Before reading this post, you should know a little about the International Phonetic Alphabet and Phonemic Alphabets. You may also want to read IPA: History, Functionality, and Limitations.
Learning to type the International Phonetic Alphabet can seem like a daunting task. How can I get one keyboard that creates 107 basic pronunciation symbols, 31 diacritics, and 17 additional modifying symbols?
There are three ways: use built-in Windows Alt/Mac Options shortcut keys, online keyboards and downloadable keyboards.
Shortcut keys
Your current keyboard can (most likely) type the International Phonetic Alphabet. To do so, you need to press the Alt key or Options key and then a corresponding set of numbers on your keypad. Here is a list of the shortcut codes for IPA and other phonetic characters: https://www.key-shortcut.com/en/writing-systems/rare-old-scripts/ipa-phonetic-alphabet Note: when the code says “U+0000” where 0000 are 4 numbers, the U stands for the Windows or Apple key.
There are some pros and cons to this method. Since it is already part of your keyboard, you do not have to download/instal anything or find/remember a website address. You can start typing IPA from the second you want to.
The drawback is that it is a slow process. To get one character, you need to hold a key and press a combination of 4 others. Do you remember the combination you need to press? Can you find them easily within the chart at the link above?
This method is most convenient when you only need to type one or a few IPA characters at a time, such as EFL teachers marking a word with the schwa (ə – Alt+0259).
Microsoft PowerToys
Windows PowerToys is our next possibility. PowerToys is a versatile suite of small programmes that are published by Microsoft and created by individual employees at the computer giant.
PowerToys has a utility called Quick Accents, which allows you to type various “non-universal” symbols on keyboards. One of the options, along with being able to select accented characters in specific languages, is downloading IPA symbols that can then be accessed directly from your keyboard. Just press the corresponding letter/sound as well as one of the arrow keys or the spacebar (you set this up in your preferences) and you can start typing in IPA. For example you can type the schwa /ə/ just by pressing two keys instead of five.
Note: This method will still be slower than than our next option – online keyboards.
Online keyboards to type the International Phonetic Alphabet
If you search for IPA keyboards, you will find many examples of online ones, such as IPA TypeIt and I2Speak to name a couple. Both of these allow you to use your normal language keyboard to type IPA. Furthermore, these options are usually free.
IPA TypeIt uses key combinations to write in IPA. If you press the Alt key and the basic key that corresponds to the sound (e.g. Alt+A for æ), you can type directly into the textbox provided. Alternatively, you can use the IPA symbols above the textbox by clicking on them when you need them.
IPA TypeIt has full IPA and English IPA versions available. Full IPA has all symbols while IPA English only has the symbols that are used in English. You can choose them from the list on the right-hand side of the webpage.
I2Speak takes a different approach. Rather than using key combinations, you press the basic key that corresponds to the sound (e.g. a) and choose the IPA character that you would like (e.g. æ) from a dropdown list of choices. Alternatively, you can also use the keyboard or IPA chart options below the textbox by clicking on the character that you would like.
Once you have the text in IPA that you would like, you can copy-paste from the textbox to the target location (e.g. a Word document or Google Slides presentation).
This method also has the benefit of not installing or downloading anything. Just open the website and get started. However, you can only type IPA directly into the textbox. While this is not necessarily bad, depending on where you copy-paste your text afterwards, you may have some formatting or coding issues, meaning that what shows up is not what is typed. Since we are working with “nonstandard characters” (e.g. ones that don’t show up on all keyboards), your destination program/location may not be equipped to handle some of the special characters. Examples include basic text editing programs.
Download an IPA keyboard
If you are looking to type IPA regularly, especially in offline places like a Word Document, a downloadable keyboard is most likely your best option. After going through the installation process, you will be able to switch to the IPA keyboard.
One of the industry leaders is Keyman, which is a company that has created a large range of keyboards in over 2000 languages. Four of these are IPA keyboards, which can be downloaded from this link. The SIL IPA Unicode keyboard and the IPATotal keyboard are the most popular. As the name suggests, IPATotal contains not only all of the characters of the IPA but also characters and symbols from other phonetic systems whereas SIL IPA Unicode focuses on IPA. More information on how to use these keyboards are provided on their respective pages at the link above. These are all free to use.
An alternative to the Keyman IPA keyboards is TypeIt, which offers an offline version of the online keyboard mentioned above. Just like in the online version, you use keyboard shortcuts to type special letters. It markets itself as being an addition to your current keyboard – no need to learn new layouts and help is just a simple Alt+F1 away.
There are two versions of the TypeIt IPA keyboard: Standard and Extended. The Standard version includes the symbols needed to type: Czech, Danish, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, IPA for English, Italian, Math/Science, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. The Extended version includes all IPA for all languages. However, these are not free. The lifetime individual licence for up to 3 PCs is currently $14.99 and the Extended is $24.99. There is also a 2-week trial version available at the link above. Organisations can buy licences for 25 PCs for $269 and $439 respectively.
Summary
Just need individual IPA letters? The unicode shortcut keys mentioned above may be the easiest way to go for you. If you need these a bit more regularly, setting up Microsoft PowerToys (specificially the Quick Accent one) will be useful. This is the method that I use most frequently.
Need a paragraph of IPA text every once in a while? Online keyboards are probably a good way to go for you.
Need to type the International Phonetic Alphabet often? A downloadable keyboard sounds like the most convenient option for you.