SAMPA chart
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[edit]
| 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 dts 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\[b]
|
j[a] H
|
w
|
||||||
| lateral | l
|
L
|
5
|
||||||||
| Rhotic | 4[b]r[b]
|
R\
|
|||||||||
- ^ a b Also in Spanish, [
jj] is used to represent the palatal fricative against the semivowel [j]. - ^ a b c It is common, especially in Spanish and Italian, to represent the alveolar trill with [
rr] and the alveolar flap with [r]. It has been proposed to use [4] for the alveolar flap, in which case [r] can be used to represent the trill (as its equivalent in the IPA system), and [j\] 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[edit]
| 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[edit]
| 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[edit]
| Vowels | |||||
| front | central | back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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[edit]
| 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[edit]
| 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 |