Editing International Phonetic Alphabet (section)

== Ambiguous letters ==
As noted [[#Description|above]], IPA letters are often used quite loosely in broad transcription if no ambiguity would arise in a particular language. Because of that, IPA letters have not generally been created for sounds that are not distinguished in individual languages. A distinction between voiced fricatives and approximants is only partially implemented by the IPA, for example. Even with the relatively recent addition of the palatal fricative {{angbr IPA|ʝ}} and the velar approximant {{angbr IPA|ɰ}} to the alphabet, other letters, though defined as fricatives, are often ambiguous between fricative and approximant. For forward places, {{angbr IPA|β}} and {{angbr IPA|ð}} can generally be assumed to be fricatives unless they carry a lowering diacritic. Rearward, however, {{angbr IPA|ʁ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʕ}} are perhaps more commonly intended to be approximants even without a lowering diacritic. {{angbr IPA|h}} and {{angbr IPA|ɦ}} are similarly either fricatives or approximants, depending on the language, or even glottal "transitions", without that often being specified in the transcription.

Another common ambiguity is among the letters for palatal consonants. {{angbr IPA|c}} and {{angbr IPA|ɟ}} are not uncommonly used as a typographic convenience for affricates, typically {{IPA|[t͜ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[d͜ʒ]}}, while {{angbr IPA|ɲ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʎ}} are commonly used for palatalized alveolar {{IPA|[n̠ʲ]}} and {{IPA|[l̠ʲ]}}. To some extent this may be an effect of analysis, but it is common to match up single IPA letters to the phonemes of a language, without overly worrying about phonetic precision.

It has been argued that the lower-pharyngeal (epiglottal) fricatives {{angbr IPA|ʜ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʢ}} are better characterized as trills, rather than as fricatives that have incidental trilling.<ref>{{harvnb|Esling|2010|p=695}}</ref> This has the advantage of merging the upper-pharyngeal fricatives {{IPA|[ħ, ʕ]}} together with the epiglottal plosive {{IPA|[ʡ]}} and trills {{IPA|[ʜ ʢ]}} into a single pharyngeal column in the consonant chart. However, in [[Shilha language|Shilha Berber]] the epiglottal fricatives are not trilled.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ridouane |first1=Rachid |title=Tashlhiyt Berber |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |date=August 2014 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=207–221 |doi=10.1017/S0025100313000388 |s2cid=232344118 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Alderete |first1=John |last2=Jebbour |first2=Abdelkrim |last3=Kachoub |first3=Bouchra |last4=Wilbee |first4=Holly |title=Tashlhiyt Berber grammar synopsis |url=https://www.sfu.ca/~alderete/datasets/aldereteEtal2015_tashlhiytGrammarSynopsis.pdf |publisher=Simon Fraser University |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=28 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228105135/https://www.sfu.ca/~alderete/datasets/aldereteEtal2015_tashlhiytGrammarSynopsis.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Although they might be transcribed {{angbr IPA|ħ̠ ʢ̠}} to indicate this, the far more common transcription is {{angbr IPA|ʜ ʢ}}, which is therefore ambiguous between languages.

Among vowels, {{angbr IPA|a}} is officially a front vowel, but is more commonly treated as a central vowel. The difference, to the extent it is even possible, is not phonemic in any language.

For all phonetic notation, it is good practice for an author to specify exactly what they mean by the symbols that they use.