Phonetic transcription is a system used to visually represent the sounds of speech. It uses special symbols to indicate how words are pronounced, capturing details like stress and intonation. This method helps linguists, language learners, and speech therapists understand and analyze spoken language more accurately. The most common system for phonetic transcription is the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA. The IPA provides a unique symbol for each sound in human languages, making it easier to study pronunciation across different languages. By using phonetic transcription, people can communicate more effectively about how words should sound.