What’s on the The IPA poster
A definition and 6 facts worth remembering.
The International Phonetic Alphabet assigns exactly one symbol to each distinguishable speech sound, so a word's pronunciation can be written unambiguously regardless of its spelling.
- Slashes /kæt/ show phonemes; brackets [kʰæt] show precise sounds.
- Consonants are classified by place, manner and voicing.
- Vowels are placed on a chart by tongue height and frontness.
- ˈ marks primary stress, on the syllable that follows it.
- ː marks a long vowel.
- Every dictionary pronunciation guide is built on it.
- Symbols — ~107 letters
- Diacritics — ~52
- First published — 1888
- English 'through' is /θruː/ — three sounds written with seven letters.
English spelling maps badly onto sound. The IPA exists precisely because alphabets like ours are unreliable.
Questions about the The IPA poster
- What’s on the The IPA poster?
- A definition and 6 facts worth remembering. The International Phonetic Alphabet assigns exactly one symbol to each distinguishable speech sound, so a word's pronunciation can be written unambiguously regardless of its spelling. Slashes /kæt/ show phonemes; brackets [kʰæt] show precise sounds.; Consonants are classified by place, manner and voicing.; Vowels are placed on a chart by tongue height and frontness.; ˈ marks primary stress, on the syllable that follows it.; ː marks a long vowel.; Every dictionary pronunciation guide is built on it.; Symbols — ~107 letters; Diacritics — ~52; First published — 1888; English 'through' is /θruː/ — three sounds written with seven letters.. English spelling maps badly onto sound. The IPA exists precisely because alphabets like ours are unreliable.
- Who is the The IPA poster for?
- The IPA belongs to the Languages section rather than to a school year, because languages is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning how languages work can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the The IPA poster?
- One symbol, one sound, in every language. That is the entire design goal. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so The IPA belongs on the wall where that languages work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with The IPA?
- Bilingualism, Grammatical Case and Code-Switching sit alongside The IPA in the Languages section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.BilingualismGrammatical CaseCode-Switching
- Is the The IPA poster free to download and print?
- Yes. The IPA downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Languages section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the The IPA poster print at?
- The IPA is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of The IPA loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside The IPA on the same wall.
Browse every Languages poster, or start from the full catalogue.