xsipa – XSAMPA to IPA Transcription in LaTeX

xsipa is a LaTeX package that provides a lightweight phonetic transcription system inspired by XSAMPA. It translates modified XSAMPA sequences into proper IPA symbols, using either the tipa package (for pdfTeX users) or Unicode IPA symbols via xunicode (for XeTeX and LuaTeX users).

This package was designed to simplify phonetic transcription in LaTeX by offering concise macros such as \xsE for \textepsilon, and \xs*...* as a shortcut for multi-symbol sequences (e.g., \xs*EO* for ɛɔ). These commands are modeled after XSAMPA but adapted for LaTeX compatibility — including custom replacements for reserved characters.

Key Features

• XSAMPA-inspired syntax adapted for LaTeX usage
• Short and readable macro names
• Transparent support for tipa or Unicode output based on the engine:
  • XeTeX / LuaTeX → Unicode (via xunicode)
  • pdfTeX → tipa
• Minimal setup; no need to load fonts manually
• Built-in compatibility workarounds for LaTeX special characters

Requirements

• A working LaTeX distribution with one of the following engines:
  • XeTeX
  • LuaTeX
  • pdfTeX
• The following packages must be available in your system:
  • xparse
  • xunicode (for Unicode-based output)
  • tipa (for pdfTeX-based output)
  • iftex (used for engine detection)

These packages are included in most standard TeX distributions such as TeX Live or MiKTeX.

License

This material is subject to the LaTeX Project Public License 1.3c or any later version. You may obtain a copy of the license at:

http://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt

This software is provided "as is", and there is no warranty for correctness or fitness for a particular purpose.

Author

Akpoué Kouamé Josué Email: djosuebetsaleelakpoue@gmail.com

Repository

GitHub: https://github.com/dbjoshua/xsipapackage