# International Phonetic Alphabet symbols?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [June 12, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555 "2002-06-12T01:24:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/1 "2002-06-12T01:24:23Z")
Is there any part of the Symbol font that allows you to type out the pronounciation of a word using the phonetic alphabet? I ask this question because some time ago, in [this Cafe Society thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118944), I ran into some awkwardness trying to type out phonetic transcriptions.
The theta symbol used to represent the unvoiced “th” is already available: /[symbol]q[/symbol]/.
And the symbol for the “a” as in “father” phoneme: /æ/
But none of the more–exotic–phonetic symbols seem to be available. Not even the schwa, which really suprises me.
For instance, the aforementioned linked thread, I was stumped in my search for the symbol that would represent the voiced and unvoiced affricates. (Or, in other words, the “j” as in “judge” sound and the “ch” as in “chore” sound.)
I’m not hoping for all of the IPA, just the ones that pertain to the sounds of English (American English, if you want to get _picky_ about it. 🙂 )
Is there a solution to future attempts at phonetic transcription?
---
### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/2 "2002-06-12T02:11:13Z")
As a matter of fact there is. The IPA is (I believe) covered in Unicode. Every Unicode character has a numerical code. To insert a Unicode character, put in **&** then **#** then **the code** then **;**. For instance, in order to get this funny h-looking thing (ɧ) type in:
ɧ
There are lists on the Internet of [the Unicode IPA codes](http://www.chessworks.com/ling/Resources/IPAUnicode.htm), but I don’t know enough about IPA to verify that this list is complete. Another caveat: I don’t know that _every browser on Earth_ supports Unicode, but the good ones should. Good luck!
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### Author:  [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/3 "2002-06-12T04:16:04Z")
Well, let’s give the Unicode a try, then.
> [@](#):
>
> ¤Œst jn kes
Nope. Doesn’t work.
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/4 "2002-06-12T06:50:55Z")
Okay, I’d like to help you, but I don’t know what you typed in to get that. Can you try it again, putting spaces in between? Like instead of typing
ɧ
put
&# 615;
That way, it won’t convert the characters, and I’ll see the code you entered and try to get it to work.
Also what browser are you using? If I have the same one I’ll work in there.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/5 "2002-06-12T08:27:35Z")
ə
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/6 "2002-06-12T09:12:16Z")
This is neat. I had no idea Unicode could be used with vBulletin.
ɑ ɐ ɒ æɓβ
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/7 "2002-06-12T15:43:00Z")
Well I don’t see any special characters in bibliophage’s post, I see square boxes. IE 5.0 / Windows 2000
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### Author:  [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/8 "2002-06-12T16:38:44Z")
Ditto what Arnold says. Except IE6 and Win NT
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/9 "2002-06-12T16:49:17Z")
Um, really? That’s odd. For me to check it with your configuration, I’d have to upgrade my OS and downgrade my browser. So, can you tell me what you see here:
Σ
¢
ë
A
♀
€
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### Author:  [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/10 "2002-06-12T16:52:16Z")
Summa, cent sign, e umlaut, capitol A, cross w/ a circle on top, Euro sign.
On Win 2K, IE 5.5.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/11 "2002-06-12T21:39:48Z")
8355 ₣
8356 ₤
8359 ₧
8362 ₪
8363 ₫
8364 €
8457 ℉
8470 №
8592 ←
8593 ↑
8594 →
8595 ↓
8596 ↔
8597 ↕
8598 ↖
8599 ↗
8600 ↘
8601 ↙
8730 √
8734 ∞
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2002, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/12 "2002-06-13T00:41:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Achernar \*
> For me to check it with your configuration, I’d have to upgrade my OS and downgrade my browser.
Have you done that yet?
For the record, using IE 5.0 / Windows 2000 I saw the same thing in your last post that :smack:Fu did.
Tonight if I have time I’ll check on my Macintosh.
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2002, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/13 "2002-06-13T05:32:27Z")
Okay, I can’t afford a new operating system right now. I wish there were some sort of emulator for this. It _appears_ that Internet Explorer supports some Unicode, but not all. I’ll see if I can find some documentation on this, and in the meantime, maybe some IE guru can shed some light on it.
FYI, those six symbols are all correct, provided that “cross w/ a circle on top” means the Venus/female symbol.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/14 "2002-06-13T06:38:50Z")
Using Opera 5.0 and Netscape 4.75 (MacOS) I only see 4 out of the 6 characters in your post. Using icab (MacOS) I see all of them. It looks like the characters shown depend on the browser you’re using, and that Unicode support is not consistent.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2002, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/15 "2002-06-13T08:14:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Achernar \*
> **Okay, I can’t afford a new operating system right now.**
What, can’t spend $50?
Linux, man. 🆒
I’ll leave now.
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2002, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/16 "2002-06-13T10:07:30Z")
I have nothing against Linux, but if you read closely, you’ll see that I was referring to Windows 2000.
Please stay. We could use the cool.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/17 "2002-06-13T19:27:19Z")
You could try specifying a Unicode font yourself. On the next line I’m using Lucida Sans Unicode, and schwas display correctly on my PC using IE5.5:
əɚ
Of course, all users viewing the page must have the same font.
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2002, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/18 "2002-06-13T23:34:46Z")
Hey, you may be on to something **rowrrbazzle**. In Netscape I see a scwha, then a schwa followed by a little squiggle. So do you think that everyone who wanted to see Unicode in IE just specified the same font, we could make it work?
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2002, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/19 "2002-06-14T05:46:57Z")
**Atreyu** , I get the Euro symbol, the “oe” ligature (capitalized), “st”, space, “jn”, space, “kes”. Macintosh OS9, iCab.
> [@](#):
>
> €Œst jn kes
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-phonetic-alphabet-symbols/113555/20 "2002-06-14T06:13:31Z")
**Achernar** : I’m cool, daddy-o. I just want to clue you hep cats in to the happenest OS around. I ain’t gonna blow my cool over it if it ain’t your style, cat.
🆒
(My god, I feel strange. I need to hack some assembly now, get the geek spirit back.)
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