Phonetic symbols in Unicode

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Unicode supports several phonetic scripts and notation systems through its existing scripts and the addition of extra blocks with phonetic characters. These phonetic characters are derived from an existing script, usually Latin, Greek or Cyrillic. Apart from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), extensions to the IPA and obsolete and nonstandard IPA symbols, these blocks also contain characters from the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet and the Americanist Phonetic Alphabet.

Contents

Phonetic scripts

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) makes use of letters from other writing systems as most phonetic scripts do. IPA notably uses Latin, Greek and Cyrillic characters. Combining diacritics also add meaning to the phonetic text. Finally, these phonetic alphabets make use of modifier letters, that are specially constructed for phonetic meaning. A "modifier letter" is strictly intended not as an independent grapheme but as a modification of the preceding character [1] resulting in a distinct grapheme, notably in the context of the International Phonetic Alphabet. For example, ʰ should not occur on its own but modifies the preceding or following symbol. Thus, tʰ is a single IPA symbol, distinct from t. In practice, however, several of these "modifier letters" are also used as full graphemes, e.g. ʿ as transliterating Semitic ayin or Hawaiian ʻokina, or ˚ transliterating Abkhaz ә.

From IPA to Unicode

Consonants

The following tables indicates the Unicode code point sequences for phonemes as used in the International Phonetic Alphabet. A bold code point indicates that the Unicode chart provides an application note such as "voiced retroflex lateral" for U+026DɭLATIN SMALL LETTER L WITH RETROFLEX HOOK. An entry in bold italics indicates the character name itself refers to a phoneme such as U+0298ʘLATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK


  Basic Latin/Greek   Latin extended   IPA extension

Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Labialized palatal Postalveolar-velar
Plosive p
U+0070		 b
U+0062		 p̪
U+0070 U+032A		 b̪
U+0062 U+032A		 t̪
U+0074 U+032A		 d̪
U+0064 U+032A		 t
U+0074		 d
U+0064		 ʈ
U+0288		 ɖ
U+0256
Implosive ɓ̥
U+0253U+0325		 ɓ
U+0253		 ɗ̪
U+0257U+032A		 ɗ
U+0257		 ᶑ
U+1D91
Ejective pʼ
U+0070 U+02BC		 t̪ʼ
U+0074 U+032AU+02BC		 tʼ
U+0074 U+02BC		 ʈʼ
U+0288U+02BC
Nasal m̥
U+006D U+0325		 m
U+006D		ɱ̊
U+0271 U+030A		 ɱ
U+0271		n̪̊
U+006E U+032A U+030A		 n̪
U+006E U+032A		 n̥
U+006E U+0325		 n
U+006E		 ɳ̊
U+0273 U+030A		 ɳ
U+0273
Trill ʙ
U+0299		 r̥
U+0072 U+0325		 r
U+0072		 *
Tap or Flap ⱱ̟
U+2C71 U+031F		 ⱱ
U+2C71		 ɾ
U+027E		 ɽ
U+027D
Lateral flap ɺ
U+027A		 𝼈
U+1DF08
Fricative ɸ
U+0278		 β
U+03B2		 f
U+0066		 v
U+0076		 θ
U+03B8		 ð
U+00F0		 s
U+0073		 z
U+007A		 ʃ
U+0283		 ʒ
U+0292		 ʂ
U+0282		 ʐ
U+0290		 ɧ
U+0267
Lateral fricative ɬ
U+026C		 ɮ
U+026E		 ꞎ
U+A78E
Ejective fricative sʼ
U+0073 U+02BC		ʃʼ
U+0283U+02BC
Ejective lateral fricative ɬʼ
U+026CU+02BC
Percussive ʬ
U+02AC		 ʭ
U+02AD
Approximant β̞̊
U+03B2 U+031E U+030A		 β̞
U+03B2 U+031E		ʋ̥
U+028B U+0325		 ʋ
U+028B		 ð̞
U+00F0 U+031E		ɹ̥
U+0279 U+0325		 ɹ
U+0279		ɻ̊
U+027B U+030A		 ɻ
U+027B		ɥ̊
U+0265 U+030A		 ɥ
U+0265
Lateral approximant l̥
U+006C U+0325		 l
U+006C		 ɭ
U+026D
Click consonant ʘ
U+0298		 ǀ
U+01C0		 ǃ
U+01C3		 ǃ / ǂ
U+01C3 / U+01C2		 𝼊
U+1DF0A
Lateral click * ǁ
U+01C1
Alveolo-palatal Palatal Labial-velar Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Epiglottal Glottal
Plosive ȶ
U+0236		 ȡ
U+0221		 c
U+0063		 ɟ
U+025F		 k͡p
U+006B U+0361 U+0070		 ɡ͡b
U+0261 U+0361 U+0062		 k
U+006B		 ɡ
U+0261		 q
U+0071		 ɢ
U+0262		 ʡ
U+02A1		 ʔ
U+0294
Implosive ʄ
U+0284		 ɠ
U+0260		 ʛ
U+029B
Ejective cʼ
U+0063 U+02BC		 kʼ
U+006B U+02BC		 qʼ
U+0071 U+02BC
Nasal ȵ
U+0235		 ɲ
U+0272		 ŋ͡m
U+014B U+0361 U+006D		 ŋ
U+014B		 ɴ
U+0274
Trill ʀ
U+0280		 *
Tap or Flap *
Lateral flap * *
Fricative ɕ
U+0255		 ʑ
U+0291		 ç
U+00E7		 ʝ
U+029D		 x
U+0078		 ɣ
U+0263		 χ
U+03C7		 ʁ
U+0281		 ħ
U+0127		 ʕ
U+0295		 ʜ
U+029C		 ʢ
U+02A2		 h
U+0068		 ɦ
U+0266
Approximant j
U+006A		 ʍ
U+028D		 w
U+0077		 ɰ
U+0270
Lateral approximant ȴ
U+0234		 ʎ
U+028E		 ʟ
U+029F

Vowels

The following figures depict the phonetic vowels and their Unicode / UCS code points, arranged to represent the phonetic vowel trapezium. Vowels appearing in pairs in the figure to the right indicate rounded and unrounded variations respectively. Again, characters with Unicode names referring to phonemes are indicated by bold text. Those with explicit application notes are indicated by bold italic text. Those from borrowed unchanged from another script (Latin, Greek or Cyrillic) are indicated by italics. Before and after a bullet are the unrounded • rounded vowels.

Unicode code points for phonetic vowels
FrontCentralBack
Close i • y
U+0069
•
U+0079		 ɨ • ʉ
U+0268
•
U+0289		 ɯ • u
U+026F
•
U+0075
Near-close ɪ • ʏ
U+026A
•
U+028F		 ɪ̈ • ʊ̈
U+026A U+0308
•
U+028A U+0308		• ʊ
 
•
U+028A
Close-mid e • ø
U+0065
•
U+00F8		 ɘ • ɵ
U+0258
•
U+0275		 ɤ • o
U+0264
•
U+006F
Mid e̞ • ø̞
U+0065 U+031E
•
U+00F8 U+031E		 ə
 
U+0259
 		 ɤ̞ • o̞
U+0264 U+031E
•
U+006F U+031E
Open-mid ɛ • œ
U+025B
•
U+0153		 ɜ • ɞ
U+025C
•
U+025E		 ʌ • ɔ
U+028C
•
U+0254
Near-open æ •
U+00E6
•
 		 ɐ
 
U+0250
 
Open a • ɶ
U+0061
•
U+0276		 ä •
U+0061 U+0308
•
 		 ɑ • ɒ
U+0251
•
U+0252

Diacritics

Diacritics may be encoded as either modifier (e.g. ˳) or combining (e.g. ◌̥) characters.

VoicelessBreathy VoicedDentalSyllabic
˳ • ◌̥
U+02F3 • U+0325		◌̤
U+0324		◌͏̪
U+032A		ˌ • ◌̩
U+02CC • U+0329
VoicedCreaky VoicedApicalNon-syllabic
ˬ • ◌̬
U+02EC • U+032C		˷ • ◌̰
U+02F7 • U+0330		˽ • ◌̺
U+02FD • U+033A		◌͏̯
U+032F
AspiratedLinguolabialLaminalMore Rounded
ʰ
U+02B0		◌͏̼
U+033C		◌͏̻
U+033B		˒ • ◌̹
U+02D2 • U+0339
LabializedNasalizedPalatalizedLess Rounded
ʷ
U+02B7		◌̃
U+0303		ʲ
U+02B2		˓ • ◌̜
U+02D3 • U+031C
AdvancedNasal releaseCentralizedVelarized
˖ • ◌̟
U+02D6 • U+031F		ⁿ
U+207F		¨ • ◌̈
U+00A8 [1] • U+0308		ˠ
U+02E0
RetractedLateral releaseMid-CentralizedPharyngealized
˗ • ◌̠
U+02D7 • U+0320		ˡ
U+02E1		˟ • ◌̽
U+02DF • U+033D		ˤ
U+02E4
Advanced Tongue RootNo audible releaseRaisedVelarized or Pharyngealized
꭪ • ◌̘
U+AB6A • U+0318		˺ • ◌̚
U+02FA • U+031A		˔ • ◌̝
U+02D4 • U+031D		◌̴
U+0334
Retracted Tongue RootRhoticityLowered Lengthened
꭫ • ◌̙
U+AB6B • U+0319		˞
U+02DE		˕ • ◌̞
U+02D5 • U+031E		 ː
U+02D0
Notes
1. ^ The codepoint refers to diaeresis, which takes up space but is not a Spacing Modifier Letter.

Unicode blocks

Unicode blocks with many phonetic symbols

Six Unicode blocks contain many phonetic symbols:

IPA Extensions (U+0250–02AF)

IPA Extensions [1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+025x ɐ ɑ ɒ ɓ ɔ ɕ ɖ ɗ ɘ ə ɚ ɛ ɜ ɝ ɞ ɟ
U+026x ɠ ɡ ɢ ɣ ɤ ɥ ɦ ɧ ɨ ɩ ɪ ɫ ɬ ɭ ɮ ɯ
U+027x ɰ ɱ ɲ ɳ ɴ ɵ ɶ ɷ ɸ ɹ ɺ ɻ ɼ ɽ ɾ ɿ
U+028x ʀ ʁ ʂ ʃ ʄ ʅ ʆ ʇ ʈ ʉ ʊ ʋ ʌ ʍ ʎ ʏ
U+029x ʐ ʑ ʒ ʓ ʔ ʕ ʖ ʗ ʘ ʙ ʚ ʛ ʜ ʝ ʞ ʟ
U+02Ax ʠ ʡ ʢ ʣ ʤ ʥ ʦ ʧ ʨ ʩ ʪ ʫ ʬ ʭ ʮ ʯ
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 16.0

Spacing Modifier Letters (U+02B0–02FF)

The characters in the "Spacing Modifier Letters" block are intended as forming a unity with the preceding letter (which they "modify"). E.g. the character U+02B0ʰMODIFIER LETTER SMALL H isn't intended simply as a superscript h (h), but as the mark of aspiration placed after the letter being aspirated, as in pʰ "aspirated voiceless bilabial plosive". The block contains:

Spacing Modifier Letters [1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+02Bx ʰ ʱ ʲ ʳ ʴ ʵ ʶ ʷ ʸ ʹ ʺ ʻ ʼ ʽ ʾ ʿ
U+02Cx ˀ ˁ ˂ ˃ ˄ ˅ ˆ ˇ ˈ ˉ ˊ ˋ ˌ ˍ ˎ ˏ
U+02Dx ː ˑ ˒ ˓ ˔ ˕ ˖ ˗ ˘ ˙ ˚ ˛ ˜ ˝ ˞ ˟
U+02Ex ˠ ˡ ˢ ˣ ˤ ˥ ˦ ˧ ˨ ˩ ˪ ˫ ˬ ˭ ˮ ˯
U+02Fx ˰ ˱ ˲ ˳ ˴ ˵ ˶ ˷ ˸ ˹ ˺ ˻ ˼ ˽ ˾ ˿
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 16.0

Phonetic Extensions (U+1D00–1D7F)

This block, together with Phonetic Extensions Supplement below, contains:

Phonetic Extensions [1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1D0x ᴀ ᴁ ᴂ ᴃ ᴄ ᴅ ᴆ ᴇ ᴈ ᴉ ᴊ ᴋ ᴌ ᴍ ᴎ ᴏ
U+1D1x ᴐ ᴑ ᴒ ᴓ ᴔ ᴕ ᴖ ᴗ ᴘ ᴙ ᴚ ᴛ ᴜ ᴝ ᴞ ᴟ
U+1D2x ᴠ ᴡ ᴢ ᴣ ᴤ ᴥ ᴦ ᴧ ᴨ ᴩ ᴪ ᴫ ᴬ ᴭ ᴮ ᴯ
U+1D3x ᴰ ᴱ ᴲ ᴳ ᴴ ᴵ ᴶ ᴷ ᴸ ᴹ ᴺ ᴻ ᴼ ᴽ ᴾ ᴿ
U+1D4x ᵀ ᵁ ᵂ ᵃ ᵄ ᵅ ᵆ ᵇ ᵈ ᵉ ᵊ ᵋ ᵌ ᵍ ᵎ ᵏ
U+1D5x ᵐ ᵑ ᵒ ᵓ ᵔ ᵕ ᵖ ᵗ ᵘ ᵙ ᵚ ᵛ ᵜ ᵝ ᵞ ᵟ
U+1D6x ᵠ ᵡ ᵢ ᵣ ᵤ ᵥ ᵦ ᵧ ᵨ ᵩ ᵪ ᵫ ᵬ ᵭ ᵮ ᵯ
U+1D7x ᵰ ᵱ ᵲ ᵳ ᵴ ᵵ ᵶ ᵷ ᵸ ᵹ ᵺ ᵻ ᵼ ᵽ ᵾ ᵿ
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 16.0

Phonetic Extensions Supplement (U+1D80–1DBF)

Phonetic Extensions Supplement [1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1D8x ᶀ ᶁ ᶂ ᶃ ᶄ ᶅ ᶆ ᶇ ᶈ ᶉ ᶊ ᶋ ᶌ ᶍ ᶎ ᶏ
U+1D9x ᶐ ᶑ ᶒ ᶓ ᶔ ᶕ ᶖ ᶗ ᶘ ᶙ ᶚ ᶛ ᶜ ᶝ ᶞ ᶟ
U+1DAx ᶠ ᶡ ᶢ ᶣ ᶤ ᶥ ᶦ ᶧ ᶨ ᶩ ᶪ ᶫ ᶬ ᶭ ᶮ ᶯ
U+1DBx ᶰ ᶱ ᶲ ᶳ ᶴ ᶵ ᶶ ᶷ ᶸ ᶹ ᶺ ᶻ ᶼ ᶽ ᶾ ᶿ
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 16.0

Modifier Tone Letters (U+A700–A71F)

Modifier Tone Letters [1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+A70x꜀꜁꜂꜃꜄꜅꜆꜇꜈꜉꜊꜋꜌꜍꜎꜏
U+A71x꜐꜑꜒꜓꜔꜕꜖ꜗꜘꜙꜚꜛꜜꜝꜞꜟ
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 16.0

Superscripts and Subscripts (U+2070–209F)

Superscripts and Subscripts [1] [2] [3]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+207x ⁰ ⁱ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁹ ⁺ ⁻ ⁼ ⁽ ⁾ ⁿ
U+208x ₀ ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅ ₆ ₇ ₈ ₉ ₊ ₋ ₌ ₍ ₎
U+209x ₐ ₑ ₒ ₓ ₔ ₕ ₖ ₗ ₘ ₙ ₚ ₛ ₜ
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points
3. ^ Refer to the Latin-1 Supplement Unicode block for characters ¹ (U+00B9), ² (U+00B2) and ³ (U+00B3)

Font support for IPA

Input by selection from a screen

Applet for character selection Gucharmap screenshot.png
Applet for character selection

Many systems provide a way to select Unicode characters visually. ISO/IEC 14755 refers to this as a screen-selection entry method.

Microsoft Windows has provided a Unicode version of the Character Map program (find it by hitting ⊞ Win+R then type charmap then hit ↵ Enter) since version NT 4.0 – appearing in the consumer edition since XP. This is limited to characters in the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP). Characters are searchable by Unicode character name, and the table can be limited to a particular code block. More advanced third-party tools of the same type are also available (a notable freeware example is BabelMap).

macOS provides a "character palette" with much the same functionality, along with searching by related characters, glyph tables in a font, etc. It can be enabled in the input menu in the menu bar under System Preferences → International → Input Menu (or System Preferences → Language and Text → Input Sources) or can be viewed under Edit → Emoji & Symbols in many programs.

Equivalent tools – such as gucharmap (GNOME) or kcharselect (KDE) – exist on most Linux desktop environments.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Spacing modifier letters". Everything2.com. 2002-08-29. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
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