The Extended SAM Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London. It was designed to unify the individual language SAMPA alphabets, and extend SAMPA to cover the entire range of characters in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

The result is a SAMPA-inspired recasting of the IPA into 7-bit ASCII.

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 a following backslash as an escape character to create a new symbol. For example O is a distinct sound from O\, to which it bears no relation.

  • 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.

  • The numbers _1 to _6 are reserved diacritics as shorthand for language-specific tone numbers.


    • Lowercase symbols

    ! XS !! IPA !! IPA image!! Description !! Examples
    |-
    | a || || || French dame dam, Spanish padre paD4e
    |-
    | b || || || English bed bEd, French bon bO~
    |-
    | b_< || || || Sindhi b_
    |-
    | c || || || Hungarian latyak lAcAk
    |-
    | d || || || English dig dIg, French doigt dwa
    |-
    | d` || || || Swedish hord hu:d`
    |-
    | d_< || || || Sindhi d_
    |-
    | e || || )
    |-
    | f || || || English five faIv, French femme fam
    |-
    | g || || || English game geIm, French longue lO~g
    |-
    | g_< || || || Sindhi g_<@ro
    |-
    | h || || || English house haUs
    |-
    | h\ || || || Czech hrad h\rat
    |-
    | i || || || English be bi:, French oui wi, Spanish si si
    |-
    | j || || || English yes jEs, French yeux j2
    |-
    | j\ || || || Greek γειά j\a
    |-
    | k || || || English scat sk{t, Spanish carro kar:o
    |-
    | l || || || English lay leI, French mal mal
    |-
    | l` || || || Svealand Swedish sorl so:l`
    |-
    | l\ || || || Japanese phoneme /r/
    |-
    | m || || || English mouse maUs, French homme Om
    |-
    | n || || || English nap n{p, French non nO~
    |-
    | n` || || || Swedish hörn h2:n`
    |-
    | o || || || French gros gRo
    |-
    | p || || || English speak spik, French pose poz, Spanish perro per:o
    |-
    | p\ || || || Japanese fuku p\M_0kM
    |-
    | q || || || Arabic qasbah qQs_Gba
    |-
    | r || || || Spanish perro per:o
    |-
    | r` || || ||  
    |-
    | r\ || || || English red r\Ed
    |-
    | r\` || || || Malayalam വഴി v6r\`i
    |-
    | s || || || English seem si:m, French session sesjO~
    |-
    | s` || || || Swedish mars mas`
    |-
    | s\ || || || Polish świerszcz s\v'erStS
    |-
    | t || || || English stew stju:, French raté Rate, Spanish tuyo tujo
    |-
    | t` || || || Swedish mört m2t`
    |-
    | u || || || English boom bu:m, Spanish su su
    |-
    | v || || || English vest vEst, French voix vwa
    |-
    | v\ (or P) || || || Dutch west v\Est/PEst
    |-
    | w || || || English west wEst, French oui wi
    |-
    | x || || || Scots loch lQx; German Loch, Dach; Spanish caja, gestión
    |-
    | x\ || || || Swedish sjal x\A:l
    |-
    | y || || || French tu ty German über y:b6
    |-
    | z || || || English zoo zu:, French azote azOt
    |-
    | z` || || || Mandarin Chinese rang z`aN
    |-
    | z\ || || || Polish źrebak z\rEbak


    Uppercase symbols

    ! XS !! IPA !! IPA image !! Description !! Example
    |-
    | A || || || English father fA:D@(r\) (RP and Gen.Am.)
    |-
    | B || || || Spanish lavar laBa4
    |-
    | B\ || || || Reminiscent of shivering ("brrr")
    |-
    | C || || || German ich IC, English human Cjum@n (broad transcription uses hj-)
    |-
    | D || || || English then DEn
    |-
    | E || || || French même mEm, English met mEt (RP and Gen.Am.)
    |-
    | F || || || English emphasis EFf@sIs (spoken quickly, otherwise uses Emf-)
    |-
    | G || || || Greek γωνία Gonia, Danish vælge vElG@
    |-
    | G\ || || || Inuktitut nirivvik niG\ivvik
    |-
    | G\_< || || || Mam G\_
    |-
    | H || || || French huit Hit
    |-
    | H\ || || ||  
    |-
    | I || || || English kit kIt
    |-
    | I\ || || || central lax close unrounded vowel, ''not in IPA'' || Polish ryba rI\bA 
    |-
    | J || || || Spanish año aJo, English canyon k{J@n (broad transcription uses -nj-)
    |-
    | J\ || || || Hungarian egy EJ\
    |-
    | J\_< || || || Sindhi J\_
    |-
    | K || || || Welsh llaw KaU
    |-
    | K\ || || ||  
    |-
    | L || || || Italian famiglia famiLa, Castilian llamar Lamar, English million mIL@n (broad transcription uses -lj-)
    |-
    | L\ || || ||
    |-
    | M || || || Korean 으 (eu)
    |-
    | M\ || || || Spanish fuego fweM\o
    |-
    | N || || || English thing TIN
    |-
    | N\ || || || Japanese san saN\
    |-
    | O || || || British English thought TO:t, American English off O:f
    |-
    | O\ || || ||  
    |-
    | P (or v\) || || || Dutch west PEst/v\Est, allophone of English phoneme /r\/
    |-
    | Q || || || British English lot lQt
    |-
    | R || || || German rein RaIn
    |-
    | R\ || || || French roi R\wa
    |-
    | S || || || English ship SIp
    |-
    | T || || || English thin TIn
    |-
    | U || || || English foot fUt
    |-
    | U\ || || || central lax close rounded vowel, ''not in IPA'' ||  
    |-
    | V || || || RP English strut str\Vt
    |-
    | W || || || Scots when WEn
    |-
    | X || || || Klallam sXa?q_wa?
    |-
    | X\ || || || Arabic <ح>ha’ X\A:
    |-
    | Y || || || German hübsch hYpS
    |-
    | Z || || || English vision vIZ@n


    Other symbols

    ! XS !! IPA !! IPA image !! Description !! Example
    |-
    | . || || || syllable break ||  
    |-
    | " || || ||  
    |-
    | % || || ||  
    |-
    | ' (or _j) || || ||  
    |-
    | : || || || long ||  
    |-
    | :\ || || s
    |-
    | - || ||   || separator ||  
    |-
    | @ || || || English arena @r\i:n@
    |-
    | @\ || || || Paicĩ k@\_M4@\_M
    |-
    | { || || || English trap tr\{p
    |-
    | } || || || Swedish sju x\}:; AuE/NZE boot b}:t
    |-
    | 1 || || || Welsh tu t1, American English rose's r\oUz1z
    |-
    | 2 || || || Danish købe k2:b@, French deux d2
    |-
    | 3 || || || English nurse n3:s (RP) or n3`s (Gen.Am.)
    |-
    | 3\ || || || Irish tomhailt3\:l'
    |-
    | 4 || || || Spanish pero pe4o, American English better bE4@`
    |-
    | 5 || || ; also see _e || English milk mI5k
    |-
    | 6 || || || German besser bEs6, Australian English mud m6d
    |-
    | 7 || || || Estonian kõik k7ik, Occurs in Vietnamese
    |-
    | 8 || || || Swedish buss b8s
    |-
    | 9 || || || French neuf n9f, Danish drømme dR9m@
    |-
    | & || || || Swedish skörd x\&d`
    |-
    | ? || || || Danish stød sd2?, Cockney English bottle bQ?l
    |-
    | ?\ || || || Arabic ع‎ (`ayn) ?\Ajn
    |-
    |
  • || ||   || undefined escape character, SAMPA's "conjunctor"||  

    • |-
    | / || ||   || indeterminacy in French vowels ||  
    |-
    | < || ||   || begin nonsegmental notation (e.g., SAMPROSA) ||  
    |-
    | <\ || || ||  
    |-
    | > || ||   || end nonsegmental notation ||  
    |-
    | >\ || || ||  
    |-
    | ^ || || || upstep ||  
    |-
    | ! || || || downstep ||  
    |-
    | !\ || || ||  
    |-
    | | || || || minor (foot) group ||  
    |-
    | |\ || || ||  
    |-
    | || || || || major (intonation) group ||  
    |-
    | |\|\ || || ||  
    |-
    | =\ || || ||  
    |-
    | -\ || || || linking mark ||  


    Diacritics

    ! XS !! IPA !! IPA image !! Description
    |-
    | _" || || || centralized
    |-
    | _+ || || || advanced
    |-
    | _- || || || retracted
    |-
    | _/ || ||   || rising tone
    |-
    | _0 || ||
    |-
    | _< || ||   || implosive (IPA uses separate symbols for implosives)
    |-
    | = (or _=) || || || syllabic
    |-
    | _> || ||
    |-
    | _?\ || ||
    |-
    | _\ || ||   || falling tone
    |-
    | _^ || || || non-syllabic
    |-
    | _} || ||
    |-
    | ` || || in vowels, retroflexion in consonants (IPA uses separate symbols for consonants, see t` for an example)
    |-
    | ~ (or _~) || ||
    |-
    | _A || || || advanced tongue root
    |-
    | _a || ||
    |-
    | _B || || || extra low tone
    |-
    | _B_L || || || low rising tone
    |-
    | _c || || || less rounded
    |-
    | _d || ||
    |-
    | _e || || || velarized or pharyngealized; also see 5
    |-
    | <F> || || || global fall
    |-
    | _F || || || falling tone
    |-
    | _G || ||
    |-
    | _H || || || high tone
    |-
    | _H_T || || || high rising tone
    |-
    | _h || ||
    |-
    | _j (or ') || ||
    |-
    | _k || ||
    |-
    | _L || || || low tone
    |-
    | _l || || || lateral release
    |-
    | _M || || || mid tone
    |-
    | _m || ||
    |-
    | _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 || ||
    |-
    | _v || ||
    |-
    | _w || ||
    |-
    | _X || || || extra-short
    |-
    | _x || || || mid-centralized

    Charts
    Consonants

    ! colspan=17 | Consonants (pulmonic)
    |- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 2em"
    | style="font-size: 90%;" | Place of articulation →
    ! colspan=2 | Labial
    ! colspan=4 | Coronal
    ! colspan=4 | Dorsal
    ! colspan=4 | Radical
    ! colspan=2 | (none)
    |- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 3em"
    | style="font-size: 90%;" | Manner of articulation ↓
    ! style="width: 4em;" | Bi­la­bial
    ! style="width: 4em;" | La­bio‐
    den­tal
    ! style="width: 4em;" | Den­tal
    ! style="width: 4em;" | Al­veo­lar
    ! style="width: 4em;" | Post‐
    al­veo­lar
    ! style="width: 4em;" | Re­tro‐
    flex
    ! style="width: 4em;" | Pa­la­tal
    ! style="width: 4em;" | Ve­lar
    ! colspan="2" style="width: 4em;" | Uvu­lar
    ! colspan="2" style="width: 4em;" | Pha­ryn‐
    geal
    ! colspan="2" style="width: 4em;" | Epi‐
    glot­tal
    ! colspan="2" style="width: 4em;" | Glot­tal
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Nasal
    |    m
    |    F
    | colspan="3" |   n
    |    n`
    | |   J
    |    N
    | colspan="2" |    N\
    | colspan="6" style="background:#ccc" |  
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Plosive
    | p b
    | p_d b_d
    | colspan="3" |t d
    | t` d`
    | c J\
    | k g
    | colspan="2" | q G\
    | colspan="2" style="background:#ccc" |  
    | colspan="2" | >\
    | style="width: 1em;" | ?
    | style="width: 1em; background:#ccc" |  
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Fricative
    | p\ B
    | f v
    | T D
    | s z
    | S Z
    | s` z`
    | C j\
    | x G
    | style="width: 1em;" | X
    | rowspan="2" style="width: 1em;" | R
    | style="width: 1em;" | X\
    | rowspan="2" style="width: 1em;" | ?\
    | style="width: 1em;" | H\
    | rowspan="2" style="width: 1em;" | <\
    | rowspan="2" colspan="2" | h h\
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Approx­imant
    |    B_o
    |    v\
    | colspan="3" |    r\
    |    r\`
    |    j
    |    M\
    |  
    |  
    |  
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Trill
    |    B\
    |
    | colspan="3" |    r
    |    

    • |
    | style="background:#ccc" |
    | colspan="2" |    R\
    | colspan="2" style="background:#ccc" |
    | colspan="2" |    

    • | colspan="2" style="background:#ccc" |  
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Tap or Flap
    | |   
  • †

    • |    
  • †

    • | colspan="3" |   4
    |    r`
    |  
    | style="background:#ccc" |
    | colspan="2" |  
    | colspan="2" style="background:#ccc" |  
    | colspan="2" |    

    • | colspan="2" style="background:#ccc" |  
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Lateral Fricative
    | colspan="2" style="background:#ccc" |
    | colspan="3" | K K\
    |
  •    

    • |
  •    

    • |
  •    

    • | colspan="2" |  
    | colspan="7" style="background:#ccc" |  
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Lateral Approx­imant
    | colspan="2" style="background:#ccc" |
    | colspan="3" |    l
    |    l`
    |    L
    |    L\
    | colspan="2" |  
    | colspan="7" style="background:#ccc" |
    |- style="font-size: 120%;"
    ! style="font-size: x-small; text-align:left" | Lateral Flap
    | colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" |  
    | colspan=3 |    l\
    |    

    • |    

    • |    

    • | colspan="2" |  
    | colspan="7" style="background:#ccc" |  

  • Daggers (†) mark IPA symbols that do not yet have official Unicode support. Since May 2005, this is the case of the labiodental flap, symbolized by a right-hook ''v'': .. A dedicated symbol for the labiodental flap does not yet exist in X-SAMPA.



    • ! colspan=2 | Coarticulated
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | W
    | Voiceless labialized velar approximant
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | w
    | Voiced labialized velar approximant
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | H
    | Voiced labialized palatal approximant
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | s\
    | Voiceless palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | z\
    | Voiced palatalized postalveolar (alveolo-palatal) fricative
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | x\
    | Voiceless "palatal-velar" fricative



    ! colspan=2 | Affricates and double articulation
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | ts
    | voiceless alveolar affricate
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | dz
    | voiced alveolar affricate
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | tS
    | voiceless postalveolar affricate
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | dZ
    | voiced postalveolar affricate
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | ts\
    | voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | dz\
    | voiced alveolo-palatal affricate
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | tK
    | voiceless alveolar lateral affricate
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | kp
    | voiceless labial-velar plosive
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | ɡb
    | voiced labial-velar plosive
    |-
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | Nm
    | labial-velar nasal stop



    ! colspan=6 | Consonants (non-pulmonic)
    |- valign=top
    ! colspan="2" | Clicks
    ! colspan="2" | Implosives
    ! colspan="2" | Ejectives
    |- valign=top
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | O\
    | Bilabial
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | b_<
    | Bilabial
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; width:2em;" | _>
    | ''For example:''
    |- valign=top
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | |\
    | Laminal alveolar ("dental")
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | d_<
    | Alveolar
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | p_>
    | Bilabial
    |- valign=top
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | ǃ
    | Apical (post-) alveolar ("retroflex")
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | J\_<
    | Palatal
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | t_>
    | Alveolar
    |- valign=top
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | =\
    | Laminal postalveolar ("palatal")
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | g_<
    | Velar
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | k_>
    | Velar
    |- valign=top
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | |\|\
    | Lateral coronal ("lateral")
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | G\_<
    | Uvular
    | style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | s_>
    | Alveolar fricative


    Vowels



    |- style="text-align:center; font-size:smaller;"
    ||
    | style="width:60px;" | Front
    | style="width:60px;" | Near-front
    | style="width:60px;" | Central
    | style="width:60px;" | Near-back
    | style="width:60px;" | Back
    |-
    | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | Close
    | style="height:210px;" colspan=5 rowspan=7 |


    |-
    | style="width:300px; height:210px; text-align:center; background:transparent;" |



    i • y


    1 • }


    M • u




    I • Y

    • U




    e • 2


    @\ • 8


    7 • o





    @





    E • 9


    3 • 3\


    V • O




    {


    6




    a • &



    A • Q



    |-
    | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | Near‑close
    |-
    | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | Close‑mid
    |-
    | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | Mid
    |-
    | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | Open‑mid
    |-
    | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | Near‑open
    |-
    | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | Open


    See also
  • International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

  • International Phonetic Alphabet for English

  • SAMPA, a language-specific predecessor of X-SAMPA.

  • CXS, an unofficial, extended version of X-SAMPA used for language construction

  • SAMPA chart for English

  • Kirshenbaum and WorldBet, similar systems.

  • List of phonetics topics


    • External links
  • Computer-coding the IPA: A proposed extension of SAMPA

  • Online converter between IPA and X-Sampa

  • Web-based translator for X-SAMPA documents. Produces Unicode text, XML text, PostScript, PDF, or LaTeX TIPA.


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