The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standardized system used to represent the sounds of spoken language. It provides a unique symbol for each distinct sound, or phoneme, found in human languages. This allows linguists, language learners, and researchers to accurately transcribe and analyze speech across different languages without ambiguity. Developed in the late 19th century, the IPA is widely used in fields such as linguistics, phonetics, and language education. By using the IPA, individuals can learn the correct pronunciation of words in various languages, including those with unfamiliar sounds, making it a valuable tool for communication and language study.