SPA, IPA, and ABC Pronunciation

SPA, IPA, and ABC

Before we get into the details of each of these three phonetic alphabets, here are a few characteristics they share:

• All three alphabets use a dash (-) to separate syllables and bold the syllable in each word that is most stressed (e.g. calabaza becomes ca-la-ba-za).
• SPA and IPA show pronunciations for Latin America and Spain for Spanish words, and the United States and the United Kingdom for English words.

Read on to find out more about each alphabet!

The SpanishDictionary.com Phonetic Alphabet (SPA)

SPA is a simplified phonetic alphabet that uses the letters found in everyday Spanish and English to represent all the sounds in both languages! For example:

SPA for Learners of Spanish

SPA for Learners of English

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

The IPA is a phonetic alphabet used around the world to show how words are pronounced. SpanishDictionary.com uses a subset of the IPA to represent the sounds of the Spanish spoken in Latin America and Spain and the English spoken in the United States and the United Kingdom. For example:

IPA Symbols for Spanish Words

IPA Symbols for English Words

ABC

ABC uses everyday spelling and also shows syllable breaks and the most-stressed syllable in each word.

ABC for Spanish Words

ABC for English Words