X-SAMPA
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.[1] 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, Ois a distinct sound fromO\, 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 EMU, 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_pcodes for /k͡p/.
- The numbers _1to_6are reserved diacritics as shorthand for language-specific tone numbers.
- The IETF language tags registry has assigned fonxsampas the subtag for text transcribed in X-SAMPA.[2]
Lower-case symbols
    
| X-SAMPA | IPA | IPA image | 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\(orP) | 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 | IPA image | 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(orv\) | 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 | IPA image | 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 | Paicĩ kɘ̄ɾɘ [k@\_M4@\_M] | 
| @` | 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., SAMPROSA[3] | |||
| <\ | 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 | IPA image | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
| _" | ̈ |  | centralized | 
| _+ | ̟ |  | advanced | 
| _- | ̠ |  | retracted | 
| _/ | ̌ |  | rising tone | 
| _0 | ̥ |  | voiceless | 
| _< | implosive (IPA uses separate symbols for implosives) | ||
| =(or_=) | ̩ |  | syllabic | 
| _> | ʼ |  | ejective | 
| _?\ | ˤ |  | pharyngealized | 
| _\ | ̂ | 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 | ̂ |  | 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 | pb | p_db_d | td | t`d` | cJ\ | kg | qG\ | >\ | ? | ||||||||
| Fricative | p\B | fv | TD | sz | SZ | s`z` | Cj\ | xG | X | R | X\ | ?\ | H\ | <\ | hh\ | ||
| Approximant | B_o | v\ | r\ | r\` | j | M\ | |||||||||||
| Trill | B\ | r | * | R\ | * | ||||||||||||
| Tap or Flap | *† | *† | 4 | r` | * | ||||||||||||
| Lateral Fricative | KK\ | * | * | * | |||||||||||||
| 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: .svg.png.webp) . A dedicated symbol for the labiodental flap does not yet exist in X-SAMPA. . A dedicated symbol 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 | 
| 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 | 
See also
    
- Comparison of ASCII encodings of the International Phonetic Alphabet
- List of phonetics topics
- SAMPA, a language-specific predecessor of X-SAMPA
- SAMPA chart for English
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


