The International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet1 (IPA) is a system of transcription used in linguistics to represent in writing the many and various sounds produced in human speech. Although several such systems have been devised, the most widely accepted internationally is the one that was published in 1888 by a group of French linguists called the Association Phonétique Internationale, (International Phonetic Association). The creation of such a system appears first to have been suggested by Otto Jespersen to Paul Passy, a founding member of that group. The system published by Passy and his colleagues in 1888 was based on earlier similar efforts, particularly a system for the transcription of English published by Isaac Pitman and Henry Ellis in 1847. The 1888 IPA (and the 'International' nature of that system is the key difference) has been somewhat revised since its first publication, particularly at the 1989 IPA Kiel Convention, but has largely stood the test of time and been widely accepted and used in the field of linguistics. There is some debate as to how truly international it is, and in the United States some variations are commonly used. It might also be said that it has not been as universally recognised beyond academic spheres as its creators might have hoped.
KAYNAK:http://www.ibu.edu.tr/akademik/fyaman/