Hempa is a word that is spelled with the consonant cluster "mp" followed by the vowel "a". In IPA phonetic transcription, this can be represented as /hɛmpə/. The first sound, /h/, is a voiceless glottal fricative, while the second sound, /ɛ/, is a mid-front unrounded vowel. The "mp" cluster represents two consonant sounds: a bilabial nasal /m/ followed by a voiceless bilabial plosive /p/. The final sound, /ə/, is a mid-central vowel that is often called the schwa sound.