# International Phonetic Alphabet

In this course we are going to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The International Phonetic Alphabet is a system in which each symbol is associated with a particular sound.

By using IPA, you can know how to pronounce a word in any language.

## Table 3 IPA

| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Interdental
(Voicing) | - + | - + | - + | - +
Nasal | m |  |  |
Plosive | p b |  | t d |
Fricative | (β) | f | (ð) | (θ)
Affricate |  |  |  |
Tap/Flap |  |  |  |
Trill |  |  |  |
Lateral |  |  |  |

## Table 4 IPA

| Alveolar | Post alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal
(Voicing) | - + | - + | - + | - + | - +
Nasal | n |  | ɲ | (ŋ) |
Plosive |  |  |  | k g |
Fricative | s (z) | (ʃ) |  | x (ɣ) | (h)
Affricate |  |  | ʧ (dʒ) |  |
Tap/Flap | ɾ |  |  |  |
Trill | r |  |  |  |
Lateral | l |  | (ʎ) |  |

The consonantal sounds of Spanish. The sounds in brackets only occur in some varieties of Spanish or in specific phonetic contexts.

## Activity 5

Allow approximately 20 minutes.

Find the voiced counterpart for each of the voiceless sounds in the left-hand column. This exercise involves the sounds of English.

## Table 5 Voiced counterpart

Voiceless | Voiced
t – too | z – zip
θ – think | v - very
s – sip | ð – they
k – came | d – do
f - ferry | g – game

### Answer

## Table 6 Voiced counterpart (answers)

Voiceless | Voiced
t – too | d – do
θ – think | ð – they
s – sip | z – zip
k – came | g – game
f - ferry | v - very

Hulade, José Ignacio. The Sounds of Spanish, 2005, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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