IPATypist

This is not related to corpus analysis, but because I don't have any other place to keep this, this is here.

IPATypist is a simply utility program to type IPA characters for English with a US keyboard.  There is a reason why the placement of buttons is like a US keyboard.

You need to have Doulos SIL font installed on your Mac if you want to use Serif font.  You can download Doulos SIL font from the SIL site.  For more information about how to install Doulos SIL font, check this page.  If you use non-US keyboard, the latest version of IPATypist might not work well for you, but you can still try an older version (0.7) or simply use mouse (same as the older version).

The current version support key-remapping.  Also from version 0.6, Pronunciation Database, or database of phonetic transcription or whatever, is added as an experimental feature.

Download: IPATypist (US Keyboard on Google Drive)

Download: IPATypist (Japanese JIS Keyboard on Google Drive)

The current version of IPATypist is 1.3.

Last Updated: 2025/06/09

System Requirement: Any Mac with macOS 12.3 Monterey (or later) + Doulos SIL font (if you want to type with Serif font: Download from HERE)

Experimentally, the current version (20240605 or later) is built as a Unversal Binary app. If you encounter frequent random crashes, go to File -> Get Info on Finder and turn on Rosetta to run on Intel Binary.

The following information is based on the older version, though most of the functionality should be available on the new version.

How to use

1. To type assigned IPA characters, hold Control key and hit a key on your keyboard.  If you hit Control + Q, you can type ə.  The first row is for keys without Control key.  You can assign any character to 1-0, - and = keys.  Characters are assignable (see below).  You can also edit and type any character using your keyboard.  BUT if you set any shortcuts using Control key at the OS level (screen switching with Spaces, etc.), those shortcuts are prioritized (means you can't type characters on the keys on IPATypist).  With the current version, you can select Control, Shift or None as a modifier key (see below on Preferences).

2. You can also click any button to enter a character on it.

3. Once you finish typing, click Copy button (command + Shift + C) to copy the characters. This should copy the characters in 12pt.  If you check Automatically paste onto an editor document in Preferences, the copied text will be pasted on to an open document or a new document of a selected application..  If a document is open, the text will be inserted at the cursor position.

4. You can click Clear button to delete the characters.

5. To quit IPATypist, click the red button (window close) on the upper left corner of the windew (just like any other Mac software) or go to Menu -> Quit IPATypist (or Command + Q)

Bracket keys

Three bracket(?) characters [], //, () function as follows: if no phonetic character is selected in the text box, brackets will be inserted at the beginning and at the end of the character string. If any of the characters in the box is selected, brackets will be inserted before and after the selected string of characters.

Key assignment

You can assign any character to any of the keys. Go to Menu bar -> IPATypist -> Key Mapping. Simply type any character in a text box (corresponds to the button layout). Or you can click any of the buttons with a character on the panel to insert a character.  If you want to replace the character in a box, select the character and type or click a button.

Pronunciation Database

This is an experimental feature, so it might not work as intended. 

With Pronunciation Database, you can register IPA transcription(s) of word(s)/phrases(s) so that you don't have to retype you have already transcribed.

Data Entry

• 1. Transcribe a word/phrase on the main window.

• 1. Go to Menu -> Window -> Pronunciation Database or press Command + D.  The database window opens. 

• 1. Enter Word and Pronunciation Variation(s).  You can register up to 4 variations of phonetic transcripts.  These variations can be used for different pronunciations of the same word by varieties of the same language, such as US and UK English.  You need to either hit Tab or Enter key to confirm the entry.  If the word/transcription is properly entered, it will appear on the table.  You can also use this to store phrases.  Just type any phrase in Word box and type its corresponding phonetic transcription(s) in Pronunciation Variation boxes.

• 1. You can search and modify entries later.  You can sort the entries by clicking the column title.

  2. Close the database window.

Using the stored data

• 1. Type a word in the database.

• 1. Click Look Up button (Command + L) to look up the pronunciation transcription.  If you do not select any word, IPATypist looks for an entry with the entire text in the box.  If you type more than one word and want to replace words one by one, you can select each word and then click Look Up button.

• 1. If the word/phrase you entered has an entry on the database, stored text will appear on the 4 buttons.  Click the button you want to replace with (the shortcuts to these four buttons are Command + 1 ~ 4).

Import/Export data

• 1. You can import/export the database data by clicking Import Data or Export Data.

• 1. The supported formats for both import and export are Comma Separated Values (CSV) and Tab Delimited with an extension, .csv or .txt.  A few major text encodings are supported for import.  The export file will be saved as .csv in UTF-8.  This allows you to import data (if you have any on Excel). 

The database data will be stored as an XML file (IPATypist.xml) in Library -> Application Support -> IPATypist in your home folder.  If you want to backup the data, copy this file to a safer place.

The implementation of this feature is experimental, so please send any suggestion to me.

Preferences

If you check Automatically paste onto an editor document, when you click Copy button, the copied text will be automatically pasted onto an open/new document of a specified application.  But if you have multiple copies of the same application (different versions with the same name), this does not work (i.e. Word 2004 and Word 2008).

Modifier Key is to select a modifier key when you type characters on the buttons.  By default, Control key is assigned.  You can change this to Shift or None.  When you select Shift and want to type capital letters, please use Caps Lock.  When you select None, the buttons on the first row on the main window cannot be typed using your keyboard.

Font selection

The default font in the main textbox is Doulos SIL 44 points. To change the font and font size, go to Menu bar -> Format -> Show Fonts or Command + T. The font in the sub-textbox cannot be changed. With this feature, you don't need Doulos SIL if you don't use it.