Americanist phonetic notation (variously called [North] American[ist] Phonetic Alphabet, or APA) is a system of phonetic notation

Phonetic transcription

Phonetic transcription is the visual representation of speech sounds . The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic alphabet, e.g., the International Phonetic Alphabet....

 originally developed by European and American anthropologists and language scientists (students of Neo-grammarians) for the phonetic

Phonetics

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...

 and phonemic

Phoneme

In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....

 transcription of Native American and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an languages. It is still commonly used by linguists working on Slavic

Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

, Indic, Uralic

Uralic languages

The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...

, Semitic

Semitic

In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...

, and Caucasian languages. The term "Americanist

Americanist phonetic notation

Americanist phonetic notation is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and American anthropologists and language scientists for the phonetic and phonemic transcription of Native American and European languages...

 phonetic alphabet" is misleading because it has always been widely used for languages outside the Americas. For example, a version of it is the standard for the transcription of Arabic in articles published in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, the journal of the German Oriental Society.

Certain Americanist symbols have been used as nonstandard variants of IPA symbols in certain transcriptions.

History

John Wesley Powell

John Wesley Powell

John Wesley Powell was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions...

 used an early set of phonetic symbols in his publications (particularly Powell 1880) on American language families, although the choice of symbols had its origins in work by other phoneticians and American writers (e.g., Pickering 1820; Cass 1821a, 1821b; Hale 1846; Lepsius 1855, 1863; Gibbs 1861; and Powell 1877). The influential anthropologist, Franz Boas

Franz Boas

Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...

 used a somewhat different set of symbols (Boas 1911). Boas' alphabet was greatly expanded upon with the publication of American Anthropological Society (1916). This alphabet was modified and discussed in articles in Bloomfield & Bolling (1927) and Herzog et al. (1934). The Americanist notation may be seen in the journals, American Anthropologist

American Anthropologist

American Anthropologist is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association . It is known for publishing a wide range of work in anthropology, including articles on cultural, biological and linguistic anthropology and archeology...

, International Journal of American Linguistics

International Journal of American Linguistics

The International Journal of American Linguistics is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago devoted to the study of the indigenous languages of the Americas. It was established in 1917 by anthropologist Franz Boas...

, and Language

Language (journal)

Language is a peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal published by the Linguistic Society of America since 1925. It covers all aspects of linguistics, focusing on the area of theoretical linguistics...

. Useful sources explaining the symbols and/or with comparisons of the alphabets used at different times are Campbell (1997:xii-xiii), Goddard (1996:10-16), Langacker (1972:xiii-vi), Mithun (1999:xiii-xv), and Odden (2005).

It is often useful to compare the Americanist tradition with another widespread tradition, International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...

 (IPA). Unlike the IPA, Americanist phonetic notation does not require a strict harmony among character styles: letters from the Greek and Roman alphabets are used side-by-side. Another contrasting feature is that the Americanist tradition relies heavily on diacritics where the IPA, which reserves diacritics for specific uses, relies on newly created Greek and Roman letters with character shape modifications. The reason for these differences is the result of a different philosophy. The Americanist linguists were interested in a phonetic notation that could be easily created from typefaces of existing orthographies. This was seen as more practical and more cost-efficient, as many of the characters chosen already existed in Greek and East European orthographies.

Abercrombie (1991:44-45) recounts the following concerning the Americanist tradition:

In America phonetic notation has had a curious history. Bloomfield

Leonard Bloomfield

Leonard Bloomfield was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. His influential textbook Language, published in 1933, presented a comprehensive description of American structural linguistics...

 used IPA notation in his early book An Introduction to the Study of Language, 1914, and in the English edition of his more famous Language, 1935. But since then, a strange hostility has been shown by many American linguists to IPA notation, especially to certain of its symbols.

An interesting and significant story was once told by Carl Voegelin during a symposium held in New York in 1952 on the present state of anthropology. He told how, at the beginning of the 1930s, he was being taught phonetics by, as he put it, a "pleasant Dane", who made him use the IPA symbol for sh in ship, among others. Some while later he used those symbols in some work on an American Indian language he had done for Sapir

Edward Sapir

Edward Sapir was an American anthropologist-linguist, widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the early development of the discipline of linguistics....

. When Sapir saw the work he "simply blew up", Voegelin said, and demanded that in future Voegelin should use ‘s wedge’ (as š was called), instead of the IPA symbol.

I have no doubt that the "pleasant Dane" was H. J. Uldall, one of Jones

Daniel Jones (phonetician)

Daniel Jones was a London-born British phonetician. A pupil of Paul Passy, professor of phonetics at the École des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne , Daniel Jones is considered by many to be the greatest phonetician of the early 20th century...

's most brilliant students, who was later to become one of the founders of glossematics

Glossematics

Glossematics is a structuralist linguistic theory of the twentieth century proposed by Danish linguist Louis Hjelmslev. It defines the glosseme as the most basic unit or component of language...

, with Louis Hjelmslev

Louis Hjelmslev

Louis Hjelmslev was a Danish linguist whose ideas formed the basis of the Copenhagen School of linguistics. Born into an academic family , Hjelmslev studied comparative linguistics in Copenhagen, Prague and Paris...

. Uldall did a great deal of research into Californian languages, especially into Maidu

Maidu language

Maidu is a severely endangered Maiduan language spoken by Maidu peoples traditionally in the mountains east and south of Lassen Peak in the American River and Feather River river drainages...

 or Nisenan

Nisenan language

Nisenan is a nearly extinct Maiduan language spoken by the Nisenan people of central California in the foothills of the Sierras, in the whole of the American, Bear and Yuba river drainages.Ethnologue states that there is only one speaker left...

. Most of the texts he collected were not published during his lifetime. It is ironic that when they were published, posthumously, by the University of California Press, the texts were "reorthographised", as the editor's introduction put it: the IPA symbols Uldall had used were removed and replaced by others.

What is strange is that the IPA symbols seem so obviously preferable to the Americanist alternatives, the ‘long s’ to the ‘s wedge’, for example. As Jones often pointed out, in connected texts, for the sake of legibility diacritics should be avoided as far as possible. Many Americanist texts give the impression of being overloaded with diacritics.

One may wonder why there should be such a hostility in America to IPA notation. I venture to suggest a reason for this apparently irrational attitude. The hostility derives ultimately from the existence, in most American universities, of Speech Departments, which we do not have in Britain. Speech Departments tend to be well-endowed, large, and powerful. In linguistic and phonetic matters they have a reputation for being predominantly prescriptive

Linguistic prescription

In linguistics, prescription denotes normative practices on such aspects of language use as spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and syntax. It includes judgments on what usages are socially proper and politically correct...

, and tend to be considered by some therefore to be not very scholarly. In their publications and periodicals the notation they use, when writing of pronunciation, is that of the IPA. My belief is that the last thing a member of an American Linguistics Department wants is to be mistaken for a member of a Speech Department; but if he were to use IPA notation in his writings he would certainly lay himself open to the suspicion that he was.

Consonants

Below is a generalized chart of phonetic symbols used by linguists of the Americanist tradition for transcribing consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...

 sounds.

				Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...	Labio-dental Labiodental consonant In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.-Labiodental consonant in IPA:The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...	Dental	Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...	Retroflex Retroflex consonant A retroflex consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants, especially in Indology...	Alveo-palatal Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate...	Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... (pre-velar)	Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....	Uvular Uvular consonant Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and... (post-velar)	Pharyngeal Pharyngeal consonant A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx.-Pharyngeal consonants in the IPA:Pharyngeal consonants in the International Phonetic Alphabet :...  (faucal)	Laryngeal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...
Stop (oral)	plain		voiceless	p		t̪	t	ṭ	t̯	k̯	k	q
			voiced	b		d̪	d	ḍ	d̯	g̑	g	ġ
	glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....		voiceless (ejective Ejective consonant In phonetics, ejective consonants are voiceless consonants that are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants... )	p̓		t̪̕	t̕	ṭ̕	t̯̕		k̓	q̓		ʔ
			voiced (imploded Implosive consonant Implosive consonants are stops with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. That is, the airstream is controlled by moving the glottis downward in addition to expelling air from the lungs. Therefore, unlike the purely glottalic ejective consonants, implosives can... )	b̓			d̓				g̓	ġ̕
Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...	central Central consonant A central or medial consonant is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue. The class contrasts with lateral consonants, in which air flows over the sides of the tongue rather than down its center....	voiceless			pf	tθ	c	č̣	č		kˣ	qˣ̣
		voiced			bv	dð	ʒ	ǯ̣	ǯ		gγ	ġγ̇
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....				t̕θ	c̓		č̓
	lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....	voiceless					ƛ
		voiced					λ
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....					ƛ̕
Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...	central Central consonant A central or medial consonant is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue. The class contrasts with lateral consonants, in which air flows over the sides of the tongue rather than down its center....	voiceless		φ	f	θ	s	ṣ	š	x̯	x	x̣	ḥ	h
						s̪
		voiced		β	v	ð	z	ẓ	ž	γ̑	γ	γ̇	ʕ
						z̪
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....				s̓
	lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....	voiceless				ł
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....				ł̕
Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...		voiceless		M	Ɱ		N		Ñ		Ṇ
		voiced		m	ɱ	n̪	n	ṇ	ñ	ŋ̑	ŋ	ŋ̇
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....		m̓			n̓				ŋ̓	ŋ̇̕
Liquid Liquid consonant In phonetics, liquids or liquid consonants are a class of consonants consisting of lateral consonants together with rhotics.-Description:...	rhotic Rhotic consonant In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet...	plain					r	ṛ				ʀ
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....					r̓
	lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....	plain				l̪	l	ḷ		l̯	ʟ
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....					l̕
	glide	plain		w						y
		glottalized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....		w’						y’

Notes:

• Among the dental fricative
  Dental fricative
  The dental fricative or interdental fricative is a fricative consonant pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the teeth. There are two types, both written as th in English:*Voiced dental fricative *Voiceless dental fricative...
  
  s, [θ] and [ð] are slit fricatives while [s̪] and [z̪] are grooved fricatives.

Rhotics table

Most languages only have one phonemic rhotic consonant

Rhotic consonant

In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet...

 (only about 18% of the world's languages have more than one rhotic). As a result, rhotic consonants are generally transcribed with the < r > character. This usage is common practice in Americanist and also other notational traditions (such as the IPA). This lack of detail, although economical and phonologically sound, requires a more careful reading of a given language's phonological description to determine the precise phonetics. A list of rhotics is given below.

RHOTICS	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Uvular
Tap		r
Flap		ᴅ
Trill		r̃
Fricative (spirant)		ř
Frictionless spirant

Alternate symbols

There are many alternate symbols seen in Americanist transcription. Below are some equivalent symbols matched with the symbols shown in the consonant chart above.

j   =   ʒ   ǰ   =   ǯ   ƚ   =   ł   ɸ   =   φ

G   =   ġ   χ   =   ẋ   ʸ   =     ̯      (e.g., kʸ = k̯)

In addition, many researchers use the x-haček  for the voiceless uvular fricative. The use of the standard IPA belted-l (ɬ) for the voiceless lateral fricative is becoming increasingly common.

Vocalics

Vowel

Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...

s and glides

Semivowel

In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel is a sound, such as English or , that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable.-Classification:...

.

		Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...		Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...		Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
		spread	rounded Roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...	spread	rounded Roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...	spread	rounded Roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...
High Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...	glide Semivowel In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel is a sound, such as English or , that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable.-Classification:...	y	ẅ			ÿ	w
	tense Tenseness In phonology, tenseness is a particular vowel quality that is phonemically contrastive in many languages, including English. It has also occasionally been used to describe contrasts in consonants. Unlike most distinctive features, the feature [tense] can be interpreted only relatively, that is, in...	i	ü	ɨ	ʉ	ï	u
	lax	I	Ü			Ï	U
Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...	tense Tenseness In phonology, tenseness is a particular vowel quality that is phonemically contrastive in many languages, including English. It has also occasionally been used to describe contrasts in consonants. Unlike most distinctive features, the feature [tense] can be interpreted only relatively, that is, in...	e	ö	ə		ë	o
	lax	ɛ	ɔ̈	ʌ		ɛ̈	ɔ
Low Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...		æ		a		ɑ	ɒ

Notes:

• Voiceless vocalics can be transcribed with capital letters, e.g. [W] = voiceless [w], [A] = voiceless [a].

Diacritics

Diacritic

Diacritic

A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents...

s are widely used in Americanist notation. Unlike the IPA, which seeks to use as few diacritics as possible, the Americanist notation uses a narrow set of symbols and then relies on diacritics to indicate a sound's phonetic value.

Historical charts of 1916

The following chart appeared in American Anthropological Society (1916).

	Stops Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...					Spirants			Affricates			Nasals Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...		Laterals Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....			Lateral Affricates			Rolled Consonants Trill consonant In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular....
	Surd Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Sonant Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Intermed. Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Aspir. Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...	Glot- talized Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....	Surd Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Sonant Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Glot. Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....	Surd Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Sonant Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Glot. Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....	Surd Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Sonant Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Surd Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Sonant Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Glot. Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....	Surd Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Sonant Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Glot. Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....	Surd Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Sonant Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	Glot. Glottalic consonant A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....
Bilabial (rounded Labialisation Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve the lips, they are called rounded.The most common... )	pw	bw	ʙw	pw‛	p̓w , pw!	ƕ	w	ƕ!	pƕ	bw	pƕ!	ᴍw	mw
Bilabial (unrounded Labialisation Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve the lips, they are called rounded.The most common... )	p	b	ʙ	p‛	p̓ , p!	φ	β	φ!	pφ	bβ	pφ!	ᴍ	m
Dento- labial						f	v	f!	pf	bv	pf!
Inter- dental						θ	ϑ	θ!	tθ	dϑ	tθ!
Linguo Apical consonant An apical consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue . This contrasts with laminal consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the blade of the tongue .This is not a very common distinction, and typically applied only to fricatives... - dental	t̯	d̯	ᴅ̯	t̯‛	t̯̓ , t̯!	s̯	z̯	s̯!	t̯s	d̯z	t̯s!	ɴ̯	n̯	ƚ̯ , ʟ̯	l̯	ƚ̯!	t̯ƚ	d̯l	t̯ƚ!	ʀ̯	r̯	ʀ̯!
Linguo Apical consonant An apical consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue . This contrasts with laminal consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the blade of the tongue .This is not a very common distinction, and typically applied only to fricatives... - alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...	t	d	ᴅ	t‛	t̓ , t!	s	z	s!	ts	dz	ts!	ɴ	n	ƚ , ʟ	l	ƚ!	tƚ	dl	tƚ!	ʀ	r	ʀ!
Cerebral	ṭ	ḍ	ᴅ̣	ṭ‛	ṭ̓ , ṭ!	ṣ	ẓ	ṣ!	ṭs	ḍz	ṭs!	ɴ̣	ṇ	ƚ̣ , ʟ̣	ḷ	ƚ̣!	ṭƚ	ḍl	ṭƚ!	ʀ̣	ṛ	ʀ̣!
Dorso- dental	τ̯	δ̯	Δ̯	τ̯‛	τ̯̓ , τ̯!	σ̯	ζ̯	σ̯!	τ̯σ	δ̯ζ	τ̯σ!	ν̯	ν̯	Λ̯	λ̯	Λ̯!	τ̯Λ	δ̯Λ	τ̯Λ!
Dorsal Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...	τ	δ	Δ	τ‛	τ̓ , τ!	σ	ζ	σ!	τσ	δζ	τσ!			Λ	λ	Λ!	τΛ	δΛ	τΛ!
Dorso- palatal Retroflex consonant A retroflex consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants, especially in Indology...	τ̣	δ̣	Δ̣	τ̣‛	τ̣̓ , τ̣!	σ̣	ζ̣	σ̣!	τ̣σ	δ̣ζ	τ̣σ!			Λ̣	λ̣	Λ̣!	τ̣Λ	δ̣Λ	τ̣Λ!
Anterior c-sounds Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate...	(τy)	(δy)	(Δy)	(τy‛)	(τ̓ , τy!)	cy	jy	cy!	tcy	djy	tcy!	(y)	(y)	(Λy)	(λy)	(Λy!)	(τΛy)	(δΛy)	(τΛy!)
Mid c-sounds Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate...	(ty)	(dy)	(ᴅy)	(ty‛)	(t̓ , ty!)	c	j	c!	tc	dj	tc!	(ɴy)	(ny)	(ƚy , ʟy)	(ly)	(ƚy!)	(tƚy)	(dly)	(tƚy!)
Posterior c-sounds	(ṭy)	(ḍy)	(ᴅ̣y)	(ṭy‛)	(ṭ̓ , ṭy!)	c̣	j̣	c̣!	ṭc	ḍj	ṭc!	(ɴ̣y)	(ṇy)	(ƚ̣y , ʟ̣y)	(ḷy)	(ƚ̣y!)	(ṭƚy)	(ḍly)	(ṭƚy!)
Anterior palatal	k̯	g̯	ɢ̯	k̯‛	k̯̓ , k̯!	x̯	γ̯	x̯!	k̯x	g̯γ	k̯x!	Ŋ̯	ŋ̯				k̯ƚ	g̯l	k̯ƚ!	Ρ̯	ρ̯	ρ̯!
Mid- palatal Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....	k	g	ɢ	k‛	k̓ , k!	x	γ	x!	kx	gγ	kx!	Ŋ	ŋ				kƚ	gl	kƚ!	Ρ	ρ	ρ!
Back palatal, velar	ḳ (q)	g̣	ɢ̣	ḳ‛	ḳ̓ , ḳ!	x̣	γ̣	x̣!	ḳx	g̣γ	ḳx!	Ŋ̣	ŋ̣				ḳƚ	g̣l	ḳƚ!	Ρ̣	ρ̣	ρ̣!
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...	’			’‛		‛ , h	a (any vowel)		’‛											(a̓)
Laryngeal	’̣			’̣‛		ḥ	(any vowel with laryngeal resonance)		’̣ḥ

Notes:

• surd = voiceless
  Voiceless
  In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...
  
  ; sonant = voiced
  Voice (phonetics)
  Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
  
  ; intermed. = partially voiced
  Voice onset time
  In phonetics, voice onset time, commonly abbreviated VOT, is a feature of the production of stop consonants. It is defined as the length of time that passes between when a stop consonant is released and when voicing, the vibration of the vocal folds, or, according to the authors, periodicity begins...
  
  
• In the glottalized stop column, the phonetic symbol appearing on the left side (which is a consonant plus an overhead single quotation mark) represents a weakly glottalized
  Glottalic consonant
  A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution of the glottis ....
  
   stop (i.e. weakly ejective
  Ejective consonant
  In phonetics, ejective consonants are voiceless consonants that are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants...
  
  ). The symbol on the right side is strongly glottalized (i.e. it is articulated very forcefully). Example: [k̓] = weakly glottalized; [k!] = strongly glottalized.
• "Laryngeal" refers to either pharyngeal
  Pharyngeal consonant
  A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx.-Pharyngeal consonants in the IPA:Pharyngeal consonants in the International Phonetic Alphabet :...
  
   or epiglottal.

See also

• Phonetic transcription
  Phonetic transcription
  Phonetic transcription is the visual representation of speech sounds . The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic alphabet, e.g., the International Phonetic Alphabet....
  
  
• International Phonetic Alphabet
  International Phonetic Alphabet
  The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
  
  
• English Phonetic Alphabet
• Uralic Phonetic Alphabet
  Uralic Phonetic Alphabet
  The Uralic Phonetic Alphabet or Finno-Ugric transcription system is a phonetic transcription or notational system used predominantly for the transcription and reconstruction of Uralic languages...
  
  
• Phonetics
  Phonetics
  Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
  
  
• Phonology
  Phonology
  Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
  
  

External links

• description of phonetics using Americanist notation (ancientscripts.com)