This book is a comprehensive guide to the International Phonetic Alphabet, whose aim is to provide a universally agreed system of notation for the sounds of languages, and which has been widely used for over a century. The Handbook presents the basics of phonetic analysis so that the principles underlying the Alphabet can be readily understood, and gives examples of the use of each of the phonetic symbols. The application of the Alphabet is then demonstrated in nearly 30 'Illustrations' - concise analyses of the sound systems of a range of languages, each of them accompanied by a phonetic transcription of a passage of speech. The Handbook also includes the 'Extensions' to the Alphabet, covering speech sounds beyond the sound-systems of languages, and a listing of the internationally agreed computer codings for phonetic symbols. It is an essential reference work for all those involved in the analysis of speech.