The Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (SAMPA) is a computer-readable phonetic transcription system that encodes International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols using only 7-bit ASCII characters. Developed in the late 1980s under the European Commission’s ESPRIT programme, individual SAMPA charts were created for several European languages—including English, French, German, and Italian—based on collaboration among native language specialists. The English SAMPA chart maps phase‑specific consonants, vowels, diphthongs, and prosodic markers (e.g., stress, syllable boundaries) to ASCII symbols, facilitating phonetic data exchange and computational processing. SAMPA laid the groundwork for X‑SAMPA (Extended SAMPA), a universal ASCII-based encoding covering all IPA symbols, though it remains in use today for legacy systems and where Unicode support is limited.
| SAMPA: English Consonants
|
| SAMPA
|
Examples
|
IPA
|
| p
|
pen, spit, lip
|
p
|
| b
|
bed, rib
|
b
|
| t
|
two, sting, bet
|
t
|
| d
|
do, odd
|
d
|
| 4
|
better, matter (GenAm)
|
ɾ
|
| tS
|
chair, nature, teach
|
tʃ
|
| dZ
|
gin, joy, edge
|
dʒ
|
| k
|
cat, kill, skin, queen, thick
|
k
|
| g
|
go, get, beg
|
ɡ
|
| f
|
fool, enough, leaf
|
f
|
| v
|
voice, have, of
|
v
|
| T
|
thing, breath
|
θ
|
| D
|
this, breathe
|
ð
|
| s
|
see, city, pass
|
s
|
| z
|
zoo, rose
|
z
|
| S
|
she, sure, emotion, leash
|
ʃ
|
| Z
|
pleasure, beige
|
ʒ
|
| h
|
ham
|
h
|
| m
|
man, ham
|
m
|
| n
|
no, tin
|
n
|
| N
|
singer, ring
|
ŋ
|
| l
|
left, bell
|
l
|
| r\
|
run, very
|
ɹ
|
| w
|
we
|
w
|
| j
|
yes
|
j
|
| W
|
what (some accents, such as Scottish)
|
ʍ
|
| x
|
loch (Scottish)
|
x
|
| SAMPA: English Vowels
|
| SAMPA |
Examples |
IPA
|
| RP |
GenAm |
AuE |
RP |
GenAm |
AuE
|
| A: |
A |
6:
|
father
|
ɑː
|
ɑ
|
ɐː
|
| i: |
i |
i:
|
see
|
iː
|
i
|
iː
|
| I |
I |
I
|
city
|
ɪ
|
ɪ
|
ɪ
|
| E |
E |
e
|
bed
|
ɛ
|
ɛ
|
e
|
| 3: |
3` |
3:
|
bird
|
ɜː
|
ɝ
|
ɜː
|
| { |
{ |
{[1]
|
lad, cat, ran
|
æ
|
æ
|
æ
|
| A: |
Ar\ |
6:
|
arm
|
ɑː
|
ɑɹ
|
ɐː
|
| V |
V |
6
|
run, enough
|
ʌ
|
ʌ
|
ɐ
|
| Q |
A |
O
|
not, wasp
|
ɒ
|
ɑ
|
ɔ
|
| O: |
O or A[2] |
o:
|
law, caught
|
ɔː
|
ɔ or ɑ
|
oː
|
| U |
U |
U
|
put
|
ʊ
|
ʊ
|
ʊ
|
| u: |
u |
}:
|
soon, through
|
uː
|
u
|
ʉː
|
| @ |
@ |
@
|
about
|
ə
|
ə
|
ə
|
| @ |
@` |
@
|
winner
|
ə
|
ɚ
|
ə
|
| SAMPA: English Diphthongs
|
| SAMPA |
Examples |
IPA
|
| RP |
GenAm |
AuE |
RP |
GenAm |
AuE
|
| eI |
eI or e |
{I
|
day
|
eɪ
|
eɪ or e
|
æɪ
|
| aI |
aI |
Ae
|
my
|
aɪ
|
aɪ
|
ɑɪ
|
| OI |
OI |
oI
|
boy
|
ɔɪ
|
ɔɪ
|
oɪ
|
| @U |
oU or o |
@}
|
no
|
əʊ
|
oʊ or o
|
əʉ
|
| aU |
aU |
{O
|
now
|
aʊ
|
aʊ
|
æɔ
|
| I@ |
ir\ |
I@
|
near, here
|
ɪə
|
iɹ
|
ɪə
|
| E@ |
er\ |
e:
|
hair, there
|
ɛə
|
eɹ
|
eː
|
| U@ |
Ur\ |
U@
|
tour
|
ʊə
|
ʊɹ
|
ʊə
|
| ju: |
ju |
j}:
|
pupil
|
juː
|
ju
|
jʉː
|
| SAMPA: Other symbols used in transcription of English pronunciation
|
| SAMPA |
Explanation |
IPA
|
| "
|
Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable), for example "happy" /"h{pi/
|
ˈ
|
| %
|
Secondary stress, for example "battleship" /"b{tl=%SIp/
|
ˌ
|
| .
|
Syllable separator
|
.
|
| =
|
Syllabic consonant, for example /"rIdn=/ for ridden
|
◌̩
|
See also