X-SAMPA

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The Extended Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London. It was designed to unify the individual language SAMPA alphabets, and extend SAMPA to cover the entire range of characters in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The result is a SAMPA-inspired recasting of the IPA into 7-bit ASCII.

SAMPA was devised as a hack to work around the inability of text encodings to represent IPA symbols. However, as Unicode support for IPA symbols becomes more widespread, the necessity for a separate, computer-readable system for representing the IPA in ASCII decreases. On the other hand, X-SAMPA is still useful as the basis for an input method for true IPA.

[edit] Summary

[edit] Notes

The IPA symbols that are ordinary lower-case letters have the same value in X-SAMPA as they do in the IPA. X-SAMPA uses a following backslash as an escape character to create a new symbol. For example O is a distinct sound from O\, to which it bears no relation. X-SAMPA diacritics follow the symbols they modify. Except for ~ for nasalization, = for syllabicity, and ` for retroflexion and rhotacization, diacritics are joined to the character with the underscore character _. The underscore character is also used to encode the IPA tiebar. The numbers _1 to _6 are reserved diacritics as shorthand for language-specific tone numbers.

[edit] Lowercase symbols

X-SAMPA IPA IPA image Description Examples
a a Image:Xsampa-a.png open front unrounded vowel French dame [dam], Spanish padre ["paD4e]
b b Image:Xsampa-b.png voiced bilabial plosive English bed [bEd], French bon [bO~]
b_< ɓ Image:Xsampa-b lessthan.png voiced bilabial implosive Sindhi ɓarʊ [b_<arU]
c c Image:Xsampa-c.png voiceless palatal plosive Hungarian latyak ["lQcQk]
d d Image:Xsampa-d.png voiced alveolar plosive English dig [dIg], French doigt [dwa]
d` É– Image:Xsampa-d'.png voiced retroflex plosive Swedish hord [hu:d`]
d_< É— Image:Xsampa-d lessthan.png voiced alveolar implosive Sindhi É—arÊŠ [d_<arU]
e e Image:Xsampa-e.png close-mid front unrounded vowel French ses [se], English met [met] (AusE and NZE)
f f Image:Xsampa-f2.png voiceless labiodental fricative English five [faIv], French femme [fam]
g É¡ Image:Xsampa-g.png voiced velar plosive English game [geIm], French longue [lO~g]
g_< ɠ Image:Xsampa-g lessthan.png voiced velar implosive Sindhi ɠəro [g_<@ro]
h h Image:Xsampa-h.png voiceless glottal fricative English house [haUs]
h\ ɦ Image:Xsampa-hslash.png voiced glottal fricative Czech hrad [h\rat]
i i Image:Xsampa-i.png close front unrounded vowel English be [bi:], French oui [wi], Spanish si [si]
j j Image:Xsampa-j2.png palatal approximant English yes [jEs], French yeux [j2]
j\ Ê Image:Xsampa-jslash2.png voiced palatal fricative Greek γειά [j\a]
k k Image:Xsampa-k.png voiceless velar plosive English scat [sk{t], Spanish carro ["kar:o]
l l Image:Xsampa-l.png alveolar lateral approximant English lay [leI], French mal [mal]
l` É­ Image:Xsampa-l'.png retroflex lateral approximant Svealand Swedish sorl [so:l`]
l\ ɺ Image:Xsampa-lslash.png alveolar lateral flap Japanese phoneme /r/
m m Image:Xsampa-m.png bilabial nasal English mouse [maUs], French homme [Om]
n n Image:Xsampa-n.png alveolar nasal English nap [n{p], French non [nO~]
n` ɳ Image:Xsampa-n'.png retroflex nasal Swedish hörn [h2:n`]
o o Image:Xsampa-o.png close-mid back rounded vowel French gros [gRo]
p p Image:Xsampa-p.png voiceless bilabial plosive English speak [spik], French pose [poz], Spanish perro ["per:o]
p\ ɸ Image:Xsampa-pslash.png voiceless bilabial fricative Japanese fuku [p\M_0kM]
q q Image:Xsampa-q.png voiceless uvular plosive Arabic qasbah ["qQs_Gba]
r r Image:Xsampa-r.png alveolar trill Spanish perro ["per:o]
r` ɽ Image:Xsampa-r'.png retroflex flap  
r\ ɹ Image:Xsampa-rslash2.png alveolar approximant English red [r\Ed]
r\` ɻ Image:Xsampa-rslash'.png retroflex approximant Malayalam വഴി ["v6r\`i]
s s Image:Xsampa-s.png voiceless alveolar fricative English seem [si:m], French session [se"sjO~]
s` Ê‚ Image:Xsampa-s'.png voiceless retroflex fricative Swedish mars [mas`]
s\ ɕ Image:Xsampa-sslash.png voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative Polish świerszcz [s\v'erStS]
t t Image:Xsampa-t.png voiceless alveolar plosive English stew [stju:], French raté [Ra"te], Spanish tuyo ["tujo]
t` ʈ Image:Xsampa-t'.png voiceless retroflex plosive Swedish mört [m2t`]
u u Image:Xsampa-u.png close back rounded vowel English boom [bu:m], Spanish su [su]
v v Image:Xsampa-v.png voiced labiodental fricative English vest [vEst], French voix [vwa]
v\ (or P) Ê‹ Image:Xsampa-Porvslash.png labiodental approximant Dutch west [v\Est]/[PEst]
w w Image:Xsampa-w2.png labial-velar approximant English west [wEst], French oui [wi]
x x Image:Xsampa-x.png voiceless velar fricative Scots loch [lQx]; German Loch, Dach; Spanish caja, gestión
x\ ɧ Image:Xsampa-xslash2.png voiceless palatal-velar fricative Swedish sjal [x\A:l]
y y Image:Xsampa-y.png close front rounded vowel French tu [ty] German über ["y:b6]
z z Image:Xsampa-z.png voiced alveolar fricative English zoo [zu:], French azote [a"zOt]
z` Ê Image:Xsampa-z'.png voiced retroflex fricative Mandarin Chinese rang [z`aN]
z\ ʑ Image:Xsampa-zslash.png voiced alveolo-palatal fricative Polish źrebak ["z\rEbak]

[edit] Uppercase symbols

X-SAMPA IPA IPA image Description Example
A É‘ Image:Xsampa-A2.png open back unrounded vowel English father ["fA:D@(r\)] (RP and Gen.Am.)
B β Image:Xsampa-B2.png voiced bilabial fricative Spanish lavar [la"Ba4]
B\ Ê™ Image:Xsampa-Bslash.png bilabial trill Reminiscent of shivering ("brrr")
C ç Image:Xsampa-C2.png voiceless palatal fricative German ich [IC], English human ["Cjum@n] (broad transcription uses [hj-])
D ð Image:Xsampa-D2.png voiced dental fricative English then [DEn]
E ɛ Image:Xsampa-E2.png open-mid front unrounded vowel French même [mEm], English met [mEt] (RP and Gen.Am.)
F ɱ Image:Xsampa-F.png labiodental nasal English emphasis ["EFf@sIs] (spoken quickly, otherwise uses [Emf-])
G ɣ Image:Xsampa-G2.png voiced velar fricative Greek γωνία [Go"nia], Danish vælge ["vElG@]
G\ ɢ Image:Xsampa-Gslash.png voiced uvular plosive Inuktitut nirivvik [niG\ivvik]
G\_< ʛ Image:Xsampa-Gslash lessthan.png voiced uvular implosive Mam ʛa [G\_<a]
H ɥ Image:Xsampa-H.png labial-palatal approximant French huit [Hit]
I ɪ Image:Xsampa-I2.png near-close near-front unrounded vowel English kit [kIt]
I\     central lax close unrounded vowel Polish ryba [rI\bA
J ɲ Image:Xsampa-J.png palatal nasal Spanish año ["aJo], English canyon ["k{J@n] (broad transcription uses [-nj-])
J\ ÉŸ Image:Xsampa-Jslash.png voiced palatal plosive Hungarian egy [EJ\]
J\_< ʄ Image:Xsampa-Jslash lessthan.png voiced palatal implosive Sindhi ʄaro [J\_<aro]
K ɬ Image:Xsampa-K2.png voiceless alveolar lateral fricative Welsh llaw [KaU]
L ÊŽ Image:Xsampa-L2.png palatal lateral approximant Italian famiglia [fa"miLa], Castilian llamar [La"mar], English million ["mIL@n] (broad transcription uses [-lj-])
M ɯ Image:Xsampa-M.png close back unrounded vowel Korean 으 (eu)
M\ ɰ Image:Xsampa-Mslash.png velar approximant Spanish fuego ["fweM\o]
N Å‹ Image:Xsampa-N2.png velar nasal English thing [TIN]
N\ É´ Image:Xsampa-Nslash.png uvular nasal Japanese san [saN\]
O É” Image:Xsampa-O2.png open-mid back rounded vowel British English thought [TO:t], American English off [O:f]
O\ ʘ Image:Xsampa-Oslash.png bilabial click  
P (or v\) Ê‹ Image:Xsampa-Porvslash.png labiodental approximant Dutch west [PEst]/[v\Est], allophone of English phoneme /r\/
Q É’ Image:Xsampa-Q.png open back rounded vowel British English lot [lQt]
R Ê Image:Xsampa-R2.png voiced uvular fricative German rein [RaIn]
R\ ʀ Image:Xsampa-Rslash.png uvular trill French roi [R\wa]
S ʃ Image:Xsampa-S2.png voiceless postalveolar fricative English ship [SIp]
T θ Image:Xsampa-T2.png voiceless dental fricative English thin [TIn]
U ÊŠ Image:Xsampa-U2.png near-close near-back rounded vowel English foot [fUt]
V ʌ Image:Xsampa-V.png open-mid back unrounded vowel RP English strut [str\Vt]
W Ê Image:Xsampa-X.png voiceless labial-velar fricative Scots when [WEn]
X χ Image:Xsampa-x2.png voiceless uvular fricative Klallam sχaʔqʷaʔ [sXa?q_wa?]
X\ ħ Image:Xsampa-Xslash.png voiceless pharyngeal fricative Arabic <ح>ha’ [X\A:]
Y Ê Image:Xsampa-Y2.png near-close near-front rounded vowel German hübsch [hYpS]
Z Ê’ Image:Xsampa-Z2.png voiced postalveolar fricative English vision ["vIZ@n]

[edit] Other symbols

X-SAMPA IPA IPA image Description Example
. . Image:Xsampa-fullstop.png syllable break  
" ˈ Image:Xsampa-doublequotes.png primary stress  
' (or _j) ʲ Image:Xsampa-'or j.png palatalized  
: Ë Image:Xsampa-colon.png long  
:\ Ë‘ Image:Xsampa-colonslash.png half long Estonian differentiates three vowel lengths
-   separator  
@ É™ Image:Xsampa-at.png schwa English arena [@"r\i:n@]
@\ ɘ Image:Xsampa-atslash.png close-mid central unrounded vowel Paicĩ kɘ̄ɾɘ [k@\_M4@\_M]
{ æ Image:Xsampa-leftcurly.png near-open front unrounded vowel English trap [tr\{p]
} ʉ Image:Xsampa-rightcurly.png close central rounded vowel Swedish sju [x\}:]; AuE/NZE boot [b}:t]
1 ɨ Image:Xsampa-1.png close central unrounded vowel Welsh tu [t1], American English rose's ["r\oUz1z]
2 ø Image:Xsampa-2.png close-mid front rounded vowel Danish købe ["k2:b@], French deux [d2]
3 ɜ Image:Xsampa-3.png open-mid central unrounded vowel English nurse [n3:s] (RP) or [n3`s] (Gen.Am.)
3\ Éž Image:Xsampa-3slash.png open-mid central rounded vowel Irish tomhail[t3\:l']
4 ɾ Image:Xsampa-4.png alveolar flap Spanish pero ["pe4o], American English better ["bE4@`]
5 É« Image:Xsampa-l eor5.png velarized alveolar lateral approximant; also see _e English milk [mI5k]
6 É Image:Xsampa-6.png near-open central vowel German besser ["bEs6], Australian English mud [m6d]
7 ɤ Image:Xsampa-7.png close-mid back unrounded vowel Estonian kõik [k7ik], Vietnamese mơ [m7_M]
8 ɵ Image:Xsampa-8.png close-mid central rounded vowel Swedish buss [b8s]
9 œ Image:Xsampa-9.png open-mid front rounded vowel French neuf [n9f], Danish drømme [dR9m@]
& ɶ Image:Xsampa-amper.png open front rounded vowel Swedish skörd [x\&d`]
? ʔ Image:Xsampa-questionmark.png glottal stop Danish stød [sd2?], Cockney English bottle ["bQ?l]
?\ ʕ Image:Xsampa-qmarkslash.png voiced pharyngeal fricative Arabic ع‎ (`ayn) [?\Ajn]
*   undefined escape character, SAMPA's "conjunctor"  
/   indeterminacy in French vowels  
<   begin nonsegmental notation (e.g., SAMPROSA)  
>   end nonsegmental notation  
^ ↑ Image:Xsampa-hat.png upstep  
! ↓ Image:Xsampa-exclamation.png downstep  
| | Image:Xsampa-bar.png minor (foot) group  
|\ Ç€ Image:Xsampa-barslash.png dental click  
|| ‖ Image:Xsampa-doublebar.png major (intonation) group  
=\ Ç‚ Image:Xsampa-equalsslash.png palatal click  
-\ Ì® Image:Xsampa-dashslash.png linking mark  

[edit] Diacritics

X-SAMPA IPA IPA image Description
_"   ̈ Image:Xsampa- doublequotes.png centralized
_+   ÌŸ Image:Xsampa- plus.png advanced
_-   Ì  Image:Xsampa- minus.png retracted
_/ ˇ Image:Xsampa- slash.png rising tone
_0   Ì¥ Image:Xsampa- 0.png voiceless
_<   implosive (IPA uses separate symbols for implosives)
= (or _=)   Ì© Image:Xsampa-equalsor equals.png syllabic
_> ʼ Image:Xsampa- greaterthan.png ejective
_\ ˆ   falling tone
_^   ̯ Image:Xsampa- hat.png non-syllabic
` Ëž Image:Xsampa-'rhino.png rhotacization in vowels, retroflexion in consonants (IPA uses separate symbols for consonants, see t` for an example)
~ (or _~)   ̃ Image:Xsampa-tildor tild.png nasalization
_a   ̺ Image:Xsampa- a2.png apical
_B   Ì Image:Xsampa- B.png extra low tone
_B_L Image:Xsampa- B L.png low rising tone
_c   Ìœ Image:Xsampa- c.png less rounded
_d   ̪ Image:Xsampa- d.png dental
_e   Ì´ Image:Xsampa- e.png velarized or pharyngealized; also see 5
_F   Ì‚ Image:Xsampa- F.png falling tone
_G Ë  Image:Xsampa- G.png velarized
_H   Ì Image:Xsampa- H.png high tone
_H_T Image:Xsampa- H T.png high rising tone
_h ʰ Image:Xsampa- h.png aspirated
_j (or ') ʲ Image:Xsampa-'or j.png palatalized
_k   ̰ Image:Xsampa- k.png creaky voice
_L   Ì€ Image:Xsampa- L.png low tone
_M   Ì„ Image:Xsampa- M.png mid tone
_m   Ì» Image:Xsampa- m.png laminal
_N   ̼ Image:Xsampa- N.png linguolabial
_O   ̹ Image:Xsampa O.png more rounded
_o   Ìž Image:Xsampa- o.png lowered
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