The Care Lab

Endangered Language Transcription Activity

Do this with a partner!

How it works

Find a partner sitting next to you
Listen to audio of an endangered language
Each person transcribes what they hear using phonetic symbols (IPA)
Compare your transcriptions — discuss what you heard!
3 languages ~12 minutes No experience needed

Meet your partner

You'll each take turns transcribing the same audio.

What is IPA?

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a system of symbols for writing the sounds of any human language. You'll find a keyboard of symbols in the activity!

The International Phonetic Alphabet

A scientific system for writing the sounds of any human language — created by the International Phonetic Association (IPA) in 1888 and updated regularly since.

What IPA is for

Ordinary spelling is unreliable: English "sh" appears in shoe, sure, ocean, and machine — all spelled differently. IPA uses one symbol per sound, worldwide. A trained linguist can read an IPA transcription of a language they've never heard and pronounce it correctly.

/ … / = phonemic (broad, meaning-level) [ … ] = phonetic (narrow, exact articulation)

Vowels — where in the mouth?

IPA vowels are mapped on a trapezoid matching the shape of the mouth. Two axes matter: height (jaw height — close vs. open) and backness (tongue position — front vs. back). A third dimension is rounding (lips rounded or spread).

Close i see ɨ Russian ты u food
Mid e Sp. eso ə about o Sp. no
Open a father ɑ Br. bath ɒ Br. lot
Special ɛ bed ɔ thought ʌ cup

Consonants — how and where?

Each consonant is defined by three properties: voicing (vocal cords vibrating or not), place of articulation (where the blockage is), and manner (how the air flows).

Lips (bilabial) p/b — pat / bat
Teeth (dental) θ/ð — thin / this
Alveolar ridge s/z — sit / zip
Post-alveolar ʃ/ʒ — ship / measure
Velum (back) k/g — cat / go
Glottis h/ʔ — hat / uh·oh

Diacritics — modifying symbols

ːLong vowel — māori ā
ˈPrimary stress — written before the syllable: ˈwɔtər
̃Nasalisation — vowel passes through nose: ã, ẽ, õ
ʰAspiration — breathy burst after stop: pʰ, tʰ, kʰ
ʼEjective — stop made with glottal closure: pʼ, tʼ, kʼ
á à âTone marks — high, low, falling (used in tonal languages)

Clicks — sounds of southern Africa

Clicks are made by trapping air between two tongue-contact points and releasing one. They are consonants, not paralinguistic noises.

ǀDental click — press tongue tip behind upper front teeth, release. Like "tsk tsk".
!Retroflex click — tongue tip curled back, snapped forward sharply.
ǁLateral click — release air around the sides of the tongue. Like a horse-clicking sound.

The golden rule: One symbol = one sound. Never let English spelling guide you. Listen, then match to the symbol that describes how that sound is made — not how it's spelled.

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Use the keyboard below to insert phonetic symbols

IPA Keyboard

Compare your transcriptions — what did you hear differently?

Linguists write it as:

About this language

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Excellent work!

Every transcription you made contributes to the documentation of human linguistic diversity. Languages carry unique ways of seeing the world — thank you for caring.