide | Spanish *hay* |

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## Common Diacritics

| Diacritic | Unicode | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `ʰ` | U+02B0 | Aspirated | `tʰ` in English *top* |
| `ʷ` | U+02B7 | Labialized | `kʷ` |
| `ʲ` | U+02B2 | Palatalized | `tʲ` in Russian |
| `ː` | U+02D0 | Long | `aː` in German *Vater* |
| `̃` | U+0303 | Nasalized | `ã` in Portuguese |
| `̪` | U+032A | Dental | `t̪` in Spanish before /θ/ |
| `̥` | U+0325 | Devoiced | `d̥` |
| `̈` | U+0308 | Centralized | `ä` |
| `̚` | U+031A | Unreleased | `t̚` in English coda |

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## Special Symbols

| Symbol | Unicode | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `∅` | U+2205 | Null/zero (phoneme deleted) |
| `ˈ` | U+02C8 | Primary stress |
| `ˌ` | U+02CC | Secondary stress |
| `.` | U+002E | Syllable boundary |
| `|` | U+007C | Minor prosodic break |
| `‖` | U+2016 | Major prosodic break |

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## Encoding Notes

All IPA text in the package is stored as **UTF-8 encoded Python strings**. When writing new language modules:

1. Always use the correct Unicode code point, not a visually similar ASCII character.
2. `ɡ` (U+0261, voiced velar stop) is **not** the same as `g` (U+0067, Latin small letter g) — use `ɡ` in IPA contexts.
3. Combining diacritics follow the base character: `t̪` = `t` (U+0074) + `̪` (U+032A).
4. The length mark is `ː` (U+02D0), not `:` (U+003A, colon).

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*Related: [Distance](distance.md) · [Data model](data_model.md) · [Linguistic accuracy](linguistic_accuracy.md)*
