Phonological notation

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in PHOIBLE's database

Rare    Frequent

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Consonants

Place
Manner
Labial Coronal Guttural
Dorsals Laryngeal
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Radical / Pharyngeal Glottal
Palatoalveolar Retroflex Alveolopalatal Pharyngeal Epiglottal
Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Voiced Voiceless Breathy
voiced
Nasal m ɱ n ɳ (ȵ) ɲ ŋ ɴ
Plosives p b t d ʈ ɖ (ȶ) c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ
Approximants ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ
Labial- ɥ ʍ w
Lateral l ɭ (ȴ) ʎ ʟ
Fricatives Sibilant s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ
ɧ The sj-sound 🇸🇪. It being x͡ʃ is debated, I'd say it's closer to ʍ͍˔.
ɸ β f v θ ð ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ
Lateral ɬ ɮ
Trills ʙ r ʀ ʜ ʢ
Affricates Central p͡ɸ b͡β p͡f b͡v t͡θ d͡ð t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ ʈ͡ʂ ɖ͡ʐ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ c͡ç ɟ͡ʝ k͡x ɡ͡ɣ q͡χ ɢ͡ʁ ʔ͡h
Lateral t͡ɬ d͡ɮ ʈ͡ꞎ
Tap/flap Central ɾ ɽ
Lateral ɺ
Non-pulmonic Implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ
Ejective Plosives ʈʼ ɖʼ ɟʼ ɡʼ ɢʼ ʡʼ
On that note, voiced ejectives are merely pre-voiced, so [bʼ] = [b͡pʼ] = [ˬbʼ], [dʼ] = [d͡tʼ] = [ˬdʼ], [ɡʼ] = [ɡ͡kʼ] = [ˬɡʼ] and so on.
Central affricates p͡ɸʼ p͡fʼ t͡θʼ t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ ʈ͡ʂʼ t͡ɕʼ c͡çʼ k͡xʼ q͡χʼ ʡ͡ħʼ
Lateral affricates t͡ɬʼ ʈ͡ꞎʼ
Central fricatives ɸʼ θʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ çʼ χʼ ħʼ
Lateral fricatives ɬʼ ꞎʼ
Clicks Central ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ
¡
Lateral ǁ

Vowels

Backness
Height
Front Central Back
Near-front Near-back
Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded
Close i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u
Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ
Close-mid e ø ɘ ɵ ɤ o
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔ
Near-open æ ɐ
Open a ɶ ɑ ɒ

Most common
diphthong with...
Front Central Back
Near-front Near-back
Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded
Close ai œy ɨi ɛʉ ɯa au
Near-close ɞʏ
Close-mid ei øy ɘi ɤi oi
Mid
Open-mid œy ɜi ɞʏ ɔi
Near-open æi ɐi
Open ai ɑu ɒu

Tones
˦ ˨ ˧ ˦˨ ˨˦ ˥
˥˩ ˩ ˩˥ ˨˧ ˧˨ ˦˧
˥˦ ˧˩ ˧˥ ↓˦ ˩˨ ˦˥
˧˦ ˦˨˦ ˨˦˨ ˩˧ ˨˩
˦↓˦ ˩̰ ˧˨˥ ˥˧˥ ˥̰ ˨˦˧
˨˥˩ ˧˦˧ ˧˨˧ ˥˧ ˦˥̰ ˨˩̤
˧˩̰ ˧˨ˤ ˧˨̤ ˨˧˩ ˦˩ ˨˧˨
↓˦˨ ˦˥˦ ˥˧̰ ˧˩̤ ˨˥ ↓˦↓˦
˥˨˧ ˧˥˨ ˥˨ ˩˧˩ ˦̰ ˦ˀ
˦˦˨ ˦˨˨ ˨˦˦ ˨˨˦ ˥˩˩˥ ˦˩˨

Phonological rules and sound changes
(click here for examples)
1 becomes ◌2 when ◌3 1→◌2/◌3
1/◌2/◌3
deletion of ◌1 when ◌21→∅/◌2
1/∅/◌2
location of target sound(s)_[ə] → ∅ / _#
[ə] is deleted when it's
placed before a word bondary
word boundary#
belongs to/has property ◌[+ ◌]
doesn't belong to/doesn't have ◌[− ◌]
Shorthands[+ consonant]C
[+ vowel]V
[+ nasal]N

Usual diacritics Symbol Three most
common consonants
Three most
common vowels
#1 #2 #3 #1 #2 #3
Phonation Modal voice m j k i u a
Breathy voice ◌̤ ◌ʱ b̤  bʱ ɡ̤  ɡʱ d̪̤  d̪ʱ o̤  oʱ i̤  iʱ ṳ  uʱ
Creaky voice ◌̰
Slack voice ◌̥ ◌̊ d̺̥ d̺̥z̺̥
Stiff voice ◌̬ PHOIBLE doesn't have any
Miscellaneous
glottis involvement
Unaspiration / Tenuis ◌˭
Aspiration ◌ʰ
Preglottalization ˀ◌ ˀm ˀn ˀj ˀy
Preaspiration ʰ◌ ʰk ʰt ʰp
Glottalization ◌ˀ
Place of
articulation
Palatal ◌̡  / curl ɲ ȵ ȶ
Dental ◌̪
Retroflex ◌̢ ʈ ɳ ɭ
Alveolar ◌͇ ʐ͇
Linguolabial ◌̼
Dentolabial ◌͆ More common in speech impediments
Interdental / bidental ◌̪͆ h̪͆
Relative
articulation
+/− Retracted ◌̠ t̠͡ʃ d̠͡ʒ t̠͡ʃʰ ä̠
Advanced ◌̟ ɲ̟ (ȵ) (ȶ) ʎ̟ (ȴ) a̟ː ã̟
⊥/⊤ Lowered ◌̞ β̞ ð̞ ʁ̞ õ̞
Raised ◌̝ ʕ̝ ɹ̝ ɑ̝̹ ɛ̝
··/× Centralized ◌̈ ɪ̈
Mid-centralized ◌̽ ɯ̽ ɯ̽ː ɔ̽
Tongue root Retracted ◌̙ ɡ̙ ʕ̙ ɪ̙ ʊ̙
Advanced ◌̘
Length Long ◌ː
Extra-short ◌̆ ɢ̆ ʡ̆ ə̆ ɨ̆ ɐ̆
Half-long ◌ˑ
Nasal Nasalization ◌̃
Prenasalized Nᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Nasal release N kᵑ pᵐ tⁿ
Double articulation ◌͡◌ ɡ͡b k͡p ŋ͡m
Secondary
articulation
Labialization ◌ʷ, ◌ᵝ ɡʷ ŋʷ
Palatalization ◌ʲ ɡʲ
Velopharyngeal
◌͌, ʩ
Velarization ◌ˠ, ◌̴ (ɫ) ɾˠ
Pharyngealization ◌ˤ, ◌̴ (ɫ)
Uvularization ◌ʶ PHOIBLE doesn't have any
Manner of
articulation
Implosive Upper-right hook ɓ ɗ ʄ
Ejective ◌ʼ t̠͡ʃʼ
Whistled sibilant ◌͎, ◌ᶲ, ◌ᵝ t͡sᶲ
Lateral release ◌ˡ ɡˡ
Tongue placement Apical ◌̺
Laminal ◌̻
Strength Weak / lenis ◌͉ ȶ͉
Strong / fortis ◌͈ ȶ͈
Voicing Unvoiced ◌̥ ◌̊
Voiced ◌̬ PHOIBLE doesn't have any
Prevoicing ˬ◌
Post-voiced ◌ˬ
Syllabicity Semi-vocalic ◌̯ ◌̑ ʊ̯
Syllabic (nucleus) ◌̩ ◌̍ ŋ̩
Rhoticized ◌˞ ɚ
Roundedness Rounded ◌̹ ◌͗ ɹ̪̹̩ ɻ̹̩ ɑ̝̹ ɐ̹̆ ɨ̹
Unrounded ◌̜ ◌͑ w̜ʲ ʊ̜ o̞̜
Labial spreading ◌͍
No audible release ◌̚ d̪̚ Almost never phonemic

Other Symbol Examples
Notation Broad description /◌/ /sa.ly le ʒɑ̃/
Narrow description [◌] [sä.l̩ʲː‿lɪ ʒɐ̃]
Orthography ⟨◌⟩
⟨salut les gens⟩

Liaison ◌‿◌
/burk‿ɑ̃ brɛs/

Prosodic
intonation
Global rise ↗︎◌ /↗︎ ɪz ðɪs ən ɪɡzæmpl̩/
Global fall ↘︎◌ /↘︎ ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩/
Minor break | /ðɪs ɪz ən | ɪɡzæmpl̩/
Major break /ðɪs ‖ ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩/
Prosodic
stress
Primary stress ˈ◌ /ɪnˈsaɪt/, /ˈɪn.saɪt/
Secondary stress ˌ◌ /ˈfoʊ.təˌɡɹæf/
Ingressive {↓ ◌ ↓}
{↓ ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ ↓}

Loudness Pianissimo {pppp}
{pp ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ pp}

Piano {pp}
{p ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ p}

Forte {ff}
{f ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ f}

Fortissimo {ffff}
{ff ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ ff}

Speed Fast speech {allegroallegro}
{allegro ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ allegro}

Slow speech {lentolento}
{lento ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ lento}

Stutter ◌\◌ m\m, k\k, p\p, i\i, u\u, a\a
Extraneous noise ⸨◌⸩
⸨2σ⸩2 syllables, ⸨knock on door⸩, ⸨cough⸩

Sliding ◌͢◌
x͢χ, s͢ʃ

Labioalveolar ◌͇
p͇, b͇, f͇, v͇, m͇

Nareal ◌͋
m͋, n͋

Alaryngeal
speech
Buccal ↀ͡◌
ↀ͡ə

Esophageal Œ͡◌
Œ͡ə

Tracheoesophageal Ю͡◌ Ю͡ə
Phonation Faucalized voice ◌ꟸ
{Vꟸ ðɪs ɪz ən ɪɡzæmpl̩ Vꟸ}

Harsh voice ◌᷽, ◌᷂, ◌ꜝ, ◌ꜝꜝ
[ə᷂]

Aryepiglottic ◌ᴬᴬ
{Vᴬᴬ ə Vᴬᴬ}

Spasmodic dysphonia ꟿ͡◌ {ꟿ ə ꟿ}
Electrolaryngeal И͡◌ И͡ə
Indeterminate Sound[◯\ɻ̪\ⒸʷⓋʎ\Ⓒ̪\lɪ̈n͋\⃝ɴ͋\ŋ͋]

(very cursed notation)
Probably ◌⃝◌
Consonant
Vowel