Kirshenbaum, sometimes called
ASCII-IPA or
erkIPA, is a system used to represent the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in
ASCII. This way it allows typewriting IPA-symbols by regular keyboard. It was developed for
Usenet, notably the newsgroups sci.lang and
alt.usage.english. It is named after
Evan Kirshenbaum, who led the collaboration that created it.
The system uses almost all lower-case letters to represent the directly corresponding IPA character, but unlike X-SAMPA has the notable exception of the letter 'r'. Examples where the two systems have a different mapping between characters and sounds are:
{| class=wikitable
! Sound !! IPA !! X-SAMPA !! Kirshenbaum
|-
| alveolar trill || || r || r
|-
| alveolar approximant || || r\ || r
|-
| near-open front unrounded vowel || || { || &
|-
| open back rounded vowel || || Q || A.
|-
| open-mid central unrounded vowel || || 3 || V"
|-
| primary stress || || " || '
|-
| secondary stress || || % || ,
|}
Kirshenbaum charts of consonants and vowels
This chart is based on information provided in the Kirshenbaum specification., It may also be helpful to compare it to the SAMPA chart or X-SAMPA chart.
Consonant chart
{| class="wikitable IPA" style="text-align: center"
|+ Kirshenbaum chart of
consonants (the paired signs are voiceless/voiced consonants)
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 2em"
| rowspan="2" style="font-size: 90%;" |
Place of articulation →
! colspan="2" |
Labial
! colspan="4" |
Coronal
! colspan="4" |
Dorsal
! colspan="1" |
Radical
! colspan="1" rowspan="3" style="width: 4em;" |
Glottal
! colspan="1" rowspan="3" style="width: 4em;" |
Alveolar laterals
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 3em"
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Bilabial
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Labio‐dental
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Dental
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Alveolar
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Retro‐flex
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Palato‐alveolar
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Palatal
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Velar
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Uvular
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Labio‐velar
! rowspan="2" style="width: 4em;" |
Pharyn‐geal
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 3em"
| style="font-size: 90%;" |
Manner of articulation ↓
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|
Nasals
| m
| M
|
n[
| n
| n.
|
| n^
| N
| n"
| n<lbv>
|
|
|
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|
Stops
|p b
|
|
t[ d[
|t d
|t. d.
|
|c J
|k g
|q G
|t<lbv> d<lbv>
|
|?
|
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|
Fricatives
|P B
|f v
|T D
|s z
|s. z.
|S Z
|C C<vcd>
|x Q
|X g"
|w<vls> w
|H H<vcd>
|h
|s
z
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|Approximants
|
|r<lbd>
|r[
|r
|r.
|
|j
|j<vel>
|g"
|w
|
|h
|
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|Laterals
|
|
|l[
|l
|l.
|
|l^
|L
|
|
|
|
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|Trills
|b<trl>
|
|
|r<trl>
|
|
|
|
|r"
|
|
|
|
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|Flaps
|
|
|
| *
| *.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|*<lat>
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|Ejectives
|p`
|
|t[`
|t`
|
|
|c`
|k`
|q`
|
|
|
|
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|Implosives
|b`
|
|d`
|d`
|
|
|J`
|g`
|G`
|
|
|
|
|-
!style="font-size:x-small;text-align:left"|Clicks
|p!
|
|t!
|c!
|
|
|c!
|k!
|
|
|
|
|l!
|}
Vowel chart
Vowel modifiers and diacritics
Modifiers and diacritics follow the symbol they modify.
Stress is indicated by ' for primary stress, and , for secondary stress, placed before the stressed syllable.
External links
Kirshenbaum specification (PDF file)
Tutorial and guide with sound samples
Category:Phonetic alphabets
Category:ASCII
