X-SAMPA

Last updated October 18, 2025

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Extended Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at University College London.^[1] It is designed to unify the individual language SAMPA alphabets, and extend SAMPA to cover the entire range of characters in the 1993 version of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The result is a SAMPA-inspired remapping of the IPA into 7-bit ASCII.

SAMPA was devised as a hack to work around the inability of text encodings to represent IPA symbols. Later, as Unicode support for IPA symbols became more widespread, the necessity for a separate, computer-readable system for representing the IPA in ASCII decreased. However, X-SAMPA is still useful as the basis for an input method for true IPA.

Summary

Notes

The IPA symbols that are ordinary lower case letters have the same value in X-SAMPA as they do in the IPA.
X-SAMPA uses backslashes as modifying suffixes to create new symbols. For example, O is a distinct sound from O\ , to which it bears no relation. Such use of the backslash character can be a problem, since many programs interpret it as an escape character for the character following it. For example, such X-SAMPA symbols do not work in EMU, so backslashes must be replaced with some other symbol (e.g., an asterisk: '*') when adding phonemic transcription to an EMU speech database. The backslash has no fixed meaning.
X-SAMPA diacritics follow the symbols they modify. Except for ~ for nasalization, = for syllabicity, and ` for retroflexion and rhotacization, diacritics are joined to the character with the underscore character _.
The underscore character is also used to encode the IPA tiebar: k_p codes for /k͡p/.
The numbers _1 to _6 are reserved diacritics as shorthand for language-specific tone numbers.
The IETF language tags registry has assigned fonxsamp as the subtag for text transcribed in X-SAMPA.^[2]

Lower-case symbols

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description	Examples
`a`	a	open front unrounded vowel	French dame`[dam]`
`b`	b	voiced bilabial plosive	English bed`[bEd]`, French bon`[bO~]`
`b_<`	ɓ	voiced bilabial implosive	Sindhi ɓarʊ [`b_<arU`]
`c`	c	voiceless palatal plosive	Hungarian latyak`["lQcQk]`
`d`	d	voiced alveolar plosive	English dig`[dIg]`, French doigt`[dwa]`
d`	ɖ	voiced retroflex plosive	Swedish hord[hu:d`]
`d_<`	ɗ	voiced alveolar implosive	Sindhi ɗarʊ [`d_<arU`]
`e`	e	close-mid front unrounded vowel	French blé`[ble]`
`f`	f	voiceless labiodental fricative	English five`[faIv]`, French femme`[fam]`
`g`	ɡ	voiced velar plosive	English game`[geIm]`, French longue`[lO~g]`
`g_<`	ɠ	voiced velar implosive	Sindhi ɠəro [`g_<@ro`]
`h`	h	voiceless glottal fricative	English house`[haUs]`
`h\`	ɦ	voiced glottal fricative	Czech hrad`[h\rat]`
`i`	i	close front unrounded vowel	English be`[bi:]`, French oui`[wi]`, Spanish si`[si]`
`j`	j	palatal approximant	English yes`[jEs]`, French yeux`[j2]`
`j\`	ʝ	voiced palatal fricative	Greek γειά`[j\a]`
`k`	k	voiceless velar plosive	English skip`[skIp]`, Spanish carro`["karo]`
`l`	l	alveolar lateral approximant	English lay`[leI]`, French mal`[mal]`
l`	ɭ	retroflex lateral approximant	Svealand Swedish sorl[so:l`]
`l\`	ɺ	alveolar lateral flap	Wayuu püülükü`[pM:l\MkM]`
`m`	m	bilabial nasal	English mouse`[maUs]`, French homme`[Om]`
`n`	n	alveolar nasal	English nap`[n{p]`, French non`[nO~]`
n`	ɳ	retroflex nasal	Swedish hörn[h2:n`]
`o`	o	close-mid back rounded vowel	French veau`[vo]`
`p`	p	voiceless bilabial plosive	English speak`[spik]`, French pose`[poz]`, Spanish perro`["pero]`
`p\`	ɸ	voiceless bilabial fricative	Japanese fuku`[p\M_0kM]`
`q`	q	voiceless uvular plosive	Arabic qasbah`["qQs_Gba]`
`r`	r	alveolar trill	Spanish perro`["pero]`
r`	ɽ	retroflex flap	Bengali gari[gar`i:]
`r\`	ɹ	alveolar approximant	English red`[r\Ed]`
r\`	ɻ	retroflex approximant	Malayalam വഴി["v@r\`i]
`s`	s	voiceless alveolar fricative	English seem`[si:m]`, French session`[sE"sjO~]`
s`	ʂ	voiceless retroflex fricative	Swedish mars[mas`]
`s\`	ɕ	voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative	Polish świerszcz[s\v'ers`ts`]
`t`	t	voiceless alveolar plosive	English stew`[stju:]`, French raté`[Ra"te]`
t`	ʈ	voiceless retroflex plosive	Swedish mört[m2t`]
`u`	u	close back rounded vowel	English boom`[bu:m]`, Spanish su`[su]`
`v`	v	voiced labiodental fricative	English vest`[vEst]`, French voix`[vwa]`
`v\` (or `P`)	ʋ	labiodental approximant	Dutch west`[v\Est]`/`[PEst]`
`w`	w	labial-velar approximant	English west`[wEst]`, French oui`[wi]`
`x`	x	voiceless velar fricative	Scots loch`[lOx]` or `[5Ox]`; German Buch, Dach; Spanish caja, gestión
`x\`	ɧ	voiceless palatal-velar fricative	Swedish sjal`[x\A:l]`
`y`	y	close front rounded vowel	French tu`[ty]` German über`["y:b6]`
`z`	z	voiced alveolar fricative	English zoo`[zu:]`, French azote`[a"zOt]`
z`	ʐ	voiced retroflex fricative	Mandarin Chinese rang[z`aN]
`z\`	ʑ	voiced alveolo-palatal fricative	Polish źrebak`["z\rEbak]`

Upper-case symbols

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description	Example
`A`	ɑ	open back unrounded vowel	English father [`"fA:D@`(`r\`)] (RP and Gen.Am.)
`B`	β	voiced bilabial fricative	Spanish lavar`[la"Ba4]`
`B\`	ʙ	bilabial trill	Medumba mʙʉ`[mB\}_H]`
`C`	ç	voiceless palatal fricative	German ich`[IC]`, English human`["Cjum@n]` (broad transcription uses [`hj`-])
`D`	ð	voiced dental fricative	English then`[DEn]`
`E`	ɛ	open-mid front unrounded vowel	French même`[mE:m]`, English met`[mEt]` (RP and Gen.Am.)
`F`	ɱ	labiodental nasal	English emphasis`["EFf@sIs]` (spoken quickly, otherwise uses [`Emf`-])
`G`	ɣ	voiced velar fricative	Greek γωνία`[Go"nia]`
`G\`	ɢ	voiced uvular plosive	Inuktitut nirivvik`[niG\ivvik]`
`G\_<`	ʛ	voiced uvular implosive	Mam ʛa [`G\_<a`]
`H`	ɥ	labial-palatal approximant	French huit`[Hit]`
`H\`	ʜ	voiceless epiglottal fricative	Agul мехӀ`[mEH\]`
`I`	ɪ	near-close front unrounded vowel	English kit`[kIt]`
`I\`	ᵻ	near-close central unrounded vowel (non-IPA)	Polish ryba`[rI\bA]`
`J`	ɲ	palatal nasal	Spanish año`["aJo]`, English canyon`["k{J@n]` (broad transcription uses [-`nj`-])
`J\`	ɟ	voiced palatal plosive	Hungarian egy`[EJ\]`
`J\_<`	ʄ	voiced palatal implosive	Sindhi ʄaro [`J\_<aro`]
`K`	ɬ	voiceless alveolar lateral fricative	Welsh llaw`[KaU]`
`K\`	ɮ	voiced alveolar lateral fricative	Mongolian долоо`[tOK\O:]`
`L`	ʎ	palatal lateral approximant	Italian famiglia`[fa"miLLa]`, Castilian: llamar`[La"mar]`
`L\`	ʟ	velar lateral approximant	Korean 달구지`[t6L\gudz\i]`
`M`	ɯ	close back unrounded vowel	Korean 음식`[M:ms\_hik_}]`
`M\`	ɰ	velar approximant	Spanish fuego`["fweM\o]`
`N`	ŋ	velar nasal	English thing`[TIN]`
`N\`	ɴ	uvular nasal	Japanese さんsan`[saN\]`
`O`	ɔ	open-mid back rounded vowel	American English off`[O:f]`
`O\`	ʘ	bilabial click
`P` (or `v\`)	ʋ	labiodental approximant	Dutch west`[PEst]`/`[v\Est]`, allophone of English phoneme `/r\/`
`Q`	ɒ	open back rounded vowel	RP lot`[lQt]`
`R`	ʁ	voiced uvular fricative	German rein`[RaIn]`
`R\`	ʀ	uvular trill	French roi`[R\wa]`
`S`	ʃ	voiceless postalveolar fricative	English ship`[SIp]`
`T`	θ	voiceless dental fricative	English thin`[TIn]`
`U`	ʊ	near-close back rounded vowel	English foot`[fUt]`
`U\`	ᵿ	near-close central rounded vowel (non-IPA)	English euphoria`[jU\"fO@r\i@]`
`V`	ʌ	open-mid back unrounded vowel	Scottish English strut`[str\Vt]`
`W`	ʍ	voiceless labial-velar fricative	Scots when`[WEn]`
`X`	χ	voiceless uvular fricative	Klallam sχaʔqʷaʔ`[sXa?q_wa?]`
`X\`	ħ	voiceless pharyngeal fricative	Arabic حḥāʾ`[X\A:]`
`Y`	ʏ	near-close front rounded vowel	German hübsch`[hYpS]`
`Z`	ʒ	voiced postalveolar fricative	English vision`["vIZ@n]`

Other symbols

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description	Example
`.`	.	syllable break
`"`	ˈ	primary stress
`%`	ˌ	secondary stress	American English pronunciation`[pr\@%nVn.si."eI.S@n]`
`'` (or `_j`)	ʲ	palatalized	Russian Земля (Earth) `[z'I"ml'a]` or `[z_jI"ml_ja]`
`:`	ː	long
`:\`	ˑ	half long	Estonian differentiates three vowel lengths
`-`		separator	Polish trzy`[t-S1]` vs. czy`[tS1]` (affricate)
`@`	ə	schwa	English arena`[@"r\i:n@]`
`@\`	ɘ	close-mid central unrounded vowel	Chuvash пӗррехинче `[p@\rrEXints\E]`
@`	ɚ	r-coloured schwa	American English color["kVl@`]
`{`	æ	near-open front unrounded vowel	English trap`[tr\{p]`
`}`	ʉ	close central rounded vowel	Swedish sju`[x\}:]`; AuE/NZE boot`[b}:t]`
`1`	ɨ	close central unrounded vowel	Welsh tu`[t1]`, American English rose's`["r\oUz1z]`
`2`	ø	close-mid front rounded vowel	Danish købe`["k2:b@]`, French deux`[d2]`
`3`	ɜ	open-mid central unrounded vowel	English nurse`[n3:s]` (RP) or [n3`s] (Gen.Am.)
`3\`	ɞ	open-mid central rounded vowel	Irish tomhail`[t3\:l']`
`4`	ɾ	alveolar flap	Spanish pero`["pe4o]`, American English better["bE4@`]
`5`	ɫ	velarized alveolar lateral approximant; also see `_e`	English milk`[mI5k]`, Portuguese livro`["5iv4u]`
`6`	ɐ	near-open central vowel	German besser`["bEs6]`, Australian English mud`[m6d]`
`7`	ɤ	close-mid back unrounded vowel	Estonian kõik`[k7ik]`, Vietnamese mơ`[m7_M]`
`8`	ɵ	close-mid central rounded vowel	Swedish buss`[b8s]`
`9`	œ	open-mid front rounded vowel	French neuf`[n9f]`, Danish drømme`[dR9m@]`
`&`	ɶ	open front rounded vowel	Swedish skörd[x\&d`]
`?`	ʔ	glottal stop	Cockney English bottle`["bQ?o]`
`?\`	ʕ	voiced pharyngeal fricative	Arabic عʿayn`[?\Ajn]`
`*`		undefined escape character, SAMPA's "conjunctor"
`/`	/	(a) French vowel archiphonemes or indeterminacies (b) delimiter of phonemic transcriptions	maison`/mE/zO~/`
`<`	⟨	begin nonsegmental notation, e.g., SAMPROSA ^[3]
`<\`	ʢ	voiced epiglottal fricative	Siwi arˤbˤəʢa (four) `[ar_?\b_?\@<\a]`
`>`	⟩	end nonsegmental notation
`>\`	ʡ	epiglottal plosive	Archi гӀарз (complaint) `[>\arz]`
`^`	ꜛ	upstep
`!`	ꜜ	downstep
`!\`	ǃ	postalveolar click	Zulu iqaqa (polecat) `[i:!\a:!\a]`
`\|`	\|	minor (foot) group
`\|\`	ǀ	dental click	Zulu icici (earring) `[i:\|\i:\|\i]`
`\|\|`	‖	major (intonation) group
`\|\\|\`	ǁ	alveolar lateral click	Zulu xoxa (to converse) `[\|\\|\O:\|\\|\a]`
`=\`	ǂ	palatal click	Taa ǂnûm`[=\~u_Fm]`
`-\`	‿	linking mark

Diacritics

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description
`_"`	̈	centralized
`_+`	̟	advanced
`_-`	̠	retracted
`_/`	̌	rising tone
`_R`	̌	rising tone
`_0`	̥	voiceless
`_<`		implosive (IPA uses separate symbols for implosives)
`=` (or `_=`)	̩	syllabic
`_>`	ʼ	ejective
`_?\`	ˤ	pharyngealized
`_\`	̂	falling tone
`_F`	̂	falling tone
`_^`	̯	non-syllabic
`_}`	̚	no audible release
`	˞	rhotacization in vowels, retroflexion in consonants (IPA uses separate symbols for consonants, see t` for an example)
`~` (or `_~`)	̃	nasalization
`_A`	̘	advanced tongue root
`_a`	̺	apical
`_B`	̏	extra low tone
`_B_L`	᷅	low rising tone
`_c`	̜	less rounded
`_d`	̪	dental
`_e`	̴	velarized or pharyngealized; also see `5`
`_f`	↘	global fall
`_G`	ˠ	velarized
`_H`	́	high tone
`_H_T`	᷄	high rising tone
`_h`	ʰ	aspirated
`_j` (or `'`)	ʲ	palatalized
`_k`	̰	creaky voice
`_L`	̀	low tone
`_l`	ˡ	lateral release
`_M`	̄	mid tone
`_m`	̻	laminal
`_N`	̼	linguolabial
`_n`	ⁿ	nasal release
`_O`	̹	more rounded
`_o`	̞	lowered
`_q`	̙	retracted tongue root
`_r`	↗	global rise
`_R_F`	᷈	rising falling tone
`_r`	̝	raised
`_T`	̋	extra high tone
`_t`	̤	breathy voice
`_v`	̬	voiced
`_w`	ʷ	labialized
`_X`	̆	extra-short
`_x`	̽	mid-centralized

Charts

Consonants

Consonants (pulmonic)
Place of articulation →	Labial		Coronal				Dorsal				Laryngeal
Manner of articulation ↓	Bilabial	Labio‐ dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post‐ alveolar	Retro‐ flex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular		Pharyn‐ geal		Epi‐ glottal		Glottal
Nasal	`m`	`F`	`n`			n`	`J`	`N`	`N\`
Plosive	`p` `b`	`p_d` `b_d`	`t` `d`			t` d`	`c` `J\`	`k` `g`	`q` `G\`				`>\`		`?`
Fricative	`p\` `B`	`f` `v`	`T` `D`	`s` `z`	`S` `Z`	s` z`	`C` `j\`	`x` `G`	`X`	`R`	`X\`	`?\`	`H\`	`<\`	`h` `h\`
Approximant	`B_o`	`v\`	`r\`			r\`	`j`	`M\`		`R`		`?\`		`<\`	`h` `h\`
Trill	`B\`		`r`			*			`R\`				*
Tap or Flap	* ^†	* ^†	`4`			r`							*
Lateral Fricative			`K` `K\`			*	*	*
Lateral Approximant			`l`			l`	`L`	`L\`
Lateral Flap			`l\`			*	*	*

Asterisks (*) mark sounds that do not have X-SAMPA symbols. Daggers (†) mark IPA symbols that have recently been added to Unicode. Since April 2008, the latter is the case of the labiodental flap, symbolized by a right-hook v in the IPA: . A convention for the labiodental flap does not yet exist in X-SAMPA.

Coarticulated
`W`	Voiceless labialized velar approximant
`w`	Voiced labialized velar approximant
`H`	Voiced labialized palatal approximant
`s\`	Voiceless palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative
`z\`	Voiced palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative
`x\`	Voiceless "palatal-velar" fricative

Affricates and double articulation
`ts`	voiceless alveolar affricate
`dz`	voiced alveolar affricate
`tS`	voiceless postalveolar affricate
`dZ`	voiced postalveolar affricate
`ts\`	voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate
`dz\`	voiced alveolo-palatal affricate
`tK`	voiceless alveolar lateral affricate
`dK\`	voiced alveolar lateral affricate
`kp`	voiceless labial-velar plosive
`gb`	voiced labial-velar plosive
`Nm`	labial-velar nasal stop

Consonants (non-pulmonic)
Clicks		Implosives		Ejectives
`O\`	Bilabial	`b_<`	Bilabial	`_>`	For example:
`\|\`	Laminal alveolar ("dental")	`d_<`	Alveolar	`p_>`	Bilabial
`!\`	Apical (post-) alveolar ("retroflex")	`J\_<`	Palatal	`t_>`	Alveolar
`=\`	Laminal postalveolar ("palatal")	`g_<`	Velar	`k_>`	Velar
`\|\\|\`	Lateral coronal ("lateral")	`G\_<`	Uvular	`s_>`	Alveolar fricative

Vowels

Front

Central

Back

Close

i • y

1 • }

M • u

I • Y

I\ • U\

• U

e • 2

@\ • 8

7 • o

e_o • 2_o

@

• o_o

E • 9

3 • 3\

V • O

{ •

6

a • &

a_"

A • Q

Near‑close

Close‑mid

Mid

Open‑mid

Near‑open

Open

References

↑ Wells, J.C. "Computer-coding the IPA: a proposed extension of SAMPA" (PDF). UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
↑ "Language Subtag Registry" (text). IETF. 2022-08-08. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
↑ For a summary of SAMPROSA, see Wells, J.C. (19 September 1995). "SAMPROSA (SAM Prosodic Transcription)". UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

External links

Computer-coding the IPA: A proposed extension of SAMPA Archived 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine
X-SAMPA to IPA to CXS converter
Web-based translator for X-SAMPA documents. Produces Unicode text, XML text, PostScript, PDF, or LaTeX TIPA.
Z-SAMPA, a backward-compatible extension of X-SAMPA sometimes used for conlangs

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[SAMPA-PDF-1] Wells, J.C. "Computer-coding the IPA: a proposed extension of SAMPA" (PDF). UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

[IETF-2] "Language Subtag Registry" (text). IETF. 2022-08-08. Retrieved 12 November 2022.

[3] For a summary of SAMPROSA, see Wells, J.C. (19 September 1995). "SAMPROSA (SAM Prosodic Transcription)". UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

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