International Phonetic Alphabet
Alfabeto Fonético Internacional
- Date
- 1888 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Paul Passy and the International Phonetic Association
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A system of symbols assigning one unique sign to each sound of human speech, devised by language teachers to transcribe any language without ambiguity. It became the universal standard for linguistics and language teaching.
Adopted and revised several times since 1888 (last major revision in 2005); Daniel Jones was key to its development after Passy.
What it led to
- Standardized phonetic transcription in dictionaries and language manuals
- Modern comparative linguistics and dialectology studies
- Pronunciation teaching in foreign languages