In the summer of 1989 the International Phonetic Association will convene a conference, probably in Northern Europe, which we hope will be one of the most significant meetings in our field for many years. At this meeting we will determine a new version of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which will then become the authorized version of the IPA. The present set of IPA symbols had its origins nearly 100 years ago, shortly after the Association was founded. The present Alphabet is sadly out of date, both from the point of view of the principles underlying it, and with respect to the individual symbols and diacritics. There is no doubt that it should now be revised.