SAMPA chart

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The following show the typical symbols for consonants and vowels used in SAMPA, an ASCII-based system based on the International Phonetic Alphabet. SAMPA is not a universal system as it varies from language to language.

Consonants

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal		`m`	`F`		`n`		`J`	`N`
Stop plosive and affricate		`p` `b`		`t` `d` `ts` `dz`		`tS` `dZ`	`c` `J\`	`k` `g`	`q` `G\`		`?`
Fricative		`p\` `B`	`f` `v`	`T` `D`	`s` `z`	`S` `Z`	`C` `j\`^[a]	`x` `G`	`X` `R`	`X\` `?\`	`h` `h\`
Approximant	central		`P`		`r\`^[b]		`j`^[a] `H`	`w`
Approximant	lateral				`l`		`L`	`5`
Rhotic					`4`^[b] `r`^[b]				`R\`

^ ^a ^b Also in Spanish, [jj] is used to represent the palatal fricative against the semivowel [j].
^ ^a ^b ^c It is common, especially in Spanish and Italian, to represent the alveolar trill with [rr] and the alveolar flap with [r]. It has been proposed to use [4] for the alveolar flap, in which case [r] can be used to represent the trill (as its equivalent in the IPA system), and [j\] for the palatal fricative, keeping in this way the policy of using one letter per one IPA symbol (and a backslash for alternative symbols).

Consonant modifiers


SAMPA	IPA	Description
`		retroflex consonant (e.g. d` = /ɖ/)
`_a`	◌̺	apical consonant
`_d`	◌̪	dental consonant
`_G`	◌ˠ	velarized consonant
`_h`	◌ʰ	aspirated consonant
`_j`, `'`	◌ʲ	palatalized consonant
`_m`	◌̻	laminal consonant
`_w`	◌ʷ	labialized consonant
`_<`		implosive consonant (e.g. `b_<` = /ɓ/)
`_>`	ʼ	ejective consonant
`_=`, `=`	◌̩	syllabic consonant

Simplified list of consonants

SAMPA	IPA	Description	Examples
`p`	p	voiceless bilabial plosive	English pen, Croatian pas ('dog')
`b`	b	voiced bilabial plosive	English but, Polish brat ('brother')
`t`	t	voiceless alveolar plosive	English two, Spanish tomar ('capture')
`d`	d	voiced alveolar plosive	English do, Polish dom ('house')
`ts`	ts	voiceless alveolar affricate	Italian calza ('sock'), German Zeit ('time')
`dz`	dz	voiced alveolar affricate	Italian zona ('zone'), Canadian French dur ('hard')
`tS`	tʃ	voiceless postalveolar affricate	English chair, Spanish mucho ('many')
`dZ`	dʒ	voiced postalveolar affricate	English gin, Italian giorno ('day')
`c`	c	voiceless palatal plosive	Hungarian tyúk ('hen'), Dutch schatje ('darling')
`J\`	ɟ	voiced palatal plosive	Hungarian egy ('one'), Czech dítě ('child')
`k`	k	voiceless velar plosive	English skill, Spanish casa ('house')
`g`	ɡ	voiced velar plosive	English go, Hungarian gép ('machine')
`q`	q	voiceless uvular plosive	Arabic qof, Somali qaab
`p\`	ɸ	voiceless bilabial fricative	Japanese fu, Ainu fuchi
`B`	β	voiced bilabial fricative	Catalan roba 'clothes', Spanish huevo 'egg'
`f`	f	voiceless labiodental fricative	English fool, Spanish fama ('fame')
`v`	v	voiced labiodental fricative	English voice, German Welt 'world'
`T`	θ	voiceless dental fricative	English thing, Castilian Spanish caza 'hunt'
`D`	ð	voiced dental fricative	English this, Icelandic fræði 'science'
`s`	s	voiceless alveolar fricative	English see, Spanish sí ('yes')
`z`	z	voiced alveolar fricative	English zoo, German sein 'to be'
`S`	ʃ	voiceless postalveolar fricative	English she, French chou 'cabbage'
`Z`	ʒ	voiced postalveolar fricative	French jour 'day', English pleasure
`C`	ç	voiceless palatal fricative	Standard German ich 'I', Icelandic hjá 'next to'
`j\` (`jj`)	ʝ	voiced palatal fricative	Standard Spanish ayuda
`x`	x	voiceless velar fricative	Scots loch, Spanish ajo
`G`	ɣ	voiced velar fricative	Greek γάλα ('milk'), Icelandic saga ('story')
	ɰ	velar approximant	Spanish algo
`X\`	ħ	voiceless pharyngeal fricative	Arabic h.â
`?\`	ʕ	voiced pharyngeal fricative	Arabic 'ayn
`h`	h	voiceless glottal fricative	English ham, German Hand
`h\`	ɦ	voiced glottal fricative	Hungarian lehet 'it can be'
`m`	m	bilabial nasal	English man, French main 'hand'
`F`	ɱ	labiodental nasal	Spanish infierno, Hungarian kámfor
`n`	n	alveolar nasal	English, Spanish and Italian no
`J`	ɲ	palatal nasal	Spanish año, French oignon, Hungarian lány
`N`	ŋ	velar nasal	English ring, Tagalog ngayón
`l`	l	alveolar lateral approximant	English left, Spanish largo
`L`	ʎ	palatal lateral approximant	Italian aglio, Catalan colla
`5`	ɫ	velarized dental lateral	English meal Catalan alga
`4` (`r`)	ɾ	alveolar tap	Spanish pero, Italian essere
`r` (`rr`)	r	alveolar trill	Spanish perro, Italian terra
`r\`	ɹ	alveolar approximant	English run
`R`	ʀ	uvular trill	Standard German Reich
`P`	ʋ	labiodental approximant	Dutch Waar, Finnish vesi
`w`	w	labial-velar approximant	English we, French oui
`H`	ɥ	labial-palatal approximant	French nuit
`j`	j	palatal approximant	English yes, Polish już

Vowels

	front	central	back
Vowels

close	`i • y`	`1 • }`	`M • u`
near-close	`I • Y`		`• U`
close-mid	`e • 2`	`@\ • 8`	`7 • o`
mid		`@`
open-mid	`E • 9`	`3 • 3\`	`V • O`
near-open	`{ •`	`6`
open	`a • &`		`A • Q`

Vowel modifiers

SAMPA	IPA	Description	Examples
`~`, `_~`	◌̃	nasalized vowel	French bon [`bO~`], Portuguese sim [`si~`]
`:`	ː	long vowel	English see [`si:`] )
`^[a]	◌˞	r-colored vowel	US English bird [b3`d]
`_^`	◌̯	non-syllabic vowel
`"`	ˈ	primary stress
`%`	ˌ	secondary stress

^ This symbol is also used for retroflex consonants (see above), but denotes rhoticity after vowel symbols.

Simplified list of vowels

SAMPA	IPA	Description	Examples
`i`	i	close front unrounded vowel	English see, Spanish sí, French vie, German wie, Italian visto
`I`	ɪ	near-close front unrounded vowel	English city, German mit, Canadian French vite
`e`	e	close-mid front unrounded vowel	US English bear, Spanish él, French année, German mehr, Italian rete, Catalan més
`E`	ɛ	open-mid front unrounded vowel	English bed, French même, German Männer, Italian ferro, Catalan mes, Spanish perro
`{`	æ	near-open front unrounded vowel	English cat, Finnish mäki
`y`	y	close front rounded vowel	French du, German Tür, Finnish hyvä
`Y`	ʏ	near-close front rounded vowel	German hübsch, Swedish ylle
`2`	ø	close-mid front rounded vowel	French deux (hence '2'), German Höhle, Danish købe
`9`	œ	open-mid front rounded vowel	French neuf (hence '9'), German Hölle
`1`	ɨ	close central unrounded vowel	Polish mysz
`@`	ə	mid central vowel	English about, German bitte, Swedish beredd
`6`	ɐ	near-open central unrounded vowel	German besser, Catalan mare
`3`	ɜ	open-mid central unrounded vowel	English bird
`a`	a~ä	open front unrounded vowel/ open central unrounded vowel	Spanish barra, French bateau, German Haar, Italian pazzo
`}`	ʉ	close central rounded vowel	Scottish English pool, Swedish sju
`8`	ɵ	close-mid central rounded vowel	Swedish kust
`&`	ɶ	open front rounded vowel	Swedish öra
`M`	ɯ	close back unrounded vowel	Japanese fuji, Korean geu
`7`	ɤ	close-mid back unrounded vowel	Korean eoreum, Estonian kõrv
`V`	ʌ	open-mid back unrounded vowel	RP and US English run, enough
`A`	ɑ	open back unrounded vowel	English arm, US English law, Canadian French âme, Finnish alku
`u`	u	close back rounded vowel	English soon, Spanish tú, French goût, German Hut, Italian tutto
`U`	ʊ	near-close back rounded vowel	English put, (non-US)Buddhist, German Mutter
`o`	o	close-mid back rounded vowel	US English sore, Scottish English boat, Spanish yo, French beau, German Sohle, Italian dove, Catalan ona
`O`	ɔ	open-mid back rounded vowel	British English law, caught, Italian cosa, Catalan dona, Spanish ojo, German Wort
`Q`	ɒ	open back rounded vowel	British English not, cough, Hungarian kar

External links

SAMPA computer readable phonetic alphabet

[j-1] Also in Spanish, [jj] is used to represent the palatal fricative against the semivowel [j].

[r-2] It is common, especially in Spanish and Italian, to represent the alveolar trill with [rr] and the alveolar flap with [r]. It has been proposed to use [4] for the alveolar flap, in which case [r] can be used to represent the trill (as its equivalent in the IPA system), and [j\] for the palatal fricative, keeping in this way the policy of using one letter per one IPA symbol (and a backslash for alternative symbols).

[3] This symbol is also used for retroflex consonants (see above), but denotes rhoticity after vowel symbols.

[a]

[b]

[a]