Pronunciation · Reference
IPA symbols with Unicode and HTML codes
In short
Every English IPA symbol with the codes you need to actually use it: the Unicode code point, the HTML entity, and the CSS and JavaScript escapes. All 44 phonemes, plus the stress, length and syllable marks that dictionaries use but most symbol tables leave out.
Read this first
Two symbols are almost always typed wrongly. Primary stress ˈ (U+02C8) is not an apostrophe, and the length mark ː (U+02D0) is not a colon. They render similarly and sort, search and compare completely differently.
Vowels (12)
Long vowels are two code points: the vowel plus the separate length mark.
| Symbol | As in | Description | Unicode | HTML | CSS / JS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iː | see | long close front unrounded vowel | U+0069 U+02D0 | iː | \0069\02D0 · \u0069\u02D0 |
| ɪ | sit | short near-close front unrounded vowel | U+026A | ɪ | \026A · \u026A |
| e | bed | short open-mid front unrounded vowel | U+0065 | e | \0065 · \u0065 |
| æ | cat | short near-open front unrounded vowel | U+00E6 | æ | \00E6 · \u00E6 |
| ʌ | cup | short open-mid central unrounded vowel | U+028C | ʌ | \028C · \u028C |
| ɑː | car | long open back unrounded vowel | U+0251 U+02D0 | ɑː | \0251\02D0 · \u0251\u02D0 |
| ɒ | hot | short open back rounded vowel | U+0252 | ɒ | \0252 · \u0252 |
| ɔː | law | long open-mid back rounded vowel | U+0254 U+02D0 | ɔː | \0254\02D0 · \u0254\u02D0 |
| ʊ | book | short near-close back rounded vowel | U+028A | ʊ | \028A · \u028A |
| uː | blue | long close back rounded vowel | U+0075 U+02D0 | uː | \0075\02D0 · \u0075\u02D0 |
| ɜː | bird | long mid central unrounded vowel | U+025C U+02D0 | ɜː | \025C\02D0 · \u025C\u02D0 |
| ə | about | short mid central unrounded vowel | U+0259 | ə | \0259 · \u0259 |
Diphthongs (8)
| Symbol | As in | Description | Unicode | HTML | CSS / JS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eɪ | day | closing diphthong | U+0065 U+026A | eɪ | \0065\026A · \u0065\u026A |
| aɪ | my | closing diphthong | U+0061 U+026A | aɪ | \0061\026A · \u0061\u026A |
| ɔɪ | boy | closing diphthong | U+0254 U+026A | ɔɪ | \0254\026A · \u0254\u026A |
| aʊ | now | closing diphthong | U+0061 U+028A | aʊ | \0061\028A · \u0061\u028A |
| əʊ | go | closing diphthong | U+0259 U+028A | əʊ | \0259\028A · \u0259\u028A |
| ɪə | here | centring diphthong | U+026A U+0259 | ɪə | \026A\0259 · \u026A\u0259 |
| eə | hair | centring diphthong | U+0065 U+0259 | eə | \0065\0259 · \u0065\u0259 |
| ʊə | tour | centring diphthong | U+028A U+0259 | ʊə | \028A\0259 · \u028A\u0259 |
Consonants (24)
| Symbol | As in | Description | Unicode | HTML | CSS / JS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | pen | voiceless bilabial plosive | U+0070 | p | \0070 · \u0070 |
| b | bed | voiced bilabial plosive | U+0062 | b | \0062 · \u0062 |
| t | tea | voiceless alveolar plosive | U+0074 | t | \0074 · \u0074 |
| d | day | voiced alveolar plosive | U+0064 | d | \0064 · \u0064 |
| k | key | voiceless velar plosive | U+006B | k | \006B · \u006B |
| ɡ | go | voiced velar plosive | U+0261 | ɡ | \0261 · \u0261 |
| tʃ | chair | voiceless postalveolar affricate | U+0074 U+0283 | tʃ | \0074\0283 · \u0074\u0283 |
| dʒ | job | voiced postalveolar affricate | U+0064 U+0292 | dʒ | \0064\0292 · \u0064\u0292 |
| f | fan | voiceless labiodental fricative | U+0066 | f | \0066 · \u0066 |
| v | very | voiced labiodental fricative | U+0076 | v | \0076 · \u0076 |
| θ | think | voiceless dental fricative | U+03B8 | θ | \03B8 · \u03B8 |
| ð | this | voiced dental fricative | U+00F0 | ð | \00F0 · \u00F0 |
| s | see | voiceless alveolar fricative | U+0073 | s | \0073 · \u0073 |
| z | zoo | voiced alveolar fricative | U+007A | z | \007A · \u007A |
| ʃ | she | voiceless postalveolar fricative | U+0283 | ʃ | \0283 · \u0283 |
| ʒ | usually | voiced postalveolar fricative | U+0292 | ʒ | \0292 · \u0292 |
| h | hat | voiceless glottal fricative | U+0068 | h | \0068 · \u0068 |
| m | man | voiced bilabial nasal | U+006D | m | \006D · \u006D |
| n | no | voiced alveolar nasal | U+006E | n | \006E · \u006E |
| ŋ | sing | voiced velar nasal | U+014B | ŋ | \014B · \u014B |
| l | light | voiced alveolar lateral approximant | U+006C | l | \006C · \u006C |
| r | red | voiced postalveolar approximant | U+0072 | r | \0072 · \u0072 |
| j | yes | voiced palatal approximant | U+006A | j | \006A · \u006A |
| w | we | voiced labial-velar approximant | U+0077 | w | \0077 · \u0077 |
Stress, length and syllable marks
Not phonemes, but they appear in every dictionary transcription. Leaving them out is the most common gap in symbol tables.
| Mark | Name | What it means | Unicode | HTML |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ˈ | Primary stress | The syllable AFTER this mark carries the main stress. It is not an apostrophe./ˈkʌmftəbl/ — comfortable | U+02C8 | ˈ |
| ˌ | Secondary stress | A weaker stress, used in longer words alongside the primary one./ˌsəsteɪnəˈbɪləti/ — sustainability | U+02CC | ˌ |
| ː | Length mark | Hold the preceding vowel longer. It is two triangles, not a colon./iː/ vs /ɪ/ — sheep vs ship | U+02D0 | ː |
| . | Syllable break | Separates syllables where the division is not obvious./ˈlu.nes/ | U+002E | . |
| ‿ | Linking | Marks that two words run together with no break, as they do in fluent speech.an‿apple | U+203F | ‿ |
Symbols that are more than one character
If you are searching, sorting or validating transcriptions in code, these are what break naive one-character logic.
- iː2 code points: U+0069 + U+02D0
- ɑː2 code points: U+0251 + U+02D0
- ɔː2 code points: U+0254 + U+02D0
- uː2 code points: U+0075 + U+02D0
- ɜː2 code points: U+025C + U+02D0
- eɪ2 code points: U+0065 + U+026A
- aɪ2 code points: U+0061 + U+026A
- ɔɪ2 code points: U+0254 + U+026A
- aʊ2 code points: U+0061 + U+028A
- əʊ2 code points: U+0259 + U+028A
- ɪə2 code points: U+026A + U+0259
- eə2 code points: U+0065 + U+0259
- ʊə2 code points: U+028A + U+0259
- tʃ2 code points: U+0074 + U+0283
- dʒ2 code points: U+0064 + U+0292
Frequently asked questions
How do I type IPA symbols?
Three practical routes. Copy them from a table like this one; paste a Unicode escape into your code (\u0283 gives ʃ); or use an on-screen IPA keyboard and copy the result. There is no standard physical keyboard layout for IPA, so copying is normal even among linguists.
Why do some symbols have two code points?
Because they are written as two characters. /tʃ/ is t followed by ʃ, /dʒ/ is d followed by ʒ, and every long vowel such as /iː/ is a vowel followed by the separate length mark U+02D0. If you search a database for a single character you will miss them.
Is the length mark a colon?
No, and this matters if you are storing transcriptions. The IPA length mark is U+02D0 (ː), a pair of small triangles. A regular colon is U+003A. They look similar at small sizes and are not interchangeable.
Is the stress mark an apostrophe?
No. Primary stress is U+02C8 (ˈ), a vertical tick that sits high. An apostrophe is U+0027. Using the apostrophe is the single most common error in hand-typed transcriptions.
Which font should I use for IPA?
Most modern system fonts cover the common English symbols, so you rarely need anything special. For the full IPA including rarer symbols and diacritics, Charis SIL, Doulos SIL and Gentium are free and designed for it.
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