Naming conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) requires specific names for the symbols and diacritics used in the alphabet. It is often desirable to distinguish an IPA symbol from the sound it is intended to represent, since there is not a one-to-one correspondence between symbol and sound in broad transcription. The symbol's names and phonetic descriptions are described in the "Handbook of the International Phonetic Association". The symbols also have nonce names in the Unicode standard. In some cases, the Unicode names and the IPA names do not agree. For example, IPA  calls "epsilon", but Unicode calls it "small letter open E". Letters. The traditional names of the Latin and Greek letters are used for unmodified symbols. In Unicode, some of the symbols of Greek origin have Latin forms for use in IPA; the others use the symbols from the Greek section. Examples: Note The IPA standard includes some small capital letters, such as , although it is common to refer to these symbols as simply "capital" or "cap" letters, because the IPA standard does not include any full-size capital letters. Cursive-based letters. A few letters have the forms of cursive  or script letters. Examples: Note Ligatures. Ligatures are called precisely that, although Unicode often mistakenly calls them "digraphs" and some have dedicated names, such as "ash" and "ethel". Examples: Rotated letters. Many letters are "turned", or rotated 180 degrees. Examples: A few letters are "reversed" (flipped on a vertical axis): One letter is "inverted" (flipped on a horizontal axis): ' "inverted capital small R". (' could also be called an "inverted w", but "turned w" is more common.) Letters with extra lines, curls and serifs. When a horizontal stroke is added, it is called a "crossbar": ' "barred h", ' "barred o", ' "reversed barred  glottal stop" or "barred ayin", ' "barred dotless j" or "barred gelded j" (apparently never 'turned f'), "double-barred pipe", etc. One letter instead has a "slash" through it: "slashed o". The implosives have "hook" tops: ' "hook-top b", as does ' "hook-top h". Such an extension at the bottom of a letter is called a "tail". It may be specified as "left" or "right" depending on which direction it turns: ' "right-tail n", ' "right-tail turned r", ' "left-tail n", ' "tail z" (or just "retroflex z"), etc. But note: ' "eng" or "engma", ' "meng", "heng". When the tail loops over itself , it's called "curly": ' "curly-tail j", ' "curly-tail c". There are also a few unique modifications: ' "belted l", ' "closed reversed epsilon" (there was once also a ' "closed omega"), ' "right-leg turned m", ' "turned long-leg r" (there was once also a "long-leg r"), ' "double pipe", and the obsolete "stretched c". Several non-English letters have traditional names: ' "c cedilla", ' "eth" (also spelled "edh"), ' "engma" or "eng", ' "schwa" (also spelled "shwa"), ' "exclamation mark", ' "pipe". Other symbols are unique to the IPA, and have developed their own quirky names: ' "fish-hook r", ' "ram's horns", ' "bull's eye", ' "esh" (apparently  never 'stretched s'), ' "ezh" (sometimes confused with "yogh"), ' "hook-top heng". The is usually called by the sound it represents, "glottal stop". This is not normally a problem, because this symbol is seldom used to represent anything else. However, to specify the symbol itself, it is sometimes called a "gelded question mark". This latter name is derived from its original form as a dotless question mark in a fashion reminiscent of gelding. Diacritic marks. Non-traditionally named diacritics. Diacritics are alternately named after their function: The bridge is also called the "dental sign," the under-stroke the "syllabicity sign", etc