RFE Phonetic Alphabet

The RFE Phonetic Alphabet, named for a journal of philology, the, is a phonetic alphabet originally developed in 1915 for the languages and dialects of Iberian origin, primarily Spanish. The alphabet was proposed by Tomás Navarro Tomás and adopted by the in Madrid for the RFE and by the. It is used solely in works based on Hispanic themes, such as the, as well as phonetics manuals. Additionally, this phonetic alphabet is taught at the universities of Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico.

Symbols

RFE	Example	Transcription	Consonant	IPA
b	bondad	bon̹dáđ̥	Voiced bilabial stop
p	padre	páđre	Voiceless bilabial stop
m	amar	amár	Voiced bilabial nasal
m̥	mismo	mím̥mo	Voiceless bilabial nasal
ƀ	haba	áƀa	Voiced bilabial fricative
ƀ̥	las botas	la ƀ̥ótah	Voiceless bilabial fricative

RFE	Example	Transcription	Consonant	IPA
m̭	confuso	kom̭fúṡo	Labiodental nasal
f	fácil	fáθįl	Voiceless labiodental fricative
v	vida	víđa	Voiced labiodental fricative

RFE	Example	Transcription	Consonant	IPA
ḍ	cruz divina	krúẓ ḍiƀína	Voiced interdental stop
ṭ	hazte acá	áθṭe aká	Voiceless interdental stop
ṇ	onza	óṇθa	Interdental nasal
ẓ	juzgar	xųẓǥár
θ	mozo	móθo	Voiceless interdental fricative
đ	rueda	r̄wéđa	Voiced interdental fricative
_đ	tomado	tomá_đo	Interdental approximant
_đ̥	verdad	bęrđá_đ̥	Voiceless interdental approximant
ḷ	calzado	kaḷθa_đo	Voiceless interdental lateral

RFE	Example	Transcription	Consonant	IPA
n	mano	mã́no	Alveolar nasal
n̥	asno	án̥no	Voiceless alveolar nasal
ŝ	chobu	ŝóƀu	Voiceless alveolar affricate
z	los días	lo zíah
s	rosa	r̄osa
ż	rasgar	r̄ażǥáɹ	Voiced alveolar fricative
ṡ	casa	káṡa	Voiceless alveolar fricative
l	luna	lúna	Alveolar lateral approximant
l̥	muslo	mųl̥lo	Voiceless alveolar lateral approximant
r	hora	ǫ́ra	Alveolar flap
r̥	multitud	mųr̥titú	Voiceless alveolar flap
r̄	carro	kár̄o	Alveolar trill
ɹ	color	kolǫ́ɹ	Alveolar approximant
ɹ̊	trigo	tɹ̊íǥo	Voiceless alveolar approximant
ɹ̱	honra, pondré	ónɹ̱a, põɹ̱é	Geminated voiced alveolar approximant
ɹ̱̊	perro	pę́ɹ̱̊o / pę́ɹ̱o	Geminated voiceless alveolar approximant
			lax alveolar trill

RFE	Example	Transcription	Consonant	IPA
n̮	año	án̮o	Palatal nasal	ɲ
ŷ	yugo	ŷúǥo	Voiced palatal affricate
ĉ	mucho	múĉo	Voiceless postalveolar affricate
ž	mayo	mažo	Voiced postalveolar fricative
š	rexa	r̄eša	Voiceless postalveolar fricative
y	mayo	máyo	Voiced palatal fricative
ẙ	jefe	ẙefe / ẙjéfe
j	nieto	njéto	Palatal approximant
j̊	inquieto	iŋ́ḱj̊éto / iŋ́ḱj̊eto
l̮	castillo	kas̹tíl̮o	Palatal lateral approximant
ÿ	subyugar	sųƀÿuǥáɹ

RFE	Example	Transcription	Consonant	IPA
g	gustar	gųs̹táɹ	Voiced velar stop
k	casa	káṡa	Voiceless velar stop
ŋ	nunca	nṹŋka	Velar nasal
ǥ	rogar	r̄oǥár	Voiced velar fricative
x	jamás	xamás	Voiceless velar fricative
ł	malalt	məlạł	Velarized alveolar lateral approximant
w	hueso	wéṡo	Voiced labio-velar approximant
w̥	fuera	fw̥éra	Voiceless labio-velar approximant

RFE	Example	Transcription	Consonant	IPA
h	horno	hǫ́rno	Voiceless glottal fricative