IPA avec Unicode
International Phonetic Alphabet

Displaying IPA symbols

For you to be able to display Unicode phonetic symbols correctly on your web browser,

• the browser must be Unicode-compliant — version 4 or later of Netscape or Internet Explorer,
• you must be running Windows 95 or later (don't know about Macintosh, Unix or Linux, but see advice from the Unicode site)
• you must have installed a Unicode font that includes the IPA symbols
  The list of such Windows TrueType/OpenType fonts currently available and known to me is as follows:
  • Arial Unicode MS, 23.0 MB (download)
  • Code 2000 (download, shareware, $5)
  • Lucida Sans Unicode, 316 KB (download)
  • MS Mincho, 8.66 MB (from Microsoft site, download and run "Office XP Tool: Japanese Language Pack") - this font lacks the IPA diacritics and certain other symbols
  and
• the web document you are displaying must specify this font with either a style sheet {font-family} tag or an in-line <font face> tag.

The style sheet in the head of this document specifies the font Arial MS Unicode, or failing that Lucida Sans Unicode. There is also another version, with no font specified, that you can use to test fonts.

Inserting IPA symbols in web documents

There are two ways to insert Unicode IPA symbols into your HTML files: by using MS Word (97 and later), or by using a numeric code.

• Word 97+. With a Unicode font selected, use Insert | Symbol (normal text) and scroll down the box until you find the character you want. Select it, and Insert. Afterwards, save the document using File | Save as HTML. Word will automatically convert the character into the corresponding numeric entity (see next para) or the corresponding UTF-8 encoding. (If you are going to use the character frequently, it might be worthwhile assigning a Shortcut Key (macro) for it.)
• Alternatively, write direct HTML, referencing each IPA symbol as a "decimal numeric entity", using the code numbers listed below. To do this you put ampersand, number sign, the Unicode decimal number for the symbol, and semicolon. For example, to include the velar nasal symbol, ŋ, which has the Unicode number 331, write ŋ. To transcribe the English word thing, θɪŋ, write θɪŋ
• Force the use of an appropriate font by including a font tag as mentioned above.

Unicode decimal and hex numbers for IPA symbols

The Unicode manual lists code numbers only in hexadecimal, while HTML numeric entities may be entered either as decimal (see above) or as hexadecimal; in the latter case, you must include a letter x after #, thus for θɪŋ write θɪŋ. Here they are listed with their decimal numbers.

Alphabetic | Spacing diacritics | Non-spacing diacritics

Alphabetic

Symbol	decimal	hex	value
ɑ	593	0250	open back unrounded
ɐ	592	0250	open-mid schwa
ɒ	594	0252	open back rounded
æ	230	00E6	raised open front unrounded
ɓ	595	0253	vd bilabial implosive
ʙ	665	0299	vd bilabial trill
β	946	03B2	vd bilabial fricative
ɔ	596	0254	open-mid back rounded
ɕ	597	0255	vl alveolopalatal fricative
ç	231	00E7	vl palatal fricative
ɗ	599	0257	vd alveolar implosive
ɖ	598	0256	vd retroflex plosive
ð	240	00F0	vd dental fricative
ʤ	676	02A4	vd postalveolar affricate
ə	601	0259	schwa
ɘ	600	0258	close-mid schwa
ɚ	602	025A	rhotacized schwa
ɛ	603	025B	open-mid front unrounded
ɜ	604	025C	open-mid central
ɝ	605	025D	rhotacized open-mid central
ɞ	606	025E	open-mid central rounded
ɟ	607	025F	vd palatal plosive
ʄ	644	0284	vd palatal implosive
ɠ	608	0260	vd velar implosive
ɢ	610	0262	vd uvular plosive
ʛ	667	029B	vd uvular implosive
ɦ	614	0266	vd glottal fricative
ɧ	615	0267	vl multiple-place fricative
ħ	295	0127	vl pharyngeal fricative
ɥ	613	0265	labial-palatal approximant
ʜ	668	029C	vl epiglottal fricative
ɨ	616	0268	close central unrounded
ɪ	618	026A	lax close front unrounded
ʝ	669	029D	vd palatal fricative
ɭ	621	026D	vd retroflex lateral
ɬ	620	026C	vl alveolar lateral fricative
ɫ	619	026B	velarized vd alveolar lateral
ɮ	622	026E	vd alveolar lateral fricative
ʟ	671	029F	vd velar lateral
ɱ	625	0271	vd labiodental nasal
ɯ	623	026F	close back unrounded
ɰ	624	0270	velar approximant
ŋ	331	014B	vd velar nasal
ɳ	627	0273	vd retroflex nasal
ɲ	626	0272	vd palatal nasal
ɴ	628	0274	vd uvular nasal
ø	248	00F8	front close-mid rounded
ɵ	629	0275	rounded schwa
ɸ	632	0278	vl bilabial fricative
θ	952	03B8	vl dental fricative
œ	339	0153	front open-mid rounded
ɶ	630	0276	front open rounded
ʘ	664	0298	bilabial click
ɹ	633	0279	vd (post)alveolar approximant
ɺ	634	027A	vd alveolar lateral flap
ɾ	638	027E	vd alveolar tap
ɻ	635	027B	vd retroflex approximant
ʀ	640	0280	vd uvular trill
ʁ	641	0281	vd uvular fricative
ɽ	637	027D	vd retroflex flap
ʂ	642	0282	vl retroflex fricative
ʃ	643	0283	vl postalveolar fricative
ʈ	648	0288	vl retroflex plosive
ʧ	679	02A7	vl postalveolar affricate
ʉ	649	0289	close central rounded
ʋ	651	028B	vd labiodental approximant
ʊ	650	028A	lax close back rounded
ʌ	652	028C	open-mid back unrounded
ɣ	611	0263	vd velar fricative
ɤ	612	0264	close-mid back unrounded
ʍ	653	028D	vl labial-velar fricative
χ	967	03C7	vl uvular fricative
ʎ	654	028E	vd palatal lateral
ʏ	655	028F	lax close front rounded
ʑ	657	0291	vd alveolopalatal fricative
ʐ	656	0290	vd retroflex fricative
ʒ	658	0292	vd postalveolar fricative
ʔ	660	0294	glottal plosive
ʡ	673	02A1	vd epiglottal plosive
ʕ	661	0295	vd pharyngeal fricative
ʢ	674	02A2	vd epiglottal fricative
ǀ	448	01C0	dental click
ǁ	449	01C1	alveolar lateral click
ǂ	450	01C2	alveolar click
ǃ	451	01C3	retroflex click

Top of lists

Spacing diacritics and suprasegmentals