American Phonetic Association

The American Phonetic Association (APA) is a professional organization dedicated to the scientific study of speech sounds and pronunciation across languages. It promotes research, education, and standardization in phonetics—the study of how humans produce and perceive speech sounds. The APA develops and maintains the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a system of symbols that accurately transcribes sounds from any language. Its work supports linguists, language learners, speech therapists, and educators by providing clear, consistent methods to analyze and teach pronunciation. Overall, the APA advances our understanding of spoken language through research and standardized tools.