SAMPA

SAMPA (Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet) is a computer-readable phonetic script using ASCII characters, based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). These characters are found in almost every keyboard in the world.

Originally SAMPA was used when no IPA characters were available for computers. For example IPA transcription systems for English uses SAMPA, even though currently IPA symbols can be typed on webpages. Currently SAMPA may be used in chats or forums, when typing IPA characters would be too lengthy.

All IPA symbols that coincide with lower-case letters of the Latin alphabet remain the same. The rest are shown here (only for English).