The following show the typical symbols for consonants and vowels used in SAMPA, an ASCII-based system based on the International Phonetic Alphabet. SAMPA is not a universal system as it varies from language to language.

Consonants

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! colspan="2" |

!Bilabial

!Labio-<br>dental

!Dental

!Alveolar

!Post-<br>alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Uvular

!Pharyngeal

!Glottal

|-

! colspan="2" |Nasal

|<code>m</code>

|<code>F</code>

|

|<code>n</code>

|

|<code>J</code>

|<code>N</code>

|

|

|

|-

! colspan="2" |Stop<br>

|<code>p</code> <code>b</code>

|

| colspan="2" |<code>t</code> <code>d</code><br><code>ts</code> <code>dz</code>

|<code>tS</code> <code>dZ</code>

|<code>c</code> <code>J\</code>

|<code>k</code> <code>g</code>

|<code>q</code> <code>G\</code>

|

|<code>?</code>

|-

! colspan="2" |Fricative

|<code>p\</code> <code>B</code>

|<code>f</code> <code>v</code>

|<code>T</code> <code>D</code>

|<code>s</code> <code>z</code>

|<code>S</code> <code>Z</code>

|<code>C</code> <code>j\</code>

|<code>x</code> <code>G</code>

|<code>X</code> <code>R</code>

|<code>X\</code> <code>?\</code>

|<code>h</code> <code>h\</code>

|-

! rowspan="2" |Approximant

!

|

|<code>P</code>

|

|<code>r\</code>

|

|<code>j</code> <code>H</code>

|<code>w</code>

|

|

|

|-

!

|

|

|

|<code>l</code>

|

|<code>L</code>

|<code>5</code>

|

|

|

|-

! colspan="2" |Rhotic

|

|

|

|<code>4</code><br><code>r</code>

|

|

|

|<code>R\</code>

|

|

|}

Consonant modifiers

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+

!SAMPA

!IPA

!Description

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>`</code>

| style="background:#ddd" |

|retroflex consonant (e.g. <code>d`</code> = )

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_a</code>

|

|apical consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_d</code>

|

|dental consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_G</code>

|

|velarized consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_h</code>

|

|aspirated consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_j</code>, <code>'</code>

|

|palatalized consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_m</code>

|

|laminal consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_w</code>

|

|labialized consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_<</code>

| style="background:#ddd" |

|implosive consonant (e.g. <code>b_<</code> = )

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_></code>

|

|ejective consonant

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_=</code>, <code>=</code>

|

|syllabic consonant

|}

Simplified list of consonants

{| class="wikitable"

!SAMPA

!IPA

!Description

!Examples

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>p</code>

|

| voiceless bilabial plosive

| English pen, Croatian pas 'dog'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>b</code>

|

| voiced bilabial plosive

| English but, Polish brat 'brother'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" | <code>t</code>

|

| voiceless alveolar plosive

| English two, Spanish tomar 'to take'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>d</code>

|

| voiced alveolar plosive

| English do, Polish dom 'house'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>ts</code>

|

| voiceless alveolar affricate

| Italian calza 'sock', German Zeit 'time'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>dz</code>

|

| voiced alveolar affricate

| Italian zona 'zone', Canadian French dur 'hard'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>tS</code>

|

| voiceless postalveolar affricate

| English chair, Spanish mucho 'many'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>dZ</code>

|

| voiced postalveolar affricate

| English gin, Italian giorno 'day'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>c</code>

|

| voiceless palatal plosive

| Hungarian tyúk 'hen', Dutch schatje 'darling'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" | <code>J\</code>

|

| voiced palatal plosive

| Hungarian egy 'one', Czech dítě 'child'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>k</code>

|

| voiceless velar plosive

| English skill, Spanish casa 'house'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>g</code>

|

| voiced velar plosive

| English go, Hungarian gép 'machine'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>q</code>

|

| voiceless uvular plosive

| Arabic qof, Somali qaab

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>p\</code>

|

| voiceless bilabial fricative

| Japanese fu, Ainu fuchi

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>B</code>

|

| voiced bilabial fricative

| Catalan roba 'clothes', Spanish huevo 'egg'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>f</code>

|

| voiceless labiodental fricative

| English fool, Spanish fama 'fame'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>v</code>

|

| voiced labiodental fricative

| English voice, German Welt 'world'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>T</code>

|

| voiceless dental fricative

| English thing, Castilian Spanish caza 'hunt'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>D</code>

|

| voiced dental fricative

| English this, Icelandic fræði 'science'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>s</code>

|

| voiceless alveolar fricative

| English see, Spanish sí 'yes'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" | <code>z</code>

|

| voiced alveolar fricative

| English zoo, German sein 'to be'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>S</code>

|

| voiceless postalveolar fricative

| English she, French chou 'cabbage'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>Z</code>

|

| voiced postalveolar fricative

| French jour 'day', English pleasure

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>C</code>

|

| voiceless palatal fricative

| Standard German ich 'I', Icelandic hjá 'next to'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>j\</code> (<code>jj</code>)

|

| voiced palatal fricative

| Standard Spanish ayuda 'help'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>x</code>

|

| voiceless velar fricative

| Scots loch, Spanish ajo 'garlic'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>G</code>

|

| voiced velar fricative

| Greek γάλα 'milk', Icelandic saga 'story'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" | &nbsp;

|

| velar approximant

| Spanish algo 'something'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>X\</code>

|

| voiceless pharyngeal fricative

| Arabic h.â

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" | <code>?\</code>

|

| voiced pharyngeal fricative

| Arabic <nowiki>'</nowiki>ayn

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>h</code>

|

| voiceless glottal fricative

| English ham, German Hand

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>h\</code>

|

| voiced glottal fricative

| Hungarian lehet 'it can be'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>m</code>

|

| bilabial nasal

| English man, French main 'hand'

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>F</code>

|

| labiodental nasal

| Spanish infierno 'hell', Hungarian kámfor

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>n</code>

|

| alveolar nasal

| English, Spanish and Italian no

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>J</code>

|

| palatal nasal

| Spanish año 'year', French oignon, Hungarian lány

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>N</code>

|

| velar nasal

| English ring, Tagalog ngayón

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>l</code>

|

| alveolar lateral approximant

| English left, Spanish largo

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>L</code>

|

| palatal lateral approximant

| Italian aglio, Standard Catalan colla

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>5</code>

|

| velarized dental lateral

| English meal Standard Catalan alga

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>4</code> (<code>r</code>)

|

| alveolar tap

| Spanish pero 'but', Italian essere

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>r</code> (<code>rr</code>)

|

| alveolar trill

| Spanish perro 'dog, Italian terra

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>r\</code>

|

| alveolar approximant

| English run

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>R</code>

|

| uvular trill

| Standard German Reich

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>P</code>

|

| labiodental approximant

| Dutch Waar, Finnish vesi

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>w</code>

|

| labial-velar approximant

| English we, French oui

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>H</code>

|

| labial-palatal approximant

| French nuit

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>j</code>

|

| palatal approximant

| English yes, Polish już

|}

Vowels

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="border: 1px solid #8888aa; background: #f7f8ff; padding: 5px; margin: 0 15px 0 15px; text-align: center;"

| style="background: #ccf;" colspan="6" | Vowels

|-

| style="height: 5px; padding: 0;" colspan="6" |

|- style="background: #eef; "

!

! style="background: #ccf;"|front

! style="background: #ccf;"|central

! style="background: #ccf;"|back

|- style="background: #ddf; "

! style="text-align: right;"| close

| <code> i • y </code>

| <code> 1 • } </code>

| <code> M • u </code>

|- style="background: #eef; "

! style="text-align: right;"| near-close

| <code> I • Y </code>

| style="background: #ccf;"|

| style="background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | <code> • U </code>

|- style="background: #ddf; "

! style="text-align: right;"| close-mid

| <code> e • 2 </code>

| <code> @\ • 8 </code>

| <code> 7 • o </code>

|- style="background: #eef; "

! align="right" style="padding-right: 3px;"| mid

| style="background: #ccf;"|

| style="background: #ccf;"| <code> @ </code>

| style="background: #ccf;"|

|- style="background: #ddf; "

! style="text-align: right;"| open-mid

| <code> E • 9 </code>

| <code> 3 • 3\ </code>

| <code> V • O </code>

|- style="background: #eef; "

! style="text-align: right;"| near-open

| style="background: #ccf; text-align: left;" | <code> { •</code>

| style="background: #ccf;"| <code> 6 </code>

| style="background: #ccf;"|

|- style="background: #ddf; "

! style="text-align: right;"| open

| <code> a • & </code>

|

| <code> A • Q </code>

|}

Vowel modifiers

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!SAMPA

!IPA

!Description

!Examples

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>~</code>, <code>_~</code>

|

|nasalized vowel

|French bon [<code>bO~</code>], Portuguese sim [<code>si~</code>]

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>:</code>

|

|long vowel

|English see [<code>si:</code>] )

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>`</code>

|

|r-colored vowel

|US English bird [<code>b3`d</code>]

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>_^</code>

|

|non-syllabic vowel

|

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>"</code>

|

|primary stress

|

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>%</code>

|

|secondary stress

|

|}

Simplified list of vowels

{| class="wikitable"

!SAMPA

!IPA

!Description

!Examples

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>i</code>

|

|close front unrounded vowel

|English see, Spanish sí, French vie, German wie, Italian visto

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>I</code>

|

|near-close front unrounded vowel

|English city, German mit, Canadian French vite

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>e</code>

|

|close-mid front unrounded vowel

|US English bear, Spanish él, French année, German mehr, Italian rete, Catalan més

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>E</code>

|

|open-mid front unrounded vowel

|English bed, French même, German Männer, Italian ferro, Catalan mes, Spanish perro

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>{</code>

|

|near-open front unrounded vowel

|English cat, Finnish mäki

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>y</code>

|

|close front rounded vowel

|French du, German Tür, Finnish hyvä

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>Y</code>

|

|near-close front rounded vowel

|German hübsch, Swedish ylle

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>2</code>

|

|close-mid front rounded vowel

|French deux (hence '2'), German Höhle, Danish købe

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>9</code>

|

|open-mid front rounded vowel

|French neuf (hence '9'), German Hölle

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>1</code>

|

|close central unrounded vowel

|Polish mysz

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>@</code>

|

|mid central vowel

|English about, German bitte, Swedish beredd

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>6</code>

|

|near-open central unrounded vowel

|German besser, Catalan mare

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>3</code>

|

|open-mid central unrounded vowel

|English bird

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>a</code>

|

|open front unrounded vowel/<br>open central unrounded vowel

|Spanish barra, French bateau, German Haar, Italian pazzo

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>}</code>

|

|close central rounded vowel

|Scottish English pool, Swedish sju

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>8</code>

|

|close-mid central rounded vowel

|Swedish kust

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>&amp;</code>

|

|open front rounded vowel

|Swedish öra

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>M</code>

|

|close back unrounded vowel

|Japanese fuji, Korean geu

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>7</code>

|

|close-mid back unrounded vowel

|Korean eoreum, Estonian kõrv

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>V</code>

|

|open-mid back unrounded vowel

|RP and US English run, enough

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>A</code>

|

|open back unrounded vowel

|English arm, US English law, Canadian French âme, Finnish alku

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>u</code>

|

|close back rounded vowel

|English soon, Spanish tú, French goût, German Hut, Italian tutto

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>U</code>

|

|near-close back rounded vowel

|English put, (non-US)Buddhist, German Mutter

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>o</code>

|

|close-mid back rounded vowel

|US English sore, Scottish English boat, Spanish yo, French beau, German Sohle, Italian dove, Catalan ona

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>O</code>

|

|open-mid back rounded vowel

|British English law, caught, Italian cosa, Catalan dona, Spanish ojo, German Wort

|-

| style="text-align: center; font-size: larger; width: 2em;" |<code>Q</code>

|

|open back rounded vowel

|British English not, cough, Hungarian kar

|}

See also

  • SAMPA chart for English
  • X-SAMPA

References