How to learn IPA?

If you're new to these arts, this is the place to ask "stupid" questions and get directions!
Post Reply
Rafael the Dude
hieroglyphic
hieroglyphic
Posts: 30
Joined: 21 Nov 2016 21:39

How to learn IPA?

Post by Rafael the Dude »

Hey guys, it is my first time creating a thread here. I want to know how to learn more about this IPA (internacional phonology something). It seems like a important thing, everyone here knows about it. I am also creating my lang but I have no idea how to use these symbols.

What is the best site on internet to learn IPA?

Thanks.
Sumelic
greek
greek
Posts: 566
Joined: 18 Jun 2013 23:01

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by Sumelic »

There is a thread that's meant to act as an introduction to IPA, you might find it helpful to look at that: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=1510
User avatar
Isfendil
greek
greek
Posts: 668
Joined: 19 Feb 2016 03:47

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by Isfendil »

Also if you have any questions at all I volunteer to answer them. The more people who know more about linguistics, the better.
User avatar
Axiem
sinic
sinic
Posts: 316
Joined: 10 Sep 2016 06:56

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by Axiem »

I've gleaned a decent amount of knowledge and understanding from just trawling through Wikipedia. It's nowhere near as complete as if you had a real linguistics course, I imagine, but it's a start.

After that, ask questions. Most of the people on this board are willing to try to help as best we can.
Conworld: Mto
:con: : Kuvian
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by elemtilas »

Rafael the Dude wrote:Hey guys, it is my first time creating a thread here. I want to know how to learn more about this IPA (internacional phonology something). It seems like a important thing, everyone here knows about it. I am also creating my lang but I have no idea how to use these symbols.

What is the best site on internet to learn IPA?

Thanks.
I'll second the Wikipedia article, if for no other reason than that you can click on almost any IPA symbol and be taken to an article with a sound file. The best way to learn is to listen to the sounds and associate them with their symbols. This way, you'll get used to what IPA symbols are used with your own dialect and also won't fall prey to assuming the letters in the conlang's alphabet must always have the same associated sounds as your native language's alphabet.

As you're making your language, you'll (most likely) want four things to come together, and so you'll want to consider them as a system:

1. the sound you like to hear
2. its IPA symbol
3. the letter or symbol you choose to romanise that sound with (i.e., write in English letters)
4. the symbol you have devised for the language's native alphabet (if the writing system is to be alphabetic)
User avatar
Lambuzhao
korean
korean
Posts: 5405
Joined: 13 May 2012 02:57

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by Lambuzhao »

Well, before the Internet (here goes old Gramps...) certain textbooks and phrasesbooks would print the pronunciations in IPA. Knowing a language or two outisde of your own L1, that would help you to see how the IPA functioned (comparatively, analogically, etc.)

Wiktionary does a pretty good job of listing IPA pronunciations of words in many languages. You can see how IPA letters function "in their natural habitat", as it were, in actual words themselves.


Another online help was (i think a Japanese) site where you typed in an English word, and it would give the word in IPA (but I think in :eng: received pronunciation).

The biggest help for me to learn the IPA (especially the vowel symbols: for a long time the vowels were a bugger for me; the consonants just seemed to make a lot more sense, somehow) was taking some Phonetics/Phonology classes @ U. Practice, practice - Practice makes habit.
Nachtuil
greek
greek
Posts: 595
Joined: 21 Jul 2016 00:16

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by Nachtuil »

What the others have said. Wikipedia and practice mostly. Definitely do look at some languages you already speak to see how the symbols compare to the sounds you know.
clawgrip
MVP
MVP
Posts: 2257
Joined: 24 Jun 2012 07:33
Location: Tokyo

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by clawgrip »

My introduction to it was an English dictionary. It listed the words and showed the pronunciations, so I started out learning how it was used to represent words I already knew how to pronounce. From them on, I could learn bits and pieces for additional languages.

Also, as Lambuzhao suggests, my knowledge of French expanded the inventory of signs whose pronunciation I was familiar with, and I could see how things were both similar and different.
User avatar
mira
greek
greek
Posts: 759
Joined: 14 May 2016 11:59
Location: Switzerland
Contact:

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by mira »

Note this though: Don't use a chart with sounds. That's what I did and my vowels are atrocious because the recordings were actually really off.
website | music | she/her | :gbr: native :deu: beginner
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: How to learn IPA?

Post by elemtilas »

OTʜᴇB wrote:Note this though: Don't use a chart with sounds. That's what I did and my vowels are atrocious because the recordings were actually really off.
I think it depends on the recording. Some of the :wikip: recordings are better than others.

If you really want the real deal, you can obtain the cd (perhaps by now, they can be downloaded?) of the whole chart from the International Phonetics Association itself. I used to be a member and got the cd that way, as well as a Journal subscription. Pretty interesting reads in there, too.
Post Reply