One Sound, Many Letters… or the Other Way Around?

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Have you ever wondered why “ough” can sound different in though, through, rough, cough, and thought?
Or why “b” in boat doesn’t sound exactly like “b” in Spanish barco?

Welcome to the beautiful chaos of spelling vs. sound — and this is exactly where the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) comes to the rescue 🦸‍♂️.

The IPA is a standardized system of symbols that represents sounds, not letters. Its goal is simple but powerful:

👉 one symbol = one sound,
no matter the language.

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What Is the IPA, Exactly?

The International Phonetic Alphabet is used by linguists, teachers, singers, actors, speech therapists, and language learners all over the world. Instead of guessing how a word might be pronounced, the IPA shows you precisely how it is pronounced.

For example:

• cat → /kæt/
• ship → /ʃɪp/
• measure → /ˈmeʒər/ (yes, that sneaky /ʒ/ sound like in “vision”)

Once you learn the symbols, accents stop being mysterious monsters and start becoming logical sound systems.

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“But Spanish Already Has a Fairly Phonetic Alphabet… Right?”

Absolutely! Spanish spelling is wonderfully phonetic compared to English. Spanish generally follows a one-letter–one-sound principle (with a few rebels like b/v or c/z).

When pronunciation is discussed formally, Spanish also uses the IPA — but in Spanish it’s called:

AFI – Alfabeto Fonético Internacional

Examples:

• perro → /ˈpero/ (with the rolled /r/)
• pero → /ˈpeɾo/ (with the soft tap /ɾ/)

Same letters, different sounds, big difference in meaning 🐶 vs. “but”.

Spanish dictionaries may feel “easier,” but the IPA is what allows Spanish, English, Japanese, Arabic, and Mapudungun to all sit at the same phonetic table.

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Fun (and Slightly Evil) Sound Examples 😈

Let’s compare sounds that often confuse learners:

English vs. Spanish

English “th”

• think → /θɪŋk/ (voiceless)
• this → /ðɪs/ (voiced)

Spanish speakers: “Why are there TWO?” 😭

English “i”

• ship → /ɪ/
• sheep → /iː/

One small vowel, one very awkward misunderstanding 🐑🚢

Spanish rolled R

• perro → /ˈpero/

English learners: tongue.exe has stopped working

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Other Phonetic Systems You Might Hear About

Besides the IPA, there are a few other phonetic systems used in specific contexts, especially in relation to Spanish:

🔹 Alfabeto fonético de la Revista de Filología Española (RFE)

The Alfabeto Fonético de la RFE is a Spanish-focused phonetic transcription system, traditionally used in Hispanic linguistics to analyze Spanish sounds in detail.

Key point:
👉 It is closely related to the IPA, but optimized for Spanish phonology, especially before the IPA became the dominant international standard.

More distinctive examples:

• gente → /ˈxente/ (velar fricative, Spanish j / g)
• chico → /ˈĉiko/ (the symbol ĉ represents the affricate /tʃ/, treated as one single sound, not t + sh)
• año → /ˈaɲo/ (palatal nasal /ɲ/ — a sound many languages don’t have)
• llave → /ˈʝaβe/ or /ˈʎaβe/ (yeísmo vs. non-yeísmo dialects)
• rey → /rej/ (the glide /j/ at the end, not a full vowel)

This system is particularly useful for highlighting Spanish-specific sounds and contrasts, but it is not designed for systematic comparison across many languages.

👉 That’s why the IPA ultimately prevailed: it provides a single, unified framework capable of representing any sound in any language, without ambiguity.

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Pros and Cons of the IPA

✅ Pros

• Universal: works for any language
• Precise: no guessing, no “maybe it sounds like…”
• Accent-aware: shows real pronunciation differences
• Empowering: pronunciation becomes learnable, not magical

❌ Cons

• Looks scary at first 😱
• Symbols are unfamiliar
• Requires a bit of training (but pays off fast)

Good news? Once you get used to it, IPA stops being code and starts being a pronunciation map 🗺️

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Why the IPA Is a Game-Changer

The IPA teaches you to listen, not just read. It trains your ear, your mouth, and your brain to work together. Instead of copying accents blindly, you understand why sounds happen and how to produce them.

It’s the difference between:

❌ “Just repeat after me”
✅ “Put your tongue here, voice this sound, don’t round your lips”

That’s not imitation — that’s mastery.

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Sounds Don’t Lie

Spelling can lie.
Letters can lie.
Accents can confuse.

Sounds don’t.

The International Phonetic Alphabet is the closest thing we have to a truth serum for pronunciation. Once you learn it, every dictionary becomes clearer, every accent more approachable, and every language less intimidating.

And yes — it might look weird at first…
but so did riding a bike, and now you don’t even think about it 🚲😉

When letters lie sounds tell the truth

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