Phonetic Center

Compare how the same sounds are written across scripts.
Rows are phonemes in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Columns show the typical grapheme in each of 10 major scripts. Click any cell to copy. An em-dash (—) means the script lacks a native equivalent for that sound. Modern standards are used throughout — historical allographs and archaic pronunciations are noted where relevant.

Consonants

IPA Description Latin Arabic Telugu Devanagari Cyrillic Greek Hebrew Ethiopic Armenian Hangul

Vowels

IPA Description Latin Arabic Telugu Devanagari Cyrillic Greek Hebrew Ethiopic Armenian Hangul
How to read this chart. Latin values reflect English orthography where consistent, and use digraphs (sh, th) where a single letter doesn't suffice. Arabic shows isolated letter forms; vowel diacritics use ـ as a placeholder. Telugu and Devanagari consonants are shown with the inherent /a/; pure consonants require a virama. Hebrew bet/kaf/pe/tav distinguish /b v/, /k x/, /p f/, /t θ/ via the dagesh diacritic (a dot inside the letter). Greek digraphs (μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ) are modern conventions for /b, d, g, tʃ, dʒ/. Ethiopic is a syllabary — shown here is the base form with inherent /ä/. Hangul jamo are isolated; real Korean writing composes them into syllable blocks. Retroflex, emphatic, and aspirated distinctions are preserved where the target script encodes them.

Statistics

Computed from the chart above. An em-dash counts as "not covered"; a grapheme (even a digraph like sh) counts as covered. w and j are treated as approximants; w is placed under the velar column.

Coverage

Script overlap

By manner (consonants)

By height (vowels)

IPA consonant grid · script coverage