Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 February 2009
Revising the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a pressing task which should find its natural forum for debate in this Journal, above all others. Elsewhere (Ladefoged (1987); and in our own pages, Ladefoged and Roach (1987)) the President and Secretary of the International Phonetic Association issue a call to arms for this task, drawing attention to some preliminary questions on which the Association needs to have a clear view. One question is that of the IPA's constituency: who are the users of the IPA, and what are their different needs for a phonetic alphabet? To help find out, the Association hopes to canvas as wide a population of IPA users as possible, drawing from non-members as well as members.