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It is an international code through which you can know the correct pronunciation of words in any language. Created by American and French professors in 1888, it has 107 letters and dozens of symbols that indicate how a syllable should be pronounced, whether open or closed, for example. “The phonetic alphabet is not a new language, like Esperanto, which intends to replace all others. It is a code for anyone to be able to speak any language”, says linguist Paulo Chagas, from the University of São Paulo (USP). Because it simplifies things, it is often used by translators, linguists, singers and actors. Furthermore, the fact that it is phonetic allows languages without writing to be “translated”. For example, a Brazilian anthropologist can transcribe the language of an Amazonian tribe, and that language be spoken by researchers around the world. The weird look of the symbols, however, scares a lot of people. In the Portuguese dictionary, for example, the phonetic translation of the word “porta” appears between square brackets, as [p??t?]; in English, “door” is followed by [d??r]; in French, “porte” becomes [p??t]. There are many possible combinations, including Greek symbols that are difficult to speak. The xis sound of “chave”, for example, becomes [?]. But, with a little effort, you can see that the thing is quite simple.