ABSTRACT
Its origins lie in the alphabets used by the forerunner of the IPA, the Phonetic Teachers’ Association, founded in 1886 in Paris by Paul Passy (1859-1940). Since then, a number of slightly differing versions of the Alphabet have been published by the IPA. Three versions of the Alphabet likely to be found in books, etc. on phonetics are ‘Revised to 1951’, ‘Revised to 1979’ and ‘Revised to 1993 (updated 1996)’ – see the reproductions in Figures 1-3. The latest version, 1993/1996, is based on a major revision undertaken in 1989.
