Tipa

Tipa is a LaTeX package that provides support for typesetting the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and related phonetic notation within TeX documents. It supplies a collection of macros that convert ASCII input into IPA glyphs and diacritics, enabling precise phonetic transcriptions in linguistic work. The primary interface is the \textipa{...} command, which is used to enclose transcription data and render it with the IPA symbols. The package is designed to work with standard LaTeX documents and is included in many TeX distributions.

Usage and features: After loading the package with \usepackage{tipa}, authors can write IPA transcriptions inside \textipa{...}. TIPA supports a broad range of IPA symbols, diacritics, and tone markers, as well as diacritic stacking to indicate modifying features such as nasalization, length, or aspiration. It can produce either bracketed [ ... ] or slashed / ... / transcriptions, according to the document style. The ASCII-based input system helps keep source files portable, though fonts and mappings may vary by distribution.

Fonts and compatibility: TIPA relies on an IPA font set included with the package or installed separately. In traditional LaTeX workflows (pdfLaTeX), this approach is common; in XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX, users may opt for Unicode IPA symbols via fontspec instead of tipa's ASCII-to-IPA mapping, depending on the document's needs. Some symbols or diacritics may be missing in older fonts, and complex combinations may require additional care to achieve correct rendering.

Relation and alternatives: Tipa is widely used in linguistic documents and textbooks. It is one of several approaches to IPA in TeX; alternatives include using Unicode IPA with modern engines or other packages that provide specialized IPA fonts. See International Phonetic Alphabet, LaTeX, and typography resources for further information.