X-SAMPA

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Extended Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at University College London. It is designed to unify the individual language SAMPA alphabets, and extend SAMPA to cover the entire range of characters in the 1993 version of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The result is a SAMPA-inspired remapping of the IPA into 7-bit ASCII.

SAMPA was devised as a hack to work around the inability of text encodings to represent IPA symbols. Later, as Unicode support for IPA symbols became more widespread, the necessity for a separate, computer-readable system for representing the IPA in ASCII decreased. However, X-SAMPA is still useful as the basis for an input method for true IPA.

Summary

Notes

The IPA symbols that are ordinary lower case letters have the same value in X-SAMPA as they do in the IPA.
X-SAMPA uses backslashes as modifying suffixes to create new symbols. For example, O is a distinct sound from O\, to which it bears no relation. Such use of the backslash character can be a problem, since many programs interpret it as an escape character for the character following it. For example, such X-SAMPA symbols do not work in , so backslashes must be replaced with some other symbol (e.g., an asterisk: '*') when adding phonemic transcription to an EMU speech database. The backslash has no fixed meaning.
X-SAMPA diacritics follow the symbols they modify. Except for ~ for nasalization, = for syllabicity, and ` for retroflexion and rhotacization, diacritics are joined to the character with the underscore character _.
The underscore character is also used to encode the IPA tiebar: k_p codes for /k͡p/.
The numbers _1 to _6 are reserved diacritics as shorthand for language-specific tone numbers.
The IETF language tags registry has assigned fonxsamp as the subtag for text transcribed in X-SAMPA.

Lower-case symbols

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description	Examples
`a`	a	open front unrounded vowel	French dame `[dam]`
`b`	b	voiced bilabial plosive	English bed `[bEd]`, French bon `[bO~]`
`b_<`	ɓ	voiced bilabial implosive	Sindhi ɓarʊ [`b_<arU`]
`c`	c	voiceless palatal plosive	Hungarian latyak `["lQcQk]`
`d`	d	voiced alveolar plosive	English dig `[dIg]`, French doigt `[dwa]`
d`	ɖ	voiced retroflex plosive	Swedish hord [hu:d`]
`d_<`	ɗ	voiced alveolar implosive	Sindhi ɗarʊ [`d_<arU`]
`e`	e	close-mid front unrounded vowel	French blé `[ble]`
`f`	f	voiceless labiodental fricative	English five `[faIv]`, French femme `[fam]`
`g`	ɡ	voiced velar plosive	English game `[geIm]`, French longue `[lO~g]`
`g_<`	ɠ	voiced velar implosive	Sindhi ɠəro [`g_<@ro`]
`h`	h	voiceless glottal fricative	English house `[haUs]`
`h\`	ɦ	voiced glottal fricative	Czech hrad `[h\rat]`
`i`	i	close front unrounded vowel	English be `[bi:]`, French oui `[wi]`, Spanish si `[si]`
`j`	j	palatal approximant	English yes `[jEs]`, French yeux `[j2]`
`j\`	ʝ	voiced palatal fricative	Greek γειά `[j\a]`
`k`	k	voiceless velar plosive	English skip `[skIp]`, Spanish carro `["karo]`
`l`	l	alveolar lateral approximant	English lay `[leI]`, French mal `[mal]`
l`	ɭ	retroflex lateral approximant	Svealand Swedish sorl [so:l`]
`l\`	ɺ	alveolar lateral flap	Wayuu püülükü `[pM:l\MkM]`
`m`	m	bilabial nasal	English mouse `[maUs]`, French homme `[Om]`
`n`	n	alveolar nasal	English nap `[n{p]`, French non `[nO~]`
n`	ɳ	retroflex nasal	Swedish hörn [h2:n`]
`o`	o	close-mid back rounded vowel	French veau `[vo]`
`p`	p	voiceless bilabial plosive	English speak `[spik]`, French pose `[poz]`, Spanish perro `["pero]`
`p\`	ɸ	voiceless bilabial fricative	Japanese fuku `[p\M_0kM]`
`q`	q	voiceless uvular plosive	Arabic qasbah `["qQs_Gba]`
`r`	r	alveolar trill	Spanish perro `["pero]`
r`	ɽ	retroflex flap	Bengali gari [gar`i:]
`r\`	ɹ	alveolar approximant	English red `[r\Ed]`
r\`	ɻ	retroflex approximant	Malayalam വഴി ["v@r\`i]
`s`	s	voiceless alveolar fricative	English seem `[si:m]`, French session `[sE"sjO~]`
s`	ʂ	voiceless retroflex fricative	Swedish mars [mas`]
`s\`	ɕ	voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative	Polish świerszcz [s\v'ers`ts`]
`t`	t	voiceless alveolar plosive	English stew `[stju:]`, French raté `[Ra"te]`
t`	ʈ	voiceless retroflex plosive	Swedish mört [m2t`]
`u`	u	close back rounded vowel	English boom `[bu:m]`, Spanish su `[su]`
`v`	v	voiced labiodental fricative	English vest `[vEst]`, French voix `[vwa]`
`v\` (or `P`)	ʋ	labiodental approximant	Dutch west `[v\Est]`/`[PEst]`
`w`	w	labial-velar approximant	English west `[wEst]`, French oui `[wi]`
`x`	x	voiceless velar fricative	Scots loch `[lOx]` or `[5Ox]`; German Buch, Dach; Spanish caja, gestión
`x\`	ɧ	voiceless palatal-velar fricative	Swedish sjal `[x\A:l]`
`y`	y	close front rounded vowel	French tu `[ty]` German über `["y:b6]`
`z`	z	voiced alveolar fricative	English zoo `[zu:]`, French azote `[a"zOt]`
z`	ʐ	voiced retroflex fricative	Mandarin Chinese rang [z`aN]
`z\`	ʑ	voiced alveolo-palatal fricative	Polish źrebak `["z\rEbak]`

Capital symbols

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description	Example
`A`	ɑ	open back unrounded vowel	English father [`"fA:D@`(`r\`)] (RP and Gen.Am.)
`B`	β	voiced bilabial fricative	Spanish lavar `[la"Ba4]`
`B\`	ʙ	bilabial trill	Reminiscent of shivering ("brrr")
`C`	ç	voiceless palatal fricative	German ich `[IC]`, English human `["Cjum@n]` (broad transcription uses [`hj`-])
`D`	ð	voiced dental fricative	English then `[DEn]`
`E`	ɛ	open-mid front unrounded vowel	French même `[mE:m]`, English met `[mEt]` (RP and Gen.Am.)
`F`	ɱ	labiodental nasal	English emphasis `["EFf@sIs]` (spoken quickly, otherwise uses [`Emf`-])
`G`	ɣ	voiced velar fricative	Greek γωνία `[Go"nia]`
`G\`	ɢ	voiced uvular plosive	Inuktitut nirivvik `[niG\ivvik]`
`G\_<`	ʛ	voiced uvular implosive	Mam ʛa [`G\_<a`]
`H`	ɥ	labial-palatal approximant	French huit `[Hit]`
`H\`	ʜ	voiceless epiglottal fricative	Agul мехӀ `[mEH\]`
`I`	ɪ	near-close front unrounded vowel	English kit `[kIt]`
`I\`	ᵻ	near-close central unrounded vowel (non-IPA)	Polish ryba `[rI\bA]`
`J`	ɲ	palatal nasal	Spanish año `["aJo]`, English canyon `["k{J@n]` (broad transcription uses [-`nj`-])
`J\`	ɟ	voiced palatal plosive	Hungarian egy `[EJ\]`
`J\_<`	ʄ	voiced palatal implosive	Sindhi ʄaro [`J\_<aro`]
`K`	ɬ	voiceless alveolar lateral fricative	Welsh llaw `[KaU]`
`K\`	ɮ	voiced alveolar lateral fricative	Mongolian долоо `[tOK\O:]`
`L`	ʎ	palatal lateral approximant	Italian famiglia `[fa"miLLa]`, Castilian: llamar `[La"mar]`
`L\`	ʟ	velar lateral approximant	Korean 달구지 `[t6L\gudz\i]`
`M`	ɯ	close back unrounded vowel	Korean 음식 `[M:ms\_hik_}]`
`M\`	ɰ	velar approximant	Spanish fuego `["fweM\o]`
`N`	ŋ	velar nasal	English thing `[TIN]`
`N\`	ɴ	uvular nasal	Japanese さん san `[saN\]`
`O`	ɔ	open-mid back rounded vowel	American English off `[O:f]`
`O\`	ʘ	bilabial click
`P` (or `v\`)	ʋ	labiodental approximant	Dutch west `[PEst]`/`[v\Est]`, allophone of English phoneme `/r\/`
`Q`	ɒ	open back rounded vowel	RP lot `[lQt]`
`R`	ʁ	voiced uvular fricative	German rein `[RaIn]`
`R\`	ʀ	uvular trill	French roi `[R\wa]`
`S`	ʃ	voiceless postalveolar fricative	English ship `[SIp]`
`T`	θ	voiceless dental fricative	English thin `[TIn]`
`U`	ʊ	near-close back rounded vowel	English foot `[fUt]`
`U\`	ᵿ	near-close central rounded vowel (non-IPA)	English euphoria `[jU\"fO@r\i@]`
`V`	ʌ	open-mid back unrounded vowel	Scottish English strut `[str\Vt]`
`W`	ʍ	voiceless labial-velar fricative	Scots when `[WEn]`
`X`	χ	voiceless uvular fricative	Klallam sχaʔqʷaʔ `[sXa?q_wa?]`
`X\`	ħ	voiceless pharyngeal fricative	Arabic ح ḥāʾ `[X\A:]`
`Y`	ʏ	near-close front rounded vowel	German hübsch `[hYpS]`
`Z`	ʒ	voiced postalveolar fricative	English vision `["vIZ@n]`

Other symbols

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description	Example
`.`	.	syllable break
`"`	ˈ	primary stress
`%`	ˌ	secondary stress	American English pronunciation `[pr\@%nVn.si."eI.S@n]`
`'` (or `_j`)	ʲ	palatalized	Russian Земля (Earth) `[z'I"ml'a]` or `[z_jI"ml_ja]`
`:`	ː	long
`:\`	ˑ	half long	Estonian differentiates three vowel lengths
`-`		separator	Polish trzy `[t-S1]` vs. czy `[tS1]` (affricate)
`@`	ə	schwa	English arena `[@"r\i:n@]`
`@\`	ɘ	close-mid central unrounded vowel	Chuvash пӗррехинче `[p@\rrEXints\E]`
@`	ɚ	r-coloured schwa	American English color ["kVl@`]
`{`	æ	near-open front unrounded vowel	English trap `[tr\{p]`
`}`	ʉ	close central rounded vowel	Swedish sju `[x\}:]`; AuE/NZE boot `[b}:t]`
`1`	ɨ	close central unrounded vowel	Welsh tu `[t1]`, American English rose's `["r\oUz1z]`
`2`	ø	close-mid front rounded vowel	Danish købe `["k2:b@]`, French deux `[d2]`
`3`	ɜ	open-mid central unrounded vowel	English nurse `[n3:s]` (RP) or [n3`s] (Gen.Am.)
`3\`	ɞ	open-mid central rounded vowel	Irish tomhail `[t3\:l']`
`4`	ɾ	alveolar flap	Spanish pero `["pe4o]`, American English better ["bE4@`]
`5`	ɫ	velarized alveolar lateral approximant; also see `_e`	English milk `[mI5k]`, Portuguese livro `["5iv4u]`
`6`	ɐ	near-open central vowel	German besser `["bEs6]`, Australian English mud `[m6d]`
`7`	ɤ	close-mid back unrounded vowel	Estonian kõik `[k7ik]`, Vietnamese mơ `[m7_M]`
`8`	ɵ	close-mid central rounded vowel	Swedish buss `[b8s]`
`9`	œ	open-mid front rounded vowel	French neuf `[n9f]`, Danish drømme `[dR9m@]`
`&`	ɶ	open front rounded vowel	Swedish skörd [x\&d`]
`?`	ʔ	glottal stop	Cockney English bottle `["bQ?o]`
`?\`	ʕ	voiced pharyngeal fricative	Arabic ع ʿayn `[?\Ajn]`
`*`		undefined escape character, SAMPA's "conjunctor"
`/`	/	(a) French vowel archiphonemes or indeterminacies (b) delimiter of phonemic transcriptions	maison `/mE/zO~/`
`<`	⟨	begin nonsegmental notation, e.g.,
`<\`	ʢ	voiced epiglottal fricative	Siwi arˤbˤəʢa (four) `[ar_?\b_?\@<\a]`
`>`	⟩	end nonsegmental notation
`>\`	ʡ	epiglottal plosive	Archi гӀарз (complaint) `[>\arz]`
`^`	ꜛ	upstep
`!`	ꜜ	downstep
`!\`	ǃ	postalveolar click	Zulu iqaqa (polecat) `[i:!\a:!\a]`
`\|`	\|	minor (foot) group
`\|\`	ǀ	dental click	Zulu icici (earring) `[i:\|\i:\|\i]`
`\|\|`	‖	major (intonation) group
`\|\\|\`	ǁ	alveolar lateral click	Zulu xoxa (to converse) `[\|\\|\O:\|\\|\a]`
`=\`	ǂ	palatal click
`-\`	‿	linking mark

Diacritics

X-SAMPA	IPA	Description
`_"`	̈	centralized
`_+`	̟	advanced
`_-`	̠	retracted
`_/`	̌	rising tone
`_0`	̥	voiceless
`_<`		implosive (IPA uses separate symbols for implosives)
`=` (or `_=`)	̩	syllabic
`_>`	ʼ	ejective
`_?\`	ˤ	pharyngealized
`_\` (or `_F`)	̂	falling tone
`_^`	̯	non-syllabic
`_}`	̚	no audible release
`	˞	rhotacization in vowels, retroflexion in consonants (IPA uses separate symbols for consonants, see t` for an example)
`~` (or `_~`)	̃	nasalization
`_A`	̘	advanced tongue root
`_a`	̺	apical
`_B`	̏	extra low tone
`_B_L`	᷅	low rising tone
`_c`	̜	less rounded
`_d`	̪	dental
`_e`	̴	velarized or pharyngealized; also see `5`
`<F>`	↘	global fall
`_F` (or `_\`)	̂	falling tone
`_G`	ˠ	velarized
`_H`	́	high tone
`_H_T`	᷄	high rising tone
`_h`	ʰ	aspirated
`_j` (or `'`)	ʲ	palatalized
`_k`	̰	creaky voice
`_L`	̀	low tone
`_l`	ˡ	lateral release
`_M`	̄	mid tone
`_m`	̻	laminal
`_N`	̼	linguolabial
`_n`	ⁿ	nasal release
`_O`	̹	more rounded
`_o`	̞	lowered
`_q`	̙	retracted tongue root
`<R>`	↗	global rise
`_R`	̌	rising tone
`_R_F`	᷈	rising falling tone
`_r`	̝	raised
`_T`	̋	extra high tone
`_t`	̤	breathy voice
`_v`	̬	voiced
`_w`	ʷ	labialized
`_X`	̆	extra-short
`_x`	̽	mid-centralized

Charts

Consonants

Consonants (pulmonic)
Place of articulation →	Labial		Coronal				Dorsal				Laryngeal
Manner of articulation ↓	Bilabial	Labio‐ dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post‐ alveolar	Retro‐ flex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular		Pharyn‐ geal		Epi‐ glottal		Glottal
Nasal	`m`	`F`	`n`			n`	`J`	`N`	`N\`
Plosive	`p` `b`	`p_d` `b_d`	`t` `d`			t` d`	`c` `J\`	`k` `g`	`q` `G\`				`>\`		`?`
Fricative	`p\` `B`	`f` `v`	`T` `D`	`s` `z`	`S` `Z`	s` z`	`C` `j\`	`x` `G`	`X`	`R`	`X\`	`?\`	`H\`	`<\`	`h` `h\`
Approximant	`B_o`	`v\`	`r\`			r\`	`j`	`M\`		`R`		`?\`		`<\`	`h` `h\`
Trill	`B\`		`r`			*			`R\`				*
Tap or Flap	*^†	*^†	`4`			r`							*
Lateral Fricative			`K` `K\`			*	*	*
Lateral Approximant			`l`			l`	`L`	`L\`
Lateral Flap			`l\`			*	*	*

Asterisks (*) mark sounds that do not have X-SAMPA symbols. Daggers (†) mark IPA symbols that have recently been added to Unicode. Since April 2008, the latter is the case of the labiodental flap, symbolized by a right-hook v in the IPA: . A convention for the labiodental flap does not yet exist in X-SAMPA.

Coarticulated
`W`	Voiceless labialized velar approximant
`w`	Voiced labialized velar approximant
`H`	Voiced labialized palatal approximant
`s\`	Voiceless palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative
`z\`	Voiced palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative
`x\`	Voiceless "palatal-velar" fricative

Affricates and double articulation
`ts`	voiceless alveolar affricate
`dz`	voiced alveolar affricate
`tS`	voiceless postalveolar affricate
`dZ`	voiced postalveolar affricate
`ts\`	voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate
`dz\`	voiced alveolo-palatal affricate
`tK`	voiceless alveolar lateral affricate
`dK\`	voiced alveolar lateral affricate
`kp`	voiceless labial-velar plosive
`gb`	voiced labial-velar plosive
`Nm`	labial-velar nasal stop

Consonants (non-pulmonic)
Clicks		Implosives		Ejectives
`O\`	Bilabial	`b_<`	Bilabial	`_>`	For example:
`\|\`	Laminal alveolar ("dental")	`d_<`	Alveolar	`p_>`	Bilabial
`!\`	Apical (post-) alveolar ("retroflex")	`J\_<`	Palatal	`t_>`	Alveolar
`=\`	Laminal postalveolar ("palatal")	`g_<`	Velar	`k_>`	Velar
`\|\\|\`	Lateral coronal ("lateral")	`G\_<`	Uvular	`s_>`	Alveolar fricative

Vowels

Front

Central

Back

Close

i • y

1 • }

M • u

I • Y

I\ • U\

• U

e • 2

@\ • 8

7 • o

e_o • 2_o

@

• o_o

E • 9

3 • 3\

V • O

{ •

6

a • &

a_"

A • Q

Near‑close

Close‑mid

Mid

Open‑mid

Near‑open

Open

References

Wells, J.C. "Computer-coding the IPA: a proposed extension of SAMPA" (PDF). UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
"Language Subtag Registry" (text). IETF. 2022-08-08. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
For a summary of SAMPROSA, see Wells, J.C. (19 September 1995). "SAMPROSA (SAM Prosodic Transcription)". UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

External links

Computer-coding the IPA: A proposed extension of SAMPA
X-SAMPA to IPA to CXS converter
Web-based translator for X-SAMPA documents. Produces Unicode text, XML text, PostScript, PDF, or LaTeX TIPA.
Z-SAMPA, a backward-compatible extension of X-SAMPA sometimes used for conlangs

[SAMPA-PDF-1] Wells, J.C. "Computer-coding the IPA: a proposed extension of SAMPA" (PDF). UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

[IETF-2] "Language Subtag Registry" (text). IETF. 2022-08-08. Retrieved 12 November 2022.

[3] For a summary of SAMPROSA, see Wells, J.C. (19 September 1995). "SAMPROSA (SAM Prosodic Transcription)". UCL Phonetics and Linguistics. University College London. Retrieved 23 October 2021.