The IPA consonant chart: Mugwumps, holes and therapeutic suggestions

Abstract

For some time now it has been clear that the International Phonetic Alphabet consonant chart needs to be carefully re-examined, with a view to its intended provision and possible revision. This article appears as part of the current drive (see also Ladefoged (1987a)) to solicit suggestions for the improvement or revision of the chart, from all the manifold users of the IPA alphabet. The focus here is on the consonant chart, for while the representation of vowels has always been more problematic, the theoretical issues are of a different order and should be discussed separately.

5. Individual symbols and diacritics

“…It details responses to a questionnaire sent out on 22 October 1988. Specific questions were suggested by a number of sources: my own paper (Henton 1987), reactions to that paper, and from discussions with other phoneticians. The questionnaire was written with a view to eliciting simple and democratic input, rather than to promoting certain symbols or suggestions over others.…”

Linguo-labials revisited: The PRDS solution

“…One of these is an attempt to disambiguate the notorious IPA [j], which can stand for both a palatal fricative and approximant (see the discussion in Henton, 1987). The PRDS group propose that a 'curly-tail J' (see Pullum and Ladusaw, Journal of the International Phonetic Association (1987) 17:2,115-117 H < " MARTIN J.…”