Po redaktohet International Phonetic Alphabet (paragraf)

=== Vowels ===
{{Main|Vowel}}
{{See also|IPA vowel chart with audio}}
[[File:Cardinal vowel tongue position-front.svg|thumb|Tongue positions of [[Cardinal vowel|cardinal]] front vowels, with highest point indicated. The position of the highest point is used to determine vowel height and backness.]]
[[File:Cardinal vowels-Jones x-ray.jpg|thumb|[[Radiography|X-ray photos]] show the sounds {{IPA|[i, u, a, ɑ]}}.]]

The IPA defines a vowel as a sound which occurs at a syllable center.<ref>{{harvnb|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=10}}</ref> Below is a chart depicting the vowels of the IPA. The IPA maps the vowels according to the position of the tongue.
{{IPA vowels|caption=|notes=no}}

The vertical axis of the chart is mapped by [[vowel height]]. Vowels pronounced with the tongue lowered are at the bottom, and vowels pronounced with the tongue raised are at the top. For example, {{IPA|[ɑ]}} (the first vowel in ''father'') is at the bottom because the tongue is lowered in this position. {{IPA|[i]}} (the vowel in "meet") is at the top because the sound is said with the tongue raised to the roof of the mouth.

In a similar fashion, the horizontal axis of the chart is determined by [[vowel backness]]. Vowels with the tongue moved towards the front of the mouth (such as {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, the vowel in "met") are to the left in the chart, while those in which it is moved to the back (such as {{IPA|[ʌ]}}, the vowel in "but") are placed to the right in the chart.

In places where vowels are paired, the right represents a [[rounded vowel]] (in which the lips are rounded) while the left is its unrounded counterpart.

==== Diphthongs ====
[[Diphthong]]s may be written as simple sequences of letters, but for clarity they are commonly specified with a non-syllabic diacritic, as in {{angbr IPA|ui̯}} or {{angbr IPA|u̯i}}, or with a superscript for the on- or off-glide, as in {{angbr IPA|uⁱ}} or {{angbr IPA|ᵘi}}. Sometimes a tie bar is used: {{angbr IPA|u͜i}}, especially when it is difficult to tell if the diphthong is characterized by an on-glide or an off-glide, or when it is variable.

;Notes
* {{angbr IPA|a}} officially represents a front vowel, but there is little if any distinction between front and central open vowels (see {{section link|Vowel#Acoustics}}), and {{angbr IPA|a}} is frequently used for an open central vowel.<ref name="thomason" /> If disambiguation is required, the [[Retraction (phonetics)|retraction diacritic]] or the [[Relative articulation#Centralized vowels|centralized diacritic]] may be added to indicate an open central vowel, as in {{angbr IPA|a̠}} or {{angbr IPA|ä}}.