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Imagine what would happen if professional linguists came up with the ultimate alphabet system—a system that could spell out any sound in any human language.

They already have.

While linguists may not have come up with the perfect alphabet, they have developed a systematic way of transcribing virtually every human sound on the planet with a creation known as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

The International Phonetic Alphabet was created by the International Phonetic Association (also IPA), formed by a group of English and French linguists way back in 1886. The alphabet has gone through several revisions: while the bulk of it is based on the 1989 Kiel Convention, some changes were made as late as 1996. Many people have suggested improvements, but the IPA in its current form serves its purpose admirably.

The mission of the Association is to set out "one symbol for every sound, one sound for every symbol". As one might imagine, this involves creating a lot of symbols, as well as eliminating confusing digraphs like "sh" and "ch".

Coming up with a table that claims to contain all the sounds in the world is a daunting task. Fortunately, linguists have thought of a systematic way of generating these sounds, based on the way they are pronounced (their manner of articulation) and where in the mouth or throat they are pronounced (their place of articulation). With this simple strategy, they have devised symbols for every conceivable sound, even those truly bizarre ones.

Because of the precision the IPA affords, it is used in everything from language journals to dictionaries. You may have seen the "funny symbols" of the IPA in the preface of your English dictionary. In fact, you probably already know how to pronounce many of the symbols in the IPA. The symbols b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v and z are pronounced very much like their counterparts in English. There are a few differences, of course; the symbol [j], for example, is pronounced like a "y" as in "yes" or "yawn".

The benefits of such a universal system like the IPA are clear enough. It gives linguists a common code with which to talk about the sounds of the world's languages. But while the International Phonetic Alphabet was designed by professional linguists, its use is not restricted to experts.

Everyone involved in learning or teaching languages can use the IPA, because its underlying principles are simple and intuitive.

As a learner, you are often flooded with so much information regarding sounds. And certain sounds are foreign to you, because it doesn't appear in your language's inventory of sounds. That's why it's easy to come up with fanciful ideas about how a particular sound is produced. Without the IPA, one can only use very vague, imprecise and unflattering terms to describe a sound, like "rough", "guttural", "a gagging sound", "a clucking sound", "a choking sound", or "midway between a cough and a burp".

You can use the IPA to transcribe sounds when learning a foreign language. Because the IPA already has a symbol for any sound you might need, you don't need to rack your brains trying to think up a new one. Using the IPA as a transcription tool also reduces ambiguity, which means that you can always read your written notes weeks after you made them.

Teachers with some background in phonetics or linguistics can provide IPA transcriptions to accompany the material used in class. This is helpful when the language being taught does not have a written form, or if the written form is too cumbersome for beginners to use, like the Chinese or Devanagari scripts.

If you've learned a language through language books, you may have come across vague descriptions of what a certain consonant sounds like. An example of this goes: "This sound is similar to 'ch' in the Scottish 'loch', but gargled slightly, and pronounced further back in the mouth."

Reading that description gives you no better an idea of what the consonant sounds like than when you first started. It's the author's futile attempt at giving you a feel of what it sounds like without the benefit of an audio recording.

The International Phonetic Alphabet, however, allows you to learn how to pronounce that sound fairly accurately. The IPA chart organizes consonants according to the way they are pronounced (see Figure 1). Consonants with the same place of articulation are arranged in the same column, while consonants with the same manner of articulation are arranged in the same row. This generates a formidable-looking matrix of consonant sounds.

Figure 1. IPA Table of Consonants

Some entries in this consonant matrix contain two consonant sounds. These consonants differ in terms of voicing; the entry on the left is unvoiced, while the entry on the right is voiced. Voicing refers to whether your voice is "switched on" (vocal cords vibrate) when pronouncing a consonant. For example, [b] is voiced, but [p] is not. Place your fingers on your Adam's apple and feel the difference.

Using this chart, you can learn to pronounce that mysterious "ch" sound described earlier. The consonant in question can be represented by [x], the symbol for a velar fricative.

What's a velar fricative?

The word "velar" refers to the sound's place of articulation, or which part in your mouth or throat a sound comes from. Consonants produced in the same part of your mouth are arranged in the same column of the IPA consonants chart.

As you look down the velar column, you discover that you already know some velar consonants, namely [k] and [g]. Pronounce a [k] sound and feel the position in your mouth where the sound is coming from. Your lips and your teeth are not touching each other, but there is a tightening of some parts inside your mouth. You have just created a constriction around your velum, without knowing where your velum is.

The word "fricative" refers to the sound's manner of articulation, or the way in which you pronounce a sound. Sounds sharing a similar manner of articulation are arranged in the same row. Again, looking across the fricative row, you notice that you already know two fricatives: [f] and [v]. By carefully observing the way you pronounce these sounds, you realize that when pronouncing a [f] or a [v], you blow air through an opening in your mouth.

Now put the two together.

Put your mouth in a position as if to pronounce a [k] sound, but blow air through the constriction like you would with a [f] sound. You have just pronounced [x], a velar fricative. It is a very useful sound that doesn't appear in words of English origin, but appears in foreign words like Bach, from German. It also appears in languages like Spanish.

Practice: Use this method to pronounce [ß], a voiced bilabial fricative.

Learning to pronounce vowels is a little trickier. That's because there aren't clear boundaries between vowels: one vowel sound glides into the next. Saying exactly which vowel appears in a certain language is very difficult, because everyone pronounces their vowels in a slightly different way. If you sidestep these controversies, you can still pronounce vowels fairly accurately using the IPA.

The IPA vowels chart arranges vowels according to the position of your tongue within your mouth (see Figure 2). Vowels like [i] are considered "front", while vowels like [u] are considered "back". Both vowels, however, are considered "close" because your mouth doesn't open very wide when pronouncing these vowels.

Figure 2. IPA Table of Vowels

You'll notice that each position in the chart is occupied by a pair of vowels. These vowels differ in terms of roundedness; the one on the left is an unrounded vowel, while the one on the right is a rounded vowel. Roundedness refers to the shape of your lips when pronouncing a vowel: [u] is rounded, [a] is not.

While this system allows you to precisely describe any vowel sound, it doesn't give beginners a lot of information about a new vowel.

But there's a way to approximate the pronunciation of a vowel on the IPA chart.

If you want to pronounce a rounded vowel, like [y], and already know how to pronounce its unrounded counterpart, [i], all you have to do is "round" your lips.

Likewise, if you want to pronounce an unrounded vowel, like [ɯ], and already know its rounded equivalent [u], just "unround" your lips.

But if you do not know a vowel's rounded or unrounded counterpart, look out for vowels you already know which are closer to the vowel in question on the IPA vowel chart. Simply glide your tongue between two vowels you can already pronounce. For example, to pronounce an [ɨ], notice that it is an unrounded vowel that is intermediate between [i] and [u]. Glide between [i], which is unrounded, and [u], which is rounded, until you reach an intermediate position. Then pronounce an unrounded vowel. This exotic vowel sound appears in Mandarin Chinese.

Practice: Use this method to pronounce [ɶ], the rounded counterpart of [ɛ]. Does it appear in a language that you speak?

Using IPA on your computer

Displaying IPA symbols in your documents, e-mails and web sites has become easier with the introduction of the Unicode standard (http://www.unicode.org). Unicode assigns a unique number to each IPA symbol. Your computer can interpret this number and figure out the correct IPA symbol to display.

Typing IPA symbols is as easy. Chances are you already have a Unicode font like Lucida Sans Unicode or Arial Unicode MS installed on your computer. But if you don't, you can easily download your own from the Internet by going to (http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/ipa-unicode.htm). Inserting IPA symbols is as simple as inserting any other foreign character, like an "e" with an acute accent (é). Simply select the symbol you need from a character map, available in Microsoft Word by selecting "Symbol" under the "Insert" menu. Alternatively, you can type the symbol directly using a sequence of keystrokes; the code for "é" is Alt+130.

If you are thinking of setting up a web site to teach others how to speak your own indigenous language or dialect, or an artificial language you've created, you can use the IPA to describe the sounds of that language. This will allow people from all over the globe to pronounce your language accurately.

Displaying IPA symbols on your web site has become easier with the introduction of the Unicode standard in web browsers. If you know how to code regular HTML, the following steps will show you how to include IPA symbols on your web site.

1. Include a <meta charset="utf-8"> tag in the header of your HTML file.
2. Include IPA symbols using codes like &#660; in your HTML source. This is the three-digit code for the glottal stop [ʔ].
3. Put up a sample text in IPA, to check if your readers' fonts are displaying correctly.
4. Give users some brief information about IPA.
5. Provide users with a link to download a Unicode font, such as Lucida Sans Unicode or Arial Unicode MS. This will allow your IPA symbols to display correctly.

You can also use an ASCII version of the IPA known as the Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (SAMPA) which you can see at (http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/sampa/home.htm) in e-mails. SAMPA uses the letters already available on your keyboard, so you don't need to worry about the technical details. You can SAMPA to teach friends and pen-pals from other countries how to pronounce your name correctly.

Perhaps this article has made you interested enough to find out more about the IPA. A good place to begin your journey is the official site of The International Phonetic Association. John Wells' (The International Phonetic Alphabet in Unicode, and Alan Wood's Unicode Resources: Unicode and Multilingual Support in HTML, Fonts, Web Browsers and Other Applications, web sites provide more technical information on how to include IPA symbols in your HTML files.

As language enthusiasts and polyglots become aware of the usefulness of the International Phonetic Alphabet, there will be more people using a precise means of transcribing the sounds of the world's languages. This will allow a freer exchange of linguistic information and promote greater understanding between different people groups. As Charlemagne said, "To have another language is to have another soul." Hopefully, the IPA will offer you precious insights into the various cultures of people around the world.

Wenkai Tay is a freelance writer and language enthusiast based in Singapore. While he has had no formal training in linguistics, this has not stopped him from reaping the tremendous benefits of using IPA symbols.