The International Phonetic Association

The International Phonetic Association (IPA) is an organization that focuses on the study and representation of speech sounds from all languages. Established in 1886, it created the International Phonetic Alphabet, a standardized system of symbols that accurately represents each sound, or phoneme, in human speech. This allows linguists, language learners, and researchers to transcribe spoken language clearly and consistently, helping in the study of pronunciation, dialects, and language teaching. The IPA serves as an essential tool for understanding how different languages sound, facilitating communication and preserving linguistic diversity.