Kana Phonetic Alphabet
The Kana Phonetic Alphabet (KPA) is a phonetic transcription method using primarily katakana. Hiragana, kanji or kanji radicals, and other symbols are also used.
Structure
In KPA, consonant characters, with the exception of coronal and dorsal nasals, come with a following vowel. For example ト stands for [to̝]. To write a consonant without a following vowel, a batsu (cross) (☓) is written atop the consonant letter to suppress the following vowel. So
Brackets
For phonemic transcription, sumitsukikakko (lenticular brackets) 【】 are used; and for phonetic transcription sumitsukikakko shiro (white lenticular brackets) 〖〗. Kakukakko (square brackets) [] are used for showing that two or more characters make an affricate or a co-articulated consonant. The kakukakko are thus used similarly to the tiebar ◌͡◌ in IPA. Orthography may be inclosed in kagikakko (corner brackets) 「」. But this is only useful for orthographies that use kana.
Consonants
The following charts show how to write single consonants. To write [m] for example,
Pulmonic Consonants | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bilabial | Labiod. | Dental | Alveolar | Post-Alv. | Retroflex | Alv.-Pal. | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Epiglottal | Glottal | ||||||||||||||
Nasal | ン゜ | ン | ん゜ | ん | ||||||||||||||||||||||
m̥ | m | ɱ̊ | ɱ | n̪̊ | n̪ | n̥ | n | n̠̊ | n̠ | ɳ̊ | ɳ | n̠̊ʲ | n̠ʲ | ɲ̊ | ɲ | ŋ̊ | ŋ | ɴ̥ | ɴ | |||||||
Plosive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
p | b | p̪ | b̪ | t̪ | d̪ | t | d | t̠ | d̠ | ʈ | ɖ | t̠ʲ | d̠ʲ | c | ɟ | k | ɡ | q | ɢ | q̠ | ɢ̠ | ʡ | ʔ | |||
Affricate | ts | dz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
p͡ɸ | b͡β | p̪͡f | b̪͡v | t͡s̪ | d͡z̪ | t͡s | d͡z | t͡ʃ | d͡ʒ | ʈ͡ʂ | ɖ͡ʐ | t͡ɕ | d͡ʑ | c͡ç | ɟ͡ʝ | k͡x | ɡ͡ɣ | q͡χ | ɢ͡ʁ | q̠͡ħ | ɢ̠͡ʕ | ʡ͡ʜ | ʡ͡ʢ | ʔ͡h | ||
Lateral Affr. | ts | dz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
t̪͡ɬ̪ | d̪͡ɮ̪ | t͡ɬ | d͡ɮ | t̠͡ɬ̠ | d̠͡ɮ̠ | ʈ͡ɭ̝̊ | ɖ͡ɭ̝ | t͡ɬ̝ʲ | d͡ɮ̝ʲ | c͡ʎ̝̊ | ɟ͡ʎ̝ | k͡ʟ̝̊ | ɡ͡ʟ̝ | q͡ʟ̠̊˔ | ɢ͡ʟ̠˔ | |||||||||||
Sibilant Fric. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
s̪ | z̪ | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | ʂ | ʐ | ɕ | ʑ | |||||||||||||||||
Non-Sibilant Fric. | ヴ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
ɸ | β | f | v | θ | ð | θ̠ | ð̠ | ç | ʝ | x | ɣ | χ | ʁ̝ | ħ | ʕ̝ | ʜ | ʢ̝ | h | ɦ | |||||||
Lateral Fric. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ɬ̪ | ɮ̪ | ɬ | ɮ | ɬ̠ | ɮ̠ | ɭ̝̊ | ɭ̝ | ɬ̠ʲ | ɮ̠ʲ | ʎ̝̊ | ʎ̝ | ʟ̝̊ | ʟ̝ | ʟ̠̊˔ | ʟ̠˔ | |||||||||||
Approximant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ɸ̞ | β̞ | ʋ̥ | ʋ | θ̞ | ð̞ | ɹ̥ | ɹ | ɹ̠̊ | ɹ̠ | ɻ̊ | ɻ | ɹ̠̊ʲ | ɹ̠ʲ | j̊ | j | ɰ̊ | ɰ | ɰ̠̊ | ʁ̞ | ʕ̞̊ | ʕ̞ | ʢ̞̊ | ʢ̞ | h | ɦ | |
Lateral Appr. | l | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
l̪̊ | l̪ | l̥ | l | l̠̊ | l̠ | ɭ̊ | ɭ | l̠̊ʲ | l̠ʲ | ʎ̥ | ʎ | ʟ̥ | ʟ | ʟ̠̊ | ʟ̠ | |||||||||||
Flap or Tap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ⱱ̟̊ | ⱱ̟ | ⱱ̥ | ⱱ | ɾ̪̊ | ɾ̪ | ɾ̥ | ɾ | ɾ̠̊ | ɾ̠ | ɽ̊ | ɽ | ɾ̠̊ʲ | ɾ̠ʲ | q̆ | ɢ̆ | ʡ̥̆ | ʡ̆ | |||||||||
Lateral Flap or Tap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ɺ̪̊ | ɺ̪ | ɺ̥ | ɺ | ɺ̠̊ | ɺ̠ | ɺ̠̊ʲ | ɺ̠ʲ | ʎ̥̆ | ʎ̆ | ʟ̥̆ | ʟ̆ | ʟ̠̥̆ | ʟ̠̆ | |||||||||||||
Trill | r | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
ʙ̥ | ʙ | ʙ̪̊ | ʙ̪ | r̪̊ | r̪ | r̥ | r | r̠̊ | r̠ | ɽ̊͡r̥ | ɽ͡r | r̠̊ʲ | r̠ʲ | ʀ̥ | ʀ |