IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of symbols that represents the sounds of spoken language. Each symbol corresponds to a specific sound, allowing linguists and language learners to accurately depict pronunciation regardless of the language. For example, the “p” in “pat” and the “b” in “bat” have distinct IPA symbols. The IPA provides a universal standard for phonetic transcription, making it easier to study and compare languages, dialects, and accents. It is especially useful in linguistics, language teaching, and speech pathology for ensuring consistent understanding of how words are pronounced.