Unicode Explained

pronunciation. Outside elaborated linguistic applications, it is often best to record the

original form and the transcribed form of a name separately, without assuming that

one can be constructed from the other. Similarly, recognizing transcribed names re-

quires good understanding of the text.

Phonetic Transcription in IPA

The IPA is the most widely used system of phonetic writing. It is used for describing

the pronunciation of languages that have some writing system but also to express in-

dividual and contextual variation of speech. Moreover, the IPA is used to write lan-

guages that have no ordinary writing system—i.e., those that exist only in spoken form.

The abbreviation “IPA” stands both for “International Phonetic Association” and for

“International Phonetic Alphabet,” which is the most important product of the asso-

ciation. In the latter meaning, the IPA actually contains many writing principles such

as the use of diacritic marks, not just a collection of letters. Yet, as mentioned earlier,

the IPA is not regarded as a script of its own. All the IPA letters are classified as belonging

to the Latin script. They are effectively caseless, and their shapes resemble lowercase

letters, and their names may carry the words “small letter.”

The IPA is widely used in scientific contexts. Worldwide, it is also used in teaching

foreign languages, in dictionaries and grammars, and in pronunciation ...