Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 1, 2026

Praat

Praat is a free, open-source computer software package widely used for speech analysis and synthesis in phonetics and other fields of linguistics. The software was developed and is maintained by Paul Boersma and David Weenink at the University of Amsterdam, and is compatible most major operating systems, including Unix, Linux, Mac, and Microsoft Windows. Praat has been used in linguistic research on endangered and minority languages, as well as for analyzing regional accents and phonetic variation.

Last revised
Jun 1, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
378 w
Citations
8
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Praat
DevelopersPaul Boersma and David Weenink
Initial release19921
Stable release
6.4.672 / 21 May 2026 (21 May 2026)
Written inC, C++, Objective-C
Operating systemWindows, Linux, Macintosh, FreeBSD, Solaris
Available inEnglish
TypeFree software
LicenseGPL-3.0-or-later3
Websitewww.praat.org
Repository

Praat (/prɑːt/ PRAHT; Dutch: [praːt] ⓘ transl. "Talk") is a free, open-source computer software package widely used for speech analysis and synthesis in phonetics4 and other fields of linguistics. The software was developed and is maintained by Paul Boersma and David Weenink at the University of Amsterdam,4 and is compatible most major operating systems, including Unix, Linux, Mac, and Microsoft Windows. Praat has been used in linguistic research on endangered and minority languages,5 as well as for analyzing regional accents and phonetic variation.67

Praat's main uses are the analysis, manipulation, and synthesis of sounds. With a given sound, Praat allows users to extract information about vowel formants, prosodic details (including intonation and pitch), and visual information via spectrograms and waveforms, which includes voicing, as well as the presence or absence of a particular segment. Users can also annotate sounds and interact with them using the built-in GUI scripting language.

Version history

Praat icon until 2020 source ↗
Version Date Main
3.1 5 December 1995
4.0 15 October 2001
4.1 5 June 2003 Mac OS X edition, More than 99 percent of the source code distributed under the General Public Licence.
5.0 10 December 2007
5.1 31 January 2009
5.2 29 October 2010
5.3 15 October 2011
5.4 4 October 2014
6.0 28 October 2015
6.1 13 July 2019
6.2 15 November 2021
6.3 15 November 2022
6.4 15 November 2024
References

References

  1. Boersma, Paul; van Heuven, Vincent (2001). "Speak and unSpeak with Praat" (PDF). Glot International. 5 (9/10): 341–347.
  2. praat. "Release version 6.4.67, May 21, 2026 · praat/praat.github.io". Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  3. "License". Phonetic Sciences | Praat. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  4. "Praat: doing phonetics by computer". Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  5. Reid, Tatiana (2023). "Nuer". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 54 (1). Cambridge University Press: 479–514. doi:10.1017/S0025100323000191. hdl:20.500.11820/a3e57d1a-59c0-4f2d-9584-9386ac63eb64.
  6. Broś, Karolina; Krause, Peter A. (2024). "Stop lenition in Canary Islands Spanish – a motion capture study". Laboratory Phonology. doi:10.16995/labphon.9934. Retrieved 2026-01-07.
  7. Oh, Grace Eunhae; Idemaru, Kaori; Brown, Lucien (2026-01-01). "Hotspots for acoustic politeness in Korean and Japanese deferential speech". Linguistics Vanguard. 11 (1): 151–166. doi:10.1515/lingvan-2025-0010. ISSN 2199-174X.
External links