Diacritics add dimensions
A diacritic modifies a base symbol instead of replacing it. A ring below [n̥] marks voicelessness; [t̪] is dental; [ã] is nasalized; [kʰ] is aspirated; [e̯] is non-syllabic. Not every mark has the same placement with every base letter: some move above a symbol that has a descender. The full set below follows the official chart. In each button, a dotted circle shows the position of a combining mark rather than a pronounceable letter.
Diacritics can also encode articulatory subtleties such as advanced or retracted tongue root, laminal versus apical contact, rhoticity, secondary palatalization, or no audible release. Adding detail makes a transcription narrower. It should be justified by observation, instrumental evidence or an explicit reconstruction, not used to make an ancient word look technical.
Interactive reference
IPA modifiers and prosody
The official diacritics, suprasegmentals and tone marks. Choose a mark to inspect what it contributes to a transcription.
Tap a symbol to see what its chart position and notation mean. This is a description, not a recording or reconstruction of an ancient speaker.
Diacritics
The dotted circle is a placeholder showing where a mark attaches to a real segment. A stand-alone modifier such as [ʰ] follows or adjoins a base.
Voice and phonation
Articulator
Vowel position and syllabicity
Secondary articulations
Tongue root and release
Suprasegmentals, tones and word accents
Stress, length and boundaries
Tone levels and contours
Source
Adapted from the International Phonetic Association’s official chart (2026 issue, revised 2015/2005), copyright © 2026 International Phonetic Association. The chart and this interactive adaptation of its symbol arrangement are available under CC BY-SA 4.0. No Handbook audio is reproduced.
Prosodic units
The stress marks [ˈ] and [ˌ] stand before the stressed syllable, not over a vowel. [ː] marks length, [ˑ] half length and [̆] extra-short duration. The period [.] marks a syllable boundary. The single and double vertical bars mark minor and major prosodic groups. None is a universal punctuation mark of ancient scripts. IPA transcription of an old written source must name the evidential basis for any stress or phrasing shown.
Pitch is not synonymous with stress. Every voiced utterance has changing fundamental frequency, but tone is a language-specific use of pitch to distinguish lexical or grammatical forms. WALS illustrates Yoruba /bí/ “give birth”, /bī/ “ask” and /bì/ “vomit” with high, mid and low tone. Intonation, by contrast, organizes larger utterances. The chart provides level and contour tone marks plus upstep, downstep and global pitch movement.
Modern-language examples on this page clarify a linguistic pattern. They do not establish unattested sounds or forms for an ancient language. Follow the cited sources below and keep editorial readings separate from the surviving trace.