IPA

IPA, or International Phonetic Alphabet, is a universal system for representing the sounds of spoken languages. It uses a set of symbols to accurately depict how words are pronounced, regardless of the language or spelling. This helps linguists, language learners, and researchers understand and compare sounds across different languages. For example, the word “cat” is represented as /kæt/ in IPA, showing exactly how each sound is produced. Overall, IPA provides a consistent way to describe pronunciation, fostering clarity and communication about speech sounds worldwide.