Americanist phonetic notation explained

Americanist phonetic notation
Languages:	Reserved for phonetic transcription of any language
Time:	1880s to the present
Fam1:	Latin alphabet, augmented by Greek

Americanist phonetic notation, also known as the North American Phonetic Alphabet (NAPA), the Americanist Phonetic Alphabet or the American Phonetic Alphabet (APA), is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and American anthropologists and language scientists (many of whom were students of Neogrammarians) for the phonetic and phonemic transcription of indigenous languages of the Americas and for languages of Europe. It is still commonly used by linguists working on, among others, Slavic, Uralic, Semitic languages and for the languages of the Caucasus, of India, and of much of Africa; however, Uralists commonly use a variant known as the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet.

Despite its name, NAPA has always been widely used outside the Americas. For example, a version of it is the standard for the transcription of Arabic in articles published in the German: [[Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft]], the journal of the German Oriental Society.

Diacritics are more widely used in Americanist notation than in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which seeks to use as few diacritics as possible for phonemic distinctions, retaining them only for the dental - alveolar distinction. Americanist notation relies on diacritics to distinguish many other distinctions that are phonemic in the languages it transcribes. On the other hand, Americanist notation uses single letters for most coronal affricates, whereas the IPA requires digraphs. Otherwise Americanist notation has grown increasingly similar to IPA, and has abandoned many of the more obscure letters it once employed.

Summary contrast with the IPA alphabet

Certain symbols in NAPA were once identical to those of the International Phonetic Alphabet, but have become obsolete in the latter, such as (IPA|ι). Over the years, NAPA has drawn closer to the IPA. This can be seen, for example, in a comparison of Edward Sapir's earlier and later works. However, there remain significant differences. Among these are:

• (y) for pronounced as /[j]/, (ñ) for pronounced as /[ɲ]/, (c) or (¢) for pronounced as /[t͡s]/, (ƛ) for pronounced as /[t͡ɬ]/ and (ł) for pronounced as /[ɬ]/
• Palato-alveolar (č ǰ š ž) and sometimes alveopalatal (ć ś ź ń)
• Advancing diacritic (inverted breve) for dentals and palatals (apart from non-sibilant dental (θ ð)), and retracting diacritic (a dot) for retroflex and uvulars (apart from uvular (q))
• (r) or (ř) for a flap and (r̃) for a trill
• Ogonek for nasalization
• Dot over vowel for centering, two dots (diaeresis) over a vowel to change fronting (for front rounded vowels and unrounded back vowels)
• Acute and grave accents over vowels for stress

History

John Wesley Powell used an early set of phonetic symbols in his publications (particularly Powell 1880) on American language families, although he chose symbols which had their origins in work by other phoneticians and American writers (e.g., Pickering 1820; Cass 1821a, 1821b; Hale 1846; Lepsius 1855, 1863; Gibbs 1861; and Powell 1877). The influential anthropologist Franz Boas used a somewhat different set of symbols (Boas 1911). In 1916, a publication by the American Anthropological Society greatly expanded upon Boas's alphabet. This same alphabet was discussed and modified in articles by Bloomfield & Bolling (1927) and Herzog et al. (1934). The Americanist notation may be seen in the journals American Anthropologist, International Journal of American Linguistics, and Language. Useful sources explaining the symbols – some with comparisons of the alphabets used at different times – are Campbell (1997:xii-xiii), Goddard (1996:10–16), Langacker (1972:xiii-vi), Mithun (1999:xiii-xv), and Odden (2005).

It is often useful to compare the Americanist tradition with another widespread tradition, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Americanist phonetic notation does not require a strict harmony among character styles: letters from the Greek and Latin alphabets are used side-by-side. Another contrasting feature is that, to represent some of the same sounds, the Americanist tradition relies heavily on letters modified with diacritics; whereas the IPA, which reserves diacritics for other specific uses, gave Greek and Latin letters new shapes. These differing approaches reflect the traditions' differing philosophies. The Americanist linguists were interested in a phonetic notation that could be easily created from typefaces of existing orthographies. This was seen as more practical and more cost-efficient, as many of the characters chosen already existed in Greek and East European orthographies.

Abercrombie (1991:44–45) recounts the following concerning the Americanist tradition:

Alphabet

Consonants

There is no central authority. The Western Institute for Endangered Language Documentation (WIELD) has recommended the following conventions since 2016:^[1] Note however that WIELD is designed specifically for Native American languages, whereas NAPA, despite its name, is widely used elsewhere, e.g. in Africa.

Advanced is (IPA|C̯) and retracted is (IPA|C̣). Geminate is (IPA|C꞉) or (IPA|CC). Glottalization is e.g. (IPA|č̓) or (IPA|m̓) (ejectives are not distinguished from other types of glottalization). Palatalization is written (IPA|Cʸ). Labialization, velarization, aspiration, voicelessness and prenasalization are as in the IPA. Pharyngeals, epiglottals and glottals are as in the IPA, as are implosives and clicks.

WIELD (2016) recommendations for NAPA consonants

			Bilabial	Labio- dental	Dental	Alveolar	Retro- flex	Palato- alveolar	Alveo- palatal	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyn- geal	Glottal
Plosive			p		t̯	t	ṭ			k̯	k	q		ʔ^[2]
			b		d̯	d	ḍ			ɡ̯	ɡ	ɡ̇
Affricate				pf	tθ	c	c̣	č	ć		kx	qx̣
					c̯
					dð	dz	dẓ	ǰ	dź
					dz̯
						ƛ
						λ
Fricative			ɸ	f	θ	s	ṣ	š	ś	x̯	x	x̣	ħ	h
					s̯
			β	v	ð	z	ẓ	ž	ź	ɣ̯	ɣ	ɣ̇	ʕ	ɦ
					z̯
						ł				łʸ
						ɮ
Nasal			m		n̯	n	ṇ		ń	ñ	ŋ	ŋ̇
Trill						r̃						ʀ
Tap					r̯	r	ṛ
Approximant				ʋ		ɹ	ɹ̣			y	ẉ
										ẅ	w
					l̯	l	ḷ			lʸ

Differences from the IPA fall into a few broad categories: use of diacritics to derive the other coronal and dorsal articulations from the alveolar and velar, respectively; use of c j λ ƛ for affricates; y for its consonantal value, and r for a tap rather than a trill.

Notes:

• Among the dental fricatives, (θ ð) are slit fricatives (non-sibilant) while (s̯ z̯) are sulcalized (sibilant).

Rhotics table

About 90% of languages only have one phonemic rhotic consonant. As a result, rhotic consonants are generally transcribed with the character. This usage is common practice in Americanist and also other notational traditions (such as the IPA). This lack of detail, although economical and phonologically sound, requires a more careful reading of a given language's phonological description to determine the precise phonetics. A list of rhotics is given below.

Common rhotic conventions

	Alveolar	Retroflex/Uvular
Approximant	r	ṛ
Flap	ř	ṛ̌
Tap	ᴅ	ᴅ̇
Trill	r̃	ṛ̃

Other flaps are,, etc.

Common alternate symbols

There are many alternate symbols seen in Americanist transcription. Below are some equivalent symbols matched with the symbols shown in the consonant chart above.

• may be used for .
• may be used for .
• may be used for .
• may be used for .
• may be used for .
• may be used for .
• may be used for .
• may be used for .
• ʸ may be used for fronted velars (e.g., kʸ = k̯, gʸ = g̑).
• Some transcriptions superscript the onset of doubly articulated consonants and the release of fricatives, e.g., (t̓ᶿ).
• There may be a distinction between laminal retroflex (č̣ ṣ̌ ẓ̌) and apical retroflex (c̣ ṣ ẓ) in some transcriptions.
• The fronting diacritic may be a caret rather than an inverted breve, e.g. dental and palatal .
• Many researchers use the x-caron (x̌) for the voiceless uvular fricative.
• The use of the standard IPA belted l (ɬ) for the voiceless lateral fricative is becoming increasingly common.

Pullum & Ladusaw

According to Pullum & Ladusaw (1996),^[3] typical Americanist usage at the time was more-or-less as follows. There was, however, little standardization of rhotics, and may be either retroflex or uvular, though as noted above or may be a retroflex flap vs as a uvular trill. Apart from the ambiguity of the rhotics below, and minor graphic variants (ȼ g γ for c ɡ ɣ and the placement of the diacritic in g̑ γ̑), this is compatible with the WIELD recommendations. Only precomposed affricates are shown below; others may be indicated by digraphs (e.g. (dz)).

Typical NAPA consonant values (1996, not prescriptive)

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Inter- dental	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palato- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyn- geal	Glottal
		p			t̯	t	ṭ		k̯	k	q		ʔ
		b			d̯	d	ḍ		g̑	g	ġ
						ȼ		č
								ǰ
Lateral affricate						ƛ
						λ
		ɸ	f	θ	s̯	s	ṣ	š	x̯	x	x̣	ħ	h
		β	v	ð	z̯	z	ẓ	ž	γ̑	γ	γ̇	ʕ	ɦ
Lateral fricative						ł
Nasal		m	ṃ			n	ṇ		ñ	ŋ	ŋ̇
Rhotic						r	ṛ				ṛ
Lateral						l	ḷ
Glide		(w)							y	(w)

Ejectives and implosives follow the same conventions as in the IPA, apart from the ejective apostrophe being placed above the base letter.

Pike

Pike (1947) provides the following set of symbols:

Pike (1947) consonant values

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Inter- dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo- palatal	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyn- geal	Glottal
		p		t̯	t	ṭ		k̯	k	ḳ (q)	ḳ̣	ʔ
		b		d̯	d	ḍ		g̯	g	g̣ (G)
		pᵽ		t̯θ	ts (ȼ)		tš (č)		kx
		bb̶		d̯ꟈ	dz (ʒ)		dž (ǰ)		gg̶
Lateral affricate					tƚ (ƛ)
					dl (λ)
		ᵽ	f	θ	θ̣			x̯	x	x̣	ḥ	h
		b̶	v	ꟈ	ꟈ̣			g̶̯	g̶	g̶̣		ɦ
		w̱̟ (W̟)			s	ṣ, ṣ̌	š
		w̟			z	ẓ, ẓ̌	ž
Lateral fricative					ƚ̟
					l̟
		m̱ (M)			ṉ (N)		ṉ̃ (Ñ)		ŋ̱ (Ŋ)
		m			n	ṇ	ñ		ŋ
					ƚ (L)		ƚʸ
					l	ḷ	lʸ
					ṟ̌
					ř, l͏̌	ṛ̌
		p̃			ṟ̃
		b̃			r̃					ṛ̃

Voiceless, voiced and syllabic consonants may also be C̥, C̬ and C̩, as in IPA. Aspirated consonants are Cʻ or C̥ʰ / C̬ʱ. Non-audible release is indicated with superscripting, Vꟲ.

Fortis is C͈ and lenis C᷂. Labialization is C̮ or Cʷ; palatalization is Ꞔ, C⁽ⁱ⁾ or Cʸ; velarization is C⁽ᵘ⁾, and pharyngealization is C̴.

Other airstream mechanisms are pulmonic ingressive C^←, ejective Cˀ, implosive Cˁ, click C˂, and lingual ejective (spurt) C˃.

Vowels

WIELD recommends the following conventions. It doesn't provide characters for distinctions that aren't attested in the literature:^[1]

 ! colspan="2"

Front	Central		Back
		y	ẅ			ẉ	w
Close		i	ü	ɨ	ʉ	ï	u
		ɪ	ʊ̈	ᵻ	ʊ̇		ʊ
Mid		e	ö	ə	ȯ	ë	o
		ɛ	ɔ̈	ɛ̇	ɔ̇	ʌ	ɔ
Open		æ	ɒ̈	æ̇		ɑ	ɒ
		a		a

No distinction is made between front and central for the lowest unrounded vowels. Diphthongs are e.g. (IPA|ai) or (IPA|ay), depending on phonological analysis. Nasal vowels are e.g. (IPA|ą). Long vowels are e.g. (IPA|a꞉). A three-way length distinction may be (IPA|a a꞉ a꞉꞉) or (IPA|a aꞏ a꞉). Primary and secondary stress are e.g. (IPA|á) and (IPA|à). Voicelessness is e.g. (IPA|ḁ), as in the IPA. Creak, murmur, rhoticity et al. are as in the IPA.

Pullum & Ladusaw

According to Pullum & Ladusaw (1996), typical Americanist usage at the time was more-or-less as follows:

Typical NAPA vowel values (1996, not prescriptive)

	Front		Central		Back
		y					w
High		i	ü	ɨ	ʉ	ï	u
		ɪ	ᴜ̈	ᵻ	ᵾ	ɪ̈	ᴜ
Mid		e	ö	ə		ë	o
		ɛ	ɔ̈	ʌ			ɔ
Low		æ		a/ɑ
Lower-Low		a		ɑ			ɒ

Pike

Pike (1947) presents the following:

Pike (1947) vowel values

	Front		Central		Back
		y					w
High		i	ü	ɨ	ʉ	ï	u
		ι	ᴜ̈			ϊ	ᴜ
Mid		e	ö	ə		ë	o
		ɛ	ɔ̈	ʌ			ɔ
Low	higher	æ
	lower	a		ɑ			ɒ

Nasalization is V̨ or Vⁿ. A long vowel is V꞉ or Vꞏ; half-long is V‧ (raised dot). Positional variants are fronted V˂, backed V˃, raised V˄ and lowered V˅.

Bloch & Trager

Bloch & Trager (1942)^[4] proposed the following schema, which was never used. They use a single dot for central vowels and a dieresis to reverse backness. The only central vowels with their own letters are, which already has a dot, and, which would not be distinct if formed with a dot.

Bloch & Trager (1942) vowel symbols

	Front		Central		Back
High	i	ü	ɨ	u̇	ï	u
Lower-high	ɪ	ᴜ̈	ᵻ	ᴜ̇	ɪ̈	ᴜ
Higher-mid	e	ö	ė	ȯ	ë	o
Mean-mid	ᴇ	ꭥ̈	ᴇ̇	ꭥ̇	ᴇ̈	ꭥ
Lower-mid	ɛ	ɔ̈	ɛ̇	ɔ̇	ɛ̈	ɔ
Higher-low	æ	ω̈	æ̇	ω̇	æ̈	ω
Low	a	ɒ̈	ȧ	ɒ̇	ä	ɒ

Kurath

Kurath (1939) is as follows.^[5] Enclosed in parentheses are rounded vowels. Apart from (IPA|ʚ, ꭤ) and some differences in alignment, it is essentially the IPA.

Kurath (1939) vowel symbols

	Front	Half- front	Central	Half- back	Back
High	i (y)		ɨ (ʉ)		ɯ (u)
Lower high		ɪ (ʏ)	ᵻ (ᵾ)	ɤ (ᴜ)
Higher mid	e (ø)	ɘ			(o)
Mid			ə	(ɵ)
Lower mid	ɛ (ʚ)		ɜ (ɞ)	ʌ
Higher low	æ		ɐ		(ɔ)
Low	a		ɑ		ꭤ (ɒ)

Chomsky & Halle

Chomsky & Halle (1968) proposed the following schema, which was hardly ever used. In addition to the table, there was for an unstressed reduced vowel.

Chomsky & Halle (1968) vowel symbols

	[−back]		[+back]
		i	ü	ᵻ̄	u
		ɪ	ᴜ̈	ᵻ	ᴜ
		e	ȫ	ʌ̄	ō
		ɛ	ö	ʌ	o
		ǣ	ꭢ̄	ā	ɔ̄
		æ	ꭢ	a	ɔ

Tone and prosody

Pike (1947) provides the following tone marks:

• High: V́ or V¹
• Mid: V̍ or V²
• Norm: V̄ or V³
• Low: V̀ or V⁴

Stress is primary ˈCV or V́ and secondary ˌCV or V̀.

Short or intermediate and long or final 'pauses' are |, ||, as in IPA.

Syllable division is CV.CV, as in IPA, and morpheme boundaries are CV-CV.

Historical charts of 1916

The following charts were agreed by committee of the American Anthropological Association in 1916.^[6]

The vowel chart is based on the classification of H. Sweet. The high central vowels are differentiated by moving the centralizing dot to the left rather than with a cross stroke. IPA equivalents are given in a few cases that may not be clear.

	narrow			wide
	back	mixed	front	back	mixed	front
high	ï	ı᷸ (= ˙ı)	i	ɩ̈	ɩ᷸ (= ˙ɩ)	ɩ
mid	α [ʌ]		e	a		ε
low					ȧ	ä
high round	u	u̇	ü	υ	υ̇	ϋ
mid round	o	ȯ	ö	ɔ	ɔ̇	ɔ̈
low round	ω	ω̇	ω̈

	Stops					Spirants			Affricates			Nasals		Laterals			Lateral Affricates			Rolled Consonants
	Surd	Sonant	Intermed.	Aspirated	Glot- talized	Surd	Sonant	Glot- talized	Surd	Sonant	Glot- talized	Surd	Sonant	Surd	Sonant	Glot- talized	Surd	Sonant	Glot- talized	Surd	Sonant	Glot- talized
Bilabial (rounded)	pw	bw	ʙw	pwʽ	p̓w , pwǃ	ƕ	w	ƕǃ	pƕ	bw	pƕǃ	ᴍw	mw
Bilabial (unrounded)	p	b	ʙ	pʽ	p̓ , pǃ	φ	β	φǃ	pφ	bβ	pφǃ	ᴍ	m
Dento- labial						f	v	fǃ	pf	bv	pfǃ
Inter- dental						θ	ϑ	θǃ	tθ	dϑ	tθǃ
Linguo- dental	t̯	d̯	ᴅ̯	t̯ʽ	t̯̓ , t̯ǃ	s̯	z̯	s̯ǃ	t̯s	d̯z	t̯sǃ	ɴ̯	n̯	ƚ̯ , ʟ̯	l̯	ƚ̯ǃ	t̯ƚ	d̯l	t̯ƚǃ	ʀ̯	r̯	ʀ̯ǃ
Linguo- alveolar	t	d	ᴅ	tʽ	t̓ , tǃ	s	z	sǃ	ts	dz	tsǃ	ɴ	n	ƚ , ʟ	l	ƚǃ	tƚ	dl	tƚǃ	ʀ	r	ʀǃ
Cerebral	ṭ	ḍ	ᴅ̣	ṭʽ	ṭ̓ , ṭǃ	ṣ	ẓ	ṣǃ	ṭs	ḍz	ṭsǃ	ɴ̣	ṇ	ƚ̣ , ʟ̣	ḷ	ƚ̣ǃ	ṭƚ	ḍl	ṭƚǃ	ʀ̣	ṛ	ʀ̣ǃ
Dorso- dental	τ̯	δ̯	Δ̯	τ̯ʽ	τ̯̓ , τ̯ǃ	σ̯	ζ̯	σ̯ǃ	τ̯σ	δ̯ζ	τ̯σǃ	ν̯	ν̯	ᴧ̯	λ̯	ᴧ̯ǃ	τ̯ᴧ	δ̯ᴧ	τ̯ᴧǃ
Dorsal	τ	δ	Δ^[7]	τʽ	τ̓ , τǃ	σ	ζ	σǃ	τσ	δζ	τσǃ	ν ^[8]	ν	ᴧ	λ	ᴧǃ	τᴧ	δᴧ	τᴧǃ
Dorso- palatal	τ̣	δ̣	Δ̣	τ̣ʽ	τ̣̓ , τ̣ǃ	σ̣	ζ̣	σ̣ǃ	τ̣σ	δ̣ζ	τ̣σǃ	ν̣	ν̣	ᴧ̣	λ̣	ᴧ̣ǃ	τ̣ᴧ	δ̣ᴧ	τ̣ᴧǃ
Anterior c-sounds	(τy)	(δy)	(Δy)	(τyʽ)	(τ̓ , τyǃ)	cy	jy	cyǃ	tcy	djy	tcyǃ	( ν y)	( ν y)	(ᴧy)	(λy)	(ᴧyǃ)	(τᴧy)	(δᴧy)	(τᴧyǃ)
Mid c-sounds	(ty)	(dy)	(ᴅy)	(tyʽ)	(t̓ , tyǃ)	c	j	cǃ	tc	dj	tcǃ	(ɴy)	(ny)	(ƚy , ʟy)	(ly)	(ƚyǃ)	(tƚy)	(dly)	(tƚyǃ)
Posterior c-sounds	(ṭy)	(ḍy)	(ᴅ̣y)	(ṭyʽ)	(ṭ̓ , ṭyǃ)	c̣	j̣	c̣ǃ	ṭc	ḍj	ṭcǃ	(ɴ̣y)	(ṇy)	(ƚ̣y , ʟ̣y)	(ḷy)	(ƚ̣yǃ)	(ṭƚy)	(ḍly)	(ṭƚyǃ)
Anterior palatal	k̯	g̯	ɢ̯	k̯ʽ	k̯̓ , k̯ǃ	x̯	γ̯	x̯ǃ	k̯x	g̯γ	k̯xǃ	ᴎ̯	ŋ̯				k̯ƚ	g̯l	k̯ƚǃ	Ρ̯	ρ̯	ρ̯ǃ
Mid- palatal	k	g	ɢ	kʽ	k̓ , kǃ	x	γ	xǃ	kx	gγ	kxǃ	ᴎ^[9]	ŋ				kƚ	gl	kƚǃ	Ρ	ρ	ρǃ
Back palatal, velar	ḳ (q)	g̣	ɢ̣	ḳʽ	ḳ̓ , ḳǃ	x̣	γ̣	x̣ǃ	ḳx	g̣γ	ḳxǃ	ᴎ̣	ŋ̣				ḳƚ	g̣l	ḳƚǃ	Ρ̣	ρ̣	ρ̣ǃ
Glottal	ʼ			ʼ^ʽ		ʽ , h	a (any vowel)		ʼ^ʽ											(a̓)
Laryngeal	ʼ̣			ʼ̣^ʽ		ḥ	(any vowel with laryngeal resonance)		ʼ̣ḥ

Notes:

• surd = voiceless; sonant = voiced; intermed. = partially voiced
• In the glottalized stop column, the phonetic symbol appearing on the left side (which is a consonant plus an overhead single quotation mark) represents a weakly glottalized stop (i.e. weakly ejective). The symbol on the right side is strongly glottalized (i.e. it is articulated very forcefully). Example: pronounced as /[k̓ ]/ = weakly glottalized, pronounced as /[kǃ]/ = strongly glottalized. (Cf. pronounced as /kʼ/ = [k] followed by glottal stop.) This convention is only shown for the glottalized stops, but may be used for any of the glottalized consonants.
• "Laryngeal" refers to either pharyngeal or epiglottal.

Anthropos (1907)

See main article: Anthropos phonetic alphabet. The journal Anthropos published the alphabet to be used in their articles in 1907.^[10] It is the same basic system that Sapir and Boas introduced to the United States. Transcription is italic, without other delimiters.

Variation between authors

Following are symbols that differ among well-known Americanist sources.^{[11] [12]}

	Powel 1880	Boas 1911	AAA 1916	Sapir 1934	Sturtevant 1978	WIELD 2020	IPA
plosives
		kꞏ	ky	kʸ	kʸ	k̯, kʸ	c
		gꞏ	gy	gʸ	gʸ	ɡ̯, ɡʸ	ɟ
		q	q, ḳ		q	q	q
		g̣	g̣		ġ	ɡ̇	ɢ
		^↋	ʼ	ʔ	ʔ	ʔ	ʔ
affricates
			tθ		θ̂	tθ	t͜θ
			dϑ		ð̂	dð	d͜ð
			ts	c	c	c	t͜s
			dz	ʒ	ʒ	dz	d͜z
	tc		tc	č	č	č	t͜ʃ
	dj		dj	ǯ	ǯ	ǰ	d͡ʒ
		ʟ	tł, tʟ	ƛ	ƛ	ƛ	t͡ɬ
		ʟ̣	dl	λ	λ	λ	d͡ɮ
fricatives
	ç	ç	θ		θ	θ	θ
	ȼ	ȼ	ϑ		δ	ð	ð
	c	c	c		š	š	ʃ
	j	j	j		ž	ž	ʒ
	q	x̣	x		x	x	x
	x	γ	γ		γ	ɣ	ɣ
		x	x̣		x̣	x̣	χ
		γ̣	γ̣		γ̇	ɣ̇	ʁ
					ḥ	ħ	ħ
nasals
	ñ	ñ	ñ	ŋ	ŋ	ŋ	ŋ
		ṇ̃	ṇ̃		ŋ̇	ŋ̇	ɴ
		m̥	ᴍ		M	m̥	m̥
		n̥	ɴ		N	n̥	n̥
		ñ̥	ɴ̃		Ṇ		ŋ̊
laterals		ł	ł, ʟ		ł	ł	ɬ
trills	ɹ		ṛ			ʀ	ʀ

	Powel 1880	Boas 1911	AAA 1916	Sapir 1934	Sturtevant 1978	WIELD 2020	IPA
aspiration	Cʽ	Cʽ	Cʽ, Cʰ		Cʰ	Cʰ	Cʰ
glottalization	Cʼ (bʼ)	C!	Cʼ	Cʼ	C̓	Cʼ	Cʼ, Cˀ
palatalization		Cꞏ	Cy, Cy	Cʸ	Cʸ	Cʸ	Cʲ
labialization		Cᵘ	Cw, Cw	Cʷ	Cʷ	Cʷ	Cʷ
length		V̄?	V̄	Vꞏ (V:)	Vꞏ (V:)	V꞉ (a꞉ a꞉꞉ or aꞏ a꞉)	Vː (Vːː)
nasalization	Vⁿ	Vⁿ	V̨		Ṽ	V̨	Ṽ

	Powel 1880	Boas 1911	AAA 1916	Sapir 1934	Sturtevant 1978	WIELD 2020	IPA
vowels
	ǐ	i	i, ī		i	i	i
	i		ɩ, i		ɪ	ɪ	ɪ
	ě	e	e, ē		e	e	e
	e		ɛ, e		ɛ	ɛ
	ä		ä, ă		æ	æ	æ
	u	u	u, ū		u	u	u
	ǔ		υ, u		ᴜ	ʊ	ʊ
	o	o	o, ō		o	o	o
	ǒ		ɔ, o		ŏ	ɔ	ɔ
	ɔ	â	ω		ɔ	ɒ	ɒ
			ï		ɨ	ɨ, ï	ɨ, ɯ
	û	ᴇ	ə		ə	ə	ə
			ɑ, ȧ		ʌ	ʌ?	ɐ

Encoding

The IETF language tags register as a subtag for text in this notation.^[13]

See also

• Phonetic transcription
• International Phonetic Alphabet
• English Phonetic Alphabet
• Uralic Phonetic Alphabet
• Teuthonista
• Phonetics
• Phonology

External links

• Recommendations of WIELD for Americanist notation

Bibliography

• Encyclopedia: Abercrombie . David. . 1991 . Daniel Jones's teaching . Abercrombie . David . Fifty years in phonetics: Selected papers . 37–47 . Edinburgh . Edinburgh University Press. (Original work published 1985 in Book: V. A. . Fromkin . Phonetic linguistics: Essays in honor of Peter Ladefoged . Orlando . Academic Press, Inc..
• Albright, Robert W. (1958). The International Phonetic Alphabet: Its background and development. International journal of American linguistics (Vol. 24, No. 1, Part 3); Indiana University research center in anthropology, folklore, and linguistics, publ. 7. Baltimore. (Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1953).
• American Anthropological Society . Boas . Franz . Goddard . Pliny E. . Sapir . Edward . Kroeber . Alfred L. . 1916 . Phonetic transcription of Indian languages: Report of committee of American Anthropological Association . Smithsonian miscellaneous collections . 66 . 6 . Washington, D.C. . Smithsonian Institution.
• Bloomfield . Leonard . Bolling . George Melville . 1927 . What symbols shall we use? . Language . 3 . 2 . 123–129. 10.2307/408965 . 408965 .
• Book: Boas . Franz . Handbook of American Indian Languages . August 29, 2013 . . 978-1-108-06342-5 . 1911. 5–83 . 40. Introduction by Franz Boas. en.
• Book: Campbell, Lyle . 1997 . American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America . New York . Oxford University Press . 0-19-509427-1.
• Book: Clark . John . Yallop . Colin . 1995 . An introduction to phonetics and phonology . 2nd . Oxford . Blackwell . 0-631-19452-5. .
• Book: Goddard . 1996 . Introduction . Goddard . Ives . Handbook of North American Indians: Languages . 17 . 1–16 . Washington, D. C. . Smithsonian Institution . 0-16-048774-9.
• Herzog . George . Newman . Stanley S. . Sapir . Edward . Swadesh . Mary Haas . Swadesh . Morris . Voegelin . Charles F . 1934 . Some orthographic recommendations . American Anthropologist . 36 . 4 . 629–631 . 10.1525/aa.1934.36.4.02a00300. free .
• Hill . Kenneth C. . 1988 . Review of Phonetic symbol guide by G. K. Pullum & W. Ladusaw . Language . 64 . 1 . 143–144. 10.2307/414792 . 414792 .
• Book: International Phonetic Association . 1949 . The principles of the International Phonetic Association, being a description of the International Phonetic Alphabet and the manner of using it, illustrated by texts in 51 languages . London . University College, Department of Phonetics.
• Encyclopedia: Kemp . J. Alan . 1994 . Phonetic transcription: History . R. E. . Asher . J. M. Y. . Simpson . The encyclopedia of language and linguistics . 6 . 3040–3051 . Oxford . Pergamon.
• Book: Langacker, Ronald W. . 1972 . Fundamentals of linguistic analysis . New York . Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Encyclopedia: MacMahon . Michael K. C. . Phonetic notation . P. T. . Daniels . W. . Bright . The world's writing systems . 1996 . 821–846 . New York . Oxford University Press . 0-19-507993-0.
• Book: Maddieson, Ian . 1984 . Patterns of sounds . Cambridge studies in speech science and communication . Cambridge . Cambridge University Press.
• Book: Mithun, Marianne . 1999 . The languages of Native North America . Cambridge . Cambridge University Press . 0-521-23228-7.
• Book: Odden, David . 2005 . Introducing phonology . Cambridge University Press . 0-521-82669-1.
• Book: Pike, Kenneth L. . 1943 . Phonetics: A critical analysis of phonetic theory and a technic for the practical description of sounds . Ann Arbor . University of Michigan Press.
• Book: Pike, Kenneth L. . 1947 . Phonemics: A Technique for Reducing Languages to Writing . Ann Arbor . University of Michigan Press.
• Book: Powell, John W. . 1880 . Introduction to the Study of Indian languages, with words, phrases, and sentences to be collected . 2nd . Washington . Government Printing Office.
• Book: Pullum . Geoffrey K. . Laduslaw . William A. . 1986 . Phonetic symbol guide . Chicago . University of Chicago Press . 0-226-68532-2.
• Book: Sturtevant . William C. . Handbook of North American Indians . Introduction . 2022 . 1 . Washington, D. C. . Smithsonian Institution . 978-1-944466-54-1 . 10.5479/si.21262173. 252700488 . (part of a 20-volume series published between 1978–present).

Notes and References

1. http://wieldoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WIELD-Americanist-Symbols.pdf WIELD's Recommended Americanist Transcription System
2. (IPA|ʔ) is often rendered by removing the dot from a question mark (IPA|?).
3. Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd ed., p. 301–302
4. Book: Bloch. Bernard. Bernard Bloch (linguist). Trager. George L.. George L. Trager. 1942. Outline of Linguistic Analysis. Linguistic Society of America. 22.
5. Book: Kurath, Hans. Hans Kurath. 1939. Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England. Brown University. 123.
6. Boas, Goddard, Sapir & Kroeber (1916) Phonetic Transcription of Indian Languages: Report of Committee of American Anthropological Association. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 66.6.https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29837318#page/229/mode/1up Chart is a fold-out behind the back cover that is not reproduced at this link.
7. There is no small-capital delta in Unicode. A full capital would normally be substituted.
8. Not supported by Unicode. It can be kept distinct in a database as Greek Ν, but that is not visually distinct in print.
9. Small-capital engma is rendered various ways. (IPA|ᴎ) is the form it takes in the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet and is the form supported by Unicode.
10. P. W. Schmidt, P. G. Schmidt and P. J. Hermes, "Die Sprachlaute und ihre Darstellung in einem allgemeinen linguistischen Alphabet (Schluß) / Les sons du langage et leur représentation dans un alphabet linguistique général (Conclusion)", Anthropos, Bd. 2, H. 5. (1907), insert at page 1098
11. Mithun, Languages of Native North America, 1999, p. viii.
12. Sturtevant, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 17, 1978, p. 12ff
13. Web site: Language Subtag Registry . IETF . 22 May 2024 . en . 2024-05-16.