Editing International Phonetic Alphabet (section)

=== Consonants ===
{{See also|IPA consonant chart with audio}}

==== Pulmonic consonants ====
A [[Egressive|pulmonic]] consonant is a consonant made by obstructing the [[glottis]] (the space between the vocal folds) or [[Human mouth|oral cavity]] (the mouth) and either simultaneously or subsequently letting out air from the lungs. Pulmonic consonants make up the majority of consonants in the IPA, as well as in human language. All consonants in English fall into this category.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fromkin |first=Victoria |author-link=Victoria Fromkin |author2=Rodman, Robert |title=An Introduction to Language |orig-year=1974 |year=1998 |publisher=Harcourt Brace College Publishers |location=Fort Worth, TX |edition=6th |isbn=0-03-018682-X |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontola00from_1}}</ref>

The pulmonic consonant table, which includes most consonants, is arranged in rows that designate [[manner of articulation]], meaning how the consonant is produced, and columns that designate [[place of articulation]], meaning where in the vocal tract the consonant is produced. The main chart includes only consonants with a single place of articulation.
{{IPA pulmonic consonants|caption=|affricates=no|notes=no}}

'''Notes'''
* In rows where some letters appear in pairs (the ''[[obstruent]]s''), the letter to the right represents a [[voiced consonant]], except [[breathy-voiced]] {{IPA|[ɦ]}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|loc=§&nbsp;2.1.}}</ref> In the other rows (the ''[[sonorant]]s''), the single letter represents a voiced consonant.
* While IPA provides a single letter for the coronal places of articulation (for all consonants but fricatives), these do not always have to be used exactly. When dealing with a particular language, the letters may be treated as specifically dental, alveolar, or post-alveolar, as appropriate for that language, without diacritics.
* Shaded areas indicate articulations judged to be impossible.
* The letters {{IPA|[β, ð, ʁ, ʕ, ʢ]}} are canonically voiced fricatives but may be used for approximants.{{NoteTag|"A symbol such as {{IPA|[β]}}, shown on the chart in the position for a voiced bilabial fricative, can also be used to represent a voiced bilabial approximant if needed."<ref>{{harv|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=9}}</ref>}}
* In many languages, such as English, {{IPA|[h]}} and {{IPA|[ɦ]}} are not actually glottal, fricatives, or approximants. Rather, they are bare [[phonation]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|loc=§&nbsp;9.3.}}</ref>
* It is primarily the shape of the tongue rather than its position that distinguishes the fricatives {{IPA|[ʃ ʒ]}}, {{IPA|[ɕ ʑ]}}, and {{IPA|[ʂ ʐ]}}.
* {{IPA|[ʜ, ʢ]}} are defined as epiglottal fricatives under the "Other symbols" section in the official IPA chart, but they may be treated as trills at the same place of articulation as {{IPA|[ħ, ʕ]}} because trilling of the [[aryepiglottic fold]]s typically co-occurs.<ref>{{harvnb|Esling|2010|pp=688–689}}</ref>
* Some listed phones are not known to exist as [[phoneme]]s in any language.

==== Non-pulmonic consonants ====
Non-pulmonic consonants are sounds whose airflow is not dependent on the lungs. These include [[click consonant|clicks]] (found in the [[Khoisan languages]] and some neighboring [[Bantu languages]] of Africa), [[implosives]] (found in languages such as [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Hausa language|Hausa]], [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]), and [[ejectives]] (found in many [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|Amerindian]] and [[Caucasian languages]]).
{{IPA non-pulmonic consonants|caption=|nonipa=no|affricates=no|notes=no}}

'''Notes'''
* Clicks have traditionally been described as consisting of a forward place of articulation, commonly called the click "type" or historically the "influx", and a rear place of articulation, which when combined with the quality of the click is commonly called the click "accompaniment" or historically the "efflux". The IPA click letters indicate only the click type (forward articulation and release). Therefore, all clicks require two letters for proper notation: {{angbr IPA|k͡ǀ, ɡ͡ǀ, q͡ǀ}}, etc., or with the order reversed if both the forward and rear releases are audible. The letter for the rear articulation is frequently omitted, in which case a {{angbr IPA|k}} may usually be assumed. However, some researchers dispute the idea that clicks should be analyzed as doubly articulated, as the traditional transcription implies, and analyze the rear occlusion as solely a part of the airstream mechanism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Amanda L. |last2=Brugman |first2=Johanna |last3=Sands |first3=Bonny |last4=Namaseb |first4=Levi |last5=Exter |first5=Mats |last6=Collins |first6=Chris |date=2009 |title=Differences in airstream and posterior place of articulation among Nǀuu clicks |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0025100309003867/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=129–161 |doi=10.1017/S0025100309003867 |s2cid=46194815 |issn=0025-1003 |access-date=24 May 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701181158/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/abs/differences-in-airstream-and-posterior-place-of-articulation-among-nuu-clicks/FA6566F6283D1E42E23C868E91DAFAA8 |url-status=live}}</ref> In transcriptions of such approaches, the click letter represents both places of articulation, with the different letters representing the different click types, and diacritics are used for the elements of the accompaniment: {{angbr IPA|ǀ, ǀ̬, ǀ̃}}, etc.
* Letters for the [[voiceless]] implosives {{angbr IPA|ƥ, ƭ, ƈ, ƙ, ʠ}} are no longer supported by the IPA, though they remain in Unicode. Instead, the IPA typically uses the voiced equivalent with a voiceless diacritic: {{angbr IPA|ɓ̥, ɗ̥}}, etc.
* The letter for the [[retroflex implosive]], <span title="U+1D91">{{angbr IPA|ᶑ&thinsp;}}</span>, is not "explicitly IPA approved",<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=166}}</ref> but the IPA has endorsed the inclusion of {{angbr IPA|ᶑ&thinsp;}} and voiceless {{angbr IPA|𝼉}} into Unicode.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
* The ejective diacritic is placed at the right-hand margin of the consonant, rather than immediately after the letter for the stop: {{angbr IPA|t͜ʃʼ}}, {{angbr IPA|kʷʼ}}. In imprecise transcription, it often stands in for a superscript glottal stop in [[glottalized]] but pulmonic [[sonorant]]s, such as {{IPA|[mˀ]}}, {{IPA|[lˀ]}}, {{IPA|[wˀ]}}, {{IPA|[aˀ]}}{{snd}}also transcribable as creaky {{IPA|[m̰]}}, {{IPA|[l̰]}}, {{IPA|[w̰]}}, {{IPA|[a̰]}}.

==== Affricates ====
[[Affricates]] and [[Doubly articulated consonant|co-articulated]] stops are represented by two letters joined by a tie bar, either above or below the letters with no difference in meaning.{{NoteTag|It is traditional to place the tie bar above the letters. It may be placed below to avoid overlap with ascenders or diacritic marks, or simply because it is more legible that way, as in Niesler; Louw; Roux (2005). "Phonetic analysis of Afrikaans, English, Xhosa and Zulu using South African speech databases".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Niesler |first1=Thomas |last2=Louw |first2=Philippa |last3=Roux |first3=Justus |date=2005 |title=Phonetic analysis of Afrikaans, English, Xhosa and Zulu using South African speech databases |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/16073610509486401 |journal=Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies |language=en |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=459–474 |doi=10.2989/16073610509486401 |s2cid=7138676 |issn=1607-3614 |access-date=24 May 2023 |archive-date=27 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527215149/http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/16073610509486401 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} Affricates are optionally represented by [[Typographic ligature|ligatures]]{{snd}}e.g. {{angbr IPA|ʧ, ʤ&thinsp;}}{{snd}}though this is no longer official IPA usage.<ref name="IPA 1999" />  Alternatively, a superscript notation for a consonant release is sometimes used to transcribe affricates, for example {{angbr IPA|tˢ}} for {{IPA|[t͜s]}}, paralleling {{IPA|[kˣ]}} ~ {{IPA|[k͜x]}}. The letters for the palatal plosives {{angbr IPA|c}} and {{angbr IPA|ɟ}} are often used as a convenience for {{IPA|[t͜ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[d͜ʒ]}} or similar affricates<!-- eg 'Curso de fonética y fonología españolas para estudiantes' for English and spanish -->, even in official IPA publications, so they must be interpreted with care.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=133}}</ref>

{{IPA affricates|caption=|notes=no}}

Because in a true affricate the plosive element and the fricative element are homorganic, and the place of articulation of an affricate is most audible in the fricative element, the letter for the former will not always be precisely transcribed where such precision would be redundant. For example, while the English ''ch'' sound is {{IPA|[t̠͜ʃ]}} in close transcription, the diacritic is commonly left off, for {{IPA|[t͜ʃ]}}. Similarly, {{IPA|[ʈ͜ʂ]}} and {{IPA|[ɖ͜ʐ]}} are more commonly written {{IPA|[t͜ʂ]}} and {{IPA|[d͜ʐ]}}, and in the ligatures there is only a single retroflex hook.

==== Co-articulated consonants ====
[[Co-articulated consonant]]s are sounds that involve two simultaneous [[places of articulation]] (are pronounced using two parts of the [[vocal tract]]). In English, the {{IPA|[w]}} in "went" is a coarticulated consonant, being pronounced by rounding the lips and raising the back of the tongue. Similar sounds are {{IPA|[ʍ]}} and {{IPA|[ɥ]}}. In some languages, plosives can be double-articulated, for example in the name of [[Laurent Gbagbo]].
{{IPA co-articulated consonants|caption=|notes=no}}

'''Notes'''
* {{IPA|[ɧ]}}, the [[sj-sound|Swedish ''sj''-sound]], is described by the IPA as a "simultaneous {{IPA|[ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[x]}}", but it is unlikely such a simultaneous fricative actually exists in any language.<ref>{{harvnb|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|pp=329–330}}</ref>
* Multiple tie bars can be used: {{angbr IPA|a͡b͡c}} or {{angbr IPA|a͜b͜c}}. For instance, a pre-voiced velar affricate may be transcribed as {{angbr IPA|g͡k͡x}}
* If a diacritic needs to be placed on or under a tie bar, the [[combining grapheme joiner]] (U+034F) needs to be used, as in {{IPA|[b͜͏̰də̀bdʊ̀]}} 'chewed' ([[Margi language|Margi]]). Font support is spotty, however.

With the implosives, authors may not bother to redundantly mark both letters as implosive, but instead write them as less-cluttered {{angbr IPA|ɡ͡ɓ}} and even {{angbr IPA|k͜ƥ}}<!-- e.g. Nọlue Emenanjọ [2015] A Grammar of Contemporary Igbo -->.